Abstract The 2012 election resulted in a major victory for President Obama and while his Democratic Party improved its Congressional strength, the House of Representatives remains under Republican control. The election revealed the depth of America's political and voter divisions with each party showing dramatically different areas of strength and weakness. Yet the election did not hinge on foreign policy leaving the Obama administration likely to continue most of its earlier policies toward East Asia as marked by the multilayered 'pivot' toward Asia. Relations with China and North Korea are likely to remain difficult to manage while US–ROK links should be far smoother. Of particular concern is the economic sluggishness and rising nationalism in Japan which could well cause bilateral problems with the US and regional problems with Japan's neighbors, including US ally, South Korea. And at home the bipolar divisions over how best to deal with America's economic revitalization could well impede US abilities to exert a convincing multi-dimensional role in the region.


Studies of anarchists across disciplines have largely focused on famous personalities and major historical events or on contentious protest actions and violence. In a 21st century context in which anarchism has an ever more significant influence on social movements in the U.S. and around the globe, understanding how anarchists understand that label is increasingly important. This paper aims to contribute to an understanding of the meaning of anarchism through the words of anarchists themselves. In this study, I interview 22 anarchists from three U.S. cities about what anarchism means to them and about if and how they practice their ideology in their everyday lives. I find a high level of unity around several core values regardless of the interviewees' backgrounds or affiliations. Beyond that base level of unity, we see extensive variation across the sectarian divisions asserted by dominant theoretical works, both findings suggesting that such dichotomous, antagonistic frameworks may be overly simplistic. In addition, I explore a rhetorical device that appears frequently in the interviews and connect it to a pervasive sense of marginality. This "marginality within marginality" may have several sources, including punk music and subculture, which I argue contribute to the perpetuation of a notion of unbridgeability between types of anarchists.


Given the inherent features of open tunnel‐like pyrochlore crystal frameworks and pentavalent antimony species, polyantimonic acid (PAA) is an appealing conversion/alloying‐type anode material with fast solid‐phase ionic diffusion and multielectron reactions for lithium‐ion batteries. Yet, enhancing the electronic conductivity and structural stability are two key issues in exploiting high‐rate and long‐life PAA‐based electrodes. Herein, these challenges are addressed by engineering a novel multidimensional integrated architecture, which consists of 0D Mn‐substituted PAA nanocrystals embedded in 1D tubular graphene scrolls that are co‐assembled with 2D N‐doped graphene sheets. The integrated advantages of each subunit synergistically establish a robust and conductive 3D electrode framework with omnidirectional electron/ion transport network. Computational simulations combined with experiments reveal that the partial‐substitution of H3O+ by Mn2+ into the tunnel sites of PAA can regulate its electronic structure to narrow the bandgap with increased intrinsic electronic conductivity and reduce the Li+ diffusion barrier. All above merits enable improved reaction kinetics, adaptive volume expansion, and relieved dissolution of active Mn2+/Sb5+ species in the electrode materials, thus exhibiting ultrahigh rate capacity (238 mAh g−1 at 30.0 A g−1), superfast‐charging capability (fully charged with 56% initial capacity for ≈17 s at 80.0 A g−1) and durable cycling performance (over 1000 cycles).


Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) is a fast and robust algorithm to solve various optimization problems with complex nonlinearity. Especially, ABC is effective for high dimensional problems, compared with the other metaheuristic algorithms. However, the basic ABC is assumed to be used to static optimization problems and has not been sufficiently considered for dynamic optimization problems including temporal changes of environments. Recently, improved ABC methods for solving dynamic optimization problems have been proposed. However, it is difficult for these methods to balance the flexibility to temporal changes of environments and the convergent speed to solutions. This paper proposes an ABC algorithm for solving dynamic optimization problems with simple procedures. The proposed method can realize fast solution search for various dynamic optimization problems, suppressing excessive convergence to limited solutions. In the numerical simulations, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified.


This article designs a News release system based on ASP.NET-two-Layer Architecture and SQL Server Database。 And make a detailed description On the System"s Development platform,Key technology,system function module,and Development Process.


To evaluate the reliability of high temperature superconducting current leads for repetitive current ramping operations such as in a magnetic separator, a ceramic high temperature superconductor with its copper terminals was subjected to current cycling tests in liquid nitrogen. The superconductor, a cylindrical rod of BSCCO-2212 fabricated by a melt cast process, has an initial J/sub c/ (B=O) of 970 A/cm/sup 2/ at 77 K and a total contact joint resistance for both terminals of 2 /spl mu//spl Omega/ in the current range of 100 to 500 A. Due to power supply limitation, the cycling current magnitude was set at 50 A. The cycling rate was 1 cycle per minute, 30 seconds on 30 seconds off. After approximately 80000 cycles and 250000 cycles, measurements of J/sub c/ and contact joint resistance were repeated. No degradation in either J/sub c/ or contact joint resistance was detected. The testing and the test results are discussed in detail.<<ETX>>


Fiber optic sensors are of interest because of their robustness against environmental disturbances, low drift, and ease of integration. The relatively high population of measurement points also favors the estimation of displacement and temperature from discrete data. This together with techniques for integration into structural materials is discussed in the context of satellite structures.


The present paper examines some problems in the current literature on Implicit Personality Theory (IPT) with specific reference to the controversial publications by Mirels (1976) and Jackson, Chan, and Stricker (1979). Their disputes address the question of whether individuals' estimates of trait co-occurrence accurately reflect actual (empirical) trait co-occurrence in personality ratings. The cogency of the disputes is undermined, however, by both studies' deficiences at the levels of theory, measurement, and statistical analysis. For instance, the indices used for representing estimated and empirical trait co-occurrence are neither adequately justified nor commensurate. For future personality attribution research, we discuss both the theoretical distinction between two (comparative and absolute) judgment formats frequently involved in data gathering and the empirical distinction between sophisticated and unsophisticated research strategies involved in data analysis. Finally, it was concluded that due to the residual effect of the empiricism of the 1950s and 1960s, and a lack of logical coherence between cognitive psychology, psychometric theories, and statistical data manipulations, IPT is still at an early stage of development. Future investigators should therefore develop a rigorous program with the sophistication of so-called "nomological operationalization" for a systematic investigation of IPT.


Many robotics platforms are capable of ascending stairways, but all existing approaches for autonomous stair climbing use stairway detection as a trigger for immediate traversal. In the broader context of autonomous exploration, the ability to travel between floors of a building should be compatible with path planning, such that the robot can traverse a stairway at a time that is appropriate to its navigation goals. No system yet presented is capable of both localizing stairways on a map and estimating their properties, functions that in combination would enable stairways to be considered as traversable terrain in a path planning algorithm. We propose a method for modeling stairways as objects and localizing them on a map, such that they can be subsequently traversed if they are of dimensions that the robotic platform is capable of climbing. Our system consists of two parts: a computationally efficient detector that leverages geometric cues from depth imagery to detect sets of ascending stairs, and a stairway modeler that uses multiple detections to infer the location and parameters of a stairway that is discovered during exploration. This video demonstrates the performance of the system in a number of real-world situations, modeling and localizing a variety of stairway types in both indoor and outdoor environments.


In the poster, the first results of an empirical study in progress are presented. The study is directed to modeling the competence requirements of tasks in informatics. Initially the focus is on the relevance of a catalog of criteria affecting the task difficulty, where relevance is supposed to mean the practicability as well as the interrelation between criteria and competence requirements.


The article deals with the problem of pragmatic aspects of the semantics of transformed phrases. Functional-pragmatic features of transformed phrases are explored on examples of structural-semantic transformations of the distributionof the component composition. The structural analysis is presented and the formal features of the phraseological transformations updated by the spreading of the component composition is analyzed. An attempt to find out the causes and purposes of the authors using of the structural-semantic transformations of the component composition spreading of phrases and their influence on the phraseological significance is made in the article.In accordance with the author's intentions, the pragmatic potential of phraseological transformations in the Czech opinion journalism is clarified. Comparing meaning of the actualized phraseological transformations with the values of phraseological invariants (based on the Czech National Corps), the author identified 5 types of the semantic landslides: 1) specification of semantics; 2) the literalization of semantics; 3) intensification of semantics; 4) expression of semantics; 5) explication of semantics. The pragmatic potential of phraseological semantics modeling is outlined.


Based on the dislocation pile-up theory and the crystal plastic theory, a rate-dependent crystallographic plastic finite element method (FEM) was used to analyze the stress distribution in the contact zone of single crystal turbine blade rabbet. The FEM results show that the maximum stress and the maximum resolved shear stress location are in the upper edge of the first tooth contact area of the rabbet. The surface crack initiates in the edge and grows as the zigzag wave. The deflected angle of the plane defined by maximum resolved shear stress gradient direction and the upper edge of the first tooth contact area of the rabbet with respect to the Z axis is 35°. The fracture occurs along the {-1-11} plane. Fracture behavior of rabbet/groove modeling specimens made of nickel-based single crystal superalloys was studied by corresponding contact fatigue experiments. The initial place and developing direction of the fatigue crack observed from experiments are found to be in good agreement with the predicted results based FEM.


