Over the last few years, the disciplines of public administration (PA) and nonprofit management (NP) have actively contributed to the discourse surrounding the importance of documenting and understanding historically marginalized voices (Blessett & Gaynor, 2021). We seek to continue this tradition by building off the work of Blessett and Gaynor (2021) and others (cf Alexander & Stivers, 2020; Danley & Blessett, 2022; McCandless & Blessett, 2022; Portillo et al., 2020; Wright & Merritt, 2020; Zavattaro & Bearfield, 2022) who have highlighted the importance of intentionally integrating marginalized voices into the study of nonprofit management and public administration practice. This discourse is not only a byproduct of the academic disciplines' foci on social equity, but their more concerted effort to officially engage with the effects of historical discriminatory and/or oppressive institutional structures as a means of pursuing social equity (Riccucci, 2021). This interest has become even more salient in the past several years with the prominence of situations requiring public and nonprofit solutions to address the desperate impacts of COVID-19, police brutality, climate change, and depressed economic conditions (Gooden, 2020). Along these lines, at the American Society for Public Administration's 2021 and 2022 meetings, one of the overarching themes of these conferences related to the need for applying new theoretical lenses for understanding Black, Indigenous and People of Color's (BIPOC) experiences and their interactions with public administrators and nonprofit organizations. The interest partially stems from the acceptance within the discipline that racism, either subtle, overt, or institutional, molds the everyday experiences of minorities within the United States (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). As such, in order for public administration as a field to pursue social equity, it must also address and understand the legacies and continued impact of racism (Gooden, 2014; Riccucci, 2021). One such approach to developing this understanding is through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and its subcategories. According to Blessett and Gaynor (2021; see also Crenshaw et al., 2015; L opez et al., 2018), CRT provides researchers with a conceptual and empirical foundation to study a host of social issues with the understanding that contemporary social, political and economic systems are the byproduct of racialized structures that are sustained without the racist behaviors of individuals. As such, the use of CRT in research typically is interested in two things. First, to explain how white supremacy has created and maintained institutions and systems that disadvantage people of color, in addition to privilege Whites. Second, to transform the connection of institutions, the law and public policy with the power of BIPOC to pursue social equity (Crenshaw, 1995, 1996; Brown, 2003). CRT is not only intended to understand the lived experiences of people as a result of racialized structures, but also to illustrate that the essentialism upon which many systems of oppression are created is factually inaccurate (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). Moreover, this same


Recent research into the educational applications of computer games has focused on the skills which children can develop while playing games. Various benefits of computer game playing have been recorded, such as increased motivation; development of problem solving and discussion skills; and improvement in aspects of story writing. While encouraging children to play appropriately designed computer games can be used to enhance their learning, enabling children to create their own computer games offers a further range of learning opportunities. This paper describes a workshop in which young people learned how to create their own computer role- play games for their friends and family to play. The purpose of the workshop was to give the young people an opportunity to tell stories in the medium of a computer game, and to develop narrative skills such as character creation, plot planning and interactive dialogue writing. Results from this study are used to illustrate the educational benefits of computer games authoring, and to suggest directions for future research in this area.


Abstract. Vetter, U., Heinze, E., Beischer, W., Kohne, E., Kleihauer, E. and Teller, W. M. (Centers of Paediatrics and Internal Medicine, University of Ulm, FRG). Haemoglobin A1c: a predictor for the duration of the remission phase in juvenile insulin dependent diabetic patients. Acta Paediatr Scand, 69:481, 1980.—Increased HbA1cconcentrations in diabetic patients indicate retrospectively a poor metabolic control during the preceding 2–3 months. In the present study attempts have been made to use the HbA1c concentration at the time of diagnosis as an indicator of the duration of the remission phase in 23 juvenile diabetic children. The regression analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the initial HbA1c concentrations and the duration of the remission phase defined as no glucose excretion, an insulin requirement of less than 0.5 U/kg/day and detectable serum C‐peptide concentration (r= ‐0.84, p < 0.001). The results suggest that the initial HbA1c concentration may serve as a useful indicator to predict the duration of the remission phase in juvenile‐onset diabetic patients


In the framework of nuclear waste transmutation, we have measured dE d d Ω / σ for protons, deuterons, tritons and alpha production in neutron induced reactions on a lead target. Due to the structure of the neutron beam, incident neutron energies between 30 and 62.7 MeV have been obtained at once. The analysis of 62.7 MeV neutron is now complete for hydrogen isotopes and a first set of comparisons has been done with calculations. On one hand, it is found that the GNASH-ICRU data do not give the correct cross-sections (neither absolute value nor shape). In the other hand, a comparison for protons using FLUKA is working reasonably well except an underestimation of the pre-equilibrium emission around 30 MeV at forward angles and an overestimation of thermal emission at backward angles. Further data on protons induced reactions at the same energy, obtained within an European concerted action, will be available soon allowing a stronger constraint on theoretical calculations.


A one-dimensional defective photonic crystal stacked with layers of nonlinear material and air, sandwiched by two perfect structures, is designed for multiple wavelengths' second harmonic generation (SHG). The fundamental waves (FWs) and SHGs are located at the defect states of the photonic crystal in different photonic bandgaps. Due to the strong localization and low velocity, giant enhancement of the conversion efficiency is achieved. The constructed structure can be used for optical multiple wavelengths' conversion to match practical demands.


A probabilistic load flow simulation and contingency analysis program (PLFSCVICAP) is developed and applied to a practical long term system planning problem. The program computes the probability density functions and cumulative distribution functions of system parameters such as line flows and bus voltage magnitudes. Unlike conventional or deterministic solutions, the probabilistic solution to the power flow problem accounts for the characteristic uncertainty of power systems associated with network, nodal load and nodal generation, which are the basic input parameters to the system planning process. The increased depth of information that can be gained in the system planning process by this type of analysis which is performed within one solution is demonstrated by its application to the local Trinidad and Tobago electrical transmission system. In particular, probabilistic load flow techniques are used to address quantitatively the generation required in the island of Tobago as a transmission planning problem. It evaluates the amount of generation required to bring the voltages on the 33 kV system of the island to a level comparable to similar systems in Trinidad. Furthermore, the circuit loading on the cables linking both islands are examined for these generation amounts


We report an investigation on the response to laser exposure of a protective capping layer of 1ω (1053 nm) high-reflector mirror coatings, in the presence of differently shaped Ti particles. We consider two candidate capping layer materials, namely SiO2 and Al2O3. They are coated over multiple silica-hafnia multilayer coatings. Each sample is exposed to a single oblique (45°) shot of a 1053 nm laser beam (p polarization, fluence ~ 10 J/cm2, pulse length 14 ns), in the presence of spherically or irregularly shaped Ti particles on the surface. We observe that the two capping layers show markedly different responses. For spherically shaped particles, the Al2O3 cap layer exhibits severe damage, with the capping layer becoming completely delaminated at the particle locations. In contrast, the SiO2 capping layer is only mildly modified by a shallow depression, likely due to plasma erosion. For irregularly shaped Ti filings, the Al2O3 capping layer displays minimal to no damage while the SiO2 capping layer is significantly damaged. In the case of the spherical particles, we attribute the different response of the capping layer to the large difference in thermal expansion coefficient of the materials, with that of the Al2O3 about 15 times greater than that of the SiO2 layer. For the irregularly shaped filings, we attribute the difference in damage response to the large difference in mechanical toughness between the two materials, with that of the Al2O3 being about 10 times stronger than that of the SiO2.


Abstract Background Current clinical utility of diagnostic categories in patients with psychosis is in debate. Alternatively, symptom-based dimensional approaches are suggested, but research on their utility and longitudinal stability is at its early phases, showing lack of consistencies. The aims of this prospective study are: 1) to test the stability of structure of symptom dimensions in first episode psychosis patients; 2) to explore the utility of symptom dimensions in predicting clinical and functional outcomes. Methods This study included a total of 208 with first episode of psychosis-spectrum disorders aged 18–65 years who presented to psychiatric services in South London, recruited as part of the Genetics and Psychosis Outcome (GAP) case-control study and EU-GEI multicentre case-control study. A subsample of 114 patients were traced after a mean of 6.5 years. Psychopathology was assessed at baseline and at follow-up using OPCRIT and tested with bifactor model, encompassing one general psychosis dimension and five specific symptom dimensions (positive, negative, disorganisation, mania, and depression). Follow up measures on functional outcome (assessed with GAF scale) and clinical outcomes (number and total length of hospitalisations) were derived from clinical records. Predictor role of baseline symptom dimensions was tested by multiple linear regression to predict global functioning; and by negative binomial regression for length of hospitalisation and number of hospital admissions. Results Factor loadings of disorganisation dimension were most likely to change longitudinally while loadings of positive dimension were most stable. Regarding dimension stability over time, all positive, disorganised and depressive symptoms significantly improved over time while manic and negative symptoms did not significantly differ. In terms of prediction of outcome, baseline manic symptoms were associated with reduced risk of hospitalisation (adj OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.01–2.38), reduced length of hospitalisation (adj IRR= 0.73; 95% CI 0.56–0.95) and better global functioning (β=5.21; 95% CI 2.46–7.95) at follow up. Similarly, depressive symptoms were associated with reduced length of hospitalisation (adj IRR= 0.77; CI 0.61–0.97). On the other hand, baseline positive symptoms were associated with increased risk of hospitalisation (adj OR 1.93; 95% CI 1.25–2.96). No other significant associations were found between the rest of symptom dimensions and outcomes. Discussion This study provides new evidence on the longitudinal stability of bifactor model of psychosis and, shows that all except manic and negative symptoms significantly improved over time. Whereas affective symptoms (including mania and depression) were associated with good prognosis, positive symptoms seem to predict poor clinical outcomes. The particular and different influence of affective and psychotic symptoms on long-term functional and clinical outcomes may have therapeutic implications and support the potential clinical utility of incorporating symptom-based approach in further outcome research.


