The seeds of Nigella sativa L. (Family Ranunculaceae) have been widely used in the treatment of different diseases and ailments. In Islamic literature, it is considered as one of the greatest forms of healing medicine. Plant nutrition one of the most important factors that increase plant production. Thus, the main objective of the present investigation was to study the effect of different levels of NPK fertilizers, foliar nutrition and their interactions on the morphological and biochemical contents of Nigella sativa L. The effect of NPK and foliar nutrition on the growth [Plant height (cm), leaf number (plant -1 ), branch number (plant -1 ), capsule number (plant -1 ), herb dry weight (plant -1 ) and seed yield (plant -1 )] was measured and quantitative analysis of fixed oil, total carbohydrate, soluble sugars and nutrient content were performed. The most effective rate was N3P3K3 x foliar nutrition interaction, resulting in a positive increase in vegetative growth. The highest values of vegetative growth characters were 27.7, 41.4 cm (plant height); 55.4, 51.9 (leaf number); 10.2, 11.7 plant -1 (branch number); 15.5, 20.8 plant -1 (capsule number); 47.1, 49.4 g plant -1 (herb dry weight); 4.3, 4, 7 g plant -1 (seed yield) during the first and second seasons respectively. As well as N3P3K3 x foliar nutrition led to higher biochemical contents than the control. The highest values of chemical contents were 22.9 and 25.1% (fixed oil); 33.0, 30.1 % (total carbohydrate); 16.9, 8% (soluble sugars); 23.7 and 24.8 % (protein); 3.8 and 4 % (N); 0.4 and 0.4 % (P); 1.2 and 1.8 % (K) during the first and second seasons respectively.


Within the framework of the project "ELOBEV" (research of electrolytic coating systems for joining elements made of high-strength materials) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, a test methodology for the assessment of the danger of hydrogen-assisted and liquid metal-induced cracking for auxiliary joining elements is being developed. One working point of the project is the determination of the hydrogen transport behaviour in high-strength boron-manganese steels and their coating concepts. Permeation measurements under different boundary conditions are used to characterize the hydrogen transport in 22MnB5 and 37MnB4. The results are validated by thermal desorption analyses with a constant heating rate and an isothermal temperature control. Several methods for the determination of the diffusion velocity are investigated and the determined values are compared with each other.


LIKE HUMORAL THEORY, psychoanalysis has been largely hesitant to appraise the most esteemed of human passions, love, in any terms other than symptomatic ones. That is, both discourses might be characterized as treating love somewhat suspiciously, in almost wholly affective terms. In A Treatise on Lovesickness (first ed. 1610), for example, Jacques Ferrand follows Galen in naming "the temperature of the humor as the principal cause" of love, and describes its caloric dimensions and melancholic quality by citing Andre du Laurens, a French physician whose Galenic credentials were impeccable. (1) Lacan's Seventh Seminar (1959-60) is also devoted to analyzing the "ideal of human love," and in particular the high estimation of "genital love" and interpersonal attachment, and its phobic relation to feminine sexuality. (2) "Analysis," according to Lacan, "has brought a very important change of perspective on love by placing it at the center of ethical experience." (3) But love also changes Lacan's attitude toward analysis, for what is demanded at the end of analysis, he asks at the conclusion of this seminar, if not "bonheur or 'happiness'"? (4) Love is not containable by the praxis of Lacanian psychoanalysis, even if love is somehow what psychoanalysis is about. I think that a theoretical reappraisal of love, not to mention the other passions performed and solicited in Shakespearean dramaturgy, would benefit from a critical approach that balances an awareness of the period's theories for understanding the passions with a psychoanalytic perspective on human agency. Coupling these discourses means critiquing their distinct, and shared, limitations, which is probably not very unsettling for scholars interested in Galenism, since humoral theory has been safely relegated by science to the category of metaphor or associative--rather than diagnostic--understanding. (5) For psychoanalytic critics, however, a version of what I will term "soft" psychoanalysis is potentially controversial. By "soft" psychoanalysis, I mean to designate the use of psychoanalytic concepts, and the consideration of the kinds of questions that psychoanalytic inquiry typically provokes: questions regarding agency, subjectivity, self-awareness, and of course self-delusion. Such questions abound in Shakespeare, but when psychoanalytic readings of their manifestations are developed holistically, they often produce jargon-filled interpretations deemed persuasive only by those readers who are already "in the know." By juxtaposing the limitations of humoral theory and psychoanalysis, it is my belief that we might produce more nuanced readings of the emotional contours of Shakespearean characters than would be possible if we restricted ourselves to a single critical approach, be it psychoanalytic or historicist. To give an example of the kind of interpretation I have in mind, I would like to turn to a work that revolves around issues of love, selfhood, and passionate outbursts: Romeo and Juliet (1595?). As the play opens, we as readers and spectators are led to believe that Romeo is suffering through an extreme bout of love melancholy, brought about by his rejection at the hands of Rosaline. If we come to the play prepared to insert a humoral analysis, we find much fodder with which to work, and yet also some points of resistance. Ferrand's Treatise on Lovesickness postdates Romeo and Juliet by more than a decade, but Ferrand draws amply from materials available to Shakespeare's generation, materials that help to make love melancholy the most celebrated kind of sadness in the literature of the sixteenth century. Romeo displays the expected symptoms of this sadness perfectly. As described by his father, the young man is said to spend his time thus: Many a morning hath he there been seen, With tears augmenting the flesh morning's dew, Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs. But all so soon as the all-cheering sun Should in the farthest east begin to draw The shady curtains from Aurora's bed, Away from light steals home my heavy son, And private in his chamber pens himself, Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, And makes himself an artificial night. …


The traditional description of the orbital evolution of compact-object binaries, like double white dwarfs (DWDs), assumes that the system is driven only by gravitational-wave (GW) radiation. However, the high magnetic fields with intensities of up to gigagausses measured in WDs alert a potential role of the electromagnetic (EM) emission in the evolution of DWDs. We evaluate the orbital dynamics of DWDs under the effects of GW radiation, tidal synchronization, and EM emission by a unipolar inductor generated by the magnetic primary and the relative motion of the nonmagnetic secondary. We show that the EM emission can affect the orbital dynamics for magnetic fields larger than megagausses. We applied the model to two known DWDs, SDSS J0651+2844 and ZTF J1539+5027, for which the GW radiation alone does not fully account for the measured orbital decay rate. We obtain upper limits to the primary's magnetic field strength, over which the EM emission causes an orbital decay faster than observed. The contribution of tidal locking and the EM emission is comparable, and together they can contribute up to 20% to the measured orbital decay rate. We show that the gravitational waveform for a DWD modeled as purely driven by GWs and including tidal interactions and EM emission can have large relative dephasing detectable in the mHz regime of frequencies relevant for space-based detectors like LISA. Therefore, including physics besides GW radiation in the waveform templates is essential to calibrate the GW detectors using known sources, e.g., ZTF J1539+5027, and to infer binary parameters.


Background: As an indicator of cerebral small-vessel disease (CSVD), leukoaraiosis and lacunar infarct are known to possible to progress the chronic disease such as cerebral infarct or dementia. Th ese lesions have observed incidentally on brain computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for health check without neurologic symptom or sign. We investigated the risk factors of these lesions of asymptomatic adults. Methods: Two hundred and ninety-four individuals who underwent the brain MRI in one health promotion center from 1st April 2009 to 30th June 2013 were analyzed based on previous medical history, current medication, age, gender, body mass index, blood pressure, blood tests, and behavioral habits including alcohol drinking, smoking, and exercise. Results: CSVD group is 118 individuals (40.1%), 65 men and 53 women and there are no differences of prevalence between gender. Average age of CSVD group is 57.35±8.35 years, higher than 51.62±10.59 years of normal group (P<0.01). Th e prevalence of CSVD was increased by age increase when we classified into 3 age group of <40 years, 40–59 years and ≥60 years (P for trend<0.01). Among risk factors of cardiovascular disease such as age and sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and behavioral habits, only age and hypertension were shown statistically meaningful result. Furthermore, multivariate regression analysis adjusted by age, gender and other risk factors was shown the association of the age, hypertension with CSVD. Conclusion: This study suggests that hypertension were related with CSVD identified on MRI in asymptomatic adults, the prevalence of CSVD was increased as age increase.


The competency movement is gaining momentum and popularity in Indian organizations. There is a lack of clarity as to what is meant by the term 'competence', which is due to the lack of consensus in efforts to define effective management. Apart from this, there is also an underlying uncertainty about the practicability of establishing generic managerial competencies. Most sets of "management competencies" are developed without recognition of their inherent contradictions and without due regard to their contextuality (Steve McKenna, 1999). The first main aim of this article is to analyse the different competency studies done so far and other research findings related to the methodology used in identifying managerial competencies. Second, this study also examines the extent to which there are competencies that are generic to professions, through a review of literature and theories, on the competency perspective. Third, deriving from the previous theory and some empirical evidence, a new theoretical competency framework is suggested. And finally, the paper ends by drawing the conclusions about the necessity of having established managerial competencies and sheds a light upon the future implications for the HR practitioners.


The Supercritical Water Reactor (SCWR) is one of the Generation IV designs. The SCWR is characterized by its high efficiency, low waste production and simple design. Despite the good properties of supercritical water as coolant, its physicochemical properties change sharply with pressure and temperature in the supercritical region. For this reason, there are many doubts about how changes in these variables affect the behavior of the materials to some degradation processes like Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC). Austenitic stainless steels are candidate materials to build the SCWR due to their good behavior in the Light Water Reactors (LWR). Nevertheless, their behavior under the SCWR conditions is not well known. In this work, an austenitic stainless steel 316 type L was tested in deaerated supercritical water at 673 K/25 MPa and 30 MPa and 773 K/25 MPa to determine how variations in properties of water influence its behavior to SCC and to make progress in the understanding of mechanisms involved in SCC processes in this environment. In addition to this, a selected oxide layer formed at 673 K/30 MPa/lt; 10 ppb O2 was analyzed to gain some insight into these processes.


