xture-based computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) of microcalcification clusters is more robust than the state-of-art shape-based CADx because the performance of shape-based approach heavily depends on the effectiveness of microcalcification (MC) segmentation. This paper presents a texture-based CADx that consists of two stages. The first one characterizes MC clusters using texture features from gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM). In the second stage, an embedded feature selection based on particle swarm optimization and a k- nearest neighbor (KNN) classifier, called PSO-KNN, is applied to simultaneously determine the most discriminative GLCM features and to find the best k value for a KNN classifier. Testing the proposed CADx using 25 MC clusters from mini-MIAS dataset produced classification accuracy of 88% that obtained using 2 GLCM features.


The study on the rural landscape planning in China is a developing subject.In this paper the essays of the rural landscape and rural landscape planning from 1989 to 2006 were reviewed and analyzed,including the research content and the problem in the rural landscape planning in China.The general tendency of the study on the rural landscape planning was put forward.


Nowadays, students expect that their university will not only provide a valuable source of practical knowledge for them, but will also be ready to offer appropriate distance learning opportunities both on a daily basis to diversify and enrich the study process experience and during global pandemic crises, which will probably be the reality of their lives in the next decades. The novelty and topicality of this study is justified by the need to assess the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the European Union higher education system and its adaptability to switch from traditional to remote study forms. The objectives of the study were: 1) to analyse the need to improve digital skills in the European Union by investigating the achievements of the Digital Economy and Society Index; 2) to assess the current digital environment of Latvian public universities and conduct an in-depth study of the digital environment of Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies. The research methodology is based on the desk study, social survey, comparative analysis and logical construction research methods. The results of the study revealed the digital gap that still exists between the more developed Nordic European countries and the less developed Southern and Eastern European countries. However, detailed analysis of the situation in Latvia leads to the conclusion that Latvian higher education institutions have significantly increased the amount of digital content in both external and internal communication systems and can offer competitive educational services that comply with the contemporary education requirements.


We report the ASCA results of the bursting X-ray pulsar GRO J1744-28, which was observed in 1996 February and 1997 March. The source flux in the 2-10 keV band was 2.0 × 10-8 ergs s-1 cm2 in 1996 and 5.0 × 10-9 ergs s-1 cm2 in 1997. We detected 12 and 17 type II bursts during the two observations, with mean bursting intervals of about 27 min and 37 min. Each burst is followed by an intensity dip with the depleted flux depending on the burst fluence. The energy spectra are approximated by an absorbed power law with additional structure around 6-7 keV. The constant absorption column, (5-6) × 1022 cm-2, independent of the observation dates and emission phases (persistent, burst, and dip) is interpreted as an interstellar absorption. The source may be actually located near the Galactic center, at a distance of 8.5 kpc. The structure in the energy spectrum at 6-7 keV is most probably due to iron and may be reproduced by a disk line model with additional broadening mechanism.


In clause authors result results of the functional analysis of a design, design, technological and system decisions of the bench equipment for the purpose of preparation for translation of technological process of resource tests of mechanical drives of the plane into maintenance from computer facilities and the equipment with numerical program management; data on the device of not standardized and standardized equipment used for resource and certified tests cite; open features of technological process of tests on a cycle in conditions of the enterprise on the basis of specifications (THAT) the main designer of the plane; practically show bottlenecks of technological process of the named tests, etc.


Asthma is a major public health problem caused by the interplay of environmental factors and genetic susceptibility. There has been a dramatic increase in asthma prevalence over the last two decades [1]. It has been widely accepted for many years that asthma involves inflammatory activation in the lower airways of allergen specific Th2 cells [2,3]. The cellular and molecular pathways involved in this are complex and the chronic, inflammatory process encompasses infiltration by eosinophils, neutrophils, mast cells and T cells. The severity of chronic asthma is likely to depend on the extent of eosinophil and mast cell activation and accumulation. The classical Th2 cytokines, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 are strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of asthma, both from human studies and studies using cytokine knockout mice [3]. These cytokines have an impact on the many events involved in asthma including production of IgE, eosinophil maturation, mucus over-production and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). However, activation of Th2 responses is not in itself sufficient to account for the abnormalities in airway function characteristic of asthma [4]. It was initially envisaged that successful immunotherapeutics for asthma might simply involve re-setting the cytokine balance in the lower airways through the administration of Th1 cytokines or activation of Th1 responses [5]. A number of novel therapeutics currently under investigation derive from a rationale originating in the 'hygiene hypothesis' in terms of trying to shift responses to Th1 through the various forms of microbial products known to stimulate Th1 immunity [6]. However, it has gradually become clear that the complex immunological activation events in asthma cannot be accounted for by a simple Th1-Th2 dichotomy and furthermore, in murine models the pathological consequence of over-compensatory Th1 responses in the lung can be as great as the allergic response itself [5].

Recent publications in the asthma field, including an article in this issue of Clinical and Experimental Immunology, have shed light on some of the key processes controlling Th2 cytokine release in the asthmatic lung and may point to possible future directions for novel therapeutic strategies [7–9]. Among the key issues are these: if the simple activation of allergen specific Th2 cells is not sufficient to cause asthma, what else is required and what is special about the lower respiratory tract in supplying this requirement, and if the initial stimulus required for the polarization of antigen specific, IL-4 secreting Th2 cells is IL-4, which cells make the initial IL-4? An important answer to these questions has come from the laboratory of Dale Umetsu at Stanford, and provides one of the first links between NKT cells of the innate immune response and the programming of Th2 cells in asthma [7]. These cells are a population of NK cells that are NK1·1+ but also express conventional T cell receptor, though in a very restricted fashion, such that human NKT cells carry an invariant Vα24-Jα15 TCR while mouse cells have a Vα14-Jα18 receptor [10]. They recognize antigen in the context of the nonclassical MHC molecule, CD1d. To date, the only defined ligand shown to be presented to NKT cells by CD1d molecules is α-galactosyl ceramide, a glycolipid derived from marine sponges. It is presumed that this antigen has structural equivalents in the microbial universe and that this is a basic pathway for the rapid triggering of innate immunity. The ability of these cells, which are activated extremely early in the course of an immune response, to give a burst of cytokines so influencing the Th1/Th2 development of immune responses has previously received much attention with respect to the induction of autoimmune disease [11]. However, the contribution of these cells to asthma is an obvious issue considering that these cells have a critical role in innate immunity to pathogens in the lung [12]. It has now been shown that mice lacking this pathway are protected from the development of AHR. Interestingly though, there is no block on the development of Th2 responses to allergen per se. Akbari et al.[7] used the ovalbumin-Balb/c mouse lung challenge model of asthma to look at the phenotype of mice that carried a knockout either for the CD1d NKT presenting MHC molecule, or for the invariant NKT TCR. When control mice were sensitized with an ovalbumin aerosol, they showed the expected pattern of AHR on methacholine challenge, while knockout mice showed normal airway responsiveness. Comparison of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells showed that this lack of AHR was associated with a lack of eosinophils and of antigen specific IgE. When NKT cells selected for the invariant Vα14 receptor were adoptively transferred to knockout mice, susceptibility to AHR was restored. These cells only partially restored the AHR phenotype when taken from either IL-4 or IL-13 knockouts, and cells from the double knockouts lacking both cytokines were unable to restore AHR at all. NKT cells from IFNγ knockouts, on the other hand, could transfer susceptibility to AHR. The underlying hypothesis is that antigen encountered in the lung somehow changes the mucosal environment of the lung, so exposing self glycolipid antigens that are recognized by NKT cells in the context of Cd1d. The IL-4 and IL-13 rapidly released from the NKT cells activated in this manner then are able to license conventional Th2 cells in the lower respiratory tract for the development of AHR.

With respect to the Th2 cells in the lung which are then activated for induction of the asthma phenotype, much recent work has been devoted to understanding the underlying regulators of cytokine transcription and signalling that might supply new and fundamental therapeutic targets. Kubo's group in Tokyo have recently described an important role for a member of the SOCS (suppressor of cytokine signalling) family in the process [8]. SOCS proteins function to block the Jak/STAT pathways of cytokine signalling [13,14]. Seki et al.[8] investigated the function of one of the SOCS family members, SOCS-3, about which relatively little was previously known. They initially showed that SOCS-3 expression is preferentially up-regulated in Th2 cells. Expression promotes Th2 cytokine responses at the expense of Th1, since transgenic mice expressing constitutive SOCS-3 show greatly enhanced Th2 development. The mechanism of action appears to be through the abrogation of IL-12-mediated STAT-4 phosphorylation and IL-2-mediated STAT-5 phosphorylation. Intriguingly, when peripheral blood T cells of asthma patients and controls were compared, it was found that levels of SOCS were significantly higher in asthmatics, with the level of SOCS-3 expression correlating with disease severity. The mouse ovalbumin sensitization model of asthma was then used to investigate the AHR of SOCS-3 transgenics. The AHR of the transgenic mice were considerably enhanced with larger numbers of eosinophils and Th2 cytokines in BAL.