. In most numerical models of railway tracks, the ballast (i.e. the granular layer in which the sleepers lie) is modeled by a homogeneous medium. This assumption allows an easier implementation within a Finite Element (FE) code, yet may not be jus-tified. In fact, considering the results of in-situ measurements, the global response of the track varies significantly before and after ballast tamping, even at low frequencies ( < 100 Hz). After having analyzed these experiments, this paper proposes to include in a track model a heterogeneous medium for the ballast, fully compatible with the FE framework. Samples of random fields (previously fitted to Discrete Elements simulations) are taken for the mechanical properties of the ballast layer. Because the heterogeneous properties require a refined mesh, a model reduction strategy is then proposed to ensure a reasonable computation cost: a learning procedure to construct a reduced basis from an appears at These experiments show that the the then have a high impact on the magnitude level. clear the impact of the ballast heterogeneity stiffness and variability), numerical


The invention discloses an advanced treatment device for vitamin C production waste water and an application method thereof. The advanced treatment device for the vitamin C production waste comprises an anaerobic biofilter and is characterized by also comprising a coagulation and sedimentation system, a preoxidation system, an A/O biochemical system, a secondary sedimentation system and a disinfection system, wherein the outlet of the vitamin C production waste water is connected with the coagulation and sedimentation system; a water outlet of the coagulation and sedimentation system is connected with the preoxidation system through a pump; a water outlet of the preoxidation system is connected with the A/O biochemical system; a water outlet of the A/O biochemical system is connected with the secondary sedimentation system; a water outlet of the secondary sedimentation system is connected with the disinfection system; and a water outlet of the disinfection system is connected with the anaerobic biofilter. The combined process is effective and reasonable in treatment on vitamin pharmacy waste water; under the conditions of normal water quality and full-load water quality, the process has the obvious effect of removing the pollution items, such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand 5 (BOD5), NH3-N, TN, TP, chromaticity and the like, in the vitamin pharmacy waste water and the items can reach the standard stably; and under the condition of low temperature, the process has high impact resistance.


In response to critiques of contingent valuation (CV) (Hausman), the "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Panel on Contingent Valuation" (Arrow et al.), among other pronouncements, suggested the use of referendum, or dichotomous-choice (DC), questions "to assure reliability and usefulness of the information obtained" (p. 4608).1 The suggestion to use DC questions may be questionable because empirical evidence suggests that responses to DC questions may be influenced by the magnitude of the bid stimuli that survey participants are asked to consider (Herriges and Shogren, Holmes and Kramer, Kanninen). Given this evidence, it is logical to ask whether the magnitude of the bid inadvertently introduces an experimental error in welfare estimates derived from single-bounded, dichotomous-choice (SBDC) questions. Unfortunately, SBDC questions do not provide enough information to isolate an anchoring effect due the proffered bid. We propose an approach that uses information on what respondents' answers might have been in the absence of bid stimuli to identify the possibility of anchoring in SBDC questions. This information allows for a test of whether bids act solely as neutral stimuli, act solely as anchors, or act as both stimuli and anchors.


Vector field visualization is an important topic in scientific visualization. Its aim is to graphically represent field data in an intuitively understandable and precise way. Here a new approach based on anisotropic nonlinear diffusion is introduced. It enables an easy perception of flow data and serves as an appropriate scale space method for the visualization of complicated flow patterns. The approach is closely related to nonlinear diffusion methods in image analysis where images are smoothed while still retaining and enhancing edges. An initial noisy image is smoothed along streamlines, whereas the image is sharpened in the orthogonal direction. The method is based on a continuous model and requires the solution of a parabolic PDE problem. It is discretized only in the final implementational step. Therefore, many important qualitative aspects can already be discussed on a continuous level. Applications are shown in 2D and 3D and the provisions for flow segmentation are outlined.


The present invention relates to one kind of antiseptic active cationic dye and its preparation process. The dye has matrix in anthraquinone structure, active group of sym-triazine monochloride or sym-triazine monofluoride, water soluble group of long carbon chain quaternary ammonium salt structure and the chemical structure as shown. The dye may be used in dyeing and antiseptic finishing of various kinds of fiber and has high antiseptic effect, high color fastness and lasting antiseptic performance. It is prepared through the following steps: dissolving anthraquinone A and sym-triazine trichloride or sym-triazine trifluoride in nitrobenzene solvent, heating, cooling and filtering to obtain intermediate B; dissolving the intermediate B in DMF solvent, adding tertiary amine, heating to react, evaporating DMF and vacuum drying to obtain intermediate D; dissolving the intermediate D in DMF solvent, adding alkyl halide, heating to react, washing with ethyl ether, re-crystallizing and drying.


It is not infrequent that students enrolled in literary translation courses have no intention of ever becoming literary translators. Indeed, some students may resent being required to take such a course as part of their professional training. While instructors can go out of their way to reinforce the parallels between literary translation and other types of professional language services, the online classroom seems to lend itself to students making these connections for themselves. While we may even get a few converts out of the bargain, nearly every student can come away from the online literary translation workshop a more critical reader, a better writer, a more professional translator, and a more socially conscious and well-informed individual. The course format and activities discussed in this article have been developed in the context of a graduate course in literary and cultural translation, which includes students working from a number of different languages and is delivered as part of an entirely online MA in Translation and Interpreting Studies. Much of what I discuss can easily be adapted, however, to accommodate single-language, face-to-face, or undergraduate learning as well. After providing a brief outline of the typical online classroom and how it can be deployed for literary translation, I describe a series of activities and assessments designed to teach students skills and knowledge that broaden their appreciation for literature and literary translation while helping them toward their personal professional goals. While the tasks, prompts, and instructions are very specific in their reference to certain literary and critical texts, they are provided to exemplify some general principles around online course and activity design.


The study of post-war French film criticism and film-making clearly indicates that the intensive viewing of the Hollywood products unavailable during the Occupation provided much of the stimulus for the development of the Nouvelle Vague, a cinema deeply influenced by American models. When the critics of Cahiers du cinema took up film-making, their practice rejected the literary 'cin6ma de papa' and espoused the greater cinematic realism and social comment they identified in some aspects of Hollywood production. Their films are very much about cinema itself and contain numerous intertextual references to favoured directors, actors and genres, many of them quintessentially American. Favoured auteurs included Welles, Ford and Hitchcock, and favoured genres were westerns, gangster movies and films noirs with stars such as Bogart and Cagney, all of which share a preoccupation with tough guy imagery and moods of anxiety, guilt and insecurity surrounding the problematic areas of masculine identity and female sexuality. The popularity of the 'S6rie Noire' imprint of translations of American 'hard-boiled' crime fiction also influenced the development of the French policier or polar, some of which featured American actor Eddie Constantine as secret agent Lemmy Caution, a character revived and used by Godard in his science fiction/detective thriller Alphaville (1965). In this and other films of the period, such as Truffaut's Tirez sur le pianiste (1960), there is, to use James Monaco's phrase, an 'explosion of genres',' through which, I would argue, an ambivalence towards the 'hard-boiled' tough guy imagery of these sources is inscribed, its seductive glamour often undercut by irony, parody and radical changes of mood.


: In today's era, with the rapid development of information technology like big data, intelligence, mobile Internet and cloud computing, management accounting must innovate and develop to cope with the challenges brought by the new technological revolution. Based on plenty of literature research and correlation analysis between "Great Intelligence Moving Cloud" and management accounting, this paper analyzes the impact of "Great Intelligence Moving Cloud" on the development of management accounting, especially the new challenges it faces. To promote the construction of management accounting, we put forward innovative ideas from the aspect of attaching importance to and giving full play to the guiding role of government financial departments, strengthening the awareness of management accounting informatization, and establishing management accounting with Chinese characteristics.


This document describes the proposal for the customization of the DLR tools delivered to INTA for the PAZ Ground Segment.


A conductive poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/polyamide 6 (PA6)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) composite with a unique hierarchical morphology has been fabricated by the dual formation of cocontinuous and nanodispersion structures using high-shear processing. PVDF and PA6 basically forms cocontinuous structure. The CNTs are exclusively located in the PA6 phase, and numerous PA6 domains with the size ranging from 10 to 150 nm are dispersed in the PVDF phase. The relationships between the physical properties (e.g., electrical conductivity and mechanical properties) and morphology of the composite have been investigated. The results indicate that the formation of PA6 nanodomains in PVDF phase by the high-shear processing not only increases the electrical conductivity but also improves the ductility of the obtained blend nanocomposites.


No matter how people view the high quality school,it is one that can cultivates students,teachers,and the school itself in an all-round way.The common features of the high quality school are reflected in many aspects.The basic condition is offering a fair education for every student.The environment of the school has a culture which mixes the traditional and modern elements.The pursuit of education is letting teachers and students enjoy their jobjs and study.The managerial performance is the concordant development of students' intelligence and personality.


Vacuum induction melted equi-atomic NiMn alloy has been studied through x-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The XRD pattern of the as-solidified alloy may be matched with the tI2 η′-NiMn phase and the cF4 Ni3Mn phase simultaneously. In the TEM bright field image of the same alloy, alternating bright and dark contrast with chessboard-like appearance is observed. Electron diffraction patterns from the bright phase match with the tI2 NiMn phase. The electron diffraction patterns from the dark phase are related to the tetragonal phase with additional superlattice reflection along [110] and [112]. The crystal structure of the new phase has been found to be polymorphically related mP8 phase with space group P 2/m (a = 5.02 Å, b = 5.16 Å, c = 3.61 Å). The phase has not been reported so far in the Ni–Mn system. The chessboard-like morphology between a tetragonal and monoclinic phase is being reported for the first time.


