Reality monitoring describes our ability to distinguish between internally and externally generated experiences. Individuals show significant variation in this ability and impaired reality monitoring has been linked to the experience of hallucinations. We undertook two studies to investigate the association between reality monitoring and morphology of the paracingulate region of medial prefrontal cortex. In Study 1 we compared reality monitoring accuracy and functional connectivity within paracingulate cortex in groups of healthy controls (N=20) and patients with schizophrenia and hallucinations (N=19). Controls showed greater reality monitoring accuracy that was associated with resting-state functional connectivity between paracingulate, precuneus and occipital cortices, while reality monitoring in patients was associated with more lateral functional connectivity. In Study 2 we used real-time fMRI neurofeedback to obtain causal evidence for the role of the paracingulate cortex in reality monitoring. Healthy individuals received Active feedback from paracingulate cortex (N=21) or Sham feedback based on randomised signal (N=18). Active-group participants showed a specific behavioural effect of improved reality monitoring for Imagined items, as well as increases in both activity within the paracingulate region, and its posterior functional connectivity with precuneus and lateral parietal cortices, and occipital cortex. Our findings suggest reality monitoring in healthy individuals is causally supported by a paracingulate mediated flexible network including the precuneus. Network connectivity can be enhanced using neurofeedback and tracks with improved reality monitoring ability. In contrast, patients with schizophrenia may utilise a distinct and more lateral network which may explain observed sub-optimal reality monitoring accuracy, contributing to the experience of hallucinations. Significance Statement Reality monitoring refers to our ability to distinguish imagination from our experiences in the outside world, and is linked both to hallucinations in schizophrenia as well as to the morphology of paracingulate cortex area of the brain. Here, we revealed less paracingulate involvement in the functional reality monitoring networks in patients with schizophrenia compared to healthy individuals. Thereafter, we used real-time fMRI neurofeedback to show that healthy individuals can learn to upregulate brain activity within the paracingulate cortex, with this resulting in both improved reality monitoring ability and changes in paracingulate functional connectivity. This suggests that paracingulate cortex activity and connectivity play a causal role in reality monitoring, with implications for both the understanding and treatment of hallucinations.


In a profile, science-fiction writer Ursula LeGuin was quoted thus: "My tentacles are coming out of the pigeonhole in all directions." This remark was surely intended humorously. Alas, however, mixed metaphors are usually inadvertent—and they are all too common. This linguistic solecism occurs when figures of speech create images that are bizarre or ridiculous or impossible. In past compilations, I've cited such instant classics as "milking the gold rush" and "the fabric of our melting pot." Now it's time for another roundup of these ubiquitous bloopers. I found the following recently in newspapers and other media:


Objective : To evaluate and compare two automated blood processing techniques ["Top & Bottom" (Optipress®I) and "Top & Top" (T-ACE II)]. Materials/Methods : Blood components were separated using 200 TERUFLEX® blood bags for the T-ACE II technique and 200 Optipac® blood bags for the Optipress®I technique. An analysis of blood products (FP, red cell:AS-BCR, and LPPCs) in terms of their characteristics was done using CELL DYN 1700 version 1.01, and the efficiency of blood bag systems and automated blood processing techniques was compared. Results : T-ACE II showed a statistically significant higher residual platelet content in the FP bags compared to Optipress®I (18.61±11.21x109 and 14.24±8.58x109 respectively, P<.001), but showed a statistically significant lower residual leukocyte content than Optipress®I (0.056±0.01x109 and 0.064±0.03x109 respectively, P<.001). The red cell:AS-BCR bags prepared from T-ACE II showed a statistically lower WBC removal compared to Optipress®I (77.23±8.40% and 82.06±8.41% respectively, P<.001). In the recovery of RBCs, these was a lower red cell loss from the red cell:AS-BCR bags prepared from T-ACE II than from Optipress®I (78.31±5.67% and 76.76±8.96% respectively, P=.04). The LPPCs obtained from BC bags of T-ACE II showed statistically lower platelet yields than LPPCs obtained from BC bags of Optipress®I (328.67±54.23x109 and 369.93±58.37x109 respectively, P=.001). Conclusion : T-ACE II demonstrated an improvement in RBC recovery. Optipress®I improved in WBC removal in red cell:AS-BCR, platelet yields in LPPCs. However, the quality of blood products from both T-ACE II and Optipress®I techniques were of the same standard. Key Word : Automated Blood Processing / Buffy Coat Method / Quality Control of Blood Components


At least three perspectives—industrial ecology (IE), ecological modernization theory (EMT), and the "environmental Kuznets curve" (EKC)—emphasize the potential for sustainability via refinements in production systems that dramatically reduce the environmental impacts of economic development. Can improvements in efficiency counterbalance environmental impacts stemming from the scale of production? To address this question we analyze cross‐national variation in the ecological footprint (EF) per unit of gross domestic product (GDP). The EF is a widely recognized indicator of human pressure on the environment. The EF of a nation is the amount of land area that would be required to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb the wastes it generates. The most striking finding of our analyses is that there is limited variation across nations in EF per unit of GDP. This indicates limited plasticity in the levels of EF intensity or eco‐efficiency among nations, particularly among affluent nations. EF intensity is lowest (ecoefficiency is highest) in affluent nations, but the level of efficiency in these nations does not appear to be of sufficient magnitude to compensate for their large productive capacities. These results suggest that modernization and economic development will be insufficient, in themselves, to bring about the ecological sustainability of societies.


According to sociosemiotics,translation is not only the conversion of two languages,but also the communication between the two cultures,which presents a new perspective for the translation of public signs.The author makes an analysis of the failure in referential meaning,the failure in linguistic meaning and the failure in pragmatic meaning from the perspective of sociosemiotics and puts forward higher demands for translators.


Training learners to develop their learning competence is vital to the success of resource centres. This training is often done through counselling sessions while learners are learning a language, but the development of large resource centres dealing with several foreign languages, means devising forms of learner training which are not specific to particular languages. This article discusses the feasibility of such learner training sessions : it analyses their potential contents and pedagogical structure. An experimental learning-to learn session, offered in the framework of an in-service course for an large French firm, is then presented and analysed.


Colors resemble an essential part of most females' choices in various parts of life. The present study investigates differences between British and Jordanian females' choices of colors of clothes. Ten British females and ten Jordanian females, ranging 30-45 years old, have answered a questionnaire that is divided into four sections related to: personal information, showing how and why they chose different colors for different reasons. Analysis of the data shows clear differences between the British and Jordanian females. The purpose of this study is to uncover the cultural differences between British and Jordanian females in their choices of colors.


Frank Ives Scudamore remains one of the least known of those Victorian civil servants who were, to use Sir James Stephen's phrase, statesmen in disguise. Readers of Trollope's autobiography may recall that Scudamore, the novelist's younger rival in the Post Office bureaucracy, emerged the victor in their 1867 contest for the department's Second Secretaryship. Indeed, it was Scudamore's triumph which finally convinced Trollope to resign from the Post Office in order to devote full time to writing. Yet Scudamore's importance has a much more substantial foundation than this incident in literary history. Even if one does not completely accept the Spectator's judgment that Scudamore was "perhaps the very ablest [civil servant] in the service of the crown," he was still an administrator of fundamental consequence. As director of the first significant experiment in nationalization undertaken in modern British history—the 1870 acquisition of the telegraphs—Scudamore played a major role in the growth of the modern state. Scudamore's impact on the course of government expansion has not been sufficiently studied and explored. It is certainly correct, as Professor Perkin recently pointed out, that the Victorians talked more of nationalization than actually attempting it. However, the fact that Scudamore was involved in an unusual activity does not mean that the endeavor was minor or the results unimportant. After all, he managed a department which in 1874 had over 3,600 offices spread in a network across the entire country and which collected over £1,000,000 in gross revenue. Such an operation deserves historical consideration in its own right.


It gives me immense pleasure to share the success of the ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry over the last few years. The journal started its voyage in 1991 and I took over the editorship in  2009. Since then, we have maintained the momentum with regular biannually online publication since 2007. Many ups and downs were experienced in the functioning of the journal. We had to strive hard to invite articles from all parts of the world. An efficient editorial team comprising of eminent researchers had to be chosen. A good website of the journal was necessary for dissipating information about the society and journal and we did not lag behind in this aspect. I took the opportunity to engage suitable webmasters to make the website more appealing and user friendly while ensuring the quality of its academic content. The articles had to be reviewed and proof read properly in order to curtail the mistakes. Once, the quality and readership improved, there was no chance of looking back. We conducted regular meetings and discussions to strategize the plan of action. Once the action was strategized, we embarked on the venture to apply for indexation of the journal. I would say that we really needed guts and courage to apply for indexation because to date, the journal was functioning without a single indexation. We burnt the midnight oil, readied the journal and applied for indexation in Scopus. Initial screening revealed positive response and we were asked to submit with few clarifications but  it was later declined by Scopus. The reasons cited for rejection were no too impressive because these were rectifiable points and we were not allowed to re-appeal or apply for at  least next 5 years, from 2010. We fought our way out and even during one of the meetings with Scopus officials recently in Kuala Lumpur, we were told that we could still improve because  our journal had quality. We were even suggested few facts and we are working on it. Let me apprise you all that the quest has not ended but we have recharged our batteries to apply at the earliest for Scopus databases indexation. In the meantime, I thought of applying for indexation in other databases because these could add feather to our cap. I could get the support of my editorial members to apply for indexation in other major databases.  We got indexation in MyCite, Psychoinfo, EBSCO, Open J Gate, Google Scholar  and the prestigious Western Pacific Index Medicus (WPRIM). Now, these six major indexations have projected our journal at a greater level. Readers and authors worldwide may be attracted and we may have more submissions in future. There is an endless list for future applications to other indexation databases and I shall keep you abreast with the latest happenings. Indexation of a journal is a multifaceted matter. The quality of articles, timely schedules publication of the articles, frequency of publications and the full support and commitment of editorial members are very important. Despite the ongoing challenges, we, the editorial teams have never given up but chose to deal with it. I do not know how far I  can achieve the target but let me assure you that at the end of next 6 months, we will have few more indexations. I would request your valuable support in the future. "It is a voyage in the rough sea and I do not know what will happen once the storm rises." Let us work for the stupendous success of the journal. Let me thank each and  every one of you who has contributed to the success of the journal. May Almighty bless you all. Warm regards, Hatta bin Sidi Editor-in-Chief


Some particularities of the ritual, magic-religious use of the bone of the little angel are explained. Two cases are presented: (a) use of the bone in the imagery of San La Muerte and (b) its use as a talisman and protector. The study approaches the validity of sculpting the image of San La Muerte in the


This study covers the problem of the optimization of protein intake by infants, the development of prolonged effects of inappropriate nutrition, comparative assessment of breast and cow milk protein, as well as the modern modifications of protein components of artificial milk formulas.


