In presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the Library of the University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote from, to copy from, or publish this dissertation may be granted by the author or, in his/her absence, the professor under whose direction it was written or, in his absence, by the Dean of the Robinson College of Business. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for the scholarly purposes and does not involve potential financial gain. It is understood that any copying from or publication of this dissertation which involves potential gain will not be allowed without written permission of the author. All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University Library must be used only in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding statement. ACCEPTANCE This dissertation was prepared under the direction of the David J. Lyons Dissertation Committee. It has been approved and accepted by all members of that committee, and it has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctoral of Philosophy in Business Administration in the J. When a major disruption occurs, an organization's performance is usually negatively affected. The great recession of 2008 – 2009 was such a disruption which had global implications that had not been seen since the great depression that started in the 1930s. This thesis is intended to contribute to the understanding of how leanness and slack resources affect firm performance in the presence of disruptions that test supply chain resilience, or the ability to restore the firm's performance to its original condition after encountering stress or a large disturbance. These disruptions may not only affect the firm's financial performance during the disruption but also well after the disruption has occurred. Two industries with differing supply chains, food and beverage, and electronics and computer, were investigated. The study is based on archival data (N=10,020 and 668 firms) with observations from just before and just after the great recession, a disruption that affected the entire global economy. Our results suggest (1) the effect of inventory leanness and slack resources on firm performance is industry specific; and (2) variation in firm performance is less in the post-disruptive period than in the pre-disrupted …


Abstract Vertical shafts are common structures in buildings, which accelerate smoke spread in fires due to stack effect. In this study, fire smoke movement and distribution in a ventilation shaft were studied through analysing temperature distributions, velocity distributions, CO2 concentration distributions and pressure distributions. Four exhaust rates were discussed and compared. It was found that the status of gas flow at the bottom of the shaft was firstly disturbed when the exhaust fan was working. Then some eddies appeared. As the number of eddies was increased and eddies got enlarged, gas flow in the entire shaft was influenced from the bottom to the top. A high temperature area and a strong convection area appeared close to the open door which was located at the bottom of the shaft. When the exhaust fan was working, the high temperature area and the strong convection area were both controlled at lower positions. The CO2 concentration and the pressure in the shaft were negatively related to the exhaust rate, while the neutral pressure plane height was positively related to the exhaust rate.


The invention relates to polypeptides of the anti-P S capable of inhibiting the binding of proteins and protein C4BP antibody. Peptides and antibodies are useful in diagnostic methods and systems for purifying or detecting free protein S. In addition, the polypeptides are useful in therapeutic methods as anticoagulants.


For the high frequency application in mobile communication technology, the operating frequency is over 3GHz, hence the ferromagnetic resonance frequency (fres) of magnetic films must be over 3 GHz. In this study, FeCoHfO alloy is chosen as a promising material system for this application. Inserting an insulator (e.g., AlOx) layer into ferromagnetic layers is a good way to enhance the resistivity and therefore to reduce the eddy current loss. A significant reduction of hard axis anisotropic field was observed when the number of multilayer reached five. With this optimum condition of [FeCoHfO (400 nm)/AlOx (10 nm)]3, favorable magnetic properties (effective anisotropy field of 110 Oe), high frequency characteristics (permeability ∼ 100 at 100 MHz and ferromagnetic resonance frequency over 3 GHz) and high electrical resistivity ρ ∼ 1074 μΩcm were obtained.


Chimeric repressor gene-silencing technology is a useful tool for changing morphology of ornamental plants. It has previously been demonstrated that the chimeric repressor TCP3SRDX, which consists of Arabidopsis TCP3 and an ERF-associated amphiphilic repression motif repression domain, perturbs the marginal morphology of Arabidopsis leaves and flowers. To obtain new rose cultivars that have ornamental values, we attempted to alter the morphology of Rosa×hybrida cv. Lavande with TCP3SRDX. The TCP3SRDX transgenic rose plants showed interesting phenotypes: the number of leaflets and the size of leaf teeth increased, the petals were wavy, and the sepals were compound-leafy. We succeeded in altering rose morphology using Arabidopsis TCP3 without the sequence information of a TCP3 homologue in the target plant species.


The invention discloses a plasma damage detection test structure. The plasma damage detection test structure includes a first antenna, a voltage source, a ground reference, a first transistor comprising a first source, a first gate, and a first drain. The plasma damage detection test structure further includes a second transistor comprising a second source, a second gate, and a second drain. The first gate is conductively coupled to said first antenna, said first drain and said second drain are conductively coupled to said voltage source, and said first source and said second source are conductively coupled to said ground reference. In various embodiments multiple antennas may be used. The antennas may be multiple configurations, such as a symmetric arrangement or asymmetric arrangement. In various embodiments, multiple transistors in parallel or cross-couple arrangements may be used.


Chou Rite·Diguan· Meishi is the earliest marriage legislation in ancient China.It is relatively standard in the following five aspects: marriage age,registration and management,promote marriage policy,the dowry amount,and matrimonial proceedings.Though there were many details not well compared with nowadays marriage laws,it laid the foundation of ancient Chinese marriage legislation from the whole framework.Other pre-qin literature can't be compared with it.Recent years slips unearthed demonstrate that the marriage regulations in Meishi basically belong to the warring states period.


Text-based person search is an important sub-task in cross-modality image retrieval, aiming to capture interested person images by giving textual descriptions. The huge information differences between image and text modalities make this task challenging. Recent methods take local-aligned feature learning strategy into consideration, but lack sufficient mining of more local information. Accordingly, we explore a Multi-level Part-aware Feature Disentangling (MPFD) framework to more fully extract visual and textual representations from multiple angles. Specifically, we introduce a Textual Part-aware Matching (TPM) module into the existing baseline, to disentangle local features for detailed information from both visual and textual part-aware aspects. Besides, in order to fuse multiple local features and improve discrimination of global features, we propose a Multi-level Feature Integration (MFI) module which is capable to perceive the relations between features. We carry out adequate experiments on CUHK-PEDES and ICFG-PEDES datasets to verify our proposed framework, and the results demonstrate that MPFD framework performs favorably against the state-of-the-art methods.


People often detect structure and patterns in data that is random. This difficulty in accurately evaluating randomness manifests itself in mistaken beliefs that a fair coin has a bias towards heads or tails, detection of causal relationships between variables that randomly co-occur, or observation of illusory correlations between continuous variables. A computational analysis of an optimal reasoner's performance on these three tasks suggests that this difficulty does not arise simply because people have an irrational disposition to see meaning in randomness, but because the underlying inference problem is intrinsically hard– for both statistical inference and human intuition. This analysis suggests that randomly produced data is inherently ambiguous, because data which is randomly produced can often also be produced by a systematic process. An experiment is reported which provides evidence that inferences about randomness are inherently difficult.


The dynamics of nitrogen fixation, emissions of N2O and CO2 in pea agrocoenoses under the influence of different fertilization systems and pre-sowing seeds inoculation with microbial preparation Rhizohumin were studied in stationary field experiment on leached black soil (short crop rotation potatoes – spring barley – peas – winter wheat). It was observed that symbiotic nitrogen fixation process had become active on the second year aftereffect of 40 t/ha of cattle manure, green manure and use of low (N30P30K30) and medium (N60P60K60) doses of mineral fertilizers. Rhizohumin had significantly increase nitrogen fixation activity in all variants except of the one with manure. Increase of N2O emissions had corresponded to the increasing doses of mineral fertilizers. The use of biological preparation had ensured the reduction of gaseous nitrogen losses due to the initiation of plants development. Carbon dioxide emission values had depended on the type and dose of fertilizers. Rhizohumin had reduced the emission of gaseous carbon compounds in variants with different fertilizer backgrounds due to its extensive use in the formation of additional yield.


Summary Kinetic growth rate of the Theileria annulata (T.annualata) schizont infected monocyte-macrophage cell (SIMC) using modified Stoker medium in different incubation conditions was studied. In this regard 28 Roux flasks were divided into four groups each of 7. Two groups (one with HEPES and the other without HEPES) were incubated with carbon dioxide flow. The reminder two groups were incubated under conventional condition. All bottles were observed for viability test and pH changes daily up to 7 days. To study the effect of airflow on cell growth rate some glass tubes with different diameter were inserted through stopper of Roux bottles containing cultured SIMC. The results indicate that carbon dioxide flow together with HEPES have an increasing effect on cell quantity moreover, the specific growth rate index of all groups were similar. The different amounts of airflow doesn't have any effect on oxygen consumption, therefore the routine culture method using the trapped air in bottles, is the most suitable method for making a suspension culture of T.annulata SIMCs.


WE CAN MAKE A FILM POLYESTER PARTICULARLY SUITABLE FOR USE AS FILM BASIC MATERIALS FOR MAGNETIC RECORDING AND HAVING EXCELLENT FEATURES OF SLIPPERY EQUALITY SURFACE SLIP AND SUSTAINABILITY IN A FILM CONFER THE POLY CONDITIONS SURFACE REPRESENTED BY THE FORMULA R 2 10.h 0.008, WHERE R IS THE AVERAGE ROUGHNESS (MICRON) H AND THE NUMBER OF FRINGE INTERFERENCE SECONDARY EXTENT THE METHOD OF MULTIPLE INTERFERENCE (NOMBRE1MM).


Global resource scarcity has recently led to a proliferation of nonviolent resource conflicts, with one of the most viable being the direct physical confrontation on the high seas between Greenpeace (a transnational conservationist organization) and the Soviet whaling ships. Focusing on the politics of whaling, this study explores the possibility that conflict between private lobbying groups and nations may be more effective in achieving environmentalist objectives than the more traditional government-to-government negotiations. The limits to the generalizability of this notion are then delineated.


