Continuing education can serve as an organizing and cohering force within nursing. Some of its potentials include providing a framework for integrating clinical research findings with nursing care, promoting the rapprochement of nursing education and service, and bringing nursing and other health fields closer together. As continuing education and this process of uniting a splintered profession gain ground, other considerations must be addressed. This article was adapted from the keynote speech given before the National Conference in Continuing Education in Nursing, Indianapolis, Indiana, September 15–18, 1975.


The effects of structural conformation and order on materials properties and reactivity in thin films of an amphiphilic, regioregular polythiophene π-conjugated polymer (πCP) derivative are presented. Thin films deposited by the Langmuir Blodgett technique provide highly ordered anisotropic films compared to those deposited by spin cast methods. Large differences in both the thermal reactivity and physical properties of the films are observed.


Six different new Kluyveromyces lactis strains were isolated from different dairy products from Bursa province, Turkey. Lactase and invertase enzyme activities of new K. lactis strains were determined under different growth conditions. Our results indicate that both lactase and invertase enzyme activities of new K. lactis strains are much higher than the standard K. lactis (ATCC8585). Lactase and invertase enzymes are expressed at high levels under glucose repressed growth conditions in some of these K. lactis strains. Invertase activities of new K. lactis strains are 10-fold higher than the standard K. lactis (ATCC8585) strain. Additionally, it was shown that the two of the new K. lactis strains have 25% shorter duplication times than the normal K. lactis (ATCC8585). Our results indicate that new K. lactis strains isolated from the local dairy products of the Bursa region of Turkey have distinct metabolic features with respect to the regulation of GAL/LAC regulon of K. lactis.


With respect to disease risk for the quarantine fungus Guignardia citricarpa on citrus fruit an accurate diagnosis for routine analysis is required. Also, when inspections have to be performed on imported citrus fruits, a fast detection method is urgently needed. A fast automated DNA extraction method based on magnetic beads combined with a real-time PCR assay was optimized to improve and advance the routine diagnosis of citrus black spot disease. Real-time PCR was used for detection of the pathogen G. citricarpa in planta. A specific primer/TaqMan probe combination that discriminates between G. citricarpa and the harmless citrus endophyte Guignardia mangiferae, was designed based on the internal transcribed spacer region of the multi-copy rDNA gene. Co-amplification of target DNA along with an internal competitor DNA fragment made the diagnostic assay more reliable to check for false negatives. The real-time PCR was specific, since no cross reaction was observed with a series of citrus pathogens and related species. The diagnostic assay was performed on lesions dissected from imported diseased oranges. Comparison between the conventional PCR and the real-time PCR methods showed that the TaqMan method was more sensitive.


Abstract This article reports on a survey of M.C.P. and Ph.D. graduates of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's city planning and urban studies program. The analysis identifies the kinds of organizations employing graduates, the roles they play within those organizations, and the skills which they feel are important for planners. The data includes graduates from the years 1960 to 1971. The study describes how various outcomes have changed with successive classes. Graduates of early years are most likely to work in planning commissions and to describe their roles as coordinators, administrators, and land use planners. More recent graduates are more likely to have jobs in universities, private planning firms, and government agencies. The dominant fields of interest, housing and land use planning, remain constant over time. The kinds of skills valued by the alumni vary in important ways by year of graduation.


Consumer product warnings, often placards, buzzers, etc., are information displays that attempt to influence user behavior through the information presented. A review and background of warnings is presented. Assumptions underlying their employment and the lack of scientific validation of their effectiveness are discussed. Quantitative criteria are proposed for the use of warnings based on risk analysis. Examples of such analysis are presented. The limited information processing capability of man dictates that warnings be reserved for significant risks in the context of the products use, environment, and risks from other products. Contraindications for use of warnings are discussed.


Integration of monitoring information for related cable operation becomes a trend in smart distribution network.A set of real-time cable temperature monitoring system based on distributed optic fiber measuring technology is introduced.The framework and design scheme of the system are described.Some features such as display interface clear of the system,3D visual display of cable vault,forming of real-time load temperature responding profile etc,are elaborated.


Objective To search the effects of denervation of arteria carotid sympathetic nerve net plus limbs orthotherapy on all types of sequelae of cerebral palsy.Methods Using the denervation of carotid arteria sympathetic nerve net 2 to 3 cm at affected limb's opposing lateral site plus orthopedic operation of destorted limbs.Results After operations in this way, the 102 patients'blood stream in their brains has been obviously improved, and the spasm degree of the limbs has been decreased.Conclusions This method of denervation in different types of sequela of cerebral palsy have different effects, it has the best effective to remission of the spasm in the sports section of brain,but there is poor efficacy in sequela of dystaxia type of cerebellum.


In this paper we propose SEVA (Salient Events for Video Analytics), a framework for accurate detection and localization of salient events from a given video shot. Our proposed method is based on statistical learning theory and models salient event detection as a one-class classification problem. Video frames are split into blocks for extracting both the spatial and temporal features. Given a video shots we first track the moving foreground blob. Features are extracted using only the foreground pixels to avoid influence of the background. Using Support Vector Data Description (SVDD) in kernel feature space for each block in a given video frame, the decision boundary for the normal activity class is modeled. For a test video sequence, feature vectors are computed from the video frames and the learnt model is utilized to classify each block as normal or salient. Finally, we have adapted a spatio-temporal smoothing approach to remove the false positives. We have reported both qualitative and quantitative results of our experiments on two real-world benchmarked video datasets. Performance of SEVA is compared with five recent works on video event detection to validate its effectiveness.


Water plays the most vital role within the regular life. The water metering system is employed to manage the water within the house in order to control the water wastage and water use for a people can be measured by a municipal corporation. Any leak on your plumbing will be arduous to notice. Sewer leaks will typically be mistaken for a leak on a water line. A Sewer leak on your drain line can even injury your property. Standing or ponding water from a leaky sewer pipes also are a risk to you and to Leaky drain pipes can even undermine your drain system and cause sags and separations. Hence in order to solve this problem, the water flow monitoring sensor helps in detecting the water flow. Water leakage or overflow can be identified and solved. In addition to this feature, the volume of water flow can also be calculated with the help of water flow, water level, rain drop, gas sensors and Arduino . All the parameters values monitored by the webpage and LCD display ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date


One man's weed is the other's pride. No good gardener will allow a maize plant on his lawn. And what are regarded as weeds on a grain farm are not necessarily weeds on a livestock farm.


The Pacific Basin Countries represent a rich diversity of nuclear technology and its implementation. Consistency of the technologies at some level is beneficial if it is in areas where mutually established objectives exist. Therefore, a key task in establishing a basis for mutual cooperation in codes and standards should be to establish these objectives. This paper attempts to put forth preliminary objectives that are to be used as discussion tools to facilitate the setting of final objectives by consensus of the Pacific Basis Countries. It also attempts to review the breadth of sources from which standards can be considered and potential approaches to gain consistency in the Codes and Standards Area.


The utility model relates to an artificial membrane rupture tool. The artificial membrane rupture tool consists of a membrane rupture hook and a handheld handle; the membrane rupture hook is positioned on the top of the handheld handle and is a semi-spherical barb; the handheld handle is flat, thin and long, smooth in surface, and rod-shaped; the outer surface of the membrane rupture hook is a smooth spherical surface; one side of the membrane rupture hook is provided with a sharp hook barb; the hook barb faces the handheld handle; the tail end of the handheld handle is provided with a notch; and the notch and the hook barb of the membrane rupture hook are positioned on the same side, and the side near the hook barb is provided with handfeeling scale designations. The artificial membrane rupture tool has the advantages that the artificial membrane rupture tool is safe, sanitary, easy to operate and manufacture, simple in structure, and low in cost, does not hurt a lying-in woman and a fetus, greatly reduces the work amount of medical staff, reduces the operation difficulty, can be widely popularized easily, and can reduce the burden of patients; and by using the artificial membrane rupture tool, the discomfort of the lying-in woman can be avoided.


Butter made from good quality sweet cream is usually free of any major defect in flavour, even after a long period of cold storage. However, butter made from cream ripened with starter, is liable to develop oily and fishy flavours during storage. Thus the manufacture in New Zealand of butter for export has been confined to the sweet cream product.


The objective of this study was to investigate how different motivational components of social cognitive theory relate to students' use of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies in web — based autonomous English learning (WAEL). University students (n = 140) completed a survey that assessed their task value and self-efficacy, as well as outcome variables that included their use of three self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies. Pearson correlations indicate that task value and self-efficacy were significantly related to students' use of elaboration, critical thinking, and metacognitive learning strategies. Additionally, results from regression analyses reveal that task value and self-efficacy were significant positive predictors of students' use of various learning strategies. Educational implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.


Life cycle assessment for conventional gasoline vehicle and coal-electric vehicle are analyzed from the view of energy efficiency, pollutant emissions and economic. The assessment results show that the pathway of coal electric power coupled with electric vehicle is better than the pathway of gasoline coupled with internal combustion engine powered vehicle in terms of the environment,energy and economic characteristics. The super-micro vehicle is to be the threshold of development direction of industrialization, and promotes the electricity transportation development from micro to conventional.


How Japan deals with depopulation in the coming decades will determine important fundamental characteristics of the nation. Will the nation move toward a more relaxed immigration policy in an effort to sustain the population and economic productivity? Or, will it deal with depopulation according to the status quo? Regardless of which direction the nation takes in terms of policy change, there is little doubt that as the present demographic trend continues, future generations will observe a much different Japan than we see today.


