An important component of {open_quotes}best knowledge{close_quotes} for procedures is knowledge of human performance. After all, the most important goal of any procedure should be to standardize human performance and minimize opportunities for error. Given this goal, the development of any procedure must include an explicit understanding of the effect the procedure will have on the user`s performance. Many of the well-established rules of procedure writing are based on the understanding of such performance effects. For example, the rule of using mixed-case lettering for text, the rule that naming be consistent, and the rule of one action per procedure step are all procedure writing rules based on solid performance benefits. These rules apply to all procedures, and, in general, such universal rules are well documented. But what about performance effects specific to individual procedures? How can the best knowledge about human performance be gathered for every procedure?


Epitaxial ZnO thin films were grown on SrTiO3:Nb (NSTO) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The NSTO/ZnO heterojunctions exhibit a typical rectification characteristic under a small voltage, while two attendant behaviors of bipolar resistive switching and negative differential resistance appear under a large voltage. The NSTO/ZnO heterojunctions show extremely weak resistance switching hysteresis without applying a forward bias. However, when the forward bias increases to some extent, the hysteresis becomes more and more prominent and negative differential resistance gradually appears. Furthermore, the high resistance state is obtained when sweeping from negative to positive voltage bias, and vice versa. We propose a model for these behaviors at NSTO/ZnO interface, in which the space charge region in ZnO is wide in high resistance state when the interface state is unoccupied, while the space charge region becomes narrower in low resistance state due to Fermi pinning when the interface state is complete...


Abstract Affect has not been entirely established as a casual explanation in social science. The classic academic accounts of millennial movements emphasise both a period of 'unease' in the ambient atmosphere or 'of tension' at the actual start, and then a periodic culmination of fear or extreme emotion as the movement gains a following and the prophecy accelerates so much so, that 'apocalyptic expectation' equates with 'anxiety'. In the instance examined here, a new Caribbean religion, there may well have been identified anxieties around the time of the founder's visions, but once established the group have little strong emotion, negative or otherwise, although always facing the imminent end of all things.


The working principle, operation mode, function and technology advantages of the Solar-Ground Source Heat Pump(SGSHP) system were presented in this paper. The research and development status of SGSHP at home and abroad were introduced in detail. Based on which, the key problems to be solved about RD on SGSHP in current situation are also pointed out.


Smoking is considered to be a chronic disease caused by the nicotine dependence. The passive smoking is the leading cause of childhood respiratory disease. This research aimed to evaluate the conceptions that 2nd year-students of the Elementary School of two public schools at Guarapuava-PR, aging between 6 and 8 years, have about cigarettes and passive smoking. The work was performed at three moments: (1) without a preliminary intervention, the students answered a semi-structured questionnaire composed of 5 questions on cigarette and passive smoking (Pre-test, PT); (2) the students participated of activities where they saw an educational video and read a comic book whose theme dealt with the influence of the cigarette and the physiology of the respiratory system; (3) after 1 week and after 1 month, the students answered the same questionnaire offered in the PT (called respectively post-test 1 week, PTS, and post-test 1 month, PTM). More than 50% of students said they live with smokers at home. Children who answered did not know the cigarette answered otherwise following the thematic approaches. Children who answered to stay close to smokers answered otherwise following the thematic approaches. More than 60% of students answered that teacher do not address the cigarettes and passive smoking topic in the classroom, but they changed their responses after the thematic approach. The conceptions of children relating cigarette use to lung damage increased. This study showed that the approaches taken at schools with children who study in the initial grades of elementary school were effective.


Starlings imitate a variety of avian species and have a repertoire of about 15-20 distinct imitations. They also imitate a few sounds other than those of wild birds. The calls of abundant species, calls that are simple in frequency structure and calls that show little amplitude modulation are preferentially imitated. There are local dialects of mimicked sounds. These results are discussed in relation to possible functional explanations of vocal mimicry. Explanations which involve the deceit of other birds are rejected. It is concluded that the understanding of vocal mimicry is probably not distinct from the understanding of the rest of the song.


The restrictive nature of the blood brain barrier (BBB) brings a particular challenge to the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The effect of ultra-wide band electromagnetic pulses (UWB-EMPs) on BBB permeability was examined in the present study in order to develop a safe and effective technology that opens the BBB to improve treatment options for CNS diseases. Rats were exposed to a single UWB-EMP at various field strengths (50, 200 or 400 kV/m) and the BBB was examined using albumin immunohistochemistry and Evans blue staining at different time periods (0.5, 3, 6 and 24 h) after exposure. The expression and distribution of zonula occludens 1 (ZO-1) were evaluated using western blotting to identify a potential mechanism underlying BBB permeability. The results showed that the BBB permeability of rats exposed to UWB-EMP increased immediately following UWM-EMP treatment and peaked between 3 and 6 h after UWB-EMP exposure, returning to pre-exposure levels 24 h later. The data suggested that UWB-EMP at 200 and 400 kV/m could induce BBB opening, while 50 kV/m UWB-EMP could not. The levels of ZO-1 in the cerebral cortex were significantly decreased at 3 and 6 h after exposure; however, no change was observed in the distribution of ZO-1. The present study indicated that UWB-EMP-induced BBB opening was field strength-dependent and reversible. Decreased expression of ZO-1 may be involved in the effect of UWB-EMP on BBB permeability.


We bring forward the primitive of biased bit commitment, define the security of the model, and present a concrete biased bit commitment scheme based on the braid conjugator search problem. The presented scheme is proved to be information-theoretically hiding and computationally binding in the defined model. Finally, to argue the usefulness of this work, we also sketch out some new applications based on this new primitive.


A method is presented for the preparation of silica spheres of controllable size with gold nano-particles incorporated as cores. Such cores can serve as labels for tracer studies and provide the dispersion with interesting optical properties. The method comprises the preparation of gold nano-particles in an aqueous host dispersion of small silica (Ludox) spheres, and the growth of the obtained composite particles by the Stober method. This leads finally to the incorporation of the very small gold labels inside about 3% of the silica spheres. The mixture of labeled and unlabeled silica particles can then be transferred to organic solvents after their surface is coated with a long-chain alcohol, which provides steric stabilization. During particle growth, the gold plasmon absorption band is screened by the scattering of the silica layer. The optical properties of the particles in several solvents agree with Mie's theory for concentric particles. The change in optical contrast between silica and solvent has pronounced effects on the absorption spectrum. The suitability of the tracer particles is demonstrated by dynamic light scattering experiments, which reveal a variation of the measured diffusion coefficient as a function of optical contrast.


There are currently numerous practical applications to improve the effectiveness of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems. RFID provides an efficient identification for shipping and receiving goods. In warehouse management, RFID mechanisms can be used to check whether large quantities of goods are presented within a supply-chain system. In a supermarket, product information can be acquired without asking the clerks, one by one. The above applications are limited with regard to authentication between a single tag and server, while other applications focus on authenticating the relationships among the tags. In this paper, we use a yoking proof mechanism conforming to EPCglobal Class 1 Generation 2 Standards to improve the customs container check. Our scheme can also defend against known attacks and greatly enhance security.


Objectives To characterise trajectories associated with a new team organisation combining critical care and palliative care approaches at home. Methods We describe the pattern of an emergency response team 24/7 directed to patients with advanced illness presenting a distressing symptom at home, who wanted to stay at home and for whom hospitalisation was considered inappropriate by a shared medical decision-making process in an emergency situation. To assess preliminary impact of this Programme, we conducted a descriptive study on all consecutive patients receiving this intervention during the first year (between 6 September 2021 and 5 September 2022). Results Among the 352 patients included, main advanced illnesses were cancer (41%), dementia (28%) or chronic organ failure (10%). They were critically ill with acute failures: respiratory (52%), neurological (48%) or circulatory (20%). Main distressing symptoms were breathlessness (43%) and pain (17%). Median response time from call to home-visit (IQR) was 140 (90–265) min. Median length of follow-up (IQR) was 4 (2–7) days. Main outcomes were death at home (72%), improvement (19%) or hospitalisation (9%) including three visits to emergency department (1%). Conclusions Our study supports that shared decision-making process and urgent care at home are feasible and might prevent undesired hospitalisations.


In 2020, COVID-19 begins to hit Indonesia and has hit small and medium enterprises (SMEs) hard, through the resulting economic lockdowns and downturns.


This is an ecocritical study of Our Mutual Friend by the well-known British writer Charles Dickens.It explores the destruction of ecological environment,social ecology and spiritual ecology when people center on the material reality at Victorian age.In this essay,it reveals Dickens' s ecological thought by analyzing the natural descriptions and interpersonal relationships from the perspective of social and spiritual ecology.It also indicates Dickens' s call for coming back to nature.


We report two cases of children who presented with haemolytic uraemic syndrome following varicella infection. One of them had a membrane cofactor protein mutation, and the other had anti-factor H antibodies. These observations show that infectious agents such as varicella-zoster virus may be the trigger of haemolytic uraemic syndrome in patients with complement dysregulation.


Jiló is one of the most important solanáceas of Brazil, being cultivated in all regions of the country. One of the most important phases of horticulture is the production of seedlings, a factor that directly interferes with the development of these plants in the field. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the initial development of jiló plants using different substrates. The seeds were seeded in plastic cups with dimensions of 12x22 cm and volume of 500 cm3, containing the following mixtures S1 ENCICLOPÉDIA BIOSFERA, Centro Científico Conhecer Goiânia, v.15 n.27; p. 2018 70 = pure Tecnomax; S2 = pure soil; S3 = soil + compost (1: 1 v / v); S4 = soil + coffee powder (10%); S5 = solo + Tecnomax (1: 1 v / v); S6 = Soil + Tecnomax + coffee powder (10%) (1: 1 v / v); S7 = solo + Tecnomax + compost (1: 1: 1 v / v / v); S8 = soil + compost + Tecnomax + coffee powder (10%) (1: 1: 1 v / v / v). The experimental design was completely randomized, with eight treatments and six replicates. Germination and germination velocity index (IVG) were evaluated. After 34 days of sowing, plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, root length, root dry mass and shoot dry matter were evaluated. For all variables, the treatment S3 (soil + compost) presented higher averages than the others, followed by treatment S1 (Tecnomax). It is concluded that substrates with soil + compost, can substitute the commercial substrate, being as efficient or better in the production of seedlings of jiló..


