One of the important that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is currently undertaking is the development of a high-level nuclear waste repository to be located at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Concern is generated by the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) is due to potential releases as groundwater contamination, as described in the Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA). The dose to an off-site individual using this groundwater for drinking and irrigation is dominated by four radionuclides: Tc-99, I-127, Np-237, and U-238. Ideally, this dose would be limited to a single radionuclide, U-238; in other words, YMP would resemble a uranium ore body, a common geologic feature in the Western U.S. For this reason and because of uncertainties in the behavior of Tc-99, I-127, and Np-237, it would be helpful to limit the amount of Tc, I, and Np leaving the repository, which would greatly increase the confidence in the long-term performance of YMP. An approach to limiting the migration of Tc, I, and Np that is complementary to the existing YMP repository design plans is to employ sequestering agents or ''getters'' for these radionuclides such that their migration is greatly hindered, thus decreasing the amount of radionuclide leaving the repository. Development ofmore » such getters presents a number of significant challenges. The getter must have a high affinity and high selectivity for the radionuclide in question since there is approximately a 20- to 50-fold excess of other fission products and a 1000-fold excess of uranium in addition to the ions present in the groundwater. An even greater challenge is that the getters must function over a period greater than the half-life of the radionuclide (greater than 5 half-lives would be ideal). Typically, materials with a high affinity for Tc, I, or Np are not sufficiently durable. For example, strong-base ion exchange resins have a very high affinity for TcO{sub 4}{sup -} but are not expected to be durable. On the other hand, durable materials, such as hydrotalcite, do not have sufficient affinity to be useful getters. Despite these problems, the great increase in the repository performance and corresponding decrease in uncertainty promised by a useful getter has generated significant interest in these materials. This report is the result a workshop sponsored by the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management and Office of Science and Technology and International of the DOE to assess the state of research in this field.« less


paper analyses the key challenges to trust development in the strategic communities of knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) – both inside and outside the organizations. Developing trust in the internal strategic communities (ISCs) of KIFs means addressing the interpretive, strategic, power, competence and identity tensions among the organizational units responsible for the exploitation and exploration activities. The challenges can be resolved by ensuring the exploitative and exploratory organizational learning through the concerted management efforts. On the other hand, the development of trust in external strategic communities (ESC) can only be achieved indirectly through the integration of six different spheres (pragmatic, strategic, perceptual, moral, cultural and epistemological).


The charactieristics of the six famous international retrieve systems and the present situation of Chinese sci-tech periodicals were analyzed and summarized.The ways of Chinese sci-tech periodicals to be included by the six famous international retrieve systems were discussed and some suggestions were offered.


Lean manufacturing is a popular method of acquiring efficiency in manufacturing environment. Value stream mapping (VSM) is one of the methods that can be used by practitioner to support lean. VSM method is also a common method to identify waste and determined causes of the waste through the value stream mapping approach and propose solutions to improve workplace environment. This project is an attempt to computerize the normally manual VSM process. Computerize value stream system (CVSS) is basically a method which is an internet networking system combined with traditional concept of value stream mapping method used at manufacturing company to reduce wastes. This paper summarizes the way to apply an internet, online and network based of an efficient computerize value stream system to improve operation value of the manufacturing company. This paper reviews the design of the package that will replace the manual method of doing VSM. The system is tested in a real shop floor environment and found to be successful.


Cephalexin synthesizing enzyme (CSE) of Gluconobacter oxydans ATCC 9324 was purified up to about 940-fold at a yield of 12%. CSE biosynthesis in G. oxydans was found inducible in the presence of D-phenylglycine but not its substrate phenylglycine methyl ester. The purified enzyme was shown homogeneous on SDS–PAGE and exhibited a specific activity of 440 U per mg protein. The apparent molecular mass of the native enzyme was estimated to be 70 kDa over a Superdex 200 gel filtration column and 68 kDa on SDS–PAGE, indicating that the native enzyme is a monomer. Its isoelectric focusing point is 7.1, indicating a neutral character. The enzyme had maximal activity around pH 6.0 to 6.5, and this activity was thermally stable up to 40 °C. Synthesis of cephalexin from D-phenylglycine methyl ester and 7-amino-3-deacetoxycephalosporanic acid (7-ADCA) by the purified CSE was demonstrated. Its L-enantiomer was not accepted by CSE. Apart from cephalexin, ampicillin was also synthesized by the purified CSE from its acyl precursors and 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA). Substrate specificity studies indicated that the enzyme required a free α amino group and an activated carboxyl group as a methyl ester of D-form phenylglycine. Interestingly, the purified enzyme did not catalyze hydrolysis of its products, e.g., cephalexin, cephradine, and ampicillin, in contrast to enzymes from other strains of Pseudomonadaceae.


Summary.  Gene transfer is a novel area of therapeutics in which the active agent is a nucleic acid rather than a protein or small molecule. As early as 1997, investigators reported long‐term expression of therapeutic levels of factor IX using gene transfer techniques in hemophilia B mice, and similar data were thereafter reported in mice with hemophilia A. Efforts to translate these results to hemophilic dog models at first yielded only marginally therapeutic levels (1%–2% normal circulating levels), but within the past few years have achieved levels in the range of 10%–20% through multiple different gene transfer strategies. Early phase clinical testing has revealed that many aspects of gene transfer in humans were accurately predicted by studies in hemophilic dogs, but that other aspects were not, and were only appreciated as a result of clinical testing. Studies in the next few years will determine whether the problems identified in preclinical and early phase clinical testing can be solved to develop a therapeutic gene transfer approach to hemophilia.


In many schools, departments and clubs there is an annual public event of more or less traditional nature to which parents and friends are invited.1 At this function the entity concerned seeks to put its best foot forward. The available talent is marshaled and a program prepared. If in addition to being entertaining the program has a serious side and cultural value, so much the better for the cause. In the Comedia ire many magnificent scenes and sequences which can be represented out of their context. Program notes would take care of the necessary explanations. If the play in question has exerted considerable influence abroad, the program notes would make the necessary educational comments. A good word for Spanish is always welcome.


Discussions about the digitisation of the professional and working world assume that virtual teaching and learning will increasingly merge with real teaching and learning which will result in new, innovative technology-based teaching and learning approaches. Against this background, this article addresses technology-based realms of experience and considers the challenges associated with the use of virtual teaching and learning environments in vocational education and training. Keywords: Virtual reality, professionalisation, teacher training, digitalisation


Healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) is a concept defined in the ′American Guideline for the Treatment of Hospital Acquired Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia and Health-Care-Related Pneumonia′ published by the American Thoracic Society and Infectious Diseases Society of America (ATS/IDSA) in 2005.Although patients of HCAP were from the community, the epidemiology, treatment and prognosis of HCAP differed much from those of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), but were more closely resemble hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP). However, after a series of further research, HCAP was excluded from the HAP/ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) guidelines published in Europe or America recently, while still included in the new Japanese guidelines.Therefore, it is significant to develop a comprehensive view on HCAP by investigating the latest research both at home and abroad, in order to provide appropriate antimicrobial therapy and improve the prognosis of these patients.

Key words:
Healthcare-associated pneumonia; Epidemiology; Death risk; Treatment


The following result is proved. Let X be a Schunk class and k a positive integer. Then the k–th nilpotent product of any two groups in X¯ is in X¯.


to cancer-related mortality in Asian and Western populations. Mortality from NSCLC largely results from metastases in the regional lymph nodes, liver, adrenal gland, contralateral lungs, brain, and bone marrow. Cellular processes involved in the migration and metastasis of carcinoma cells share many similarities with the leukocyte trafficking that occurs during inflammatory processes, which is largely regulated by chemokines. Therefore, chemokines and their receptors are considered potential predictive markers for metastasis and the metastatic sites of various types of tumors. The chemokine superfamily includes at least 20 receptors and 40 ligands. Chemokine ligands can be separated into four categories, depending on whether they express the C, CC, CXC, or CX3C amino acid motif in their N termini. The CXC chemokines bind to a family of G-protein-coupled serpentine (seven transmembrane-spanning) receptors, known as CXC chemokine receptors (CXCRs). Six CXCRs have been identified to date. In particular, CXCL12 (stromal cell-derived factor-1 or SDF-1) binds to CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and recruits CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells, megakaryocytes, B cells, and T cells. Originally discovered as the putative coreceptor for lymphotropic strains of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), CXCR4 binds specifically to CXCL12. Cancer metastases display distinct metastatic patterns that preferentially involve the regional lymph nodes, bone marrow, lung, and liver. Recent reports have provided new insights into the mechanisms of organ-specific metastases, particularly with regards to CXC chemokines. The CXCR4 and its ligand, CXCL12, are the most highly expressed chemokine receptors in human breast cancer and in organs affected by breast cancer metastasis, respectively. Moreover, the in vivo neutralization of CXCR4 significantly inhibits breast cancer metastases in an organ-specific manner. Thus, we examined CXCR4 expression in patients with NSCLC via immunohistochemical staining and analyzed clinicopathological parameters such as lymph node metastasis, distant metastases and survival times. Our findings reveal that high


In the mixed state of type II superconductors, the external magnetic field penetrates the superconducting material in the form of normal cored regions, each carrying a quantum of flux (Φ0 = 2.07×10-7 G-cm2). These normal cores have radii equal to the coherence length (ξ). Surrounding each normal core is a vortex of supercurrent that decays over a characteristic length scale known as the penetration depth (λ). These elastic string-like normal entities (or vortices) mutually repel each other leading to the formation of triangular vortex lattices in ideal superconductors (Blatter et al., 1994; Natterman & Scheidl, 2000). However, real samples always have defects (point defects, dislocations) and inhomogeneities. The superconducting order parameter is preferentially suppressed at these random defect locations, thereby energetically favoring pinning of vortices at these locations. But, pinning also leads to loss of long range order in the vortex lattice. The vortex matter can be considered as a typical prototype for soft materials, where pinning forces and thermal fluctuations are comparable to the elastic energy scale of the vortex lattice. The perennial competition between elastic interactions in the vortex lattice, which establishes order in the vortex state and effects of pinning and thermal fluctuations which try to destabilize the vortex lattice, leads to a variety of pinning regimes, viz., the weak collective pinning regime and the strong pinning regime (Blatter et al., 2004). The competition in different portions of the field-temperature (H,T) phase space leads to the emergence of a variety of vortex phases, like, the Bragg glass, vortex glass, vortex liquid (for review see, Blatter et al., 1994; Natterman & Scheidl, 2000) and transformation amongst them, along with the appearance of significant thermomagnetic history dependent response. The competing effects ever present in the vortex lattice also lead to a quintessential phenomenon called the peak effect (PE), which we shall discuss in the next section.


