The variation in microstructure and texture in a rectangular bar extruded from a billet of spray‐cast 8090 Al–Li alloy has been examined. The fine grain size of the as sprayed billet and the moderate extrusion ratio (≈ 25 : 1) were seen to cause geometric dynamic recrystallization (GDR) in regions of higher strain towards the edge of the bar. The grain morphology varied from the expected elongated grains at the centre of the bar to equiaxed grains where GDR occurred at the bar edges. A <111> + <100> double fibre texture, significantly distorted towards rolling components and varying through the bar thickness, was found using electron backscatter diffraction. Fatigue resulted in a high density of short secondary cracks, many of which had arrested at grain boundaries. The cracks preferentially nucleated in grains from the <100> fibre texture corresponding to high Schmid factors.


PrepSTEP provides the most comprehensive selection of academic and career-related resources available for students in one online location. Targeted learning centers provide easy-to-use, intuitive online navigation for interactive tutorials, practice tests


Based on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) technology, a novel plasmonic nanosensor with high sensitivity and high selectivity was prepared for the detection of trace sulfide ions on an individual Au@Ag nanoparticle. Furthermore, it could be used to monitor the sulfurization on an individual Au@Ag nanoparticle surface observed under dark-field microscopy (DFM).


Stockpiling forage for fall and winter grazing can extend the grazing season and reduce costs associated with harvesting, storing, and feeding forages. The objectives of this study were to determine species, stockpile initiation date, and winter harvest date effects on yield and nutritive value of eight cool-season grasses grown under irrigated conditions near North Platte, NE. Treatments included stockpile initiation dates of15 July or 15 August and winter harvest dates of mid-November, December, January, and February arranged in a split-plot design. Stockpiled dry matter (DM) yield for the eight grass species ranged from 3.79 to 5.19 Mgha -1 in 2005 and from 3.68 to 4.54 Mgha -1 in 2006. Delaying initiation of stockpiling from 15 July to 15 August resulted in 30% less DM yield in November (P < 0.05). In 2005, stockpiled DM yield declined 18% from November to February while the decline was 24% for the same period in 2006. Species did not respond consistently to treatment effects for nutritive value of the stockpiled herbage. Herbage crude protein (CP) in November and December was greater when stockpiling was initiated in August (132 g kg -1 ) compared with July (112 g kg -1 ; P < 0.01). Initiating stockpiling in August resulted in greater in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and lower neutral detergent fiber (NDF) throughout the winter period (P < 0.05). Late summer and fall growth of irrigated cool-season grasses and retention of adequate levels of nutrients supports their possible use as stockpiled forages in this area. However, cost-effectiveness of stockpiling grazing declines as hay value increases. Stockpiled forage grazing during the early part of the winter period (November and December) would be most advantageous because of weathering losses.


Habitat fragmentation increases the migration distances among remnant populations, and is predicted to play a significant role in altering both demographic and genetic processes. Nevertheless, few studies have evaluated the genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation in light of information about population dynamics in the same set of organisms. In a 10 000‐km2 experimentally fragmented landscape of rainforest reserves in central Amazonia, we examine patterns of genetic variation (amplified fragment length polymorphisms, AFLPs) in the epiphyllous (e.g. leaf‐inhabiting) liverwort Radula flaccida Gott. Previous demographic work indicates that colonization rates in this species are significantly reduced in small forest reserves. We scored 113 polymorphic loci in 86 individuals representing five fragmented and five experimentally unmanipulated populations. Most of the variation (82%) in all populations was harboured at the smallest (400 m2) sampling unit. The mean (± SD) within‐population genetic diversity (Nei's), of forest remnants (0.412 ± 0.2) was indistinguishable from continuous (0.413 ± 0.2) forests. Similarly, FST was identical among small (1‐ and 10‐ha) and large (≥ 100‐ha) reserves (0.19 and 0.18, respectively), but linkage disequilibrium between pairs of loci was significantly elevated in fragmented populations relative to those in continuous forests. These results illustrate that inferences regarding the long‐term viability of fragmented populations based on neutral marker data alone must be viewed with caution, and underscore the importance of jointly evaluating information on both genetic structure and demography. Second, multilocus analyses may be more sensitive to the effects of fragmentation in the short term, although the effects of increasing linkage disequilibrium on population viability remain uncertain.


There are two distinct parallel developments in the theoretical criminology in the US and Great Britain: positivist theories and critical criminology. Both of these approaches are not uniform and include a variety of theories. However, each of them is based on its own methodological prerequisites and shares a common view on the nature of crime and its control. The main characteristics of each approach and its main theoretical grounds are given.


In my PhD thesis I researched the possibility and necessity of revising the new type two years long scholar education of NCO basic education, signals and military information system operator branch, and the complementary warrant officer, signals and information branch half years training type, competency based modular professional education at HDF NCO Academy, with scope on CISCO Networking Academy Training-NetAcad Program. In the recent paper I analyse within a comparative study, whether the knowledge of the succeeding officer, warrant officer and NCO personnel can be compared to each other after graduation.


We have developed a novel control mechanism that deploys a large number of inexpensive robots as a distributed remote sensing array, called a Distributed Robotic Macrosensor (DRM). A simple virtual spring mesh abstraction is used to provide fully distributed control that is both flexible and fault-tolerant. We describe and evaluate several algorithms for virtual spring mesh–based control and present simulation results demonstrating the efficacy of the spring mesh approach.


The growth of 6 species of the genus Utricularia has been shown for the territory of Western Siberia: U. vulgaris, U. macrorhiza, U. australis, U. minor, U. intermedia and U. ochroleuca. The distribution of species in the region is discussed, and their habitats are characterized. Special attention is paid to the diagnostic signs of bladderworts. It was noted that three of the six species indicated for Western Siberia (U. macrorhiza, U. australis, U. ochroleuca) have single locations within the region.


Wideband indoor base station antenna (operating at 5.2 /5.8 GHz WLAN and 5.5 GHz WiMAX), loaded with artificial magnetic conductor (AMC), is proposed for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system. The MIMO system has sixteen elements, and each element has a pair of folded dipoles, fed by a coupling E-shape microstrip feedline. Periodical AMC surfaces are introduced underneath the dipole elements to achieve unidirectional radiation and low profile. They also contribute to antenna miniaturization and bandwidth enhancement. The MIMO system has the advantages of wide bandwidth, good isolation, enhanced radiation, and low correlation, all within a compact volume. The MIMO array was fabricated and tested, and the results are in good agreement with those of the simulations.


This article describes the new section of the A65 bypassing Settle and Giggleswick in West Yorkshire, England. The road, whose route was approved in 1986, passes through an area of great natural beauty, so that much has been done to adapt its design to the landscape and environment of the area. It is a single carriageway 7.3 m wide, with 1 m hard strips, and an additional climbing lane along its steepest part. Its northern section passes through undulating countryside, alternating between cutting and embankment. Its southern section crosses the flood plain of the River Ribble, and is constructed entirely on an embankment of crushed rock. It includes a 3-span bridge across the river, which is founded on steel piles driven through the overlying alluvial deposits into bed rock. The bridge deck is constructed from steel universal beams with a reinforced concrete slab, and is supported on reinforced concrete bankseats and piers. The bypass was completed in two years and opened to traffic on 2 December 1988. It is anticipated that about half the traffic previously flowing through the centre of Settle will use the bypass, and up to 75% during peak holiday periods.


The utility model relates to a heatable mouse pad which comprises a pad bottom, a pad upper, a power socket, a temperature sensor and electric heating plates, and is characterized in that the power socket is mounted at the front end of the pad bottom, the temperature sensor is mounted behind the power socket, the electric heating plates are mounted inside the pad bottom and the pad upper, and the power socket, the temperature sensor and the electric heating plates are connected in series through wires. The heatable mouse pad is simple in structure; parameters of the temperature sensor are set; when the temperature is smaller than 25 DEG C, a circuit inside the temperature sensor is connected, and the electric heating plates start heating; and when the temperature is larger than 25 DEG C, the circuit inside the temperature sensor is disconnected, and the electric heating plates stop heating.


A numerical calculation was carried out to estimate and to elucidate the role of radiative heat flux from metal particles (Al and Al2O3) on dynamic extinction when rapid depressurization takes place. A one-dimensional unsteady energy equation for a condensed phase was solved with the quasi-steady gas-phase assumption. Also, nonlinear flame modeling for metalized propellant was adopted rather than direct numerical calculation with detailed chemical reactions. The decoupled radiative transfer equation was also solved for radiative heat feedback with use of a modified combustion-flow model. The calculation results with ammonium perchlorate: aluminum: carboxyle texminated polybutadiene (76:10:14) propellant revealed that the radiative heat flux is approximately 5‐6% of the total heat flux at the critical depressurization. This 5‐6% shows qualitatively good agreement in magnitude with experimental data of 2% of total heat flux. It was also found that the dynamic extinction in an open geometry could be predicted at about a 45% larger depressurization rate with radiative heat feedback than without radiation. Thus, it is concluded that even a small amount of radiative flux of 5‐6% could produce a large error in predicting the critical depressurization rate of the metalized propellant combustion if not taken into consideration in the calculation. Nomenclature


Switches play an important role in computer networks and input buffered switches are becoming popular because of their better scalability. The principal issues in input buffered switch design include buffer management and crossbar scheduling. A buffer management scheme specifies how an input buffer is organized, how the space is allocated to the messages and how the input block is connected to the crossbar. In this dissertation, we identify the choices for buffer management, develop a 3-D model of the switch design space and analyze the impact of three design parameters on switch performance: virtual circuit assignment, buffer allocation and intra-switch connectivity. Our studies suggest that a switch with dynamic virtual circuit allocation, full intra switch connection and combined buffer offers the best performance. We propose a novel circular buffer organization for such a switch that has less implementation complexity compared to the existing approaches.
Scheduling is more complicated for input buffered switches and most schemes in literature seek to achieve high overall throughput with hardly any regard to the issue of quality of service (QoS). In this dissertation, we present three fair scheduling schemes for singly connected switches, fully connected switches as well as switches with multicast capability. We show by simulation that the proposed schemes support fair bandwidth allocation among the message flows while maintaining high switching speed.
Decongestion policy is used to discard packets in the presence of buffer overflow. To support fair bandwidth allocation, it is crucial to determine which packets are permitted into the buffer, when to discard a packet and from which flow. This dissertation also evaluates four decongestion mechanisms and shows that fair scheduling alone cannot guarantee fair bandwidth distribution. Our results indicate that early packet discard in anticipation of congestion is necessary and per-flow based buffering is effective for protecting benign users from being adversely affected by misbehaved traffic. Buffer allocation according to bandwidth reservation is especially helpful when the input traffic is highly bursty.


