A streamwise vortex was excited in swept-wing boundary layer by a vortex generator placed close to the leading edge of a swept wing. In a three-dimensional boundary layer, riblets are able to reduce the magnitude of the vortex and suppress development of traveling waves which reside in the vortex and lead to laminar-turbulent transition. The approach gives the experimental support for riblet application in transitional three-dimensional flows with streamwise vortices of different nature. The situation can serve as a model of control of crossflow-type vortices or vortices generated by a roughness.


A novel frequency selective surface (FSS) is proposed in this paper. The FSS has four layers on both sides of two separate substrates with a distance 8 mm, which is much smaller than the wavelength. The FSS has wide bandwidth, ranging from 2.7 GHz to 13.2 GHz. The FSS cell for Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) is used as a reflector for ultra wideband antenna to improve its front-to-back ratio. Compared the performance for the reference antenna with and without the proposed reflector, the average im-provement of the front-to-back ratio of the UWB antenna with designed FSS reflector is 15 dB from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz and the peak even can get to 30 dB at 5 GHz.


The purpose of this study is to find out how to develop local cultural contents by using Kyunggi Sword Dancing. In order to accomplish this study object, the first step is to analyze the cultural code of Gyeonggi Sutra, which is the core research content of this study, and then to find ways to develop local cultural contents based on this analysis. The con-create results of this study are summarized as follows.
Based on these results, it can be expected that Kyunggi province will be able to develop representative local cultural contents reflecting the lo-cality of Gyeonggi province, the story structure inherent in bombership, and the ethnicity of traditional dance. Especially it is considered that these local cultural contents can maximize the effects when they are linked with local festivals.
And it is thought that it is necessary to develop multipurpose contents such as viewing type, experiential type and consumption type of local festivals.


A coordination polymer,[Co2(L)2(1,5-PDC)2]·0.5H2O 1(L=2-(2-fluorophenyl)-1H-imidazophenanthroline and 1,5-PDC=pentane-1,5-dicarboxylate,has been synthesized under hydrothermal condition,and characterized by elemental analysis,IR spectroscopy,TGA,UV-vis spectrum and single-crystal X-ray diffraction.Crystal data: C104H86Co4F4N16O17,triclinic system,space group P1,a=1.108 2(5) nm,b=1.390 2(4) nm,c=1.601 7(6) nm,α=90.806(5)°,β=93.429(3)°,γ=111.312(5)°,V=2.293 0(15) nm3,Z=1,R=0.059 7,wR=0.160 8.In 1,the 1,5-PDC ligand bridges neighboring Co atoms to form a one-dimensional(1D) chain structure.The π-π interactions between neighboring chains resulted in a 2D supramolecular architecture.In addition,the N-H…O and O-H…N hydrogen-bonding interactions further stabilize the supramolecular structure of 1.CCDC: 872031.


A simplified one-carrier space charge limited conduction theory has been developed for a Gaussian trap distribution in. an insulator. It is shown that the distribution behaves much like a discrete trap level at low applied fields, although the current has a temperature dependent activation energy. At higher fields the current-voltage relation becomes superquadratic, but this does not account for the behaviour normally attributed to an exponential trap distribution.


The camless electromagnetic valve train (EMVT), as a fully flexible variable valve train, has enormous potential for improving engine performances. In this paper, a new valve strategy based on the electromagnetic intake valve train (EMIV) is proposed to achieve variable cylinder deactivation (VCD) on a four-cylinder gasoline engine. The 1D engine model was constructed in GT-Power according to test data. In order to analyze the VCD operation with the proposed valve strategy, the 1D model was validated using a 3D code. The effects of the proposed valve strategy were investigated from the perspective of energy loss of the transition period, the mass fraction of oxygen in the exhaust pipe, and the minimum in-cylinder pressure of the active cycle. On the premise of avoiding high exhaust oxygen and oil suction, the intake valve timing can be determined with the variation features of energy losses. It was found that at 1200 and 1600 rpm, fuel economy was improved by 12.5–16.6% and 9.7–14.6%, respectively, under VCD in conjunction with the early intake valve closing (EIVC) strategy when the brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) ranged from 0.3 MPa to 0.2 MPa.


PetroChina started construction of a US$3 billion crude refining project in Anning, a county-level city of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province in Southwest China, in the second half of 2012. Designed to process sour crude including oil and gas from the Middle East, the refining project involves


Milk is highly strategic economic commodity along with the increasing awareness of the importance of milk consumption and improves the living standards for people of Indonesia. In 2002-2007 the demand for milk consumption in Indonesia grew very rapidly showing an increase of 14.01%. On the other hand, the growth of milk production increased by only 2% during the same period (Direktorat Budidaya Ternak Ruminansia, 2010). Subsequently, this has led to e increasing amount of milk imports and reduced the level of milk self-sufficiency. Therefore, is necessary for the government to develop policies that include the enactment of milk as a strategic food commodity and apply a variety of technological innovations to improve the productivity of dairy farm business in Indonesia.


This invention discloses a method and device for configuring MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service) conversation position information; a mobile control entity MCE is pre-stored with a mapping relationship list of temporary mobile group identification TMGI and MBMS conversation position information. The method comprises the following steps: the MCE receives an MBMS conversation build request or an MBMS conversation updating request with TMGI sent by a core network and inquires the mapping relationship list according to the TMGI; and when the MBMS conversation position information corresponding to the TMGI exists in the mapping relationship list, the MCE sends the MBMS conversation position information to a base station. By use of the invention, UE (User Equipment) can be effectively prevented from receiving useless information and the electric quantity of a battery of the UE (User Equipment) is saved.


Explores the role of gender in poetic production, the tensions between poetry and contemporary literary theory, and the fluid boundaries between theoretical and literary writing.


Due to the increasing of human and animal population, there is great pressure
on lands (forests, other government lands and community lands). In this paper
measures and models have been discussed for management of common, public, forest
and community lands.


This paper deals with the problem of tracking the two-dimensional (2-D) direction-of-arrivals (DOAs) (i.e., azimuth and elevation angles) of multiple moving targets with crossover points on their trajectories, and we propose an new computationally efficient subspace-based 2-D DOA tracking algorithm for the L-shaped sensor array structured by two uniform linear arrays (ULAs). First, a new computationally efficient cross-correlation based 2-D DOA estimation with automatic pair-matching (CODEC) batch method is developed for noncoherent narrowband signals, where the computationally expensive procedures of eigendecomposition in subspace estimation and pair-matching of the estimated azimuth and elevation angles are avoided. Then a new 2-D DOA tracking algorithm is proposed, the association of the estimated azimuth and elevation angles at two successive time instants is accomplished by employing a dynamic mode and the Luenberger state observer. The simulation results show that the proposed tracking algorithm has good adaptability and tracking capability.


The compound 3-phenylindole (3PI) is a particularly active antimicrobial which interacts with phospholipids in fungal mycelia membranes, and which strongly inhibits the uptake of phosphate into fungal mycelia. The physical effects of 3PI on ion transport across bilayer lipid membranes composed of phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol have been investigated using three lipophilic ions and one ion/carrier complex. It was found that 3PI increased the electrical conductivity induced by the lipophilic cation (tetraphenylarsonium) and by the positively charged complex (nonactin-K+) by several orders of magnttude whereas 3PI decreased the conductivity induced by the two lipophilic anions (tetraphenylborate, dipicrylamine) by a factor of less than ten. These conductivity changes are explained as a combination of changes in the electrostatic and in the non-electrostatic properties of the bilayer. The electrostatic potential of the bilayer interior was shown to decrease in the presence of 3PI, a phenomenon which was also confirmed by measurements of the surface potential of phosphatidylcholine/ cholesterol mono layers. The changes in non-electrostatic properties of the bilayer are qualitatively discussed in terms of increased bilayer fluidity or decreased bilayer thickness brought about by the presence of 3PI. The partition coefficient of the lipophilic anions, as determined by the voltage-step transient current technique, decreased slightly when 3PI was present in the aqueous phase.


ABSTRACT. The correct reproduction of the vertical dimension of occlusion (VDO) is the basis for restoring health to the stomatognathic system. A number of methods allow facial measurement in a safe, reproducible manner, such as the comparison of distance from the lip commissure to corner of the eye (LC-CE) to the distance from the base of the nose to the chin (N-Ch). The aim of the present study was to determine VDO length in children between 7 and 12 years of age and the correlation of this length with gender. One hundred seventy-six children were evaluated, among which 48 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The data were stratified by age and analyzed using the paired Student's t-test. All p-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. There were different measures of VDO with regard to age and gender, ranging from 52.30 mm to 70.20 mm for the LC-CE distance and 52.30 mm to 70.60 mm for the N-Ch distance in the girls. There was no statistically significant difference between these distances in the ages of 10 and 12 years for males and that the correlation between LC-EC and N-Ch was not significant for females. For women, there was a correlation between LC-EC and N-Ch, considering the significance level of 5%. There was conclude that it is necessary to measure the correct VDO and standard measures for reproduction of this measure, while the differentiation by age and gender, since the change in VDO can lead the patient to occlusal changes, muscle and joint pain, beyond the predisposition to malocclusion.


Pathological myopia is one of the most common and severe hereditary ocular disease leading to blindness.A number of candidate genes of pathological myopia have been found.This article reviews the recent advances in studying the single nucleotide polymorphism of genes related to pathological myopia.

Key words:
Myopia,degenerative;  Candidate gene;  Polymorphism,single nucleotide


Modification of zeolite with copper oxide significantly promotes the selectively adsorption of volatile nitrosamines, beneficial for the removal of nitrosamines in cigarette smoke.


