We conducted a multifrequency campaign for the TeV blazar Markarian 421 in 1998 April. The campaign started from a pronounced high-amplitude flare recorded by BeppoSAX and Whipple; the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) observation started three days later. In the X-ray data, we detected multiple flares, occurring on timescales of about one day. ASCA data clearly reveal spectral variability. The comparison of the data from ASCA, the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer, and the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer indicates that the variability amplitudes in the low-energy synchrotron component are larger at higher photon energies. In TeV and gamma-rays, large intraday variations-which were correlated with the X-ray flux-were observed when results from three Cerenkov telescopes were combined. The rms variability of TeV and gamma-rays was similar to that observed in hard X-rays, above ten keV. The X-ray light curve reveals flares that are almost symmetric for most cases, implying that the dominant timescale is the light crossing time through the emitting region. The structure function analysis based on the continuous X-ray light curve of seven days indicates that the characteristic timescale is approx. 0.5 days. The analysis of ASCA light curves in various energy bands appears to show both soft (positive) and hard (negative) lags. These may not be real, as systematic effects could also produce these lags, which are all much smaller than an orbit. If the lags of both signs are real, these imply that the particle acceleration and X-ray cooling timescales are similar.


Binder jet metallic additive manufacturing (AM) is a popular alternative to powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition because of lower costs, elimination of thermal cycling, and lower energy consumption. However, like other metallic AM processes, binder jetting is prone to defects like porosity, which decreases the adoption of binder-jetted parts. Binder-jetted parts are sometimes infiltrated with a low melting temperature metal to fill pores during sintering; however, the infiltration is impacted by the part geometry and infiltration environment, which can cause infill nonuniformity. Furthermore, using an infiltration metal creates a complicated multiphase microstructure substantially different than common wrought materials and alloys. To bring insight to the binder jet/infiltration process toward part qualification and improved part quality, spatially dependent ultrasonic wave speed and attenuation techniques are being applied to help characterize and map porosity in parts made by binder jet AM. In this paper, measurements are conducted on binder-jetted stainless steel and stainless steel infiltrated with bronze samples. X-ray computed tomography (XCT) is used to provide an assessment of porosity.


We studied the impact on electromigration (EM) of new materials and processes developed for nodes of 45 nm and below. Metal barrier (liner) thickness and its deposition process with ultra low k (ULK) porous dielectric have been intensively investigated.


this paper attempts to provide a new approach to discover conserved regions such as motifs in either DNA or Protein sequences. We not only use the idea of de Bruijn graphs, but also follow a parallel approach to solve this problem. The de Bruijn graph has been successfully adopted to solve problems such as local alignment and DNA fragment assembly. To accelerate the speed, our method harnesses the power of parallelism to discover the conserved regions in a DNA or protein sequence. We have found that the algorithm was successful in mining signals for larger number of sequences and at a faster rate when compared to some popular motif searching tools.


37 Background: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has become a standard method of treatment for gastric tumors. The synchronous and metachronous development of two or more primary adenocarcinomas occurs in 10 to 20% of all cases of stomach cancer. Therefore, metachronous recurrence should be a consideration after ESD has been performed. The aim of this study was to review our experiences in the management of patients with synchronous and metachronous lesions, and to evaluate their incidence and clinicopathologic features. Methods: We reviewed 194 patients who underwent ESD for gastric tumors between January 2007 and December 2011. Synchronous lesions were defined as secondary gastric tumors detected within 6 months after the initial ESD. Metachronous tumors were defined as those detected more than 6 months after the initial ESD. We investigated the incidence and clinicopathologic features of synchronous and metachronous tumors after ESD. Results: In total, 20 patients (10.3%) had synchronous lesions a...


Springloaded porphyrin NHC rhodium(III) complexes: carbene oxidation catalysis Porphyrin rhodium(III) complexes accommodate one or two NHC ligands in the apical position, which leads to severe porphyrin distortion and dearomatization. The strain in the bis(carbene) complex induces facile carbene dissociation and the formation of a catalytically active site for alcohol oxidation.


A resonant mirror biosensor was used to study cyclic nucleotide‐receptor interactions. In particular, a novel method was developed to determine inhibition constants (Ki) from initial rates of ligate association to immobilized ligand. This approach was applied to the comparison of cyclic nucleotide‐binding properties of the wild‐type isolated B domain of the cAMP‐dependent protein kinase type Iα regulatory subunit and its Ala‐334‐Thr (A334T) variant that has altered cyclic nucleotide specificity. A cUMP‐saturated form of the B domain was used for all measurements. Under the conditions used, cUMP did not affect the kinetics of B domain association to immobilized cAMP. Triton X‐100 was required to stabilize the protein at nanomolar concentrations. The association and dissociation rate constants for wild‐type and A334T B domains yielded equilibrium dissociation constants of 11 and 16 nM. Heterogeneity of ligate and immobilized ligand, mass transport effects, and other factors were evaluated for their influence on biosensor‐determined kinetic constants. Biosensor‐determined relative inhibition constants (K'i = KicAMP/K'ianalog) for 16 cyclic nucleotide analogs correlated well with those determined by a [3H]cAMP binding assay. Previously published K'i values for the B domain in the intact regulatory subunit were similar to those of the isolated B domain. The K'i values for the wild‐type and A334T B domains were essentially unchanged except for dramatic enhancements in affinity of cGMP analogs for the A334T B domain. These observations validate the isolated B domain as a simple model system for studying cyclic nucleotide‐receptor interactions.


In this paper, the development of photovoltaic module tracking and web based data acquisition system for real-time monitoring of electrical parameter of photovoltaic module and the direct solar insolation has been proposed. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of proposed photovoltaic module of photovoltaic system by remotely collecting the onsite data during its standstill and tracking mode operation and also to obtain the solar insolation over a period of time. The collected data is continuously stored on the hard disk of user computer as MS Excel file for further analysis. The proposed system can be used to analyze the performance of different photovoltaic modules before selecting them as in an array of photovoltaic system.


For many wiretap channel models asymptotically optimal coding schemes are known, but less effort has been put into actual realizations of wiretap codes for practical parameters. Bounds on the mutual information and error probability when using coset coding on a Rayleigh fading channel were recently established by Oggier and Belfiore, and the results in this paper build on their work. However, instead of using their ultimate inverse norm sum approximation, a more precise expression for the eavesdropper's probability of correct decision is used in order to determine a general class of good coset codes. The code constructions are based on well-rounded lattices arising from simple geometric criteria. In addition to new coset codes and simulation results, novel number-theoretic results on well-rounded ideal lattices are presented.


Power transmission factors (PTF) through the sheath of helium plasmas with hot electron component against two kinds of tungsten wall, virgin as well as nanostructured one due to helium irradiation are studied theoretically and experimentally. In the present theory the ion‐induced electron emission in addition to secondary electron emission is taken into account, contributing to the cooling of the wall. Some discussions on the comparison between the measurement and the modified PTF theory are given. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Inventory,an important current assets of corporation,which holds a big part in company,is an prominent source of economic benefits for company. In the first period of this paper,we will analyze and compare three methods of pricing,and then we will see the influence pricing method selecting brings on several aspects of company- the final inventory value; current profit;financial ratio analyzing target,such as ability of Short- Term debt service,ability of gaining profits,Long- Term debt service ability,and so on. In the last part,premised on New- Enterprises Accounting Rule,we find the best method of pricing for inventory,after thinking of the real situation of corporation from the ways of inventory features,management requirements,tax paying,management achievement,performance appraisal of management staff,etc.


PGC‐1α is a transcriptional coactivator induced by exercise that gives muscle many of the best known adaptations to endurancetype exercise, but has no effects on muscle strength or hypertrophy. We have identified a novel form of PGC‐1α (PGC‐1α4) that results from alternative promoter usage and splicing of the primary transcript. PGC‐1α4 is highly expressed in exercised muscle but does not regulate most known PGC‐1α targets such as the mitochondrial OXPHOS genes. Rather, it specifically induces IGF1 and represses myostatin, and expression of PGC‐1α4 in vitro and in vivo induces robust skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Importantly, mice with skeletal muscle‐specific transgenic expression of PGC‐1α4 show increased muscle mass and strength, and dramatic resistance to the muscle wasting of cancer cachexia. Expression of PGC‐1α4 is preferentially induced in mouse and human muscle during resistance exercise. These studies identify a novel PGC‐1α protein that regulates and coordinates factors involved in skeletal muscle hypertrophy.


This article analysis the root causes of Taihang Mountain poverty from natural conditions,multiple disasters and so on,and proposed under these theory guidance of configuration of vegetation dryness theory,dissipative structure theory and ecological engineering principles such as,based on Taihang Mountain area's resources superiority,though rational development and utilization of mountain resources,nurture pillar industries,take the road of sustainable development and make alleviate poverty themselves.