Abstract The Adelaide Rift Complex in South Australia records the break-up of Rodinia at a time of great climatic and biological evolution. The Boucaut Volcanics within the Neoproterozoic Adelaide Rift Complex of the Adelaide Superbasin lie at the base of the Burra Group, marking the boundary between the Burra Group and underlying Callanna Group. Despite their significance as one of the few volcanic units within the rift complex, there has been no robust age determination published for the Boucaut Volcanics. We use U–Pb zircon LA-ICP-MS data to determine an age of 788 ± 6 Ma for the eruption of the bimodal Boucaut Volcanics. This has important implications for constraining the timing of stratigraphy within the Adelaide Superbasin. This also has far-reaching implications for plate tectonic reconstructions of Australia and Laurentia, and for correlating global isotope anomalies for the Neoproterozoic. KEY POINTS New U–Pb zircon data provide a revised age for the Boucaut Volcanics of 788 ± 6 Ma. Whole-rock geochemistry data highlight the bimodality of the Boucaut Volcanics, with both mafic and felsic components present. Boucaut Volcanics potentially correlate with units in the southwest United States, which would support an AUSWUS plate tectonic configuration during the Neoproterozoic.


Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a rare metabolic disease characterized by reduced plasma
pyrophosphate (PPi) concentration, causing progressive soft tissue calcification represented by skin lesions,
central vision lost and peripheral artery disease. PXE is currently incurable. Previous reports have shown
early high failure after revascularization by unknown mechanism. Reports of oral PPi administration have
shown to decrease tissue calcification in a murine model of PXE. We report the outcome of one patient
treated with oral PPi and further operated for critical limb ischemia. During the one-year follow-up the
operated area has not re-occluded and there have been no significant side effects.


Treatment of cinnamyl methyl ether with phenylmagnesium bromide in ether in the presence of CoCl 2 [1,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)pentane] affords 1,3-diphenylpropene in good yield. Similar allylic substitution reaction with trimethylsilylmethylmagnesium chloride proceeded smoothly to yield homoallylsilanes. α,β-Unsaturated aldehyde acetal also underwent allylic substitution.


Familial pseudohyperkalemia (FP) is characterized by an increased rate of potassium leakage in refrigerated red cells and is associated with the minor allele of the single nucleotide polymorphism rs148211042 (R723Q) in the ABCB6 gene. The study aims were to obtain the minor allele frequencies of ABCB6 variants and to measure supernatant potassium accumulation, and other red cell storage parameters, in red cell concentrates (RCC) from carriers of variant rs148211042 under standard blood bank conditions.


To evaluate the spatial variation of nitrogen flux in urban-suburban catchments, topographic influ- ences on nitrate concentration, flux and runoff were examined at nineteen small catchments. The results indi- cated no correlations between topographic parameters on one hand and NO 3 - -N concentration, flux, and runoff, respectively. These results suggest that both of runoff and NO 3 - -N concentration is controlled by factors such as


Effectiveness of lactoperoxidase in raw cow milk was studied to observe the increase in shelf-life. Lactoperoxidase system was activated within two hours after milking by the addition of hydrogen peroxide and potassium thiocyanate, then milk was kept at different conditions viz. refrigerated condition (5±2)°C, room temperature (25±3)°C and at (35±2)°C. The keeping quality of raw milk was determined by the acidity, which when reached 0.18 % as lactic acid, was considered spoiled. Results indicated that the lactoperoxidase system (LP-s) increased the shelf-life of raw cow milk kept at room temperature (25±3)°C and refrigeration temperature (5±2)°C significantly (p<0.05);however no significant increase in shelf-life was observed between the control and LP-s treated raw milk sample held at (35±2)°C. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfstn.v7i0.10606 J. Food Sci. Technol. Nepal, Vol. 7 (57-60), 2012


Now, with graphic displays, cheap mass storage, and hypertext software, we have an opportunity to develop a new kind of online help. But what style will it be? In this essay, I raise some of the questions we will need to answer as we create that style, questions that revolve around the materials we now have to work with—moving and still imagery, text, units of organization, viewer control, points of access, methods of navigation, and overall metaphor.


In this paper, the design of 3 intelligent control strategies applying fuzzy logic (FL) and articial neural network (ANN) techniques is investigated to deal with network frequency maintenance against load variations in a large- scale multiarea interconnected power system. These intelligent frequency controllers proposed in this study include FL-PI, ANN-NARMA(nonlin autoregressive moving average)-L2, and ANN-RMC (reference model control). In principle, they are designed depending upon the tie-line bias control method, which has been applied efficiently for damping frequency oscillations. A mathematical model of an n-control-area interconnected power system with different generation units is builtrst to apply the control methodologies in order to maintain the grid frequency at its nominal value (50 Hz or 60 Hz). Such a model is considered to be typical candidate of a complicated large-scale power system in reality. Numerical simulation with various cases of load conditions are also implemented in this study using the MATLAB/Simulink package to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control strategies. It is found that the 3 intelligent controllers presented in this paper are capable of achieving superiority over the conventional integral regulators in system frequency stabilization. The main dynamic control indexes obtained, especially the overshoot and settling time, are highly promising to effectively extinguish the dynamic responses of the frequency and tie-line power deviations. Thus, the steady state of the power network can be restored more quickly after load variation occurrence. In that way, the stability, reliability, and economy of an electric power grid are able to be guaranteed effectively.


Monazite and xenotime are major ore minerals for rare earth elements (REE), Y, and actinides, a powerful tool for radiometric dating and indicators of the geological genesis of the parent rock. In this contribution, we present results of microanalysis of monazite and xenotime mineral grains found in heavy mineral sand fraction from Drava river. Investigated grains of monazite(-Ce) were found to be exhibiting varying concentrations of Th, indicating mixed hydrothermal (or greenschist-amphibolite grade) and igneous origin. Monazite was found to be isomorphically replaced by cheralite (CaTh(PO4)2) and subordinately by huttonite (ThSiO4), forming monazitecheralite and monazite-huttonite solid solution. Chemical composition and the degree of isomorphic replacement of monazite grains are indicating their source from rocks of Eclogite belt and Granatspitz massif in Tauern Window, Austria. On the other hand xenotime(-Y) shows consistent concentrations of Y while concentrations of associated heavy rare earth elements (HREE) vary, indicating the origin of mixed affinities.


Monolayer films composed of ordered particle arrays exhibit unique optical properties, which lead to various potential applications like sensors and antireflective coatings. In this study, we investigated particle deposition processes by using a drag coating technique based on convective self-assembly. Unlike micron-sized particles, 300-nm particles formed submonolayers instead of monolayers. Hence, we modified the technique and demonstrated that reversed dragging, introduction of a film blade, and periodic change in deposition speed dramatically improved the particle deposition process to cover the entire substrate surface uniformly with a monolayer of ordered particle arrays. Furthermore, our modified drag coating process produced monolayers of particles with different sizes of 570, 120, 45, and 27 nm. Thus, our technique is simple and versatile, and is applicable to a wide particle size ranging from microns to tens of nanometers.


In at least one recent book on particle accelerators (Rosenblatt 1968) it is stated that a-particles cannot be accelerated using the charge reversing 'tandem' principle, since helium does not form a negative ion. This situation has been completely altered by the discovery, within the past few years, of the means of producing metastable helium ions in beams of microampere intensity.


Jindřich Vybiral Leopold Bauer: Haretiker der modernen Architektur, 1872–1938 Basel: Birkhauser, 2018, 580 pp., 348 color and 253 b/w illus. $91.99 (cloth), ISBN 9783036516309

When Otto Wagner decided to retire from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna at the end of the 1911–12 academic year, he recommended his former student Jože Plecnik as his successor. Had Wagner opted to step down only a few years before, he likely would have put forward either Joseph Maria Olbrich or Josef Hoffmann to take over his special architecture master class. But Olbrich died of leukemia in 1908 and Hoffmann went his own way, founding the Wiener Werkstatte with Koloman Moser. Wagner held all three men in the highest regard. He inscribed their names on the facade of his final project, the Artists' Court of 1918, along with those of his early heroes and role models, Eduard van der Null, August Sicard von Sicardsburg, and Karl Friedrich Schinkel.1

Wagner's fellow professors at the academy voted unanimously to approve his recommendation. The officials at the Ministry of Education, however, rejected the request and postponed Wagner's retirement for a year. When the professors at the academy again put Plecnik's name forward, the ministry officials once more turned it down. The professors held fast to their decision, but the officials demanded an alternative. Thus, pressed to find a solution, the professors proposed two possible replacements, submitting the name of Leopold Bauer, another former Wagner student, along with that of Plecnik. Bauer, very much against Wagner's wishes, received the appointment.

It was a disastrous decision. The story, which Jindřich Vybiral relates in detail in his excellent new monograph on Bauer, marked, in his words, one of the most significant "'cases' in the history of Viennese modernism" (323).2 The "not entirely hidden background" of the controversy, he explains, involved not only questions concerning the direction of modern architecture in the Habsburg lands but also the ever-present politics of nationalism and …


This paper studied the influence of the modulus and dosage of sodium silicate on the hydration of alkali-activated copper-nickel slag (CNS) materials. CNS was used as the main raw material, and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) powder was selected as the mineral additive. The hydration and hardening mechanisms were discussed. The experimental results showed that [SiO4]4− and [AlO4]5− with a high degree of polymerization in the CNS glassy phase more easily underwent depolymerization-condensation and produced more C-S-H gels when the modulus was small and the sodium silicate dosage was high. When the content of sodium silicate was 7.0% and the modulus of sodium silicate solution was 1.0, the 28-day compressive strength of the material reached 125 MPa. This alkali-activated copper-nickel slag material can be used for mine filling, which has certain economic and ecological benefits.