The ectomycorrhizal fungi Suillus granulatus and Paxillus involutus were grown in both liquid culture (LC) and in symbiosis with Pinus sylvestris seedlings under sterile conditions. In LC, the activities of tyrosinase, laccase and peroxidase, and also the oxidation rates of litter‐ and lignin‐derived phenolics were determined. LC mycelia of S. granulatus showed intracellular tyrosinase, laccase, and peroxidase activities. In the culture fluid, extracellular laccase and tyrosinase activities were found. P. involutus predominantly produced intracellular laccase. LC mycelia of S. granulatus suspended in buffer oxidized a range of phenolic acids and mono‐ and diphenolic compounds by intracellular mechanisms more effectively than did mycelia of P. involutus. In addition, LC mycelia of S. granulatus oxidized p‐cresol also by extracellular mechanisms. In symbiosis with Scots pine, S. granulatus and P. involutus increased the level of peroxidase in the fungus/root homogenate and in the nutrient solution of the mycorrhizal plants. Polyphenol oxidase activities were only found with S. granulatus as the mycorrhizal symbiont, and were possibly responsible for the high rate of p‐cresol oxidation by this mycorrhizal association. The results suggest that fungal phenol oxidizing enzymes of ectomycorrhizas can substantially contribute to humification and detoxification processes in soil.


Bicycle safety programs are of particular value to the community since they have both short and long term benefits. To achieve these ends with maximum efficiency, a 'national bicycle safety plan' (nbsp) proposed to be implemented over a five year period. Its quantitative aim is: 'to make bicycle use for all age groups as safe as that for motor vehicles; at least on a time of exposure basis.' Commencement in mid 1987 is suggested, with the previous year devoted to infrastructure establishment and data gathering. Major proposed nbsp programs include: engineering - all new roads, road reconstruction and maintenance to adhere to 'bicycle safe' design standards, with guidelines to be produced through NAASRA; behavioural - unlawful and unsafe behaviour by cyclists to be eradicated through educative and punitive enforcement schemes (bicycle offence reports and on the spot fines). More emphasis is to be placed on the secondary school age group, through an 'Australian cycling course' to teach the vehicular use of the bicycle, and a bicycle proficiency scheme with certification at two levels; equipment - most emphasis on the specification and production of effective and reliable bicycle lighting systems; also, the Australian bicycle helmet standard to be upgraded with mandatory compliance to be effected as soon as possible (a).


The paper presents a study on increasing energy independence of a 200 m 2 horticultural hothouse, by means of heating it with thermal energy from a TLUD (top-lit-up-draft) gasification procedure of local residual agricultural biomass, chopped at 10-50 mm and dried at 10%-15% RH (relative humidity). It produces an average of 14% higt quality biochar. Hot-air heating system and forced circulation are equipped with two GAZMER 40/150G energetic modules, which are rechargeable, simple, safe, efficient and environmentally friendly. They can gasify chopped or pelletised biomass. To study the microclimate evolution, it was used a complex numerical model for a 200 m 2 hothouse for growing vegetables. Simulated experiments were carried out for frosty days and, estimated, for the whole warming period. Each year 13.44 t of biomass are consumed, resulting 1.78 t of biochar which, when introduced in soil, produces a -6.2 t/year negative balance of CO2.


Objective: Evaluation of liga clips (titanium clips) in laparoscopic cholecystectomy in terms of saftey, efficacy and cost effectiveness. Methods: This study was carried out in Dhiraj Hospital & Sumandeep University, Piparia Vadodara (INDIA) from July 2014 to March 2015. 60 Patients of either sex, more than 20 years of age, who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy were included in the study. The patients who had jaundice, empyema, mucocele, mass or dilated CBD (>8 mm in Diameter) and patients having positive hepatitis B or C virus screening test were excluded. All of the patients underwent LC for symptomatic cholelithiasis and closure of the CD and cystic artery were performed, through the application of non-absorbable titanium clips (double clips to the proximal and single clip to the distal). Results: The mean age of patients was 40.30 years with female to male ratio 5.6:1. Acute cholecystitis was present in 5% cases. The mean operative time was 76 min. The open conversion rate was 5 % (3 cases). 2 cases opened due to adhesion and one cases opened due to acute inflammation. There was no bile duct or colonic injuries. There was also no slippage or migration of liga clip occurred. Two (3.3%) patients had bile leak (minor < 50 cc) which was managed conservativley by putting drain, 1 (1.3%) patient developed port site wound infection,1(1.3%) patient developed intra operative haemorrhage. Drain was placed in Morrison's pouch in 6 (10%) patients. The post-op hospital stay was 1.63 days. There was no mortality. Conclusion: We conclude that as far as the haemostasis of the cystic artery & cystic duct ligation is concerned,


1. See, e.g., Georg C. Bruckmann, Altwestnordische Farbsemantik, Munchner Nordistische Studien i i (Munich: Herbert Utz Verlag, 2012); Natalie M. Van Deusen, " The Matter of blar in Tristrams kv&5i," Arthuriana 22 (2012): 109 -15 ; Kirsten Wolf, " Basic Color Terms in Old Norse-Icelandic: A Quantitative Study," Or5 og tunga 15 (2013): 14 1-6 1 ; " The Color Blue in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature," Scripta Islandica 57 (2006): 55-78; " The Color Brown in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature," NO W ELE [Forthcoming]; " The Color Grey in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature," JE G P 108 (2009): 222-38; " The Colors of the Rainbow in Snorri's Edda," Maal og minne (2007): 51-62; " Reflections on the Color of Esau's Pottage of Lentils (Stjorn 160.26-161.9)," Gripla 16 (2005): 251-57 ; " Snorri's Use of Color Terms in Gylfaginning," Skandinavistik 37 (2007): 110 ; " Some Comments on Old Norse-Icelandic Color Terms," Arkiv for nordisk filologi 12 1 (2006): 173-92 ; " Towards a Diachronic Analysis of Old Norse-Icelandic Color Terms: The Cases of Green and Yellow," Or5 og tunga 12 (2010): 109-30; Anna Zanchi, " The Colour Green in Medieval Icelandic Literature: Natural, Supernatural, Symbolic?" in The Fantastic in Old Norse/Icelandic Literature: Sagas and the British Isles, Preprint Papers o f the Thirteenth International Saga Conference, Durham and York 6th-i2th August, 2006, ed. John McKinnell et al. (Durham: Durham University, 2006), 1096-1104. 2 . See Bruckmann, Altwestnordische Farbsemantik; Wolf, " Some Comments."


The invention is a ceramic membrane reactor for syngas production having a reaction chamber, an inlet in the reactor for natural gas intake, a plurality of oxygen permeating ceramic slabs inside the reaction chamber with each slab having a plurality of passages paralleling the gas flow for transporting air through the reaction chamber, a manifold affixed to one end of the reaction chamber for intake of air connected to the slabs, a second manifold affixed to the reactor for removing the oxygen depleted air, and an outlet in the reaction chamber for removing syngas.


A series of Nd2−yDyyFe17−xSix solid solutions with x=0, 1, 2, and 3 and y=0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 were prepared by induction melting stoichiometric amounts of high-purity elements. The x-ray diffraction data confirmed that the postannealed samples are 2:17 intermetallics of the R3m space group. The lattice parameters and unit-cell volumes were calculated using FULLPROF to analyze the neutron diffraction (ND) data. It was observed that for a particular y, the unit-cell volume decreased almost linearly with increasing silicon content (x⩽3), as is observed for single rare-earth 2:17 intermetallic compounds. For a given x, the cell volume decreased almost linearly with the increasing replacement of neodymium with dysprosium. The ND studies revealed additional density along the c-axis chains of Fe dumbells and rare-earth atoms. The perfect a-b-c stacking of the CaCu5 layers with a regular one third replacement of the rare-earth atoms by Fe dumbells appear to be broken, resulting in a disordered rhombohedral...


The goal of this paper is to enhance a practical nominal characteristic trajectory following (NCTF) controller that is specifically designed for two-mass point-to-point positioning systems. A nominal characteristics trajectory contained in the NCTF controller acts as movement/motion reference and a compensator is utilized to force the object to detect and follow the reference/desired trajectory. The object must follow and track closely and should be as fast as possible. The NCTF controller is designed with two different intelligent based compensator approaches which are fuzzy logic and extended minimal resource allocation network. The proposed controller which is NCTF are compared with the conventional proportional integral compensator. Then the results of simulation are discussed for the positioning performances. The inertia variations due to the effect of the design parameters are also assessed to see the robustness of controllers. The results show that the NCTF control method designed from an intelligent based compensator has a better positioning performance in terms of percentage of overshoot, settling time, and steady state error than the classical based compensator.


In this paper, a protection scheme for HVDC systems is proposed covering both line and busbar faults. To increase the scheme reliability, the detection criterion depends on multiple detection functions based on the pole currents and busbar voltage together. Then, a voting algorithm is utilized to issue a tripping decision based on the majority of the results of the applied protection functions. The scheme is installed locally at each busbar and it can detect and disconnect the faulted line without communication links with other terminal. Moreover, the scheme can detect high impedance faults (HIFs) for the pole to earth conditions. In addition, the scheme can discriminate the fault type as either a pole to pole or pole to earth fault. This increases the service continuity by facilitating transmitting half of the rated power through the healthy pole. For investigation purposes, the proposed scheme is evaluated with a two-terminal HVDC system. Different simulation cases are evaluated with a variety of fault conditions using Matlab/Simulink. The results confirm the reliability, security, and efficacy of the proposed protection scheme for providing a protection for the HVDC transmission systems.