LiNbO3 waveguides with Si overlays are emerging as a basic building block for a variety of integrated-optic components. However, the development and optimization of these devices are, in large part, hindered by the lack of understanding of the specifics of the Si-on-LiNbO3 structure which appear to differ dramatically from those of the Si and LiNbO3 waveguides, considered separately. In this work, we provide a specific insight into the waveguiding properties of vertically stacked Si-on-LiNbO3 waveguides. In particular, we present a detailed theoretical analysis of the effect of the Si film on the modal characteristics (propagation constant and field distribution) of the structure. We show that for approximately 70% of all Si thicknesses, in the range from 0 to 1.6 micrometer, the highest-order normal mode of the entire structure has more than 99.9% of the total energy confined in the LiNbO3 region, i.e., beneath the Si overlay. This fact is quite intriguing given the fact a planar Si layer of submicron thickness on bulk LiNbO3 is already multi-moded. Furthermore, we show that the effective mode index of the structure is considerably modified compared to that of the LiNbO3 waveguide while the propagation loss is, on the other hand, practically unaffected (approximately 0.3 dB/cm) even in the presence of the lossy Si film, as confirmed by our previous experimental results. Evidently, large modulation of the effective index and low-loss propagation provide an ideal combination of properties suitable for the fabrication of high-reflectance corrugated waveguide gratings, essential for a number of practical devices, in particular, WDM filters.


In order to investigate the structural behaviors of longitudinal-stiffened cone-cylinder shell combination,a computation model is designed.Stress distributions of convex and concave cone-cylinder joint section of the computation model are analyzed by finite element method.The results of analysis show that the longitudinals destroy not only meridional and circumferential continuity but also axi-symmetry of the shell combination.Due to sudden changes of stress distribution,lots of stress concentrations appear in shells plating at the ends of longitudinals and around the joint section of cone and cylinder.Meanwhile,longitudinals add many welds on cone-cylinder jointed zone.The stress distribution of the joint zone becomes worse and the risk of fatigue increases.It can be concluded that the structure behavior of longitudinal-stiffened cone-cylinder shell combination is bad;the longitudinal stiffeners can not be used at the cone-cylinder joint zone of large-diving-depth submarine built of high strength steel with σs/σb approaching to 1.


Oba, M. 2011. Review: Effects of feeding sugars on productivity of lactating dairy cows. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 91: 37–46. Sugars are water-soluble carbohydrates that are readily available in the rumen. Although sugars ferment faster than starch or fibre in the rumen, the rates of disaccharide hydrolysis and monosaccharide fermentation vary greatly depending on the type of sugar and rumen environment. Despite rapid fermentation in the rumen and their potential to provide greater fermentable energy to enhance microbial protein production, feeding sugars in place of dietary starch sources may not decrease rumen pH or improve N utilization efficiency and milk protein production in dairy cows. However, feeding high-sugar diets often increases dry matter intake, butyrate concentration in the rumen, and milk fat yield. These nutritional characteristics of sugars may allow us to use high-sugar feedstuffs as an alternative energy source for lactating dairy cows to increase dietary energy density with reduced risk of ...


Detection of neutral atom emission from hot plasmas has evolved to the point where it is now possible to image hot plasmas in neutral atom emission. In this work, we review a variety of successful approaches to space-based neutral atom imaging and discuss the qualitative and quantitative information that can be obtained from neutral atom images, e.g., hot ion transport and ion temperatures. A challenging aspect of neutral atom imaging of the Earth's magnetosphere is that the combination of small neutral fluxes and spacecraft motion necessitates the development of algorithms capable of summing neutral emission obtained from different vantage points over many months to obtain statistically significant images. The image summing algorithm and typical summed images are also presented in this work.


three classes of districts was the same-namely, 0'06 per thousand. So that in the case of diarrhcea there was a cause acting in towns which was not acting in the country. One could hardly suppose that was only flies. He believed enteric did not respond to increased temperature in the same way that diarrhcea. did. He knew from letters received from Dr. Ballard that that observer had recognized that the connexion between the prevalence of diarrhcea and earth temperature was not that anything happened at a depth of 4 ft. causing the diarrhaea, but that the 4-ft. temperature was an indication of the algebraic sum of the gains and losses of heat which had occurred during the summer.


A guanine nucleoside exchange factor (GEF), DOCK180, which is an archetype of the CDM family protein, plays a pivotal role in the regulation of cell motility and phagocytosis through the activation of small GTPase Rac. The expression of DOCK180 is mostly ubiquitous except in hematopoietic cells, while another CDM family protein, DOCK2 is strictly found in hematopoietic cells. Although a knockout study against DOCK2 demonstrated the essential role of DOCK2 regarding rodent T- and B-cell motility and chemotaxisis, no involvement of DOCK2 in the action of phagocytes, such as macrophages or dendritic cells (DCs), has yet been observed. We, therefore, investigated the possible role of DOCK180 in the phagocytosis of hematopoietic cells. CD14 positive monocytes, as well as T- or B lymphocytes, isolated from healthy human donors did not express DOCK180 observed by Western blotting. Consistent with this finding, a real time PCR study revealed near negligible levels of DOCK180 mRNA in monocytes. On the other hand, macrophages or DCs, differentiated from monocytes in vitro in the presence of M-CSF or IL-4 and GM-CSF for seven days, were found to express extremely high levels of DOCK180 protein and mRNA. Time course studies showed that DOCK180 mRNA rapidly increased by 6 hours after the induction of CD14 positive monocytes into both macrophages and DCs and its protein expression was clearly detected by Western blotting after Day 2. While the expression of DOCK180 on DCs gradually increased until it reached a plateu level on Day 4, the expression of macrophages showed a linear increase up to Day 7. In contrast to DOCK180, the expression of DOCK2 remained unchanged throughout this study. Furthermore, a phagocytosis assay using Zymosan A particles demonstrated an increase in the phagocyte activity accompanying the expression levels of DOCK180 during both types of differentiation. Protein knockdown assays against DOCK180 using siRNA also confirmed the significance of DOCK180 in the phagocytosis of differentiated macrophages and DCs. Finally, an immunohistochemical study with anti-DOCK180 monoclonal antibody showed that macrophages exhibit the phagocytosis in the front edge of inflammatory granulation tissue, and expressed a high level of DOCK180. Taken together, DOCK180 was thus found to play a role in the induction of phagocyte activity regarding the differentiation from monocytes into either macrophages or DCs, thereby demonstrating the biological significance of DOCK180 in the phagocytosis of human hematopoietic cells.


Based on current supply and demand relationship in the East China power grid, in conjunction with primary energy resources, phase-out plan of power units, planned electricity import into the grid, and overall estimated demand, this paper analyzes the installed capacity of coal-fired plants in the East China power grid in 2005,2010. Subsequently, this paper forecasts the SO_2 emission in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu of the Yantze River Delta.


The pathogenicity of Beauveria bassiana to Loxostege sticticalis under different temperatures and humidity was studied in laboratory.The 2th-instar larvae of the L.sticticalis were infected with 1×109 sporus/ml concentrations of B.bassiana under 17,20,23,26 and 29 ℃.The results showed that under 26 ℃,the LT50 of larvae treated with 1×109 sporus/ml concentrations of B.bassiana were the shortest,the larvae died quickly and the mortalities were the highest.The LT50 were prolonged as the ambient temperature turned higher or lower than 26 ℃,and the larvae died slowly under these temperatures.There were significant differences among the mortalities of L.sticticalis under different humidity.The larvae died quickly and the mortality was the highest under 95% relative humidity,while the mortality decreased greatly under 55% relative humidity,the larvae died more quickly along with the increasing of relative humidity.


We propose WaddleWalls, a room-scale interactive partitioning system using a swarm of robotic partitions that allows occupants to interactively reconfigure workspace partitions to satisfy their privacy and interaction needs. The system can automatically arrange the partitions' layout designed by the user on demand. The user specifies the target partition's position, orientation, and height using the controller's 3D manipulations. In this work, we discuss the design considerations of the interactive partition system and implement WaddleWalls' proof-of-concept prototype assembled with off-the-shelf materials. We demonstrate the functionalities of WaddleWalls through several application scenarios in an open-planned office environment. We also conduct an initial user evaluation that compares WaddleWalls with conventional wheeled partitions, finding that WaddleWalls allows effective workspace partitioning and mitigates the physical and temporal efforts needed to fulfill ad hoc social and privacy requirements. Finally, we clarify the feasibility, potential, and future challenges of WaddleWalls through an interview with experts.


We prove that for any Köthe matrices a and b if T : λ1(α) → λ0(b) maps bounded sets into relatively compact sets, then T factorizes through a Fréchet Montel space. This is a consequence of a given description of those compact subsets in a coechelon space k∞(v) of type oo which are contained in an absolutely convex hull of a null sequence. An example of a compact set which is not of that form is given.


III–V based alloys and heterostructures have much attention due to their great device applications as well as for the development of electronic, optic and optoelectronic devices. Because of this reason, the present study reports an investigation of the structural optimization of ternary alloys AlxIn1−xP. Method of WIEN2k code is applied considering Wu–Cohen correlation energy functional based on density functional theory. We have constructed 1×1×1 supercell containing 8 atoms in zinc-blende structure. For all studied alloys structure, we have implemented geometric optimization before the volume optimization calculations. In this work, the structural and electronic properties of ternary alloys AlxIn1−xP are presented. The obtained equilibrium lattice constants of studied binary compounds are more compatible with experimental data compared to standard semilocal (LDA–PBE) calculations.


The binuclear allenyl complex [Fe2(CO)6(µ-PPh2)-{µ-η1 : η2-(H)CαCβCγH2}] 1 reacts with PPh2H and PPhH2 to afford [Fe2(CO)6(µ-PPh2){µ-η1 : η2-(Me)CCH(PPh2)}] 2 and [{Fe2(CO)6(µ-PPh2)-(µ-η1 : η2-(Me)CCH)}2PPh] 3 respectively both of which contain µ-η1 : η2-coordinated phosphino-substituted alkenyl ligands formed via an unprecedented regiospecific attack of phosphorus nucleophiles at Cα of the µ-η1 : η2-coordinated allenyl followed by a facile 1,4-hydrogen migration.


