This paper has analyzed the policy change trend of North Korea in relation to the surrounding four powers after the death of Kim Il-Sung. Since the death of Kim Il-Sung until the official power succession of Kim Jong-Il, the North Korean policy direction and goal were analyzed to be of no great difference compared with the period of Kim Il-Sung. This seems to derive from an aspect reflecting special attributes of the North Korean system to be consistent of the instructions of the late Kim Il-Sung, The preparation of optimal existence conditions appeared to be more urgent task to maintain the system as well. Since the succession of power, the policy toward those four countries transformed into an active policy direction. Particularly, there is a big difference in that the North Korea wants to receive a system guarantee, along with economic aid and cooperation, from the four surrounding powers. The multiple party talks operated in connection with the North Korean nuclear issue shows such an aspect of North Korea vividly. North Korea is also interested in the mutual cooperation system established with Russia and Japan as well as China in order to avoid the oppression policy of the US toward North Korea. The future policy direction and goal with regard to those four powers are likely to be unfolded focused on more active and practical benefits on the level of system leap, rather than its system protection. In this context, the Pyong- yang regime will focus on getting guarantee of its system, as well as offsetting the pressuring policy of the US toward the North Korea in the short-term. In the mid and long-term, North Korea will concentrate on economic cooperation and attraction of support from those countries aim- ing at system leap. In addition, the North Korea is forecast to promote a gradually balanced policy in relation to the four surrounding powers, amid trying to form a four powers cooperation system with China, Russia and Japan.


Introduction. As I wrote formerly (1), till July 1st, 2011, water memory was an argument of large discussion, really a conjecture. In fact, nobody has ever proved that water is able of retaining a memory (I use also the term INFORMATION) of substances dissolved in it once to arbitrary dilution. In the referred paper, precise information on utilizing Water Memory-Infor mation was provided. While some studies, including Benveniste's, reporte d this effect, double-blind replications of the experiments involved have failed to reproduce the r esults, and the concept is not accepted by the scientific community. On the contrary, I illustrated the CLINICAL, Quantu m Biophysical Semeiotic Demonstration of Water Memory-Information, curing my gastroenterocol itis due to Gram-positive bacteria, I had been suffering from for 4 days (1). Importantly, every my experimental evidence can be bedside reproduced easily and quickly, at the condition that scientists, who want reproduce it, k now the quantum biophysical semeiotic method!


Intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, and its prevention is a global public health priority. There is strong scientific evidence that suggests IPV and symptoms such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, chronic pain, etc . are linked. Despite recommendations and various interventions for the treatment of IPV that have been tried in these last 20 years, the rates of recurrence are still too high. Furthermore, there is a lack of research evidence for the effectiveness of the most common treatments provided for victims and perpetrators of IPVs. The purpose of this paper is to present most used, at a global level, therapeutic interventions for women experiencing IPV (as well as treatments for perpetrators). The possibility of building a preliminary theoretical and clinical model is discussed.


The author uses an autoethnographic and narrative approach, based in a postpositivist research framework, to describe and explore the love feast as it is observed among the Old German Baptist Brethren. The "love feast occasion" constitutes a site of prime spiritual and communal significance for members of the group, who represent the largest Plain or Old Order expression of the Schwarzenau Brethren. The occasion, taking place over a full weekend of services, communal meals, informal time for fellowship and "Youngfolks" activities is hosted annually by each district or congregation (as well as being held at the group's Annual Meeting at Pentecost). Its essential feature is a lengthy service held on the Saturday evening that reenacts the central events of Jesus's last meal with his disciples in Jerusalem, prior to His betrayal and death. Discrete but interlinked elements of this highly ritualized service involve preparation, footwashing, a communal fellowship meal, an exchange of the holy kiss and sharing in the bread and wine of Communion. The deeply symbolic and highly ritualized event constitutes an occurrence in which members see themselves as renewing their connection with God, their mystical relationship with fellow members and with the central emphases of Brethren teaching.


Magnetic and electronic properties of reduced rutile titanium dioxide (TiO2-δ) thin films doped by Mn have been investigated. The present sol-gel-grown semiconducting TiO2-δ:Mn films exhibit a ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature for a limited range of Mn content. The Mn-doped films have p-type electrical conductivity with the carrier concentration near 10 cm−3. The observed room-temperature ferromagnetism is believed to be intrinsic but not related to free carriers such as holes. Oxygen vacancies are likely to contribute to the room-temperature ferromagnetism−trapped carriers in oxygen vacancies can mediate a ferromagnetic coupling between neighboring Mn ions. The energy band-gap change due to the Mn doping measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry exhibits a red-shift compared to that of the undoped sample at low Mn content. It is explainable in terms of strong spin-exchange interactions between Mn ion and the carrier.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of initial NaOCl on the decalcification and erosion ability of EDTA and QMix. Sixty‐maxillary‐incisors were bisected longitudinally and the tooth‐halves were used. The experiment was conducted in two‐sets. In set‐I, 80‐tooth halves were treated in the presence or absence of initial NaOCl and EDTA. In set‐II, 40‐tooth halves were immersed in NaOCl and QMix. After each treatment, calcium‐ion release was determined with flame photometry. The erosion was imaged using SEM. Initial NaOCl led to concentration‐ and time‐dependent increase in calcium removal effect of 17% EDTA (p < .05). The rate of calcium removal and root canal wall erosion was considerably more severe with the use of 5% NaOCl for 3 min (p < .05). QMix as a final solution showed less decalcification and erosion than 17% EDTA when used 5% NaOCl as an initial irrigant (p < .05). Optimizing the concentration and application time of NaOCl can decrease the decalcification effect of chelating agents.


By taking Boost DC/DC converter as an example,this paper studies the effect on reducing EMI level of Boost DC/DC converter by different chaotic sources under the same chaotic modulation modes. Simulation results demonstrate that different chaotic signals have different effects. As far as chaotic (sources) are concerned, a concrete conclusion can be drawn that the effect of Lorenz system on reducing the level of EMI is better than the others.


As audiologists, we understand the important role hearing sensitivity plays in the development of reading skills. What we don't always consider, however, is the effect of central auditory processing. The accurate representation of speech sounds is an important aspect of learning to link sounds with orthographic symbols, a fundamental building block of reading (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2010;107[17]:7939-7944). Furthermore, if a child is not making sound-to-meaning connections in language, then efficient, automatic representation of sound by the auditory system will not develop. It stands to reason that the evaluation of auditory-processing abilities, in addition to basic hearing thresholds, is an important part of the assessment of children who are having difficulty reading.


Due to the effect of soil structure,the structure of natural sedimentary clays was meta-stable and would damage during the process of post-yield compression deformation.First,a one-dimensional disturbed state concept(DSC) compression model of structured soils was established based on the disturbed state concept to characterize the compression destructural behavior of natural soils under loading.Additional void ratio Δe was employed as a structured state parameter reflecting the influence of soil structure;and quantitativel analysis was conducted on the relationship between additional void ratio and consolidation pressure.Compression destructive index b was used to describe the rate of destructuring in the DSC model.Then,one-dimensional compression tests were conducted on the Taihu Lake swamped natural soft clay,silty clay and stiff clay,and the results of the tests were simulated and analyzed using the DSC model.A procedure was suggested to determine parameters in the model.The results show that the proposed DSC model can be implemented to describe the compression behavior of natural soils with various structures.The DSC model reflected the nonlinearity of compression curve,which contribute to the accurate calculation in the nonlinear consolidation and settlement of structural soils.


Ryszard Skawiński is a graduate of Polish philology at the Adam Mickiewicz Universityin Poznań (1979). He started working as a teacher in November 1979. In 1991–1996 he was thedeputy director of the Complex of Vocational Schools No. 1 for them. Jędrzej Śniadecki in Ełk, andin the years 1996–2006 their director. In 2005, at the Educational Research Institute in Warsaw,he obtained his doctorate on the basis of his doctoral dissertation. From June 20, 2001, a certifiedteacher, an expert of the Ministry of National Education in the field of professional promotion andan OKE examiner. He is a board member of the Masurian Scientific Society in Ełk. He conductedclasses at many universities, e.g. Wszechnica Mazurska in Olecko, Faculty of Technical and SocialSciences (formerly Centrum Studiów Bałtyckich) in Ełk of the University of Warmia and Mazuryin Olsztyn (now a branch of UWM in Ełk), the Faculty Department in Ełk of the Universityof Finance and Management in Białystok, at the University of Information Technology andEconomics in Olsztyn, the Branch Department in Ełk at the University of Economy in Bydgoszcz.In the years 1998-2002 he was a councilor of the City of Ełk, and in the years 2006–2009 andfrom 2014 he was a councilor of the Ełk Poviat. During the 2006-2010 term, he was the DeputyStarost of the Ełk County. Author of nearly 200 publications, including 11 books, 35 editors of the"Publisher" magazine and 15 scientific articles. Editor of scientific journals "Studia Ełckie" and"Civitas et Lex". In 2021, he was awarded the honorary title of professor of education.