As the number of heterogenous IP-connected devices and traffic volume increase, so does the potential for security breaches. The undetected exploitation of these breaches can bring severe cybersecurity and privacy risks. Anomaly-based Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) play an essential role in network security. In this paper, we present a practical unsupervised anomaly-based deep learning detection system called ARCADE (Adversarially Regularized Convolutional Autoencoder for unsupervised network anomaly DEtection). With a convolutional Autoencoder (AE), ARCADE automatically builds a profile of the normal traffic using a subset of raw bytes of a few initial packets of network flows so that potential network anomalies and intrusions can be efficiently detected before they cause more damage to the network. ARCADE is trained exclusively on normal traffic. An adversarial training strategy is proposed to regularize and decrease the AE's capabilities to reconstruct network flows that are out-of-the-normal distribution, thereby improving its anomaly detection capabilities. The proposed approach is more effective than state-of-the-art deep learning approaches for network anomaly detection. Even when examining only two initial packets of a network flow, ARCADE can effectively detect malware infection and network attacks. ARCADE presents 20 times fewer parameters than baselines, achieving significantly faster detection speed and reaction time.


Purpose – This study seeks to adopt a holistic approach to consider how consumers perceive online shopping environments. The conceptual model proposes that consumers perceive these environments in terms of their sense‐making and exploratory potential, and it considers the influence of these on user involvement with the web site, shopping value and intention to revisit.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was administered to 301 respondents after they had shopped on a specific web site for eight minutes. Structural equation modelling was used to validate the measures developed and test the hypothesised model.Findings – Sense‐making and exploratory potential are distinct constructs; exploratory potential mediates the relationship between sense‐making potential and involvement. Furthermore, involvement is essential in producing shopping value and intention to revisit.Research limitations/implications – The study highlights the importance of the exploratory potential of web sites since sense‐making is neces...


Pulsed streamer discharges have been extensively used in many applications such as control of NO/sub x/ and SO/sub x/ from flue gases, treatment of dioxins, removal of VOC (volatile organic compounds) and to generate ozone in some ozonizers. A high-energy efficiency operation is necessary for practical applications. Knowledge of the mechanism of streamer discharge propagation is important for the endeavor currently going on worldwide to improve the effectiveness of pulsed discharge systems. In the present work a coaxial cylindrical electrodes system was used. The central electrode was made of stainless steel and had a diameter of 0.5 mm and the outer electrode was made of copper and had an inner diameter of 76 mm and a length of 10 mm. A short length was necessary in order to observe the streamers clearly. A positive pulsed voltage of 67 kV and 200 ns width was applied to the central electrode from a Blumlein generator. Ten photographs were taken with a frame period of 15 ns and exposure of 15 ns. It has been found that the streamer started from the inner electrode and reached the outer electrode in about 80 ns. This leads to an average propagation velocity of the streamers of 4.7 /spl times/ 10/sup 7/ cm/s.


: The fabricated disaster caused by war and conflict and its traumatic effect on people and the environment hardly seems an appropriate subject of comic representation. Yet such an unamusing topic has often been represented in literature and visual arts through humour. Joseph Heller's novel Catch 22 and movies such as Tai a Waititi's Jojo Rabbit or Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful exemplify artistic expression that uses laughter to substantiate the poignant absurdity of war and genocide. Similarly, British-Nigerian writer and film director Biyi Bandele's WWII novel Burma Boy , the focus of the present article, uses Comedy to portray the futility, irrationality and madness of a war that had mortal consequences and traumatic resonances on the lives of the often-forgotten young Black African soldiers who participated in the Burma Campaign. In this article, I read the novel through a Bergsonian lens of the Comic to suggest that such techniques reveal the absurdity and tragedy of war by dragging the reader onto the stage to perceive themselves as part of the failings of humanity and, above all, of western modernity.


had leucocyte counts of 2,000 or more, with more than 5 per cent. granulocytes, and only one of these died. Of those who had a total leucocyte count of less than 1,000 the mortality was 55 per cent.; thirty of these had a total count of below 500, and seventy-four had complete agranulocytosis. Of sixteen cases recorded in the Lancet and British Medical Joiurnal from July, 1934, to July, 1936, only three recovered (one of these three owed his recovery to the spontaneous evacuation of toxic material from a nasal sinus); the mortality was 82 per cent. In the majority of these cases the diagnosis was made too late for effective treatment. Three were only diagnosed shortly before death upon admission to isolation hospitals as supposed cases of diphtheria. At the present time agranulocytosis is more often recorded when resulting from treatment of acute bacterial infections by sulphanilamide or one of its derivatives, though the number of cases is still relatively very small in comparison with the number treated. In a case recorded quite recently (Lancet, 1939, 1, 1208) the recommendation is made that " since agranulocytosis cannot be definitely diagnosed without a white cell count, frequent blood examinations should be made in all cases where the drug is continued for more than a week and large doses are given." All would agree with the soundness of this advice, and since the new chemotherapeutic treatment has given such startlingly successful results there seems to be every probability that it will to a great extent supersede other methods of treatment, with a possible increase in the number of cases of agranulocytosis. Surely it would be of the greatest advantage if every medical practitioner were competent to conduct a thorough blood examination and were willing to spend the time required. Why should not medical students be instructed to undertake complete blood examinations and include them in the notes of every case allotted to them as clinical clerks? Many would find it an interesting and fascinating occupation.-I am, etc., HERBERT H. BROWN, M.D., F.R.C.S. Worthing, June 5.


Illegal small-scale mining popularly referred to in Ghana as 'Galamsey' has been a serious menace to the society and the environment. Since gold is one of the most valuable natural mineral resources in the country, and legal mining is accompanied by a lot of rules and regulations, a lot of individuals in a bid to get rich quick find dubious means to dig for it. The media houses have stressed the effects of galamsey on the environment. However, it has not made much impact. This paper focused on constructing a metal sculpture to depict the negative effect of galamsey on the environment. It, therefore, adopts the arc welding technique by using metals and scraps to create a conceptual metal sculpture to educate the public about the effects of Galamsey on the environment. Studio-based research method was used for the study. The project was successful and the results were analyzed under the social, philosophical, artistic and intellectual contexts. The finished work was titled "Ɛnkum yƐn wiasi", an Akan expression which means "Don't kill Our World.


This paper seeks to explore the case of conflict within palm oil plantation-local people partnership involving SADBatin 9 group with palm oil company. Bungku village was the site chosen to take this issue comprehensively.The expansionofpalm oil plantationshave led totheloss ofliving territoryto developtheir social system. Conflictsarisenot onlyverticalbutalsohorizontal. Amongst the Inner SAD 9 itself, each fighting for its sovereignty emerged. SAD groups which were impoverishedby imbalanced control structure eventually have to deal with a part of their own group which slowly became part of the newruling capital group. The palm oil skipper that came from a group of local residents as well as newcomers were the form of theemerging plantation power. In the context of adverse incorporation, they were part of the group that get benefit from thepresence of palm oil plantation. Involvement or integration of this group in the oil business scheme has allowed them toaccumulate new capital sources. This group could accumulate greater profits from palm-oil they collect from small farmers.Key words: Suku Anak Dalam, palm oil, conflict, partnership


Apparatus and techniques are described which allow the preparation of metal foils several square centimeters in area with thickness as small as 2 μm. The foils retain the microstructure of the 25–50‐μm‐thick starting material and are especially useful in experiments utilizing charged particle bombardment to simulate the effects of fast neutron damage on mechanical, electrical, thermal, and mass transport properties. The thinning rate is controlled by monitoring the transmittance of 6328‐A light passed through the electrolyte. Intermittent specimen rotation, dc voltage pulsing, and periodic adjustments in electrolyte composition permit reproducible thinning rates with point‐to‐point variations in foil thickness smaller than 20%.


The entrapment of proteins in wet, nanoporous silica gels allows to stabilize thermodynamically unstable states, thus enabling the characterization of elusive reaction intermediates. In the case of human T and R hemoglobin (Hb) silica gels, the T to R transition of liganded Hb in the gel is dramatically slowed down and allows to study the reactivity towards oxygen or CO of pure T states. Similarly, photolysis of CO complexes of the R state Hb does not induce switching to the T state. Oxygen binding and kinetics of CO rebinding upon laser flash photolysis have supported the Tertiary Two State model, an extension of the classic MWC allosteric model, in which functional properties are associated to changes in the distribution between tertiary t and r states. In the present study, the quaternary transition was monitored by characterizing the CO rebinding kinetics of HbCO gels evolving from T to R, in the absence and presence of allosteric effectors. The analysis with a maximum entropy method indicates that the T state slowly evolves towards the quaternary R state with an associated shift of the distribution of t state towards the r state. The rate of this transition is dependent on the presence of allosteric effectors.


Abstract Jatropha curcas is a multipurpose non-edible oil yielding perennial shrub and it is a drought tolerant plant. Its seeds are used to produce bio-diesel. Jatropha husk, an agricultural solid waste, generated from bio-diesel industries, was used as a starting material to produce activated carbon. Using jatropha husk activated carbon (JHC), the feasibility of removal of toxic anions, dyes, heavy metals and organic compounds from water was investigated. Sorption of inorganic anions such as nitrate, selenite, chromate, vanadate and phosphate and heavy metal such as nickel(II) has been studied. Removal of organics such as bisphenol, 2-chlorophenol also have been investigated. Adsorption of acid dyes such as acid brilliant blue, acid violet, basic dyes such as methylene blue, direct dyes such as direct red-12B, congo red, reactive dye like procion red were investigated to assess the possible use of the adsorbent. Results show that jatropha husk activated carbon can be used as an adsorbent for the removal of toxic pollutants from water.