Entrepreneurship basically is a medium for selfdevelopment into a strong and stable financial position through a mental conscious, creative and idealistic means of production and service rendering. This study majored at one of the approaches for which this self-development state can be embraced and improved on by means of Electronic Behavior (EB) as a concept. The study adopted a survey design method and correlational statistic specifically, Spearman correlation coefficient statistical method, with the aid of statistical package for social service (SPSS) version 25 to analyze responses elicited from questionnaire administered to 76 Entrepreneurs drawn from Rivers, Bayelsa, and Akwa Ibom States. Findings revealed a strong positive correlational relation between the set hypotheses tested, meaning that, spearman, t-test ratios and the mean score were greater than the probability measure given. Conclusion was reached from the findings that, as the environment changes with its opportunities for both increasing and decreasing efficiency of a business, so it is required for entrepreneurs to electronically behave. The recommendation was that, the gap between entrepreneurs and customers created by the environment would be closed up through the concept of EB, and entrepreneurs' responsiveness is a significant measure to gain a lead in the competitive market.


ory and Classroom Practice (Addison-Wesley, 1983) 1984 John Underwood, Mills College, for Linguistics, Computers and the Language Teacher (Newbury, 1984) 1985 Jack C. Richards, University of Hawaii, for The Context of Language Teaching (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1985) 1986 Alice C. Omaggio, University of Illinois, Urbana, for Teaching Language in Context: Proficiency-Oriented Instruction (Heinle and Heinle, 1986) 1987 Rod Ellis, Ealing College of Higher Education, for Second Language Acquisition in Context (Prentice Hall, 1987) Anita Wenden, York College, City University of New York, and Joan Rubin, Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania, for Learner Strategies in Language Learning (Prentice Hall, 1987) 1988 Craig Chaudron, University of Hawaii, Manoa, for Second Language Classrooms: Research on Teaching and Learning (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988)


The research encompasses analysing the conformity of profiles of energy strategies approved by the EU member countries, with criteria of security in the energy market determined by the requirements of the current European energy legislation. To assess the level of economic security of energy markets, it is proposed to rank national energy markets according to economic security indicators, taking into account the structure of energy markets in terms of participants and functions. This enables to objectively streamline the markets of electricity of the EU member countries in the form of ranking for ascertaining their positions under conditions of creating a single competitive energy market.


SUMMARY Coefficients expressing transport properties of liquid metals (viscosity and diffusivity) can be scaled to the absolute melting temperature. A systematic review of the published experimental data leads to the conclusion that the effect of pressure on viscosity and diffusivity can be taken into account through its effect on the melting temperature. Hence, the viscosity and diffusivity at the melting temperature are constants for a given metal. The viscosity of the Earth's liquid core, near the inner core boundary, is probably close to that of liquid iron at ambient pressure, namely 6 CP (centipoises). The viscosity profile in the fluid core has been calculated. Using the same approach for the effect of impurities, it is suggested that the diffusivity of sulphur in the core is probably of the order of


It was 12 years after leaving her mother in Alice Springs to live in Darwin that Joelene Puntoriero finally reconnected with her Aboriginal heritage, now she is learning to become an Indigenous leader.


Plant morphological attribute has been reported to be increased through the application of organic material (Gyttja) to the soil. Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus L.) was studied under plastic house conditions to determine the effect of two different soil depth-SH (0-20 cm and 20- 40 cm), four different gyttja doses-GD (0, 1, 2, and 3%), and three different nitrogen doses-ND (0, 140, and 280 mg kg-1) on some of the plant's morphological characters;  Plant Height (PH), Fresh Weight Per Plant (FWP), Number of Leaves Per Plant(NLP), Stem Diameter(SD), Number of Branches Per Plant (NBP), Number of  Flower Per Spikes (NFPS) and  Flower Spike Length (FSL). The results showed that gyttja application at doses of 3%, significantly increased PH, SD, NBP, NFPS, and FSL, while FWP increased only at 2% gyttja application dose and decreased at the 3% dose.  The application of 280 mg kg-1 of nitrogen significantly increased (PH, FWP, NLP, NBP, NFPS and FSL). All parameters increased at (0-20 cm) soil depth, and the GD x SH x ND interaction had a significant effect on (SD, NLP, NFPS and FSL). These results suggest that adding of gyttja with nitrogen fertilizer to the calcareous and infertile soil will enhance the morphological attributes of plants.


This research is motivated by the fact that learning volleyball at school is still mostly conventional, such as learning activities at school are still centered on the teacher. The objectives of this study are: To determine the feasibility of Interactive Multimedia-Based Volleyball Learning Media for Junior High School students. This study uses the Research and Development model using the ADDIE development model which includes (1) Analyze , (2) Design , (3) Develop , (4) Implementation . and (5) Evaluate (Evaluation). After this learning media is used in the implementation stage, the learning media is declared fit for use as teaching materials in schools with an average acquisition score of material experts of 3.6 and an average acquisition score of media experts of 3.6, an average acquisition score of trials the moderate group is 3.7 and the student response as a user is 3.8 so that the feasibility of the learning media developed falls into the "very good" category.


Laser cutting of CFRP is well known to be difficult because of the thermal damage to the CFRP material. Therefore, with the objectives of evaluating the cutting possibility for longor short-fiber pellet CFRP sheets of 3 mm in thickness and obtaining narrower HAZ for better cut quality, ultra-high speed cutting was conducted by using a continuous-wave (cw) high-brightness disk laser with a scanner head. The increase in the laser power rendered the cutting time shorter and the kerf depth deeper for a CFRP full cut. It was revealed that CFRP cut with a narrow HAZ of less than 50 m could be produced under the conditions of laser powers of 2 to 5 kW, a cutting speed of 5 m/s, a time interval between repeated runs of 1 second and a defocused distance of 0 mm. It was also confirmed that short fiber pellet CFRP was more easily cut and suffered less thermal damage in comparison with a long fiber one. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the tensile strength of fully laser-cut CFRP was almost equal to that of the base CFRP specimen. This means the laser-cut surfaces of the CFRP sheet were not degraded in mechanical properties.


Omega‐3 (n‐3) and omega‐6 (n‐6) polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) alterations in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have been shown to persist after remission. Whether these alterations are risk factors for MDD recurrence remains unknown. Here, we examined whether fatty acids predict time until MDD recurrence in remitted MDD patients.


After the insertion loss test,the acoustic performances of exhaust muffler are improved based on the acoustics theory,frequency spectrum analysis and acoustic simulation technology.It is proved the good result is acquired.


In recent years, state funded, practitioner-led organizational improvement programmes have become increasingly common within the Irish education system. Central to this new model of public funding has been the demand for extensive evaluation of each programme, a demand that has raised a number of important theoretical and practical issues for programme evaluators. The issue addressed in this article is that of the difficulty of designing approaches to evaluation which can meet the cultural and organizational needs of schools, while at the same time providing evidence as to the effective or otherwise implementation of national educational policy. Initially, the article identifies and examines the tension that has arisen between programme funders' demand for an evaluation process that produces measurable 'outputs' and the programme participants' demand that the evaluation be sensitive to the specific cultural climate and needs of the organization under investigation. An approach to overcoming these conflicting demands arising out of a project where such problems became central to the process of evaluation is suggested. This approach grew out of the distinction drawn by Habermas (1972) between practical and emancipatory knowledge and was developed in light of Daly's (1997) application of this concept to research, in her identification of first and second order stories or narratives.


Describes 13 species of melobesioidean red algae from marine Miocene localities in Egypt, two of which are new. The assemblage indicates a warm littoral environment, and in some cases the species contribute to the characterization of biozonal divisions already defined by foraminifera.


The growth in computing resources at scientific computing centers has created new challenges for system software. These multi-teraflop systems often exceed the capabilities of the system software and require new approaches to accommodate these large processor counts. The costs associated with development and maintenance of this software are also significant impediments, which are compounded by a lack of interoperability because of site-specific enhancements. The Scalable System Software project seeks to address these issues through a component based approach to system software development. An overview of this design and the benefits of such an approach will be discussed in this paper.


When scheduling logistic support for a project in conjunction with the project's critical path method (CPM) schedule, logistic support items should not be included as activities on the project CPM schedule. Logistics support should be scheduled using an algorithm that facilitates the early start of the CPM schedule activities. This approach avoids the unnecessary costs of procuring resources before they can be effectively utilized. A field-proven algorithm, the Priluck's logistic algorithm (PLA), is demonstrated.


In order to perform a thermal analysis of the thermoforming of a thermoplastic composite rivet, the thermal conductivities of the composite need to be known. A bi-experiment inverse method which can evaluate the thermal conductivities of orthotropic materials is introduced. The method is described in details. Several simulations are conducted to prove the method's feasibility and reliability. The results show that the inverse method can handle noise in the experimental data and can converge with various starting points.


A digital image is usually stored as a two-dimensional matrix consisting of numerical values of the intensity of each color; for example, Red-Green-Blue (RGB). This fact allows a possibility of manipulation of the image data, including making measurements based on the images of a moving object. This paper presents a new approach for estimating distances between the centers of geometric shapes based on image analysis. The algorithm is based on determining the parameters of the matrices - the number of rows and columns of graphic images of target plates and creating vectors of the sums of their values. As a result of such manipulations, peaks (maxima, minima) are formed that coincide with the centers of the squares and circles displayed on the target plates. These peaks are the coordinates of the target centers.