Backyard poultry production in India is practiced since time immemorial which was the primary source of animal protein and supplementary income for the down trodden rural poor. Backyard poultry is the only source of poultry egg and meat for city dwellers before poultry industrialization. Existing local variety of chicken having low production potential the introduction of new varieties to the backyard poultry increases the income of the farmer families which paves way for the sustainable livestock in the rural areas. The body weights and egg production of TANUVAS Aseel chicken are 1.9 kg and 154 numbers at the age of 50th week. Performance of TANUVAS Aseel under backyard condition will give many benefits to farming community.


In this paper we investigate numerically the hydromagnetic boundary layer flow and heat transfer characteristics of a nanofluid using three types of nanoparticles (copper, aluminium oxide and titanium dioxide) having various shapes (spherical, cylindrical, arbitrary, etc) by considering three kinds of base fluids (water, ethylene glycol and engine oil) over a nonlinear inclined stretching surface, taking into account the effect of convective surface condition. Using similarity transformations, the governing nonlinear partial differential equations of the physical model are transformed into non-dimensional ordinary differential equations which are solved for local similar solutions using the very robust computer algebra software, Maple 13. The numerical simulation is carried out to investigate the role of the pertinent parameters on the flow and temperature fields as well as on the rate of heat transfer and on the rate of shear stress. The results show that the addition of nanoparticles to the base fluid may not always increase the rate of heat transfer. It depends significantly on the surface convection, type of base fluid and nanoparticles.  The finding of this study will open a gate for better understanding of nanofluid characteristics.


Summary Chronic administration of morphine in doses increasing from 20 mg/kg/day to 200 mg/kg/day over a period of 8 weeks to young albino rats resulted in a marked suppression of growth. This occurred in spite of a greater food intake per unit of body weight. In addition, the animals receiving morphine demonstrated a significant reduction in their respiratory quotients at the 48 hour withdrawal period. The interpretation of the changes in metabolic rate is not apparent on the basis of the results obtained.


Objective: To determine the risk of dementia after first-ever ischemic stroke. Background: A temporal relationship between the occurrence of stroke and development of dementia is an important clue for a vascular etiology of dementia. It is however still unclear at what rate dementia develops following stroke. Methods: In a prospective study, we followed 158 consecutive patients who were hospitalized for first-ever ischemic stroke in 1988–1989, but were not demented at discharge (DSM-III-R criteria). Survival analysis was performed for a follow-up period of up to 3 years to determine the rate of dementia. Results: The cumulative risk of dementia in these patients was 29% within 1 year, and 34% within 3 years. Conclusion: Dementia after first-ever ischemic stroke is common, appearing mostly within the 1st year.


Humour and social protest: an introduction Marjolein 't Hart 1. Humour, framing, and resource mobilization. The funny side of globalization: humour and humanity in Zapatista framing Thomas Olesen 2. 'Cartooning capitalism': radical cartooning and the making of American popular radicalism in the early twentieth century Michael Cohen 3. Revolution in a comic strip: Gasparazzo and the identity of southern migrants in Turin, 1969-75 Nicola Pizzolato 4. Satire, protest, and the public sphere. Urban laughter as a 'counter-public' sphere in Augsburg: the case of the city mayor, Jakob Herbrot (1490/95-1564) Christian Kuhn 5. 'A little discourse pro & con': levelling laughter and its puritan criticism Sammy Basu 6. Humour as a guerilla tactic: the West German student movement's mockery of the establishment Simon Teune 7. Carnival laughter and the disarming of the opponent antagonism, absurdity, and the avant-garde: dismantling Soviet oppression through the use of theatrical devices by Poland's 'Orange' Solidarity Movement Lisiunia A. Romanienko 8. 'A laughter that will bury you all': irony as protest and language as struggle in the Italian 1977 movement Patrick Gun Cuninghame 9. Queering laughter in the Stockholm pride parade Anna Lundberg 10. Humour and the building of collective identity in social movements. Bitter memories and burst soap bubbles: irony, parody, and satire in the oral-literary tradition of Finnish working-class youth at the beginning of the twentieth century Kirsti Salmi-Niklander 11. Jokes in a garment workshop in Hanoi: how does humour foster the perception of community in social movements? Nghiem Lien Huong 12. Fighting a different enemy: social protests against authority in the Australian imperial force during World War I Nathan Wise 13. The role of humour in the process of collective identity formation in autonomous social movement groups in contemporary Madrid Cristina Flesher Fominaya 14. Jokes, social protest, and the wilder society 'doing something silly': the uses of humour by the Women's Social and Political Union, 1903-14 Krista Cowman 15. Humour in Nazi Germany: resistance and propaganda? The popular desire for an all embracing laughter Patrick Merziger 16. Humour and protest: jokes under communism Christie Davies.


As organizations attempt to achieve higher levels of performance, organizational leaders have begun focusing on creating high functioning groups. Well organized groups can potentially accomplish more than individuals. The problem that arises is how do effective groups form? Group development is a topic that has long been studied, but has few definite answers. In educational settings, group development tends to focus primarily on Tuckman's model of group development. While Tuckman's theory has many benefits, ignoring or under utilizing other group development theories does a disservice to those responsible for learning how to create dynamic and high performing groups. With the various theories available, educators of group development theory need to explore alternate avenues instead of relying solely on Tuckman's model of group development, thus this paper presents a case for integrating three group development theories


The type specimen of the smut fungus Ustilago andropogonis-funitimi , recently re-discovered, has been studied and described. The binomial is recombined in Sporisorium. Previously proposed synonymy is discussed and the confusion surrounding the original description is clarified.


Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies are an exciting area of the modern industry and have applications in instrumentation, engineering, medicine, electronics, aerospace industry, and other fields. AM enables cost-effective production of customized geometry and parts by direct fabrication from 3D data and mathematical models. They include electrolytic deposition, thermal and laser-based 3D printing, stereolithography, 3D-IC fabrication technologies, etc. and are booming nowadays owing to their ability to fabricate products with unique characteristics that cannot be made with traditional fabrication techniques. Despite much progress in the area of AM technologies, problems of mechanical design and analysis for AM fabricated parts yet remain to be solved. So far, three main problems can be isolated: (i) the onset of residual stresses, which inevitably occur in the manufacturing process and can lead to failure of the parts, (ii) the distortion of the final shape of AM fabricated parts, and (iii) the development of technical and technological solutions aimed at improving existing AM technologies and creating new ones. This paper deals with an approach to modeling AM processes in solid.Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies are an exciting area of the modern industry and have applications in instrumentation, engineering, medicine, electronics, aerospace industry, and other fields. AM enables cost-effective production of customized geometry and parts by direct fabrication from 3D data and mathematical models. They include electrolytic deposition, thermal and laser-based 3D printing, stereolithography, 3D-IC fabrication technologies, etc. and are booming nowadays owing to their ability to fabricate products with unique characteristics that cannot be made with traditional fabrication techniques. Despite much progress in the area of AM technologies, problems of mechanical design and analysis for AM fabricated parts yet remain to be solved. So far, three main problems can be isolated: (i) the onset of residual stresses, which inevitably occur in the manufacturing process and can lead to failure of the parts, (ii) the distortion of the final shape of AM fabricated parts, and (iii) the development of technical and technological solutions aimed at improving existing AM technologies and creating new ones. This paper deals with an approach to modeling AM processes in solid.


Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Kangwon National UniversityAbstract The present study was undertaken to evaluate the anti-hyperlipidemic activity of Albizzia julibrissin and Cassiatora L. extract mixtures in high fat diet-induced hyperlipidemic rats. In high-fat diet fed hyperlipidemic rats, oral treatmentwith Albizzia julibrissin and Cassia tora L. extracts resulted in decreased levels of total serum cholesterol and triglycerides,epididymal fat pad (EFP) weights, and activities of hepatic glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and malicenzyme, while the levels of feces production and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol were increased, comparedwith untreated control. Therefore, these results suggest that Albizzia julibrissin and Cassia tora L. extract mixtures canameliorate hyperlipidemia.Keywords: Albizzia julibrissin , Cassia tora L., high-fat diet, lipid profiles


A new version of the regime of electron trapping is proposed for gyro-amplifiers. The use of this regime in the cyclotron resonance maser with a weakly relativistic electron beam can simultaneously provide efficiency as high as 50%, a very broad (tens of percent) frequency band, and very weak sensitivity to the spread in electron velocity.


One of the major problems faced by the high-tech manufacturing industry is the need for automated and timely detection of anomalies which can lead to failures of the manufacturing equipment. Failures of the high-tech manufacturing equipment have a direct negative impact on the operating margin and consequently profit of the high-tech manufacturing industry. Automated and timely detection of anomalies is a difficult problem, the major challenge being the need to understand the interactions between large amount of machine components. Even very experienced system engineers are not aware of all interactions, especially if those need to be derived from high velocity sensor data. This, in turn, makes it impossible to recognize early warning signals and take action before failure happens. In this paper we present HUGO -- a system for real-time analysis of component interactions in high-tech manufacturing equipment. HUGO automatically discovers (based on the available sensor data) correlations between machine components and helps engineers analyze them in real-time so as to be able to detect deterioration of the manufacturing equipment conditions in a timely fashion.


The peculiarity ofstudents *creative activity while studying series of musical subjects is examined in the article. The notions "activity ", "creative activity ", "musical creation " and role of improvisation and creative interpretation of musical compositions are exposed in the article as methods of formation a creative personality;


The electrical and structural properties of defects in epitaxial Si/SiGe with Ge content from 5 to 41% are investigated using electron-beam-induced current contrast measurements and bevel polishing with preferential defect etching. At room temperature, no electrical activity of misfit and threading dislocations is evident for wafers with 14, 21, and 41% Ge, while at 105 K a crossgrid array of misfit dislocations is observed on all these wafers and shallow level traps from threading dislocation defects are seen on the 41% Ge wafer. Thermal treatments reduce the electrical activity of the defects. Bevel polishing and preferential chemical etching with the Wright and Secco etches are utilized to analyze the dislocation density and distribution throughout the heterostructure. The etch chemistry difference between Si and SiGe is characterized as a function of Ge content to correctly interpret results. The etch rate increases with increasing Ge concentration up to 15% Ge, then saturates at a rate of ∼3 μm/min for higher Ge values, which is about 3 times that for an unstrained Si substrate. The etch rate is strongly dependent on the defect concentration, stress, and defect density in the layers.