Another upstream regulator of Th1/Th2 cytokine responses in asthma is stem cell factor (SCF), sometimes termed mast cell growth factor or Kit ligand, because it is the ligand of the c-kit protooncogene product [15,16]. While the studies from the laboratories of Umetsu and Kubo bear on the driving roles of NKT cells and T cells in asthma, studies on SCF indicate a role for mast cells themselves in driving pathogenesis. In this issue of Clinical and Experimental Immunology, Berlin et al.[9] report initial studies with therapeutic administration of a monoclonal antibody to SCF in murine asthma. SCF was first described in 1990 and is widely expressed, including synthesis by a variety of cells in the asthmatic lung such as mast cells and eosinophils as well as bronchial smooth muscle cells and lung fibroblasts [15,16]. Thus, in addition to studies such as those described above on activation of NKT cells in the lung, studies on SCF may also help to illuminate what is special about the inflammatory environment of the respiratory tract that can facilitate the action of Th2 cells to trigger asthma. SCF has a well-documented range of effects on several cell types including effects on mast cell development, activation, chemotaxis, degranulation and IL-4 expression. SCF is expressed in membrane-bound and in cleaved, soluble forms and its crystal structure has been solved [17]. A number of previous studies have investigated the role of SCF in murine models of asthma, for example by administering exogenous SCF to enhance AHR. Berlin and colleagues have now added to these findings by producing a monoclonal antibody to SCF which they here administer therapeutically in a murine model of asthma involving intratracheal challenge of primed CBA mice with cockroach antigen. Administration of SCF antibody at the time of allergen challenge significantly reduced AHR, although this was not inextricably linked to a reduction in eosinophils. Cytokine and chemokine analysis showed a significant reduction in IL-5, TNFα, MCP-1 and RANTES. Because of the wide spectrum of cells capable of producing SCF in the lung and of expressing its ligand, c-kit, it is difficult to be certain whether these effects on cytokine and chemokine release are due to inhibition of the effects of SCF on mast cells or whether the mode of action is primarily through some other cell type.

Taken together, these studies indicate new levels of complexity in the activation of Th2 cells during an asthmatic response and offer new therapeutic options for modulating the process.


Subcutaneous adipose tissue depth was measured in 50 randomly selected Type 1 diabetic patients by real‐time ultrasound at five standard sites commonly used for injection. Tissue depths were often less than the length of the standard insulin syringe needle (12–13 mm) at the arm and thigh injection sites, especially in men. Thus, if the currently recommended perpendicular injection technique were to be employed, there would, in theory, be an appreciable risk of intramuscular insulin deposition. In order to determine the true site of deposition in those at risk (injection site tissue depth of < 12 mm), a novel air‐contrast ultrasound imaging technique was developed. A mixture of 0.1 ml of air and 0.2 ml of sterile 0.9% saline was self‐injected into an anterior thigh site by 30 subjects using their usual technique. The site of the resultant tissue depot was located by ultrasound. Sixty‐three percent of the depots were localized to true subcutaneous tissue and the remaining 37% to between the fascial planes overlying muscle. None of the subjects proved to be injecting into muscle. These results contrast with predictions of the risk of intramuscular injection made from the ultrasound measurement of subcutaneous tissue alone at the anterior and lateral thigh sites of, respectively, 100 and 97% for men and 42 and 37% for women. Although 11 of the 30 subjects claimed to be using a full‐depth perpendicular injection technique, on direct observation only four proved to be injecting perpendicularly and none of these to the full depth of the needle. These results suggest that the potential for intramuscular injection in insulin‐treated diabetic patients is high, particularly in men, but that in practice this risk is minimized by the use of an appropriate injection technique. Promotion of a single injection technique is clearly inappropriate and patients should instead be encouraged to adopt a method that is suited to their individual circumstances.


The article examines features of the post-Soviet period of social transformation and state building of Belarus in the context of the comparative analysis of the Soviet (communist) and Western (capitalist) development systems conducted by the famous Russian philosopher and sociologist Alexander Zinoviev. The author pays attention to the reasons of the collapse of the USSR, according to A.A. Zinoviev, as well as to the search by the post-Soviet countries, including the Republic of Belarus, for their own ways out of the current crisis. The author states that the most important task of gaining state sovereignty is associated not only with social and economic processes but also with the field of national self-consciousness and the specifics of the formation of national and cultural identity. This cause is related, among other things, with the national philosophy as a stable basis of intellectual cultural creation, the evolutionary formation of worldview and cultural values of people. The author demonstrates a tolerant nature of this process in Belarus which made it possible to avoid acute social conflicts in the country and to avoid the opposition of the Belarusian model of development and culture to the traditions and achievements of neighboring countries and the world civilizational process as a whole. Also the author demonstrates contemporary achievements of the Republic of Belarus in the sphere of socio-economic and scientific-technological development as the basis for further modernization of the country in new geopolitical conditions. The conceptual views of A.A. Zinoviev are multifaceted, they have contributed and continue to play an important role in science, culture, social development, socio-political practice. Zinoviev's works are very valuable since they are still actual and serve as a good theoretical, ideological, and methodological basis in assessing modernity, including understanding socio-political processes that have developed today in the post-Soviet space, around Russia and Belarus, in relations between the West and the East.


Based on the principle of Devanathan-Stachurski cell and the patent by Yuanlong Du,an electrochemical hydrogen probe (Model HR probe) used to detect atomic hydrogen content in the wall of hydrogenation reactor was developed. The base current density of the probe is less than 0.6 μA.cm-2below 323 K cyclic water which cooled the probe. The temperature of the cyclic water influences the permeation current density at the steady state strongly. Therefore, the probe temperature should be kept constant during the measurement. Calibrated by a Devanathan-Stachurski cell, a precise value of the current density of atomic hydrogen oxidation reaction could be obtained by the equation i∞=1.195iH,where too is the steady current density of atomic hydrogen oxidation and iH the current density obtained from Model HR probe directly. The presented probe could be applied to measure the hydrogen content in the structures with high temperature.


This paper provides an overview of a fast modeling approach for modeling the nonlinear IO buffers for signal integrity based simulation and design of high-speed electronic interconnect and packages. Techniques based on artificial neural network (ANN) modeling are developed, where the neural network is trained to learn from IO buffer data, and trained neural network becomes fast models representing the buffer during signal integrity simulation and design. The ANN approach is more accurate than typical empirical models, and is faster than detailed models such as detailed transistor-level or physics-based models.


Developmental care involves adjusting the neonatal intensive care unit to reduce stress and improve optimal brain and behavioral development of the preterm neonate. The aim of developmental care is to support each neonate to be as stable, well organized and competent as possible by responding to the neonate's cues and management them carefully. Objective: evaluate the effect of preterm neonates' developmental supportive care program on nurses' performance. Setting: This study was conducted at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Maternity University Hospital at El-Shatby in Alexandria. Subjects: All nurses who were responsible for providing care for preterm neonates (50 nurses).Tool: one tool was used to collect necessary data namely; Nurses' Performance of the Developmental Supportive Care for Preterm Neonates Observational Checklist. Results: The results of the current study revealed that, none of nurses obtained good score related to developmental supportive care before program. On the other hand, three quarters (74%) of nurses had good total score for developmental supportive care immediately after the application of the program. Unfortunately, this percent decreased to 42% three months later .There was statistical significant difference between nurses' performance total scores regarding developmental supportive care before, immediately after the application of the program, and three months later (p= <0.001). Conclusion: It can be concluded that, nurses had good total score of performance regarding developmental supportive care immediately after the application of the program, and it declined three months after program application. Recommendations: Proper in-service training for nurses about the developmental supportive care interventions is mandatory to update their knowledge and improve their performance about developmental supportive care.


Three wheel ground vehicle is not a traditional design primarily due to the stability consideration. However, after some detail analysis, it is shown that with careful design, three wheelers are not necessarily more unstable than four wheelers. Calculations in the current study are based on the Dugoff's tire deformation mechanism. Bicycle model is used. Vehicle motion is constrained on the ground. A critical speed is used as the quantitative index for stability. The current study reveals that for turning stability, with careful design, the 3W (2R) (2 rear wheels and 1 front whell) three wheeler is more stable than traditional four wheelers while 3W (2F) (2 front wheel and 1 rear wheel) possess least stability.


The use of solar cells to drive sensors with optical pumping using readily available laser sources over kilometer lengths is proposed. A simple evaluation finds near IR transmission around 1000-1070 nm is optimal. As proof of principle, we demonstrate a simple humidity sensor powered by solar cell through a 2 km optical fibre link using the 1057 nm output of a Nd:YLF solid state laser.


As the topic of relativity is developed in a first-year physics class, there seems to be a tendency to move as quickly as possible to the fascinating ideas set forth in Einstein's special theory of relativity.1 In this paper we linger a little with the Galilean side of relativity and discuss an intriguing problem and its solution to illustrate a sometimes omitted issue in relativity. Using only ideas from Galilean relativity, we will consider the covariance of the relationship between work and kinetic energy as we move from one inertial reference frame to another.


In order to evaluation of drought resistant indices in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), 10 barley genotype s evaluated in Completely Randomized Design with three Replication s in two conditions, (under drought stress and in normal with irrigation in planting, flowering and grain filling stages) in Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh Branch Research Farm in 2012. Drought tolerant indices basis of yie ld performance in drought (Y s) and normal (Y p) environments such as Mean productivity (MP), Stress tolerance (T OL) Geometric mean productivity (GMP), Stress Susce ptibility index (SSI) and Tolerance index (STI) and eight mai n crop parameters such as plant height, spike heigh t, number seed per spike, number tiller, 100 seed weight seed yield, biomass yield and harvest index were calcul ated. Results showed that the difference among the majority of tr aits in both normal and under drought conditions wa s significant. Mean comparison displayed that the value of all tra its under drought condition in compare with normal condition was decreased. By the way, the highest value of spi ke height, the number of seeds per spike, seed yiel d and biomass yield in both drought and normal condition devoted to genotypes number 9 and 2 respectively. Based on Drought tolerant indices the highest amounts of STI, GMP an d MP were related to genotypes of Gkomega/cab117-595//Sararood/….. and Yesevi-93/6/Tokak/3/BK…. in bot h under drought and normal conditions. Correlation analysis between seed yield and all indices revealed that th ere are positive and significant relationship among STI, GMP, MP and seed yield in both under drought and normal con ditions. Therefore, STI, GMP and MP are the best in dices for screening drought tolerant genotypes in barley. Clu ster analysis based on GMP, MP and STI indices divi ded 10 genotypes of barley in to two main resistant and se nsitive groups. Drought tolerant genotypes were num ber 2 and 9.