The overall objective of this study was to assess the performance of warm mix asphalt (WMA) mixtures in South Dakota based on laboratory and field evaluations. The study included three WMA technologies (Advera, Evotherm, and foaming) and three aggregate types (limestone, quartzite, and natural gravel). A comprehensive laboratory programme was conducted to assess the impact of WMA in terms of stiffness and mixtures' resistance to moisture damage, rutting, fatigue cracking, and thermal cracking. Overall, the WMA mixtures performed comparatively similar to the hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures. The impact of the WMA technology was found to be aggregate dependent. WMA test sections were constructed on four Highways in South Dakota to validate the laboratory findings. During construction, percent compaction, roughness measurements were collected. Field observations indicated that WMA mixtures can be successfully produced and constructed using South Dakota's materials.


The present application relates to one kind of agent for coloring keratin fibers. The reagent based on oxidation dye precursors and / or direct dyes, characterized in that said at least one reagent comprising a cellulose ether having from 4,000 to 10,000 anhydroglucose unit in a suitable cosmetic carrier. The cellulose ether is substituted with the following groups: (a) per mole of anhydroglucose unit on average from 0.0003 to 0.08 mol of a nonionic or cationic hydrophobic substituent, said substituent comprising a group 8 to 24 carbon atoms, alkyl or aralkyl, and (b) a cationic (I) the substituent structural formula, [R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 N + ] (A z - ) 1 / z , wherein R 1 , R 2 and R 3 independently methyl or ethyl; R 4 is -CH2-CH2 group or - CH2-CHOH-CH2 group; A z - is an anion; and z is 1, 2 or 3.


This paper describes the possibility of performing the human body model (HBM) and machine model (MM) tests on a wafer. HBM capability when performed on a wafer is almost identical to that of a package; however, MM capability performed on a wafer is almost double that of a package due to the degradation of ESD pulses by parasitics in the equipment.


We present 1 j.1S time resolution calculations of the electron temperature of the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment (SSX) plasma during magnetic reconnection. The non-LTE excitation kinematics code PrismSPECT is used to simulate emission spectra for a variety of plasma conditions. These model spectra are compared to experimental data from two main diagnostics: a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) monochromator and a low-resolution soft x-ray detector (SXR). Analysis of simulation results reveals that the plasma quickly « 10 j.1s) approaches equilibrium conditions in the density regime of interest; as a result we can safely use steady-state simulations for comparisons with the data. Measured UV line strength ratios depend primarily on the electron temperature in the plasma, so we are able to use measurements of carbon impurity emission lines in conjunction with SXR measurements as a temperature diagnostic. In particular, the C III 97.7 nm / C IV 155 nm line intensity ratio proves to be extremely useful, while the C III 229.7 nm line appears anomalously strong in experimental measurements. Measurements of oxygen and nitrogen lines allow us to conclude that the carbon/ oxygen number ratio in SSX is approximately 1000/ 1, while nitrogen concentrations are negligible. Temperatures derived from the 97.7 nm / 155 nm line ratio average 20 eV for single spheromak shots and 20 eV early in counter-helicity shots, increasing to 35 eV after the two spheromaks merge. SXR measurements suggest a mean electron temperature of 30-35 eV for single spheromak shots and 40 eV for counter-helicity merging. The counter-helicity temperature profile shows a distinct peak at t ",40 j.1s, the time at which reconnect ion is believed to occur; however, the timing of this peak is not in precise agreement with the peak in the average temperature profile derived from carbon line ratios.


For the proper functioning of the surface transportation system, signage is required to alert the motoring public to changes in: interstate topology; weather conditions; traffic patterns; as well as for other informational purposes. Along heavily traveled segments of the interstate system in urban areas, the roadway is particularly wide so as to accommodate the required number of travel lanes needed to address heavy regional traffic volumes. In such situations, highway signs must span great distances in pursuit of a safe means for providing the motorist with needed information without introducing the danger associated with the occurrence of intermediate supports on medians, or other locations adjacent to the roadway. In such instances, a frequently employed design scenario employed within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the tri-chord sign structure. The current research is focused on surveying the existing literature related to the types of failure modes that govern in the connection regions of tri-chord sign structures. The literature survey guides the present study in generating research results that complement the existing body of knowledge related to such behavior. Beyond the literature review, the current research investigates a tri-chord sign structure failure that occurred in District 6-0 within the context of current AISC LRFD (1999) provisions related to the failure mode observed. As a result of the preceding study of the problem type under investigation, finite element modeling strategies are identified and subsequently verified using relevant experimental research results from the literature. These validated modeling techniques are then employed in a study of the connection region aimed at providing insight for the identification of a simplified manual strength calculation strategy for easy design office use. Recommendations related to design practice are subsequently made.


In soil slopes, developing shear surfaces generate acoustic emission (AE). The authors have previously proposed the use of active waveguides for monitoring the stability of such slopes. Active waveguides consist of a steel tube installed in a preformed borehole through a slope with coarse-grained soil backfill placed in the annulus around the tube. Deformation of the host soil generates AE in the active waveguide. Field trials of this system reported previously have shown that AE rates are linked to slope deformation rates. This paper extends the study by detailing a method for quantifying slope movement rates using an active waveguide. A series of laboratory experiments are presented and used to define the relationship between AE event count rate and displacement rate. The method was shown to differentiate rates within an order of magnitude, which is consistent with standard landslide movement classification (i.e., 1–0.001 mm/min), using a relationship derived between the gradient of the event count rate...


Based on the natural philosophy and typical character of the rural poetic imagery,analyzed some mistakes of the residential district,and put forward the conception of rural poetic imagery,and some guidelines that how to construct the rural poetic imagery form the level of substance and spirit in residential district's design.In the basic of excavation of vernacular culture,and the aspiration of modern people who want to come back to nature.Seek a kind of modern residential district's design style,which accorded with the modern people's aesthetic temperament and interest.


We demonstrate that a finite difference time domain (FDTD) method analyzes precisely electromagnetic field of nerve impulses in brain. An essential advantage of FDTD method is that an arbitrary shape of the brain and any heterogeneous properties of propagation in brain can be used. Thus, the proposed method can analyze complex electromagnetic field and provides a better estimation of EEG (or MEG) activity that is a measurement of the electromagnetic field on the scalp of head.


Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of 4Gy in 2 fractions (#) for the treatment of low-grade lymphoma patients and assess if gross tumour volume (GTV) size impacts outcomes. Methods and Materials: 58 consecutive patients with low-grade lymphoma treated with 4Gy/2# were entered into a retrospective database. All patients had a pre-radiotherapy and post-radiotherapy FDG-PET and/or Computed Tomography (CT) scan. The GTV was measured on the Eclipse planning data set. Data regarding patient demographics, histopathology, stage, other oncological treatment, local failure and survival were collected and analysed with Kaplan – Meier using SPSS. Results: 67 consecutive sites (58 patients) were treated with 4Gy/ 2# between 1 May 2018 and 1 April 2023. The median follow-up was 13 months. All patients had low-grade lymphoma, mostly follicular lymphoma or MALT lymphoma; all patients were stage 3 – 4. Treatment sites varied from head and neck (19), orbit (11), abdomen (7), pelvis/groin/thigh (14), bone (2), skin (8), breast/thorax (3) and axilla/arm (3). Eight sites (8%) needed re-treatment due to local progression or failure to respond to initial treatment. Average time to re-treatment was 9.6 months. The GTV size appeared to have no correlation with treatment response with the largest GTV measuring 730 cc which


apillary liquid chromatography (LC) was coupled to electrospray mass spectrometry (MS) in order to improve the absolute detection limits required for the analysis of DNA adducts. The capillary LC/MS system was compared with conventional LC/MS system using 2'-deoxyadenosine (dAdo). The absolute detection limit could be improved by a factor 177, leading to the detection of 600 fg of dAdo under single-ion monitoring (SIM) conditions. Using capillary LC/MS, 1 pg of a bisphenol A diglycidyl ether-dAdo addut could be detected under SIM conditions. Full-scan low-energy collision-activated decomposition (CAD) spectra of 550 pg adduct are presented. Capillary LC/MS and capillary LC/MS/MS data are presented for in vitro reaction mixtures of 2'-deoxynucleosides and bisphenol A diglycidyl ether, a potent carcinogen.


An architecture suitable for real-time image coding using adaptive vector quantization (VQ) is presented. This architecture is based on the concept of content-addressable memory (CAM), where the data is accessed simultaneously and in parallel on the basis of its content. VQ essentially involves, for each input vector, a search operation to obtain the best match codeword. A speedup results if a CAM-based implementation is used. This speedup, coupled with the gains in execution time for the basic distortion operation, implies that even codebook generation is possible in real time ( >


Garcia, Matheus Martinez. A Method to Reduce the Computational Cost of CFD Simulations of Vertical Slug Flows. Master's Thesis. School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Campinas, 2018. This thesis describes the main features of vertical slug flows, covering its physics and mechanistic models. The entrance length of the flow pattern was identified as the main source of the high computational cost of slug flow CFD simulations, and a methodology to reduce the computational domain required for the simulation of continuous slug flow is proposed. The approach is based on the conservation of mass and uses experimental data (or correlations) as closure to the model. The simulations were carried out in the OpenFOAM package, using the multiphaseEulerFoam solver, with the standard k − model being used to emulate the turbulent effects. The methodology was developed to allow the simulation of slug flows in long ducts, as in the pipelines found in the petroleum extraction. It was developed thinking about the regions of the pipe that are far away from the extraction zone, and it is based on the measurement of the void fraction and of the mixture velocity in the regions of interest, obtained using an ultrasonic sensor, for instance. The obtained results were compared to experimental values indicating a success in the approach, with a reduction of up to 50% of the distance required to the development of the slug flow pattern.