Solar power has become one of the mainstream distributed renewable energy sources due to its clean and renewable feature and the global push for renewable energy. In a distribution network with high penetration of photovoltaics (PVs), overvoltage is a common and major issue that needs to be addressed to assure system reliability and security. Increasing interests have been given to real time operation of PVs to fully utilize PV generation capacity while the voltage is regulated within a proper range. However, little research has been done on exploring the overvoltage risk at the planning phase. This paper proposes a probabilistic method to evaluate the overvoltage risk in a distribution network with different PV capacity sizes under different load levels. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (K-S test) is used to identify the most proper probability distributions for solar irradiance in different months. To increase accuracy, an iterative process is used to obtain the maximum allowable injection of active power from PVs. The effectiveness of proposed method is verified on a 33-bus system.


The CARR DC power supply system is designed to provide the power supply of secondary circuit for CARR medium power supply system.This paper mainly introduces the constitution,performance and function of the CARR DC power system,and shows the reliability,safety and advantages of this system.


To achieve high performance speed regulation, a robust adaptive speed controller is proposed for the permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) subject to parameter uncertainties and input saturations in this paper. A nonlinear adaptive control is introduced to compensate the PMSM speed tracking errors due to uncertainties, disturbances and control input saturation constraints. By combining the adaptive control and the nonlinear robust control based on the interconnection and damping assignment (IDA) strategy, a new robust adaptive control is designed for speed regulation of PMSM. Stability and robustness of the closed-loop control system involved with the constrained control inputs rather than unconstrained control inputs are validated. Simulations for PMSM control in the presence of uncertainties and saturations nonlinearities show that the proposed approach is effective to regulate speed, and the average tracking error using the proposed approach is at least 32% smaller than the compared methods.


EX-SITU CONSERVATION MAY, IN THE SHORT TERM, PROVIDE THE ONLY REALISTIC PROSPECT FOR MANY ENDANGERED AMPHIBIAN SPECIES, SUCH AS THE FIJIAN GROUND FROG (PLATYMANTIS VITIANA).


This paper proposes a novel architecture, named APOHN, designed for data communications over heterogeneous networks. APOHN enables easy implementation of various existing and upcoming performance optimization solutions with the main objective to keep the standardized TCP/IP reference model untouched. APOHN architecture extends ISO/OSI protocol stack model with an additional layer designed for subnetwork communications and optimized with specific physical subnetwork characteristics in mind. TCP/IP flow speedup, subnetwork flow multiplexing and optimized subnetwork communications result in great performance improvements in heterogeneous networks. Moreover, the support of IPsec enables secure communications. APOHN performance is evaluated through simulations using a combined satellite and WLAN network scenario-commonly used in disaster recovery as well as in a variety of military applications. APOHN constitutes an architectural solution competitive with leading architectures such as performance enhancement proxies (PEP) as well as delay-tolerant networking (DTN)


Abstract Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological inflammatory disorder in which immune system dysregulation is thought to play a role in its initiation and progression. Current agency-approved hormonal therapies, including synthetic progestins, GnRH-agonists, and danazol are often of limited efficacy and counterproductive to fertility, and cause systemic side effects due to suppression of endogenous steroid hormone production. Our recent publication (PMID: 30259980) suggests that curcumin (diferuloylmethane, CUR), an anti-inflammatory folk medicine in Asian countries, has therapeutic potential to reduce inflammation associated with endometriosis. Therefore, in the current studies we examined the effects of CUR at different doses over a time course in the regulation of proinflammatory and proangiogenic microRNAs (miRNAs) in primary cultures of normal endometrial stromal cells (NESC) and cells derived from eutopic endometrium of endometriosis subjects (EESC). miRNAs are non-coding RNAs that regulate protein translation and have been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Using NanoString nCounter-based assays and semi-quantitative RT-PCR we have identified levels of several proinflammatory and proangiogenic miRNAs (including has-miR-196b-5p, has-miR-199a-5p, has-miR-21-5p) that are higher in EESC compared to NESC. EESC and NESC treatment with CUR significantly reduced expression of proinflammatory and proangiogenic miRNAs in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Notably, CUR significantly decreased phosphorylation of the AKT, ERK and prohibitin signaling pathways. These findings demonstrate higher proinflammatory and proangiogenic miRNA production in EESC compared to NESC under basal conditions, and suggest that by suppressing these factors, CUR has the therapeutic potential to reduce inflammation associated with endometriosis. Nothing to Disclose: IC; SB; AD; WX; CN; NS, RNT, WET. Sources of Research Support: This study was supported in part by National Institutes of Health Grants 1SC3 GM113751, U01 HD66439, 1R01HD057235, U54 CA118948, HD41749, S21MD000101 and G12-MD007602. This investigation was conducted in a facility constructed with support from Research Facilities Improvement Grant #C06 RR018386 from NIH/NCRR.


Energy is the foundation for human survival and socio-economic development, and electricity is a key form of energy. Electricity prices are a key factor affecting the interests of various stakeholders in the electricity market, playing a significant role in the sustainable development of energy and the environment. As the number of distributed energy resources (DERs) increases, today's power systems no longer rely on a vertical market model and fixed electricity pricing scheme but instead depend on power dispatch and dynamic pricing to match supply and demand. This can help prevent significant fluctuations in supply–load imbalance and maintain system stability. Modern power grids have evolved by integrating information, communication, and intelligent control technologies with traditional power systems, giving rise to the concept of smart electric grids. Choosing an appropriate pricing scheme to manage large-scale DERs and controllable loads in today's power grid become very important. However, the existing literature lacks a comprehensive review of electricity pricing in power systems and its transformative impact on shaping the energy landscape. To fill this void, this paper provides a survey on the developments, methods, and frameworks related to electricity pricing and energy trading. The review mainly considers the development of pricing in a centralized power grid, peer-to-peer (P2P) and microgrid-to-microgrid (M2M) energy trading and sharing, and various pricing methods. The review will cover the pricing schemes in modern power systems, particularly with respect to renewable energy sources (RESs) and batteries, as well as controllable load applications, and the impact of pricing schemes based on demand-side ancillary services (DSAS) for grid frequency support. Lastly, this review article describes the current frameworks and limitations of electricity pricing in the current energy market, as well as future research directions. This review should offer a great overview and deep insights into today's electricity market and how pricing methods will drive and facilitate the future establishment of smart energy systems.


MIMO radar is a new radar technique developed recently. It can achieve better detection performance than conventional phased radar. In this paper, we investigate some advantages of MIMO radar on the non-ideal factor of transmitting signal such as the instability in signal phase and the spur in transmitting signal etc. And then, a simulation system was established, some simulation shows the advantage of MIMO radar over its conventional counterpart.


Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of flood hazard in south Asia. This country is extremely vulnerable to flood because of its geographical location, high population density, high level of poverty, and the reliance of many livelihoods on flood hazard sensitive sectors [1]. Moreover, the climate of the country is strongly influenced by monsoon rainfall which creates flood in three major river basin named as GangesPadma, Brahmaputra-Jamuna, and Meghna River Basin. Though Bangladesh occupies only 7% of the combined catchment area of the Ganges-Padma, Brahmaputra-Jamuna and Meghana river basin, the country has to drain out 92% of the flow into the Bay of Bengal [2]. Too much water in the monsoon period affects different sectors along with livelihoods and food security. There is six major destructive floods occurred in 1984, 1987, 1988, 2004 and 2007 since after liberation war of Bangladesh [3]. In 1984 flood about 50,000sq.km area of land was flooding. In 1987 flood about 2,055 people died, flood affected area was 50,000sq.km and losses 1 billon US $. Among the six floods, more destructive flood was 1988. In the historical memory of Bangladesh most destructive flood was occurred in 1988 and where 61 percent of the country was inundated, 2,000-6,500 people died, about 45 million people become homeless and caused 1.2 million US $. In 1998, flood inundates nearly 100,000 sq. km, damages 500,000 homes and rendered 30 million people homeless, death counted 1,100 people and estimated loss was 2.8 million US $. In last 2007 flood about 32, 000sq.km area was flooding and 649 people losses their lives and property losses is about 1 billion


Streaming media applications over internet have increased substantially in recent years. As streaming applications are susceptible to QoS variations and consume relatively larger amount of network bandwidth, both QoS mechanism and proxy architecture have been used to improve the user percepts and reduce the load on the network. Few existing solutions to streaming proxy can handle different media formats and streaming signaling protocols. Even fewer can cooperate harmoniously with the underlying QoS mechanism. This paper presents the design, implementation and performance evaluation of a flexible streaming proxy architecture integrated with the Policy Based QoS system we constructed in another project. We introduce a Service Center which is an extension to the Policy Server, enabling it to manage the proxy architecture flexibly and efficiently. This design method also makes it convenient to implement the cooperation between proxy architecture and QoS system.


she [Charikleia] found herself witnessing a performance which, abominable as it may be, is common practice among the women of Egypt. [. . .] the old woman began by digging a pit, to one side of which she lit a fire. After positioning her son's body between the two, she took an earthenware bowl from a tripod [. . .] and poured a libation of honey into the pit [. . .]. Finally [. . .], in an access of feverish ecstasy, she invoked the moon by a series of grotesque and outlandish names [. . .]. There followed a number of other bizarre actions, after which she knelt over the dead body of her son and whispered certain incantations into his ear, until she woke the dead man and compelled him by her magic arts to stand upright.2


The proper operation of a forced warm air heating system could result in the best system available. Its advantages include controlling the temperature year-round; removing odors, pollen, smoke, and other contaminants; controlling humidity; and making the indoor air cleaner than outdoors. This article examines the operation of the furnace, assuming that the oil burner is functioning properly, with a clean fire, acceptable draft, and CO/sub 2/. The blower or fan, the firing rate, and the three controls that operate them are discussed. These include the thermostat, the fan switch, and the limit switch that is a safety control.