As early as the year 1850 most of the minerals which occur in trap rocks had been found in the trap at Bergen Hill, N. J., but evidently near the surface and not in notably fine specimens.2 The Erie railroad tunnel, technically known as Bergen Tunnel No, 1, begun in June, 1856, bored through the ridge by the tedious method of hand drilling and blasting with black powder by August 20, 1859, and opened for traffic early in 1861: first reached the deeper recesses of the New Jersey tmp in this locality and so disclosed the wealth of zeolites and associated minerals which has made it famous. Bergen Tunnel No. 2,' and others also productive of such minerals followed, but the exigencies of tunneling opposed investigation of the cotiditions under which they occurred. Not until later, when high explosives, percussion machine drills, rock crushers and the rotary kiln for making cement were perfected and led to the opening of numerous and extensive quarries throughout the State for the production of broken stone to be used in the macadam and concrete industries, were the minerals of the New Jersey trap satisfactorily accessible for study in silu. The visitor to a trap quarry productive of minerals finds that a t every depth so far reached the trap rock is riven by splits, joints and seams, or is cellular with cavities, many of which are lined with clusters of beautiful crystals or filled solidly with minerals quite foreign to the trap in composition. Few investigations appear to have extended as yet below tide level or the water table. Conceding trap to be of igneous origin it might be


The pursuit of a probabilistic based hull girder load criteria for ship structural design has led to the development of a test plan to obtain still water bending moments (SWBM) data for in-port and at- sea conditions. Several approaches for obtaining SWBM data are considered, including estimation of SWBM from manual calculations, from loading computers, and from instrumentation which would be used to measure SWBM induced strain. Recommendations are presented to obtain the SWBM data from a combination of techniques, including loading computers and an instrumentation system. A preliminary plan describes the data acquisition system, data reduction and data analysis required to obtain and characterize the SWBM data in a probabilistic format.


The objective of this research is to know the increase in the value of geopolymer concrete compressive strength using duck eggshell ash with a mixture of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxidein variations of 65%: 35%, 70%: 30%, and 75%: 25% at 7 days and 28 days with oven test specimensand control concrete which are only allowed to stand at room temperature. Ass Duck egg shells used are wastes which are burned with temperatures reaching 800 ° Cfor ± 4 hours using a ceramic burning oven. This study uses cylindrical test object with a diameter of10 cm and a height of 20 cm with the quality of the plan is fc '20 MPa. Testing of geopolymerconcrete compressive strength using a Crushing Test Machine tool. The geopolymer concretecompressive strength produced by heating concrete specimens at activator variations of 65%: 35%,70%: 30%, and 75%: 25% at 7 days ie 6,157 MPa, 12,314 MPa, and 3,736 MPa, and for 28 days ie2.547 MPa, 2.760 MPa, and 1.698 MPa. While the concrete specimens which were not heated thevalue of concrete compressive strength on activator variations were 65%: 35%, 70%: 30%, and 75%:25% at 7 days, ie 2.972 MPa, 3.991 MPa, and 1.486 MPa, and for 28 days, ie 1.401 MPa, 2.123MPa, and 1,273 MPa. It can be seen that the value of the maximum average compressive strength isin the variation of activator 70%: 30% with test specimens vented at a temperature of 79 ° C first.


This paper proposes a review on the designing of Asynchronous Viterbi Decoder. In order to reduce the power consumption and increase the speed, it is necessary to design Asynchronous Viterbi Decoder. Therefore, the aim is to design Asynchronous Viterbi Decoder by using handshaking protocol. This paper focuses on Bundled data protocol to design Asynchronous Viterbi Decoder. This paper also describes study of various units of Viterbi decoder. Viterbi decoders employed in digital wireless communications are complex and dissipiate large power. Asynchronous Viterbi Decoder have significant role in terms of performance because they saves power through not having to generate or distribute a global clock. Instead, timing between blocks is performed by local handshake signals. Asynchronous Viterbi decoders are used in wide range of applications i.e. in Wireless Communications, Digital Television broadcast, Largest applications in cell phones, Pattern recognition, Speech recognition CD ROMS and Magnetic disks etc. In Mobile station Baseband Modem, Viterbi Decoder consumes more than One-third of chip area and power dissipation of the baseband modem. Power efficiency can be increased if total power dissipation is decreased. Battery operated systems required Low power consumption. Asynchronous designs are inherently data driven and are active only when doing useful work, enabling significant savings in power and operating at the average speed of all components.


Objective To investigate the antibacterial effect of a different amount of anti-bacterial silver nano-composite bone filling material(TiO2-Ag-nHA/PA66) in vitro.Method The inhibition ring test and plate-counting method were used to evaluate the anti-bacterial performance against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922.The effects on the adhesions of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were observed by scanning electron microscope(SEM).Result The inhibition zone diameter for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli reached the maximum at 24 h,and then lessened along with the time.The material A3 effectively inhibited the survival and growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli for 33 and 24 days respectively,and its inhibition rate to the two bacteria were 94.18% and 85.96% respectively.Scanning electron microscope showed that the bacterial adhesion of experimental group was obviously lower than the control group.Conclusion The bone filling material TiO2-Ag-nHA/PA66 has antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli,but its bio-safety and in vivo antibacterial and osteogenic properties still need further study.


In 1995, the 100th anniversary of the death of year, Carl Ludwig started his experiments on the Carl Ludwig (1816–1895) was commemorated in physiology of circulation and on the methodology Leipzig with a symposium on a national level for measuring blood pressure. In 1846, he invented (Zimmer, 1996). One year later, in September 1996, the kymograph (Ludwig, 1847), the first recorder the first international Carl Ludwig Symposium for monitoring physiological processes over time. ''Growth Factors and Cardiac Hypertrophy'' was In 1849, he was appointed professor and chairman held to honour this man who has contributed to of Anatomy and Physiology at the University of the foundation and development of scientifically Zurich, Switzerland, and in 1855 Professor of Physibased and experimentally-oriented physiology. Carl ology and Zoology at the medical-surgical military Ludwig worked for almost 30 years at the University academy, the so-called Josephs-Academy (Joof Leipzig, with major emphasis on cardiovascular sephinum), in Vienna. During his 10 years in research. It seems, therefore, appropriate to give a Vienna, Carl Ludwig invented the blood gas pump brief account on this man and the Institute he and elucidated the principal processes involved in created. gas exchange and the origin and movement of the lymph. In addition, he discovered the medullary vasomotor center. However, he did not identify with the military atmosphere in the Josephs Academy, Carl Ludwig with its bureaucracy and regimentation. When he got an offer to become chairman of the Department Carl Ludwig was born December 29 1816 in Witof Physiology at the University of Leipzig, he imzenhausen, in the north of what is now the state mediately accepted. Carl Ludwig took over the chair of Hessen, Germany. In 1834, he commenced his of Physiology on May 1 1865, with his opening medical studies at the University of Marburg and lecture on ''The physiological performance of blood completed his MD degree in 1840. Until 1841, he pressure'' (Ludwig, 1865). worked in the laboratory of Robert Bunsen, obtained Carl Ludwig was involved in the foundation of a the position as prosector at the Department of new direction in physiological research. He was its Anatomy of the University of Marburg and was representative. However, he was not alone in this appointed extraordinarius for comparative anatomy respect. There was a small group of young, highly in 1846. By 1842 he had published his habilitation talented and dynamic physiologists who fought on the blood vessels in the kidney. In this paper against natural philosophy and against vitalism as (Ludwig, 1842), he, for the first time, described the function of the glomeruli correctly. In the same the determining factor in physiology. It was the


To establish LC-MS method for the analysis of cefamandole nafate and quantitatively analyse components of cefamandole nafate and cefamandole.Using analytical column,electrospray ionzation and positive ion minitoring,the samples of cefamandole nafate were determined qualitatively and quantitatively.The main related substance of cefamandole nafate was cefamandole.The purity of samples from different provines were determined.The new established method is useful for quality control and stability study of cefamandole nafate.


The present invention relates to a wiper blade means having a spring-elastic support element (10) and a wiper strip unit (12), the wiper strip unit having a wind deflector element (14) and a wiper lip (16), the wind deflector element and the wiper lip is constructed in one piece. It proposed that the support element (10) having a mounting gap (20), the mounting clearance provided for positively accommodated the wiper strip unit (12).


In its history, the city of Arequipa, Peru, has undergone cyclical processes of destruction and reconstruction. After each catastrophe, new stylistic trends were added. The 1784 seismic movement delimited the current constructive technical profile of the city. According to the Historic Center of Arequipa management plan, created in 2002 by the Provincial Municipality of Arequipa, 48.75% of the buildings are of sillar and the rest of other building materials. Here is the significance of this study, in the characterization of the pathologies present in the sillar-based buildings. In this work the observed pathologies are presented and, in parallel, a study of the vehicle density in the Historic Center of Arequipa was carried out. The results show a strong correlation between the vehicle density and the number of pathologies observed. This study allowed to define three areas with high, medium and low degree of contamination, as well as to define the damages to the monuments, product of the different pathologies and finally it is important to emphasize that the vehicles-generated emissions affect Historical Monuments, therefore it is necessary the implementation of priority measures to the city.


Modern wind turbines are extremely vulnerable to lightning strikes, especially in mountainous areas. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately assess the lightning strike risk of wind turbines considering the complex terrain in mountainous areas. A lightning risk assessment model basing on the self-consistent leader inception and propagation model (SLIM) was proposed in this paper, in which the mountain is treated as a standard cone considering the terrain height and ground slope angle. This model is used to calculate the lightning collection area of the wind turbine on different terrain heights, ground slope angles, and the location of the wind turbine. Then, this model is used to evaluate the influence on lightning strike risk with different terrain topography. Finally, according to the evaluation results, some optimized design for lightning protection devices of wind turbines were proposed.


Different types of rules (mandatory rules, overriding mandatory
rules, rules of safety, etc) are used to enforce the state
interest. Chapter deals with these types of rules from the
point of view of European Regulations and new Czech PIL Act.


Nickel-catalyzed benzylation reactions of C−H bonds in aromatic amides with benzyltrimethylammonium halides are developed by using a 5-chloro-8-aminoquinoline derivative as a bidentate directing group. Benzylation occurs selectively at the ortho-C−H bonds in aromatic amides, and no methylation was detected. The presence of a 5-chloro-8-aminoquinoline moiety is essential for the success of this reaction, in which a variety of functional groups can be tolerated.