WO3 nanorods were synthesized by hydrothernal method using sodium tungstate as raw material and potassium sulphate as assistant in strong acid system.The products were characterized by XRD,SEM,TEM and SAED and the effect of hydrothermal condition on the optical absorption properties and morphologies of products were studied.The result indicate that as the pH value,the reaction temperature and the reaction time increasing,WO3 nanorods could obtain easily by the hydrothernal condition.WO3 nanorods of less than 100 nm in the diameter were synthesized at 240 ℃ for 72 h with pH=1.5 by the hydrothernal condition.The crystal WO3 nanorods is homogeneous in the diameter.The optical absorption preoperties of the samples were characterized by UV-VIS.As the pH value,the reaction time and the reaction temperature increasing,the optical absorption of synthesized WO3 enhance gradually.


The theory of variable structure control and guidance laws of missiles is simply introduced. The guidance laws based on variable structure control are researched in detail. The paper emphasizes on the selection of sliding-mode surface and the design of guidance laws in all kinds of guidance laws, and gives some simulation results. Research shows because of the application of variable structure control, the guidance laws have strong robustness and more advantages over the conventional proportional navigation guidance law. Therefore, the variable structure guidance laws have good prospects of application.


Driver assistance systems need more and more accurate information about the vehicle driving situation. If one of these sensors gives faulty information, driver assistance systems can not appraise the current driving situation. Therefore, a fault tolerant sensor system is introduced. Based on modelling the vehicle dynamics, a fault detection and diagnosis is developed. A Kalman filter and a two-track model is designed to create analytical signals replacing the faulty sensor. By reconfiguring the Kalman filter the yaw rate, the longitudinal acceleration or the lateral acceleration can be estimated with small discrepancies. Thus, it is possible to generate a fault tolerant sensor system of these sensors


In the system of NC machining, because of the disaccord between AutoCAD drawing information and NC code description, information will be dropped and the reliability is also decreased. According to the theory of NC interpolation and the structure of DXF file, drawing information assess and conversion system is developped based on the VisualC++6.0. The result of computer simulation indicates that this system can convert drawing information to NC codes and realizes the transmission of different data structure fast and precisely with high reliability.


On a medium-textured Dark-Red Latosol (Typic Hapludox), in which increasing levels of sulfate were established by the application of different rates of phosphogypstim (0, 1, 2 e 4 t/ha), a study was carried out to obtain information about the depth of soil samples collected in order to evaluate the S-SO4-2 availability for the Sicilian lemon (Citrus limon Burm.) grafted on "Volkameriano" rootstocks. Sulfate contents at different depths (0-5, 5-10, 10-20, 20-40, 40-80 and 80-120 cm) were determined, by using the NH4OAc 0,5 M in HOAc 0,25 M extractor, 6,12 and 24 months after phosphogypsum application. Sulphur content in the leaves of the lemon plants were also determined at the same dates. Analytical data obtained and the correlation studies that followed, showed that the Sicilian lemon extracted sulphur mainly from the layer 0-20 cm and, therefore, this layer is considered representative for soil sample collection, with the purpose of estimating the available sulphur for Sicilian lemon trees.


To study the dynamic behavior and impact damage and failure of concrete materials and structures, a dynamic damage model was reformulated under the framework of the non-local peridynamic theory in this paper. The stretch rate of material bonds, equivalent to the strain rate in classical continuum mechanics, was introduced, and a rate-dependent peridynamic model describing the dynamic damage and failure of concrete materials was then proposed, taking both the dynamic failure of bonds and the rate-sensitivity of damage evolution under different stretch rate into account. The connection between the stretch rate and strength and tensile and compressive failure of concrete materials was established in the peridynamic model. To verify the proposed dynamic damage model for concrete failure, several typical examples simulating the mixed-mode fracture of concrete specimen were investigated. The failure mode, crack propagation paths and the crack propagation speed in the specimen in different cases were captured, which agree well with the experimental results and available numerical results. After model validation, the effect of the number and length of pre-existing cracks on the dynamic failure of concrete components was investigated further.


Military research scientists have built and successfully operated a continuous-wave optical maser (laser) with maser action confined to 1.5 seconds of mirror alignment. It is mounted on a granite surface plate for mechanical stability. Construction technique allows alignment and adjustment of the end mirrors to less than 0.1 second of angle with a stability exceeding 1 second per hour with special temperature control or thermal shielding. Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Co., which built the maser, say that because of its coherent characteristics and its extremely narrow bandwidth and low divergence angle, it shows promise for use in long-range communications and precise measurement of velocity.


The availability of remotely sensed (RS) actual evapotranspiration (ET) provides a possibility for improving runoff prediction in ungauged basins. To develop a general practical method to improve runoff prediction by directly incorporating RS-ET into rainfall-runoff (RR) models, two modeling schemes are proposed: (i) using RS-ET as direct input; and (ii) using RS-ET as partial direct input. The principle is to use RS-ET in cases where the runoff prediction can be improved. The two schemes are compared in over 200 basins using three RR models (Xinanjiang model, SIMHYD, and GR4J) and RS-ET inverted from AVHRR, and the modeling results in ungauged basins are assessed using the spatial proximity method. Results show that: (i) it is beneficial to incorporate RS-ET into the Xinanjiang model for over 85% of the basins, but this is not the case for SIMHYD and GR4J models; (ii) further model improvements can be obtained by using RS-ET as partial direct input, and are achieved in 91.1%, 59.0%, and 53.2% of the basins for Xinanjiang, SIMHYD, and GR4J, respectively; and (iii) incorporation of RS-ET is more applicable for Xinanjiang while less so for GR4J, and the efficacy is superior for basins that are relatively arid and were originally poorly simulated. Overall, using RS-ET as partial direct input is recommended.


Since the reform and opening up to the outside world,the economy of China has been increasing quickly and the urbanization process has been picking up speed,which has been leading to the demand of the land growing strongly.More and more farmers have lost their lands.Losing land not only causes the family property of the farmers decreasing but also results in the rights of the farmers losing,which are mainly caused by the low compensation standard and the single compensation method in China.Therefore,it is necessary to establish the sustainable conception of the resettlement of compensation for the land-lost farmers to protect their rights and interests and realize the urbanization steadily and rapidly.


Although politeness has been approached from many different perspectives since the 1970s, there has been insufficient attention paid to (im)politeness in intercultural interactions to date (Kecskes, 2013). Moreover, despite the fact that several alternative models of (im)politeness research have emerged since the early 2000s, (im)politeness in Arab cultures remains relatively underexplored since it has been examined primarily through the lens of the classic first wave models of politeness research, which place considerable emphasis on speech acts taken out of their discursive contexts. The aim of this thesis is to address these gaps in the existing literature by analysing interactions between Saudis and Australians in which issues of offence, or 'unhappy incidents', are at play. A multi-method approach is employed in which different types of data are gathered, including informants' reports, recordings of naturally occurring interactions, and retrospective ethnographic interviews. In the first phase, a metapragmatic commentary dataset is derived from reports by 123 Saudi respondents and examined through an integrated (im)politeness and offence (hereinafter IIPO) framework (Culpeper, 2011a; Kadar & Haugh, 2013), focusing on how and why offence is caused and taken by Saudis resident in Australia. In the second phase, the analysis focuses on recordings of 25 incidents in which troubles-remedy sequences were initiated by Saudis. These incidents were analysed within an interactional pragmatics framework (Arundale, 2010; Haugh, 2012), informed, in turn, by research and methods in ethnomethodological conversation analysis (Heritage, 1984b; Sacks et al., 1974). In the third phase, retrospective ethnographically-informed interviews were conducted with ten of the troubles-remedy initiators to tease out their understandings, concerns and aims through their post hoc evaluations (Pomerantz, 2005). The analysis of metapragmatic commentary about offences or 'unhappy incidents' demonstrates that having mismatched moral expectations can lead to the causing/taking of offence in a bi-directional manner between the participants and their co-participants who do not share mutual, ritual-based, cultural norms. The interactional analysis indicates that due to (potentially) culture-specific norms of pragmatic etiquette with respect to the formulation of complaints, as well as the inherent delicacy of complaints being construed as accusations or blaming, the Saudi participants tend to formulate their complaints mildly, which in some cases appear to result in pragmatically ill-formed sequences. In framing their complaints delicately, the Saudi participants appear to be aiming to recruit some sort of redressive action from the complaint-recipients. However, since the complaint is mildly made their co-participants sometimes respond by offering advice, thereby generating misalignment in the overall interactional trajectory of those sequences. The analysis of the ethnographic interviews shows that the participants are indeed aiming to recruit assistance from their co-participants, and that they neither seek sanctions through condemnation nor recognition of transgressions through denunciation. Rather, the delicate rhetoric employed by the Saudis is a strategy to avoid attributing moral culpability to the 'remedy-providers', but instead prompt them to voluntarily offer remedies or assist in pursuing thereof. It is concluded that attention should be paid to ritual differences, and that awareness of culturally specific pragmatic knowledge and moral expectancies should be raised in both interethnic academic and everyday life activities. This research thus deepens the body of scholarship in the fields of intercultural pragmatics and intercultural communication and contributes to current literature by broadening the scope of the theories of (im)politeness and offence by tracing the potential for intercultural misunderstandings in the development of sequences of interaction, and laying the foundation for a more systematic account of intercultural (im)politeness and offence.