My primary research interest concerns product pricing with market power. In some cases my research is motivated by observing perplexing pricing patterns and asking what about the environment, the objectives of sellers, or biases of customers can lead to such pricing? In other cases my motivation is reversed: I am intrigued by an interesting environment or regulatory intervention and ask what are its implications for optimal pricing? In either case, I approach the problem using a combination of economic theory and empirical observation and testing. Pricing is a broad research topic, but I am particularly interested in situations in which consumers or other relevant market participants act like real people rather than Homo economicus because they are biased, boundedly rational, or have non-standard preferences. In other words, I study questions that fall within the emerging field of Behavioral Industrial Organization. A prime example is a branch of my research that I describe in "Dynamic Nonlinear Pricing: biased expectations, inattention, and bill shock" (International Journal of Industrial Organization 2012), and that I outline below in Section 2. A sequence of three of my papers highlights the importance of modeling and measuring both bias and inattention to understand firms' pricing decisions and evaluate public policies such as the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) recent bill-shock agreement with cellular carriers (Grubb, 2009, 2015b; Grubb and Osborne, 2015). In "Selling to Overconfident Consumers" (American Economic Review 2009), which I describe in Section 2.1, I show that consumer overconfidence can explain why cellular phone service plans include 'free' minutes or data followed by steep overage fees for additional usage. The paper highlights the importance of consumers' expectations about future consumption at the time of contracting


Objective:To explore the application of neuronavigation in the resection of pituitary adenomas by endonasal transsphenoidal approach.Method:Nine patients with pituitary adenomas accepted continuous and thin slice MRI scans before surgery and the MRI data were transported to the neuronavigation system.The internal carotid artery,optic nerve,cavernous sinus,brain stem,hypothalamus and pituitary adenoma were marked and reconstructed in three dimensions,and on this basis the best approach to the adenoma was designed.Results:The tumor site was reached smoothly and accurately under the neuronavigation by transsphenoidal approach,the mean margin of error being0.9mm.Complete resection was achieved in7patients and subtotal resection was achieved in2.After operation,the symptoms were relieved in7cases and2patients showed no improvement.No severe complications developed after surgery.Conclusions:The application of neuronavigation in the endonasal transsphenoidal approach is helpful to improve the accuracy,decrease bleeding during surgery and reduce complications after surgery.


Research into the selection of suitable materials and the development of fast processing methods for press die manufacturing is absolutely necessary to reduce the production time and cost. In particular, knowledge of its heat properties must be considered whendeveloping a long press die. Generally, as the main component materials of press dies, Cr, W low alloy tool steel, high carbon-high chrome steel, high speed steel, etc., are used as thetooling steel for the cold die. Machine tools and wire-cut electric discharge machining are mainly used for processing the press die parts. There are many differences in the machining time and life cycle of die parts depending on the machining process. The parts produced by milling and grinding have a high manufacturing time and cost with a long life cycle, while thosemade by milling and wire-cut discharge machining have areduced manufacturing time and cost,whereastheir die life cycle is reduced. Therefore, in this study, we will discuss amethod of improving the life cycle of the die parts by using heat treatment as a processing method that reduces the manufacturing time and cost. SEM, EDS analysis and the surface roughness analysis of the surface and center of the workpiece are used for analyzing the specimens produced by three machining methods, viz. milling grinding, milling wire cut discharge, and milling wire cut discharge heat treatment. A method of making die parts having the same life cycle as those produced by milling grinding is developed with the milling wire cut discharge high temperature tempering method.


The great majority of research in phytoplasma field was devoted in the last decades to classify and differentiate these prokaryotes on the basis of molecular and bioinformatic tools. Inspite to the development of a robust and quite exhaustive classification system that allowed to further develop phytoplasma multilocus typing on diverse genes, biology represents still the very unknown part in phytoplasma research. However a deep and sound knowledge of phytoplasma biology is needed to allow the definition of feasible solutions to reduce phytoplasma disease impact on worldwide agriculture.


Generation of high-repetition-rate modulation instability pulse trains and high- energy soliton-Raman pulses of approximately=60 fs durations, in a single-mode P/sub 2/O/sub 5/-doped silica fiber, is reported. The 7 mol.% concentration P/sub 2/O/sub 5/ fiber was pumped in a single pass arrangement by a Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YAG laser operated at 1.319 mu m. Operating in the region of zero second-order dispersion, modulation instability Stokes sideband seeded resonantly cascade stimulated Raman scattering associated with Si-O-Si and P=0 vibration modes of the fiber. As a result, broad bandwidth and widely tunable 1.36-1.80 mu m femtosecond pulses were obtained. >


We describe a prototype instrument using a Peltier cooled quantum cascade laser for precise measurement of stable carbon (13C/12C) isotopologue ratios in atmospheric CO2. Using novel optics and signal processing techniques in a compact instrument, we are able to detect the difference between sample and reference with a precision of 0.1‰ (2σ standard error of mean of 11 samples) in 10min of analysis time. The standard deviation of 0.18‰ for individual 30 s measurements shows that this prototype instrument already approaches the best reported literature values using continuous wave lead alloy tunable diode lasers. The application of pulsed near room-temperature quantum cascade lasers to this demanding problem opens the possibility of field worthy rapid response isotopic instrumentation and attests to the maturity of these lasers as spectroscopic sources.


The meiotic chromosome number and behavior of 12 Iranian populations belonging to six Astragalus species, A. submitis, A. raddei, A. crassispinus, A. ebenoides, A. szovitsii and A. lalesarensis of A. sect. Megalocystis, are presented here. All taxa studied are diploid and possess 2n=2x=16 chromosome number, consistent with the proposed base number of x=8 from ICPN. Although the taxa displayed regular bivalent pairing and chromosome segregation at meiosis, some meiotic abnormalities observed, included varied degrees of fragmented chromosomes, cytomixis, asynchronous nucleus, laggard, sticky and forward chromosomes, desynapsis and unequal polars.


Cascode circuit which behave like a MOS transistor but features high output impedance and low feedback capacitance are integral part of the high performance analog VLSI design. This paper investigates the working of the classical regulated cascode circuit and a new modified one is proposed. The basic intention of the new design is to reduce the threshold voltage of the classical cascode circuit to start the regulating process. Significant improvement is observed through simulation. PSpice is used to carry out the simulation work. The simulation experimental data and graphs confirming the theoretical analysis are presented. Finally a current mirror circuit is designed using the modified cascode structure. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of C3IT


We studied the postischemic alterations of second messenger and receptor systems focusing on the striobigral pathway in order to clarify the mechanism of the delayed neuronal changes in remote areas of the rat brain after transient focal ischemia. Chronological changes of [3H]forskolin and [3H]SCH 23390 binding sites and 45Ca accumulation were determined by using autoradiographic methods after 90 min of right middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion and after such occlusion followed by differnt periods of recirculation. After the ischemic insult, 45Ca accumulation extended to the lateral segment of the caudate putamen (CPu‐L) and to the cerebral cortex, both supplied by the occluded MCA. After the ischemia, [3H]forskolin binding sites were found to be markedly decreased in the early stage in the CPu‐L, the ischemic focus in this model, but reduction of the dopamine D‐1 receptor sites was first detected there 1 day after the ischemia. On the contrary, in the exo‐focal remote areas, there was no alteration of either [3H]forskolin of D‐1 receptor binding sites on day 1. However, 3 days after the ischemia, marked reduction of both these binding sites was first observed in the ipsilateral substantia nigra, which had not been directly affected by the original ischemic insult. These postischemic delayed phenomena observed in the substantia nigra developed concurrently with abnormal 45Ca accumulation. These results suggest that strionigral terminal degeneration in the substantia nigra is caused by precedent ischemic damage of the ipsilateral caudate putamen and that intracellular signal transduction including both second messenger and receptor systems may be involved prior to the neuronal damage in the exo‐focal postischemic brain areas. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


: This study aims to determine the effect of tax awareness, tax morale, tax sanctions and tax amnesty policies on taxpayer compliance in Batam City, especially those registered at the North Batam Pratama Tax Office. Data collection was carried out by the non-probability sampling method with convenience sampling technique. The sample of this study with a total of 100 samples. Statistical test methods and data processing using component based-Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) or Partial Least Square (PLS) using SmartPLS Version 3. The research findings show that: 1) tax awareness has no significant effect on tax compliance, 2) tax morale positive and significant effect on tax compliance variable, 3) tax sanctions have no significant effect on tax compliance, 4) tax amnesty policy (tax amnesty) has a positive and significant effect on tax compliance.