FIELD: agriculture. SUBSTANCE: fodder product, an ingredient, a premix or an additive includes alkyl ester of a fatty acid, wherein the mentioned fatty acid has a chain length of 5-12 carbon atoms. The dosage of the mentioned ester in the mentioned fodder product for animals is 50-100 parts per million by weight of the total weight of the mentioned fodder product for animals. The dosage of the mentioned ester in the mentioned ingredient, premix or additive is 1 wt % or more of the total weight of the mentioned ingredient, premix or additive, which further comprises vitamins, microelements, minerals or organic acids. A method for reducing the risk of gram-positive bacterial infections in farm animals is to feed mammals, birds or fish with the mentioned fodder product. EFFECT: reduction in the risk of gram-positive bacterial infections in farm animals. 12 cl, 3 dwg, 4 tbl, 7 ex


Clinical research efforts from the 1980s through 2011 to find effective treatments for patients with metastatic melanoma were Herculean in effort but Sisyphean in outcome. Agents and combinations tested showed no convincing survival benefit; there were no new medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 1992 and 2011, and even first-line therapy was of questionable value as compared with supportive care. All that changed in 2010 with the publication of the first phase 3, randomized study showing a survival benefit for patients with advanced disease.1 These and subsequent results led to the FDA approvals of ipilimumab, an . . .


In several earthquake prone regions and countries, governments play a key role in establishing earthquake insurance programs in order to effectively manage risks, compensate for economic losses from property damage, speed up recovery of disastrous areas and reduce government's financial burden. This paper summarizes earthquake insurance programs in the five major earthquake-prone countries, including three Asia-Pacific countries (Japan, Taiwan, and New Zealand), Turkey and California (U.S.), discussing their history, regulations, insurance schemes and the approximate penetration rates of available policies. Further, in order to assess the performance and solvency capacity of these insurance programs, insured exposures and the resulted losses are estimated for the studied regions and countries. Based on performed studies, the results from the perspective of the operation of earthquake insurance systems in earthquake-prone countries are also discussed.


Objective To establish a Microtus fortis model of non-alcoholic fatty liver and to observe its dynamic variation of hepatic,pathological and serum indexes.Methods Seventy 6-week-old male Microtus fortis were randomly divided into two groups.The voles of model group were fed high-fat ingredients and the voles of control group were fed high-fiber diet.The voles of each group were sacrificed at weeks 2,4,6,8 and 12,respectively.The body weight and liver weight were measured,values of serum ALT,AST,ALP,r-GT,CHE,TG,TC,FFA,GLU,HDL and LDL were determined by a biochemical analyzer.The histological changes of livers were observed by light microscopy.Results The voles fed high-fat diet developed panlobular macrovesicular steatosis,whereas those fed high-fiber diet showed normal liver structure.Compared with the control group,liver weight and liver index of the model group were significantly increased,serum ALT,AST,r-GT,CHE,TC,FFA,GLU and LDL were significantly higher,and HDL and TG were significantly lower(P0.05).Conclusions A Microtus fortis model of non-alcoholic fatty liver is successfully established by high-fat diet feeding for 6 weeks.It may provide a useful tool to elucidate the pathogenesis and treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.


The process of X-ray equipping of the medical facilities with different subordinated in the pre-Soviet period is discussed in the article. There were determined and clarified the dynamics and peculiarity of this process, the opening dates of the first X-ray cabinets in the cities of the Left-bank Ukraine.


The new normal lifestyle during the COVID-19 pandemic encourages every individual to change their behavior towards digital transformation. A banking chatbot is one of the financial technologies promoted by the banking industry to meet the needs of its customers during the pandemic. However, there is still a gap between the quality of the developed chatbot service and customer expectations. The research is conducted to evaluate the factors that affect customer satisfaction with Indonesian banking chatbot services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data are collected through filling out questionnaires by 222 respondents using the snowball sampling technique. Only 100 respondents are selected and fit into the research criteria consisting of them who domicile in the JABODETABEK area and experience using Indonesian banking chatbot services. The number of respondents used as many as 100 people is also determined based on the ten times rule method and Slovin method. The variables analyzed in the research are system quality, information quality, service quality, trust, perceived value, situational factor, and personal factor. Each variable is observed for its effect on the intention to use and customer satisfaction in using Indonesian banking chatbot services. Then, the obtained data are analyzed using PLS-SEM. The results indicate that system quality, service quality, and information systems significantly positively affect customer satisfaction using Indonesian banking chatbot services. Moreover, information quality and personal factor also affect intention to use Indonesian banking chatbot services significantly and positively. The results are expected to recommend the banking industry to develop banking chatbot services to increase customer satisfaction and intention to use banking chatbot services.


Designing and implementing effective interventions for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) continues to challenge teachers. School connectedness is an emerging construct that is preventative for engagement in health-risk behavior and bullying. This article highlights a shift in intervention design and proposes a multifaceted intervention to meet the unique needs of students with EBD. Each component of the school connectedness construct is discussed with accompanying intervention strategies that can be implemented simultaneously to improve the behavioral and academic outcomes for students with EBD.


This chapter can be generally described as an attempt to engage with three themes that have been pushed to the margins in the study of the history of photography. The first of these themes is the study of the photographic production of, and by, the Palestinians. Although in the recent years, a growing number of studies have come to light regarding certain native Palestinian photographers, they remain marginal if looked at in comparison with studies of the photographies of Europe or its colonial expansions abroad. This is partly due to the fact that all non-European histories of photographies have been relegated to inferior status, and never seriously considered when studying what is deemed to be the history of the practice. Suffice to remember that when studies appear about photography in the majority world, to use the concept introduced by Shahidul Alam,1 they do not appear with titles that places them within the general history of photography, instead with hyphenated titles that connects them with the specific country or region which they depict, such as Indian photography, Palestinian, Egyptian, Ottoman, etc. But books on French, British or American photographies usually appear with titles that places them into the larger history of the discipline. Furthermore, because the particular history of Palestine has become a contested subject due to its colonisation and the uprooting of its people, very little attention is ever given to its photographic history outside the narrow circle of Palestinians and a few other academic specialists. The second theme with which this chapter deals, that has also been pushed to the margins, is that of the study of the photographic album as a compilation of images fashioned together to produce certain visual narratives. For albums are, after all, not only containers that preserve individual photographs, but


Warp tensions were measured while a machine was operating on a woven cotton fabric with three different woven patterns. This study was carried out with image analysis methods using a high speed camera. Three weave pattern types: plain, twill and satin were woven on the same weaving machine, and thus it could be understood how weave pattern differences affect warp tension. Each of these three weaves was woven in three weft densities: 20, 28 and 45 wefts per cm. These fabrics were able to be made on a weaving machine with an automatic dobby. It was aimed to investigate warp tension differences for three basic weave patterns while keeping all machine settings constant. The weave settings of the dobby were changed for plain, twill and satin weaves. Warp tension calculation was based on the warp elasticity theory. Warp elasticises were measured by image processing methods in MATLAB using a high-speed camera. It was aimed to improve upon the new method of warp extension measurement of fabric when the loom is in operation. It was observed that the warp tension in plain fabric was higher than for twill and satin under the same conditions.


1. A method of evaluating a therapeutic agent in psychiatric disorders is described. [see Tabel 1 in source pdf] 2. Advantages and disadvantages of such a method are discussed. 3. This method is used in a study of the effects of dibenamine in 30 patients suffering from various psychiatric disorders. 4. It is demonstrated that in the dosage used dibenamine is not more effective than a placebo in the care of patients as described. 5. Nausea and vomiting occurred in 11 of 30 patients receiving dibenamine, as against 2 receiving placebo. 6. An increase of symptoms was found in 3 of 5 depressed patients receiving dibenamine.


original MSS of Koestler's earliest and best novels (The Gladiators, 1939; Darkness at Noon, 1940) were recovered intact in Moscow and Zurich, respectively. On this see Scammell's essay for the New York Review of Books (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/04/07/adifferent-darkness-at-noon/). Both will be published in German (with a new English translation) no later than 2020, and for the first time allow critics to assess Koestler as a writer of German fiction. Readers of Saunders's Arthur Koestler will find it well documented via end notes and a bibliography that favour English-language sources. The book's single major drawback is its inexcusable lack of an Index—a regrettable decision that must be laid at the feet of the series editors. Koestler is well served by this new biography.


A Revolution in Eating is an engaging, creative, and informative account of food in colonial British America. Drawing on contemporary writing, compilations of colonial era documents, and scholarly studies, McWilliams succeeds admirably in his attempt "to explain not only what colonial Americans ate but also why they ate it" (p. 16). The book certainly makes a fine addition to the Columbia University Press series, "Arts and Traditions of the Table." Over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries five distinctive regional cuisines emerged as natural resources, culinary traditions, economic imperatives, and political forces intersected. Once they had displaced the Spanish, the British established a very effective and brutal system for the production of sugar, or "white gold," in the West Indies. In an attempt to keep costly food imports down, white planters compelled slaves to feed themselves. In time slaves, who made up the majority of the population, were producing sufficient quantities to sell in local markets, and much of their product found its way into white households. Drawing on West African preparations and ingredients as well as Caribbean materials, slaves created a regional cuisine that had little to do with English traditions. New England constituted the geographical, demographic, and culinary opposite to the West Indies. Colonists to the north cultivated English crops and livestock on small, diversified family farms and prepared meals after the English fashion. They did rely heavily on one American crop, maize, with which they paid taxes, made beer and puddings, and fed animals. While maize was also the mainstay of native agriculture, New Englanders cultivated the crop in neat rows on cleared fields, a way of distinguishing proper European style agriculture from what they regarded as slovenly native practice. The remaining regions fall in between the northern and southern extremes. As in the West Indies, a single cash crop (tobacco) cultivated by a large slave population drove the economy of the Chesapeake Bay area. As in New England, corn occupied a central place in the area's cuisine and English fare remained the ideal. Distinctive to the region was a diet rich in pork and spices and a tradition among the elites of fine dining and grand hospitality.