Live delivery of goods is a novel type of marketing model that has injected new vitality into the development of agricultural e-commerce. It is only in the last few years that live streaming has become a popular e-commerce marketing approach. Agriculture e-commerce in China has a new lease on life thanks to the advent of a new marketing model. This article comprehensively surveys the live broadcast delivery models in the e-commerce era. The comprehensive survey includes the significance and current state of the live broadcast delivery models and identifies the factors impeding the integration and development of agricultural products. The review includes the new marketing model of live broadcast delivery and makes pertinent recommendations. The article presents a novel model for precise marketing classification of agricultural products for e-commerce live broadcast platforms using clustering. Moreover, this article uses customer development space to achieve precise marketing for the e-commerce live broadcast platform. The article enhances K-means with local density and information entropy and proposes an improved TFA customer segmentation method. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of efficiently classifying customers, accurately reflecting their value, and optimizing the algorithm's efficiency by optimizing the clustering technique.


Currently, fires (e.g., biomass burning and/or straw burning) are still prevailing and serious globally. However, the issue of the characteristics, types, and drives of fire occurrence is always a challenge and varies distinctively worldwide. Using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Collection 6 (C6) active fire products during 2001–2020, here, we analyzed the occurrence frequencies and spatiotemporal characteristics of active fires at the provincial and regional to national scales and at the monthly and annual scales in China. The accumulated occurrence frequencies of MODIS C6 active fires in China were up to 184.91 × 104 in the past two decades, and the average annual level was 9.25 × 104, especially in 2014 (15.20 × 104). The overall trend of active fires was rising and then falling, but with significant spatial and temporal differences in the last 20-years. Temporally, nearly 61% of active fires occurred in spring (36%) and autumn (25%), particularly in August (16%), April (14%), and October (13%). Spatially, about 90% of active fires occurred in the east of the Hu Huanyong Line, particularly in Northeast China (25%), South China (23%), and East China (20%). In China, the most active fires were concentrated in the Northeast Plain, the North China Plain, the southeast hills, and the Yunnan–Kweichow Plateau. In terms of temporal differences across regions, active fires in Northeast China, North China, and Northwest China were concentrated in spring and autumn, especially in March, April, and October; in East China, they were concentrated in summer, especially in June; and in South China and Southwest China, they were concentrated in winter and spring, especially from December to April of the following year. Our study provides a full analysis of spatio–temporal characteristics and changes of active fires in China, and it can also assist in supplying a beneficial reference for higher monitoring and controlling of fires such as straw burning.


A fiber optic intrusion monitoring system comprises a multimode optical fiber, a coherent light source, a CCD, and a processor for generation of the output signal. The system is based on the principle of variation of speckle pattern in the far-field of a multimode optical fiber under mechanical perturbation. By processing the speckle pattern, one can derive information on the amplitude of perturbation. The algorithm for processing of the speckle pattern is based on comparison of the current speckle image with the reference image. An intrusion monitoring system can be applied in surveillance of perimeters, industrial objects, deposits of chemicals and radioactive waste, etc.


&NA; This study extended a "data‐limited" length‐based stock assessment approach to a risk analysis context. The estimation‐simulation method used length frequencies as the principal data in lieu of catch and effort. Key developments were to: (i) incorporate probabilistic mortality and growth dynamics into a numerical cohort model; (ii) employ a precautionary approach for setting sustainability reference points for fishing mortality (FREF) and stock reproductive biomass (BREF); (iii) define sustainability risks in terms of probability distributions; and, (iv) evaluate exploitation status in terms of expected length frequencies, the main "observable" population metric. This refined length‐based approach was applied to six principal exploited reef fish species in the Florida Keys region, consisting of three groupers (black grouper, red grouper, and coney), two snappers (mutton snapper and yellowtail snapper), and one wrasse (hogfish). The estimated sustainability risks for coney were low (<35%) in terms of benchmarks for fishing mortality rate and stock reproductive biomass. The other five species had estimated sustainability risks of greater than 95% for both benchmarks. The data‐limited risk analysis methodology allowed for a fairly comprehensive probabilistic evaluation of sustainability status from species and community perspectives, and also a frame of reference for exploring management options balancing sustainability risks and fishery production.


Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. In the United States 22,000 cases were reported in 1996 and nearly 14,000 deaths were attributed to stomachcancer. In Japan the incidence of gastric cancer is nearly six fold higher than in the United States. The reasons for this are unclear but persons who migrate from Japan toAmerica have a dramatic decrease in the risk of gastric cancer, implying that diet may play an important role in its carcinogenesis.


PURPOSE: A method for synthesizing gold nanostructure is provided to use as a contrast medium in biological and chemical sensor, electron microscope and medical image field. CONSTITUTION: A gold-binding peptide comprises an amino acid sequence selected from sequence numbers 13-30. A gold nanostructure is prepared by contacting gold salt to the peptide selected from sequence numbers 13-30. The gold salt is HAuCl_4. The nanostructure is nanoparticle, nanoplate, nanoribbon, nanorod, nanotube and nanodot. A method for preparing a shape-controlled, size-controlled, or amount-controlled gold nanostructure comprises: a step of preparing gold-binding peptide; a step of substituting at least one amino acid residue of the metal-binding peptide with other amino acid; and a step of contacting metal slat to the substituted gold-binding peptide.


Report presenting a study of the flow characteristics of two supersonic-impulse-turbine-blade sections designed for a turning angle of 160 degrees. The primary difference between the two sections was the cutting away of a large portion of the convex surface and the presence of a free streamline as the boundary of flow in the passage. Results regarding the full-contour blade, free-streamline blade, and a comparison of the two are provided.


This paper propose method of maximum power point tracking using boost converter for a connected single phase inverter. The maximum power point tracking control is based on generated circuit control MOSFET switch of two boost converter and single phase inverter uses predicted current control to control four IGBT's switch in full bridge. The predicted current control provide current with sinusoidal wave shape and inphase with voltage.


Concern about the fuel economy of automobiles has stimulated the development of bainitic steels. A high strength to weight ratio together with good ductility may be achieved by this endeavour if a number of metallurgical issues can be resolved. Strong bainitic steels are alloyed with silicon in order to avoid the deleterious effect of cementite which otherwise forms in association with bainite. This strengthens the steels and also enhances the toughness because the carbon that is usually precipitated as brittle cementite instead partitions into the residual austenite, allowing the latter to be retained. The amount of retained austenite in the steel can, in principle, be optimised by heat treatment. Substantial work has, in the past, been carried out on the nature of the bainite transformation. However, this is not the case when it comes to the decomposition of the retained austenite during tempering. This is important because applications such as the galvannealing of automotive steel involves subjecting it to temperatures as high at 475◦C. The goal of the work initiated in this thesis was to gain a detailed understanding of the thermal decomposition of retained austenite. Systematic characterisation experiments have been undertaken to demonstrate the progress of the tempering process as a function of time and temperature. High resolution dilatometry was carried out to distinguish quantitatively between the two competing processes of austenite decomposition and tempering of martensite. Based on these studies a new theory has been proposed for the decomposition of retained austenite during and after the tempering process. In essence, the austenite is rendered unstable to martensitic transformation during cooling from the tempering temperature even though the fraction of precipitation is minute. The evolution of microstructure during the progress of tempering has been captured using in situ transmission electron microscopy. This study provides strong evidence of the austenite decomposition model. The fact that the process does not involve nucleation of new ferrite, but rather the growth of existing ferrite at the expense of austenite, has been confirmed by direct observation. High-energy synchrotron X-ray radiation has been used for in situ experiments which revealed the structural changes during the tempering process with a particular focus on the change in lattice parameters and carbon content of the film and blocky types of austenite. More importantly, it verified the instability of the austenite to the cooling process. The tempering behavior of Mn and Ni-containing bainitic steels has been compared and it has observed that the process is faster in the latter case. These experiments provided critical data in the validation of kinetic theory. The non-uniform strains and dislocation densities were estimated from X-ray measurements during the progress of tempering process. An attempt has been made to predict the overall transformation kinetics of the decomposition of retained austenite subjected to the tempering treatment, based on the simultaneous transformations of ferrite and cementite. This helped confirm that it is not tenable to argue that new ferrite forms by reconstructive nucleation and growth during tempering.


Editorial Board Member Colin Bain looks back on a successful first year of Soft Matter and picks out three main themes: capillarity, fields and forces, and mesoscale modelling. He discusses the origin of novel behaviour in soft matter systems.


Case Report of Sub-Clinical Sarcocystosis in Sheep - Cytological Examination as a Diagnostic Tool
Sarcocystis species is one of the most prevalent parasites of livestock. It infects mammals, including humans and birds resulting in loss of aesthetic value of meat though harmless on consumption. A carcass of 5 years old sheep from Yerraguntla village of Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh was submitted for necropsy to the Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary Science, Proddatur. Detailed postmortem examination was carried out and relevant samples were collected for examination. Cytological examination of heart impression smears revealed banana shaped structures with eosinophilic cytoplasm. Histopathological examination of sections of heart revealed many parasitic cysts containing numerous bradyzoites. Based on these findings it was diagnosed as sarcocystosis. It was concluded that cytological examination can also be used as a primary diagnostic tool for sarcocystosis at field level.


