Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test data, advanced placement chemistry test scores, and success of students in an introductory college chemistry course are discussed. As more students and a more diverse population in high school and college take chemistry courses, new challenges are encountered that include ones that are outside the scope of college teachers. Keeping focused on potential content and pedagogical changes is crucial, and reform needs to be informed by evidence.


Postponement strategy is an efficient solution to combat against runaway costs due to quick response to customer order, increasing product variation and demand for product customization. Over time, the scope and application of postponement has expanded to various aspects in the supply chain. This paper surveys various types of postponement and classifies them based on the view of reconfiguration of the supply chain network, which contains form, time and place postponement. It also proposes a performance metrics framework for measuring postponement strategies. Key Word: Postponement strategies, classification, performance metrics


Abstract Junior high school students are encouraged to explore their preferences as learners and engage in a range of activities to develop understanding of work, careers and post-school destinations. Higher education providers contribute to the school students' exploration through proving campus experience programmes structured to aspire young learners and increase enrolments. This paper communicates the design science research method activities of demonstration and evaluation as they are applied to a serious game, Playing Property. Playing Property is an audience response game forming the basis of a workshop to engage junior high students and enhance their knowledge of property investment. The evaluation discusses trends in audience response decisions along with brief survey responses from 12 workshops, conducted over 3 years. The workshops were consistently rated positively by the participating students, with a majority indicating they learned more about property [investment] through playing. Comparatively the results were in line with other hands-on workshop activities facilitated by academic leaders from other disciplines. The resource allocation to the Playing Property workshop is notably less than comparable workshops and the ability capture decision-making data provides a sound basis for further analysis.


Intestinal obstruction is not uncommon in patients with terminal cancer. Patients suffer from various physical and psychological distress associated with it. We presented a case of intestinal obstruction and outlined the various treatment options. Many of the treatments have limited efficacy. Multidisciplinary team approach is needed to facilitate care of patients suffering from such complex symptomatology.


Action learning programmes are supposed to result in both personal and organizational development. However, organizational development can be negligible because, as the term implies, a connection must be secured between what has been learned by action learning participants and other members of an organization. Here, the facilitation and analysis of how to institutionalise action learning principles is explored through a theoretical framework. This framework is built around the following concepts: scripts, lean thinking and mindsets. Thereafter, two case studies are offered that exemplify how organizations might operationalise these concepts through action learning programmes that intend, from the outset, to foster organizational development. The evidence suggests that success depends—among other factors—upon the cognitively held beliefs of the set advisor and the prevailing organizational culture.


From the engineering geological datum of marine soft soil in Lianyungang,statistical characteristics of physical and mechanical indexes of marine clay in study regions are analyzed systematically by contrasting to physical and mechanical indexes of soft soil in other coastal regions of China,and the characteristics of shear strength,consolidation deformation and creep of marine soft clay are studied.The relationships between these indexes have been constructed using linear regression analysis.Some soil improvement methods are put forward.


【Objective】The research on evapotranspiration and environmental factors of grassland was to provide scientific management of pasture and protection of grassland.【Method】Based on meteorological data of HOBO Weather Station(U.S.A),the FAO Penman-Monteith was used to calculate the reference evapotranspiration(ET0) of grassland in the northern slopes of Qilianshan Mountains.The actual evapotranspiration(ETc) was estimated by FAO-56.【Result】The ana1ysis results showed that the maximum was in July or August,and the minimum was in December or January.Some discussions on the influences of severa1 relative environmental factors were conducted.The calculation results showed that the order of the effect was as follows:the air temperature,air relative humidity,soil moisture(0-40 cm),solar radiation and wind speed.And the relationship between the effect of soil moisture and soil depth was opposite.The actual evapotranspiration was linearly correlated with solar radiation.【Conclusion】Thus,it is regular for the actual evapotranspiration of grassland in the northern slopes of Qilianshan Mountains,with the research on the influences of several relative environmental factors.Therefore many appropriate measures to improve the conditions of grassland showd be taken.


Background: Most follow‐up studies in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis have been for a 5‐year period or less. The aim of this study was to assess the long‐term mortality and causes of death among patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis and to identify predictors of mortality. Methods: One hundred patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis, consecutively admitted to one medical department, were included in the study from May 1984 until December 1988. All patients had a history of alcohol abuse of at least 100 g ethanol daily for several years. The study comprised 65 men and 35 women with a median age of 58 years (range 34–82). Percutaneous liver biopsies and/or autopsies were obtained on 89 patients. Sixty‐seven had ascites at admission and 34% had bleeding oesophageal varices. All patients were followed prospectively until death or until October 2000. Results: During the follow‐up period 90% of the patients died, 68 of whom (76 %) had been autopsied. The cumulative actuarial mortality after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months was 18%, 28%, 36% and 49%, respectively and after 5, 10 and 15 years 71%, 84% and 90%, respectively. None of the patients underwent liver transplantation during the study. The causes of death were bleeding, liver failure or a combination of these two conditions in 52 of 90 patients (58%), while 9 (11%) died of hepatocellular carcinoma 0.5 to 73 months after inclusion in the study. Using the Cox regression analysis, age, alcohol abuse and alkaline phosphatase were independent and significant predictors of mortality, but Child‐Pugh class was not. Conclusions: The mortality in a group of patients with advanced alcoholic cirrhosis was extremely high with 5 and 15 years' mortality in 71% and 90%, respectively. Independent predictors of a poor prognosis were high age, continuous alcohol consumption of more than 10 g ethanol per day and high levels of alkaline phosphatase.


Background: The coexistence of schools and school bullying are time contextual. Though its components are explored to different lengths at different geography the relationship with school performance and responsibility-sharing for Indian subcontinents are far and few. Aim and Objectives: The study took cognizance of this knowledge gap and tried to explore the existence of any relations between academic performance and responsibility-sharing with school bullying. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 6 randomly selected schools (3 urban and 3 rural) in a district of Madhya Pradesh, India. The participants from the 6th to 10th standard were selected by systematic random sampling and 96 participants per class were enrolled. The tools used were back-translated and pilot tested. They are the Bullying Prevalence Questionnaire (BPQ) and the Rosenberg Self-esteem questionnaire. School performance and responsibility-sharing information were collected from concerned school records. Results: From 480 participants, 48.3% were involved in some form of school bully activities. Students' academic grade (ꭓ2 - 0.20) and school attendance (ꭓ2 - 0.75) were not associated with school bully behaviors, but their non-cocurricular recognition and lack of responsibility-sharing made them vulnerable to bullying (ꭓ2 and ANOVA p = 0.02 each) and victimized (ANOVA p = 0.03). Participants who shared school responsibilities and received acclaim were prosocial (ANOVA p = 0.00) and immune to bullyism. Conclusion: Schools are places where the pupils are groomed to be responsible and productive. The results established these points.


Maintaining satisfaction among neurologists is an important and pressing issue in today's research environment for faculty retention and career fulfillment. Investigators often receive rigorous scientific training during fellowships and residency; however, little guidance is available regarding how and when to approach career advancement once faculty positions are achieved. This is compounded by the fact that these complex processes are often combined with multifaceted demands such as establishing successful research programs and securing funding, meeting academic and clinical requirements, and balancing work and personal responsibilities.1 The resulting struggle for career progression and lack of contentment across faculty positions has prompted rising numbers of investigators to leave academic research.2

Developing ways to overcome these issues is warranted, and many investigators traditionally rely on the expertise and guidance of a more senior mentor. Expert mentoring offers much beyond just typical scientific training, including advice on establishing goals, how and when to navigate promotional tracks and …


This Article reviews the empirical research on the effectiveness of monitoring and enforcement of environmental policy in deterring individuals and firms from violating environmental laws or achieving an improved level of environmental performance. It considers both "monitoring" activities (such as government inspections) and "enforcement" activities (such as sanctions, remedial actions, and other mechanisms designed to punish and/or bring a firm into compliance). It also evaluates "informal" monitoring and enforcement pressures, such as the role that public information has on firm compliance. However, it does not consider the role of liability laws (torts, nuisance actions, etc.) in compelling polluters to reduce emissions. Likewise, except for a few studies in Canada, it does not address enforcement analyses conducted outside the United States. Until recently, there have been surprisingly few empirical studies of environmental enforcement. Comprehensive data on compliance and enforcement are only beginning to become available to researchers. Thus, the few studies that have been published focused either on oil spills (where the U.S. Coast Guard maintains a comprehensive data set), or on specific industries such as the pulp and paper industry, where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded and/or assisted researchers in their data collection efforts. Data availability is rapidly changing as EPA has integrated all of its enforcement and monitoring data by facility and is beginning to make facility-level data freely available to the public on their website. Thus, this is an opportune time to take a fresh look at the theory and evidence of environmental deterrence. This Article is organized as follows. It first provides a brief overview of the economic theory and empirical research on environmental deterrence. It then examines the performance measures that have been used to date. Thereafter, it reviews what is known about the relative effectiveness of various monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. It goes on to explore the role of information in environmental deterrence. For example, what effect does providing information to the public have on environmental outcomes? Finally, it briefly assesses the most critical informational gaps and offers suggestions for future research.


In this paper, the inverse kinematics solutions for robot manipulators without closed-form solutions are solved numerically. An improved Particle Swarm optimization algorithm is proposed which adds the item with previous global optimal position of particles to guide the speed update of particle swarms to improve the performance of the algorithm. In order to verify the effectiveness of the improved Particle Swarm optimization algorithm in solving inverse kinematics problem of the robot manipulator, four cases of inverse kinematics problems of 6-DOF manipulator with offset wrist are solved by the improved Particle Swarm optimization algorithm. The simulation results compared with the algorithm results of standard particle swarm optimization verify the effectiveness of the improved Particle Swarm optimization algorithm.