This paper proposes an analytical method to evaluate vehicle maneuverability based on the comparison of nullcontrollability regions that are defined as the set of all initial states which can be transferred to the origin of the state space by means of admissible controls. Assuming that the multidimensional null-controllability region can be analyzed by a number of two dimensional cross sections, an optimization-based algorithm combined with a trajectory reversing approach and a ray gridding method to compute the projection of multi-dimensional controllability region onto a twodimensional cross section is proposed. In this algorithm, the problem to determine the boundary of the controllability region is formulated as an optimal control problem to find the control inputs that maximize the norm of the terminal state of a time-reversal system starting from the origin. The null-controllability region and a reachability region of two simple examples are computed and compared with the results of previous research to demonstrate the validity of the proposed algorithm. Then the effect of tire nonlinear property on vehicle maneuverability is evaluated by comparing the size and shape of the null-controllability regions for two vehicle configurations. The results clarify the effect of tire property on the null-controllability region.


Sir, Lichen planopilaris usually involves the scalp and appears as keratotic follicular papules with an evolving, often scarring, alopecia. At the end stage, this condition cannot be distinguished from other in ̄ammatory disorders that cause destruction of hair follicles and ®brosis. Since about half of patients with lichen planopilaris develop glabrous skin, mucous membranes or nail changes typical of lichen planus, and since the pathological process for lichen planopilaris and lichen planus is similar, lichen planopilaris is interpreted as a follicular variant of lichen planus (1). The various therapeutic options to treat lichen planopilaris are usually unsuccessful. A rare variant of this disease is linear lichen planopilaris of the face and only 4 such cases have been reported to date in Western literature (2 ± 4).


The increase of economic competition and the speed of the market changes demand modifications in the corporation strategic planning. Eleven of them are proposed.


Universal vocal signals of emotion Disa A Sauter (email@example.com) Department of Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom. Comparative Cognitive Anthropology, Max Planck Institute of Psycholinguistics, PO Box 310, 6500 AH Nijmegen, The Netherlands Frank Eisner (firstname.lastname@example.com) Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom Max Planck Institute of Psycholinguistics, PO Box 310, 6500 AH Nijmegen, The Netherlands Paul Ekman Human Interaction Laboratory, University of California San Francisco, 401 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco CA 94143 USA Sophie K Scott (email@example.com) Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom Abstract Emotional signals allow for the sharing of important information with conspecifics, for example to warn them of danger. Humans use a range of different cues to communicate to others how they feel, including facial, vocal, and gestural signals. Although much is known about facial expressions of emotion, less research has focused on affect in the voice. We compare British listeners to individuals from remote Namibian villages who have had no exposure to Western culture, and examine recognition of non-verbal emotional vocalizations, such as screams and laughs. We show that a number of emotions can be universally recognized from non-verbal vocal signals. In addition we demonstrate the specificity of this pattern, with a set of additional emotions only recognized within, but not across these cultural groups. Our findings indicate that a small set of primarily negative emotions have evolved signals across several modalities, while most positive emotions are communicated with culture-specific signals. Keywords: emotion; voice; happiness; affective signals. Background Some human traits are shared by all human beings, despite differences in language, culture and ecology. These psychological universals tell us what features of the human mind are part of our shared biological heritage and which are products of culture and language. Because all humans share the vast majority of their genetic makeup with all other humans, there is great similarity in the physical features that are typical for our species, while minor characteristics vary between individuals. Similarly to physical features, many aspects of the human psychology are shared. For example, all human societies have complex systems of communication to convey their thoughts, feelings, and intentions to those around them (Hauser, Chomsky & Fitch, 2002). But although there are some commonalities between different communicative systems, speakers of different languages cannot understand each other. Or rather, they cannot understand either other's words and sentences. Other aspects of communicative systems do not rely on common lexical codes and may be shared across linguistic and cultural borders. One candidate of communicative systems for constituting a psychological universal is emotional signals. Humans use a range of signals to communicate emotions, including vocalizations, facial expressions, and postural cues. Auditory signals allows for affective communication when the recipient cannot see the sender, for example, across a distance or at night. In addition, young infants are sensitive to vocal cues from the very beginning of life, when their visual system is still relatively immature (Mehler, Bertoncini & Barrier, Vocal signals of emotions can occur overlaid on speech in the form of affective prosody (Scherer, Banse & Wallbott, 2001). However, humans also make use of a range of non- verbal vocalizations to communicate how they feel, such as screams and laughs. In this study we investigate whether these kinds of non-verbal emotional vocalizations communicate the same affective states regardless of the listener's culture. Currently, the only available cross-cultural data comes from studies of emotional prosody in speech (e.g., Scherer et al., 2001). This work has indicated that listeners can infer some affective states from emotionally inflected speech across cultural boundaries. However, emotional information overlaid on speech (or nonsense-speech) is restricted by the segmental and supra-segmental structure of speech. In contrast, non-


Trechus ( Trechus ) nezlobinskyi sp. n. is described from a high-altitude area of Jablanica Mt. (southwest Republic of Macedonia). The new species belongs to the " obtusiusculus " group of species and it is treated as most closely related to Trechus ( Trechus ) ravasinianus Lorenz, 1998 from Central Albania. The diagnostic characters of the new species are described and illustrated.


is an Assistant Professor of Engineering (Industrial and Systems) Indianapolis. He has diverse experience in research and development, as well as technology commercialization and entrepreneurship. His research areas include multifunctional composite materials and manufacturing, as well as innovation engineering. He has published over fifty peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers. He is the lead editor of the book on Triboluminescence (Triboluminescence: Theory, Synthesis, and Application), published by Springer in 2016. He has co-authored several book chapters including a chapter in the book, Nan-otechnology Commercialization: Manufacturing Processes and Products, published by Wiley in 2017. At the RBASOE, he is taking a leading role in the design and implementation of the DesignSpine sequence and the development of entrepreneurial mindset in engineering students. He combines practical technology commercialization experience from co-founding two technology startup companies and serving as a consultant for others. He is also a project management professional (PMP). Abstract March 2020 was a turning point for the world and for the education sector. While the semester started with the conventional face-to-face teaching mode, suddenly, there was total shut down and teaching had to be continued only in the virtual mode (online). This change in teaching mode posed particular challenges for lab-based and hands-on courses that require significant skill development through experiential learning. The challenges were further compounded by the requirement to work on industry-sponsored projects to design and fabricate needed parts based on clients' requirements. This paper describes how a team of senior engineering students successfully designed a fixture for a critical automotive component for basic utility vehicle for developing countries, even in the midst of a pandemic. The basic utility vehicles feature robust and simple designs that enable them to survive the harsh environment while meeting the low-cost requirements in such markets. The project was a part of the course requirements for a manufacturing processes course. The paper highlights how the students successfully worked in a virtual environment, engaged the client, designed the part and had the designed parts fabricated and shipped to the clients. In addition, the critical role of technical staff in providing hands-on learning experiences as well as in completing a project, particularly in a pandemic, is highlighted. Key lessons learned from the perspectives of students, instructor, technical staff, and client were gathered through reflections and interviews.


Autoradiographic determination of the location of radioactivity in asci grown on some tritiated pyrimidines This research note is available in Fungal Genetics Reports: https://newprairiepress.org/fgr/vol6/iss1/2


Based on Diels–Alder reaction, linear bisfuranic terminated poly(tetramethylene oxide) and poly(p-dioxanone) were crosslinked by tris(2-maleimide ethyl)amine; this process was fully reversible under moderate conditions. All of the results indicate that the co-network possesses the typical advantages of chemical and physical crosslinking, peculiar thermal invertibility, shape memory effect and self-healability.


Objective Modern contraceptive methods have been very effective in family planning and well-being. The injectable contraceptives, though effective, had been discontinued by some users because of side effects like abnormal menstrual bleeding and weight gain. This study compared the pattern of menstrual bleeding and weight gain in users of Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (DMPA) and Norethisterone-Enanthate (Noristerat) in Sagamu. Method A retrospective study of 323 patients who used either DMPA or Noristerat over a 7-year period (January 2007 to December 2013). Data extracted from case notes included bio-data, parity, previous c o n t r a c e p t i v e m e t h o d s a n d r e a s o n s f o r discontinuation of the contraceptives. Clients' weights, pattern of menstrual cycle and side effects were also documented for the rst, second and third visits, and up to 1 year after commencing the injectable contraceptives. Results The mean age of the participants was 32.72± 5.47 years. About 13.5% experienced no change in their menstrual cycle, but 55.9% and 58.9% of those who used Noristerat and DMPA respectively, had amenorrhoea by the end of one year. The mean weight was 62.89kg±12.84 for Noristerat group and 60.93kg±9.94 for DMPA group at commencement and 65.15kg±13.70 for Noristerat group and 64.05kg±10.30 for DMPA group at the end of one year. There was signicant weight gain (p<0.05) in both groups by the end of the rst year. Weight gain was perceived as a problem by 2% of Noristerat users and 0.9% users of DMPA. Conclusion There were signicant weight changes with use of injectable contraceptives. However, very few clients perceived this as a problem. Amenorrhoea was the commonest menstrual change experienced by clients over the period.


Film grain is an essential part of real images. The artifacts it introduces add character to images, which can otherwise appear too perfect. This paper considers the synthesis of film grain based upon its noise-power spectrum, producing grain fields which approximate real film over a range of enlargements and densities. We also identify limitations of the noise-power spectrum in that it fails to fully characterize grain. Simulated grain fields have spectra which match real grain, but lack the phase and density correlations required to create the appearance of individual grains at high magnifications.


Abstract This presentation will provide a historical background and a broad overview of the APA Guidelines for the Evaluation of Dementia and Age-Related Cognitive Change. This will begin with an overview of general and procedural guidelines pertaining to dementia assessment and will be followed by an in-depth discussion of key updates in the 2021 revision. The newly revised guidelines recognize racial and cultural disparities in dementia outcomes, and emphasize the importance of multicultural competence in all aspects of dementia assessment. The revised guidelines also integrate person-centered principles into the assessment process and place greater emphasis on understanding the person living with dementia. New guidelines were included to address (1) the assessment of behavioral and psychological changes in the context of dementia, and (2) the importance of assessing the health and well-being of family caregivers.


