This study aimed to test the applicability of glabella morphology for sex estimation on the medieval sample from Eastern Adriatic Coast and to test the repeatability of scoring the trait. The glabella was scored according to Buikstra and Ubelaker twice by two experienced researchers and two students. We analyzed 38 skulls of known sex, determined by amelogenin analysis in previous research.We tested intraobserver and interobserver error using Cohen's Weighted Kappa and interclass correlation coefficient. We computed the frequencies of the scores by sex and calculated the probability of being male and female for each score. Sex of each was estimated using probabilities from the previous research by Walker and from a present study using the assumption that individuals with a probability of being male > 0.5 are males, and individuals with a probability of being female >0.5 are females.The prominence of glabella showed moderate or almost perfect levels of agreement for intraobserver and interobserver errors for most evaluators (Cohen`s kappa test = 0.55 – 0.89, ICC = 0.73 – 0.95), and if we showed that the influence of subjectivity was small for this cranial characteristic. However, the experience of the researcher impacted the reliability assessment of morphological feature. The accuracy of sexing skulls was 76% (74% males and 80% females) and was same for probabilities from the previous and present study. Finally, the study showed that the prominence of glabella is a relatively reliable morphological sex indicator, especially accurate in cases with hypermasculine scores (4 and 5)


A 10-year-old boy presented with symptoms of dyspnea. 3 monthspreviously, he had received a tracheostomymechanical ventilation because of trauma and had been dilated tracheal stenosis 4 times at previous hospital.We performed bronchoscopy and found a reduction of the upper trachea that is below subglottic 2 cm, diameterof 4mm, length of 1cm due to the web-likefibrotic stenosis. Thilium fiber laser via flexible bronchoscopy wasused to explode the stenotic lesion. His condition was improved well afer 3 months re examination. Thiliumfiber laser is a valuable tool with potential for therapy of an endobronchial obstructing airway lesion.


Circular economy is a newtype,advanced and contuinuable economy model of developˉment.According to the thought of"resource—product-waste material-renewable resource"the business is organized.Reduction,innocent treatment and beneficial use of resource will be realized.As a byoroduct of coal cutting,mine water is a kind of non-renewable valuable water resource.Mine water is returned to the commerial run by the treatment.It promotes circular economy of development in mine.The practice indicated that beneficial uses of mine water by developing circular economy has good economy,environmental and social benefit.


Myelocytomatosis proto-oncogene transcription factor (Myc) is an intrinsically disordered protein with critical roles in cellular homeostasis and neoplastic transformation. It is tightly regulated in the cell, with Myc phosphorylation playing a major role. In addition to the well-described tandem phosphorylation of Thr-52 and Ser-62 in the Myc transactivation domain linked to its degradation, P21 (RAC1)–activated kinase 2 (PAK2)–mediated phosphorylation of serine and threonine residues in the C-terminal basic helix–loop–helix leucine zipper (bHLH-LZ) region regulates Myc transcriptional activity. Here we report that PAK2 preferentially phosphorylates Myc twice, at Thr-358 and Ser-373, with only a minor fraction being modified at the previously identified Thr-400 site. For transcriptional activity, Myc binds E-box DNA elements, requiring its heterodimerization with Myc-associated factor X (Max) via the bHLH-LZ regions. Using isothermal calorimetry (ITC), we found that Myc phosphorylation destabilizes this ternary protein–DNA complex by decreasing Myc's affinity for Max by 2 orders of magnitude, suggesting a major effect of phosphorylation on this complex. Phosphomimetic substitutions revealed that Ser-373 dominates the effect on Myc–Max heterodimerization. Moreover, a T400D substitution disrupted Myc's affinity for Max. ITC, NMR, and CD analyses of several Myc variants suggested that the effect of phosphorylation on the Myc–Max interaction is caused by secondary structure disruption during heterodimerization rather than by a change in the structurally disordered state of Myc or by phosphorylation-induced electrostatic repulsion in the heterodimer. Our findings provide critical insights into the effects of PAK2-catalyzed phosphorylation of Myc on its interactions with Max and DNA.


A series of 5,6-diphenyl-3-substituted-thio-1,2,4-triazines (II-V) was prepared by treating 5,6-diphenyl-1,2,4-triazine-3-thiol (I) with corresponding electrophiles. Condensation of IV or V with 1,2-phenylenediamines gave 2-[(5,6-diphenyl-1,2,4-triazin-3-yl) thiomethyl-1H-benzimidazoles] (VI). IV was converted into its corresponding hydrazide (VII) by the action of hydrazine hydrate. N-Benzylidene derivatives (VIII) were prepared by the condensation of VII with appropriate aryl or heterocyclic aldehydes. The pesticidal activities of all the compounds thus synthesised were determined.


DOI: 10.2174/1874467213666200611141337 Abstract: Background: Nuezhenide (NZD), an iridoid glycoside isolated from Ilex pubescens Hook. & Arn. var. kwangsiensis Hand.-Mazz., used as a traditional Chinese medicine for clearing away heat and toxic materials, displays a variety of biological activities such as anti-tumor, antioxidant, and other life-protecting activities. However, a few studies involving anti-inflammatory activity and the mechanism of NZD have also been reported. In the present study, the anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects of NZD are illustrated.


The sun played a central role in the religion and culture of Ancient Egypt. It is therefore surprising that there seems to be no unambiguous mention of solar eclipses in Ancient Egyptian texts. Eclipses would certainly have been experienced by the Ancient Egyptians and records of them would be expected to occur in the religious corpus. Part 1 of this paper looked at the source texts and reliefs. Part 2 now sets out the astronomical background and predicts the solar eclipse events that would have occurred during the New Kingdom. These are then correlated with the New Kingdom texts and funerary material to test the hypothesis that these might record actual eclipse events.


NUMERICAL INTEGRATION IS THE PROCESS of approximating the value of a definite integral from a set of numerical values of the integrand. When applied to the computation of a double integral of a function of two independent variables, the process is sometimes called "mechanical cubature". One of the earliest investigations of the problem of mechanical cubature was made by Appel [2] in a paper in which he proposed formulas for the rectangle and the rectangular parallelopipedon. Appel presented no error analysis. Appel's approach was to assume that the integrand is of the form


There is a growing belief in development policy circles that participation by local communities in basic service delivery can promote development outcomes. A central plank of public policy for improving primary education services in India is the participation of village education committees (VECs), consisting of village government leaders, parents, and teachers. The authors report findings from a survey in the state of Uttar Pradesh, of public schools, households, and VEC members, on the status of education services and the extent of community participation in the public delivery of education services. They find that parents do not know that a VEC exists, sometimes even when they are supposed to be members of it; VEC members are unaware of even key roles they are empowered to play in education services; and public participation in improving education is negligible, and correspondingly, people's ranking of education on a list of village priorities is low. Large numbers of children in the villages have not acquired basic competency in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Yet parents, teachers, and VEC members seem not to be fully aware of the scale of the problem, and seem not to have given much thought to the role of public agencies in improving outcomes. Learning failures coexist with public apathy to improving it through public action. Can local participation be sparked through grassroots campaigns that inform communities about the VEC and its role in local service delivery? Can such local participation actually affect learning outcomes, and can any impact be sustained? The authors describe information and advocacy campaigns that have been experimentally implemented to address some of the problems with local participation, and future research plans to evaluate their impact.


We have mapped the thermal emission line of SiO (v = 0; J = 2–1) associated with the quadrupolar molecular outflow driven by the very cold far-infrared source IRAS 16293−2422. The SiO emission is significantly enhanced in the northeastern red lobe and at the position ∼50 east of the IRAS source. Strong SiO emission observed at ∼50 east of the IRAS source presents evidence for a dynamical interaction between a part of the eastern blue lobe and the dense ambient gas condensation, however, such an interaction is unlikely to be responsible for producing the quadrupolar morphology. The SiO emission in the northeastern red lobe shows the spatial and velocity structure similar to those of the CO outflow, suggesting that the SiO emission comes from the molecular outflow in the northeastern red lobe itself. The observed velocity structure is reproduced by a simple spatio-kinematic model of bow shock with a shock velocity of 19–24 km s inclined by 30–45 from the plane of the sky. This implies that the northeastern red lobe is independent of the eastern blue lobe and that the quadrupolar structure is due to two separate bipolar outflows. Based on observations made at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO). Nobeyama Radio Observatory is a branch of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, an inter-university research institute operated by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture, Japan. Laboratory of Astronomy and Geophysics, Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi, Tokyo, 186-8601, Japan Present address: Department of Astronomical Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, National Astronomical Observatory, Mitaka, Tokyo, 181-8588, Japan Nobeyama Radio Observatory, Minamimaki, Minamisaku, Nagano, 384-1305, Japan National Astronomical Observatory, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan Department of Physics and Research Center for the Early Universe, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan Astronomical Institute, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aramaki, Aoba, Sendai 9808578, Japan


Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in developed countries. Early‐stage pancreatic cancer is usually clinically silent, and disease only becomes apparent after the tumor invades surrounding tissues or metastasizes to distant organs. One of the urgent challenges in pancreas cancer research is to set up model systems allowing the development and testing of new therapies as well as the discovery of new diagnostic markers. The chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) has been successfully used to produce tumors from various cancer cell lines. Here, using BxPC3 human pancreatic cells we were able to produce within 7 days post‐grafting 30 mm3vascularized tumor on CAM. Histology analysis revealed that the cancer cells formed tumors compatible with PanIN‐3 grade human malignant adenocarcinomas. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the malignant cells were positive for carcinoembryonic antigen and cytokeratin‐7, and ‐19. Functional blood vessels were numerous between pancreatic islets. Interestingly, we were able to demonstrate that two biomarkers recently identified in our lab from human pancreas cancer tissues, latent‐transforming growth factor beta‐binding protein 2 (LTBP‐2) and transforming growth factor beta‐induced (TGFBI) were found to be also expressed in the BxPC3. The possibility to perfuse the tumor allows to expect this model to be used to detect new biomarkers as well as inject and test drugs.


