Gelatinization and retrogradation of a high amylose cornstarch modified by hydroxypropylation were studied by DSC. It was found that the gelatinization temperature of the starch was decreased and a narrow gelatinization range was measured by DSC after hydroxypropylation. The decreasing of the gelatinization temperature is explained by disrupting inter- and intra-molecular hydrogen bonds, while the narrowing of the gelatinization endotherm is explained by destroying the amylose-lipid complex. Morphologies of the starch granules with and without iodine treatment were studied under microscopy with normal and polarized lights. Brightness and birefringence decreased with increasing molar substitution since crystal structure in starch granular was partly destroyed. Weaker retrogradation was observed for the hydroxpropylated starch, ascribed not only to steric effects imposed by the bulky hydroxypropyl groups in amylopectin, but also to the removing of amylose-lipid complexes during alkaline treatment.


As the internal carotid artery (ICA spans the cavernous sinus and supraclinoid segments, it assumes an S-shaped configuration on lateral view that is referred as the carotid siphon. The supraclinoid carotid artery begins where the artery emerges through the dural ring from the clinoidal segment, thereby forming the distal half of the siphon. The artery enters the subarachnoid space medial to the anterior clinoid process, just inferior to the optic nerve, and then pass posteriorly, and laterally to the side of the optic chiasm. The vessel then angles forward as it nears the anterior perforated substance at the medial end of Sylvian fissure, where it bifurcates into the anterior and middle cerebral arteries. The supraclinoid portion of the ICA can be divided into three segments:ophthalmic, communicating, and choroidal, based on the site of origin of the ophthalmic, posterior communicating, and anterior choroidal arteries, respectively. (Kor J Cerebr


The construction of a high vacuum system that reaches a base pressure of around 10 -4 Pa is reported. In order to evaporate metals such as gold, silver, aluminum and copper, we have designed and constructed a thermal evaporator, where an intense electric current is driven through a tungsten filament containing the evaporating material. As substrates for the metal films, we used glass, plastic, and ceramic. In the present work the operation of the system and its components is described. A first characterization of the films is made by thickness measurements. Palabras clave: Alto vacio, peliculas delgadas, bomba difusora, punto de fusion, metalizacion


This paper discusses a strategy formation process for human resources management based on the activity approach in the context of postindustrial society theory (by D. Bell). It studies not only a frequency of management strategy origination, but it's value component, interaction mode within the system dictated by an adequate level of social production development. The paper justifies the relevance of European HRM system elements use in Russia


BackgroundClear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a very aggressive cancer and is often diagnosed at an advanced stage. The stromal component around the tumor is thought to have contributed greatly to these findings.MethodsAnalytical study with cross sectional design on 23 histological specimens diagnosed by ccRCC based on data from medical records/pathology archives in 2012-2021. Each specimen was stained with hematoxylin and eosin, TGF-β and FAP immunohistochemistry and Masson's trichrome. Fisher's exact test (p<0.05) was used to assess the association between the expressions of all variables with the ISUP grading.ResultsMost cases were high grade ccRCC (87%) samples, of which 73.9% samples expressed strong TGF-β, 82.7% samples expressed positive intratumoral FAP, 78.3% samples expressed positive stromal FAP, 47.8% showed a TACS-3-pattern, 56.5% of samples with positive stromal TILs and 47.8% of samples with negative intratumoral TILs. There was no significant association between all of these variables and the ISUP grading of the ccRCC (p<0.05).ConclusionExpression of TGF-β1, intratumoral and stromal FAP, TACS pattern and the degree of intratumoral and stromal TILs were not significantly associated with ISUP grading in ccRCC.


The opposition of the categories of institutional and charismatic leadership has become a common topic of discussion in the social science of the XX century. However, this opposition has been discussed not only in sociology and political science, but also in theology and church law. This article is devoted to the charismatic-institutional concept of Eugenio Corecco (1931-1995), a Swiss Catholic canonist, Bishop of Lugano, a participant of the legal reform process in Catholic church law in the second half of the XX century. His concept was influenced by the legal theory of the German Catholic canonist Klaus Mersdorf, the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, the ideas about the charisma of the founder of the Communione e Liberazione (Communion and Liberation) movement Luigi Giussani and, finally, the reform of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. The first part of the article discuss how Corecco approaches the problem of church institutions in the modern era, critically starting from the legacy of the Church Public Law school of the XIX - early XX centuries. The second part is devoted to solving the institution-charisma problem in Corecco's theology of law. It is shown how from the ideas of the Munich school, founded by Mörsdorf, about the Word and the Sacrament as the pillars of church legal order, the Swiss canonist comes to the idea of charisma as an essential element of church order. Referring to the canonical theory of the Protestant lawer Rudolf Sohm about the antagonism of law and the spiritual nature of the Church, Corecco suggests solving this dilemma through the term communio, which is key for the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council. He emphasizes that law serves church communion, therefore, along with the liturgical heritage, the charismatic experience of the past and present should be reflected in the canons of church law. In the third part, the problem of charisma is clarified in connection with a priest status and preaching in modern and postmodern society. According to Corecco, the necessary response to the crisis of church discipline in the Catholic Church of the 1960s and 1970s could be found in the attempts of canonists to rethink the relations of the episcopate, clergy and laity in the Church. In this context, he particularly emphasizes the importance of the including of charismatic element in the reformed post-conciliar Catholic theology and church law.


Objective To evaluate the long-term results of simultaneous anterior and posterior hemivertebra resection in the treatment of congenital kypho-scoliosis caused by fully-segmented hemivertebra. Methods Twenty consecutive cases, 10 males and 10 females, underwent one-stage anterior and posterior hemivertebra resection and instrumentation. All the hemivertebra were fully-segmented. The average age at surgery was 11.7 years, ranging from 5 to 16 years, and the average follow-up was 40.5 months, ranging from 24 to 72 months. Full-length standing radiographs were taken before and after surgery and at the final follow-up. The apical translation, the Cobb angle in the coronal and sagittal plane were measured and analyzed. The medical records were reviewed and the complications were recorded. The hemivertebra was located at T5, T7, L1, L2 in each 1 ease, T6, T10 in each 3 cases, T9 in 4 cases, T11 T12, L3 in each 2 cases. Results The average operative time was 315 min with a mean 798 ml of blood loss. The Cobb angle in the coronal plane was corrected from 61.7° to 18.3°, with a 70.3% of correction rate. The kyphosis was corrected from 48.2° to 16.6°. Apical translation was improved from 3.7 cm to 1.9 cm. The average fusion segments was 4.7, ranging from 2 to 9 segments. Complications included pediculus cutting in 1 case, lumbar curve decompensation in 1 case and crankshaft phenomenon in 2 cases. Conclusion Simultaneous anterior and posterior hemivertebra resection is a safe and effective procedure for delete congenital kypho-scoliosis caused by fully-segmented hemivertebra. Anterior epiphysiodesis is necessary to avoid crankshaft phenomenon for patients at an earlier skeletal age.