The cleaning of heat exchangers, and other large process equipment, using large-scale ultrasonic systems has, in the past few years, progressed from a "curiosity" to a proven, practical tool for many clients. Research and a greater understanding of the physics involved in the cleaning process and the practical considerations of operating in the field have led to improvements in design and usability. INTRODUCTION Tech Sonic Services have been cleaning industrial components with large scale ultrasonic baths for over 10 years. Unfortunately, there is no industry standard definition of "Clean" thus we strive to bring every heat exchanger back to "like new" heat transfer performance – and at the very least exceed historically achieved results. Beginning in 2009, Tech Sonic began testing systems to clean large heat exchangers in the Oil Sands region in Canada. Equipment in this region is characterized by ubiquitous and extremely persistent bituminous foulants; generally mixtures of hardened polymers and catalysts (Philion et al 2011), scale (Cho and Liu 2000), aggregate, heavy oils and asphaltene. Fouling on the surfaces of heat exchangers can greatly reduce heat transfer efficiency [Pan et al 2012]. This ultimately reduces production, and increases energy consumption as well as increasing the pressure losses, chemical and cleaning costs (Pan et al 2012). Since 2010, Tech Sonic Services has been offering ultra-large scale ultrasonic cleaning systems for heat exchangers on refinery and chemical sites throughout North America, and now in Europe. Ultrasonic cleaning is not a new technique, and a review of the history and technology is beyond the scope of this paper. In recent years, there has been an increase in the application of ultrasonic cleaning to small heat exchangers and other related parts using traditional small industrial ultrasonic baths. Beyond cleaning, ultrasound has been proposed as a means of fouling abatement for certain types of foulants (Legaya et al, 2013) and as a means of improving heat transfer characteristics during operation (Legaya et al, 2012). Our goal in the research and development department is to address key usability and efficiency factors related to cleaning heat exchangers with ultrasonic energy. The purpose of this paper is to describe in detail some of the current research activities, the impetus behind those activities, and how these activities are affecting the design of new systems. HEAT EXCHANGER CLEANING BY ULTRASOUND It may be a bit misleading to propose that we clean exchangers with ultrasound – it may be considered more correct to say that the use of the ultrasonic cleaning vessel greatly enhances the cleaning efficiency and effectiveness of standard hydroblasting techniques. To illustrate this, consider the "standard" approach to cleaning that is employed by Tech Sonic Services using one of our systems: 1. Inspection and rinsing of the heat exchanger: the heat exchanger is thoroughly rinsed using hydroblasting techniques to remove any loose foulant, determine if there are blocked tubes, and permit better inspection of the fouled exchanger. 2. Opening of blocked tubes: if blocked tubes are discovered during Step 1, these will be opened using high pressure lancing of some variety, depending on the nature of the foulant and the geometry of the exchanger. 3. Ultrasonic cleaning: the exchanger will be immersed in the bath for a period of time – the duration of which depends on the specific foulant/exchanger combination. In some cases, this step may precede Step 2 if it is suspected that the warm ultrasonic bath will aid in or even accomplish the opening of blocked tubes. 4. Rinse and rotation: The exchanger is removed from the bath, rinsed and rotated to remove loosened foulant, and inspected for cleanliness. 5. Step 3 and 4 are repeated until the exchanger is cleaned. The above procedure shows that the use of ultrasonic cleaning systems does not replace, but rather greatly enhances the standard techniques. Exchanger cleaning that previously took days may routinely be accomplished in hours, with far superior results. The use of a large-scale ultrasonic bath significantly reduces the amount of hydroblasting required and subsequently the amount of waste water generated. The review study conducted by Cho and Liu (2000) Proceedings of International Conference on Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning 2013 (Peer-reviewed) June 09 14, 2013, Budapest, Hungary Editors: M.R. Malayeri, H. Müller-Steinhagen and A.P. Watkinson Published online www.heatexchanger-fouling.com


Immediately following the Garbage Offensive, the Young Lords established an office headquarters in East Harlem, deepened its ties to the welfare rights movement in New York and established a police-watch project in the community. The group also fortified its organizational structure. Two of its Central Committee members Pablo Guzman and Juan Gonzalez drafted a Thirteen-Point Program and Political Platform. The group also developed a rubric for political education, and established an organizational routine for integrating new members and deepening the training of existing ones.


I provide theoretical and empirical evidence on the importance of statu- tory incidence in labor markets in the presence of asymmetric frictions. Using a theoretical model I show that labor supply responses are stronger when the statutory incidence of taxes or labor rules falls on firms, even when wages can adjust freely. I explore these mechanisms by studying labor responses to incentives generated by the "Mini-Job" program aimed at increasing labor supply of low-income individuals in Germany. Using administrative data, I show evidence of a strong behavioral response – in the form of sharp bunching – to the mini-job threshold that generates large discontinuous changes both in the marginal tax rates and in the total in- come and payroll tax liability of individuals in Germany. Sharp bunching translates into elasticity estimates that are an order of magnitude larger than has been previously estimated using the bunching approach. To ex- plain the magnitude of the observed response, I show that in addition to tax rates, fringe benefit payments also change at the threshold. Mini-job workers receive smaller yearly bonuses and fewer vacation days but are paid higher gross wages than regular workers. These results indicate that lower fringe benefits make mini-jobs attractive to employers, thus facilitating labor supply responses in accordance with the model's predictions.


The nicotinium dichromate (NDC) oxidation of methyl phenyl sulfide (MeSPh) in acetonitrile, brought about by p-toluenesulfonic acid (TsOH), is first order in NDC and TsOH, and is zero order with respect to MeSPh in the concentration range investigated. The NDC oxidation of 14 para-, metaand ortho-substituted phenyl methyl sulfides at 293–318 K complies with the isokinetic relationship but not to any of the linear free energy relationships; the isokinetic temperature lies within the experimental temperature range.


The Dead Sea (DS) basin plays a major role for regional economic development (industry, tourism and agriculture) in Jordan. Different studies stated that the water level of the DS is dropping an average of 3 feet per year. Accordingly there is a need to provide accurate and reliable estimates for the water level to help the researchers and geologists of the DS to make different kind of studies giving results. This achieved by a applying three Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) algorithms for the meteorological data recorded from different stations and resources inside and outside of Jordan, The models are trained and tested by BackPropagation (BP), Levenberg-Marquardt (L-M), and Generalized Regression Neural Networks (GRNN) and the results of models are verified with untrained data. The results from the different algorithms are compared with each other. The criteria of performance evaluation are calculated in order to evaluate and compare the performances of models. Finally, we can say that the proposed GRNN model provides best significant performance results comparing with other NN models using Mean Square Error (MSE).


Objective: To investigate the drug sensitivity of infection pathogens in hematology department and provide evidences for the clinical diagnosis and medication.Methods: The drug sensitivity of clinically isolated 357 pathogens from the patients in hematology department of Beijing friendship hospital during from the July 2008 to July 2011 was analyzed.Results: The Gram-positive cocci were more sensitive to linezolid and vancomycin,but resistant to clindamycin and multiple quinolones.Gram-negative bacilli were most sensitive to Carbapenems,the sensitive rate was more than 90%.The drug resistance of Enterococcus faecium was very severe,the sensitive rate to vancomycin was only 71.4%,and the sensitive rate to linezolid was 100%.19% of pseudomonas aeruginosa was resistant to imipenem,and the 14.3% of acinetobacter baumannii was resistant to imipenem.The amikacin sulphate and tobramycin were more sensitive to them,the sensitive rate was 100%.The most fungus were sensitive to antifungal agents.Conclusion: The prompt microbiologcal examination and drug sensitivity tests are important to rationally select antibiotics,reduce infection incidence,and decrease the occurence of drug resistant strains in hematology department.


Abstract Although students' STEM designs are widely admired by teachers, relatively little attention has been given to making use of these designs by incorporating a basic understanding of the market to create new values for communities. The E-STEM model was developed to promote entrepreneurial practices into STEM disciplines and prepare students for the market. Yet, little is explored regarding the teaching pedagogy of E-STEM model and its outcomes. A qualitative case study was conducted to explore E-STEM experiences of high school students and to further explore teachers' perceptions regarding the teaching approach of E-STEM model. A total of twelve teachers were trained to understand the concept of E-STEM, and five of them were selected purposefully to implement E-STEM model with 42 students. Through analyzing and interpreting students' projects and teachers' interview transcripts, this study concluded that the effective practices of E-STEM model require a development-oriented instruction to enhance students' outcomes over time.


By determining methamphetamine levels in rat femora marrow by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), an investigation was undertaken to estimate its serum concentration. The concentration was attained to its maximum at 5 min in the serum and at 60 min in bone marrow after administration. The ratio of serum to marrow levels at 45 to 120 min after administration was 0.140±0.021. At doses between 1-10 mg/kg the average ratio of serum to marrow methamphetamine 60 min after administration was 0.111±0.044 with a corelationship coefficient of 0.837.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to describe the MRI appearance of accessory breast tissue that should be considered a diagnostic possibility in peripubertal or pubertal girls who present with an axillary mass along the course of the primitive milk streak.

CONCLUSION
The MRI appearance of accessory breast tissue is of a mass discontinuous with-but with signal intensity and contrast enhancement characteristics similar to-normal breast parenchyma.


The meeting was following by the annual supper. Letters of Apology.-Letters of apology for absence at the meeting were received from Drs. Needham, Fowler, Roch, Bennett, and others. Vote of Thanks.-On the proposition of Dr. BATTEN, a vote of thanks was passed to the directors of the Queen's Hotel, Cheltenham, for their kindness in placing their handsome suite of rooms at the service of the Branch for this meeting1.


