Again in 1955 operations in the Louisiana Gulf Coast were higher than in the last 5 years. In all, 1, 994 tests were drilled, 769 of which were exploratory tests (31% successful) and 1,225 development wells (87% successful). Oil production showed an increased of 10% during 1955 and gas production an increase of 26%. The 57 new-field discoveries in 1955 showed an increase of 68% over the 34 fields found in 1954. Eugene Island Block 128, Grand Island Block 47, and West Delta Block 59 are three of the more important offshore discoveries, and South Bosco, Bayou Wikoff, Palmetto Bayou Villars fields are the most important onshore discoveries. There were also 110 new pools and 69 extensions to known fields discoveries in 1955. Seismic activity during 1955 showed an increased of 12% over 1954. Reflection seismograph was used in the discovery of 56 of the 57 fields in the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Gravity activity continues to show a slight decrease in 1955. Miocene objectives constituted the majority of exploratory efforts; the Oligocene trend was second. A new world's depth record of 22,559 feet was established in 1955 in the Louisiana Gulf Coast. The average depth of successful new-field wildcats was 12,149 feet. Lease bonuses set an all-time high, one 5,000-acre tract bringing approximately $10,500,000. A high level of leasing activity and the deep drilling trend are expected to continue in 1956.


Investigators have been surprised with new thermal phenomena behind the recently discovered nanofluids, fluid with unprecedented stability of suspended nanoparticles although huge differences in the density of nanoparticles and fluid. For example, nanofluids have anomalously high thermal conductivities at very low volume fraction, strongly temperature-dependent and size-dependent conductivity, and three-fold higher critical heat flux than that of base fluids. In this paper, the thermal characteristics of free convection in a rectangular cavity with nanofluids such as water-based nanofluids containing 6nm copper and 2nm diamond are theoretically investigated with a new model of the thermal conductivity for nanofluids presented by Jang and Choi. In addition, based on theoretical results, the effects of various parameters such as the volume fraction, the temperature, and the size of nanoparticles on free convective instability and heat transfer characteristics in a rectangular cavity with nanofluids are suggested.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


Thiamin is rapidly absorbed from the upper small intestine. In man, the maximal absorptive capacity for thiamin may be limited, suggesting the presence of a special transport mechanism. Although the importance of thiamin in metabolism has been known for several decades, the mechanism of its transport across the small intestine has not been fully characterized. Nevertheless, useful data have been obtained from studies in animals,' l4 particularly in rats. These data will be presented and compared to those observed in man. This discussion is not intended to serve as a comprehensive review of the subject and for details the reader is referred to the original reports.


The invention discloses a method and a device for processing a communication service order request in order to cause subscribers to be able to acquire whether a terminal used by themselves supports the communication services to be ordered when the subscribers order the communication services. The method comprises the steps of: receiving a subscriber's communication service order request message that includes subscriber identification information of the subscriber; searching for apparatus type information corresponding to the subscriber identification information of the subscriber in a corresponding relationship between the subscriber identification information and the apparatus type information, in accordance with the subscriber identification information; in light of the searched apparatus type information, judging whether the apparatus type of the mobile terminal used by the subscriber supports the communication services ordered according to the request message; and notifying the subscriber of judgment result.


The paper is presented in the form of a 'case study' of the changes in a fish population monitored over a period of several years. Fish from a 100 m section of a drainage canal in Suffolk, England were netted annually by undergraduate students as part of a practical exercise on fish population ecology. Data collected from 1981 to 1987 showed changes in the fish community both in terms of overall abundance (numbers and biomassj and in the relative abundance of different species. A variety of factors including human exploitation of the fish stock, the effect of biotic interactions and climatic conditions are considered as possible influences on fish recruitment and mortality. These possible explanations are examined against the background of other studies which have considered the causes of change in populations of freshwater fish.


As digital technologies continue to fuel the rise of new companies around the world, it's easy to presume that raising money is the startups' biggest challenge. But a larger and often-overlooked roadblock to success is getting people to intimately understand their product and the problem it solves. Without this clarity, no amount of financing can overcome prospective customers who "just don't get it."


Abstract: Spoilage is a natural process where the seafood experiences a deterioration, starting with loss of color and taste, followed by changes in texture and color as well as development of off-flavors. The spoilage is mainly due to the action of microorganisms and endogenous enzymes. The numerous biochemical reactions (proteolysis, lipolysis, glycolysis and oxidation) taking place in post-mortem muscle and the main methodologies used to evaluate shelf life – analysis of generated biogenic amines, total volatile bases and trimethylamine, nucleotides and nucleosides, the assessment of changes in color and texture, sensory analysis, sensors for specific properties and the analysis of microorganisms involved – are briefly described in this chapter.


dure multiple times. Moreover, the paper shows that relatively large samples are needed to obtain consistent results from sampled metrics. In fact, the paper shows that when 1/3 of the whole catalogue is used as a sample, sampled metrics are consistent with the exact metrics. Unfortunately, in this case the speed up from sampling is limited. What is the source of the inconsistency and bias in the sampled metrics? As the authors show, they stem from a simple fact: by using a sample of the irrelevant items, the rank of a relevant item is an underestimate of its exact rank, obtained when all the irrelevant items are considered. Since the error in the estimate can be quantified, it can then be corrected, and another main result of the paper is showing that even a simple correction is able to resolve most of the mistakes of the uncorrected sampled metrics. Therefore, while, as suggested by the authors, samplingbased approaches should be avoided in evaluations whenever possible, they can still be employed by using a properly designed correction. One of the most important takeaways from the paper is clear: when sampling is used to estimate a quantity, understanding, and analyzing the impact of the sampling procedure is crucial. This is a more general message than it may seem at first sight. In several applications one can rarely assume that the data at hand represent the whole system, or population, or process, under study, and most commonly the data is only a sample of the system/population/process. Understanding the impact of sampling procedures on the results of algorithms, and how to properly account for them in the computation, is of paramount importance to draw reliable and robust answers from data.


The present invention, for wireless and wired devices, transmission of audio and visual files, delivery, method of reproduction and content management systems and products, and, for such delivery to electronic devices capable mobile phone, etc. relates to a new, not using the Internet protocol.


Over the past 20 years, building on the efforts of many dedicated researchers and clinicians, we have improved our diagnostic abilities and management strategies for intraocular neoplasms. This article emphasizes some of the major differences in ocular oncology compared to management 20 years ago. Improvements in tumor management have come through 1) a vast improvement in the training of ophthalmologists to evaluate and diagnose neoplasms; 2) an improved understanding of the natural history of ocular neoplasms; 3) imaging advances; 4) better data from clinical trials; 4) new treatment modalities; and 5) molecular genetic breakthroughs, which are opening new worlds into our ability to diagnose disease, to understand the fundamental molecular mechanisms that lead to neoplasia, and to rationally design clinical trials utilizing targeted therapies. Ocular oncologists have benefited greatly from advances in imaging techniques. Widespread access to digital photographic systems, such as the Panoret, RetCam, and Ophthalmic Imaging System montage, allows clinicians to rapidly acquire wide-field images for diagnosis and for monitoring of tumor margins. These images are easily sent to referral centers for second opinion, and the digital format is proving useful to reduce costs for multicenter clinical trials. High-quality ophthalmic ultrasound is now available in many clinical practices. Ultrasonographic tissue characterization and biometry can be obtained in eyes with clear media to support a specific tumor diagnosis. Ultrasound also plays an important role in the detection and characterization of lesions in eyes with opaque media and ciliary body lesions.1 With the advent of high-resolution ophthalmic ultrasound, using 20 and 35 MHz probes, and ultrasound biomicroscopy,2 using 50 MHz probes, we have improved resolution, allowing better delineation of lesion margins and differentiation based on internal tumor characteristics. Currently, instruments that use higher frequencies of ultrasound have been most useful for tumors located in the anterior half or the eye, but recent technological advances allow higher resolution imaging of the posterior segment with frequencies greater than 10 MHz. Three-dimensional ultrasound imaging is also available.3 This technique allows the clinician to look at tumors in ways never before possible, and to be able to rapidly evaluate and serially assess tumor volume. Ocular oncologists have utilized the marked improvements in computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) resolution, acquisition time, and multiplanar reconstructions to evaluate tumors, especially when an extraocular component is suspected. Positron emission tomography scanning can also be useful as a research tool, or to search for a primary malignancy in patients with a choroidal metastasis in whom a primary tumor cannot be found by other means.4,5 Next, this article focuses on the changes that have affected our management of uveal melanoma and retinoblastoma, two of the most important primary intraocular neoplasms.


We show that, in non-amenable groups, the density of elements of depth at least $d$ goes to $0$ exponentially in $d$.


Abstract The dynamics of a small linear dune on the northern margin of the Namib Sand Sea have been monitored using erosion pins placed at the dune tip since 1969. measurements of these pins enabled estimation of the rates of advance and lateral migration of the dune. The average rate of advance of the dune tip over the period 1969–2012 was 1.99 m yr–1 towards 015°. Rates of advance and lateral movement varied over the period of monitoring, with a decrease in rates of advance by a factor of 50%, but an increase in the rate of lateral movement. Changes in dune behavior appear to be related to changes in wind regime and the vegetation cover of the interdune area, as a result of increased rainfall in recent years. This study demonstrates the dynamic nature of the tip of this dune and its sensitivity to changes in winds and sand supply.