An experimental investigation into the feasibility of using an air curtain to decrease the convective losses from a solar central receiver cavity is described. The investigation makes use of a simplified small-scale model of a cavity, the side walls of which are electrically heated to simulate the effects of the sun. Although optimization of air-curtain performance was not within the scope of this work, a decrease in convective losses of approximately 35% was achieved. In this report, the apparatus, instrumentation, and test procedures used are described. The results achieved are presented and discussed. Some preliminary notions regarding extrapolating the model-scale results to full size are presented, and a research program to continue the development of the concept is briefly outlined.


Power Transitions (PT) anticipates interstate conflict or cooperation by examining dynamic changes in the distribution of power across the international system, as well as each nation's (or politically "relevant" nation's) satisfaction with the current international status quo. Using a system of symmetric, coupled nonlinear differential equations, we formalize and test a dynamic PT model to identify to what extent and degree policy makers can maintain stability in rival dyads, such as the US-China case currently. Our formalized dynamic PT model explores some of the structural conditions of how conflict or cooperation affects growth and transition from the PT literature. These formal results are consistent both with theoretical expectations and empirical results. Our results not only suggest specific, strategic policy prescriptions for dyads in hopes of avoiding war, but more importantly highlight the nonlinear and non-monotonic effects of foreign policy actions.


Environmental conditions such as new industrial activity or drinking water quality violations may affect perceived water quality and cause individuals to invest in defensive expenditures. Several recent papers use household expenditures on bottled water to measure the welfare effect of changes in water quality, arguing that these averting expenditures are a lower bound on compensating variation. We offer a new perspective and argue that when consumers choose averting behaviors such as substituting bottled water for tap water, their willingness to pay incorporates other characteristics of the good. If consumers gain utility from these characteristics, defensive expenditures need not represent a lower bound on compensating variation for a change in water quality. Rather, the observed expenditures should be adjusted to account for consumers' increased utility due to other desirable characteristics. To provide an empirical context, we consider consumers' purchases of bottled water in response to the entry of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activity in Pennsylvania and Ohio in the past decade. We develop a structural model of demand for bottled water and estimate it using fine-resolution supermarket scanner data, and compare the resulting estimates to averting expenditures from a reduced-form model. Our results suggest consumers increase purchases of bottled water in response to the entry of fracking, with an average increased expenditure of $3.43 per household per quarter in the preferred model; however, only $0.39 per household per quarter is attributable to the specific attribute of avoiding exposure to tap water potentially contaminated (or perceived to be contaminated) by


Spy robot is used for spying on the specific target. It comes in automatic and manual control obstacle detection, is one of the feature of this robot including temperature detection. As it's a spy robot the size of the robot is smaller than other robots but it is not the smallest robot. We have used android phone as a camera and another android phone as a monitor to watch and control robot automatically. The robotic vehicle can be easily operated from any android device. It provides a good user interface for handling the vehicle. The android device can operate the vehicle at a good Bluetooth communication range. The Bluetooth receiver at the vehicle is used to transmit control movement data from app to vehicle. We also provide temperature sensor to senses real time temperature and provide output in application. Such type of application mostly used in military system or any high temperature system to detect there situation.


The present invention relates in yeast for example in Pichia pastoris, to express the gene of coding soluble proteinase K and then be secreted into method in the substratum.The present invention has described the purification process of heterogenous expression and excretory Proteinase K in addition.


SummaryThe diagnosis of abdominal pregnancy can be difficult. The following cases are presented to describe clinical features which may raise the suspicion of this diagnosis. The continuation of such pregnancies carries significant risks for both mother and baby, and we review the literature on this subject in addition to highlighting clinical features which may indicate a subgroup of patients in whom a favourable outcome might be expected.


in the introduction to Strangers to Nature, Gregory r. smulewicz-Zucker states that the aim of the volume is to present new arguments and develop alternative ethical frameworks for a human ethic toward nonhuman animals (hereafter "animals"). indeed, the book can be credited with offering the reader—already familiar with the most widely known views and arguments—innovative, original perspectives on animal ethics. the volume consists of 14 chapters and one appendix, each written by a different author. contributors include well-known writers in the field and academics writing on the subject of animals for the first time. the essays are well organized and grouped within three topic areas. the first section, "incorporating new Ethical traditions," addresses the work of particular philosophers, showing why they should broaden the moral scope of their theories in order to include animals. the second section, "Extending and critiquing the Discourse," problematizes several features of the existing animal ethics discourse. the final section, "Developing new Ethical Grounds," provides novel arguments for animal ethics based on unusual or reinterpreted moral concepts. Bernard rollin's chapter, it should be noted, is an exception within this section. in chapter 1, Drucilla cornell employs Ernst cassirer's claim that what singularly characterizes the human language is its potential for universal application. the singularly human feature is to distinguish between actual and possible objects. Based on this thesis, cornell argues that if we are the only animal that can imagine a different possible world, we are obliged to imagine a world in which animals are not violated and take special responsibility to prevent such violations.


Liquid–liquid equilibrium data for the PEG 4000 (poly(ethylene glycol)) + salt [sodium citrate (Na3C6H5O7), potassium citrate (K3C6H5O7), or ammonium citrate ((NH4)3C6H5O7)] + water systems have been determined experimentally at different temperatures. The effects of temperature on the binodal curves and tie-lines were studied, and it was observed that an increase of the temperature generally led to an increase of the two-phase area. The salting-out ability of the cations follows the ordering sodium citrate > potassium citrate > ammonium citrate. Finally, the Setschenow-type, Othmer–Tobias, and Bancroft equations have been successfully used to correlate the tie-line compositions.


OBJECTIVE
To study the method of reconstruction of laryngeal function by unilateral bi-pedicled and bi-muscular flaps for glottic cancer of T3 category.

METHODS
From 1984 to 1992, the unilateral bi-pedicled and bi-muscular flaps were used in 68 patients with T3 glottic cancer for repairing the surgical defect, enlarging the piriform recess on the affected side and closing the anterior wall of the laryngeal cavity after vertical laryngectomy.

RESULTS
The 5-year survival rate was 73.5% (50/68). The decannulation rate was 91.2% (62/68). sixty-three patients had satisfactory phonation (92.6%). All patients resumed mouth-food-taking within 7 to 20 days after operation.

CONCLUSION
The unilateral bi-pedicled and bi-muscular flaps are appropriate for reconstruction of surgical defect in T3 glottic cancer.


special education as a distinct entity (e.g., Stainback & Stainback, 1992). Certainly debates about the nature of and proper role for special education have intensified in recent years, appearing in journals (such as the present issue) and books (e.g., Lloyd, Repp, & Singh, 1991), but these types of debates are not new to the field. Questions about the best place (location) for delivery of specialized education have existed in prominent special education journals for more than 25 years, Dunn's (1968) and Deno's (1970) articles being the most well-known among many (e.g., Johnson, 1968; Milofsky, 1974). In fact, the question of place as a focus for reform has roots far deeper than the 1960s. It goes back to the founding of specialized social institutions in this country during the early 19th century. Since then, proponents of institutional reform have often argued for either the development of new institutions or the abandonment of old structures in


We consider the CMB bispectrum signal induced by structure formation through the correlation between the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe and the weak lensing effect. We investigate how the bispectrum knowledge can improve our knowledge of the most important cosmological parameters, focusing on the dark energy ones. The bispectrum signal arises at intermediate redshifts, being null at present and infinity, and is characterized by a large scale regime (dominated by linear dynamics of cosmological perturbation) and a small scale one (dominated by density perturbations in a non-linear regime); on the other hand, the effect induced by dark energy on the power spectrum is mostly geometrical and imprinted at redshift close to the present. Because of this, the knowledge of power spectrum and bispectrum yield two complementary informations at very different cosmological epochs, particularly suitable to extract informations about the onset of the cosmic acceleration and dark energy properties that provide it. In order to quantify how much the bispectrum can help the power spectrum in constraining the dark energy parameters, we choose a fiducial model on a three-dimensional space including the following dark energy parameters: dark energy density $\Omega_V$; dark energy equation of state today $w_0$ and dark energy equation of state in the past $w_\infty$ ($w_\infty - w_0$ is related to the first derivative of equation of state). Then we simulate a likelihood analysis showing how contour levels become narrower when bispectrum is included. Preliminary results suggest a consistent improvement on the estimation of dark energy abundance and on dynamical properties of the equation of state. This indicates that the knowledge of the bispectrum in future high resolution and high sensitivity CMB observations could yield a substantial improvement with respect to the traditional analysis based on the power spectrum only.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html


A Cartographic Ode to Chapman: A Revised Regional Depiction of Postglacial Landscape Evolution in the Champlain Valley Van Hoesen, John G.1, Springston,George E.2, Franzi, David A.3, and Wright, Stephen F.4 1Environmental Studies, Green Mountain College, VT, 2Earth and Environmental Sciences, Norwich University, VT, 3Earth and Environmental Sciences, SUNY Plattsburgh, and 4Earth and Geology, University of Vermont