Cephalosporin 3'-bromolactones (3) were prepared in good yields via silyl ethers (2) starting from readily available cephalosporin lactones (1). Treatment of 3 with dimethyl sulfoxide yielded 3-formylcephalosporins (4), a useful intermediate for the chemical modification at the C3-position of cephalosporins.


Markets are increasingly expecting high numbers of options and customization. At the same time, increases in the cost of product development are necessitating platform approaches to product development planning and execution. These two trends are complementary in companies moving from typical model-oriented product development toward mass customization. This paper will show how a local company (in Hillsboro, Oregon) has used mass customization techniques and IT to focus the development effort on platforms instead of models. It will propose a purely Engineering and Manufacturing adoption of mass customization, even if the Marketing, Sales, and Accounting arms of an organization want to remain model-oriented. It will touch on complications involving the support of field reconfigurations of products, and implications that has for continued evolution of the underlying platform. It will touch on both hardware (BOM) and embedded software (extra-BOM) configuration.


Progress in performance of a beamline for a 60‐period soft x‐ray undulator of the 2.5‐GeV Photon Factory storage ring was made by implementation of low emittance operation of the storage ring and improvements of beamline and monochromator units. Monochromated photon flux of up to 1012 photons/s has now been achieved at maximum in ordinary operating conditions of the ring current of ≊200 mA with resolution of 500–1000 over the soft x‐ray region from 410 eV to a few keV of photon energy.


When ASHAs were introduced in NRHM in 2005, their primary aim was to visit homes of newborns as the first program in UP operated through the ASHAs was the Comprehensive Child Survival Program in 2008. Since then, home visits are an integral part of the work of ASHAs in all the primary health care programs operated by the NHM in UP. The current study explores some of the crucial variables of the home visit profile of the ASHAs in four districts of UP. Through this profile, the average number of home visits by ASHAs, record keeping of home visits by ASHAs, number of pregnant women registered by ASHAs in the last 3 months prior to the survey and the number of pregnant women that they covered through home visits in the last trimester of pregnancy of these registered pregnant women. The relevance of the study assumes significance as data on the details of home visits done by ASHAs are not available even in large scale surveys like National Family Health Survey 4 done in 201516. A total of four districts of Uttar Pradesh were selected purposively for the study and the data collection was conducted in the villages of the respective districts with the help of a pre-tested structured interview schedule with both close-ended and openended questions. In addition, in-depth interviews were also conducted amongst the ASHAs and a total 250 respondents had participated in the study. The average number of home visits by ASHAs in the 4 districts was in the range of 4-6 visits per day. Most of the ASHAs were not recording the home visits proceedings in the prescribed Village Health Index Register (VHIR) in all the 4 districts. The average number of pregnant women registered by ASHAs per month was also in the range of 4-6. Among these registered pregnant women, half of them were in their last trimester of pregnancy and not all of them were visited by all the ASHAs in the 4 districts. This reflected that home visits to the women in their last trimester of pregnancy did not receive optimal number of home visits.


The present invention relates to a carbon nanotube-containing composition having an increased viscosity and stability. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing the electrical characteristic excellent carbon nanotube film and the carbon nanotube layer.


This paper discusses the simulation of multivariate normal distributions with applications to Finance. We found that all the bivariate normal distributions can be converted into the one dimensional integrals and most cases of the trivariate normal distributions can be converted into 1- dimensional integrals provided |λi| < 1 (i = 1, 2, 3), where ρij: = λiλj(i ≠ j) are correlation coefficients. If the dimension is higher than 3, the Monte Carlo and Quasi-Monte Carlo methods can be applied to estimate these distributions. And the quasi-Monte Carlo methods are more efficient than the Monte Carlo method. We also discuss the applications in finance since in many situations, financial derivatives, such as options, can be expressed in terms of multivariate normal distributions. Similar ideas can be applied to the computations of multivariate t-distributions.


The Amboy Fire Protection District (AFPD) has policies in place to help reduce the exposure effects of toxic byproducts of combustion on its fire-suppression personnel. These policies are all post fire-suppression/loss-control operation efforts. The washing of Personal Protective Equipment and personal clothing upon returning to the station provides a reduced exposure to known or suspected carcinogenic hydrocarbons. The problem is that these policies have limitations in their effectiveness. The need is to explore an alternative way to potentially reduce the carcinogenic byproduct levels during fire-suppression operations as compared to water only. The purpose of this research was to determine whether Class A Compressed Air Foam System could potentially reduce the presence of carcinogens in residential-structure fire atmospheres. The descriptive research methodology was followed to answer five research questions: (a) what are the cancer-causing carbon-based byproducts of combustion?, (b) what are the chemical and/or physical properties of Class A foam when used in conjunction with CAFS operations which could potentially reduce the presence of cancer-causing byproducts of combustion?, (c) do Class A CAFS operations reduce the presence of carcinogenic byproducts of combustion?, (d) what are the results of using different brands of Class A foam through CAFS application in the reduction of the presence of cancer-causing carbon-based byproducts of combustion?, (e) what estimated cost would be incurred by the AFPD to retrofit the department's two fire engines with a CAFS, in comparison to the estimated cost associated with the treatment of firefighters with duty-related cancer? The research included a detailed review of literature, technical data, and 11 live fire tests. Five fire tests measured the effectiveness of water-only application, three fire tests measured the effectiveness of Brand A's CAFS application, and three fire tests measured the 3 Potential Reduction of Firefighter Carcinogen Exposures effectiveness of Brand B's application. Results found evidence that CAFS reduced the levels of benzene and formaldehyde when compared to water. Results also showed that Brand B concentrate reduced levels of benzene and formaldehyde when compared to Brand A. Based on the results, recommendations were made to perform additional tests to validate the initial findings, further educate AFPD personnel on exposure reduction, and to further explore the process of retrofitting AFPD's two structural fire engines by adding CAFS capabilities. 4 Potential Reduction of Firefighter Carcinogen Exposures


The present invention is a power supply that provides, in particular, relates to a power supply voltage pin reduced PWM control unit; Soft starting unit that controls the current of the power supplier by receiving power of the power supplier in accordance with a predetermined clock signal, outputting the starting signal corresponding thereto; The power supply unit in response to a predetermined signal and a predetermined feedback signal and the clock signal of the supply unit generating a control signal for outputting a predetermined control signal; And characterized in that it includes an output section for controlling the switching transistor in the final output stage by the output signal of said control signal. Therefore, in the present invention, the effect reduce the number of external pins by removing the capacitor for soft starting of the outside of the chip design and the soft starting circuit on an integrated circuit control section of the chip design.


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An efficient method for highly diastereoselective synthesis of chiral quaternary center-containing cyclopentenes via cinchona alkaloid derived thiosquaramide VIII catalyzed tandem Michael/Henry reaction of phenacylmalononitriles and nitroolefins. Meanwhile, up to 98% enantioselectivity was observed. A mechanism involving thiosqaramide catalyzed asymmetric Mi-chael addition and assisted E2 elimination was proposed based on experimental data and preliminary theoretical analysis (Hartree-Fock calculations).


Nominations and applications were solicited for the various awards and scholarships, names were collected for 25 year members. The committee members rated applications for those awards which had multiple applicants and selected winners. There were two applicants for the two scholarships, so both were evaluated, judged worthy and awarded. The list of winners follows. Awards were presented at the EPAF meeting.


Let T be a quasidiagonal operator on a separable Hilbert space. It is shown that there exists a sequence of operators {Tn} such that dim(C*(Tn))<∞ and ‖T−Tn‖→0 if and only if C*(T) is exact.


In this study, the effect of feed energy level and particle size on the performance of broiler chicks under farmer's management was tested. Birds were reared under deep litter management system with wood shavings as the litter material. Broiler chicks were placed with ten farmers around Nairobi. Each farmer received 3,000 day-old broiler chicks. Farmers were managing the flocks after being trained. Eight different feed rations were used: four in the 21day starter period (SP) and four in the finisher period (FP). For each rearing period, two levels of energy (high and low) and two modes of presentation (crumb and mash or pellet and mash) were considered. Feed and water were provided ad libitum, and birds were vaccinated against infectious bronchitis, Newcastle disease and Gumboro disease. Mature birds were slaughtered on day forty-two. Better performances in terms of mortality, feed conversion ratio, production index number and gross profits per bird placed were obtained with broilers fed on mash rations compared to those birds fed on pelleted rations. The combinations of high-energy starter and high-energy finisher rations give also good results. It was concluded that mash rations should form the major component in broiler feed management under tropical conditions.