Development of a laboratory selected zeolite into an industrial zeolite-based catalyst faces many challenges due to the scaling-up of reaction which requires many upgrades of the as-prepared catalyst such as an enhanced physical strength. To meet this requirement zeolite powders are normally mixed with various binders and then shaped into bulky bodies. Despite the fact there are a lot of reports on the positive features brought by the shaping treatment, there is still a great need to further explore the zeolite properties after the binder introduction. In this case, a lot of studies have been continuously conducted, however, many results were limited due to the usage of much smaller laboratory samples rather than a real factory plant, and more importantly, the maximal/minimal proportion of zeolites in the shaped catalyst. In this research, our shaped catalysts are based on nano-H-ZSM-5 zeolites and alumina (γ–Al2O3) binder while keeping the zeolite content to a maximum. H-ZSM-5 samples and Al-H-ZSM-5 samples are compared in the designed methanol-to-hydrocarbons reaction. With a reduced weight-hourly-space-velocity (WHSV = 1.5 h−1) and a higher reaction pressure (6 bar) favorable for aromatization, together with the tailored instruments for catalyst volume scale-up (20 g samples are tested each time), our tests focus on the early period catalytic performance (during the first 5 h). Unlike a normal laboratory test, the results from the scaled-up experiments provide important guidance for a potential industrial application. The role of the γ–Al2O3 introduced, not only as binder, but also performing as co-catalyst, on tailoring the early time product distribution, and the corresponding coke deposition is systematically investigated and discussed in details. Notably, the Si/Al ratio of H-ZSM-5 still has a decisive influence on the reaction performance of the Al-H-ZSM-5 samples.


This manuscript presents a broadband high-efficiency dual-polarized dipole antenna for wireless power and data transfer. The proposed antenna mainly consists of cross-dipole patches, matching baluns, and a ground plane. The dual-polarized radiation mode was achieved by using two linear-polarization matching baluns to feed the cross-dipole patches orthogonally. The proposed dual-polarized dipole antenna realizes a bandwidth with S11 less than −10 dB (4.28 GHz–5.92 GHz) and a high radiation efficiency of about 95%. An independent rectifying circuit was designed, and a microwave energy transmission experiment was carried out. The final measured conversion efficiency for the two polarized ports at 5.8 GHz was about 77.6% and 76.4%, respectively. Simulation and measurement results showed that the proposed antenna is suitable for both wireless power and wireless data transfer applications.


Kofos' uncritical attitude toward his Greek government sources results in a onesided interpretation. Indeed, after finishing the book, one wonders what the author's purpose was—to write die definitive work on Macedonia or to glorify the present Greek regime? He tells us that in December 1944 die Greek government crushed "a serious internal uprising in Athens" (page 150). No acknowledgment is made of British aid bodi in returning the Greek exile government to power and in defeating die Communists. Instead, die impression created is that die Greek government had enough stability and popular support to handle die Communist National Liberation Front and army (EAM/ELAS) alone, which is simply not the case. EAM/ELAS itself is depicted as largely controlled by "Slavophone" Macedonians even during the period of occupation and, dierefore, a tool of die Yugoslav and Bulgarian Communists, portrayed as being as eagerly prepared to absorb Macedonia as dieir non-Marxist countrymen ever were.


Previous studies have identified two distinct types of cardiac vagal afferents, mechanosensitive and chemosensitive. We tested the hypothesis that these two types of vagal afferents mediate different reflex sympathetic nerve responses. We compared effects of stimulation of chemosensitive and mechanosensitive vagal afferents on renal and adrenal sympathetic nerve activity in rats. In anesthetized, sinoaortic baroreceptor-denervated rats, we measured arterial pressure, heart rate, and renal and adrenal sympathetic nerve activity during intrapericardial administration of phenyl diguanide as a stimulus for chemosensitive afferents and during volume expansion and acute occlusion of the ascending aorta as stimuli for mechanosensitive afferents. Stimulation of chemosensitive afferents with phenyl diguanide (3,10, and 30 mg/kg intrapericardially) caused decreases in renal sympathetic nerve activity (−3 6 ± 5, −5 2 ± 11, and −7 1 ± 5%; p < 0.01) and in arterial pressure and heart rate but increased adrenal sympathetic nerve activity (+ 14 ± 27, +63 ± 21, and +83 ± 28%;p < 0.05). These responses were abolished by vagotomy. Intrapericardial injection of saline vehicle did not change renal and adrenal sympathetic nerve activity. In contrast to the effects of phenyl diguanide, activation of mechanosensitive afferents by volume expansion with intravenous infusion of 6% dextran in 0.9% saline (Dextran 75) decreased both renal and adrenal sympathetic nerve activity. Stimulation of mechanosensitive afferents by acute occlusion of the ascending aorta also decreased both renal and adrenal sympathetic nerve activity. These results indicate that chemosensitive and mechanosensitive cardiac vagal afferents produce different reflex responses: Chemosensitive afferents increase and mechanosensitive afferents decrease adrenal sympathetic outflow.


The discovery of penicillin in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming, and its later introduction as an antibiotic in the early 1940s, was a gamechanger for the entire medical field [...].


An antibody prepared against albumin-azophenoxycholine binds tetramethylammonium and other simple aliphatic cations. In choline and acetylcholine, about half the binding is due to ion-ion interaction, and the rest to dispersion interaction. The ionic contribution is reduced in benzilylcholine and probably in the larger alkylammonium ions.

In the alkyltrimethylammonium series, binding energy increases with chain length. Similar binding energy is found with aromatic or alicyclic side chains with equivalent numbers of carbon atoms. The results are compatible with a cation-binding site lying in a pit or groove in the antibody, with the side chain associating with a superficial area.


Abstract In this paper, four bases, including cytosine, thymine, adenine, 6‐chlorouracil and four amino acids, including L‐histidine, L‐tyrosine, L‐phenylalanine, and DL‐tryptophane, were separated with different types of ionic liquids as additives for the mobile phase in high‐performance liquid chromatography. Four different ILs, including 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, 1‐hexyl‐3‐methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, and 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium chloride were used. The effects of the length of the alkyl group on the imidazolium ring and its counterion, the concentrations of the ionic liquids on the retention factor of the bases and amino acids are investigated. The results showed that the retention and resolution of the bases and amino acids were improved when ionic liquids were used as additives. The mechanism at the separation with ionic liquids as additive to mobile phase is discussed.


The prevalence of Diphyllobothrium ditremum plerocercoids in whitefish Coregonus lavaretus ranged between 70 and 100% in Lake Kilpisjarvi and in three other lakes in Northern Lapland, Finland. The mean abundance in Lake Kilpisjarvi (age groups 1+-10+ years), ranged between 103·5± 71·3 in 1992–1993 to 110·9± 80·0 plerocercoids per fish in 1997. The asymptotic value of the infection levelled at 113 plerocercoids per host after age 3. No significant difference in abundance was detected between study years (P>0·10). Abundances in other lakes ranged between 4·8±9·7 and 91·1±115·1. Two seasonal peaks of plerocercoid recruitment were observed in Lake Kilpisjarvi; between March and April (P<0·002) and between September and October (P=0·042). In autumn the numbers of larvae increased particularly in female fish. The invasion rate of the parasite was lower in other lakes studied, and the infection rate in whitefish was closely related to the copepod food eaten.


Dilacerations generally involve central incisors; most often maxillary incisors rather than their mandibular counterparts. The clinical features of dilaceration include non-eruption of the responsible tooth or prolonged retention of the deciduous predecessor tooth. In Case 1, the tooth showed a dilaceration at the boundary between the crown and the root, more laterally rather than labiolingually. In Case 2, the dilacerated tooth showed a crown dilaceration with a relatively normal orientation of the dental root. In both cases, no significant space losses for eruption were observed. Moreover, it seems that unlike the maxilla with the palate, the mandibular anterior teeth are limited to show severe displacement. From these cases, it is suggested that if a mandibular permanent incisor shows a crown dilaceration or lateral dilaceration at the boundary between the crown and the root, there is a relatively high probability of spontaneous eruption of the dilacerated tooth.