Purpose: To ascertain whether the methods of prone positioning we use have any influence on the incidence of perioperative critical incidents and development of postoperative liver dysfunction in our scoliosis patients. Methods: A retrospective review of 72 patients undergoing posterior correction and fusion for scoliosis from August 2006 to November 2007. Details were recorded from anaesthetic charts, operation notes, blood results and cell salvage data. Results: Patients ranged in age from 2 to 24 years. The methods of prone positioning were Transverse Bolsters (23), Allen Frame 4-point support (25), Lateral Bolsters (11) and the Knight Table (13). Perioperative haemodynamic instability was noted in 8% of patients on the Allen Frame, 43% on transverse bolsters, 15% on the Knight Table and 55% on lateral bolsters. Two cardiac arrests, one fatal and one with good recovery, both occurred on transverse bolsters. Of 22 other complications attributable to mechanical effects of prone positioning, 16 occurred on transverse bolsters, 4 on the Allen Frame, 1 on lateral bolsters and 1 on the Knight Table. 34% of patients had liver dysfunction postoperatively. None had been positioned on the Knight Table or lateral bolsters. There was no significant difference between the incidence of liver dysfunction associated with the Allen Frame or transverse bolsters. Conclusion: Transverse bolsters are associated with a high number of critical incidents and should be avoided if possible. Ethics approval – not required Interest Statement - none


An adapted grading system for students with disabilities in general physical education allows utilization of existing assessment tools such as rubrics and checklists and provides methods of individualization and modification based on the student's needs. Adapted grading methods include weighting components of class grades and unit assessments, calculating a level of difficulty score, and establishing supplementary grades including a level of attainment and level of independence grade. All methods discussed provide the general and/or adapted physical educator with strategies for generating valid numerical grades for their students with disabilities. Nontraditional grade reporting methods are also discussed.


Abstract Existing studies on spatial panel data models typically assume a normal distribution for the random error components. This assumption may not be appropriate in many applications. Here we consider a more flexible and powerful approach that generalizes the traditional model. We propose a skew-normal generalized spatial panel data model that adopts a multivariate skew normal distribution for the random error components. For parameter estimation, a Bayesian inference algorithm is developed. A simulation study and the analysis of a real data set of cigarette demand are conducted to compare the proposed skew normal spatial model with the traditional (normal) spatial model.


Neuromyelitis optica (NMO), which includes Devic disease, is widely accepted as a distinct clinical and pathologic entity separate from multiple sclerosis (MS). In NMO, the primary pathologic change is loss of aquaporin 4 water channel protein on astrocytes, occasionally with secondary demyelination.1 NMO is phenotypically similar to optico-spinal MS (OSMS) described in Asian MS populations; particularly in patients with longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (LETM).2

In 2004, Lennon et al.3 reported a characteristic immunofluorescence autoantibody staining pattern of CNS tissues with serum from patients with NMO; IgG deposition occurred around microvessels of the pia, sub-pia, and Virchow-Robin spaces and colocalized with laminin. This autoantibody was named NMO-IgG and was subsequently shown to bind to the predominant CNS water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4).4 NMO-IgG positivity (and by inference anti-AQP4 antibody positivity) has now been included as one of the three supportive criteria in the recently revised diagnostic criteria for NMO.5 Inclusion of NMO-IgG positivity as part of the diagnostic criteria for NMO has resulted in phenotypic spread. For example, involvement of the brain, previously …


Content slicing addresses the need of adaptive systems to reuse open corpus material by converting it into re-composable information objects. However this conversion is highly dependent upon the ability to correctly fragment pages into structurally sound atomic pieces. A recently suggested approach to fragmentation, which relies on densitometric page representation, claims to achieve high accuracy and time performance. Although it has been well received within the research community, a full evaluation of this approach and identification of strengths and weaknesses across a range of characteristics hasn't been performed. This paper proposes an independent evaluation of the approach with respect to granularity control, accuracy, time performance, content diversity and linguistic dependency. Moreover, this paper also provides a significant contribution to address important weaknesses discovered during the analysis, in order to improve the suitability and impact of the original algorithm within the context of content slicing.


I was going over my notes for this editorial letter when a soft clicking noise alerted me to a new email. ''I was wondering whether you can help me,'' inquired a man. ''I think I am suffering from depression, and it affects my relationship with my partner.'' No further information was given. Before responding, I reflected on this typical and, on the face of it, simple request for therapy. I started seeing it in light of the first two articles for this issue of the Transactional Analysis Journal, which I had just read. This man came with a self-imposed diagnosis and was aware that somehow his structural problem had relational implications. He put the responsibility within himself; it was he who ''had depression.'' I didn't yet know whether his partner was male or female, whether that relationship was the only one affected, or whether the client was 18 or 80 years old. I asked myself how I would work with him if we decided to proceed. How much would I be aware of the client's ever-shifting ego states, from moment to moment, as well as my own? To what extent would he be willing to look at our relationship and at how depression might affect it? How did he view depression? Was it ''the curse of the strong'' (Cantopher, 2003) and the result of depleted serotonin supplies caused by stress hormones? And, if so, why was he stressed? Where should I focus first? The client implicitly wanted to be relieved of a condition he termed ''depression,'' and he assumed that his relationship with his partner would improve as a result. This was a legitimate request. Pull the splinter out, don't prolong the agony, as in Berne's (1971, p. 12) metaphor. The relationship that needed attention was the one with his partner, not with anyone else, at least not as far as the potential client told me. I found myself wondering if it is useful to introduce the importance of the therapeutic relationship from the beginning of any therapeutic work. Would it surprise my potential client to do so, would he welcome the idea, or would it put him off? It is ethical for a relational therapist to state how he or she works? I say things such as, ''You might find that, on occasion, what happens 'out there' also has a bearing on what happens 'in here,' and in our contact things will be played out, albeit in slightly different fashion, that affect you elsewhere.'' Most people simply nod, without inquiring further, but it is a useful thing to be able to refer back to if and when we run into enactments. But is everything relational? Are there states of (body)mind that are not based on a relational experience? As Cornell (2012) wrote, ''We do not live our lives in perpetual, intersubjective matrices'' (p. 255). Martin's Buber's (1962, p. 97) assertion ''der Mensch wird am Du zum Ich'' is virtually impossible to translate and stems from a work preceding the much loved I and Thou (Buber, 1937/2010). The only official translation I have come across is a fairly clumsy one:


Occidental Petroleum is concluding a two year evaluation of the application of its modified in situ oil shale process to the Timahdit oil shale of the Kingdom of Morocco. This work included evaluation of the geology, reserves, and hydrology of the deposit based on about 40 coreholes, most of which had been drilled by the government agency, BRPM, previously. In addition, mining tests were conducted under this contract to define rock strength, mine stability, mine safety and rubblization aspects. Oil shale from Timahdit was processed in a small pilot plant to obtain processing criteria. The results of these tests were utilized in the design of a facility to produce 50,000 B/D of raw shale oil and 650 megawatts of export power.


We investigate the effects of thermal annealing on the improvement in the planar orientation of the polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) cell. The obtained results reveal that annealing the CLC/monomer mixture at the CLC–isotropic transition temperature (Tci) effectively reduces the viscosity of the CLC/monomer mixture, accelerating the annihilation of oily streaks. Increasing the annealing time effectively removes the oily streaks, giving the polymer-stabilized CLC cell a high transmittance and a sharp stop band edge. An 8-µm-thick polymer-stabilized CLC cell with a defect-free planar texture is achieved when the annealing time of the cell exceeds 10 min.


Skew Boolean algebras for which pairs of elements have natural meets, called intersections, are studied from a universal algebraic perspective. Their lattice of varieties is described and shown to coincide with the lattice of quasi-varieties. Some connections of relevance to arbitrary skew Boolean algebras are also established.


As one of the twentieth century's most decisive, but most controversial military campaigns, it is not surprising that the Tet offensive of 1968 continues to be a subject of debate. Unfortun...


where is a bounded (or unbounded) and sufficiently regular (say, uniformly regular of class C2) open domain in R, F ∈ C1(R × R), and u0 satisfies the compatibility condition (i.e., u0(x) = 0 on ∂ ). It is well known that the problem (1.1)–(1.3) admits a unique classical solution u, of maximal existence time T ∗ ∈ (0, ∞], when is a bounded domain and u0(x) ∈ C1(̄) [14, Thm. 10, p. 206]. Moreover, if T ∗ < ∞, then u blows up in finite time in C1 norm; that is,


An alternative derivation is given for the evolution in time of a Gaussian wavepacket representing a free particle. This is based on explicit evaluation of the action of the evolution operator on the initial wavefunction, rather than on expansions in free-particle eigenstates. Both the cases of a free particle initially at rest and in uniform linear motion are considered.


Pierre Henry John Young was born on 12 June 1926, of a French mother from Argèles in the western Pyrenees, and an Irish father, employed by Morgan's Bank. His education started at the Lycée Condorcet in Paris, after the usual period in primary school. His father was determined that he should continue his education in England, and to this end Pierre Young was 'crammed' in mathematics to enter for scholarships. He gained a place as a King's Scholar at Westminster School, although he had scarcely any knowledge of Latin and could speak little English. He moved to England in 1938 to take his place at the school, which for most of the wartime period was evacuated to Herefordshire. His parents and sisters escaped from France to England with some difficulty as hostilities developed. From Westminster School he won an Open Scholarship in Mathematics to Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1946. During this time he worked for brief spells in the French Language Service of the BBC, broadcasting coded messages to the French Resistance. At the end of World War II direction of labour was still in force and Pierre Young was employed for a short period at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, near his home, on the stability and control of aircraft.


The RISKMASS project has allowed defining and evaluating a method to calculate the hazard soil movements (mass movements or subsidence phenomena) on urban areas. This methodology is based on the implementation of an IT system using a Geographic Information System to help on risk management, integrating both whole colleted data and analytical tools.