Melton, Gary B., The Individual, the Family, and Social Good: Personal Fulfillment in Time of Change. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. 227 pp. IBSN #0803231857, cloth price $35; paper price: $20. This volume is the forty-second to be published from the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Anyone well versed in family policy and research may not find a substantial amount of new material in any given chapter, but the collection overall is broad enough (covering psychology, economics, anthropology, law and politics) that almost any reader will find something interesting and unfamiliar in it. As Melton states in this introductory chapter, this symposium is not only the most diverse of the entire Nebraska series, but much of it is also uncharacteristically cautionary in tone. (Actually, he claims the chapters are "emotionally charged," which must be relative to the even more academic style of previous volumes.) The chapter by James Garbarino is typical of his work, both stylistically and substantively, and is one of the best parts of the book. Engagingly written, it argues that the reason that children and families face so many problems in the 1990s is that their social environment-in the form of television, violence, economic and other stressors-has become increasingly "toxic." I have two minor complaints with this chapter. One section seems to blame our torn social fabric on the "decline of community" and "highrisk neighborhoods. My other complaint is that Garbarino's laudable solutions are somewhat divorced from current political and economic realities. Tom Tyler and Peter Degoey attempt to tie family and community "approaches to the promotion of social good by viewing the dynamics of social good through a social-psychological lens." This sounds very promising and perhaps most central of all the chapters to the focus of this volume and series. It does include some interesting research on attitudes toward procedural justice in terms of the perceived legitimacy of various kinds of authority and of family and community social identification. But it may be a reflection of how far social psychology has strayed from its applied roots that this chapter ignores so much valuable family and community psychological theory, research, and intervention. Given that Mati Heidments is a professor of social and environmental psychology in Estonia, it is surprising that, except for a brief but enlightening section on communist housing policy, his chapter ignores environmental influences on individual behavior and family well-being. Although it provides an interesting counterpoint to the others, reflecting the recent macropolitical and social upheavals in Eastern Europe, it may be a little too philosophical to have much direct relevance for addressing family problems in either society, and its conclusions are overgeneralized in their point-by-point comparison of communism (bad) and his society's "post-capitalist" (good) future. The other three chapters seem more thorough and practical, perhaps because they are more narrowly focused on disordered social relations within the family. Allen Parkman examines the deterioration of the family from a law and economics perspective. Jill Korbin explores cross-culturally the positive and negative influences of social networks and family violence and Eleanor Maccoby discusses the rights, needs, and obligations of mothers, fathers, and children in divorce and custody arrangements. …


In January 2020, the US declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency and subsequently the CDC issued guidelines for personal mitigation behavior, such as mask-wearing, hand-washing, and social-distancing. We examine individual socio-economic factors that potentially predict mitigation compliance using public data. We hypothesize that health risk factors, presence of symptoms, and psychological wellbeing predict mitigation behavior. Understanding what factors are associated with mitigation behavior will be important for policy makers in their efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic prompted strong mitigation behavior by adults, especially among females, non-whites, urban dwellers, and the psychological unwell. Other positive predictors were post-secondary education and higher income. Health symptoms and clinical risk factors did not predict increased mitigation practices, nor did age 65+ and proximity to infected persons. Our study findings are congruent with a report that pointed to a lack of increased pandemic mitigation practices in households with confirmed infections and health risks. Our results also point to lower levels of psychological resilience, lower socio-economic status, and non-urban location as potential explanatory factors for lack of mitigation behavior.


Three new high-quality black-berried grape varieties Academician Trubilin, Traminer Cherny and Peter the Great, cultivated in the cover zone on the site of the Study Scientific Production Centre "Gornaya рolyana", were investigated. The paper presents morphophysiological, phenotypic features of varieties according to the international OIV methodology. A new system of grape bushes management in the cover zone is described. Brief characteristics of three new varieties and wines made from the studied grape varieties are given.


In the very first week of this semester, we encountered Galileo and his Sidereus Nuncia in our reading of Koyré [2]. This week, Biagioli shines the spotlight at Galileo from an entirely different perspective than Koyré's history of ideas. In Galileo the Emblem Maker, Biagioli presents Galileo as a courtier rather than a "pure" scientist; he analyzes how Galileo represented his discoveries in the Medici court, and his patronage strategies in general. Through these, he tells a story of early modern science and its struggle for social legitimacy. Far from a revisionist, Biagioli makes the case that it was Galileo himself that actively transitioned from academia to the court, in a strong sense. Galileo sought not just the material amenities available from patronage, but also social legitimacy from a powerful ruling class. At that time, mathematicians held an inferior position to philosophers in the academic hierarchy. In particular, mathematicians were barred from reasoning about some aspects of the natural realm (see also Section 2).1 If Galileo was to legitimately present physical findings such as the discovery of new celestial bodies, he had to adopt a new title or find a new home. He did both. Unlike most Italian mathematicians at the time, Galileo had a good understanding of courtly affairs. He was not born to a wealthy family, but his upbringing provided him with another valuable resource: access to the Florentine court and an education in courtly etiquette. Galileo was shaped to be a man of culture, trained in rhetoric and literature (in addition to mathematics, of course). It was this aspect of his upbringing that formed the foundation of his effective patronage strategies that stand at the heart of Biagioli's analysis. Galileo's courtly competence allowed him to identify an opportunity for legitimizing his discoveries via the Medici court. In their rule of Florence, the Medici made extensive use of a mythology based in the Greek pantheon and celestial objects. That is, the Medici portrayed their rule as "natural" by associating themselves with natural objects. Conveniently, the emblematics of Cosimo I had motifs of Jupiter – namesake to the planet around which Galileo's eventual discoveries shall orbit. Biagioli highlights an impresa proposed by Galileo in 1608 as a turning point in his patronage strategies. The impresa, which capitalized heavily on the cosmological symbolism in Medici emblematics, was a (proposed) gift directly praising the Medici and their image. This is as opposed to previous gifts offered by Galileo, whose value was due to mechanical ingenuity (e.g., a military compass). Such 'mechanicallymotivated' gifts were appreciated, but did not result in the social promotion that he was hoping for. The impresa is notable not only in Galileo's personal progression, but also in his attempt to legitimize scientific discoveries as a whole. Key to the impresa's imagery was a lodestone and its physical properties: as the lodestone attracts iron, so does Medici power attract their Florentine subjects. Had the impresa been accepted, the representation of a scientific object would have been tied to that of Florence's powerful rulers. The impresa was ultimately rejected due to its obscurity, but the strategy of an apparent empowerment


We will review highlights of exploratory research for new PV technologies funded by the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program through NREL and its Photovoltaic Exploratory Research Project. The goal for this effort is highlighted in the beginning of the Solar Program Multi-Year Technical Plan by Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham's challenge to leapfrog the status quo by pursuing research having the potential to create breakthroughs. The ultimate goal is to create solar electric technologies for achieving electricity costs below 5 cents/kWh. Exploratory research includes work on advanced photovoltaic technologies (organic and ultra-high efficiency solar cells for solar concentrators) as well as innovative approaches to emerging and mature technologies (e.g., crystalline silicon).


In this article a semantic based software system for the management and monitoring of enterprise purchase processes is described and a paradigmatic case study (the Creactive Consulting S.p.A company that have developed the system) is presented. The system enables purchaser officers to search products through a semantic based engine, and navigate a semantic based catalogue in order to electronically buy the more suitable (less expensive) products. This system is based on a domain-specific ontological model, developed according to a structured representation of purchasable items. In the following paragraphs some of the difficulties that has been overcame will be described. In particular the pre-analysis – through text-mining techniques – of a system of documents written in natural language (that it is used to unveil concepts), and the definition of the notion of "functional equivalence" between items (that it is used to effectively compare products) will be deeply analyzed.


Research seminars are a vital aspect of scientific research, enabling knowledge exchange, generation of ideas, and professional and personal networks to be renewed and grown. Social distancing rest...


Kinetics of platelet of various densities was studied using the MDA method. MDA nroduc-tion was stimulated by arachidonic acid (500/μM) and was measured on each four isolated Subpopulation according to Corash. The following points were checked : PRP preparation procedures do not exclude a platelet subpopulatioti with different characteristics of volumes and densities ; MDA production is equivalent whatever the platelet densities ; the reproducibility of the platelet separation into the four subpopulations is good (CV : 5 -10%) After a single intake of 0.50 g of aspirin (with 3 different volunteers) the following results are observed : (1) Between day 1 and 7 the curves of the WA reappearance in the four subpopulations are divergent. (2) On the seventh day, the MDA recovery in light platelets is near 90% but only 50% in the dense ones. (3) Between day 7 and 12, the MDA level in the dense platelets reaches the level of light platelets. These data suogest the two following hypotheses. (A) Young platelets are heterogeneous but mainly light ; during the first days of their life span, they nresent an increase in their density (analoqy with the erythrocytes), (B) The comparison of these results witn those of Corash (Blood, 1378, 52, 726) may suggest that light platelets would present a shorter turn over than heavy platelets.


The phenomenon of sin and reconciliation is extant in many religions and as a result, elaborate teachings and rituals are documented around them. The same however cannot be said about the Akan traditional religion. This can be due to the no or late documentation of the theology of the African traditional religion. The problem created is that the Akan perception of sin and its removal in particular and the African Traditional Religion, in general, is often seen as lacking authenticity. This article with the help of comparative theology examines the Akan concept of sin and reconciliation and elucidates how they share some similarities with the Catholic doctrine on sin and reconciliation. The authors used the literary approach and questionnaires to gather data. Twenty (20) Catholic priests in the Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi were purposively selected to answer eleven questionnaire items on the similarities between the Catholic and the Akan theology of sin and reconciliation. The findings and discussions on the problem elucidate that, the two religious traditions have a doctrine of original sin. They conceptualize sin as a stain, that sin offends God and humanity. Sin is moreover, categorized into serious and less serious offenses. They also agree that contrition, confession and penance are necessary conditions for the forgiveness of sins. Reconciliation again they concur restores the penitent to full communion with the divine and humanity. The article recommends that the Akan concept of original sin which is sketchy must be developed further. It also advocates that integrating the Akan and Catholic concepts of sin and reconciliation in the education of Akan Christians and pastoral agents would be a good enterprise. The paper fills the vacuum created that the Akan has a poor notion of sin and reconciliation. It shows evidence of the Akan concepts of sin and reconciliation, which are comparable to the teachings of the Catholic Church on sin and its removal.