The invention relates to a fluorubber, nitrile rubber and chloroprene rubber fuel hose and a preparation method thereof. The hose is provided with four layers which are orderly a fluorubber inner layer (1), a nitrile rubber middle layer (2), a weaving layer (3) and a chloroprene rubber outer layer (4) from the inside to the outside. The preparation method is as follows: the extrusion temperaturesof the fluorubber inner layer from a handpiece to a screw are orderly 100-70 DEG C, 90-60 DEG C, 90-60 DEG C, and 90-60 DEG C; the extrusion temperatures of the middle layer nitrile rubber from the handpiece to the screw are orderly 70-40 DEG C, 70-40 DEG C, and 70-40 DEG C; the extrusion temperatures of the outer layer chloroprene rubber from the handpiece to the screw are orderly 90-60 DEG C, 80-40 DEG C, 80-40 DEG C, and 80-40 DEG C; and the preparation method adopts one segment vulcanization method, the vulcanizing temperature is between 130 and 180 DEG C, and the vulcanizing time is between 5 and 60 minutes. The fuel hose can be used in an environment with the temperature of between -40 DEG C and 125 DEG C, meets the requirement that the permeability is less than 8g/100cm for 24 hoursat a temperature of 80 DEG C, and has relative low cost.


Plasmid DNA Purification System The NucleoSpin system makes use of specially treated membranes that can bind up to 20 gg ofplasmid DNA. Each membrane comes in a micro spinning cup that can be placed in standard microcentrifuge tubes. The procedure can be completed in 20 min or less. The plasmid DNA is eluted in a low salt buffer and is ready for a variety of manipulations including restriction analysis, sequencing, amplification, or bacterial transformation. The Nest Group. Circle 140.


Aims: To purify and characterize an extracellular α‐glucosidase from Trichoderma viride capable of inactivating a host‐specific phytotoxin, designated RS toxin, produced by the rice sheath blight pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani Kühn.


An implementation named dynamic phase alignment is put forward to support high speed data interface between FP- GAs. Data may arrive at the FPGA receiver with channel -to -channel bit skew and word skew due to different trace length and smaller data window. A dynamic phase alignment technology is easily implemented for the receiver in the FPGA to effectively re- move skew based on current physics state of the interface, in order to overcome the immovable limitation of static phase alignment. The receiver ensures receiving packet accurately by adjusting the parameter owing to the changing of external environment.


The macro-morphological variation and geographical distribution of six morphologically similar taxa from the Schoenoplectus corymbosus complex with distinctly muricated nutlets (viz Schoenoplectus confusus subsp. confusus var. confusus and var. rogersii, S. confusus subsp. natalitius , S. muricinux , S. muriculatus and Scirpus corymbosus var. junciformis ) were thoroughly studied. It is concluded that all these taxa are ill-defined and that alleged distinctive traits are weak or widely overlap. We therefore suggest expanding the description of S. muricinux (the binomial which has nomenclatural priority) and reducing the other species and their infraspecific taxa to synonyms of it. "S. sp. A" of Flora of West Tropical Africa (Nigeria, where it is considered a naturalized introduction of man-made habitats) is shown to also belong to S. muricinux .


There are many conditions which are associated with neutropenia, such as infections, chemical and physical agents, and hematopoietic diseases. But ticlopidine-induced neutropenia is rarely reported in Korea. We experienced a case of neutropenia which developed after approximately 1 month of ticlopidine administration to a stable angina pectoris patient. A 59 year-old woman with stable angina pectoris was placed on ticlopidine. Forty days later, she was admitted for high fevers and shaking chills. On admission, leukocyte count was 900/mm (neutrophil 0/mm), hemoglobin was 11.8g/dl, and platelet count was 440.000/mm. After confirming ticlopidine-induced neutropenia by bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, we administated rhGCSF(neutrogen, Choongwae. Co. Korea) at a dose of 3-5μg/kg daily. On the 25th day of treatment, leukocyte count reached 2,890/mm. She experienced no adverse effects of rhG-CSF treatment and recorved completely. We assume that the rapid recovery of granulocytes was attributable to rhG-CSF, and we suggest that rhG-CSF should be tried in a patients with ticlopidine-induced neutropenia with depletion of myeloid precursors in the hypocellular bone marrow.


A serious energy situation awaited the incom ing Nixon administration in 1968. It stemmed from the fact that the nation was, and continues to be, in a period of transi tion from a long era of cheap and abundant indigenous energy and neglect of environmental consequences to one of scarcity of acceptable clean fuels, growing dependence on foreign energy imports, inadequate development of alternate clean energy sources and a growing interest in maintaining, or enhancing, environmental values. Reacting to the chal lenge, the Nixon administration adopted an energy policy designed to ensure an adequate and dependable supply of energy to meet the country's essential requirements and to assure its prosperity and security in ways which are con sistent with the nation's environmental and social goals. The administration has moved to stimulate increased utiliza tion of all energy sources found within the United States, including those of the outer continental shelf, and to remove artificial price and bureaucratic barriers which restrict the flow of gas and oil to markets. Suggestions have been made for the extensive reorganization of the execu tive branch which would enhance the government's ability to perceive and respond to energy problems and opportuni ties. The administration has taken steps to conserve energy in its operations both as a substantive measure and as an example to others. Actions have been taken—and others proposed—to use more fully private and public funds and expertise to solve the problems of finding new clean energy sources and to make currently used sources less environ mentally degrading. Steps have been taken to reduce the regulatory and administrative impediments which slowed, or prevented, construction of needed energy producing facili ties. Finally, the Nixon administration has moved in concert with other nations both to conduct research in the energy area and to discover means of preventing future energy shortages.


Aim: We aimed to review the global literature on Acinetobacter , which is a global health problem, and identify and characterize the publications to direct scientific studies. Material and methods: We conducted a bibliometric analysis by searching the Elsevier' Scopus database. This database is one of the biggest international bibliometric database. We searched original research articles from this database using the keywords "Acinetobacter" or "Acinetobacter spp." and "Article" since July 05, 2021. We carried out detailed analysis to identify the characteristics of articles by using the bibliometric data analysis technique. The articles were analyzed due to the following characteristics: the country of origin, authors' names and affiliations, year of publication, content, number of citations and impact factor. Results: The total number of publication on Acinetobacter were 35587 and the first publication was published in the year 1974. 30074 of these studies were research articles. Only research articles were evaluated in our study. There was a rapid increase in the number of articles after the year 2000 and the number of articles did not decrease until 2020 over the years. There was a decrease in the number of published articles in the year 2020. The majority of the articles (n=26862, 89.31%) were written in the English language. Chinese was the second most preferred language. The most scientifically productive countries on Acinetobacter literature were the United States, China and India. Ronald N Jones (n=174) from the USA and Harald Seifert (n=114) from Germany were the most productive authors on Acinetobacter research. Conclusion: As a result, both the number of articles on Acinetobacter and the number of citations were quite high. Since the Acinetobacter genus is one of the most important pathogens in hospital infections, it seems that researchers will continue to work on this topic.


Abstract: While political ideologies are often portrayed along a liberal–conservative continuum in the United States and a left–right continuum in Europe, their universal applicability is questionable. The switch between left and right, and the nature of what is being conserved in the US for the former, conflating left and leftism for the latter, and the differing aspects of the words 'liberal' and 'liberalism' make it confusing to authors to devise similar continuums for other countries. The Political Unity Spectrum offers a visual abstraction of universalistic left-right politics under four types of political unity as well as suggesting that moving between these confines is possible. Using this abstraction, the positions of Turkey and Iran are defined, while also answering the following political questions: (1) how failing to maintain political cohesion could lead to civil wars; (2) how left and right switched places in the US; (3) how both left and right in the US and in Europe are left-wing in Turkey and in Iran; (4) the difference between liberalism and progressivism. Keywords: Left-right politics; partisanship; liberalism; public opinion; the Overton Window of Political Possibilities


It is widely known that sexual assault disproportionately affects women. College-aged women are the highest risk population of all ages, in fact. Sexual assault can occur at any age and may have a varying range of emotional consequences for survivors. This includes pathological coping mechanisms, such as disordered eating behaviors. This study examined the mediating effect of resilience on the relationship between sexual assault and disordered eating behavior in a sample of women who reported negative sexual experiences. A sample of 519 undergraduate women at Western Kentucky University completed a survey assessing sexual experiences, trauma symptoms, disordered eating behavior, and resilience. Results confirmed the hypothesis in that resilience fully mediated the relationship between trauma symptoms and disordered eating behavior ( B = 0.008, p = 0.03). These results highlight the importance of resilience as a mitigating factor in recovery from sexual trauma. Further research on ways to foster resilience post-assault is in order.