Purpose: In children there is frequently a reason to exclude cystic fibrosis. Sweat testing is used for this. Because sweat testing has some disadvantages we investigated whether analyzing DNA for the local most common CFTR mutations, harvested from buccal cells, is reliable as a method to exclude cystic fibrosis.Methods: In patients in whom a sweat test had been ordered during the period January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2004, we harvested buccal cell DNA for analysis. When blood was available, DNA from leukocytes was also analyzed.Results: A total of 73 sweat tests were ordered during the two-year study period, mostly because of recurrent pulmonary infections (36; 49%), failure to thrive (20; 27%) and chronic diarrhea (10, 14%). In 70, children the results of the sweat test were normal, in three patients the results were borderline. Sixty buccal smears were analyzed and no patient was homozygous for cystic fibrosis, two were heterozygous for cystic fibrosis. In none of the children the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis was established.Conclusion: Analyzing DNA in cells, harvested from the buccal cells, is a reliable alternative to exclude cystic fibrosis. It is safe, simple, and child-friendly.


In supply chain, the key problem and difficulty in information-based construction lies in coordinating the benefits of various participating enterprises so that they may always maintain a positive attitude towards participation. This paper, from the hypothesis of the rational people, studies the financing for supply chain information-based construction between member enterprises in the supply chain, and then combines the features of distributed control supply chain to propose the corresponding financing package based on Stackelberg game theory, and last analyzes the approach to financing balance between information-based construction enterprises in the decentralized supply chain. It is found in this study that the expected return is the most important factor to coordinate the financing member enterprises for supply chain informationbased construction


The K-band electron paramagnetic resonance due to the photoinduced midgap state has been measured in an M-X chain complex [Pt(en) 2 ] [Pt(en) 2 Cl 2 ](ClO 4 ) 4 ,(en)=ethylenediamine, at 77 K. The angular variations of the spectral line shape and the intensity show that the photoinduced unpaired electron is localized on the segment Pt-Cl-Pt of the M-X chain bonds


Web data mining is a technique which helps in gathering the necessary information by slowly moving through various web resources to support an individual or a company to develop the business, recognizing the marketing dynamics, etc. Web data mining is the method of extracting the knowledge from web using the user behavior profile information. Existing online user interest searching method achieves the higher level of self-confidence to the invested user's mental effort. Amount of Invested Mental Effort (AIME) develops the conceptual framework to determine the user's mental effort but not effective on collecting and grouping the similar user's mental capabilities. However, AIME is not successful on clustering the user behavior depending on different set of test relationship from users. Web-page recommendation through semantic enhancement method employs an ontology concept to represent the domain user query knowledge. The query knowledge automatically generated the semantic network to represent domain user query terms to function effectively. Key information extraction does not offer higher performance filtering rate by using the user profile information. So, the main research work is to capture the web browsing profile behavior of the users and to execute the effective mining operations to achieve the exact requirement of the user's interests. More attention is required on automatic updating of the user behavior profiles for enhancing the personalization effect on various search engines. Generally, all the search engines return the similar set of the result to the user query regardless of the query size. Automatic updating of the user behavior profiles for the effective user query search is a fundamental part in our research work.


Corn prices managed a significant rally from late September to late December 2000, partially on anticipation of a smaller 2000 crop estimate and record first quarter feed and residual use of corn. The USDA reports released on January 11 did not support the anticipation of declining U.S. stocks by the end of the marketing year. At 9.968 billion bushels, the final 2000 production estimate was only 86 million bushels below the November estimate. December 1, 2000 stocks of 8.5 billion bushels were at least 100 million bushels larger than expected and were the largest since 1987. Stocks at the end of the year are now projected to increase from the level of a year ago.


Field surveys and specimen collections of the rust fungal pathogen Gymnosporangium were carried out for 15 years from 1985 through 1999 in various locations of Korea. Macroscopic and microscopic examinations of morphological characteristics of aecia from the collected specimens revealed that Gymnosporangium globosum is the causal agent of American hawthorn rust disease on Crataegus pinnatifida and C. pinnatifida varmajor. The host plants are new for this rust fungus. G. globosum was found only in Gyeonggi and Chungbuk provinces, indicating that its distribution in Korea is limited. This is a first full description on morphological characters of aecia of G. globosum in Korea.


The purpose of this study was to empirically test the effect of negotiating debt contracts (through the level of leverage, the level of secured borrowings and decrease in cash flow from operating activities) as well as the political cost (through the firm size) against the company on administering the revaluation of fixed assets. The population of this study focused on the companies that were listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange in 2010. Based on this list, there were 5 companies that administered the revaluation on fixed assets in 2010. As for the companies that did not administer the revaluation of fixed assets, the researcher processed all samples with purposive sampling method. Furthermore, this research also used the secondary data obtained from the Indonesian Stock Exchange and used the logistic regression analysis. The result of the study were that the level of leverage and the firm size had a positive and significant effect on the rate of 10% of the company to administer the revaluation of fixed assets. On the contrary, the level of secured borrowings had a negative and insignificant effect for the company to administer the revaluation of fixed assets although it was originally predicted to be positive. The study also discovered that the decrease in cash flow from operating activities had a positive and insignificant effect for the company to administer the revaluation of fixed assets which overlooked the original prediction to be negative.


Pharmacokinetic drug interaction between phenytoin and diltiazem was investigated following i.v. administration concomitantly to rabbits. Diltiazem was coadministered at doses of 1, 2 and 3 mg/kg, respectively, with phenytoin (5 mg/kg) to rabbits. Plasma concentration and AUC of phenytoin were increased significantly, but volume of distribution and total body clearance were decreased significantly (p


The dimensional reduction of the bosonic sector of five-dimensional minimal supergravity to a Lorentzian four-dimensional spacetime leads to a theory with a massless axion and a dilaton coupled to gravity and two U(1) gauge fields and the dimensionally reduced equations of motion have SL(2,R)/SO(2)-duality invariance. In our previous work, utilizing the duality invariance, we formulated solution-generation techniques within five-dimensional minimal supergravity. In this work, by choosing a timelike Killing vector, we consider dimensional reduction to a four-dimensional Euclidean space, in which the field equations have SL(2,R)/SO(1,1) invariance. In the timelike case, we develop a new duality transformation technique, while in the spacelike case we have done that in the previous work. As an example, by applying it to the Rasheed solutions, we obtain rotating Kaluza-Klein black hole solutions in five-dimensional minimal supergravity. In general, in contrast to the spacelike case, the resulting dimensionally reduced solution includes the so-called NUT parameter and therefore from a four-dimensional point of view, such a spacetime is not asymptotically flat. However, it is shown that in some special cases, it can describe ordinary Kaluza-Klein black holes.


To date MRI has primarily been used as a problem-solving modality for sonographically indeterminate adnexal masses owing to its excellent soft tissue contrast and functional properties. Qualitative diffusion-weighted imaging with visual assessment is helpful in lesion characterization and makes differentiation of solid adnexal masses more accurate. Diffusion-weighted imaging can obviate intravenous MRI contrast media, rendering this technique indispensable in cases of contraindications and in pregnancy. Staging ovarian cancer remains a CT domain. However, novel technical developments are at the brink of changing imaging and management in ovarian cancer in the years to come; MRI may shift from a problem-solving to a central management tool, possibly fulfilling a broad range of tasks from characterization, staging and even early assessment of response to treatment in the case of chemotherapy using quantitative diffusion-weighted imaging.


Sepsis is the commonest cause of neonatal mortality; responsible for
(1, 2).
about 30-50% of the total neonatal deaths in developing countries
Neonatal sepsis (NNS) is a clinical syndrome characterized by signs
and symptoms of infection in the rst month of life with or without
(3).
accompanying bacteremia It has been reported that approximately
1% neonates die of sepsis related causes and it has been estimated that
(2)
up to 20% of neonates develop sepsis . The mortality due to sepsis can
be prevented with early diagnosis, rational antimicrobial therapy and
aggressive supportive care.


The F-doped and carbon coated Li4Ti5O12−xFx/C (LTOF/C) composite anode materials are synthesized via a conventional solid-state reaction with lithium citric acid as the conductive carbon source, and LiF as the fluorine source. The structure and electrochemical properties of the LTOF/C materials are investigated and the effects of carbon coating and F ion doping on the performance of as-prepared materials are discussed. Under a potential range from 0.01 to 2.5 V, LTOF/C exhibits better reversibility and higher cyclic stability compared with LTO and LTO/C, especially at high current rates. The initial specific discharge capacity is 325.6 mA h g−1 at a current density of 170 mA g−1, and remains about 165 mA h g−1 over 1000 cycles when the current density increases to 850 mA g−1. The main factors influencing the excellent performances should be attributed to the cooperation of the F-doping and carbon-coating, which can increase the amount of mixed Ti3+/Ti4+, leading to improved ionic conductivity and electron conductivity in LTO at the same time.