Need for the study: The services provided by Auxiliary .Nurse .Midwives are considered essential to provide safe and effective care and as a vital resource to achieve the health-related targets in coordination with other health care providers such as Anganwadi Workers., Accredited Social Health Activist workers and Male Health Workers. The present concern in the country is to provide accessible, affordable, accountable, equitable, effective and reliable health care especially to poor and vulnerable sections of population in rural areas. It is therefore necessary to assess the role being played by A.N.Ms in providing health care services at AnganwadiCentres. Objectives of study:To assess the functioning of A.N.Ms at Anganwadi centers andto identify the problems faced by A.N.Ms while delivering Health services at A.W.Cs Materials and methods: Study Setting: Anganwadi centres and Sub centres of Kolar Taluk. Study population: A.N.Ms appointed by the Government of Karnataka and A.W.Ws appointed under Integrated Child Development Scheme in Kolar Taluk. Study Design: Cross sectional Study Duration: 2 months Sampling: In the vicinity of the University, eighteen Panchyaths will be purposeful selected for the study. Twenty Anganwadi centres each from the selected Panchyaths. Approval for study: The study was approved by the Institutional Ethical review Committee ,Permission was also obtained for the start of the study from the Deputy Director of Ministry of Women and Child Development, Kolar and also CDPOs of the study Taluk. The Anganwadi worker will be contacted and requested to participate in the study after obtained her consent. Similarly the auxiliary nurse midwives of the sub enter covering the village to which the Anganwadi centre belongs to will be selected and will be invited to participate in the study after consent. Sample Size: 30 ANMs and 295 A.W.Ws in Kolar Taluk, from eighteen panchayaths will be included in the study. Statistical Analysis: Collected data will be coded and entered into an excel data base. All the quantitative measures will be presented by (Mean ± SD) and confidence interval, qualitative measures by proportions and CI. The significance of differences in proportions was done using Chi-squaretest value < 0.05 was considered to be considered as statistically significant.


Three clones of leafy spurge were chosen at each location. All spurge plants on the edge of the clones were marked with painted nails to delineate the annual rate of spread in subsequent years. Annual increments of spread (as measured by the average clonal radii) observed for the Ekalaka, Big Timber, and Choteau sites were 10.4, 40.6, and 12.7 cm, respectively. Unfortunately the Bozeman study plot was destroyed from a real estate development project and hence no information on the annual rate of spread is available from that site.


HIDAYATI ILHAM :
The scout activity is one of the extracurricular program is given in SMP
Negeri 1 Jatiwangi whose objective is not only the students know the scout itself,
but more than the students are expected to have good creativity both when the
students are still in school especially when students have already graduated. So
the student's creativity could be beneficial for the future.
This study aims to find out about the school's efforts does in improving
students 'creativity in SMP Negeri 1 Jatiwangi, to determine the increase in
students' creativity through the activities of scout extracurricular in SMP Negeri
1 Jatiwangi, and to know how big the scout role in improving students' creativity
in SMP Negeri 1 Jatiwangi.
The creativity is the ability to create the new products or the ability to
provide the new ideas and it can apply in the problem solving. In other word,
creativity is a creative effort to generate ideas and discoveries towards a better,
like the response form of the various problems that exist. The school is a formal
institution which is given the responsibility to improve the children development,
belonging to the development of children's creativity through the teachers by
sharing programs both intra and extra school. One of the efforts of the school to
improve the students' creativity is through the programs of scout's extracurricular
which held regularly every week. In the manner of the programs of scout's
extracurricular, the school expected results is the increasing creativity of students,
especially in the learning process.
In this paper the writer used the several approaches, namely data collection
techniques such as through observation, interviews, questionnaires and
documentation. The questionnaires were distributed to all students, the leader of
scout who was amounting to 100 students.
The role of extracurricular scout in SMP Negeri 1 Jatiwangi in improving
the students' creativity really looks important. The extracurricular activities
become a very significant driving factor in improving the students' creativity.
Looking at the data obtained from the questionnaire, of the 100 respondents 85
respondents believed that creativity has increased after attending extracurricular
the activities scout. This is a sign that the scout extracurricular activities play an
important role in helping to improve the student's creativity.


The paper describes investigations on wear-resistant coatings from diffusion-alloyed austenitic steel obtained while using plasma spraying and subsequent laser processing. It is common knowledge that majority of machine parts and equipment has been out of service due to wear of surface layer. Application of diffusion-alloyed powder ПР-Х18Н9 based on austenitic steel while using combined technology including plasma spraying and laser infusion makes it possible to obtain qualitative coatings with high operational characteristics. The coating has a homogeneous structure with characteristic dispersive finely-dendrite formation. While using various powder boronizing modes and laser processing it is possible to control a porosity  (0,23–4,70 %) because the given factor is considered as an inherited parameter and it is influenced not only by laser processing characteristics but by powder boronizing time. It has been established that  the least deformations and internal stresses are formed in the coating in the case when self-fluxing diffusion-alloyed powder has been applied for 3 hours.  It has been revealed that there is a sharp increase in micro-hardness at the depth of 150-400 µm from the surface for a specific energy of 100-300 J/mm2 regardless of boronizing time. Coatings can be successfully applied in industry because after laser infusion the required mechanical processing of parts will not worsen operational characteristics when less hard coating layer is removed. Tests of parts under conditions of dry sliding friction without lubrication  have shown an increase of wear-resistance by 3.0-3.2-fold while preserving corrosion-resistance.


The authors (Menter et al.) of a recent report on chronic exposure of hairless mice to ultraviolet A radiation (vol. 12, February 1996, pages 7-11) come to a number of questionable conclusions that are not in agreement with previous work. As a first criticism, the authors do not cite publications which reported that, unlike with UVB, no change in the histochemical staining of hairless mouse collagen occurred after chronic UVA exposure (1, 2). These prior studies examined UVA I (340400 nm) and full spectrum UVA (320400 nm) encompassing the waveband examined by Menter et al. Despite vastly higher doses (3000-8000 J/cm2) and almost twice the number of weeks of exposure than used by Menter et al., the collagen was unaffected histochemically. Menter et al. seek support by citing a study by Bissett et al. (3) who used low dose long wavelength "black light" UVA. The colorless deposits at the dermal-epidermal junction were mistakenly identified as collagen damage but were later shown, with Mowry's stain, to be deposits of glycosaminoglycans (Reference 4 and personal communication). Furthermore, the authors fail to cite relevant biochemical and ultrastructural findings that are not consonant with their results (5-7). To explain why, in contrast to all previous workers, they did not produce epidermal hyperplasia, the authors resort to esoteric speculations such as "aggressive dose-fractionation'' in which "photochemical ("light") reactions leading to hyperplasia can dominate over opposing thermal ("dark") processes (including the optical changes induced by hyperplasia itself that tend to reverse it)". Finally, failure to discuss prior work and discrepant results indicates a serious lapse in scholarship.


Canada thistle [Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. # CIRAR] root samples were collected at monthly intervals over a 2-yr period from two locations to determine seasonal fluctuations in the presence and growth potential of root buds. Root bud growth was highest during late fall and winter months following death of the aerial shoots. Root fragments incubated at a constant 15 C for 2 weeks in continuous light consistently had more buds than nonincubated roots, which indicated active bud differentiation during the incubation period. Incubated roots produced 3 to 9 cm of new shoot length/cm root length. There were no obvious seasonal patterns in the presence of root buds or their ability to elongate at different times of the year. Carbohydrate reserves were stored preferentially in roots rather than in developing root buds or the bases of shoots. These reserves ranged from as low as 3% of root fresh weight during spring months to as high as 26% in late fall months, although the levels did not increase consistently during summer months over the locations and years of this study.


The effect of deviations of the refractive index profiles in heat-treated samples from that thermally induced during operation of the laser on the optical and lasing properties of the radiation is investigated.


OBJECTIVE
To explore new methods for the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer through detecting of K-ras, p53 mutations in pancreatic juice and stool.

METHODS
201 patients in PUMC Hospital from 1994-2000. 5 and 60-control individuals were enrolled. K-ras point mutations were detected by PCR-RFLP, however p53 mutation was detected by PCR-SSCP.

RESULTS
K-ras mutations in pancreatic juice were found in 87.8% (36/41) of pancreatic cancer, 23.5% (4/17) of benign pancreatic disease. Of 261 stools specimens, amplification was successful in 235 (90.0%). K-ras mutation in stool were found in 88.0% (66/75) of pancreatic cancer 51.1% (24/47) of benign pancreatic disease, 19.6% (9/46) of normal individuals. p53 mutation in pancreatic juice were found in 47.4% (18/38), 12.5% (2/16) of benign pancreatic disease, p53 mutation in stool were found in 37.1% (23/62), 19.1% (4/12) of chronic pancreatitis.

CONCLUSION
K-ras mutation in pancreatic juice has high sensitivity and specificity, so it can be used as a adjunct in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Detection of K-ras mutation combined with p53 mutation in stool can be helpful to screen for pancreatic carcinoma. Combined with serum CA19-9 detection, it might increase the early diagnostic rate of pancreatic carcinoma.


The main influential factors of ISSR-PCR reaction system in Schisandra sphenanthera Rehd.et Wils.were systematically studied,optimization of ISSR-PCR system was established,and 12 effective ISSR primers were selected.Single-factor experimental results showed that the suitable concentration of composition of ISSR-PCR systen was 1.50~3.50 mmol·L-1 of Mg2+,0.10~0.35 mmol·L-1 of dNTPs,0.25~0.60 μmol·L-1 of primer and 0.50~1.50 U of Taq DNA polymerase,respectively.The optimal ISSR-PCR reaction system was defined by orthogonal experiment with four-factor of three-level,i.e.20 μL reaction system contained 2.50 mmol·L-1 of Mg2+,0.20 mmol·L-1 of dNTPs,0.25 μmol·L-1 of primer,1.50 U of Taq DNA polymerase,60 ng of DNA template,2.50 μL of 10×PCR Buffer.The present study could be used in the research for evaluation of germplasm resources and analysis of genetic diversity in S.sphenanthera Rehd.et Wils..