This paper presents the outcome of the research study conducted as a part of the ongoing development of the Brunel navigation system for the blind. The main aim of the study was to carry out a performance assessment to be used with high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) 3.5G wireless technology for utilization in Brunel visually impaired navigation system. The performance assessment was focused on the following 3.5G link features: delay, throughput, jitter and packet loss. These features were chosen to be assessed because they have a significant impact on the overall performance of the navigation system. The assessment involved the use of the 3.5G networks by T- Mobile and Vodafone. The study was conducted at Brunel University campus in Uxbridge, where the navigation system for the visually impaired is being developed. The results show that the HSDPA can be successfully used to establish the navigation system for the visually impaired people.


Purpose/Background Some therapeutic drug monitoring studies suggest that increased weight is associated with small increases in clozapine concentrations. The goal of this study was to reanalyze a US double-blind study using a sophisticated statistical model to test whether weight gains from baseline or increases in percentage of body fat from baseline, computed from a published equation, are associated with increased total plasma clozapine concentrations after controlling for the effects of smoking and sex. Methods/Procedures Using data from a multidosage randomized double-blind US clozapine trial previously published, a random intercept linear model of steady-state total plasma clozapine concentrations was fitted to 424 concentrations from 47 patients. Findings/Results After adjusting for sex and smoking, (1) a 1-kg gain in body weight during clozapine treatment was significantly associated with a 1.4% increase in total plasma clozapine concentrations (95% confidence interval = 0.55 to 2.3) and (2) a 1-point increase in percentage of body fat during clozapine treatment was significantly associated with a 5.4% increase in total clozapine concentration (2.5 to 8.3) in females and 1.4% (−1.1 to 4.0) in males. Implications/Conclusions As hypothesized, weight increases during clozapine treatment, which probably reflect increases in fat tissue, were associated with increases in total plasma concentrations. Pending further replication in other samples, it seems likely that clozapine may deposit in body fat and that this may decrease clozapine clearance. This change may be small in most patients but may be clinically relevant in females with major gains in body fat.


Combining with the reconstruction project of old cement concrete pavement of Xiangtan- Leiyang expressway,aiming at the 3 kinds of overlaying method commonly used in China at present,i. e.,CRC + AC composite structure, paving asphalt surface directly and paving asphalt surface after rubblization, we discussed the design methods of overlaying on old pavement in current specifications,pointed out the flaws and put forward the improvement measures. The result shows that( 1) the comprehensive stress of CRC + AC composite structure is very different from the normal concrete structure,a more clear design method be determined for this kind of structure;( 2) when calculating the temperature stress of directly paved asphalt pavement surface,the curve can be regressed and the figure of coefficient ζ' a can be broadened through Matlab software,and to add design criterion about meeting the requirements of preventing the load reflective cracking and the temperature reflective cracking is of great significance;( 2) the initial measured deflection value of the asphalt overlaying thickness after rubblization,which is designed by the theory of elastic layer system on semi-infinite foundation,cannot meet the requirements.


We occasionally encountered difficult cases of balloon and stent delivery to the distal lesion because of narrow stent strut, severe calcification, or tortuosity of the proximal section. We describe a new technique to deliver balloon, stent, and guiding catheter to the distal lesion using a distal balloon deflation. This technique offers a potential alternative for cases in which the delivery of balloon and stent is difficult. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Geodesics escape is widely used to study the scattering of hyperbolic equations. However, there are few progresses except in a simply connected complete Riemannian manifold with nonpositive curvature. We propose a kind of complete Riemannian metrics in $\mathbb{R}^n$, which is called as escape metrics. We expose the relationship between escape metrics and geodesics escape in $\mathbb{R}^n$. Under the escape metric $g$, we prove that each geodesic of $(\mathbb{R}^n,g)$ escapes, that is, $\lim_{t\rightarrow +\infty} |\gamma (t)|=+\infty$ for any $x\in \mathbb{R}^n$ and any unit-speed geodesic $\gamma (t)$ starting at $x$. We also obtain the geodesics escape velocity and give the counterexample that if escape metrics are not satisfied, then there exists an unit-speed geodesic $\gamma (t)$ such that $\overline{\lim}_{t\rightarrow +\infty} |\gamma (t)|<+\infty$. In addition, we establish Morawetz multipliers in Riemannian geometry to derive dispersive estimates for the wave equation on an exterior domain of $\mathbb{R}^n$ with an escape metric. More concretely, for radial solutions, the uniform decay rate of the local energy is independent of the parity of the dimension $n$. For general solutions, we prove the space-time estimation of the energy and uniform decay rate $t^{-1}$ of the local energy. It is worth pointing out that different from the assumption of an Euclidean metric at infinity in the existing studies, escape metrics are more general Riemannian metrics.


Atrial myxomas are uncommon tumors and are reported to occur in approximately 8 to 250 cases per million autopsies ( 1-4). Prompt surgical treatment of myxomas after diagnosis is recommended because of their potentially fatal obstructive and embolic complications (5,6). Recently a 26-year old pregnant female was admitted and found to have a left atrial myxoma. Open-heart surgery with cardiopulmonary was recommended even in view of the fact that she was in her second trimester of pregnancy. During the twenty-third week of gestation open-heart surgery was performed using cardiopulmonary bypass and the tumor was removed. Fetal heart rate monitoring during cardiopulmonary bypass has been utilized and described in the past (7-9). In addition, alterations in the fetal heart rate pattern, particularly persistant fetal bradycardia, have been found to be indicators of acute fetal hypoxia in both the third trimester and during parturition (I 0). Fetal monitoring was performed during this patient's cardiac surgical procedure with the aid of an external Doppler ultrasonic transducer (Corometrics Medical Systems, Inc. Model 101). Persistant fetal bradycardia was observed during cardiopulmonary bypass despite acceptable maternal oxygenation and acid-base balance.


Complications like swelling, trismus, and pain are common after third molar surgery. This Study was conducted to compare and evaluate the therapeutic effect of dexamethsone intramuscular VS submucosal on these complications. Sixty patients with mandibular impaction were included in this study. Thirty patients were given 4mg submucosal dexamethasone and the control group was given 4 mg intra muscular dexamethasone immediatelyafter surgical extraction. Patients with contraindication to the use of steroids were excluded from this study. Facial swelling and maximal interincisal distance were measured by an independent examiner at baseline (preoperatively), and at 2 nd, 3rd, 5th day and 7th days postoperatively. Pain was measured by the patients' response to a visual analogue scale. Results: The submucosal dexamethasone group showed significant reduction in swelling (p


Pterocarpus marsupium commonly known as Indian Kino tree or Asana or Vijayasar. It is highly enriched with an array of phytoconstituents including pterosupin, pterostilbene, liquirtigenin, isoliquiritigenin, epicatechin, kinoin, kinotannic acid, carsupin, marsupol, and so on. Many of these constituents have been explored for numerous biological actions like anti-cancer, anti-cataract, antidiabetic, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, cardiotonic, hepatoprotective etc. Thus, the current review`s aims to provide the complete pharamacognocy, phytochemistry and pharmacological profile of Pterocarpus marsupium.


The Savannah River Site (SRS) has a need to transport Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) within site boundaries. A Type A fissile package design similar to the General Electric (GE) RA-3 and the Westinghouse PATRIOT packages has been selected for these shipments. This package design involves the use of light gage steel shapes, oriented to absorb energy from deformation and friction bearing contact surfaces, in between a thin gage mild carbon steel inner and outer shell. The RA-3 and the PATRIOT2 were both qualified by testing rather than analysis. To validate the SRS specific design, an advanced ABAQUS model of the package has been created to subject the package to dynamic impact analyses. The model was created to demonstrate the level of protection of the fuel assemblies and evaluate the impact absorbing capabilities of the package design concept.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


The cement-asphalt mixture was introduced,and the formatting mechanism of cement-asphalt covering composite material intensity was analysis.It pointed out that the composite material improved the performances related to temperature,which made composite material had better high temperature stability and better water stability simultaneously.


Educated women are more productive, more confident, marry later, use family planning, and have healthier children. There are an estimated 600 million illiterate women in the world, which is double the number of male illiterates. Improvements have been made in the past 10 years in educating girls. Current figures indicate that 65% of girls and 78% of boys enter primary school in developing countries vs. 20% and 11%, respectively, 10 years earlier. 37% of girls and 48% of boys are in secondary schools. An additional 56 million girls need to be enrolled in order to achieve parity with boys. The education of girls in Africa has suffered setbacks in the past decade due to economic recession. Primary school enrollment fell from 80% of eligible children in 1980 to 76% in 1986. Many countries are having difficulty keeping pace with population growth and educating more girls. There are many factors which interfere with girls' schooling: shortages of schools, lack of educational materials, cost of schools or educational materials, girl's status in society, competition with other household chores, child labor, time schedules of classes, flexibility of schools in allowing dropping in and out of school, lack of the appropriate kind of resources, distance to schools, lack of sanitation, and values emphasizing "respectability" rather than autonomy. Many countries are using innovative solutions to these difficulties. For example, in Bangladesh, Liberia, Morocco, and Tanzania, schools are "double shift" where classes are conducted in the morning, in the afternoon, and sometimes again in the evening for adult education. Communities and shanty towns are constructing their own crude buildings as schools close to home. However, in Egypt school construction is not the only answer; 400 new primary schools were opened and male enrollment increased from 90% to 100% and female enrollment rose to 74%. In Nigeria, cost of books and uniforms prevents many from attending. Poor families must be selective in choosing who will attend. Scholarships and pay as you go plans are being tried in many countries. Labor-saving domestic technology and measures to conserve natural resources provide greater opportunity for girls constrained by domestic chores. Compulsory schooling helps to reduce child labor. Increasing female teachers, building dormitories near school, and providing sanitary facilities also have increased girl enrollments. Times are changing.