The article under consideration focuses on discussing issues regarding the subject's features and the subjective side (subjective features) of the composition of the criminal offense under Art. 156 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ("Corruption of minors"). The range of these issues is determined, and the author's position is offered about approaches to their academic solution.
The following issues related to the subjective signs of minors' corruption are recognized as the most debatable today: 1) is the subject of the minors' corruption general? 2) at what age does criminal responsibility for the corruption of minors come? 3) who is the subject of the corruption of minors? 4) what is the content of guilt as a sign of the subjective side of the corruption of minors? Finally, 5) what is the attitude of the subject of debauchery to the age of the victim?
The search for answers to the raised issues made it possible to conclude the need to clearly define in the Criminal Code of Ukraine the age at which criminal responsibility for the minors' corruption can come (only an adult is capable of realizing the social meaning of such behavior as debauchery with a person who has not reached the age of sixteen).
The specificity of the mental attitude of a person who commits minors' corruption is established, which is characterized by the existence of the following signs: 1) awareness of the socially dangerous nature of the committed act (intellectual signs of direct intent); 2) foreseeing the occurrence of significant harm to the normal sexual development of minors and the desire for this harm to occur (volitional signs of direct intent).
In order to eliminate the basis for discussions about the content of the mental attitude of the offender to the age of the victim, it is suggested to use already available experience in the criminal law (see, for example, clause 2, part 2 of Art. 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and to designate the awareness of the age of the victim. Because of this, a proposal is made to set out Part 1 of Art. 156 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in this version: "Commitment of corruption of minors against a person who is known to the perpetrator to have not reached the age of sixteen."


Mice bearing mutations at either of two loci, dominant White spotting (W) or Steel (Sl), exhibit development defects in hematopoietic, melanocytic and gametes. Genetics studies have shown that the SI locus encodes the Steel factor (SF), which is the ligand for the tyrosine kinase receptor c-kit, the product of the W locus. The SF factor plays an essential role during the formation of hematopoietic cells. Recently, it has been established that it regulates selfrenewal, differentiation, cell death and cell survival. Understanding how the hematopoietic stem cells undergo a progressive cell restriction in their differentiation potential and acquire new mature features under the control of SF, is a challenge in cell biology. The genetic expression pattern in a cell is established by transcription factors that regulate antagonic processes like survival and cell death. Here I explain that the survival effect of SF is modulated by the basic helix-loop-helix SCL transcription factor. The properties shown by SF indicate that not only SF maintains cells alive, but also potentiates proliferation of hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic progenitors.


Breast Cancer (BC) is a life-changing event. Compared to other malignancies in women, BC has received considerably more public attention. Despite improved neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and palliative treatment strategies for each characteristic molecular BC subtype, recommendations for evidence-based preventive strategies for BC treatment are not given equivalent attention. This may be partly due to the fact that high-quality long-term prevention studies are still difficult to carry out and are thus underrepresented in international studies. The aim of this review is to discuss the most relevant lifestyle factors associated with BC and to identify and discuss the evidence supporting practical prevention strategies that can be used in everyday clinical practice.


Algorithms based on wavelet-domain hidden Markov tree (HMT) have demonstrated excellent performance for image denoising. The HMT model is able to capture image features across the scales, in contrast to classical shrinkage that thresholds subbands independently. In this work, we extend the aforementioned results to a lapped transform domain. Lapped transforms (LT) are M-channel linear phase filter banks. Their use is motivated by their good energy compaction properties and robustness to oversmoothing. It is also observed that LT preserve better oscillatory image components, such as textures. Since LT are applied as block transforms, the transforms coefficients are rearranged into an octave-like decomposition, and their statistics are modeled by the same HMT structure as in the wavelet case. At moderate noise levels, the proposed algorithm is able to improve the results obtained with wavelets, subjectively and objectively.


The Frenchman's Reef Data Acquisition and Control System (DACS), Sunlogger model 10000-1 was evaluated to determine the accuracy of control functions and the performance of the system in the environment of the planned installation site. The Sunlogger system was verified to perform normally in an environment of 100 F and approximately 90% humidity. It is recommended however that the Sunlogger be installed in a controlled environment with temperatures and humidity significantly lower than those referenced above.


The need of answer clustering and fusion in a user-interactive question answering (QA) system is identified and its user interface and enabling technology are presented in this paper. This function aims to help a user to efficiently browse all the answers and find the correct answer to a specific question by clustering answers into groups and providing a representative (fused) answer for each group. The clustering approach proposed in this paper includes a measurement of semantic similarity between answers and an incremental soft-moVMF algorithm. An answer fusion method is proposed, which uses concept vector and authority of data sources to extract the summary for the answers in each cluster. Experiments and user studies show that the UI and the methods are effective.


A high-performance electron gun for crossed-beams electron-ion collision experiments is presented. First test measurements demonstrated high electron currents, e.g., 1 A at 3.5 keV electron energy verifying the results of electron optics simulations carried out prior to the mechanical construction of the gun. Presently, the device is implemented into an ultra-high vacuum setup that will allow for its integration into an ion beamline for cross section measurements.


The impact of gas flaring on the sustainable development was examined. The presence crude oil and natural gas is expected to serve as socio-economic driver of accelerated sustainable development of an area but the situation of oil producing areas of Nigeria is a far cry from the expected. Data was collected from eight (8) experimental sites around the gas flaring station including Obiaruku (control site), which has no gas-flaring station. Temperature and concentrations of air quality indices were determined. The temperature and air quality measurements in Ebedei were made, at least, 50 meters away from the bund wall of the flare. The data were analysed using the Multiple Regression and bivariate correlation. Results revealed that there is a significant relationship between ambient temperature and the gases (CO, NO2, SO4 and CH4) flared in Ebedei at F value of 20.069 which is greater than the critical value of 9.12. An increase in flared gases results to a corre- sponding increase in temperature. Strong negative relationship exists between distance from the bund wall of the flare and temperature at r=0.855. Recommendations: (FEPA) should constantly monitor and evaluate the level of damages done by gas flaring to ensure compliance and sustainability of the environment.


Neuronal and non-neuronal correlates of compensatory sprouting in the neural lobe (NL) were investigated using a unilateral hypothalamic knife-cut of the hypothalamoneurohypophysial tract to partially denervate the rat NL. Metabolic, morphometric and immunocytochemical methods were employed to investigate the cellular activity which accompanies the magnocellular neurosecretory system's response to partial denervation. Analysis of the metabolic effects of partial denervation indicate a transient urine hypoosmolality within the first 24 hours post-surgery (PS) followed by a chronic urine hyperosmolality which persists throughout the 3 month investigative period. Daily water intake (drinking) and urine excretion volumes demonstrate drop below control levels immediately following surgery which persists throughout the investigative period. Morphometric measurement of the magnocellular oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic neurons in the contralateral supraoptic nucleus (SON) demonstrated an enlargement of both cell populations within 10 days PS which remained significantly above control levels for at least 30 days PS. These data also suggest the oxytocinergic cell population may enlarge more vigorously or at an earlier time than their vasopressinergic counterparts. Cell counts of glial cell nuclei within 1 micron coronal sections of the NL revealed an increase in the number of pituicyte nuclei by 2 days PS which remained above age-matched control values for at least 30 days PS. The number of microglial cell nuclei numbers increased by 2 days PS but returned to normal by 10 days PS. Morphometric analysis of the NL vascular plexis revealed a strong temporal correlation between the enlargement of the NL vascular plexis and the process of compensatory collateral sprouting of neurosecretory axons in the NL. Immunocytochemical analysis of bromodeoxyuridine (Brdu) substitution suggests that the microglial but not the pituicyte populations within the NL are undergoing hyperplasia between 1 and 6 days following partial denervation. Analysis of nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) expression in the NL indicates a dramatic increase in the proportional area immunoreactive for NGFR between 5 and 10 days PS, which then returns to normal levels. Immunocytochemical comparison between NGFR, iC3b compliment receptor and leukocyte common antigen (LCA) immunoreactivity suggest that a subpopulation of microglial cells may up-regulate their expression and/or increase the numbers of cells expressing the NGF receptor during a period when axonal degeneration and phagocytosis of neuronal debris is occurring. These data describe the varieties of neuronal and non-neuronal activities which underlie the compensatory axonal sprouting of intact magnocellular neurons within the partially denervated NL. CELLULAR CORRELATES OF COMPENSATORY AXONAL SPROUTING IN THE MAGNOCELLULAR NEUROSECRETORY SYSTEM OF THE RAT


The courtroom orators of the early 1800's and the audiences which they addressed were quite different from those involved in modern judicial proceedings, and different rhetorical strategies were required for victory in these early legal dramas. This study provides an examination and explanation of the often colorful rhetoric of the frontier lawyers in Arkansas Territory, 1819–1836


The manuscript focuses on annual canopy interception in a tropical planted forest applying three models. However, the approach is not reasonable. The interception model is validated by the Gash models in addition to measured values, but the model must be validated only by observed data not by other models. Except for the approach, there are a lot of faults in the manuscript, and some of them seem to be difficult to correct keeping consistency of the manuscript. First of all, the structure of the manuscript includes many flaws. The manuscript is not organized that makes it difficult to read, e.g. some parts of methods that should be mentioned in "Methodology" section are contained in "Results and discussion" section. Secondly, there are many wrong and inconsistent descriptions, e.g. misunderstanding of the nature of parameters. Thirdly, C2126


A short survey consisting of two questions was given in the first week of a Cross-Cultural Understanding course.  The first probed for students' schemata for culture.  The second probed for their awareness of cultural differences, as found in compliment-response adjacency pairs in Indonesian and English. The answers were analyzed and conclusions drawn as to which elements of the curriculum were redundant for that particular class, or needed less attention, and which elements needed more time and focus. Most students' definitions of culture included behavior, specific place and identity. Few included beliefs, values or environment.  The curriculum was adapted to spend less class time on cultural behaviors. Instead, from the second lesson, behaviors and places were linked with cultural norms, rules, geography and history. The compliment responses showed that most students were aware of differences between Indonesian and English.   That concept therefore did not need to be taught. Instead the curriculum built on from this example to directly introduce the topics of conversational analysis and pragmatic failure. Later in the semester the cultural meanings and functions of different English and Indonesian responses to compliments were analyzed. Each CCU class brings a level of cultural and language awareness. The curriculum can be adapted to take this into account.