Key words:
Scoliosis; Kyphosis; Spinal fusion; Internal fixators


Drawing in rollers becomes more and more popular in using technologies for manufacturing of shaped sections and round cold-dawn reinforcement wire. But determination of energy and power parameters is rather complicated because of analytical description of groove lines and its changing deformation zone length. At work, based on new additional parameters, such as the geometrical groove centre (GGC) and the roller nominal diameter, the equation of round deformation during reinforcement wire-drawing in the groove with offset rollers pairs was gotten.


This study aims at examining how parents ' occupation does impact students ' academic performance. The main objective of the study is to analyse how formal and informal parental occupation significantly influence secondary school students ' academic performance in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. Descriptive Survey Research design was used in which data from 377 respondents was collected using self-administered questionnaire from 4 selected secondary schools within Kuala Terengganu. Stratified random sampling technique was used to sample the respondents. The data was analysed using regression analysis. The result is explained in three forms, demographic information, descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. The result of the study indicated that students from a parent with formal occupation perform well than those from parents with informal occupation. Finally, recommendations are given to parents, teachers, policymakers and educational administrators.


Electrical measurements of several kinds were made at Roosevelt Hot Springs KGRA using the casings of two producing wells as electrodes. One purpose of these measurements was to determine if a ''mise a la masse'' measurement could provide useful information on the fault system which controls the near surface and deeper circulation. A second purpose was to determine if the introduction of the current deep into the conductive part of the system, via the well casing, would provide any additional information about the conductivity at depths below the near surface conductor. Distortions of the equipotentials in the vicinity of the electrodes provided some information about the conductivity structure, which is in general agreement with the results from other electrical measurements. The potential falls off more or less logarithmically with distance, indicating that the well casing is acting as a vertical line source at least for distances between a few hundred meters and few kilometers. The vector field measurements revealed that to the southeast the apparent resistivity increases with distance (depth). In this direction the measurement profile passes through or near several of the volcanic domes in the Mineral Range. In looking for the deep seated source one might consider themore » region of the domes, but these resistivity measurements do not show any gross effects of a deep conductor. However, there is some slight indication that the resistivity is smaller to the northeast of the dipole.« less


If we intend to get any profit in "Toward a Philosophy of the Act" as an index to Bakhtin's following works, then it will be possibly found in the presentation of an ontological difference (and in relation to value) between "I for myself" and the "Others", not in author's declaration of the unification of life and the domain of culture. Originally, the aim of aesthetic architectonics which Bakhtin imposed on himself is to point out each personality's unrepeatability and uniqueness in his acts, and finally, architectonic differences and similarities between "I" and the "Other". Interestingly, both categories appear not simultaneously, but one after another(first "I", and then the "Other"). Bakhtin's terminology "answerability for my singular unity" means "my taking take part in event", and event asks without fail another being beside "I". It is in this manner that the category of the "Other" is introduced in Bakhtin s philosophical system. Although Bakhtin's emphasis on personal singularity makes no difference to solipsism or isolationism, it can be said that this first philosophical work shows his very remarkable affection for personal responsibility, that contrasts well with the works written after "Author and hero in aesthetic activity", in which value center and organizing ability in a meeting are constantly conferred on 'authoritative Other'. Finally, limit of the Prima Philosophia consists in its logical shortcoming, exposed in the explanation of the peculiarity of aesthetical activity with the same principle. In this context, the limit itself reveals us that aesthetical activity asks different approaches from those to real life. This dilemma was caused by Bakhtin s project to unite cultural sphere and life with giving priority to the latter, and by his lack of elaborate knowledge of such aesthetic attributes as "outsideness", "form" which are thought to be indispensable concepts in explanation of the specific relation between author and hero. Certainly, Bakhtin himself acknowledged that he should admit specificity of art. This is supported by the fact that thereafter he pushed on writing works that are related solely to aesthetic problems, as if correcting his own idea about form and outsideness, etc. Therefore, from this stage he was concerned about a new task, that is how to make art get as near to life as possible, and how to strengthen the independence of the hero from the author. The fruit of that efforts seems to be "Problems of Dostoevsky's creations"(1929).


In this paper, a deadbeat controller design technique is developed for a quantum boost series resonant rectifier (QBSRR) to achieve the fast dynamic responses of the output voltage in the presence of any load variations, and in order to monitor the load information without employing the current sensor, the load estimation method is also derived. By using the information of the load estimation method, the proposed controller gain is automatically adjusted to have the system always keep the very fast dynamic responses. To verify these superior performances, the simulation and experiment are carried out.


The present invention relates to a process for the production of paper, paperboard or the like products, and an associated paper or paperboard product. In this case, a mixture or pulp of cellulose fibers, at least one retention agent, at least one mineral filler from Fullstofffasern and a solvent, eg water, is prepared and dried on a sieve. In this manner a product web is produced. According to the invention the cellulose fibers and the Fullstofffasern be with respect to at least one of the properties a) length, b) diameter and c) aspect ratio (length / diameter) matched.


Theories of innovation emphasize that firms' existing capabilities have a major impact in determining which firms adopt new technology most extensively, but struggle to explain why weaker incumbents sometimes keep up with their stronger competitors when competenceenhancing innovations enter their industry. This paper studies collaborative outsourcing as a strategy for weaker incumbents to keep pace. The paper compares how prior firm capabilities and strategic sourcing decisions affect innovation adoption, where outsourcing and collaboration are separate aspects of external sourcing. We expect collaboration to contribute to innovation adoption, with particularly strong benefit for weaker capability firms. We test our predictions using survey and secondary data on Internet banking activities from152 U.S. banks spanning 1995-2002. Results show that collaborative outsourcing helps firms weak on marketing capabilities keep pace with stronger firms in their adoption of Internet banking innovations. Collaborative outsourcing cannot, on the other hand, overcome the powerful path dependent influence of firms with strong technical capabilities.


The construction of the general solution sequence of row-finite linear systems is accomplished by implementing -ad infinitum- the Gauss-Jordan algorithm under a rightmost pivot elimination strategy. The algorithm generates a basis (finite or Schauder) of the homogeneous solution space for row-finite systems. The infinite Gaussian elimination part of the algorithm solves linear difference equations with variable coefficients of regular order, including equations of constant order and of ascending order. The general solution thus obtained can be expressed as a single Hessenbergian.


'Everything you need to build a town is here was not conceived in an artist's studio,' suggest the artists, 'but only really emerged after several months of reconnaissance walking – not only in the obvious places, like the seafront and the town centre – but also in the industrial, post-industrial, residential and edgelands of Weston.' Through this extensive site research, Wrights & Sites have developed a constellation of 41 signs that each engage with their immediate vicinity and are dispersed across Weston-super-Mare.