Leaves and peel hydrodistilled essential oils of Citrus aurantium from Constantine (Algeria) were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The major compounds of the leaves essential oil were linalool (18.6%), γ-terpinene (6.9 %) and -terpineol (15.1%) while the main components of the peel essential oil were linalool (12%), cis-linalool oxide (8.1%), trans-carveol (11.9%), endo-fenchyl acetate (5.5%) and carvone (5.8%).


The handing over of Hong Kong to China presents a challenge to the legal system which is intrinsically and delicately linked to the political vision of 'one country, two systems'. While politicians and legalists seek to work out the model, the people of Hong Kong confront the dilemma of an identity crisis on top of the contentious social problems presented by the immigration of Chinese mainlanders. Also, the island's economic and financial system, fundamental to Hong Kong's existence, confronts not only the problems of transition but also the Asian currency crisis which had a devastating effect on the Southeast Asian economies.


Many of the contracts used nowadays in international business transactions are drafted in English and have their origins in English standard form...


Abstract. Users of hydrologic predictions need reliable, quantitative forecast information, including estimates of uncertainty, for lead times ranging from less than an hour during flash flooding events to more than a year for long-term water management. To meet this need, operational agencies are developing hydrological ensemble forecast techniques to account for sources of uncertainty such as future precipitation, initial hydrological conditions, and hydrological model limitations including uncertain model parameters. Research advances in areas such as hydrologic modeling, data assimilation, ensemble prediction, and forecast verification need to be incorporated into operational forecasting systems to assure that the state-of-the-art products are reaching the forecast user community. The Hydrologic Ensemble Prediction EXperiment (HEPEX) has been formed to develop and demonstrate new hydrologic forecasting technologies, and to facilitate the implementation of beneficial technologies into the operational environment.


The first five years in the engineer's professional life are the most important ones. The responsibilities of the societies and the individual, community integration, orientation and training, and continued education, are discussed.


A high-performance analog-to-digital conversion technique for nuclear spectroscopy applications with unconventional architecture is described. This technique is planned to be used in Phase III of the European /spl gamma/-ray facility project EUROBALL. The conversion is based on the Moving Window Deconvolution (MWD) method for signal processing in nuclear spectroscopy which has been introduced recently. This method allows the conversion to be represented as a sequence of measurements of the total charge of the event and consequently, by applying for example a simple oversampling scheme to achieve a high accuracy. The proposed MWD-type conversion exhibits very low differential and integral nonlinearities over a 14-bit resolution range with an effective conversion dead-time virtually zero. The last feature combined with an inherent pipeline conversion structure is of great importance for applications in large-scale multi-detector arrays like EUROBALL. The key parameters of the development have been theoretically estimated and measured with a prototype consisting of a free running A/D converter and a digital signal processor. >


* Abbreviations:
 CMC — : children with medical complexity
 CSHCN — : children with special health care needs
 HMO — : health maintenance organization
 NSCH — : National Survey of Children's Health
 PCCM — : primary care case management

Care coordination for children remains one of the least-understood, widespread practice and policy interventions in pediatrics. In "Medicaid Managed Care Structures and Care Coordination: A National Cross-Sectional Analysis," Gilchrist-Scott and colleagues examine the degree to which state penetrance of Medicaid managed care structures (specifically, health maintenance organizations [HMOs] versus primary care case management [PCCM]) may incentivize care coordination. They find that states with lower HMO and higher PCCM penetrance exhibited greater care coordination on 2 parent-reported National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) metrics: access to care coordination and receipt of care coordination when needed. Given that NSCH data were cross-sectional and penetrance data were aggregated by state, no causal inferences can be made, but the findings are intriguing nonetheless.

From low to high quintiles of HMO penetrance (and, conversely, from high to low quintiles of PCCM penetrance), access to care coordination fell roughly 5 percentage points, and receipt of care coordination when needed fell roughly 10 percentage points. This finding is not subtle and suggests that the choice of incentive structure may matter.

Nor is this finding surprising, given the incentive structures themselves. Unlike PCCM, fully …

Address correspondence to Paul J. Chung, MD, MS, Department of Pediatrics, University of California – Los Angeles, 10833 LeConte Ave, B2-433 MDCC, Los Angeles, CA 90095. E-mail: paulchung{at}mednet.ucla.edu


A practical ride through scheme bases on super capacitor energy storage system for ASD (adjustable speed drive) equipment is presented in this paper. The topology of ASD discussed adopts AC-DC-AC structure and 12 pulses diode rectifier as input interface. Super capacitor (SC) module connects to inverter DC bus to support DC voltage while power quality problems such as voltage sag or short-term outage take place in power source. A SC energy storage system based 15 kVA ASD prototype was developed. Digital simulation and physical experiments were carried out to verify the correctness and validity of proposed ASD ride through topology and control strategies


In this paper I discuss some objections to Pascals' Wager based on the notion of an infinite utility. It is alleged that infinite utilities result in decisional and mathematical indeterminacies that invalidate Pascal's Wager. Although vari ous resolutions to these objections have been proposed, these in turn have shortcomings. It is argued that the indeterminacies can be readily avoided by treating the infinities as limits. It is suggested that, in situations where only one bet can be placed, the expected utility should be replaced by the most probable average utility. By this standard the Wager is found to fall short if the probability of God's existence is taken to be small.


Abstract Differences in the staining properties of yolk deposited during night and day were used to estimate the time required to deposit yolk within the ovarian follicle. Whole eggs were frozen to −10° C. to alter the lipoproteins, the shell was removed, and contents fixed in 4% formalin for 18 hours at 60–70° C. The yolk was cut in half, and one half was put into 6% potassium dichromate for 18 hours at 60–70° C. Slices revealed alternating light and dark grey-green or brown rings. The center (latebra) was always light. From timed dye-feeding experiments it was found that lighter staining rings were deposited at night. Chicken eggs had 7–11 light rings; coturnix quail 4–6; turkeys 10–12; and cackling geese 12. All eggs from a variety of bird species showed ring structures. Staining formalin-fixed slices with acidified ferrocyanide yielded rings of Prussian blue, a test for forms of iron. Variation in the nutrition of the reproducing female, or the effects of acute contacts with environmental contaminants can be localized in discrete rings of yolks without experimental intervention during yolk deposition.


authors to consider the effect of patient comorbidity on the potential for wider therapeutic application. Their study is limited to patients undergoing thoracic surgery for non-small cell lung cancer. Both thoracotomy and video-assisted thorascopic surgical approaches have been described for lung volume reduction surgery in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [3], and in the treatment of tuberculosis where medical management alone is insufficient [4]. Unilateral phrenic nerve palsy is unlikely to be tolerated in both such patient groups, where the pathology is bilateral. Further, phrenic nerve palsy is likely to impede lung re-expansion following surgery requiring one lung ventilation, such as the thorascopic stage of minimally invasive oesophagectomy [5]. This is unlikely to improve the high rates of pneumonia known to be associated with thoracic surgery [6]. Finally, the authors acknowledge their placebo intervention was invasive. We would like to ask whether they considered avoiding catheter placement as a method for limiting its invasiveness, and if their approach presented problems in terms of gaining ethical approval?


Abstract Objectives: To develop and evaluate, in a primary care setting, a computerised system for generating tailored letters about smoking cessation. Design: Randomised controlled trial. Setting: Six general practices in Aberdeen, Scotland. Participants: 2553 smokers aged 17 to 65. Interventions: All participants received a questionnaire asking about their smoking. Participants subsequently received either a computer tailored or a non-tailored, standard letter on smoking cessation, or no letter. Main outcome measures: Prevalence of validated abstinence at six months; change in intention to stop smoking in the next six months. Results: The validated cessation rate at six months was 3.5% (30/857) (95% confidence interval 2.3% to 4.7%) for the tailored letter group, 4.4% (37/846) (3.0% to 5.8%) for the non-tailored letter group, and 2.6% (22/850) (1.5% to 3.7%) for the control (no letter) group. After adjustment for significant covariates, the cessation rate was 66% greater (−4% to 186%; P=0.07) in the non-tailored letter group than that in the no letter group. Among participants who smoked <20 cigarettes per day, the cessation rate in the non-tailored letter group was 87% greater (0% to 246%; P=0.05) than that in the no letter group. Among heavy smokers who did not quit, a 76% higher rate of positive shift in "stage of change" (intention to quit within a particular period of time) was seen compared with those who received no letter (11% to 180%; P=0.02). The increase in cost for each additional quitter in the non-tailored letter group compared with the no letter group was £89. Conclusions: In a large general practice, a brief non-tailored letter effectively increased cessation rates among smokers. A tailored letter was not effective in increasing cessation rates but promoted shift in movement towards cessation ("stage of change") in heavy smokers. As a pragmatic tool to encourage cessation of smoking, a mass mailing of non-tailored letters from general practices is more cost effective than computer tailored letters or no letters. What is already known on this topic Brief opportunistic advice on stopping smoking that is given face to face by health professionals increases rates of cessation by 2-3% Intensive, expert-led interventions increase cessation rates by up to 20% or more but are expensive and reach only a small proportion of smokers Written advice tailored to an individual's "stage of change" (intention to stop in a particular period of time) has been claimed to be as effective as intensive interventions, but previous studies of tailored written advice did not biochemically validate cessation What this paper adds A simple standard letter sent to patients of general practices that gave brief advice on stopping smoking increased the biochemically validated rate of cessation by 2% A letter tailored to the individual's "stage of change" was not more effective than the non-tailored standard letter Although the increase in cessation resulting from the non-tailored standard letter was small, this intervention was highly cost effective


new Books for ChILdren And Young PeoPLe appreciate his approach to movement, changing up the conventional evocation of progression (through small, sequential panels) with more chaotic but stunningly effective single large frames in which characters appear in multiple positions and the viewer is directed along unexpected paths. Competing feelings of claustrophobia and heady excitement are pervasive, as pedestrians jam every available inch of space around the isolated kids, and even cutaways of their train cars zooming over a city map seem like airless tin cans. Also tucked within the cheek-by-jowl crowd scenes is a hidden mini-drama (loosely based on Sánchez's own debut visit to NYC) featuring a camera-happy tourist who catches the unwanted attention of a policeman, who follows him around town. Comics are not generally distinguished for thoughtful end matter, but this title is a happy exception. Six pages of NYC transit history and Empire State Building information, illustrated with contemporary and period photographs, are included, as well as an annotated list of additonal print and online resources. Even the endpapers—a Manhattan/Brooklyn transit map almost guaranteed to baffle the uninitiated, and a stylish cartoon recap of the class odyssey—are too much fun to miss. (See p. 518 for publication information.) Elizabeth Bush, Reviewer