The chapter focuses on the analysis of the impact of packaging in Operations Management (OM) along the whole supply chain. The product packaging system (i.e. primary, secondary and tertiary packages and accessories) is highly relevant in the supply chain and its impor‐ tance is growing because of the necessity to minimize costs, reduce the environmental im‐ pact and also due to the development of web operations (i.e. electronic commerce).


A Random Equivalent Sampling (RES) circuit that has 16ps sampling resolution has been developed for a high-resolution Time-Domain Reflectometer (TDR). The high-resolution TDR uses an expensive programmable delay chip or a complex Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) circuit to capture the waveform with very fine time interval. The Vernier time delay generation technique using two crystal oscillators of slightly different frequency is proposed, which is simpler and more cost-effective and provides subpicosecond time resolution. One of the two clocks is used for the reference time to generate incident periodic pulses, and another clock is used for the sampling, The implemented RES circuit consists of the Vernier clock generator, the pulse generator and the control logic for pulse generation, interface and high-speed memory control. Using the ADC of relatively low sampling rate, the periodic pulse waveform is reconstructed with tens of GSPS high equivalent sampling rate by the repetitive sampling utilizing the incremental Vernier time delay. The performance of RES circuit is measured through the operation of TDR. The resolution of the RES circuit is 16.8ps equal to 59.5GSPS sampling rate, which means that the signal waveform in the 66.7%VOP RG58C/U cable can be sampled by 1.6mm interval.


Stochastic optimal control is a branch of control theory that deals with uncertain system parameters. One of the requirements for an accurate description of systems is a complete knowledge of the structure or values of the basic parameters of the system, which if achieved, the optimization process will also have accurate results. In this paper, we highlight a method for optimizing control under the control of a stochastic uncertainty approach that involves the use and dependence on uncertain parameters for systems whether they are distributed by a distribution function or within other sets of potential values by using the python language. Finally, the numerical results were implemented in python using the GEKKO package.


Brand is the key resource and core competence of hotel group.While the foreign hotel corporations entering into China have significant impact on the domestic hotel market,it also provides the opportunities of learning advanced managerial experience and brand operation strategy.The spread of Jinjiang Hotel brand is a typical success in domestic hotel service industry,and the operation strategy adopted is worthy of being learned.To achieve sustainable success in competition,domestic hotel groups need to:(1) accelerate expansion so as to promote the interaction between scale and brand;(2) segment customer market so as to specify marketing focus and strengthen loyalty by customers to hotel brand;and(3) adopt flexibly brand strategy of hotel group in various conditions.


In particular, FACSDiva software has two major drawbacks: First, even the latest version does not support generation of histogram overlays. Since histogram overlays represent a convenient way of directly comparing FCM data, this is often considered a main disadvantage of the software2. Secondly, FACSDiva does not allow the export of high-resolution image files of any type; neither copy/paste, nor Export Worksheet Elements result in satisfying image quality. Notably, even the new built-in Save as PDF function of FACSDiva is not able to generate high-resolution, vectorbased images – instead it combines the low-resolution raster/pixel graphics in a PDF file. At the same time, FACSDiva software supports high-resolution printing of FACS plots, as can easily be seen on any printout generated with the software.


Abstract This paper reports on the comparison of scale development on unmodified β-NiAl which contains volume and surface additions of yttrium. This reactive element was incorporated using conventional alloying (0.05 or 0.1 wt%) and ion implantation. The materials containing alloyed yttrium were also implanted with yttrium to study the combined influence of volume and surface additions. A two-stage oxidation approach was applied with the use of 18O2 as a tracer. The reaction temperature was 1100°C and the samples were oxidised for up to 64 h. The scale growth mechanism was followed with the aid of in-depth distributions of the oxygen isotopes across the scale using secondary ion mass spectrometry, the surface morphology of the scales was observed using scanning electron microscopy, while their phase composition was determined using photoluminescence spectroscopy. Similar stages of the scale evolution were observed for the growing scales. Initially the oxide layer consisted of transient oxides, and at its surface more or less developed blade-like surface grains were observed. Subsequently, phase-transformation-related cracks and round patches appeared, and finally ridges which successively covered the outer surface of the scale and constituted the outer layer of a duplex scale developed. The mechanism of scale growth was a mixed outward and inward, and the relative contribution of both mechanisms varied depending on the analysed scale region and on the oxidation stage. The cracks and patches were regions where the transient aluminas were preferentially transformed into α-Al2O3. The ridges formed in cracks essentially consisted of α-Al2O3. For the initial stages of oxidation, the transient aluminas and α-Al2O3 co-existed in the scales, while subsequently the latter prevailed and finally, became the only phase found in the oxide layers. The evolution rate of the scale was affected by alloyed and implanted yttrium additions: the former exhibited minor and content-dependent effect while the latter significantly retarded it.


Abstract Validation of Food Stamp program participation by Marquis and Moore revealed net bias of 13% in mean estimates of participation in the 1984 Survey of Income and Program Participation. We extend the analysis, incorporating demographic and economic covariates in models for underreporting and overreporting. We use the resulting models of response error to refine estimates of participation models using pseudo-maximum likelihood estimation methods. We find that the probability of underreporting rises with increased family income. Estimates of the participation model indicate the presence of substantial bias in income- and asset-related parameters compared to values obtained without incorporating response error.


In this paper, we propose an optical tomography for optically dense media in which multiple scattering is dominant. We model a material by many layers of voxels, and light scattering as a distribution from a voxel in one layer to other voxels in the next layer. Then we write attenuation of light along a light path by an inner product of vectors, and formulate the scattering tomography as an inequality constraint minimization problem solved by interior point methods. We show experimental results with numerical simulation for evaluating the proposed method.


3D technology can be a valid support to cultural heritage not only for visual presentation and documentation, but also for communication and educational purposes. In this paper, we will discuss the potential of 3D virtual environments as effective learning contexts for Cultural Heritage. This encompasses various disciplines such as history, art, and languages, and includes both tangible and intangible content like myths, beliefs and social values. We will analyse virtual and augmented reality and innovative interfaces, highlighting their affordances for successfully triggering learning experiences. A number of digital environments and serious games will be also analysed with respect to their potential for supporting immersion, presence and motivation. In the literature, these factors are considered key in raising learner interest, making 3D worlds a direct and engaging setting for informal learning in Cultural Heritage.


In four townships in eastern Myanmar, researchers conducted an observational study to assess providing early malaria diagnosis and treatment in all


The installation of lignite-fired advanced power generation cycles to satisfy demand growth in Victoria and South Australia can have a large impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to a business-asusual scenario with additional pc boiler technology power stations. In partnership with the installation of new renewable sources of generation and the implementation of the Greenhouse Challenge Initiatives of the existing power generation business in Victoria and South Australia, greenhouse gas emissions would be expected to be reduced by more than 36% per annum by 2040.


In this study, small-signal stability issue associated with uncertainty excitation is investigated by using differential inclusion theory. Specifically, a polytopic linear differential inclusion (PLDI) model for Energy Internet is developed, in which a modified non-sequence Monte Carlo method is introduced to identify a series of time-variant operation states. Additionally, a simplified small-signal model of renewable energy sources (RES) with virtual synchronous generator control is proposed, and the outputs of RES are modelled as time-varying elements in PLDI model to reflect the inner stochastic excitation in the linearised matrix. The stability criterion for the stochastic time-varying system is mathematically deduced based on convex hull Lyapunov function. Simulation demonstrates the benefits of the proposed model in describing system stochastic characteristics and reducing computational burden.


In this work, a generic overview of the Frequency Ratio Method (FRM) is presented. The method is based on the rst-o rder asymptotic g-mode expression given by Tassoul (1980). It is particularly adapted for obtaining asteroseismological information of Doradus pulsating stars showing at least three pulsation frequencies. The method provides an identication of the radial order n and degree ' of observed frequencies and an estimate of the integral of the buoyancy frequency (Brunt{V weighted over the stellar radius along the radiative zone. Some insights on its applicability to observed frequencies of rotating Doradus stars are also mentioned.


ketable products— is critical, Scales suggests, to understanding how a complex of social and economic exchanges inform newer and larger intertribal imaginings of what it means to be Indian in the modern world. Concentrating his study on the Northern Plains, Scales splits the book into two parts. In the fi rst, titled "Northern Plains Powwow Culture," the author focuses on how the modular aesthetics of competition powwows, in particular, resonate with ideas and expectations about professionalism and commercialization in the recording industry. In the book's second part, "Th e Mediation of Powwows," Scales explains how the recording industry not only mediates ideas about what powwow music is, but also involves larger contestations of modernity and tradition, culture, and identity. In the end, Scales pulls off a remarkable study, one that every student of indigenous song traditions should read. Th e book also includes a cd of powwow songs performed by the Northern Wind Singers, a nice supplement to the text.


It is indicated from drilling that Chepaizi swell is characterized by multiple oil-bearing zones,multiple reservoir types and multiple oleaginous grades.The "tri-multiple" characteristics are related to the cutting of structural framework,the control of sedimentary cycle and hydrocarbon-accumulating stage and the charging of multi-directional oil sources in terms of correlation and analysis of sedimentary strata,structural evolution and source rocks.The existence of paleo-ridge in SE direction of southern Chepaizi swell and the development of paleo-ridge in ES direction of northern Chepaizi swell allow the feature to be different,that is,in southern part the shallow Tertiary reservoir is dominated by late stage light oil accumulation and in northern part the Carboniferous-Jurassic reservoirs are characterized by heavy oil distribution and late reconstruction.