We introduce a new combinatorial formulation of chromosome physical-mapping by the sampling-without-replacement protocol. In this protocol, which is simple, inexpensive, and has been used to successfully map several organisms, equal-length clones are hybridized against a subset of the clones called probes, which are designed to form a maximal nonoverlapping clone-subset. The output of the protocol is the clone-probe hybridization matrix H. The problem of finding a maximum-likelihood reconstruction of the order of the probes along the chromosome in the presence of false positive and negative hybridization error is equivalent to finding the minimum number of entries of H to change to zeros so that the resulting matrix has at most 2 ones per row, and the consecutive-ones property across rows. This combinatorial problem, which we call 2-Consecutive-Ones Mapping, has a concise integer linear-prograniming formulation, to which we apply techniques from polyhedral combinatorics. The formulation is unique in that it does not explicitly represent the probe permutation, and in contrast to prior linear-programming approaches, the number of variables is small: in practice, linear in the number of clones. We derive a large class of facet-defining inequalities for the 2-consecutive-ones polytope that we call the augmented kdegree inequalities, and we show that the basic k-degree class can be efficiently separated using bipartite matchings. Computational results with an implementation of the resulting branch-and-cut algorithm applied to both simulated and real data from the complete genome of Aspergillus nidulans show that we can solve many problems to provable optimality and find maps of higher quality than previously possible. *Institut fiir Angewandte Mathematik, Universitct Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 294, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Email: thomas. christof(0iwr. uni-heidelberg de. Research performed during a DAAD Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Georgia. 'Corresponding author. Department of Computer Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-7404, USA. Email: kecePcs.uga.edu. Research supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Grant DBI-9'722339. Copyright ACM 1999 l-581 13-069-4/99/04...$5.00 John Kececioglut


This work aims at measuring the electrical activity of a network of rat neurons with Multi-Transistor Array technology. The recorded signal analysis is made using the spike detection algorithm proposed after A. Lambacher ("Identifying firing mammalian neurons in networks with high-resolution multi-transistor array (MTA)", Applied Physics A. 102.1 (2011), pp. 1-11).
After locating a group of neurons, the spike frequency of one of these is measured. The time correlation between spikes of different neurons allows the meaurement of inter-neuronal signal transmission velocity. Preliminary results are discussed.
Furthermore the algorithm is implemented on a FPGA digital circuit. The on-line digital algorithm is tested and compared with off-line analysis to verify its working. A graphical interface is created to visualize neuronal activity on-line.
This work aims at building an acquisition chain for real-time analysis of neuronal activity.


The water absorbed in a semi-rigid base is a major cause of road damage. Thus, moisture condition detection in the road base layer is essential for assessing the degree of road diseases. The main method used for such detection is oven drying, in which core samples are extracted from the road by drilling, which aggravates road damage. Acoustic emission (AE) detection is a typical non-destructive method. In this study, AE testing was performed on semi-rigid base specimens with three different moisture conditions. A mechanical testing machine and an AE system were used to determine the AE characteristics corresponding to three different moisture conditions in semi-rigid bases. Results indicated that the saturated condition corresponded to the highest amplitude attenuation of the AE signal, and the natural condition corresponded to the highest velocity of the AE signal. With an increase in moisture content, the AE counts and cumulative AE energy of the semi-rigid base specimens decreased during the bending test. The peak frequency of the semi-rigid base was mainly in the ranges of 8–40 kHz and 80–120 kHz, and the signal of the saturated specimen is almost the component of 8–40 kHz.


We study the ageing properties of the semi-infinite kinetic spherical model at the critical point and in the ordered low-temperature phase for both Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. The surface fluctuation–dissipation ratio and the scaling functions of two-time surface correlation and response functions are determined explicitly in the dynamical scaling regime. In the low-temperature phase, our results show that for the case of Dirichlet boundary conditions the value of the non-equilibrium surface exponent b1 differs from the usual bulk value of systems undergoing phase ordering.


Practical Exploration and Innovative Thinking of Mass Cultural Work in Cultural Centers Di Zhu Guang'an Cultural Center, Guang'an, Sichuan, 638000, China Abstract In recent years, with the rapid development of China's economy, people's material life has been greatly satisfied, and the requirements for cultural life are also higher and higher. In the new era, our city cultural center should actively make adjustments, aiming at the diversified cultural needs of the people, make reform and innovation on the mass cultural work, so as to better meet the cultural needs of the people, and make people's material life and spiritual life improve together.


Background : Acne vulgaris is a skin disease caused by chronic inflammation of the follicular pilosebacea marked by the presence of blackheads, papules, pustules, nodules, and cysts in place of healthy skin. One of the risk factors for Acne vulgaris is changing cosmetic brands which may contain comedogenic and acnegenic ingredients. The aim of this study is to find out the relationship of changing cosmetic brands and the prevalence of Acne vulgaris in female undergraduates. Methods : This was an observational study with cross sectional design. The subjects were 344 female undergraduates who used two out of four types of cosmetics, recruited by total sampling. Data were analyzed to see the relationship of changing cosmetic brands with the degree and the frequency of acne. Results : Based on Spearman correlation test, changing cosmetic brands has a strong positive correlation (r 2 = 0.762) with the degree of acne and a mild positive correlation (r 2 =0.461) with acne frequency. Chi-square test showed statistical significance (p<0.05) between changing cosmetic brands and the degree and frequency of acne. Subjects who frequently changes cosmetics has a 66 times higher risk of having bad acne (PR= 66.994; CI 95% = 32.099 – 139.320) and 8 times higher risk of having more frequent acne (PR= 8.432; CI 95% = 4.969-14.308) compared to subjects that do not frequently change cosmetics. Conclusion : Changing cosmetic brands increased the risk for both the degree of acne and the frequency of acne.


Whether external debt influences economic growth is still considered a crucial policy issue. This paper analyses the impact of external debt on economic growth in Nigeria. It uses the variance decomposition and impulse response from Vector Auto-Regression (VAR), a time-series econometric model to test whether or not External Debt, Ratio of External debt to Exports and other economic control variables such as: Inflation, Real Exchange Rate and Public investment stimulate economic growth proxy by gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate. Based on the two-stage data processing, the result reveals that causation between external debt and economic growth is weak in the Nigerian context and external debt could thus not be used to forecast improvement or slowdown in economic growth in Nigeria. Hence, changes in GDP cannot be predicted with changes in external debt. The policy implication of the study is that most Nigerians contract debt for selfish reasons rather than for the promotion of economic growth. For debt to promote growth in Nigeria, fiscal discipline and high sense of responsibility in handling public funds should be the watchword of Nigerian leaders.


Using methods of questionnaire interview,feasibility of offering sports dance course in vocational colleges were studied and analyzed.The result shows that students in vocational colleges are eager for the course.Meanwhile,the lack of understanding of sports dance,and the insufficiency of teachers make it difficult to popularize and develop this sports dance in vocational colleges.


In this Letter, the spontaneous Raman spectra of a novel, to the best of our knowledge, crystal α-BaTeW2O9 (α-BTW) are characterized and analyzed. The relative Raman gain coefficient of the α-BTW crystal is calculated to be 0.84 times that of YVO4. With a 35-mm-long crystal, the first-order Raman laser of α-BTW operating at 1178 nm is realized. The simple external resonator setup is employed in the first-order Raman laser of α-BTW. The pump source is a lamp-pumped electric-optical Q switched Nd:YAG laser amplifier system operating at 1064 nm with a pulse width of 10 ns. The Raman laser exhibits a threshold of 14.7 MW/cm2. In our experiments, a maximum pulse energy of 21.5 mJ is obtained with an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency and slope efficiency of 43.6%, 57.9%, respectively. Due to its high laser damage threshold, relative high Raman gain coefficient, and excellent thermal properties, the α-BTW crystal is a potential Raman material.


This paper examines the conditions under which members of a defined benefit pension plan might bear investment risk, and examines the tradeoffs between defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans under these conditions. Wages and asset returns are assumed to be stochastic, and individuals are assumed to have no access to other savings markets or markets where human capital risk can be insured or traded away. The findings, mainly numerical results, are that the defined benefit plan completes savings markets by permitting a form of wage smoothing. The sensitivity of this result to the level of wage and asset return variability is examined, and some extensions of the model are proposed. The results of this model are compared with the results of a similar model where all investment risk is borne by the plan sponsor of the defined benefit plan.


Abstract In 1985, 100 Polish university students completed a Polish translation of Rotter's (1966) Internal-External Locus of Control Scale. A second group of 100 Polish students, selected for similarity of age, sex, major, and university to the first group, completed this same scale in 1991, following the profound sociocultural changes associated with democratization. As hypothesized, from 1985 to 1991 Political Control subscale scores showed a significant change toward internality, whereas Personal Control subscale scores showed no change.


To determine the effect of some chemical materials on the compressive strength and surface hardness of dental stone. Material and Methods: three types of chemical materials (rosin, nigella stavia oil and sodium lauryl sulfate) were incorporated into three kinds of type III dental stone (Zeta, Elite and Dental stone) at four concentrations (0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2%).The collected data of compressive strength and surface hardness were subjected to the descriptive analysis (mean and stander deviation), student T test (to evaluate the difference between standard and experimental groups) and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) (to show if there are significant differences among experimental groups). Results: revealed that the incorporation of these chemical materials into each type of dental stone resulted in changing their evaluated physical properties; this change varies with the type, concentration of the added chemical material and type of dental stone being used. Conclusion: The highest values of compressive strength and surface hardness were recorded with the addition of rosin into each of Zeta, Dental stone (at a concentration of 1%) and Elite stone (at a concentration of 1.5%). Also the addition of nigella sativa stone oil increases in the compressive strength and surface hardness of Zeta and Dental stone when this materials added at a concentration of 1% and at a concentration of 0.5%when it is added to Elite.


This paper summarizes data fusion, controller design and experimental work done recently for the longitudinal control of a platoon of autonomous vehicles. This paper presents alternative sub-models of an engine and a transmission to achieve the goal of precise spacing control with smooth ride quality. Adaptive observers are developed to estimate the vehicle-to-vehicle spacing and the closing rate. The estimated values are used in a sliding mode based controller. The developed control strategies are implemented on test vehicles and four vehicle platoon control performed at low to highway speed profiles using throttle position control alone.


The Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is acomparatively new transport protocol that presents some advanced features compared to other standardized transport protocols. However, there are ...