Rapid urbanisation causes the 'heat island' problem in megacities worldwide. The industrialisation has fuelled the increase in the urbanisation in Indian cities. This work measures and characterises Ahmedabad's heat island variations (India). The study uses two satellite passes of the MODIS sensor over the summer for the last three years to assess urban heat island intensity (UHII). Sentinel-2B records are used to create a land-use map. The study considers the impact of land-use patterns on summer UHII diurnal fluctuations. Daily diurnal changes in land surface temperature (LST) are being analysed. Locations and land-use land-cover patterns affect UHII. Satellite observations show greater LST values during the day than at night, however, UHII is stronger at night. Urban UHII is stronger rural UHII. Lower vegetation cover area is one of the key causes of UHII development, as seen in the region's Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values.


In women with breast cancers up to 5 cm across, the rates of long-term survival and metastasis-free survival are similar for mastectomy and breast-conserving treatment, according to a new study.

Previous studies have shown both approaches to be similar for women with tumors 2 cm or less across, for which breast-conserving treatment is widely used. But this is the first study to show equally good long-term results even when the width of a tumor is as much as 5 cm.

The results suggest that breast-conserving treatments, instead of mastectomy, could now be offered to most women with breast cancer, according to the researchers (J Natl Cancer Inst 2000;92:1143-1150).

Women who have tumors less than 2 cm across often undergo lumpectomy. For women with larger tumors, however, there was previously little evidence that breast-conserving surgery offered long-term benefits, according to the team of researchers led by Dr Harry Bartelink of the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam. For these women, the recommended treatment is often modified radical mastectomy.

In the new study, researchers compared the survival of 868 women who were randomly assigned to undergo either lumpectomy or modified radical mastectomy to see whether women with tumors as wide as 5 cm could be treated effectively with breast-conserving surgery. Of these women, 696 had a tumor that measured 2.1 to 5 cm.

Ten years after surgery, no significant difference in survival was found in women with larger tumors, regardless of the type of surgery. Almost two thirds of the women in each group were still alive after 10 years. In addition, the cancer was no more likely to metastasize in women who had had a lumpectomy than in women who had had a mastectomy.

"This international trial has now shown that breast-conserving therapy results in a similar survival rate as mastectomy, even for patients with larger tumors," Dr Bartelink said. "Breast-conserving therapy instead of mastectomy can, therefore, now be offered to the large majority of the breast cancer population as the majority of patients in the western world nowadays present with tumors smaller than 5 cm."

Researchers, however, did find that about 20% of women in the lumpectomy group had a recurrence within 10 years, compared with about 12% in the mastectomy group, even if the recurrence did not affect 10-year survival. Researchers said that it was important for further studies to establish which subgroup of women is at greatest risk of recurrence.


The new forms of competition and the structural modifications of exchange processes, partly due to the emerging economy of the virtual network, "brand switching" is becoming a popular way to describe the instability of the customer bases in the so called "The Changes In The Micro Environment" are forcing firms to give top priority to customer relationship management.

Referring to this context, the present paper proposes a model to analyze the financial impact of loyalty program, grounding on the customer satisfaction on the profitability of the private education institutions. The model describes the process of customer loyalty measurement, considering loyalty and its relationship with satisfaction, and identifying its impact on the organization. A dynamic model of customer loyalty is derived from the analysis of the different forms of 'link' that the firm can develop with its customers during the relationship life cycle.


The paper investigates price transmission along the agri-food chains, using the monthly series of agricultural, processor and consumer price indices in the period January 2006 – August 2010 for this purpose. The analysis is made at sectoral level and it is particularized for a few important chains, such as the wheat and bakery products chain and the chain of meat and meat products. The main characteristic of price transmission by chains, as revealed by the data series analysis, is the apparent stability of consumer and processor prices and the strong volatility of agricultural prices. Hence, the agricultural prices and the consumer prices follow different evolutions: consumer prices have a much lower volatility and generally a constant growth trend, while the agricultural prices have strong fluctuations, both on the medium term and on seasonal term. This remark is true both for the crop products and for the animal products. The consumer prices and the processor prices attenuate and level off the excessive variations of agricultural prices. Another conclusion of the paper is that the transmission of agricultural price variation in the period of agricultural crisis, which in Romania was manifested in the period March 2007 – May 2008, had an asymmetric character, i.e. the increase of agricultural prices was almost simultaneously accompanied by the increase of processor and consumer prices (attenuated transmission amplitude). On the contrary, in the period of agricultural price decrease, which followed after the month of May 2008, the processor and consumer prices continued to increase slowly, or stagnated in the best case, while the prices of crop products (mainly cereals) experienced significant decrease.


Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists is the basis for drug treatment in patients with metastatic prostate cancer (PC). An accurate assessment of the response of the tumor and its metastases is of primary importance for making a clinical decision regarding the continuation of treatment, changing the line of drugs or the nature of therapy. The presented clinical case illustrates the possibilities of 99mTc-pyrophosphate skeletal scintigraphy for monitoring the response of PC bone metastases to ADT. The efficiency of hormone therapy with Triptorelin has been confirmed by positive changes in the visual and quantitative scintigraphic signs that manifest the metabolic activity of bone tissue in the area of a metastatic lesion. This was manifested by a marked decrease in the intensity of 99mTc-pyrophosphate accumulation in the foci of bone pathology, by a reduction in the number of visualized hot foci, and by a gradual normalization of the scintigraphic pattern. This variant of the metabolic response of bone metastases to ADT correlated with the positive changes in laboratory parameters, as well as with the signs of reversal of the tumor and its metastases, as evidenced by magnetic resonance imaging.


Abstract In this paper, we consider a generic degree d form F in n + 1 variables. In particular, we investigate the existence of star configurations apolar to F, that is the existence of apolar sets of points obtained by the n-wise intersection of r general hyperplanes of We present a complete answer for all values of (d, r, n) except for when we present an algorithmic approach.


With the intensive concern about the Environmentally Sustainable Development, Green Information system (Green IS) has obtained more and more attention from both the IT/IS business and the information system research field. The adoption of Green Information System means a lot to the IT/IS service providers and organizations on the road of building information systems. On the ground of related theories and research, the paper puts forward a research model and some influential factors on the Green IS adoption of organizations. Then we analyze those factors via case study about two manufacturing enterprises and make some suggestions to related roles about the Green IS.


The present paper tries to assess empirically the level of professionalism. In addition, this paper tries to analyze the factors affecting professionalism. For this reason, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to provide an empirical assessment of professionalism in a bureaucracy, and second, to assess the relationship of age and education, on the one hand, and bureaucratic professionalism, on the other hand. Because whims make a poor basis for change, an objective empirical assessment of the level of professionalism is provided and that is where the strength of this paper lies.,The data for this study are obtained from a survey administered to employees.,The findings of this paper are as follows: low professionalism among civil servants in Lebanon, no relationship between professionalism and age of employees and the direct relationship between professionalism and education of employees.,It is true that the woes of the administration lie in the confessional political system of the country; however, concentrating on contextual and behavioral variables that can be controlled could alleviate the problem.,Recruiting educated employees based on their competency levels may alleviate the behavioral problem and may lead to improved professionalism.,No previous work was done in this regard.


Recently, many firms in various industries implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) in different ways. Based on considering a CSR-concerned retailer and an altruistic fairness concern manufacturer, this paper investigates pricing decisions as well as carbon emission policies in a socially responsible supply chain. In this paper, two different modes (the centralized model and decentralized model) are, respectively, conducted and investigated for equilibria. Analytical results reveal that socially responsible retailer (manufacturer) cares more about CSR (altruistic fairness) concern and will increase his counterpart's pure profit as well as the pure channel profit, ending up with decreasing his own pure profit. The cooperative agents in decentralized scenario can coordinate the channel and achieve the maximum pure channel profit as much as that in a pure profit-maximizing centralized model. Moreover, this paper proposes a novel two-stage carbon cap-and-trade policy for the government and examines how it is affected by the CSR concern level and the altruistic fairness in such a socially responsible supply chain.


Presented in this paper are the results of ring hybrid metal-dielectric structure experimental investigation. Peculiarities of radiating slot and ring resonator interaction have been investigated. Constructs influence on energy characteristics has been shown.