To raise the scientific research level and comprehensive strength of universities,it is necessary and very important to construct a public scientific research platform using the special financial capital from the well-known university "211" and "985" projects.With a group of high quality researchers and a scientific and efficient management mechanism in the public platform,as well as the powerful support from Central South University,a first rate public platform can certainly be constructed.


During the outbreak of Covid-19, emergency remote teaching (ERT) appeared as a hot topic research area However, ERT remains a general term that needs to be operationalized in specific contexts such as English language teaching (ELT) in the Arab league countries where the classroom challenges and reactions of Arab English language instructors are under-researched Therefore, this study synthesized ELT with ERT to introduce emergency remote English language teaching (ERELT) It investigates the virtual classroom challenges and the suggested remedies that Arab English language instructors have met while delivering their emergency on-distance lectures A qualitative research design was followed in which online discussion was conducted on ResearchGate The data were built from the responses of 19 English language instructors in the Arab league countries Using grounded theory, the analysis revealed two lines of challenges depending on whether these countries are low-tech or high-tech In low-tech countries, due to the absence of technological infrastructure, ERELT did not take place In high-tech countries, the challenges are twofold: technical and pedagogical The study concludes that syllabus designers and English language lecturers need to incorporate virtual teaching and learning as part and parcel of traditional teaching and learning practices In low tech countries, traditional media such as television and radio may offer alternative emergency solutions This article contributes with a bottom-up model for ERELT to pave the way for future research © 2021, CALL-EJ All rights reserved


Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) investigations were carried out on hybrid Core-Shell nanomaterials associating silicon carbide nanoparticles and conducting polyaniline. The performed experiments compare the paramagnetic centres, the electronic transport features and the interface effects in two classes of materials, bare polymers and core-shell nanocomposites. By EPR, large doping rates were demonstrated in the bare doped polymers through important saturation phenomena which alter significantly the EPR spectrum features. Furthermore, memory effects were involved in the bare doped polymer with regard to the EPR spectrum features depending on the conditions of its thermal treatments. In the hybrid core-shell nanocomposites nor such saturation and nor memory effects were found on the EPR signals even if similar paramagnetic centres exist in both classes of samples. These behaviors were discussed taking into account the thermal stability and the doping efficiency in the considered classes of materials. Optimal doping levels were then realized and their effects on the polymers and the nanocomposites were clarified by using EPR and DRS (dielectric relaxation spectroscopy) measurements. Also, it is demonstrated that the charge carriers consist in polarons in the nanocomposites while bipolarons contributions dominate the electrical conductivity in the bare doped polymers.


District Heating (DH) networks are getting closer and closer to the concept of "Smart Grids" to deal with the contribution of new technologies and paradigms like Renewable Energy Sources, Distributed Generation, Low Energy Buildings, Distributed Storage and Low Temperature District Heating. This requires good anticipation of the system's dynamics with the objective of improving control, which is of less importance in classical DH. This work analyses the specificities of DH for anticipating this dynamics and a simulation model for the heat transportation in a network is proposed, based on a finite element transient model. Its application to branched network topologies gives the spatio-temporal distribution of temperature along all the pipes and in all the network's nodes within a specified time frame, regardless of the number of input and output pipes in the node. With it we can see the delay between the change in the settings at the generation points and the time they are perceived by the different substation in the network, which is a prerequisite for optimal control. The model is tested using different inputs that are forced to vary greatly to highlight the results. A comparison between the model developed by the authors and the existing Node method is presented. These results shed light on the necessities and opportunities in DH, mainly for enhanced control in the new energy context.


Few subjects seem to have intrigued Guy de Maupassant as much as monsters. His short stories are replete with deformed and disfigured beings whose presence conditions the trajectory of the narrative as well as the relationship between the narrator and the reader. It is perhaps not surprising that Maupassant would so heavily populate his tales with monsters. As he suggests in his chronicles, the male author himself is "un monstre autant par ses qualites que par ses defauts, car, en lui, aucun sentiment simple n'existe plus" ("La Femme de lettres," II, 430), and thus, Maupassant's very identity as an homme de lettres is entwined in the plight of the monster. Nor is it incidental that Maupassant links monstrousness to the male experience. Monstrousness, as Barbara Johnson remarks in her study of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, has always been much more consonant with masculinity than with femininity (151). Maupassant's seemingly inordinate interest in monsters might best be attributed, then, to the specific estheti c and representational problems posed by the (male) monster's body. One of the monster's most salient features is, of course, its peculiar relationship to beauty: it is a being defined by ugliness; it compels viewing, but is hideous to behold. Maupassant's strategic deployment of the monster thus highlights an unusual aporia in the history of Western cognitive development: the "normative" male experience which has given shape to the history of Western culture has, at the same time, imbued masculinity with monsterism. Creating Monsters La mere aux monstres, one of Maupassant's best-known tales of monsterism, links the cognitive enigmas posed by the monster to the act of storytelling itself. The tale begins when the narrator encounters a beautiful Parisian woman as he strolls along a beach frequented by the social elite. The encounter evokes the memory of a story which had been told to the narrator long before. The tale, which involves a country girl who gives birth to a series of hideously deformed children, highlights the strange concomitance between monsterism and reproduction, whether biological or artistic. As the narrator indicates in his introduction to the framed narrative, the initial account of the country girl's "misdeeds" took place as he was being conducted on a tour of the most prominent art and architectural features of a friend's hometown: J'avais ete invite par un ami a demeurer quelque temps chez lui dans une petite ville de province. Pour me faire les honneurs du pays, il me promena de tous les cotes, me fit voir les paysages vantes, les chateaux, les industries, les ruines; il me montra les monuments, les eglises, les vieilles portes sculptees, des arbres de taille enorme ou de forme etrange, le chene de saint Andre et I'if de Roqueboise. (I, 842) Having exhausted the region's resources in natural and artistic beauty, the narrator's friend, "navre qu 'il n'y avait plus rien a visiter" (I, 842), suddenly remembers one of the regions most notable phenomena; he decides to introduce the narrator to la mere aux monstres. The narrative thus engages on a curious quest in which the act of narration, a metaphorical birthing process, is linked to a literal birthing of the monster. The narrator will aid the reader, presumably bored by a paucity of beauty in her or his environment, by giving birth to a monster, just as his friend supplemented his hometown's lack of beauty by (re)producing a monstrous tale for the narrator. The narrative contract is, in fact, based on a paradox: I will show you further beauty by revealing to you the source of ugliness/monstrousness. This is, in effect, the same paradoxical arrangement that the narrator proposes to the tale's readers in the outermost frame of the tale by implying that he will reveal "cette horrible histoire et cette horrible femme" in the unfolding of his story. …


To designing pipe diameter, several flow resistance formulae are available in literature. Generally, these are relationships relating friction loss, relative roughness and Reynolds number. Here, an iterative procedure, based on the solution of a second order equation (standard approach), is presented. Then an effective and simple procedure (advanced approach) for designing circular pipes by means of the Colebrook-White transition formula is provided. Latter procedure is proven to be accurate in double precisionafter a limited number of iterative steps.


Compared to other fields of study, maritime archaeology is relatively new to a world of archaeological studies that have up to now mostly focused on land resources. Often, waterways are perceived by archaeologists as barriers between communities, and the seas are seen as delimiting nation's boundaries; their use by ancient communities is often oversimplified in archaeological theories. In other cases where the role of water bodies is mentioned, fundamental factors such as trade winds, currents, nautical technology and seafaring capacities are not examined thoroughly. For the maritime archaeologists, these are at the core of their approach. Shipwrecks are not the sole focus of the maritime archaeologists, whose aim is to apprehend maritime material culture from a maritime perspective.


This article has tried to show a synthesis of data on the influence of emotional factors, specifically anxiety and depression, in the process of health and disease. These factors have been associated with chronic diseases such as variables influencing the initiation, development and maintenance. We have basically two ways to hypothesize this issue in a general explanatory way. The first refers to the influence of anxiety and depression in the behavior, so that interfere with healthy habits and encourage the development of inappropriate behavior that endanger our health. The second mechanism related to the impact of psychophysiological activation in organic systems, affecting immunity, for example. But not only there is a relationship in the course of the disease, but also knows a high comorbidity of these disorders with anxious and depressive disorders, often as a result of the suffering of the same. Finally, we have also revised the interventions that have proven effective in the treatment of symptoms of anxiety and depression in chronically ill.


By incorporating Si into AsSeGe system, we demonstrate a 3D stackable OTS+PCM memory in a 1k by 1k cross-point memory array with extremely low $\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{tS}}$ drift (~0V after 3 days from programming), wide $\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{tS}}/\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{tR}}$ window (>2V main distribution memory window), high endurance (>2E11 cycles), excellent $\mathrm{I}_{\mathrm{OFF}}$ and thermal stability. So far, attempts to improve the thermal stability of AsSeGe system sacrifice $\mathrm{I}_{\mathrm{OFF}}$ and cycling endurance. We show that Si incorporation relaxes this trade-off and can greatly improve the thermal stability and cycling endurance while also achieving good $\mathrm{I}_{\mathrm{OFF}}$. In particular the $\mathrm{I}_{\mathrm{OFF}}$ of AsSeGeSi selector is improved over the AsSeGe system for films of 20 nm.