In this paper we propose a microlayer model in which the partial dryout of the liquid microlayer underneath the individual bubbles is regarded as the mechanism of critical heat flux (CHF). By considering the evaporation of the liquid microlayer and the dynamics of bubbles, both the initial growth and the departure process of bubbles are analyzed, then the dryout area and the heat flux are formulated as functions of superheat ΔTs and the density of active sites N. Using the experimental data of N available in the literature, the CHF has been derived as the maximum value of the heat flux. The prediction of this model shows good agreement with some previous experimental data.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to clarify the familial relationship between the nonschizophrenic, nonaffective psychoses (schizoaffective disorder [SAD], schizophreniform disorder, delusional disorder, and atypical psychosis) and schizophrenia and affective illness (AI).

DESIGN
A case-controlled epidemiologic family study using DSM-III-R criteria.

RESULTS
Compared with relatives of unscreened controls, the risk of nonschizophrenic, nonaffective psychoses was significantly elevated in relatives of probands with schizophrenia, SAD, schizotypal personality disorder, and psychotic AI. No significant elevation in risk to these disorders was seen in relatives of probands with nonpsychotic AI. The risk for SAD alone was significantly increased in relatives of probands with psychotic or bipolar AI.

CONCLUSIONS
The nonschizophrenic, nonaffective psychoses have a significant familial relationship with both schizophrenia and schizotypical personality disorder. Schizoaffective disorder, as defined by DSM-III-R, shares familial etiologic factors with at least some forms of AI.


AIM
To determine variation of CYP2B6 gene within the genetically specific Croatian Roma (Gypsy) population originating from India and to examine it in the worldwide perspective.

MATERIALS & METHODS
Seven SNP loci (rs12721655, rs2279343, rs28399499, rs34097093, rs3745274, rs7260329 and rs8192709) were genotyped in 439 subjects using Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) method.

RESULTS
The Croatian Roma took an outlying position in CYP2B6 variation from the worldwide perspective mainly due to their exceptionally high minor allele frequency (MAF) for rs8192709 (12.8%), and lower for rs2279343 (21.1%) compared with south Asian populations.

CONCLUSION
This study provides the first data of several CYP2B6 polymorphisms in Roma population and indicates the need for systematic investigation of the most important pharmacogenes' variants in this large, transnationally isolated population worldwide.


Ovomucin, prepared from thick egg white by precipitation and washing with 12· 5 % (w/v) KH2P04 at pH 5· 0, was analysed for amino acids and carbohydrate, and found to vary in composition between different preparations. Glycopeptides were separated from Pronase digests of reduced ovomucin and fractionated by gel filtration into two classes which were markedly different in composition. Each class of glycopeptides accounted for about half of the total moles of carbohydrate residues in the original ovomucin.


Mitogenicity and the polyclonal plaque forming cell(PFC)‐inducing property of a water soluble‐adjuvant extracted from Bacterionema matruchotii by butanol (Bu‐WSA) were examined in vitro in the spleen cells of hybrid (CBA/N female × BALB/c male) F1 mice and C3H strain of mice. The hybrid F1 male cells which expressed a CBA/N‐defect were unable to respond to Bu‐WSA, when assessed by the incorporation of [3H] thymidine into the cells and the generation of anti‐trinitrophenyl (TNP)‐PFC or autoantibody PFC defined by the anti‐bromel‐ain‐treated mouse erythrocyte PFC assay. However, hybrid F1 female cells with normal traits responded to Bu‐WSA. Cultured spleen cells of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐nonresponsive C3H/HeJ mice responded to Bu‐WSA as in the case of cells of LPS‐responsive C3H/He mice, and the [3H]thymidine‐uptakes and the numbers of PFC in these culture cells increased. Re‐extraction of Bu‐WSA by phenol did not affect its activities, while the activity of butanol‐extracted LPS on C3H/HeJ cells decreased after re‐extraction by the same procedure with phenol.


We present in this paper a way to effectively visualize multi-dimensional immune system cellular data by means of nonlinear methods. We find that Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (SNE), and it's variations, t-SNE and s-SNE, to be most effective at successfully mapping clusters of points into a two dimensional embedding space while preserving both the structure between similar points and the disparity between different clusters. Using a centroid-based metric that relabels points according to the cluster centroid to which they are closest, we conclude that SNE works significantly better than linear and spectral methods. By using an optimization approach for SNE that follows the 'spectral direction' of descent, we are able to run the SNE varients and EE two orders of magnitude faster than with standard optimization. Finally, we demonstrate superior classification of data by first reducing its dimension then applying supervised learning using a C-SVC SVM and ν-SVC SVM.


Several earlier attempts at explaining the norm of universalism in Congress rely on a simple expected value comparison between the rewards to legislators of the coalition of the whole as against the uncertainties associated with minimal winning coalitions. Such a comparison, however, fails to model directly the decision processes within a legislature-the game legislators play-and, thus, fails to explain why it is in no member's self-interest to defect from such a norm. Further, the corresponding explanations for universalism can accommodate inefficiency in legislation pork barrel only with additional and ad hoc assumptions or with appeals to secondary group norms. We offer here an alternative model based on constituency motivations that establishes universalism as an optimal individual choice and which accommodates inefficient legislation directly.


The problem of choosing an optimum scheme for the electrooptical analyzer of polarization and related control principles are discussed. An electrooptical deflector, which is advantageously used to employ a single photodetector and to remove systematic errors inherent in magnetographs with two photodetectors in the wings of the line is discussed, as well as adjustment errors of optical elements of the polarization analyzer and errors of control voltages. A method for measuring the telescope's polarization matrix, reduction of magnetographic measurements for instrumental polarization and calibration of magnetograph channels are examined. Questions of evaluating scattered light and of reducing magnetic field measurements are also considered as a computational procedure for the magnetic field vector parameters is briefly outlined. Computer control of the solar magnetograph and of the processing and control system software is discussed.


Eigenvoice techniques have been proposed to provide rapid speaker adaptation with very limited adaptation data, but the performance may be saturated when more adaptation data become available. This is because in these techniques an eigenspace with reduced dimensionality is established by properly utilizing the a priori knowledge from the large quantity of training data. The reduced dimensionality of the eigenspace requires less adaptation data to estimate the model parameters for the new speaker, but also makes it less easy to obtain more precise models with more adaptation data. In this paper, a new segmental eigenvoice approach is proposed, in which the eigenspace can be further segmented into N subeigenspaces by properly classifying the model parameters into N clusters. These N subeigenspaces can help to construct a more delicate eigenspace and more precise models when more adaptation data are available. It will be shown that there can be at least mixture-based, model-based and feature-based segmental eigenvoice approaches. Not only improved performance can be obtained, but these different approaches can be properly integrated to offer better performance. Two further approaches leading to improved segmental eigenvoice techniques with even better performance are also proposed. The experiments were performed with both a large vocabulary and a small vocabulary recognition tasks.


Discovering patterns and anomalies in a variety of voluminous data represented as a graph is challenging. Current research has demonstrated success discovering graph patterns using a sampling of the data, but there has been little work when it comes to discovering anomalies that are based upon understanding what is normative. In this work we present two approaches to reducing graph data: subgraph filtering and graph filtering. The idea behind the proposed algorithms is the removal of a "murky middle", where data that may not be normative or anomalous, is removed from the discovery process. We empirically validate the proposed approach on real-world, pseudo-real-world, and synthetic data, as well as compare against a similar approach.


The near infrared spectroscopy may be implemented using various optoelectronic techniques, however, most of them do not allow to carry out measurements at short source-detector separation. We propose a method, based on time-gated intensified CCD camera, which allows for contactless measurements and can be carried out at short source-detector separation. This technique was tested on a phantom with absorbing inclusions buried in an optically turbid medium which mimics local changes in oxygenation of the brain tissue.


Use the data from 16 emerging equity market for period January 2000 through December 2013, this study focus on the relationship between market liquidity and return. Using panel data methodology the finding of this study show that market liquidity significantly positive toward return in emerging country. This result remain the same event after controlling dividend yield, exchange rate, and world market beta. Using the dummy variable this study also examine the relationship of market liquidity toward return and find that during the crisis liquidity will affect more positive toward return. This show during the crisis investor see the market liquidity as a sign of economic growth which lead to the higher return. This study also examine relationship of market liquidity and market return in developed country. Using data of 10 developed country with the same date, the result show the contrary effect. The market liquidity is significantly negative toward return in developed country. This consistent with the view that emerging equity markets have a lower degree of integration with the global economy


Two-dimensional (2D) materials are playing more and more important roles in both basic sciences and industrial applications. For 2D materials, strain could tune the properties and enlarge applications. Since the growth of 2D materials on substrates is often accompanied by strain, the interaction between 2D materials and substrates is worthy of careful attention. Here we demonstrate the fabrication of strained monolayer silver arsenide (AgAs) on Ag(111) by molecular beam epitaxy, which shows one-dimensional stripe structures arising from uniaxial strain. The atomic geometric structure and electronic band structure are investigated by low energy electron diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principle calculations. Monolayer AgAs synthesized on Ag(111) provides a platform to study the physical properties of strained 2D materials.