In the last article of Arethusa, I took up the question of how the highly polished nature of Greek mythic narratives—the vivacity and expressive power that earned so many of them an enduring place in the pleroma of world literature and art—contributed to the creation and sustenance of belief in the gods, heroes, and a divine world more generally. In that arti- cle, I focused particularly on how the characters in Greek myths evoked emotional and cognitive responses from their audience members that were virtually indistinguishable from those evoked by people in the real world, and on how the ancient modes of narrating myths (which typically treated them episodically and through a variety of different media), helped to keep the stories and their characters alive in an audience member's mind and heart long after a narration was over, thus further sustaining the beliefs that the stories had encouraged. One issue that I temporarily set aside in that article was why the narration of a wide variety of myths focusing on a wide variety of charac- ters was appropriate for recitation at a wide variety of festivals dedicated to a wide variety of gods. In many cases, of course, there is an obvious link between the myth and the festival: the story of Apollo's foundation of the Delphic Oracle makes intrinsic sense for performance at a Delphic festival in honor of Apollo (as in Aristinous's paean to Apollo and, probably, the second part of the Homeric Hymn to Apollo). In other cases, thematic or


Performance of PV panel depends on the tilt angle of the panel with respect to the horizontal plane. The tilt angle determines the amount of solar insolation on panel surface and intern determines quantity of energy collected. Conventionally the best tilt angle is equivalent to latitude of the location at which panel is installed. The value of optimal tilt angle at defined location depends on local atmospheric condition, altitude of region, movement of sun etc. So the value of optimal tilt angle varies over each month. In this paper the values of optimal tilt angle over each month for a PV panel installed in Kerala, India (9.55°N, 76.81°E) was theoretically estimated using geographic factor method, clearness index method and declination angle method. The results showed that the gain in the amount of solar radiation throughout the year received by the PV panel mounted at monthly optimum tilt angles with respect to seasonal optimum angles and tilt angle equal to latitude were 3.4% and 7%, respectively. The theoretically estimated values of optimal tilt angles are used as a base for experimental investigation. Experimental investigation was done for three months and it is found that the geographic factor method is the best method among three methods.


ABSTRACT Objectives We systematically reviewed the literature to investigate the pooled effect of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection and its clinical outcomes. Methods Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed (Medline), and Embase were searched on 9 September 2021. The odds ratio (OR) of COVID-19 infection and its clinical outcomes in fully/ partially vaccinated versus unvaccinated participants were calculated and pooled by using a random-effects model. Results The pooled analysis showed that among health care workers and general population, vaccinated participants with one or two doses were less likely to infect with SARS-CoV-2 (OR = 0.16; 95%CI: 0.08–0.32; I2 = 79.86%; 95%CI I2: 68.99–87.21%), to develop symptomatic COVID-19 infection (OR = 0.09; 95%CI: 0.03–0.32; I2 = 80.43%; 95%CI I2: 70.83–89.33%), to admit to the hospital because of COVID-19 (OR = 0.13; 95%CI: 0.06–0.28; I2 = 86.19%; 95%CI I2: 67.80–93.88%), and to die from COVID-19 (OR = 0.14; 95%CI: 0.06–0.35; I2 = 66.76%; 95%CI I2: 54.00–76.99%) than unvaccinated participants. Conclusions COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, especially following administration of two doses, are extremely effective. It would be suggested further studies with large sample size and different ethnicities to be conducted among the general population to warrant these results.


The research summarizes information on biochemical processes of biogas production and the parameters that affect the results of its production. The research examines the result of obtaining biogas from bog sludge and a mixture of crushed reed. Particular attention is given to temperature, as a parameter that affects the results of methane and biogas production. The yield of biogas and methane during the bioprocess depends on the effect of temperature. During the experiment, 2.78 L of biogas with an average methane content of 38.7% was obtained from a mixture of bog sludge and crushed reeds. If the content of organic compounds in the sludge was higher, the biogas yield would increase during the process. It is more advantageous to use the raw material mixture for biogas production.


Islam advocates balance between spiritual, emotional, and cognitive aspects of human life. Any imbalance between these aspects may tarnish the real image of Islam. Concentration on the informational and cognitive aspects of the religion and disregard of the endeavor towards excellence will create imbalance between EmEn, islEm and iIsEn. Likewise, Islam strikes a balance between individualism and collectivism. Man's relationship with his Creator is the basis of moral attitude of man towards his fellow men namely, interpersonal-relationship. This is the real basis of Islamic morality or ethical system. Islam enjoins wisdom, balance, moderation and tolerance in all affairs. Moderation or balance is not only as general characteristic of Islam, but it is its fundamental landmark. This article attempts to analyze HAMKA's Concept of Moderation based on his book "Falsafah Hidup" (Philosophy of life).


The recently proposed notion that self-enhancing biases are significantly implicated in mental health is being challenged by cross-cultural research which suggests that such biases may be limited to cultures which foster an independent construal of self. We examined whether individuals from a culture characteristic of an interdependent construal of self (Japanese) would show less unrealistic optimism about potential, future life events than individuals from a culture characteristic of an independent construal of self (Canadian). Canadian respondents were indeed significantly more unrealistically optimistic than the Japanese, although the Japanese did demonstrate an optimism bias in some localized cases. Canadians made more unrealistically optimistic judgments for particularly threatening events, whereas this was not so for the Japanese. The weaker unrealistic optimism bias of the Japanese was associated with lower selfesteem, lower dispositional optimism, a more external locus of control, and less of a tendency to imagine stereotypical people associated with the events. The results provide further evidence that self-enhancing tendencies are more common for cultures characteristic of an independent construal of self.


Objective To observe the characteristics of ultrasonography elastography imaging in thyroid carcinoma,and evaluate the diagnosis value.Methods Sixty-four patients with thyroid carcinoma diagnosed via histopathology between January 2010 and November 2011 were enrolled in this study.All the patients were underwent the examinations of two dimensional ultrasound and ultrasonography elastography imaging,to observe the number,size,location and hardness of nodule.Results There were 80 focus in 64 patients.The size ranged from 5 mm×6 mm to 44 mm×27 mm.Forty-six focus were located in the thyroid left lobe,29 focus were located in the thyroid right lobe,5 focus were located in isthmus.The results of ultrasonography elastography imaging showed that,among the 80 focus,2-3 scores were found in 10 focus,4-5 scores were found in 70 focus.The diagnosis accurate of ultrasonography elastography imaging was 87.50%.Compared it with the diagnosis accurate of two dimensional ultrasound,the difference was statistically significant(χ2=3.841,P 0.05).Conclusion Ultrasonography elastography imaging is a beneficial addition in diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma by two dimensional ultrasound.It can remarkably develop the accurate rate of the diagnosis of the disease.


Summary : To improve the precision of quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) modeling for aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives insect repellent, a novel nonlinear combination forecast model was proposed integrating support vector regression (SVR) and K-nearest neighbor (KNN): Firstly, search optimal kernel function and nonlinearly select molecular descriptors by the rule of minimum MSE value using SVR. Secondly, illuminate the effects of all descriptors on biological activity by "multi-round enforcement resistance-selection". Thirdly, construct the submodels with predicted values of different KNN. Then, get the optimal kernel and corresponding retained sub-models through subtle selection. Finally, make prediction with leave-one-out (LOO) method in the basis of reserved sub-models. Compared with previous widely used models, our work shows significant improvement in modeling performance, which demonstrates the superiority of the present combination forecast model.


As people have paid much attention to their health along with increased interest in high quality of living, they have managed their health in organized manners. Space is a physical field which directly and indirectly interacts with human life, there is a little research on its therapeutic aspect and it is only negatively applied for development of products and alternative medicine. This study aims to identify research trends and flows targeting previous research on therapeutic approaches in domestic space design and present basic materials on space design approaches in a therapeutic view, which will be helpful in ultimate development of space design in theories and practices. As a result, it was discovered that there were only a few papers which were searched with direct key words on curative environment, which indicates that specific studies as therapeutic approaches are insufficient. When the studies were analysed according to annual publications, research on residential welfare and medical space was active, and research on design methodology, design techniques, and design plans was active, but research on psychology, behaviors, laws and institutions was relatively insufficient, which indicates studies on physical and psychological aspects of space design are necessary. In conclusion, it is suggested that further studies on therapeutic environment for direct and specific persons should be defined and classified although there have been relevant studies in various fields.


Abstract:  The aim of this study was to determine the reliability of skin tests with common antigens as a measure of delayed‐type hypersensitivity response in children undergoing tuberculin skin test (TST). Children from developing countries underwent TST as well as skin tests with diphtheria–tetanus vaccine (DT) and candida antigens prior to heart surgery. We included 52 children (mean age: 7.16 years). Forty‐two (81%) and 20 of the 52 patients (38%) reacted to the DT and candida skin tests, respectively (P < 0.001 for the difference in response to these antigens). There was no difference in response to candida and DT antigens between patients with positive or negative TST. There was no difference between patients aged 6 years or older compared to younger patients in the response to DT or candida antigen. Skin tests with common antigens are associated with a high false‐negative rate and may not predict reliably a state of anergy.


The use of bicycles is regaining popularity, especially in city centers where they can be used as quickly as cars and reduce carbon footprint. However, in these dense urban environments, navigation methods based on GNSS technologies do not provide sufficient accuracy for cyclist navigation and safety. To mitigate the challenges of indoor-like surroundings, a new positioning algorithm: BIKES (Bicycle Itinerancy Kalman filter with Embedded Sensors) was developed. This extended Kalman filter processes deeply degraded GNSS data to update velocity and position estimates with differential computation approaches working even in degraded environments. GNSS signals are combined with inertial and magnetic data to continuously estimate the trajectory when GNSS is unavailable. BIKES' performance was tested in real-life conditions on a 3 km long path in the city center downtown Nantes and compared to Google Fused Location Provider estimates. A mean positioning error below 1 m with a 0.5 m standard deviation is achieved. These results are 4 times better than the Google solution. This algorithm allows also distinguishing if the cyclist is riding on a bike path, the sidewalk, or the road, which is critical for guidance systems.


The Decision/Simulation System is an innovative utility planning tool that facilitates the analysis of risk. It was developed by Temple, Barker and Sloane, Inc., and M.S. Gerber and Associates for the Electric Power Research Institute. Three features distinguish this framework from other planning models: The Decision System uses a generalized decision analysis approach. The Simulation System addresses the critical aspects of integrated demand-supply planning. The complete model runs on a micro-computer. 10 figures, 1 tables.