This paper presents a multiband planar antenna with a third-order toroidal coupling structure that has potential applications in mobile communications. The antenna is fed using a coplanar waveguide structure. The radiating body model of the antenna is obtained by scaling and nesting twice in equal proportions based on a first-order toroid. The above patch was printed on a 42 × 55 × 0.1 mm3 polyimide flexible dielectric substrate. This article explores the effect of bending in different directions on the antenna performance and explores the effect of coupling with the human body on the antenna S11. The antenna was simulated using a high-frequency structure simulator and measured in an electromagnetic microwave darkroom. The simulation results of the antenna match well with the measured results, and the maximum gain of its band coverage is 4.39 dBi. The antenna can cover the frequency bands of TD-LTE (B-TrunC) (1.447–1.467 GHz), LTE42/43 (3.4–3.8 GHz), WiMAX (3.3–3.8 GHz), 5G band n78 (3.4–3.8 GHz), WLAN (5.15–5.35 GHz), 5G (5.725–5.825 GHz), and other commercial bands.


Long non-coding RNA-422 (lncRNA-422) has been recently reported to be involved in the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). But its effects on CRC cell phenotypes remain elusive. In the present study, we assessed the function of lncRNA-422 on the aggressive phenotypes of CRC cells in vitro. SW1116 cell was transfected with specific recombinant plasmid vector to enhance lncRNA-422 expression. The cell proliferation, invasion and migration were investigated and compared between overexpression group and control group. The apoptosis related protein levels in transfected CRC cells were also detected by western blot analysis. We found that up-regulation of lncRNA-422 inhibited the proliferation and invasion of CRC cells, and activated the apoptosis-related proteins, including JNK, p38, Erik, P-p53, PARP, caspase-3. In conclusion, our findings suggested that lncRNA-422 was implicated in the progression of CRC, which might provide the potential therapeutic target for this fetal cancer.


Fracture processes in heterogeneous materials comprise a large number of disordered spatial degrees of freedom, representing the dynamical state of a sample over the entire domain of interest. This complexity is usually modeled directly, obscuring the underlying physics, which can often be characterized by a small number of physical parameters. In this paper, we derive a closed-form expression for a low dimensional model that reproduces the stochastic dynamical evolution of time-dependent failure in heterogeneous materials, and efficiently captures the spatial fluctuations and critical behavior near failure. Our construction is based on a novel time domain formulation of Fiber Bundle Models, which represent spatial variations in material strength via lattices of brittle, viscoelastic fiber elements. We apply the inverse transform method of random number sampling in order to construct an exact stochastic jump process for the failure sequence in a material with arbitrary strength distributions. We also complement this with a mean field approximation that captures the coupled constitutive dynamics, and validate both with numerical simulations. Our method provides a compact representation of random fiber lattices with arbitrary failure distributions, even in the presence of rapid loading and nontrivial fiber dynamics.


An energy transition is needed in order to meet the European pledge of reaching climate neutrality by 2050. This transition cannot ignore the renewable resources available from 70% of the Earth (namely, the oceans and seas). This concept is fundamental for the planet, especially for the Mediterranean area. Marine renewable energies are still under-deployed in the Mediterranean area for many reasons, including legislative constraints, lower energy availability, and technological readiness. An appropriate participatory process including all actors (e.g., policymakers, firms, citizens, and researchers) is necessary for a correct path toward decarbonization. The BLUE DEAL project was conceived and implemented by 12 Mediterranean partners to tackle these issues and set the route for blue energy deployment in the Mediterranean area. Activities already conducted include a survey to probe the perceptions and attitudes of citizens toward blue energy. The survey targeted about 3,000 persons in 12 Mediterranean sites with the aim of bringing citizens into the discussion on future technologies. The results showed that although blue energy is still relatively unknown to the general public (only 42% of respondents were aware of these technologies), there was a general willingness (70%) to host one or more such installations in their areas. Here, we describe our survey method and some empirical results with suggestions for replicability and recommendations on how to use it for policymaking purposes.


in the Middle East (p. 71). This invasive Western capitalism has been eroding autonomy and local centres of influence in traditional Islamic societies.Western viewpoints suggest that conservative Islam is ill adjusted to the modern world (p. 31), whereas Christianity is highly compatible with both democracy and capitalism. From this perspective 9/11 lacks a singular cause, but is a reaction to gradual Western economic expansion into Islam-dominant regions, often linked mistakenly to a purely anti-Christian or anti-democratic mentality. Furthermore, Rockmore adopts a constructivist approach to understanding history. The author favours an actor model which evaluates events 'in terms of the intentions and goals motivating human actions' (p. 53). His explanation of the US reaction to 9/11 is heavily invested in the evangelical Christian and neoconservative influences on President Bush that thrust American forces into at least three wars (Afghanistan, Iraq and the global war on terror), ostensibly in defence of freedom. The final chapter devotes many pages to analysing the Bush administration's execution of these concurrent wars and the effect that Bush's personal politics played in defining America's reputation in the region. However, this book fails to give a full account of the other actor in play, namely Osama bin Laden. Omitting a central figure such as bin Laden from the discussion ultimately weakens our understanding of 9/11 and overlooks important motivating factors and intentions on the part of al-Qa'eda. Rockmore argues convincingly that Western reaction to 9/11 has been flawed and short-sighted in believing that terrorism is a problem solvable through military might. He rightly elevates economic explanatory factors at least on a par with cultural and religious theories to elucidate the tensions building before 9/11, and provides ample evidence to support his claim. Additionally, despite being published only ten years after the September 2001 attacks, this book offers a robust post-9/11 analysis.


The 8-ary phase shift keying (8-PSK) constellation remains today widely used in turbo coded modulation schemes transmitting 3 coded bits per signal waveform. The present paper investigates a binary turbo coded modulation scheme using unbalanced 8-PSK (8-UPSK) constellations. A 8-UPSK with a structure similar to that of quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is proposed, yielding a low complexity calculation of the soft-decision associated with each bit. We suggest an architecture for computing the exact logarithm of the maximum likelihood ratio with a complexity reduced by more than 50% compared to that required for 8-PSK demapping. In addition, Monte-Carlo simulations show that some UPSK turbo coded modulations outperform the regular PSK modulation, hence achieving improved error performance with a reduced computational complexity.


The philosophy of Lean aims to maximize customer satisfaction while minimizing waste. However, complex, dynamic, and project-based nature of construction projects bring up uncertainties in achievin...


At present, treatment options for thyroid carcinoma remain limited. The present study aimed to investigate the role of ZFAS1 in various major hallmarks of cancer and the underlying mechanisms in thyroid carcinoma cells. The interactions between long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRs) and target genes were predicted by bioinformatics and confirmed by performing dual-luciferase assays. The mRNA and protein expressions were determined by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blotting. Cell invasion, migration, and viability were evaluated via Transwell, wound-healing and Cell Counting Kit-8 assays, respectively. The results demonstrated that lncRNA ZFAS1 expression was upregulated in thyroid carcinoma tissues, TT and SW579 cells, and was associated with the proliferation of these two cell lines. Notably, downregulation ZFAS1 reduced migration and invasion, and reversed the promotive effects of miR-302a-3p inhibitor on the proliferation, migration and invasion of TT and SW579 cells. Moreover, cyclin D1 (CCND1) is targeted by miR-302a-3p, and was regulated by ZFAS1. In addition, the downregulation of ZFAS1 not only reversed the promotive effects of miR-302a-3p inhibitor on CCND1 expression and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of TT and SW579 cells, but also targeted and increased the expression of miR-302a-3p, and further reduced the expression of CCND1, resulting in suppression of the proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT of thyroid carcinoma cells.


On approximating sums by maximums and vice versa We discuss the approximation max (x, y) ≈ x + y for x, y > 0, which is found to be useful in obtaining simple and transparent approximate solutions and interpretations for analytically complicated problems.


This study aims to describe the profile of scientific literacy of high school students on Fluid Dynamics materials. Scientific literacy is one of the ability to solve daily problems in accordance with the context of materials related to science and technology. The study was conducted on 90 high school students in Sumbawa using survey design. Data were collected using an instrument of scientific literacy for high school students on dynamic fluid materials. Data analysis was conducted descriptively to determine the students' profile of scientific literacy. The results showed that high school students' scientific literacy on Fluid Dynamics materials was in the low category. The highest average is obtained on indicators of scientific literacy i.e. the ability to interpret data and scientific evidence. The ability of scientific literacy is related to the mastery of concepts and learning experienced by students, therefore it is necessary to use learning that can trace this ability such as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).


A new type of fracture experiment is described. The specimen is a flat strip, which is split lengthwise by gradually propagating a crack down the middle. The crack is made stable in direction by holding the specimen in a state of lengthwise compression. The energy balance of the system can be established by simple beam theory. Given Young's modulus for the material, the fracture energy is found from the length of the crack and from its width at the open end. Measurements made on plastics, with specimens of varying size, show that the crack propagation is governed by a constant specific fracture energy, which is invariant with respect to scale transformations of the stresses. For a sample of polymethylmethacrylate the specific fracture energy was 4.9 × 105 dyn cm-1. For a sample of polystyrene it was 25 × 105 dyn cm-1 for slow cracks, but dropped to 3 × 105 dyn cm-1 for fast-running cracks.