This chapter introduces the concepts and problems of political conduct, political power, statecraft, and resistance that Shakespeare treats in his dramas, discussing how they are put into relationship with other forms and kinds of conduct and power: military distinction, intimate and interpersonal connections, religious authority, economic exchanges and circulations. Diverse meanings of 'politic' and associated terms—in particular the question of the extent to which political conduct must be open, and the extent to which it is associated with occult or tricky strategy and secrecy—are also dramatized by Shakespeare. The book's method—which consists of readings of Shakespeare's dramas in a way that highlights how political power structures plots, and is articulated in texts—is set out, including discussion of the political theory context for Shakespeare's dramatic art, and its continuing relevance in political thought.


Abstract : Increasing energy needs push industry to build more sustainable and efficient systems. One of the methods to achieve energy efficiency is to feed wasted energy generated by a system itself during operation back to the system. Vibrational energy is one of the most common ambient energy forms in mechanical systems and can be converted into electrical energy with the implementation of piezoelectric energy harvesters. What makes this possible is the piezoelectric effect that some crystals and ceramics with no inversion symmetry show. Piezoelectric materials generate a potential difference when a force is applied and deform under an electric field. Power electronics is used to turn this potential into a usable energy. The amount of power generated by a single piezoelectric energy harvester could be very low, but Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) technology makes it possible to have thousands of devices in a very small area. Previously, a MEMS-based piezoelectric harvester for military applications was designed, developed, and tested at NPS. In this thesis, methods to convert the AC voltage output of this device into a DC voltage were investigated to find an efficient method. Because of their higher power needs, multiple devices need to be connected to achieve required power levels for military applications. Microfabrication processes allow for building large number of such devices at the same time. This thesis also studies the possible connections for an array of devices. Connection geometry that will produce the maximum power output for a number of devices is proposed.


The performances of Lokall Model for an integration domain covering the Romanian territory are evaluated through objective and subjective verification measures over the period February-August 2005, corresponding to the first pre-operational model runs at NMA Bucharest. A comparison between LM model results, the results of operational model HRM and surface observations from 160 meteorological stations across the Romanian territory is carried out for four parameters using statistical scores. Some special weather situations (strong atmospheric instability, observed heavy precipitation) are investigated using LM model and the results of a qualitative analysis is presented. The results show an improvement in quality forecast for LM model, most evident for summer months and the model ability to realistically simulate small-scale features in experiments at fine resolution. Also, the experiments realized for cases of heavy precipitations showed the model capability to simulate properly the spatial distribution of precipitation field, even if the amounts are overestimated.


In this paper,The film forming process of electroless composite platiog is studied.The relativity betweem the micro structure and chemical-mechanical properties of the coating is revealed.The influence factors such as particle size,stirring intensity and the concentration of the bath are studied also in this paper.An important reference to the electroless compostie plating process and formula design is given.


Abstract We have calculated the electronic structure of Sr2RuO4 using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave method in the spin polarized local density approximation. By this calculation, we identify the contribution of different electronic states near Fermi surface and study some electronic parameters like crystal electric field, exchange splitting, and hybridization between different atoms. Calculations are performed in two different approaches: LSDA and LSDA+U. By applying U, we have aimed to measure the electrons correlation near Fermi surface. Thereupon, we will answer if this system realm on the correlated systems region or not?


Abstract By making use of the time delayed double excitation spectroscopy, transient absorption spectra just after the excitation of self-trapped excitons (STE) from the lowest triplet state to higher excited states have been observed to find the transient F-H center pair [F-H]. Absorption bands due to transient [F-H] appeared as a doublet peaking at 2.70eV and 2.86eV (NaCl), at 2.25eV and 2.38eV (KCl) and at 1.97eV and 2.09eV (RbCl) at 108ps after the excitation. The ratio of peak heights between bands at low and high energy sides was 2:1 in all crystals. The results were tentatively understood by a recent theory for the STE by Song et al. (1987).


Pesticides have been used since War II World to control pests and improve product quality. Especially in developed countries, the use of pesticides is much more. However, careless use of pesticides without adhering to the safety norms and recommended practice has created health risks to humans, natural enemies, and environment, to commodities containing pesticide residues.1,2 Therefore, in recent decades, there is an increasing demand for food safety and quality such as strict regulations on the import of products the amount of residues in commodities. In addition, public noticed that the side effects of pesticides on environmental pollution and the safety foods. In this regard, scientists have focused on the search for alternatives to widely used chemical pesticides, including biopesticides.


A staggering 25 to 30 per cent of production of fruits and vegetables in India is lost due to wastage. India ranks first few positions globally in the production of fruits and vegetables. But hardly one percent of the annual production of fruit and vegetables is processed in this country which is much lower compared to other developing nations.
Food Processing and other post-harvest technologies are the best option available to reduce the wastage of 50% of food and vegetable products and enhance food security of the country. The right post harvest practices such as good processing techniques, and proper packaging, transportation and storage can play a significant role in reducing spoilage and extending shelf life. Indians spend about 50% of household expenditure on food items. Demand for processed/convenience food is constantly on the rise. India's comparatively cheaper workforce can be effectively utilised to setup large low cost production bases for domestic and export markets. A chain-linked model of food processing at rural level can be developed using NBMS (Nodal-Big-Medium-Small) model and involving the Self Help Groups. The capital required for this business will be evenly distributed among the groups lessening the economic burden on them and the ongoing schemes and grants of different government departments can be clubbed together to assist the Self Help Groups to enter into this foray.


The paper investigates how reader engagement markers (Hyland 2005; Zou and Hyland 2020) are used in tourism promotion to establish interaction with potential customers on the web. The markers are extracted using AntConc software from two comparable corpora in English and Serbian compiled from the web texts of regional tourism organizations. Normalized frequencies per 1,000 words are calculated, followed by a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the most frequent markers. The results are interpreted in view of the differences and similarities in the two corpora considering the distribution and communicative functions of the markers, and the cultural aspects of this kind of interaction with the reader. The findings shed light on the implied concepts underlying reader-oriented engagement and written e-communication practices in the context of tourism discourse. The results can be used for the data-driven teaching of writing and translation studies.


1. A method for determining the impedance of the transmission line in real time, comprising the steps of: measured a plurality of times the voltage and current at a first location on a transmission line; ! measured a plurality of times the voltage and current at a second location on the transmission line, the measured voltages and currents in the first and second locations are time synchronized; ! customize the measured voltages and currents of the first and second locations to circuit models for the transmission line, by controlling one or more parameters of the circuit model; ! evaluate the characteristic impedance of the transmission line between the first and second locations based on the circuit model parameters; and! output estimated characteristic impedance. ! 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: calculated vectors measured voltages and currents of the first and second locations, the calculated vectors are used in the fitting. ! 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the circuit model of the transmission line is a π-circuit. ! 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the circuit model parameters comprise a shunt resistor, series resistor, the series inductance and shunt capacitance. ! 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement of voltages and currents in the first and second locations comprises the steps of: receive the measured voltage and current levels to voltage and current near the power line; ! digitizing the measured voltages and currents; and! transmitting the digitized measured voltage and currents for a fiber optic transmission line. ! 6. The method of claim 1,


Endometriosis is a multifocal, chronic disease defined by extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma. This case report describes the author's experience of living with stage IV endometriosis, including a 10-year diagnostic delay, the impact on daily life, management, and treatment. The diagnostic delay for endometriosis averages between seven to nine years globally, which imparts significant physical, psychological, and financial effects on the lives of patients.


THE last of the jubilee meetings of the Society for Psychical Research was held on July 4 at the Con-way Hall, when Dr. William Brown, Wilde reader in mental philosophy in the University of Oxford, lectured on "Psychology and Psychical Research. The president, Sir Oliver Lodge, took the chair. Dr. Brown said that hypnotic and psycho-analytic investigations have greatly supplemented the theory of the 'subliminal 'self first propounded by F. W. H. Myers, one of the founders of the Society for Psychical Research, without, however, really supplanting it. The employment of the statistical method on large numbers of cases is entirely in the spirit of strict science, yet the predominantly negative results recently obtained along these lines as regards manifestations of telepathy and clairvoyance should not blind the public to the possibility of such phenomena in special cases and under special conditions. The intensive study of well-attested individual cases is needed to correct the balance, and it is especially along this line that the Society for Psychical Research has done much useful work. One might base one's belief in survival most firmly on general philosophical and religious considerations as to the nature and value of human experience; nevertheless, the sum total of evidence of a scientific nature accumulated by the Society for Psychical Research in support of survival is far from negligible.


An increasing number of persons in jails have mental and/or substance use disorders. The most recent study of mental disorders in jails (Steadman et al., 2009) indicates that 15% of males and 31% of females have a major mental disorder – rates far surpassing those in the general population. Approximately three quarters of offenders have a diagnosable substance abuse or dependence disorder (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2006; Peters et al., 1998). Given these findings, 10% of male inmates and 20% of female inmates in jail are estimated to have cooccurring mental and substance use disorders (CODs). A significant number of inmates also have a history of trauma related to past sexual, physical, or emotional abuse (Lewis, 2006; Zlotnick et al., 2008), and prevalence rates of trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are significantly higher among inmates than in the general population (Steadman et al., 2009).