Celiac Disease (CD) is a chronic immune-mediated disease that is triggered by the consumption of gluten present in wheat, barley and rye in genetically predisposed individuals. The increment in the prevalence and incidence of CD in recent years may reflect a true increment, rising awareness among physicians or use of highly sensitive serologic tests. The clinical presentation of pediatric CD has changed in recent years and a number of patients are presenting with "atypical" and "silent" forms. Physicians should be aware of these unique presentations and high-risk populations in order to avoid under-diagnosis of CD. Recent European guidelines suggested that the diagnosis can be made without biopsy. These new guidelines should be followed with caution as persistent villous atrophy may be associated with a risk of morbidity and mortality. Initial screening at the time of diagnosis should include checking for autoimmune disorders (hepatitis and thyroiditis) and inadequate response to Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) vaccination. However, evaluation for vitamin deficiencies and low bone mineral density (BMD) may not be necessary. All first-degree relatives should be screened by serologic testing owing to the higher risk of CD. Human leukocyte antigens (HLA)DQ2 and DQ8 are important but not sufficient to predispose to CD. However, HLA testing could be utilized in screening infants born to families with CD. Compliance to gluten free diet (GFD) is particularly difficult for teenagers because of social and psychological factors. Novel therapeutic strategies which may improve quality of life for these patients include gluten detoxification, modulation of intestinal permeability and modulation of aberrant immune response.


The article investigates how humans 'networked' wet nature and how this affected the shaping of Dutch society. First, it takes a grand view of Dutch history and describes how wet network building intertwined with the shaping of the Dutch landscape, its economy and its polity. Second, it investigates the specific challenges of wet network building—integrating potentially conflicting uses of water into one design—for the case of the national fresh water supply network (1940–1971). Finally, it discusses ecological damage, emerging new risks and cultural patterns related to wet network building.


The corrosion behavior and thermal stability of epoxy coatings electrodeposited on mild steel and on mild steel with electrochemically deposited polyaniline (PANI) film were investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). The aim of the paper was to present new findings on the corrosion protection of mild steel by a duplex PANI/-epoxy coating in 3% NaCI solution and to determine the effect of thin PANI film on the protective properties of the coating. PANI film was deposited electrochemically on mild steel from an aqueous solution of 0.5 mol dm"3 sodium benzoate and 0.1 mol dm"3 aniline at a constant current density of 1.5 mA cm"2. Non-pigmented epoxy coatings on mild steel and on mild steel with PANI film were obtained by cathodic electrode position at constant voltage and stirring conditions. The resin concentration in the electrode position bath was 10 wt.% solid dispersion in water at pH 5.7. The applied voltage was 250 V, the temperature 26°C and the deposition time 3 min. It was shown that thin PANI film could be used to modify the surface of mild steel prior to epoxy coating deposition, due to the increased corrosion protection of a duplex PANI/epoxy coating comparing to an epoxy coating on mild steel in 3% NaCl solution.


Four independent variables viz. ultrasonic power, pH, extraction time and solvent/meal ratio were selected. The extraction process was evaluated by a selected response like protein yield and the second-order model obtained revealed 96.7% of coefficient of determination. Selected response, which evaluated the extraction process, was protein yield and the secondorder model obtained for protein yield revealed a coefficient of determination of 96.7%. The optimal extraction conditions for protein were determined as follows; Ultrasonic power, pH, extraction time and solvent/meal ratio were 400W, 8.0, 40min, and 20:1 (v/w) respectively. Protein yield was primarily affected by Ultrasonic power, pH and solvent/meal ratio. These conditions resulted in protein yield of 5.43g of soluble protein from extract/100 g malted sorghum flour, which was agreed closely with the predicted value 5.36%. The adequacy of the model was confirmed by extracting the protein under optimum values using the model. These results may help in designing the process of optimal protein extraction from malted sorghum flour. J. Food Sci. Technol. Nepal, Vol. 6 (53-58), 2010 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfstn.v6i0.8260


Objective: We aimed to analyze the outcomes of patients who underwent surgical repair of congenital esophageal atresia (EA) with a distal tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF) or a Gross type C with successful routine Fogarty catheter occlusion of TEF.
Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent surgical repair of Gross type C with successful routine Fogarty catheter occlusion of fistula between April 2010 and November 2016.
Results: Nineteen patients were enrolled and included for analysis. Mean gestational age was 38.7 (1.9) weeks with 2 (10.5%) neonates born prematurely. Mean birthweight was 2569.3 (425.3) g. Five (26.3%) patients required mechanical ventilation (MV) before surgical repair of TEF. Median post-operative required MV after TEF surgery was 4 (3-6) days. The most common of post-operative complications were wound dehiscence (10.5%) and pneumothorax (10.5%). Long-term complications were gastroesophageal reflux disease (36.8%) and tracheomalacia (31.6%).
Conclusion: The success rate of routine TEF occlusion with a Fogarty catheter was 86.4%. Routine Fogarty catheter occlusion of TEF can be used safely with experienced personnel, low incidence of aspiration and satisfied ventilation. There was no serious complication associated with placement of Fogarty catheter or catheter dislodgement, and it did not occur during any of the procedures.


The Indian handloom industry is the secondlargest employment provider for rural population in India with almost 43 lakh weavers. A significant portion of State workforce in Telangana is dependent on handloom industry for employment in which women participation is quite high as weaving is a family profession. Mostly women are involved in reeling, winding, and weaving which are labour intensive activities. The structure of handloom weaving industry consists of both unorganized sector and an organized sector. The unorganized sector comprises of independent weavers, master weavers and weavers working under them. The organized sector consists of the apex society popularly known as Co-optex, the weavers' societies and the weavers working under them.


The wide deployment of public cloud computing infrastructures, using clouds to host data query services has become an appealing solution for the advantages on scalability and cost-saving. However, some data might be sensitive that the data owner does not want to move to the cloud unless the data confidentiality and query privacy are guaranteed. On the other hand, a secured query service should still provide efficient query processing and significantly reduce the in-house workload to fully realize the benefits of cloud computing. We propose the RASP data perturbation method to provide secure and efficient range query and kNN query services for protected data in the cloud. The kNN-R algorithm is designed to work with the RASP range query algorithm to process the kNN queries. In this proposal we implement this Query Retrieval Technique in an Educational Institution, which has various Departments like Engineering, arts & science, Management with hostels, placements and Library facilities.


The passive dynamic walker (PDW) has an interesting characteristic that it realizes cyclic locomotion without planning joint trajectories. On the other hand, the walking behavior cannot be controlled because it is dominated by the fixed body dynamics. Observing the human cyclic locomotion that is activated by elastic muscles, we adopt a compliant hip joint on PDW, and we propose the "phasic dynamics tuner" that tunes the robot body dynamics by changing the hip joint compliance. In order to realize changeable joint compliance, the joint is driven by agonistic and antagonistic McKibben pneumatic actuators around the joint. The experiment results show the effectiveness of the phasic dynamics tuner to change the walking velocity.


W hen light passes through cells, it is slowed ever so slightly by its encounters with transparent proteins and organelles. The microtubule-based mitotic spindle retards light by a mere 1/100 th of its wavelength, creating constructive and destructive interference patterns that can be observed with specialized optics (1, 2). In the early 1950s, Shinya Inoué used this principle to design a polarized light microscope that could make the fi rst recorded observations of the mitotic spindle in living cells (2). Inoué's continued innovations have revolutionized both microscopes and biological research, resulting in several seminal observations on the biology of living cells (3–6). Now 90 years old, he talked to us from his home near Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where he shared some reminiscences of his past and his hopes for the future of polarized light microscopy. What fi rst turned you on to science? I think I was always fairly interested in science but not specifi cally biology until I met Katsuma Dan. He was a biologist who had received his doctorate in Philadelphia and worked at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. But he returned to Japan with his American wife in 1937. In 1941, I was in the fi rst class that he ever taught in Japan, and his approach was entirely different from what I had otherwise experienced in Japanese schools (which involved a lot of rote memorization). Instead of prescribing to us what we had to do in the lab, he would pose various questions and say, " Do you want to try this? " I really decided to go into a career emphasizing biology after I did a project suggested by him in our class at the Musashi Junior College. I imagine it was diffi cult to pursue research during the war… I didn't get drafted until the last four months, when they just pulled everybody in, so I was able to complete my undergraduate degree. But things were very diffi cult, especially right after the war. We were very poorly nourished, but, in addition to my parents, Katsuma and Jean Dan actually nursed me back to health at their home in Nagai. Unlike many others, they were supplied with fresh food since, among other things, Jean had helped the local farmers recover half of the airfi eld (that the Japanese military had usurped from them) by negotiating with General MacArthur's staff. The farmers and …


Modern criminal investigations increasingly rely on evidence that is not in a tangible format and can no longer be assumed to be located close to the locus delicti or the perpetrator. This article focuses on the notification requirement embedded into the legal regimes regulating one of the available investigative measures employed to access data stored in digital devices – remote search and seizure. The article will first analyse whether there is an obligation under international law to notify the other state about such a transborder investigative measure. Then we will compare the notification requirements for remote search and seizure in three countries' domestic law: in Estonia, the Netherlands and the United States. Finally, we will draw conclusions on the principal challenges related to the implementation of the notification requirement under the domestic regulation. These involve balancing, on the one hand, the difficulties in identifying the location and the identity of the possible suspect and, on the other hand, the need to provide the involved individuals' protection as guaranteed by the principles of fair trial and effective remedy.