Keywords: Sin, Reconciliation, Akan, Catholic


STOCK DEFINITION AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE The harp seal occurs throughout much of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans (Ronald and Healey 1981; Lavigne and Kovacs 1988); however, in recent years, numbers of sightings and strandings have been increasing off the east coast of the United States from Maine to New Jersey (Katona et al. 1993; Stevick and Fernald 1998; B. Rubinstein pers. comm., New England Aquarium). These appearances usually occur in January-May, when the western North Atlantic stock of harp seals is at its southern most point of migration. The worlds' harp seal population is divided into three separate stocks, each identified with a specific breeding site (Bonner 1990; Lavigne and Kovacs 1988). The largest stock is located in the western North Atlantic off eastern Canada and is divided into two breeding herds which breed on the pack ice. The Front herd breeds off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Gulf herd breeds near the Magdalen Islands in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Sergeant 1965; Lavigne and Kovacs 1988). The second stock breeds in the White Sea off the coast of the Soviet Union, and the third stock breeds on the West Ice off of eastern Greenland (Lavigne and Kovacs 1988; Anon 1998). Harp seals are highly migratory (Sergeant 1965; Stenson and Sjare 1997). Breeding occurs at different times between mid-February and April for each stock. Adults then assemble north of their whelping patches to undergo the annual molt. The migration then continues north to Arctic summer feeding grounds. In late September, after a summer of feeding, nearly all adults and some of the immature animals migrate southward along the Labrador coast, usually reaching the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence by early winter. There they split into two groups, one moving into the Gulf and the other remaining off the coast of Newfoundland. Following mating, the seals disperse to feed, and in late April they again concentrate in large numbers on the ice to molt. The extreme southern limit of the harp seal's habitat extends into the U.S. Atlantic Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) during winter and spring. The influx of harp seals and geographic distribution in New England to mid-Atlantic waters is based on stranding data.


ABSTRACT. The paper presents the results of an empirical analysis of differences between the economic activity indicators of enterprises with unequal innovative activity. On the basis of a sample survey of Ukrainian enterprises we attempted to verify the theoretical thesis about the relatively higher profitability of the more innovative companies. Revealed that the average of profitability and return on investment for a group of the most innovative companies are lower than for firms with less innovation activity. We have proposed the thesis of the laws of innovative activity reduction in the Ukrainian economy, as long as the main factor of business profitability is not innovation activity, but other reasons.JEL Classification D22Keywords: innovation, differentiation of profitability, human capital, incentives to invest, distribution of the benefits from innovation.(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)Introduction and review of literatureInnovative activity of enterprises to a large extent determines the economic preconditions for the economic progress of the society. The processes of globalization, the growth of information saturation of production creates for any economic system the new opportunities and opens up access to overcoming the limited availability of natural resources and accumulated capital. But these processes place high demands on the ability of the national business environment to transform new knowledge and technical capabilities to the growth of industrial and social efficiency. Many scholars have noted that innovations become not a prerequisite for improving individual performance level of production over the socially necessary (most often use the term "industry average"), but prerequisite compliance industry standards of efficiency and maintain competitiveness (see for example Stewart, 2007 or Sveiby, 1997).Traditionally, the understanding of the economic mechanism of innovation reproduction suggests that the motivation to make an additional effort and costs related with innovation based on a fairly rigid dependence "above the innovative activity - higher profitability". This basic principle of innovation theory suggests that the market rewards successful innovator exceed the reward its colleagues who use traditional methods. In addition, it is an additional fee for the majority of successful innovators enough to justify the effort and expense, and thus create incentives for the continuation and spread of innovation. These provisions are the cornerstone in the theory of economic development (Schumpeter, 2011, Knight, 2000), and in the theory of reproduction major modern factor of innovation activity - human capital (Becker, 1964, Mincer, 1975).However, the ability of market mechanisms to reliably provide sufficient incentives for high innovation activity of enterprises is far from certain.Karl Polanyi notes that the market under certain social conditions regularly rewards more for abuse of dominant position or cruel exploitation of the labor force than for innovation and investment in human capital development (Polanyi, 1944). Outlined by Karl Polanyi principles were developed in the works of the founders of the theory of human development based on the fact that the functioning solely of market mechanisms are not sufficient for the realization of the human potential of society (HDR, 2010).D. North, indicates that it is difficult to imagine a more devastating mistake, rather than the belief that markets automatically push to increase production efficiency, regardless of the specifics of the National Institutes which regulate the distribution of power and knowledge in the area of economic activity (North, 2010).The many problems that prevent the transformation of innovation activity into an integral component of managing the company were indicated in the works of well-known scientists, who decided the problems of modern economic management (Chesbrough, Vanhaverbeke, West, 2008, Archibald, 2002, Berdashkevich, 2002). …


Duo Ok – PhD Thesis School of Marine Science and Technology University of Newcastle upon Tyne Ab-1 Abstract Over the past decades there have been many losses of the merchant vessels due to either accidents or exposure to large environmentally induced forces. The potential for the structural capability degrading effects of both corrosion and fatigue induced cracks are profoundly important and must be fully understood and reflected in vessel's inspection and maintenance programme. Corrosion has been studied and quantified by many researchers, however its effect on structural integrity is still subject to uncertainty, particularly with regards to localized corrosion. The present study is focused on assessing the effects of corrosion and fatigue induced cracks on the strength degradation in marine structures. Various existing general corrosion models for tanker structures have been studied and compared for time variant neutral axis, section modulus at deck and section modulus at keel based on various years of service. Simplified formulae to estimate time variant vertical/horizontal section modulus degradation and stress change at upper deck and keel are developed based on the double hull tanker. A fatigue assessment study which considers the new corrosion degradation model has also been carried out for the side shell stiffened plates of a North Sea operating shuttle tanker and of a world wide operating tanker. In addition, over 265 non-linear finite element analyses of panels with various locations and sizes of pitting corrosion have been carried out. The results indicate that the length, breadth and depth of pit corrosion have weakening effects on the ultimate strength of the plates while plate slenderness has only marginal effect on strength reduction. Transverse location of pit corrosion is also an important factor determining the amount of strength reduction. When corrosion spreads transversely on both edges, it has the most deteriorating effect on strength. In this study, The multi-variable regression method and the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) method are applied to derive new formulae to predict ultimate strength of both uncorroded and locally corroded plate. It is found out that the proposed formulae can accurately predict the ultimate strength of both uncorroded and locally corroded plate under uni-axial compression. It is certain that undetected defects and developing cracks may lead to catastrophic fracture failure. Fracture control is necessary to prevent the ship's structure safety not to fall down below a certain safety limit. It is very important to calculate how the structural strength is affected by cracks and to calculate the time in which a crack growth to the unacceptable limits. Fatigue analysis can estimate the elapsed time and locations where cracks could develop, whereas fracture mechanic approach can estimate crack growth times and response of structural strength as a function of crack size. In this study, the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) method based on stress intensity factor (K) and the elastic plastic fracture mechanics (EPFM) approach based on J-Integral and crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) have been investigated under different loads and crack sizes and material properties by using finite element analyses method. The finite element modelling and calculation for stress intensity factor (K) and J-computation are not easy tasks for most of engineers and researchers who do not have enough experiences. Accordingly some useful macro


A management server is disclosed. The management server comprises a user interface unit to receive UI information to provide a new service and a selection of a plurality of functions to perform the new service, a generation unit to generate a virtual bundle including the UI information and information about a bundle pre-installed in an OSGi framework corresponding to the selected functions, and an installation unit to install the generated virtual bundle in the OSGi framework. [Reference numerals] (110) Communication interface unit; (120) User interface unit; (130) Storage unit; (140) Generation unit; (150) Installation unit; (160) Control unit


Discharge in a fine tube is a simple way of generating a dielectric barrier discharge microplasma jet under atmospheric pressure (AP). Since its electrodes are directly connected by a dielectric, discharge behaviour in this kind of tubular-electrode plasma could be significantly different from that of a parallel-plate plasma source having planar electrodes. In this paper, experimental results for unipolar discharges, novel discharge phenomena arising from a tubular-electrode plasma, are presented. The AP helium plasma was generated using a 5.7 mm i.d. quartz tube. In unipolar discharges, breakdown in the gas only occurred at the positive or the negative half of a sinusoidal applied high voltage, and the discharge tube worked like a gas diode that outputs a unidirectional current signal. By means of voltage–current and voltage–charge (Lissajous figure) measurements, it was suggested that the surface charges on the dielectric were mainly responsible for the formation of unipolar discharge. In addition, the residual current at the instant of voltage polarity change was found to be a critical factor determining the transition from bipolar to unipolar discharge.


Outbreak of food poisoning in Indonesia for the period 2000-2015, the results of research using a systematic and quantitative study approach stated that outbreaks were increasing every year. 60% of food poisoning is thought to be caused by bacteria, without being proven by laboratory test results that the cause of the outbreak is bacteria. The highest causative pathogenic bacteria in food poisoning cases include Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus sp., Salmonella. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of hygiene, food sanitation and restaurant sanitation with the bacteriological quality of restaurants in the port of Tirtonadi Surabaya in 2020. This research is analytical descriptive research and reviewed from time aspect is cross sectional. Number of sample is total population that is 17 restaurant in the Tirtonadi port of Surakarta. This research conducts in observasionally and laboratory test method with using Exact Fisher test. Research result of restaurant hygiene and sanitation is 82%. For microbe E.Coli existence is positive in 2 restaurant obtain microbe E.Coli. This show that there is correlation between hygiene, food sanitation and restaurant sanitation to quality of food bacteriological with each P= 0,022. The Conclusion is correlation between hygiene, restaurant sanitation and food sanitation is axist toward quality of food bacteriological. Management of food hygiene by restaurant must need sanitation and food-processing done in the way of good.