Synopsis: A new emission spectrometric method in which a spark discharge chamber is linked to a spectrometer by using a fiber-optic light guide has been studied. This report describes the characteristics of various types of fiber-optic light guide for transmission of spark radiation. The analytical system is mainly consisted of spark discharge chamber, power source for spark discharge, Faschen-Runge type spectrometer, 2 to 10m long all silicon types or silicon polymer-clad types of fiber-optic light guide. The loss of transmittance by the fiber-optic light guide was investigated by measuring the emission intensities of spectral lines with various wavelength. The results obtained are summarized as follows : (1) Silicon polymer-clad bundle fiber-optic light guide which has wide numerical aparture and large core area is suitable for transmission of spark radiation, (2) Analytical lines of elements, such as Si, Mn, Cr, Al, Ti, and Cu in Steel, in the range of wavelengths longer than 268nm can be transmitted over a distance of more than 10m and can be determined satisfactorily. However, the transmission of analytical lines of C, P, and S shorter than 268nm is difficult because of the absorption loss by the fiber-optic light guide.


This paper illustrates the Land use Land cover detection and floral diversity of Gujarat science city campus, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is one of the science centers of the Gujarat state managed by the State Government. The initiation of this science center is to acknowledge students towards the science field. Arc GIS is used to detect the vegetation patches and analysis of Land use Land cover of the study area. The Unsupervised classification has been performed to analyze the study area. High-resolution satellite image used for identifying the land use/ land cover classes. Out of which, the major area is covered by vegetation and constructed area. The major part is occupied by vegetation. The plant survey carried out in January 2020. The flora of campus consists of 73 species which belongs to 44 genera and 32 families. Herbs and shrubs were dominant as compared to the trees. Herbs were recorded with 15 species, while shrubs with 32 species, climbers with 10 species and trees with 11 species. These species were cultivated for ornamentation of the campus.


Abstract This paper outlines a model of accenting that is based on a combination of syntactic/metrical and semantic/pragmatic considerations. The model, called the blackboard model of accenting in an allusion to the blackboard architectures used in artificial intelligence, explains how the interaction of various factors (namely ««triggers»» as well as ««obstacles»» for accenting) determines the locations of sentence accents in speech. The interactions between factors related to novelty and contrast are studied in some detail. The paper focuses on the problem of accent location in the prosodic component of a concept-to-speech system.


Commercially available pulsed ground penetrating radar systems use broad bandwidth dipole antennas to transmit and receive radar signals. A fixed transmitter pulse is fed to the antenna . An electromagnetic pulse is radiated from the antenna with a center frequency that is dependent on the antenna dimensions. To change the frequency of the radiated pulse it is necessary to use an antenna with different dimensions . Hence a number of antennas are necessary for the practitioner to perform a variety of tasks witti differing range and resolution requirements .


Graphical abstract Abstract Supervisory consultant is one example of a company that offers services in the production process. The services offered by the supervisory consultants are not always assessed for quality from the final product, namely in the form of a supervisory report, bu implementation period. Customers in this context are parties who use products, in the form of services, offered by supervisory consultants. The customer as the party who will enjoy and pay for the final result something that will be paid later. This study aims to determine the important factors and the level of satisfaction of service users (0wner) on the performance of constr consultants in Ternate City. Data analysis was carried out using the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) method and the Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) method. Based on the IPA method, there are by the respondents, but their performance is still felt to be lacking and needs to be improved, namely leading regular meetings in planning and solving problems in the field, compiling reports and minutes in the context of progress of work and payment of installments for construction work, preventing, reducing, or overcoming any problems/complaints from parties outside the project (eg community protests due to noise during the construction process), supervisory consultant team is an expert in their field. For the CSI method, a satisfaction index of 83.10% is obtained, which is included in the "very satisfied" category.


Recent developments in design proposals for rectangular hollow section truss joints are reviewed for statically loaded, single chord, planar truss connections having one compression bracing member and one tension bracing member welded to the chord face, with either a small gap or an overlap at the connection. After comparison with the results of many joint tests, undertaken both in isolation and in complete trusses in other countries, a relatively simple procedure for the design of such joints is advocated. The design method is presented in a format compatible with the Canadian Standards Association Limit States Design Code for Steel Structures.


The cult of the leader was one of the main characteristics of Soviet culture —it marked its strict hierarchical structure, and, more importantly, the head of that structure. In this article I elucidate the mechanisms of the cult of leadership from the point of view of language theory. In the first part I will focus on the development of the cultural origins of the cult of leadership in Russia. The second part, drawing on Émile Benveniste's theory of deictics, Ernesto Laclau's theory of hegemony and Tartu-Moscow School's semiotics of culture, concentrates on the expression that characterized the cult of the leader during the Stalin era — "Stalin is today's Lenin". I claim that the expression "Stalin is the Lenin of today" was, in Stalin's era, equivalent to the expression "Lenin is the Stalin of today", for only Stalin's own act of utterance created the time of the utterance. And it was the time of Stalin's utterance that determined the conditions of the situation of the utterance — the canonized way that prescribed to the "Soviet people" how to view and interpret Lenin. But the totality of Stalin's "I" makes it plausible to suggest that there was only a cult of one leader — that of Stalin's. Accordingly, Stalin's "I" made it possible to maintain the ideological view of the society as a coherent system of meaning.


A 23-year-old male presented to our emergency department with symptoms of intermittent abdominal discomfort, cyclic vomiting, and decreased appetite. The patient had a history of recurrent flatworm infection without recent travel, but a history of often consuming undercooked seafood in the form of sushi. The patient was found to have small bowel intussusception on computed tomography. Intussusception is a rare diagnosis with a bimodal distribution favoring the pediatric population with an increase in incidence again among the elderly. The pathophysiology of the condition requires the presence of a "lead point" which is typically a tumor in the elderly patient, but there is no identified common cause of intussusception in the sporadic cases of intussusception in healthy young adults. Intussusception should be considered in young adults with cyclical abdominal pain, and consideration should be given to helminthic infection in those with endemic travel or raw food consumption. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Patient care, Medical knowledge.


The introduction of magnetized plasma medium in the interaction region of a gyrotron‐pumped free‐electron laser (FEL) offers the possibility of generating short radiation wavelengths using moderate energy beams. The plasma slows down the electromagnetic wave produced by a high‐power gyrotron that can now act as a wiggler for infrared free‐electron laser. The wiggler period can be tuned by varying the plasma density and/or ambient magnetic field. The wiggler wave vector and its field amplitude are sensitive to the choice of wave frequency as this slow electromagnetic wave is dispersive in nature. The free‐electron laser (FEL) operation for wiggler frequency close to electron cyclotron frequency is examined. The FEL efficiency and the gain are estimated.


Moments play an important role in image analysis and invariant pattern recognition. There are two types: orthogonal moments and non-orthogonal moments. Orthogonal moments perform better than non-orthogonal moments, they have properties such as robustness to image noise and geometrical invariant properties such as scale, rotation and translation. In this paper, an improvement in fingerprint recognition is done by using the Non-subsampled contourlet transform (NSCT) and the Zernike moments (ZMs). NSCT decomposes the fingerprint images into NSCT subbands. Thereafter, ZMs are used to evaluate the features of fingerprint images. Thereafter, feature selection technique is applied to select potential features from the obtained features using coefficient of determination. Thereafter, a well-known weighted-support vector machine is also used to train and test the evaluated features. Extensive experiments reveal that the proposed technique achieves significant improvement over the existing techniques in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, [Formula: see text]-measure, kappa statistics and execution time.


Abstract A coenzyme A- and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-linked pyruvate dehydrogenase complex has been isolated from pig heart muscle as a multienzyme unit with a molecular weight of approximately 9.0 million. The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex contains approximately 67 moles of protein-bound lipoic acid and 14 moles of bound flavin adenine dinucleotide. The highly purified complex is free of thiamine pyrophosphate and the activity in the dismutation assay was restored by added thiamine-PP, a Km of 4.2 x 10-6 m. All preparations of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex examined showed absolute dependence on added CoA and NAD in the dismutation assay.


This article examines features of studying the methodology of design activities from the synergy point of view, i.e. philosophical approach having given notion about development, mechanism and structural correlations of intricate systems in dynamic chaos.


Due to the virulence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been forced to hastily modify teaching methodologies, the organisation of resources and competence assessment systems without prior reflection, which has been particularly difficult for graphics subjects in Architecture, because they have drawing as their means of communication. This study has focused on evaluating and analysing the different distance assessment formulas that have been used in graphic design subjects at our university, in order to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each one of them. In this sense, based on surveys on distance assessment mechanisms among students, teachers and service staff, guidelines have been drawn up to improve the design of assessment tasks for graphic subjects in our school.


Transferability of agrotechnology assumes the feasibility of extrapolating a response-input relationship, estimated from experimental sites, to other sites with similar conditions. One specific conjecture is that crop production technology is transferable across sites within a soil family classification. The general approach to evaluating the transfer conjecture involves incorporating into the data analysis the prediction of yields not used in the estimation of the transfer function. A transfer model, using a second-order response surface and measured site-variable information, is formulated, and the yields for each experimental site are predicted from a transfer function estimated from the other sites. The resulting transfer residuals are compared with the ordinary within-site residuals. Based on a sum-of-squares criterion, a prediction test statistic is developed and shown to have a distribution of a ratio of independent quadratic forms. The methodology of transfer residuals is applied to data from the Benchmark Soils Project, where the major objective is to assess the feasibility of transferring agrotechnology among sites having soil of the same taxonomic classification.