It has previously been shown that the Schizosaccharomyces pombe mutant ksg1‐358 has a mating and sporulation defect at 30 °C and that it is temperature sensitive for growth at 35 °C. However the molecular basis for these phenotypes remained largely unknown. In this study we show that ksg1‐358 mutant cells lysed at the non‐permissive temperature, which could be prevented by sorbitol. Overexpression of ksg1 using the nmt1‐promoter showed slow growth and cells became swollen when incubated at 35 °C under low inositol conditions. Interestingly, in a two‐hybrid assay we found that the ksg1‐protein interacted with Pck1p, a protein implicated in regulating cell wall integrity in S. pombe. Genetic complementation assays showed that an overexpression of pck2, the homologue of pck1 involved in the regulation of cell wall synthesis, could partially rescue ksg1‐358 phenotypes. We digested the ksg1‐358 cell wall using β‐glucanase. We found that the ksg1‐358 mutant was more resistant to cell lysis at 30 °C than the wildtype strain h972, which was similar to a pck1‐deletion strain. A ksg1‐overexpressing strain was hypersensitive towards β‐glucanase treatment similar to a pck2‐deletion strain. The pck1‐deletion partially rescued β‐glucanase hypersensitivity of the ksg1‐overexpressing strain but the pck2‐deletion increased it. The ksg1‐358 mutation increased β‐glucanase resistance of a pck1‐overexpressing strain but it had no effect on a pck2‐overexpressing strain. Our results provide evidence that ksg1 is a novel regulator of cell wall integrity in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. They further suggest that Ksg1p acts in a pathway with Pck1p, possibly upstream and through direct interaction.


The availability of public transportation is a serious concern of the DKI Jakarta Government. The government provides a variety of public transports such as Commuter line and Transjakarta. User satisfaction with transportation services can display in social media such as Twitter. Tweets about service satisfaction can be emotional or not, this can be known through classification. One classification method that can be used is Multinomial Naive Bayes (MNB). The research stages in this classification include data collection, data, text preprocessing, TF-IDF weighting, MNB classification using 10-fold cross validation, and evaluation. The classification consists of two stages, the first stage to classify tweets contains emotions or not, the second stage classifies emotionally tweets into five classes namely happy, angry, sad, fear and surprised. The accuracy result of first stage classification for Commuter line, Transjakarta and mixed data were 84.40%, 81.78%, and 83.52%. The accuracy results of the second stage classification for the data of Commuter line, Transjakarta and mixed data were 91.85%, 91.21%, and 91.53%. The accuracy of balanced data with Random Oversampling (ROS) for Commuter line, Transjakarta, and mixed data were 96.18%, 96.55%, and 95.63%. Furthermore, conduct a comparative analysis of emotions based on the results of accuracy, word clouds, and time series graphics. The time series results show that the increase in Transjakarta angry emotions is higher than Commuter line, this is due to more factors in Transjakarta disruption. And the word cloud result shows the most common term used for the two data set is 'tunggu' or 'wait', this indicates that both transportations have the same problem, which is a long waiting time for transportation.


In this paper, a ship detection method is proposed; this method uses edge-based segmentation and histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) with the ship size ratio. The proposed method can prevent a marine collision accident by detecting ships at close range. Furthermore, unlike radar, the method can detect ships that have small size and absorb radio waves because it involves the use of a vision-based system. This system performs three operations. First, the foreground is separated from the background and candidates are detected using Sobel edge detection and morphological operations in the edge-based segmentation part. Second, features are extracted by employing HOG descriptors with the ship size ratio from the detected candidate. Finally, a support vector machine (SVM) verifies whether the candidates are ships. The performance of these methods is demonstrated by comparing their results with the results of other segmentation methods using eight-fold cross validation for the experimental results.


Controlled tests are needed to find the coefficient of friction of snow as a function of speed. An error analysis shows how the test must be designed to give accurate answers. It seems necessary to use a remotely controlled, aerodynamical sled in place of a skier to get accurate results. Otherwise, two sets of tests are necessary, one to determine air drag versus speed and one to determine the frictional force versus speed, and even these tests would probably not give satisfactory results. The slope used for testing should be sleep for a quick acceleration and then uniform, but not flat, where the actual measurements are taken. A continuously reading speed sensor is needed, not discrete measuring points. Even with the underlying principles understood, there will still be many practical problems to be solved before accurate results can be obtained.


Nickel-titanium(NiTi)alloy has been widely used in biomedical field due to its excellent shape memory alloy,super elastic properties,good corrosion resistance and biocompatibility.To avoid the possibility of biological incompatible and cytotoxicity,surface-coating technology(SCT)has been employed to coat functional coating in the thickness from nanometer to micron dimension on the alloy surface,contributing to better biocompatibility,higher corrosion resistance and wear resistance than the matrix.Comparing with other modification methods,SCT is the most widely used currently due to the merits of low constraint condition,wide technical types and raw materials.The functional film coated by SCT is reviewed,including the electrochemical deposition,plasma spraying,magnetron sputtering,sol-gel method and dipping technology.The microstructure,mechanical property and corrosion resistance of the alloy have been presented.Moreover,the advantages and disadvantages of these methods have been summarized.With the development of SCT and improvement of coating properties,NiTi alloy will be applied widely,such as teeth orthodontic wire,artificial joints bone and angioplasty ring.


An update to the catalogue of the Cydnidae (Hemiptera) of the Western Hemisphere (Froeschner 1960) is given. A total of 6 genera and 21 species are listed together with their synonyms. References are given for the original descriptions and the subsequent taxonomic position, the location of types, and the geographic distribution. A comprehensive bibliography is provided.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder with long preclinical and prodromal phases in older people. Molecular imaging is a promising approach for noninvasive in vivo identification and tracking pathophysiological changes. In particular, nuclear neuroimaging in AD has extended beyond traditional evaluation of brain perfusion and glucose metabolism, and has achieved substantial progress over the past 2 decades. To gain a comprehensive understanding of nuclear neuroimaging with different targets in the brain, this review provides an overview of the literature on the current status and recent progress of the development of radioligands for definitive and differential diagnosis of AD.


Asian papaya fruit fly, Bactrocera papayae Drew & Hancock and carambola fruit fly, Bactrocera carambolae Drew & Hanckock (Diptera: Tephritidae) are the major agricultural pests, especially fruits and vegetables, in Malaysia. A vertical type polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic technique was used for the first time to compare the esterase isozyme banding patterns between the larvae of Bactrocera papayae and B. carambolae. Two esterase isozymes, EST-1, EST-2 were detected and their relative mobility values were 0.61 and 0.46, respectively. In both species, EST-1 and EST-2 bands present in larvae. The thickness and the staining degree of bands varied in both species; and EST-2 was comparatively thicker than the EST-1 band. There was no difference in the esterase isozyme patterns of larvae of these two Bactrocera species. So, the results prove that the larvae of the two Bactrocera species have similar non-specific esterase isozyme band patterns in the same polyacrylamide gel.


Consider the last time you answered a questionnaire. Did it contain questions that were vague or hard to understand? If yes, did you answer these questions anyway, unsure if your interpretation aligned with what the survey developer was thinking? By the time you finished the survey, you were probably annoyed by the unclear nature of the task you had just completed. If any of this sounds familiar, you are not alone, as these types of communication failures are commonplace in questionnaires.1–,3 And if you consider how often questionnaires are used in medical education for evaluation and educational research, it is clear that the problems described above have important implications for the field. Fortunately, confusing survey questions can be avoided when survey developers use established survey design procedures.

In 2 recent Journal of Graduate Medical Education editorials,4,5 the authors encouraged graduate medical education (GME) educators and researchers to use more systematic and rigorous survey design processes. Specifically, the authors proposed a 6-step decision process for questionnaire designers to use. In this article, we expand on that effort by considering the fifth of the 6 decision steps, specifically, the following question: "Will my respondents interpret my items in the manner that I intended?" To address this question, we describe in detail a critical, yet largely unfamiliar, step in the survey design process: cognitive interviewing.

Questionnaires are regularly used to investigate topics in medical education research, and it may seem a straightforward process to script standardized survey questions. However, a large body of evidence demonstrates that items the researchers thought to be perfectly clear are often subject to significant misinterpretation, or otherwise fail to measure what was intended.1,2 For instance, abstract terms like "health professional" tend to conjure up a wide range of interpretations that may depart markedly from those the questionnaire designer had in mind. In this example, survey respondents may choose to include or exclude marriage counselors, yoga instructors, dental hygienists, medical office receptionists, and so on, in their own conceptions of "health professional." At the same time, terms that are precise but technical in nature can produce unintended interpretations; for example, a survey question about "receiving a dental sealant" could be misinterpreted by a survey respondent as "getting a filling."2

The method we describe here, termed "cognitive interviewing" or "cognitive testing," is an evidence-based, qualitative method specifically designed to investigate whether a survey question—whether attitudinal, behavioral, or factual in nature—fulfills its intended purpose (B O X). The method relies on interviews with individuals who are specifically recruited. These individuals are presented with survey questions in much the same way as survey respondents will be administered the final draft of the questionnaire. Cognitive interviews are conducted before data collection (pretesting), during data collection, or even after the survey has been administered, as a quality assurance procedure.

During the 1980s, cognitive interviewing grew out of the field of experimental psychology; common definitions of cognitive interviewing reflect those origins and emphasis. For example, Willis6 states, "Cognitive interviewing is a psychologically oriented method for empirically studying the way in which individuals mentally process and respond to survey questionnaires." For its theoretical underpinning, cognitive interviewing has traditionally relied upon the 4-stage cognitive model introduced by Tourangeau.7 This model describes the survey response process as involving (1) comprehension, (2) retrieval of information, (3) judgment or estimation, and (4) selection of a response to the question. For example, mental processing of the question "In the past year, how many times have you participated in a formal educational program?" presumably requires a respondent to comprehend and interpret critical terms and phrases (eg, "in the past year" and "formal educational program"); to recall the correct answer; to decide to report an accurate number (rather than, for example, providing a higher value); and then to produce an answer that matches the survey requirements (eg, reporting "5 times" rather than "frequently"). Most often, comprehension problems dominate. For example, it may be found that the term "formal educational program" is variably interpreted. In other words, respondents may be unsure which activities to count and, furthermore, may not know what type of participation is being asked about (eg, participation as a student, teacher, or administrator).