Often, complex decisions must be made by a group of specialists rather than a single decision maker. To make an effective decision, the combination of the group's expertise must be brought to bear on the situation. Fusing expertise where individuals have very detailed knowledge in their own areas and much weaker understanding of others is characterized by difficulties: agents cannot communicate their expertise in an intelligible way to non-experts because of differences in vocabulary and conceptual content; the process allows for incorrect inferences; and no one knows what anyone else needs to know. Measures and models developed for single agent decision making do not address the complications posed by the fusion of heterogeneous expertise nor the resource limitations which must be considered in evaluating group decisions. We propose the Team of Specialists (TOS) group decision model which partitions agents' knowledge into expert and naive models to address these inadequacies. TOS models group decision making as a process of model refinement linking communications among agents to modifications of the naive portions of their models. The TOS model gives both a normative reference for evaluating group decisions and a characterization of the process by which they evolve. The model of process and criterion for ordering outcomes provided by TOS are the essential prerequisites for devising decision aids.<<ETX>>


Improvements in the cost reducing industries, changes in the industrial structure and development of new markets renewed interest in the small and medium size enterprises (SME) as engines of growth and employment. Industrial development earlier believed to occur with large enterprises undertaking large investments and creating scale economies. Even Schumpeter proclaimed that the future growth would come from large enterprises.


The discovery and removal of logic design errors early In the development cycle Is critical to timely availability of market-driven processor products. This paper describes the part played by sirnulation in the Verification of the high-end models of the iBM Enterprise System/9000" (ES/900OW) processor family, and how that effort advanced the state of the art of logic design simulation. The increased complexity of the ES/9000 design over that of the IBM Enterprise System/3090" (ES/3090") necessitated a larger sirnulation effort. New tools and methods were developed. Two simulation missions were established. Element sirnulation addressed ES/9000 functional elements (e.g., the storage controller) lndlvldually using the Compiled Enhanced Functional Simulator (CEFS), a software tool. System sirnulation tested two or more functional elements together using the Engineering Verification Engine (EVE), a special-purpose hardware parallel processor, and an attached IBM 3092 Processor Controller (PCE). The results achieved by simulation are discussed, together with the methods used and the Impact these results had on the overall verification of the ES/9000 Models 820 and 900. Introduction It has been documented [l-31 that the cost of uncovering hardware design errors is high when working with custom W I circuits. Engineering changes are costly in terms of time and engineering effort. Hardware design errors often prevent complete testing of a function, which may delay the discovery of additional errors. All of these factors bear directly on the profitability of a product. The potential revenue and market advantage lost because of a long engineering test-floor effort is very large in today's increasingly competitive mainframe marketplace. During the early planning stages of the IBM Enterprise System/9000m (ES/9000TM) processors, it was concluded that more errors had to be removed from the design before hardware was built. Simulation of logic design prior to its fabrication in hardware had played an important part in the verification of earlier machines. However, as then practiced, it would provide neither adequate nor expeditious verification of the ESl9000 machine architecture and its implementation. Its scope had to be increased. This paper discusses the part played by simulation in achieving this for the high-end processor models 820 and 900. Two simulation missions were established: element simulation and system simulation. Each major functional element of the central processor complex, or CPC (central processor, storage controller, I/O subsystem, and


Elaine Fowler Palencia. Brier Country: Stories from Blue Valley. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2000. 165 pages, $17.95 paper. In 1993, during one of his many lectures on Appalachian literature, Jim Wayne Miller encouraged his audience to compare the new short stories collected in Chris Offutt's Kentucky Straight to those in Elaine Fowler Palencia's Small Caucasian Woman. Stories in both collections were located in similar Appalachian communities, based on the authors' hometowns near Morehead in Rowan County, Kentucky. Although characters in both collections used the term "Hidy" to greet one another, that is where their similarities ended. With his nucleus of menacing forces charging the dark and violent ways of the men who live on the ridgetops and in the hollers of his fictional community, Offutt created a wake of literary controversy among his Appalachian readers. Meanwhile, Palencia, like her stories, remained quietly committed to her fictional community of "Blue Valley, the county seat of Moore county in eastern Kentucky," where "[bjehind every story whispers another story." Picking up where Small Caucasian Woman left off, Palencia resumes her short story cycle in this new collection. As the epigraph explains, Brier Country takes its title from Jim Wayne Miller's persona, Brier, and Miller's poem "The Country of Conscience": "A land and people finds it has a voice, / discovers a tongue to say itself. ..." At the heart of these sixteen new stories are the carefully drawn characters who inhabit sleepy Blue Valley and the discoveries of their undeniable connections to their place and to one another. Brier Country is about what happens to people when they bump into one another in a small town. "The Shoe Woman: is an epistolary exchange between two aging southern belles. The transplanted Julia Bone teaches English at Blue Valley College and delights in "finding bits of local eastern Kentucky color" for her friend's amusement. Julia Bone abhors the local people but crashes head first into their lives through a series of encounters with an illiterate woman who is wearing Julia's cast off "blue and white spectator pumps, the ones [she] ruined at President Gray's lawn party." The encounters mark Julia irrevocably. These outsider/insider crashes provide the basis for much of the conflict in these stories. In "The Long-Haired Dictionary" a professor from the north (on a one-


In recent times, there has been a major thrust on financial inclusion. Starting with Self Help Groups (SHGs) and the SHG-Bank linkage model, it has moved to Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), NBFCs, and now small finance banks. The poor have been recipients of loans. But is there an opportunity today to include them not merely as customers for loans, but also as owners or shareholders and participants in the capital markets? Beyond that, can the marginalized become significant players in this market – not merely as investors in the stock market, but as promoters and owners of business? What does International experience tell us about this type of initiative?
We highlight one recent initiative. The Producer Company section was first introduced in the Companies Act in 2002 and retained in the 2013 Act as well. It is an enabling and bold legislation for small producers, but lack of access to capital has held back the growth of these companies. It is important to find ways to integrate them with the capital and debt markets like other countries have done. We suggest some ways forward based on our need and the experience of other countries. All these methods would allow outside investors who are not primary producers to contribute share capital in different forms. This would require some amendments to existing laws and regulations. Producer Companies can enable primary producers to significantly increase their incomes and help about 10 crore families who are in farming.


We propose transfer-learning (TL) aided convolutional neural network (CNN) equalizer for short-reach IM/DD systems. Simulations of PMA4 systems with varying distances and data rates show that TL-aided CNN outperforms TL-aided ANN and CNN without TL.


A B S T R A C TIntroduction. The risk of schizophrenia for suicide is 10%, of which 10% -15% ofpeople with schizophrenia die of suicide at 20 years of follow-up. Aggressiveness is afactor to be watched out. Other factors are hallucinations, suicide, early-onset,history of schizophrenia, surveillance, age, gender, education, genetics, affect ofdepression. This study aimed to describe the sociodemographic profile,aggressiveness, hallucinations of suicide in schizophrenic patients. Methods. Thedesign of this study is descriptive research. The number of samples in this study was49 schizophrenic patients at risk of suicide. The risk of aggressiveness is measuredby the Personality and Social Performance Score. Results. Of the 49 patients, it wasfound that the proportion of male patients was 31 people (63.3%) and 18 women(36.7%). Aggressive behaviour based on PSP score was divided into modestaggressiveness of 22 people (44.9%), severe 20 people (40.8%), very severe two people(4.1%). Suicidal hallucinations were also found in 11 patients (22.4%). Conclusion.There are markedly aggressive behaviour and hallucinations of suicide in the majorityof schizophrenic patients.


Candle snuff fungus belongs to Xylaria group. Generally, Xylaria has a form like stick or candle or elongated fruit of shapes. Xylaria is classified into Ascomycota within Xylariaceae. This study found one species of candle-shaped mushroom in IPB Unversity. This study aimed to identified and characterized the specimen using molecular and morphological data. The specimen was collected and preservedinto FAA solution and deposited into Herbarium Bogoriense as BO 24426. Molecular analyses using Large Subunit as a region for amplification showed that the BO 24426 was classified into Xylaria sp. This species closes to Xylaria consociata. The stromata were erected, unbranched, and tapered to the apex. The texture was rigid and hard. Ascus bore 8 ascospores. The ascospores were fusiform or bean-shaped and smooth. The morphological observations supported molecular identification of BO 24426 as Xylaria sp. Other genes were needed to ensure the exact species of Xylaria


RT-Mover can move on continuous rough terrain using a motion control technique proposed in a previous paper[1]. There is, however, larger rough terrain in a real environment than in the previous paper, so, RT-Mover can not operate there using that technique. In this paper, a step-up gait for an upward step is proposed for use in discontinuous rough terrain. The flow of processes in the step-up gait and stability during the gait are discussed. The proposed gait is evaluated through simulation and experiment.


In 2013, approximately 10.9 million school-age children 5 to 17 years old were in families living in poverty.1 Research suggests that living in poverty during early childhood is associated with lower than average academic performance that begins in kindergarten2 and extends through elementary and high school. Living in poverty during early childhood is associated with lower than average rates of school completion.3 The percentage of school-age children living in poverty in 2013 (21 percent) was higher than it was two decades earlier in 1990 (17 percent), even though the poverty rate for school-age children was lower in 2000 (15 percent) than in 1990. Between the two most recent survey years, 2012 and 2013, the poverty rate for school-age children did not change measurably.