Each of the signs refers to aspects of architecture in Weston-super-Mare – whether grand, municipal, amateur, accidental, forgotten, part-demolished or imagined – and contains a carefully worded instruction, observation or comment, designed to encourage the reader to think again about its specific location, to conduct an action or thought experiment.

The signs have been organised into eight interconnecting layers – The Panoptic, Foundations, The Great Architect, The Amateur Builder, The Botanical, Light, Time, Ands – each of which is indicated by a symbol incorporated into the signs. The locations are widely scattered from public gardens, to the museum, car parks, restaurants and allotments. The design of the signs has been influenced by an existing sign found in Uphill village, at the southern edge of Weston-super-Mare, and almost all will appear in a location without interpretation or explanation. The artists describe how the Old Town Quarry operates as a keystone site for the series, at the entrance to which visitors are able to locate a map and description of the project in its entirety.


The authors were convinced that slow injection of 70-100 cbm of normal or 1/3-normal solution, phosphate (13.5% NaH2P04, or 11.9, or 35.8% Na2HPO4) into a vein acts favorably in this symptom complex (10 in 11 cases). Especially in case of cerebral basis of disorder by this method it is possible to cut it off for 1-4 hours. The active ingredient here is the phosphoric acid ion. At the same time it is necessary to take measures against cardiac weakness.


Traumatic brain injury is a significant clinical problem for which there is still no effective treatment. Recent laboratory and clinical data demonstrate a potentially beneficial role for neurosteroids, such as progesterone and allopregnanolone, in the treatment of traumatic brain injury, ischemic stroke and some neurodegenerative disorders. Unlike single-target agents, progesterone affects many of the molecular and physiological processes in the cascade of secondary damage after a traumatic brain injury. This article updates a 2006 Future Neurology review of the research on progesterone and its metabolites in the treatment of traumatic brain injury, and presents new evidence that vitamin D deficiency can reduce progesterone neuroprotection, while combining progesterone with vitamin D produces better functional outcomes after TBI compared with eithertreatment alone.


A crucially important component of the West African Monsoon (WAM) and its associated rainfall variability, is the African easterly jet-African easterly wave (AEJ-AEW) system. Despite this, the system continues to pose a tough challenge for General Circulation Models (GCMs) to simulate realistically given the many physical processes involved, and given the multitude of spatio-temporal scales that they act over.

For the West African population, any intra-seasonal rainfall variability impacts severely on the local agricultural and water resources, with equally severe consequences on health. This is especially true for the population living in the semi-arid Sahel region which endures the full impact of the AEJ-AEW system. Improved skilful prediction of the monsoon rains over longer time-scales would be of enormous benefit, aiding in the mitigation of high impact situations events such as the flooding during the summer of 2007, and the drought conditions of the last few decades.

Here, the African Easterly jet - Easterly wave (AEJ-AEW) system was explored in an idealised model. Prescribed zonally symmetric surface temperature and moisture profiles determine the AEJ which becomes established through meridional contrasts in dry and moist convection.

Importantly, moist AEWs were characterized by intermittent periods of growth and decay, with growth preceded by increased mean rainfall and later, weakening AEJs. These dependencies established an internal 8-10 day variability, consistent with intra-seasonal observations of 9-day rainy sequences. The observed 8-10 day cycle of rainy sequences related to the natural life cycle of the moist AEW and its interaction with the AEJ, the upper levels and the precipitation. This is a significant result from the moist life cycle as it offers a new view of the moist AEW life cycle and provides an alternative explanation for the observed intra-seasonal variability of the precipitation over NW Africa.


Summary. The aim of the present study was to analyze the traits of fattening and slaughter performances of fatteners according to GH/MspI polymorphism. A total of 369 fatteners from one herd were investgated. The fatteners belong to five different breed groups: Landrace, Landrace  Duroc, Landrace  Yorkshire, (Landrace  Yorkshire)  Duroc, (Landrace  Yorkshire)  (Duroc  Pietrain). The frequencies of C and T alleles of GH/MspI polymorphism were, respectively: C – 0.864 and T – 0.136. Comparing the numbers of individuals in GH/MspI genotype gropus and the number calculated theoretically according to the Hardy-Weinberg law, no statistically significant differences were found. The conducted studies demonstrated a statistically significant influence of the breed group on the examined traits of fattening and a slaughter performances and a statistically significant interaction between the breed group and GH/MspI polymorphism for loin eye area. It was shown that GH/MspI polymorphism itself does not differentiate in any statistically significant way any of the examined fattening and slaughter performances of studied fatteners.


Dispersal of ground-released sterile screwworm flies, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), in relation to a clear-cut utility right of way was studied near Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico, during October and November 1984. Collection data from wind-oriented traps suspended below trees along the edge and along transects 150 m into the woods along both sides of the right of way indicated male and female flies exhibited the same dispersal patterns. Chi-square analysis of these data indicated that the right of way was not important as a flight corridor for screwworm flies. All traps caught flies, indicating dispersal in all directions from the release site. Man-made topographic features such as utility right of ways probably do not affect adult screwworm dispersal through wooded areas. Wind appeared to be a factor in dispersal patterns in that traps downwind collected significantly more flies than traps upwind


A method for the quality evaluation of Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma (AMR) based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint, HPLC quantification, and chemical pattern recognition analysis was developed and validated. The fingerprint similarity of the 27 batches of AMR samples was 0.887–0.999, which indicates there was very limited variance between the batches. The 27 batches of samples were divided into two categories according to cluster analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA). A total of six differential components of AMR were identified in the partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), among which atractylenolide I, II, III, and atractylone counted 0.003–0.045%, 0.006–0.023%, 0.001–0.058%, and 0.307–1.175%, respectively. The results indicate that the quality evaluation method could be used for quality control and authentication of AMR.


Robustness against collusion attack has been measured under the marking assumption in fingerprinting codes. However, if codeword symbols are embedded into segments of multimedia content, the assumption must be relaxed. In this letter, we investigate erasures both in segments of multimedia content and in codeword symbols. The former erasure represents the case of a clipping attack, and the latter occurs at the signal-processing domain in which a watermark is embedded. We propose an optimal tracing algorithm under the erasure attack and theoretically estimate the number of erasure symbols in a pirated codeword. To suppress false-positive detections, a cutoff parameter is introduced into the tracing algorithm.


Oil-paper bushing insulation damp at condition in motion, but the moisture content in the diagnosis of bushing damping insulation had no effect at the test site. In this paper, the high voltage and large current and heat energy acting on bushing test platform is established. The dielectric loss frequency characteristics and dielectric loss temperature characteristics are studied on the cooling transient process of bushing body. Research results show that, the bushing is insulated with damp or failure, when cross turning point is greater than 80Hz or 100Hz of the dielectric loss frequency characteristic spectrum within the casing body temperature is decreased from 80 to 40.