Abstract This paper introduces a Petri net designed for the simulation of the ancient game called Rock-Paper-Scissors or Roshambo. The network enables us to simulate the behavior of machine players and allows us to design and evaluate strategies against weighted random machine opponents. The paper also presents a theoretical calculus on winning chances. Simulations carried out using the software package Pipe (version 4.3.0) fully confirm the theoretical considerations.


The utility model provides a safety device for a syringe needle, comprising a needle, a needle stand and a needle lid. Wherein, the back end of the needle is inserted on the front end of the needle stand, and the needle lid for encircling the needle is arranged on the exterior margin of the needle stand; buckled holes are arranged on the both sides of the back end of the needle lid while elastic lugs which are corresponding to the buckled holes are arranged on the front end of the needle stand; a frangible concave ring which is inward depressed is formed on the back end of the needle stand. Before injection, the needle lid of the safety device for a syringe needle of the utility model is moved rearward, which enables the front end of the needle lid to expose to inject; after injection, the needle lid is moved forward. The needle lid is fixed by mutual fastening of the buckled holes and the elastic lugs, and then is fractured by the frangible concave ring. A traditional injection needle is altered to the injection needle which can not be recycled, and is safe, which obtains to lift medical safety.


Global warming as a result of greenhouse gas emissions is predicted to increase air temperature during this century.Forests are important terrestrial ecosystems,and are particularly sensitive to climate change.Increasing temperatures could have a number of serious consequences for forests such as prolonging the growth season of plants;changing the structure and dynamics of plant communities;changing the geographic distribution of communities(extending into the alpine region);blocking photosynthesis,and affecting biodiversity.These impacts,in turn,can be expected to have consequences for the structure and function of forest ecosystems,especially in high latitude and altitude regions.Gongga Mountain is in the subalpine zone of the eastern area of Qing-Tibet Plateau,and is thought to be a fragile zone sensitive to climate change.The terrestrial ecosystems in this region are predicted to experience climate change.Abies fabiri(Mast.) Craib is one of the dominant conifers in the subalpine area of the western Sichuan Province of China.This species is very important for the ecosystem in this region as the main constructive species of the subalpine dark coniferous forests.Temperature and N nutrient supply have been recognized as the two limiting growth factors of Abies fabiri.The present study investigated the effects of a short-term warming on growth,nutrients and stoichiometric traits of Abies fabiri seedlings.We artificially simulated global warming using an infrared heater at the nearby Gongga Alpine Forest Ecosystem Observation Station,Chinese Academy of Sciences.In the growing season,the average monthly temperatures of soil at depths of 5,10 and 20 cm were increased by 5.04℃,4.81℃ and 4.35℃,respectively,air temperature was increased 1.12℃ also;however,soil water content at depths of 5,10 and 20 cm were decreased by 7.03%,6.10% and 6.40%,respectively,and air relative humidity was decreased by 6.30% as well.Total biomass was decreased by short-term warming compared with the biomass of the control seedlings.Root length,basal diameter,plant height,root shoot ratio,leaf mass ratio,root mass ratio and specific leaf area(SLA) also decreased,while stem mass ratio increased with short-term warming.These findings indicated that seedling growth was impeded by short-term warming.Additional data showed that C concentrations in stems and leaves were decreased by 7.75% and 2.29%,while concentrations increased by 2.76% in roots.However,there were no significant effects of short-term warming on C concentrations in root,stems or leaves(P 0.05).N concentration in stems was significantly decreased by 14.49%(P 0.05) while concentrations in roots and leaves increased by 19.78% and 5.70% but these were not significant(P 0.05).There were no effects of short-term warming on the P concentration in roots,stems or leaves compared with the control seedlings.Short-term warming also affected the stoichiometric characteristics of Abies fabric in root,stem and leaves but these differences were not significant.The ratios of C ∶ N and N ∶ P in seedlings exposed to short-term warming were lower than in the control seedlings.In contrast,the C ∶ P ratio was higher than in the controls.The order of mean ratios were: stem(92.59±4.92) root(61.89±1.65)leaf(60.81±3.23) for C ∶ N ratios,leaf(4.99±0.22) root(4.44±0.58)stem(3.64±0.10) for N ∶ P ratios,and stem(336.35±8.70)leaf(302.85 ± 4.49)root(274.86±5.27) for C ∶ P ratios.In summary,this study suggests that short-term warming decreased seedling growth,altered biomass allocation and C ∶ N ∶ P stoichiometry pattern.A shortage in N nutrient supply is suggested to have caused the decreased growth of seedlings in the warming and control treatments.


This article sets out to analyse from both anthropological and comparative perspectives two trattorie -the Tuscan Trattoria da Aldo and the Old Trattoria Arlati- in Bicocca, a post-industrial Milanese neighbourhood. In order to best consider food consumption rhetorics in these historical places, I am using ethnographic observation, employing as sources web portal online reviews from sites such as Tripadvisor.it, 2spaghi.it, and Yelp.it, blog contents, and the restaurants' own official websites. Here, the consumption of food plays an important role in revealing how the so-called "new" inhabitants of this area perceive, interpret, and excite new discourse on the social memory of the area itself. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n1p469


Purpose – This paper seeks to offer an alternative critique to graduated response, a warning and sanction mechanism aimed at fighting online piracy.Design/methodology/approach – This paper reflects on and frames graduated response in terms of theories on surveillance society and code. In particular, it analyses the graduated response debate in the European Union and the current initiatives in France and the UK.Findings – The paper argues that graduated response portrays rights holders as being in a state of emergency, is a form of social sorting, and has a technological bias.Originality/value – This paper contends that many objections raised to graduated response have been reduced to issues concerning the procedure rather than the principle, and that important societal questions concerning graduated response remain un(der)explored.


The paper analyses the status of literature work in school instruction and its effects on pupils. We have tried to examine how the way a pupil accepts and rationalizes literature work influences the character and contents of literature communication. The rational explanation would be that the interpretation of a literature work is co-conditioned with its genre, pupils' age, and the level to which the work anticipates readers to participate in it. In compliance with this methodological approach, appropriate forms of instruction are applied. They have been illustrated by the examples of school readings best practice.


ABSTRACT Asphalt and heavy oil occur in sandstone and limestone of Mississippian age in north Alabama. These petroliferous rocks occur in the Pride Mountain Formation, the Hartselle Sandstone, and the Bangor Limestone. Petroleum is more areally extensive in the Hartselle than in the Pride Mountain and the Bangor. The Hartselle Sandstone consists of two major lithofacies: (1) a clean, medium- to very thick-bedded, cross-laminated facies with little or no matrix associated with barrier-bar and upper coastal sands environments; and (2) a thin- to medium-bedded ripple-laminated to very thick-bedded muddy facies with significant terrigenous matrix and interbeds of mudstone associated with intertidal, lower coastal sands and transition zone environments. The Hartselle Sandstone was probably deposited under relatively stable conditions as a tidally influenced system of subparallel, northwest-southeast trending linear sand bodies characteristic of barrier-bar sedimentation and is a product of the lateral migration of morphologically defined depositional environments. The richest asphalt impregnation is in the clean facies; this facies also forms prominent sandstone ridges in the outcrop area. Oil saturation in the impregnated intervals of the Hartselle ranges from 1 to 60 percent and averages about 27 percent. The porosity of the saturated zone of the Hartselle ranges from 0.4 to 24.0 percent and averages 13 percent. The impregnated interval ranges from 1 to 55 feet thick and has an average thickness of 21.3 feet. Resource calculations indicate that average oil in-place is 285.5 barrels/acre-foot or 5,269.6 barrels/acre or 3.6 gallons of oil per ton of impregnated sandstone. The indicated-subeconomic petroleum resources of the Hartselle Sandstone are estimated as being 1.18 billion barrels of oil in 350 square miles where the Hartselle is more than 150 feet thick.


Gastrostomies have been performed repeatedly; but, unless the cardiac end of the stomach is tied, the food flows backwards up the oesophagus into the trachea, except in the very few cases where there is nfo tracheo-oesophageal fistula. It has been the hope of some surgeons to keep the patients alive long eno-ugh to perform an intrathoracic plastic operation at a later date. This seems a forlorn hope, and it is questionable whether it would be justified even if successful, for so many cases are associated with nmLultiple congenital lesions.


Increasing demand for water, uncertainties in water supply, and escalating risk to infrastructure create urgency around the need for water supply portfolios to be re‐evaluated.


The subject of this paper is an infrared and liquid chromatographic characterization of epoxy molding compounds of importance in the microelectronic manufacturing industry. A complete infrared description of resin extracts from 4000 to 700 cm−1 is given for three nondisclosed commercial extracts via comparisons with model epoxy cresol novolac and phenol formaldehyde novolac resins and by observing those spectral alternations affected during cure. In addition, both the molecular weight distributions and the methodology of obtaining such for the resin and hardener components of the extracts are described. These results are based upon reversed phase liquid chromatography and infrared spectroscopic measurements. The analysis described in this paper demonstrates significant differences among materials that, by chromatography alone, appear to have only subtle variations in both the resin and hardener molecular weight distributions. These differences include not only the quantity of resin or hardener of a particular oligomeric molecular weight, but also the apparent resin-to-hardener stoichiometry of the combined system.


Work intensification can be defined as the increase in energy expenditure by the worker in the exercise of his current occupations. Given the complexity of the phenomenon, this study aimed to analyze the scientific literature on work intensification to map the field and propose a research agenda. Three approaches were developed from 98 articles extracted from the Web of Science, namely bibliometric, scientometric, and content analyses. The findings reveal that the scientific production on the subject had a significant increase between 2010 and 2019; predominant themes are work-family conflict, repetitive strain, and teleworking, among others. Furthermore, the research agenda reveals rich possibilities for gaps and future studies.