The quality of Si substrates affecting the oxide reliability was investigated using various kinds of test structures like flat capacitor, field edge array and gate edge array. The field edge array test structure which resembles the conditions found for a real device is shown to be quite effective to determine the quality of oxides. Oxide grown on a P type epitaxial layer on P/sup +/ silicon substrate shows highest reliability in all test structures. Gettering of heavy metals and/or crystal defects by the P/sup +/ silicon substrate is the dominant mechanism for the improvement of the oxide reliability.


A fitting formula for radiative cooling with collisional-radiative population for air plasma flowfield has been developed. Population number densities are calculated from rate equations in order to evaluate the effects of nonequilibrium atomic and molecular processes. Many elementary processes are integrated to be applied to optically-thin plasmas in the number density range of 1012/cm3 ≤ N ≤ 1019/cm3 and the temperature range of 300 K ≤ T ≤ 40,000 K. Our results of the total radiative emissivity calculated from the collisional-radiative population are fitted in terms of temperature and total number density. To validate the analytic fitting formula, numerical simulation of a laser-induced blast wave propagation with the nonequilibrium radiative cooling is conducted and successfully reproduces the shock and plasma wave front time history observed by experiments. In addition, from the comparison between numerical simulations with the radiation cooling effect based on the fitting formula and those with a gray gas radiation model that assumes local thermodynamic equilibrium, we find that the displacement of the plasma front is slightly different due to the deviation of population probabilities. By using the fitting formula, we can easily and more accurately evaluate the radiative cooling effect without solving detailed collisional-radiative rate equations.


Autonomous bionic systems are ultra-low power systems with low data rate operation. Most healthcare bionic systems that are implantable in the human body utilize MEMS technology as well as different biomedical signal processing techniques. The conventional solution of powering such systems using batteries is not practical as battery charging or replacement may not be feasible or desirable. As such, the need to explore new solutions in order to increase lifetime and achieve autonomous operation is fueling the energy scavenging research. This article presents a study of magnetic and piezoelectric energy harvesting and their suitability for autonomous bionic systems that incorporate biomedical signal processing in their functionality. A study of magnetoelectric-piezoelectric transducers used in biomedical systems is presented. Our study shows that integrating magnetostriction and piezoelectric effects in a single transducer significantly increases the harvested voltage by 2× and increases the total efficiency of the harvesting system. As such, integrating magnetostrictive and piezoelectric materials in energy harvesters provides a promising solution for autonomous bionic systems with biomedical signal processing capability.


When considering the interpretative methodologies of tribunals charged with review powers, Raz's observations should be borne in mind: "constitutional interpretation always blends a conserving and an innovative function." 1 It is this interplay that provides a rich source of material for analysis and consideration: Interpretation is, in itself, "just another type of decision-making." 2 The many approaches to constitutional interpretation may be considered as maximizations that "attempt to produce as much as possible of some value the interpreter holds," 3 whether that is—in the present context—a judge, judges, or the court itself.


This paper defines the concept of equilibriums function and equilibrium status, which exists not only in simple parallel links and paths, but also in traffic networks. Based on detailed mathematical analysis, it is found that link flow under traffic equilibrium condition is a function of OD matrix. Further, the traffic equilibrium status was developed. An example was designed to test the algorithm.


Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) is an isomer of the widely distributed glycolytic enzyme 2-phospho-d-glycerate hydrolase (EC 220.127.116.11), composed of two subunits, α and γ. NSE is localized in neurons and in peripheral and central neuroendocrine cells \["amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation" cells (APUD)\] (1). Tumors arising from APUD cells may contain high amounts of NSE detectable by both immunostaining of tumor cells and radioimmunological measurement of extractable enzyme (2)(3). These tumors include small-cell lung cancer (4)(5), neuroblastoma (6), pancreatic islet cell cancer (7), carcinoid tumor (4)(8), medullary …


This paper describes the design of a mobile based gaming application - Meri Kahani - created to teach computational thinking skills to school going teenagers in underdeveloped areas of Pakistan. We explore the use of gamification to teach computational thinking through level-based learning in a Pakistani context. This paper's final design demonstrates how gamified learning, rewarding techniques, and feminine themes can be used to attract female teenagers towards computational thinking. This paper also discusses the evaluation and usability testing results conducted on 16 school-going female teenagers. We hope that through this study, we have taken the first step towards nurturing an interest in young females for computational thinking and overcoming the gender gap that adversely affects female involvement in Computer Science in Pakistan.


The paper analyzes the classification of side slopes,the damage mechanism,and damage types,explores the disease features of side slopes,and points out the protection strategies including the plant protection,the engineering protection and the comprehensive protection by combining with the protection principles for the side slopes,so as to solve the protection problems of the rock slopes and high and steep slopes.


Amongst the various routes of drug delivery, the field of ocular drug delivery is one of the most interesting and challenging endeavors facing the pharmaceutical scientist for past 10‐20 years. As an isolated organ, eye is very difficult to study from a drug delivery point of view. Despite these limitations, improvements have been made with the objective of maintaining the drug for an extended period. Within the last few years, in response to the advent of potent and versatile therapeutic agents, the diversity of conventional ophthalmic formulations has gradually evolved, extending well beyond simple solutions, suspensions and ointments, now includes a variety of types of drug administration. In most recent publications, authors have broadened the notion of conventional ophthalmic delivery systems to encompass more than simple solutions and suspensions. While not strictly  ̳conventional', the ready availability of several commonly used drug vehicles suggests they have achieved acceptance, have been elevated to the category of conventional, and will be considered in this comparison. In this article, we have summarized the different types of commonly used ophthalmic formulations with the advanced novel formulation in many respects like their applicability, acceptance, characteristics and utility. Poor bioavailability of ophthalmic solutions caused by dilution and drainage from the eye can be overcome by using in-situ-forming ophthalmic drug delivery systems prepared from polymers that exhibit reversible liquid-gel phase transition. Key-Words: Opthalmic Solution, In-Situ, Hydrogel, Liquid-gel transition. Introduction The eye is a sensory organ that converts light to an electric signal that is treated and interpreted by the brain. Briefly, the eye ball is covered by three layers: an outer fibrous protective layer (sclera and cornea), a middle vascular layer(choroid),and an inner nervous layer (retina). The cornea is a clear, transparent, thin avascular tissue that is composed of five layers: epithelium, bowmans's layer, stroma, Descemet's membrane and endothelium. The stroma is the only hydrophilic layer. The eye is generally divided into two parts: the anterior and the posterior segments. The anterior segment includes the cornea, sclera, ciliary body, and the lens; these structures delimit a cavity: the anterior chamber filled with the aqueous humor. The posterior segment includes all the structures between the lens and the optic nerve that delimit a cavity: the vitreous filled with an aqueous gel (the vitreous humor). * Corresponding Author: E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Fig. 1: Anatomy of human eye The eye possesses efficient protective mechanisms like reflex blinking, lachrymation, and drainage, while lid closure protects the eye from external aggression. Tears permanently wash the surface of the eye and exert an anti-infectious activity through the lysozyme and immunoglobulins they contain. Finally, the lachrymal fluid is drained down the nasolacrimal pathways. All these protective mechanisms are responsible for te rapis and extensive procorneal loss of topically applied ophtalmic drugs . Review Article [Pandya et al., 2(5): May, 2011]


In this study, a quantitative method for classifying the frost geometry is first proposed to substantiate a numerical model in predicting frost properties like density, thickness, and thermal conductivity. This method can recognize the crystal shape via linear programming of the existing map for frost morphology. By using this method, the frost conditions can be taken into account in a model to obtain the corresponding frost properties like thermal conductivity, frost thickness, and density for specific frost crystal. It is found that the developed model can predict the frost properties more accurately than the existing correlations. Specifically, the proposed model can identify the corresponding frost shape by a dimensionless temperature and the surface temperature. Moreover, by adopting the frost identification into the numerical model, the frost thickness can also be predicted satisfactorily. The proposed calculation method not only shows better predictive ability with thermal conductivities, but also gives good predictions for density and is especially accurate when the frost density is lower than 125 kg/m3. Yet, the predictive ability for frost density is improved by 24% when compared to the most accurate correlation available.


Supply chain management (SCM) is a fast growing and largely studied field of research. Forecasting of the required materials and parts is an important task in companies and can have a significant impact on the total cost. To have a reliable forecast, some advanced methods such as deep learning techniques are helpful. The main goal of this chapter is to forecast the unit sales of thousands of items sold at different chain stores located in Ecuador with holistic techniques. Three deep learning approaches including artificial neural network (ANN), convolutional neural network (CNN), and long short-term memory (LSTM) are adopted here for predictions from the Corporación Favorita grocery sales forecasting dataset collected from Kaggle website. Finally, the performances of the applied models are evaluated and compared. The results show that LSTM network tends to outperform the other two approaches in terms of performance. All experiments are conducted using Python's deep learning library and Keras and Tensorflow packages.