It is asserted that reliability prediction is not a reasonable application of the reliability growth concept, and that the various mathematical models introduced may not adequately describe the reliability growth process. It is argued that further understanding of the factors for test planning has not advanced beyond the rules of thumb that were proposed when the concept was initially introduced in 1964. The reliability community is challenged to reexamine the reliability growth concept, and particularly how the concept is being applied.<<ETX>>


We evaluated the incidence of atrial fibrillation in 189 patients (92males, 97females, mean age 75 ± 12yrs, range 41–100yrs) with pacemaker, during a mean follow‐up of 5.5yrs (range 1–24yrs). The indications for implant were: complete AV block (115pts), second degree Möbilz 2 AV block (51pts). bifascicular block (5pts). sick sinus syndrome (14pts), symptomatic bradycardia (4pts). The mode of stimulation considered were VVI (105pt), VVI rate responsive (21pts), single lead VDD (43pts), DDD (20pts). The occurrence of retrograde VA conduction in patients with VVI or VVI rate responsive pacing was also evaluated. Atrial fibrillation occurred in 40 pts (21%). The highest incidence was evidenced in patients with sick sinus syndrome (9pts, 64%), and in patients with VVI stimulation (28pts, 27%). On the contrary, the lowest incidence was found in single lead VDD stimulation (4pts, 9%). The patients with dual chamber pacing showed a relatively high incidence of the arrhythmia (5pts, 25%). Atrial fibrillation occurred in 9 out of 32 patients with retrograde VA conduction, and in 22 out of 94 patients without retrograde conduction (28% versus 23%, p=NS). In conclusion, it is confirmed that patients with sick sinus syndrome are at high risk for atrial fibrillation. Single lead VDD stimulation seems to be the better mode of pacing in preventing atrial fibrillation, while dual chamber pacing showed minor efficacy. The presence of retrograde VA conduction could not predict the occurrence of the arrhythmia.


The invention provides a fast bolt assembly and disassembly device. The device comprises a fixing rod, a transmission rod and a clamping part which are sequentially fixedly connected; the central axes of the fixing rod, the transmission rod and the clamping part are mutually coincided; the fixing rod is used for being fixed in a drilling chuck of an electric drill; the clamping part is provided with a nut bayonet. When a bolt needs to be assembled or disassembled in maintenance of electric power facility, the fixing rod of the device is fixed into the drilling chuck of the electric drill, a screw cap or nut is clamped by the bayonet, the electric drill is started, and the bolt can be fastened or disassembled by setting the steering direction of the electric drill, as the rotary speed of the electric drill is higher, the bolt can be fastened by disassembled with higher speed, the efficiency is far higher than that of manually fastening or disassembling the bolt, and the work efficiency of mounting or disassembling the bolt is improved.


Soft computing techniques have become very popular now-a-days as these techniques have replaced the traditional and statistical prediction mechanisms in weather forecasting, stock market prediction, crop prediction, solar energy prediction, and predictions in physics and chemistry etc. Each model has its advantages and disadvantages. Hybrid soft computing model is the mechanism of designing the models by exploiting the advantages of two or more models and suppressing their disadvantages. If the advantages of two or more number of models will be taken together in the new proposed model, then the accuracy in the prediction will be enhanced with decrease in error rate. This paper intends to design a hybrid model by taking the advantages of J48 Decision Tree and Fuzzy Logic andit is used to predict the weather parameters in Delhi with better accuracy.


The invention relates to a distributed panel-point positioning method for a wireless sensor network, belonging to the technical field of the panel-point self-positioning in the wireless sensor network. Aiming at the characteristic of the DV-Distance positioning algorithmic in the wireless sensor network, the invention provides an improved DV-Distance panel-point positioning method, particularly a skip counting from an anchor panel point to an unknown panel point is led into a distance corrected value; and based on the technical scheme, a distance corrected method is provided, and the near-far relation between the unknown panel point and the anchor panel point is considered, and the identical rout problem is considered too. Compared with the original arithmetic, under the condition of not increasing the extra hardware cost of the panel point and increasing a little of the working capacity of the arithmetic calculation, the invention has higher positioning precision, and is suitable for the sensor network system with the self-organization characteristic.


Aiming at the realization of power system visualization plane topology modeling, a development method of Microsoft Foundation Classes application framework based on Microsoft Visual Studio is proposed. The overall platform development is mainly composed of five modules: the primitive library module, the platform interface module, the model array file module, the topology array file module, and the algorithm module. The software developed by this method can realize the user-defined power system modeling, and can realize power system operation analysis by combining with algorithm. The proposed method has a short development cycle, compatibility and expandability. This method is applied to the development of a plane topology modeling platform for the distribution network system, which further demonstrates the feasibility of this method.


Art that intends to explore contemporary technological developments ideally would use the new technologies themselves in that exploration. The author describes his art, which explores various computer capabilities including the ability to interact intelligently with humans, the ability to sense and respond to environmental characteristics of the world such as time and temperature, and the ability to synthesize and recognize human speech.


Consumer knowledge and legal protection were measured in a telephone survey of a stratified random national sample of 1,305 older adults in the United States. The sample was divided into five age groups: 25–49, 50–64, 65–74, 75–84 and 85 and older. Respondents were aksed eight questions dealing with knowledge of consumer rights and protection. Consumer knowledge was poor and was not gender specific. As the age of the respondents increased, their knowledge score decreased. Those who were married or who were previously married scored higher than other groups.


A murine P388 leukemia line fully resistant to clofarabine was obtained after only two courses of intraperitoneal treatment (three times a day for nine consecutive days). The resistance was stable for at least 13 weeks without treatment. The subline was as sensitive to 5-fluorouracil, methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, melphalan, BCNU, doxorubicin, etoposide, irinotecan, vincristine, and docetaxel as was the parental P388/0 line but was cross-resistant to five antimetabolites [palmO-ara-C, 4′-thio-ara-C, fludarabine phosphate, cladribine, and gemcitabine—all of which require deoxycytidine kinase for activation] and paclitaxel. The subline had less than 1% of the deoxycytidine kinase activity in comparison to P388/0.


This chapter argues that feminists accuse traditional approaches to ethics of showing less concern for women's as opposed to men's issues and interests. They view as trivial the moral issues that arise in the private world, the realm in which women do housework and take care of children, the infirm, and the elderly. Traditional approaches imply that, in general, women are not as morally mature as men. The approaches overrate culturally masculine traits and underrate culturally feminine traits. They favour male ways of moral reasoning that emphasize rules, rights, universality, and impartiality over female ways of moral reasoning that emphasize relationships, responsibilities, particularity, and partiality. Care-focused and status-focused feminist approaches to ethics do not impose a single normative standard on women. Rather, they offer to women multiple ways to understand the ways in which gender, race, and class affect their moral decisions.


Based on the codon usage for the amino acids of 177 citrus functional proteins deposited in GenBank, a new antibacterial peptide D (APD) gene with citrus preference codons was designed and chemcially synthesized. The peptide has an ability to kill the phloem conducted pathogens for Huanglongbing,a destructive and widespread disease for citrus. The new gene encoding the same peptide, referred to as CAPD,was cloned into pUC19 to generate a recombinant plasmid pUC19-CAPD, and was verified by sequencing. Both pUC19-CAPD and plant expression vector pBI121 were digested by BamH I and Sac I, and then the smaller fragment containing CAPD gene from the former and the larger vector fragment without GUS gene from the latter were recovered, ligated, transformed and identified. As a result, a new plant expression vector, referred to as pHZ05,harboring CAPD target gene driven by the constitutive 35S promoter of CaMV (35SP) was constructed. BamH I and Hind III were applied to digest pHZ05 and pUCm-PSP,a plasmid containing phloem specific promoter from Cucubita maxima (PSP),and then the larger vector fragment without 35SP from the former and the smaller fragment containing PSP promoter from the latter were recovered. After ligation, transformation and verification, another new plant expression vector, refered to as pHZ06, harboring CAPD gene driven by PSP was constructed. The two new vectors, which harbor the same target gene CAPD but driven by different promoters, were then successfully introduced into competent cells of Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains LBA4404,GV3101,EHA105 and A. rhizogenes strains Ri15834, respectively. The study is helpful for further work to find a new way to develop new germplasms resistant to citrus disease Huanglongbing.


In the area of suburb there are different processes and proceedings of special transformations. This processes are mostly planning work, that are aimed at changes in destination of areas and divisions of real estate, which are aimed at adapting these real estate to their new destination. The aim of these analyses is to reveal an impact that administrative decisions which approve projects of divisions have on development of suburbs. The research contain suburbs of Łomża. The scope of research covers the period from 2004 to 2006. The research contains so the scale of the occurrence as its influence on the local real estate market. The main measure of development was a change in the value of new real estate that arose after divisions. As a hypothesis it was assumed that divisions of real estate have an result in an increase in the value of real estate therefore they have an impact on development of suburbs.


The gluon condensate is very sensitive to the QCD deconfinement transition since its value changes drastically with the deconfinement transition. We calculate the gluon condensate dependence of the heavy quark potential in AdS/CFT to study how the property of the heavy quarkonium is affected by a relic of the deconfinement transition. We observe that the heavy quark potential becomes deeper as the value of the gluon condensate decreases. We interpret this as a dropping of the heavy quarkonium mass just above the deconfinement transition. We finally argue that dropping of the gluon condensate and the pure thermal effect are competing with each other in the physics of heavy quarkonium at high temperature.