We follow with interest the discussion sparked by K. James' re- view (Immunol. Today, 1990, 11, 163-166) concerning immunomodu- lation by o~2-macroglobulin (ct2m). Petersen and Moestrup (Immunol. Today, 1990, 11, 430-431) ques- tioned effects attributed to small amounts of ~x2m added to cells grow- ing in ot2m-rich serum. However, most effects on cell function require receptor-recognized forms of ot2m ('fast o~2m', produced by treatment with proteinase or methylamine), which are 100 times more active than native ix2 ml-6. Fast ¢x2m binds receptors present on macrophages but not on lympho- cytes 3. Although proteolytic cyto- kine inactivation may explain some earlier effects attributed to ot2m- proteinase complexes (Immunol. Today, 1990, 11,430-431), recent studies involving macrophage pro- teinase production, respiratory bursts and prostaglandin metab- olism demonstrate equivalent ef- fects using either o~2m-methylamine or inhibited proteinase-(x2m com- plexes 1-6. Binding of fast c~2m to murine peritoneal macrophages re- sults in prostaglandin E 2 (PGE2) se- cretion comparable to that elicited by platelet-activating factor 4, a po- tent regulator of prostaglandin metabolism. In both cases increased [3H]eicosanoid release occurs within two minutes, and PGE 2 synthesis within 15 minutes. PGE2 activates macrophage adenylyl cyclase 7,8. Likewise, ~2m-methylamine effects a 50% increase in macrophage cAMP levels (author's unpublished data). Since these effects occur at concentrations near the Ka (10 nM at 37°C) for receptor binding of fast cl2m, conversion of only 1% of the native o~2m in body fluids would gen- erate sufficient amounts ~,9. In 1987, we reported that fast ~2m antagonizes upregulation of MHC class II or HLA-DR expression by gamma-interferon in mouse and human peritoneal macrophages 3. However, clarifying studies showed that fast (x2m blocks gamma- interferon-induced macrophage shape change, altering not the face MHC class II molecules s. We postulated that MHC class II density is important for macrophage access- ory functions such as antigen presen- tation. Studies on cytotoxic T-cell triggering a°,11 and on malignant cell killing 12 support this. The interaction of (xam with cytokines and growth factors is a related issue. While many recent reports implicate (x2m as a binding protein for bioactive proteins (re- viewed in K. James' article), most do not consider the mechanistic impli- cations of conformational change. Conversion of native to fast (x2m dictates its potential to interact with proteinases, receptors and ligands. Besides native and receptor- recognized forms, dynamic inter- mediate stages, during which nu- cleophiles can cleave thiolesters, must be considered. Using insulin, we developed a systematic approach to examining mechanisms of a2m- growth factor interaction ~3. Upon proteinase treatment, o~2m rapidly binds insulin present during conformational change 13. Under these conditions, there is a 10-20- fold increase in the incorporation of insulin compared with native or preformed fast (x2m. This pre- dominantly covalent incorporation occurs at plasma concentrations of reactants. The half-life of intermedi- ate forms is approximately seven seconds. Lutropin-(x2m complex formation follows similar trends (authors' unpublished data). How- ever, binding of growth-regulating factors may simply reflect the gen- eral ability of (x2m to incorporate proteins and peptides. Current information on (x2m- cytokine interactions is insufficient for predicting physiological rel- evance. While Petersen and Moestrup incisively identified kin- fast ot2m clearance as major limi- tations to many hypotheses summar- ized by James, the effects of (x2m may reside not in the bloodstream, but in influencing tissue level or cellular responses. Charleen T. Chu Salvatore V. Pizzo Dept of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. References 1 Johnson, W.J., Pizzo, S.V., Imber, M.J. et al. (1982) Science 218, 574-576 2 Hoffman, M., Feldman, S.R. and Pizzo, S.V. (1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 760, 421-423 3 Hoffman, M.R., Pizzo, S.V. and Weinberg, J.B. (1987) J. Immunol. 139, 1885-1890 4 Hoffman, M., Pizzo, S.V. and Weinberg, J.B. (1988) Agents and Actions 25, 360-368 5 Roche, P.A., Hoffman, M.R. and Pizzo, S.V. (1990) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1051, 166-173 6 Uhing, R.J., Martenson, C.H., Rubenstein, D.S. et al. Biochim. Biophys. Acta (in press) 7 Yamamoto, H. and Suzuki, T. (1987) J. Immunol. 139, 3416-3421 8 Figu6iredo, F., Uhing, R.J., Okonogi, K. et al. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 12317-12323 9 Pizzo, S.V. and Hoffman, M. (1987) in The Pharmacology and Toxicology of Proteins (Holcenberg, J.S. and Winkelhake, J.L., eds), pp. 95-111, Alan R. Liss Inc. 10 Goldstein, S.A.N. and Mescher, M.F. (1987)J. Immunol. 138, 2034-2043 11 Kane, K.P., Sherman, L.A. and Mescher, M.F. (1989) J. Immunol. 142, 4153-4160 12 Goodenow, R.S., Vogel, J.M. and Linsk, R.L. (1985) Science 230, 777-783 13 Chu, C.T., Rubenstein, D.S., Enghild, J.J. et al. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 1551-1560


Over the past two decades, many teams around the world demonstrated very interesting applications of non equilibrium cold plasmas in the domains of sterilization and decontamination. Recently, researchers have shown that this kind of plasmas are of huge interest in medicine, more especially for haemostasis (control of bleeding during surgery), skin diseases, and stomatology. As opposed to thermal plasmas which are employed in medicine for electrocauterization, haemostasis or tissue cutting, non-thermal plasmas have much greater flexibility and can create much more subtle non-lethal effects permitting substantial selectivity in treatment. Our very recent work showed that non equilibrium cold plasmas at atmospheric pressure are clearly also very promising for the treatment of certain types of tumors. Medical applications of plasmas have known spectacular developments these last few years.

In Orleans, an important project "Plasmed" dedicated to the study of therapeutic applications of plasmas in cancerology and dermato-cosmetology, gather together plasma researchers, biologists, medical doctors and partners from companies. Already, very interesting results have been obtained in vivo, showing plasma antitumor effect on human U87-Luc glyoblastoma (brain tumor). In this study, Balb/c nude female mice were injected sub cutaneously with U87 tumor cells previously transfected by the luciferase gene. The experiments were performed using a pulsed floating electrode DBD plasma reactor driven by an adjustable power supply allowing plasma treatments over a wide range of parameters concerning applied voltage and discharge frequency up to one kHz. Bioluminescence (BLI), a gene expression imaging modality that is closely dependant upon metabolism and proliferation, was used to assess tumor growth. Results indicate that a very substantial delay in tumor grow is initiated for plasma treated tumors compared to non-treated ones. This work is done is close collaboration with CIPA (Small Animal Imaging Center) from TAAM Lab.

 In this paper, after a general introduction on current plasma biomedical developments, especially plasma medicine, we will focus on the work performed at GREMI in collaboration with CIPA-TAAM laboratory and other local labs, CBM and IEM. We will report on in vitro and vivo experiments on Balb/c nude and C57 Bl-6 mice (tolerance study, antitumor efficacy in vitro, transcription factor activation, tumor oxygenation, antitumor activity in vivo). We will then emphasize on the developments concerning new atmospheric plasma discharges, plasma jets and "plasma gun", as the one developed in the lab, of interest for future biomedical applications of cold non-equilibrium plasmas.


The present study is intended to illustrate the activities of a serial killer who committed a series of crimes in a small village. During the investigation, the police interrogated several suspected candidates but excluded them from the list of potential perpetrators due to lack of motive. Finally, by narrowing down the investigation to include psychiatric patients, the perpetrator, who was member of an aggressive religious sect, was identified. The serial killer testified that he had planned to commit further murders and showed no remorse at all, but instead he regretted killing so few unbelievers.


"Education is not to reform students or amuse them or to make them expert technicians. It is to unsettle their minds, widen their horizons, and inflame them to think straight, if possible."--Robert M. Hutchens I signed up for Dr. Lisa Merriweather Hunn's Critical Race Theory course, expecting just another summer class with an enormous amount of reading crammed into five short weeks. I had no idea that this course, more than any other I have ever taken, would change my view of society, the world, and myself. The subject matter required a trip deep below the surface layers of my conscience, character, and worldview, to a place in my mind that even I am only vaguely aware. The course almost did not happen because only four people signed up for it. After some discussion within the department and insistence on the part of Dr. Merriweather Hunn, Critical Race Theory was allowed to continue on its maiden voyage, and I doubt if anyone realized how important it would be for the instructor and the students. In fact, by the end of the five-week course, we all agreed that it should become a requirement for graduate students in the Adult, Higher, and Community Education program. "There Are No Innocents" The first class hit the ground running with a "racial autobiography" assignment due the first week. I knew I had a lot to say about how race and racism affected my life, so I approached this assignment with interest and confidence. However, I soon realized that the experience of writing about my life and race was an emotional journey that would prepare me for the rest of the course. As I wrote, I began to remember experiences regarding race and racism that I had forgotten. These memories included racism I have experienced from individuals as well as instances of societal racism. I also remembered instances of my own racism. My memories raised questions for me about my life and how I formed my own views on race. This assignment should always be the first assignment in a course focused on Critical Race Theory because it gives students a place to start thinking about racism and oppression, both in society and in their personal lives. As many of the Baby-Boomer generation have done, I marched on Washington, DC for equal rights, participated in many protest demonstrations, and tried to live my life in a way that denounced racism and oppression. However, as I wrote about my encounters with racism, I remembered some of my own racism as well as that of my family. I began to realize that I was responsible for some of the racism in our society. This realization made me very uncomfortable and the discomfort led to some defensiveness and disappointment in myself. Later, as the class members read about and discussed "whiteness," I began to feel anger more than any other emotion. For a white person, thinking about whiteness is something like thinking about breathing. It most certainly exists, but it is such a part of the fabric of everyday life in America that it is difficult to describe or analyze. Many times as I read the assigned articles, I found myself breathing a sigh of relief when I could say, "That is awful, but I don't do that." Then, usually only a few paragraphs further, I read about a racist or an example of privileged behavior that I am guilty of doing or thinking. I had to put the readings down and walk away from my anger many times during this part of the course. We kept our thoughts in journals and this excerpt illustrates my pain and anger when confronting white privilege and oppression: I am still a member of the dominant race; I can't change that. I still get some privilege; therefore, I need to think seriously about what whiteness is. Some of the readings make me very uncomfortable and leave me feeling that it is hopeless. No matter what I do, it is wrong. Other readings made me feel like I was being put in a category; I am not a member just because I have that fish-belly white skin. …


Background: Staphylococcus is the most common pathogen causing infection in hospitals. They also colonize the healthcare workers who serve as reservoir of infection. Emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a burning issue throughout the world contributing to significant morbidity and mortality. Use of mupirocin to eradicate the carrier state is the need of the hour. Objectives: To screen healthcare workers (HCWs) and medical students for MRSA and to know the susceptibility of mupirocin in this group. Materials and Methods: A total of 432 students, nursing staff, doctors and house-keeping staff were screened for MRSA for 4 months. The MRSA and methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (MRCoNS) isolates were then tested for mupirocin resistance. Results: Out of 432 samples, 24 (5.55%) were MRSA and 104 (24.07%) were MRCoNS. Only 4.16% (n = 1) showed high-level resistance to mupirocin among the MRSA isolates, while resistance among MRCoNS was higher at 6.7% (n = 7) for low-level resistance and 17.30% (n = 18) for high-level resistance. Conclusion: MRSA colonization of HCWs may serve as a source of infection and mupirocin resistance should be screened for all whether working in Intensive Care Units or not and if detected, alternative treatment should be used which will result in appropriate use of this antibiotic for decolonization.


Abstract We consider ellipses corresponding to any norm function on the complex plane and determine their images under the similarities which are special Möbius transformations.