The biochemical mechanisms that direct intracellular signal transduction networks have been extensively studied in a variety of organisms spanning invertebrates to vertebrates. Depending on environmental conditions, animals may adjust these cellular pathways in favour of growth signals or, at the opposite extreme, initiate death signals. Animals living in extreme environments are often faced with stresses (e.g. oxygen, water and/or fuel limitation, temperature extremes) and as a result have evolved adaptations that ensure safe transitions into hypometabolic states (e.g. dormancy, hibernation, aestivation, diapauses, etc.) when conditions are unfavourable for normal life. Metabolic rate may be reduced by as much as 70-99% as compared with active states and a variety of preservation strategies may be activated, all relying on the restructuring of evolutionarily conserved metabolic pathways. Akt/PKB is a pivotal stress kinase which exerts control over pathways including glucose metabolism Correspondence/Reprint request: Dr. Kenneth B. Storey, Institute of Biochemistry & Department of Biology Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada E-mail: email@example.com Jing Zhang et al. 148 (through GSK-3), protein synthesis (through mTOR), cell cycle regulation (through p27 and MDM2), and apoptosis (through BAD and caspases). In addition, via cross-talk with the NF-κB, Wnt, and MAPK signalling pathways, Akt/PKB is placed in a unique regulatory position in the stress response. By evaluating the natural responses of Akt/PKB signalling in diverse animal groups facing a range of stress challenges, researchers will discover the cellular plasticity of central metabolic pathways, how these pathways may be altered depending on the needs of the organism, and finally unravel important regulatory secrets involved in hundreds of stress and disease pathologies. List of symbols and abbreviations 4EBP eIF4E binding protein Apaf-1 apoptotic protease activating factor 1 ASK1 apoptotic signal-regulated kinase 1 (also called MAPKKK5) BAD Bcl-2-associated death promoter Bcl-2 B-cell lymphoma 2 Bcl-XL B-cell lymphoma-extra large c-Jun cellular-jun c-Myc cellular-myc CDK cyclin dependent kinase CDKI cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor Chk1 checkpoint kinase 1 Cip CDK-interacting protein CK2 casein kinase 2 CREB cAMP response element-binding eEF eukaryotic elongation factor eIF eukaryotic initiation factor ERK extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase FOXO forkhead box O FRP frizzled related protein GβL G-protein β-subunit like protein (also called LST8) GLUT glucose transporter GSK-3 glycogen synthase kinase 3 HIF-1α hypoxia inducible factor 1, α subunit HM hydrophobic motif domain HSF-1 heat shock factor-1 HSP heat shock protein I-R ischemia-reperfusion Akt and regulation of aerobic dormancy 149 IGF-1 insulin-like growth factor-1 IGF-1R IGF-1 receptor IKK IκB kinase IL-1 interleukin-1 INK4 inhibitor of CDK4 IRS insulin receptor substrate JNK c-Jun N-terminal kinase Kip kinase inhibition protein MAPK mitogen-activated protein kinase MAPKK MAPK kinase MAPKKK MAPK kinase kinase, also known as MEKK MCL-1 myeloid cell leukemia sequence 1 MDM2 murine double minute 2 MK2 MAPK-activated protein kinase-2 MPF M-phase promoting factor mTOR mammalian target of rapamycin mTORC1 mTOR complex 1 NF-κB nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells NFAT nuclear factor of activated T-cells Nrf2 NFE2L2, or nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)like 2) p70-S6K ribosomal protein S6 kinase, 70 kDa PDGF platelet-derived growth factor PDK1 phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 PGC-1α peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha PH pleckstrin homology domain PI3K Phosphoinositide 3-kinase PIF PDK1-interacting fragment PIP phosphatidylinositol phosphate PKB protein kinase B PRAS40 Proline-rich Akt Substrate 40 kDa PTEN phosphatase and tensin homologue RAC-PK related to the A and C protein kinase Raptor regulatory associated protein of mTOR Rictor rapamycin-insensitive companion of mTOR ROS reactive oxygen species SAPK stress-activated protein kinase SGK Serum/glucocorticoid regulated kinase S6K ribosomal protein S6 kinase Jing Zhang et al. 150 SHIP SH2 domain-containing inositol 5′-phosphatase TNF tumor necrosis factor TSC tuberous sclerosis Wnt wingless int


Dear Katie Victoria: Time flies; it seems like only yesterday that you were born. Now, 32 years later, you are a research director for Global Solutions. I remember your first computer. None of us took your interest in filling in blocks and moving figures around as any portent of your engineering gifts. So much for our perspicacity! I remember how sympathetic we all were in 2006 with your frustration when you tried to show your science teacher how groupware could improve homework. I hope you got the lesson about introducing new ideas to old fogies. Remember in your new assignment that old fogies come in all sizes, shapes and ages. Your grandmother and I were glad you didn't enter Mitvard University's computer program in 2011. Geobiology was a far better choice in the engineering school. We were pleased that you realized that too often people confuse manipulating an attractive tool with a real career. I am still envious of the kinds of things you were able to do there, especially in those summer programs. You spent your first summer at the biological research lab in Bermuda, and I think it was the second one you spent at Lamont Dougherty facility in Missouri studying biological indicators of earthquake activity. I suspect, however, that it was the summer at Genetics International researching the role of biology in mining and materials beneficiation that really guided your career. I believe it was a good move to pick up your doctorate at Cal Tech, although at the time we thought your plan to do it all in three years was unrealistic. I suspected that it was your egomania, but congratulations. You did it according to your own plan and even had your dissertation published. What a girl just outstanding! It could have done with a better title than "Biological Applications to Inorganic Materials of Construction." Hardly the title of a bestseller, but 3,000 copies is nothing to laugh at. That great popular piece you wrote for Scientific American was even understood by our neighbor, Carl, the insurance salesman. At least he pretended to. Grandma and I are both puzzled as to why you turned down both of those nifty job offers to be the chief engineer in the San Andreas Fault Management Project or to supervise the Earth Mantle Disposal Program. I think it is your commitment to the private sector that won out, but let's talk about that. Virtual Reality Education I was glad that you introduced me in 2020 to virtual reality education. I was impressed by the fact that you could get a master's degree from Wharton in only nine months, spending only two weeks on the campus. I am still interested in my technical career. I did take the one-year virtual reality program in environmental immunology and enjoyed it immensely, but at my age it is nothing more than a hobby interest. …


This paper proposes an innovative generic wireless low-cost high-end Android-based board for use by the EMULSION IoT platform, which is being elaborated as IoT-service and IoT-system prototyping ready. Based on the AllWinner A33 quad core Cortex-A7 CPU with a Mali400MP2 GPU and 512MB RAM, the board supports a 5MP CMOS sensor camera, 1080p video, MIDP display, and Hi-Fi audio. The paper reveals the basics of the design of this proprietary board.


The intent of this research was to empirically identify and estimate the relationship between perceived scenic beauty and biophysical resources of hardwood stands in southeast Missouri under various disturbance regimes. The scenic effects of different harvest methods, wind, and fire were systematically investigated using a psychophysical approach. Ratings of scenic beauty were collected from both residents and non-residents, and scaled using the Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE) method. Quantitative, predictive models were generated to identify what biophysical features contributed to public perceptions of scenic beauty. In addition, information concerning familiarity and experience with the area, group membership, knowledge about natural resources, and demographics were collected to assess how the perceptions of scenic beauty of disturbances related to respondent characteristics.


This article is aimed at reviewing the process of managing financial information of insurance companies for the development of the innovation and investment process. The article considers scientific approaches to the problems on this issue. The purpose of the research. The purpose of the research is to determine the conceptual framework and basic principles of managing financial results of insurance companies. Methodology. The totality of research methods is a methodology for analyzing and organizing the main legislative acts and laws, namely the methods of generalization, comparison, chronology, analysis and generalization. Results. According to the results of the study, it was revealed that income from insurance activities, that is, all proceeds in favor of the insurer, related to insurance and reinsurance; income from investing and placing temporarily free funds (both own and funds of insurance reserves); other incomes, that is, those that do not belong to either insurance or investment income, but sometimes appear to the insurer in the course of its normal business activities. Practical meaning. The practical significance is that the issues of managing financial results of insurance companies are an activator of the innovation and investment process of the insurer and require practical application in the management process of the company. This will allow management to protect the company from unpredictable and perceived financial crises. Prospects for further research. The study of innovation and investment processes is relevant and necessary for insurance companies and require further research.


This thesis includes my three-year doctoral research in the field of image sequence interpolation. The introduced interpolation methods are mainly based on finding an appropriate optical flow field, with which the objects in an initial image can be "transported" and "warped" to a certain time. To identify the optical flow field the interpolation problem is considered in the framework of optimal control governed by the transport equation. To improve the interpolation quality, the models are introduced so that the edges of the optical flow are preserved, the forward and backward interpolation are locally selected. Basically the smooth version of total variation and the active contours for segmentation are used. In the theoretical part, the solution theory of transport equation is investigated under different settings on the regularity of the optical flow, and applied in the proof of the existence of a minimizer to the associated minimization problems.


ABSTRACT: Ninteen of the twenty three vitiligo patients showed 30 to 95 percent skin repigmentation during forty eight weeks herbal therapy period when examined irrespective of different hypotheses concerning the pathogenesis of the skin depigmentation including vitiligo. More than 50 percent of the vitiligo patients under the trial depicted a speedy and well marked skin repigmentation ranging from 45 to 95 percent by the herbal drugs under examination. Whereas one patient showed a hundred percent recovery of the disorder. No severe neuropathy, ulcerative stomatitis, allergic reaction or any toxic side effect was noticed by the use of herbal combination under the study in any of the vitiligo patients during or at the completion of the herbal treatment.