The Law Number 2 of 2004 concerning Settlement of Industrial Relations Disputes regulates the settlement of disputes in the employment relationship between workers and employers, including disputes over rights, interests, termination of employment, and disputes between trade unions within one company. The Industrial Relations Court is formed to examine and decide on the industrial relations dispute, and the execution of the decision handed down will be carried out. However, the problem is how to carry out the execution in the Industrial Relations Court for decisions that have legal force, and whether it is necessary to establish a separate execution confiscation institution is regulated in the Law on the Settlement of Industrial Relations Disputes. Article 57 of the law states that the procedural law applicable to the Industrial Relations Court is the civil procedural law that applies to courts within the general court environment, unless specifically regulated in this law. The entire legal process for the settlement of industrial relations disputes uses the civil procedural legal process, including the rules regarding the execution. Several studies have highlighted the need for a separate execution confiscation institution to improve the effectiveness of the settlement of industrial relations disputes.


Magnets fabricated with HTS wire can not be operated in a true persistent mode as superconducting joints of sufficient technological quality have not been achieved to date. In order to maintain a constant magnetic field in a HTS magnet a power supply has to be permanently employed, which then leads to heat losses in the cryo-system through the employment of current leads. By using a flux pump these losses can be minimized. We present a new flux pump based on 2G HTS wire. This device energized at 77 K a 2.7 mH 2G HTS double-pancake coil to its critical current of 49 A within 112 seconds. The operating principle will be described and data of the current ramping is shown. Considering the simplicity of the device and the potential to increase the generated current to 200 A and more, this new flux pump is very promising for many superconducting devices including HTS and LTS magnets and rotating machines.


In this paper, bivariate binomial distributions generated by extreme bivariate Bernoulli distributions are obtained and studied. Representation of the bivariate binomial distribution generated by a convex combination of extreme bivariate Bernoulli distributions as a mixture of distributions in the class of bivariate binomial distribution generated by extreme bivariate Bernoulli distribution is obtained. A subfamily of bivariate binomial distributions exhibiting the property of positive and negative dependence is constructed. Some results on positive dependence notions as it relates to the bivariate binomial distribution generated by extreme bivariate Bernoulli distribution and a linear combination of such distributions are obtained.


Switching among four alternative grasshopper species by the grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) through frequency-dependent predation was examined. Grasshoppers were presented against a heterogeneous natural background in an outdoor aviary where total density was held constant but relative density of each grasshopper species varied. Switching among prey, primarily between two of the four species, and inter-bird variability in switching was observed. Species-specific preferences and interactions among the alternative grasshopper species affected the final diet choice as one grasshopper species was always preferentially selected and another disregarded independent of changes in relative density. Attributes of avian foraging behavior, including: (a) proportion of total time spent handling prey, searching for prey or engaging in nonforaging activity; (b) capture success; (c) time required to catch prey (relative to either total or search time), and (d) attack distance did not vary according to the relative abundance treatments. Results of this study are related to quantitative estimates of predation and relative densities of grasshopper species in a natural grassland setting. INTRODUCTION Generalist predators have been shown to switch among alternative prey as the relative densities vary (Hassell, 1978; Murdoch, 1969; Murdoch and Oaten, 1975). Switching involves a frequency-dependent functional response where predators change from selecting the predominant prey type to another as its relative density increases. The dynamics of switching are contained in the functional response of the individual predator. Functional responses relate the predator attack rate to prey density (Hassell, 1978). Mechanisms proposed to explain switching behavior include: foraging for alternative prey in different patches, the formation of search images by the predator, decreases in handling time with experience, or increases in searching efficiency within patches (reviewed in Murdoch and Oaten, 1975). The first two mechanisms have been studied in most detail. When predators forage for alternative prey living in different patches and transit time among the patches is not negligible, increased foraging activity in the patch with higher prey availability will lead to the sigmoidal switching response described by Oaten and Murdoch (1975). Predators may form search images where the psychological processes involved with locating and recognizing prey against the background are altered depending on the relative abundances of the various prey types (Dawkins, 1971; Gendron and Staddon, 1983; Pietrewicz and Kamil, 1979, 1981). It is likely that all of these mechanisms operate in natural foraging situations. Switching by predators has important implications for many other ecological and evolutionary processes. Frequency-dependent predation within a population is affected by the degree of morphological (or behavioral) polymorphism among individuals in a population and is expected when foraging on alternative prey species as well (Clarke, 1962). Visually orienting predators may select for morphological divergence of coexist-


The 14Cr–15Ni austenitic stainless steel (SS) with additions of Ti, Si, and P has been developed for their superior creep strength and better resistance to void swelling during service as nuclear fuel clad and wrapper material. Cold working induces defects such as dislocations that interact with point defects generated by neutron irradiation and facilitates recombination to make the material more resistant to void swelling. In present investigation, creep properties of the SS in mill annealed condition (CW0) and 40 % cold worked (CW4) condition were studied. D9I stainless steel was solution treated at 1333 K for 30 minutes followed by cold rolling. Uniaxial creep tests were performed at 973 K for various stress levels ranging from 175-225 MPa. CW4 samples exhibited better creep resistance as compared to CW0 samples. During creep exposure, cold worked material exhibited phenomena of recovery and recrystallization wherein new strain free grains were observed with lesser dislocation network. In contrast CW0 samples showed no signs of recovery and recrystallization after creep exposure. Partial recrystallization on creep exposure led to higher drop in hardness in cold worked sample as compared to that in mill annealed sample. Accelerated precipitation of carbides at the grain boundaries was observed during creep exposure and this phenomenon was more pronounced in cold worked sample.


The article solves the problem of data classification concerning the routes of vessel traffic in the marine surface monitoring system. For the purpose of this classification, it is proposed to use clustering, the method developed within the framework of this study. The peculiarity of the method is to take into account the specifics of presenting data on the routes of vessel traffic in the information and telecommunication system of the marine security. This specificity is considered in the routing metric and features of the route clusters formation as well as their centers localization. Such data analysis in the marine surface monitoring system will allow the problem of risk assessment to get solved by detecting spatial anomalies in the routes of vessel traffic.


Russian formalism is mainly literary criticism. This criticism, aesthetically, is based upon Kantian aesthetics and positivist aesthetics.The latter has made scientific positiveness a feature of Russian formalistic criticism. The main deference between this formalist positive criticism and traditional positive criticism is that while the latter concentrates on race, environment and times, which are outside literary works, the former, however, on artistic forms which are within literary works. Compared to traditional positivist criticism, Russian formalistic criticism has more definite scientific positiveness which, however, makes it onesided at the same time.


Purpose: Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of both exfoliation syndrome (XFS) and exfoliative glaucoma (XFG). We aimed to study the whole blood levels of endogenous antioxidative enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD, glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in XFS and XFG patients.

Methods: Deep frozen whole blood samples at -71 Celcius collected from 35 XFS patients including 11 XFG patients and 35 age- and gender matched controls, all of them operated on cataract, were analyzed for SOD, GR and GPX activity by using a commercial kit (Ransod, Randox). For statistical analyses, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used.

Results: The whole blood enzyme activities in the SOD, GR and GPX in XFS/XFG groups were 119,6+-19,1 U/ml, 498,4+-105,6 U/L and 7281,5+-1341,4 U/L, and in controls, 121,4+-22,5 U/ml, 536,8+-126,2 U/L and 7689,8+-1843,9 U/L, respectively. In the statistical evaluation, the respective P-values were 0,467, 0,169 and 0,263. In the subgroup of XFGs, apart from the XFS/XFG group, there were no statistical differences in the whole blood enzyme activities of SOD (p=0,594), GR (p=0,522) or GPX (p=0,957).

Conclusions: The current study showed no significant differences in the whole blood enzyme activities in SOD, GR or GPX in XFS/XFG patients as compared to control group. This may implicate a proper function of these endogenous antioxidative enzymes dispite of increased oxidative stress known to be involved in XFS and XFG.


It has not been possible to demonstrate by the Schultz-Dale technic that the smooth muscle of the monkey can be passively sensitized with human sera containing reagins in extremely high titer or with rabbit sera of high precipitintiter. In monkeys that presumably were actively sensitized to egg-white, the Schultz-Dale technic failed to reveal any evidence of smooth-muscle sensitization. Experimental evidence is still lacking that smooth muscle is the shock-tissue in bronchial asthma or in other manifestations of supersensitiveness in human beings.


This paper reports the design of a wide band planar fed, planar conical loop Antenna. Parametric studies have been carried out to arrive at the optimum antenna dimensions to have a wide impedance bandwidth (VSWR<2). Experimental results confirmed the wide impedance bandwidth.