This paper follows the recent call for the synthesis of knowledge in qualitative research. The purpose of this paper is to provide the research design of a meta-synthesis of qualitative case studie...


Identifying whether or not two persons in two set of different videos are the same person can be useful in many applications such as a video surveillance system. However, the problem is very difficult because in actual applications two videos can contain different amount of information. This paper proposes an approach to answer the question in term of a similarity score with level of confidence based on the available amount of information. The proposed approach is based on the assumption that there are multiple cameras per scene taken in different views. For this paper, two cameras perpendicular to each other are set for taking a set of videos of a person. Two persons in two different set of videos are compared by decomposing the person figure into 3 parts, the upper, the middle, and the lower parts. In each part, the volume estimated by the stereo views of the body is used as a static feature of a person. Besides the volume, other static or dynamic features are considered. In the upper part, the shapes of the part seen from both cameras are used. In the middle and the lower part, the movement of hands and the movement of feet are used, respectively. The hand or foot movement is represented in term of its period and maximum width. In the comparison and scoring step, the similarity scores of all feature are computed first before weighted summation them to get the total similarity score. The experiments were carried out using 5 persons walking in two different angles with and without a bag for the total of 192 pairs of video sets. The results showed that all similarity scores of pairs with different persons have lower similarity scores than the scores of pairs with the same person.


The analytical expressions of the parietal velocity gradient of a non- established laminar liquid film streaming on a inclined plan and coming from a Poiseuille flow are proposed. The model is then used to study the mass transfer on active surfaces supported by the inert streaming plan. The measuring of current limits diffusion by the polarographic method permitted the flow limit diffusion. Our measurements are compared with our theoretical predictions.


Unidirectional hypercubes and unidirectional folded hypercubes are generalizations of hypercubes and folded hypercubes to digraphs. The super-$\lambda$ property of a digraph is a index for network reliability, which can be measured by the restricted arc-connectivity quantitatively. In this paper, we first show that the restricted arc-connectivity of the $n$-dimensional unidirectional hypercube is $n-1$ when $n$ is even and is $n-2$ when $n$ is odd, and then we show that the restricted arc-connectivity of the $n$-dimensional unidirectional folded hypercube is $n-1$ when $n$ is even and is $n$ when $n$ is odd. As a consequence, we prove that both unidirectional hypercube and unidirectional folded hypercube are super-$\lambda$.


A total of seventy-five medical specimens were collected from different patients admitted to Zagazig university hospital, Egypt. The selected bacterial isolates were distributed as 45 Gram negative bacterial isolates (60%) and 30 Gram positive bacterial isolates (40%). The most effective antibiotic was gentamycin (76%) followed by amikacin and nitrofurantoin. The multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacterial isolates were selected and identified to four groups; Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The selected isolates were screened for their capability of biofilm, hemolysins, lecithinase and protease production. S. aureus AM23 and P. aeruginosa AM41 were selected as the highest biofilm and degrading enzymes producers. Furthermore, twenty-four methanolic and aqueous crude extracts derived from different medicinal plants in Egypt were screened for their antibacterial activity against both selected MDR strains. Methanolic extract of Eucalyptus camaldulensis leaf showed the greatest effect on the tested bacteria. Also, there was a synergistic effect of combined E. camaldulensis leaf extract and antibiotics (Gentamycin and Ceftriaxone) against tested organisms. Transmission electron microscopy showed changes in cell shapes, size, contents and cell envelop of antimicrobials treated bacterial cells compared to the control. Our findings proved that the leaf extracts of E. camaldulensis had great potential as antimicrobial agents in the treatment of infectious organisms.Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 5(4): 486-497


With the decolonisation and #feesmustfall movements in higher education going mainstream it is essential that the voices of students continue to be heard and that they occupy a prominent role in the decolonial project. Additionally, it is crucial to understand how their voices have been portrayed, analysed, and framed within scholarly work. This paper presents a scoping review of literature on the voices of students about the decolonisation of the social sciences that may inform the transformation of the research in psychology curriculum. Of the reviewed literature, only 12 articles were identified as relevant, and these generated four themes: complex reactions towards decolonisation, decolonial content, and ways of teaching; the importance of critical engagement and reflections on decolonisation; challenges with disrupting whiteness within higher education; and demographic change at universities. The findings revealed useful insights that could assist in guiding conversations with students about decolonising psychology in the classroom, such as creating safe spaces where students feel comfortable taking social and psychological risks when expressing their uniqueness. Published work on students and academics co-creating a transformed curriculum is lacking, and further studies on decolonisation in higher education in the global South are needed.


This chapter contains sections titled: Rhetorical Rules for New Digital Genres, Public Rhetoric through Electronic Means, Digital Rhetoric as a Field of Study, Mathematical Theories of Communication, From Multimedia to Social Media


Objective To evaluate the value of interventional biliary drainage for the treatment of biliary complications after liver transplantation(LT).Methods The clinical data of 6 patients with biliary complications after LT from October 1999 to October 2005 were retrospectively analyzed,including common bile duct stenosis(n = 2),common bile duct with fistula(n = 1),bile leaks(n = 1),biloma(n = 2).Results Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography and drainage in 5 cases and 1 case of stent placement were identified as biliary tract complications after LT.The procedures were successful with clinical symptomatic improvement of the patients.Conclusion Interventional therapy is an effective modality for biliary complications after LT with reduction of reoperation and improvement of the living quality and survival rate.The short term effects were satisfied.(J Intervent Radiol,2007,16:275-277)


We report a dual-wavelength-pumped (1220 nm + 1050 nm) Tm3+-doped ZBLAN fiber master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system at 813 nm for the lattice laser of the Sr optical lattice clock (OLC). Since the photodarkening effect of the Tm3+-doped fiber is more serious in the 800 nm region, it was suppressed by applying real-time photobleaching with a 532 nm laser for obtaining stable output. We also investigated the dependence of conversion efficiency on the launched pump power ratio (P1220 nm/P1220+1050 nm) and found that the maximum conversion efficiency of 50% was obtained from the pump power ratio of 41%. By installing real-time photobleaching and dual-wavelength pumping, our MOPA system generated the maximum output power of 1.95 W with slope efficiency of 48%, which is the highest output power at around 810 nm from fiber laser sources, to the best of our knowledge.


Causes of formation,prevention and determination methods of chromium (Ⅵ) in leather were reviewed.Some views on spectrophotometry for determination of chromium (Ⅵ) in leather were brought forward.


This paper presents petrological,geochronological and geochemical study on Late Paleozoic intermediate-felsic intrusions from the Ondor Sum-Tieshagai area in Inner Mongolia,which is tectonically located in the central-northern margin of the North China Craton.These intrusions comprise mainly biotite-hornblende quartz diorite and hornblende-biotite granodiorite with abundant mafic enclaves in field.U-Pb dating of zircons from three samples by LA-ICP-MS yield weighed mean206Pb /238U ages of 271.8 ± 2.4Ma,271.4 ± 1.3Ma and 268.7 ± 1.3Ma,respectively.These rocks have SiO 2 = 61.42% ~ 71.73%,K 2 O = 3.10% ~ 5.11%,K 2 O / Na 2 O = 0.93 ~ 1.96,Mg#= 42.54 ~ 49.93,A / CNK = 0.90 ~ 1.03,features of high-K calc-alkaline I-type granitoids.They also show strong enrichments in light rare earth(LREEs) and large ion lithophile elements(LILEs,e.g.,Cs,Rb,Ba,K,Th and U) and depletions in high field-strength elements(HFSEs,e.g.,Nb,Ta and Ti) and heavy rare earth(HREEs),with weakly negative Eu anomalies(δEu = 0.55 ~ 0.95).The primary magma for granitoids could be mainly derived from partial melting of the upper crust.The mafic microgranular enclaves(MMEs) are biotite diorites,characterized by low Si and K,enrichment in Fe,Mg,Ca,Ti,LILEs(Rb,Cs,Sr,U) and HFSEs(Nb,Ta,Zr,Hf) when compared with the host rocks,its primary magma could be mainly derived from partial melting of lithospheric mantle,implying an important role of magma mixing during the magmatic differentiation.The combined geochemical features of these intermediate-felsic intrusions and the MMEs likely indicate their formation in an active continental margin as a result of Middle Permian subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean beneath the northern margin of the North China Craton.


The dielectric permittivity (ε) of Y2NiMnO6 ceramics prepared by sintering at 1400 °C over 6 to 24 hours was investigated. The response of the ceramics was measured from 1 kHz to 3 MHz, with the influence of a fixed dc bias from 0 to 1.5 V and temperature from 40 °C to -60 oC. Increasing dc bias was found to reduce ε' at low frequencies, while at higher frequencies the dc bias had less influence on ε'. At 40 °C a sharp transition from high to low ε' occurred starting at ~100 kHz, as the temperature of the ceramic was lowered, the transition shifted to lower frequencies. This behaviour is attributed to the charge ordering of Ni2+ and Mn4+ ions and the thermal effect on the ions energy.


Great attention has recently been given to an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) generated from a Ru(II) complex in many fields, such as analytical chemistry and clinical chemistry, because of its strong intensity.12 Emitting species containing Os3, Pt4 and Si5 as center atoms have also been found. However, when these ECLs are applied to sensors, the metal complexes must be immobilized in order to avoid the contamination of sample solutions.6'' On the other hand, Karatani8 has found that an ECL is generated by controlled potential electrolysis of alcohols on a glassy carbon electrode and has proposed an ECL mechanism where emitting species are derived from fragment molecules produced by oxidation of alcohols. In the present paper we report on stronger ECLs from hydroxyl compounds by electrolysis using a cyclic square wave, and on an ECL sensor having a gas-permeable membrane for the selective determination of volatile alcohols.