A relatively thin thickness for the manufacture of semiconductor devices and / or have a narrow width, or provides a method for curing a dielectric ring having a complicated shape. Curing method of the dielectric layer for the manufacture of a semiconductor device according to the invention, forming a dielectric layer on the semiconductor layer, forming a first metal-containing layer on the dielectric layer, screening the top surface of the first metal-containing layer atom (screening by putting atoms), comprising the steps of: in the curing atom (curing atoms) to the first metal-containing layer through the steps, the upper surface of the first metal-containing layer to form a cured atom screening area to the upper portion of the first metal-containing layer and the in the first temperature atmosphere, it comprises the steps of introducing a curing atoms in the first metal-containing layer on the dielectric layer.


We carefully read the article by Rahimlou et al. (1) recently published in Advances in Nutrition. Although respecting the authors' efforts, we are concerned about different aspects of the current review: the inadequate search strategy, the methodological flaws, the interpretation of data, and the reporting of the results, that might lead to biased results. Our initial search revealed that a considerable number of eligible publications have been ignored (2–6). Although a few of those studies have not provided data, all of them are eligible to be included in the systematic review. The authors used 2 sets of keywords to define their search strategy: 1) flaxseed and its related keywords, and 2) inflammatory markers. This is despite the fact that inflammatory markers might not be reported in the titles/abstracts of possibly related clinical trials. It would be better to write a search strategy including "flaxseed" and its related terms along with the keywords related to "clinical trials" to capture all relevant clinical trials in this field. Thus, a larger number of studies might have been missed. Furthermore, we believe that the authors made some serious errors in including or excluding the studies that they did. One study by Ricklefs-Johnson et al. (7) should have been excluded from the meta-analysis, but not the systematic review. After careful review, we noticed that the aim of the aforementioned study was to investigate the effect of ground flaxseed fiber (28 g/d) and ground psyllium fiber (9 g/d), which were matched for fiber mass content, but not for energy intake. In fact, the intervention and control groups were not isocaloric and the total energy of the flaxseed group was 5 times greater than the ground psyllium group according to the nutrient composition table (7). Whereas, we know that to achieve accurate effect sizes, the control and intervention groups must be isocaloric to be included in a meta-analysis. On the other hand, the authors included several redundant effect sizes. It is not methodologically correct to include >1 effect size from the same population. According to the Cochrane handbook, entering several comparisons from 1 study into a meta-analysis must be avoided (8), because it leads to double-counting of participants and to unit-of-analysis error caused by an unaddressed correlation between the estimated intervention effects from multiple comparisons. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the authors made this mistake in several ways. For instance, they included 2 effect sizes from the Machado et al. (9) study, which compared the effects of brown and golden flaxseed as intervention groups in comparison with wheat bran. In addition, including 2 effect sizes using 1 intervention group and 2 control groups from 2 included studies (3-arm clinical trials) in the meta-analysis led to double-counting of participants and unit-of-analysis error as well (10, 11). In another similar fault, 2 different doses (13 and 26 g ground flaxseed) from the same population were considered as 2 different effect sizes (12). Altogether, the authors included 4 redundant effect sizes in the overall analyses which may result in misleading findings and conclusions. Finally, the authors did not discriminate between whole and ground flaxseed in their review. They have used the word "flaxseed" for the results of studies which used both types (for example, their Table 4). Nevertheless, they should not be considered the same because the bioavailability of their bioactive compounds is different (13). Ground flaxseed provides remarkably more α-linolenic acid as well as lignans to the blood than does whole flaxseed (13, 14). Although αlinolenic acid and lignans, as important anti-inflammatory components, are involved in the anti-inflammatory properties of flaxseed (15–17), referring to the 2 forms as the same is not correct. The same fault has occurred in a previous systematic review and meta-analysis regarding the effect of flaxseed consumption and blood pressure (18), which is addressed as a critical mistake in a similar letter as well (19). Overall, the current systematic review and meta-analysis suffers from several serious methodological problems and the conclusions are likely to be erroneous. Hence, we believe that the results of the current study should be interpreted with caution because of the stated errors. The correction of the aforementioned faults may lead to meaningful differences in the conclusions that can be drawn from the present metaanalysis.


We report a study on a liquid-thermoelectric hybrid cooling that allows a multiple larger heat flux (>;600 W/m2) hotspots on a chip that is never achievable with a reasonable pump power for a microchannel with single phase liquid cooling. Thermoelectric effect is realized in this study by embedding to the silicon chip in superlattice microcooler which has been studied in our previous work. We went through an analytic modeling including spreading resistance through the substrate and modeled the fluid dynamic characteristic of microchannel so that we were able to find the pump power and cooling power of superlattice cooler. We also verified the performance with 3D numerical simulation. The results show that the hybrid system allows much higher heat flux for a hotspot while superlattice cooler locates correctly. As an example, if we have a ZT=0.5 material, a 500μm × 500μm hotspot can be maintained at 85°C (ambient 35°C) with around 850W/cm2 while a simple liquid cooling reaches 620W/cm2 for the same 12W/cm2 of overall cooling power.


This essay investigates Dasan Jeong Yak‐yong's (1762–1836) account of human‐nature‐as‐taste, by comparing his commentaries on significant chapters in the Mengzi to Zhu Xi's commentaries. Dasan argues that human nature is understood through giho, taste sentiments and desires, and not as Principle (li). I first introduce Dasan's account of human‐nature‐as‐taste in his commentaries to 3A1 and 7A4. Next, I argue that giho is most appropriately translated as "taste," because this term captures the dispositional characteristics of giho as a mental faculty as well as its mental effects, such as desires, sentiments, and preferences. I then examine Dasan's and Zhu Xi's commentaries on 6A7 and 6A6, to illustrate how Dasan's view of human‐nature‐as‐taste interprets the chapters differently from Zhu Xi's metaphysical account of human‐nature‐as‐Principle, which Dasan considers as unsupported by the philological and contextual grounds. This exploration of Dasan's empirical account of human‐nature‐as‐taste, serving as a preliminary for a philosophical study of his reinterpretation of the Confucian Classics and his performative account of moral self‐cultivation, will provide us with an alternative perspective to the Neo‐Confucian metaphysic‐epistemic account of human nature.


A potential component of the administration's Social Security proposal is to shift from "wage indexing" of benefits to "price indexing." This change sounds modest, but, in fact, would change the nature of the Social Security program. Price indexing would preserve the purchasing power of Social Security benefits, but these benefits would represent an ever-declining percentage of earnings before retirement. This Just the Facts discusses the reasons for keeping benefits up-to-date with either prices or wages. Then it describes the mechanics of both wage and price indexing, and the impact of shifting from wages to prices. Finally, it explores the implications of price indexing in terms of possible long-run responses — periodic adjustments or increased reliance on welfare programs.