Abstract Objectives Coexistence of arterial hypertension (AH) in children with obesity increases morbidity and shortens life. Its role as an indicator of coexisting metabolic complications is however less known. The objective of the study was to compare metabolic profiles of children with obesity and with or without AH. Methods We included patients aged 10–18 with the BMI Z-score ≥2. Diagnosis of AH was based on the European Society of Hypertension criteria (2016). Metabolic profiles were assessed by glucose and insulin levels taken before and after glucose load, fasting levels of triglycerides (TG), total (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and HOMA-IR. Results Of 534 patients, 33.5% were diagnosed with AH. The AH patients, as compared to non-AH, had higher fasting insulin levels (22 vs. 19.7 mIU/L, p=0.04), HOMA-IR (4.5 vs. 4.0, p=0.029), and post-load glucose level (6.3 vs. 5.7, p=0.000041). No differences in the post-load insulin levels (113 vs. 100 mIU/L, p=0.056), fasting glucose (4.5 vs. 4.5 mmol/L, p=0.5), or lipids were found (TC: 4.4 vs. 4.4 mmol/L, p=0.9; LDL: 2.7 vs. 2.7, p=0.2; TG: 1.4 vs. 1.4 mmol/L, p=0.5; HDL: 1.1 vs. 1.2, p=0.3. Conclusions Concomitance of AH in children with obesity may be an indicator of coexisting metabolic complications.


The objective of this paper is to formulate an algorithm to generate stressed synthetic speech from neutral speech using a source generator framework previously employed for stressed speech recognition. The following goals are addressed (i) identify the most visible indicators of stress as perceived by the listener in stressed speaking styles such as loud, Lombard effect and angry, (ii) develop a mathematical model for representing speech production under stressed conditions, and (iii) employ the above model to produce emotional/stressed synthetic speech from neutral speech. The stress modeling scheme is applied to an existing low-bit rate CELP speech coder in order to investigate (i) the coder's ability and limitations reproducing stressed synthetic speech, and (ii) our ability to perturb coded neutral speech parameters at the synthesis stage so that resulting speech is perceived as being under stress. Two stress perturbation algorithms are proposed and evaluated. Results from formal listener evaluations show that 87% of neutral perturbed speech was indeed perceived as stressed.


We reveal a novel macroscopic quantum phenomenon induced by a magnetic field. It corresponds to the {\it non-integer quantization of the superfluid density} in a superconductor with gap nodes due to the generation of confined field-induced density waves (CFIDW) over a portion of the Fermi surface (FS). The Landau numbers $L$ are not sufficient to index these macroscopic quantum states and new quanrum numbers $\zeta$ must be added. Distinct qualitative implications of this $|L,\zeta >$ quantization are evident in a number of puzzling experiments in high-$T_c$ cuprates including the plateaus behavior in the field profile of thermal conductivity, field induced magnetic moments, charge textures around the vortices, and field induced vortex-solid to cascade vortex glass transitions.


Mannich condensation of 1,1'-diacetylferrocene with dimethylamine followed by catalytic hydrogenation gives the chiral a-dimethylamino[3]ferrocenophane. Both enantiomers are available by resolution. Directed ortho-lithiation/iodination yields the ortho-iodo-a-dimethylamino[3]ferrocenophane derivative, whose treatment with acetic anhydride and copper(I) oxide yielded the mono- and diacetoxy-functionalized derivatives. The ortho-phosphorylated α-dimethylamino systems (-PPh 2 , -PCy 2 ) underwent exchange of the directing NMe 2 group with NH 2 by means of an ammonolysis reaction of the corresponding α-chloride derivatives, which in turn were obtained by treatment of the α-dimethylamino compounds with methylchloroformate. Starting from α-dimethylamino[3]ferrocenophane, the sequence of directed ortho-lithiation (t-BuLi), treatment with p-tosyl azide/sodium pyrophosphate (to yield the ortho-azido[3]ferrocenophane derivative) followed by catalytic hydrogenation gave the ortho-amino and α-dimethylamino[3]ferrocenophane derivatives. The potential use of some of the chelate ferrocenophane ligands in Ru-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenations was investigated. Seven of the newly synthesized compounds were characterized by X-ray diffraction.


We tend to think of Maxwell's genius entirely in relation to his creation of electromagnetic theory (as summarised by Maxwell's equations) on the one hand, and to his seminal development of the kinetic theory of gases (leading to the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, the derivation of transport coefficients like viscosity and thermal diffusivity for gases and associated validation of the continuum model) on the other. To do so is perhaps to neglect his extraordinary insights in other directions, notably in the dynamics of fluids, a field in which his publications were few but nevertheless groundbreaking in their originality. Some of these insights were not published at the time, but are now available through the wonderful three-volume publication of The Scientific Letters and Papers of James Clerk Maxwell (Harman 1990, 1995, 2003) on which I draw freely in the following discussion. Maxwell's insights relate to centrifugal instability, to fluid-dynamical stability both in general and in particular application to the problem of Saturn's rings, to Kelvin's knotted vortices (in relation to which Maxwell played the role of amused commentator) and to the problem of Lagrangian particle displacement in an unsteady Eulerian flow, for which he provided perhaps the first explicit example. Fluiddynamical thinking was in fact intrinsic to Maxwell's development of electromagnetic theory in the 1850s, and provided the initial framework upon which he constructed this theory, as evidenced by his first major paper in the subject On Faraday's lines of force. His endeavours to express observed phenomena in mechanical terms lay at the heart of his thinking, and may help us to understand the development of a mind of extraordinary boldness and originality.


The reduction curve and Ihe change of sUlface temlJerature of an iron oxide pellet were determined during the reduction with hydrogen in temperature range of 800 to 1 JOO°c. The sUiface temperature was measured by using an automatic olJtical pyrometer . Further, a mathematical modelfor a nonisothermal reaction was derived on the basis of the umeacled core model, in which heat and mass tranifer are considered. The observed values of fractional reduction and surface temlJerature of the IJellet were comlJared with the theoretical values estimated by this model . The reduction curves and the surface temperatures obtained from this model were almost coincided with the observed values . The temperature drop observed during the reduction jnocess was not so large, because the heat transfer by radiation p layed a /JI'edominant role in heat transfer from the surroundings to Ihe surface of fJellet under the CUIlditions of the present experiment . Therifore , the rate parameters in Ihe rate equation have been determined with a sl!l]icient accura0' by analysing the measured values on an assumjJtion that the reaction would jJroceed isothermally .


Microblog as a new network media,challenges the college ideological and political education,including decline of educational efficiency,the more complex educational environment,weakened position of educators,and educational objects with increasing differences.Admittedly,the emergence of microblog also provides new ways and opportunities for college ideological and political education,and enriches and improves educational contents,carriers and modes in a network environment.With comprehensive understanding and research of microblog,colleges and universities should face the challenges correctly and propose some coping strategies and improve the effectiveness of college ideological and political education work from the following five aspects: clarifying the status of subject and object,building a "multi-dimensional interactive dynamic mode,establishing an ideological platform with clear orientation,improving the system of monitoring public opinion and effectively enhance the media literacy of both students and educators.


The effectiveness of the use of modern technologies and methods of radiation treatment depends on the means of quality control of the operational parameters of the radiotherapy equipment. The development of technical means for verification of the radiation therapy plan, allowing accurate assessment of the three-dimensional dose distribution in the target, is a priority task when introducing innovative methods of radiation treatment. The aim of the work is to develop tools for assessing the three-dimensional dose distribution of radiation therapy plans with intensity modulation using the magnitude of the absolute radiation dose. The authors analyzed the existing technical means and methods for verifying radiation therapy plans on medical linear electron accelerators, and also identified their shortcomings. It is shown that these techniques for verifying the three-dimensional dose distribution do not give an accurate idea of the absolute values of the radiation dose in the target. A system and a method are proposed that allows improving the accuracy of the verification of the radiation therapy plan by using the obtained cross-calibration coefficient determined taking into account the value of the radiation output of the medical linear accelerator immediately at the time of the implementation of both this procedure and the radiation therapy session, as well as a method for verifying the plan radiation therapy with their use.


Edge computing is a good complement to cloud computing for deploying large-scale geo-distributed simulation applications, which are very sensitive to the communication delay among different simulation components (also called tasks in this paper) and users. We mainly focus on the efficient scheduling of simulation components in collaborative edge and cloud environments. As components should be deployed jointly with the consideration of capacity constraints of hosts, it is actually an NP-complete multi-dimensional bin packing problem. Meanwhile, dynamic changes of component and host states require the low deployment latency of scheduling algorithms. Unfortunately, most of the existing schedulers for modern clusters are queue-based, in which tasks are scheduled sequentially, thus lacking the ability to process tightly coupled tasks jointly. Other batching-based placement algorithms are usually time-consuming. This paper describes Pond, a novel flow-based scheduler with the awareness of interactions among tasks and users as well as heterogeneous multi-dimensional resources. Firstly, characteristics of distributed simulation tasks are analysed and the scheduling problem is formulated as a min-cost max-flow (MCMF) problem over the flow network by mapping the communication overhead among tasks and users to the costs of arcs in the network. Considering the inherent defects of existing flow-based schedulers in dealing with multi-dimensional resources, a new method based on dominant resource is proposed and some problem specific heuristics are also designed. Extensive simulation experiments based on Alibaba production trace and some random synthetic parameters are conducted. Results show that Pond can reduce the average communication cost for each task significantly in a quite low deployment latency compared with some baselines


Disclosed is an electrically Zn-plated steel sheet which comprises an electrically Zn-plated layer and a resin coating film provided on the electrically Zn-plated layer and containing substantially no Cr and 0.05 to 5% by mass of Na. The electrically Zn-plated layer contains at least one member selected from the group consisting of Ni, Fe, Cr, Mo, Sn, Cu, Cd, Ag, Si, Co, In, Ir and W respectively in the following amounts in terms of atom: Ni: 60-6000 ppm (''ppm'' means ppm by mass, ditto for the following), Fe: 60-600 ppm, Cr: 0.5-5 ppm, Mo: 30-500 ppm, Sn: 0.6-20 ppm, Cu: 8-3000 ppm, Cd: 0.0001-0.02 ppm, Ag: 1.0-400 ppm, Si: 30-2000 ppm, Co: 0.0003-0.3 ppm, In: 0.1-30 ppm, Ir: 0.01-10 ppm, and W: 0.1-50 ppm.


l-Methionine γ-lyase (MGL) is considered to be an attractive target for rational drug development because the enzyme is absent in mammalian hosts. To enable structure-based design of drugs targeting MGL, one of the two MGL isoenzymes (EhMGL2) was crystallized in the orthorhombic space group P212121, with unit-cell parameters a = 88.89, b = 102.68, c = 169.87 A. The crystal diffracted to a resolution of 2.0 A. The presence of a tetramer in the asymmetric unit (4 × 43.1 kDa) gives a Matthews coefficient of 2.2 A3 Da−1. The structure was solved by the molecular-replacement method and structure refinement is now in progress.