Mortality rates in the developed world are no longer related to per capita economic growth but are related instead to the scale of income inequality in each society. This represents a transition from the primacy of material constraints to social constraints as the limiting condition on the quality of human life....If increases in the quality of life now depend primarily on improving the social fabric of society rather than on general rises in prosperity then we must ask whether further undifferentiated economic growth is worth the environmental risks. (EXCERPT)


Abstract This study explored how private practice occupational therapists determined whether their clients' need 24-hour supervision, including assessments used, modes of clinical reasoning and therapists' confidence in their determinations. Survey data from 90 participants were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Participants reported using 166 different assessments to inform decisions about 24-hour supervision and most frequently engaged in pragmatic and conditional reasoning. On average, therapists perceived that they were confident or very confident in their determinations. There is variability in how therapists assess and reason through when 24-hour supervision may be required. Research to develop practice guidelines in this area is needed.


In this paper, different segmentation schemes of the EMG feature space are considered in order to implement a myoelectric prosthetic control with a minimum classification error. The pattern classification algorithm itself is based on heuristic rules. It is shown that the use of polar coordinates instead of cartesian ones may lead to a lower misclassification rate. The computation complexity of this kind of segmentation can be easily handled by current commercially available microprocessors.


The present invention discloses a spraying apparatus for metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) equipment. The apparatus comprises at least two transportation channels. Each transportation channel comprises air inlets, a cavity and through holes, wherein the air inlets, the cavity and the through holes are communicated. The positions between the through holes of all the transportation channels are the nested structures. According to the present invention, the uniform mixing effect of a plurality of gases can be improved by the spraying apparatus for the MOCVD equipment.


The current state and problems of the graduate students' training in China are set forth.And,the causes of problems are deeply analyzed.Then,some ideas and methods in engineering specialty graduate student's education are offered with co-founding by colleges and enterprises,uniting of production,learning and researching. And,some problems that should be noted are pointed out.


In this paper,the acute toxicity of potassium permanganate to black seabream Sparus macrocephalus juveniles in seawater and brackish water was studied.The results showed that the LC_(50) values of potassium permanganate in 24h were 3.41 in brackish water(salinity 10.4‰)and 4.78 mg/L in seawater(salinity(27.3‰)),respectively.The safe doses of potassium permanganate in brackish water and in seawater were(1.12)mg/L and 1.68mg/L,respectively.In brackish water,the acute toxicity of potassium permanganate to Sparus macrocephalus juveniles was lower than that in seawater.Therefore,it was much safer to have Sparus macrocephalus juveniles treated in brackish water.The results also indicated that black seabream would return to the normal condition once it was replaced to fresh brackish water or seawater,because the pathological changes caused by potassium permanganate were temporary.


The flow in a torsional shear cell is investigated with the purpose of finding a measure for the wall effect due to strongly nonuniform flow in the vicinity of the edge of the top platen. Various laminar flow problems are analysed that are relevant to this set-up. These include pure shearing flow of a single fluid in a both an infinite and finite cell, as well as pure shear of a two-fluid system in a finite cell. For pure shearing flow it is found that the extent of the wall effect is of the order of magnitude of the depth of the fluid layer. For piston flow the wall effect is entirely determined by boundary conditions at the bottom of the cell


The results of the anonymous online survey of people living in Latvia age 18 and over, using internationally (I-SHARE) and nationally validated questionnaire. Data include following variables: Selection, socio-demographics, social distancing measures, couple and family relationships, sexual behavior, access to condoms and contraceptives, access to reproductive health services, antenatal care, pregnancy and maternal and child health, abortion, sexual and gender-based violence, HIV/STI, mental health, and nutrition. (2021-02-08)


Purpose: Basosquamous carcinoma is a rare malignancy, with features of both basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. It is considered as aggressive tumor with a high risk of recurrence and metastases. Authors report a case of basosquamous cell carcinoma. Methods: A 72 year-old man, who had an erythematous ulcer on his left auricle, described a slow growing lesion, starting at the posterior surface of the superior helix with a steady increase in size during the past 10 years. At operation, auricular cartilage was grossly invaded by the tumor and was, therefore, amputated with tumor-free margins. Results: Histopathologic examination was revealed a basosquamous cell carcinoma. On positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and neck CT were negative for signs of further nodal involvement or metastases to other organs. At follow-up 6 months later, his wounds were noted to be well healed, with no evidence of local recurrence or identifiable metastases. Conclusion: Because basosquamous cell carcinoma has a significant potential to recur and metastasize, surgical excision for this type of carcinoma should be more extensive than that performed for conventional basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, regional lymph nodes should be monitored and close follow-up should be carried out.


Poststroke emotional incontinence (PSEI) has been associated with serotonergic dysfunction. Polymorphisms of serotonin transporter (5‐HTT) and serotonin 2a receptor (5‐HTR2a) genes may regulate serotonergic signaling at brain synapses, and this study was to investigate associations with PSEI in an East Asian population.


There was a Pacific Solution, a Malaysia Solution and, fleetingly, until someone thought to ask the Timorese, an East Timor Solution. But what exactly is the problem? I'm not asking rhetorically. It's a serious question, perhaps the most serious question in the entire debate surrounding asylum seekers arriving by boat, and yet it is barely asked. The axioms of the public conversation simply hold that asylum seekers on boats are a problem and that their existence should cease. At the same time, all protagonists sagely concede the problem is devilishly complex.


This chapter reviews social psychological research on help giving and helping relations from the 1950s until today. The first section considers the conditions under which people are likely to help others, personality dispositions that characterize helpful individuals, and motivational and attributional antecedents of helpfulness. The second section looks at long-term consequences of help and examines help in the context of enduring and emotionally significant relationships. Research has shown that in the long run help can increase psychological and physical well-being for helpers but discourage self-reliance for recipients. The third section analyzes helping from intra- and intergroup perspectives, considering how its provision can contribute to helpers' reputations within a group or promote the positive social identity of in-groups relative to out-groups. Help is thus conceptualized as a negotiation between the fundamental psychological needs for belongingness and independence. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.


Giardia duodenalis (syn. G. intestinalis, G. lamblia) is an important intestinal parasite in a wide range of mammals, including farm animals, companion animals and humans. The role of dendritic cells in the immune response against G. duodenalis is poorly documented and has only been studied in the mouse, which is not a natural host for this parasite. The objective of this study was to investigate whether G. duodenalis trophozoites or their excretion/secretion (ES) products activate and mature dendritic cells from cattle in vitro. Bovine monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs) were incubated with different concentrations of G. duodenalis trophozoites. An effect of ES products was investigated by preventing direct contact between the trophozoites and the MoDCs, using 0.4μm cell culture inserts. After 18h of stimulation, expression of the maturation markers CD80, CD40 and MHCII was measured and ovalbumin uptake was monitored. A dose-dependent decrease of ovalbumin uptake was observed in MoDCs incubated with trophozoites (but not ES), suggesting functional maturation. However, none of the maturation markers were upregulated after incubation of MoDCs with Giardia trophozoites or ES. In order to investigate whether or not MoDCs can induce lymphocyte proliferation after incubation with Giardia trophozoites, a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) will be performed with allogenic CD2+ lymphocytes. A selection of cytokines will be determined by ELISA in the culture supernatant of the stimulated MoDCs before and after incubation with CD2+ lymphocytes, to determine the phenotype of the immune response that is induced.


A 7-yr.-old cerebral palsied girl was taught to correct responses on two typing tasks using reinforcement contingent on number of correctly typed words. Maintenance of the behavior remained contingent on the presence of tangible reinforcement.


Clostroidides difficile (C difficile) is a common cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. To date, there is no vaccine to prevent C. difficile infection (CDI). This extension of a phase 2 study explores the immunogenicity, safety, and tolerability of a 4th dose, and antibody persistence of a three-dose regimen of a toxoid-based C difficile vaccine in 300 healthy adults 65 to 85 years of age in the United States.

 The first stage of this study was conducted from 16 July 2015 to 7 March 2017, in which subjects were enrolled and randomized to receive one of two antigen dose levels (100µg or 200µg total toxoid A and B) or placebo, administered in one of two three-dose regimens: Days 1, 8 & 30 or Months 0, 1 & 6. Immunogenicity testing was conducted on samples obtained at each of nine study visits through 12 months post dose 3. In this extension stage, subjects who had received vaccine in the first stage were re-randomized at 12 months post dose 3 to receive either a booster dose or placebo in a 1:1 ratio. Subjects were followed for immunogenicity three (3) years post booster (four years post dose #3)

 Peak antibody response to vaccination was observed between day 8 and 30 following booster administration. Both regimens demonstrated robust anamnestic responses with peak levels above the three-dose peak (stage 1). Toxin A geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) remained above pre-booster GMCs, 3 years post booster for both dose levels and regimens. Antibody persistence for both groups demonstrated stable antibody levels four years after the primary vaccination series among subjects who did not receive a booster dose. No Grade 4 reactogenicity was reported during the study. Pain was the most common local reaction. Adverse event rates per subject were similar between both regimens and placebo. There were no Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) considered related to the investigational product at any dose or regimen. The safety profile was consistent with what was seen in the first stage of the study.

 A booster dose of Clostroidides difficile vaccine candidate is highly immunogenic, well tolerated and demonstrates an acceptable safety profile in both dose groups for the Day and the Month regimens. Antibody persistence remains stable from 12 months to 4-year post dose 3.