Using the LDA+$\textit{U}_\text{sc}$ method, we present calculations phase relations of iron monoxides involving five polytypes in multiple spin-state configurations. The Hubbard parameter $U$ is determined self-consistently simultaneously with the occupation matrix and structures at arbitrary pressures. The Hubbard parameter strongly depends on pressure, structure, and spin state. Comparison with experimental structural data indicates the LDA+$\textit{U}_\text{sc}$ can predict structure, compression curves, phase relations, and transition pressures very well for the insulating B1 and iB8 states. However, it requires additional calculations using the Mermin functional that includes the electronic entropic contribution to the free energy to obtain an nB8 metallic state and a consistent iB8 to nB8 insulator-to-metal transition pressure.


Because of the fragmented nature of project information, decisions on changes in construction projects are usually based on project design instead of project requirements. This research proposes a new approach for coping with changes in construction projects: A change control tool (CCT) that will identify implications of a change as soon as it is proposed. The tool will ensure that the stakeholders involved in the decision process in which change proposals are evaluated will know in advance if a change could cause the project to stray from its original goals, as expressed in the requirements. The proposed CCT uses the building program as a link between client requirements and the building design and traces the different relationships that exist between the requirements in the project. The relationships are traced using requirement traceability capabilities on the level of a specific space in the project and on the level of the entire project. A preliminary CCT model was developed and pilot studies implementing the model have been conducted. The pilot studies have given positive results, indicating that the CCT could identify the scope of the proposed changes' implications.


SUMMARYRooting of leafless winter hardwood cuttings of the plum rootstock Prunus insititia 'Pixy' increased as the location from which the shoots were taken from within specially grown stockplants decreased in height above ground, associated with a parallel reduction in shoot thickness. However, the actual height of the least-ready-rooting crown cuttings had no effect on rooting, suggesting that relative rather than absolute position is important. Rooting was unaffected by bark-ringing and trunk incision distal to the shoot position, suggesting that such treatments did not interfere with a basipetally translocated root promotor which might have accounted for improved rooting of cuttings in the lower parts of the hedge. The rooting of crown cuttings above a bark ring was reduced considerably compared with that of cuttings from normal bushes, and this was associated with increased thickness of shoots distal to the ring. Delaying pruning in spring until after growth had started resulted in thinner crown shoo...


The use of 3D model to simulation dentistry problems with finite element method has been reported. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the stress distribution in the cortical bone under different shape of dental implants in cantilever loading. The models were constructed with commercial conical and cylindrical implants of 4.3 mm diameter and 11mm length using ANSYS program. All materials used in the models were considered to be isotropic, homogeneous and lineary elastic. The elastic properties, the loads and constraints used were taken from the literature. The highest values of stress are found when the cylindrical implant was used. Therefore, the results indicate that the use of conical implant in patients with cantilever structure is more indicated if compared with the cylindrical implant.


This work presents the information resulting from our studies regarding the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on executive functions (EF). In the same context, we set out a proposal for cognitive intervention to strengthen cognitive resources in the school setting. We conclude that the differences in the cognitive executive system associated with SES are the consequence of the interaction of specific socioeconomic variables and a cognitive impulsivity, as well as lesser linguistic abilities that act as mediating variables in explaining the lower executive achievement associated with SES. Understanding the possible causal socioeconomic indicators and those mediating cognitive variables enables the design of intervention strategies and planning educational and social policies tending to reduce the impact of poverty on cognitive development.


The main purpose of our investigation is to providethe impact of some pertinent parameters,asthe thermal buoyancy and the geometryratio,on the oscillatory flow'stability of a Newtonian fluid which occurs within an annulus, found between a cold outer circular cylinder and a hot inner one, to come out at the end with critical conditions that couldpredict this phenomenon intosuch an industrial geometry. To do so, aphysical model is developed using the Lattice-Boltzmann approachside by side with the finite difference one. The validity of the latter is ascertained after comparison between our primary predictionsand various experimental & theoretical ones. By usinganunsteady-state regime, both Isotherms and velocity profiles of ourconvective fluidare widely inspected. Going far with its value, the use of a critical aspect ratio could die-out the impact of any investigated parameter on the oscillatoryflow. Then, only a conductive regime will take control intothe annulus. It is tonote that athree dimensions D3Q19model was adopted based on a cubical Lattice.


It is widely acknowledged that geospatial information has immense applicability across a vast spectrum of human endeavors. Examples include oil and gas exploration, energy management, smart city engineering, weather forecasting, tracking, aviation, satellite ground systems, environmental planning, disaster management, public administration, civil planning and engineering, and science. All such activities entail gathering a significant amount of data and other critical information stored, accessed, managed, manipulated, analyzed, and visualized. This variety of applications requires novel methodologies and technologies capable of delivering both interactive visualization and intelligent complexity reduction.The main focus of this workshop report is the detailed dissection of these technologies, their relationship to one another, and their unique abilities to realize cross-reality capabilities and design principles in a multimodal immersive, and intelligent geographical environment. The goal is to enumerate (and prioritize) critical research and standards opportunities for merging geospatial technologies with smart manufacturing systems.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify weaknesses in human capital development (HCD) in the hospitality industry in Nigeria and to find implementable solutions.

Design/methodology/approach

The author draws on the literature on HCD and the hospitality industry, as well as her experience working with practitioners to enlighten the discussion.

Findings

Deficiencies in HCD in the Nigerian hospitality industry are the result of a lack of sound and forward-thinking educational development, lack of a supportive environment for the meaningful employment of graduates of the educational system and social bias against vocational education, as well as inadequate hospitality skills of employees, insufficient empowerment or support from the government and hospitality industry participants.

Practical Implications

This paper summarises the key issues in HCD in the hospitality industry in Nigeria and the implementable solutions. The roles of the government, society and the hospitality industry are highlighted to demonstrate that HCD in the industry is a collective responsibility.

Originality/value

HCD has increasingly been a prominent goal of research policy in Nigeria and elsewhere but has not yet engendered much discussion in the hospitality literature.