This paper describes a design of the central control device monitoring system for coal dressing plant based on the configuaration technology.The Monitoring system includes hardware and software system.The nhardware consists of host computer,slave computer and central control device; the software system consists of host computer and slave computer.The host computer uses configuaration control technology with the software MCGS to develop a visual monitoring system to realize the visual and real-time monitoringon runing atatus of each device in the central control system.The control program of slave computer is developed by STEP7,to control the monitoring system automatically and manually.The monitoring system greatly improve the system with security,reliability and flexibility,also facilitate the production scheduling.


This study is about the failure of sociology as a discipline and the evolution of its failure from a Neo Marxist perspective since the time of Nietzsche until the postmodern turn. The Berlin Wall was the metaphor for western Neo Marxism and Neo Marxist theory. This study makes use of how the Frankfurt School tried to salvage the namesake of Sociology only to fail as the Berlin Wall collapsed in 1989. The study concludes with the incipient nature of sociology as a discipline and how its seeds of destruction were already embedded at the time of its origin.


The article presents a detailed topography analysis of the impacted teeth. It was studied the depth of the location, an grade of impacted teeth in relation to the occlusal flatness and the peculiarities of the dentition in their presence. These features are basic ones of created by us classification of impacted teeth on 6 types, which will help by orthodontist to plan comprehensive medicative measures.


The ARAC Client System allows users (such as emergency managers and first responders) with commonly available desktop and laptop computers to utilize the central ARAC system over the Internet or any other communications link using Internet protocols. Providing cost-effective fast access to the central ARAC system greatly expands the availability of the ARAC capability. The ARAC Client system consists of (1) local client applications running on the remote user's computer, and (2) ''site servers'' that provide secure access to selected central ARAC system capabilities and run on a scalable number of dedicated workstations residing at the central facility. The remote client applications allow users to describe a real or potential them-bio event, electronically sends this information to the central ARAC system which performs model calculations, and quickly receive and visualize the resulting graphical products. The site servers will support simultaneous access to ARAC capabilities by multiple users. The ARAC Client system is based on object-oriented client/server and distributed computing technologies using CORBA and Java, and consists of a large number of interacting components.


This article explores the theory that late-nineteenth century and eary-twentieth century retailing served as an avenue to upward mobility. An examination of retailing in Ontario suggests two things: first, that shopkeeping was a deeply stratified occupation in which the poor remained marginalized at the bottom: and second, that over the course of the early twentieth century interest in retailing declined among working people as the business of storekeeping "professionalized".


The purpose of this research is to know the effect of transformational leadership and work environment toward teacher's job quality private senior high school north of Jakarta. The research was conducted using survey method with quantitative approach and path analysis technique. The population of this research is 117 teachers. Research samples selected as much as 91 teachers using simple random sampling technique. The data obtained through questionnaires and analyzed using path analysis techniques. Based on the results of data analysis in this research it is concluded: (1) the transformational leadership have positive direct effect to job quality; (2) the work environment have positive direct effect to job quality; (3) the transformational leadership have positive direct effect to work environment. The job quality can be improved through improvement of of transformational leadership and work environment.


In today's world we have smarter consumer and enterprise who are not looking to spend much up-front cost and getting tied down to a vendor or brand. This benefits consumers to a large extend in reducing their capital expenses and operational cost, also allows them to focus on their core business and leave out the support needs to the service provider. This challenge is resolved to an extend by a very highly competitive service market. But from the provider's end, enabling any service incur cost and this expense need to be recovered and has to gain from the investment by defining the right pricing model. It is no different in cloud computing too, the cloud enablement itself involves significant cost and it has to be recovered from the consumer by adopting a competitive pricing model. Hence a proper costing of your cloud offering is always important to lead in the market. In this paper the different capital expenditures and operational expenditures for enabling a cloud service is detailed. Also the cost depreciation factors that need to be considered for a cloud model would be assessed with practical scenario. This paper would also cover the costing models samples for an IT profit center and a cost center for a private cloud.


The application of magnetic fields of simple configurations and modest strengths to direct target debris ions out of cavities can alleviate recognized shortcomings of several classes of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) reactors. Complex fringes of the strong magnetic fields of heavy-ion fusion (HIF) focusing magnets may intrude into reactor cavities and significantly affect the trajectories of target debris ions. The results of an assessment of potential benefits from the use of magnetic fields in ICF reactors and of potential problems with focusing-magnet fields in HIF reactors conducted to set priorities for continuing studies are reported. Computational tools are described and some preliminary results are presented.


Recent work has shown that the yeast histone H4 N‐terminus, while not essential for viability, is required for repression of the silent mating loci and activation of GAL1 and PHO5 promoters. Because histone H3 shares many structural features with histone H4 and is intimately associated with H4 in the assembled nucleosome, we asked whether H3 has similar functions. While the basic N‐terminal domain of H3 is found to be non‐essential (deletion of residues 4–40 of this 135 amino acid protein allows viability), its removal has only a minor effect on mating. Surprisingly, both deletions (of residues 4–15) and acetylation site substitutions (at residues 9, 14 and 18) within the N‐terminus of H3 allow hyperactivation of the GAL1 promoter as well as a number of other GAL4‐regulated genes including GAL2, GAL7 and GAL10. To a limited extent glucose repression is also alleviated by H3 N‐terminal deletions. Expression of another inducible promoter, PHO5, is shown to be relatively unaffected. We conclude that the H3 and H4 N‐termini have different functions in both the repression of the silent mating loci and in the regulation of GAL1.


Individualism is a philosophy of life that confirms the individual survival as the sole aim,and denies the social order against individual.This article will focus on the awakening of individualism in Hester and analyze the factors that affect the awakening;it will expose in detail the denial and criticism of awakened individual against the current social order from religion and moral principles,social system and law system.


The Flowering Thorn: International Ballad Studies. Edited by Thomas McKean. (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2003. Pp. 388, introduction, acknowledgments, photographs, musical notation, tables, notes, bibliographies, indices. $21.95 paper) The International Ballad Commission (Kommission fur Volksdichtung) was founded in the mid-1960s with a mission to construct, along the lines of the Aarne-Thompson index, a cataloguing system for ballad and folksong. In recent decades, though, the Commission has attracted a cadre of younger scholars from various disciplines whose interests in ballads extend well beyond classification, covering such topics as interpretation; repertoire analysis; singer profiles; the history of ballad scholarship and collection; politics of culture; the interrelations of traditional, popular, and literary forms; issues of revival and regional/national identity; and many others. The Flowering Thorn brings together twenty-six essays presented at the Commission's 1999 annual meeting, hosted by the Elphinstone Institute at the University of Aberdeen. To a certain degree, The Flowering Thorn is a pauper in prince's clothing. The volume is beautifully designed and editor Tom McKean has done a fine job of organizing a rather unruly mob of papers into coherent thematic groupings. McKean's introduction, fittingly dedicated to Barre Toelken, offers a concise, insightful overview of recent trends in ballad research. In addition, each group of essays begins with a one- or two-page preface discussing how the thematic area dovetails with current concerns in ballad scholarship and how the various authors have tackled the issues. Coupled with the introduction, these prefaces ground the sections theoretically as well as thematically, which helps build connections that are not always apparent in the content of the individual essays. Yet despite the high caliber of publication and the first-rate work of the editor, there is no disguising the fact the volume is an edition of conference proceedings. Only a handful of the articles approach the length of fully developed essays; a few retain the character of conference presentations. In the majority of cases, more is better, and although there are some excellent short papers, most would have benefitted from more extended discussion or argument. As reflected in these essays, ballad scholarship remains textually grounded. Over a third of the articles are motif- or type-analyses and another eight focus on the history of ballad collection, publication, and scholarship. Yet because the essays without exception are written by scholars who have mastered the subject area, they are impressive for both the innovativeness of the themes addressed and the breadth of the material engaged in the discussions. Moreover, all but a few essays engage textuality in the broader, situated understanding of the term, giving due attention to cultural, social, or historical context. Luisa Del Guidice's discussion of the Italian larantismo (a ritual dance) in public and domestic settings (ballads accompany the dance in the latter contexts) and Cozette Griffin-Kremer's paper on Irish May Day ballads have the strongest contextual grounding (in fact, ballads are a secondary concern in both papers). …


What may have been a sense of uneasy security in countries around the world that relied on imported oil and gas has been shaken off. Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and its role in supplying oil and natural gas to the EU, highlights just how quickly the sourcing of fuel can or must change because of the physical disruption of production, operations, and transportation, or because of sanctions or a country's own concerns about energy security. The resultant market volatility is being felt around the world.
 The European Commission published plans on 8 March to cut Russian natural gas imports
 by two-thirds this year and end its reliance on Russian supplies "well before 2030." About 40%, or 150–190 Bcm, of the gas supplied to the EU's 27 countries is provided by Russia. EU Climate Policy Chief Frans Timmermans said, "The answer to this concern for our security lies in renewable energy and diversification of supply."
 However, renewable energy sources are nowhere near the capacity needed to fill the supply gap and won't be for many years to come. Diversification of supply is the most feasible alternative now.
 The commission said the US, Qatar, and others may be able to provide 60 Bcm of gas and LNG, equivalent to about a third of the Russian supply. Since December, US LNG exports have been heading to Europe to help refill its natural gas storage, which has been at its lowest level in at least 10 years. Storage injections in the summer were limited because of the high volume of LNG exports to Asia, high wholesale gas prices, and reduced supplies from Russia. US LNG exports in March were expected to reach about 8.84 Bcm (projection as of 16 March), exceeding a record 8.6 Bcm in January 2022.
 Qatar's Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said in February that his country's LNG volumes are committed in long-term contracts mostly to Asian buyers, adding that only 10–15% of the volumes may be divertible to Europe.