The current performance of Indian economy is appreciated in terms of the contribution made by secondary and tertiary sectors to the country's GDP. As a matter of fact, we also cannot deny that India still occupies a back seat in solving issues of rural poverty, regional imbalance, concentration of economic power and other such factors, which act as stumbling blocks in the way of sustainable development. Perhaps, our country fails to recognize that equal treatment needs to be given to agriculture along with other sectors. Agriculture can boost economic development by generating sufficient rate of marketed surplus, which plays a crucial part in improving rural capital on the one hand, and on the other help in eradicating rural poverty and regional imbalance. In this context, the paper focuses on the important factors determining the marketed surplus of rice. The study reveals that it is not the farm consumption and retention, rather the output level of rice, prices and market awareness of the farmer-sellers, which play significant part in determining marketed surplus. The proportion of output being marketed is not even commensurate with the local demand for rice. In order to increase the rate of marketed surplus, the study stresses on effective public investment in the dead part of input services in agriculture, mostly in cases of irrigation and extension services, restructuring of local market system and target beneficial system of farmers' credit. Utmost attention should be given to promote market awareness of the farmer-sellers and to make market information easily and widely accessible to them. Above all, the study calls for due cooperation from the farmers to satisfy the objectives of such public investment.


Effluent organic matter(EfOM) refers to the residual refractory organic materials in effluent after the primary and secondary biological treatment of sewage.The presence and characteristics of EfOM in wastewater are of great interest with respect to discharge quality and the efficiency of advanced treatment facilities.This paper summarized the characterization methods of EfOM including the molecular weight distribution,hydrophobic/hydrophilic fractionation,and excitation/emission matrix(EEM).The characteristic transformation of EfOM in the treatment processes has been summarized.At present,efficient and applicable advanced wastewater treatment processes including ozonation and membrane filtration.Nevertheless,there still needs urgent solution to reducing their operation costs.


Alexis Sturgeon created this poem to reflect identity pressures that parents place on their children, even when they are adults entering college. Parents can often appear ignorant and irrational of the issues that face the youth today. This piece focuses on the traditional ideals that many parents possess and the motives behind wanting to raise and present their child with conventional ethics in a liberal society.


Based on the observational data of raindrop size distributions(DSDs) from Parsivel optical disdrometers in Qixian and Jiexiu of Shanxi Province during the period of July and August 2008,a contrast about the characteristics of DSDs and the statistical probability of radar parameters are provided.And then,the dependences of rainfall R and rainwater content W related with reflectivity Z upon axis ratio are discussed.It shows that as the rainfall(R) increases,the corrected R is improved,especially when R5 mm·h-1.As reflectivity Z is proportional to the 6th power of diameter(D),the corrected reflectivity(Zcorr) is changed much more quickly.At last,on the basis of axis ratio,the Znoncorr-Rcorr relationship and the reflectivity Z and rainwater content W relationship(Z-W) offer a scientific ground for radar measurement of precipitation and a deep-going way research on cloud micro-physical processes and the effects of thunder-lightning on regional precipitation is determined.


It is a common Christian experience to wake from sleep with a song in the heart. Singing is one way that the Holy Spirit leads the Christian heart in prayer and meditation through the watches of the night. The seventeenth-century German hymn writer, Paul Gerhardt, was acutely aware of this phenomenon. Gerhardt wrote a set of daily devotional songs, two for the evening, and three for the morning. It is best to think of these songs not so much as hymns for congregational singing, but as sung devotional meditations. In fact, Gerhardt wove discernible meditational devices into the lyrics of his songs to lead singers in contemplating God's promises to them. In the better known of his two evening songs, Nun Ruhen alle Walder / Now all the woods are resting, Gerhardt prepares singers for sleep, by calling the Christian heart to a night of hard work. This work is one of singing God's promises, clinging to them firmly while the rest of the world is sleeping fast.Basic Structure of Nun Ruhen alle WalderAppropriately for an evening song, Gerhardt structures his poem around normal phenomena that mark the end of a day. The song was composed with nine stanzas. Each stanza is, in turn, made up of two parts, the first observing what is happening around the singer as the day is drawing to a close, and the second pointing to God's promises. This thematic shift is reflected in the metrical structure of the poem:Part 1: Line 1 Л / Л / Л / Л .Line 2 Л / Л / Л / Л .Line 3 л/л/л/Part 2: Line 4 Л / Л / Л / Л .Line 5 Л / Л / Л / Л .Line 6 л/л/л/л/The rocking iambic metre (л /) gives the song a lilting rhythm reminiscent of a lullaby. The amphibrach (л /л) endings on lines one, two, four, and five create a sense of unresolved anticipation, which leads the ear to seek a resolution in lines three and six. Line three provides a temporary resolution to the first part of the stanza. However, because it is cut short by one foot, it also creates an unresolved tension that is only satisfied by the complete resolution at the end of line six. This structure neatly reflects the thematic shift from observation in the first part to anticipation in the second.Stanza One - Setting the SceneNun ruhen alle Walder,Vieh, Menschen, Stadt und Felder,Es schlaft die ganze Welt;Ihr aber, meine Sinnen,Auf, auf, ihr sollt beginnen,Was eurem Schopfer wohlgefallt.Now all woods are restingcattle, people, towns and fields,the whole world is sleeping;but you, my senses,up, up, you shall beginwhat pleases your creator.The poem opens with a picture of serenity. The whole world is fast asleep, with one exception: the senses. Gerhardt is clearly not referring to the physical senses, but to the senses of the heart, the spiritual senses. Gerhardt maintains the biblical understanding that there are three kinds of senses: the physical senses by which the world is perceived; the mental senses, which seek to understand what has been perceived;1 and the spiritual senses that are able to perceive that which is beyond physical sensation.2 Gerhardt's understanding reflects Psalm 119:148, 'My eyes are awake before each watch of the night, that I may meditate on your promises'.3 This connection is even stronger in Luther's German translation: 'Ich wache auf, wenn's noch Nacht ist, zu sinnen uber dein Wort'. Although the body is at rest, the spiritual senses are called to attention; they are summoned to attend to that work which pleases their creator, listening to his voice through the hours of darkness. Gerhardt highlights this call to attention in a very effective way. On the words auf, auf he breaks the lilting iambic rhythm with a spondee (/ /). This abrupt shift has the effect of someone clapping their hands and shouting 'Up! Up!'The implication is clear: now is not the time for the senses of the heart to rest, there is work to be done. …


With the increasing focus of metabolomic methods on obesityrelated
diseases, it is important to consider how sample handling may need to be adapted for
the high compositions of lipids that can occur in such subjects.

High-lipid (cloudy, milky appearances; a.k.a. lipemic) biofluids are common
in very high BMI subjects. Organic extractions of biofluids are useful for removing protein
backgrounds, inactivating capsid viruses, and yielding relatively stable samples with excellent
spectroscopic characteristics. This work considered how acetonitrile extractions, which
are widely used, perform on lipemic sera.

 In this technical note, we report the observation and remediation of a liquid-liquid
phase separation in acetonitrile extractions of many lipemic sera. This unexpected behavior
can be challenging to identify, especially if working with small volumes. The liquid-liquid
separation shows a high miscibility of proteins in both liquid phases that impairs NMR data
quality. We also report a simple temperature-based adaption of the acetonitrile extraction
procedure that consistently results in a single aqueous phase and eliminates unwanted constituents.

A robust approach to achieving reproducible, high quality samples of aqueous
metabolites from lipemic sera from very high BMI subjects should be of utility in expanding
metabolomics applications to lipemic biofluids.


Whey powder, a by-product of milk industry, was utilized to produce biopolymer film with the combination of film matrix supporting material, sodium caseinate. Biopolymer films were prepared from whey powder-sodium caseinate mixtures at several mixing ratios. The effects of pH, plasticizers and cross-linkers on tensile strength (TS) and elongation (E) of films were investigated. The films could be formed by use of whey powder up to 70%. As the whey powder content was increased, TS of the film decreased while E increased. Films containing more than 70% of whey powder could not be formed due to the stickiness of lactose in whey powder. The optimum pH of the film solution was found to be 10. Among the plasticizers tested, sorbitol was found to be the most effective plasticizer while glycerol was inadequate for the film. Tensile strengths of films containing whey powder were higher than 10 MPa with relatively high E, when the films were plasticized with 30% (w/w) and 40% sorbitol. TSs of the relatively weak films containing whey powders were improved by the addition of small amount of sodium citrate for 30% sorbitol plasticized films, and by the addition of sodium chloride for 40% sorbitol plasticized films. It was concluded that up to 70% of whey powder could be utilized to produce biopolymer films by adding sorbitol and cross linkers at pH 10.


In this paper, we introduce generalized tail biting encoding as a means to ameliorate the rate deficiency caused by zero-tail convolutional encoding. This technique provides an important link between quasi-cyclic block and convolutional codes. Optimum and suboptimum decoding algorithms for these codes are described and their performance determined by analytical and simulation techniques.


Natural fractures in hydrocarbon reservoirs can cause significant seismic attenuation and dispersion due to wave induced fluid flow between pores and fractures. We present two theoretical models explicitly based on the solution of Biot's equations of poroelasticity. The first model considers fractures as planes of weakness (or highly compliant and very thin layers) of infinite extent. In the second model fractures are modeled as thin penny-shaped voids of finite radius. In both models attenuation exhibits a typical relaxation peak around a normalized frequency of about 1. This corresponds to a frequency where the fluid diffusion length is of the order of crack spacing for the first model, and the crack diameter for the second. This is consistent with an intuitive understanding of the nature of attenuation: when fractures are closely space, the waves reflected/scattered by cracks interfere with each other, with the interference pattern controlled by the fracture spacing. Conversely, if fracture length is smaller than spacing, then fractures act as independent scatterers and the attenuation resembles the pattern of scattering isolated cracks.