Summary The main purpose of the article is to construct a sophisticated polynomial proposed by Matiyasevich and Robinson [5] that is often used to reduce the number of unknowns in diophantine representations, using the Mizar [1], [2] formalism. The polynomial Jk(a1,…,ak,x)=∏ɛ1,…,ɛk∈{ ±1 }(x+ɛ1a1+ɛ2a2W)+…+ɛkakWk-1 {J_k}\left( {{a_1}, \ldots ,{a_k},x} \right) = \prod\limits_{{\varepsilon _1}, \ldots ,{\varepsilon _k} \in \left\{ { \pm 1} \right\}} {\left( {x + {\varepsilon _1}\sqrt {{a_1}} + {\varepsilon _2}\sqrt {{a_2}} W} \right) + \ldots + {\varepsilon _k}\sqrt {{a_k}} {W^{k - 1}}} with W=∑i=1kx i2 W = \sum\nolimits_{i = 1}^k {x_i^2} has integer coefficients and Jk(a1, . . ., ak, x) = 0 for some a1, . . ., ak, x ∈ ℤ if and only if a1, . . ., ak are all squares. However although it is nontrivial to observe that this expression is a polynomial, i.e., eliminating similar elements in the product of all combinations of signs we obtain an expression where every square root will occur with an even power. This work has been partially presented in [7].


The recent advances in manufacturing systems motivate several studies to focus on Economic Production Quantity (EPQ) problem. Althuogh there are several extentions to the EPQ, this paper provides a new extension by considering some of the real world parameters like: (a) shortages in the form of partial backordering, (b) inventory can deteriorate stochastically, (c) machine can break down stochastically, and (d) machine repair time may change stochastically based on the failure status of machine. As far as we know, there is no study treated all these suppositions in an EPQ framework. In addition to this development, two forms of uniformly- and exponentially-distributed repair times are formulated and necessary convexity conditions are discussed. Then, the corresponding optimality conditions are written that lead to finding the roots of two equations. Due to difficulty of achieving a closed-form solution, the solution is obtained numerically by means of Newton-Raphson method. Finally, some sensitivity analyses are provided to explain the models' applicability. The practicality and efficiency of the proposed method in this context lends weight to development of proposed EPQ with more complex elements and its application more broadly.


Taiwanese tourism policy underwent a major change in 2008 when restrictions were gradually relaxed on Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan. According to the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan's statistics, the overall number of mainland tourists increased from 329,204 in 2008 to 4,184,102 in 2015; however, there was a 16.1% reduction (670,000) occurring in 2016. This significant event will cause more harm than good to Taiwan's all-important tourism industry. In response to such contractions, this study applied cluster analysis combined with entropy to derive suitable clusters useful towards identifying the best market performers among hoteliers through a measurement of large-scale tourist hotels' operational performance. This may signal a benchmark for the improvement of poor performance hotels. Entropy is used as an objective weight method to calculate the relative importance of all salient attributes by comparing the entropy values of each given attribute. Large-scale international tourist hotels have become the market mainstream in Taiwan; therefore, 17 tourist hotels with more than 5000 employees yearly were selected to become part of this study. Operational performance was measured by attributive means of occupancy rate, average room rate, average production-value-per-employee, total number of domestic tourists, and total number of foreign tourists (including overseas Chinese). A significant F value of the ANOVA analysis indicates that there is at least one significant difference found between the two clusters. Further post-hoc analysis uses the Scheffe method to identify any difference found between clusters and to determine the best performance cluster useful as a benchmark. The methods of this study are different from those of previous studies because of the use of a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique or mix, while there is also applied cluster analysis combined with entropy. Clear indicators are deemed useful for exacting improvement standards among under-performing tourist hotel properties.


Paraganglioma is a neuroendocrine tumor characterized by small organs comprising neuroendocrine cells that can produce catecholamines. Because of the nature of such tumors, hemodynamic instability can pose a management challenge. This condition can influence the provision of medical care across different clinical settings. The aim of this case report is to highlight anesthesia management in parturient patients with abdominopelvic paraganglioma, particularly during an emergency cesarean section. At 34 weeks of gestation, the 33-year-old female patient with three pregnancies and two past deliveries had a known case of inoperable large pelvic and lower abdominal retroperitoneal paraganglioma and poor radiotherapy response. The 15.5 × 4.2 × 22 cm tumor encased the aorta, inferior vena cava, and bilateral iliac vessels, compressing the lumbar vertebrae. The patient had an uneventful and successful cesarean delivery with a multidisciplinary team effort. Paragangliomas are rarely reported in a parturient and its optimization course. Despite being interrupted by an emergency cesarean section, which was handled safely and effectively, both mother and fetus had a safe delivery and postoperative recovery without complications.


The paper shows the semantic linkage between the energy efficiency concept and comfort focusing on the step from the normative and technical domain to the daily housing practices. From the case study the CasaClima energy certificate emerges as a criterion of differentiation within the housing system. Nevertheless, it needs of a cultural affirmation aimed to a territorial expansion. These dynamics provide an interpretation of the energy efficiency as socially built phenomenon.


sources that were not availed of by earlier scholars. In the final article on "Recent Perspectives on the Revolution", Schumacher examined the popular but controversial Pasyon and Revolution by Reynaldo Ileto and situated it in the context of other works on the Revolution, while providing his own perspective based on his researches. Obviously it is no longer possible to accept a limited interpretation of the dynamics of the Philippine Revolution as found in some earlier studies, for the parameters of Philippine historiography and methodology have expanded and diversified in the last two decades. Apart from being essays on nineteenth-century nationalism, the volume is also a useful historiographic study, for throughout the volume, Schumacher examined Philippine historiography for that important period, as can be seen in his essays on the writings of Jose Burgos and Wenceslao E. Retana and on the Cavite Mutiny. Aside from a critical look at some sources which have been used (or misused) to reconstruct the Philippine past, especially of the nineteenth century, Schumacher also commented on the methodologies and perspectives of some Filipino historians and writers of history, while at the same time pointing out areas of research which would be extremely useful in understanding that important century. Schumacher pointed to the "multifaceted composition of nineteenth century Filipino nationalism and the at times conflicting character of the movement's components" (p. 3) and "the several different currents that went into the movement" (p. 31), culminating in the Revolution. There is need for further research on a regional basis on the century before the Revolution (p. 11) and a serious historical study of the real role of Masonry among the Filipino nationalists (p. 157).


ABSTRACT The edaphic community comprises several organisms that perform ecological functions in the environment, such as litter fragmentation, nutrient cycling, and modifications of soil structure, in addition to acting as food chain regulators. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the composition of the edaphic fauna and the physical and chemical attributes of soil in different physiognomies of Cerrado in the Parque Estadual do Mirador (PEM). The study was carried out in two Cerrado formations (Sparse Cerrado and Typical Cerrado) in PEM, where 100 pitfall traps were installed. The edaphic organisms were screened and identified in terms of orders, suborders, subfamilies, families, abundance, richness, Shannon diversity, and Pielou's equitability. A total of 4,149 individuals were collected from two experimental plots. The plot in the Typical Cerrado showed greater taxonomic richness (25 groups) and greater Shannon diversity (H' = 1.65), while the plot in Sparse Cerrado presented 19 edaphic groups and Shannon diversity equal to H' = 1.51. The factorial exploration explained 84.43% of the original data from the Sparse Cerrado and 90.84% from the Typical Cerrado. It is concluded that the plot in the Typical Cerrado showed greater differences in terms of richness and abundance due to the more favorable conditions for soil fauna, such as a high content of organic material and greater vegetation cover.


As a new kind of technology industry,the powerful effects of the mobile internet is increasingly apparent.The article,in the background of the development of mobile internet in 2010-2013,analyzed the security development trend of the mobile Internet,elaborated the security situation and technical difficulties of the mobile Internet in current.Finally,put forward the ideas of security measure from the four aspects of terminal security,core integrated network security,application security and security evaluation.


In semi-continuous anaerobic digestion, organic material feed sometimes may not be consumed completely in one day and it may considerably help to increase biogas production of next day. Such occurrence is called 'biogas accumulation phenomenon', which cannot reflect the real biogas production from next day's feed. In this test, first-order model was modified to solve this problem. Compared with first-order model, k values of modified first-order model had smaller relative standard deviation for each week with better fitting degree. Modified first-order model was then verified using food waste with different theoretical biogas production. Therefore, it can be concluded that the modified model can remove biogas accumulation phenomenon effectively. However, this model didn't perform well in methane production fitting. The modified first-order model was utilized to study the variation trend of biogas production from anaerobic digestion of food waste with increasing salt concentration in the reactor. Results showed that when salt concentration in reactor increased from 0.69 to 2.12 g.-L−1, biogas production experienced increasing first and then deceasing. 0.98 to 1.27g-L.−1salt concentration was more appropriate for biogas production (653-718L.-kg−1 VS) and when salt concentration increased to 1.36-1.61 g.-L−1, inhibition phenomenon began. Biogas production (363-420L.-kg−1 VS) was further suppressed with 1.68-2.12 g.-L−1salt concentration. At this time, the ratio of volatile organic acids to the total inorganic carbon (VOA/TIC) increased to 0.24-0.58, showing anaerobic digestion process was unstable.