The High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard achieves higher encoding efficiency than previous standards such as H.264/AVC. One key contributor to this improvement is the intra-prediction method that supports a large number of prediction directions at a cost of high computational complexity. Within the context of mobile devices with limited power and computational capabilities, reductions on encoding complexity are important; particularly to encode new data formats such as screen content sequences. This paper presents a novel intra-prediction method for lossless coding of this type of sequences. The method employs one of three possible intra-prediction modes to encode each prediction block. These three modes predict strong edges, model different directional patterns and generate smooth surfaces. The proposed method provides a decrease of up to 53.84% in the HEVC intra-prediction lossless encoding time, with average bit-rate reductions of 7.05% for a variety of screen content sequences.


Mean free paths associated with the scattering of electrons and holes are derived from experiments on impact ionisation in wide-gap semiconductors using the lucky-drift model. It is found that the mean free path for an electron or hole in any semiconductor obeys a simple universal law which implies a common phonon energy for electron and hole scattering and a dependence of mean free path on threshold energy ( lambda varies as Ei-12/). The latter dependence is plausible in terms of a simple view of scattering of high-energy carriers in a nonparabolic band. This universal model is derived on the basis of experimental data reported by various authors in Si, Ge, GaAs, and InP. Results for GaSb and its alloys appear to be anomalous, whereas data from GaInAs in InGaAsP tend to support the model. The model predicts the ratio of ionisation coefficients k= beta / alpha and its dependence on field and temperature. It is shown that k in any semiconductor is determined by only the ratio of threshold energies of electrons and holes. A comparison with reported values is made and brief discussions of the spin-orbit resonance effect in AlGaSb and of the enhancement in GaAs/AlGaAs multilayers are given.


Abstract : In a series of monographs Schogenberg developed a comprehensive theory of univariate cardinal splines. His results strongly influenced the analysis of totally positive matrices. In this report the author extend two of his basic results on cardinal interpolation to bivariate box-splines. They show that, for functions of exponential type, cardinal interpolation is a rapidly convergent approximation process as the degree tends to infinity. Being not restricted to a tensor product mesh gives a greater flexibility, and because of the exponential decay of the Lagrange functions, spline interpolation is suitable, e.g., for data smoothing. They also expect that bivariate cardinal splines have a similar significance for theoretical questions as in the univariate case.


The invention relates to a method for power verification of a Patikelstrahls, comprising the steps of: - accelerating charged particles to a predetermined energy in an acceleration device (13, 15), - extracting a particle beam from the accelerator and guiding the particle beam through a Tranportvorrichtung (17) - deflecting the particle beam with at least one magnet (31, 49), - measuring a position of the particle beam in a direction which, ideally, but not necessarily perpendicular to the beam direction is, - Check the actual energy of the particle beam using the measured position. The device for energy verification comprises a measuring device (37) for measuring a position of the particle beam in a direction perpendicular to the beam direction, and an evaluation device (39) for checking an actual energy of the particle beam using the by the measuring device (47) measured position , Such a device is in a system for accelerating charged particles used.


I From the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (J.W.H., G.E.C., M.W.V.) and the Departments of Psychiatry (J.W.H.,J.W.N.,J.G.C.), Surgery (G.E.C.), and Electrical Engineering (S.C.J., M.I.M.), Washington University, 510 5 Kingshighway Blvd, St Louis, MO 63110. Received September 21, 1995; revision requested October 20; revision received February 8, 1996; accepted February 12. J.W.N. supported in part by Scientist Development Award MH01045 from the National Institute of Mental Health. Address reprint requests to M.W.V. g RSNA, 1996


Since the discovery of streptomycin by Waksman 1 (in 1944) data have been obtained which show the value of this drug as an adjunct to the surgical treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. The demonstration that streptomycin had a beneficial effect on tuberculosis in the guinea pig by Feldman 2 and the report that this drug seemed to improve patients with pulmonary tuberculosis by Hinshaw 3 in 1946 have been followed by other studies concerning the value of streptomycin in pulmonary tuberculosis. The largest number of cases in which pulmonary tuberculosis treated with streptomycin was evaluated has been collected under the auspices of the Veterans Administration. 4 (Over 3,000 patients with various types of tuberculosis have been treated.) It was found that those patients in whom a beneficial effect was obtained showed clinical response within the first two weeks of therapy. Approximately 60 per cent became afebrile after the administration of streptomycin.


Scientific workflow systems facilitate scientific experiments by integrating and coordinating geographically distributed data and algorithmic services in a loosely coupled manner. Most scientific workflow-engines use centralized coordination as the choice of approach for executing workflows, requiring the coordinator (i.e., workflow-engine) to send and receive all input and output data of component services. Such indirect data communication between the component services increases the data-traffic of the coordinator and weakens the performance of the workflow. To optimize this, we propose an approach where data-flow is dynamically delegated from the coordinator to the component services, with direct transportation of data between the component services.


Distinguishing the style and timing of dolomitization is critical to understanding dolomite's suitability as a proxy for reconstructions of Earth's ancient oceans and atmosphere. While sedimentary successions of marine carbonates are ubiquitous in the geological record, the environmental information recorded in the elemental and isotopic compositions reflect a combination of surface and subsurface environments. Primary carbonate minerals undergo diagenetic alteration, the most widespread and enigmatic of these diagenetic processes is dolomitization; the conversion of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) to calcium-magnesium carbonate (Ca 0.5 Mg 0.5 CO 3 ). We use carbonate δ 44/40 Ca and δ 26 Mg values to evaluate the suitability of diagenetic dolomites as an archive for paleo-seawater chemistry recorded in Resolution Guyot, a 1691-meter thick succession recording shallow-water carbonates deposited and dolomitized in the Early Cretaceous. A second episode of dolomitization, dated using measurements of 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios [1], occurred during the Oligocene. As the burial history of Resolution Guyot is uncomplicated, seawater is the only potential diagenetic fluid. Using this sample suite, we test the hypothesis for two episodes of dolomitization by Cretaceous and Oligocene seawater. Results are compared to independent geological archives of δ 44/40 Ca and δ 26 Mg values. The aim of this work is to test the utility of paired isotopic measurements as a tool for evaluating dolomite's suitability as a proxy in reconstructions of Earth's ancient oceans and atmosphere. &


The result are presented on experimental study of VUV spectra of double and triple mixtures of argon, krypton and xenon in dc and barrier discharges. Region of 120 - 200 nm was studied that corresponds to the transitions between dimer lowest excited states and the weakly bound ground states 1u, 0+u yields 0+g. The pressure in capillary dc discharge was 100 - 1000 hPa and discharge current was 20 - 50 mA. The experiment with 10, 20 and 40 cm tubes corresponded a gain 0.1 cm-1 at (lambda) approximately 147 nm.


Collaborative Virtual Environment (CVE) is a space where users can communicate and work collaboratively with each other. Jave3D is an application-centered approach to building 3D worlds easily and effectively. The author used Java3D to design a prototype CVE-based system. In this paper, the author mainly discusses the details of implementing the system, such as VR model construction,message communication,interaction with virtual environment and whiteboard management, and provides many crucial codes for the implementation.


This useful collection of studies on various aspects of children's socialization brings together previously published articles from books and journals oriented toward diverse professional audiences. The scope of the volume is broad: topics range from socialization at the individual level to stratification as it affects socialization. With one exception, all the contributions originally appeared in the 1970s and 1980s; their usefulness as a sampler of socialization processes and meanings continues.


Abstract:In 1866, Charles Dickens added Mugby Junction, the eighth and penultimate extra Christmas number of his weekly periodical All the Year Round, to an inundated seasonal publishing market. This article argues that Mugby Junction suggests what provoked the pain, pressure, and eventual despair that Dickens felt about producing extra Christmas numbers. He expressed an ambivalence towards the effects of human interaction with modernity's rhythms (to which publishing contributed). He addressed the interference and the stasis of the Christmas publishing cycle by offering a model of "taking one's time," thereby discovering what it means to be "not going on."


A computer program for accurately estimating the static aerodynamic characteristics of a slender, ablating re-entry vehicle is described. The approach includes a complete coupling between the flowfield analysis and the thermochemical analysis of the response of the heat shield material to the external environment. Moderate angles of attack and Mach numbers ranging from supersonic to hypersonic are considered. The transient thermochemical analysis provides values of wall temperature, mass ablation rate, and recession rate which are used to modify the vehicle shape and perform the flowfield calculations at the next trajectory point.