The mechanism of boron-enhanced diffusion from a thin boron layer deposited on the surface in the case of silicon crystal doping is proposed and investigated. It was supposed that lattice contraction occurs in the vicinity of the surface due to the difference between the atomic radii of boron and silicon. This lattice contraction provides a stress-mediated diffusion of silicon self-interstitials from the near-surface region to the bulk of a semiconductor. Due to the stress-mediated diffusion, the near-surface region is depleted of silicon self-interstitials, and simultaneous oversaturation of this species occurs in the bulk. In this way, a strong nonuniform distribution of silicon self-interstitials in the vicinity of the surface is formed without regard to the large migration length of this species. The oversaturation of the bulk of a semiconductor with nonequilibrium self-interstitials allows one to explain the boron-enhanced diffusion of impurity atoms. The strong nonuniform distribution of these point defects also results in a specific form of boron concentration profile in the vicinity of the surface. Good agreement of the calculated boron profile with the experimental data for the entire doped region was obtained within the limit of the proposed model.


Abstract— In analysing the stimulating effect of blue‐light on respiration and carbohydrate degradation of green algae, the author demonstrated a dual light‐effect on pyruvate kinase (E.C. 18.104.22.168.) of the chlorophyll‐free, carotenoid‐containing mutant. No. 20, of Chlorella vulgaris. This dual effect consists first in an enhancement of the maximal velocity of the enzyme reaction, and second in an increase in the affinity towards the substrate phosphoenolpyruvate. Attempts to elucidate the importance of this enhanced enzyme activity led to the assumption that it might be seen in correspondence with chloroplast development. To support this assumption, the influence of short‐wave visible radiation on pyruvate kinase of Scenedesmus C‐2A' was investigated, a mutant, yellow in the dark, but forming a functioning chloroplast under blue‐light conditions. Indeed, it could be shown that in this organism the substrate affinity of pyruvate kinase is increased during the blue‐light‐mediated greening process and that the dependencies of this blue‐light effect on the age of culture, light intensity, and duration of light treatment are in good agreement with the corresponding data for the Chorella mutant. The results thus support the assumption that the light‐enhancement of pyruvate kinase in the yellow Chlorella mutant. No. 20, may be a remaining part of the blue‐light‐controlled chloroplast development found in some other algae and mutants like e.g. Scenedesmus C‐2A'.


We demonstrate the use of room-temperature ionic liquids as catalysts and solvents for the cracking reaction of alkoxypropanes, eliminating the need for a volatile organic solvent and hazardous catalyst disposal.


Landslides in northern India are a frequently occurring risk during the rainy season resulting in human, animal, and property losses as well as obstructing transportation facilities. Usually, numerical and analytical approaches are applied to predicting and monitoring landslides, but the unpredictable nature of rainfall-induced landslides limits these methods. Sensor-based monitoring is an accurate and reliable method, and it also collects accurate and site-specific required data for further investigation with a numerical and analytical approach. This study developed a low-cost tilt-based rainfall-induced landslide monitoring system using the economical and precise MEMS sensor to record displacement and volumetric water content. A self-developed direct shear-based testing setup was used to check the system's operational performance. A physical slope model was also prepared to test the monitoring system in real scenarios. A debris failure occurred at Kotrupi village in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, India, which was chosen for the modelling to investigate the failure mechanism. A rainfall generator was developed to simulate the rainfall, equipped with a flow sensor for better simulation and data recording. The tilt angle records the deviation in terms of angle with a least count of 0.01 degrees, and the moisture content was recorded in terms of percentage with a least count of 1. The results show that the developed system is working properly and is very effective in monitoring the rainfall-induced landslide as it monitors the gradual and sudden movement effectively. This study explains the mechanism behind the landslide, and it can be helpful in monitoring the slope to enable the implementation of preventative actions that will mitigate its impact.


In this paper, we study bounded solutions of -Δu = f(u) on R n (where n = 2 and sometimes n = 3) and show that, for most f's, the weakly stable and finite Morse index solutions are quite simple. We then use this to obtain a very good understanding of the stable and bounded Morse index solutions of -e 2 Δu - f(u) on Ω with Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions for small e.


Introduction:
 Parental feeding behaviors have been found to be associated with dietary intakes and weight status in children, although the longitudinal associations of parental feeding behaviors in early life with diet later in childhood have been scarcely studied.

 Hypothesis:
 We hypothesized that parental feeding restriction, pressure to eat, and concerns about child's weight would be associated with poorer diet quality throughout childhood.

 Methods:
 Among 1172 mother-child pairs from Project Viva, we examined associations of parental feeding behaviors at 2 years assessed via questions from the Child Feeding Questionnaire (behaviors dichotomized as yes vs. no) with diet quality in early (mean: 3.2, SD 0.2 years; n=1076) and mid-childhood (mean: 7.8, SD 0.7 years; n=993) assessed via food frequency questionnaires. We used linear regression models adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics, maternal and paternal body mass index, and maternal diet quality in pregnancy.

 Results:
 At 2 years postpartum, 47% of parents pressured/encouraged their child to eat more, 8% restricted their intakes, 15% were concerned about their child being overweight and 7% about their child being underweight. Parental pressure to eat at 2 years was associated with higher child intake of fruit juice (β 0.17 serving/day; 95% CI 0.01, 0.34) and snack foods (0.12 serving/day; 0.01, 0.22) in early childhood and with lower youth healthy eating index score (-1.32 points; -2.54, -0.10; score from 0 to 85 points) in mid-childhood. Parental feeding restriction at 2 years was associated with lower intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (-0.17 serving/day; -0.27, -0.06) in early childhood and with lower intake of dairy (-0.29 serving/day; -0.56, -0.02) in mid-childhood. Parental concerns about their child being underweight was associated with lower youth healthy eating index score (-2.18 points; -4.30, -0.05; score from 0 to 95 points) in early childhood while concerns about their child being overweight was associated with higher intakes of red and processed meat (0.14 serving/day; 0.04, 0.23) in early childhood and higher intake of baked products in mid-childhood (0.07 serving/day; 0.01, 0.13).

 Conclusions:
 We found that early parental feeding behaviors may have a modest contribution to dietary intakes throughout childhood. However, only a few associations persisted after adjusting for socio-economic and parental characteristics and effect sizes were modest. Strategies to improve diet quality in children might need to focus on the broader family and socio-economic context.


Hirsch's view of intention came from objective position.Recognizing that the meaning of the text is author's intention,he raised two essential words :meaning and significance,which is the dialogue and reconciliation between tradition and modern.In the new subject of interpretation scope,his view of the validity of interpretation would enlighten us.In the new context of dialogue,how to mediate between author's intention and reader's intention is naturally a meaningful theme.


Transformation of agrarian relations in the English manor in the first half of the 17th century is still being studied in Russian and foreign historiography. The author of the article analyzes historical researches concerning the problem of entry fines in the manors in Early Modern England. The article also deals with the speech that the landlord D'Ewes gave in front of the peasants of his manorLavenham (Suffolk) in the manorial curia at the moment of his entry into inheritance in 1631. Analysis of its content reveals one of the ways to increase entry fines paid by copyholders. The uniqueness of the source allows tracing the arguments of the landlord to justify the legitimacy of raising fines and fixing them in the custom of a manor. Being an antiquarian, D'Ewes outlined in sufficient details the history of his manor, emphasizing the villain origin of current copyholders. He argues in his speech the existence of a triple connection between the landlord and the peasants of the manor ("sacred, sworn", "servial" and "reditual" or profitable connection). The implementation of an innovation ("profitable part") into the manorial custom and the creation of a precedent gave him a probable opportunity to change the level of the fines paid by the copyholders at his own will (as the will of the lord).


Finding a home banking mechanism with mass appeal-other than voice-response technology-- has eluded bankers for years. But the need for such systems is growing as generations more comfortable with remote automated banking devices replace those who prefer visiting the branch every week. Consumers still value convenience, so at least in theory, home banking is a sure bet. The ability to pay bills, make account inquiries, transfer funds, and obtain loan information using a touchtone telephone is fast becoming standard practice for many customers. Can more sophisticated home banking devices be far behind? Two technologies, in varying stages of development, have emerged as potentially strong players in the home-banking arena: interactive television and screen-based telephone systems. They are alternatives to using a personal computer to do banking from home. Prodigy, an on-line computer service offered by retailer Sears and IBM, has a loyal following among home-PC users. Of the two newcomers, screen-based phones seem to be making the most significant inroads, though it's still early. Two screen-phone products are now being marketed--Online ScreenPhone, which is being marketed by MNC Financial Corp. under the name Online Home Banking Service, and Smart Phone, from ATT * 21% would use a telephone bill payment service if it was available; * 15% of households would use a PC-based home-banking service; * 68% would use screen-phone banking services; and * 45% would use screen-phone systems to pay household bills. …


Quantitative evaluation on forest tourism resources provided a more reliable foundation for the development of the forest tourism.This article discussed the quantitative evaluation on exploitation potential of the forest tourism resources in Wuhan City by studying on the quantitative way to the exploitoation potential of the forest tourism resources and found out the quality level of the forest tourism resources in Wuhan which provided a reliabe foundation for the preferential extent of forest tourism development.


Noting the important role of motivation in science students' reading comprehension, this 14-weeks quasi-experiment investigated the optimal timing for implementation of metamotivational scaffolding for self-regulation of scientific text comprehension. The "IMPROVE" metamotivational self-regulatory model (Introducing new concepts, Metamotivation questioning, Practicing, Reviewing and reducing difficulties, Obtaining mastery, Verification, and Enrichment) was embedded at three different phases of secondary students' engagement with scientific texts and exercises (before, during, or after) to examine effects of timing on groups' science literacy and motivational regulation. Israeli 10th graders (N = 202) in eight science classrooms received the same scientific texts and reading comprehension exercises in four groups. Three treatment groups received metamotivational scaffolding before (n = 52), during (n = 50), or after text engagement (n = 54). The control group (n = 46) received standard instructional methods with no metamotivational scaffolding. Pretests and posttests assessed science literacy, domain-specific microbiology knowledge, and metamotivation regulation. Intergroup differences were non-significant at pretest but significant at posttest. The "before" group significantly outperformed all other groups. The "after" group significantly outperformed the "during" group, and the control group scored lowest. Outcomes suggested delivery of metamotivational scaffolding as a potentially important means for promoting students' science literacy and effortful perseverance with challenging science tasks, especially at the reflection-before-action stage for looking ahead and also at the reflection-on-action stage for looking back. More theoretical and practical implications of this preliminary study were discussed to meet the growing challenges in science teaching schoolwork.