Every night in Denmark, 1,500-2,000 persons occupy a bed in a shelter for the homeless; and at least the same number of homeless men and women are to be found in jails, hospitals, and other institutions. Between 600 and 1,000 spend the night on the street, and 6,000-9,000 find an occasional bed with friends or acquaintances. This means that the average number of homeless people in Denmark may be estimated to be between 8,000 and 12,000. In view of the different levels of homelessness and the time lag between becoming homeless and having somewhere to live, it is estimated that, over a period of one year, approximately 14,00020,000 Danish inhabitants [ 1 ] , or three to four per thousand of the total population, experience homelessness to a greater or lesser degree. Since comparatively little prevalence research has been carried out in Denmark, the above figures are estimates based on the number of people registered as homeless within special limited areas. As is the case in most European countries, no accepted operational definition of homelessness exists in Denmark, especially one that encompasses "street-dwellers" or people who spend the night on the streets. These people have, for many years, presented an "invisible" problem to people who work on behalf of the homeless (and others) as they tend to keep themselves out of sight. My own estimates are based on many years of experience. For example, I have been able to find many homeless street-dwellers simply by walking around Copenhagen at night; and, having managed to engage some of them in conversation, I have asked for their own estimates of how many people sleep on the streets either in the whole of Copenhagen or particularly in "their neighborhoods." They have suggested figures of 300-500; these figures most probably ought to be doubled to arrive at an estimate for Denmark as a whole.


This paper presents the results of a workshop at which historians of the German Historical Institute in Rome, together with German and Italian experts, looked at the themes of acculturation (adopting a foreign culture), cultural transfer and cultural comparison. They discussed problems and faults with the concepts and ideas in this field, although it was less about whether or not individual ideas make sense and more about pointing out actual contradictions and difficulties that exist in the field of historiographical description on this subject. In this context, the idea of historicizing concepts was considered and, also importantly, the debates surrounding research into and understanding of cultural contacts. The defining factors for cultural transfer, in contrast to the concept of acculturation, seem mostly to be individual initiatives, the intention to re-interpret culture and an interest in adopting a culture.That is why the main subject of this research is places and groups of people as channels, actively seeking to pursue cultural transfer. Acculturation implies continuous direct contact between people in one particular place, whereas cultural comparison needs independent samples that are relatively distant from one another and cultural transfer, though it also looks at the movement of people and ideas, does not necessarily presuppose continuous contact in one place.


76 difficulty following his well-crafted arguments or lively engagement with the ideas of other scholars. Most impressive of all is his subtle analysis of the way music serves the drama in specific scenes. Arguably, this is not a book for the casual movie buff. A nodding acquaintance with these films and their music is recommended; fortunately, the material is mostly available on DVD and compact disc. The author is perhaps more convincing dealing with specific issues—for example, the "two-woman" plot archetype that surfaces in various ways in most of these films, or the "aesthetics of the superlative" that dictated their increasing grandeur— than expounding his larger thesis. Nevertheless, he deserves credit for setting this once noteworthy film genre—and, in particular, the music that supported it so eloquently—into a broader, more meaningful social and political context. In reconsidering the work of several outstanding composers for the screen, Meyer deepens our appreciation of their artistry and pays them fitting tribute.


The complex interaction studies involved complex formation reactions between 14-membered tetraaza macrocycle ligand and Cu 2+ and Fe 2+ metal cations in methanol-water (MeOH-H2O) binary mixtures at different temperatures by applying conductometric method. These are very important due to their role in some analytical applications such as molecular recognition and biological transportation mechanisms. In all cases, the Log Kf of 1:1 formed complexes between ligand and cations were obtained by fitting the molar conductivity curves using the Genplot computer program. The values of thermodynamic parameters, standard enthalpy (∆H) and standard entropy (∆S) for the complexes were obtained from the temperature dependence of the stability constants using the van't Hoff plots. Complexations in every case were found to be entropy stabilized, and the selectivity order of all complexes changes as well as the changes in composition of the solvent mixtures.


wherein, R' is an unsaturated aliphatic bonding-free monova lent hydrocarbon group, and n is an integer of 1 or greater, and a resin-like segment consisting of R,SiO, units wherein, R is a monovalent hydrocarbon group, an alkoxy group, or a hydroxyl group, SiO, units, and/or RSiO2 units wherein, R' is as defined above, in which at least two of all the R groups are alkenyl groups. The composition exhibits strong resistance to thermal shock, and is resistant to cracking even under severe temperature cycling.


The importance that trade in services has acquired was the reason for its inclusion within the folds of World Trade Organisation. Though trade in services has been considered important many countries are cautious to liberalize trade in services due to the fear of possible adverse consequences. Legal sector has been a protected sector in India as well as in many other countries of the world. The article considers the prospect of liberalizing trade in legal services inspite of the fact that there is stiff resistance from the lawyers association to opening legal services in India.


Mn+1AXn phases are ternary carbides or nitrides (X) consisting of an early transition metal (M), and (A)- group element (group III-V). They combine ceramic and metallic properties with high oxidati ...


Innovative techniques in psychiatric therapy–-particularly those involving physical contact between doctor and patient–-have formed the basis for a growing number of malpractice claims brought against psychiatrists and other mental health care professionals. After a review of the standard of care by which the law judges a psychiatrist, this article will present an overview and analysis of the various legal theories that may subject a psychiatrist to civil liability for professional malpractice. The article will conclude that the psychiatrist faced with such a suit must be prepared to offer justification and expert testimony to support the therapeutic value of any physically invasive therapeutic techniques employed.


RTM is known since 1.960's and is widely used for tribological studies of a large variety of constructing materials. Unfortunately, this technique can not be applied directly for low atomic number materials (plastics, elastomers and some ceramics) as no suitable nuclear reactions for their activation by charged particles are known. The problem can be s o 1 v e d bY the Radioactive Nuclei Implantation (RNI) into the area of interest of a machine part. One of the most attractive nuclei is 7 Be. It is the lightest relatively lonqlived one with the halflife of 53.3 days, that decays emitting almost monochromatic gamma-rays with energy 478 keV suitable for RTM appiication.


Abstract : Graphs of calculated and experimental atomic photo-effect cross sections as a function of photon energy 0.1 keV to 1.5 MeV are presented for all elements Z = 1 to 94. The calculated results presented are (a) the nonrelativistic Hartree-Fock self-consistent-field (SCF) results of Veigele, Henry, et al., over the range 0.1 keV to between 1.0 and 8.0 keV for all elements Z = 1 to 94 and (b) the relativistic Hartree-Slater SCF results of Scofield over the range 1.0 keV to 1.5 MeV for all elements Z = 1 to 101. The 'experimental' data-points are derived by subtracting theoretical scattering cross sections from total attenuation coefficient measurements in the literature. Differences between theoretical and experimental photoeffect data are typically a factor of two from 0.1 to 1.0 keV, 5-10% from 1.0 to 5.0 keV and 1-5% from 5.0 keV up to energies, ranging from 20 keV for carbon up to 500 keV for lead, above which the photoeffect cross section becomes fractionally too small to be accurately determined from the total attenuation coefficient. (Author)


Abstract Background Administration of agents that enhance platelet reactivity may reduce the perioperative bleeding risk in patients treated with the adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-receptor antagonist ticagrelor. Adrenaline potentiates ADP-induced aggregation and activation in blood samples from ticagrelor-treated patients, but it has not previously been evaluated in vivo. Methods Ten healthy male subjects were included in an interventional study. A loading dose of ticagrelor (180 mg) was administered, followed 2 hours later by a gradually increased intravenous adrenaline infusion (0.01, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15 µg/kg/min; 15 minutes at each step). Blood pressure, heart rate, platelet aggregation (impedance aggregometry), platelet activation (flow cytometry), clot formation (rotational thromboelastometry) and adrenaline plasma concentration were determined before and after ticagrelor administration and at the end of each adrenaline step. Results Infusion of adrenaline increased ADP-induced aggregation at all doses above 0.01 µg/kg/min. The aggregation increased from median 17 (25−75th percentiles: 14−31) to 25 (21−34) aggregation units (p = 0.012) at 0.10 µg/kg/min. Adrenaline infusion also increased ADP-induced fibrinogen receptor activation (from 29 [22–35] to 46 [38−57%]) and P-selectin expression (from 3.7 [3.0−4.3] to 7.7 [4.7−8.6%]), both p = 0.012. Adrenaline infusion reduced clot formation time (97 [89−110] to 83 [76−90] seconds, p = 0.008) and increased maximum clot firmness (59 [57−60] to 62 [61−64] mm, p = 0.007). Conclusion Infusion of adrenaline at clinically relevant doses improves in vivo platelet reactivity and clot formation in ticagrelor-treated subjects. Adrenaline could thus potentially be used to prevent perioperative bleeding complications in ticagrelor-treated patients. Studies in patients are necessary to determine the clinical importance of our observations. Trial Registry Number ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03441412.