PARTHASARATHY AND PLYMEN Au+(?I; j,) are conjugate subgroups. Therefore the subgroup of BogoliuboL automorphisms of '21 is determined up to conjugacy. The von Neumann- Clifford algebra is studied in great detail by Schrader and Uhlenbrock [6, Propo- sition 3.161. The CZijYovdgroup as defined by Bourbaki [3, Section 91 is cssentiallp the classical analog of the group of Bogoliubov automorphisms. From now on, we shall denote the subgroup of Rogoliubov automorphisms by Aut,(\!l). It is clear that Aut,(\Ll) gg O(E) where O(B) is the full orthogonal group of L:; the orthogonal transformation determined bv 4 t Aut,(?L) is its restriction to E. Our main result is: PROPOSITIOS


This paper provides a thorough, parametric comparison of axial and radial flux coaxial magnetic gears with surface-mounted permanent magnets. While both topologies share similar operating principles and can achieve comparable shear stresses, they exhibit different scaling trends with respect to key design parameters. Both topologies' volumetric torque densities (VTDs) increase with the outer radius, but the axial flux topology's VTD increases with the radius at a much faster rate than the radial flux topology's VTD. Another difference between the topologies involves their cross-sectional scaling parameters. The stack length axially scales radial flux gear cross sections, and, as it increases, the impact of end-effects decreases, which improves the performance. For axial flux gears, the radii ratio scales the cross section's radial width between different radii. This fundamentally changes optimal parameter values and design performance tradeoffs. Finally, axial flux rotors experience significant axial forces, but the radial forces on radial flux rotors can be balanced out. Based on these trends, radial flux gears are superior to axial flux gears for most applications; however, axial flux gears have a significant advantage when a large radius and a small axial length are permissible or when mechanical power needs to be transmitted across a flat barrier.


There is still low adoption of land management and conservation practices (SLMCPs) in Tanzania like in other developing countries. Many studies have explained the factors which lead to low adoption of SLMCPs but few have analysed the returns from adoption in nonexperimental settings. Low return from adoption of SLMCPs is the disincentive to poor farmers to continue with or to adopt the technology. This paper analyses SLMCPs and their contribution to maize yield using cross-section data. Data was collected from two districts, namely Bunda and Ileje which represent two agro-ecological zones– Lake and Southern highland zones with medium and high rainfall respectively. 15 villages were sampled from each District using both stratified and simple random sampling techniques and a total of 482 households were sampled. Descriptive analysis show that most commonly adopted SLMCPs in both Districts was sustainable agronomic practices (SAPs) with adoption rate of 91%. Other practices include SWCEC (75%), organic fertilizers (63%) and inorganic fertilizers (49%). The descriptive analysis and propensity score matching (PSM) results revealed that adopters of SLMCPs with exception of SAPs had higher yield than their counterparts (non-adopters). The impact of inorganic fertilizer on maize yield was higher (770.4kg/acre) in Ileje (high rainfall) than in Bunda (medium rainfall) while the impact adoption of SWCEC and organic fertilizers is higher in Bunda (314.6kg/acre and 685.6kg/acre respectively) than in Ileje District (194.8kg/acre and 455.8kg/acre respectively. Furthermore, the results show that the impact of interaction of SLMCTs to crop yield varies across the areas and technologies. Provision of right knowledge on and promotion of adoption of SLMPs and their interactions is pertinent for increasing productivity. Initiatives in a given area should be backed by local knowledge and research for the effective adoption and sustainable productivity.


Suspended sediment is one of most important parameters for water quality in a lake.Its concentration directly influences water transparency,turbidness,optical quality(e.g.,water color),and aquatic ecological condition.Its dynamic change also largely influences the local development of the underwater landforms and the fluctuation of the silt.Lake Chaohu was used as the experimental plot,applying the relative atmospheric adjustment method to analyze the spectrum characteristic of this district's different density rank of sand waters.ETM+(TM) data were analyzed and the suspended sediment distribution maps of two phases obtained for the lake area.The environmental background for suspended sediment distribution in Lake Chaohu was also analyzed.The results show that the sources of the sediment in Lake Chaohu are primarily the sediments carried by the entry rivers and secondarily the slides of bank slopes.


resorcinol (0.68%), the quercetin dihydrate (0.57%), the p-coumaric acid (0.56%), the trans-cinnamic acid (0.53%) and the catechine hydrae (0.18%). In conclusion, we confirm the presence of natural compounds in the bark of Tunisian tree of J. regia with great interest, especially the polyphenols which confer to this plant a wide range of biological activities and reinforce the use of walnut bark in the developing countries in order to maintain oral hygiene.


In this paper, we present a drone-based delivery system that assumes to deal with a mixed-area, i.e., two areas, one rural and one urban, placed side-by-side. In the mixed-areas, called EM-grids, the distances are measured with two different metrics, and the shortest path between two destinations concatenates the Euclidean and Manhattan metrics. Due to payload constraints, the drone serves a single customer at a time returning back to the dispatching point (DP) after each delivery to load a new parcel for the next customer. In this paper, we present the $$1$$

 1

 -Median Euclidean–Manhattan grid Problem (MEMP) for EM-grids, whose goal is to determine the drone's DP position that minimizes the sum of the distances between all the locations to be served and the point itself. We study the MEMP on two different scenarios, i.e., one in which all the customers in the area need to be served (full-grid) and another one where only a subset of these must be served (partial-grid). For the full-grid scenario we devise optimal and approximation algorithms, while for the partial-grid scenario we devise an optimal algorithm.


Comparisons are odious, according to Shakespeare, but seldom are they odious to epidemiologists unless they involve unlike categories. The two new papers providing data on injuries to children and teenagers in Australia' and England and Wales2 painstakingly follow the format and data conventions set forth by Fingerhut et al in an earlier issue of this journal, using United States data.3 As a result, valid comparisons can be made among the three countries; they reveal striking differences. Most noteworthy are the differences in firearm mortality, which accounts for 27% of injury deaths in the United States, less than 6% in Australia, and a mere 1% in England and Wales. In the United States, the majority of gun deaths (64%) are homicides whereas in Australia, 75% are suicides. The tables in these three papers are of special value because they allow us to examine injury mortality simultaneously by mechanism and intent, or by mechanism or intent alone. In the 1519 age group (which includes most of the homicides and suicides that occur before age 20), the outstanding differences by intent among the three countries include the extremely high homicide rate in the United States and the low suicide rate in England and Wales (fig 1), even when deaths of unknown intent are included with suicides. Although the United States and Australia have similar suicide rates, the rate of suicide by suffocation (typically hanging) is almost twice as high in Australia, 3.8/ 100 000 compared with 2.0 in the United States. In the 14 age group, where more than 80% of all injury deaths are unintentional, comparisons by mechanism reveal extremely low rates of motor vehicle occupant death and drowning in England and Wales (fig 2). Australia has the lowest death rate from fire, as well as a motor vehicle occupant rate that is 40% lower than the United States rate. The ability to make valid comparisons among countries should lead not only to recognition of important differences but also to better understanding of successful preventive measures. In England and Wales, the low motor vehicle death rates (about one fifth the United States rates for children less than 15 years old) may reflect the common practice of placing children in the rear seat. The high poisoning death rates among teenagers in Australia and England and Wales relative to the United States (4.9, 3.4, and 2.1 respectively, for ages 1519) raise questions as to


Impurity is an important factor that can affect significantly turbulent transport in tokamaks. In order to study the impurity physics, we implement a new impurity module in the gyrokinetic particle simulation code GTC (Gyrokinetic Toroidal Code). With an improved numerical scheme, we expand the validity of gyrokinetic Poisson equation in the GTC to the short wavelength region, for both non-zonal and zonal parts of the perturbed Poisson equation. Verifications of this new scheme are carried out on the linear instability and zonal flow response. The linear simulation of the ion temperature gradient (ITG) instability including the impurity ions shows that the new Poisson solver can obtain the correct linear growth rate and frequency at the thermal ion gyro-radius scale. The residual zonal flow with impurities obtained via the new zonal flow solver is consistent with the numerical and analytical predictions in the large aspect-ratio limit. The nonlinear simulation of the ITG turbulence shows that the turbulent transport is significantly reduced by the impurity ions through decreasing the linear growth rate of the instability.Impurity is an important factor that can affect significantly turbulent transport in tokamaks. In order to study the impurity physics, we implement a new impurity module in the gyrokinetic particle simulation code GTC (Gyrokinetic Toroidal Code). With an improved numerical scheme, we expand the validity of gyrokinetic Poisson equation in the GTC to the short wavelength region, for both non-zonal and zonal parts of the perturbed Poisson equation. Verifications of this new scheme are carried out on the linear instability and zonal flow response. The linear simulation of the ion temperature gradient (ITG) instability including the impurity ions shows that the new Poisson solver can obtain the correct linear growth rate and frequency at the thermal ion gyro-radius scale. The residual zonal flow with impurities obtained via the new zonal flow solver is consistent with the numerical and analytical predictions in the large aspect-ratio limit. The nonlinear simulation of the ITG turbulence shows that the turbulen...


In recent years, the number of renewable energy sources (RESs) such as photovoltaic generation systems and wind power generation systems connected to the grid has been increasing as a way of reducing negative effects on the environment. The outputs of these RESs vary rapidly because of the influence of the weather and the conditions of the location. Therefore, there are concerns that the point voltages in a distribution system may vary drastically and that the voltages may deviate from the appropriate voltage range as a result of the influence of the RES connected to the distribution system or to the diversification of loads. Furthermore, there are concerns about adverse effects on electric power quality, such as voltage imbalances and harmonics. In this paper, we propose a cooperative voltage control method for a distribution system using system voltage control equipment in order to reduce the capacity of the static synchronous compensator. Numerical calculations were performed in order to verify the validity of the proposed method.


Methodological aspects. Time, place, patient groups, treatment procedure and personnel involved were fairly similzr in the different parts of the investigation, and comparisons may thus be made. Two studies did not include patients aged more than 60 years, but this fact can hardly be of any importance. The degree of muscular relaxation was somewhat different, a fact which explains variations in seizure duration.


Passive cancellation of common mode (cm) noise is a very promising alternative to conservative cm filtering. The basic idea has already been described in literature. A thorough analysis of parasitic effects as well as the effects of a finite differential mode (dm) filter shows that a significant reduction of cm noise is achievable. However, in a lot of applications the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) standard has not yet been fulfilled and an additional compact conservative cm filter is necessary. These two filters interact. Hence, a detailed investigation of the resulting circuit with both filters is essential. An analysis based on the frequency-response allows quantifying the influences of different design parameters and optimizing the circuit. Finally, the theoretical results are verified in a test set-up.