This study analysed the technical efficiency of poultry egg production for sustainable food security in the study area using primary data. The data were analysed using stochastic frontier, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) food security measurement, and correlation analysis to determine the relationship between technical efficiency and food security. The result of the study revealed that the poultry egg farmers had a very low technical efficiency of 23%, which implies that the poultry egg farmers have a chance of improving their technical efficiency by 77% using their available resource efficiently. The result also revealed that few of the households (10%) were food secure while most of them (90%) were food insecure at different levels of food insecurity. The result of the study further indicated a direct relationship between technical efficiency and food security at 1% level of probability, implying that as average productivity increases, food security increases. The policy implication is that food security among the poultry egg farmers is linked with improving their farm efficiency. If food security is to be ensured among the poultry egg farmers, their farming activities must be efficient. The study recommended that the poor food security status of the poultry egg farmers be improved by addressing their low level of technical efficiency through ensuring the efficient utilization of their available resources. This calls for emphasis on extension activities to focus on training poultry egg farmers on improved production management practices. Author's Note This study was borne out of the need to address the issue of food security among poultry egg farmers in the study area in a bid to ensure sustainable development. However, the pertinent question of interest which formed the basis for this study was whether the efficiency of production of the farmers has a significant link with their food security and what policy implication can be drawn from the outcome of such a link.


The aim of this degree work was the elaboration of two analytical models, one of this for cyclic stimulation and the other one for steamflooding, which were able to aproximate the predicition of oil production in comparision with the data of reservoir simulator.


This text criticizes the common way in which, from the psychosocial approach with gender perspective (EPPG), the object of family violence is explored and the phenomena of family violence is interposed. An specific explanation is analyzed, a very popular one, about family violence, paradigmatically represented by Jorge Corsi?s work. The analysis is contextualized, focusing on the way the problem is approached institutionally, above all from agencies, and describing the social situation in which they take place, both the family violence phenomena and the approach. The research procedure was based on the analysis of materials, followed by an epistemological, logical and political review of the posture shown in the materials. As a result, the assumptions proposed by EPPG explaining family violence are supported. However, they are enrolled in a medical model, inappropriate to reach psychosocial phenomena; also the assumptions of the quoted autor are socialized as an ideology and its aim is incorrectly focused on different levels of reality in which the phenomena of violence develops.


Objective To evaluate the efficacy of surgical treatment for capsule contraction syndrome after phacoemulsification.Methods The sac-relaxing surgery was performed on 12 eyes of 12 cases with capsule contraction syndrome after phacoemulsification.The visual acuity and complication were observed.Results The visual acuities were improved in all the 12 eyes after surgery.The visual acuities of 10 eyes were better than 0.4,and those of 2 eyes were 0.1-0.3.No complication was found in all cases.Conclusion Surgery for capsule contraction syndrome is a safe and effective way.

Key words:
Cataract ;  Phacoemulsification;  Capsule contraction syndrome ;  Surgery, sac-relaxing


The title compound, [Ni(C 6 H 5 S) 2 (C 12 H 27 P) 2 ], was isolated from the reaction of NiCl 2 .6H 2 O, NaSPh and P n Bu 3 in MeOH. The molecule possesses a crystallographic inversion center at the Ni atom which is fourfold coordinated by two P and two S atoms with almost square-planar geometry. The Ni-S and Ni-P distances are 2.217 (2) and 2.245 (2) A, respectively.


We provide evidence of a drastic drop in stock run-ups of U.S. target firms preceding merger and acquisition (M&A) announcements over the past decades. The median target run-up declines from approximately 10% in the 1980s to 2% after 2010. The trend in target run-ups cannot be fully explained by deal or firm characteristics associated with deal anticipation. However, it disappears after controlling for changes in the strength of U.S. insider trading regulation over the research period. Further analyses corroborate our conclusion that more stringent insider trading regulation is the most likely explanation for the reduction in target run-ups.


The J$_1$-J$_2$ antiferromagnetic Ising model on the fractal Sierpi\'nski gasket is intensively studied, and a number of exotic properties are disclosed. The ground state phase diagram in the plane of magnetic field-interaction of the system is obtained, where three nontrivial phases including the $1/3$ magnetization plateau ordered and disordered phases, and the $5/9$ plateau partially ordered phase, as well as five boundaries and two intersection points are accurately identified in terms of the uniform and subset magnetization and the residual entropy as well. The thermodynamic properties of the three plateau phases are probed by exploring the temperature-dependence of magnetization, specific heat, susceptibility and spin-spin correlations, where some interesting features due to the special geometry of the Sierpi\'nski gasket are discovered. No phase transitions are observed in this model. In the absence of a magnetic field, the unusual temperature dependence of the spin correlation length is obtained with $0 \leq$J$_2/$J$_1<1$, and an interesting crossover behavior between different phases at J$_2/$J$_1=1$ is unveiled, whose dynamics can be described by the J$_2/$J$_1$-dependence of the specific heat, susceptibility and spin correlation functions. The exotic spin-spin correlation patterns that share the same special rotational symmetry as that of the Sierpi\'nski gasket are obtained in both the $1/3$ plateau disordered phase and the $5/9$ plateau partially ordered phase.


We examine the effect of social schemes in India on women empowerment, fertility & female welfare. The balancing between 'Men' and 'Women' is sine qua non for sustainability of human race. The present world scenario is tilted in favour of men endangering sustainability of human race. The angle of this tilt might vary from one society to another but majorly it is unbalanced. This hinders social, economic and political participation of women; an important half of world population. For sustainable social and economic development, participation of women in political process is indispensable. There are many reasons for non-participation ranging from sheer ignorance and helplessness to apathy towards it. But without ensuring active participation of this 'half' in political & economic process, sustainable and cohesive society is a day dreaming. Legislation and legal provisions are instruments to create enabling environment for women to participate in political process and economy. Empowerment flows from rights. This paper critically analyze pro-women legislations if has acted for the purposes they were enacted. The Directive Principles of Constitutional Law of India empowers government to create exceptions in principle of equality and frame affirmative action plan for the socio-economic welfare of the women. Article 39 provides equality between men & women in opportunities, wages and treatment. Article 42 provides that the State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.


Visually impaired users are hindered in their efforts to access the largest repository of electronic information in the world, namely the World Wide Web. A visually impaired user's information and presentation requirements are different from those of a sighted user, in that they are highly individualized and nonvisual. These requirements can become problems in that the Web is visual-centric with regard to presentation as well as information order and layout. This can and does hinder users who need access to information but cannot take advantage of the visual cues available to sighted users. Our objective is to address these problems by creating usable and appropriately "displayed" Web pages for all users who wish to understand the meaning of the information, as opposed to its presentation and order. We assert that the only way to accomplish this is to encode the semantic information of the page directly into the page. In this paper we describe work toward a low-overhead system to enable just this kind of semantic encoding. In particular, our approach allows semantics-based triage, that is, prioritized removal of unnecessary information from the presentation of a Web site, to make the interaction of visually impaired users with that site more productive.


A post print, published interview. An interview on media materialism, geophysics of media, the new book A Geology of Media. Published in the inaugural issue of the new journal Digital Culture & Society. Shared with permission.


Using a secondary pion beam from the Argonne Zero Gradient Synchrotron we have studied the process ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\varphi}n$ in the region of the cross-section enhancement near kinematic threshold. For incident momenta between 1.6 and 2 GeV/c, we have determined production and decay angular distributions and extrapolated total cross sections from a sample of about 160 $\ensuremath{\varphi}'\mathrm{s}$ above background. The production and decay distributions are consistent with isotropy over this entire incident-momentum range. The extrapolated total cross section varies between 19 and 25 \ensuremath{\mu}b.


The development and urbanization process in Malaysia has changed the face the earth. Land fill with tress and vegetation was replaced with concrete buildings and paved roads, which have an impact on the rate of heat production and retention. This research was conducted to study the increasing temperature in major cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kelantan and Johor Bahru. This study used the NOAA -AVlHRR satellite data because it covers wide areas such as the whole of Peninsular Malaysia. The split window technique was used to extract the temperature from the NOAA·AVHRH data. This method saved money, time and transportation costs, and it is suitable for wide area study. A comparison between the NOAA-AVHRR temperature data with the actual data collected by the weather stations in the above mentioned cities, showed no significant differences at< 1"C. This means the accuracy of the NOAA-AVHRR can be trusted and accepted.


An investigation of wave propagation in transonic flows is carried out using the nonlinear transonic small disturbance equation. The wavefronts are computed from numerical integration of the characteristic equation. The manner in which downstream disturbances, initiated at an airfoil trailing edge, affect the shock wave is analysed. The propagation time for downstream disturbances to reach the shock wave is computed for various airfoil geometries and free stream Mach numbers. The results are compared to those obtained from an empirical formulation given by Tijdeman. The interaction of upstream moving waves with a time-dependent flowfield is studied for an airfoil performing trailingedge flap oscillations. The variation of the disturbance amplitude along the wavefront at various instances of time is given for an impulse source at the a1 wave amplitude a, coefficients of asymptotic expansion B coefficient in transonic small disturbance equation C coefficient in transonic small disturbance equation


Background: Radiographic dental age estimation methods are viable both for living and deceased people. One such method is the indirect assessment of quantified secondary dentinal deposition through measurements of tooth and pulp. Kvaal, et al., developed a method for chronological age estimation based on pulp size using periapical dental radiographs. There is a need to test this method of age estimation in the Indian population on living individuals not requiring tooth extraction. The current study aimed to assess the applicability of Kvaal's method in maxillary permanent central incisor using CBCT. Materials and Methods: The study included 185 CBCT images of the individuals, ranging in age from 14 to 64 years. CBCT images were evaluated for the maxillary central incisor and metric measurements were taken from which ratios were derived. Using the ratios, a linear regression equation was derived, from which the age of an individual was predicted. Result and Conclusion: The correlation between the individual ratio and the chronological age was calculated using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The age of the individual was predicted using a linear regression equation with a SEE ranging from 10.05 to 12.78 years. When the samples were divided into various age groups, the Standard Error of Estimate has drastically reduced. The radiographic pulpal morphometric analysis used in present study can be recommended to assess the age of an adult for forensic purposes.