Hydrothermal fluids during mineralization and alteration in the Hualilan Mining District, province of San Juan. The detailed study of the fluid inclusions in the dacitic intrusions of Hualilan mining district has been carried out to evaluate the evolution of the hydro- thermal processes during the stages of mineralization and alteration that have affected these rocks. Hualilan is located 120 km to the north-northwest of San Juan city. The study of representative samples from the northern sector (Falla Sanchez) and from the southern sector (Magnata) shows two periods of circulation of hydrothermal fluids with well defined characteristics. In the first one, which can be considered the responsible of the primary sulphide mine- ralization, the temperature has overcome the 300oC, with a boiling episode responsible for the deposition of ore minerals, and an average salinity of 12 % in weight of NaCl eq., with an important participation of CaCl 2 . The second period had a temperature below 300oC, also with a boiling episode, and a salinity average of 4.5 % in weight of NaCl eq., without participation of calcium. This second episode can be considered the responsible of the intense hypogenic oxidation that has suffered the primary mineralization, ending up to its disappearance in wide sectors, and producing also the masking of the calc-silicate minerals, the alteration of the dacitics dikes, the superficial formation of jasperoid bodies related to normal faults, and the formation of mine- rals typical of an acid-sulfate alteration, superpose to the previous illite, caolinite and adularia alteration. The second episode has been more intense in the northern sector (Falla Sanchez) than in the southern one.


Wool, cotton and ramie thermal properties are qualitatively studied by temperature-dependent Fourier transform infrared (TD-FTIR) spectroscopy, and quantitatively investigated by thermogravimetry coupled with a differential thermal analyzer (TG-DSC). TD-FTIR results indicate that although cotton, ramie and wool exhibit significant water loss, they have no detected degradation within the temperature range from 25℃ to 210℃. These data are confirmed by TG-DSC analysis. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis provides comparative study of cotton, ramie and wool bundles' dynamic mechanical thermal properties. The four-fiber-bundle has a much lower storage modulus due to its larger fiber contact surface and twisting deformation; heating reduces the storage modulus significantly for cotton and ramie instead of wool fiber bundles in the temperature range from 25℃ to 100℃. Key E′-T and tan δ-T curve information reveals that ramie fiber bundles have the strongest temperature sensitivity, while wool fiber bundles express the weakest temperature sensitivity.


IntroductionEthnic minorities are overrepresented in cancer burden, yet underrepresented in research investigating the sources of cancer disparities that affect them so profoundly (1). Despite the existence of a federal mandate to include ethnic minorities in research (2), their underrepresentation in health research persists. Additionally, underrepresentation is, in part, a result of difficulties in recruiting and retaining these groups in research given the multiplicity of social and systemic barriers that hinder their participation (3-4). Ethnic minority representation in research must increase, particularly for Latinos, the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States (5). Increasing the participation of ethnic minorities in cancer research will increase our knowledge of the impact of population-specific factors and behaviors on cancer screening and of disparate cancer screening outcomes.Latinas have a lower prevalence of breast cancer (BCA), however, they are more likely to be diagnosed at later stages and to have lower survival rates compared to European-Americans (6). A significant gap persists in our knowledge base of factors that impact and influence BCA screening. It is important for healthcare providers to be knowledgeable of the contributing factors associated with disparate outcomes among ethnic minorities and in turn how these factors impact the recruitment of ethnic minorities in cancer research (7). Thus, including Latinas in research intended to eliminate cancer disparities is necessary and of high priority. Social, economic and cultural factors add to the challenge of recruiting ethnic minority participants. Among Latinos, factors that influence research participation include socioeconomic status (SES), healthcare access, health literacy, English language proficiency, and cultural norms, values and beliefs (7).The purpose of this paper was to describe several strategies that address challenges to the recruitment of Latinas into research (see Table 1).Table I. Participant Recruitment StrategiesCommunity Networking· Initiating contacto Contact key community members and identify additional community contacts; disseminate study information and materials· Involve key community memberso They can help disseminate study informationPreparing for Participant Recruitment· Measure Developmento Pilot test measures prior to study implementation with pilot sample representative of study target sample· Research team selection and trainingo Research team should have similar characteristics to study sample and should be trained on study purpose and recruitment processActive Participant Recruitment· Confidentiality assuranceo Make participants feel comfortable when sharing information by clearly explaining the study purpose and informed consent; provide reassure that participation will be confidential· Language and literacyo Have Spanish-speaking research staff ready to assist participants and offer staff assistance as part of research protocol· Communicating and Establishing Trusto Culturally appropriate behaviors for rapport building§ Engage in pleasant interactions and interact with participants and their family through the use of culturally-appropriate languageo Adapting to extraneous factors§ Use snowball techniques when appropriate and necessaryProvision of Resources and Incentives· Hospitality· Provide Resources and IncentivesThese strategies are aimed to facilitate and increase the successful recruitment of underserved Latinas in health research. We present these strategies by highlighting the recruitment process for two BCA prevention education studies conducted with Spanishspeaking LatinasOverview of studiesTo better understand factors affecting BCA screening, we conducted two studies with Spanish-speaking Latinas in community settings. …


The role of depressive attributions, negative outcome expectancies and internal locus of control and their interactions with minor negative events in predicting symptoms of psychological distress was investigated with a sample of 131 students in a short-term longitudinal design. Contrary to prediction, results indicate that depressive attributions and moderately internal (rather than extremely internal) locus of control expectancies act to buffer the effects of minor negative events. In addition, evidence is not supportive of the confluence hypothesis (Ridcind, et.al., 1987) although the finding that expectancies of negative outcomes is related to symptoms is consistent with both the confluence hypothesis and the learned helplessness model of depression. Results are discussed in terms of the role of various cognitions in coping with minor life events as contrasted with major life events,


A low‐cost, compact, high‐performance clock‐recovery (CR) module using a new phase‐locked loop (PLL) for 40‐Gb/s optical receivers is successfully designed and implemented. The newly implemented frequency detector in the PLL helps to reduce the current consumption and also extended the frequency‐capture range. The implemented PLL clock‐recovery module demonstrates advantages over the conventional open‐loop type clock‐recovery module with a DR filter by significantly improving clock jitter, thus reducing overall module cost, and allowing the possibility of providing a proper clock signal in the case of temporary loss of NRZ input signals. The CR module exhibits error‐free operation during a 30‐min BER test with a time‐division‐multiplexing (TDM) 40‐Gb/s transmission system. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 48: 312–315, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21335


Tribe is a social construct which has no constant meaning. While the word 'tribe' is used to describe a group of people, the understanding of this narration is very often delusional, leading people to believe that the concept associated with it is fixed and rigid. The label of tribal is repeatedly understood to mean primitive and backward and is attached enduringly to numerous communities who were unable to control their mode of production, particularly during post-colonial phase. In this paper, I contend that 'tribal' cannot be generalized as a homogenous social category. If we regard a tribe as a social group that has certain territory, simple political organization, common religious beliefs and single spoken language, with respect to the Nagas, this is not the case. Likewise, this paper will take into consideration the political history and ethnohistory of the Nagas so as to identify the construction and changing patterns of Naga culture and identity politics. In this review, the rising phenomenon of identity politics of the Nagas will be closely scrutinized through the circulation of visual culture specifically tied in with features of ethnic interest as well as the feminine body. Conclusively, the paper suggests that the Nagas are forced into a situation where they have had to preserve the distinctiveness of their culture, despite or because of manipulation and threats imposed by primitive stigmas and labels.