ABSTRACT This article is devoted to prove the existence of a non-negative solution for a degenerate parabolic strongly coupled system which arises from seawater intrusion model in confined aquifers. An approximate linear discretized in time scheme is then set up yielding to the existence result with no restriction on the space dimension. The availability of an entropy estimate turns out to be a central tool to obtain the existence result.


The State Pharmacopoeia XIV edition sets a number of requirements for the quality of medicinal plant raw materials, including their safety. The determination of safety indicators is necessary to establish a likely threat to the health of patients, as well as the admissibility of the use of medicinal plant raw materials in medical practice. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to develop methods for determining safety indicators for heavy metals and pesticides in Mentha asiatica herb, recommended for introduction into medical practice on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan, using modern instrumental methods of analysis. To determine heavy metals and trace element composition, the methods of atomic absorption spectrometry, stripping voltammetry, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry were used, and their results were compared. Organochlorine pesticides were determined by gas-liquid chromatography with a flame ionization detector. The herbal raw material complies with pharmacopoeial safety requirements, the results of atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry are comparable to the results of stripping voltammetry. Thus, in the analysis of Asian mint herb recommended for introduction into medical practice, the developed methods for determining heavy metals and pesticides, based on modern instrumental methods, may be applied.


A new symmetric memory cell, in which one wordline is placed at the center, has been developed for 64 Mb SRAM. This new center wordline cell has the benefits of a small cell size, good stability with operation voltages as low as 1.7 V, and suitability for implementation of phase shift lithography. A high performance TFT, which has on/off ratio of 7 orders even at 2.5 V operation, is mounted in this cell.<<ETX>>


Museum buildings have clear behavioral functions; they also have symbolic functions, to express the privileged space and valuable objects they contain. This research looks closely at a recently-completed museum building in Denver, Colorado. Located in a regional city in the middle of the United States, the Denver Art Museum explicitly wanted to replicate the success of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao with its new wing. This case study utilizes a multi-method approach, with findings based on interviews with key stakeholders, archival data, and direct observations of the building and the spaces it creates.From the beginning, the Hamilton Building had functions to fulfill beyond preserving and displaying art: it was to be its own fundraising tool, to represent Denver to the world and the Museum to Denver residents, and to draw cultural tourists in the same way that the Guggenheim museum drew tourists to Bilbao. As such, with a bond approved by the voters, the selection committee hired Daniel Libeskind as the primary architect, based on his personality, political savvy, and exuberant conceptual design. The form of the building fulfills the programmatic requirements of the bond, while simultaneously fulfilling more symbolic functions. Its image is used as one of six in an international marketing campaign to boost tourism to Denver. The building is written about in the local, national, and international press, and while not all comments are positive, it does draw attention to Denver. The irregular spaces for art push curators and exhibition designers to be creative in how art is displayed, even changing art display tactics in the older, square-walled building. Artists generally like creating art specifically for the space, and one of the most successful shows in the building allowed visitors to watch art getting created and installed--an idea that was completely new to the Museum. In conclusion, a new museum type has emerged, one where the building is as important as the art. This building type serves as a fundraising and advertising tool, not only the museum but also the city.


: This study was conducted to evaluate technical and allocative efficiencies of rice farming in the low country rainfed water regime of the Gampaha and Kalutara districts of Sri Lanka. Data of 2009 Yala season, and 2009/2010 Maha season were collected from 49 rainfed farms per season of the Gampaha district and 50 rainfed farms per season of the Kalutara district. Stochastic frontier production functions of Cobb-Douglas form with an intercept dummy variable representing the Kalutara district were estimated for each season. Values of γ above 0.78 in the Yala season and above 0.9 in the Maha season indicated that inefficiencies explain a major portion of the total product variation. The average technical efficiencies were 0.67 in Gampaha and 0.73 in Kalutara districts in the Yala season, and 0.76 in Gampaha and 0.78 in Kalutara in the Maha season. The average allocative efficiencies were 0.59 in Gampaha and 0.46 in Kalutara in the Yala season, and 0.63 in Gampaha and 0.53 in Kalutara in the Maha season. Increase of technical efficiency has resulted in potential cost savings of approximately 33 % in Gampaha and 27 % in Kalutara district in the Yala season, and 24 % in Gampaha and 22 % for Kalutara in the Maha season. About 40 % of the cost of resources in the Kalutara district and 0.27 of that in the Gampaha district in the Yala season, and 37 % of the resource cost in the Kalutara district and 29 % of that in the Gampaha district could be saved by raising allocative efficiency. The average cost savings indicated by raising both forms of efficiencies were Rs.29,375 per farm (Rs 79,325/ha) in the Kalutara district and Rs 27,645 per farm (Rs 85,870/ha) in the Gampaha district during the Yala season while it was Rs. 29,190 per farm (Rs 89,260/ha) in the Kalutara district and Rs. 22,325 per farm (Rs 81,230/ha) in the Gampaha district in the Maha season. Costs of allocative inefficiencies were more prominent in both seasons in the Kalutara district and in the Maha season in Gampaha district, whereas costs of technical inefficiencies were more important in the Gampaha during Yala season


Abstract Three common cross-sectional catch-curve methods for estimating total mortality rate (Z) are the Chapman–Robson, regression, and Heincke estimators. There are five unresolved methodological issues: (1) which is the best estimator, (2) how one should determine the first age-group to use in the analysis, (3) how the variance estimators perform; and, for regression estimators, (4) how the observations should be weighted, including (5) whether and how the oldest ages should be truncated. We used analytical methods and Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the three catch-curve methods, including unweighted and weighted versions of the regression estimator. We evaluated four criteria for specifying the first age-class used. Regression estimators were evaluated with four different methods of right data truncation. Heincke's method performed poorly and is generally not recommended. The two-tailed χ2 test and one-tailed z-test for full selectivity described by Chapman and Robson did not perform as well as s...


The smoothness of traffic flow is one indicators of the excellent management by road managers, especially in the settings of traffic lights on road intersection. The time duration the red and green light must be set precisely according to the traffic density, so that the optimal and fairness queue length and waiting time are obtained for road users in each lane. Some problems at the intersection of the highway are the occurrence of very long queues in one lane, but quite short on the other lane. This happens because the setting is not appropriate on the traffic light time duration. In this article, we propose a model and simulation for intersection with traffic light using MATLAB SimEvents tools. The proposed model is to place an inhibitor module on each path at the intersection, where the entity does not flow for a certain duration of time. Through this simulation, it can be predicted the exact duration time of traffic lights based on the traffic density on each lane.


Enhancing the catalytic activity of Fenton-like process is of great signaficance in the fields of hydroxyl radical (•OH) induced oxidation reactions. The isolated Mn center in natural enzyme, including Mn...


The term haplotype is used incorrectly throughout the manuscript. The correct term should be type. The term haplotype is used incorrectly in the article title. The correct title is: HLA Typing from RNA-seq Data Using Hierarchical Read Weighting. The correct citation is: Kim HJ, Pourmand N (2013) HLA Typing from RNA-seq Data Using Hierarchical Read Weighting. PLoS ONE 8(6): e67885. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067885


Bhallataka is also known as marking nut treedhobi's nut, family belong to anacardiaceae, according to various acharyas bhallatak have various synonyms according to their action. In Ayurveda it is described as vanaspatij visha as in modern science, it is irritant organic vegetable poison. All the parts are poisonous mostly seeds are hazardous to human due to its irritant property. By shodhan sanskara, bhallatak has most beneficial effects. In charak samhita various yogs are explained of bhallatak as a rasayana, the ballataka nut contains bhilwanol and semicarpol as toxic ingredient shows some medicinal property. Bhallataka is also used as nonmedico purpose to making a ink or hair dye. Detoxified bhallataka shows some dipan, pachan, bhedana jwaragnha, krumighna , medhya, balya ,vrushya , mutrajanan properties. By its hot potency (Ushna virya) it has some local action like spotjanana. Semicarpol and bhilonwol shows antimicrobial, analgesic, anti-oxidant anti-inflammatory, ant-helmintic activities, this article suggest the ayurvedic review of bhallataka w.s.r. to agadtantra Introduction – The marking nut tree belong to anacardiaceae and its fruits called bhilawan , weight about 1.6 to 3.6 g and has a strong hard, black rind within which is a thick pericarp, it is fleshy pulp of the fruits or seeds, a brownish oily acrid juice which turns black when exposed to air or mixed with lime it is used by dhobis as marking ink for cotton and linen clothes1. By various acharyas different shodhan methods are described in samhitas by purification it is used in various diseases and shows some good effect. Bhallataka grows throughout India in hot weather bhallataka used by externally and internally in both ways. It mentioned as upvisha. The fruit is edible and sweet when ripe, but the black fruit is toxic and it produces a severe allergic reaction, when consumed or its resin comes in contact with the skin2. When proper use of bhallatak it reduces vata and aggravates pitta due to its hot potency, it is very useful in skin disease, loose-motion, piles neuralgia, epilepsy, seeds oil are very effective in rheumatism when apply externally3. The extract obtained from the fruits and nuts is very strong anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-carcinogenic properties, It stimulant the central nervous system and hair growth promote, the nuts of semecarpus anacardium show some medicinal uses due to its content various ingredient such as phenolic compounds, biflavonoids, bhilawanols, vitamins, minerals, and amino acid4. Aim – To study the ayurvedic aspects of bhallatak 1 Dr. Ravindra R. Pandhare,International Journal of Ayurvedic & Herbal Medicine 7(4) July.-Aug. 2017 (2752-2755) Page 2753 Objective – To collect the literature review of bhallattak To study the systemic effect of bhallatak To study the toxicity of bhallatak Bhallatak synonymsSanskrit name – Bhallat, tapan, agni, krumighn, vatari1. -Arushk arushkar, agnik, agnimukhi, bhalli, veervruksha, shophkrut2 -Bhallatak, agni, dahan,tapan, aruskar, anal, krimighnha, tailbeej, vatari, spotbijak,pruthakbeej , dhanurbeej, bhallat, veejpadap, vanhi, vartaru 3. English name – Marking nut, bhilawan, dhobis nut . Botanical name – Semecarpus anacardium Family – Anacardiaceae Hindi – Bhilawa , Marathi – Bibba , Malayalam -Senkoottaui, Kannada – Bilawa Bengali – Bhela Gujrati – Bhilamo Punjabi – Fidivittulu Arabi – Habbulkalb4 Vargikaran – Ayurvedic – sthavarvish – vanspatij vish Modern – irritant,organic ,vegetable poison Swarup (Phylotaxy) of bhalltak5 – Height – 25-40 feet in height Patra (leaves ) Aaytakar, samuhabadhha , golagra , Pushpa (flowers) Eklingi Fala (fruits) One inch in length, hrudayakruti(heart shape),chamkile(shini) Utpatti sthan – Bharat, himalay, bihar, udisa, aassam Rasayanik sanghatan (chemical composition) -Bhilawanol Semecarpol. Ayurvedic propertiesGuna – Snigdh,laghu,tikshna Rasa – Katu, tikt , kashay6, 7 Vipak – Madhur 8, katu9. Virya – Ushna. Doshkarma –Due to ushna virya and tikshna guna it is kaphavatshamak and pittvardhak Local action – Sphotjanana,shitprashaman,vishagnha10.