In this paper, we firstly establish an Interpolating curvature invariance between the well known nonnegative and 2-non-negative curvature invariant along the Ricci flow. Then a related strong maximum principle for the $(\lambda_1, \lambda_2)$-nonnegativity is also derived along Ricci flow. Based on these, finally we obtain a rigidity property of manifolds with $(\lambda_1,\lambda_2)$-nonnegative curvature operators.


Background: As compared with injuries involving muscle only, those involving the central hamstring tendon have a worse prognosis. Limited information is available regarding the surgical treatment of central tendon injuries of the hamstrings. Purpose: To describe the operative treatment and outcomes of central tendon injuries of the hamstrings among athletes. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: Eight athletes (6 top level, 2 recreational) with central hamstring tendon injuries underwent magnetic resonance imaging and surgical treatment. The indication for surgery was recurrent (n = 6) or acute (n = 2) central hamstring tendon injury. All patients followed the same postoperative rehabilitation protocol, and return to play was monitored. Results: Magnetic resonance imaging found a central tendon injury in all 3 hamstring muscles (long head of the biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus) with disrupted tendon ends. In acute and recurrent central tendon injuries, full return to play was achieved at 2.5 to 4 months. There were no adverse events during follow-up. Conclusion: Central tendon injuries of the hamstrings can be successfully repaired surgically after acute and recurrent ruptures.


Cheltenham Borough Council's licensing sub-committee reviewed the alcohol licence of St James Store in St James Street, Cheltenham in hearing on Thursday 20 September.


This thesis focuses on discovering new enzymes for applications in the control of extractives in pulp and paper manufacturing and high efficiency biobleaching. The goal was to better understand the potential of soybean lipoxygenase for removal of detrimental pulp extractives from thermomechanical pulp (TMP). Lipoxygenase treatment at both a 1% and 12% pulp consistency resulted in a 15% reduction in total extractives. The enzyme showed a high specificity towards lipophilic fractions primarily consisting of fatty acids and their esters. Several extractive compounds such as resin acids and lignans inhibited lipoxygenase-catalyzed reactions with fatty acids. In proving the concept of lipoxygenase for extractives degradation, a 96-well UV microplate assay was developed to screen enzymes from fungal species with high reduction oxidases. A second contribution from this thesis was to determine the potential of accessory enzymes in pulp bleaching. A commercial lipase, lipase A "Amano" 12® was used since it exhibited high levels of accessory enzymes. Enzymatic treatment of hardwood and softwood kraft pulps resulted in a notable reduction of kappa number and hexenuronic acid contents. Two enzyme fractions containing high accessory enzyme activities were obtained. There fractions exhibited high bleaching efficiency and a high selectivity as was demonstrated which led to a notable reduction in the amount of sugar released compared to present enzyme bleaching with the commercial xylanase produced by Iogen.


The paper focus on explaining the contents, schedule and target of China's new college entrance examination reform and analyzing its influence on educational industry which mainly contains after-school training, educational informatization and online education. To promote the fairness of education, in September 2014, the new college entrance examination reform is launched by Chinese Ministry of Education, and the new college entrance examination system will be fully established in 2020. By implementing "3+3" elective subjects examination system, the new college entrance examination reform gives greater autonomy in admission to colleges, while students are given greater autonomy in school choice. The paper shows that the new college entrance examination reform will increase the importance of Chinese training and discipline competition training, expand the market of educational informatization products such as the courses arranging software, intelligent class cards and matched wristband, and promote the development of online messaging service, helping students in educational career planning, independent admission and school choice.


Subtitle: Changing operating profiles and technology -- not financial conditions -- should lead fleets to revisit their preventive maintenance programs.


Catherine A. Civello offers a new reading of the work of Stevie Smith in the context of conflicting desires toward life, love, self, and God. An interdisciplinary work, Patterns of Ambivalence draws from social history, psychoanalytic theory, and feminist philosophy, as well as from literary criticism, to construct the paradoxical world of Smith and her characters. It examines not only the poetry for which Smith is well known, but also her novels and short stories, essays, and letters with which readers are often less familiar. After an introductory chapter on Smith's life and work, Civello devotes four chapters to poems grouped according to the topics of children, marriage, work, and belief. In the next chapters, she discusses the female protagonists of Smith's three novels that offer a rare glimpse into the lives of English working women. There is a final chapter on the critical reception and media representation of Stevie Smith.


In order to improve the adaptability and robustness of speech endpoint detection,this paper presented a algorithm for speech endpoint detection based on wavelet analysis and support vector machine.Firstly,the characteristic quantities of speech signals are obtained by the wavelet transformation.Then the input to support vector machine can be computed based on these characteristic quantities.Finally the signal's type can be determined.The simulation experiments results show that the proposed algorithm improves the detection rate,has better adaptability and robustness,and can detect signals with different SNR,compared with the traditional detection algorithms.


Summary form only given. Load Current Multiplier (LCM) continues to be successfully applied on Zebra at UNR. Here we consider further, expanded applications of LCM. Time-shaping of magnetic pressures on pulsed facilities is useful for such a number of High Energy Density Physics (HEDP) applications such as dynamic material properties studies1,2, high gain ICF research3 and instability growth studies4. The Dynamic LCM (DLCM) technique was recently developed for profiling the dynamic pressure ramp with good reproducibility on the microsecond SPHYNX generator (left plot)2. The present report analyses applications of this technique on Pulse Forming Line (PFL) nanosecond generators. The right plot presents simulated load currents Id and load liner accelerations ad for a 0.2 Ω PFL with the voltage Veq. without (dashed lines) and with (solid lines) DLCM for the imploding solid-state load of Ref. 2. DLCM here is an additional compact (5×10 cm) hardware installed between the PFL and the load with an imploding annular plasma shell inside. We report circuit analysis and MHD simulations that identify critical DLCM and load configuration parameters allowing to control the load current ramp. We demonstrate that not only the load magnetic pressure time-dependence can be controlled in the HEDP loads above but also the load current amplitude can be increased with respect to the direct PFL-driven case (right plot).


The concept,connotation and inherent logic of "distance education"and "educational virtual community" has a certain degree of coupling relations,educational virtual community as a special mode of distance education,its features and advantages exactly meet the internal demand of distance education.Therefore,in the view of the function,the educational virtual community has the promotion to the distance education.With the discussion of them,it can provide a new way of thinking for the healthy development of distance education.


Prosumers are those type of consumers that consume as well as produce the electrical energy. The recent research work is focused on finding more optimal solutions to the power trading scenarios in smart grid. Machine Learning Algorithms provide best solution to such power trading scenarios. In this research work, we develop a Machine Learning-Based Power Trading Algorithm (MLPTA) for an efficient prosumers-based smart grid.


For decades, Japanese society accepted sexual harassment as part of a normal workplace environment. This article argues that unless the social beliefs of gender stereotypes and discrimination can be changed, the soft approach as manifested by the Equal Employment Opportunity Law will achieve little in rectifying the situation.


This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction, Possibility of Translation, Understanding and Translation, Meaning across Languages, Feasibility of General Meaning Representation, How Formal Must Meaning Representation Be?, Extractability of Meaning, Translation and Paraphrasing, Conclusion, Notes, References


The present research aims to investigate the relationship between organizational architecture and organizational agility in the mobile carriers of Erbil in Iraq. A questionnaire was conducted on mobile companies based on a random sampling technique. The results show there is a statistically significance and positive relation between organizational architecture and organizational agility. The results also indicated that organizational architecture has a statistically significant and direct positive effect on organizational agility. Finally, the researchers draw an overall conclusion from the research as a whole.


Food intake and respiratory heat loss are the major pathways of energy flow through animal communities. In certain cases flow rates can be estimated for the total population from selected measurements of individual species. Metabolic parameters (Y) of arthropods from the floor of a Libriodendron tulipifera forest were correlated with size (X) of species: Y = aXᵇ. This power function relationship is similar to the "active surface area" hypthesis of animal metabolism. The species examined ranged in size from 2.1 mg to 1.6 g live weight, and spanned a diversity of food habits and taxonomic categories. Food consumption was proportional to the 0.68 power of body weight. Metabolism (μl O₂ hr— ¹) varied with the 0.84 power of body weight, while metabolic rate (μl O₂ g— ¹ hr— ¹) was inversely proportional (b = —0.16) to body size. Within closely related species, ¹ ³ ⁷Cs turnover rates were closely correlated with metabolic rates. These rates varied with temperature and followed a Q₁0 of approximately two. By applying appropriate temperature corrections, body size relations can be used to estimate food intake and metabolism of species in their natural habitats. Radiotracers also may permit measurement of temporal fluctuations in metabolism resulting from activity in the field.


The Ashizuri Knoll is located on the southern margin of Tosa Basin (ca. 1000 m depth) in the western Pacific Ocean. The top of the knoll is 534 m depth.The BSR have been detected around the knoll. Beside, seepage methane bubbles were found at top of the knoll. Extensive geochemical surveys on the water column around Ashizuri Knoll were done in September, 2013.The primary purpose of the study was to quantify the seeping flux of methane from the knoll by measuring the spatial distribution of methane around the knoll. Besides, we akso tried to clarify the origin of methane by determining both δ13C andδD values. Enrichment of thermogenic methane up to 145 nmol/L was detected just above the top of knoll. Besides, the methane enriched plume spread northeastward of the knoll at the water depth of 450660 m. The calculated methane flux was almost the same with that of off Joetsu hydrate area.