Complex thermal systems are usually disturbed by random factors and need to be modeled by random differential equations. Scholars have grown interests in numerical methods for stochastic differential equations. Milstein[1] used Taylor's expansion to get a numerical solution of a stochastic differential equation, Higham [2] studied the mean-square stability of the Euler-Maruyama method, Higham et al.[3] proved the convergence of the Euler-Maruyama method under the condition of non-total Lipschitz, Hutzenthaler [4] proposed an explicit numerical method for solving stochastic differential equation with non-global Lipschitz continuous coefficients and proved its strong convergence. Wang and Gan [5] suggested an explicit strongly convergent numerical scheme for stochastic differential equations with commutative noise. Various numerical methods have been developed to estimate the parameters of stochastic differential equations, for example, the Gibbs algorithm proposed by Gemans [6], and the resampling algorithm given by Gordon et al. [7]. Eraker[8] used the Bayesian method to discuss estimation of the parameter in model with a stochastic volatility component. Golightly and Wilknson discussed the parameter estimation of the nonlinear multivariate diffusion models based on the missing data [9]. Miguez, et al. [10] discussed the sequential Monte Carlo method in general state-space models. Many studies have been conducted in the field of heat conduction. The interdisciplinary study has also developed rapidly and has penetrated to many disciplines. Various methods for solving the thermal conductivity of materials have been proposed, such as the spirit sensitivity method, the least squares method, the regularization method, and the conjugate gradient method. Martín-Fernández


which has been implied in previous publications (1,2). The finding of elevated type I IFN signatures in both resting and pristanetreated Aim2 mice provides direct evidence that AIM2 inhibits type I IFN production, not only upon DNA transfection in cultured cells (3,4), but also in the SLE mouse model in vivo. Of note, Aim2 deficiency results in not only elevated type I IFN production, but also an enhanced response to IFNβ stimulation (2). Importantly, our work revealed the mechanism through which AIM2 represses type I IFN: sumoylation-mediated inhibition of type I IFN transcription requires ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 2i (Ube2i) (5), and Aim2 partners with Ube2i for its optimal function. In the absence of AIM2, the activity of Ube2i is compromised, which leads to decreased cellular sumoylation; thus, a stronger type I IFN signal appears and more severe lupus nephritis develops. With regard to another autoimmune disease model (multiple sclerosis), 2 recent studies demonstrated that Aim2 deficiency in Treg cells or microglia exacerbates the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) (6,7). In both Treg cells and microglia, Aim2 deficiency resulted in stronger expression of type I IFN–stimulated genes (ISGs) including Irf7 andDdx58, as well as Stat1 phosphorylation (6,7). Therefore, although the Aim2 mice we used were on a mixed (129 × B6) genetic background, Aim2 mice on the C57BL/6 background also exhibited elevated type I IFN signatures and enhanced autoimmune disease activity, demonstrating that, at least in macrophages, Treg cells, andmicroglia, AIM2 inhibits type I IFN signaling (6,7). Conditional knockout of Aim2 in macrophages has not been achieved, but Aim2 is mainly expressed in innate immune cells. Therefore, the findings with universal Aim2 deletion should be largely attributed to innate immune cells including macrophages. Additionally, in our study Aim2Rag1 mice clearly exhibited improvement in disease activity, implying that adaptive immune cells are involved in the nephritis of Aim2 mice, despite deficiency of Aim2 in the B cells and T cells of these mice. In light of findings reported by Yang et al (8), it would be interesting to compare Aim2 deficiency in different types of cells among animals in the same facility with SLE development upon pristane injection, because lupus induction is a long process and microbiota may affect disease development. With regard to the elevated Aim2 expression in SLE patients and apoptotic DNA–treated BALB/c mice (8,9), it should be noted that the Aim2 gene itself is an ISG whose expression can be induced by IFN. Moreover, as demonstrated in the study by Yang et al, IL-10 can also induce the expression of Aim2 (8). Therefore, the elevated expression of Aim2 is likely a result of SLE development rather than a driving factor of the disease. It would be interesting to generate a line of Aim2-overexpressing mice to investigate whether enforced expression of this gene leads to enhancement or alleviation of autoimmune diseases, including SLE and EAE. Supported by grants from the National Key Basic Research Program (2018YFA0507300), the Natural Science Foundation of China (81830049), and the Shanghai Research Leader Program (20XD1403900).


Based on underground geological and structural mapping,the authors proposed that the ore-controlling structure is a diamond ring type in a compresso-shear fault system. The structural controls on orebodies can be concluded as follows: 1) The orebody is limited by structures and exhibits "S" shape on the vertical section.2) The oreveins are somewhat parallel and isometric with spacing of about 60m.Three enriched sections of gold mineralization can be recognized,which are 180~260m in thickness and separated by low grade or barren sections of 80~100m in thickness. 3) The orebodies are preferentially NE-NNE oriented,and the pitches of the NE-vein group and the near SN-vein group are 56°SW and 51°NE,respectively. The tectonic stress field shifted from NWW-compression prior to mineralization,NWW-tension during mineralization,and NNW-compression post-mineralization. Based on the comprehensive geological investigation,structural mapping and numerical simulation of tectonic stress field in mineralization period,five metallogenic prognosis sections are proposed in this mining area.


This study is to investigate the effect of dietary L-carnitine supplementation on lipid metabolism in rats fed with isolated soy protein and casein for their source of protein. Four experimental groups were organized and each group had eight Sprague-Dawley male rats with the initial weight of around 180g. The four groups were CO (casein only supplemented group); CC (casein and 3% L-carnitine supplemented group); ISO (isolated soy protein only supplemented group); ISC (isolated soy protein and 3% L-carnitine supplemented group). All groups were supplemented with the experimental diet for four weeks and carnitine comprised 3% of their diet. The results were as follows; 1. There was no significant difference in food intake among the groups. 2. Final weight gain was significantly lower in the groups supplemented with isolated soy protein than in the groups supplemented with casein (P<0.05). The groups with supplemented casein and carnitine showed the effect of weight reduction (p<0.05). 3. Food efficiency ratio was lower in the groups supplemented with isolated soy protein than in the groups supplemented with casein (p<0.01). The groups supplemented with casein and carnitine showed low food efficiency ratio. 4. The serum total lipid was higher in the groups supplemented with casein than in the groups supplemented with isolated soy protein (p<0.05). 5. Serum total cholesterol was higher in the groups supplemented with casein than in the groups supplemented with isolated soy protein. 6. There was no significant difference in triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol in serum among the groups. 7. Out of the groups supplemented with isolated soy protein the total cholesterol level in liver was low in the groups to which carnitine was supplemented (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference of liver total lipid and triglyceride among the groups. 8. There was no difference in TBARS levels and GSH-Px activities in liver among the groups.


THE ASPECTS OF BIOLOGY ANDEYE ABLATION ON SHRIMP Penaeus monodon PENAEIDAE (DECAPODA: MALACOSTRACA). A qood quality of seeds (fry) is a very important production component to support the shrimp farming activities in ponds. The quantity and quality of shrimp seeds are largely determined by hatchery products obtained from the quality of the broodstock used. The provision of the broodstock is the beginning of the seed production activities and is one of the factors that determines the quality and quantity of the production. The growing demand for mature gonad shrimp is a big problem for shrimp farmers, due to the ability of windu shrimp to spawn in the nature (ripe gonad naturally) takes relatively long time. Therefore, the eye ablation process can accelerate the process of gonad maturity. This article describes some aspects that should be understood in conducting windu shrimp farming as well as explanations of ablation process.


149 Background: Therapy-induced neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is an extremely aggressive variant of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) that is increasing in incidence with the widespread use of second generation of androgen receptor (AR)-pathway inhibitors (APIs) such as enzalutamide (ENZ) and abiraterone. This aggressive variant arises from CRPC-Adenocarcinomas (CRPC-Adeno) via a reversible trans-differentiation process, referred to as neuroendocrine differentiation (NED) wherein cells undergo a lineage switch and exhibit neuroendocrine (NE) features, characterized by expression of neuronal markers such as enolase 2 (ENO2), chromogranin A (CHGA) and synaptophysin (SYP). Currently, histopathological assessment combined with immunohistochemical detection in PCa tissues/serum levels of neuronal markers including SYP, NSE, CHGA and CD56 is currently used to monitor NED in CRPC patients. However, these markers are not sufficiently specific, highlighting the urgent need of novel molecular markers to assess emergence of NED in CRPC patients. Recently, we demonstrated that progression of advanced CRPC with adenocarcinoma characteristics to CRPC-NE is associated with a characteristic set of miRNA alterations that promote plasticity of advanced PCa to NEPC (Bhagirath et al., Oncogene, 2020). Importantly, we could develop a 'novel miRNA classifier' to robustly stratify CRPC-NE tumors from CRPC-Adenocarcinomas. Here we further validate the classifier in independent clinical cohorts and deduce the optimal miRNA genes required for NEPC diagnosis. Methods: Human clinical samples with corresponding clinical information were procured from two independent sites of Prostate Cancer Biorepository Network (PCBN). FFPE sections from clinical samples were microdissected, RNA were extracted and small RNA sequencing was performed using an Illumina NextSeq 500 platform. Sequencing data were analyzed and machine learning algorithms were applied. The performance of classifier was measured using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis with area under the curve (AUC) as the primary evaluation metric. Results: Unsupervised analysis of sequencing data by principal component analyses (PCA) revealed distinct clustering of the CRPC-NE tumors from CRPC-Adenocarcinomas based on miRNA profiles suggesting that miRNA profiles can be used to stratify these tumor types. We applied the '43-miRNA classifier data' we deduced earlier to these validation cohorts. Our analyses showed that a set of 5 miRNAs of the classifier are important in distinguishing between CRPC-Adeno vs CRPC-NE with an AUC=0.8318. Conclusions: A '5- miRNA' classifier was validated to be of significance in two independent validation cohorts. We propose this miRNA classifier as an important tool for diagnosing NED in CRPC patients.