High fructose corn syrups(HFCS) are wide used in food industry.Traditional separation methods can not remove microorganisms,protein and colloidal substances in HFCS.In this research,the membrane separation technologies are used to clarify and purify HFCS using PVDF membrane.The effects of operating pressure,bulk concentration,temperature and flow rate of HFCS on membrane flux under different operating time were investigated and the online cleaning of membrane was also studied.The results showed that when the flux was stable with a value of up to 5.47 L/(m2·s),and pH,chrominance,light transmittance and insoluble solid content for permeate were 3.9,43%,99.2%,0.192% and 4.5 mg/kg,respectively,under the optimum optimal operating conditions : pressure 0.20 MPa,temperature 70 ℃,purification time 80 min and circular flow 400 L/h.Furthermore,the recoverability of HFCS flux could achieve more than 90 % after the tubular membrane was cleaned for 1 min when closing the value.


Based on the data of micro-seismic system of Dongguashan mine,the time-space distribution law of seimic events is investigated by statistic and linearization methods.The results show that the seismic events are related to the exploiting activity,and the fractal feature of the small events is more obvious than that the big events,the former are mainly affected by exploiting activity,and the later are mainly by natural earthquake and geologic conformation.


The method comprises: saving the corresponding relation between the number of multi phones at one number service and the physical number of slave set of multi phone at one number service; saving the simultaneous ring information which takes the number of multi phone at one number service as the simultaneous ring triggering number and takes the physical number of slave set of multi phone at one number service as the simultaneous ring number in the control node; completing the decision for deciding if the calling number and called number registers a multi phone at one number service by using intelligent home location register; returning the simultaneous ring access code of service switch node corresponding to the called number or/and the number of multi phone at one number service corresponding to the calling number; after receiving the returned simultaneous ring access code, the service switch node triggers the simultaneous ring service of intelligent network service control node.


of Bultmann's concerns. Moreover, at some crucial points Bultmann addresses himself to criticisms which have been made of him. This is true, for example, with reference to the problem of science. It is apparent that his conception of science is not as outmoded as is usually assumed, but that he does not see how the new science makes any appreciable difference with respect to the way in which theological work must be undertaken. In this, I think, he is correct. It is interesting to note that the critics of Bultmann who wish to maintain a mythological way of thinking find it so necessary to reject the science of the recent past. If they wish to remain strictly within the mythological interpretation, it would seem to be quite irrelevant whether science was more or less deterministic. Bultmann himself wishes to be free from all conceptions of the world given in any objective or empirical form. Hence, from his angle it does not matter what the scientific tradition is actually saying. All problems are brought by Bultmann into the arena of man's existential concern. In this sense, demythologizing is for him not the elimination of the mythological, but an attempt to interpret it with reference to what it means for man's life. This is a deliberate hermeneutical method. In this context, Bultmann can say that "demythologizing is the radical application of the doctrine of justification by faith to the sphere of knowledge and thought. Like the doctrine of justification, demythologizing destroys every longing for security. There is no difference between security based on good works, and security built on objectifying knowledge" (p. 84) . This position is the more rigorous logical alternative to the acceptance of mythological thinking. Many of us still hope that a genuine theological method may emerge which is neither the frank acceptance of the mythological nor of demythologizing in Bultmann's form.


Present Training of pedagogical techniques in higher education is not so satisfactory,which is due to the weak points such as the lack of effective institutionalization,passive learners and monotonous content.To solve the problems,reaching a common understanding and constructing the effective institutionalization as well as training on different levels are suggested to cultivate teachers' operational capability of modern pedagogical techniques.


There are proposed a means of transportation, a user interface and a method for assisting a user in interacting with a user interface (1). The method comprises the steps of: - detecting a user's (2) direction of view, - assigning displayed to the viewing direction to a on a display device (3) display element (4a, 4b, 4c), and in response thereto - displaying a display element (4a, 4b, 4c) are logically associated additional information volume (5a, 5b) on the display device (3).


Since the 1980's almost all of the the Hungarian narrow-gauge railway lines made a complete change of function. In the following decade with a few exceptions the freight was completely abolished and replaced by tourism. We need to address several factors if we want to determine the tourism potential of a particular narrow-gauge railway. One of these is accessibility, which shows what extra effort a tourist needs to make to get to a particular attraction. It is not enough just to look at accessibility, we also need to look how narrow-gauge railways can get involved in the tourism system. In a tourism approach we can examine points of interest from several perspectives. The interdependent material conditions of tourism include basic infrastructure, attraction and tourism infrastructure. The basic infrastructure in tourism means the existence of conditions that are essential to see the attraction. Several narrow-gauge railways also play a role in the basic infrastructure, however, their most significant role is the dynamic infrastructure. The narrow-gauge railway transports tourists to the tourist attraction, or due to its nature, attracts tourists. Most of the Hungarian narrow-gauge railway fall into the category of dynamic infrastructure. Attraction is difficult to define, because there are a lot of subjective elements, but most of the Hungarian narrow-gauge railways we can definitely highlight and call as real attractions. It is important to talk about seasonality. Not all of them offer the same experience in summer as in winter, they are not the same attractions in all seasons. By tourist milieu we mean the attraction of the destination, the totality of the experiences gained there.


A new test method for sulphate resistance of cements is described. Cubes made of water-cement paste with a high percentage of voids are cured for 7 days at 50 degrees C before they are exposed to a sodium sulphate solution (6.2 ph) for 28 days. The following compression test changes in the registered compressive strength indicate the sulphate durability of the cement. The method is described as simple, rapid, and in fairly good conformity with practical experience and therefore acceptable for the time being. In order to improve the reliability of the method the influence of various testing parameters is to be further studied. Results of immersion tests with various cements are also presented along with corresponding chemical analyses. /TRRL/


In this thesis, the first-order radar cross section (RCS) of an iceberg is derived and
simulated. This analysis takes place in the context of a monostatic high frequency
surface wave radar with a vertical dipole source that is driven by a pulsed waveform.
The starting point of this work is a general electric field equation derived previ-
ously for an arbitrarily shaped iceberg region surrounded by an ocean surface. The
condition of monostatic backscatter is applied to this general field equation and the
resulting expression is inverse Fourier transformed. In the time domain the excitation
current of the transmit antenna is specified to be a pulsed sinusoid signal. The result-
ing electric field equation is simplified and its physical significance is assessed. The
field equation is then further simplified by restricting the iceberg's size to fit within
a single radar patch width. The power received by the radar is calculated using this
electric field equation. Comparing the received power with the radar range equation
gives a general expression for the iceberg RCS.
The iceberg RCS equation is found to depend on several parameters including the
geometry of the iceberg, the radar frequency, and the electrical parameters of both the
iceberg and the ocean surface. The RCS is rewritten in a form suitable for simulations
and simulations are carried out for rectangularly shaped icebergs. Simulation results
are discussed and are found to be consistent with existing research.


Intellectual capital and knowledge have been explored and pursued along varied dimensions particularly from the early '90s, when the world saw a sudden surge towards recognition of these resources as valuable, intangible assets. However, knowledge and its management were still thought to be focused primarily on artificial intelligence, databases and corporate intranets. Lately, there has been a growing inclination towards both its technological as well as the social connotations. This has led to the treatment of the management of knowledge in a more 'systemic' fashion, rather than considering it an isolated and discrete constituent of managing intangible assets. This paper explores the 'systems' concept and looks at the dynamic interactions between all types of organisational assets: financial, tangible, and intangible. Following the definition of systems, the concepts of their wholeness and synergetic effects are discussed. Major types and classes of systems are then identified, followed by a detailed discussion of the key characteristics of the 'social-systemic organisation', as well as systems thinking and practice in organisations. Knowledge and its management being the focus of this study, a model based on systems thinking and practice in organisations is developed and elucidated. This model endeavours to include the social as well as technological implications along with the subsystems, parts, and elements of the entire organisational system which have to be considered in an attempt to effectively manage knowledge in a more holistic manner, rather than treating it as a secluded and disconnected function. Prior to conclusion, the model is further exemplified by a practical illustration using an organisation that employs such a model to manage its intangible assets.