For problems that most inclined drift transportation devices of mine had poor reliability and backward control mode,the paper proposed a design scheme of integrated monitoring and control system for inclined drift transportation of coal mine taking PLC as control core,described system architecture,main field equipments and system functions in details.The system achieves speed and location measuring of winch and monitoring of moving vehicles and staff,realizes visualization of inclined drift by video surveillance devices,and implements contact of ground staff and inclined drift staff,as well as maintainer of each section and winch drivers by communication devices.The practical application shows that the system has flexible and convenience operation and strong reliability.


In this paper we investigate a RAM-based associative memory that uses a weighted voting scheme. We adopt the testing protocols commonly used in the area of face recognition, and propose that the capacity of the system be measured by the results of an identification test (ability to properly recognize known information) and a watch-list test (ability to properly reject inputs that should not be matched with any of the memory set patterns). For the case of binary and random memory sets, we are able to derive theoretical expressions characterizing the performance of the weighted voting memory on both of these tests.


This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of sanction effects on post-welfare employment quality in Europe using the outcome variables daily wage, yearly income, and covering job stability with the durations of three employment states: employed, unemployed, and supplementary benefit receipt. Applying PSM, we estimate the treatment effects (ATT) of UB-II-sanctions in Germany based on a rich administrative data set. Novelties of this study are the analysis of postwelfare sanction effects also for employed welfare recipients ("Aufstocker") and for indirectly affected employable household members. Our analyses reveal highly significant and strongly negative effects of benefit sanctions on the quality of post-welfare employment in the short and long run. In terms of income and employment stability we find a catch-up process which is by far not strong enough to compensate the loss within two years. For employed welfare recipients the negative effects on income and job stability even exceed the effects for unemployed. Particularly striking are the remarkably strong and highly significant negative effects on indirectly affected unemployed household members.


We report the case of a patient who presented with erythema and swelling over the chest and neck following chiropractic spinal manipulation. Staphylococcus aureus pyomyositis of the right sternocleidomastoid was initially diagnosed, although subsequent magnetic resonance imaging confirmed sepsis arising from the sternoclavicular joint. This was treated successfully with a prolonged course of intravenous antibiotics and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Sternoclavicular osteomyelitis is usually managed with surgical resection and rarely medically. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a sternoclavicular osteomyelitis successfully managed with a combination of antibiotics and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.


Local government systems across the world face acute and ongoing fiscal challenges. In Australia, the regulatory response has focused squarely on council consolidation. This has, unfortunately, meant that comparatively little attention has been paid to alternate, less disruptive methods for enhancing municipal sustainability. One such possibility lies in modifying the structure of local political representation. We conduct a number of estimations on a four-year panel of Victorian municipal data to test whether the "law of 1/n" has empirical support at the local government level. Our results clearly show that the number of geographically defined fragments, or wards, within a given municipality is a statistically significant determinant of local government expenditure. A number of public policy recommendations follow from the empirical evidence that might be broadly applicable to other municipal systems.


We present theoretical demonstration of quantum coherence-enhanced propagation of surface plasmon polaritons(SPPs). We show that propagation dynamics of SPPs can benefit from the quantum boost in the visible regime, adding a new dimension to nanophotonics.


(Objective) To observe the effect of improved mental defense mechanism, adopting reasonable emotional treatment in cognitive therapy and combining with medicinal treatment to decrease and stabilize the level of blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(2TDM). (Methods) Mental treatment were carried out in thirty-six 2TDM patients. The mental tests, including GHQ-28, DSQ and STAI-Formy and three self-descriptive scale was used and the glycosylated hemoglobin was determined. (Results) The patients of 2TDM may often apply mature defense style and cut down the appearance of anxiety, with less using of immature defense style after the treatment. The level of HbAic decreased obviously. (Conclusions) The alteration and perfection of defense style may relieve anxious emotion and stabilize the level of blood sugar in the 2TDM patients.


The major developments in library co‐operation and inter/ending within the regional and local schemes are highlighted. Emphasis is placed on the report of the working party of the National Committee on Regional Library Co‐operation on the respective roles of the regional systems and the Lending Division, and the emergence of further co‐operative activities within regions as a result of the report. A further selection of local schemes serving industry are described, and a review of inter/ending activities between university libraries is presented. The year appeared to be one of buoyancy and development, with an increase in personal contacts through inter/ending seminars.


In this paper, we discussed color image segmentation by extract the optimal features with which to discriminate between regions. Many real or texture images are made up of smooth regions and are best segmented using features in different areas. Schemas that select the optimal features for each pixel using wavelet analysis are proposed, leading to robust segmentation algorithm. Using two dimensions wavelet transforms to decompose the image into subbands channels and made up the of smooth image and convert the image into NTSC color space enables us to quantify the visual differences in the image, and then applies a clustering technique to partition the image into a set of "homogeneous" regions is also proposed.


Evolutionary Algorithms, based upon the Darwinian principle of Natural Selection, have been applied with varying degrees of success to a broad range of problem domains, including the automatic induction of computer programs. This paper describes Grammatical Evolution (GE), an evolutionary algorithm approach to automatic programming, which employs variable length, binary chromosomes. The binary chromosome is used in a genotype to phenotype mapping process to select production rules of a Backus Naur Form (BNF) grammar deenition in order to generate syntactically correct programs in an arbitrary language speciied by the BNF deenition. Part of the power of GE is that it is closer to natural DNA than other Evolutionary Algorithms, and thus can beneet from natural phenomena such as a separation of search and solution spaces through the genotype to phenotype mapping, and a genetic code degeneracy which can give rise to silent mutations (mutations that have no eeect on the phenotype).


Lifelong education and lifelong learning are increasingly implemented all over the world. The reform and development of education system and training mode are facing new opportunities and challenges. Based on the concept of lifelong education, we must establish the core system of credit bank as soon as possible so as to achieve the orderly operation of the credit certification, conversion, accumulation and exchange process of vocational education. Only in this way can we gradually establish an effective credit bank for vocational education, and achieve the vocational education goal of attracting social members to the lifelong learning system.


The invention relates to a prefabricated containerized house, and further relates to an independent and self-contained type containerized house core body. The house core body comprises a first part, wherein the first part is provided with first parts of a floor and a wall. The first part is connected with a second part to define at least one cavity. The second part comprises second parts of a ceiling and the wall. The second part further includes an energy accumulator. Objects are arranged by the first part and the second part. Implanted objects are arranged in the first part and the second part. Bulk items are arranged by utilizing the first part and the second part. The invention further discloses a method and a system for constructing a housing unit including the house core body and transporting the house core body through a combined transport.


Mirage is an abstract model that describes latency in communication [To89], [To90a], [To91a]. The model consists of three components: a model of node state, a model of time and communication as state transformations, and a set of constraints on these transformations. The model is designed to serve as a viewpoint for understanding existing protocols and for the development of new protocols. It is based on providing an abstract model against which protocol instances can be measured and compared. Prior work in protocol design and analysis is based on an alchemy of examining particular protocols; this work is designed to provide an initial framework for treating protocol research as a science. Current research in gigabit wide area network protocols suggests a " clean sheet " approach is indicated. The transition from evolutionary design to needed new (revolutionary) protocols will provide a fresh opportunity for introspection into the mechanism of protocol models. Before suggesting new protocol designs, we consider how the problem of communication has changed, and develop a new model that incorporates these changes from the start. Mirage is an attempt to characterize the tradeoffs that emerge in the new domain of gigabit WANs.


(Al)GaN recess-free normally OFF technology is developed for fabrication of high-yield lateral GaN-based power devices. The recess-free process is achieved by an ultrathin-barrier (UTB) AlGaN/GaN heterostructure that features a natural pinched-off 2-D electron gas channel. The top–down manufacturing technique overcomes the challenges in etching of AlGaN barrier with well-controlled depth and uniformity, which is especially attractive for fabrication of normally OFF GaN-based high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) and metal–insulator–semiconductor HEMTs (MIS-HEMTs) on large-size Si substrate. With SiNx passivation grown by low-pressure chemical-vapor deposition, on-resistance of the UTB-AlGaN/GaN-based power devices can be significantly reduced. High-uniformity low-hysteresis normally OFF HEMTs and Al2O3/AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs are successfully demonstrated on the UTB AlGaN/GaN-on-Si platform. It is also a compelling technology platform for manufacturing high-performance GaN-based lateral power diodes, and normally OFF p-(Al)GaN heterojunction field-effect transistors.


Whereas Poe's passers-by cast glances in all directions which still appeared to be aimless, today's pedestrians are obliged to do so in order to keep abreast of traffic signals. Thus technology has subjected the human sensorium to a complex kind of training. There came a day when a new and urgent need for stimuli was met by the film. In a film, perception in the form of shocks was established as a formal principle. That which determines the rhythm of production on a conveyer belt is the basis of the rhythm of reception in the film. [1]


Recent advances in fuel cell (FC) and microbial fuel cell (MFC) research have demonstrated these electrochemical technologies as effective methods for generating electrical power from chemical fuels and organic compounds. This led to the development of MFC-inspired photovoltaic (BPV) devices that produce electrical power by harvesting solar energy through biological activities of photosynthetic organisms. We describe the fabrication of a BPV device with multiple microchannels. This allows a direct comparison between sub-cellular photosynthetic organelles and whole cells, and quantitative analysis of the parameters affecting power output. Electron transfer within the photosynthetic materials was studied using the metabolic inhibitors DCMU (3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea) and methyl viologen (1,1′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium dichloride). These experiments suggest that the electrons that cause an increase in power upon illumination leave the photosynthetic electron transfer chain from the reducing end of photosystem I. Several key factors limiting performance efficiency, including density of the photosynthetic catalyst, electron carrier concentration, and light intensity were investigated.