SCINCE March, 1947, when one of us described the status of electroshock therapy,1 great progress has been made in this field. At the Maine General Hospital this progress has largely been due to the...


To solve the problems of modern life, one has to search out the causes of distress. In technology based society, people are chasing materialistic leisure. Now-a-days we have made our life hyper-competitive which has taken its toll on everyone not only physically and emotionally but also spiritually.  In modern time, people are living with inner turmoil and the crisis of spirit which begins to flicker the bright light of life in the winds of an out of balance life style. No one has time to sit and think about real life, that is mega living. To enlighten our life, we have to work on every facet of life. In this book, Robin Sharma introduces the valuable knowledge of East which can help people enrich their lives. Further he has suggested seven basic virtues, seven personal responsibilities and spiritual enlightenment which all are required for radiant living. The application of this wisdom on daily basis may bring change mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. It will enhance the mind, cultivating the body and nourishing the soul.


The objective of this article is to report differences we have found in teaching "American National Government" via the web and in a traditional lecture/discussion format. Since beginning this quasiexperimental field study in late 1997, we have gathered a variety of comparative data concerning students' characteristics and their changes in political knowledge and attitudes—things that are important to all of us who labor teaching American government in hopes of nurturing healthy citizens.


Effective management of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) requires a reliable method to determine the population affiliation of geese in the harvest. We determined if stable isotope analysis of feather tissue could distinguish between migrant and resident populations. We obtained feather samples of migrants from Atlantic population of Canada geese in northern Quebec near Ungava Bay, Canada. We grouped resident population Canada geese as coastal residents and inland residents according to the habitats where they were captured in New Jersey. We analyzed for isotopes of carbon (δ 13 C), nitrogen (δ 15 N), and sulfur (δ 34 S). We found significant differences among migrants, coastal residents, and inland resident for all 3 isotopes. Combinations of isotopic ratios for the 3 elements resulted in unique patterns among groups of geese. We entered the isotopic ratios into a discriminant analysis using collection site as the grouping variable (migrants, inland residents, and coastal residents). We formed 2 significant functions that discriminated among the 3 groups 92% of the time. The first function accounted for most of the variance, and was highly influenced by the isotope ratios for carbon and sulfur. The results indicate that stable isotope analysis of primary feathers can provide a reliable means to discriminate between migratory and resident populations of Canada geese. Stable isotope analysis is a promising technique for identifying the breeding areas of Canada geese, but additional studies are needed to determine inherent variability over broad geographic areas.


Sleep is a basic human necessity that is very important for mental and health recovery. If we miss our sleep time, our mind and body will not function properly.  One of the causes of bad quality sleep is Restless  Legs  Syndrome  (RLS),  which  is  serious  enough  to  interfere  with  normal  physical,  mental  and emotional functioning.  RLS is a condition that is characterized by an irresistible urge to move one's legs in  order  to  stop  uncomfortable  or  odd  sensations.  RLS  can  be  detected,  diagnosed,  and  evaluated  by polysomnography  (PSG).  This  paper  discusses  the  indication  of  RLS  and  explains  the  role  of  PSG  in evaluating RLS.   The research method is a descriptive survey with the retrospective data taken from the sleep laboratory medical record. The result of the study  revealed that RLS patients exhibited shorter total sleep  time,  lower  sleep  efficiency,  higher  arousal  index,  higher  number  of  stage  shifts  and  increasing periodic  limb  movement  in  sleep  (PLMS). In conclusion, PSG has an important role in diagnosing and evaluating RLS because it can detect PLMS, RLS-PLMS severity, sleep stage, total sleep time, and change of sleep stages. PSG may also be used to indicate people with signs and symptoms appropriate with RLS criteria. Key words: Polysomnography (PSG), Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)


Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a worldwide human pathogen of enormous public health concern, causing severe morbidity and mortality both in hospitals and the community. Their presence in pregnancy condition is a cause for concern. This study investigated the prevalence and antibiotics susceptibility pattern of urinary methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among pregnant women attending ante-natal clinics at Mater Misericordia Hospital Afikpo. Midstream urine samples (n=89) were collected from these women and analyzed in the Department of Applied Microbiology Laboratory, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, using standard microbiological techniques. Fifty-four (60.67%) pregnant women were found to harbor S. aureus and out of these, forty-five (83.33%) World Journal of Pharmaceutical Research SJIF Impact Factor 7.523 Volume 6, Issue 5, 1334-1345. Research Article ISSN 2277– 7105 *Corresponding Author


A conveyor web path for the web material comprises at least two supporting rollers in contact with the main surface of a single web material, wherein the web material having indefinite length and having a first edge and a second edge. The first support roller in contact with a first edge of the web material region, and the second support roller contacts the web material a second edge region, so that the web material between the first support roller having a support roller and a second substantially non- contact region, the contact region does not include the width of web material at least about 50%. Bending roller shaft supports the first and second support supporting at least one roller, such that the first support and the second support roller roll motion at an angle with respect to the at least one web.


Abstract We investigated the structure of the litter invertebrate community in 141 pine (Pinus sylvestris Linnaeus, 1753) forest sites with five variants of canopy density (30-44, 45-59, 60-74, 75-89 and 90-100%) in the steppe zone of Ukraine. The total number of litter macrofauna specimens collected at each site decreased from an average of 84/100 trap-days in the sparsest stands (30-40% density) to 4-39 specimens/100 trap-days in the forests with a denser canopy. The number of macrofauna species caught in the pitfall traps does not vary significantly with different degrees of canopy density. The Shannon-Weaver and Pielou diversity indexes show increases corresponding to increasing stages of canopy density. The average share of phytophages in the trophic structure of the litter macrofauna does not vary with canopy density. The relative number of saprophages decreases from 54% in the forests with the sparsest canopy to 11-13% in the forests with denser canopies. The relative number of saprophages in pine forests (22%) is lower than that in deciduous forests (40%). The share of zoophages in the trophic structure of the litter macrofauna increases significantly with the increase in the pine forest canopy density (from 21% in the sparsest plots to 59% in the densest). The relative number of polyphages is highest (47-65%) when the canopy density is 45-89%. At canopy densities below or above this range, the share of polyphages in the community decreases to 20 and 24%, respectively. Regardless of canopy density, Formicidae and Lycosidae invariably rank amongst the first three dominant families. Nine families of invertebrates dominate in the pine forest stands with the highest density (90-100%), and 5-7 families dominate in the stands with lower density. For the pine forest litter macrofauna, we have observed an extreme simplification of the community size structure compared with natural and planted deciduous forests of the steppe zone of Ukraine.


The focus of this paper is on the structural engineering design approach for coreless filament wound composite lattices. This approach has been in active development since the first ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion in 2012. The current approach, described in this paper has been recently tested and validated during the design of the Elytra Filament Pavilion, a 200 m² canopy roof consisting of structural carbon and glass fibre reinforced polymers developed and built by an interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Stuttgart.


Objective-To study theperceptions ofpatients withHIVoftheir general practitioners intermsof knowledge, abilities, confidence, andsatisfaction. Design-Questionnaire survey ofinpatients, outpatients, andmembersofaself help group. Setting-Two cityhospitals, threeoutpatient clinics, andoneAIDSself help group inMunichand Berlin, Germany. Subjects-All 402patients available between 1September 1988and31May1989. Mainoutcome measures-General practitioners' attitudes towards thepatients' HIVstatus; patients' experience oftreatment rejection; reception inthe general practitioner's office; thedoctor's perceived knowledge about HIVandAIDS. Results-394 of402patients consented tointerview; 87%wereregistered withageneral practitioner and91%ofthose indicated that thedoctor wasaware oftheir HIVdiagnosis. Theoverwhelming majority ofpatients (94%)hadafriendly oratleast neutral reception inthegeneral practitioner's surgery and only sixpatients' general practitioner changed hisor herbehaviour fortheworsebecause oftheHIV diagnosis. Twothirds ofpatients saidtheywould consult first withtheir primary caredoctor fora physical problem, butonly13%woulddosofor psychological problems. Overathird ofthepatients didnotroutinely inform other doctors ormedical staff abouttheir HIV status, buttherewasno significant correlation between this concealment and everhaving beenrejected byadoctor (7%)ora dentist (12%). Conclusion-Most patients expressed a high degree ofsatisfaction with their general practitioners intermsofconfidential issues, attitudes, knowledge, andmanagement.