More recently, cognitive interviewing has to some extent been reconceptualized as a sociological/anthropological endeavor, in that it emphasizes not only the individualistic mental processing of survey items but also the background social context that may influence how well questions meaningfully capture the life of the respondent.8 Especially as surveys increasingly reflect a range of environments and cultures that may differ widely, this viewpoint has become increasingly popular. From this perspective, it is worth considering that the nature of medical education may vary across countries and medical systems, such that the definition of a term as seemingly simple as "graduate medical education" might itself lack uniformity.


The molecular structure and internal motion of C2F6 vapor and of Si2Cl6 vapor have been investigated by means of the sector‐microphotometer method of electron diffraction. Both molecules exhibit hindered internal rotation, with equilibrium in the trans position. The interdependence of the potential barrier and the modes of vibration other than the torsional is presented graphically. The values for the bonded distances are: C – F = 1.32±0.01 A, C – C = 1.56±0.03 A with ∠ CCF = 109½°±1½° and Si – Cl = 2.01±0.01 A, Si – Si = 2.24±0.06 A with ∠ SiSiCl = 109½°±1°.


Objective:To analyse the transmigration of immune cells infected by HIV-1 across the epithelial monolayer using the endometrial human endometrial carcinoma (HEC)-1A cell line and to study the influence of seminal plasma in this process. Design:After sexual intercourse involving a male partner infected by HIV-1, a selection process has been shown to lead to a predominant transmission of the R5 phenotype despite the presence of X4 and R5 strains in semen. Transmigration of HIV-infected monocytes present in semen may represent a pertinent mechanism that could explain this tropism selection. Methods:Epithelial monolayer crossing was studied by using HEC-1A epithelial cells cultured on permeable support and monocyte-enriched or lymphocyte-enriched populations of cells infected or not by HIV R5 or X4 strains. Transmigrating cells were quantified and analysed for their ability to transmit HIV infection to immune target cells. The effect of HIV-negative seminal plasma on cell transmigration was analysed. Results:A preferential passage of the R5 strain associated with monocyte-enriched populations was observed together with the ability of this strain to transmit infection. Seminal plasma was found able to decrease the epithelial crossing of immune cells by enhancing transepithelial resistance and by increasing the adherence of immune cells to the monolayer. Conclusion:The preferential transmigration of HIV R5 strains associated with monocytes across the endocervical monolayer may explain the predominant transmission of the R5 strains after sexual intercourse. By its capacity to modulate the tightness of the epithelial structure, seminal plasma reinforces this selection process.


exhibited dramatically improved reversible capacities andoutstanding rate capabilities. Key Words : Soft carbons, Phosphorus acid, Reversible capacities, Rate capabilitiesIntroductionThere is an increasing need for advanced batteries to suitrecent applications, such as converged digital devices andlarge-scale energy storage systems.


We have studied vertical organic spin‐valves made of evaporated π‐conjugated molecule, namely 8‐hydroxy‐quinoline aluminum (Alq3) semiconductor spacer sandwiched between two ferromagnetic (FM) electrodes with spin injecting capability. Recently we have communicated on our work with organic spin‐valve devices using half‐metallic manganites as one of the spin injecting FM electrode that showed giant magnetoresistance (GMR) of about 40% at 11 K. However, we found that the GMR decreases at high temperatures and actually disappears at 300 K, partially because the FM manganite loses its magnetic properties at ambient temperature. To realize room temperature organic spin‐valve devices, in the present work we report on our investigations of Fe/Alq3/Co spin‐valve devices, where both spin‐injecting FM electrodes (Fe and Co) have high Curie temperatures and thus maintain their magnetic properties at ambient temperature. We found that these devices show GMR of about 5% at 11K. However at elevated temperatures the GMR...


The Bitcoin blockchain is managed by an underlying peer-to-peer network. This network is responsible for the propagation of transactions carried out by users via the blocks (which contain the validated transactions), and to ensure consensus between the different nodes. The quality and safety of this network are therefore particularly essential. In this work, we present an open dataset on the peers composing the Bitcoin P2P Network that was made following a well defined and reproducible methodology. We also provide a first analysis of the dataset on three criteria: the number of public nodes and their client version and geographical distribution.


This paper identifies and documents the major large‐scale atmospheric circulation characteristics that preceded and facilitated the devastating floods across the Midwestern United States along the upper Mississippi, Missouri, and Wabash River basins in the late spring/early summer of 2008. These circulation features were also placed in the context of the 1993 floods that occurred within a similar temporal and spatial domain. This process included investigating the relationship between various atmospheric conditions and the timing of flood‐producing rainfall events at monthly and sub‐monthly timescales. Unlike in 1993, the 2008 flood event took place 1 month earlier in the year (May), lasted over a much shorter time period, and extended eastwards into Indiana. The comparison confirmed much previous work regarding the factors associated with Midwest flooding during the early warm‐season and revealed the possible influence of the state of the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO) on warm‐season flooding across the Midwest. Both the 2008 and 1993 events were preceded by an NAO positive phase; the pattern switched phase about 2 months before the onset of the flooding and remained negative for the duration of the floods. While the major atmospheric conditions known to be associated with major flooding across the Midwest were present in 2008 (e.g. a strong Great Plains low‐level jet), the level of their development, persistence, and geographic orientation/position was very distinct from those observed in 1993. These conditions were also embedded in different state of the remote hemispheric circulation over the Pacific North American region. Together, these variations contributed to the 2008 Midwest floods that occurred earlier in the warm season, were shorter‐lived, and had an impact on a slightly different geographic area. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society


The authors describe the measured cryogenic noise performance of a 0.1- mu m T-gate InP HEMT (high electron mobility transistor) operating at 30 K and a two-stage HEMT low-noise amplifier operating at 19 K. The InP HEMT achieved a noise temperature of 5-15 K when operated at 30 K and at 12-18 GHz, while the noise temperature of the two-stage amplifier decreased from 160 K to 40 K with cryogenic operation at 30-34 GHz.<<ETX>>


Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, becoming, existence, or reality, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations. Ontology is the study about what kinds of things exist, what entities are there in the universe .It is a shared and common understanding of some domain that can be communicated between people and application systems. Ontologies help us to build more powerful and interoperable information systems in health care. Ontologies help us to transmit, reuse, and share patient data. In this paper different Ontologies by different authors have been compared with respect to their tools, approaches used and features.


Key Points Question Do peer reviews of cardiac catheterization laboratory complications provide useful content for quality improvement? Findings In this quality improvement study, 152 cardiac catheterization cases selected for peer review because of the occurrence of a major adverse event were analyzed, and only 16.4% of cases were adjudicated as not meeting the standard of care. Concerns about operator performance and judgment were more common, and reviewers recommended improvements in operator performance and care processes in 41.4% and 38.2% of cases, respectively. Meaning Peer review programs should focus on maximizing quality improvement opportunities even when the standard of care is met.


[Objective]Best mixed substration for growth of Chrysanthemum was selected in order to provide basic data for large-scale soilles cultivation.[Method] Treatment with different ratio of mixed 5 different substrate on 5 different Chrysanthum varieties. Best mixed substration ratio will be chosed by testing plant height,flower dimension,internode length,stem dimension and chlorophyll during flowering.[Result]Rusult is that Chrysanthemum grow better on mixed subsrate ratio cocofiber: perlite = 3∶ 1. [Conclusion]The subtration of cocofiber and perlite has improved substantially on growth of Chrysanthemum.


This paper suggests structural and logical scheme of the organizational-economic maintenance of effective functioning of organic agricultural products. The author gives own vision on the procedure for providing a state support to producers of organic agricultural products as one of the main elements to support the organic companies effective functioning.


The ACM SIGPLAN 7th Workshop on Programming Languages and Analysis for Security (PLAS) was held on June 15th, 2012 as a satellite event of PLDI 2012 in Beijing, China. The workshop featured six full papers and three position papers. The workshop also featured invited talks by Andrew Myers of Cornell University and Gilles Barthe of IMDEA Software.


Duplex Stainless Steels (DSSs) are widely used in the oil and gas industry. When the steel is subjected to a thermal gradient, as in welding may occur precipitation of intermetallic phases. Among these phases, there is the sigma phase, which even in small quantities reduces drastically the mechanical and corrosion resistance properties. According to some studies in the literature, the limit amount of sigma phase present in steel in welded joints must be in a maximum volume fraction of 2,5%. In search to improve the detection sensitivity of the sigma phase, this paper presents results obtained by Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV) in Duplex Stainless Steel UNS S31803 as a Nondestructive Testing (NDT) model. The innovation in the application of this test is to use a microcell-based system that allows a reduced area of analysis obtaining density of currents in the order of microamperes and in the use of selective electrolytes to the elements of the oxides present in the intermetallic phases. With the use of these systems and through the optimization of control parameters it was possible to detect very low amounts of deleterious phases such as the sigma and chi phases.