There are two contending accounts of cross-national variation in voter turnout rates. One emphasizes the role of institutions and electoral attributes, whereas the other stresses cultural and historical factors. The authors evaluate the merits of these two arguments. They first apply the model developed by R. W. Jackman to turnout rates during the 1980s, expanding the sample of industrial states to include three newer democracies with recent authoritarian histories: Greece, Portugal, and Spain. They then examine the potential impact of cultural variables on voter turnout rates. The authors conclude that the institutional argument outperforms the cultural account of conventional political participation.


Introduction: Patients suffering from physical illnesses are given specific treatment because the causes are specific and the signs and symptoms are specific. The doctor generally knows how the treatment works, and the patient co-operates with the doctors, and nurses, in order to get better. In psychiatric hospital the treatment may not be so specific and most patients are given more than one treatment. The nurse has an extremely important role to play in the treatment of the mentally ill. Her actions, attitudes and skills to help him to deal with his problems are themselves an essential part of his treatment. Objectives: The main objective was to assess the extrapyramidal side effects among psychosis patients consuming antipsychotic medication. Secondary objective was to find out the association of extrapyramidal side effects with selected socio-demographic and clinical variables. Methodology: 60 psychosis patients attending outpatient and inpatient department of psychiatry in Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, Raipur, Chhattisgarh who receive antipsychotic medications were assessed for extrapyramidal side effect of antipsychotic drugs. The conceptual framework adopted for study was based on Health Belief Model. Modified Simpson Angus Scale (MSAS) was used to assess/measure extrapyramidal side effects. Patients scoring less than 3 were considered 'normal'. Patients scoring 3 to 5 were considered having 'minimal movement disorder'. Those scoring 6 to 11 have 'clinically significant degree of movement disorder'. And those scoring 12 to 17 were present with 'severe degree of movement disorder'. Result: It was observed that highest number of subjects i.e. 37 (66.66%) were 'normal'. 11 subjects (18.33%) were with 'minimal movement disorder'. 7 subjects (11.66%) were with 'clinically significant extrapyramidal side effects. Only 5 subjects (8.33%) had severe degree of movement disorder. There was significant association of extrapyramidal side effects with duration of illness, duration of antipsychotic use and immediate side effect of antipsychotics at 0.05 level of significance. Conclusion: It was concluded in this study that extrapyramidal side effects may occur among patients consuming antipsychotic medication. Also significant relationship was found between extrapyramidal side effects with duration of illness, duration of antipsychotic use and immediate effect of antipsychotic medication (1-2 days observation).


Numerical simulation has now become an integral part of engineering design process. Critical design decisions are routinely made based on the simulation results and conclusions. Verification and validation of the reliability of the numerical simulation is therefore vitally important in the engineering design processes. We propose to develop theories and methodologies that can automatically provide quantitative information about the reliability of the numerical simulation by estimating numerical approximation error, computational model induced errors and the uncertainties contained in the mathematical models so that the reliability of the numerical simulation can be verified and validated. We also propose to develop and implement methodologies and techniques that can control the error and uncertainty during the numerical simulation so that the reliability of the numerical simulation can be improved.


In some vascular pathologies like supravalvular aortic stenosis, aneurysmal disease and atherosclerosis, but also during aging, arterial elastin content is decreased by degradation of elastic fibers and/or decreased elastin synthesis. Molecules able to enhance elastin synthesis could be used to treat this condition. It was shown that minoxidil (Mx), an ATP-dependent potassium channel opener, enhances elastic fiber synthesis in chick and in spontaneously hypertensive rats, but no clinical application was developed because of its numerous adverse side effects. We previously showed that the inbred Brown Norway (BN) rat strain shows an aortic elastin deficit caused by a decrease in tropoelastin synthesis when compared with the LOU rat, that elastin gene polymorphisms in these strains do not significantly account for. Genome-wide search of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) was performed using F2 BNxLOU. Two QTL controlling the aortic elastin content were identified on chromosome 2 and one on chromosome 14. In parallel, microarrays (Applied Biosystems) were used to compare mRNA expression in aorta of 6-week-old BN and LOU rats. These two methods permitted to bring to light several genes that are both differently expressed and situated within the QTL, such as Integrin alpha 1 (Itgal) and Vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (Vcam1). / Other interesting genes are either differently expressed between BN and LOU rats, or situated within a QTL. For example, some 'candidate genes regulate intracellular potassium and calcium concentrations ([K+]i, [Ca2+]i). In the light of the literature and our previous studies showing that elastin synthesis is increased when [K+]i decreases, we focused first on these genes. We tested the anti-hypertensive drug minoxidil (Mx) that opens ATP- dependant potassium channels and causes a decrease in [K+]i. We incubated cultured aortic smooth muscle cells (SMCs) from 6-week-old BN rats with Mx at 5, 50 or lOOuM during 24,48 and 72hrs and we performed an in vivo study administering 22mg/kg/day of Mx to growing BN rats in drinking water during 10 weeks. MRNA encoding for tropoelastin was measured using real-time RT-PCR and elastin was quantified using a biochemical method. We show that Mx and Dx induce an increase in elastin synthesis by SMCs and, in vivo, an increase in aortic elastin content. We showed also that the increase in the steady state level of tropoelastin mRNA is due to an increase in both transcription and mRNA stability. In vivo, potassium channel openers increase elastic fiber synthesis in the aortic media, without changing collagen content. Irbesartan, an angiotensin Il-receptor antagonist, reduces Mx-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Finally, Dx, causing less undesirable side effects than Mx, or coadministration of Mx and Irb, could be suitable for treating vascular pathologies characterized by diminished arterial elastin content.


This presentation describes a design for a new 285 m3 testing chamber that will allow the measurement of the random incidence absorption coefficient, according to the current revision of ISO 354, the scattering coefficient, according to ISO 17497-1, the diffusion coefficient, according to ISO 17497-2 and the normal incidence low frequency absorption coefficient, according to ISO 10534-2. Both dome-shaped boundary diffusors and hanging convex panels are used to provide satisfactory diffusivity, which is verified using a 200 mm reference absorber. The isotropy of the incident sound is evaluated with a new SOund Field Analysis Recorder (SOFAR) and quantified by an analysis of the wavenumber spectrum. As desired, a scattering coefficient or diffusion coefficient apparatus can be brought into the rev room to measure these data. A reflection free volume is provided in the chamber for boundary method diffusion coefficient goniometer measurements. A new FDTD simulation program will be described to determine the diffusion and scattering coefficients of any 3D surface in the near and far field. A steel and concrete lined low frequency impedance tube measuring 0.60 m x 0.60 m x 5.8 m long and 7 tons will be used to measure absorption from 25-250 Hz.


Extracorporeal circulation (ECC) is routinely used in modern medicine during apheresis, haemodialysis, cardiopulmonary bypass and extracorporeal lung assistance. In the course of these procedures, abnormal interfaces between the patient's blood and the various non-biologiccomponents of the circuit are formed, which causes a "whole-body inflammatory reaction" (1). Although damage to blood elements has early been recognized as a complication of ECC, the deleterious consequences of ECC are still only partly understooddespite extensive investigation in the field. However, the safety and technology of extracorporeal circulation have improved significantly since its inial use, resulting in low morbidity and mortality rates in the last decade. The only material that is completely blood compatible is the endothelial cell layer covering the inner surface of the blood vessel. Events which are initiated when blood comes in contact with artificial surfaces or with tissues other than the intact endothelial lining comprise adsorption of plasma proteins, activation of the plasma protease systems and adhesion of platelets and other cellular elements in the blood. It has long been recognized that when plasma comes into contact with unphysiologic surfaces, Hageman factor (factor XI1 in the coagulation system) becomes activated through the contact system (2,3). This involves a complex series of events involving several proteins in a potent positive feedback loop. In a extracorporeal circuit, therefore, the intrinsic pathway of coagulation would be activated, and without some form of coagulation, fibrin clots and platelet aggregates would deposit on lines, filters and membranes and prevent operation of the equipment. Anticoagulation is usually achieved by heparin. The main effect of heparin is to increase the activity of Antithrombin-I11 (AT-111), one of the major antiproteases in the coagulation system. However, due to incomplete inhibition of some of the proteases and the large surfaces are of the synthetic material in some of the circuits, the contact system can st i l l be activated despite high levels of circulating heparin (4s).


Hourly solar photovoltaic (PV) power measurements in a specific period and site are very important for designing and supervising PV systems. However, in most cases these measures are absent. The focus of this research study is to offer for PV systems engineers an efficient model based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN). To predict the output power of a PV system installed in Agadir city (320°25'39"N 9°35'53"W), Morocco. The architecture has a great impact on the convergence of the Neural Network. This architecture is optimized using Genetic Algorithm (GA). The aim of this approach is to find the optimal number of hidden layers, the activation function and the initial vector of weights. The attained results confirm the accuracy of the proposed model to predict the hourly PV power output in case of missing real values. Consequently, electrical power engineers can adopt this prediction model to design and supervise the PV systems and integrated it into the power grid.


We describe a new species of the Boophis albilabris group (Anura: Mantellidae) from north-western Madagascar. Boophis tsilomaro sp. nov. is most similar to B. occidentalis from the Isalo Massif, but differs by substantial genetic differentiation, larger size, absence of a turquoise iris colour, presence of a more distinct white stripe along upper lip in life, and longer note duration and lower pulse repetition rate in advertisement calls. Due to its small known range and continuing decline in the extent and quality of its habitat we propose to classify this new species as "Critically Endangered" according to the IUCN criteria. We also describe the advertisement calls of B. occidentalis for the first time.


"Diagnosis and management of dementia with Lewy bodies: Fourth consensus report of the DLB Consortium" proposed new criteria for the diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), helping to distinguish DLB from Parkinson disease with dementia. Dr. Abe agrees with the need for new criteria and discusses how the hypothesis of Braak et al. of the rostral progression of brainstem synucleinopathy is not observed in DLB.