Quasi-least squares (QLS) is an alternative method for estimating the correlation parameters within the framework of generalized estimating equations (GEE) that has two main advantages over the moment estimates that are typically applied for GEE: (1) It guarantees a consistent estimate of the correlation parameter and a positive definite estimated correlation matrix, for several correlation structures; and (2) It allows for easier implementation of some correlation structures that have not yet been implemented in the framework of GEE. Furthermore, because QLS is a method in the framework of GEE, existing software can be employed within the QLS algorithm for estimation of the correlation and regression parameters. In this manuscript we describe and demonstrate the user written package qlspack that allows for implementation of QLS in R software. Our package qlspack calls up the geepack package Yan (2002) and Halekoh et al. (2006) to update the estimate of the regression parameter at the current QLS estimate of the correlation parameter; hence, geepack related functions for standard error estimation can be used after implementing qlspack. IMPLEMENTATION OF QUASI-LEAST SQUARES: With the R Package qlspack Jichun Xie University of Pennsylvania Justine Shults University of Pennsylvania Abstract Quasi-least squares (QLS) is an alternative method for estimating the correlation parameters within the framework of generalized estimating equations (GEE) that has two main advantages over the moment estimates that are typically applied for GEE: (1) It guarantees a consistent estimate of the correlation parameter and a positive definite estimated correlation matrix, for several correlation structures; and (2) It allows for easier implementation of some correlation structures that have not yet been implemented in the framework of GEE. Furthermore, because QLS is a method in the framework of GEE, existing software can be employed within the QLS algorithm for estimation of the correlation and regression parameters. In this manuscript we describe and demonstrate the user written package qlspack that allows for implementation of QLS in R software. Our package qlspack calls up the geepack package (Yan (2002) and Halekoh, Hojsgaard, and Yan (2006)) to update the estimate of the regression parameter at the current QLS estimate of the correlation parameter; hence, geepack related functions for standard error estimation can be used after implementing qlspack.Quasi-least squares (QLS) is an alternative method for estimating the correlation parameters within the framework of generalized estimating equations (GEE) that has two main advantages over the moment estimates that are typically applied for GEE: (1) It guarantees a consistent estimate of the correlation parameter and a positive definite estimated correlation matrix, for several correlation structures; and (2) It allows for easier implementation of some correlation structures that have not yet been implemented in the framework of GEE. Furthermore, because QLS is a method in the framework of GEE, existing software can be employed within the QLS algorithm for estimation of the correlation and regression parameters. In this manuscript we describe and demonstrate the user written package qlspack that allows for implementation of QLS in R software. Our package qlspack calls up the geepack package (Yan (2002) and Halekoh, Hojsgaard, and Yan (2006)) to update the estimate of the regression parameter at the current QLS estimate of the correlation parameter; hence, geepack related functions for standard error estimation can be used after implementing qlspack.


Over the years, exchange rate volatility has sparked a lot of controversy among academics and economists, and many empirical studies have been conducted to explain its association with other macroeconomic indicators including real GDP. As a result, this study conducted a thorough empirical assessment to determine the relationship between exchange rate volatility and Nigeria's real GDP. While exchange rate volatility shocks to real GDP are mostly negative and create short-term divergence from equilibrium, the misalignments tend to resolve slowly, with unpleasant repercussions in the near run while economic actors recalibrate their consumption and investment choices. About three quarters of shocks to the real GDP are self-driven, and the remaining one quarter is attributed to variables such as exports, exchange rate volatility and inflation. Extreme levels of volatility are found to be detrimental to economic growth. However, this is only up to a point as growth-enhancing effect can also emanate from innovation, and more efficient resource allocation. The study recommends that the foreign exchange management policies must concern themselves with both foreign sector and domestic balance of the economy. This can be achieved if the government gives more attention on policies that will affect the accounts in balance of payment


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) have been implemented in a variety of applications ranging from environmental monitoring and control of industrial processes to healthcare and emergency response. In many cases, routing needs to meet stringent Quality of Service (QoS) requirements due to the time-sensitive nature of the data being transmitted. To address this challenge, several routing approaches have been proposed to enhance the performance of Delivery Ratio and Delay with QoS optimization. This paper presents an overview of different QoS-aware routing architectures and algorithms such as source-routing, hop-by-hop routing, location-aided routing, and random routing, which have been successfully applied to WSNs. We also discuss several QoS metrics such as throughput, delay, and reliability, as well as methods for their optimization. Finally, we provide some examples of current and potential applications where these approaches can be implemented. We conclude by discussing a few open research problems and future research directions in the area of QoS-aware routing for WSNs.


Innovative infrastructure plays a supporting role, serving the country's economy, facilitating the transfer of technology, the transformation of knowledge into new market-demanded goods and services. Creating an innovative infrastructure is a long process that requires large financial, human, and other resources. The article analyzes the problems associated with the formation and development of innovative infrastructure in the context of resource conservation. An approach is proposed that allows the use of resource-saving mechanisms in the formation of innovation infrastructure. An algorithm for creating a comprehensive resource-saving management mechanism at the macroeconomic level is described.


Effects of gamma ray and electron beam on various developmental stages of pulse beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabricius) were studied. Results showed that LD50 of gamma ray to egg, larva and pupa are 37.01, 184.87 and 301.20 Gray and LD99 of gamma ray to egg, larva and pupa are 73.28, 332.77 and 596.38 Gray, respectively. The LD50 of electron beam to egg, larva and pupa are 36.68, 174.22 and 341.53 Gray and LD99 of electron beam to egg, larva and pupa are 72.63, 344.95 and 676.23 Gray, respectively. The more advanced developmental stages, the more radiation-tolerant was occurred in pulse beetle. The appropriated disinfestation radiation dose of pulse beetle in mungbean is 700 Gray, while adult sterility radiation dose of pulse beetle is 100 Gray.


An event-driven self-adaptive window technique for processing feedback problem in waveform relaxation based fast timing simulation is presented. A J-K Flip-Flop and several different kinds of counters are extensively tested to compare its performance with other methods. Also, its application in both switch level timing simulation and analog/digital mixed mode simulation is discussed.<<ETX>>


Measurement of serum proteins and the determination of the electrophoresis profile are important diagnostic assistance in clinical biochemistry. The electrophoresis of serum proteins is the used lab test to separate serum proteins based on their size and electric charge. The purpose of this study is to determine the electro psoriasis profile of the serum proteins in small Asian mongoose under the influence of gender. 29 healthy adult mongoose (is male) 14 female were caught from different areas of Sistan plain in the spring of 2016 by trapping method. After bloodletting and isolating blood serum the different fractions of serum protein were indicated using Agarse gel electrophoresis. The results of this study are as follows: total protein in male: 3.36± 0.04


The purpose of this chapter is to examine the role of personal values for social responsibility (SR) of higher education. Besides the core mission of higher education to create, transfer and preserve knowledge in society, the idea of SR has gained its importance also in institutions of higher education. SR has many drivers, among which personal values are considered as one of the key building blocks for SR. For enhancing SR, higher education institutions should also develop stronger ties with the community. The chapter provides an insight into discussion about community involvement of higher education, into the role of personal values for shaping SR of higher education institutions and explain how personal values can help to enhance community and social involvement of higher education. Findings may be a starting point for re-thinking and/or establishing strategies for achieving higher level of SR in higher education institutions and enhancing the link with the community.


Abstract : A critical review of current inelastic structural analysis procedures indicates that the material constitutive models presently in use do not adequately reflect the materials' cyclic inelastic properties. This will result in erroneous evaluation of deformation response and energy dissipation in structures subjected to dynamic loadings. This report presents a plasticity formulation which is capable of simulating all the important features of material properties observed under cyclic uniaxial loading. Appropriate cyclic material properties required for characterizing the combined isotropic-kinematic hardening features of this formulation are defined. These properties are determined from simple cyclic uniaxial tests. The formulation uses Mroz's concept of multiple and nesting hypersurfaces in stress space to simulate the memory of prior history; it eliminates the need for classifying a general loading path into a plastic loading or a plastic load reversal for cyclic analysis. The superiority of this formulation over currently available methods is demonstrated. (Author)


The purpose of this study was to investigate interleukin 2 (IL‐2) and gamma interferon (IFN‐γ) production by purified CD4+ and CD8+ cells isolated from peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other inflammatory arthritides (non‐RA). CD4+ and CD8+ cells were selected positively by immunomagnetic separation. Supernatants of unstimulated CD4+ and CD8+ cells from both compartments did not contain any delectable IL‐2 or IFN‐γ, while supernatants of CD4+ and CDSI cells stimulated with phytohaemagglutinin and irradiated Raji cells mostly contained both cytokines. In vitro stimulated SF CD4+ cells gave supernatants with significantly less IL‐2 than supernatants from PBCD4+ cells, while in vitro stimulated SF CD4+ ‐cell supernatants contained significantly more IFN‐γ. SF CD4+ ‐cell supernatants contained significantly more IL‐2 than the parallel CD8+ supernatants, while there was no significant difference with regard to IFN‐γ content. The pattern of differences between SF ‐and PB‐derived T cells was the same for the two groups of patients, but the SF CD4+ cells from RA patients produced significantly less IL‐2 than the corresponding cells from the non‐RA group. The difference between SF and PB T cells with regard to lymphokine production is probably related to various degrees of in vivo pre‐activation. The results do not indicate a major T‐cell deficiency in relation to lymphokine production in RA.


CMOS compatible photonic devices are at the point where integration with electronics is feasible. We will show how our ultra low power photonic devices can be utilized in an intrachip optical network, supporting multicore processing


The purpose of the study is to analyze the acoustic features of Monophthongs in Monguor language. On the base of acoustic parameter database of the Monguor speech, the study discusses the differences in duration and F2 difference between short and long monophthongs in monosyllabic words and the differences in duration and F2 difference in first syllable, middle syllable(s), and last syllable for short and long monophthongs. The results show that in Monguor language, short and long vowels have the opposed relation and therefore differentiate the meanings of words.