[Objectives] To evaluate an artificial diet for Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliver. [Methods] R. ferrugineus were fed on the artificial diet for three generations, using royal palm and sugarcane as the control, and their developmental and reproductive indices at different stages were investigated. [Results] The results show that the developmental time of larvae and pupae fed on the artificial diet were 40.20 d and 33.99 d, significantly shorter than that of those fed on the control diets. Larval survival on the artificial diet was 63.87%, significantly higher than those raised on the control diets. Although there were no significant differences in fecundity and egg hatching rate among the three diets, pupal and adult weights were significantly lower than those of the two control groups; 25.55% and 63.87% lower for pupal weight and 24.18% and 35.16% for adult weight. [Conclusion] The results indicate that the artificial diet meets the nutritional requirements of R. ferrugineus, shortening generation time and is suitable for large-scale and long-term rearing of this species.


Identifying the most important or prominent actors in a network has been an area of much interest in Social Network Analysis dating back to Moreno's work in the 1930's [1]. This interest has spurred the formulation of many graph-based sociometrics for ranking actors in complex physical, biological and social networks. These sociometrics are usually based on intuitive notions such as access and control over resources, or brokerage of information [2]; and has yielded measures such as Degree Centrality, Closeness Centrality and Betweeness Centrality [3]. In the exploratory analysis of networks, the question of whether these measures of centrality really capture what we mean by "importance" is often not directly addressed. However, when such sociometrics start being used to drive decisions in more quantitative fields, there emerges a need to empirically answer this question. Probably the most popular of these measures in the Computer Science community is PageRank, which is a variant of Eigenvector Centrality [4]. Once its use in Information Retrieval (IR) and Web search in particular became popular, it led to more rigorous evaluation of PageRank and variants on measurable IR tasks [5]. With the rise of Web 2.0, with its focus on user-generated content and social networks, various socio-metrics are being increasingly used to produce ranked lists of "top" bloggers, twitterers, etc. For example, Twitterholic.com and WeFollow.com use degree centrality (number of followers), while TunkRank.com uses a variant of PageRank to rank users of the micro-blogging service Twitter. In the domain of blogs, Technorati assigns an authority score to a blogger based on the number of blogs linking to her website in the last six months. Similarly, Blogpulse ranks blogs based on the number of times it's cited by other bloggers over the last 30 days. Do these rankings really identify "influential" authors, and if so, which ranking is better? With the increased demand for Social Media Analytics, with its focus on deriving marketing insight from the analysis of blogs and other social media, there's a growing need to address this question. This paper is a step in that direction. It is our position, that the question of whether a particular influence measure is good is ill-posed, unless it is put in the context of a measurable task or desired outcome. Constructing such predictive tasks of interest, not only guides the choice of relationships we build a network on, but also allows for the quantitative comparison of different socio-metrics. In this paper, we present a case study on data collected for 40 million Twitter accounts. We look at marketing-driven tasks, such as detecting the potential for viral outbreaks of messages (tweets). We build three different graphs based on the network of followers, rebroadcast (retweet) networks, and the network of replies and mentions. We conduct a similar study on detecting the influence of publications, through the analysis of citation networks. Extensive empirical results demonstrate that different measures provide the best ranking for these tasks – underscoring the importance of addressing the question of influence based on a desired objective. Taking a predictive perspective of measures of influence can also suggest alternative socio-metrics, and we show that combining aspects of different measures produces a composite ranking mechanism that is most beneficial for each desired predictive task. We compare several approaches to combining influence measures through rank aggregation methods, such as approximations of Kemeny optimal aggregation [6]. In addition, we introduce novel supervised rank aggregation techniques that leverage the ground truth on a subset of users to further improve ranking. We demonstrate the efficacy of these methods compared to several baseline approaches.


According to Icek Ajzen's theory of"Planned Behavior",the author designed a scale to evaluate the training attitudes of university high-level athletes in China. Through the diagnosis,gender characteristics,training background and the age condition of Chinese university high-level athletes would be empirically researched. Several following results can be concluded: Overall training attitudes of high-level athletes are positive,men athletes' training attitudes are better than women athletes. The athletes with more professional training background before university behave better than other athletes in the university athletic training. The training attitudes vary with ages and can be grouped into three phases: exciting fluctuation phase( aged between 18 and 20); stable transition phase( aged between 20 and 23); and passive fluctuation phase( aged between 23 and 25).


Although the control of an FCC plant includes all the hardware components of the process, it is at the FCC reactor-regenerator system that the control is the most critical. This is mainly due to the strong interaction between the reactor and regenerator units. As a result, the reactor-regenerator system presents a highly nonlinear behavior and is therefore a challenge for control tasks. This paper presents a brief introduction to the control of a high-efficiency FCC unit and the implementation of the main regulatory control loops in the reactor-regenerator system of a real Portuguese industrial high- efficiency FCC unit. Moreover, closed-loop dynamic simulations performed with a model previously developed by the same authors, are compared to industrial dynamic data from step tests done in GalpEnergia FCC unit showing that this FCC simulator can realistically represent the closed-loop dynamic behavior of a real industrial operating unit. Therefore, this dynamic model has a great potential to be used as a reference model for advanced model-based control and real-time optimization purposes.


Resume — This work presents a methodology for patient-specific finite element modeling which takes both individualized geometry and material properties of biological structures into consideration. In this study, the mesh is driven by personalized material knowledge which is extracted from advanced medical imaging. Additionally, a user-friendly program including image processing, material-driven meshing and material properties assignment, named C3M "Computed Material-driven Mesh Model", has been developed to generate efficiently subject-specific FE models derived from medical images. This process is applied to generate a patient specific FE model of lumbar spine based on both MRI and CT images.


The emergence of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has posed significant challenges in occupational therapy rehabilitation practice prior to the level of contact with patients. This paper discussed the inclusive design process and intervention procedure in developing a design of home-setting rehabilitation products, self-occupational therapy practice and the challenges involved through the ongoing care of patients by occupational therapists, caregivers, and patients during this pandemic. The case study of Personal Reflective Mirror Therapy (P-REMIT) is premeditated as a pilot study tool, designed, and developed through patients' experience (user-centered) for Diplegia (Upper Limb Stroke) patients.
Keywords: Inclusive; Design; Intervention; COVID-19; Clinical; Therapy; Procedure
eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7iSI7%20(Special%20Issue).3809


An accurate and compact map is essential to an autonomous mobile robot system. For navigation, it is efficient to use an occupancy grid map because the environment is represented by probability distribution. But it is difficult to apply it to the large environment since it needs a large amount of memory proportional to the environment size. As an alternative, a topological map can be used to represent it in terms of the discrete nodes with edges connecting them. It is usually constructed by the Voronoi-like graphs, but in this paper the topological map is incrementally built based on the local grid map using the thinning algorithm. This algorithm can extract only meaningful topological information by using the C-obstacle concept in real-time and is robust to the environment change, because its underlying local grid map is constructed based on the Bayesian update formula. In this paper, the position probability is defined to evaluate the quantitative reliability of the end nodes of this thinning-based topological map (TTM). The global TTM can be constructed by merging each local TTM by matching the reliable end nodes determined by the position probability. It is shown that the proposed TTM can represent the environment accurately in real-time and it is readily extended to the global TTM.


Wolfgang Wagner is a current and productive advocate of the social representation approach. He developed a version of the theory in which social representations are freed from individual minds and instead conceived of as concerted interactions. These epistemological starting points come very close to the enactive outlook on consensually coordinated actions. Yet Wagner is not radical enough in that he continues to see concerted interaction as an expression of representations that are already shared by the actors constituting a group. In our view, the ubiquitous notion of sharedness—which is also found in studies on social models, cultural patterns, schemas, scenarios, and so forth—is conceptually problematic and reveals a misapprehension of how orchestrated actions come about. Moreover, it obscures a proper understanding of what really constitutes intrinsically social behavior. Enactivism provides a much more consistent epistemology for a psychology that is intrinsically social.


This Research to Practice Full Paper depicts and evaluates a secondary school project on using pair- and solo-programming of mini-games in introductory programming classes. In addition to investigating various factors influencing students' problem-solving skills (K9; age 14-15), we introduce the software metric Lines Of Code (LOC) to compare outcomes on that specific measure in the pair- and solo-programming setting. The mini-games were developed with the free personal edition of the game development engine Unity™ and C#. In the current study, four different classes at the secondary level were instructed and researched. All classes had approximately the same number of students, the same tasks, the same tutorials, but were using a different social setting for programming. In response to the worldwide pandemic in the years 2020 and 2021, instruction and research proceeded either in virtual or in hybrid-learning mode. We chose participatory action research to accommodate for the complexity of factors inherent in the field as well as for its iterative, cyclic nature. The current cycle is the third of a series on studies that have investigated various aspects of introductory pair-programming. The evaluation phase employs a digital questionnaire with open and closed questions aimed to capture student's perceptions regarding problem solving. In addition, the software metric Lines Of Code" (LOC), traditionally used to measure the size of a computer program by counting the number of lines of the program's source code, was adapted to measure students' achievement in pair- and solo-programming. With our research we aim to contribute to make learning to program more effective, engaging, and inclusive, and we would like to promote 21st century competences besides programming skills. In addition, we are eager to share our practice of pair-programming with educators in order to inspire them to experiment with pair-programming as a social setting with high potential, even in times of required social distancing.


An S-VHS videocassette player has been developed that employs a variable-tracking technique to yield clear, noise-free, and visually continuous pictures at any playback speed between −2X normal play speed in reverse, and +3X normal play speed in forward. The S-VHS player combines a uniquely designed voice coil motor actuator to deflect the playback heads, with precision control circuits that use feedback of both head-position and FM RF level information to accurately position the playback heads on the videotape tracks at any playback speed within the specified range. Double-azimuth playback heads have been developed, a pair of which are installed on the scanner drum and permit either the tracing and playback of just a single track on the videotape. A time base corrector employs circuits to accomplish head switching and adjust the timing of the signals played back from each head. These technologies all combine to introduce high performance, wide range, and economical variable-speed playback to the S-VHS video-recording format.