An encomium to a most excellent woman and wife draws the book of Proverbs to a close (31:10-31) on a memorable high note that communicates on several levels of meaning. I begin with a selective overview of the salient stylistic features of this stirring eulogy (regarding structure, artistry, and rhetoric) as these relate to the poem's apparent literary function and theological message. This partial analysis of the original text lays the foundation for considering certain key aspects of its re-expression in the Tonga language and cultural setting of Zambia. This features a sequential survey of some of the main conceptual correspondences and barriers that sensitive contemporary Tonga speakers notice when they hear this text in their language. How 'worthy'-or beautiful-is the image of the vibrant and vigorous 'wife' that is evoked for them- from the perspective of today's men and women, traditional as well as modern? What then constitutes a wise and worthy re-presentation of such a crucial passage in the Tonga language, and how might greater equivalence in this regard be achieved? I cannot consider all of the relevant issues in this regard but will focus my attention on the search for a possible functional correspondent for the dominant Hebrew acrostic format that distinguishes this personal hymn of praise, which arguably encodes a deeper stratum of symbolic significance and emotive resonance. To this end, a poetic Tonga rendition of the paean's climactic final strophe (vv 28-31) is presented as an illustration in the form of two distinct traditional song genres for comparative purposes, that is, in relation to the dynamic Hebrew original text.


The horn fly, Haematobia irritans, is a serious pest of cattle in North America. The control of horn flies has primarily relied on insecticides. However, the heavy use of insecticides has led to the development of insecticide resistance in horn flies. Novel methods to control horn flies are greatly needed. Transgenic technology is an effective tool to genetically modify insects and may lead to novel methods of pest control based on genomic approaches. Here we report a piggyBac‐mediated transformation of the horn fly via electroporation. Transformation with a DsRed fluorescent marker protein coding region was verified by PCR analysis of individual fly bodies and pupal cases and sequencing of PCR products. However, Southern blot analysis failed to indicate the DsRed gene was integrated into the horn fly genome. Thus, the electroporation protocol may have caused the DsRed gene to be integrated into bacterial symbionts of the horn fly.


In this paper,a method of human body recognition using minimal structural errors matching is proposed. It aims at remedying the defect of human body recognition using relational matching. It presents the principle,implementing method and experimental results of recognition of modeled human body based on relational matching. In order to recognize joint objects,we add angle error to minimal structural errors matching,regard the human body as a joint object and optimize the matching strategy. We recognize the human body successfully.


From August 1953 through December 1963 a principal phase of the entomological investigations of the Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory was the search for virus in naturally infected arthropods. This 10-year summary complements an earlier report covering the 1st 5 years. Changes in field and laboratory techniques during the 2nd 5 years were limited to introduction of the No. 10 trap for collecting mosquitoes, reduction of pool size in the processing of arthropods, and modification of the techniques for handling ticks and trombieulids. During the 10 years, over 1.5 million arthropods were tested for virus, of which 1,482,686 were mosquitoes and 85,753 were other arthropods such as ticks, mites, fleas, lice and biting flies. A total of 473 virus strains, representing 29 different viruses, was isolated from arthropod sources. Mosquitoes were the source of 27 viruses, 1 of which was also obtained from mites; the remaining 2 agents were recovered from ticks.


The present study aims to identify the ground water contamination problem in villages located in the close vicinity of Gajraula industrial area at Gajraula (U.P.), India. Ground water samples were collected from different villages at the depth of 40 and 120 feet from earth's surface layer. Analytical techniques as described in the standard methods for examination of water and waste water were adopted for physico-chemical analysis of ground water samples and the results compared with the standards given by WHO and BIS guidelines for drinking water. Water quality index was calculated for quality standard of ground water for drinking purposes. The present investigation revealed that the water quality is moderately degraded due to high range of seven water quality parameters such as Temperature (18.33-32.36 0C), conductivity (925.45-1399.59 I¼mho/cm), TDS (610.80-923.73 mgL-1), Alkalinity (260.17- 339.83 mgL-1), Ca-Hardness (129.68-181.17 mgL-1), Mg-Hardness (94.07-113.50 mgLA‰1) and COD (13.99-25.62 mgL-1). The water quality index (WQI) also indicated the all the water quality rating comes under the standard marginal values (45-64) i.e. water quality is frequently threatened or impaired and conditions usually depart from natural or desirable levels.


Let G be a real rank one connected semisimple Lie group with nite center. As well-known the radial, heat, and Poisson maximal operators satisfy the L-norm inequalities for any p > 1 and a weak type L estimate, and so the aim of this paper is to nd a subspace of L(G) from which they are bounded into L(G). As an analogue of the atomic Hardy space on the real line, we shall introduce an atomic Hardy space on G and prove that these maximal operatprs with suitable modi cation are bounded from the atomic Hardy space on G to L(G).


Background: The objective of this study is to describe the feasibility of a minimally invasive surgical approach to treat early breast cancer. Breast-conserving surgery has become the standard of care for early breast carcinoma. The majority of cases, the traditional approach to conservative surgery require two incisions (over the tumor and axillary). It leaves more scars and patients whose sexual organs have cosmetic defects have to cope with social impacts and experience a loss in quality of life. The minimally invasive surgical approach re-moves the breast tumor and sentinel lymph node biopsy through a single incision. Methods: We retrospectively selected 94 patients with early breast cancer treated with breast conserving surgery through a single incision between January 2015 and December 2018. All patients approved of its use because they were cosmetically satisfied with their breasts, and preferred to have as little scarring as possible. The following data were collected: Number of dissected sentinel lymph nodes, breast tissue volume removed, tumor location, incision site, time of surgery and histopathological reports. Results: Among the analyzed cases, the median age of 55 years. The mean volume of the surgical specimen removed was 15.9 cm3. In average, 3.6 lymph nodes were resected and the mean time of surgery was 2 h and 40 min. The type of incision was statistically associated with tumor location (p<5%). There was no need to re operate anyone. Conclusions: The single surgical incision technique is feasible and reinforces the oncoplastic concept in breast cancer treatment.


In the running process of opening laboratories in colleges and universities currently,there emerged a series of problems,such as the unclear experiment aim and the inadequate research depth caused by students' lacking of guidance,the insufficient construction of innovation laboratories,and the difficult management of opening laboratories.Currently,a project-based model of teaching and management can be introduced into the opening laboratories,which can not only improve the means of cultivating students' practical ability and innovative ability,but also can improve the teaching effect of opening laboratories,save the construction cost and management cost.


This paper intends to examine the establishment and transformation of Quangos(Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organizations) in transitional China. Regarding Quango, China slightly differs from the western countries due to China's unique social context. We suggest that the Quango Continuum could be slightly modified to apply better to China. The second part of the paper presents the China quasi-autonomous organizations, their main characteristics, and the reforms that have concerned these organizations. An overview of the main political, economic, social and legal reforms as well as globalization undertaken will be given, to place Quangos in the administrative context in which they act. Finally the paper takes trade associations as an example to examine their establishment and transformation. They are typical Quango that spends public money to fulfill a public task but with some degree of independence from elected representatives. Most of them are created from top to bottom. Trade associations thus generally demonstrate the characters of stronger government especially during China's transitional period. However, the government begins to encourage trade associations to seek independence in their finance, personnel, and activities recently in order to reduce its financial pressure. The trend is clear that they are becoming increasingly independent with the deepening of China's reform.


It has already been shown that the coagulation of hemoglobin is reversible (review and literature in Anson and Mirsky, 1931). Hemoglobin, however, is a conjugated protein consisting of the simple colorless protein, globin, combined with the red iron porphyrin complex, heine. I t might be supposed that the result obtained from the study of the reversibility of the coagulation of hemoglobin reflects not a property of proteins in general but a peculiarity which hemoglobin displays because it contains heine. We have accordingly studied the simple protein, globin, itself. If acid acetone under certain conditions is added to hemoglobin, the heine and the globin are separated, the heme remaining in solution and the globin being precipitated. By a suitable neutralization procedure it is possible to obtain from this acid acetone globin, with a yield of about 65 per cent, soluble, heat coagulable globin which can combine with heine to form crystallizable hemoglobin (Anson and Mirsky, 1930). The facts that acid acetone is in general a denaturing agent and that the denaturation of hemogobin can be reversed by exactly the same kind of neutralization procedure used to prepare soluble globin (Mirsky and Anson, 1930) suggest that the preparation of soluble globin from acid acetone globin consists essentially in the reversal of denaturation. In confirmation of this view, the present experiments show that acid acetone globin is denatured globin and that soluble globin can be prepared from globin which has been precipitated with trichloracetic acid or heated. The opinion of Hill and Holden (1927) that the preparation of soluble globin depends solely on the avoidance of denaturation is shown not to be justified by their experiments. 605


ABSTRACT The studied area, located in the south-western part of the Gorce Mountains, is built of flysch deposits representing the Krynica and Bystrica Subunits of the Magura Nappe. Here, in the Late Cretaceous–Early Miocene part of the lithostratigraphic succession of the Krynica Subunit, four formations containing several members were distinguished, whereas in the Bystrica Subunit, only one Middle Eocene–Oligocene formation was identified. The Turbacz and Kudłoń Thrust Sheets in the tectonic structure of the Krynica Subunit and the southernmost fragment of the Tobołów Thrust Sheet in the Bystrica Subunit are prominent. Several folds occur in the studied area. Numerous transverse and oblique faults are also present. The result of the present geological investigations in the study area was the creation of a geological map of the Magura Nappe deposits in the Gorce Mountains. In general, a high-resolution digital elevation model contributed significantly to the progress of this geological research.


Natural disasters are global issues that have led to huge casualties and property losses. Satellite observation is one of the predominant methods of disaster monitoring, and high-mobility satellites can normally provide faster responses. A study of the high-mobility satellite task planning problem for global decentralized multi-target observation is conducted in this paper. First, a "trajectory-target" database composed of candidate trajectories and the corresponding visibilities of targets is established. Second, a splicing algorithm is devised to connect the individual trajectories as a whole so that the task planning problem can be converted to a combinational optimization problem of candidate trajectories. To solve the optimization problem, a heuristic algorithm is designed based on NSGA-II with a double-layer encoding structure and hybrid-heuristic mutation operators. The results presented at the end of the paper verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.