To serve the urban and rural planning of the university library is to meet the needs of social development.The necessity and feasibility of the university library to serve the urban and rural construction planning are discussed from social expectations,the university development,function,information resources,and so on.According to the function and role of the university libraries,the measures of changing concepts,adjusting the construction of information resources are proposed to assist development of the urban and rural construction.


The opportunity to build figurative bridges arose again and again across my career, and in places I least expected it. Close encounters with students, mentors, seminal ideas, and problematic situations kept pushing me to see new possibilities for my own and others' learning. These encounters have occurred in my work as a scholar, teacher, advisor, participant in a collegial community, organizer of research teams, and servant of the field. I will relate and probe these stories, followed by some reflections on the lessons that may lie within them for surviving and thriving within academia, while maintaining a focus on issues of equity and social justice. But first ... [Download the PDF and read more]


Patients suffering from primary hyperoxaluria show elevated plasma concentrations of oxalic acid and glyoxylic acid. The in vitro adsorption of these compounds onto activated charcoal, a series of neutral and ion exchange resins and onto hydrous zirconium oxide has been investigated. Hydrous zirconium oxide was the most effective sorbent studied for the removal of both oxalic acid and glyoxylic acid. In batch experiments, the zirconium oxide was capable of binding 5.5 μ mol oxalic acid and 8 μ mol glyoxylic acid per gram sorbent using 0.5 gram sorbent and 50 ml of solutions with initial concentrations of 100 μ mol. L−1 and an ionic composition resembling that of plasma. Recirculation of 2 L of the same solutions through 12 gram of a mixture of hydrous zirconium oxide and alumina for 6 hours at a flow rate of 12 ml.min−1, resulted in a final concentration of 70 μ mol. L−1 of oxalic acid and 50 μ mol. L−/ of glyoxylic acid.


In the work, the study of the factors of sectoral competitiveness has been further developed on the basis of modern scientific experience, in contrast to the existing ones, it goes out of the directions of assessing the market position, socio-economic situation in the region, property status and financial well-being of business entities. In the framework of this study, based on the accumulated scientific experience, many factors were formed to determine the industry's competitive position and an analysis of the current state of Ukrainian industry in certain areas of assessment


ASHRAFI, Z. Y., H. M. ALIZADE, H. R.MASHHADI and S. SADEGHI, 2010. Study effect of tillage, herbicide and fertilizer rates on wheat (Triticum aestivum) and weed populations, in Iran. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 16: 59-65


This paper proposes a recommendation system for collaborative learning techniques in a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE ). The techniques will be suggested from an interaction with the teacher, where he must answer some questions about the activity he has to conduct in the classroom. The techniques and their characteristics are stored in a database. New techniques can me also included in the database by an administrator.


The as-cast microstructures of 3004 aluminum alloys were studied with the aid of SEM,EDS and TEM,etc.The results show that the mechanical properties of 3004 aluminum alloys adding Ti with grain-refining aluminum ingots(GRAI),Al-5Ti-1B and Al-10Ti master alloys are almost the same.3004 aluminum alloys in as-cast state show skeleton-like eutectic structure.After the homogenization process,precipitated phases spheroidize to some extent,and fine disperse phases appear in grains,at the same time,the coarse Mg2Si phases dissolve in α(Al).The results of EDS analysis indicate that the acicular,skeleton-like,blocky,banding-like precipitate phases contain higher Fe,Mn and Si,but no Mg segregation.Homogeneous distributions of Mg are observed in the matrix.


Coronary stenting has revolutionized percutaneous coronary revascularization. Two landmark studies published in 1994, Benestent and STRESS, demonstrated the significantly superior outcomes of intracoronary stenting versus balloon angioplasty. However, the success of bare-metal stents was limited by the occurrence of neointimal hyperplasia (NIH) leading to in-stent restenosis (ISR). The problem of neointimal hyperplasia, as measured by late loss, represented a significant hurdle, limiting the long-term patency of stents in many patient populations. The solution to the problem of ISR (the Achilles heel of the stent) was given by the evolution of new stent platforms coated with polymers eluting anti-proliferative drugs, drug eluting stents-DES... (excerpt)


Susceptibility to bruise in kernel fruits below different loads and storage conditions, Samples of Golden and Granny Smith apples and Conference and Doyenne of Cornice pears have been tested. A great effect of storage conditions has been detected for pear but not for apple varieties. Both apple cultivars show to be equally resistant to quasi-static and to dinamic loading while pear varieties show great differences. All these effects can be quantified in orderto describe mathematically species and varieties behaviour.


The main objectives of the workshop were to raise the Professional Formation issues confronting graduates, their employers, the Institution and the Higher Education sector, and to formulate a plan to address these for the benefits of all stakeholders. There are at least five stakeholders in the professional formation of our graduate engineers - The IEAust, Employers, Engineering Schools, Engineering Students, and the Graduates themselves. Fundamental issues revolve around the expectations placed on students and graduates, based on the desired attributes of graduates outlined in the Review of Engineering Education. What do employers expect in a graduate, and what are graduates expecting of their employers? How can these expectations be rationalised?


Trustees may come from different backgrounds and levels of experience, but, most importantly, they should be able to analyze issues and reflect the skills their organization needs most.


OBJECTIVES
To describe the access of children with medical complexity (CMC) to well-functioning health care systems. To examine the relationships between medical complexity status and this outcome and its component indicators.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Secondary analysis of children in the National Survey of Children's Health combined 2016-2017 data set who received care in well-functioning health systems. Secondary outcomes included this measure's component indicators. The χ2 analyses were used to examine associations between child and family characteristics and the primary outcome. Adjusted multivariable logistic regression was used to examine relationships between medical complexity status and primary and secondary outcomes. Using these regression models, we examined the interaction between medical complexity status and household income.

RESULTS
CMC accounted for 1.6% of the weighted sample (n = 1.2 million children). Few CMC (7.6%) received care in a well-functioning health care system. CMC were significantly less likely than children with special health care needs (CSHCN) (odds ratio, 0.3) of meeting criteria for this primary outcome. Attainment rates for secondary outcomes (families feeling like partners in care; receives care within a medical home; received needed health care) were significantly lower among CMC than CSHCN. Family income was significantly associated with likelihood of meeting criteria for primary and secondary outcomes; however, the relationships between medical complexity status and our outcomes did not differ by income level.

CONCLUSIONS
CMC are less likely than other CSHCN to report receiving care in well-functioning health care systems at all income levels. Further efforts are necessary to better adapt current health care systems to meet the unique needs of CMC.


Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a common autoimmune disease targeting salivary and lacrimal glands. It is strongly female‐dominant, characterized by low oestrogen levels combined with a local intracrine dihydrotestosterone defect. We hypothesized that these hormonal deficits lead to increased apoptosis of the epithelial cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC)‐mediated proinflammatory host responses. Expression of Toll‐like receptors (TLRs)‐7 and ‐9 and cytokine profiles was studied in pDCs treated with apoptotic particles collected in consecutive centrifugation steps of media from apoptotic cells. Expression and localization of SS autoantigens in these particles was also analysed. Furthermore, the effects of sex steroids were studied in pDCs cultured with several concentrations of dihydrotestosterone and 17‐β‐oestradiol, and in saliva of patient treated with dehydroepiandrosterone. Apoptosis of the epithelial cells led to cleavage and translocation of SS‐autoantigens, α‐fodrin and SS‐A, into apoptotic particles. The apoptosis‐induced apoptotic particles also contained another SS‐autoantigen, hy1‐RNA. These particles were internalized by pDCs in a size‐dependent manner and affected TLR‐7 and ‐9 expression and the production of proinflammatory cytokines. The analysed androgens protected cells from apoptosis, influenced redistribution of autoantigens and diminished the apoptotic particle‐stimulated increase of the TLRs in pDCs. Our findings suggest that the formation of apoptotic particles may play a role in loss of immune tolerance, manifested by production of autoantibodies and the onset of autoinflammation in SS.


Recently, methods based on artificial intelligence (AI) have been suggested to provide reliable positioning information for different land vehicle navigation applications. The majority of these applications utilise both the global positioning system (GPS) and the inertial navigation system (INS). These AI modules were trained to mimic the latest vehicle dynamics so that, in case of GPS outages, the system relies on INS and the recently updated AI module to provide the vehicle position. Several neural networks and neuro-fuzzy techniques were implemented in real-time in a de-centralised fashion and provided acceptable accuracy for short GPS outages. It was reported that these methods provided poor positioning accuracy during relatively long GPS outages. In order to prevail over this limitation, this study optimises the Al-based INS/GPS integration schemes utilising adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system with performing, in real-time, both GPS position and velocity updates. In addition, a holdout cross validation method during the update procedure was utilised in order to ensure generalisation of the model. The proposed system is tested using differential GPS and both navigational and tactical grades INS field test data obtained from a land vehicle experiment. The results showed that the effectiveness of the proposed system over both the existing Al-based and the conventional INS/GPS integration techniques, especially during long GPS outages. This method may have one limitation related to the unusual significant changes of the vehicle dynamics between the update and the prediction stages of operation which may influence the overall positioning accuracy.