This current study was conducted to evaluate the ability of Nano-selenium (Nano Se) in inhibition of aflatoxin B1 toxicity on gingiva and periodontal ligament of rats through histological investigation and immunohistochemical detection of TNF-α & caspase-3 expression in gingiva and desmin expression in the periodontal ligament. Material and Methods: Forty adult male albino rats were divided into 4 equal groups: Group I served as control rats (normal), Group II (aflatoxin B1 group) received aflatoxin B1 (250 μg/kg b.w/day) orally by gastric tube 5 days/week for 4 weeks, Group III (AFB1and Nano-Se group) received aflatoxin B1 (250 μg/kg b.w./day) and 100 mg /animal of Nano-Se orally for 5 days/week 4 weeks. Group IV (Nano-Se group) received 100 mg /animal of Nano-Se orally for 5 days/week through gastric tube. At the end of the experiment, the upper and lower jaws were dissected out after scarification under general anesthesia. Gingival and jaw samples were collected and processed for histological techniques. Immunohistochemical estimation of TNF-α as pro-inflammatory mediator, caspase-3 to determine any apoptotic cells and desmin for detection of collagen fibers was performed


We consider the correlator of a light-like polygonal Wilson l op withn cusps with a local (dilaton or chiral primary) operator in planar N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory. Following arXiv:1107.5702 we review the structure of such correlator implied by confor mal symmetry. The first non-trivial case isn = 4 when the correlator depends on just one conformal ratio. We compute it at leading order in both the strong coupling regime (using semiclassic al tring theory) and the weak coupling regime (using perturbative gauge theory).


AbstractEnergy fluxes for polar regions are examined for two 30-yr periods, representing the end of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, using data from high-resolution simulations with the ECHAM5 climate model. The net radiation to space for the present climate agrees well with data from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) over the northern polar region but shows an underestimation in planetary albedo for the southern polar region. This suggests there are systematic errors in the atmospheric circulation or in the net surface energy fluxes in the southern polar region. The simulation of the future climate is based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A1B scenario. The total energy transport is broadly the same for the two 30-yr periods, but there is an increase in the moist energy transport on the order of 6 W m−2 and a corresponding reduction in the dry static energy. For the southern polar region the proportion of moist energy transport is larger and the dry ...


We consider models of heavy fermions in the strong coupling or local-moment limit and include phonon degrees of freedom on the conduction electrons. Due to the large mass or low coherence temperature of the heavy-fermion state, it is shown that such a regime is dominated by vertex corrections which leads to the complete failure of the Migdal theorem. Even at weak electron-phonon couplings, binding of the conduction electrons competes with the Kondo effect and substantially reduces the coherence temperature, ultimately leading to the Kondo breakdown. Those results are obtained using a combination of the slave-boson method and Migdal-Eliashberg approximation as well as the dynamical mean-field theory approximation.


Based on the assumption that shear modulus of foundation changes linearly along depth,the dynamic response of non-homogeneous foundation is studied in this paper by introducing differentiating operator of structure and using the stochastic vibration theory for continuous linear system. Then simplifying upside structures as multi-degrees of freedom system and foundation as shear beam,the stochastic earthquake response of interaction between foundation and structures is implemented. Using those results,the dynamic reliability parameters of foundation and structural maximal displacement are obtained. The response analysis is implemented by mode superposition method,which has a definite conception and simpler calculation procedures compared with ordinary separation variable method.


We introduce the concept of virtual knowledge community enabling knowledge management in agent systems. This concept is set in the previously defined agent-oriented abstraction. A community is defined through roles, topics and set of rules for each role. Possible roles are leader, full member or associated member. When entering into a community, an agent is provided with a set of actions and perceptions related to its role within the community. We call this set of actions and perceptions a community pack interface (CPI). This CPI is erased when the agent leaves or is removed from the community. The application domain is e-business and virtual enterprises. This allows the modelling of knowledge as ontologies that are structured into clusters.


In many modern buildings, using large glazed areas in the building envelope, the solar
heat load needs to be limited. To do this without disturbing the architectural display of
the building, internal solar shading is often the only alternative. However, using
internal solar shading means a great part of the incoming solar load still ends up inside
the building, causing an often large heat load.
To decrease this problem, one solution is to put exhaust ventilation close to the
windows or even connected to the cavities between solar screen and window. The
purpose of this is to extract the heated air before it mixes with the air further inside the
room.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibilities to reduce the g-value of a
window and solar screen by using the exhaust ventilation. The aim is to find a
reduction factor of the g-value, applicable for these ventilated windows. By changing
many design parameters, the aim is to see what parameters affect the efficiency of the
system.
The study is performed by creating a numerical model in COMSOL Multiphysics.
The heat transfer and air movements around the screen and window are simulated.
The study shows it is difficult to find a general reduction to the g-value by applying
ventilation to the cavity. The efficiency of the system depends on numerous
parameters. It is first and foremost dependent on exhaust flow but other parameters
matter as well. Such parameters are: window height, distance between screen and
window, location of exhaust device and which type of window or screen is used.
With a correct and still reasonable design, results suggest that a reduction of the gvalue
by -45 % should be possible.


Zhedong Culture (East Zhejiang Culture) is typical of its openness.Under the influence of the special geographical condition and changeable social structure, Zhedong Culture impressed people with its extensive collection and incorporation. The body of Zhedong Culture is composed of religious culture, business culture and academic culture. The academic culture, considers the most refined part of Zhedong Culture, is established by the local outstanding scholars who are open to accept other cultures and continuously incorporate them. Zhedong Culture is a highly advanced cultural conformation.


This thesis deals with the dynamics of geophysical turbulent flows at large scales, more particularly their organization into east-west parallel flows (zonal jets). These structures have the particularity to evolve much slower than the surrounding turbulence. Besides, over long time scales, abrupt transitions between different configurations of zonal jets are observed in some cases (multistability). Our approach consists in averaging the effect of fast turbulent degrees of freedom in order to obtain an effective description of the large scales of the flow, using stochastic averaging and the theory of large deviations. These tools provide theattractors, the typical fluctuations and the large fluctuations of jet dynamics. This allows to go beyond previous studies, which only describe the average jet dynamics. Our first result is an effective equation for the slow dynamics of jets, the validityof this equation is studied from a theoretical point of view, and the physical consequences are discussed. In order to describe the statistics of rare events such as abrupt transitions between different jet configurations, tools from large deviation theory are employed. Original methods are developped in order to implement this theory, those methods can be applied for instance in situations of multistability.


Long-term visions serve to focus on essentials for sustained economic and social welfare. We now have to face up to the challenge of globalisation (growing international capital mobility), at a time when we are undoing our historic, self-imposed protectionism. This also creates new opportunities, in particular in the dynamic Asia-Pacific economies.

There still is a 'window of opportunity' before an aging population will become a dominant problem. In the next 25 years, business will have to cope with high real interest rates and major uncertainties that now surround environmental policies.

If we are to take on these challenges in constructive and beneficial ways, we have to develop an institutional order that enables the utilisation of knowledge by enterprising people. This requires a simple, transparent and reliable legal and regulatory framework, which supports competitive market processes, and the defence of openness to international trade and capital flows against particular interest groups.

It seems plausible that the Downunder economy can grow over the next 25 years at about 3.5 per cent per capita if the right institutional conditions are created. If we fail to do so, a growing share of the capital, the skills and the enterprise made Down-under will move to offshore locations which encourage a better use of knowledge and capital by enterprising people. This would deprive many of economic opportunity. The central challenge therefore is to develop a system of government and labour relations which makes the Downunder economy internationally attractive.


AbstrAct Purpose: Modern medical implants are products with pretentious requirements regarding materials, machining technologies and their functionality. In general they are divided into two main groups which are permanent and temporary medical implants. To improve implant's performance in the working environment one of the main goals of research and development process is to improve implant's biofunctionality, biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, bioadhension, processability and availability. Design/methodology/approach: Development of modern medical implants is a multi-stage design and manufacturing process primarily based on computer design, computer numerical simulations and in-vitro tests. Findings: Some improvements could be done with reverse engineering technology which generates a numerical model from the workpiece in order to get a replica or geometric variant for the scanned data. Practical implications: The surgical treatments of bone fractures (osteosynthesis) are divided into external fracture fixation or internal fracture fixation. One of the most common used medical implant for internal fracture fixation is bone fixation plate which holds together the bone fragments. In some cases the improved shape of the plate could results into better biofunctionality and bioadhesion.


The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia has been the dominant theoretical construction guiding research and treatment of the schizophrenic disorders over the past generation. This hypothesis, in its simplest guise, posits the presence of a functional alteration in central dopaminergic systems in the brains of schizophrenic patients. Recent findings have resulted in a greater under- standing of the complexity of the central dopaminergic systems and have led to revisions of the hypothesis of a simple functional hyperactivity of central dopaminergic systems. These recent data suggest that there may be regionally restricted changes in the function of the mesotelencephalic dopamine system, and that these changes may be in opposite directions. Such changes may be associated with dysfunctions of interactions between distinct dopaminergic terminal field regions, and may be subserved by functional derangements in other transmitter systems or reflect regionally restricted changes in expression or function of distinct dopamine receptors or catecholamine synthetic enzymes. A recent FASEB symposium


Seven tubifi cid species are reported from benthic samples collected in 1943-1944 in the large, but shallow, polar Lake Taimyr. The subarctic Alexandrovia ringu!ata SOKOLSKAJA, 1961 was very abundant on shallows. Among the species limited to the profunda! zone, Baikalodrilus alienus spec. nov. and Lamadrilus sorosi gen. nov. spec. nov. belong to the genera distributed mainly in Lake Baikal. The new genus Lamadrilus of the subfamily Tubif icinae has a tubular atrium and a short, often asymmetrical penial sheath. Both the vas deferens and prostatic gland enter the atrium subapically, leaving the proximal end free as in the marine genus Tubificoides LASTOCKIN, 1937 but without any clear histological separation from the rest of the atrium. Apart from L. sorosi gen. nov. spec. nov., four Baikali an species are included in this genus: lsochaetides excavatus HRABE, 1982 as the type species; I. eximius SEMERNOJ, 1982; Tubifex bazikalovae CEKANOVSKAJA, 1975 with several subspecies; and T. crassiseptus SEMERNOJ, 1982. Lirnnodrilus projimdicola (VERR ILL, 187 1 ), Tasserkidrilus acapillatus (FrNOGENOVA, 1972) and two other taxa represented by immatures only, have also been found. Key-words: Tubificidae, new taxa, Lake Taimyr, Lake Baikal, fauna, zoogeography.