Earthquake is one of the most important natural disasters in Iran. The belt of this destructive disaster is almost widespread all over the country. The most important point to be made on such disasters and their consequences is that these disasters do not involve unfavorable consequences per se. What makes them disastrous is lack of preparation to deal with them and preventing their unfavorable effects on health, economic, and environmental elements. Since there has been no research on earthquake in university students' views, measuring and teaching this group of the society who will take the future of the country in different sections seem to be highly important. Therefore, the present study was aimed at investigating university students' knowledge, attitude, and practice of preparation for earthquake in Sanandaj, one of the Iran's cities located on earthquake belt.The present research was a descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study. Data collection was carried out through a valid questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed using Delphi technique in three phases. Sampling was randomly conducted through some phases. Collected data were analyzed through SPSS 19.0.Participants included 400 students from Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences (200 students) and Islamic Azad University of Sanandaj (200 students). They were composed of 46.1% males and 53.9% females and aged 18-32 with a mean age of 21.75±91.1. Media were the mostly utilized sources to collect information on natural disasters like earthquake (47.6%). 51.1% of the participants had experienced slight earthquakes. In studied students' view, 56.2% of houses in their place of residence were not resistant against earthquake. 62.9% of the students believed that the likelihood of devastating earthquake in their place of residence was high. Analytic results of the study showed that 18.4% of the students had good knowledge, 38.4% had average knowledge, and 46.8% had low knowledge. Regarding their attitude, 49.23% of them had good attitude, 19.21% had average attitude, and 26.7% had bad attitude. Regarding their practice, 62.3% of them had low practice for earthquake, 38.8% had average practice, and 23.5% had good and appropriate practice. According to the results of the present study, students' knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding preparation for earthquake are not suitable. In this regard, interventional especially educational undertakings need to be figured out. There was a significant statistical relation between knowledge, attitude, and practice scores, such that students with higher knowledge, had better attitude and appropriate practice. Efficient management of health in disasters depends on predicting and identifying problems caused by the disaster and providing necessary facilities in appropriate place and time. Therefore, authorities need to take actions that enhance people's knowledge, change their attitude, and affect their practice in the face of this devastating disaster.


To identify the physical mechanism behind the recoverable component of the bias temperature instability (BTI), the time dependent defect spectroscopy (TDDS) has been recently proposed and used extensively. The TDDS makes use of the fact that in nano-scale devices the recovery proceeds in discrete steps. By analyzing the statistical properties of the steps, valuable information about the BTI degradation mechanisms can be obtained. So far, most single-defect studies have focused on NBTI in SiON devices as well as PBTI in high-k gate stacks. In order to deepen our understanding of the traps responsible for this detrimental phenomenon, we focus here on PBTI in SiON nMOSFETs, which have not been studied in great detail so far. From large-area devices it is known that PBTI/nMOS is about one order of magnitude lower than NBTI/pMOS. Unlike pMOSFETs, where hole trapping is responsible for BTI, in the case of nMOSFETs electron traps have to be considered.We show here that defects causing PBTI in nMOSFETs have a similar individual trapping behavior and dependence on the bias and temperature as observed for hole traps in previous NBTI/pMOS studies. Interestingly, like in pMOSFETs, we observe switching and fixed charge traps, which allows us to adapt our previously suggested model for hole capture to electron capture in nMOSFETs.


A longitudinal study was conducted to determine the factors influencing college student persistence in remaining in school. Persistence was examined at two points: after tue first year and 4 years after enrollment. The study was conducted at an urban university using the American College Testing's Entering Student Survey and Student Opinion Survey. Key variables such as region, satisfaction with campus social life, freshman quality point index, attendance at a summer orientation and registration program, and satisfaction with academic advising were identified as cogent predictors of persistence after the first year. Six variables affected the odds of persisting 4 years after enrollment: gender, financial aid, academic advising, institutional attitude toward stuMents, satisfaction with institution, and membership in a sorority or fraternity. Contains 12 references. (GLR) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. rs N Predicting Student Persistence 1 No Exit: Predicting Student Persistence Cheryl Beil, Ph.D. The George Washington University Janet H. Shope, Ph.D.


reports other outputs of sponsored research for general distribution. Publications of The RAND Corporation do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the sponsors of RAND research. RAND Apro • 0d for pu c reeg; dgsflbitWlon unlimited PREFACE Policy analysts have always lived with great uncertainty. We have long had tools for handling some of that uncertainty. But now that policy analysis has been around for a while, work in many fields has fallen into stereotyped problem formulations and analytical approaches. In particular, treatments of uncertainty are typically quite incomplete and often conceptually wrong. This report argues that these shortcomings produce pervasive systematic biases in analyses. Problem formulations suppress uncertainty about the world and ignore the capacity of the analyzed systems to adapt to the unanticipated. System design ignores opportunities to hedge or respond instead of predicting. System evaluation discounts strategies that hedge or respond. Policy analyses change in specific ways if their problems are formulated with a fuller recognition of uncertainty. Management capability the ability to respond and adapt-becomes a resource, with a cost and an effectiveness, to which funds can be allocated in competition with more familiar uses of funds. Analytical tools change to incorporate options for management. Given that uncertainty is pervasive and generally cannot be counted completely, the logic that connects the analysis to the world changes as well: Our models are not necessarily adequate representations of reality. Although its main example is an Air Force logistics problem, this report is intended for policy analysts in all fields. It should also be of interest to operations researchers, statisticians, and researchers in other quantitative fields. The work was performed under the project entitled "Logistics Monographs." Ili SUIMMARY If events were predictable, policy analysis would be simple. For example, if Air Force planners knew which parts would fail, and where and when they would fail, it would be straightforward to schedule repair and procurement of spares and repair capacity. But planners do not know what will fail or where or when and must plan accordingly. Every policy analytic problem shares this uncertainty to some degree. The common mode of analysis omits crucial sources of uncertainty and overlooks the ability of systems to respond to the unexpected. These two omissions systematically bias design and evaluation of systems. The process of analysis is broken into five stages: (1) setting the context, (2) choosing alternatives, (3) predicting consequences, (4) valuing …


Abstract Many experimental situations lead to inverse sampling schemes with some random or non-random stopping rule, since at each experiment only a bounded number of observations can be made. This note discusses the problem of estimating the unknown probability in the underlying geometric distribution of such schemes. I encountered this problem in a very special context, that of estimating the proportion of non fare-paying passengers in a local transportation system. This aspect is stressed throughout, and some special terminology arising from this is used.


In view of the waste products of woodworking planer table castings,through the analysis of weldability, homogeneous cold welding technology is chosen to make the waste products meet the application requirements.As for the difficulties of the welding technology,the selection of chemical composition of welding rods and welding seams,choice of cooling speed and control methods are presented in terms of the function of alloy element and solidification theory,and the economic benefits of the technology brought to the production are analyzed and summarized in brief.


Abstract: Multiple randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the benefit of patent foramen ovale closure over medical therapy alone for patients who have had a stroke that has been attributed to the patent foramen ovale. Nevertheless, there are many areas of uncertainty and controversy related to patient selection, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment. We summarize the available data on these challenging topics and attempt to provide some clarity and future directions for clinicians and investigators.


When the parameters of item response data are estimated by alatent trait model, some variation will remain unaccounted underthe model. If baseline graphical configurations of the residualvariation can be constructed, measurement irregularities may beexposed. This paper presents an analytic strategy for the graphicalrepresentation and analysis of Rasch model residuals.


When using the clone recognition protocol, we are outfitted for maximizing the clone recognition probability. Our objective ought to be to propose a distributed clone recognition protocol with random witness selection so that you can enhance the clone recognition probability because the negative impact of network lifetime and the benefits of data buffer storage should be minimized. The ring structure facilitates energy-efficient data forwarding inside the path for the witnesses combined with the sink. We theoretically prove the recommended protocol is capable of doing one hundred percent clone recognition probability with trustful witnesses. Particularly, we exploit the location information of sensors randomly select witnesses located in a jewel ring place to guarantee the authenticity of sensors and also to report detected clone attacks. Furthermore, in a number of existing clone recognition protocols with random witness selection plan, the best buffer storage of sensors is usually using the node density. Extensive simulations show our recommended protocol is capable of doing extended network lifetime by effectively disbursing the traffic load within the network. The current system does not make sure that one or more inside the witnesses can consider the identity inside the sensor nodes to discover whether there is a clone attack otherwise. The performance inside the ERCD protocol is evaluated with regards to clone recognition probability, power consumption, network lifetime, and understanding buffer capacity. Extensive simulation results show our recommended ERCD protocol is capable of doing superior performance in line with the clone recognition probability and network lifetime with reasonable data buffer capacity.


The present invention relates to a scanning method, and more particularly to a scanning function free from the all-in-one with - and sensed by a scanning operation start portion of a document having a size of a business card or so, the main relative to the document - by performing a scanning operation relates to a document scanning method using a scanning operation-free for obtaining the image data of the document. According By the process according to the invention To this end the scanning the document and scanning the document in a document scanning method for obtaining the image data of the document, the main as the user scans the initial stage in which the command is input, the resolution and speed set in advance - until it reaches the scanning area, the non-document area, the free-free to perform a scanning operation - the main to reach the scan area-scanning step and the main until it is free of the scanning area, in the actual document area to be scanned pre- at a resolution and speed is set according to main-main performing a scanning operation - including the scanning step is characterized in that is made.