An SO-year-old white male with a tracheostomy was scheduled for open prostatectomy. After anesthetizing the trachea with 4 cc of 4% lidocaine, a previously tested #38 Rusch armored endotracheal tube lubricated with 2% lidocaine jelly was inserted easily into the tracheostomy, and the cuff then inflated with 6 cc of air to seal the trachea. On inflation of the cuff, a thinwalled bleb was noted extruding just proximal to the pilot balloon, and the cuff tube was clamped proximal to the bleb.


Background  To facilitate students' transition from basic, science‐oriented, problem‐based learning (PBL) to clinical reasoning‐oriented PBL, the University of Geneva School of Medicine introduced a 12‐week unit of Introduction to Clinical Reasoning (ICR) at the beginning of its fourth or clerkship year.


In addition to the Implementing Regulations, the promulgation of the Law was followed by further local legislation which was permitted to the autonomous cities. Hintzen his chosen to describe the &dquo;Shanghai Measures&dquo;, which he thinks rnay be even more restrictive than the Law itself. The saving feature, however, is the fact that the Shanghai Measures will probably not be highly regarded or taken seriously (p. 69). Hintzen observes that the chief &dquo;prohlem...lies in the fact that [the Law] is


Preliminary results from the Susie program confirm that there is a fast neutron effect in polyphenyls. Furthermore, radiation stability depends on temperature and on high boiler content. Qualitatively, G-M (molecules destroyed 100 ev absorbed) is higher for neutron-rich than for gamma-rich irradiations. G- M is lower for higher conversion and increases with higher irradiation temperature. Results of extensive radiation monitoring in the neutron-rich facility indicate that the Susie neutron spectrum is very close to a Cranberg (fission) spectrum for energies greater than 1 Mev. Thus, the Cranberg spectrum is a good approximation for calculating the energy absorption integral. In this facility, about 95% of the energy absorbed is from the slowing down of fast neutrons. Organic coolants were irradiated in the Susie reactor; all irradiations and radiation monitoring operations are complete. Analyses of data from irradiated samples and other data will continue. (auth)


nternational Guidelines for the Selection of Lung Transplant andidates: 2006 Update—A Consensus Report From the ulmonary Scientific Council of the International Society or Heart and Lung Transplantation onathan B. Orens, MD, Marc Estenne, MD, Selim Arcasoy, MD, John V. Conte, MD, Paul Corris, MD, im J. Egan, MD, Thomas Egan, MD, Shaf Keshavjee, MD, Christiane Knoop, MD, Robert Kotloff, MD, ernando J. Martinez, MD, Steven Nathan, MD, Scott Palmer, MD, Alec Patterson, MD, Lianne Singer, MD, regory Snell, MD, Sean Studer, MD, J. L. Vachiery, MD, and Allan R. Glanville, MD


Abstract This paper explores the relations between regional shape geometry and internal regional geometry affiliated with spatial interaction. Because properties of these two geometries are difficult to measure, various indices are calculated. Using the canonical correlation technique, the study then analyzes the relationship between these two geometries. This yields two interesting findings: (1) that a relationship does exist between the two types of geometry, and (2) that a connectivity matrix depicting geographic configuration can, in part, measure the regional shape involved. The research employs data for the journey to work in 24 selected Canadian urban areas.


The task of this thesis is to give an overall picture of the extension of the mill trades on the Litomysl estate in the years 1650 - 1800. The study represents the mill trade as one of the basic food crafts, aimed at Czech Mill in the 17th and 18th century650 to 1800, at the millers' guild of Litomysl. The most extensive part of the study deals with the mills on the Town and Castle-estate.


This article attempts to bring out the importance of plagiarism in this information age. Its devastating effect especially in an academic environment is delineated.


With over 800 members, the Object Management Group (OMG) is the largest international consortium of the software industry. Its goal is not only to promote the use of object technology in general but also to define and standardise on a common architectural framework across heterogeneous hardware platforms and operating systems, called the Object Management Architecture (OMA) [13]. In the standardisation process, the OMG focuses on commercially available object technology. So far, the OMG's efforts have been very successful; most of the specifications have met broad acceptance and are implemented by commercial products. Since 1995, the OMG has followed the plan to extend their reference architecture (see [13,18,36]) with a component that supports workflow management. OMG technology, especially the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), and workflow management primarily address the same target users: large, distributed organisations with heterogeneous IT platforms. Therefore, it is quite obvious that a big synergy grows out of the integration of both technologies in building large-scale enterprise solutions.The promotion of workflow management standards is also the goal of another international body, the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC) [3,31]. Since 1993, the WIMC has produced a number of specifications, mainly an interface model together with interface specifications for workflow management systems [32,33,34,35]. The OMG always assumed that the WIMC standards would fit nicely into the OMA. But in late 1996 it was recognized [23] that the interfaces of the WfMC specifications do not fit seemlessly into the OMG model and that the WfMC will probably fall to meet OMG's expectations (see also [19,22]). Therefore, in January 1997, the OMG Common Facility Task Force voted to reject the WfMC's motion to submit their standards to OMG on a fast-track approval process rather than going through the usual OMG standardisation procedure. The usual OMG process is based on a RFP (Request For Proposals) seeking for submissions for a particular area of standardisation. In almost all cases several submissions emerge which are combined into one revised submission. This submission is voted on and in case of a positive vote adopted by OMG. In early 1997, the OMG established the Workflow workgroup [30] with the charter to create and issue an RFP for an OMG Workflow Management Facility (WfMF). In May 1997, the RFP [15] was issued, asking the software industry for submissions for this new architectural component.This report gives a brief overview of the architectural context, the requirements of the RFP and a short evaluation of the initial submissions. An outlook to potential topics for future workflow RFPs that are collected in a Workflow roadmap document concludes the report.


The present study represents experiments on brand placement effectiveness in Bollywood movies and TV reality and shows considerable varying levels of plot connection of the placed brand. A 2 (media type: Bollywood movies vs. TV reality shows) × 2 (Plot connection: low vs. high) full factorial experimental design was adopted. A multivariate analysis of covariance was used. It identified both main and interaction effects. The results revealed that audiences' responses towards brand placement vary with regard to different types of media and varying levels of plot connection. The current research contributes to the literature as it validates that different media types and varying levels of plot connection of brand placement can influence the brand placement effectiveness. Most audiences showed a positive change in brand attitudes and purchase intention towards brand placement in Bollywood movies and TV reality shows. However, for brand placement effectiveness, it can be concluded that a Bollywood movie is the best media vehicle to place brands. Marketers and brand managers should mostly focus on highly integrating brands into the plots of the Bollywood movie so that brands are easily noticeable and therefore, tend to draw higher consumer responses.


Image sequence Motion Estimation has been an active and important area of research since the late 1970's. Areas for application include video coding, satellite remote sensing, CCTV surveillance, vehicle navigation and robot guidance. The motion estimation techniques for each of these areas share a common base but are often specialised for the particular problem. Furthermore, the computational requirements are often considered second behind the reported accuracy. However, for a real world application it is important to consider all aspects of the motion estimation technique together. This thesis proposes and demonstrates that a low-cost commercial DSP platform can be used to perform real-time motion estimation for the Dervish landmine-clearance vehicle based on digital imaging of the ground. The Dervish landmine-clearance vehicle provides specific application requirements that are first examined in detail. The Motion Estimation algorithm requirements are then examined and, based on the tracking accuracy and theoretical computational performance, correlation-based feature tracking is selected. The individual parameters, including block size, motion model and interpolation technique, are carefully examined and suitable values selected. Finally, the hardware requirements are examined, a DSP platform chosen and a trial implementation reported. A difficult problem within correlation-based motion estimation is how to update the reference block. This thesis describes novel methods for reference block updating. The reference block update strategies are examined in detail for parameter selection, tracking accuracy and computational performance. Particular attention is given to the tracking accuracy under increasing levels of image noise. Using the application, algorithm and hardware requirements and decisions, a system is proposed that meets the main requirements of the Dervish landmine-clearance vehicle. The issues of robustness within long-term tracking and a novel dissimilarity measure based on the reference block update strategies are also presented. Parts of the research presented in this thesis have also been reported in conference and journal papers, which are listed at the end of the document. Declaration of originality I hereby declare that the research recorded in this thesis and the thesis itself was composed and originated entirely by myself in the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering at The University of Edinburgh. Christopher D Haworth


ABSTRACT Plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) was measured by radioimmunoassay at 20-min intervals around the clock for 24 hr in 5 normal adult men. During the nocturnal S-hr sleep period, polygraphic monitoring of sleep stages was carried out. All 5 subjects showed episodic secretion of LH characterized by rapid rises and the declining slopes approximated the half-life of LH. Calculation of LH "half-life" from the declining phase of the LH secretory episodes gave variable estimates within subjects and between subjects (65–114 min). The longer T1/2 estimates calculated by this method, contrasted with previous studies where LH half-life was determined directly by the measurement of LH disappearance, is probably the result of small amounts of LH being secreted during the declining phase of the LH secretory episode. This study failed to show a 24-hr LH rhythm or relationship of LH secretory activity to the sleep-wake cycle. The marked temporal variability of the LH system throughout the 24-hr period clearly demon...