A 68-year-old woman presented with a large, painful, hypertrophic plaque of the buccal cavity, mimicking cerebriform tongue. The lesion had appeared eight months previously and, under the diagnosis of candidiasis, the patient had been treated ineffectively with nystatin and oral fluconazole. Physical examination revealed a partially eroded, grayish-white, exophytic plaque at the dorsum of the tongue, as well as a whitish hypertrophic rim at the edge of the tongue (Fig. 1). The rest of the oral mucosa, the genital mucosa, and the skin were uninvolved. The presence of angular cheilitis, as seen in Figure 1, was the result of chronic mechanical irritation caused by the impaired adhesion of a denture. Our clinical diagnoses ranged between infectious and neoplastic etiologies and involved the vegetative type of pemphigus vulgaris and pyodermatitis-pyostomatitis vegetans (PPV). Direct microscopic examination and cultures obtained from the exudate were negative. A Tzanck smear revealed numerous acantholytic cells. Histologic examination showed marked acanthosis with microabscess formation, intraepithelial clefting, acantholytic cells, and some eosinophils (Fig. 2). The findings were in keeping with the diagnosis of pemphigus vegetans. However, PPV could not be entirely excluded. Direct immunofluorescence demonstrated intercellular deposits of immunoglobulin G (IgG). Indirect immunofluorescence was also positive. Antibodies to desmoglein 3 were detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Further workup in order to exclude inflammatory bowel disease was unremarkable. Pemphigus vegetans was diagnosed according to clinical, histologic, immunofluorescence, and ELISA findings. The patient was started on oral prednisone (1.0 mg/kg/d). At the 4-week follow-up, the initial plaques were seen to have been unresponsive, and the patient's discomfort was intense. Dapsone at 100 mg/d was introduced, with minimal response, and a concurrent cycle of 400 mg/kg/d of human intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) was administered for five days. The treatment resulted in gradual improvement and significant pain relief. Tapering of steroid was started. The patient experienced a flare-up when the dose reached 15 mg, and the dose was increased to 30 mg. Currently, one year after the initiation of treatment, the patient continues to use 5 mg of systemic prednisone every other day in combination with 50 mg/d of dapsone and demonstrates adequate disease control. 350


The beating of cilia and flagella is essential to perform many important biological functions, including generating fluid flows on the cell surface or propulsion of micro-organisms. In this work, we analyze the motion of isolated and demembranated flagella from green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, which act as ATP-driven micro-swimmers. The waveform of the Chlamydomonas beating flagella has an asymmetric waveform that is known to involve the superposition of a static component, corresponding to a fixed, intrinsic curvature, and a dynamic wave component traveling in the base-to-tip direction at the fundamental beat frequency, plus higher harmonics. Here, we demonstrate that these modes are not sufficient to reproduce the observed flagella waveforms. We find that two extra modes play an essential role to describe the motion: first, a time-symmetric mode, which corresponds to a global oscillation of the axonemal curvature, and second, a secondary tip-to-base wave component at the fundamental frequency that propagates opposite to the dominant base-to-tip wave, albeit with a smaller amplitude. Although the time-symmetric mode cannot, by itself, contribute to propulsion (scallop theorem), it does enhance the translational and rotational velocities of the flagellum by approximately a factor of 2. This mode highlights a long-range coupled on/off activity of force-generating dynein motors and can provide further insight into the underling biology of the ciliary beat.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. ABSTRACT A 19-year-old woman with a history of tuberculosis (TB) in her family presented to the infectious disease clinic of our hospital with right flank pain, nausea, vomiting, a 10kg weight loss, and decreased urine volume for the past two months. Empirical anti-TB treatment was initiated due to her family history of tuberculosis, a positive purified protein derivative skin test, and the presence of a nodule in the posterobasal segment of the lung upon F18-FDG PET/CT. We aimed to present the complete regression of a pelvic mass lesion after empirical tuberculosis treatment that was visualized on follow-up F18-FDG PET/CT imaging and discuss its contribution to the literature. F18-FDG PET/CT imaging followup may offer an invaluable resource for monitoring extrapulmonary involvement of TBinfected patients. The F18-FDG PET/CT imaging method may also contribute to the followup of granulomatous and inflammatory diseases.


Probability theory is important not least because of its relevance for decision making, which also means: its relevance for the single case. The frequency theory of probability on its own is irrelevant in the single case. However, Howson and Urbach argue that Bayesianism can solve the frequentist's problem: frequentist‐probability information is relevant to Bayesians (although to nobody else). The present paper shows that Howson and Urbach's solution cannot work, and indeed that no Bayesian solution can work. There is no way to make frequentist probability relevant.


Even amongst expert pathologists, difficulties are encountered when making a diagnosis of LCNEC. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggested tolimit/avoid the diagnosis of LCNEC on cytology/ small biopsy. Pathologic characterization may sometimes show coexisting foci of squamous or adenomatous differentiation in these tumors, creating mixed pathologic entities called "mixed LCNEC". LCNEC and adenocarcinoma (AC) share some pathologic features, such as growth patterns and necrosis, so, differential diagnosis may be challenging. Indeed, a mitotic rate of 11 mitoses or more per 10 high-power fields is a key factor to differentiate LCNEC from AC. To achieve a more precise diagnosis, a careful pathologic review is recommended because it is quite easy to mistake an LCNEC for a poorly differentiated NSCLC, an AC and even an SCLC.


We investigate the open spin chain describing the scalar sector of the Y = 0 giant graviton brane at weak coupling. We provide a direct proof of integrability in the SU(2) and SU(3) sectors by constructing the transfer matrices. We determine the eigenvalues of these transfer matrices in terms of roots of the corresponding Bethe ansatz equations (BAEs). Based on these results, we propose BAEs for the full SO(6) sector. We find that, in the weak-coupling limit, the recently-proposed all-loop BAEs essentially agree with those proposed in the present work.


Federated Learning is now widely used to train neural networks under distributed datasets. One of the main challenges in Federated Learning is to address network training under local data heterogeneity. Existing work proposes that taking similarity into account as an influence factor in federated learning can improve the speed of model aggregation. We propose a novel approach that introduces Centered Kernel Alignment (CKA) into loss function to compute the similarity of feature maps in the output layer. Compared to existing methods, our method enables fast model aggregation and improves global model accuracy in non-IID scenario by using Resnet50.


Modeling the effect of H 2 O on the "sulfur content at sulfide saturation" (SCSS) in silicate melt is essential for the estimation of SCSS in both arc magmas and slab melts. Here we present a SCSS model for hydrous silicate melt, in which SCSS has been modeled as a combination of S dissolving as S 2-and HS - /H 2 S, based on the sulfide capacity ( C S2) and the hydro-sulfide capacity ( C HS ), respectively. By adopting the thermodynamic framework of O'Neill and Mavrogenes [1], S dissolution as HS - /H 2 S can be modeled in an analogous fashion to that for modeling S 2-in anhydrous melt. With the contribution of S dissolving as S 2-in basaltic and andesitic melts calculated based on the updated SCSS model for anhydrous basic melt from O'Neill [2], and S 2-considered negligible in rhyolitic and dacitic melts, we obtain an expression for C HS based on a compilation of published experimental data on SCSS in hydrous silicate melts covering a PT range of 0.15-3 GPa and 785-1600°C, and melt H 2 O contents of ~1-13 wt%. Our model produces SCSS values for the primitive arc magmas compiled by Ruscitto et al. [3], that are in most cases higher than the measured S contents, implying sulfide under-saturated conditions during mantle wedge melting. The contribution of H 2 S dissolution to the calculated SCSS values varies in a range of 82-1410 ppm, which increases with the increase of H 2 O content (0.3-6.2 wt%). H 2 S dissolution


We model a public limit order book where rational traders decide whether to demand or supply liquidity, and where liquidity builds endogenously. The model predicts that a reduction of the tick size will cause spreads and welfare to deteriorate for illiquid but improve for liquid books. We find empirical support for these predictions based on European and U.S. data. The model also generates predictions for volume, but we find less empirical support for these predictions which we attribute to opportunistic High-Frequency-Traders selectively entering the market.


Thermal conduction governs the writing time and energy of phase-change memory (PCM) devices. Recent measurements demonstrated large thermal resistances at the interfaces of phase-change materials with neighboring electrode and passivation materials. In this letter, electrothermal simulations quantify the impact of these resistances on the set to reset transition. The programming current decreases strongly with increasing boundary resistance due to increased lateral temperature uniformity, which cannot be captured using a reduced effective conductivity in the phase-change material. Reductions in programming current from 20% to 30% occur for an interface resistance of 50 m2middotK/GW. The precise spatial distribution of thermal properties is critical for the simulation of PCM devices.


A novel fixed bed photocatalytic reactor with tilted photocatalyst-coated deflectors was designed and a numerical simulation for evaluation of its photocatalytic performance by ANSYS FLUENT 15.0 was developed. The results showed that the convective mass transfer was effective near the deflectors. The air flow velocities were pretty fast with a maximum value of 0.55m/s and had larger longitudinal velocity which could enhance laminar mass transfer, near the front face where the reaction took place. While behind the deflector, the air flow even keep still and the pressure loss was 0.18 Pa. Optimized construction of the photocatalytic reactor was designed and simulated for effects verification. The results showed that the velocity distributed uniformly near the inlet and outlet and the total pressure loss decreased to 0.09Pa.


The microscopic and macroscopic dynamics of calcium alkali nitrate melts are studied in their supercooled regime by means of shear rheology and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The structural relaxation is probed using shear rheology to access the viscoelastic flow as well as using physical aging experiments. By exploiting the strongly quadrupole-perturbed 87Rb nucleus, the local dynamics is probed on the milliseconds to nanoseconds range using various NMR methods involving central-transition stimulated-echo techniques, line shape analyses, spin relaxations, and second-order dynamic shift effects. The time scales monitored via the local Rb probe are in harmony with the electrical conductivity relaxation times. The low-temperature NMR line shapes agree excellently with those predicted by the Czjzek model. The temperature dependent second-order dynamic frequency shift is described using the imaginary part of the spectral density. It is demonstrated how the latter quantity can be generalized to include effects of correlation time distributions.


PCT No. PCT/DE96/00394 Sec. 371 Date Feb. 12, 1997 Sec. 102(e) Date Feb. 12, 1997 PCT Filed Mar. 6, 1995 PCT Pub. No. WO96/35047 PCT Pub. Date Nov. 7, 1996Electronic engine control systems have a plurality of individual components on the intake tube, some of them located relatively far from one another. For electrically connecting the individual components to the electronic control unit, relatively long electric connecting lines and a relatively large number of plug connections are therefore necessary. This invention sets forth a preassembled throttle apparatus which includes at least one throttle device, rotatably accommodated in a throttle valve support, and an idling adjuster in a housing; the throttle apparatus has a bypass conduit, which bypasses the throttle device and which can be varied by the idling adjuster, into which a regeneration valve can output fuel, the regeneration valve being triggerable by an electronic control unit that is also accommodated in the housing. The throttle apparatus of the invention is intended particularly for mixture-compressing internal combustion engines with externally supplied ignition.