This paper presents an active quench protection system of the high temperature superconductor (HTS) magnet with iron core in an MW-class direct current (dc) induction heater. The calculated inductance value of the iron core HTS magnet is approximately 98 H. The release of energy stored in the magnet during quench operations is a great challenge for the quench protection system design and is also the focus of this paper. A math model is developed by coupling a Matlab/Simulink model and finite-element method model to study the discharging behavior of the magnet during a quench protection operation. Based on the model, the quench protection system for a 1-MW HTS dc induction heater has been designed. The value of the energy dissipation resistor is calculated. The quench characteristics of the HTS coated conductors with claddings, including copper, brass, and stainless steel, are also investigated. The influence of different claddings on the threshold voltage for quench detection and the response time for quench protection are discussed. A small laboratory-scale dc induction heater prototype was tested to verify the simulation model. The results are of practical significance for setting the parameters of the quench protection system.


China built a new National Emergency Management System (NEMS) after the 2003 SARS crisis to cope with the challenges of crisis and disaster management, particularly the challenge of joint sense-making. This article investigates how the NEMS addresses joint sense-making challenges in crisis management. It explores several recent crises in China to uncover factors that undermine or facilitate joint sense-making. Our study unearths a low degree of professionalization, plans that do not match crisis events, a lack of accountability, and the absence of unified leadership. These critical factors make it hard for the newly built NEMS to establish a common understanding of a crisis. This article concludes with lessons for China's NEMS that may also be useful for other large countries.


The financial investment products are so intangible ones that consumers are difficult to understand even their contents. In choosing to invest the financial products, consumers are always exposed to the financial risk because even the information, itself sellers present is also not sufficient. Recent trend shows that the financial investment products such as other financial derivatives, not guaranteeing even its initial investments, are emerging. Facing the times of fusion unifying the sales channel that own sales domains by every industry such as banks, insurances, and securities collaps, the damages to consumers go worsening severely. And, the damages to consumers are increasing rapidly by the Incompete sales activities not explaining consumers major cautions about the potentialities of damages like the risk of investment, the extent of loss, and the operation of investment money that may arise from the sales of fund. This report reveals that the result analyzed the cases of damages by the Incompete sales activities over the Fund says that most of customers have not been awarded a compensation for damages because of the difficulty in finding supporting evidence over the sale of fund to prove their damages. Considering Incomplete sales activities in the aspect of financial law, the korean consumers are now protected by a law on capital market consolidation of Korea, the Japanese consumers by a law on financial product trading of Japan, and the English consumers by Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Therefore, after the study on foreign legislation at my primary concern, consumer issues over the Incomplete sales activities about fund shall be addressed by this report, which will present you the detailed description of duties over the sales of fund, suitability Rule, and the countermeasure to protect the elder based on a law on capital market consolidation to be implemented in February 2009.


Objective To compare the efficiency and safety of rivaroxaban,dabigatran etexilate and warfarin for prevention of ischemic stroke in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation(AF)patients.Methods Two hundred and forty nonvalvular AF patients admitted to our hospital were divided into rivaroxaban treatment group(n=80),dabigatran etexilate treatment group(n=80)and warfarin treatment group(n=80).The patients were followed up for 3 months,during which bleeding events and adverse reaction were compared after the patients were treated with rivaroxaban,dabigatran etexilate and warfarin respectively for≥3 months.Results The incidence of thrombotic events and bleeding events was significantly lower in rivaroxaban treatment group and dabigatran etexilate treatment group than in warfarin treatment group(11.3% vs 28.8%,13.8%,P=0.008;10.0%vs 21.3%,7.5%,P=0.022).The incidence of rash was significantly higher in warfarin treatment group than in rivaroxaban treatment group and dabigatran etexilate treatment group(11.3% vs 0%,2.5%,P=0.002).Conclusion The efficiency and safety of rivaroxaban and dabigatran etexilate are better than those of warfarin for prevention of ischemic stroke in nonvalvular AF patientss,and are thus worthy of popularization in clinical practice.


Nowadays mainstream literature retrieval system is based on the search terms, by extracting the document title, keyword, summary of literature to accomplish the function of retrieval. In this article, a full-text retrieval model based on lucene in computer science is purposed. The word frequency weighted algorithm is adopted to set the weighting coefficients in fields of the documents. The computer science literature's attributes are introduced into the evaluation model as an important indicator of the value of literature. The multifactor influence model employs simulated annealing algorithm to fit the best weight coefficients of each factor, making up the defect that Lucene default retrieval method can only retrieve by word frequency. The experimental data were divided into training set and the test set,whose emements are from CNKI.Weights of each field are trained by carrying out feature extraction. Then the model is validated by the test set consisting of a fixed number of high-quality document and inferior ones. The experimental results show that the trained model has higher precision in selecting high-quality documents.


As knowledge management (KM) is considered a multifaceted discipline in Malaysia, KM is still evolving. In fact, the transformation in the Malaysian government's agenda on the Knowledgeeconomy has been reflected in the development of the Knowledge-based Economy Master Plan in the year 2001. From the social constructionist philosophical stance, this interpretive study uses the qualitative research approach to explore and investigate the KM practitioners' training preferences. Employing the case study approach, the researcher used face-to-face semistructured interviews to understand the phenomenon based on the experience of KM managers of organization XYZ. The findings reveal that as they progress over the years as KM personnel, beside learning through day-to-day experiences, they acknowledge that they still lack some essential KM competencies. The findings highlight six essential KM competencies that are required by any KM personnel which include KM overview, KM tools, CoPs, Knowledge Taxonomy, Information Management and KM Measurement. Without clearly clarifying the level of each competency, they however highlight the issues of its importance, complexity, benefits and implementation and application issues related to the competencies. The findings also highlight the relevance of KM-related training initiatives, which is vital to equip KM managers/officers with appropriate KM 'technical' skills. As KM managers' suggestions and views on KM competencies derive from their involvements in KM initiatives, the KM managers admitted that the required competencies and their involvements have influenced their preferences towards KM-related training. Indeed, most of the KM managers prefer some advanced KM-related courses as well as a certified KM training.


The implementation of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations in 2015 focuses on making a more sustainable world in all countries and for all stakeholders. Higher education institutions (HEI) play a key role in increasing students' sustainability knowledge, transforming their attitudes and motivating them to promote or engage in sustainability behaviors. HEI can take several measures to fulfill these objectives, but it is important to develop efficient tools to assess the starting point at which university students are at. In this study, a survey was conducted that addressed students from different Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) degrees to investigate their knowledge and awareness of sustainability and SDGs. This survey (n = 321) showed students' levels of knowledge and initial awareness. Many UPV students state that they are aware of the SDGs, but most do not fully understand these 17 goals and their current implementation but think that the SDGs are important for their daily lives. Therefore, finding links between the SDGs and daily interests is necessary to advance toward further implementation to allow us to fulfill all SDGs. These results offer a good starting point for evaluating future training and awareness actions to improve sustainability-related educational strategies.


In Chongming County,the new varieties of rice comparative experiment was in progress.The results showed that Bao203,Qingjiao219 and Huayou14 were high yield,strong adversity resistance which were suitable for the plant in big scale with large amount of output in Chongming County.Wuyunjing 23 and Yinxiang 28 were suitable for the plant as early maturing variety in Chongming County.Xiushui134 was suitable for the plant on above average fertile lands in Chongming County.


Due to a strong spin orbit interaction HgTe quantum well structures exhibit an unusual subband structure ordering which leads to some remarkable transport properties depending on the actual carrier density. Especially for quantum wells with an inverted band structure ordering, a strong Rashba-type spin orbit splitting gives rise to a strong spin Hall effect in the metallic regime and in the bulk insulating regime spin polarized edge channel transport leads to the formation of the quantum spin Hall effect. Gated quantum well structures have been used to explore these, the metallic and insulating, transport regimes experimentally.


To elucidate the features of complex chemical reaction
mechanisms, we develop an analysis based on the use of
so-called "counter species", fictitious products added to
the reactions in the mechanism that allow one to determine
the relative contributions of individual reactions to the
overall behavior of the mechanism. The method is developed
by considering a mechanism for the atmospheric photooxidation of the three simplest aldehydes and is then
applied, in a full-scale simulation, to analyze the behavior
of a complex chemical reaction mechanism for photochemical smog. The method is shown capable of providing answers to previously inaccessible questions such as the relative contributions of individual hydrocarbons to photochemical
ozone formation. Application of the counter species concept to analyze complex environmental reaction mechanisms is straightforward and can be readily implemented in the standard routines in widespread use for solving seta of chemical reaction rate equations.


We report on our research in power scaling OPSL around 1μm to exceed 100W per chip by combining a rigorous quantum design of an optimized MQW epitaxial structure, highly accurate and reproducible wafer growth and an efficient thermal management strategy. Recently, we have utilized these state-of-the-art optimized OPSL chips to achieve a new record single frequency output power of 15W. The highly coherent TEM00 mode exhibit a M2 of 1.2 with a very narrow linewidth (<;7.5MHz).


Abstract We describe a case of a 48-year-old woman with a refractory cutaneous CD30 positive lymphoproliferative disorder treated successfully with total skin electron beam radiotherapy (TSEBT).


Personality education of counselors in ideological and political education of higher schools is of important value.Facing with the weakening of the personality value of the counselors,we should analyze the reasons,study the idea and measures of shaping the ideal personality of counselors and improve the effectiveness of ideological and political education in higher schools.