Under dynamic loads(such as blast, earthquake and train vibration),some adverse effects are produced on the slope anchor system including anchor bar relaxations,fixture damage,grout ripping and interface debonding,which can influence the occurrence of prestress,the reinforced impact and the durability of slope anchor system.Therefore based on the dynamic loads types and analysis on characteristics of dynamic response,the reasonable structure design of inner-anchoring section within different stratum under dynamic loads is given.Safety factor of anchor bar and loads locking way are also presented in this paper.Under dynamic loads,the free section should be designed to be full grouted or added additional multistage reverse anchoring set,so that the auto-lock anchorage comes into being in order to control the prestressing loss and prevent the anchorage(or free section) from rupture or avoid unexpected calamities.By adding steel fibre(or resins fibre) into cement grouting material,the cracking,fatigue and punching resistance capability of boltgrouting body can be improved.And it is suggested that the epoxy coating steel strand cables of filled type should be adopted preferentially because of their good anti-corrosion performance.It can improve the durability of bolt-grouting body under dynamic loads.


Thomas and E. C. Olson (eds.), A cold look at warm-blooded dinosaurs, pp. 189-231. AAAS Selected Symposium 28. STEBBINS, R. C., AND R. M. EAKIN. 1958. The role of the "third eye" in reptilian behavior. Amer. Mus. Novitates (1870):1-40. VIVIEN-ROELS, B. 1970. Ultrastructure, innervation et fonction de l'epiphyse chez les cheloniens. Z. Zellforsch. 104:429-448. WILLIAMS, E. E. 1960. Two species of tortoises from northern South America. Breviora (120):1-13. ZANGERL, R. 1957. A parietal foramen in the skull of a Recent turtle. Proc. Zool. Soc. Calcutta, Mookerjee Memor. Vol.:269-273.


This paper concerns the application of a parallel multi-model switched control (PMMSC) scheme for integrated fin and rudder roll stabilization (INFRRS). The PMMSC algorithm uses a two-level hierarchical control strategy where, at the lower level, a bank of controller pairs (fin roll and rudder roll controllers) are designed for a range of preselected operating conditions, and, at the upper level, a decision maker decides which controller pair is most suited to the prevailing conditions and ensures that the appropriate controller pair is switched into operation. A novel approach of characterizing roll angle data using power spectral density (PSD) histograms is presented. It is shown how the PSD histograms for different encounter angles exhibit sufficiently different characteristics to enable them to be used by the PMMSC algorithm to produce reliable switching between controller pairs. Simulation studies demonstrate the efficacy of the PMMSC when applied to an identified ship model.


Nowadays, the impacts of globalization are also noticeable in culture. For this reason, in addition to economic, social, and political confrontations, the increasing conflicts of nationalism within the state because of cultural globalization have been investigated in the present article. Specifically, it is important to note that economic, social and political integration can have different effects on conflicts. The possible consequences of the intersection of globalizing forces and local culture have been researched. The types of reactions to cultural changes associated with globalization and the responses of local cultures to them are analyzed.


Abstract The distribution of irradiation-produced defects in thin foils of steel and aluminium is calculated using Brailsford and Bullough's rate theory of swelling plus appropriate boundary conditions. The dependence of the void denuded zone on temperature, dose, radiation damage rate and sink strength is studied. The width of this zone is found to be inversely proportional to the sink strength and damage rate. For a uniform initial distribution of loops and void embryos the loop denuded zone is much smaller than the void denuded zone. Also, a swelling enhancement adjacent to the void denuded zone is predicted under some initial conditions.


The oceans are subjected to great variations, in space and time, with regard to their physicochemical and biological features. These changes are more pronounced latitudinally than longitudinally. In order to understand how these changes were reflected in the occurrence and abundance of zooplankton as a whole and the various groups in particular, a series of zooplankton samples were collected during the Third Indian Expedition to Antarctica, from the edge of the pack ice upto 200S along an oblique course between 22°56'E and 56°53'E.


The absorption maximum at longest wave lengths of the 7-dimethylaminoflavylium perchlorate being shifted by 121 nm to longer wave lengths than the maximum of the flavylium perchlorate and yet the auxochromes in 4′-position having a less strong effect in the 7-dimethylamino-flavylium salts than in the flavylium salts, the absorption maxima of both series converge strongly. In the case of the 4′-dimethylamino derivatives the convergence reaches the high value of 61 nm.


The utility model discloses a binding machine capable of discharging paper scrap automatically, which comprises a machine body (1). A motor (2) is arranged above the machine body (1); a hollow drilling shaft (3) inside the machine body (1) is connected with the output end of the motor (2); the hollow drilling shaft (3) is provided with a scrap discharging opening (5); the scrap discharging opening (5) is communicated with a scrap discharging cavity (6); and the scrap discharging cavity (6) is externally provided with a scrap discharging pipe (4). The binding machine is characterized in that the inner wall of the scrap discharging opening (5) is a smoothly transitional curve. The utility model has ingenious structure and smooth discharging without discharging dead angles, can ensure the work efficiency.


The invention relates to a floating-type water wind power generating device which comprises a base and a wind power generator, wherein the blade part of the wind power generator is fixed on the base through a support; the generator part of the wind power generator is arranged in the base; the base is provided with a float-tube-type structure capable of floating on the water surface; the power supply output end of the wind power generator is connected with a storage battery through a stabilizing device, or is transmitted to a land power grid through a power transformer device and a cable. Through the floating-type water wind power generating device provided by the invention, the generator part of the wind power generator is arranged in the base, the center of gravity of the whole device is lowered, the balance performance of the whole device is improved, and the generating device is difficult to topple and fall; the generating device is connected with a ship, a barge-type wind power generating device is formed, a fixed anchor can also be placed at the lower part of the base, and a fixed-type water wind power generating device is formed; various devices can be added and loaded to the floating-type generating device, comprise but not limited to the systems of communication, navigation, power transformation, positioning, weapon and the like, and water floating bases and power energy resources can be provided.


The time‐of‐day variation in sodium excretion can be regulated by many different peptides and hormones, such as aldosterone. Numerous studies have shown that the circadian clock modulates the ability of aldosterone to regulate sodium balance, indicating a functional consequence of their interaction. Normally, renal sodium excretion has a distinct diurnal pattern, independent of time of intake, yet the interaction between the time of intake and the amount of salt ingested has yet to be determined. Our lab sought to determine what effect the timing of food intake has on the diurnal rhythm of renal electrolyte excretion, and whether or not this timing affects aldosterone as well. Male Sprague Dawley rats were implanted with telemetry devices to monitor mean arterial pressure (MAP). Following at least 7 days of recovery, rats were housed in metabolic cages and placed on a normal salt diet (0.49% NaCl). Following two days of baseline urine collections at 12‐hour intervals (Zeitgeber Time [ZT] 0 to ZT12 [lights on] or ZT12‐ZT24 [lights off]) under ad libitum feeding conditions, we restricted their access to food for 7 days to only their inactive period (ZT0‐ZT12). Rats were given free access to water during the reverse feeding (RF) conditions. As expected, rats allowed food ad libitum had a diurnal rhythm in sodium excretion as evidenced by a significantly higher sodium excretion during their active period (P<0.05); active:inactive (A/I) sodium excretion was (2.82 ± 0.20). The rhythm in sodium excretion was not significantly different after 7 days of RF compared to ad libitum rats (2.03 ± 0.28 A/I, P=NS vs. ad libitum). As expected, potassium excretion was significantly greater during the active period in rats fed under ad libitum conditions (P<0.05; A/I = 2.32 ± 0.16). Interestingly, RF significantly reduced the diurnal variation in urinary potassium excretion (0.89 ± 0.16, P<.05 vs. ad libitum) as potassium excretion remained high during the inactive period. Although urinary aldosterone levels were similar in both ad libitum and RF conditions during the active period (89 ± 17 vs. 97 ± 18 pg/12 hr, P=NS), RF prevented the normal diurnal rhythm in aldosterone excretion resulting in significantly higher levels during the inactive period compared to ad libitum (138 ± 25 pg/12 hr vs. 25 ± 8, respectively, P<0.05). There were no differences in 12‐hour MAP or activity between ad libitum and reverse feeding conditions. Our findings suggest that consuming food during the inactive phase impairs the diurnal variation in aldosterone production. In addition, the inappropriately high aldosterone excretion during the inactive period appears to be consistent with elevated potassium excretion during this period as well.