We describe the vision of the broadband mobile and wireless communications and ad-hoc and sensor networks in ubiquitous environment, and summarize our recent research activities in the Keio University Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) research program en titled "High-level global cooperation for leading-edge platform on access spaces", especially in the field of real-world and real-time network for multi-dimensional processing and communication. Our research aim is to establish multiple access technologies enabling perceptual and expressive communications, which make broadband mobile and wireless communications and ad-hoc and sensor networks inexpensive, parallel, ubiquitous, safer, and in real time.


In order to realize the fault diagnosis of AGV gyroscope, a fault diagnosis method of AGV based on VMD and LSTM neural network model is proposed. Firstly, krill swarm algorithm is used to optimize the parameters of penalty factor α and modal component K in VMD. Then the optimized VMD decomposes the gyro fault parameters; Finally, the decomposed modal component K is input into the LSTM network for feature learning, to realize the fault identification of AGV gyroscope. Experiments show that this method has achieved the accuracy of 98.8% in identifying two common gyro faults: bias fault and drift fault, and effectively improved the accuracy of AGV gyro fault identification.


Owen Arthur Bradshaw watched as the little girl was tied up with lace and silk. He jostled the warm rum in his glass and listened to the wind. The storm outside wasn't a hurricane. Just a tropical gale. It was the season for storms. Lightning slated through the heavy wooden shutters that were closed but unfastened. The thunder was coming through the walls built with blue bitch stone. There was no one outside walking in the rain. That sort of thing was avoided. A scientist visiting from America had brought the lace and the silk. They were all at the house of Mr. Lovernkrandt, an eminent Danish businessman. Denmark was giving up on the West Indies and America was buying in, but Mr. Lovernkrandt was not leaving. The scientist was tying the girl up. He was demonstrating an experiment that had become stale on the Continent, an experiment of electricity. The little girl was very beautiful. And she was very little. And she was very afraid. She was also very brave. Captain Bradshaw thought on his daughter, Eeona, who was not unlike this American girl. Only Eeona was more beautiful and at least as brave. The people who had come together to make Captain Owen Arthur Bradshaw, and therefore his daughter, could be traced back to West Africans forced to the islands as slaves and West Africans who came over free to offer their services as goldsmiths. Back to European men who were kicked out of Europe as criminals and to European women of aristocratic blood who sailed to the islands for adventure. Back to Asians who came as servants and planned to return to their Indies, and to Asians who only wanted to see if there was indeed a western side of the Indies. And to Caribs who sat quietly making baskets in the countryside, plotting ways to kill all the rest and take back the land their God had granted them for a millennium. Owen Arthur had been raised from a poor upbringing to a place of importance and ownership. He was the captain and owner of a cargo ship. And now he was among the important men who sat in this living room and watched through the haze of the oil lamps as a girl was hoisted off the ground via lace and silk and a hook in the ceiling. The little girl's body jerked as the American scientist tugged. Her body jerked until she was a few feet off the ground, but she did not cry out. Owen Arthur Bradshaw was not sure how much longer he could bear to watch. But it was essential for him to be at this gathering. The host, Mr. Lovernkrandt, was a rum maker and Owen Arthur had always shipped rum. But with Americanness would come Prohibition, and Owen Arthur needed to ensure he was included in any of Lovernkrandt's nonliquor endeavors.


Device for the orderly feeding products such as tablets, capsules, oblongs or the like., In the wells of a blister sheet, circularly arranged with a plurality about a longitudinal axis stacking shafts (1) for the storage of the products in product stacks and with one of the stacking shafts (1) associated separating device (2), preventing by a a slipping of the product stack separation of intended for dispensing products is provided by the product stack, characterized in that each stacking shaft (1) assigned to a suppressible on the format and size of the products separating device (2) is common to and rectified operable and that each stacking shaft (1) a release device (9) is associated for the controlled delivery of the products which are common to and rectified operable.


Regional development agencies are a type of multi-sector partnership that has become popular in the second half of the twentieth century. Slovakia was inspired by this type of partnership in the 1990´s when the legal regulation of these agencies was established in Slovak legislation. The paper focuses analytically on regional development agencies from the legal aspect, the aspect of their number and geographical distribution and the financial support allocated to their activities. The methodology of the paper is supplemented by the analysis of time series using GIS tools. The achieved results point to reduced support for regional development agencies and more difficult conditions for functioning in Slovakia.


Summary Baffin Fan is a twelve km thick sedimentary wedge of Eocene to Pleistocene age in northwestern Baffin Bay; size and resource potential comparable to Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin (Figure 1). Notable is syntectonic sedimentation with possible volcanism and rifting in the Cretaceous-Danian. Sequences associated with inversion in the later Paleocene and Eocene display out-of-graben thrust anticlines formed over horst blocks in Lady Ann and Lancaster Sound basins. The Oligocene to mid-Miocene is associated with fluvial-deltaic systems; replaced since then by glacial-interglacial sequences including submarine canyons and deep-water fans. Exploration targets are located in Lancaster Sound, and a Baffin Bay fairway that runs 220 km northwestward to east of Coburg Island. Sixty-five percent of prospects are located under Neogene cover. Fourteen are each greater than 70 km 2 , and five are between 334 and 592 km 2 . Based on drilling success rates elsewhere and the existence of a petroleum system, 12 of the 40 mapped structures may contain hydrocarbons in significant quantity.


A research project at an Australian regional university reframed "disability" by defining the diagnosis of a disability with an impact on learning as a learning challenge. Using the terminology of learning challenge, an anonymous, online survey found there was a significant number of students who chose institutional non-disclosure and excluded themselves from legally mandated support for learning. Using a sample of 111 students from this previously hidden group, qualitative analysis was performed on their stated reasons for non-disclosure using the conceptual lens of stigma mechanisms and theories at individual, situational, and institutional levels. This research found that internalised stigma is most common for students living with mental health issues (n=97), who anticipate discrimination and prejudice should disclosure be made. Further analysis for this group found students described stigma as having effected learning through poorer academic outcomes, reduced social support and academic help-seeking, and a perception that future professional identities excluded those living with mental health issues. Non-disclosure was perceived by students to be necessary to protect them from being discredited within their learning environment and, for some, in future employment. Structural elements of stigma, such as the qualification of disability and process of disclosure, were seen to be barriers. Perceived discrimination and the desire to protect students' ideal identity (not disabled) were also described. Institutions may find these results useful to develop changes that will result in improved academic outcomes, retention, and completion for students living with disability and stigma.


Development of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) a learner needs guidance, help from adults or peers with a higher skill set in order of achieve a higher level of development. The level of knowledge or gradual knowledge is called by Vygotsky as scaffolding. Scaffolding means giving learners helps during the early stages of learning, then reducing the quantity of help and giving the learner opportunity to immediately take on the greater responsibility, after being able to do tasks on their own. One in the statistics Lesson program is Statistical Method, which requires high-level thinking since the students are hoped to be able to analyze statistics inference. In this case, students need help during the learning process in order to understand the concept of Statistical Method material optimally. The help could be in the form of guidance, encouragement, outlining problems into other forms that enable students to be independent. By implementing the ZPD process in the form of scaffolding stage, students are able to understand concepts of Statistical Method material optimally.


In this study, we report for the first time the effects of Acanthus montanus (Acanthaceae) aqueous extract, its fractions and Acanthus sulphate ester (ASE) – a newly isolated sulphate ester, on rat uterus. This in vitro research involved an organ bath containing an isolated unpregnant rat uterus suspended in De Jalons physiological solution and aerated with Carbogen (95%O 2 +5% CO 2 ). Following equilibration, the extract, fraction and ASE were individually added to the tissue in the absence and presence of standard antagonists and compared with standard uterine agonists. The responses were recorded on a 2-channel Ugo Basile recorder. The extract had a biphasic action with an initial relaxation (IC50 =3.00 mM) of spontaneous uterine contractions followed by stimulation (IC50 =0.63 mM) of the same tissue. Its fraction showed both relaxation and contraction depending on the polarity of extraction solvent. 100% methanolic fraction (IC50 = 150.0 µM) and ASE (131.0 µM) contracted the uterus. The IC50s of the other fractions were variable. These stimulatory activities were less than those of PGF2α, acetylcholine, diazoxide, oxytocine and histamine. The extract, methanolic fraction and ASE were inhibited by phentolamine, prazosin, pyrilamine, indomethacine, verapamil but not atropine. The extract was unaffected by propranolol while tetraethylammonium had slight stimulation. Quinacrine did not affect the extract and MeOH fraction activities. Verapamil was the most potent inhibitor. The involvement of both extracellular and intracellular ionic channels of calcium and potassium were observed; they are probably involved in the mechanism of action of ASE.