We present here a new method to solve Markov chains based on a Stochastic Automata Network. This method merges the reduction technique and the nonsymmetric permutations on the rows and columns of the generator associated with the Markov chain. This method is developed to compute some rewards in a military application, but it happens that the method may have a larger field of interest.


Purpose: To survey the present status of the rehabilitation nursing course at three year diploma programs, baccalaureate degree programs(BSN), RN-BSN, and graduate programs in Korea and to analyze the contents of the syllabus to provide the basic data in developing a standard model for rehabilitation nursing curriculum. Method: Data was collected from all the nursing programs in Korea from July 2005 to Nov. 2005 by mail and fax. Result: The rehabilitation nursing courses has been offered 12 diploma program, 16 BSN, 4 RN-BSN, and 16 graduate programs. And the credits of the rehabilitation nursing course offered by the program were as follows : one credit (6 diploma and 1 BSN), two credits (6 diploma, 14 BSN and 1 RN-BSN), and three credits (1 BSN, 3 RN-BSN and 16 graduate). Conclusion: Future studies need to be focused on developing rehabilitation nursing curricula reflecting the updated contents of rehabilitation nursing.


Line Confocal Imaging (LCI) is an optical technology for high speed 2D and 3D topography and tomography measurements. Line Confocal Imaging sensors measure millions of accurate 3D points per second, also from moving surfaces. The LCI sensors provide sub-micron resolution and can be used for all kind of surface types, including glossy, curved and transparent materials that have been challenging for industry standard laser sensors. Simultaneously with the 3D data, the LCI sensors produce also high dynamic range pixel synchronised intensity images of the surface which can be used to 2D defect detection and pattern recognition. Figure 1 Basic working principle of LCI Figure 2 LCI 1620 Sensor The applications of LCI sensors include roughness measurement of transparent surfaces, defect detection in multilayer transparent materials, high speed dimensional control of 3D curved glasses, various surface and sub-surface analysis of flexible, hybrid, and organic electronics. The LCI sensors can be integrated to factory automation using Ethernet interface. In this poster, the LCI will be explained in detail and several industrial applications will be given as examples.


The joint density function of errors in multi scale a measuring device is deduced by a method of a maximum entropy. Is shown, that this density function is well approximated by a truncated normal density function, which is usually used for a construction of estimations.


The doctrine of sovereign immunity in the Commonwealth of Virginia has evolved over time and the redefinition of the doctrine has been subjected to the interpretation by courts involving cases with varied facts and circumstances that have challenged the boundaries and flexibility of this legal concept. Determining the protection that a state agent was entitled to was the guiding principle in case law regarding sovereign immunity; however, understanding the purpose and intent of the doctrine of sovereign immunity was critical to determining the boundaries and criteria of the doctrine of immunity. In this dissertation, the researcher analyzed tort law as it applied to educators and public-school districts through the Virginia court system under common law and the Virginia Tort Claims Act (VTCA, 1981). The case analysis provided an overview of lawsuits heard and decisions rendered in negligence cases brought against educators and educational entities prior to and after the enactment of the Virginia Tort Claims Act in 1981.


For most orbital maneuvers, small satellites in the sub-10 kg range require thrusters capable of spanning the micro-Newton to milli-Newton force range. At this scale, electrokinetic (EK) pumping offers precise metering of monergolic or hypergolic liquid propellants under purely electrical control at pressures and flow rates well-suited to microthruster applications. We have demonstrated direct and indirect EK pumping for delivery of anhydrous hydrazine and hydrogen peroxide monopropellants, respectively, into capillary-based microthrusters with integrated in-line catalyst beds. Catalytic decomposition generates gases which accelerate through a plasma-formed converging-diverging nozzle, producing thrust. Specific impulses up to 190 s have been shown for hydrazine in non-optimized nozzles.


This paper takes the selling proposition of modern retail industry as an example to analyze how to set up data warehouse,OLAP system for the enterprises so as to give them support for their decisions.


The oil and gas fields in the Jungar Basin are generated in multi-episodes reservoir-formation, reconstruction and late adjustment. Five episodes, asⅡ Episode of Indo-Chinese epoch ( Late Triassic), Ⅱ Episode of Yan Shan ( Late Jurassic), Ⅳ Episode of Yan-shan ( Late Cretaceous), Ⅱ Episode of Himalayan ( Late Eocene) and Ⅲ Episode of Himalayan ( Late Neogene), are divided preliminarily according to the main tectonic phase, oil generation period, transport system and reservoir-formation period of oil and gas fields. The zones, in the north slope of Dongdaohaizi Sag, the SE of Mahu Sag, the north of Luliang Oilfield and NE slope of Changji Sag, would be the favorable areas for exploration of large and middle scaled oil and gas fields. The main target is Jurassic-Cretaceous in which the main reservoirs are subtle ones.


Author's Summary.— John Locke suggested two ways of learning a foreign language: preferably through speaking, or else through reading with the help of a translation. Modern developments are foreshadowed in his statements and in methods practiced or advocated by some of his predecessors and followers.)


a myth, that of the degeneration of humanityl. In order to purge humanity of its imperfect specimens, eugenics envisaged the remedy of selection of people according to normative and arbitrary criteria. Traditionally, a distinction has been made between two types of eugenics. 'Positive' eugenics was aimed at improving humanity by advocating better births; the method it used was selective mating (Lebensborn [fountain of life] ).'Negative' eugenics, on the other hand, was aimed at limiting the decline of humanity by preventing 'inferior' births. The methods used were sterilization and euthanasia (for example, sterilizations in Sweden and the United States of America, and the Final Solution in Nazi Germany). When eugenics is mentioned, everyone immediately thinks of negative eugenics in the Third Reich. I shall attempt to show how eugenics is reappearing today in 'a white coat' by way of genetic medicine.


The formation of SCFA in rats fed fermented oat fibre concentrates was compared with that of rats fed native oat fibre concentrate. The cultures used were lactic acid bacteria consisting of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus (V2), the exopolysaccharide-producing strain Pediococcus damnosus 2.6 (Pd) and L. reuteri (Lr). The materials were incorporated into test diets yielding a concentration of indigestible carbohydrates of 80g/kg (dry weight). Rats fed the V2-fermented fibre-concentrate diet yielded higher caecal and distal concentrations of acetic acid (p<0·01) than rats fed the native fibre concentrate. All the fermented fibre concentrates resulted in a higher propionic acid concentration in the distal colon (p<0·05), while rats fed Pd-fermented fibre concentrate resulted in lower concentration of butyric acid (p<0·05,p <0·01) in all parts of the hindgut as compared with rats fed the native fibre concentrates. Butyrate concentrations ranged between 5–11μmol/g (distal colon) and 6–8;μmol/g (13d faeces). Higher proportions of acetic acid (p<0·05; p<0·01) were observed in the caecum of rats fed the fermented fibre concentrates. Rats fed Pd- and Lr-fermented fibre concentrates produced higher proportions of propionic acid (p<0·05; p<0·01) in the caecum. Changes in SCFA formation in the caecum, distal colon and faeces of rats fed the fermented samples compared with the native sample indicate that these microbes probably survive in the hindgut and that modification of the microflora composition with fermented foods is possible. This may be important for the gastrointestinal flora balance in relation to colonic diseases.


Abstract : A general approach to the dynamical-statistical modeling of turbulent flows is developed. The emphasis is on progress in conditional averaging, new scaling, description of intermittency in terms of the inifinitely divisible distributions, high order correlation tensors, modeling of free-surface turbulence and turbulent boundary layers.


SUMMARY Two significant problem areas recently noted in nuclear power plants are the inability of motor operated valves to perform as intended and premature failures of check valves in service, The purpose of this paper is to provide a status of testing and trending techniques which minimizes system and component down time, and reduces radiation exposure. Because of the great difference in techniques in testing motor operated valves and check valves, this paper will be divided into two major sections. Section I will describe advances made in testing of motor operated valves. Section II will describe innovations in predictive maintenance techniques for check valves.


The determination of the dielectric constant of one constituent of a mixture, when the dielectric constants of the other component and the mixture itself are known, has been a problem which has been given much attention for many years. The familiar Clausius-Mossotti relationship for the dielectric constant of any substance is: e-1/(e + 2) d = A, where e is the dielectric constant of the substance, d the density, and A a constant depending upon the polarizability of the molecule. This relation was developed independently by Clausius, Mossotti, Lorenz, Lorentz, Rayleigh, and Debye; but even in the case of pure liquids deviations well outside the experimental error have been found.


The novel planar artificial transmission line(PATL) is a type of slow-wave structure composed of microstrip quasi-lumped elements like meandered-line inductor and interdigital capacitors.This paper investigates on the relations between the physical parameters and the effective lumped parameters of the meandered-line inductor and interdigital capacitor and concludes the corresponding empirical formulas.Those formulas are then generalized considering the influences of substrate thickness and substrate permittivity.The modified formulas are then applied to the design procedure of PATL-based Wilkinson power divider.It is expected that the empirical formulas proposed in this paper would improve both design efficiency and design accuracy of the novel planar artificial transmission line,and are also useful in designing other microstrip discontinuous or slow-wave structures.


The vibro-hammering machine generates vibrating force to drive a pile, driving four eccentric rotors by hydraulic motors. In this research, a control method of the force amplitude of a vibro-hammering machine under variable frequency drive is developed, which controls both the rotating speed and relative angles of four eccentric rotors. The pump displacement control and the by-pass valve control are applied to the frequeucy control loop and the force amplitude control loop respectively. The performances of the system are discussed by experiment.