The need to strengthen technological sovereignty and enhance the technological development of the country requires effective mechanisms for technology transfer, including from the defense sector to the civilian one. The purpose of the article is to propose a possible model for the organization of technology transfer from the military-industrial complex to the civilian sector of the economy. An analysis of statistical materials, current legislation and existing infrastructure showed that patent and technological activity in the country is declining; existing institutional support is insufficient to reverse this trend. One of the possible solutions to this issue is the organization of a technology transfer system, which will allow more active use of the capabilities of the defense industry for the development of civilian industries. The proposed model of such transfer is based on network interaction and coordination of all necessary functions within the technology transfer institution. The principles on which the model is based are substantiated: three levels of management; the possibility of state financing; a "single window" of technology transfer; information circulation; motivation of developers; personnel training system. The stages of technological transfer have been adjusted taking into account the specifics of the defense industry. The function of technological transfer for the transfer of information from industry to science is revealed, it is proposed to expand the use of the model in the direction of forecasting priority areas of science and technology development. From a theoretical point of view, technological transfer is defined as a mixed good, which justifies the role of the state in the presented model.


The results of time-domain approximated theoretical studies of ultra-wide band antennas with impulse excitation in radiating and receiving modes are presented. The proposed simulation technique gives practically important results with evident physical meaning without sufficient programming efforts. Some antennas like monopole antenna, dipole antenna, bow-tie antenna and TEM horn-like antenna are under investigation. Theoretical results have been examined too for their verification by a special experimental technique which is described.


This article uses a little‐known sermon by Victricius, bishop of Rouen, as an approach to the fourth‐century debate on the translation of relics. In the last third of the fourth century, the cult of martyrs and their relics was promoted by Damasus of Rome, Paulinus of Nola and Ambrose of Milan, but remained controversial in the western churches. Roman law forbade the disturbance of dead bodies, especially where magic was suspected. Christians as well as non‐Christians were repelled by the veneration of bone, bloodstains and dust, and by the extreme asceticism that was often associated with relic‐cult. The sermon Victricius preached, welcoming to Rouen a gift of relics from Ambrose, is here interpreted as an attempt at cultural translation. Victricius deploys a late‐antique education in rhetoric and philosophy to make relic‐cult and asceticism acceptable. Like many others, he uses the adventus, the ceremonial reception of a visiting emperor or his deputy by local aristocracy and officials, as an analogy for the reception of relics by ascetics and clergy. Exceptionally, he equates corporeal relics with the presence of God; but his unique theology of relics was lost to view.


I present a calculation of higher-order radiative corrections to charged Higgs production in association with a top quark via the process bg -> tH-. Results for charged Higgs production at the LHC are presented, including the dependence of the cross section on the charged Higgs mass, the top quark mass, the factorization and renormalization scales, and tan beta. I show that the theoretical prediction for the cross section is significantly enhanced and is greatly stabilized when the higher-order corrections are included.


OBJECTIVE To study the expression situation of esp gene and the relativity between esp gene and resistance of Enterococcus faecalis derived-infection.METHODS The E.faecalis esp gene was amplified by PCR,then it was cloned and sequenced;the minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC) of five antimicrobicals against E.faecalis was determined by agar dilution method.RESULTS The positive rate of esp gene in 61 strains of E.faecalis was 42.6%;the positive rate of esp gene in the resistant strains against ampicillin,ciprofloxacin,high-level gentamicin,and erythromycin was 33.3%,54.8%,70.6%,and 51.0%,respectively,and the positive rate of esp gene in the susceptible strains against above 4 antibacterials was 43.6%,30.0%,7.4%,and 8.3%,respectively.CONCLUSIONS Incidence of esp gene does not correlate with the resistance of E.faecalis against ampicillin,but clearly correlate with the resistance of E.faecalis against ciprofloxacin,high-level gentamicin,and erythromycin;esp could become a marker of high-level gentamicin against E.faecalis derived-infection.


I Since Horner's (1968, 1972) study of fear of success (FOS), considerable research has been published evaluating the potential relationship of FOS to gender and performance variables. Horner (1968) defined fear of success for women as a learned disposition resulting from social rejection and loss of femininity when successful behavior involved aggression or competition against males. This fear of succeeding was hypothesized to facilitate an avoidance of achievement and achievementoriented activities. Using a projective measure derived from the Thematic Appreciation Test, Horner hypothesized and found that women had a higher FOS than men, and that higher FOS women perform poorer under competitive conditions than lowFOS women. Using an objective measure of FOS, Zuckerman and Allison (1976) also found that females had higher FOS scores than male respondents. The authors found that both females and males who scored high on the Fear of Success Scale (FOSS) performed more poorly than subjects scoring low on the scale in a competitive, achievement-oriented situation. Females and males scoring high on the FOSS also attributed success more to external factors and failures more to internal factors than did subjects scoring low on the FOSS. These results tend to support Horner's (1968) contention that fear of success can inhibit achievement-related performance. Additional research (e.g., Hoffman, 1974; Zuckerman, Larrance, Porac, & Blanck, 1980) has failed to confirm previous findings relating FOS differences to the gender of the respondent. This ambiguity about the nature of a possible relationship between FOS and gender has also pervaded the literature in sport psychology. Several authors have speculated that FOS could be a significant obstacle to females who compete in sport (Casher, 1977; Del Rey, 1977; Harris, 1979; Ogilvie, 1979a, 1979b). The major focus of an early paper by Ogilvie (1968) centered on various clinical observations of factors related to FOS in elite athletes. The terminology and examples in this article tended to focus on fear of success in male athletes. More recently, Ogilvie (1979b) has indicated that FOS may be a potent obstacle to women athletes because of the sex role conflict created by a female's success in sport. Gilbert and Williamson (1973) have published a detailed chronology of unfair and abusive treatment of women athletes. The authors maintain that suppressive acts against women athletes influence and facilitate a perception that sport behavior is inappropriate for women. Research by Snyder, Kivlin, and Spreitzer (1975) supported Gilbert and Williamson's assertions. Snyder et al. found that various sports are


Qualitative and ethnographic accounts of Aboriginal drinking tend to focus on the social meanings and uses of alcohol within particular groups. Such studies avoid a preoccupation with 'causes' and instead examine the social milieu within which, sometimes excessive, drinking occurs without disapprobation. This article outlines the work of Australian social analysts of Aboriginal drinking who have documented the process of learning how to drink, the uses of drinking as a marker of equality, sociability and in exchanges, and the beliefs and meanings attached to alcohol use among Aboriginal people. Through such approaches, we can "make sense" of the persistence of what often seem to be dysfunctional styles of drinking among certain groups.


Regular designs for a large number of factors require many more treatment combinations than there are lower order effects to be estimated. For example, 29−2 = 128 treatment combinations are required to estimate only nine main effects and their 36 two-factor interactions. Nonregular orthogonal designs as well as nonorthogonal designs provide attractive alternatives in such cases. This article reviews the literature regarding alternatives to the usual orthogonal resolution V designs and suggests questions for future research. The topic is illustrated with a ballistic missile simulation application requiring estimation of main effects and two-factor interactions for 47 factors. For such large examples, run-size efficiency is more important than variance efficiency.


Genital warts (condyloma acuminata) are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) and are the most frequently diagnosed viral sexually transmitted infection in the UK. This article aims to provide an overview of the natural history of HPV, the clinical presentation and management of genital warts and an overview of the national HPV vaccination programme.


Dual relationships between therapists and clients (i.e., any relationships beyond the strictly professional), are generally considered inappropriate in the mental health professions. However, within the context of small and rural communities they are an almost inevitable part of every-day practice. The aim of this literature review is to provide an introduction to the ethics of dual relationships by focusing on the risks and opportunities that arise within complex relationships. Furthermore, it offers guidelines on how to determine the potential for harm in non-professional relationships with a client. It concludes by noting that dual relationships are ethically more complex than they may first appear.


Montesquieu's Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence (1733/1734) is a methodological exercise in causal explanation on the meso-level applied to the subject of the military rise and fall of Rome. Rome is described as a system with contingent initial conditions that have a strong path-determining effect. Contingent and plastic initial configurations become highly determining in their subsequent operation, thanks to self-reinforcing feedback loops. Montesquieu's method seems influenced by the ruthless commitment to efficient causality and the reductionism of seventeenth-century mechanicist philosophy; but in contrast to these predecessors, he is more interested in dynamic processes than in unchangeable substances, and his use of efficient causality in the context of a system approach implies a form of holism that is lacking in his predecessors. The formal and conceptual analysis in this article is in many ways complementary with Paul Rahe's recent predominantly political analysis of the Considérations. At the same time, this article points to a problem in the works on the Enlightenment by Jonathan Israel: his account stresses a one-dimensional continuum consisting of Radical, Moderate and Counter-Enlightenment. This invites Israel to place the combined religious, political and philosophical views of each thinker on one of these three points. His scheme runs into trouble when a thinker with moderate religious and political views produces radical philosophical concepts. Montesquieu's Considérations is a case in point.


The invention discloses an air conditioning bee suit. The air conditioning bee suit comprises a hood, a suit body, gloves and boots, wherein the hood, the suit body, the gloves and the boots are integrally connected through sealed sewing; a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) helmet is mounted in the hood, and a convex high-density stainless steel wire fine mesh is arranged on the face of the hood; the suit body comprises a suit jacket and suit trousers, and internal reinforcing patches are arranged on front and back shoulders, rear pieces of sleeves, front pieces of legs and buttocks; fastening bands or a belt are arranged on arm parts, crus parts and waist part of the suit body respectively; a zipper is arranged on the front left side of the suit body; three fans are arranged on the back part of the suit body, two fans supply air continuously and initiatively to inside of the suit body through a mobile power supply placed in a pocket of the suit body, and the other fan is not connected with a power supply but serves as an air outlet to exhaust air in the closed environment of the back part of the suit body, so that air in the suit body and outside air form circulation. The air conditioning bee suit prevents sting, is fitted and light and has high safety and comfort.