Stent migration and endoleak are common failure mechanisms for endovascular repair. Both can be partially attributed to a lack in understanding of the mechanical properties of endovascular stents. An alternative radial extensometer and machine vision system have been developed to both raise the quality of published radial force data, as well as to create and present an option for economical stent testing. The apparatus has shown promise as an accurate, repeatable, and reliable system for stent evaluation. Previous results by Johnston et al. examining z-type endovascular stents have been verified. Results showed that smaller stent diameters exhibit higher radial force than larger diameter stents, contrary to the expected outcomes due to increasing drag on increasing diameter stents. Stent orientation has been shown to contribute up to 8.8% error in radial force introduced by non-symmetrical brazed joints. The presence of a stent cover is shown to have negligible impact on stent radial force data above 10% reduction in area.


Let Fn be the nth Fibonacci number and let Ln be the nth Lucas number. The order of appearance  ́.n/ of a natural number n is defined as the smallest natural number k such that n divides Fk . For instance,  ́.Ln/D 2n, for all n > 2. In this paper, among other things, we prove that ́.Lm Ln/D 5Fp p m2 n2 4 , for all distinct positive integers m n .mod 4/, with gcd.m;n/D p > 2 prime. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 11B39; 11A07


Objective:To observe the incidence and follow-up of hepatitis B virus(HBV),hepatitis C virus(HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) infections in uremia patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis(HD) to find the clue of preventing from HBV,HCV and HIV infection.Methods:381 uremia patients who had received HD therapy more than 6 months from December 2004 to December 2009 were screened for HBV markers(HBV-M),anti-HCV and anti-HIV every 6 months,as well as the histories of blood transfusion were collected.Since January 2008,patients with anti-HCV positive and HBsAg positive were seperated in independent room and HD machine while receiving HD therapy.Data were collected and compared before and after January 2008.Results:(1)HBV-M test and sero-conversion to HBsAg positive incidence:From December 2004 to December 2009,the number of patients with HBsAg positive were 3,4,4,7,13,16 and there was no sero-conversion to HBsAg positive among HD patients.(2) Anti-HCV test and sero-conversion to anti-HCV positive incidence:From December 2004 to December 2009,the number of Anti-HCV positive were 52(43.3%),50(32.3%),40(25.8%),46(29.9%),37(18.8%),27(11.3%) and in 2005,2006 and 2007,5,2 and 6 patients who had Anti-HCV negative turned into Anti-HCV positive respectively.But there was no one with sero-conversion to anti-HCV positive in 2008 and 2009.Compared to the former 3 years,sero-conversion to anti-HCV positive incidence was significant different from that in later 2 years with independent room and HD machine.(3) Anti-HIV test and sero-conversion to anti-HIV positive incidence:no patient had anti-HIV positive and sero-conversion during this period.Conclusion:HBV and HCV infection incidence is reducing becaues EPO has been used and blood transfusion has been avoided.It is of great importence that strict isolation procedures,such as independent room and HD machine,for HBV and HCV-infected patients should be carried out.


Insoles as devices for plantar pressure reduction have developed and undergone many clinical experiments to deliver better performance, helping patients with diabetic foot ulceration. Elastomer foams are used as the base material in commercial diabetic foot insoles. However, their energy absorption capacity degrades because of microclimate in footwear and their shape deform during usage. Therefore insoles with better-cushioning properties and durability are required. In this paper, a novel insole with 3D spacer fabric with superelastic nitinol monofilaments (NiTi) is introduced. The fabricated insole and commercial Plastazote insoles (PLT) are experimentally compared on five healthy persons with measuring plantar pressure right after wearing and 1 month after. The temperature increase is also measured after 15 min of walking. Statistical analysis is used to evaluate insoles performance. Although NiTi and PLT showed a reduction in peak plantar pressure (PPP) right after wearing, after one month, 48.5% and 43.8% reduction in mean PPP for NiTi and 28% and 23.9% for PLT were observed compared to without-insole condition on the right and left foot respectively. NiTi delivered 11.8% and 13.9% PPP increases on right and left foot compared to 61% and 61.8% respectively in PLT after 1 month. Lower temperature increase and homogenous plantar surface pressure distribution were also seen on NiTi. Eventually, the proposed NiTi insole delivered higher cushioning properties, enhanced breathability, more uniform pressure distribution, and superior endurance compared to PLT as a commercial insole. Therefore, it is a promising device for protecting the diabetic foot against pressure, impact and preventing ulceration.


Objective To investigate the effect of the calcium alginate and allevyn adhesive combined dressing on haemostasis and reparation of donor sites.Methods Twenty cases with extent of burns under 50% of TBSA were chosen and homobody own control on same donor sites was randomly made.The raw surfaces covered with the combined dressing were treated as test of cure group and those covered with sterile grease yarn were treated as normal control group.The data were compared and statistically analyzed.Results There were 17 markedly effective cases in the test of cure group,the rate is 85%,but in normal control group is 6 cases(30%),the difference between tow groups was significant(P0.01).The concrescence time of donor sites in the test of cure group was shorter than that in the normal group and the post wound rate of concrescence in different times was significantly higher than that of the control group(P0.01).Conclusion The calcium alginate and allevyn adhesive combined dressing is a kind of absorbative biological dressing,which has positive effect of haemostasis on donor sites and can promote the concrescence of raw surface and confine the cicatrization by reducing the size of infection.


Based on the analysis of the effect of various superplasticizers on the compressive and tensile strengths of concrete hardened under different conditions for three months, it was concluded that to estimate the effectiveness of superplasticizers it is not enough to compare the relative strength indicators of concrete only (f90/f28; ft = f(f); f = f(W/C)) without taking into account the effect of the superplasticizer on the water content in the concrete mix and the cement content. The assessment methodology is given. It is shown that provided the required design parameters for durability are ensured, analysis of only data on the increase in compressive and tensile strengths in time can lead to erroneous conclusions. A reliable assessment should be made taking into account the influence of the superplasticizer on the composition and cost of the concrete mix, shrinkage, creep and E-modulus of concrete.


Fish-scale pit preparation should be of great significance in the revegetation of the Loess Plateau from the context of natural vegetation retention, soil erosion prevention, low economical investment, etc. Consequently, a natural forestation experiment was conducted on the slope in the tableland region of southern Loess Plateau. Soil moisture across 1 m depth in the fish-scale pit was examined from the spring after planting seedlings. Key soil moisture variables were analyzed for seasonal changes, and fish-scale pit application was also dealt with. The results showed that the process of water deposit in rainy season existed so evidently in the fish-scale pit that its soil moisture within the depth profile was enhanced in spring, but the water condition in sunny slope pits was improved better than that in shady slope pits. Sunny slope pits were characterized by high water deposit and evaporation, while shady slope pits were on the contrary. The soil moisture of the latter was all above that of the former throughout the seasonal alternations. The winter increase of the soil moisture in the upper soil layer of shady slope pits might be seen in the following early spring. There was a profound effect of climate on soil moisture, in which surface soil layers were affected more than deep soil layers, and the sunny slope pit was affected more than the shady slope pit. The treatment of covering partially with plastic film in the sunny slope pit might remarkably lessen the impact of the dry climate in the sunny slope, and would conduce to putting deep-layer moisture to use. Although the function of the covering method was inferior to the natural performance of the shady slope, the sharp drop of the soil moisture in sunny slope pits might be retarded in droughty season, especially near its end, which indicates that it would be necessary to further take such supplementary measures as evaporation restraining and soil water retaining and limited irrigation. Since water penetration was obstructed by plastic film to a certain extent and there was time limitation in its effective use, it would deserve consideration when plastic film ought to be used. Owing to the superior soil moisture condition of the shady slope itself to the sunny slope in spring, and with its weak evaporation and runoff producing, no preparation or spot preparation might be implemented in the shady slope planting in southern Loess Plateau. It would be advisable to plant seedlings as early as possible in spring.


JEADV 2006, 20, 868–902 © 2006 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology 875 In summary, we present a patient with systemic sclerosis who developed cutaneous metastatic LMS after 20 months of therapy with cyclosphosphamide of 50 mg/day. Cyclosphosphamide is known to cause LMS of bladder; can it cause LMS elsewhere again remains to be answered. Since cyclophosphamide is commonly used as an immunosuppressant as well as an antineoplastic agent, we would like to stress that clinicians using this drug be aware of its potential risks.


The effects of partial surface shotless peening on the fatigue crack growth behaviour of a ferritic steel have been experimentally investigated in this paper. Seven fatigue tests were performed on 4-point bend specimens fabricated from 700 Optim QL high strength steel. Three distinct extents of partial cavitation shotless peening, with respect to the crack tip and specimen symmetry line, were applied on the specimen geometry. Alternating Current Potential Difference (ACPD) was used to measure and monitor the crack depth during fatigue tests. The tests on partially surface peened specimens were conducted under two different load levels. The fatigue crack growth results from these experiments on partially peened specimens have been presented and compared with the results from an additional test on an unpeened specimen. The results show that the residual stress distribution fields formed due to the peening process play a significant role in the fatigue crack shape evolution, crack retardation and crack propagation behaviour of the material.


Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) locally known as 'Methi' in Hindi, is an important multiuse spice crop of arid and semi-arid regions of India. Fenugreek is an annual herb with trifoliate leaves and it can grow to be about two feet tall belongs to family Fabaceae. India is the largest producer of fenugreek in the world where Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab are the major fenugreek producing states. Rajasthan produces the lion's share of India's production, accounting for over 80% of the total fenugreek output (Anonymous 2012). In Haryana, the crop is sown in an area of 4978 ha with seed production of 13,973 tonnes (Anonymous 2009). Growth of fenugreek is very slow in the initial stage and it does not form a canopy that can suppress weed growth until several weeks after sowing. Therefore, the crop faces severe competition from weeds causing yield reductions from 14.2 to 69.0% depending upon density and duration of competition.