This article was written by Professor of Psychology Fabián Echegaray, Professor of Sociology Paulo Krischke, and Director of Institutional Ethics Aluir Toso. All three researchers are at the Universidad Federal de Santa Cantarina. They posit and provide supporting theory and data that values which are postmaterialist (emphasizing psychological well-being and self-actualization) as opposed to materialist (emphasizing materialistic goods) are more likely to be displayed by younger than older Brazilians and by those with higher than lower social class. Thus older, lower class Brazilians will be most materialist and younger, higher class Brazilians will be most postmaterialist. The paper was presented at the III Conference on Political Behavior in Brazil and Latin America, Florianopolis, June 11-13, 1997. Theory Over two decades ago, Ronald Inglehart (The Silent Revolution, 1971) advanced a theory of value change as a function of generational replacement in society. At the core of his argument lies the notion that individuals hold a hierarchy of needs. Once basic needs of a physiological and economic nature are satisfied, other needs of a social and psychological nature come to take their place and motivate individuals' attitudes and behavior. Accordingly, individuals may display value priorities that put the emphasis on materialistic goods (so-called "materialist values"), such as physical and economic security, or on psychological well-being and self-actualization (so-called "postmaterialist values"). The process of value change derives from the dynamics of political socialization forces and economic influences. From the socialization perspective, individuals who have grown up in an environment of scarcity and economic insecurity will prioritize materialist values. On the other hand, if their context was one characterized by having their basic needs of shelter, food, and education satisfied, they will tend to pursue postmaterialist values. However, these generalizations are moderated by the presence of shortterm forces such as the oscillations of the economy that may stimulate the upsurge of materialist values in times of high inflation, recession, or unemployment, and--conversely--may encourage a more vocal presence of postmaterial values in times of low inflation, growth, or job stability. Hypotheses As Brazil has recently moved towards increasing economic stability--after the Real Economic Plan was launched in July 1994 (see http://www.fazenda.gov.br/real.html)--one expects to find evidence of a process of value differentiation across individuals from opposing age cohorts along the lines of materialist/postmaterialist values. Furthermore, as improvement on the basic conditions of living and on social mobility has been a visible feature of progress in the last two decades, these differences in the respective socialization environments of generations should translate into value cleavages. According to our theoretical expectations, Brazilians of the younger age cohort (15-24 years old) will tend to display postmaterialist values in a more intensive manner than those at the older age cohort (60 years old and older). As individuals are not only influenced by generational factors or life-cycle experiences but also by social class, one should also expect to find a more intense postmaterialist value profile among upper-class youngsters, whereas the bulk of materialists should concentrate among the group of lower-class elders. 1 Editor: Political Values among Generations in Brazil Published by Scholarly Commons, 1997 International Bulletin of Political Psychology 2 Methodology To test our hypotheses, we proceeded to compare the attitudes of two populations towards a ranking of value priorities. Interviewees were asked to select two out of four alternatives towards which the government should give priority: (1) to maintain order, (2) to give more participation to people in important decisions taken by the government, (3) to fight price increases, and (4) to protect freedom of expression. Those interviewees selecting items (1) and (3) were classified as holding "materialist values." Those selecting ítems (2) and (4) were classified as holding "postmaterialist values." The remaining combinations were understood as representing "mixed values." We compared two samples, one drawn from the urban population of the four largest capital cities of the country (São Paulo, Río, Rio, and Salvador) and the other from the city of Curitiba. The first study was conducted upon a multistage, random sampling design in June 1996 for a total number of 1080 interviewees. The second study was performed on the basis of a proportional quota design in Curitiba in July 1996 for a total of 440 interviewees. In view of the socioeconomic characteristics of these cities and their different crime records, this research design provided the opportunity of contrasting two environments that illustrate important socialization differences at the aggregate level. The urban areas that are marked by higher social inequalities and higher crime rates were compared with Curitiba. Results (Data tables are available from Professor Echegaray at email@example.com) 1. How do Brazilians prioritize different values? Interestingly, most Brazilians display "mixed" values, revealing a psychological situation of transition in their value matrix. This seems consistent with the new set of stimuli at the macro level, as the combined experience of economic stabilization and democratic deepening has stimulated a greater feeling of material security and a highlighted the efficacy of political voicing. Consistent with theoretical expectations, value variations between samples reproduce differences in the socialization environment. Specifically, a city like Curitiba, which stands out for its relative stability and equality compared to most other cities in Brazil, proves to be a context more favorable for nurturing postmaterialist beliefs. In contrast, the top three Brazilian capitals, long ago characterized by high crime rates, unequal distribution of wealth, and higher exposure to economic cycles of unemployment and price hikes, represent a context where materialist values are more likely to be present. 2. How do value distribution relates to different age cohorts? Also meeting expectations, we found a strong contrast in values upheld by different age cohorts. Thus, respondents sixty years old or older systematically display more concern with materialist Issues than those in the fifteen to twenty-four-years-old cohort. Conversely, the latter group shows a more intensive pattern of postmaterialist values. This match with theory also occurs across contexts in relation to the argument of differential socialization stimuli. Namely, youngsters in Curitiba are more keen to reveal postmaterialist values than their peers in the 3 top capital samples. Likewise, older people in Curitiba embrace postmaterialist values more than their peers residing in the São Paulo, Rio and Salvador areas.


This article analysis the relation between the two first revolutions of the Arabic spring and poetry by looking at three poems: Plan vertical sur la Place Tahrir by the Egiptian poet Hicham El Jokh, February 11, 2011 by the American writer Sanford Fraser and Jasmin et Papyrus by the French author Jean-Marc Buttin.


The invention, and the light guide plate; Provided in the lower surface of the light guide plate and the reflection plate; Provided on at least one side of the light guide plate and a light source; It is disposed over the light guide plate, a printing area on the bottom surface, and includes a first lenticular sheet having a plurality of lenticular lenses having a cross-section is semicircular form in the base film and, thereon having a diffusion function to provide a liquid crystal display module having the backlight unit including the optical sheet, and it is configured. The liquid crystal display module, a lenticular sheet, a print area, the bright line, light leakage, light-weight, thin


Abstract This paper considers some extensions of the basic covering set location problem. The purpose of the covering set location models is to select a set of facilities (public facilities, antennas, etc.) to be implemented in order to satisfy all or a part of the demand of a given area. A facility has a constant coverage radius R and a demand node is covered, if it is within distance R of an established facility. We introduce an original model, in which we take into account: (i) the costs incurred to establish a facility, (ii) the costs incurred if a demand node is not covered, (iii) the cost or gain incurred if a demand node is covered by more than one facility. We introduce some properties of an optimal solution and derive heuristic algorithms and a branch and bound method from these properties. We illustrate this approach with numerical examples.


AbstractMany county highway agencies have explored different options for economical replacement of existing deteriorating bridges. Using retired railroad flatcars (RRFCs) as the bridge superstructure is an attractive and sustainable option for some owners with very limited budgets and where traffic volumes are low. Using RRFCs is also environmentally attractive because they are 100% recyclable. Previous research focused on the development of guidelines to address the uncertainty that exists when load rating these types of structures. Those guidelines were based on field testing conducted on existing RRFC bridges. However, questions remain about the response under loads higher than could be easily achieved during the field testing. Further, although most RRFC bridges utilize timber decks or thin plate decks covered in bituminous material, there is evidence suggesting that installing a traditional composite RC deck is actually more economical and greatly improves load distribution. This paper presents the r...


Background: Morphometric parameter of atlas vertebra is important for orthopaedic surgeons, neurosurgeon who deal with traumatic and nontraumatic conditions which may lead to atlanto occipital and atlantoaxial instability. So, before any spinal surgery like interspinous wiring, plate, and screw fixation, interlaminar clamp, transpedicular screw fixation these anatomical parameters of atlas vertebra knowledge are very important. Materials and Methods: Study was carried out on 30 dry adult human atlas vertebra of unknown sex were examined. Anatomical parameters of the vertebra measured, by using digital vernier calliper. Statistical analysis of the measurements was done. Result: The anteroposterior & transverse dimension of vertebral canal 28.45± 3.14mm and 24.14±3.14mm respectively. The outer distance of vertebral artery groove 24.24±3.95mm on right side & 23.22± 4.16mm on left side. The inner distance of vertebral artery groove 14.12±2.13mm on right side & 13.93±2.65mm on left side. Conclusion: Present study information helpful in avoiding and reducing complication such as vertebral artery injury, spinal cord injury during atlantooccipital and atlantoaxial instability correction.


Commissioner The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data related to education in the United States and other nations. It fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report full and complete statistics on the condition of education in the United States; conduct and publish reports and specialized analyses of the meaning and significance of such statistics; assist state and local education agencies in improving their statistical systems; and review and report on education activities in foreign countries. is in the public domain. We strive to make our products available in a variety of formats and in language that is appropriate to a variety of audiences. You, as our customer, are the best judge of our success in communicating information effectively. If you have any comments or suggestions about this or any other NCES product or report, we would like to hear from you. Please direct your comments to iii Acknowledgments Many individuals made important contributions to this report. Stephen Wenck at Synectics for Management Decisions, Inc. created the standard errors tables and provided significance testing of the selected findings. Tai Phan at NCES provided valuable guidance on the presentation and formatting of the data. The reviewers, Inc. provided expert help in formatting the tables and the report to NCES standards. Finally, this study would not have been possible without the cooperation of the thousands of households that completed the interviews. Table Page 1. Number and percent of households that used a public library or bookmobile in the past month or year, or that used a school, college, university, or work library in the 7. Number and percent of households that used a public library or bookmobile in the past year, by households with a disabled person and state: October 8. Number and percent of households that used a public library or bookmobile in the past year, by households with a retired person and state: October 2002 .. 11. Number and percent of households that used a public library or bookmobile in the past year, by presence of high school or college student and state: October 13. Number and percent of households that used a public library or bookmobile in the past month to get information for personal use; viii Table Page 14. Number and percent of households with children under 18 that used a public library or bookmobile …


The purpose of this paper is: (i) to record the establishment of a diagnostic and remedial centre offering specialist attention to the problems of reading within a district hospital, or more significantly, within the rehabilitation centre of a hospital located in an isolated country district; (ii) to record, and consider, the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary approach to the assessment of reading difficulties; (iii) to examine some of the results of the multidisciplinary assessment made; (iv) to review the difficulties encountered and to consider future plans. We would hope that our experience may benefit others who may be considering a similar development.