Embodiments are provided for enabling beamforming mechanisms in WLAN OBSS. In one embodiment, the first AP of the OBSS decides to participate in coordinated beamforming for OBSS. The OBSS includes a plurality of APs and a plurality of STAs associated with the APs. Accordingly, the AP periodically sends a cooperative beamforming (CB) announcement message indicating the ID of the first AP and the ID of each STA associated with the first AP. When the second AP of the OBSS receives a message from the first AP, the second AP maintains the ID of the first AP and the ID of each STA associated with the first AP in the CB table entry. To do. When the second AP stops receiving the message, the second AP removes the first AP and its associated STA ID entry from the CB table.


The proposed rule for the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule contains a bold proposal to eliminate mandated documentation guidelines for outpatient evaluation and management services in exchange for a flat, fixed payment rate and relief from audit burdens (1, 2). The physician work relative value units would remain the same for Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes 99201 to 99205 and 99211 to 99215 (1, 2). To justify reporting a particular CPT code in their office note, physicians would have several options. They could use the current guidelines, which range from the minimal documentation required for CPT code 99212 to the complete physical examination and highly complex medical decision making required to report CPT code 99215. Alternatively, they could document just their medical decision making and relevant elements of the history or physical examination or choose a CPT code based solely on face-to-face time with the patient (1, 2). Regardless of the choice of CPT code and documentation, the provider would receive the same payment and, consequently, relief from audit burdens (Table). Table. Outpatient Office Services This proposal represents the culmination of more than 20 years of discussion. Physicians vocally objected to the initial presentation of the documentation guidelines in 1995, their implementation in 1996, and the option of single-system physical examinations in 1997 (3). The guidelines contribute to bloat of and frustration over electronic health records (EHRs) (4, 5). Over the decades, many alternatives were considered, including using clinical vignettes for standard settings or choosing a CPT code based on face-to-face time or medical decision making. None of these were considered viable, and the wasteful infrastructure of audits, physician intimidation, and ballooning EHRs burgeoned (5, 6). Many argued that the differential burden of the documentation guidelines on primary care and other nonprocedural physicians exacerbated interspecialty inequities in physician reimbursement and contributed to physician dissatisfaction, burnout, and disdain for primary care and nonprocedural careers (6, 7). Analysis of the proposed rule that is based on current billing patterns reveals that different specialties would experience increases, decreases, or little change in overall reimbursement (1). Large multispecialty groups will likely be able to offset decreases in reimbursements for some specialties with increases in others. The large percentage of revenue derived from a fixed payment per beneficiary would protect primary care groups participating in Comprehensive Primary Care Plus. However, such analysis misses the opportunity offered by this proposal. Shedding the documentation burden in exchange for a flat, fixed payment rate would offer new opportunities to report meaningful, newly reimbursable primary and specialty care services; complex patient care; and additional care coordination activities (Table) (1). These newly reimbursable services extend the commitment of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to identify and compensate physicians for the services they actually provide to patients as an intermediate step toward shifting physician payments to value-based and bundled services (8). The future financial viability of small or solo practices or large multispecialty groups will depend on garnering reimbursements for such services. In addition to changing the way they deliver care, primary care and nonprocedural physicians will need to change the way they are reimbursed for it. This will require adopting new workflows, shifting from fulfilling documentation requirements with cloned notes to effective care coordination and meaningful clinical documentation, and increasing nonface-to-face care and electronic communications (4). Coupling reimbursement for these newly recognized services with existing CPT codes should provide enhanced revenues for practices offering modern, patient-focused care. Implementation of the proposal will require little change from EHR vendors, and the current complement of documentation tools will still be necessary for inpatient services. However, eliminating outpatient documentation guidelines would enable EHR vendors to focus on enhancing usability in the outpatient setting and trading bloated notes for meaningful documentation (46). If CMS implements the proposed rule in January 2019, physicians may not immediately change their documentation patterns, especially if they care for a largely non-Medicare population. Non-Medicare payers will need time to consider and implement (through contracting) similar elimination of the documentation guidelines. Both Medicare Advantage plans and state-regulated Medicaid programs heavily audit physicians for their office visit CPT codes and may continue to require physicians to document according to the old guidelines. The proposed rule may have unintended adverse consequences. Because of the fixed payment, physicians may choose to see patients more frequently or avoid complex patients. Alternatively, they may send sick or complex patients to emergency departments rather than providing nonface-to-face or office-based care. However, the combination of new and existing CPT codes for complex patient care, care coordination activities, nonface-to-face activities, and electronic communications promises to provide appropriate reimbursement to physicians caring for such high-intensity patients. We recommend that both CMS and the physician community proceed, but with caution. The proposed rule is open for public comment until 10 September 2018 at www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/07/27/2018-14985/medicare-program-revisions-to-payment-policies-under-the-physician-fee-schedule-and-other-revisions. Comments should emphasize that the proposed G code values for primary care and complex patients (Table) are too low and should demand redefinition and revaluation of these codes to ensure appropriate reimbursement for all physicians providing primary care or caring for complex patients. Other aspects of the rule, including application of a multiple-procedure payment reduction for an office visit and a procedure, are inappropriate because overlapping elements of physician work and practice expenses have already been eliminated in recent years from CPT codes typically reported together. The elimination of documentation guidelines as fodder for audits should not be exchanged for new audits of medical necessity or visit frequency. Rather, their elimination should serve to remove auditors from the examination room, where they are interposed between physician and patient. The proposed rule requires time for CMS and medical societies to educate physicians; physicians to change workflows, modify care delivery, and improve documentation; and other payers to follow in a coordinated manner. Delaying implementation until January 2020 would allow time for this bold proposal to achieve success rather than creating crisis.


From an exposure of the Fermilab 15-ft Neon (64 atomic %)-H{sub 2} filled bubble chamber to a single-horn-focused {bar {nu}} beam, they have found 60 e{sup -}X and 35 e{sup +}X events, which they compare with 227 {mu}{sup -}X and 202 {mu}{sup +}X events. No statistically significant departures from {mu}-e universality are seen.


A high efficient CMOS class-E power amplifier (PA) by using Quad Flat No-leads (QFN) package combined with Through Silicon Via (TSV) grounding is presented. TSV has much smaller parasitic inductance and resistance than wire-bonds. TSV technology can improve PA efficiency, reduce die size samples and retain low cost in QFN package. The TSV samples are made and measured by using double-side probing technique with a novel calibration method. TSV scalable model is established with good correlation comparing to RF measurement results. Apply the TSV scalable model in the CMOS PA simulation circuit. The simulation results show that TSV delivers obvious reduction in inductance compared to traditional wire-bond and improvement for Power Added Efficiency (PAE).


Hydroxyapatite (HA) is a material that has many uses in a wide variety of applications such as bone repair, bone implants, and bone drug delivery systems. However, the main weakness of this material is its mechanical strength, which HA is not enough to be directly applied. Gelatin addition is used to improve the mechanical properties that can support material properties for the load-bearing application. This research aimed to obtain gelatin/HA composites with high mechanical strength. This goal is achieved by finding the optimum composite composition (addition of 20, 30, and 40% w/w gelatin), CaO precursors from chicken eggshells, and gradual composite preparation. The preparation of gelatin/HA composites was carried out using the wet precipitation method. The chemical bonding, the compressive strength of HA and gelatin/HA composites, and also morphologies were analyzed by Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR), Universal Testing Machine, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) respectively. The FTIR spectra show there are chemical bonds between amide and carboxyl in gelatin and Ca 2+ in HA. The best compressive strength obtained at the composition of 20% gelatin/HA composite is 99.3 MPa (meanwhile HA is 81.5 MPa). The addition of gelatin to HA increases the particle density; this contributes to the increase in mechanical strength.


for Ontario schools. Content, formats, and scoring criteria evolved from the now well-known four-component model of communicative competence proposed by Canale and Swain (1980) and Canale (1981), including grammatical competence and strategic competence (see also Savignon, 1983.) The final paper in this section is Brack's "The Suitability of Immersion Education for Children with Special Needs." The data from studies conducted in the Canadian context suggest that, given the appropriate pedagogical and social psychological conditions, language disabled children (defined as children who, despite normal intelligence and healthy personality, acquire their first language with "a painful slowness") can leam a second language without impeding the development of first language and cognitive academic skills. In conclusion to the volume, Genesee's "Psycholinguistic Aspects" reaffirms the focus of both the symposium at which these papers were presented and the larger A L P B P project of which it was a part. The concept of communicative competence has posed formidable challenges to the assessment of language proficiency. If language testing is to keep stride with evolving perspectives in linguistics, psychology, and communication theory, it will have to face squarely the issue of construct validity. Although this is not an easy task, to be sure, the continuing dialogue provides the only hope for more enlightened policies where matters of language proficiency are involved.


Color imaging in low-light conditions is often significantly degraded by insufficient lighting and color cast. In this paper, we present a novel color constancy-based method to enhance the visibility of low-light images. Due to the occurrence of the scene illuminant or specular highlights, inhomogeneous illumination affects the estimation of the illuminant color across the scene. Thus in the image, an active set of pixel values is defined to reduce their effects. We then propose an improvement on the gray-pixel assumption imposed by the shades-of-gray algorithm using the active set. The improved shades-of-gray algorithm is applied to low-light image visibility enhancement for cast removal. Limits of histogram clipping are found in the active set in the post-processing step that is added to render the resulting image with a good lightness and contrast range. Results on a variety of low-light images demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve a good correction for lightness, contrast and color fidelity without local graying-out artifacts or halo artifacts intrinsic to Retinex approaches.