Objective To evaluate the diagnosis of congenital bile duct cysts and treatment.Methods 2004.03-2010.06 15 patients admitted to the diagnosis and treatment of congenital choledochal cyst in children after were analyzed.Results The cases of 15 patients,hepatic duct cyst excision + Roux-Y jejunal anastomosis in 13 cases,2 cases were cyst drainage,six months after Phase II hepatic duct or common bile duct line jejunal Roux-Y anastomosis,were cured.No case of death or postoperative follow-up of serious complications,postoperative pathological findings were confirmed choledochal cyst.Conclusion B is the preferred inspection means super,if necessary,row CT and MRCP examination.Once the diagnosis of the disease,should surgery,surgery to hepatic duct cyst excision + Roux-Y jejunal anastomosis as the preferred surgical.


Instrumentation for the recording of violent incidents on psychiatric wards for the purposes of research remain rudimentary and underdeveloped. This paper provides a critical review of the currently available research tools: the Overt Aggression Scale, the Modified Overt Aggression Scale, the Staff Observation Aggression Scale, the Violence Scale, the Retrospective Overt Aggression Scale, the Aggressive Incident Record Form and the use of video camera surveillance. All have potentially fatal handicaps which have not been identified in previous reviews, the most serious of which is the conflation of severity of a violent incident with the outcome in terms of injury. In order to make research progress it is necessary to sharpen our research instrumentation by the separate study of different forms of aggression, and by using an objective, behavioural definition of assault severity.


: 2316 Risk of Schizophrenia Following Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Bereavement: a Nationwide Cohort Study in Denmark and Sweden.


The importance of providing integration architectures in every field of application is beyond controversy these days. Unfortunately existing solutions are focusing mainly on functionality. But for the success of systems integration in the long run, the quality of developed architectures is of substantial interest. Therefore a framework for quality-driven creation of architectures is proposed in this paper. Besides these quality-oriented characteristic, the usage of semantic knowledge and structured process descriptions enable an automatic procedure. Especially the combination of both is a promising approach.


We report preliminary results from the analysis of streaked soft x-ray neon spectra obtained from the interaction of a picosecond Nd:glass laser with a gas jet target. In these experiments streaked spectra show prompt harmonic emission followed by longer time duration soft x-ray line emission. The majority of the line emission observed was found to originate from Li- and Be-like Ne and the major transitions in the observed spectra have been identified. Li-like emission lines were observed to decay faster in time than Be-like transitions, suggesting that recombination is taking place. Line ratios of n equals 4 - 2 and n equals 3 - 2 transitions supported the view that these lines were optically thin and thick, respectively. The time history of Li-like Ne 2p-4d and 2p-3d lines is in good agreement with a simple adiabatic expansion model coupled to a time dependent collisional-radiative code. Further x-ray spectroscopic analysis is underway which is aimed at diagnosing plasma conditions and assessing the potential of this recombining neon plasma as a quasi-steady-state recombination x-ray laser medium.


The invention belongs to the field of gloveboxes, and particularly relates to a highly purifying and adsorbing device of a glovebox. The highly purifying and adsorbing device of the glovebox comprises a glovebox body and at least two stainless steel columns connected with the glovebox body, wherein the stainless steel columns are connected with the glovebox body through a pipeline, the at least two stainless steel columns are connected through a pipeline, and an adsorption layer is arranged at the position where each stainless steel column is connected with the glovebox body. The highly purified glovebox breaks through the traditional double-column concept, the amount of purifying materials is multiplied, the adsorption capacity of a purifying system is improved greatly, and highly purified gas can be provided for users.


A safety against the effects of arcing, to provide a switching apparatus that includes a gas-filled enclosure. A switching device 5 comprises a gas-filled enclosure 30, the input conductor 33, the actuator 50. Actuator 50, upon the occurrence of a first arc in the enclosure 30 are arranged to actuate the short-circuit device. The short circuit device includes a drive peg 51 insulating plugs 43, during operation, between the input conductor 33 and the enclosure 30 (ground point), creating a short circuit through the solid insulation 42. Short circuit, the operation of the actuator 50, the driving peg 51 penetrates the insulating plug 43, as a result, drive peg 51 is brought into contact with the input conductor 33, are made to short-circuit the enclosure or ground. .FIELD 1


Nacre-inspired clay nanocomposites have excellent mechanical properties, combined with optical transmittance, gas barrier properties, and fire retardancy, but the mechanical properties are still be ...


After Mongolian ertered into the Central Plains, scholars in Yuan Dynasty were sunk into territorial position in scoial politics at last because of the political press, cultural opposition and unequal system of imperial examination. The scholar authors of historical dramas in Yuan Dynasty were awkward to advance or retreat. And in order to be released from the confrontation between the suffering of retiring from public life and the anxiety for securing an official position , they committed their ideals and self-respects to writing historical dramas.This writing psychology is not only embodied in the same drama, but also in the different dramas of one author. The former's typical cases are historical dramas such as QILITAN(《七里滩》), CHENTUANGAOWO(《陈抟高卧》), JIEZITUI(《介子推》)and so on ; Guan Han-qing's historical dramas are on behalf of the latter.


In the fifty years that have elapsed since the first demonstration of the blood pressure raising action of injected extracts of the posterior hypophysis' 1 a remarkable number of biological properties have been attributed to this gland. Besides exhibiting a pressor effect, an aqueous extract of the posterior lobe may be capable of effecting contraction of the musculature of the uterus, intestine, stomach, esophagus and gall bladder; of influencing the secretion of urine, milk, gastric and pancreatic juice and bile, and of exerting various effects upon the heart, respiration, metabolism and pigmentation. It is possible that several of these effects may be due to the presence in crude extracts of sitbstances, like histamine, which are not peculiar to the posterior lobe but extractable from a variety of other animal tissues. Moreover, a few of tBe actions mentioned may possibly be due to substances which arise in portions .of the hypophysis other than the posterior lobe, present as contaminants in posterior lobe extracts. Certain of these effects have been sufficiently well characterized, however, to justify their classification as pharmacological, if not truly hormonal, properties of the posterior lobe itself. The most clearly established pharmacological properties of posterior lobe extracts are the effect upon mammalian blood pressure (pressor action), the effect upon uterine muscle (oxytocic action), and the effect upon the rate of urine excretion (antidiuretic action). It is with these three activities arid particularly the pressor and oxytocic activities, that we are concerned in this discussion. Thus far, the use of the singular or plural of the word hormone has been avoided in referring to the properties of the posterior lobe since a t present it is impossible to decide whether only one 0; more than one active principle exists in the gland under physiological conditions. Furthermore, in the biochemical approaches to the posterior lobe problem, as in most investigations of the endocrines, the gland tissue is subjected to conditions which are far from physiological. Consequently, a dis-


Objective
A meta-analysis was performed to confirm whether statin therapy is associated with less abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) expansion and reduction in mid-long term mortality.