Aim: to assess the knowledge regarding Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram among antenatal mothers attending antenatal clinic at selected PHC in a view to develop an information booklet regarding Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram.
Objectives: (i) To assess the level of knowledge regarding Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram among antenatal mothers. (ii) To associate the significant between the level of knowledge regarding Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram among antenatal mothers with selected demographic variables.
Methods & Material: A quantitative research approach .descriptive survey design with one group pretest design was adopted 50 samples were selected for the study by using non probability convenient sampling techniques.
Result: The finding shows that the level of knowledge majority of mother 37 [74%] had moderate knowledge & 6 [12%] had adequate knowledge and 7 [14%] had inadequate knowledge; there is association between level of Knowledge with the Demographic Variables like Religion and Education of Mothers and the is no association in Age, Occupation, Type of Family, family Income Per Month and No. of Gravida.
Conclusion: The findings of the study show that in level of knowledge, the mean value was 10.66 with the standard of 3.8859. The study concluded that most of the antenatal mother are having moderate knowledge regarding Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram among antenatal mother.


Background. Stem cell transplantation is an important therapeutic approach for patients with malignant hemopathies, whether we refer to autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Aims and methods. We present the characteristics of a group of 54 patients diagnosed with malignant haemopathy in the Department of Hematology of the Colentina Clinical Hospital, between 2004 and 2018, and who have benefited from stem cell transplantation both in the country and abroad. The data analyzed were: diagnosis of the disease, type of response to induction therapy, type and timing of transplantation, transplant in first remission or relapse, if there were patients who benefited from a second transplant, post-transplant survival, as well as demographics. The statistical analysis was performed using the system MedCalc Statistical Software Version 18.11.3. Results and conclusions. Survival analysis was applied separately for autotransplant patients and those who benefited from allotransplant (Kaplan Meier survival analyses). Significant differences were observed due to transplantation type and due to relapse after transplant, in our lot of patients. Post-transplant recurrence was an unfavorable prognostic factor for both autologous and allogeneic transplanted patients. Update. A new challenge: The COVID-19 pandemic threat. The SARS-CoV-2 infection is a threat for immunocompromised patients. From a group of 9 patients hospitalized in 2020 for COVID-19 in the Department of Hematology of the Colentina Clinical Hospital, and who have benefited in the past from stem cell transplantation (2 patients) or organ transplant (1 patient – lung, 3 patients – liver, 3 patients – kidney) in Romania, 4 of them have required hospitalization in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (authors's observational data). New data are needed to elucidate the prognostic factors to establish the outcome of transplant patients such as for all cancer patients or immunocompromised patients in the current COVID pandemic 19 era and the impact on public health.


Objective To evaluate the relationship between p15, bcl-2 and PCNA expression and radiosensitivity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC). Methods p15, bcl-2 and PCNA were detected by the S-P immunohistochemical method in 56 NPC cases. All patients were divided into two groups according to the response after radiotherapy: the group without residual (29 cases) and the group with residual (27 cases). Results The positive expression rates of p15, bcl-2 and PCNA had no significant difference between the group without residual and the group with residual (P 0.05). Among p15, bcl-2 and PCNA there were correlation in the group with residual (P 0.01). Among p15, bcl-2 and PCNA there were no correlation in the group without residual but bcl-2 and PCNA. Conclusion p15, bcl-2 and PCNA expression are not associated with radiosensitivity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. But the correlationship between p15 and bcl-2, PCNA may be able to predict the radiosensitivity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.


In a recent study, Klausner et al. [1] have described a diffusion driven process for desalinating seawater at low temperatures. The main advantage of the diffusion driven desalination (DDD) process is that low thermodynamic availability waste heat may be used to drive the process. When low pressure condensing steam from a 100 MW power plant supplies the heat to drive the DDD process, a fresh water production rate of 20 million gallons per day is feasible. This paper describes the computational procedure used to size the diffusion tower for a specified throughput.


It was hypothesized that relative mass relationships among select constituent metals and iron (Fe3+) govern the pulmonary immunotoxic potential of any PM2.5 sample, as these determine the extent to which Fe3+ binding by transferrin is affected (resulting in altered alveolar macrophage [AM] Fe status and subsequent antibacterial function). Iron response protein (IRP) binding activity is a useful indirect measurement of changes in Fe status, as reductions in cell Fe levels lead to increases in IRP binding. However, AM IRP activity can be affected by an increased presence of nitric oxide generated by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). This study sought to determine if any changes in AM IRP activity induced by PM2.5 constituents V, Mn, or Al were independent from effects of the metals on cell NO formation. NR8383 rat AM were exposed to Fe3+ alone or combined with V, Mn, or Al at metal:Fe ratios representative of those in PM2.5 collected in New York City, Los Angeles, and Seattle during fall 2001. Cells were then assessed for changes in IRP activity and iNOS expression. Phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1 and 2 levels were also measured since activated ERKs are involved in signaling pathways that lead to increased iNOS expression. The results indicate that V and Al, and to a lesser extent Mn, altered IRP activity, though the effects were not consistently concentration dependent. Furthermore, while V and Mn treatments did not induce iNOS expression, Al did. These results confirmed our hypothesis that certain metals associated with PM2.5 might alter the pulmonary immunocompetence of exposed hosts by affecting the Fe status of AM, a major class of deep lung defense cells. This study was supported by funds from the USEPA/PM Center Grant R82735101. The authors are also grateful to services/assistance provided, in part, by the Center Program in the NYU Department of Environmental Medicine that is supported by NIEHS (grant ES00260). The authors also acknowledge the support provided from the U.S. EPA/PM Center Grant R82735501 at the Northwest Center for Particulate Matter and Health in Seattle, WA, and by U.S. EPA grants R82735201 and CR8280260-01-0 at the Southern California Particle Center and Supersite in Los Angeles.


The research principally consists of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of sound insulation performance of laminate structure. Composite materials have been widely used in aerospace, marine, transportation and other engineering industries due to their light weight, good mechanical properties and high temperature and corrosion resistance. On the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, more than half mass is taken by composite materials which are distributed over the wings, the empennage and the engine nacelles. As the extensive usage of composite laminated plate in the aeronautic domain, people began to focus on their acoustic performance. The mass law was proposed in the end of 19th century (Rayleigh, 1878). It has been proved that the sound insulation is linearly dependent on the density and excitation frequency. The mass law has been widely applied and validated in different circumstances over the past century. In the middle of 20th century, the occurrence of the theory of coincidence effect (Cremer, 1942) gave a theoretical explanation of the reduction of the acoustic performance in the middle and high band. These theories have formed the very base of modern acoustics. With the advent of computers, the study of the acoustic properties of materials has entered the era of simulation. The simulation-based studies principally use finite element analysis and statistical energy analysis. For example, the study of point-support plate structure (Shorter et al., 2005), the study of inlaid finite laminated plate (Li and Zhao, 2001) and the study of sound insulation performance of glass fibre reinforced resin-based materials with steel balls inside (Yan and Huang, 2016). Many studies have been carried out on composite laminates materials, while rare conclusion or law of laminate manner constated from researches. At present, research on mechanical properties of composite materials is becoming more and more mature, while further studies on the mechanism of sound insulation acoustic properties need to be investigated, to get a better acoustic performance of composite laminated materials. In this paper, we firstly use the impedance analysis method to analyse the sound insulation properties. The acoustic impedance indicates the speed limit capability of a certain part of the sonic wave propagation process. The sound insulation performance can be calculated by solving the acoustic impedance. The main idea of this method is to solve the acoustic impedance of each layer of the sound insulation structure through the vibration equation, and then determine the total acoustic impedance, and then calculate the sound insulation. The impedance analysis refers to a primary preestimate of the acoustic performances. Then, the numerical experiments have been carried out to study the dependency between different laminating manners and sound insulation capabilities. The carbon fibre epoxy resin is chosen as the typical material of laminate. Then we have constructed a plate model whose dimension is 1 m2 with 1 m width and 1 m length. The total mass of the laminated plate is defined as constraint condition and it is fixed to be 4.05 kg to facilitate the comparison with aluminium alloy plate with the same area and 1.5 mm thickness. A reverberated excitation is applied as a source of sonic wave. The combined finite element statistical energy analysis method is employed to solve the problem. In order to verify the accuracy and reliability of the numerical method, we compare the simulation results with the theoretical and experimental results using an aluminium plate as example. The results show that the accuracy of the model is quite good, the relevant error of the predicted resonant frequency is limited to 3%. After the verification, the aluminium plate is


Abstract A method for the numerical solution of a hyperbolic-parabolic system on a sphere is studied. The method is based on the application of a splitting scheme and a special iterative algorithm for the implementation of one of the steps of this scheme. Estimates of the spectrum for the 'pressure operator' are obtained and the convergence rate of this iterative process is studied. Results of numerical experiments are presented.


Chapter analysing the celebrations and publications which took place around the anniversary of the death of Shakespeare in 1916 during the First World War.