MoO3nanobelts/RGO composites were obtained through a facile and efficient hydrothermal procedure by using organic compound sodium salicylate as both structure-directing agent and reducing agent. The crystal structure, morphologies and electrochemical performances of the as-prepared samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM),Raman spectroscopy, galvanostatic charge/discharge test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS). The hybrid material shows a high specific capacity of 1 000 m Ah·g-1with a good cycling stability as an anode material for lithium ion batteries, which has a much enhanced performance compared to bare MoO3 nanobelts.


. The aim of the study is to identify the features of using the precedent name Жириновский / Zhirinovsky in the foreign and Russian media based on the materials of linguistic corpora. The author dwells on using the precedent name in denotative and connotative meanings. The scientific novelty of the stud y lies in the fact that for the first time the features of using the precedent name Жириновский /Zhirinovsky in the foreign and Russian media are revealed. As a result of the study, it w as determined that a characteris-tic feature of the foreign and Russian media is the denotative use of the precedent name with the direct reference to the denotation with negative assessment. в Украине. Стоит отметить, что поло-жительном значении. Показательным является следующий пример: " Among them was the head of the party , Vl a-dimir Zhirinovsky , a hardline nationalist known for his politically incorrect statements " ( Malaysian D igest, 22 Feb 2019). коннотативное значение;


Purpose To assess outcomes of a low-profile thoracic stent-graft in the treatment of thoracic aortic pathologies. Methods A retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients with aortic thoracic pathologies treated with the RelayPro device in two university hospitals between October 2018 and July 2019. Results 23 patients (65% men; mean age 63.4 ± 15 years) were treated. Pathologies included aortic dissections (n = 10), 5 residual type A (22%) and 5 type B (22%), 6 degenerative aortic aneurysms (26%), 4 penetrating aortic ulcers (17%), and aortic erosion, intramural hematoma and aortic rupture (n = 1 and 4% in each case). Two cases (9%) were emergent and two urgent. Proximal landing was achieved in zones 0 (4%), 1 (4%), 2 (43%), and 3 (26%). Five grafts were frozen elephant trunk extensions. Technical success was 100% with accurate device deployment in the intended landing zone of the aortic arch in all 23 patients and with no Ia/III endoleaks and three (13%) type II endoleaks. Apposition was adequate in 96%. Two patients had post-implantation syndromes (one fever, one leukocytosis). Mean follow-up was 11.6 ± 3.7 months (range, 2–16) with no other complications, secondary interventions or conversions to open surgery. There was no 30-day mortality and no aortic-related mortality; all-cause mortality was 4% during follow-up. Conclusion A 3–4 French reduced profile in the current generation of stent-grafts facilitates TEVAR particularly in patients with smaller vessels access. Early safety and effectiveness outcomes are favorable, even in endpoints such as deployment accuracy and apposition which may be surrogates for longer-term clinical success and durability.


Despite the self-evident truth that "all men are created equal," we know from experience that the distribution of resources is not always equal, nor is there a single agreed-upon basis for distributing resources in society. For example, wealth can be distributed on the basis of effort, need, skill, luck, or simply privilege, and thus social inequality is common and pervasive. Research shows, moreover, that income inequality is increasing in the United States (Economic Policy Institute, 2011), with recent reports suggesting that income inequality is particularly pervasive in densely populated cities (Morrill, 2013).


The role of insulin sensitivity (IS), as well as the association of IS with fibrinolysis impairment, in the occurrence of ischemic stroke, has not been clarified. The study was aimed to analyze IS, plasma insulin (PI) and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 levels in 34 type 2 diabetics (T2D) with ischemic stroke (group A), 30 T2D without ischemic stroke (group B), 33 nondiabetics with ischemic stroke (group C) and 33 healthy controls (group D). Ischemic stroke was confirmed by clinical and neuroimaging criteria. IS levels were determined by the minimal model analysis (Si index). Plasma insulin levels were measured by radioimmunoassay and PAI-1 activity was performed by the plasminogen chromogenic plasmin substrate assay. We found that Silevels were significantly lower in group A vs. B (1.17+/-0.66 vs. 2.79+/-0.62 min-1/mU/Lx104; p<0.001) and in C vs. D (3.25+/-0.84 vs. 6.03+/-1.69 min-1/mU/Lx104; p<0.001), while PI levels were higher in group A vs. B (19.46+/-4.11 vs. 14.79+/-1.75 mU/L; p<0.001) and in C vs. D (15.16+/-2.23 vs. 7.54+/-2.03 mU/L; p <0.001). Also, PAI-1 activity was significantly higher in group A vs. B (7.78+/-1.05 i 4.56+/-0.71 mU/L; p<0.001) and in C vs D (4.65+/-0.69 i 3.48+/-1.29 mU/L; p<0.001). Moreover, Silevels correlated with PAI-1, both in T2D and nondiabetics. Our results indicate that appearance of ischemic stroke was associated with decreased insulin sensitivity, together with compensatory hyperinsulinemia, both in T2D and nondiabetics. Our results imply that impaired insulin sensitivity exerts its atherogenic influence, at least in part, by decreased fibrinolysis.


REVIEW OBJECTIVE: The review will examine the experiences of patients towards their residual biological samples and the impact upon the type of consent given for their future use. REVIEW QUESTION: What is the meaningfulness of the experiences of patients towards the donation of their residual biological samples and the impact of these experiences on the type of consent given for their future use? INLCUSION CRITERIA: TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS: This systematic review will consider publications that include all male and female adults patients (over 18 years of age) who are involved in the donation of their residual biological samples for research. TYPE OF INTERVENTION (PHENOMENA OF INTEREST): This review will consider publications that investigate the patients' experiences to the donation of their residual tissues. The review will also consider publications that include the patient's experiences to the different types of consent for the left‐over residual tissue and the use of their leftover tissues, as well as how the different types of consent may influence their decision to donate.


This paper describes four new species of the genus Tapiena Bolivar, 1906 from China.The type specimens are preserved in the Shanghai Institute of Entomology, Academia Sinica.


Abstract The role of culture in economic development is still not fully recognized. However, institutional economists have been known for playing an active part in the inquiries into identifying the culture-embedded factors influencing economic performance. Somewhat surprisingly, certain recent theories by the influential new institutional economists recognize culture as an exogenous variable, denying its importance for coining prosperity. By taking Acemoglu and Robinson's theory, presented in Why Nations Fail and elaborated on in their earlier papers, as a representative example, we bring to light the limitations of such an approach. Firstly, we demonstrate how the eradication of culture leads to an internal inconsistency in Acemoglu and Robinson's theorizing on economic performance. Their strong rejection of the culture hypothesis is impossible to reconcile with their concept of institutional changes outlined in Paths to Inclusive Political Institutions and The Narrow Corridor. Secondly, we also point to certain cases in which culture was an ontologically important factor affecting economic performance. Our claim is illustrated by some examples of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries' paths of economic development. We conclude that neglecting culture diminishes the explanatory power of such theories of economic development and significantly undermines their practical implications.


On-going development of Ka-band capability for the deep space networks (DSN) will radically increase the bandwidth available to support advanced mission concepts envisioned for future robotic as well as human exploration of Mars and beyond. While Ka-band links can operate at much higher data rate than X-band, they are much more susceptible to fluctuating weather conditions and manifest a significant trade-off between throughput and availability. If the operating point is fixed, the maximum average throughput for deep space Ka-band link is achieved at about 80 percent availability, i.e., weather-related outages will occur about 20 percent of the time. Low availability increases the complexity of space mission operation, while higher availability would require additional link margins that lowers the overall throughput. To improve this fundamental throughput-availability tradeoff, data rate adaptation based on real-time observation of the channel condition is necessary. In this paper, we model the Ka-band channel using a Markov process to capture the impact of the temporal correlation in weather conditions. We then develop a rate adaptation algorithm to optimize the data rate based on real time feedback on the measured channel conditions. Our algorithm achieves both higher throughput and link availability as compared to the constant rate scheme presently in use


We determined the regional distribution of the dopamine D2 receptor group in the rat central nervous system by quantitative receptor autoradiography with a high‐affinity and selective antagonist, [3H]YM‐09151‐2. Saturation and competition experiments demonstrated that the binding of [3H]YM‐09151‐2 to striatal sections was saturable (Bmax=37.3 fmol/section), of high affinity (Kd=0.315 nM), and was inhibited selectively by prototypic D2 ligands.


N on·radiative surface plasma oscillations in a semi· infinite metal are quantized by means of Dirac quantization method for constrained Hamiltonian systems. The additional boundary conditions at the plane surface of the metal are considered as "weak constraints". The hydrodynamic jellium model is used to treat electrons in the metal. In consequence of the Dirac quantization procedure, we find that the usual dispersion relation of surface plasmon is a unique solution of the dispersion equation and there does not exist the spurious dispersion branch appeared in the previous paper where the same system was quantized without the aid of Dirac method.


The study identified 107 unique interactive services, and 13 unique information services on state vehicle regulation agency web sites. The average state has roughly 15 percent of all existing services. States with larger populations, number of registered vehicles and drivers tend to have more total services and transaction services. The general flow of the data indicates a fast level of growth, as companies and individuals embrace the efficiency and flexibility of online transactions. The W3C Unicorn Validator, Link Sleuth, Web Accessibility Checker and Hubspot Marketing Grader scores were combined to generate a web design score for each state. Washington received the highest score, followed by North Dakota and North Carolina. Kentucky received the lowest score, along with South Carolina and Ohio. The KYTC's Office of Information Technology is developing several new applications for the DVR and its constituent divisions. The implementation plan also recommends the OIT review the reports from the W3C Unicorn Unified Validator, Xenu Link Sleuth, and Web Accessibility Checker to examine errors, warnings, broken links and known problems with Section 508 compliance. In accordance with the Hubspot Marketing Grader report, it is recommended the state create a comprehensive marketing plan for the Department of Vehicle Regulation, perhaps as a component of a comprehensive KYTC marketing plan.