As the common representation of atmosphere environment,the Atmosphere Environment Federation(AEF) has been a critical element of distributed simulation system in recent years.Based on the principles of High Level Architecture(HLA),the special functional requirements of the AEF were firstly analyzed from both technical and applied viewpoints.Then some key technologies and feasible solutions were discussed,including simulation scenario generation,atmosphere environment modeling,meteorological data storage and visualization.At last,a prototype AEF system was developed and two representative applications were given.The simulation results show that,this prototype AEF is reliable,effective and useful for the future practical development of AEF.


State forestry companies (SFCs) are the main owners that manage production forests in Vietnam. During the early 1990s of the Doi moi (market-oriented reform policy) era, SFCs have played an important role in the forestry sector and impacted the livelihood of millions of people living in those managed areas. However, being mainly based on natural forest harvesting, the forests under management of SFCs have been declining in term of both area and quality. Unsustainable forest management is supposed to be a major problem. To date, no natural forest management in Vietnam is recognised to follow sustainable forest management (SFM) principles despite there are now reform policies and SFM approach in tropics.The investigation focuses on reviewing, understanding and evaluating the conventional forest management practices in SFCs based on a Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities- Threats (SWOT) analysis of forest management. In the study, two SFCs in Central Highlands of Vietnam are examined. The research objectives are to identify interventions for promotion of SFM after revealing the disadvantages under conventional forest management practices in SFCs. Special aspects suppose to be examined the weak forest management competency of the owners, the continuous existence of semi-autonomous entities, the lack of environmental awareness, and land-use conflicts with local communities. As expected, the reforms have to focus on the integration of adaptive management concepts of sustainable yield regulation, introduction of reduced impact logging, participatory forestry, multi-scale planning, biodiversity conservation. Moreover, market-based instruments for incentives coming through payment for environmental services (PES), benefit from forest certification (FC), and payment in exchange for reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) should be applied. Consequently, the SFCs have to be fully reformed in order to become independent business SFCs including the autonomy of plan, finance and human resources.The respective promotion steps will be elaborated and connected in an advanced SFM model.


We examine the factors driving rural school consolidations, focusing our analysis on Nebraska. We consider statutory and case law, the school financing formulas that drive consolidation and the efforts by rural citizens to challenge those financing formulas in courts. We analyze how rural school consolidations have been framed in newspaper coverage, in order to see the dominant understandings of the cost-benefit tradeoffs in consolidating rural schools. Finally, we study three cases of rural Nebraska school districts for the insights these cases provide as to the challenges of sustaining rural community schools and the effects of consolidation on the students and the communities. Our conclusion is that schools play a vital role in sustaining rural community life, although the costs to the community when schools are consolidated are more difficult to quantify than the economies of scale that motivate those consolidations.


Intensive insulin therapy is the primary treatment option for patients with type 1 and uncontrolled type 2 diabetes. Insulin pump therapy and multiple daily insulin injections (MDI) are the principal methods of intensive insulin therapy. The clinical utility of an insulin pump is generally greater than an MDI regimen. An artificial pancreas, which is an insulin pump with an integrated continuous glucose monitor (CGM), has recently been introduced on the market with emerging clinical evidence. Although it may offer clinical benefits and reduce the self-management burden among patients with diabetes, its potential for inappropriate use and unaffordability are the major barriers to its universal utilization. Despite the medical assistance program offered by the Korean National Healthcare System, which provides coverage for consumables and devices for diabetes treatment, some patients cannot afford to use an advanced insulin delivery system (i.e., the artificial pancreas). Under the current reimbursement policy, the healthcare system considers an insulin pump and a CGM as separate items for regulatory and reimbursement purposes. In other words, the artificial pancreas is categorized as an insulin pump and reimbursed at the same amount as a traditional insulin pump. The fundamental operating function may be the same between the artificial pancreas and a traditional insulin pump; however, there should be a different reimbursement pathway to make a novel category for the artificial pancreas instead of categorizing it under insulin pumps and to differentiate pricing based on the comparative (cost-) effectiveness among insulin delivery devices. Other countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France are moving toward rapid and universal adoption of the artificial pancreas supported by their clinical governance and regulatory affairs. In this review, we highlight the need to improve the accessibility and affordability of advanced diabetes technology by discussing the current issues in the reimbursement policy that limit the universal use of advanced insulin delivery devices in Korea.


Cognitive conflict is well recognized as an important factor in conceptual change and is widely used in developing constructivism-based curricula. However, cognitive conflicts can also contribute to student anxiety during learning, which, when not properly addressed, can have negative impacts on students' motivation and achievement. Therefore, instructors need to be aware of the impacts of introducing cognitive conflicts in their instruction. We need a practical instrument that can help identify the existence and features of cognitive conflicts introduced by the instruction and the resulting anxiety. Based on the literature on studies of cognitive conflicts and student anxiety, we developed a quantitative instrument, the In-class Conflict and Anxiety Recognition Evaluation (iCARE), and used it to monitor the status of students' cognitive conflicts and anxiety in Physics by Inquiry (PBI) classes. In this paper, we introduce this instrument and present the types of information that can be obtained. Research and pedagogical values of this instrument are also discussed.


Given an integer λ 6= 1, we verify the Hyers-Ulam stability of the alternative Jensen's functional equations f (x y−1)−2 f (x)+λ f (x y) = 0 where f is a mapping from a 2-divisible group to a Banach space and λ is an integer.


Aim To explore and evaluate the affordances of a flipped classroom model applied to a research paper session within the professional development opportunity of a large conference setting. Method Authors were invited to present their research papers in a flipped classroom presentation format at two large, multi-national conferences. Before the session, authors and moderators met online to clarify features of the session, and preparation of the material. The research material was then posted online before the conference, to allow access by meeting attendees. During the sessions, moderators encouraged the audience to actively participate. An evaluation form was collected from the audience at the end of each session. Results Participants found the session valuable, and appreciated the opportunity to engage in a meaningful dialogue with colleagues. However, the majority of the audience did not access the materials in advance. Lack of time, Dario Torre email@example.com 1 Graduate Program in Health Profession Education, Uniformed Services University Of Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA 2 School of Medicine, Medical Education Institute, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK 3 Centre for Medical Education, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland 4 School of Medicine, Institute of Learning and Teaching, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK 5 Institute of Education for Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK or technology-related issues were mentioned as potential challenges to such format. Conclusion In the context of a large conference, a 'flipped session' format can facilitate active learning and a participatory culture of inquiry. However, to change the nature of how individuals learn collaboratively at large conferences means a change in the culture of continuous professional learning.


The structure and classification of graphene composites including graphene-nanoparticle composites,graphene-polymer composites and graphene-carbon based composites are reviewed. The applications of these graphene composites in the field of catalysis,electrochemistry,biological medicine and energetic materials are briefly introduced as well.


Abstract The controlled nitration of poly(oxy-1,4-phenyleneoxy-1,4-phenylenecarbonyl-1,4-phenylene) (PEEK) is reported. Polymers with five different levels of nitration were prepared. IR spectroscopic studies and elemental analyses were performed to determine the substitution pattern; thermal analyses determined the dependence of the glass transition temperature measured by DSC, and the degradation behavior on the level of nitration was measured by TGA, combined with other analyses. All nitration products were amorphous, with T g going up and thermal stability going down with increasing nitration. Room temperature solubility in 14 solvent, with a range of solubility parameter values, has been evaluated and reported for the nitrated PEEKs.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are accepted as one of the fundamental technologies for current and future science in all domains, where WSNs formed from either static or mobile sensor devices allow a low cost high-resolution sensing of the environment. Such opens the possibility of developing new kinds of crucial applications or providing more accurate data to more traditional ones. For instance, examples may range from large-scale WSNs deployed on oceans contributing to weather prediction simulations; to high number of diverse Sensor devices deployed over a geographical area at different heights from the ground for collecting more accurate data for cyclic wildfire spread simulations; or to networks of mobile phone devices contributing to urban traffic management via Participatory Sensing applications. In order to simplify data access, network parameterisation, and WSNs aggregation, WSNs have been integrated in Web environments, namely through high level standard interfaces like Web services. However, the typical interface access usually supports a restricted number of interaction models and the available mechanisms for their run-time adaptation are still scarce. Nevertheless, applications demand a richer and more flexible control on interface accesses – e.g. such accesses may depend on contextual information and, consequently, may evolve in time. Additionally, Web services have become increasingly popular in the latest years, and their usage led to the need of aggregating and coordinating them and also to represent state in between Web services invocations. Current standard composition languages for Web services (wsbpel,wsci,bpml) deal with the traditional forms of service aggregation and coordination, while WS-Resource framework (wsrf) deals with accessing services pertaining state concerns (relating both executing applications and the runtime environment). Subjacent to the notion of service coordination is the need to capture dependencies among them (through the workflow concept, for instance), reuse common interaction


The prediction of the coupled response to horizontal forces is of major importance for the design of footings exposed to dynamic effects. The theory of surface footings greatly overestimates the re...