(22) Filed: Jun. 27, 2003 A method for optimizing rendering of objects to be printed on a White background, includes identifying an object of a (65) Prior Publication Data particular type to be printed on a White background, Wherein US 2004/0263878 A1 Dec. 30, 2004 obj ects of the particular type have prede?ned rendering hints associated With them, Which prede?ned rendering hints (51) Int' Cl' provide optimized rendering of the objects of the particular H 04N 1/60 (200601) type on non-White backgrounds; associating a neW tag called G06K 15/00 (200601) "object on White" With the identi?ed object; de?ning a neW "" " 358/1'9;335588//12'91 rendering hint for rendering the object of the particular type


This study evaluates the efficiency of Indonesian Zakat Institutions (IZI), including technical, pure technical and scale efficiencies using a production approach. This study also examines the sources of inefficiency. By employing the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique, this study proposes a solution to improving the efficiency of IZI. The input variables of this study are the number of amil, the number of volunteers, the number of offices, socialization costs, personnel costs, and operational costs. The output variables of this study include the amount of zakat collected, the distribution of consumptive zakat, the distribution of productive zakat, the number of muzakki and the number of mustahiq. The results indicate that between 2010-2013 IZI Mass technical efficiency were higher than IZI Non-Mass on average. In 2014, IZI Non-Mass exceeded IZI Mass technical efficiency. IZI Mass pure technical efficiency had an upward trend during 2011-2013, but then declined during 2014-2016. However, IZI Non-Mass pure technical efficiency experienced an upward trend during 2011-2012,  then slightly decreased in 2013. Although the efficiency increased in 2014-2015, there was a subsequent decrease in 2016. After a period of fluctuation during 2011-2013, the scale efficiency of IZI Mass decreased in 2014 and stabilized in 2015-2016. Similarly, IZI Non-Mass fluctuated during 2011-2012, then stabilizing until 2016. The increasing problems of IZI Mass and IZI Non-Mass are the socialization costs, the number of volunteers, the amount of zakat collected, and the distribution of consumptive zakat, which cumulatively reduces the intermediation function of zakat institutions. IZI must resolve these issues to ameliorate the efficiency of zakat institutions.

Keywords: Indonesian Zakat Institutions, Efficiency, Technical Efficiency
JEL Classification Code: L31, D61


Some pharmaceuticals such as antineoplastics are carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and fetotoxic. Antineoplastics and their metabolites are excreted by patients into waste water. In laboratory testing the frequently used isomeric anti-tumour agents cyclophosphamide (CP) and ifosfamide (IF) were shown to be not biodegradable. They are not eliminated in municipal sewage treatment plants and therefore detected in their e'uents. Structural related compounds are b-D-glucosylisophosphoramidmustard (b-D-Glc-IPM; INNˆ glufosfamide) and b-L-glucosylisophosphoramidmustard (b-L-Glc-IPM). b-L-Glc-IPM has no antineoplastic e€ects whereas b-D-Glc-IPM is active against tumours. In contrast to IF and CP and almost all other investigated antineoplastics b-D-Glc-IPM is inherently biodegradable. Improved biodegradability of b-D-Glc-IPM compared to IF shows that reducing the impact of pharmaceuticals on the aquatic environment is feasible by changing the chemical structure of a given compound exerting a similar mode of action and therapeutic activity. Stereochemistry may be crucial for pharmaceutical activity of the compounds as well as for its biodegradability in the environment. Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


Correlations of eigenfunctions, 〈|${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\psi}}}_{\mathrm{k}}$(${\mathrm{r}}_{1}$)${\mathrm{|}}^{2}$|${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\psi}}}_{\mathrm{l}}$(${\mathrm{r}}_{2}$)${\mathrm{|}}^{2}$〉, in a disordered system are investigated. We derive general formulas expressing these correlation functions in terms of the supermatrix \ensuremath{\sigma} model. In the particular case of the weak localization regime we find that the correlations of the same eigenfunction are proportional to ${\mathrm{g}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$ for large distances, while the correlations of two different eigenfunctions cross over from ${\mathrm{g}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$ behavior for ${\mathrm{r}}_{1}$=${\mathrm{r}}_{2}$ to ${\mathrm{g}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}2}$ behavior for |${\mathrm{r}}_{1}$-${\mathrm{r}}_{2}$|\ensuremath{\gg}:l, with g and l being the dimensionless conductance and the mean free path, respectively.


In this paper, we use a multidisciplinary spacesuit model developed in a companion paper and an N-Branch Tournament Genetic Algorithm to optimize spacesuit designs for a Mars environment. The spacesuit design is optimized to minimize mass, stowage volume, and pre-breathe time prior to a spacewalk, and to maximize spacesuit mobility. These four objectives represent the primary measures of utility for a spacesuit design. This paper describes both a framework and process for spacesuit optimization, and demonstrates a new multi-objective visualization method for this four-objective design challenge. We discuss the preliminary optimization results as they relate to spacesuit design considerations. This initial investigation suggests that the power and CO2 removal technologies have little impact on the spacesuit architecture, whereas suit hardness and suit pressure have a far greater impact. Often suit pressure and hardness are determined at the beginning of the design eort and these early choices greatly influence the overall characteristics of the spacesuit. These results should be useful in the design of the next generation of spacesuits.


Nowadays science communicators have at their disposal a variety of tools to convey information. Video stands out among them as an effective means for disseminating educational content because of its unique features: it is multi-sensory, dynamic and capable of engaging the viewer's attention. The use of video clips in engineering education is illustrated with applications in the area of groundwater flow.


WHILE it is quite a familiar fact that the luminosity of any spectral ray increases proportionately to the heat in this ray, and indeed is but another manifestation of the same energy, I have recently had occasion to notice that there is, on the part of some physicists, a failure to recognize how totally different optical effects may be produced by one and the same amount of energy according to the wave-length in which this energy is exhibited. I should not perhaps have thought it advisable to make this last remark, were it not that there has appeared in a recent number of Wiedemann's Annalen, a paper by H. F. Weber on " The Emission of Light," in which he tacitly makes the assumption that the 1 uminosity of a color is proportionate to the energy which produces it, an assumption which it is surprising to find in a paper of such general merit and interest. In another article of the same number of the journal, the mistake was pointed out hy Professor F .. Stenger, who remarked t.hat Mr. Weber's assumption 'was inconsistent with the investigations of the present writer. Still the fact that there could be such a misapprehension at the present day, led me to look at the matter again, and to observe, with some snrprise, that there was nowhere, in any physical work known to me, any exact or even approximately exact statement of the relative ocular effects of a given amount of energy in different parts of the spectl'Um. I have undertaken thel·efore during the last few months an experimental re-investigation of this subject, with such a statement especially in view. We shall evidently need two correlated sets of experiments, the first set to determine the amount of energy in each ray, the second to show the corresponding visual effect. For the first of these, since energy only shows itself through absorptive media which more or less disguise it, we must select that manifestation which disguises it least, and in this respect beyond comparison the thermal one stands first, as the heat dispersed by a glass prism and shown by a thickly lamp blacked thermometric apparatus is, throughout the visible spectrum, very nearly proportionate to the energy itself. For these tirst or thermal experiments, whence the energy is readily deduced, with close approximation, we shall rely principally upon a very ·elaborate investigation made here some time since and already published, where the bolometel· is used to deduce in terms of lampblack absorption the relative amounts of solar energy in


The generalized singular value decomposition (GSVD) is one of the essential tools in numerical linear algebra. This paper proposes a regularization method, combining Tikhonov regularization in general form with the truncated GSVD. Then the randomized algorithms are adopted to implement the truncation process. This randomized GSVD for the regularization of the large-scale ill-posed problems can achieve good accuracy with less computational time and memory requirement than the classical regularization methods. Finally, we present the error analyses for the randomized algorithms. Some illustrative numerical examples are provided.


In this paper, a novel Fabry-Perot cavity (FPC) antenna with a perfect electric conductor (PEC) wall is proposed to design a structurally compact and robust high-gain antenna. Generally, the FPC antenna comprising a PEC ground and a partially reflective dielectric surface (PRDS) is required to have a half-wavelength height to satisfy the resonance condition. If a perfect magnetic conductor (PMC) is substituted for the PEC ground, the height of the FPC antenna can be reduced to a quarter wavelength. The PRDS of the proposed FPC antenna is located on the PEC ground to obtain the effect of a PMC. Moreover, PEC walls are employed to block leakage by a guided mode inside the PRDS. As a result, the proposed FPC antenna can be designed as a compact high-gain antenna although it is composed of PEC ground and PRDS. To verify its feasibility, we simulated and measured the performance of the proposed antenna regarding the reflection coefficient, peak gain, and far-field radiation pattern. Finally, the height of the proposed antenna was reduced by approximately 50% compared with the conventional antenna, while the peak gain is more than equal to that of the conventional antenna.


The influence of concentration of reaction gases on the density and microstructure of C/C composites prepared by micro-positive ICVI was studied. Results indicate that using the needle-punched carbon felt as porous preforms,C3H6 as hydrocarbon gas, and under the condition that the current ratio of N2 to C3H6 was 25∶1,the temperature was 900 ℃ and the furnace pressure was micro-positive , C/C composite with the density of 1.52 g/cm3 was reached after 105 hours. Pyrocarbon microstructures were investigated with polarized optical microscope (PLM). The smooth laminar was obtained in the circumference of carbon fibers and large amounts of regenerative pyrocarbon in the circumference of smooth laminar in the exterior of the sample, the smooth laminar was mainly found in the interior of the sample. 7figs.,12refs.


The roughening and smoothing of a stepped surface on heating and cooling is studied in a Monte Carlo simulation of a simple terrace-step-kink model taking into account realistic particle transport processes along and perpendicular to the steps. Results for the growth laws are compared with predictions of a theory of Lifshitz-Slyozov type.