Design: Retrospective linear radiological analysis study.
Objective: To investigate the effects of AxiaLIF® on anterior disc height (ADH), posterior disc height (PDH), foraminal height (FH) and foraminal width (FW) and demonstrate that AxiaLIF® is an effective minimally-invasive surgery technique for indirect decompression and restoration of disc height.
Background: Degenerative changes of the lumbar motion segment often lead to stenosis of the spinal canal or neuroforamen. AxiaLIF® is intended to indirectly increase and stabilize foraminal dimensions by restoring disc height in patients with degenerative disc disease, thereby relieving the axial and radicular pain.
Method: Retrospective study of patients who underwent a 360Eš lumbar interbody fusion at L4-5 and L5-S1 with AxiaLIF® between November 2008 and May 2010. Digital radiographs were analyzed on Kodak® computer software. ADH, PDH, FH, and FW, were measured. The anterior vertebral height of L5 vertebra was used to calibrate distance and eliminate potential magnification error for each radiograph.
Results: Our study exhibited a mean increase in PDH and ADH at L4-5 and L5-S1 with 2-level AxiaLIF®. Similarly, a mean increase was observed in FH at L5-S1 and FW at L4-5 and L5-S1 with 2-level AxiaLIF®. All changes were statistically significant. The change in FW and FH were even more pronounced with 1-level AxiaLIF®, with a comparable change in posterior and anterior disc height (DH).
Conclusion: AxiaLIF® acts to reduce instability by decreasing motion and fusing segments, thus reducing the dynamic compression of nerve roots and cauda equina. We conclude that AxiaLIF® is comparable to anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) in terms of indirect decompression and increased DH, with the added benefit of preserving the annulus, anterior longitudinal ligament, and posterior longitudinal ligament. Further observations are required to accurately assess whether AxiaLIF® maintains fusion and preserves disc and foraminal area long term.


LCL filter has been extensively promoted in distributed power generation system (DPGS) to eliminate the high frequency harmonics. It has been proven to get smaller system inductance and cost. Nevertheless, LCL filter may trigger serious resonance issues. The existence of weak grid impedance also deteriorates system stability. According to impedance-based stability criterion (IBSC), harmonic instability only arises in the non-passive region of converter output impedance. Previous studies have been proposed to eliminate the non-passive region by optimized design of filter parameters, which requires a complicated iteration process. What's worse, additional hardware cost may be needed for a given converter system. This paper first analyzes the impact of control delay on converter non-passive region. Different cases are also discussed. On this basis, impedance shaping method is proposed by adjusting the digital control delay in different cases to eliminate the non-passive region. Shifting PWM updating instant is more preferred than changing sampling frequency. The Matlab/Simulink simulation results also prove the validation of proposed method.


A geometrical condition sufficient for uniqueness in two-dimensional time-periodic linear water-wave problems is derived, and some examples are given. The technique can be seen as a generalization of work by John (1950), who established uniqueness for surface-piercing bodies that have the property that vertical lines down from the free surface do not intersect the body. The paper is in two parts. Part 1 provides a review of current knowledge on the topic of uniqueness, and gives a simple form of John's proof. Part 2 describes the recent progress, in which the ideas of John's proof are extended so that uniqueness can be demonstrated for surface-piercing bodies that do not satisfy John's geometrical criterion. In fact the new technique proves uniqueness for a large class of problems involving floating bodies, submerged bodies and multiple-body systems. However, the present work still does not constitute a general proof of uniqueness for all configurations.


The hysteresis behavior of Fex(SiO2)1−x granular films was studied as a function of preparation conditions. The films were prepared by dc and rf magnetron sputtering over the composition range of xv=0.1–0.9, where xv is the volume fraction of Fe. The tandem and composite target deposition methods, both with and without titanium presputtering, were used to prepare the films. Typical granular structure was observed in these films, with grain size in the range of 2–20 nm. X-ray diffraction and selected area diffraction showed a bcc α-Fe-type structure. Magnetic measurements showed that by varying the deposition method and some of the sputtering parameters including sputtering rate, argon flow, film thickness, and substrate temperature, it is possible to switch from a relatively magnetically hard sample (Hc∼650 Oe) to a soft sample (Hc∼20 Oe). For the former sample, a dramatic increase in Hc has been observed at cryogenic temperatures. This result, along with the Mossbauer data, suggest a shell/core granule m...


Empirical evidence from multiple sources show the Earth has been warming since the late 19th century. More recently, evidence for this warming trend is strongly supported by satellite data since the late 1970s from the cryosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and land that confirms increasing temperature trends and their consequences (e.g., reduced Arctic sea ice, rising sea level, ice sheet mass loss, etc.). At the same time, satellite observations of the Sun show remarkably stable solar cycles since the late 1970s, when direct observations of the Sun's total solar irradiance began. Numerical simulation models, driven in part by assimilated satellite data, suggest that future-warming trends will lead to not only a warmer planet, but also a wetter and drier climate depending upon location in a fashion consistent with large-scale atmospheric processes. Continued global warming poses new opportunities for the emergence and spread of fungal disease, as climate systems change at regional and global scales, and as animal and plant species move into new niches. Our contribution to this proceedings is organized thus: First, we review empirical evidence for a warming Earth. Second, we show the Sun is not responsible for the observed warming. Third, we review numerical simulation modeling results that project these trends into the future, describing the projected abiotic environment of our planet in the next 40 to 50 years. Fourth, we illustrate how Rift Valley fever outbreaks have been linked to climate, enabling a better understanding of the dynamics of these diseases, and how this has led to the development of an operational predictive outbreak model for this disease in Africa. Fifth, We project how this experience may be applicable to predicting outbreaks of fungal pathogens in a warming world. Lastly, we describe an example of changing species ranges due to climate change, resulting from recent warming in the Andes and associated glacier melt that has enabled amphibians to colonize higher elevation lakes, only to be followed shortly by the emergence of fungal disease in the new habitats.


Text characterization usually has the characteristics of high dimensional and unbalanced,which causes the probems that traditional classification algorithm accuracy is not high,the performance of text categorization is vulnerable to the influence of kernel function and parameters.In order to improve the accuracy of the text classifier,this article used the support vector machine(SVM) theory to study the text classification technology,and the theory of particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm,the classification algorithm was introduced to the SVM to optimize the parameters of the text classifie,we used the accuracy of the classifier as fitness functions,used particles move operation to find the best parameters,and used the SVM algorithm to classify the texts.Compared with the traditional algorithm,the new classifier has higher accuracy.


The empirical study on a panel of 111 French listed companies from the SBF120 index over 20072011 analyze the criteria that determine the CEOs compensation. Beyond the size effect that has already been measured in the literature, the main contribution of this study consists in the distinction between the fixed and the variable compensation and in adding the nature of the main shareholder in the determinants of the level and the sensitivity to performances of the compensation. The study concludes to a significant influence of the nature of the shareholder over the compensation allowing for a classification of the CEOs compensation policy according to the degree of involvement and the strategy of investment of the main shareholder of the listed company. Mots clés : Rémunération des dirigeants, inégalités, gouvernance d'entreprise, structure de l'actionnariat, financiarisation. * EconomiX, Université de Paris Ouest – CNRS, 200 Avenue de la république, 92001 Nanterre Cedex, France. E-mail : email@example.com


WSN has the potentiality to join the physical world with the virtual world by creating a network of sensor nodes. Here, sensor nodes are usually battery-operated devices, and hence energy reduction of sensor nodes is a major design issue. To extend the network's lifetime, minimization of energy consumption should be used. In cluster-based routing, cluster heads shape a wireless stamina to the sink. Each cluster heads collects data starting the sensors belonging to its cluster and ahead it to the sink. Here, the cluster head position rotates, i.e., each node works as a cluster head for a restricted period of time. Energy saving in BFA approaches can be done by cluster formation, cluster-head election, data collection at the cluster-head nodes to reduce data redundancy and thus save energy and also it improve energy efficiency of homogeneous WSN. It also defined Bacterial Foraging Algorithm (BFA) as an algorithm for selecting best cluster head selection for WSN. The simulation results enhanced performance of BFA based on total energy dissipation and no .of .alive nodes of the network when compared with LEACH


A two-piece perspex (plexiglass) box for crystal growth using the sitting-drop vapour diffusion method has been designed and tested. Its advantages over the traditional `sandwich' box and Linbro plates are enumerated.


Summary When bovine thrombin was prepared by one method the N-terminal amino acid was glutamic acid while with another method it was threonine. In urea solution these N-terminal amino acids were removed in association with peptides and the N-terminal amino acid of the main protein was leucine. Urea treated thrombin had the same specific activity as the original from which it was prepared, and also had the same carbohydrate content. It was, however, less soluble in water and had a higher viscosity. The sedimentation constant was concentration dependent. Before treatment with urea the rate of change of the sedimentation constant with concentration was positive. After urea treatment it was negative. Extrapolation to zero concentration gave the same value for thrombin as for urea treated thrombin. The peptides removed from thrombin function to alter the properties of the protein. They are attached by bonds that are broken in urea solution. Very likely the original prothrombin molecule is, in part at least, composed of sub-units consisting of polypeptide chains held together by bonds broken by reagents such as sodium citrate. In addition to alanine, bovine prothrombin has arginine as N-terminal amino acid, but the latter was uncovered only in urea solution.