We study a general multiple layer Rayleigh-Taylor instability problem for both compressible and incompressible inviscid uids. Our main result is that many features of a multilayer system are universal, in the sense they do not depend on such details as the number of layers, their thicknesses, equations of state for the uids, and equilibrium density distributions. It is shown that a compressible system is always more unstable than the corresponding incompressible one. We give a universal upper bound for the growth rate for a given perturbation wave number. Necessary and su cient conditions of stability are determined. For compressible uids, it is possible for the system to be unstable even if there is no density inversion anywhere. General Rayleigh-Taylor unstable modes are characterized, and the range of unstable wave numbers is determined. PACS numbers: 47.10.+g 47.20.Bp Rayleigh-Taylor instability is an acceleration driven instability of density inverted uid interfaces. It is important in a number of physical processes, including inertial con nement fusion, supernova explosion and plumes in thermally driven turbulent boundary layers. We study universal aspects of the small amplitude regime by analytical methods. Our main result is to show that a surprising range of features of the instability is independent of the geometry of the multilayer system, equations of state for the uids and the underlying equilibrium state. It is these universal features on which we focus our attentions. The classical linear analysis of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability deals with a system of two semi-in nite layers of constant density uids. The linear analysis of a multiple layer system of constant density uids was carried out by Mikaelian a few years ago. 3 We are not aware of any study of linear analysis of multiple (beyond two) layer systems with compressible uids. Even for two-layer systems of compressible uids, only the restrictive case in which each uid satis es the ideal gas equation of state and the mechanical equilibrium state is assumed to be isothermal within each layer, has been studied. 5 A variety of numerical methods and dynamical models were used to study the nonlinear growth regime, Readers can trace further references through these papers and from the review paper by D. Sharp. A multiple layer system with at interfaces can be in a mechanical equilibrium for any density distribution (z), as long as the equilibrium pressure p(z) satis es d p(z) a d z + g (z) = 0; (1) where g is the gravitational acceleration constant. Linearizing the Euler equations for compressible uids around this equilibrium state and after some algebraic manipulations, we obtain two rst order linear ODEs, A0 = g a c2 A 1a ( k a + 1 a c2 )B; (2a) B0 = ( + q)A+ g a c2 B; (2b)


Introduction Thrips are the major arthropod pest of onions in Georgia. Thrips are primarily a concern as a direct pest of onions, with feeding resulting in loss of effective photosynthetic leaf area and a reduction in bulb size. More recently, thrips have been associated with potential introduction and spread of some onion diseases. When thrips populations increase, generally near the end of the production season, growers rely on foliar insecticides for control. Insecticidal control options are limited, with few new insecticides registered on onions and insecticide resistance in thrips. Thus, insecticide efficacy studies on onions are needed to monitor for insecticide resistance and to identify new efficacious compounds for potential registration. This study was conducted to verify the efficacy of currently recommended insecticides and evaluate the efficacy of potential new insecticides for thrips control on onions. While several thrips species may be found on onions, the primary species on onions in the Vidalia onion production region in the past two years and in this study was the tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca.


This study, was carried out in 2011/2012, to investigate the yield and quality parameters of apple fruits (double red delicious) with different irrigation systems; surface and trickle irrigation and with different water levels; 100, 75 and 50 % of ETc. Traditional irrigation (rainfall irrigation) presented 34.8% from ETc. The water irrigation requirement was determined by using Penman-Monteith's equation. An increase in fruit yield, properties and quality (fruit diameter, fruit weight, total soluble solid and sugar) has been noted with trickle irrigation method comparing with surface and rainfall irrigations. The highest fruit diameter (80.9 mm), fruit mass (216.3 g), extra and class 1 fruit ratios (36.2 and 36.5%), total soluble solid (1.551 ton/fed) and sugar (1.38 ton/fed) were observed with DET100 treatment. To obtain a high quantity and quality apples, DET100 treatment with 100% ETc and trickle irrigation system are recommended during transition from rainfall and surface irrigation to trickle irrigation for similar climatic and soil conditions. The results showed that trickle irrigation system increases the qualitative and quantitative properties of apple fruits.


Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders in children and adolescents. An estimated 3-5% of children in the developmental age are affected. ADHD is associated with an increased risk of other mental disorders, obesity, propensity for addiction, and the development of diseases of the oral cavity. This paper attempts to summarize the existing research on the impact of ADHD on the occurrence of dental caries. Previous studies have shown that children and adolescents with ADHD are at a higher risk; however, the reasons for this association are not fully understood. It appears that the pharmacological treatment does not play a significant role since the resulting decrease of saliva secretion is negligible. It is believed, however, that nutritional and hygienic habits have a large effect, contingent upon specific character traits of people with the discussed disorder. results of the previous studies are


Theorem 2 is also consequence of Theorem 1, so the two theorems are equivalent. In fact, the implication Theorem 1 ⇒ Theorem 2 is usually how one first meets the fundamental theorem of algebra in a linear algebra course: it assures us that every complex square matrix has an eigenvector because the characteristic polynomial of the matrix has a complex root. But here, we will prove Theorem 2 without assuming Theorem 1, so we can deduce Theorem 1 as a consequence of Theorem 2. Our argument is a modification of a proof by H. Derksen [1]. It uses an interesting induction. Our starting point is the following lemma.


Given a nite dimensional algebra over an algebraically closed eld one frequently disregards the projective objects in the category mod of nite dimensional-modules and focuses on the stable category mod. The objects of mod are those of mod but the Hom-groups are the ordinary Hom-groups modulo the subgroup of those morphisms which factor through a projective-module. In this paper we show that mod determines the representation type of. Recall that the algebra is either tame, i.e. all nite dimensional indecomposable-modules belong to one-parameter families, or is wild, i.e. there are two-parameter families of nite dimensional indecomposable-modules 8]. Of course, one feels that this dichotomy should not depend on the deletion of nitely many objects in the category mod , and this is precisely one of the main results of this paper. More precisely, given another algebra ? and an equivalence mod ! mod ?, then ? is tame if is tame. Moreover, we show that the equivalence sends the one-parameter families in mod to one-parameter families in mod ?. The fact that mod determines the representation type of also follows, for some classes of symmetric algebras, from recent work of Assem, de la Pe~ na and Erdmann 2, 9]; however their methods are completely diierent. Equivalences between stable module categories have been studied by many authors. They naturally occur for instance in representation theory of nite groups. Another source of examples , which includes every algebra of Loewy length 2, is the class of algebras stably equivalent to a hereditary algebra. Usually the analysis concentrates on homological properties of the category mod which are preserved by an equivalence mod ! mod ?. In this paper we follow a diierent approach. We investigate pure-injective modules which are not necessarily nitely presented. Among them the endoonite modules are of particular interest. Recall that a module is endoonite if it is of nite length when regarded in the natural way as a module over its endomorphism ring. In order to study the non-nitely presented-modules we introduce a new category ?! lim mod which is essentially determined by the following three properties: (i) ?! lim mod contains, up to equivalence, mod as a full subcategory. (ii) ?! lim mod is an additive category with direct limits. (iii) Every object in ?! lim mod is a direct limit of objects in mod. The canonical functor mod ! mod induces a functor Mod ! ?! lim …


Even though undergraduate engineering education often considers laboratory experiments as its practical component, these activities may not contribute to the development of soft (professional) skills. At "Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia", Perú, a series of courses called interdisciplinary projects has been created to promote the development of professional skills through project-based learning; herein, we report the experience of an interdisciplinary group of students focused on designing an indoor air filtration system to improve air quality and to reduce the spread of coronavirus diseases. Eight undergraduate engineering students were organized into three groups and worked collaboratively to learn about antiviral nanocomposites, user-centered design, and electromechanical systems design; they showed their progress and received feedback from each other through weekly meetings. In addition, they leaned on applications to organize the group work and share the bibliography consulted; finally, we collected feedback from these students on the proposed learning method. The positive impact of our problem-based learning approach on undergraduate engineering students is discussed.


The aim of this study was to investigate whether children in England with narcolepsy who received the ASO3 adjuvanted pandemic A/H1N1 2009 influenza vaccine (Pandemrix) differed clinically from unvaccinated patients.


The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a component having a composite structure of a fiber composite material and a metallic material, in which incorporated in an alternative method, a molding composed of the composite fiber material into a mold and at least a portion of the molded part is encapsulated in a casting process with the metallic material , At least this portion of the molding is provided in front of the casting process with an electrically insulating sheathing, with the metallic material prevents contact of the fiber composite material and a positive and / or non-positively connected to the fiber composite material and the metallic material. The enclosure is preferably provided as a separate component, in which the molded part is inserted in front of the connection. The method is particularly suitable for the production of components having a composite structure of a fiber composite material, in particular CFRP, and aluminum or an aluminum alloy. With the method, such components can be manufactured in simple manner and without risk of a subsequent electrochemical corrosion at the joints.


AbstractIn this research, the adsorption process of Reactive Blue 19 (RB19) as an anionic dye onto functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNTs) was studied. For this purpose, four parameters including agitation time, adsorbent dose, initial dye concentration, and pH were examined. N2 adsorption isotherms and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize f-MWCNTs. Four isotherm and four kinetic models including two diffusion models were applied to comprehensively investigate the RB19 adsorption using f-MWCNTs. It was found that the adsorption follows Langmuir and Temkin equilibrium models with a maximum adsorption capacity of 217.39 mg g−1. The adsorption process best fitted to pseudo-second-order kinetic model and by applying diffusion models, the predominant rate-limiting step was found to be physisorption during the liquid film diffusion.


Crown cells are considered to be typical for the Saccus vasculosus of gnathostome fishes. In Acipenser ruthenus these cells could be found on the entire floor of the diencephalon by SEM. There is one accumulation of crown cells in the frontal Recessus praeopticus, one caudal to the optic chiasma and one on the floor of the Recessus lateralis. The number of apical processes of the crown cells decreases significantly according to their distance from the Saccus vasculosus. In all basal gnathostome fishes examined until now, crown cells were found on the floor of the diencephalon outside the Saccus vasculosus.