Bayesian methods are critical for quantifying the behaviors of systems. They capture our uncertainty about a system's behavior using probability distributions and update this understanding as new information becomes available. Probabilistic predictions that incorporate this uncertainty can then be made to evaluate system performance and make decisions. While Bayesian methods are very useful, they are often computationally intensive. This necessitates the development of more efficient algorithms. Here, we discuss a group of population Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods for Bayesian updating and system reliability assessment that we call Sequential Tempered MCMC (ST-MCMC) algorithms. These algorithms combine 1) a notion of tempering to gradually transform a population of samples from the prior to the posterior through a series of intermediate distributions, 2) importance resampling, and 3) MCMC. They are a form of Sequential Monte Carlo and include algorithms like Transitional Markov Chain Monte Carlo and Subset Simulation. We also introduce a new sampling algorithm called the Rank-One Modified Metropolis Algorithm (ROMMA), which builds upon the Modified Metropolis Algorithm used within Subset Simulation to improve performance in high dimensions. Finally, we formulate a single algorithm to solve combined Bayesian updating and reliability assessment problems to make posterior assessments of system reliability. The algorithms are then illustrated by performing prior and posterior reliability assessment of a water distribution system with unknown leaks and demands.


In this thesis, we simulate, fabricate and analyze the Si-QD doped Si-rich SiOx/ Si-rich SiCx/ Si-rich SiNx micro-ring waveguide resonator based all-optical modulator using linear free-carrier absorption and nonlinear Kerr effect. In the chapter 2, by integrating with a ring-resonator waveguide, the Si quantum dot doped SiOx strip-loaded waveguide based free-carrier absorption modulator with enhanced FCA loss modulation is demonstrated by different pumping wavelengths. The micro-ring waveguide resonator induced a dark-comb like throughput transfer function in wavelength domain, in which function with a Q-factor of 6×103 can be blue-shifted by varying the photo-excited electron-hole plasma density. When transmitting optical data stream at the central wavelength of any notch in the dark-comb throughput function, the output data-stream can be inverted by pumping the micro-ring waveguide resonator to up-shift the notch away from its original wavelength. As a result, this maximize the extinction ratio of output data stream. The largest FCA loss and highest free-carrier density can be enhanced up to 3.44 cm-1 and 9.29×1016 cm-3, respectively, at excitation intensity as high as 6.7 W/cm2. By adding the micro-ring waveguide resonator, the modulation depth can be further enhanced from 52.5% to 63.5% by up-shifting the transfer function of the micro-ring waveguide resonator with the photo-excited e-h plasma. The maximal wavelength of the transmittance notch shift can be up to 0.033 nm under the same pumping intensity at wavelength of 1563.42 nm. The excited free-carriers inside the micro-ring waveguide resonator is obtained to be ~5.25×1015 cm-3. The pumping wavelength dependent transmission notch linewidth is broadened from 0.26 nm to 0.3 nm when the ring waveguide resonator is pumped by 325-nm HeCd laser. Due to the speed of FCA based modulator is limited by the carrier lifetime which the modulation speed of SiOx:Si-QD is ~ 1 μs. As a result, the ultrafast nonlinear optical Kerr effect is employed in the following work. In the chapter 3, the ultrafast optical Kerr switch with a Si-rich SiC micro-ring resonator is demonstrated. In addition, the nonlinear refractive index of Si-rich SiC at telecommunication wavelengths is firstly estimated by the resonance red-shift, which is still unknown in the literature. With the 12 Gbit/s NRZ-OOK optical pump data-stream, the Si-rich SiC micro-ring resonator shows a great applicability in the real optical communication system. From the maximal inverted probe signal, the red-shift of resonance dip is 0.07 nm corresponding to refractive index change of 1.2×10-4. By the red-shift of resonance dip, the nonlinear refractive index of Si-rich SiC is estimated to be n2=3.14×10-13 cm2/W, which is several orders magnitude larger than that in SiC. From the analyses of XPS and the RSS, the excessive Si concentration of 37.2% which exist in the form of Si-QDs is observed. The existence of Si-QDs buried in the Si-rich SiC matrix can effectively result in a huge enhancement on the nonlinear refractive index, which can be explained by the quantum confinement effect. From the BPM analysis under single-mode condition, the waveguide width and height of 600 nm and 300 nm is determined. The fabricated micro-ring waveguide resonator is obtain with Q=22800 and the transmittance drop of nearly 60% at a wavelength of 1551.08 nm. In the chapter 4, the 12 Gbit/s optical Kerr switch has been demonstrated with a Si-rich SiN micro-ring resonator in the first time. The Si-rich SiN with excessive Si of 23.4% is grown by PECVD process with fluence ratio of [SiH4]/[NH3] equals 0.9. The fabricated mirco-ring resonator of Q=11000 is observed, which provides a field enhancement inside the micro ring resonator. By introducing the 12 Gbit/s NRZ-OOK data stream as the optical pump format, the ultra-fast response up to 83 ps of the Si-rich SiN micro-ring resonator shows a great applicability in the real-world optical communication system. The SNR is degraded from 9.66 dB to 5.32 dB after the wavelength conversion. According to the ultrafast response of nonlinear Kerr effect, the nonlinear refractive index of Si3N4:Si-QD at near-infrared wavelengths for optical telecommunications is instantly modified by the input optical data stream to cause the red-shift on the resonance of the micro-ring, thus providing a high-speed optical switch up to 12 Gbit/s via the cross-wavelength amplitude modulation effect. By analyzing the resonance dip red-shift of 0.13 nm corresponding toδn=2.2×10-4, the nonlinear refractive index of the Si-rich SiN is estimated as n2=δn/Ir=2.17×10-13 cm2/W, which is one order and two orders of magnitude larger than that in Si and SiN, respectively.


This paper presents a numerical study on flow and local scour around two identical cylinders with diverse spacing ratios (s/D) and alignment angles (α). The spacing ratio of center-to-center distance between cylinders (s) to the cylinder diameter (D) varied from 1.25 to 5.0, including five alignment angles ranged from 0° to 90°. The detailed scour processes and information were obtained in a physics-based way by using large eddy simulation coupled with sediment transport in a Lagrangian framework and a morphodynamic model. Turbulent flow properties around two cylinders in staggered array are significantly concerned by the spacing ratio and the alignment angle which reflect complex features of evolution of scour and scour depth. The computed results exhibited the scour depth is associated with the spacing ratio and alignment angles especially at the rear cylinder. For small alignment angles, the growth rate at the rear cylinder increased as the spacing ratio increased, due to a decrease in shielding effect. As the alignment angle increased, the scour depth around the rear cylinder increased until the angle reached approximately 45°–60°. Subsequently, the scour depth decreased with the alignment angle. It also revealed that the spacing ratio was more sensitive to the maximum scour than that of the alignment angle. For (s-D)/D > 2.0, the maximum scour depth only depended on the spacing ratio.


The paper recommends the principle and the powdering method as well as the application forground of fine aluminium hydrate grain in fire resisting material industry to work as a filling material of fire resisting.


The use of bag-of-features (BOF) models has been a popular technique for image classification and retrieval. In order to better represent and discriminate images from different classes, we advance BOF and explore the self-similarities of visual words for improved performance. The proposed self-similarity hypercubes (SSH) model, which observes the concurrent occurrences of visual words in an image, is able to describe the structural information of the BOF in an image. Our experiments confirm that our SSH provides additional and complementary information to BOF and thus results in improved classification performance. Unlike most prior methods requiring extraction or integration of multiple types of features for similar improvements, our SSH works in the same domain as the BOF does. Moreover, we do not limit the use of our SSH to any particular type of image descriptors, and its generalization is also verified.


For management of cyanobacterial hazards to human health, a basic understanding of the properties, the behaviour in natural ecosystems, and the environmental conditions which support the growth of certain species is helpful. This chapter provides information on how cyanobacteria are structured and the abilities which they posses that support their proliferation in aquatic ecosystems. Plants and animals possess consistent features by which they can be identified reliably and sorted into recognisably distinct groups. Biologists observe and compare what the organisms look like, how they grow and what they do. The results make it possible to construct systematic groupings based on multiple correlations of common characters and that reflect the greatest overall similarity. The basis for such groupings is the fact that all organisms are related to one another by way of evolutionary descent. Their biology and phylogenetic relationships makes the establishment of systematic groupings possible (Minkoff, 1983). However, microbial systematics has long remained an enigma. Conceptual advances in microbiology during the twentieth century included the realisation that a discontinuity exists between those cellular organisms that are prokaryotic (i.e. whose cells have no nucleus) and those that are eukaryotic (i.e. more complexly structured cells with a nucleus) within the organisation of their cells. The microalgae investigated by phycologists under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) (Greuter et al., 1994) included organisms of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell types. The blue-green algae (Geitler, 1932) constituted the largest group of the latter category. The prokaryotic nature of these organisms and their fairly close relationship with eubacteria made work under provisions of the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria The prevailing systematic view is that comparative studies of the genetic constitution of the cyanobacteria will now contribute significantly to the revision of their taxonomy. Relevant classification should reflect as closely as possible the phylogenetic


The authors analyze the interaction between demographic transition and rapid urbanization, two trends which currently predominate in Sub-Saharan Africa. The primary focus is on how urbanization affects the process of change to lower rates of fertility. The authors conclude that since new ideas generally spread from urban to rural areas, the predominant role that urban centers play in Tropical Africa is likely to encourage the process of demographic transition.


Polyamides are produced by condensing dicarboxylic acid with aromatic diamine in the presence of carbodiimide as a condensing agent. Dicarboxylic acid is aromatic dicarboxylate, HOOC-X(-COY)m - COOH[X=(m+2) valent, C6-20 carbo ring, C3-20 hetero ring, C2-20 alkyl or alkenyl; Y=-OR or -NRR', R and R' are C5-20 carbo ring, C1-20 hetero ring, C2-12 acyl, C2-12 acyloxy, -0W(W=C1-12 hydrocarbon), -SW or C2-12 acylamino; m=1 or 2; -COY is opt. attached at ortho, beta, gamma position against -COOH!.


Since their inception, a variety of auction designs have been utilized to increase the performance of electricity markets both within the academic literature and employed in real-world electricity markets. A feature most electricity market designs found in the literature have in common is the use of static sealed-bid auctions. Yet, consulting the auction theoretical literature shows that dynamic auctions utilizing revealed-bids could hold valuable benefits over static sealed-bid auctions, such as better price discovery, increased transparency and auction outcomes closer to equilibrium states. In this work, a descending-clock auction designed for power markets is proposed which employs revealed-bids. The model considers line capacity limits, generator capacity constraints as well as the power balance constraint and allows bidders to adapt future bids to these constraints. It is shown, that the proposed model encourages sincere bidding, which constitutes a weakly dominant strategy and - if followed by all bidders - constitutes an ex-post perfect equilibrium.