Tea fresh leaves in summer and autumn are not good for making high quality tea,which brings a lot of problems to its production,sale and resource utilization.In this paper,we summed up the processing methods including fixation,rolling,drying and food additive,etc.to improve the quality of summer-autumn tea during the past 15 years.


A wireless sensor networks are made up of sensors which are usually energy constrained one. The lifetime of the network is directly proportional to the energy efficiency of these nodes and hence a lot interest has been focused to effectively prolong the longevity of the individual node and network lifetime. Several WSN protocols and clustering algorithms have been proposed on how to optimally select the cluster heads in the sensor networks. In this paper EECHP protocol is proposed by combining the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm for enhancing the lifetime of wireless sensor networks. Experimental results show that the proposed approach EECHP protocol performs better than the ECHS, DECP and LEACH algorithms. A significant increase of network lifetime has been achieved and improved the First Node Death (FND) and Last Node Death (LND) respectively.


Our first intuition, reaching back nearly two years now, was that linked data needed a context for bringing related datasets together. This belief led us to construct the UMBEL subject concept ontology, a basic reference roadmap for helping to point to information related (or "about") similar subjects. UMBEL as a set of subject concepts has proved useful as a reference roadmap; and the approach to construct UMBEL and its resulting vocabulary (heavily based in SKOS) has also proved helpful to construct specific domainlevel ontologies.


An improved method dealing with the End Effect of Empirical Mode Decomposition is proposed. The period of the signal components is evaluated from high order autocorrelation function in the process of signal decomposition. Then, the signal components are extended based on the proposed criterion. The fluctuant trend of the extended sequences is consistent with the original signal components. Compared with the existed extending method, the proposed method ensure that the extended sequence is continual at the two ends and agree with original fluctuant trend, it is a low complexity and efficient method, which fit for periodic or quasi-periodic signal whose frequency modulation range is narrow¿Simulation results show the validity of the method.


This paper reports the optimization of conditions for extracellular polysaccharide and mycelium of Ganoderma Lucidum G9. One-factors-at-a-time experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of incubation time, rotational speed and temperate on extracellular polysaccharide and mycelium of Ganoderma Lucidum G9. Further, the process parameters were optimized using a Box-Behnken experimental design coupled with response surface methodology. The optimal fermentation conditions of mycelium were determined as follows: medium(I), incubation time 10 d, rotational speed 122 r/min, and temperate 26.7 ℃. Under the optimal conditions, the mycelium of Ganoderma Lucidum G9 was 1.0405 g/100 mL, The optimal fermentation conditions of extracellular polysaccharide were determined as follows: medium(I), incubation time 9.5 d, rotational speed 121 r/min, and temperate 30 ℃. Under the optimal conditions, the crude extracellular polysaccharide of Ganoderma Lucidum G9 was 1.0003 g/100 mL.


Wireless virtualization is a promising approach to foster innovation and prevent the ossification of wireless networks. Within a virtualized wireless network, multiple network slices, or virtual operators (VO), are co- hosted on the same physical infrastructure. A fundamental question in this environment is which multiplexing technique, TDMA, FDMA or SDMA, should be used to slice the network among the VOs. Another related question is how should the stochastic arrival process affect the slicing and QoS criteria. To answer these two questions, we study the problem of QoS-aware joint admission control and network slicing. Due to the NP- hardness of the problem, we approach it using a heuristic algorithm composed of three steps: spectrum allocation, admission control and spatial multiplexing. The proposed algorithm incorporates the effects of QoS and stochastic traffic. We study through simulations the benefits of joint spatial- frequency multiplexing over the static frequency slicing approach. Finally, our simulation results help shed some light on the trade-offs between frequency and spatial multiplexing as well as between QoS and utilization.


Among the urinary bladder malignancies, infiltrating urothelial carcinoma is the most common while
sarcomatoid variant is a rare malignancy. As the literature shows only few published case reports, We
present a case of polypoidal mass of urinary bladder which was excised by TURBT (Transurethral
Resection of Bladder Tumor) procedure and histopathologically diagnosed as sarcomatoid squamous cell
carcinoma.

Keywords: Sarcomatoid carcinoma, Urinary bladder.


Keratoconus is a corneal ectatic disorder with complex aetiology and may induce mild to severe visual impairment and consequently decrease the quality of life. This paper presents a new keratoconus detection method using corneal curvature features to differentiate normal and keratoconus cases. In this study, the eye images known as anterior segmented photographed images (ASPIs) are captured from side view using a smartphone's camera. For the side-view images, the corneal curvature is segmented using spline function to measure the corneal curvature. A template disc method is implemented to quantitatively measure the steepening of the corneal curvature of the captured ASPIs. Parameters obtained from three different template disc methods, namely, nonlinear, , crossover point, , and trigonometric, , are investigated to represent the most suitable curvature feature. SVM is then employed to classify normal and keratoconus eyes. Results reveal that a standalone nonlinear method gives a reliable parameter with 90% accuracy in classifying the data. However, the classification performance has increased to 99.5% accuracy with the use of all combined features known as a feature vector, . Additionally, classification with the proposed  has successfully distinguished normal and keratoconus cases with sensitivity and specificity rates of 99% and 100%, respectively. The results portray the bright potential of this method in assisting experts during ocular screening specifically to detect keratoconus disease.


Piezoelectric materials can produce electricity when they are subjected to dynamic strain. In this paper, the development of a mechanism using a piezoelectric element for harvesting energy from a washing machine is reported. The device was in the form of a cantilever type transducer, using simple components. The main aim of the work is to give a practical implementation of the conversion of mechanical energy by using direct piezoelectric effect. Experimental results showed that, in average, the operation of the washing machine could generate 1.87 mV for a stainless steel cantilever beam and 1.46 mV for an aluminum cantilever beam.


The application research situation of several cationic natural polymers in papermaking were introduced.Cationization conditions,degree of substitution and application effect of some natural polymers,like guar gum,cellulose,hemicelluloses,and lignin,starch,etc,were analyzed.The cationic natural polymers have more advantages such as cost effective,renewable,environmental friendly,etc,as additive in papermaking


4-Hydroxybutyrate (Gamma-OH, Egic) is a hypnotic which can be used to produce unconsciousness by its direct cortical action. It has little medullary depressant effect and no analgesic action. Surgical stimuli must therefore be prevented from reaching the central nervous system by local analgesia. Its use in this way is described in the foregoing article (Smith, Beveridge, and Wyllie, 1972). This paper describes the changes in intraocular pressure during 4-hydroxybutyrate narcosis and compares them with those observed during conventional general anaesthesia.


Optimality conditions of multi-objective programming problems for weak convex function were given via the Abstract subdifferentiation on the basis of the optimality conditions for the single objective optimization problem.New results were got.


This paper presents the design of current-mode blocks to be used in modulator and decimator parts of continuous-time sigma-delta converters. Main blocks of sigma delta converters such as integrator and quantizer have been designed in current-mode. Through current-mode design, quantizer outputs are currents so that there is no need to use a voltage input/current output digital/analog converter in the feedback loop. Moreover, current-mode full-adder and delay elements have been designed which are main components of digital filters. Also a first-order modulator has been implemented and simulated.


ABSTRACT Voters in many advanced democracies increasingly dislike their political opponents, a phenomenon that is known as affective polarisation. The growing animosity between electorates is particularly challenging in multiparty systems, where ruling is more dependent on cross-party alliances. In this work, we examine the case of Spain, a multiparty democracy that exhibits one of the highest levels of affective polarisation among advanced democracies. Using public opinion databases as well as extensive qualitative evidence, we operationalise and explore the evolution of affective polarisation in the Spanish electorate and its main drivers, with a particular focus on the competition for the left–wing electorate between the PSOE and Podemos during the 2015–2020 period.


Direct training of Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) on neuromorphic hardware has the potential to significantly reduce the high energy consumption of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) training on modern computers. The biological plausibility of SNNs allows them to benefit from bio-inspired plasticity rules, such as Spike Timing-Dependent Plasticity (STDP). STDP offers gradient-free and unsupervised local learning, which can be easily implemented on neuromorphic hardware. However, relying solely on unsupervised STDP to perform classification tasks is not enough. In this paper, we propose Stabilized Supervised STDP (S2-STDP), a supervised STDP learning rule to train the classification layer of an SNN equipped with unsupervised STDP. S2-STDP integrates error-modulated weight updates that align neuron spikes with desired timestamps derived from the average firing time within the layer. Then, we introduce a training architecture called Paired Competing Neurons (PCN) to further enhance the learning capabilities of our classification layer trained with S2-STDP. PCN associates each class with paired neurons and encourages neuron specialization through intra-class competition. We evaluated our proposed methods on image recognition datasets, including MNIST, Fashion-MNIST, and CIFAR-10. Results showed that our methods outperform current supervised STDP-based state of the art, for comparable architectures and numbers of neurons. Also, the use of PCN enhances the performance of S2-STDP, regardless of the configuration, and without introducing any hyperparameters.Further analysis demonstrated that our methods exhibited improved hyperparameter robustness, which reduces the need for tuning.