 Nicholas Kitchin, MD, Pfizer, Inc (Employee) Michael W. Pride, PhD, Pfizer (Employee, Shareholder) Annaliesa S. Anderson, PhD, Pfizer (Employee, Shareholder) Chris Webber, MD, Pfizer Inc (Employee, Shareholder)


Pesticides are chemicals used to kill pests, both insects, fungi and weeds. Pesticides have been widely used for the purpose of eradicating pests and plant diseases in agriculture. The classification of the severity of pesticide exposure seen from the activities carried out is divided into four categories ranging from the lowest to the highest. A person with increasing age causes the metabolism function to decrease, so the average level of cholinestrase in the blood will be lower, making it easier for pesticide poisoning. Many studies have shown that there is a close relationship between the lengths of pesticide exposure


Cycling is gaining increasing attention as a convenient, environmentally friendly, and fitness-improving mode of transport. While many policy interventions have been made to promote cycling, not enough research has focused on the barriers to implementing pro-cycling policies. For effective policy implementation, identifying major barriers and removing them is critical. This study took an in-depth look at Hamburg which started a major cycling promotion in 2008. According to expert interviews and literature surveys, the author found that the major barriers are physical, political and institutional, and social and cultural. Specifically, the city lacks enough physical space, political support, and the evaluation of travel behavior and demand. Also, some private stakeholders are reluctant to give up on-street car parking space for cycling lanes, and the negotiation process is difficult and time-consuming. To overcome these barriers, Hamburg requires cycling-oriented urban design, a strategic and integrated cycling action plan, strong political support, and target group-oriented communication.


We present high-resolution H I and Hα observations of the spiral galaxy NGC 4254. The observations were obtained with the VLA and the Maryland-Caltech Fabry-Perot camera, respectively. NGC 4254 is unusual in having a grand-design spiral structure with a strong m=1 component for which there is no obvious cause in optical images. Our observations reveal that, in addition to the usual galactic disk component, there are H I clouds superposed on and beyond the H I disk, at velocities up to 150 km s −1 from those established for the disk. The mass in these clouds is ∼2.3×10 8 M ○. , and they may be the remnants of an entity that was tidally disrupted by NGC 4254 and is now merging with it


The time dependent neutrino oscillation signals due to the passage of a shock wave through the supernovae are analyzed for the case of three active neutrinos and also for the case that there are two additional sterile neutrinos. It is shown that, even without flavor identification and energy measurement, detailed information about the masses and mixing angles of the neutrinos may be obtained with a detector with excellent time resolution such as IceCube. Such a signal would also give important information about the nature of the shock wave within the supernovae.


Political and economic changes in the former Soviet Union have affected literally every aspect of Russian life including education. The purpose of this article is to describe the effects of these changes upon the internationally recognized Russian schools for mathematically and scientifically talented students. Although famous schools such as that founded by mathematician A. N. Kolmogorov have served as models for schools in other nations including the United States, the shifting sands of modern Russia may threaten their future. Previous works that described the education of the mathematically and scientifically talented in Russian such as Grigorenko and Clinkenbeard (1994), Dunstan (1990), Shtokola (1978), and Vogeli (1968) have not anticipated the impact of changes in Russia's political and economic systems. This article should serve to supplement these more inclusive works.


This paper has three contributions to the fields of power plant monitoring. First, we differentiate out-of-range detection from fault detection. An out-of-range refers to a normal operating range of a power plant unseen in the training data. In the case of an out-of-range, instead of producing a fault alarm, the system should notify the operator to include more training data which capture this new operating range. Second, we apply a support vector one-class classifier to out-of-range detection for its good volume modeling ability. Third, we propose to use hidden variables in regression models for fault detection. This is shown to be much better than prior work in terms of spillover reduction.


as possible. The author shows the importance of communication with the severely subnormal child and of correct timing and imagination in the teacher's responses to him. She points out the value, on occasions, of observing the child without being involved and suggests useful ways of achieving this. Her points are well illustrated by case histories and actual observations made by students in the classroom.


Teosinte, the wild progenitor of maize, has immense potential for providing unique traits and is more divergent compared to inbred lines and landraces. One hundred and sixty-nine teosinte-introgressed maize backcross inbred lines were developed to widen the genetic base of maize with predomestication alleles. The population was evaluated phenotypically and genotypic data of 76 SSR markers were used to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) governing the targeted traits. Sixty-six QTLs were detected for eight plant architect-related traits that are spread over 10 different chromosomes with phenotypic variation ranging from 2.29 to 13.97%. Maximum three stable QTLs were recorded for days to anthesis (DA) followed by two for days to silking (DS), plant height (PH) and node bearing first ear (NBE). For rest of three traits namely flag leaf length (FLL), flag leaf width (FLW) and ears per plant (E/P) only one stable QTL was detected. Among the 16 common QTLs, the marker phi328178-linked QTL governed four characters (DA, DS, FLL, FLW) simultaneously, followed by umc1622-linked (ASI, FLW, E/P), umc2341-linked (DA, DS, NBE) and phi075-linked QTLs (ASI, PH, NBE) controlling three traits each. Remaining 12 QTLs controlled two characters. Molecular association between co-localized QTLs for different traits was also validated at the phenotypic level by significant correlation estimates. For eight studied traits, 53 superior lines were identified which along with parents (teosinte and maize inbred DI-103) were grouped into 12 clusters. Therefore, lines clustered independently can be combined to accumulate desirable traits for the improvement of maize.


The article is devoted to assessing the concept of integrated greening and directions of its implementation on the territory of urban settlements. The basis for the development of green areas of common use, according to the principles of landscape planning, is expected to expand recreational opportunities through reconstruction of existing green areas, greening areas of new residential development and use of alternative urban greening


Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare satisfaction of practice and clinical skill in different participation learning and observation learning, and to offer the basic data to promote quality of nursing education. Method: The study used a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group post-test design. The subjects were 62 nursing students of K college in Jeonbuk, and the period of data gathering was limited from 19 Nov. 2006 to 30 Nov. 2006. Experience group was taught by hand-on education and control group was taught by conventional education. The instrument tools included self-efficacy, satisfaction of practice and clinical skill. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS-PC programme. Result: The results of this study were as follows: There was statistically a significance difference between the two group about satisfaction of practice(t=2.011 p=.043), and clinical skill(t=11.997, p=.000). Self-efficacy showed a significantly positive correlation with satisfaction of practice(r=.476, p=.000) and clinical skill(r=.178, p=.014). Also, satisfaction of practice showed a significantly positive correlation with clinical skill(r=.l82, p=.000). Conclusion: In conclusion, this study suggests that hand-on education is an effective learning method to nursing students. By utilizing hand-on education, makes nursing students plan self-directed nursing performance and improve their clinical skills.


The objective of this investigation was to study the microscopical structure of the gallbladder in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonicum). Tissue samples were obtained from six male and six female adult healthy Japanese quail. Sections were stained with haematoxylin eosin. The results showed that the overall microscopical structure of the gallbladder of Japanese quail was similar to that in chukar partridge except for the goblet cells. The gallbladder was composed of tunica mucosa, tunica muscularis and tunica serosa or tunica adventitia. The tunica mucosa was mainly lined by simple columnar epithelium which was covered by a continuous striated border of microvilli. The goblet cells were observed in epithelium. Tunica mucosa forms some folds which appeared to be regularly distributed over the whole gallbladder luminal surface and were most isometric. Deep invaginations of the surface epithelium were observed to have grown down into the underlying mesenchyme, showing a tubular gland like appearance. The muscularis mucosa was absent. The thin lamina propria-submucosa was contained loose connective tissue which consisted of numerous diffuse lymphatic tissues, but no glands were observed. The tunica muscularis consisted of a thin circular layer of smooth muscle fibers. The loose connective tissue of tunica serosa or adventitia was made up of adipose tissues and blood vessels. No significant sex-based differences were found.


An investigation on 250.83 mm casing used in Tarim oil field is given,and it was found that the tension strength of 250.83 mm casing with API 244.48 mm buttress thread connection was far less than that of its pipe body.The new 250.83 mm buttress thread connection was designed for 250.83 mm casing.It is proved that the tension strength of 250.83 mm casing with 250.83 mm buttress thread connection was far more than that of 250.83 mm casing with API 244.48 mm buttress thread connection per carrying out calculation and FEA.The new formula was devised via analysis API tension strength formula of casing connection,which is not only satisfied to calculation tension strength of API casing connection,but also to non API casing connection.


Abstract.  Conventional bootstrap‐t intervals for density functions based on kernel density estimators exhibit poor coverages due to failure of the bootstrap to estimate the bias correctly. The problem can be resolved by either estimating the bias explicitly or undersmoothing the kernel density estimate to undermine its bias asymptotically. The resulting bias‐corrected intervals have an optimal coverage error of order arbitrarily close to second order for a sufficiently smooth density function. We investigated the effects on coverage error of both bias‐corrected intervals when the nominal coverage level is calibrated by the iterated bootstrap. In either case, an asymptotic reduction of coverage error is possible provided that the bias terms are handled using an extra round of smoothed bootstrapping. Under appropriate smoothness conditions, the optimal coverage error of the iterated bootstrap‐t intervals has order arbitrarily close to third order. Examples of both simulated and real data are reported to illustrate the iterated bootstrap procedures.