In this paper, we study an optimal control problem of a communicable disease in a prison population. In order to control the spread of the disease inside a prison, we consider an active case-finding strategy, consisting on screening a proportion of new inmates at the entry point, followed by a treatment depending on the results of this procedure. The control variable consists then in the coverage of the screening applied to new inmates. The disease dynamics is modeled by a SIS (susceptible-infected-susceptible) model, typically used to represent diseases that do not confer immunity after infection. We determine the optimal strategy that minimizes a combination between the cost of the screening/treatment at the entrance and the cost of maintaining infected individuals inside the prison, in a given time horizon. Using the Pontryagin Maximum Principle and Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, among other tools, we provide the complete synthesis of an optimal feedback control, consisting in a bang-bang strategy with at most two switching times and no singular arc trajectory, characterizing different profiles depending on model parameters.


A high-resolution (σinstr.=1.5 MeV) search for narrow states (Γ<10 MeV) with masses of Mx≈1500–1850 MeV in ep→e′K+X,e′K-X, and e′π+X electroproduction at small angles and low Q2 was performed. These states would be candidate partner states of the reported Θ+(1540) pentaquark. No statistically significant signal was observed in any of the channels at 90% C.L. Upper limits on forward production were determined to be between 0.8% and 4.9% of the Λ(1520) production cross section, depending on the channel and the assumed mass and width of the state.


Abstract Austenitic and duplex stainless steels are used in a variety of industries due to their high corrosion resistance. However, this is countered by a high coefficient of friction and thus a limited wear behaviour, which restricts the technical application possibilities. Coatings or conventional hardening processes, such as solution nitriding above 1000 °C, offer a certain reduction of these wear phenomena, but are associated with the risk of delamination and/or loss of corrosion properties. In addition, the hardening effect is limited for austenitic and duplex grades. The low temperature surface hardening process below 500 °C offers the possibility to overcome these limitations. In this article the technology of this process is explained. In addition, research results show the positive influence of this treatment on the lifetime of components made of corrosion resistant steels. As a future outlook, possible properties and applications for the prospective increasing number of hydrogen applications are explained.


During the stage of Germany's planning to attack USSR a great attention was paid to Ukraine. It had to become an agrarian and raw material base for the Third Reich, a sales market for German industrial products. During the period of war it had to be turned into the main depot for Wehrmacht. Thereupon the Nazi leadership had several approaches to carrying out the occupation policy. But the military operations progress made the Germans reconsider their original plans. By means of "auxiliary bodies" that consisted of the representatives of the local population they rebuilt industrial enterprises and necessary infrastructural facilities in Ukraine. In most cases those local bodies (district and city councils (boards)) exactly were interested in providing the population with jobs and means of subsistence and turned out to be the initiators for rebuilding factories and plants. One of the ways for solving that problem was the renewal of craftsmen activity. The supreme goals of military-economic investment were maintaining the growing needs of Wehrmacht. But they subordinated the process of rebuilding enterprises and regulated craftsmen activities. As a result all output (production) was used to perform that task. The results of the following policy were disastrous shortage of foodstuffs and first need things, the processes of deurbanization as far as the population of such large cities as Kharkiv, Stalino, Sumy, Voroshilovgrad was doomed to suffer from starvation and tried to move to rural areas. The criticism by the military administration officials who shared A.Rozenberg's ideas on "more lenient" occupation policy in Ukraine did not change the situation in general.


PurposeStudent motivation underpins the challenge of learning, made more complex by the move to online education. While emotions are integral to students' motivation, research has, to date, overlooked the dualistic nature of emotions that can cause stress. Using approach-avoidance conflict theory, the authors explore this issue in the context of novel online students' responses to a fully online class.Design/methodology/approachUsing a combination of critical incident technique and laddering, the authors implemented the big data method of sentiment analysis (SA) which results in approach tables with 1,318 tokens and avoid tables with 1,090 tokens. Using lexicon-based SA, the authors identify tokens relating to approach, avoid and mixed emotions.FindingsThe authors implemented the big data method of SA which results in approach tables with 1,318 tokens and avoid tables with 1,090 tokens. Using lexicon-based SA, the authors identify tokens relating to approach, avoid and mixed emotions. These ambivalent emotions provide an opportunity for teachers to rapidly diagnose and address issues of student engagement in an online learning class.Originality/valueResults demonstrate the practical application of SA to unpack the role of emotions in online learner motivation.


The future relativistic electron hadron collider: e-RHIC requires acceleration of electrons to 10 GeV with a possible upgrade to 20 GeV. In the case that the super conducting linac is selected for acceleration, an energy recovery scheme is required. We propose to study a possibility of using the non-scaling Fixed-Field Gradient- Accelerator (NS-FFAG) for different energies. The beam will be accelerated by the superconducting linac at the top of the sine function, brought back to the front of the linac by the non-scaling FFAG and repeating this a few times until the total energy of 20 GeV is reached. After collisions the beam is brought back by the non-scaling FFAG and decelerated (on the lower RF phase) in the same sequence but in the reverse order. Conventional and non-conventional beam dynamic issues will be discussed, like the transit time matching effect and the time of flight adjustments.


Scholars have examined gender inequalities in status distinctions and leadership assignment. Yet, questions remain regarding how gendered task relations shape the performance of autonomous groups p...


This article critically reviews the application of languaging as a newly-emerging concept in foreign language teaching. It first introduces the theoretical basis for languaging,and then analyzes the different dimensions of languaging-related research and their findings followed by a brief description of research limitations and future directions. Finally,it presents important implications of languaging for foreign language teaching in China.


This study examined individual and institutional productivity in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) scholarship published in counseling psychology—oriented journals for the years 1990 through 2008. Eight journals were included in the analyses. An author-weighted score was calculated for each scholar, using a formula developed by Howard, Cole, and Maxwell. To determine the impact of authors' work, h indices were calculated for the most productive scholars. Finally, institutions publishing LGBT scholarship were proportionally ranked, consistent with the work of Tinsley and Tinsley. Twenty-nine authors and 13 institutions emerged as leaders in LGBT scholarship. Data on percentage of articles published in each journal, as well as trends over time, are presented. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.


Recent advances in semiconductor technology have led to the ability to dimensionally confine electron motion, and semiconductor configurations that limit electron motion to zero macroscopic dimensions are known as quantum dots.1 The dimensions of confinement are on the order of the de Broglie wavelength of the electron, leading to a manifestation of the particle-in-a-box atom-like energy levels.


This study aims 1) To determine the magnitude and significance of the direct influence of leadership on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work behavior. 2) To determine the direct influence of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on work behavior. The method used for data collection is the purposive sampling method. The research object is 10 (ten) faculties from 5 (five) private universities in Mataram City. The population in this study is all officials, employees, and lecturers who are subordinate to the dean of the faculty at a private university in Mataram. Fifteen people in each faculty determine the sample of respondents, so the total sample is 150. The analysis tool is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using SPSS for the Windows program. The study results: (1) Leadership has a direct influence that is positive, very large, and significant on job satisfaction. (2) Leadership has a direct influence that positive, then a great influence and significant to organizational commitment. (3) Leadership directly influences positive but relatively small and insignificant work behavior. (4) Job satisfaction directly influences positive, minimal, and insignificant work behavior. (5) The organizational commitment of subordinates has a direct positive, relatively small, and not significant to work behavior.


The application of the foregrounding theory to translation studies is a new task for translators to carry out for it will be or becomes an effective tool in translation activities.This paper,based on the foregrounding theory,attempts to compare and analyze the three translated versions of Shelley's political lyric "Song to the Men of England" with a purpose of providing a novel point of view to translate and appreciate poems.


A 3-D numerical simulation on the discharge from the spillway with multi-opening and multi-pier is made with the finite volume method in order to fully represent the effect of the piers on the overflow;in which k-e turbulent model is used to process the free water surface,and then the discharge capacity,the water surface profile and the pressure distribution are given.The comparison between the numerical simulation and the model test shows that the overflow from the spillway can be precisely simulated with the model proposed herein;furthermore,the calculation finds that the water surface profile of the overflow and the pressure on the dam for different openings of the spillway are different as well,which makes a reliable basis for the hydraulic design of the spillway on the whole.


An X-ray apparatus according to the present invention is provided with: a mounting plate for mounting an object to be measured; an X-ray irradiation unit for irradiating X-rays from above or below the mounting plate onto the object to be measured mounted on the mounting plate; an X-ray detection unit for acquiring a transmission image of the object to be measured irradiated by X-rays; and a bending control unit for controlling bending of the mounting plate.


Ifosfamide (IFO) is an anti‐tumor prodrug effective against many solid tumors. Therapeutic efficacy is limited by a high incidence of renal damage. We examined the effect of IFO on renal mitochondrial function. We hypothesized that IFO metabolites inhibit NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I; C‐I), which is sensitive to free radicals, thereby impairing the respiratory chain (RC) and oxidative phosphorylation (OP). We further hypothesized that provision of substrate to complex‐II (C‐II) would prevent IFO‐induced injury by bypassing C‐I. We tested RC activity in renal cortical mitochondria from rats treated with IFO, IFO+agmatine (a stimulator of fatty acid oxidation) or IFO+glutamine. Mitochondria of IFO‐treated rats show a 50% decrease in State 3 respiration with C‐I substrates but not with C‐II substrates. Inhibition of C‐I significantly increased [NADH] and decreased [NAD] in kidney cortex of these rats. The in vivo supplementation with agamatine or glutamine reversed inhibition of the RC and OP. Agmatine may furnish more FADH2 to C‐II. Glutamine may supply succinate to C‐II after conversion to glutamate and 2‐oxo‐glutarate. In in vitro studies we found that chloroacetaldehyde (CAA), a IFO metabolite, inhibited C‐I and OP by 60% without affecting C‐II. Disruption of C‐I by CAA probably is the primary lesion of IFO‐induced nephrotoxicity. Supplementation with C‐II substrates ameliorates ‐ and even might prevent ‐ renal damage.