Energy and fuels derived from biomass pose lesser impact on the environmental carbon footprint than those derived from fossil fuels. In order for the biomass-to-energy and biomass-to-chemicals processes to play their important role in the loop of the circular economy, highly active, selective, and stable catalysts and the related efficient chemical processes are urgently needed. Lignin is the most thermal stable fraction of biomass and a particularly important resource for the production of chemicals and fuels. This mini review mainly focuses on lignin valorizations for renewable chemicals and fuels production and summarizes the recent interest in the lignin valorization over Ni and relevant bimetallic metal catalysts on various supports. Particular attention will be paid to those strategies to convert lignin to chemicals and fuels components, such as pyrolysis, hydrodeoxygenation, and hydrogenolysis. The review is written in a simple and elaborated way in order to draw chemists and engineers' attention to Ni-based catalysts in lignin valorizations and guide them in designing innovative catalytic materials based on the lignin conversion reaction.


What was an "advocate" (Latin: advocatus; German: Vogt) in the Middle Ages? What responsibilities came with the position and how did they change over time? With this groundbreaking study, Jonathan R. Lyon challenges the standard narrative of a "medieval" Europe of feudalism and lordship being replaced by a "modern" Europe of government, bureaucracy and the state. By focusing on the position of advocate, he argues for continuity in corrupt practices of justice and protection between 750 and 1800. This book traces the development of the role of church advocate from the Carolingian period onward and explains why this position became associated with the violent abuse of power on churches' estates. When other types of advocates became common in and around Germany after 1250, including territorial and urban advocates, they were not officeholders in developing bureaucracies. Instead, they used similar practices to church advocates to profit illicitly from their positions, which calls into question scholarly arguments about the decline of violent lordship and the rise of governmental accountability in European history.


As a culture symbol,evolvement of names can reflect evolving course of ethnic history and culture.Manchu names have their own features,which are natural and simple before entering the Shanhai Pass.Therefore,names were Chinesizing affected by Han ethnic culture.


An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss topics within the issue, including technology-enhanced learning (TEL), workplace learning, and human resources development.


Abstract : VIGILANTE is an ultrafast smart sensor testbed for generic Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) applications with a series of capability demonstration focussed on cruise missile defense (CMD). VIGILANTE's sensor/processor architecture is based on next-generation UV/visible/IR sensors and a tera-operations per second sugar-cube processor, as well as supporting airborne vehicle. Excellent results of efficient ATR methodologies that use an eigenvectors/neural network combination and feature-based precision tracking have been demonstrated in the laboratory environment.


ABSTRACT Brycon nattereri is an endangered Neotropical fish reported along conserved stretches of the upper Paraná, Tocantins and São Francisco rivers. Populations of this species have been very rare in some Paraná River sub basins. This study analyzes the genetic diversity and population structure of B. nattereri in a restricted area of occurrence recently identified in upper Paraná River basin. Seven microsatellite loci and 497 bp of D-Loop mitochondrial region were examined in 92 individuals from four points along the area of occurrence. Both molecular markers indicated a single population distributed along a stretch of the river approximately 80 km long. Although some of the data suggest an ancient bottleneck, current levels of genetic diversity (H E = 0.574 and h = 0.616) were similar to those of other species of the genus Brycon. The results suggest that the population of B. nattereri has been able to maintain satisfactory levels of genetic diversity, in spite of the small area of occurrence. These data have highlighted an important conservation area and action may prove essential to improve the quality of the environment, and especially the water and riparian plant life, if the area is to be managed and conserved efficiently.


This thesis is in two parts. Part A is concerned with a
problem in the representation theory of semisimple algebraic
groups. In part B we are interested in the endomorphism rings of
comodules, in particular in the endomorphism ring of a certain
induced comodule. The parts are more or less self contained
each having its own introduction and references. There is
however an underlying theme of induction and so the exposition
of 2, (A) is relevent to both parts. Other points of overlap
are the second theorem of 4 in part A and the digression of
2 in part B.


The Computing and Communications Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory has designed and is building a parallel microprocessor system (PuPS) to serve as a research tool for evaluating parallel processing of large-scale scientific codes. PuPS is an experimental architecture consisting of an orthogonal array of 20 processing elements by 32 memory elements, establishing a tightly coupled, shared-memory (16-Mbyte) machine. The hardware incorporates VLSI components, such as 16-bit microprocessors, floating-point co-processors, and dynamic random access memories. The design replaces conventional MSI/SSI circuitry with programmable array logic, logic sequencers, and logic arrays. This experimental system, which is only 1 element of the parallel processing research being done by the Laboratory's Computing and Communications Division, will enable direct comparisons of speedups of algorithms for a variety of multiprocessor architectures.


Background: Alpha-enolase (ENO1) is a multifunctional glycolytic enzyme. The cell-surface expression of ENO1 is increased in monocytes isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of RA patients. In previous experiments, we reported apolipoprotein B (apoB) to be as a novel ligand of cell surface expressed ENO1 and to enhance chronic inflammation in RA (1). Objectives: This study was performed to evaluate agonistic or antagonistic function of peptide sequences within apoB, which modulated severity of arthritis in K/BxN serum transfer arthritis mouse model. Methods: Peptides binding to ENO1 were evaluated by peptide microarray. Peptides were designed to have twelve amino acids lengths with ten amino acids overlap. Levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines produced by PBMCs were measured after treatment with peptides in RA patients and healthy controls (HCs). To evaluate the antagonistic function of peptides, RA PBMCs pre-treated with peptides were stimulated with apoB and pro-inflammatory cytokines were measured in culture supernatant. Peptides were injected in K/BxN serum transfer mice and we measured the thickness of ankles and arthritis score to determine whether peptides could reduce arthritis severity. Results: Among eighty five peptides from apoB, five peptides exhibited strong binding to ENO1. Two peptides increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, but three peptides did not change levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in RA and HC PBMCs. However the three peptides reduced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in RA PBMCs stimulated with apoB. These three peptides were named IP (inhibitory peptide)1, IP2 and IP3. IPs were injected after induction of the arthritis in K/BxN serum transfer mice in vivo. Ankle thickness and arthritis scores were substantially reduced in IPs treated group than control group, and synovial inflammation, bone erosion and cartilage damage of arthritis were less severe in the IPs-treated groups. Especially, IP2 showed the most significant effect. Conclusion: The apoB derived peptides interacting with ENO1 could have novel therapeutic effect in RA. Reference [1] Lee, J. Y., et al. (2018). "Apolipoprotein B binds to enolase-1 and aggravates inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis."Ann Rheum Dis77(10): 1480-1489 Disclosure of Interests: None declared


In the eastern Seto Inland Sea, dissolved inorganic nitrogen has decreased due to the reduction of nutrient inputs, and there have been changes in the total cell density and the composition of the phytoplankton assemblages. The major phytoplankton component was diatoms, and the contribution was always over 90 percent of total phytoplankton since the 1990s. In order to elucidate growth characteristics and nutrient consumption of diatom species, we conducted major nutrients-enrichment bottle incubation experiments on shipboard using the surface waters in Harima-Nada, eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea. Seawater incubation experiments demonstrated that nutrient environments for phytoplankton are in a state of nitrogen-limitation in Harima-Nada. The addition of nitrate to surface waters of this coastal region promotes blooms of large chain-forming diatom species. These results suggest that diatom blooms cause depletion of the nutrients (mainly nitrogen) in Harima-Nada.


9001 Background: Older adults are vulnerable to chemotherapy (chemo) toxicity (tox); however, there is limited data to identify those at risk. The goals of this study are to: 1) identify risk factors for grade 3-5 chemo tox in older adults and 2) develop a risk-stratification schema for grade 3-5 tox based on the number of risk factors. Methods: Patients age ≥ 65 with cancer from 7 institutions completed a pre- chemo assessment capturing: 1) sociodemographics, 2) tumor/treatment variables, 3) labs, 4) Karnofsky performance status, and 5) geriatric assessment [functional, psychological, and nutritional status, comorbidity, cognition, and social activity/support (Hurria et al, Cancer 2005)]. Patients were followed through the chemo course to capture grade 3-5 tox. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify independent risk factors for grade 3-5 tox. Results: 500 patients [mean age 73 (range 65-91)] with cancer [lung (29%), breast/gyn (28%), GI (27%), GU (10%), or other (6%)] participated (61% had...


Ideas of modern philosophy are presented in the hope taht debate will continue concerning the issue of "theoretical versus descriptive chemistry: Should one or the other prevail?"


Autoimmune diseases are characterized by the loss of tolerance toward self‐antigens and the induction of destructive immune responses leading to tissue damage. Most patients with autoimmune diseases are treated with immunosuppressive drugs that suppress the immune response in a non‐specific fashion, which is inevitably accompanied by several side effects. Antigen‐specific immunomodulation and patient‐tailored therapies are likely to solve these issues and to elicit long‐term protection against disease flares. This Viewpoint analyzes the potential use of DC for induction of antigen‐specific tolerance in autoimmune disease settings.


Abstract Listokin, Listokin, and Lahr laud the economic benefits of historic preservation but fail to delve deeply enough into the negative impacts and how they might be mitigated. Preservation projects tend to displace lower‐income households and small businesses, and the jobs they generate tend to be low paying. In areas with high potential for displacement, local government and civic leaders should act cautiously and not intervene in ways that overheat these markets. We are unlikely to see new federal policies that substantially mitigate displacement. Nonetheless, the historic rehabilitation tax credit could be revised to encourage more modest and affordable preservation projects. The extra costs associated with historic rehabilitation standards can be more burdensome than the authors describe. To reduce these costs, the administration of the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation could be made more consistent and cost‐sensitive.