Objective:To research the effects of disperse the depressed liver-energy and invigorate the spleen YIWEI decoction on EGFR and bFGF of gastrelcosis Rats and approach its mechanism.Method:The method was used ethanoic acid corrode to establish the gastrelcosis model to observe the protein expression of EGFR and bFGF after medication.Result:YIWEI decoction could significantly elevate the protein expression of EGFR and bFGF on gastrelcosis mucosa of Rats.Conclusion:YIWEI decoction had evident protection on gastrelcosis.The mechanism might be concerned with regulating the protein expression of EGFR and bFGF to accelerating the reproduction of gastrelcosis mucosa and establishing the construction of submucous tissue.


Solution densities in the systems HF-MeOH and HF-n-PrOH have been measured over the whole range of the concentrations of the components. It is found that molecular compounds form in these systems. The obtained data show that the mole composition of the HF-MeOH and HF-n-PrOH solutions can be determined by measuring solution densities.


thoracotomy which followed misdirected diagnostic procedures such as to mography, bronchoscopy and repeated punctures ofthe pleu ral cavity. In both cases a transdiaphragmatic liver prolapse with signs of transthoracic liver punctures was found. The diagnostic importance of sonography and if necessary, com puted tomography and liver scintigraphy in infancy and childhood, is emphasised.


The Permian pisolites of the Guadalupe Mountains of southern New Mexico and west Texas have been widely accepted as being a by-product of algal activity in the shallow lagoonal area behind the platform margin of the Delaware Basin. If this interpretation were correct, one would expect to find smooth pisolite laminations formed by the algae and not the crenulate laminations seen in some of the pisolites. One would also expect to see developed stratification, and interlayering with stromatolites and other algal deposits. Evidence of pisolites being formed by algae somewhere in the world today would be anticipated. Evidence shows that such conditions are not applicable to the Guadalupe Mountain pisolites. The field relationships suggest that the pisolites developed in porous and permeable calcarenites by a weathering-soils process. The area behind the platform margin was periodically subaerially exposed. The climate was arid with occasional wet periods. The downward migrating surface waters leached calcium carbonate from the upper layers and concentrated it in the lower layers as films or laminae about nuclei. These dense concentrations are the pisolites; they compare very favorable with caliche deposits in the area. The environment can be completely misinterpreted if the pisolites are thought to have formed in a shallow sea when they actually formed in the soil of an arid climate. Knowledge concerning the factors which produced the pisolites in the Guadalupe Mountains should be applicable in studies of pisolites elsewhere. End_of_Article - Last_Page 360------------


Having been providing technical assistance to state and local courts for several decades in a wide range of subject areas, including tho e relating to "court secu rity,"* it has been fascinating to observe the evolution of the concept that has occurred over the years and, in particular, during the past decade. During the 1970s and 1980s, the term "court security" generally focused on the protection of the court house and its occupants, with the components necessary to achieve "court security" generally entailing law-enforcement functions, hardware, and, to a limited extent, facilities design. More recently, however, the concept of "court security" has come to focus as well on the protection of all of the elements of court operations that are fun damental to maintaining the independence and integrity of the judicial process and to ensure its continuity and that of the rule of law. Associated with this expansion of the concept has been a concomitant expansion of the focus and functions entailed. The concept of "court security" has traditionally involved two essential compo nents: first, the procedures, staffing, physical environment, and related resources nec essary to protect the functioning and integrity of the judicial process and, second, measures to ensure the physical safety and freedom from intimidation of courthouse users and occupants. Within this framework, the nature and dimensions of the activi ties and resources required to provide adequate court security have expanded signifi cantly, as have the measures used to assess the adequacy of court security provided and the range of agencies that need to be involved in its provision. Historically, the experience of LEAAs Criminal Courts Technical Assistance Project during the 1970s and early 1980s in providing technical assistance and training in court security, shared by court security programs undertaken through other auspices, focused primarily on protecting common elements of the court facility considered to be directly related to enhancing (or diminishing) the security of court occupants and pro ceedings. These generally entailed ensuring that points of entry, particularly those for the public, were limited and well monitored; installing weapon-screening mechanisms; and developing circulation patterns for courthouse users, with separated circulation areas for judges and court staff, detained defendants, and the general public. Frequently, attention to "court security" needs was raised by local county gov ernment officials rather than court officials, as a result of issues raised during the expansion or renovation of old county-owned courthouse buildings, which were being called upon to serve an increasing number and diversity of courthouse users and


The invention provides an image processing device which is used for processing output signals of an image sensor. The output signals comprises light reacting values of a red channel, a green channel and a blue channel; the image processing device comprises a color gaining control unit and a gamma correction unit; the color gaining control unit comprises a red gaining adjusted value, a green gaining adjusted value and a blue gaining adjusted value, which are respectively corresponding to the red channel, the green channel and the blue channel; the light reacting values of the red channel, the green channel and the blue channel are correspondingly multiplied by the red, green and blue gaining adjusted values, and the multiplying operation is carried out by the color gaining control unit; and a first signal is obtained and only processed by the gamma correction unit. The invention further provides an image processing method.


Optical absorption spectra of small single metal nanoparticles are measured using a far-field technique combining a spatial modulation microscope with a broadband light source. Quantitative determination of the spectral and polarization dependencies of the absorption cross section of individual gold nanoparticles permits precise determination of their geometrical properties in excellent agreement with transmission electron microscopy measurements.


This paper outlines the design of a 2D analogue for autonomous landing on an asteroid as a hardware demonstrator/development platform, within an overall requirements structure that aims to develop a generic architecture for autonomous landing systems. Although wheeled laboratory robots may appear to be unlikely analogues for asteroid landing, the system is already proving useful as a platform for exploring and testing aspects of autonomy within the mission profile. Real-world sensor noise and inaccuracy as well as real-time issues are testing the system in a way that does not emerge from simulation alone.


The invention discloses a method for monitoring the health of a cable system based on space coordinate monitoring during generalized displacement of a support. Whether a mechanical calculation reference model of a structure is needed to be updated again by monitoring the generalized coordinate of a structural support based on space coordinate monitoring, and the defect that the linear relation between the current numerical value vector of a monitored vector and the initial numerical value vector of the monitored vector, the linear relation between the current numerical value vector of the monitored vector and a unit damage monitored vector change matrix, and the linear relation between the current numerical value vector of the monitored vector and a current name damage vector are similar is considered. To overcome the defect, the invention provides a method for performing piecewise approximation on non-linear relation by using linear relation. In the method, a large interval is divided into continuous small intervals, the linear relation in each small interval is correct enough in each small interval, and noninferior solution of the current cable damage vector can be calculated by using appropriate algorithms such as a multi-objective optimization algorithm and the like in each small interval, so that the position and the damage degree of the damaged cable can be determined more accurately.


The present invention provides a praseodymium NdFeB, the material having a high coercive force. The preparation method is simple, low cost, suitable for industrial production. The percentage by weight of each material component is: Al? 0.7 ~ 0.9%, Si? 3 ~ 5%, Er? 0.1 ~ 0.2%, Ho? 0.1 ~ 0.2%, Sn? 0.5 ~ 0.9%, B? 1 ~ 1.5%, Nd? 10 ~ 13%, Pr? 15 ~ 17%, Pb? 0.02% ~ 0.05%, P? 0.06% to 0.08%, the remainder Fe.


The paper presents the research results of physicochemical characteristics, adsorption kinetics and value of adsorption capacity with respect to water vapors of the aluminum-oxide adsorbent modified with potassium and sodium cations. It was shown that modification of desiccants by potassium and sodium cations at the hydration stage of products of hydrargillite thermal activation during synthesis allowed obtaining adsorbents-desiccants with high values of static (more than 20 g/100g) and dynamic capacitance (more than 5.0 g/cm3) by water vapors.


To effectively provide personalized E-learning in a community, an adaptive filtering algorithm for identifying appropriate teaching resources was developed. It is based on a vector space model, an improvement on traditional algorithms used for this purpose. Firstly, feature selection and pseudo feedback were used to establish the initial templates and thresholds through a training algorithm. Then the user's feedback was utilized to modify the templates and thresholds adaptively for the filtering algorithm. The algorithm did not need massive quantities of initial texts to begin the process of filtering. Furthermore, filtering precision improved during the process through self learning. The algorithm proved effective as a personalized knowledge service system for community E-learning.


Abstract : Contents: The Autonomous Region of Tibet; The Kingdom of Nepal; The Indian Protectorate of Sikkim; The Darjeeling District of the Indian State of West Bengal; The Indian Protectorate of Bhutan; The Indian State of Uttar Pradesh; The Indian State of Himachal Pradesh; The Kangra District of the Indian State of Punjab; The State of Jammu-Kashmir; The Northeast Frontier Agency of India.


Community networks have flourished around the world as a complementary model for enabling access to the Internet and its services. Nevertheless there is still an on-going debate on how to make them sustainable and scaleable beyond the voluntary effort and non-refundable contributions. The approach taken by Guifi.net has been to enable professional activity and to develop a set of tools to ensure the reinvestment of a fraction of the benefits of this professional activity. This has contributed to build the largest community network, with an annual turnover of millions of Euros and creation of dozens of direct jobs. The implementation of these tools is producing extensive data sets that allow to characterize key parameters in the deployment and the operation of these infrastructures, to examine behaviours and trends and to identify good and bad practices, fraud, etc. A more detailed knowledge of the economic aspects has a positive impact on reducing the uncertainty of investments, expansion plans and operations.


This paper proposed an integrated framework for detecting and segmenting road cracks in complex backgrounds. Based on the latest real-time object detection algorithm, YOLOv5l6, a modified U-Net embedded Bottleneck and Attention mechanism modules was developed to segment crack pixels from the detected crack regions. Validation of the proposed approach was conducted based on a total of 150 images, which were taken from different backgrounds, angles, and distances. Based on the computation, the results derived from the YOLOv5l6-based crack detection had a mean average precision of 92%, and the mean intersection of the union of the modified U-Net was 87%, which is at least 11% higher than the original U-Net model. The results showed the integrated approach could be a potential basis for an automated road-condition evaluation scheme for road operation and maintenance.