In this paper, the existence and nonexistence of nonnegative entire large solutions for the quasilinear elliptic equation are established, where , and are nondecreasing and vanish at the origin. The locally H lder continuous functions and are nonnegative. We extend results previously obtained for special cases of and g.


1 Texto de la ponencia del autor en las XXVI Conversaciones de Salamanca sobre La enseñanza de la Filosofía dentro de la formación teológica, UPSA, 7 y 8 de junio de 2012. Abstract: he different relationships between Theology and Philosophy are a constant issue in the History of the Church, due to the fact that the Church has especially sought dialogue with those seeking the Truth. This strong belief is shown, more concretely, in every ecclesiastical educational curriculum since they came into being; in all of them the philosophical and theological work of Saint Thomas Aquinas has always remained as the example to follow. It is about a philosophical option which widens reason and provides it with a wisdom attribute, because it never rejects a coherent response with his tendency for infinity. The new decree to amend philosophical studies for the Catholic Higher Education Institutions aims to regain that tradition of knowledge, based on a realistic model of thought, as not all philosophical systems are appropriate for theological consideration.


Let K be a field of characteristic 0 and {x(1,2},... ,x{,~-l,,q} be a set of (~) variables indexed by the pairs {i , j} of {1 , . . . , n} . The symmetric group ~ acts naturally on these variables by q.x{~,D := x{~,(~),,,(j)). Finally, let K[x{~,j)] be the ring of polynomials in the xU,j}. We study the subring 3, := ]K[x{~,j}] 6" of invariant polynomials. Our motivation comes from applications to the problems of isomorphism and reconstruction of weighted graphs. Our primary goal is to construct complete systems of invariants (systems which separates valuated graphs up to isomorphy), and in particular minimal generating systems. For n = 4, such a minimal generating system has been constructed by hand by Aslaksen, Chan et Gulliksen [ACG96], and can now be computed in a few seconds by the usual invariant theory softwares (e.g. Kemper's packages in Maple and Magma [Kem98b]). However, for n _> 5, those softwares are unable to compute minimal generating sets, even partial. We wrote PerMuVAR, a library of invariant theory routines for MuPAD, using the usual algorithms [Stu93, Kem98b], but specialized for permutation groups. This allowed us to go a little step further: for n = 5, we computed a generating system containing a thousand of polynomials of degree < 22, and a minimal system, containing 57 polynomials of degree _< 9, which is likely to be generating. Another step further would be to refine the majoration


Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of using jojoba meal in ration on growing lambs performance. The first experiment was carried out to determine the in vitro disappearance of dry and organic matter (IVDMD and IVOMD) of the different experimental concentrates containing different levels of jojoba meal from 0 to 24% instead of undecorticated cottonseed meal.Depending on the results of first experiment 20 growing Rahmany lambs (about 6 mouths old and 21kg body weight) were used to evaluate the effect of feeding jojoba rations on the growth performance. Animals were randomly assigned into 4 similar feeding groups (5 animals each) to fed one of the experimental rations, all rations consisted of 50% roughage (25% clover hay + 25% rice straw) and 50% concentrate feed mixture (CFM) without jojoba meal (R1, control), 3% jojoba meal (R2), 6% jojoba meal (R3) or 9% jojoba meal (R4). Rations were formulated to cover maintenance and growth requirements of the growing lambs according to NRC, 1994. At the end of feeding trial nutrients digestibility, blood, rumen and carcass treats were be carried out. Results of second experiment indicated that the digestibility of DM, OM, CP, EE, NFE and nutritive value expressed as TDN decreased (P<0.05) with increasing the level of jojoba meal in the rations, except CF digestibility and nutritive value expressed as DCP of lambs fed R4 recorded higher values (P<0.05) than the other rations. Also, animals fed R4 recorded higher (P<0.05) values of blood serum albumin and globulin, feed efficiency expressed as kg DM, TDN and DCP /kg gain among the other groups. On the other hand total protein, GPT and GOT concentration, ruminal pH values and DCP intake were not significantly (P<0.05) affected by the jojoba meal levels. Lambs received R1 and R2 showed higher (P<0.05) albumin/ globulin ratio, NH 3 -N, weight gain, feed intake expressed as DM or TDN, hot carcass weight, dressing percentage, rumen full and empty, pelt, tail weight separable fat, meat and fat in carcass compared with those in other rations . Carcass characteristics of lambs were significantly less (P<0.05) affected by addition of jojoba meal to rations. Conclusively, it could be recommended that replacing undecorticated cottonseed meal with jojoba meal (till 9%) in growing lambs rations seems to be the best for good performance and economic efficiency.


The objective was to evaluate the influence of treatment with rhG‐CSF on allergic indexes. This was done by open trial of 5 days' treatment with rhG‐CSF (5 μg/kg/day s. c.). 10 patients (6 men), aged 28 to 54 years, with rhinoconjunctivitis due to grass pollen allergy, participated in the investigation. Main measures were blood count, basophil histamine release, skin test and conjunctival provocation test. Results: The treatment resulted in significant increases in numbers of neutrophils (590%), basophils (280%), eosinophils (250%) and lymphocytes (71%). Total blood histamine was increased, but basophil histamine releasability was decreased. Serum alkaline phosphatase increased 92% and serum lactate dehydrogenase increased 35% (both significant). There were no significant changes in the skin tests and the conjunctival provocation tests. Two months after the treatment all tests had returned to baseline levels. Five of the patients (50%) reported side effects, one withdrew. In conclusion treatment with rhG‐CSF increases the number of circulating blood cells other than neutrophils without causing changes in indexes of allergic reactivity.


I owe my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Hassan Azzazy. I'd like to thank him for the opportunities he gave me, the doors he opened for me, the important roles he played in many turning points in my life, and for helping me making critical decisions and taking big steps in my academic and professional careers.

I'd like to acknowledge the support the management of Cairo Concentrate Plant - Atlantic Industries has given to me. I'd like to specially thank my direct manager, Amr Mahgoub, for the interest and flexibility he has shown during the course of my enrollment in the chemistry graduate program.

I'd like to share the credit of my work with my dear friend and colleague at the Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics Research Group at AUC, Mai Mansour. She has always been there, and this work would never have been possible without her encouragement, guidance, and valuable advices.

A special thanks to the rest of my "teammates" at the Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics Research Group for their help and encouragement. It's an honor and a great pleasure being part of this team.

Finally, I'd like to thank my dear family for the continuous support they give me in every possible way.


A method which is a combination of the Halpern method and proximal point method
(PPA) is introduced in this paper. It is proved that the sequence of iterates generated by our method converges strongly
to a point which is a common solution to some monotone inclusion problem and fixed point problem in CAT$(0)$ spaces under some appropriate conditions.


Nonconformity detection and reporting are evergoing issues in quality management practice and theory. Throughout industrialisation, and consequently, in the Industry 4.0 period, manufacturing organisations strived to reduce nonconformities to the minimum level and reach zero-defect production. Nowadays, it is feasible to overcome this issue by incorporating adequate information and communication technologies and edge devices for nonconformity reporting, and nonconformity classification. These assumptions were a starting point for the research presented in this paper. This paper aims to propose a software solution for nonconformity detection and preventive and corrective actions definition that expands the utilisation of edge devices in compliance with Industry 4.0 and Quality 4.0 paradigms. Presented software solution design is based on JavaScript programming language and its ability to be implemented in all software solution's tiers through interconnected frameworks (MongoDB, Express.js, Angular, and Node.js) in a MEAN stack. The developed solution is implemented in three small and medium enterprises. Initial results show several benefits in increasing nonconformity detection and reporting, increasing employee participation in preventive and corrective actions definition and improved quality management system. The number of corrective and preventive actions was taken based on the assistance of the prediction module. All nonconformities were related to specific sections of ISO 9001:2015 standards so that quality managers and managers in the companies could have insight into the sources of the issues and the foundation for defining different managerial actions. When comparing the newly developed solution and other affordable solutions, it was determined that the new solution has a higher operating velocity if there is a significant increase in the volume of queries towards databases. The paper's main contribution reflects in the software solution's presentation intended for affordable identification and nonconformities massive workload reporting, integrated with other software modules for quality analysis, prediction, and problem-solving. In this way, it is possible to obtain horizontal scalability and richness of the proposed software solution for smart enterprises focused on World Class manufacturing and lean manufacturing. Furthermore, it is possible to achieve a shorter time for nonconformities elimination and better compliance with the ISO 9001: 2015 standard. The presented solution usage contributes to all participants involved in the organisation of production and production itself, through (1) involvement of all employees; (2) digitalisation and improvement of existing nonconformity reporting systems; (3) improvement of nonconformity perception; (4) improved awareness and evaluation of employer's contribution to nonconformity management; (5) making the technology easy to use. The research's novelty lies in presented solution utilisation for real-time nonconformity classification and proactive and corrective measures proposals through communication and prediction modules.