Objective To investigate the role of differentiation growth factor-8 (GDF-8) in inhibiting myofibrosis of abdominal aorta grafts. Methods Male Spague-Dawley (SD) rats received abdominal aorta grafts from male Wistar rats and were randomly divided into two groups: prolonged cold ischemia group (PCI) and control group. Hernatoxylin-Eosin (HE) staining was carried out to detect the morphouses of graft aortae and the neointimal thickness was measured. RT-PCR demonstrated the expression of GDF-8. Immunohistochimical staining (IHC) was performed to detect the expression of Smad4. Results The ultima thickness was increased since 14 days following transplantation in PCI group (P0.05), and reached to (381.952± 44.334) μm at 28 days, which was thicker than (56.898± 17.543) μm in control group ( P 0.05 ). The GDF-8 expression in PCI group was only3.6%-33.8% of that of control group. There was a much higher expression of Smad4 on the endothelium of PCI group than control group at the same time point. Conclusion Prolonged cold ischemia could accelerate grafts myofibrisis by down-regulating the expression of GDF-8, which plays a key role in the myofibrosis process of rat abdominal aorta grafts.


The corrosion mechanism of organic silicon modified polyurea composite coating under different CO2 partial pressures was studied using high-temperature autoclave, combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), adhesion tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technology. The experimental results showed that: there was no corrosion product formed on the surface of coating sample after high-temperature high-pressure corrosion test, and with the increasing of CO2 partial pressure, the coating adhesion and impedance values decline increases. Moreover CO2 partial pressure increases accelerated the failure process of polyurea composite coating system.


Objective To investigate the relationship between midtrimester blood human chorionic gonadotropin β-subunit (β-HCG) levels and adverse pregnancy outcomes,such as preeclampsia,premature rupture of membranes,and premature birth.Methods Blood β-HCG levels of 217 cases of 16-22 weeks pregnant women were measured using microparticle chemiluminescence immunoassay technology and pregnancy outcomes were traced,and then the relationship between β-HCG levels and pregnancy outcome was analyzed.Results Among 217 cases of pregnant women,preeclampsia occurred in 19 cases (8.8%),premature delivery occurred in 18 cases (8.3%),premature rupture of membranes occurred in 7 cases (3.2%),and 173 cases (79.7%) of pregnant women were normal.Among newborns,there were 2 cases of low birth weight children (0.9%),1 case of fetal distress (0.5%),1 case of stillbirth (0.5%),and 1 case of neonatal deaths (0.5%).The serum β-HCG levels of preeclampsia group,preterm group,and premature rupture of membranes group were higher than that of the normal pregnant women group,with the difference being statistically significant (P0.05 or 0.01).Among the pregnant women with serum β-HCG levels greater than 2 times the multiple of mean of normal pregnancy women,there were 5 cases in preeclampsia group (26.3%),3 cases (16.7%) in preterm pregnant group and 4 cases in premature rupture of membranes group (57.1%).Conclusion Midtrimester serum β-HCG levels are closely linked with adverse pregnancy outcomes,which can be used as indicators for adverse pregnancy outcomes prediction.In particular,β-HCG levels greater than 2 times the multiple of mean of normal pregnancy women,the risk of pregnancy increases greatly.However,the causes of abnormal β-HCG levels and the pathogenesis of adverse pregnancy outcomes remain to be further studied.


The SYNergy between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with TAXus and cardiac surgery (SYNTAX) trial is probably the most important trial comparing surgery and stents in patients with severe coronary artery disease (CAD). It is a prospective, multicentre, multinational, randomized clinical trial with an all-comers design. A cardiac surgeon and an interventional cardiologist (heart team), at each participating centre, assessed patients with de novo three-vessel or left main CAD. Patients considered suitable for either treatment were randomly assigned to either PCI with a first-generation paclitaxel-eluting stent or to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), while the others were entered into the PCI or CABG registries. The 5-year results of SYNTAX confirmed and amplified the 1-year results, with major adverse coronary and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) rates of 26.9% in the CABG group and 37.3% in the PCI group (P< 0.0001), with significantly increased rates of myocardial infarction (MI) and repeat revascularization in the PCI arm [1]. Head et al. report, in this issue of the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, a subanalysis of all SYNTAX CABG population, comparing baseline characteristics, practice patterns and outcomes of 1510 patients who underwent surgery in the USA (259 patients or 17%) versus Europe [2]. US patients received more grafts (3.1 ± 0.8 vs 2.7 ± 0.7; P< 0.001) and had more complete revascularization (80 vs 66%; P< 0.001), but with less complete arterial revascularization (5 vs 18%; P< 0.001). US versus European patients had comparable rates of MACCEs (28.7 vs 24.3%; P= 0.11) and composite rates of death, stroke and MI (15.3 vs 17.5%; P= 0.43) but higher repeat revascularization rates (15.0 vs 9.8%; P= 0.0011), driven by higher PCI rates (14.6 vs 9.2%; P= 0.005) but not repeat CABG rates (0.4 vs 0.8%; P= 0.48). Rates of graft occlusion were higher in US versus European (8.7 vs 3.2%; P< 0.001) patients. US enrolment was a borderline significant predictor of MACCEs [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.31; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00–1.73; P= 0.053], but independently predicted repeat revascularization (HR = 1.66; 95% CI 1.12–2.46; P= 0.011) and graft occlusion (HR = 2.65; 95% CI 1.52–4.62; P= 0.001), while it was a non-significant predictor of reduced MI (P= 0.064). These differ


Theories to understand the steep and localized radial electric field in the edge of toroidal plasma, which appears in conjunction with H‐mode, is revisited based on the electric field bifurcation model. Key elements in the models of the L‐H transition (including the toroidal effects on the dielectric constant and the effects of the curvature of radial electric field on turbulence suppression) are assessed. Results are applied to tokamak and helical plasmas, for which data with high‐resolution have been obtained recently. The status of quantitative tests on various mechanisms through comparison with experimental observations is also addressed. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Objective: 1) Describe pediatric costochondral graft reconstruction of the absent mandibular condyle. 2) Report the short-term and long-term outcomes and complications associated with performing this procedure in young children. Method: All children treated for an absent mandibular condyle with a costochondral graft from 2002 to 2011 at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota were identified and a retrospective chart review was performed. Outpatient charts, hospital records, and operative reports were reviewed. Results: Ten patients aged 3 to 11 years old were identified. The most common diagnosis in 7 out of 10 patients was oculo-auriculo-vertebral syndrome. Three of the patients had a tracheostomy, of which one was decannulated following condylar reconstruction. Functional improvement, defined as improved symmetry, chewing, or better oral opening, was observed in 8 out of 10 patients. Five patients have required no further surgeries to date, with a mean follow-up time of 3.9 years. Severe overgrowth of the graft was noted in 1 case and partial or complete resorption of the graft was also noted in 3 cases. Overgrowth occurred after 5.7 years whereas resorption occurred after an average of 2.5 years. Conclusion: Costochondral grafts are an excellent surgical treatment option for children with severe mandibular malformations. Short-term results show particular improvement in function and mandibular alignment. The mean follow-up time with no revision surgery was substantial and indicates that rib grafting is a good addition to the armamentarium of treatment for this patient population.


Based on the data of sedimentation of 115 representative reservoirs in Inland China,a statistical analysis is made on reservoir sedimentation of different types in different regions.The result shows that the sedimentation in small-?and medium-scale reservoirs is more serious than that in large-scale reservoirs,that there are obvious spatial differences in reservoir sedimentation in different river basins,that the loss of reservoir storage capacity in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River is the largest,and that the average annual rate of reservoir sedimentation in southwest China is the highest.According to the calculated result of sedimentation from data of the representative reservoirs by the end of 2003,it is derived that the average sedimentation ratio of reservoirs in Inland China is about 20%,and the average annual loss of reservoir storage capacity reaches 0.76%.The amount of annual sedimentation almost equals to the capacity of a super-sized reservoir with the volume of 42.3×10~8?m~3.


The interactions of endotoxin with sera from normal guinea pigs and sera from C4-deficient (C4D) guinea pigs that had a complete block in function of the classical complement sequence were examined. Endotoxin fixed the late components of complement (C3-C9) in both normal and C4D sera, demonstrating the existence of an alternate pathway that bypasses the early components of complement. Activation of the alternate pathway generates normal quantities of chemotactic factors, and the kinetics of chemotactic-factor generation is normal. The alternate pathway can opsonize bacteria and mediate the bactericidal reaction, although a difference in kinetics was observed. However, injection of endotoxin into normal and C4D animals revealed that activation of the classical pathway was an absolute requirement for thrombocytopenia and for induction of the hypercoagulable state.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a skydiving simulator which makes it possible to experience skydiving indoors.SOLUTION: In a skydiving simulator in which a flyer is flown by a stream of air AR moving upward from a lower position in a flying space 20 provided in a longitudinal middle position of a first vertical wind tunnel, a doorway 22 allowing the flyer to enter and exit the flying space 20 is provided at a position corresponding to the flying space 20 of the first vertical wind tunnel. Of a frame member 23 surrounding the doorway 22 in the first vertical wind channel, a downstream upper frame member section 231 extending along a circumferential direction of the first wind tunnel downstream of the air AR stream in the flying space 20 is curved in a direction in which the diameter D1 of the doorway narrows down between the downstream upper frame member section 231 and an upstream lower frame member section 232 as going toward the tip end 231a of the downstream upper frame member section 231 such that the tip end 231a of the downstream upper frame member section 231 is positioned outside the first vertical wind tunnel.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5


Incorporating Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) case studies when teaching ethics can help ECE students to relate to the engineering ethics concepts that are taught in the classroom. This paper describes an instructional module that has been used to teach ethics to ECE undergraduates. This module includes ECE case studies, as well as classroom activities that utilize the ethics code of conduct of the following professional bodies: IEEE, IEEE Computer Society, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), and the NSPE (National Society of Professional Engineers).