T majority of prosecutions for obstructing the police are based on s. 2 of the Prevention of Crime Amendment Act, 1885 which provides that section 12 of the principal Act (of 1871) "shall apply to all cases of resisting or wilfully obstructing" a constable. The principal Act applies "where any person is convicted of an assault on any constable." As it is further provided that the two Acts "shall be construed as one", we thus have a comprehensive provision penalising an assault, resistance or wilful obstruction. The offence of obstruction was, however, not applied to Ireland, owing to the opposition in Parliament of an Irish member who claimed that "police officers in Ireland executed their duty in such a way that it was rather meritorious than otherwise to obstruct them." But there are other enactments in Ireland which make an obstruction an offence, and one of these recently fell to be construed by the Divisional Court in Northern Ireland in Minister for Agriculture v. Marmion (1955, N. I. 224). The decision in that case may be read together with that of the English Divisional Court in Hinchliffe v. Sheldon (1955, I W. L. R. 1207; 1955, 3 All E.R. 406; noted on p. 40 of Vol. 20 of this JOURNAL); for while the English Court was considering the question whether there may be an obstruction notwithstanding the absence of any act in the nature of an assault, the Irish Court had to decide whether they could find that there was no obstruction, notwithstanding the proof of an assault upon a constable who was acting in the execution of his duty. The contrast between the two decisions is brought into greater relief by reference to the earlier decision of the Scottish courts in Curlett v. M'Kechnie (1938, S. C. (J.) 176; 1939, S.L.T. II). Regulation 7(2) of the Livestock (Import from Eire and the Isle of Man) Regulations, 1945 provides, in Northern


Objective To investigate the value of high-frequency color Doppler ultrasonography(CDU)in the diagnosis of the testicular germinal cell tumor (TGCT, germinoma). Methods A comprehensive analysis was performed by observing the 2-dimensional sonograms and the arterial blood flow peak systolic velocity (PSV) , resistance index (RI) in 33 cases with TGCT using high-frequency CDU were conjugated and analysed with related clinical situations, the blood-serum αFP and β-hCG. All the cases were pathologically confirmed after operation. Results Among 33 cases with TGCT, seminoma were present in 13 cases, embryonal carcinoma in 4, teratoma in 7, yolk sac tumor in 4, and mixed germ cell tumor in 5. All TGCT possessed individual characteristics on 2-dimensional sonograms. The smallest tumor detected was about 0.4 cm×0.6 cm in size. The blood flow PSV value in TGCT was obviously higher than that of the healthy adults' intratesticular artery blood flow, whereas the RI value overlapped with the normal reference value greatly. The coincidence of high-frequency CDU in the diagnosis of TGCT was 97%(32/33). The blood-serum tumor marker levels were elevated in 17 patients, of whom 10 showed elevated αFP levels, 2 showed elevated β-hCG, and 3 had both αFP and β-hCG increased. Conclusions High-frequency CDU, which is capable of detecting testicular tumors in the earlier period plays an important role in the diagnosis of TGCT. While combined with the correlated clinical situations, the blood-serum αFP and β-hCG etc, we can obtain further reliable informations for the diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis judgement of the disease.


In this paper, we present a method for solving 2-D Navier-Stokes equations on triangular unstructured grids. The approach is based on the key idea of the Godunov scheme - the efficiency of finding solution to the problem on the decay of an arbitrary rupture (Riemann problem). Computations are carried out with the first- and second-order space approximation. However, unlike the original Godunov method, in computations of the flows at cell interfaces, the solution to the Riemann problem is sought using the AUSM (Advection Upstream Splitting Method) scheme. The concepts involved in the AUSM scheme are discussed. The solution of the problem on the decay of an arbitrary rupture found by the proposed approach is compared with the results obtained by the Godunov method. The numerical solutions of some problems on the flow of viscous and nonviscous perfect gas obtained on unstructured grids of different quality are presented and compared with the solutions of similar problems obtained on structured grids. The influence of the order of space approximation on the accuracy of numerical solutions is considered.


This study examined the impact of nurses' education and experience and the characteristics of their patients on their performance of peripheral intravenous cannulation. A researcher-developed peripheral intravenous cannulation assessment tool was used to assess nurses' behavior during cannulation. Results from a hierarchical multiple regression indicated that patient demographic variables did not significantly predict overall ratings of peripheral intravenous cannulation performance. Nurses' education and experience significantly predicted overall ratings of peripheral intravenous cannulation. Educational preparation at a postgraduate level was a significant positive predictor, and the years of experience in general nursing were a significant negative predictor of overall ratings of peripheral intravenous cannulation. The results from the current study highlight the importance of applied education, such as that indicated by a graduate degree, in providing and maintaining advanced clinical skills for specialty practice.


Abstract A simple device for obtaining patient contours for radiotherapy planning quickly is described. Its low cost and ease of construction make it a practical replacement for the usual flexible wire method.


The invention discloses a trust management method based on backward inference. The trust management method based on the backward inference comprise a trust evaluation module and a trust punishment module, wherein an operation process of the trust evaluation module comprises the following steps: generating satisfaction degree evaluation among nodes through transaction among the nodes, and adopting a multiple evaluation mechanism to calculate a direct trust value of the evaluated node; utilizing a cosine similarity formula to obtain a similar node set, and calculating an indirect trust value of the evaluated node; combining the direct trust value and the indirect trust value to calculate a comprehensive trust value of the evaluated node; comparing the comprehensive trust value with a trust threshold value, and marking the evaluated node; and generating a node sequence with a mark. The operation process of the trust punishment module comprises the following steps: inquiring the comprehensive trust value for the mark node by other nodes; according to different node marks, looking for and punishing a malicious node; punishing the malicious node to lower the reputation value of the malicious node; calculating the final reputation values of all nodes; and generating a node sequence subjected to devaluation sorting according to the reputation values. The punishment mechanism is introduced in, so that an evaluation result is more accurate.


Rotating anode x‐ray tubes for medical roentgenography require bearing operation in high vacuum. A method of lubricating such bearings by vaporizing a thin film of low vapor pressure material, such as pure barium metal, onto them in the final vacuum is described. The results of tests with a great many different metals as the vaporizing films and combination films, as well as different base materials, are given. Experimental evidence is presented that indicates the lubricating film to be a liquid alloy of barium and metals such as cobalt, chromium, or aluminum.


Contents: Traffic accident investigation functions. Preparation for traffic accident investigation. Traffic accident information from and about people. Traffic accident information from roads. Simple estimates of vehicle stopping distances and speed from skidmarks. Traffic accident information from vehicles. Lamp examination for on or off in traffic accidents. Tire examination following accidents. Measuring at the scene of traffic accidents. Photogrammetry for traffic accident investigation. Measuring the road for after accident situation maps. Drawing after accident situation maps. Photography for traffic accident investigation.


Based on vegetated-slopes and outdoor simulated rainfall events, the different influence of vegetation, rainfall, underlying surface condition on the total runoff amount and total sediment yield for one rainfall event was investigated by path analysis and grey relational analysis. Results indicated that the results of path analysis are in agreement with that of grey relational analysis. The rainfall intensity, vegetation coverage and antecedent soil moisture are the three most important factors that influence the total runoff amount, and followed by vegetation types, rainfall duration, vegetation growth stages and slope gradient. The vegetation coverage and rainfall intensity are the two important factors that influence the total sediment yield, and rainfall duration is the least significant factor.


Pericentric inversions of autosomes are reported rarely in human subjects (Jacobs et al. 1967). This is the first report of a family showing both a pericentric inversion and an unbalanced crossover segregation product from the inversion. The present family shows inheritance through three generations of a structurally abnormal chromosome no. 4, interpreted to be a large pericentric inversion. A child in the fourth generation shows retardation and congenital anomalies not specific for any recognized syndrome, and is found to have an abnormal chromosome no. 4 which is morphologically different from the inversion chromosome in the carrier ancestors. Although a significant number of family members, all phenotypically normal, show the pericentric inversion, there is no increased frequency of congenital malformations, fetal deaths, or infertility within the family. The propositus described below is the only known individual with severe defects. This family study suggests that the risk for abnormalities may not be high in the instance of some inversions. pyelogram


This paper demonstrates damage detection in a smart sandwich panel with integrated transducers. The panel is built from a chiral honeycomb and two composite skins. Chiral structures are a subset of auxetic solids exhibiting counterintuitive deformation mechanism and rotative – but not reflective – symmetry. Low-profile sensors and actuators are surface-bonded on the face skin of the panel. Nonlinear acoustics is applied for damage detection. The combined vibro-acoustic interaction of high-frequency ultrasonic wave and low-frequency vibration excitation leads to various nonlinear effects. The paper demonstrates that when structure is damaged, the high-frequency "weak" ultrasonic wave is modulated by the low-frequency "strong" vibration wave. As a result frequency sidebands can be observed around the main acoustic harmonic in the spectrum of the ultrasonic signal.


In Persian walnut (Juglans regia L.), as in other deciduous dicotyledonous trees, a small (0.5 mm) amount of secondary phloem is functional for only one season and a large amount is nonfunctional. In 1968 in Central California the cycle of phloem development began in late February and ended sometime before mid-October. The phloem annual ring was composed of distinctive tangential bands, allowing easy distinction of seasonal growth increments. Each growth increment could be divided into early- and late-season tissue. Early-season phloem, composed principally of large sieve tubes, was separated from late-season phloem by a band of fibers. The late-season phloem was composed of a mixture of narrow sieve tubes, parenchyma cells, and, occasionally, an incomplete tangential band of fibers. The annual rings were not crushed except for the early-season phloem, which was somewhat compressed by growth of the woody cylinder. The bark of walnut becomes thicker with age because of this and the enlargement of parenchym...