Although Japan is known as one of the most Gospel-resistant nations, the country has remarkably demonstrated accommodating attitudes toward newly emerging religious movements since the time of the Meji Restoration. 1 Even today religious cults are aggressively increasing their membership. The contrast of these two religious phenomena in Japan suggests two questions. First, why are Japanese so open to religious cults but not to the Gospel? Second, how can Christian mission incorporate and utilize Japanese religious accommodation for its benefit?


Despite the recent breakthrough of high accuracy deep graph matching (GM) over visual images, the robustness of deep GM models is rarely studied which yet has been revealed an important issue in modern deep nets, ranging from image recognition to graph learning tasks. We first show that an adversarial attack on keypoint localities and the hidden graphs can cause significant accuracy drop to deep GM models. Accordingly, we propose our defense strategy, namely Appearance and Structure Aware Robust Graph Matching (ASAR-GM). Specifically, orthogonal to de facto adversarial training (AT), we devise the Appearance Aware Regularizer (AAR) on those appearance-similar keypoints between graphs that are likely to confuse. Experimental results show that our ASAR-GM achieves better robustness compared to AT. Moreover, our locality attack can serve as a data augmentation technique, which boosts the state-of-the-art GM models even on the clean test dataset. Code is available at https://github.com/Thinklab-SJTU/RobustMatch.


In this second part we will approach other themes that have arisen from narrative medicine in nephrology patients. As highlighted in the first part, narrative nursing was born in 1976 thanks to studies by Paternson and Zderarld, who borrowed from Husserl's phenomenology in viewing the lived experience as a result of sharing a time-space dimension between patient and nurse. Narrative nursing gives value to this lived experience, by using writing tools, spoken words, poetry, drawing and photography.


This paper is devoted to investigating the existence of solutions for discontinuous functional differential equations with periodic boundary value conditions.By employing the method of upper and lower solutions,which are less than continuous functions,some existence results are obtained.Furthermore,we also develop a monotone iterative technique for obtaining extremal solutions which are obtained as the limits of monotone sequences.


The invention discloses a knowledge network semi-automatic generation method. The method comprises the following steps: (1) firstly forming a knowledge network kernel; (2) utilizing single text knowledge discovering and extracting unit to receive a nonstructural document, discovering knowledge points to be concerned from nonstructural text data by virtue of a participle and named entity recognition technology, and extracting the knowledge points; (3) placing new knowledge in corresponding positions to serve as candidate knowledge after carrying out knowledge discovery and extraction on a plurality of documents; and (4) submitting the candidate knowledge to a corresponding expert system by a knowledge network operation platform to determine the correlativity, selecting the candidate knowledge with the determination result of yes as the confirmed knowledge, and discarding the candidate knowledge with the determination result of no. Starting from a small knowledge network kernel, the knowledge network semi-automatic generation method provided by the invention can be used for automatically discovering, extracting and organizing the knowledge from massive data from the internet througha computer so as to rapidly and effectively construct the knowledge network structure after the knowledge is confirmed by the expert system.


This paper presents the computer control system of an industrial robot with three degrees of freedom used for handling roasted tobacco.The system is composed of two modules,which is the NIOS II for trajectory planning and the servo positioning module.


In this work an approach to the theoretical solar radiation in the South Region of Ecuador is presented, using the Hottel Model ([1] [2]), considering the cloudiness and the topography Shadows. The maps of Global Solar Radiation are shown for the months of January, August and Annual one, considering the heights over the middle sea level extracted of the Digital Elevation Model. This work will allow specialists and engineers to know the most favorable areas for the location of photovoltaic or photothermic plants in the southern region of Ecuador. The effects have been analyzed by the orography and the methods used were discussed. The role of the orography is analyzed to improve the values' product of the modeling of the solar radiation. Conclusions and recommendations are given.


PURPOSE
To investigate various hypotheses and identify the most likely mechanism preventing the complete collapse of test animal lungs at sacrifice subsequent to intravenous injection of certain perfluorocarbon emulsions.

PROTOCOL
Literature data were reviewed, experimental data were extracted from completed studies and new data were generated in an attempt to delineate reasons why, in certain animals, lungs fail to collapse normally at necropsy if previously injected with certain perfluorocarbon emulsions. The proposed hypothesis involved gas osmosis through endogenous pulmonary surfactant-liquid bridges (micro-bubbles).

RESULTS
The observed effect of incomplete lung collapse upon necropsy was found to correlate with perfluorocarbon vapor pressure. Results indicated that failure to collapse could be attributed to the formation of intra-alveolar micro-bubbles induced by the normal pulmonary elimination of perfluorocarbon vapor. These micro-bubbles result in a phenomenon which could be characterized by the term, pulmonary gas trapping. Reduction of the perfluorocarbon concentration gradient across the bubble films by exposure to a perfluorocarbon vapor-containing atmosphere was found to reduce the effect in-vivo and prevent gas osmosis bubble growth in-vitro.

CONCLUSION
Experimental observations are consistent with the proposed theory of perfluorocarbon-related gas osmosis through micro-bubbles that prevent complete lung collapse as observed upon opening the thoracic cavity of test animals.


This text discusses the five aspects that the mainstream culture has lost itself in the value of the university students in the context of the multi-cultural background. It points out that the maze of the mainstream culture has reached a serious degree. It is a matter of urgency to rescue the mainstream culture and make it revive. This article defines the legal basis of constructing the mainstream culture, the orientation of the construction and the standard of socialist value so that the connotation of the mainstream culture will be more specific and the outline of the mainstream culture will be clearer, as will play an active role in promoting the construction and development of the mainstream culture.


In order to improve the efficiency of the draw plate in Signs Industry and standardize of operational process,this paper proposed a parameterized drawing way and technology and dveloped a system of sign making computer graphics.By Install file server and database server graphics in the LAN,reduce graphic file size,reduce the file resources by the computer's hard drive,facilitate mass production and factory management of graphics files.Real applications show that the proposed method can greatly enhance the working efficiency.


The symmetric weighted threshold filters is a generalization of rank order filters. In this paper, we study filtering behavior of iterated symmetric weighted threshold filters for bounded sequences and prove that iterated sequences with even index as well as iterated sequences with odd index both converge, and these limiting sequences are either roots of these filters or their recurrent sequences.


Lighting situations in which seeing is critical or conditions are adverse require that the light itself should be carefully engineered, with a full appreciation the characteristics of the eye and of all relevant materials.


The maximum total recovery from all gas wells are highly desired to be got and the production is to be maintained when the gas well reaches the end of its economic life. Although the injector has been known for about one century, sparse investigations have been performed on the injector of natural gas, and no structural optimization on the natural gas injectors has been reported. In the present paper, the structural parameters of natural gas injectors was optimized numerically with the motive pressure ranging from 2.5 to 3.5 MPa, induced pressure ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 MPa and discharged pressure being 1.5 MPa. The numerical results showed that the optimal values of diffuser gradient, mixing tube length to diameter ratio, mixing chamber length to diameter ratio and mixing chamber gradient were 40, 5, 0 and 0.25, respectively. The performance of optimized injectors was also investigated numerically. The motive natural gas flowrate increased linearly with increase of motive pressure and was independent of ...


An elevator system (10) is disclosed. The elevator system (10) may comprise a hoistway (18) including first and second hoistway portions (12, 16), a first car (14), a first stationary stator (44a) disposed in the first hoistway portion (12) and a second stationary stator (44b) disposed in the second hoistway portion (16), a first mover (42) mounted on the first car (14), and a first guiderail (62) disposed in the first hoistway (12). The first hoistway portion (12) may be free of other guiderails (62) for the first car (14). The first car (14) may be propelled in the first hoistway portion (12) by only the interaction of the first mover (42) with the first stationary stator (44a). The first car (14) may be propelled in the second hoistway portion (16) by only the interaction of the first mover (42) with the second stationary stator (44b).


We present here the first results of the analysis and interpretation of the swath bathymetry and side scan sonar data collected along the southeastern outer shelf and upper slope regions of the Cyprus insular margin (offshore Cape Greco). The resultant bathymetric model and the derivatives (e.g.: slope, aspect, benthic position index) are presented and analyzed in order to describe the morphology of the seabed and the main geomorphological features through quantitative indicators including morphometric indexes and statistical descriptors. The presence of deep sea coral communities (Dendrophylia ramea) in a particular location of the surveyed area is also discussed and tentatively related to the landscape morphology where the colonies are settled.


In this paper, an efficient scheme is presented bas ed on fractional order sliding mode control (FOSMC) method for tip position control of a single link flexible robot manipulator . The proposed control strategy is robust against t he system parameters variations such as payload and viscous friction variations in the presence of the unknown Coulomb friction distur bances. The main objective of the proposed control scheme is to reduce the deflec tion due to the flexibility of the link and the pre cise tip positioning control of the single-link flexible manipulator. To achieve this a im, sliding mode control method is performed in two stages. In the first step, the difference between the motor angle and the tip angl e of the flexible link is reduced by applying the p ro osed fractional order sliding mode controller . Then, in the second step, another sliding mode con troller is added to obtain precise control of tip-link position. Numerical simulation results show the feasibility a nd effectiveness of the proposed control method.


A new larger benthic foraminifer, Asterigerina cayrazensis n. sp., is described from the upper Ypresian (middle-upper Cuisian) of the Cayraz section, N of Haymana, S Ankara, central Turkey, from which also the rotaliine species Ornatorotalia spinosa , O. granum and Granorotalia sublobata are first recorded. In addition, Ornatorotalia sp. is recorded from the Thanetian limestone of the Harabekayis section, W Elazig, eastern Turkey.