Critical phenomena arise ubiquitously in various context of physics, from condensed matter, high energy physics, cosmology, to biological systems, and consist of slow and long-distance fluctuations near a phase transition or critical point. Usually, these phenomena are associated with the softening of a massive mode. Here we show that a novel, non-Hermitian-induced mechanism of critical phenomena that do not fall into this class can arise in the steady state of generic driven-dissipative many-body systems with coupled binary order parameters such as exciton-polariton condensates and driven-dissipative Bose-Einstein condensates in a double-well potential. The criticality of this ``critical exceptional point'' is attributed to the coalescence of the collective eigenmodes that convert all the thermal-and-dissipative-noise activated fluctuations to the Goldstone mode, leading to anomalously giant phase fluctuations that diverge at spatial dimensions $d\le 4$. Our dynamic renormalization group analysis shows that this gives rise to a strong-coupling fixed point at dimensions as high as $d<8$ associated with a new universality class beyond the classification by Hohenberg and Halperin, indicating how anomalously strong the many-body corrections are at this point. We find that this anomalous enhancement of many-body correlation is due to the appearance of a sound mode at the critical exceptional point despite the system's dissipative character.


We present actuators which tune the resonant frequency of micromechanical oscillators. Experimental results show resonant oscillations from 7.7% to 146% of the original resonant frequency. Numerical results substantiate these results. Two failure modes have been identified which limit


The present invention discloses an aircraft auxiliary hanging electrical inspection apparatus inspects hanging device relates to power distribution lines. The device has a hanging means disposed to hang stable above the deck, the air damper placed inside the hanging stable platform, translating joint cage in the stable hanging a lower platform, translating the rotary shaft and connected to frame connector bracket translation by translation, the power adjusting arm translation and translational adjustment arm disposed on both sides of the support frame parallel to the servomotor adjusting arm placed in the power unit, the power was placed on the rotating shaft of the servo motor, a nested translational rotating shaft connected to the rotating shaft of the power button cross translation, the servo motor set to the power regulating arm lower end, placed on the rotation shaft of the servo motor, the rotation shaft disposed translational adjustment arm lower end, the rotating bracket and the rotating shaft, the rotating shaft sleeve are connected through the bracket, the imaging inspection apparatus fixed to the rotary bracket by fixing means bottom. Benefits: improve inspection accuracy and efficiency of electric power.


This report is an attempt to integrate some conceptual and methodological divergencies in man-machine system research. A. conceptual format and a procedure for input analysis are proposed which are derived from a cybernetics model. The format is suggested as a means to organize theoretical propositions. Some problems related to real-time simulation as a research method for system research are considered and an approach to methods improvement is discussed.


In demographic terms, librarianship is a profession apart. Relative to comparable professions in the United States, it contains roughly half the number of individuals ages 30 and under that one would expect, and almost 40 percent more individuals aged 45 or older. Indeed, librarianship has been older than all but a handful of comparable professions since 1970. Librarians in ARL libraries are somewhat older than librarians generally, although their age profiles are similar. In theory, librarianship could have remained older than comparable professions for the next 25 years in a stable, predictable way. But in 1990, librarianship began to age rapidly. In both the U.S. government and ARL data, individuals in the 35-44 age group began moving into the 45-54 range and carried the apex of both distributions with them. While the aging work force is a well-established phenomenon in the United States and Canada, it cannot account for such dramatic results in so short a time. There is no population in a comparable profession that aged so noticeably between 1990 and 1994. The sudden aging of librarianship follows a 12-year period in which the age of library and information studies students increased remarkably. The ALlSE data indicate that from 1981 to 1993, the percentage of MLS students ages 35 and over rose from 26 percent to 50 percent. More than one in six students was aged 45 or over in 1993. The ARL distribution for librarians new to the profession mirrors the ALlSE data, suggesting that the aging of students is part of the explanation for the aging of librarianship. While it is difficult to obtain age data for comparable professional students, data from the American Association of Colleges of Social Work indicate that the population of social work students did not age over the same period.


In literary studies, in spite of the growing deliberation with which questions of identity, ethnicity and difference are studied, no attention has yet been paid to the ways in which British post-war fiction has represented the Jewish experience of the Holocaust. This article is an attempt to initiate such interest by considering three novels – Litvinoff's The Lost Europeans (1960), Benedictus's A Twentieth Century Man (1978) and Waterstone's A Passage of Lives (1996) – that mark key moments in the response to the Holocaust.


In communication system simulation,generation of stochastic signals is an important part.In this paper the stochastic signals of various kinds in communication system simulation are analyzed and their probability density functions are given,and their generation method is also elaborated utilizing the rand function provided by Matlab.


Although many research studies have been performed on vulnerability assessment and hazard mitigation, it is extremely hard for communities to cope with disasters appropriately. There are many uncertainties and unanticipated issues in disasters; therefore, coping with disasters and emergencies is not as simple and easy as mitigation and preparedness activities. The concept of disaster resilience has been described as a method to overcome unforeseen problems. This paper aims to discover and prioritize dimensions and components of Disaster Resilient System (DRS) in urban areas using Delphi, Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Analytic Network Process (ANP). Numerous frameworks and models have been used to define relevant dimensions and components of DRS based on the Delphi method. The relationship between the components has been determined using DEMATEL. Finally, obtained data has been applied to ANP to define a conceptual model and to obtain a weighted supermatrix for prioritizing the main components of DRS. The results of the study have shown that a Comprehensive Emergency Plan (CEP) is the most important component for earthquake resilience in urban areas.


This study focuses on the assessment of educational-psychological teacher competencies regarding generic teaching and learning (TL) components in initial university-based teacher education. Based on the approximations-of-practice (AoP) framework, simulated teaching events (M-Teach) with different formats (tutoring, small group) were developed. In a validation study, it was asked to what extent preservice teachers show teaching skills discriminating students in their teaching quality. Furthermore, the relationship between performances in different M-Teach formats was investigated and compared with teaching in real classrooms. Finally, how preservice teachers experience teaching in M-Teach events and how their subjective experience is related to their performance was analyzed. As a sample, a full cohort of preservice teachers in the fifth semester of a Bachelor teacher education program in Germany (N = 89) participated. All participants taught two M-Teach formats of tutoring and small group teaching based o...


Sometimes the supporters of basic income appeal to "a right to basic income". When we talk about human rights we have to explain what we mean by that; if we start from some iusnaturalist or positivist case and what are the reasons we use to justify those rights. Van Parijs, in his theory of justice, talks about rights and basic income but he does not explain the way they are linked. In this paper I will try to give a legal view about the possibility to argue for a human right to basic income. With this purpose I will distinguish three very close concepts: rights, duties and guarantees. And I will try to see how basic income fits into these categories. Because if we make a correct legal design of basic income, it will have more opportunities to become a success. 1. From the theory of justice to institutions. When we argue for a concrete theory of justice, the next step is studying the institutional design demanded by that theory. In this point, rights are very relevant because depending on the theory of justice we defend, we could argue for one or * This paper has been improved with the generous help of Gijs Van Donselaar, María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop and Javier Ansuátegui who read previous drafts. However, all the mistakes are my own responsibility. I would thank any comment: firstname.lastname@example.com


INTRODUCTION For most of its history, significant changes in the logging industry have occurred primarily as a result of technological advances, such as railroads, steam donkeys, chain saws, trucking and feller-buncher machines. More recently; however, significant changes in the logging industry have been brought about as a result of public policy and regulations in an effort to address environmental concerns. These recent changes have resulted not only in a reduction in the locations, number and size of timber harvest units, but also a change in the planning of harvest unit layouts and harvest methods employed.


We characterize the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a class of complex valued tridiagonal $n$ by $n$ matrices subject to arbitrary boundary conditions, i.e. with arbitrary elements on the first and last rows of the matrix. %By boundary conditions, we mean the first and last row of the matrix. For large $n$, we show there are up to $4$ eigenvalues, the so-called \emph{special eigenvalues}, whose behavior depends sensitively on the boundary conditions. The other eigenvalues, the so-called \emph{regular eigenvalues} vary very little as function of the boundary conditions. For large $n$, we determine the regular eigenvalues up to ${\cal O}(n^{-2})$, and the special eigenvalues up to ${\cal O}(\kappa^n)$, for some $\kappa\in (0,1)$. The components of the eigenvectors are determined up to ${\cal O}(n^{-1})$.
The matrices we study have important applications throughout the sciences. Among the most common ones are arrays of linear dynamical systems with nearest neighbor coupling, and discretizations of second order linear partial differential equations. In both cases, we give examples where specific choices of boundary conditions substantially influence leading eigenvalues, and therefore the global dynamics of the system.


We give a complete and self-contained proof of a folklore theorem which says that in an Alexandrov space the distance between a point $\gamma(t)$ on a geodesic $\gamma$ and a compact set $K$ is a right-differentiable function of $t$. Moreover, the value of this right-derivative is given by the negative cosine of the minimal angle between the geodesic and any shortest path to the compact set (Theorem 4.3). Our treatment serves as a general introduction to metric geometry and relies only on the basic elements, such as comparison triangles and upper angles.


This article introduces the near-field theory analysis and experiments of grating fabrication with phase masks. Under the optimal experiment condition, we fabricate the good quality optical fiber grating with center wavelength 1 546.9 nm and bandwidth 0.849 nm, while its power deviation is less than 1 dB and its time delay deviation is less than 30 ps. The dispersion of 10 Gb/s, 100 km G.652 optical fiber is compensated by the grating, and more than 98% dispersion is compensated.