This paper deals with the problem of the early sta tor faults (the short-circuits) detection and local ization of the induction motors supplied from the f r quency converter. A stator fault detection method based on monitoring of RMS stator current value, the phas e shift between the line currents, the spectral ana lysis of the line current and negative current symmetrical c omponent analysis are presented. Tests were realize d for different load torque and supply frequencies, what enabled the evaluating of the usefulness of the pro posed analysis in the diagnostics of the stator faults in the converter-fed induction motor drives.


Only two cases have been reported previously of the association of ventricular septal defect (VSD) with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery (ALCA) arising from the pulmonary artery. The purpose of this paper is to present two additional cases, to describe the pathophysiology, and to emphasize how the clinical course of this combination of defects differs from that of isolated ALCA. Patients with both of these anomalies present in infancy with manifestations only of a large left-right ventricular shunt and pulmonary hypertension. Initially the ALCA is well perfused from the high pressure in the pulmonary artery. In these instances in which the pulmonary artery pressure subsequently decreased because of spontaneous reduction in size of the VSD, the left coronary arterial system became less well perfused. Because of this decreased perfusion in association with the left ventricular myocardial stress initially caused by volume overload, myocardial ischemia and ultimately infarction occurred. Early ide...


ABSTRACT In the last few decades, incredible advances have been made in understanding the way of communication among members of kingdom plantae. Some plants fight for their existence and try to suppress the growth of other plants, while some share resources to benefit each other for their survival. During all these processes, plants use several biotic and abiotic mediums such as root exudates, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and light for the interactions. Plant can change its physiological behaviors, such as change in gene regulation and induction of defense mechanism, when linked with neighboring plant through common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs). Root exudates are also critical in plant–plant interaction, since they share information, shape microbial community, and mediate recourse competition. Moreover, plants have been found warning their neighbors about pathogen attack and herbivory through the release of VOCs. This review will advance the understandings of roles of various communication media from the prospective of intra- and interspecific interactions as well as kin recognition.


This paper describes a collaborative action research project in one primary school that arose from a mutual interest in applying the concept of "Emotional Intelligence". It involves an exploratory qualitative study of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum. This is an approach aimed at promoting emotional competence in children and young people. The PATHS curriculum was chosen because of its clear conceptualisation of emotion, its emphasis upon cognitive and developmental aspects and its research history. One class of 9 and 10 year olds took part in the project. Target children were selected from within this group for closer monitoring. The outcomes suggest that PATHS was rated very positively by class teachers, pupils and other staff involved in the project. Positive emotional, social and behavioural changes at a class and individual level were attributed to the effects of PATHS. Finally, the importance of developing a positive school ethos was highlighted as promoting these effects.


In this article, the authors have investigated the issues of complementarity of political and civic cultures in the Republic of Armenia and the importance of participation in their effective development. It has been stated that in the conditions of a democratic transition, participatory democracy can be false or marginal in nature, due to which it can be perceived as irresponsible freedom, but the reality is different. The manipulative and philosophical bases of participation were also studied. It has been substantiated the approach that in the absence of a consolidation, the new democratic space formed due to the active participation of the masses does not solve the problem of political stability, but on the contrary, deepens the crises of political development. It emphasizes that the effectiveness of the process of overcoming crises in the conditions of democratic transition of the Republic of Armenia requires scientific-analytical management based on the principles of consolidation, the professionalism of the strategic elites; especially after the "Velvet Revoluti?n". The relationship between democracy and demarchy were also studied.


Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) unambiguously specify host identity on the web. URLs are syntactically complex, and although software can accurately parse identity from URLs, users are frequently exposed to URLs and expected to do the same. Unfortunately, incorrect assessment of identity from a URL can expose users to attacks, such as typosquatting and phishing. Our work studies how well users can correctly determine the host identity of real URLs from common services and obfuscated "look-alike" URLs. We observe that participants employ a wide range of URL parsing strategies, and can identify real URLs 93% of time. However, only 40% of obfuscated URLs were identified correctly. These mistakes highlighted several ways in which URLs were confusing to users and why their existing URL parsing strategies fall short. We conclude with future research directions for reliably conveying website identity to users.


Molecular dynamics (MD) computer simulations have been carried out on four systems that correspond to an infinite array of parallel ordered B‐DNA, mimicking the state in oriented DNA fibers and also being relevant for crystals of B‐DNA oligonucleotides. The systems were all comprised of a periodical hexagonal cell with three identical DNA decamers, 15 water molecules per nucleotide, and counterions balancing the DNA charges. The sequence of the double helical DNA decamer was d(5′‐ATGCAGTCAG)×d(5′‐TGACTGCATC). The counterions were the two natural polyamines spermidine3+ (Spd3+) and putrescine2+ (Put2+), the synthetic polyamine diaminopropane2+ (DAP2+), and the simple monovalent cation Na+. This work compares the specific structures of the polyamine‐ and Na‐DNA systems and how they are affected by counterion interactions. It also describes sequence‐specific hydration and interaction of the cations with DNA. The local DNA structure is dependent on the nature of the counterion. Even the very similar polyamines, Put2+ and DAP2+, show clear differences in binding to DNA and in effect on hydration and local structure. Generally, the polyamines disorder the hydration of the DNA around their binding sites whereas Na+ being bound to DNA attracts and organizes water in its vicinity. Cation binding at the selected sites in the minor and in the major groove is compared for the different polyamines and Na+. We conclude that the synthetic polyamine (DAP2+) binds specifically to several structural and sequence‐specific motifs on B‐DNA, unlike the natural polyamines, Spd3+ and Put2+. This specificity of DAP2+ compared to the more dynamic behavior of Spd3+ and Put2+ may explain why the latter polyamines are naturally occurring in cells. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers, 2004


We study the sensitivity of transverse flow to symmetry energy in the Fermi energy region as well as at high energies. We find that transverse flow is sensitive to symmetry energy and its density dependence in the Fermi energy region. We also show that the transverse flow can address the symmetry energy at densities about twice the saturation density; however, it shows insensitivity to the symmetry energy at densities {rho}/{rho}{sub 0}>2. The mechanism for the sensitivity of transverse flow to symmetry energy and its density dependence is also discussed.


Aim To investigate the clinical therapeutic effectiveness and side effects of body-gamma knife combined with pemetrexed plus carboplatin as the therapy in treating the local advanced non-small-cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Methods A total of 39 advanced NSCLC were enrolled in this study.At first,patients received the chemotherapy with pemetrexed(500 mg·m-2) and carboplatin(300 mg·m-2) for two cycles.Then body gamma knife was executed.The dosage was 3 to 5.5 Gy.The isodose curve was 50%~75%.The target volume(PTV) covered about 95% of the clinical target volume(CTV).The total dose was 50 to 60 Gy.Finally,the same regimen was used for more two cycles.The body-gamma knife treatment outcome was compared with 76 locally advanced NSCLC cases during the same period.Results Among the 39 patients,there was 1 case with complete response,30 cases partial response,5 cases stable disease and 3 cases progressive disease.The short-term effective rate was 79.49%(31/39).6,12,24-month survival rate was 82.05%(32/39),56.41%(22/39) and 35.90%(14/39),respectively.Median survival duration was 16 months.The common adverse effects were neutropenia and gastrointestinal response.Among 76 patients with single body gamma knife treated,The short-term effective rate was 76.32%(58/76),6,12,24-month survival rate was 78.95%(60/76),44.74%(34/76)and 23.68%(18/76),respectively.Conclusions Body-gamma knife combined with pemetrexed plus carboplatin is effective in the treatment of advanced NSCLC,with mild to moderate side effect and safety in clinical practice.


Abstract A device for detection of short gas pulses at very low concentrations is presented. The approach is based on a special temperature modulation technique enabling a differential surface reduction (DSR) measurement of a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gas sensor. With this method, the sensor surface is highly covered with oxidized surface states at high temperature (e. g. 400 °C) initially. The temperature is then reduced abruptly to, e. g., 100 °C resulting in a state with strong excess of negative surface charge. Reactions of these surface charges with reducing gases are prevailing and lead to very high sensitivity. For the measurement a dedicated detector (electronics and fluidic system) is presented. The electronics allows a high-resolution conductance measurement of the sensitive layer and accurate temperature control. The fluidic system is examined in terms of peak shape and optimal sensor response via FEM simulations.


INTRODUCTION: Technetium with atomic number 43 is an artificial radioactive element that is not found in nature, and it is used as a tracer in medicine and environmental analysis. In particular, technetium-95m (half-life: 61 days) and technetium-99m (half-life: 6 hours) are frequently used as tracers. Because commercially available technetium-95m is isolated from fission products, the influence of other technetium isotopes cannot be avoided. Technetium-99m, however, is obtained as a decay product of molybdenum-99, and it does not sustain any effects from other technetium isotopes. Technetium-99m, therefore, is superior as a tracer with its higher isotopic purity compared to technetium-95m. Nonetheless, the supply of technetium-99m from overseas has recently been unstable. Consequently, a variety of alternative efforts have been examined in Japan, such as the study of production methods using accelerators. The present research employed molybdenum metal to production molybdenum-99/technetium-99m through reactor neutron irradiation. The handling of molybdenum metal is easy, but the generated specific radioactivity is low. Thus, methods for efficient extraction of technetium from molybdenum must be studied, and the usability of the technetium extracted as a tracer must be confirmed.