In this article we would like to discuss, based on the results of empirical studies, the question of monopoly position of educational institutions in the distribution of life chances and the factors that could promote social mobility. The main theoretical focus is on the theory of reproduction and on the new theoretical perspective of non-reproduction. Frequently it is precisely the education system itself, the one that inhibits upward social mobility and serves to preserve and reproduce the existing social order with its inequalities. A child's path throughout the school can be strongly influenced by its class of origin. This principle underlies the theory of reproduction. However, the theory shows its "blind spots", this is, when a child doesn"t reproduce its own class and successes an upward transition from the lower class to the higher one. Chantal Jaquet names this process a non-reproduction and tries to work out a theory that could explain how a child can transform itself and avoids falling back into the behavior of its class of origin. From this point of view, some exceptional cases can serve as an excellent observatory to determine the decisive factors of an effective change. That is why we decided to look at a few life stories of "class crosses" in depth, using qualitative methods of analysis. The "class crossers" of our study were students from some middle schools (NMS) in Vienna, who could go to the grammar school (Gymnasium). Our aim was to empirically test some statements of the reproduction theory and of the new non-reproduction theory. For this purpose, we tried to reconstruct those factors, that could explain the success of the "class crossers". Five cases of transition were analyzed and, as a result, some institutional factors that make it difficult for young people to get to and through the gymnasium were identified. Besides, it was proved that adolescents must deal with them mostly on their own using the resources of the family and activating their personal set of mental and physical skills that Jaquet names "complexion". Moreover, some perspectives for further research opened up: the choice of profession that could lead to social upward mobility, the role of gender of the students and the educational level of their parents on the school path.


Smart and green buildings have attracted much attention in recent years. Development of an effective negotiation model for facilitating the bi-directional energy trading between the utility grid and the building is important for enhancing the building intelligence. In this paper, a negotiation agent based on adaptive attitude bidding strategy (AABS) is proposed. A comprehensive set of factors for the integrated smart building and utility grid system is taken into account in developing the negotiation model. The AABS based negotiation agent turns out to be able to dynamically adjust its behavior in response to varying attitudes in the negotiation process. In addition, an improved particle swarm optimization-adaptive attitude bidding strategy (PSO-AABS) based negotiation agent is developed for adaptively adjusting the trader's decisions according to the opponent's behaviors. It turns out to be capable of making rational deals in bi-directional energy trading by maximizing the trader's payoffs with reduced negotiation time. The feasibility of the proposed negotiation agents is evaluated by the simulation results.


For understanding the development of fashion market in Taichung, the author not only visited the fashion market everywhere in Taichung but also was thorough to interviewed with eight fashioners and two hosts and three consumers in this study. According to the fashioner and host's experiences, the author understands the generally situation of fashion market and finds the problem of the market gradually vanishing. The results of this study induce the following conclusions: First, the prosperous term of fashion market was from 2006 to the first half of 2007. Some fashion markets stopped taking place in 2008. Base on the development situation of fashion market everyplace, the fashion market trends to fade away, but the fact is using group way to develop. Second, the host unit and fashioners should well coordinate with each other. The design of space structure should depend on project of each activity in different space. In addition, the fashioner should have individual personal brand, and the brand label should combine the fashioner 's brand and the business. Finally, the declining reason of the fashion market includes following: The commercialization of fashion market, the drain of creative talents, and disregard of development of fashion market for the government. According to the conclusion of this study, it comes up with two concrete hits: First,he suggestion for the municipal government of Taichung: To provide a hall or concourse where the civilians can visit and the fashioners can stably create and sell and to establish fashion market of the Taichung local characteristic. Second, the suggestion for fashioner: The best way to improve industrial situation of fashion market is to progress their fashion products


: This study aims to investigate the consumer acceptance of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) charging of electric vehicle (EV) drivers. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first V2G acceptance study that is based on actual users' experience of V2G charging. A test set up with a V2G charge point at a solar carport was constructed at the Delft University of Technology. Seventeen participants in the study were given access to a V2G-compatible Nissan LEAF and the constructed V2G charging facilities, after which they were interviewed. Clear communication of the impacts of V2G charging cycles on EV batteries, financial compensation covering these impacts, real-time insight on the battery state-of-charge and the ability to set operational parameters through a user-friendly interface were all found to foster acceptance. The main barriers for acceptance were the uncertainty associated with battery state-of-charge, the increased need for planning charging and trips, the increased anxiety about the ability of the vehicle to reach its destination, economic and performance-related effects on the EV's battery and the restriction of the freedom that users associated with their personal vehicles. The participants were found to be divided across high, conditional and low acceptance of V2G charging. The use of V2G charging over the trial period was found to inform their opinions: tangible factors such as range anxiety and the user interface were given more importance than abstract concepts such as lack of standards that were discussed by users without experience of V2G charging. Our study indicates that V2G charging in its current form is acceptable to a section of current EV users. The discussion provides insights on extending the relevance of our findings across other user groups and over further developments in the field.


The evaluation of various ventilation strategies for optimal ther mal comfort design in terms of predicted mean vote index was investigated. The major parameter is the inlet/outlet diffuser's locations in the occupied region. The location effects of the inlet and outlet diffusers at the ceiling/walls on thermal com fort were examined every 0 4 meter. Eight different air distribution systems includ ing single inlet-single outlet and single inlet-double outlets arrangements were studied in an indoor environment. Also, an experimental validation was conducted. The comparison results between prediction and test are quite good.


This retrospective study compared the transplantation outcomes of 98 consecutive patients with acute leukemia. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was performed using G‐CSF‐mobilized bone marrow and blood (G‐BM&PB) or G‐CSF‐mobilized peripheral blood (G‐PB) from HLA‐identical sibling donors. The G‐BM&PB and G‐PB groups displayed significantly different neutrophil recovery rates (medians of 15 vs. 14 d, respectively; p = 0.009) but similar platelet recovery rates. The cumulative incidences of grades II–IV acute graft‐versus‐host disease (aGVHD) in the G‐BM&PB and G‐PB cohorts were similar (16.2 ± 4.7% vs. 21.8 ± 7.4%, respectively; p = 0.676), but the incidences of grades III‐IV aGVHD were significantly different (5.5 ± 3.1% vs. 18.9 ± 7.1%, respectively; p = 0.042). The G‐BM&PB and G‐PB cohorts displayed similar cumulative incidences of chronic GVHD (cGVHD, 49.1 ± 5.7% vs. 42.7 ± 6.8%, respectively; p = 0.465), one‐yr cumulative incidences of treatment‐related mortality (16.5 ± 3.5% vs. 24.4 ± 4.1%, respectively; p = 0.220), and five‐yr cumulative incidences of relapse (13.9 ± 4.8% vs. 26.8 ± 7.2%, respectively; p = 0.113). The five‐yr probability of leukemia‐free survival (LFS) was significantly higher in the G‐BM&PB group than in the G‐PB group (77.8 ± 5.2% vs. 57.6 ± 8.6%, respectively; p = 0.023). Multivariate analysis identified G‐PB as an independent risk factor for grades III‐IV aGVHD and LFS. Our results suggest that HLA‐identical transplantation with G‐BM&PB results in superior clinical outcomes compared with G‐PB for patients with acute leukemia.


The main emphasis of the article is to suggest the activity programme of the Centre of Social Adaptation and Support of Psychological Health of Students of the Sholom-Aleikhem Priamursky State University. The authors focus their attention on the development of such integrative quality of a personality as life fortitude. The programme presents the general positions, aims and tasks, contents of all the trends of psychological service. Every trend contains the development of students` life fortitude according to the following criteria: reflexion, self-regulation and self identification. The article summaries the experience of the psychologists from the Centre of Social Adaptation and Support of Psychological Health, it is also representative of the efficiency of the suggested programme.


The article is concerned with the gendering of technology, place and time and the interaction between them. The Swedish community of Lindesberg which changed its local policy towards industry and commerce in the 1980s is presented as a case-study. Before the changes, the local policy was restricted to traditionally male jobs; afterwards, it included jobs for women such as 'distance-working' or telecommuting opportunities. The expansion of the local policy is explained by the population's request for work opportunities for women also, although the local image is still very masculine. The old jobs were considered to be traditional but technically qualified jobs. The new jobs were described by the local authorities as new but technically qualified jobs. The first judgement was supported 'by everyone' while the latter was opposed 'by everyone'. The failure to keep the image of technically qualified work connected to the new opportunities for distance-working is explained by the gender labelling of the new wor...