Tissue mechanical anisotropy has been shown to be diagnostically relevant in numerous clinical applications. Anisotropy can be assessed using acoustic radiation force-based techniques, including Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) and Viscoelastic Response (VisR) ultrasound. In this work, ARFI peak displacement (PD), as well as VisR relative elasticity (RE) and relative viscosity (RV), were implemented to image mechanical anisotropy in ex vivo porcine posas major muscle. Two psoas major samples were imaged in this work. The first sample was imaged whole. The second sample was sectioned into a 1 cm-diameter cylinder (with cylinder height oriented along the muscle fibers) and embedded into an isotropic gelatin phantom for imaging. ARFI and VisR were performed on both muscle samples using a linear array transducer mounted to a translation and rotation stage. By rotating the transducer 90o as it stepped across a 2D imaging field of view, PD, RE, and RV were measured along and across muscle fibers. Then, the ratios of PD, RE, and RV measurements made along versus across the muscle fibers were calculated, and these ratios were parametrically rendered in to 2D images representing degree of anisotropy. In the whole psoas major, PD anisotropy ratio was 1.08 +− 0.11, the RE anisotropy ratio was 0.94 +− 0.09 and the RV ratio was 0.94 +− 0.08. These PD and RE anisotropy ratios suggest that the longitudinal shear elastic modulus was greater than the transverse shear elastic modulus, which agrees with previous studies on muscle anisotropy. The RV results suggest that the longitudinal viscous modulus was greater than the transverse viscous modulus. Similar PD, RE, and RV anisotropy ratios were measured in the embedded psoas major section, and contrast ratios were 0.21, 0.14, and 0.30 for PD, RE and RV 2D anisotropy images, respectively. CNR for PD, RE, and RV anisotropy images were 3.26, 2.09 and 2.41, respectively. These results demonstrate that ARFI and VisR anisotropy imaging are relevant for delineating the spatial distribution of anisotropic features in tissue.


Some studies have suggested that depressive ruminations are stable over time, whereas other studies have indicated that ruminations have state-like characteristic, with no consistent stability of ruminations. Moreover, there is little research on the interactive relationship between ruminations and stressors, even though past studies have implied the possibility of such a relationship. We conducted a three-wave, longitudinal study to investigate the stability of ruminations and the interactive relationship between ruminations and stressors. Participants were female college students ( N = 53, Mean age 18.98 ± 1.15 years ) . Results indicated absolute and relative stability between the interval T1 and T2, but only relative stability in the interval between T2 and T3 and the interval between T1 and T3 interval. Moreover, the results of path analysis suggested an interactive relationship between ruminations and stressors.


Transferable discharge permits (TDP) can be used to achieve desired abatement levels at costs that approach the minimum. The emphasis in the discussion is on the implementation of such a system, the public choice problem in its adoption, and an assurance that regardless of which polluters provide waste treatment there is a mechanism for equitable sharing in the costs ofthat abatement. The argument is applied to phosphorus abatement in the Wisconsin portion of the Lake Michigan basin. The level of demand and supply for TDP's among 53 waste treatment plants is simulated, and the necessary steps to create a market are outlined. Enforcement, price changes, and future adjustments in the permissible effluent loading are shown to be compatible with the marketing process proposed.


With rapid population growth and urban development, traffic congestion has become an inescapable issue in large metropolitan regions. Research studies have proposed different strategies to control traffic, ranging from roadway expansion to transportation demand management programs. Among these strategies, congestion pricing and incentive offering schemes have been widely studied as reinforcements for traffic control in traditional traffic networks where each driver is a "player" in the network. In such a network, the "selfish" behavior of individual drivers prevents the entire network to reach a socially optimal operation point. In future mobility services, on the other hand, a large portion of drivers/vehicles may be controlled by a small number of companies/organizations. In such a system, offering incentives to organizations can potentially be much more effective in reducing traffic congestion rather than offering incentives directly to drivers. This research project studies the problem of offering incentives to organizations to change the behavior of their individual drivers (or individuals using their organization's services). The incentives are offered to each organization based on their aggregated travel time loss across all their drivers. This step requires solving a large-scale optimization problem to minimize the system-level travel time. We propose an efficient algorithm for solving this optimization problem. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, multiple experiments are conducted by Los Angeles traffic data. Our experiments show that the proposed algorithm can decrease the system-level travel time by up to 6.9%. Moreover, our experiments demonstrate that incentivizing organizations can be up to 8 times more efficient than incentivizing individual drivers in terms of incentivization monetary cost.


A clean method was developed for the spectrophotometric determination of resorcinol. The method, based on the reaction between resorcinol and p-aminophenol (PAP), carried out in a flow system, involves an additional detoxification step based on the in-line TiO2-catalysed photodegradation of the indophenol dye formed and the remaining unreacted PAP. For this, after the measurement step the waste stream is merged with a TiO2 slurry (0.5 g l–1 in 0.22 mol l–1 HCl) and then passed through a UV photochemical reactor consisting of a PTFE tube (6 m × 0.8 mm i.d.) rolled on a UV lamp with a maximum irradiation wavelength of 254 nm. Under these conditions, the waste can be completely detoxified thus, providing a non-polluting method of analysis.


Total cloud amount and cloud‐base height are two quantities diagnosed from the vertical distribution of cloud in a model grid column. Together they form the basis of many cloud‐based forecast products. Forecasts from four Met Office Unified Model (MetUM) horizontal resolution configurations are compared against manual and automated conventional synoptic (SYNOP) observations. The analysis shows that observation‐type‐dependent characteristics feed through to model forecast biases and skill scores, where manual and automated cloud observations produce biases of opposite kind. The mixing of observation types is therefore not recommended, as the ability to interpret results is compromised. This is especially relevant when tuning model physics. The effect of horizontal grid resolution is mixed on both bias and skill. Copyright © 2012 British Crown copyright, the Met Office Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.


This paper first presents a brief introduction to the concept of static load participation ratio(SLPR) and the principle for wind-induced vibration analysis based on the pseudo excitation method(PEM).In consideration of the partial correlation between wind excitations,the formulae for calculation of contribution factor of each mode to wind response and the corresponding cumulative contribution factor of mode combination are then derived.The mode contribution factor can be used to identify accurately all possible modes which may be induced by the turbulent wind,while the cumulative mode contribution factor can be taken as a criterion to justify whether the selected mode combination is sufficient for the calculation of the wind-induced vibration response.Next,a simple compensation mode is introduced,and the method of mode selection is proposed.Two numerical examples are provided to verify the effectiveness of the mode contribution factor and cumulative mode contribution factor,as well as the significance of both the low-order and high-order dominant contribution modes.Finally,it is pointed out that current methods of mode selection which depend on the comparison of relative errors of many low-order modes or involve only compensation modes are not sufficient,and that the reasonable mode combination should involve most of the dominant contribution modes and the cumulative mode contribution factor of the selected mode combination should be larger than 0.9.


The article provides a new effective scheme and principle of operation of a multifaceted grid of cotton cleaner from small trash. The results of comparative experimental studies of the grid oscillations and the nature of loading depending on the parameters and modes of cotton cleaning are presented. In the experiments performed, the nature of the vibrations was investigated by studying the component vibrations of two grids simultaneously to compare the results. An analysis of the obtained laws of grid vibrations showed that the amplitude of the recommended multifaceted mesh surface on the elastic supports exceeds the amplitude of vibrations of the existing grid 5–7 times and reaches up to (2 ÷ 2.5) × 10−3 m. In this case, the oscillograms are presented for steady-state modes of the work of the cotton cleaner. The results show that an increase in the coefficient of the number of faces of the grid leads to a decrease in the load of the grid to (0.3 ÷ 0.5) N. The parameters of a multifaceted grid of cotton cleaner from small trash are substantiated. Experimental studies have studied the workload and the law of vibrational motion of the grid surface.


Corporate governance emphasise on the moral and ethical dimensions of managing a company's business. The word corporate governance refers to a system of control of corporation and systems of accountability of those in control. The High Level Finance Committee Report 1999, defines corporate governance as a process of directing a business and the affairs of the company towards enhancing business prosperity and corporate accountability with the ultimate objective of realising long-term shareholder values, whilst taking into account the interest of other stakeholders". Under Shariah, corporate governance main purpose is not only to work for the benefit of the shareholders and the stakeholders but also to acknowledge the duty of mankind to God and to the rest of the people living in the community. This paper analyse the corporate governance legal framework from both conventional and Shariah perspective to identify what would be the appropriate corporate governance model for Shariah compliant corporation.


Wound healing is a complex process not fully understood. There is a need of better methods to evaluate the different stages of healing, and optical characterization is a promising tool in this respect. In this study hyperspectral imaging was employed to characterize an in vitro wound model. The wound model was established by first cutting circular patches of human abdominal skin using an 8mm punch biopsy tool, and then creating dermal wounds in the center of the skin patches using a 5mm tool. The wounds were incubated in medium with 10% serum and antibiotics. Hyperspectral images were collected every three days using a push broom hyper spectral camera (Hyspex VNIR1600). The camera had a spectral resolution of 3.7 nm and was fitted with a close up lens giving a FOV of 2.5 cm and a spatial resolution of 29 micrometer. Samples for histology were collected throughout the measurement period, which was 21 days in total. Data were processed in ENVI and Matlab. A successful classification based on hyperspectral imaging of the implemented model is presented. It was not possible to see the healing zone in the in vitro model with the naked eye without dying. The hyperspectral results showed that newly formed epithelium could be imaged without any additional contrast agents or dyes. It was also possible to detect non-viable tissue. In vitro wound models and hyperspectral imaging can thus be employed to gain further insight in the complicated process of healing in different kinds of wounds.