Executive SummaryIntroductionFollowing alarming reports from the IPCC, climate change has engaged policymakers world-wide to chart policies at different administrative levels to mitigate increasing ...


The problem of this study is how to keep harmony between career and family in social life is reflected in Avery Corman's The Old Neighborhood. The objective of this study is to analyze the novel based on the structural elements
and to analyze the novel based on the sociological perspective. This study belongs to qualitative method. In this method, there are two types of data source, namely primary and secondary data source. The primary data source is the novel itself, meanwhile the secondary data sources are other materials related to the study. Both data are collected through library research and analyzed by descriptive analysis. Based on the analysis the researcher draws the following conclusions. First, based on the structural analysis of each element, it shows that the
character and characterization, setting, plot, point of view, style, and theme are related to each other and form the unity into good quality of novel. It conveys a message about people needs to keep the harmony between their
career and family .Second,based on the sociological analysis, there is a close relationship between the novel story and the reality of American life in the late twentieth century.


The social scientific study of ethical-unethical behavior in work organizations is in an early stage of development. This paper discusses some of the problems of conducting social scientific research in this area and explores the potential contribution of experimental research approaches. Both laboratory and field experimentation allow the investigator to test theory-based hypotheses and to study causal relations. Examples are provided of investigations that have applied these methods to the study of business ethics.


Gave much emphasis on the methods and their characteristics of pigment extraction primarily from organic solvents,alkaline extraction,supercritical fluid extraction,microwave extraction,enzymatic extraction,membrane separation.


An experiment was carried out at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh in transplant Aman season of 2008 to find out the effect of urea supergranules (USG), prilled urea (PU) and poultry manure (PM) on the growth performance of transplant Aman rice varieties. Two transplant Aman rice varieties viz. BRRI dhan41 and BRRI dhan46 and ten levels of integrated nutrient management encompassing USG, PU and PM were tested following randomized complete block design with three replications. Data were taken at 75 days after transplanting (DAT). The growth parameters were considered viz. plant height, number of tiller hill, leaf area, dry matter, leaf area index (LAI) and crop growth rate (CGR). Grain yield was calculated for comparing the corresponding growth parameters. In case of variety, fertilizers and interaction most of the growth parameters were significantly influenced at 1% level of significance. The highest grain yield (5.27 t ha) was obtained from variety BRRI dhan41 and full dose of USG (1.8g) and other inorganic fertilizers, which was obtain from due to might be the highest plant height (84.08cm), tiller number (13.73), leaf area (4354.37 cm), dry matter (37.53), lower LAI (0.61) and highest CGR (0.0088) at 75 DAT and the lowest yield was obtained in the BRRI dhan46 and control treatment. It was assessed that a considerable portion (31.25%) of PU nitrogen could be saved by using USG (1.8g) together with other inorganic fertilizers or with PM at 2.5 t ha.


1P.G student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Gnanamani College of Engineering, Namakkal, Tamilnadu, India 2 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Gnanamani College of Technology, Namakkal, Tamilnadu, India 3,4Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Gnanamani College of Engineering, Namakkal, Tamilnadu, India ---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------Abstract On the outset however the design of temporary storage systems are Important to look into. Due to the current lack of sufficient operating capacity in the corresponding facilities, waste stream must be held in interim storage until treated or further utilization becomes possible. So, we consider Temporary storage of municipal Solid Waste. Temporary storage for collection of municipal solid waste is composed with various parameters, such as size of bin, collection frequency, average filling rate, and number of bins, volume of material needed for bin production, bin density, and catchment area. The environmental impact of temp array storage is estimated with emissions generated due to the production of net material used for bin production. An artificial neural network (ANN) is a computational model based on the structure and functions of biological neural networks. An artificial neural network-back propagation method is proposed for modeling the temporary storage. Thus, a set of different structures of artificial neural network-back propagation are investigated and then the best model is developed for temporary storage of municipal solid waste. The artificial neural network-back propagation model is trained using various parameters, such as number of neurons in the hidden layers, training tolerance, momentum, and learning rate. This model is helpful for the decision makers in choosing the environmentally sound options in the design of temporary storage for municipal solid waste management. Further ANNBP can be successfully used to predict number of bins, GWP from waste generation rate of the city.


Abstract : The non-equilibrium states(relaxation and transport) of ionized gases in electromagnetic fields are described from a very general basis (Liouville's equation).


Most cognitive control effects, although numerously reported in computer task studies, have rarely been tested outside the laboratory. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, we aimed to improve the ecological validity of a well-studied congruency effect. The Simon effect (Simon, 1969) is the observation that an irrelevant stimulus location can facilitate or impede task performance when it is congruent or incongruent with the response location. Secondly, we wanted to investigate the role of action experience on the Simon effect. In this study, experienced bowlers were asked to hit either the left- or rightmost pin, depending on the pitch of a tone. Irrelevant to the task, this tone could be presented in the congruent or incongruent ear. Our results demonstrate that the Simon effect can be observed outside the laboratory and that weekly training at bowling may help in shielding against irrelevant location stimuli.


Since the commissioning of the VLT it has been known that the image quality delivered by the telescopes is better, and often much better, than predicted by the seeing monitor. The advent of new sensitive instruments to measure the optical turbulence profile of the atmosphere over Paranal has finally allowed us to understand the origin of this discrepancy: the presence of a highly turbulent layer so close to the ground that it is seen by the seeing monitor, but not by the VLT unit telescopes. In this article we tell the story of this elusive surface layer.


Objective:To study the value of biphase 16-slice spiral CT angiography in the diagnosis of the vascular diseases in lower limbs.Methods:15 cases clinically suspected of vascular diseases in the lower limbs were performed CT angiography using a 16-slice scanner.After injection of high concentrated nonionic contrast agent from the cubital vein,the bolus tracking technique for CT angiography was used to demonstrate the lesions during arterial and venous phases prospectively.All acquired images were reformed by means of MIP、VR、and MPR. Results:13 cases suspected of vascular diseases in the arteries of lower limbs were demonstrated succefully with CTA,and the veins of lower limbs could be displayed clearly during venous phase too.CTA demonstrated normal artery and vein (n=1),atherosclerosis with multiple occlusions (n=7),aneurysm in bilateral femoral artery (n=1),arteriovenous fistula (n=2),varices of deep veins in the crus (n=1),and thrombosis in small saphenous vein (n=1).Conclusion:The vascular diseases of lower limbs could be well demonstrated by enhanced 16-slice spiral CT angiography.Biphase CTA is a reliable,noninvasive,and easy method for diagnosis of the vascular diseases in lower limbs.


This paper aims to give an overview of the more widely used approaches to model transition in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Eight different methods are reviewed: the stability theory approach, the low Reynolds number turbulent closure approach, the intermittency transport method with integral correlations, the intermittency and the vorticity Reynolds number approach, the laminar fluctuation energy method, the v2 f model, and the Large Eddy Simulations (LES) and Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) for transition. The approaches are compared to one another, highlighting their respective advantages and drawbacks. From this analysis, a list of desirable features for CFD transition models is drawn up, against which the eight approaches are scored.


Do related markets reflect new information simultaneously? For high-yield bonds, a large abnormal price decline in a corporation's most liquid bond over a month is followed by an average abnormal stock price decline of −1.42%. This effect is larger for stocks that have increased in value and for volatile stocks. It is also larger for bonds with high coupons and shorter maturities. These results support the view that high-yield corporate bonds have an informational edge when news is negative and stock returns are noisy, and add to the growing literature on the substantial lags in price discovery between related markets.


Research in speech understanding was reviewed. Plans which include prosodics research, phonological rules for speech understanding systems, and continued interdisciplinary phonetics research are discussed. Improved acoustic phonetic analysis capabilities in speech recognizers are suggested.


Advancing health equity requires explicit consideration of the factors that prevent the attainment of the highest level of health for all people.1 Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in chronic conditions such as obesity2,3 and hypertension4-6 persist. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities acknowledged the need to consider disparities in 1) health care access and quality, 2) community conditions that provide access to resources which support health, and in 3) adequate scientific data on race, ethnicity, and other factors that would help in understanding the barriers faced by groups experiencing disparities.7 This dissertation explores chronic disease disparities spanning clinical practice, community intervention, and epidemiologic surveillance. Chapter 1 answers the call of the Action Plan, by examining disparities in health care quality. Given well-documented racial/ethnic disparities in health care quality,8,9 and emerging evidence exploring the influence of weight bias and stigma on quality of care, we examined differences in obesity-related care in pediatric care settings by race/ethnicity and parent weight status. We found no evidence of consistent differences in obesity-related care by race/ethnicity or parent weight status after accounting for predictors that could influence care received. Chapter 2 examined the effectiveness of a community-level intervention in reducing the percent of high sodium (>200mg) prepackaged products in 21 institutions serving those disproportionately burdened by hypertension. After the intervention, the percent of high sodium prepackaged foods decreased significantly from 29.0% at baseline to 21.5% at follow-up. The


The metabolism of 14C labeled Q-35 [(±)-1-cyclopropyl-6-fluoro-1, 4-dihydro-8-methoxy-7 (3-methylaminopiperidin-1-yl)-4-oxoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid], a new fluoroquinolone antimicrobial agent, was studied in rats and dogs.1. Two metabolites were identified in the urine and the bile (or the feces) after a sigle oral administration of 14C-Q-35 to rats and dogs: glucuronic acid conjugate of Q-35 as the main metabolite and aminopiperidinyl N-desmethylated derivative (N-desmetyl Q-35) as a minor metabolite.2. Q-35 glucuronide was excreted mainly in the bile or feces. Most of the radioactivity in the urine and the plasma was unchanged Q-35.3. The bioautographic study revealed that the antibacterial activity present in the urine and the bile was related to unchanged Q-35 but not to its metabolites. These results indicate that the transformation of Q-35 hardly occurs and that most of the drug administerd remains unchanged Q-35 in rats and dogs.