This manuscript presents short survey of novel methods, schemes, techniques, and algorithms of feedforward synchronous space-vector modulation elaborated for scalar control of power converters and induction motor drives for transport systems. It includes both description of features and peculiarities of these new modulation strategies, and examples of its development, modification, dissemination, and adaptation for basic topologies of three-phase, five-phase, and six-phase systems (dual-inverter, triple-inverter, quad-inverter systems) for surface, waterborne, and aerospace transport. These methods and algorithms of synchronous pulsewidth modulation (PWM) allow providing continuous synchronization and waveform symmetries of the phase and line voltages of ac drives, with minimization of undesirable sub-harmonics in spectra of voltage and current, and also with minimization of undesirable common-mode voltage in traction drive systems.


et al. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the thyroid a clinical study of twenty-two cases. Acta Oncol 1996;/35:/457 62. [12] Chen YK, Chen YL, Cheng RH, Yeh CL, Lee CC, Hsu CH. The significance of FDG uptake in bilateral thyroid glands. Nucl Med Commun 2007;/28:/117 22. [13] Karantanis D, Bogsrud TV, Wiseman GA, Mullan BP, Subramaniam RM, Nathan MA, et al. Clinical significance of diffusely increased F-FDG uptake in the thyroid gland. J Nucl Med 2007;/48:/896 901. [14] Schmid DT, Kneifel S, Stoeckli SJ, Padberg BC, Merrill G, Goerres GW. Increased F18-FDG uptake mimicking thyroid cancer in a patient with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Eur Radiol 2003;/13:/2119 21. [15] Chander S, Zingas AP, Bloom DA, Zak IT, Joyrich RN, Getzen TM. Positron emission tomography in primary thyroid lymphoma. Clin Nucl Med 2004;/29:/572 3. [16] Puget G, Trampal C, Calvo N, Carrera MJ, Conangla M, Sitges-Serra A, et al. Thyroid fluorodeoxyglucose-whole body positron emission tomography incidentaloma concurrently diagnosed with a diffuse large B cell lymphoma localized in the neck. Leuk Lymphoma 2007;/48:/425 7. [17] Lin EC. FDG PET/CT for assessing therapy response in primary thyroid lymphoma. Clin Nucl Med 2007;/32:/152 3. [18] Mikosch P, Wurtz FG, Gallowitsch HJ, Kresnik E, Lind P. F-18-FDG-PET in a patient with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and MALT lymphoma recurrence of the thyroid. Wien Med Wochenschr 2003;/153:/89 92. [19] Androulaki A, Syriou V, Lazaris AC, Paterakis T, Pikazis D, Papathomas T, et al. Maltomas of the thyroid and Sjogren's syndrome in a woman with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Endocr Pathol 2006;/17:/89 94. [20] Marchesi M, Biffoni M, Biancari F. False-positive finding on F18-FDG PET after chemotherapy for primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the thyroid: A case report. Jpn J Clin Oncol 2004;/34:/280 1.


Three experiments examined the effect of toxicosis on instrumental responding. These studies were prompted by Morrison and Collyer's (1974, Experiment 1) finding that the induction of toxicosis after an instrumental conditioning session produces greater response suppression if the response is reinforced by a novel saccharin solution rather than familiar water during conditioning. Experiments 1 and 2 investigated whether this suppression was mediated by the Pavlovian contingency between the contextual cues and the saccharin solution or the instrumental relationship between the response and the reward. A role for the instrumental contingency was indicated by the greater suppression of the response producing novel saccharin rather than water when the context of both responses was equally associated with the saccharin and illness. Experiment 3 found that extinction of the aversion to a novel reinforcer following aversive conditioning would re-establish an action previously associated with that reinforcer, in contrast to an action whose reinforcer remained aversive. This result was a further indication that the instrumental contingency between the response and reward contributes to response suppression.


The problem of the erosion of local community traditions, one of which is "mamacah" tradition in Madura, which was identified from field data and facts, requires the participation of educational institutions, namely village customary institutions which should exist at the village level whose function is to provide education to the community about education to maintain arts and culture. . The Mamacah tradition has problems with various temporary factors, namely the development of the times and social change factors that affect the low interest of the younger generation as the successors of this tradition. This requires further study of how traditional institutions in the village accommodate village traditions through the steps of fostering the younger generation. The accommodation of the traditional institutions of Lobuk village is carried out by implementing "Mamacah" training education which is intensively taught to the young generation of the village with a convergence approach. By maintaining communication with village youth, Mamacah education can run harmoniously and continuously. The success of Lobuk village as the only independent village in Madura cannot be separated from the intensity of the education of the traditional institutions in it as a form of cultural capital for the knowledge of the young generation of the village and the symbolic capital of the establishment of educational institutions of traditional village institutions that continuously carry out arts and cultural education in the area including mamacah


Objective  This review mainly summarize the nutritional supplement characteristics of speed, endurance and strength sports, which can provide theoretical reference for coaches and athletes.
Methods Literature
Results Carbohydrates, VB1 and VC should be added to the speed program diet.Endurance items can be added to meet energy needs.The power type project should be sufficient protein, and appropriate complement of sodium, potassium and other electrolytes.
Conclusions Due to different energy supply methods, sports items have their own characteristics of nutritional supplement. According to the difference of sports, it is beneficial to improve athletes' performance to supplement nutrition.


Phase stepping differential interference contrast microscopy measuring system is constructed,which is based on differential interference contrast microscopy,wave plate phase shifter device and image manage system.Some technical difficulties existed in the surface microscopy are analyzed and solved.Threedimensional surface microtopography of the sample is reconstructed.High accuracy quantitative measurements of surface height and roughness Ra are realized.The results show that measuring accuracy is 1.2 nm,the longitudinal resolution of the system is 4.6 nm.


The corrosion mechanisms of plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) films formed on AZ31 magnesium alloys were discussed in alkaline silicate solution. The structure and element contents of the films after immersed in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution were investigated by SEM and EDS. The results indicated that the corrosion occurred on AZ31 magnesium alloy and the treated PEO samples during five days immersion. The corrosion procedure of the samples was depicted.


We determined the dielectric function of the alloy system (Al x Ga 1 (cid:2) x ) 2 O 3 by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the wide spectral range from 0.5 eV to 8.5 eV and for Al contents ranging from x ¼ 0.11 to x ¼ 0.55. For the composition range x < 0.4, we observe single phase material in the b -modification and for larger Al content also the occurrence of c -(Al,Ga) 2 O 3 . We derived spectra of the refractive index and the absorption coefficient as well as energy parameters of electronic band-band transitions by model analysis of the dielectric function. The dependence of the dielectric functions lineshape and the energy parameters on x is highly continuous, reflecting theoretical expectations. The data presented here provide a basis for a deeper understanding of the electronic properties of this material system and may be useful for device engineering. V C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC


517Background: Radical cystectomy patients are a vulnerable population, with up to 65% suffering complications and 26% readmitted within 90 days. Patients with aggressive bladder cancer are at high risk for malnutrition. Furthermore, malnutrition is a recognized risk factor for poorer outcomes following radical cystectomy. Unclear is the longitudinal assessment of malnutrition during the entire perioperative time frame of the radical cystectomy. Methods: We initiated a prospective, feasibility pilot trial (NCT NCT02942121) evaluating the usage of a healthcare application in the perioperative management of patients undergoing radical cystectomy. As a secondary aim of this prospective trial, we evaluated the perioperative malnutrition status of each participant using the validated Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA). This assessment was administered by registered dieticians at baseline prior to radical cystectomy and at postoperative visits: 2 week, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks. No nutrition in...


The non-isothermal experiments of TiO2 reduction to Ti(C,N) were conducted by a comprehensive thermal analyzer in Ar and N2 atmospheres. The mechanism of Ti(C,N) generation was analyzed and the kinetic parameters in different atmospheres were calculated. The results showed that Ti(C, N) formation process was controlled by interface chemical reaction, and the existence of nitrogen would favor the formation of Ti (C, N). TiC transforming into TiN occurred at a temperature above 1200°C.


Syntheses and radical polymerization behavior of methacrylamides having peptide moieties, N-(methacryloylglycyl)-l-leucyl-l-alanine methyl ester (MA-GLA-M) and N-(methacryloyl-β-alanyl)-l-leucyl-l-alanine methyl ester (MA-βLA-M), were examined. Radical polymerizations of MA-GLA-M and MA-βLA-M in the presence of AIBN (1 mol %) in DMF (1.0 mol/L) afforded the corresponding polymers (poly(MA-GLA-M) and poly(MA-βLA-M)) in nearly quantitative conversions with 68 000 and 69 000, respectively. An increase of the absolute value of molecular rotation on the transformation from MA-GLA-M (−126.0°) and MA-βLA-M (−132.9°) to poly(MA-GLA-M) (−176.5°) and poly(MA-βLA-M) (−242.1°) could be observed. The radical polymerizability of MA-βLA-M in MeOH was suggested to be lower than that of MA-GLA-M. The CD patterns of poly(MA-GLA-M) and poly(MA-βLA-M) were similar to those of the corresponding model compounds.


The vast and rapid development in the computer, communication and Internet technologies has significantly affected contemporary educational systems. This paper describes an approach for the deployment of an e-learning infrastructure/environment in addition to a new methodology of digital curricula development for an efficient E-learning implementation and adoption. Hence, the purpose of this research is to study and analyze the role of implementing the E-learning framework and online digital curricula in K12 schools. Success factors of implementing the E-learning framework and project management perspectives of online digital curricula development are also presented and discussed.


The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the master circadian pacemaker in the mammalian brain, responsible for coordinating circadian (ca 24 h) rhythms throughout the body. When individual SCN neurons are dispersed in low density culture, they generate independent circadian oscillations in neuronal firing rate. This observation has led to the widely accepted conclusion that single SCN neurons are autonomous circadian oscillators. More recent studies using bioluminescence imaging to monitor rhythms of clock gene expression have indicated that fibroblasts, too, are autonomous circadian oscillators. But does this mean that the fibroblast should "replace the SCN as the in vitro model of choice"? On the contrary, the SCN is much more than a population of independent cellular oscillators. SCN function depends on important network interactions that allow for cell synchrony, enhanced pacemaker precision, reinforcement of rhythm amplitude, and robustness against genetic perturbations. The distribution of phases of cells within the SCN network also permits variously phased rhythmic output signals, as well as the encoding of seasonal changes in photoperiod and other features of environmental lighting history. Thus, unlike fibroblasts, SCN neurons are designed to be "team players," and SCN network interactions are integral to the normal function of the SCN as a circadian pacemaker.


Formaldehyde (HCHO) is a major pollutant in indoor air. The development of low-cost and high-efficiency technologies to remove HCHO at room temperature is thus of great importance. Here, we developed...