Aim:To investigate the the changes of the levels of TNF-α,IL-6,IL-10,and coagulation parameters in serum of peripherally inserted central catheter(PICC)patients.Methods:A total of 38 patients not performed PICC(including 10 patients with tumor,18 patients without tumor,and 10 patients with blood diseases)and 50 patients with PICC(including 14 patients with tumor,20 without tumor and 16 with blood diseases),were collected and the levels of TNF-αand IL-6 in serum were determined by radioimmunoassay,the level of IL-10 by ELISA,and with the level of coagulation parameters by automatic coagulation machine.Results:Compared with the control groups,the levels of TNF-αof PICC patients with tumor,without tumor,and with blood diseases were higher(t=2.330,3.606,and 3.110,P0.05),and the levels of IL-6 were lower(t=7.120,5.863,and 2.572,P0.05),but the levels of IL-10 had no significant difference(t=0.881,0.887,and 0.079,P0.05).The levels of coagulation parameters of non-tumor PICC group had not changed significantly (P0.05).Conclusion:TNF-αbecomes more higher and IL-6 becomes more lower after PICC,suggesting PICC may lead to venous inflammation and then result in thrombosis.


We describe a mode-locked all-fiber laser operating at 1.06µm with a piezoelectric copolymer jacketed fiber phase modulator. Mode-locked pulses at a repetition rate of 98.12MHz and a pulse width of 2.2ns (FWHM) have been obtained.


Parkinson's disease (PD), the most common movement disorder, comprises several pathophysiologic mechanisms including misfolded alpha‐synuclein aggregation, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and synaptic loss. Nuclear Factor‐Kappa B (NF‐κB), as a key regulator of a myriad of cellular reactions, is shown to be involved in such mechanisms associated with PD, and the changes in NF‐κB expression is implicated in PD. Alpha‐synuclein accumulation, the characteristic feature of PD pathology, is known to trigger NF‐κB activation in neurons, thereby propagating apoptosis through several mechanisms. Furthermore, misfolded alpha‐synuclein released from degenerated neurons, activates several signaling pathways in glial cells which culminate in activation of NF‐κB and production of pro‐inflammatory cytokines, thereby aggravating neurodegenerative processes. On the other hand, NF‐κB activation, acting as a double‐edged sword, can be necessary for survival of neurons. For instance, NF‐κB activation is necessary for competent mitochondrial function and deficiency in c‐Rel, one of the NF‐κB proteins, is known to propagate DA neuron loss via several mechanisms. Despite the dual role of NF‐κB in PD, several agents by selectively modifying the mechanisms and pathways associated with NF‐κB, can be effective in attenuating DA neuron loss and PD, as reviewed in this paper.


Comparative study of the corrosion resistance and passivation characteristics of NO7718, NO7208 and SS439L super alloys in 4 M H2SO4 media at 0–6% NaCl concentration was done by potentiodynamic polarization, open circuit potential measurement and optical microscopic analysis. The metal alloys showed relatively high resistance to corrosion as variation in Cl− ion concentration had no significant influence on their corrosion rate results. SS439L showed the weakest resistance to pitting despite its relatively low corrosion rate. Passivation behavior disappeared after 2% NaCl concentration. NO7208 displayed exceptional pitting resistance characteristics, however, its metastable pitting and repassivation domain responds to changes in Cl− ion concentration. The passivation domain of NO7718 significantly decreased with increase in Cl− ion concentration due to delayed repassivation of the protective film after metastable pitting. NaCl concentration caused significant negative shift in open circuit potential (OCP) for NO7718 and SS439L alloys, compared to NO7208. The OCP of NO7208 at comparatively positive values contrasts those of NO7718 and SS439L alloys. Micro analytical studies shows a highly corrosion resistant morphology for NO7208 with numerous macro-pits present but their effect on the overall corrosion resistance of the nickel alloy is negligible. The corrosion pits on SS439L coupled with the appearance of grain boundaries are deleterious to the overall viability of the alloy. Enlarged corrosion pits are present on NO7718 due to the action of Cl− ions. © 2018 Brazilian Metallurgical, Materials and Mining Association. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// application as construction materials in nuclear industries, . Introduction uper alloys display excellent mechanical properties, surace stability, low corrosion susceptibility and high resistance E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com ttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2018.05.012 238-7854/© 2018 Brazilian Metallurgical, Materials and Mining Assoc rticle under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/lic creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). to thermal deformation. This necessitates their extensive for piping and pumps in chemical processing and petrochemical industries, heat exchangers, in coal gasification and liquefaction systems, for the combustor and turbine iation. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. This is an open access enses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 624 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 1 9;8(1):623–629 Table 1 – Nominal composition (wt.%) of N07718, N07208 and SS439L. Element symbol Cu Si Ni Cr Mn P S C Co Al Ti Mo N Fe % Composition (N07718) 0.3 0.35 51 18 0.35 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.8 0.3 1.1 3 – 24.72 – 0.0 3.1. Passivation studies % Composition (N07208) – 0.15 56 20 0.3 % Composition (SS439L) – 0.75 0.2 17.35 0.5 sections of the aero engine and land-based industrial-gas turbines, marine applications and pulp and paper manufacturing [1,2]. Their corrosion resistance is due primarily to the presence of chromium within their metallurgical structure, and responsible for the formation and stability of an impenetrable passive oxide film on the alloy surface when exposed to oxidizing conditions. The passive film hinders the electrochemical action of corrosive anions prevalent in industrial conditions due to their adherent inert nature. However there are circumstances where the passive film breaks due to a variety of causes in very hostile environments where high pressure and temperature conditions and strong halides are encountered. Collapse of the passive film and the consequent localized corrosion in the presence of chlorides is the major underlying factor responsible for failure of these alloys [3,4]. The electrochemical behavior of super alloys with respect to the formation, durability and breakdown of their passive film is integral to understanding of the metastable and pitting corrosion resistance of these alloys. In understanding the nature of passive film stability, potentiodynamic polarization and open circuit potential measurement are employed while the resulting microstructure from electrochemical study are further analyzed. Previous research on pit initiation and growth on stainless steel alloys have contributed to their current understanding and have help improve the pitting corrosion resistance of the alloys especially in the area of material selection and appropriate operating conditions [5–10]. Yi et al. [11] studied the pitting corrosion behavior of AISI type 316 SS in NaCl solutions by potentiodynamic polarization and concluded that its critical pitting potential is significantly influenced by the scan rate. Hodge and Wilde [12] observed through anodic polarization that Ni–Cr alloys with minimum 10% chromium become passive and displayed sufficient resistance to pitting in sulphate/chloride media. Piron et al. [13] observed similar behavior with Ni 200 and Inconel 600 in sulphate media at 0–3.5 wt.% NaCl. Breakdown of passivity on alloy 22 was observed by Friend [14] at a critical NaCl concentration by maintaining its potential inside the passive domain. The electrochemical behavior of alloy 600 and alloy 800 passive films was studied in various chemical environments [15,16]. Nickel chromium molybdenum alloys (NO7718 and NO7208) and ferritic stainless steel 439L exhibit excellent resistance to deterioration and failure in both oxidizing and reducing conditions. The ability of these alloys to withstand the effect corrosive anions is subject to the nature and constituent of their passive film, repassivation capacity, metastable pitting activity and pitting corrosion resistance. This research aims to study the passivation characteristics of the above-mentioned alloys in chloride/sulphate solutions and the resulting microstructure. – 0.06 10 1.5 2.1 8.5 – 1.5 4 0.03 0.01 – 0.335 0.1 0.03 80.66 2. Experimental methods NO7718 and NO7208 nickel alloys (NO7718, NO7208), and 439L ferritic stainless steel (SS439L) obtained from PCC Airfoils, LLC Prototype foundry, OH USA, Haynes International Incorporation, Kokomo, USA and McMaster University, Ontario, Canada are the super alloys studied. Their nominal (wt.%) compositions are laid out in Table 1. NO7718, NO7208 and SS439L were segmented and machined to samples with exposed surface areas of 0.4 cm3, 0.4 cm3 and 0.5 cm3. They were subsequently prepared metallographically with the aid of silicon carbide abrasive papers of 60, 120, 220, 320, 600, 800 and 1000 grits before polishing with diamond liquid suspension to 6 m, and then purified with distilled water and acetone for electrochemical tests. Recrystallized sodium chloride sourced from Titan Biotech, India was formulated in proportional concentrations of 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5% and 6% in 200 mL of 4 M H2SO4 solution, prepared from standard grade of H2SO4 acid (98%) with distilled water. Electrochemical tests were performed on the super alloys at 37 ◦C ambient temperature with a three electrodes cell (platinum counter electrodes, Ag/AgCl reference electrodes and resin embedded NO7718, NO7208 and SS439L electrodes) (exposed surface area of 1 cm2) containing 200 mL of the acid media and connected to Digi-Ivy 2311 electrochemical workstation. Potentiodynamic polarization plots obtained at scan rate of 0.0015 V/s from −1.25 V and +1.5 V set potentials. The corrosion current density, Cd (A/cm2) and corrosion potential, Cp (V) values were obtained from the polarization plots through Tafel extrapolation method. Corrosion rate, CR (mm/y) and inhibition efficiency, (%) were determined from the following mathematical relationship: CR = 0.00327CdEq D (1) D is the density in (g/cm3); Eq is the metal alloy equivalent weight (g). 0.00327 is the constant for corrosion rate. Open circuit potential measurement (OCP) was performed at 0.05 V/s step potential for 1500s to study the thermodynamic stability of the alloys at rest potentials. Micro-analytical images of the super alloys surface configuration were studied before and after electrochemical degradation with Omax trinocular metallurgical microscope using ToupCam analytical software. 3. Results and discussion The potentiodynamic polarization plots of NO7718, NO7208 and SS439L are shown from Fig. 1(a)–(c). Table 2 depicts j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 1 9;8(1):623–629 625 Table 2 – Potentiodynamic polarization data for NO7718, NO7208 and SS439L in 4 M H2SO4/0–6% NaCl concentration. Sample NaCl conc. (%) Corrosion rate (mm/y) Corrosion current (A) Corrosion current density (A/cm2) Corrosion potential (V) Polarization resistance, Rp ( ) Cathodic Tafel slope, Bc (V/dec) Anodic Tafel slope, Ba (V/dec) NO7718 A 0 1.70 6.65E−05 1.62E−04 −0.025 386.10 −9.130 6.489 B 1 1.64 6.43E−05 1.57E−04 0.005 391.00 −10.780 26.670 C 2 1.57 6.17E−05 1.50E−04 −0.035 416.60 −10.850 21.200 D 3 1.59 6.22E−05 1.52E−04 −0.022 312.60 −12.430 21.270 E 4 1.44 5.65E−05 1.38E−04 −0.045 454.70 −9.915 20.500 F 5 1.39 5.45E−05 1.33E−04 −0.038 471.60 −11.600 22.700 G 6 1.63 6.38E−05 1.56E−04 −0.057 360.20 −11.390 27.610 NO7208 A 0 0.49 1.93E−05 4.82E−05 −0.024 1334.00 −8.292 −1.978 B 1 0.48 1.85E−05 4.64E−05 −0.009 1985.00 −9.692 6.051 C 2 0.55 2.15E−05 5.37E−05 0.004 1197.00 −10.570 9.464 D 3 0.53 2.06E−05 5.14E−05 −0.006 1249.00 −10.800 8.225 E 4 0.50 1.97E−05 4.92E−05 −0.002 1300.00 −10.700 9.936 F 5 0.43 1.66E−05 4.15E−05 0.024 1549.00 −9.136 21.310 G 6 0.47 1.83E−05 4.57E−05 −0.064 1352.00 −9.362 8.645 SS439L A 0 0.09 5.07E−06 8.59E−06 0.083 5472.00 −14.000 8.525 B 1 0.07 4.12E−06 6.98E−06 −0.035 6242.00 −13.260 17.330 C 2 0.11 5.83E−06 9.88E−06 −0.066 5007.00 −9.379 21.010 D 3 0.07 3.76E−06 6.38E−06 −0.156 6829.00 −10.900 26.230 E 4 0.07 4.12E−06 6.98E−06 −0.197 6240.00 −9.002 15.810 −06 −0.040 5171.00 −11.480 23.350 −06 −0.082 5093.00 −9.435 10.850 t p c e t o m w a t f i u t a N i p n b s t r i s p i t p b 1.00E-02