The development of clean energy sources is a subject in focus and boosts fuel cells for research. In this context, studies on proton conductive membranes have an important role. In the present work two groups of membranes were synthetized: one contained SPEEK/SnO2 (varying the content of tin oxide from 2%, 4% and 6%) and the other with SPEEK/SnO2/HPW. The change in the membrane structure was characterized by X-ray diffraction, the swelling in water and ethanol solution uptake test, thermal stability using TGA, change in Tg in DSC, the selective permeability by pervaporation test in water and the solution ethanol and proton conductivity by impedance spectroscopy. Through these analyses, it is possible to verify some effects: the tin oxide particles reduced the Tg membranes, they also controlled the membranes swelling in water and kept it approximately 30% lower than the pure SPEEK swelling and finally, among the tin oxide quantities tested in the membranes, it was reached 67.8 mS/cm as maximum value of proton conductivity.


The lattice dynamical properties of ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{x}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{TiO}}_{3}$ single crystals with $x=0.05$, 0.1, 0.2, 0.35, and 0.5 have been studied by Raman spectroscopy in the temperature range $5\char21{}300\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}.$ We present the data on the composition and temperature dependence of the phonon modes in ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{x}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{TiO}}_{3}$, in particular, the soft modes. At low temperatures, the well-defined $E$ and ${A}_{1}$ soft modes have been observed in the crystals of all compositions studied. For low $\mathrm{Ba}$ content $(xl0.2)$ the soft modes extrapolate to zero and remain underdamped in the entire temperature range, indicating the displacive type of the ferroelectric phase transition. For $x\ensuremath{\gtrsim}0.2$, i.e., in the composition range of the ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{x}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{TiO}}_{3}$ phase diagram where three ferroelectric phases exist, the soft modes exhibit less softening and become heavily damped in the temperature range corresponding to the orthorhombic and tetragonal phases. This demonstrates that the order-disorder-type behavior becomes stronger with increasing $\mathrm{Ba}$ content. However, no first-order Raman scattering in the cubic phase was observed in ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{x}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{TiO}}_{3}$ of compositions studied, in contrast to pure ${\mathrm{BaTiO}}_{3}$. The temperature behavior of the ${A}_{1}$ soft mode indicates that the ferroelectric phase transition is of the first order in ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{x}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{TiO}}_{3}$ with $x\ensuremath{\gtrsim}0.2$, and turns into the second order for smaller $\mathrm{Ba}$ concentrations.


Red lists of taxa are important documents gui ding the prioritization of conservation efforts. However the actua l process of arriving at red lists has been conten tious, bec ause of the pa ucity of hard ecological data. In this article, we examine the red listing of plant sp ecies at two geographical scales: regional and local in the Western Ghats, India. At the regional level, we co m-pared the rarity (or abundance) of the red li sted and the co -occurring non -red -listed sp ecies in fifteen sites across Western Ghats. For the local level analysis, we compared the distr ibution and demographic profile of red -listed medicinal plants with co -occurring non -red -listed species at two field sites in the Western Ghats. At both the regional and the local scales, our analyses showed that the red -listed species, as a group are not any more disadvantaged than the non -red -listed sp ecie s. Our results lay caution on the process of incl usion of specie s in red-lists and urge the necessity of strong fiel d data to make the red -listing process more r obust. I


Neotropical forested landscapes have become agricultural areas and human settlements, causing forest fragmentation, land degradation, and habitat loss. Nonetheless, complex tree cover loss and recovery processes may occur even while urban areas expand. Biophysical, social, political, and economic drivers influence forest loss or recovery over time. This study analyzes land-use change dynamics in urban and peri-urban landscapes in the western sector of Xalapa City between 1966–2018 and identifies the primary drivers that have played a significant role in deforestation and forest recovery processes. The main finding denotes the city's expansion between 1966 and 2018, initially covering 8% of the study area and increasing to 27%. However, between 1966 and 2018, 15% of forest cover was lost in net terms, a finding ascribed to forest recovery in some abandoned areas. Social and biophysical variables significantly influenced deforestation and forest recovery trends, and few variables were singular to one process. The deceleration of forest loss and accomplishing tree cover recovery are possible in some urban settings. In this context, green urban and peri-urban landscapes become strategic to achieve more sustainable cities. Among other benefits, green areas provide landscape connectivity, temperature regulation, air quality improvement, noise dampening, and recreational areas.


Sometime In the 1960s, the concept of therapeutic drug dependence on antipsychotics and antidepressants first surfaced, since it became obvious that some individuals would never be able to stop taking these drugs. The fact that withdrawal problems could occur while one was still on treatment with drugs that were neither euphoriants nor disruptive to motivational hierarchies seemed to be completely irreconcilable with theories of addiction. That was the case then, and still is now.


Designed an assistant adoptive network-site,which takes PHP that is a built-in script languang at server end as develop tools,and takes MYSQL database as background supportor.described the main function of this system's main module and the main technique for realizing it.


Theories of public participation, such as the Civic Voluntarism model, typically assume that local participation takes place in the polity where one resides. However, as citizens have become increasingly mobile, this assumption should not be taken for granted. Particularly in the city-regions (cities with functionally interrelated hinterlands) many citizens travel to other municipalities for work, studies, shopping or leisure activities. Many of these journeys take place between the central city and its suburbs. To what extent is there a corresponding intermunicipal political orientation among citizens? Can this be explained by the Civic Voluntarism model or are other theories needed? These questions are investigated on the basis of survey data from 7200 citizens from seven Swedish city-regions, belonging to three different size classes. The study is unique as investigations of these matters have not been previously carried out. The analysis shows that the Civic Voluntarism model is only partly relevant. Citizens that have a strong political engagement and belong to recruiting networks are more likely to have a political orientation that cuts across the municipal borders between cities and hinterlands, but access to extensive resources will generally not make such an orientation more common. Apart from revising the Civic Voluntarism model along these lines, this model also needs to be complemented by other factors. To have links across the city-suburb borderline, and to live in a large city region enhances the inter-municipal political orientation. Suburban dwellers also turn out to be more interested in city politics than vice versa. The findings have both theoretical and practical implications. The Civic Voluntarism model should be revised and expanded so it can account for cross-municipal political orientations. The findings challenges traditional territorial boundaries and calls for reforms that open up for new means of inter-municipal democracy, particularly in the larger city-regions.


Many of the proposed uses for the high-T/sub c/ superconductor involve the creation of a magnetic field using superconducting coils. This report will assess what is known about the high-T/sub c/ superconductors and take a realistic look at their potential use in various kinds of superconducting magnets. Based on what is known about the high-T/sub c/ superconductors, one can make a ''wish list'' of things that will make such materials useful for magnets. Then, the following question is asked. If one had a high-T/sub c/ superconductor with the same properties as modern niobium-titanium superconductor, how would the superconductor work in a magnet environment. Finally, this report will show the potential impact of the ideal high-T/sub c/ superconductor on: 1) accelerator dipole and quadrupole magnets, 2) superconducting magnets for use in space, and 3) superconducting solenoids for magnetic resonance imaging. 78 refs., 11 tabs.


The system proposed in this paper is smartcard terminal that interfaces with a smartphone device, rather than a computer. In attempt to make point of sale (POS) systems more accessible, the customer needs to have a pre-paid value loaded on their card before they can make a purchase. To authenticate a purchase the user will need to present their card and enter personal PIN and the amount will be deducted from the total they have loaded on their card when a payment is made. The data in the system is secured using a software implementation of 3DES which had an 8-bit variable limitation to control memory usage.


A clarion call is heard throughout the world of education on the need to document student learning outcomes. Learning institutions at all levels are under increasing pressure from government agencies, the public at large, and even students to show that graduates are achieving the desired learning goals. This article describes the efforts of a department of psychology to achieve and document its undergraduate student learning goals. Through a research-intensive senior capstone experience, the department demonstrated its undergraduate curriculum results in significant and positive student learning outcomes. The department received the 2006 Council for Higher Education Accreditation Award for Institutional Progress in Student Learning Outcomes in recognition of its efforts. The cry for higher education to have greater accountability for student learning has reached a fever pitch in state legislatures across the country. As recently as February 2007, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices issued a brief addressing accountability in higher education and offered three recommendations for governors to follow. The first recommendation addressed the identification and assessment of statewide learning outcomes while the second required student competencies to be assessed on both an institutional and statewide basis. The third recommendation clearly indicated the high stakes nature of documenting student learning outcomes by tying student learning outcome data directly to resource and program approval decisions. The governors' brief comes on the heels of a comprehensive report on the state of higher education released by the U.S. Department of Education in 2006. The report is commonly known as the Spellings Report (U.S. Department of Education, 2006) since it is the result of a commission appointed by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. The report urged, among other things, greater transparency and accountability in student learning outcomes in higher education. Increased scrutiny about student learning outcomes seems ubiquitous at a time when higher education and accreditation agencies are still grappling with identifying the best measures of these outcomes. Many institutions have well-conceived assessment programs designed to measure their students' learning. A large number of these programs and related resources are listed on North Carolina State University's Internet Resources for Higher Education Outcomes Assessment. Other resources are available from accrediting bodies, specialized or professional accrediting associations, and specialty journals like Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. The large number and variety of resources available describing different methods of assessment support more than ever Ewell's 1997 assertion that there is no clear understanding of what "collegiate learning" really means and thus, no standardized ways to promote or measure it. In this atmosphere of increased attention to student learning outcomes, accreditation agencies have been active in responding to the call for accountability (Ewell, 2004). In 2006, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) announced a competition for institutional progress in student learning outcomes. According to the application, the "award acknowledges outstanding institutional progress in developing and applying evidence of student learning outcomes as part of the ongoing evaluation and improvement of college and university programs of study" (CHEA, 2006, p. 1). The types of documented evidence of student learning outcomes sought included comprehensive or capstone examinations, external or licensure examinations, performances or demonstrations, student portfolios, or samples of student work. Student learning outcomes by one definition are "the knowledge, skills and abilities that a student has attained at the end (or as a result) of his or her engagement in a particular set of higher education experiences" (CHEA, 2006, p. …