Measurements of the length of the eye have been made from the 18th century onwards. In the first measurements, performed in vitro on enucleated eyes or those of cadavers, it was only possible to determine the outer length of the axis, i. e., from the anterior corneal surface to the outer scleral wall in the posterior pole. Eisler (1 930) collected the results of several investigations. and found a mean value of 24.27 mm for the outer axis length in normal eyes. Table I, reproduced from Stenstrom (1946), shows the figures given by a number of authors, whose determinations were made chiefly in myopic eyes. Erggelet & Geserick (1936) carried out measurements in 122 eyes of cadavers (refraction unknown), and found the mean outer length of the axis to be 24.68 k 0.089 mm. The distribution was almost symmetric. Theoretical calculations have been made of the length of the optic axis, i. e., from the anterior corneal surface to the retina in the posterior pole, on the basis of certain known factors in the optic system of the eye. Strombcrg (1936) measured over 5000 eyes, and computed the axis length theoretically. He based his figures on Gullstrand's schematic eye, in which the refracting power of the lens is 19.11 D, and the distance from the top of the cornea to the optic centre of the lens is 5.68 mm. This gave a mean value of about 24.0 mm for the inner axis length. The standard deviation was only k 0.63 mm, which must be too low. In these calculations, the depth of the anterior chamber and the refracting power of the lens were assumed to be constant, which greatly reduced the possibilities of variations in axis length. Tron (1929, 1934) calculated the axis length theoretically in a collected series (243 eyes), after optical determination of the depth of the anterior chamber and thickness of the lens. The distribution of axis length showed a


1‐3 Unlike genetic sequences, epigenetic modifications are variable and depend on cellular phenotype and environmental conditions. 4 Genetics is con sidered insensitive to these conditions, since the same genetic sequence is present in the organism through out life, with the exception of sporadic mutations. Epigenetics includes a large number of reversible covalent modifications that do not alter the genome (DNA sequence), which include covalent modification of DNA (DNA methylation) and acetylation, methyla tion and phosphorylation of histones and DNA-associated proteins. Typically, DNA methylation is associated with re gions of condensed chromatin structure and silencing of gene expression, and is often associated with histone deacetylation and histone methylation (especially at Lys-9). 5‐7 Specific epigenetic changes at discrete sites in candidate genes have been correlated with alterations in specific gene expression, lead ing to altered lifelong behavioural phenotypes. 1‐3


The crystal structure of clinohedrite, CaZnSi04. H20, has been redetermined, using three-dimensional intensities measured with an automated Philips PW 1100 single.crystal diffractometer. The structure differs substantially


The main objective of this study is to examine – in a dynamic way – linkages between social participation and health in a sample of elderly individuals participating in four waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) between the years 2004-2013 from ten European countries. The study aimed to ascertain the extent to which associations between social participation and three measures of health (self-reported health, ADL and IADL) could be explained by non-observed fixed confounding factors. Fixed effects logistic regression models are used to determine the relationship between social participation and health, adjusting for time-invariant unobserved individual heterogeneity. Results show that uptake and continuation of social activities are associated with decreased likelihood of poor self-reported health and limitations in ADL or IADL. After adjusting for fixed confounding factors, however, changes in social participation levels were no longer significantly related to IADL limitations and to all the elderly men's health outcomes. These results extend previous findings, suggesting that associations between social participation and health may reflect effects of common factors associated with social participation and health, rather than a direct causal link.


Harnessing wind energy in Lithuania is one of the most important ways to implement climate mitigation measures. This study aims to assess whether it is feasible to implement an energy greening plan in Lithuania in the 21st century, hypothetically by using only wind farms, where the entire permitted area is developed with them. The wind turbine chosen for the study is a 3 MW wind turbine, installed at a height of 100 m. Wind speeds were estimated using the most up-to-date generation of shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) climate scenario projections. The most likely climate model, SSP2-4.5, shows that the wind speed in Lithuania is more likely to decrease slightly over the 21st century. The decrease could be as high as 3% in the coastal region, while in the eastern part of the country, which is the furthest from the sea, the decrease will likely be around 1.5%. Analysis of the projected data shows that the number of days with wind speeds below the cut-in speed is decreasing, while the number of days with wind speeds higher than the cut-off speed is increasing slightly. However, the number of days on which the operating conditions of the wind farm are met has changed only slightly. The results show that the potential maximum wind power generation exceeds Lithuania's renewable energy needs by at least three times, suggesting that the development of onshore wind farms in Lithuania can help to achieve the energy greening plans.


A new species of Nearctic Perlidae, Acroneuria covelli, is described from the Ohio River traversing the Indiana-Kentucky border, the White River in southern Indiana, and a single female from Tennessee. This new species can be assigned to the A. flinti species group based on structural characteristics of the egg, yet also placed in the A. internata species group according to aedeagal armature.


This paper discusses a study which was conducted for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to determine the applicability of the Matrix Analysis of the Insider Threat (MAIT) code to the analysis of sabotage vulnerabilities of commercial power reactors. The sabotage of concern was the initiation of a release of radioactivity in excess of 10 CFR 100 guidelines. 5 refs.


Experts have been regularly predicting the death of classical music for decades. Yet, CD sales and audience attendance seems to be holding steady. Perhaps the real problem is keeping the music relevant to future audiences.


March 25, 1921, investigation of the outbreak here reported was requested by the chief of the department of medicine and by the director of the students' health service of the University of Minnesota. Our attention was called to the facts that all known cases were in men, and all had eaten at the men's union cafeteria on the university campus. At that time there were twenty-five or thirty known cases in students suffering from an acute febrile condition associated with prostration and various symptoms of gastro-intestinal and respiratory disturbances. Owing to the rapid onset, the character and mildness of the symptoms, accompanied by fever, with disproportionate prostration, and followed by rapid subsidence of acute symptoms, the disease had been considered to be influenza of an intestinal type. On the date mentioned, with the appearance of rose spots in a few cases, and the finding of the Widal reaction to be


This thesis is about global low-cost surrogacy markets in India and beyond. It explores the so far largely unexamined role of intermediaries, mostly fertility doctors and international facilitators, in efforts to turn surrogacy into a streamlined industry and avoid regulation. In Part I, I analyse how industry practice and discourse is aimed at reducing surrogate women to their reproductive capacity as wombs and cutting them off from potential relationships with the babies or the intended parents. This discussion incorporates a critical examination of surrogacy as a part of the category of bioeconomies. I argue that while attempts to reduce the surrogate to a reproductive body make commercial surrogacy appear as a union of biology, technology and capitalism, the efforts needed to contain the potential for emotion, intimacy and relationships in surrogacy show its embeddedness also within economies of care. Part II traces the low-cost surrogacy industry's transformation after it's ban in India. It underlines the way the depersonalisation and control of surrogate women that I describe in Part I allows the industry to set up quickly in new destinations, and even move pregnant surrogates across national borders to avoid becoming subject to regulation. In the final chapter I identify in the representations of surrogacy doctors and international facilitators a discourse of entitlement to carry on providing surrogacy service despite criticism and regulation. Within this discourse, professionals see their work not as problematic but as reproductive activism of helping discriminated groups achieve parenthood while providing low-income women with the choice to lift themselves out of poverty. Overall, the thesis argues that attempts to curb low-cost surrogacy only through criminalisation are unlikely to succeed due to the ability of the industry to control surrogate women, move quickly between countries and perpetuate a discourse of surrogacy as a mutually beneficial arrangement.


Sulfate-induced heave or buckling in pavements is the phenomenon that occurs when the calcium in various lime-based stabilizers combines with the alumina and sulfate present in clay to form calcium sulfoaluminate, or ettringite. Ettringite, a crystal, can grow between clay particles, pushing them apart and causing swelling in the soil. When this happens in pavement subbases, the resulting heaving may cause the pavement to rupture and fail, sometimes in a dramatic way. In this paper the authors examine the mechanism of sulfate attack, review some of the work done on this problem, and present some examples of pavement failures.


Teledyne's H2RG detector images suffer from crosshatch like patterns, which arise from subpixel quantum efficiency (QE) variation. We present our measurements of this subpixel QE variation in the Habitable-Zone Planet Finder's H2RG detector. We present a simple model to estimate the impact of subpixel QE variations on the radial velocity and how a first-order correction can be implemented to correct for the artifact in the spectrum. We also present how the HPF's future upgraded laser frequency comb will enable us to implement this correction.


Consider a prediction or modeling problem where we have many, perhaps thousands, of candidate predictors for a particular outcome of interest. Often, the best solution from both a prediction and interpretation viewpoint is a sparse model employing only a few of these candidate predictors. This setting is now very common in modern applications, including genetic prediction of disease and image processing and compression. Indeed, methods focused on sparsity are now a huge topic in the statistics and machine learning literature. Now, consider a setting where additional structural information is available a priori about the set of candidate predictors. In view of this, we now desire a model that is both sparse and structured. That is, the selected subset of candidate predictors follows the a priori defined structure in some way. For example, if the structure is defined as a graph G over the candidate predictors, then a structured sparse solution would select a small subset of predictors representing a connected subgraph of G. In this thesis, we explore and expand upon the current methods available that achieve this composite goal. Specifically, we give three main collections of results. First, we give a new greedy algorithm for structured sparsity along with an application to HIV drug resistance. Second, we extend theoretical results from the lasso and grouped lasso to the overlapping groups lasso, a state-of-the-art method in grouped-based convex optimization learning methods. Third, we demonstrate simple and flexible extensions of sparse aggregation methods and theory which simultaneously take into account and reflect both structure and sparsity. In addition to these contributions, we give a detailed example of a real structured sparsity problem involving prediction of tsunami magnitudes.


Abstract Line integral convolution (LIC) has become a wellknown and popular method for visualizing vector fields. The method works by convolving a random input texture along the integral curves of the vector field. In order to accelerate image synthesis significantly, an efficient algorithm has been proposed that utilizes pixel coherence in field line direction. This algorithm, called "fast, LIC" originally was restricted to simple box-type filter kernels. Here we describe a generalization of fast LIC for piecewise polynomial filter kernels. Expanding the filter kernels in terms of truncated power functions allows us to exploit a certain convolution theorem. The convolution integral is expressed as a linear combination of repeated integrals (or repeated sums in the discrete case). Compared to the original algorithm the additional expense for using higher order filter kernels, e.g. of B-spline type, is very low. Such filter kernels produce smoother, less nois ier results than a box filter. This is evident from visual investigation, as well as from analysis of pixel correlations. Thus, our method represents a useful extension of the fast LIC algorithm for the creation of high-quality LIC images