The mixed exponential distribution is extended and the distribution type of the lifespan is supplemented.To improve the EM algorithm,we propose an annealing genetic algorithm to optimize the parameter estimation of the extended model.


Entrepreneurship in Africa can be analyzed from a number of perspectives. One approach, undoubtedly the most popular among economic anthropologists and sociologists, has been to conduct group surveys of the attitudes and behavior of small-scale traders and market-stall operators against the background of specific urban or rural settings. These studies have emphasized the importance of religion, ethnic group affiliation, family or clan structure, specialization, and the development of long-distance trading networks through migration or diaspora. Another type of study pioneered by Polly Hill, and since taken up by other field economists and historians, has been to analyze the individual innovation, cooperative effort, and adaptation of traditional institutions involved in the development of export crop agriculture (groundnuts, cocoa, coffee) by small farmers in Africa.


As things continue to fall apart, students of public administration are busier than ever in producing advice about how to straighten out the situation. Perhaps my outlook is much too melancholy, but it does seem that, seen in the broadest context, something is out of joint. The total complexity of human events is increasing geometrically while the means to cope with the complexity are increasing mathematically. And what is most frustrating, the ability of ordinary men and women to cope with the means of coping is probably about what it was in the days of Woodrow Wilson. The theme of this review is applied social science with particular emphasis on evaluation. The books under review are generally optimistic about what can be accomplished. But the unanswered question never was whether social science can be applied in some sort of technical sense; rather, it is whether those ordinary men and women within organizations, as they shuffle through their workaday lives, really care whether it is applied or not. Until we begin to deal with that topic, I am unsure if improved methods of decision-making are going to get


soon a f t e r t h e impact. Unlike most disas ter studies, however Edberg and Lustig also focused upon t h e confl ic t t h a t l a te : occurred between t h e e m e r g e n t group and governmenta l agencier (including in s o m e cases a d hoc governmental groups involvec in aiding t h e recovery process), and also on t h e conf l i c t withir t h e emergen t group. The l a t t e r t h r e e books, which dea l with t h e subs tan t ive findingr of t h e Tuve landslide, provide adequa te English summar ies of t h e results, but in a way t e a s e t h e non-Swedish r e a d e r since more is hinted a t than is presented. This is probably due t c t h e f a c t t h a t t h e summaries a r e t ransla t ions of int roductory o r concluding comments f r o m t h e a c t u a l Swedish text and not overall summaries of t h e t e x t . The printing of t h e text is c lea r t o read, a s a r e ' the maps and illustrations. However, occasional typographical e r ro rs will baff le those who have only a basic reading knowledge of Swedish. The Swedish s tudies on disaster as il lustrated by t h e four volumes reviewed here a r e well done, show a d e g r e e o f sophistication, and lend themselves well t o cross-national o r societa l comparisons. As such, i t is our hope t h a t a t leas t t h e more detailed findings f rom t h e work will be made avai lable in s o m e way to t h e non-Swedish language disaster research community.


ABSTRACT Patients with spinal abnormalities present unusual challenges for the administration of sedation and anesthesia during surgical and technical procedures. Airway management and respiratory problems are the commonest. In this case with severe kyphoscoliosis, we aimed to evaluate the advantages of spinal anesthesia technique performed under the guidance of ultrasonography. A 80-year-old female patient presented to our hospital with total uterine prolapsus. Medical history of the patient revealed severe congenital kyphoscoliosis, and restrictive lung disease. Lumbar vertebras and intervertebral spaces of the patient were scanned with an 8MHz head piece of the ultrasound. For spinal access, L4-L5 intervertebral space through which dura can be observed was selected. At the end of the operation, pin prick test detected sensory block at T12 dermatome. This case demonstrates that spinal anesthesia performed under the guidance of ultrasonography can be successful even in cases of severe kyphoscoliosis. Key words: Anesthesia, Spinal, Neuroaxial blockade, Kyphoscoliosis, Ultrasonography


This utility model discloses one projecting system with multiple screens and foldable curtain. It includes the display system, acoustic system and control system. The display system consists of projector and projecting screen. Multiple units of LCD (DLP) projectors are adopted. Multiple projecting screens are assembled together to form a multi-path foldable curtain. The control system consists of multiple computers, one switch, one hub and one UPS. The computers consist of one server and multiple multimedia computers or one integrated cabinet. The server controls multiple multimedia computers. The acoustic system is connected to the server. The projector is connected to corresponding multimedia computers. The big-screen projecting system of this utility model is a multi-path display system that consists of multiple projecting systems. It has a bigger display size, a wider field of vision, more display contents, a higher resolution and more impressive visual effects than ordinary standard projecting systems.


This study aimed to determine and analyze the value chain of waste management at Bank Sampah Bersinar in Bandung. The subjects in this study were the actors of the waste management value chain. In this study, there were three informants selected by purposive sampling and snow ball sampling methods. This study was conducted by using qualitative methods with the analysis method including value chains, SWOT analysis, value added and competitive advantage strategies. Based on the results of the discussion and analysis conducted in this study, it was found that in general Bank Sampah Bersinar only conducts basic value chain activities of waste management (input-process-output) without giving a higher value than the waste results obtained. For this reason, additional activities are needed to add more value to the treated waste. Furthermore, the results of the SWOT analysis revealed three main problems faced by Bank Sampah Bersniar namely distance or location, purchase price and public knowledge. The analyzed value chain improvement strategy is proved by the illustrations made, which indicates that it can increase waste value added from 6.86 percent to 74.36 percent.


The Chinese oil painting has been developing over 100 years from the beginning of the 20th century,because of the changed time backgrounds;it has formed three relatively independent special shapes until now.This article from the angle of history of art,the Chinese oil painting's development shape——1900-1949 the Chinese tradition drawing has been improved to the new fine arts shape;1950-1980 the tool shape which served for the country ideology;after 1980-2005 idea revolution's multiplex shape carries on the discussion,thus has provided the beneficial model to the new time China oil painting's multiplex creation.


Advances in alternative fuel technologies and increasing motor vehicle fuel efficiency may result in a decline or flattening of demand for conventional fuels in the U.S. in the coming decades. One outcome of this development maybe a reduction in state and federal income from motor fuel taxes, the primary source of funding to maintain and improve the transportation infrastructure. To keep pace with future transportation needs, a new funding mechanism is needed to supplement or replace the current road financing mechanism. One possible approach is to charge for road use based directly on a measure of travel on public roadways using onboard computers coupled with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and digital maps. The main goal of this research was to develop the system requirements for a digital map that is a major component of an in-vehicle road user charging system. The focus was to evaluate digital maps in the most difficult of environments – where roads of different jurisdictions and possibly different fee structures are located in close proximity to each other (a highway and a frontage road, for instance). In order for the system to be effective the onboard system must be able to place the vehicle on the correct road. Extensive testing of existing digital maps found that they are not accurate enough to be used for road user charging. There are however, new higher accuracy digital maps (not yet publicly available) that are already being used for vehicle safety applications. By combining differential GPS and such high accuracy digital maps, the ability to design a road user charging system with high geographical resolution can become a reality.