" I wouldn't ask too much of her, " I ventured. " You can't repeat the past. " " Can't repeat the past? " he cried incredulously. " Why of course you can! " He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand. You know what a learning experience is? A learning experience is one of those things that says, " You know that thing you just did? Don't do that. The Fibonacci numbers F n , named after Leonardo Fibonacci Pisano, one of the mathematicians who popularized " algorism " in Europe in the th century, are defined as follows: F 0 = 0, F 1 = 1, and F n = F n−1 + F n−2 for all n ≥ 2. The recursive definition of Fibonacci numbers immediately gives us a recursive algorithm for computing them: RFFF(n): if (n < 2) return n else return RFFF(n − 1) + RFFF(n − 2) How long does this algorithm take? Except for the recursive calls, the entire algorithm requires only a constant number of steps: one comparison and possibly one addition. If


Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is a potent treatment for patients with leukemia. This therapeutic effectiveness is largely attributed to the graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) response during which alloreactive donor CD8 + T cells eradicate minor histocompatibility antigens (MiHA)-expressing leukemic cells. Unfortunately, recognition of MiHA expressed in healthy tissues, including the liver, skin and gut, often results in morbidity and even mortality due to the development of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Antigen presenting cells (APC) play an essential role in the activation of alloreactive T cells and thus in the induction of GVL responses and GVHD. Using several in vivo models it has been suggested that host APC, which present endogenous MiHA to donor CD8 + T cells, are more potent inducers of alloreactive responses than donor APC. Here, we compared the ability of host APC versus donor APC to activate alloreactive T cells in vitro and to induce alloreactions in vivo . For this purpose, we isolated T cells and cultured bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DC), the most potent APC, from B6.SJL 'host' mice and MHC (H-2b)-matched but MiHA-mismatched C3.SW 'donor' mice. Following their activation by the TLR4 ligand lipopolysaccharide for no longer than 5 hours, both host and donor DC showed a fully mature phenotype (MHCI high MHCII high CD40 + CD80 high CD86 high ), and comparable migratory behavior towards lymph node-specific chemokines. In primary mixed leukocyte reactions host DC were 2–3 times more potent than donor DC in inducing donor CD8 + T cell proliferation. To determine the role of host and donor DC in the development of GVL and GVHD, we established a preclinical mouse model (C3>B6) for allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Repopulation analyses demonstrated that T cells, B cells and myeloid cells from blood and spleen of transplanted mice were for more than 95% of donor origin. Transplanted mice were subsequently vaccinated intravenously with 3 weekly doses of 3 × 10 5 host or donor DC. DC vaccination, which did not lead to significant GVHD, was followed by an intravenous challenge with 10 6 GFP-expressing mouse AML (C1498) cells. While sham-vaccinated mice died quickly due to leukemia progression, vaccination with both host and donor DC resulted in diminished leukemia growth. However, only vaccination with host DC, and not donor DC, resulted in a (partial) rescue from challenge. These results suggest that host DC are the most potent inducers of GVL reactions without causing significant GVHD. We believe that these data will be instrumental in designing appropriate DC-based immunotherapies in transplanted leukemia patients.


Sexually transmitted disease (STD) is an important health problem as all over the world in our country. We aimed to determine the level of male adolescents' knowledge about STD particularly about HIV/AIDS and evaluate the factors regarding to their knowledge. This study was performed in November – December 2004 in Etimesgut Military Troop. Three hundred twenty five person was selected by simple randomized methods, and 310 person accepted to participate in this study. All participants were young male military persons and the mean age was 21,8+1,7. The best known topic was "How many times can a condom used?" (86,5%). AIDS was the best known STD (76,1%) , and the Gonore was second, 49,7%, but syphilis was only known 6,5%. Over all knowledge score was 6,4+2,3 (max:10). Mean score of participants who had not graduated elementary school, were only 4,2. We realized that this result increased with education level. Mean score was 7,1 in participants with high school or upper education level and difference between these two groups was statistically significant (p=0,001). Participants who were born and living in the west part of the country had the highest mean score (7,8 and 7,1 respectively). Consequently, young adults who've been at high risk about STD, have knowledge needs, especially who live in the east region. It will be useful to have education programmes about this subject.


Trend indicators aim to visualize the effect of input assumptions and parameters into model output. Their use is increasingly important, especially when the output is generated by a black box algorithm. We investigate the properties of several trend indicators used in simulation and machine learning, and discover that not all give consistent results when applied to well understood problems. We show that some indicators (individual conditional expectations (ICE), gradients, and partial dependence functions) are convexity and monotonicity consistent even when inputs are not independent; while some others (ALE plots, regression lines, correlation coefficients) may not be. We advocate the combined use of ICE and partial dependence plots, discuss their connection with Tornado Diagrams and Spiderplots, and propose two discrepancy indices to ease their interpretation.


The cooperation between commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software and in-house software within larger software systems is becoming increasingly desirable. Unfortunately, COTS software packages typically are standalone applications that do not provide information about changes to their data and/or state to the rest of the system. Furthermore, they typically use their own, proprietary data formats, which are syntactically and semantically different from the system. We developed an approach that externalizes data and state changes of COTS software instantly and incrementally. The approach uses a combination of instrumentation and reasoning to determine when and where changes happen inside the COTS software. It then notifies interested third parties of these changes. The approach is most useful in domains where the system has to be aware of data and state changes within COTS software but it is computationally infeasible to poll it periodically (i.e., large-scale data). The approach has been validated on several COTS design tools with large, industrial models (e.g., over 34,000 model elements) for effectiveness and scalability.


The invention relates to a preparation process of bracken fern vermicelli. The preparation process is characterized in that the bracken fern vermicelli is prepared from bracken fern noodle, sweet potato powder, dried potato powder, edible oil, salt and sodium alginate; the preparation method comprises the steps of material selection, powder extraction, proportioning, starchy sauce making, dough making, vermicelli forming in boiling water, cooling in a cold bath, bundling and packaging. The preparation process has the beneficial effects that the components are proportioned appropriately to ensure the main ingredient of the bracken fern vermicelli to be bracken fern starch, the quality, the health value, the transparency and color impression, and the economic value of the bracken fern vermicelli are improved.


summary.  The decision to prophylactically transfuse platelets is dependent on the platelet count, careful regular clinical assessment and agreed local protocol. The ability to predict when platelet recovery will occur should allow a more reasoned approach to platelet transfusion. An increase in reticulated platelets demonstrates impending platelet recovery. A new rapid automated method to assess reticulated platelets, the immature platelet fraction (IPF), is described, and its clinical utility assessed.


Technique The main objective of this study is to analyze the expression levels of messenger ribonucleic acid and long non-coding ribonucleic acid in patients with platelet transfusion refractoriness and reveal the mechanism of T lymphocytes in immune platelet transfusion refractoriness. The Agilent expression profile chip was used to detect the expression levels; gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analysis were performed on the differential genes to determine their main biological functions. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering was used to process differential genes and the differential genes among samples were represented in a heat map. The differentially expressed messenger ribonucleic acids and long non-coding ribonucleic acids in different groups were found as 720 and 1719 in normal control group vs. platelet transfusion effective group; 4254 and 12491 in normal control group vs. platelet transfusion ineffective group and 1806 and 6216 in platelet transfusion effective group vs. platelet transfusion ineffective group. Gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analysis were performed on differentially expressed genes, and the results were annotated to be related to T cells. The co-expression of the target gene Ras-related protein 1A and long non-coding transactive response deoxyribonucleic acid binding protein 2 was determined through the national center for biotechnology information database and the interaction between micro ribonucleic acid-4739 and Ras-related protein 1A was predicted using the starBase and TargetScan databases. T lymphocytes play an important role in immune platelet transfusion refractoriness and long non-coding transactive response deoxyribonucleic acid binding protein 2 may affect the differentiation of T lymphocytes and promote the occurrence of immune platelet transfusion refractoriness through micro ribonucleic acid-4739 targeting Ras-related protein 1A gene regulation.


Bone regeneration by bone tissue engineering is a therapeutic option for bone defects. Improving the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is essential for successful bone regeneration. We previously showed that AP2a enhances the osteogenic differentiation in MSCs. The present study investigated the mechanism of how AP2a regulates the direct differentiation.


Mice deficient for Spa‐1 encoding Rap GTPase‐activating protein develop myeloproliferative disorder (MPD) of late onset with frequent blast crises. The mechanisms for MPD development as well as the reasons for long latency, however, remain elusive. We demonstrate here that preleukemic, disease‐free Spa‐1−/− mice show reduced steady‐state hematopoiesis and attenuated resistance to whole body γ‐ray irradiation, which are attributable to the sustained p53 response in hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs). Preleukemic Spa‐1−/− HPCs show c‐Myc overexpression with increased p19Arf as well as enhanced γH2AX expression with activation of Atm/Chk pathway. We also show that deregulated Rap signaling in the absence of Spa‐1 enhances post‐transcriptional c‐Myc stability and induces DNA damage in a p38MAPK‐dependent manner, leading to p53 activation. Genetic studies indicate that the introduction of p53+/− and p53−/− mutations in Spa‐1−/− mice results in the acceleration of typical MPD and rapid development of blastic leukemia, respectively. These results suggest that increased c‐Myc expression and DNA damage in HPCs precede MPD development in Spa‐1−/− mice, and the resulting p53 response functions as a barrier for the onset of MPD and blast crises progression. (Cancer Sci 2011; 102: 784–791)


From the gasification of biomass, the produced gas mainly consists of CO, H2, CO2, and CH4. After gas cleaning and conditioning, the syngas obtained can be used to produce methanol, dimethyl ether, polymers, biofuels, etc. Methanol is one of the important industrial chemicals that can be used directly as a fuel or can be blended into conventional fuels. Methanol produced from renewable biomass sources can limit greenhouse gas emissions. Based on data on gas composition from experiments and simulations of the fluidized bed gasification reactor at the University of South-Eastern Norway, the methanol process is simulated with Aspen Hysys. It is desirable to assess how different process parameters affect the yield of methanol production. A Gibbs reactor was modeled with three gas-phase exothermic reactions. The product from the reactor is depressurized to separate gas from the liquid. The liquid enters the distillation column to give CH3OH in the distillate and the water as the bottom product. The yield of methanol is evaluated with regard to pressure, temperature, and H2/CO ratio. The theoretical H2/CO ratio for the methanol synthesis should be approximately between 1,5-2. However, different gas compositions were obtained from different types of fluidizing agents in the gasification reactor, and a low ratio of H2/CO gives a low yield of methanol. Fluidized bed gasification with steam as gasifying agent is preferable to increase the H2/CO ratio and give a higher methanol yield.