The article provides a scientific insight into the sources of Article 1587 of the Civil Law of the Republic of Latvia and their role in the development of pacta sunt servanda principle. The article presents an insight into evolvement of pacts in Roman law and during the reception of Roman law, including an assessment of the influence of canon law on the development of the pacta sunt servanda principle as a basis of the principle of freedom of contract and its role in overcoming the numerus clausus principle in Roman contract law. Finally, an analysis of particular law sources is presented, demonstrating a common approach to the reception of Roman law in the south-west of Germany and the Baltic provinces.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the sequence difference of the ribosomal DNA second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) in Anopheles minimus from Yunnan, Hainan, Guangxi of China and from Thailand.

METHODS
Single mosquito's legs were digested to extract DNA; the rDNA-ITS2 region was amplified by specific primers and the PCR products were purified, sequenced and analysed.

RESULTS
Two different kinds of ITS2 sequences, temporarily named as An. minimus A and An. minimus C, were found in this study. The length and GC contents of ITS2 region in species A and species C are 481 bp, 54.04% and 483 bp, 54.23%, respectively. Two species differed by 5.8% in the ITS2 sequences owing to 22 fixed nucleotide substitutions and indels.

CONCLUSION
Two cryptic species, An. minimus A and An. minimus C, were found in the research localities.


Large data centers can participate in demand response programs\ and receive financial benefits by reducing energy consumption upon utility's request. However, the existing research has only considered demand response by owner-operated data centers (e.g., Google), leaving out another distinctly different yet integral part of the data center industry --- multi-tenant colocation data centers (a.k.a., colocation or "colo"), where the space is shared by multiple tenants for housing self-owned servers. A major hurdle hindering colocation demand response is "split incentive": the colocation operator may desire demand response, but lacks control over the tenants' servers; the tenants, on the other hand, can reduce server energy consumption but may not desire demand response unless they are properly incentivized. In this paper, we present a first-of-its-kind study on colocation demand response and propose an incentive mechanism, called iCODE (incentivizing COlocation tenants for DEmand response), which breaks the split-incentive barrier for colocation demand response. iCODE allows the tenants to voluntarily bid for energy reduction when demand response is needed and receive monetary rewards if their bids are accepted. We formally model tenants' bids and how the colocation operator decides the winning bids to maximize total energy reduction without profit loss. We demonstrate the potential of colocation demand response by using a trace-based simulation to show that iCODE can significantly reduce energy consumption (e.g., up to over 50%) during demand response periods.


Steganography is considered to be not only the science but also the art of hiding secret messages into other innocuous and non-secret media of different types. History of steganography started with the history of civilization and algorithms of data hiding have been constantly developed with the rise of mankind's knowledge. Some of steganographic algorithms are so close connected to the use of digital media, computers and information technology, that those algorithms do not have analogy in non-digital world. It is possible to see the use of hard disk drives (HDD), solid state discs (SSD) and file systems for the purpose of steganography, or steganography in TCP/IP networks as the example. In this paper we are concentrating on such algorithm and we are examining the possibility of the use of dynamics of conversation realized with the use of instant messaging services, which are very popular standalone services or are part of widely used social networks like Facebook. The paper discusses the possibility of hidden message encoding by the use of different parameters of conversation dynamics and introduces new algorithm and its program implementation. The last part of the paper summarizes results of its experimental use.


Lighting design for urban public spaces increasingly requires an integration of strategies from urban design, planning, interactive technologies and lighting design. Few academic programs provide the context for teaching these subjects together. We report on the results of an innovative graduate design workshop taught at the MIT Media Laboratory where we introduced an interdisciplinary group of architects, urban planners, and engineers to the technical, cultural and social issues surrounding the design for urban spaces at night. These contextual details were tied to specific research and design exercises in the field. Ultimately, students selected sites and built full-scale interventions in public space, with results ranging from digital fireflies to analog shadow playgrounds.


An implicit finite‐difference method has been developed for calculating spherically symmetric nonlinear acoustic flows generated by a high‐intensity periodic source. This method makes it possible to match the conditions prescribed at the source to a low‐amplitude solution (in Blackstock's sense) valid at large distances from the source. Numerical computations have been made for pistonlike and sirenlike sources of three different periods and several source amplitudes. Selected graphs of the results will be presented, together with estimates of the errors associated with the method of computation. The numerical results will also be used to show that, in some instances, a low‐amplitude solution may be matched directly to a given source even though the conditions for validity of that solution are not satisfied near the source. [Work supported by Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Air Force Systems Command.]


George Tidmarsh, new Senior Editor on Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM), is a physician with an academic science and medicine background and over two decades of industry experience at the cutting edge of biotechnology and drug development. Currently CEO of La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company Inc. as well as Consulting Associate Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, he provides an insight into the value of industry as a conduit between academic research and patient benefit.


Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is a method based on collaborative knowledge of microbiology, chemistry and geotechnical engineering. The objective of this study was to investigate the increase of the bearing capacity and the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) as well as the reduction of the permeability of sandy soil using MICP. Experiments were carried out using Bacillus Pasteurii, on three different types of sand. The admixture of bacterial culture and cementation (BCC) solution all-in-one with sand by single-phase injection was applied to induce cementation. Three samples of the selected sand were treated with varied concentrations of BCC solution, ranging from 0.05 to 0.2 L/kg, with a curing period of 3, 7 and 14 days. The test results indicated an enhancement of 55% in UCS for sand treated with a BCC content of 0.05 to 0.2 L/Kg and a reduction of 40% in permeability for untreated sand with an effective diameter of 0.5 mm treated with 0.2 L/kg of BCC solution after 14 days of curing. The results of a plate load test (PLT) on MICP treated sand showed an increase in the ultimate bearing capacity (qu) by about 2.95 to 5.8 times and a 1.7 to 3.31-fold reduction in settlement corresponding to the same load applied on untreated footing. Further investigation of the size and shape of the bearing plate on bearing capacity and settlement was carried out through a plate load test. The higher and more favorable results shown by a rectangular plate compared to a circular plate indicate that the first is preferable.


The left–right (L‐R) asymmetry of the cells, or cell chirality, is a well‐known intrinsic property derived from the dynamic organization of the actin cytoskeleton. Cell chirality can be regulated by actin‐binding proteins such as α‐actinin‐1 and can also be mediated by certain signaling pathways, such as protein kinase C (PKC) signaling. Fascin, an actin crosslinker known to mediate parallel bundling of actin filaments, appears as a prominent candidate in cell chirality regulation, given its role in facilitating cell migration as an important PKC substrate. Here, it is shown that the chirality of NIH/3T3 cells can be altered by PKC activation and fascin manipulation. With either small‐molecule drug inhibition or genetic knockdown of fascin, the chirality of 3T3 cells is reversed from a clockwise (CW) bias to a counterclockwise (CCW) bias on ring‐shaped micropatterns, accompanied by the reversal in cell directional migration. The Ser‐39 fascin‐actin binding sites are further explored in cell chirality regulation. The findings of this study reveal the critical role of fascin as an important intermediator in cell chirality, shedding novel insights into the mechanisms of L‐R asymmetric cell migration and multicellular morphogenesis.


Background: Indonesia's Health Law No. 36 year 2009 Section 128 states that every baby has the right to exclusively breastfed from birth for six months. The law also stipulates that during breastfeeding, the family, the government, local governments, and public should support mothers with the provision of time and special facilities. Objective: This study aims to analyze factors related to exclusive breastfeeding program, especially indicators that can explain advocacy to stakeholders, support for resources and the role of community leader toward mother's attitude on exclusive breastfeeding program.  Methods: It was a quantitative study employed a cross-sectional approach and involved 185 mothers in Sleman district who have children aged 6-12 months. Results: Written support in the form of decree significantly contributed to the formation of advocacy factors conducted by exclusive breastfeeding program manager to the village stakeholders, whilst the provision of infrastructure and village fund did not support in creating factor of advocacy. The support from resources and the role of community leader can contribute the provision of infrastructure around 54% whilst mothers' attitudes toward exclusive breastfeeding devoted a great share to mother's practice. Conclusion: Advocacy for exclusive breastfeeding to the village stakeholders is expected to contribute in the form of written support (decree), providing the fund from the village budget, and providing the infrastructure. The support from resources and the role of community leaders influence advocacy and attitude of mothers on exclusive breastfeeding.


The double-cage fluorinated fullerene (C20F18(NH)2C20F18) has been suggested to be a new kind of molecular quantum-dot cellular automata (MQCA) candidate. The possibility of noncovalently binding these candidate molecules on silver substrates is explored by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. It is demonstrated that the candidate molecules can deposit on Ag(100) surface and form ordered MQCA arrays in both head-to-tail and side-by-side styles. The side-by-side array can keep intact even at room temperature, while the head-to-tail array shows larger thermal fluctuations. In comparison with the Ag(100) surface, ordered arrays can only be observed in the side-by-side style at low temperatures on Ag(111) surface. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the charge redistribution of the candidate, in response to an electrostatic driver, show that the QCA function of the candidate still maintains with the introduction of the Ag surface. In addition, a simple (Coulomb) electrostatic model is proposed to ...