Diabetes mellitus was a disease that kept increased annually in the world. One of the factors that could prevent the occurrence of diabetes mellitus was self-awareness. The self-awareness for the students of nursing studies was very important to be developed, considering that nursing students were the prospective nurses which soon would become the role models in health and the nursing care givers. Thus, it was expected that the nursing students to have a high awareness. This research aimed to find out the description of self-awareness related to the risk factors of diabetes mellitus to the students of the Faculty of Nursing Universitas Padjadjaran. The method of the research was quantitative descriptive method that involved the population of the students of the Faculty of Nursing year 2014-2016 as much as 853 people, taken by simple random sampling method. The sample obtained was as much as 274 respondents. The data collection was by using self-awareness questionnaire, analyzed by frequency distribution method presented in the form of high, medium, and low self- awareness.  The result of the research regarding the  risk  factors  of  diabetes mellitus  were  most  of  the  respondents  were  included  in  the  high  category (55.20%),  however,  there  were  also  respondents  who  were  included  in  the medium category (47.44%). It can be concluded that there were respondents who have a medium self-awareness. Therefore, it is necessary to design the program to raise the self-awareness of nursing students related to diabetes mellitus risk factors.


The article studies the phenomenon of "foolishness-for-Christ" depicted in the works of Russian writers of the 19 century, e. g. A. Pushkin's Boris Godunov, O. Somov's A Fool-for-Christ, A. Ostrovsky's Kozma Zakharyich Minin, Sukhoruk, L. Tolstoy's Childhood. The novelty of the research is presented primarily in the use of an axiological method for analysis of works of fiction as well as in interpretation of characters in terms of theology which proves that a "God's fool" is shown as a person of an inverse perspective. The characters cannot be considered as part of the joking culture and the game, their life is never divided into night and day time, inner or outerdomains. They exist in the realm of "foolishness-in-Christ" that proves that while living in this world they belong to a different one and obey another law. In the studied literary works all the "holy fool" characters are marked by deep spiritual involvement and apparent conciliarism. They treat people with childlike sincerity and unselfishness personifying, thus, the Christian ideal of the writers. In these literary works "foolishness-for-Christ" displaying traits of national mentality is presented as the avatar of Christian faith manifested in a complete denial of worldly life and values, the first of which is "the wisdom of the world" (1 Kor. 3:18—19).


emissions target can buy carbon credits from other countries that either have no target (as is currently the case for developing nations) or that produce fewer emissions than allowed. Like any tradable commodity, the price of carbon credits is largely determined by supply and demand. In theory, everyone should win with REDD. Wealthy nations could pay to help slow deforestation as part of an overall effort to meet their emissions target. Protecting an imperiled forest in Peru, for instance, might lead to the same net reduction of carbon emissions—and be considerably cheaper—than retrofitting a coal-fired generating plant in Ohio. In a transaction like this, dangerous carbon emissions are reduced, a biologically rich forest is protected, and Peru gains direly needed foreign revenues. For such reasons several influential studies, such as the widely heralded Stern Report in the United Kingdom, have advocated REDD as a vital and cost-effective strategy for slowing global warming. In any effort to slow harmful climate change, tropical forests are the low-hanging fruit.


We produce in an explicit form free generators of the affine W -algebra of type A associated with a nilpotent matrix whose Jordan blocks are of the same size. This includes the principal nilpotent case and we thus recover the quantum Miura transformation of Fateev and Lukyanov.


Objective To explore the effects of aerobic exercise on platelet membrane glycoproteins in the patients with hypertension complicated with atrial fibrillation. Methods Sixty-one hipertensive patients with atrial fibrillation were randomly divided into exercise group (n = 30) and control group (n = 31). The exercise with moderate intensity was 30 min persession, 5 sessions perweek for 3 months. The platelet membrane glycoprotein CD62P, CD61(Ⅲa) were determined by flow cytometric analysis and platelet aggregating ratio was measured before and after regular aerobic exercise. Results After three months of aerobic exercise, the blood pressure (mmHg)(SBP:158 ± 3.8 vs 151 ± 4.3, P 0.05; DBP: 98 ± 3.4 vs 90 ± 3.1, P 0.01), the positive percent of platelet membrane glycoproten CD62P(%) (27.4 ± 2.2 vs 20.5 ± 3.1, P 0.05), CD61(Ⅲa)(%) (27.2 ± 3.5 vs 21.3 ± 2.9, P 0.05) and platelet aggregating ratio(%) (81.2 ± 4.3 vs 73.6 ± 4.6, P 0.05) in aerobic exercise group were significantly decreased compared with those of control group, except LVEF(%)(54.6±4.7 vs 60.3±3.6, P 0.05). Conclusion Regular aerobic exercise can decrease the positive percent of platelet membrane glycoprotein and platelet aggregating ratio in the atrial fibrillation patients complicated with hypertension.


Methods of visual estimation of the brightness of variable stars include the Argelander method, Pickering method, and Neyland-Blazhko method. Systematic errors are discussed together with methods of plotting brightness curves.


IVÁN DARÍO ROMERO FONSECA. Correction of the post-necking True Stress-Strain data using instrumented nanoindentation. (Under the direction of DR. QIUMING WEI) The study of large plastic deformations has been the focus of numerous studies particularly in the metal forming processes and fracture mechanics fields. A good understanding of the plastic flow properties of metallic alloys and the true stresses and true strains induced during plastic deformation is crucial to optimize the aforementioned processes, and to predict ductile failure in fracture mechanics analyzes. Knowledge of stresses and strains is extracted from the true stress-strain curve of the material from the uniaxial tensile test. In addition, stress triaxiality is manifested by the neck developed during the last stage of a tensile test performed on a ductile material. This necking phenomenon is the factor responsible for deviating from uniaxial state into a triaxial one, then, providing an inaccurate description of the material's behavior after the onset of necking The research of this dissertation is aimed at the development of a correction method for the nonuniform plastic deformation (post-necking) portion of the true stressstrain curve. The correction proposed is based on the well-known relationship between hardness and flow (yield) stress, except that instrumented nanoindentation hardness is utilized rather than conventional macro or micro hardness. Three metals with different combinations of strain hardening behavior and crystal structure were subjected to quasistatic tensile tests: power-law strain hardening low carbon G10180 steel (BCC) and electrolytic tough pitch copper C11000 (FCC), and linear strain hardening austenitic


Author(s): Martelle, Scott | Editor(s): Bernhardt, Annette; Boushey, Heather; Dresser, Laura; Tilly, Chris | Abstract: Over the last three decades the lowest rungs of American labor have endured a quantum shift in working and living conditions as many employers, aided by lax enforcement, have made a lucrative game of flouting labor and employment laws. But the erosion of protections hasn't been limited to the working poor. Well before the current economic downturn, the sweatshop ethic expanded broadly throughout the economy, with a wide range of business owners and managers adopting a "gloves-off" approach to their own employees. In the best cases they have simply turned a blind eye to the shenanigans of subcontractors, in effect outsourcing their moral and legal responsibility. In the worst cases employers have directly engaged in inhumane acts, cheating their staff out of hard-earned pay and blithely ignoring codes meant to ensure their health and safety.


This paper proposes a robust optimization method for the transmission expansion planning (TEP) while considering uncertainties of renewable energy and load via a multi-band uncertainty set formulation. In order to handle future uncertainty from renewable energy integration and demand fluctuation, robust optimization has been studied extensively to immune the transmission expansion plan against the worst uncertainty realization. However, the traditional single-band robust model yields overly conservative and economic inefficient solution. The proposed multi-band model, with higher resolution among multiple narrower bands, can model the uncertainty set more accurately with historical information and mitigate solution conservativeness. Considering the two-stage structure, a solution procedure by combining Benders decomposition (BD) and Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) condition is proposed for solving the robust optimization based TEP problem. Numerical studies verify the effectiveness of the proposed robust TEP approach for enhancing uncertainty modeling capabilities and mitigating the conservativeness of robust TEP solution.


In this paper, a miniaturized two open terminals slot antenna is proposed to be used in the applications of ultra-wideband (UWB). The proposed antenna is evolved from two rectangular slots with an open terminal from one end and these slots are merged from the other end to form one slot with asymmetrical T-shape. This slot is printed on the lower side of a dielectric substrate which represents the ground plane, and microstrip line on the upper side of it. To include the entire bandwidth specified for desired applications, to enhance the coupling between the microstrip feed line and T-slot, a tapered end rectangular tuning stub is used. To improve the performance of the proposed antenna many techniques are used such as; adjusting the position of the tuning stub according to the microstrip feed line, and its dimensions are also adjusted, adjusting the position of microstrip feed line with respect to the ground plane. In annexation, the proposed antenna depicts a small size of 28mm×27mm; therefore, it becomes an exceptional nominated for portable application. The radiation characteristics of this antenna such as impedance bandwidth, gain, the pattern of radiation are tested and found be accepted over the whole operating frequencies. A good time domain characteristics are shown by this antenna, where it has a linear phase over the required band, which is giving a received signal with less distortion. The simulation of this antenna is done by HFSS software.


Short Word Length (SWL) DSP systems offer good performance as they process less data-typically up to three bits. Short Word Length systems may be designed using the FPGAs. FPGAs come with many built-in primitives like Look-up tables, Flip-flops, additional Carry logic, Memories and DSP elements. All these primitives give alternative approaches for FPGA based system design. This paper presents a way to use the Look-up tables to design three bit (3×3) constant coefficient unsigned integral multiplier for Short Word Length DSP systems. Besides, the feasibility of using Block ram and DSP elements for Short Word Length DSP system (multiplier) is also carried out as an alternative implementation approach. Result suggests the proposed way be the better one when compared with other two implementations.


The paper describes a full-scale test of a concrete block pavement to examine the suitability of a low quality sub-base material for use in lightly trafficked residential roads. The test was carried out in an industrial yard and trafficked by heavily laden commercial vehicles. The sand sub-base proved to be adequate because it takes advantage of the concrete block's tolerance to substantial deformations and ease of relaying. This form of construction would provide an economic and easily maintained pavement ideal for cul-de-sacs and minor access roads in residential areas.(a) (TRRL)


This article analyzes the urban ecology of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area using data from the 1972 census. The method used is factor analysis. The following factors are identified: (a) socioeconomic status: distributed along radial sectors; (b) life cycle stage: differentiated according to concentric zonal pattern; (c) religious orthodoxy: mostly concentrated in one of the suburban towns. A fourth factor whose interpretation is not clear appears to be associated with crowded housing conditions.