The invention discloses a vital capacity testing method and equipment. The vital capacity testing method comprises the following steps that a static pressure P0 in the inner cavity of a pressure hole of the mobile equipment is measured; the pressure hole is communicated with the outside, an opening is separately formed in the mobile equipment or the pressure hole is an existing design opening; blowing is conducted by directing at the pressure hole, and an air pressure P (t) at each moment is obtained; according to a corresponding relation formula between an airflow velocity V(t) and a pressure difference P(t)-P0, the airflow velocity V(t) corresponding to the moment is obtained. According to the corresponding relationship between measuring time t and the airflow velocity V(t), the vital capacity of a testee Vc is obtained. The vital capacity of the testee is obtained based on the corresponding relationship between the airflow velocity and the measuring time so that the precision of the vital capacity testing can be effectively improved and damage to relevant parts of the testing equipment cannot be caused, therefore the vital capacity testing method and the equipment is completely different from the scheme in the prior art that a Mike Score is used for testing the vital capacity.


Objective: To investigate and analyze the application effect of case management model to improve ER positive breast cancer patients.Methods: The center diagnosed as ER-positive breast cancer patients based on 200 cases before and after the implementation of case management as control group and observation group,investigated and analyzed the patients' drug therapy adverse reactions and satisfaction.Results: The patients' satisfaction of observation group was higher than control group,there was significant difference between before and after the implementation.Endocrine treatment of adverse drug reaction rate of the patients in the observation group was lower than that in control group,the difference was statistically significant(P 0.05).Conclusion: In the treatment of ER positive breast cancer,using complete case management model significantly improved patient satisfaction,it is worthy of clinical application.


Water is characterised by both its quantity (availability) and its quality. Salinity, which is one of the major water quality parameters limiting use of a wide range of land and water resources, refers to the total dissolved solutes in water. It is influenced by a combination of several soil-water-salt-plant related processes. In order to develop optimum management schemes for environmental control through relevant hydrological modelling techniques, it is important to identify and understand these processes affecting salinity. Therefore, the various sources and processes controlling salt release and transport from the soil surface through the root zone to groundwater and streams as well as reservoirs are extensively reviewed in this project with subsequent exploration of some hydro salinity modelling approaches. The simulation of large and complex hydrological systems, such as these at a catchment scale, requires a flexible and efficient modelling tool to assist in the assessment of the impact of land and water use alternatives on the salt balance. The currently available catchment models offer varying degrees of suitability with respect to modelling hydrological problems, dependent on the model structure and the type of the approach used. The A CR U agrohydrological modelling system, with its physically-conceptually based characteristics as well as being a multi-purpose model that is able to operate both as a lumped and distributed model, was found to be suitable for hydro salinity modelling at a catchment scale through the incorporation of an appropriate hydro salinity module. The main aim of this project was to develop, validate and verify a hydro salinity module for the ACRU model. This module is developed in the object-oriented version of ACRU, viz. ACRU2000, and it inherits the basic structure and objects of the model. The module involves the interaction of the hydrological processes represented in ACRU and salinity related processes. Hence, it is designated as ACRUSalinity. In general, the module is developed through extensive review of ACRU and hydrosalinity models, followed by conceptualisation and design of objects in the module. It is then written in Java object-oriented programming language. The development of ACRUSalinity is based mainly on the interaction between three objects, viz. Components, Data and Processes. Component objects in ACRU2000 represent the physical features in the hydrological system being modelled. Data objects are mainly used to store data or information. The Process objects describe processes that can take place in a


This research paper provides an overview of the works of the Uzbek painter Bakhodir Jalalov (Bakhodir Jalal), which reflects all facets of his talent, admiration for the mastery of revival, as well as a tribute to artistic traditions, the embodiment of unique Central Asian motives, and very successful tests in avant-garde.


Cation exchange equilibria in an acid Ultisol profile involving K-Al, Ca-Al, K-Ca, Na-K, and Na-Ca exchanges were studied. Selectivity coefficients, surface activity coefficients and free energy changes were computed using the thermodynamic formulations. In exchange equilibria involving Al, the magnitude of selectivity coefficients Kc, was affected by pH, surface composition, and hydrolysis of Al. In equilibria not involving Al, good reversibility for K-Ca, Na-K and Na-Ca exchanges was obtained. Potassium was selectively adsorbed in all horizons of the profile. The over-all selectively sequence follows the order of K>Al>Ca≈Na.


PROCESS AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION OF FAULTS AND ULTRASOUND SYSTEM THEREOF FOR IDENTIFYING A FAULT IN PARTICULAR TYPE ONE PIECE, ON PROCESS AS FOLLOWS: -. ON FORM AN ULTRASOUND IMAGE OF THIS PART - CREE ON OBJECTS SUCH AREAS extracting EDGE dISJOINT - DRAW ON A LIST OF OBJECTS SUCH FILTERED IMAGE EVERY SUBJECT IS THUS DEFINED BY ITS gEOMETRICALLY CONTOUR - FOR EACH SUBJECT, ON CALCULATED VALUES OF ATTRIBUTES pREDETERMINED LIST FEATURING AN OBJECT ATTRIBUTES - FOR EACH SUBJECT, ON COMPARATIVE VALUES ATTRIBUTES OF SUCH A MINIMUM VALUES DETERMINED ETOU MAXIMUM DURING A PHASE LEARNING ON PARTS OF WITNESSES IN WHICH SUCH DEFECTS ARE PRESENT AND IDENTIFIED sPECIALIST AND IDENTIFIED ON THE WELD DEFECT BASED ON THE RESULT THAT COMPARISON. UNDER THE CONTROL OF WELD.


For the months of March and April 2022, APBN looks at how we can improve and support women's reproductive health. In Features, we have Dr Samuel Prien and Dr Linsay Penrose from Texas Tech University Health Sciences on how we may select the best embryos that will provide the best chances for pregnancy; Dr Alok Javali and Dr Nicolas Rivron from IMBA-Institute of Molecular Biology in Vienna, Austria on how blastoids can be used as a drug discovery tool to improve IVF procedures; and Michelle Tan Min Shuen on reproductive genetic technology. In Columns, Sumir Bhatia, President, Asia Pacific, Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group talks about the future of genome sequencing and Justin Loh, Country Director for Singapore, Veritas Technologies tells us how we may protect patient data from data breaches. In Spotlights, we recap the highlights from the Future of Healthcare Week, discussing the path forward in a post-COVID world.


Engineered log jams (ELJs) are increasingly being used in large rivers to create fish habitat and as an alternative to riprap for bank stabilization. However, there have been few studies that have systematically examined how juvenile salmonids utilized these structures relative to other available habitat. We examined Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch) and trout (O. mykiss and O. clarki) response to the placement of engineered log jams (ELJs) in the Elwha River, Washington State, USA. We used summer snorkel surveys and a paired control‐treatment design to determine how engineered log jams in a large river system affect the density of juvenile salmon. We hypothesized that densities of juvenile salmonids would be greater in habitats with ELJs than in habitats without ELJs in the Elwha River and that this ELJ effect would vary by species and size class. Juvenile salmonid density was higher in ELJ units for all control‐treatment pairs except for one pair in 2002 and one pair in 2003. Positive mean differences in juvenile salmon densities between ELJ and non‐ELJ units were observed in two of four years for all juvenile salmon, trout greater than 100 mm and juvenile Chinook salmon. Positive mean differences occurred in one of 4 years for juvenile coho salmon and trout less than 100 mm. The results suggest that ELJs are potentially useful for restoring juvenile salmon habitat in the Elwha River, Washington State, USA. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This paper describes an investigation of the relationship between a measure of work group characteristics and both subjective and objective measures of group performance. To assess the relationship between the work group characteristics and performance, objective performance data and manager ratings were collected for customer service work groups who completed the measure. Correlational analyses provided evidence of a relationship between specific work group characteristics and various performance measures. In addition, a factor analysis of the measure provided a more parsimonious set of dimensions that were also related to the criterion measures. The results are discussed in terms of the factors related to work group effectiveness and their relevance to work groups in various types of organizations.


Despite the increasing interest in sleep and dream-related processes of emotion regulation, their reflection into waking and dream emotional experience remains unclear. We have previously described a discontinuity between wakefulness and dreaming, with a prevalence of positive emotions in wakefulness and negative emotions during sleep. Here we aim to investigate whether this profile may be affected by poor sleep quality. Twenty-three 'Good Sleepers' (GS) and 27 'Poor Sleepers' (PS), identified through the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) cut-off score, completed three forms of the modified Differential Emotions Scale, assessing, respectively, the frequency of 22 emotions over the past 2 weeks, their intensity during dreaming and during the previous day. The ANOVA revealed a different pattern of emotionality between groups: GS showed high positive emotionality in wakefulness (both past 2 weeks and 24 h) with a significant shift to negative emotionality in dreams, while PS showed evenly distributed emotional valence across all three conditions. No significant regression model emerged between waking and dream affect. In the frame of recent hypotheses on the role of dreaming in emotion regulation, our findings suggest that the different day/night expression of emotions between groups depends on a relative impairment of sleep-related processes of affect regulation in poor sleepers. Moreover, these results highlight the importance of including sleep quality assessments in future dream studies.