Methods
We searched MEDLINE, Embase, CBM and CNKI database respectively from 1976 to April 2017. Relevant journals and dissertation were also hand searched. Study selection and assessment, data collection and analyses were undertaken by two reviewers independently according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Meta-analyses were performed through software STATA 11.2.

Results
Sixteen studies were selected for inclusion involving 12 532 individuals (2 867 statins and 9 665 no statins) . Pooled analysis demonstrated that statin therapy was statistically significantly associated with less expansion rates (WMD=-1.371 mm/year, 95% CI: -2.193~-0.548, P=0.001) . A sub-analysis was performed on studies comparing diameter≥40mm with diameter≤40mm, in which, diameter ≥ 40 mm sub-group replicated the superiority on expansion rates (WMD=-2.039 mm/year, P<0.001) with statins, nevertheless, diameter≤40mm sub-group showed no significant improvement with statins (WMD=-0.421 mm/year, P=0.077) . Moreover, mid-long term, meta-analysis of seven studies examining all-cause postoperative mortality showed a significant improvement with statin therapy (HR=0.524, 95% CI: 0.393~0.698, P<0.001) , and also cardiovascular related mortality (HR=0.332, 95% CI: 0.213~0.517, P<0.001) during following-up time.

Conclusions
In the mid-long term, statin therapy is associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular related mortality. Moreover, statin therapy is associated with less expansion rates in patients with AAA. To confirm diameter less than 40mm and more accurately assess the effect of statins on AAA expansion, a large randomized trial is needed.

Key words:
Abdominal aortic aneurysm; 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A; Statin; Mortality; Meta-analysis


This paper discusses an implementation of a guitar-inspired gestural controller intended for interaction with continuous synthesis parameters in real-time. The controller uses a strip-shaped touch sensor for the left hand and a twodimensional touch-pad for the right hand, in place of the guitar's neck and body. The intent is to create an interface that allows intuitive control of electro-acoustic sound textures while leveraging the performer's enthusiasm and stage presence that is traditionally encouraged by the active stance required of the guitar.


Administrative culture, as a deep-structure element in public administration, has a particular influence on administrative efficiency. Administrative culture is divided into a positive one and a negative one. In current China, bureaucracy has become a negative administrative cultural form. Its economic implication is the loss of governmental efficiency.Therefore, it is very important to establish a positive administrative culture. The establishment of it can be started along three dimensions: creating an organizational climate of administration "with a sense of pressure"; developing an organizational atmosphere of administration in which "a sense of cherishing time is nurtured" ; and establishing an organizational relationship of administration, which "strives for interpersonal co-operation".


Aim:  The aim of this study was to investigate the acceptability and tolerability of the oral food supplement Neokay for the prevention of vitamin K deficiency bleeding in newborns.


This paper evaluates the effect of content popularity distribution on the power consumption of cache-based services in an IP over WDM network. We consider the Zipf, Bimodal, Pareto and Equal Popularity distributions for content popularity. The results reveal that using our MILP model, reductions in power consumption under the Zipf, Pareto, Bimodal and Equal Popularity distributions are up to 47%, 71%, 72% and 71%, respectively. We also study the impact of the sizes of media files and the impact of the power efficiency of caches on the network power consumption. The results confirm that under the Zipf and Equal Popularity distributions the power consumption rises as the average size of media files and cache power consumption increases. Under the Bimodal and Pareto distributions, the average cache size in the network is not affected by the increase in media file sizes.


The characteristic energies of elementary excitations and collective modes in many quantum materials lie mostly in the terahertz (THz) frequency range, which provides a wide space for the development of THz optical materials and devices. In particular, topological Weyl semimetal Mn3Sn is a noncollinear antiferromagnet with anomalous THz properties, which is strongly affected by thermal energy and external magnetic fields. Despite the explosive growth of the research on magnetic Weyl semimetals recently, its nanoscale structure for applications in THz optical devices remains to be explored. Here, we fabricated nanostructured Mn3+0.53Sn films with different crystal orientations, driven by Ostwald Ripening (OR) on (0001) c-Al2O3. A huge anisotropic THz response manifested a firm link between the optical properties of Weyl antiferromagnet Mn3Sn and its contrivable spin structures. The topological properties of Mn3Sn are robustly protected in its nanostructures. This work can provide a new horizon for the fabrication of a nanostructured magnetic Weyl alloy and for its potential applications in subwavelength high-performance THz devices.


Novel single-source organometallic precursor, Triethanolamine Tin (II) (Sn-TEA), was synthesized by the reaction of SnCl2 and triethanolamine in the presence of Sodium acetate. TGA, FTIR, 1H characterize the Sn-TEA precursor, and 13C NMR was done to confirm its thermal stability and predict its molecular structure. The 1H and 13C NMR showed an organometallic molecule as TEA and acetate form a coordination sphere around the Sn atom in a stable structure. The TGA showed two thermal decomposition steps at ~206.14oC and ~750oC and residue at 800 °C. The precursor was pyrolyzed at 400oC, and the residual powder was characterized by FTIR, which indicated the formation of Tin Oxide. The precursr was then used to deposit SnO2 films by microwave-assisted solvothermal process on glass substrates. The films were characterized with XRD, FESEM and tested for conductivity. XRD confirmed the formation of SnO2 of the cubic lattice. The precursor concentration and microwave irradiation time on the film morphology, compositional analysis, and electrical conductivity were studied thoroughly. Sn-TEA complex proved to be a potential single-source precursor for SnO2 production, and it can be applied to develop highly pure/doped SnO2 films for gas sensing applications in a cost-effective manner


Paediatric chronic rhinosinusitis (PCRS) is a common disease in children. It is defined as continuing inflammation of the nasal cavity and sinuses for ≥12 weeks. Because of the compound aetiology and pathophysiology of this disease in children, it is extremely important for the physician to consider the differential diagnosis before planning treatment. The aim of the review was to present the guidelines from The European Position Paper on Rhi-nosinusitis and Nasal Polyps (EPOS 2020) and promising treatment options of CRS in the paediatric population. The authors of the guidelines proposed a new division of chronic sinusitis (CRS). Chronic sinusitis has a greater impact on deteriorating the quality of life of patients than acute sinusitis. CRS is a syndrome with a multifactorial aetiology, resulting from an abnormal interaction between particular environmental factors and the host's immune system. The mucosa is chronically penetrated by the inflammatory process, which in many cases leads to tissue remodelling and clinical symptoms. EPOS 2020 recommendations are based on the use of proper nasal hygiene, sinus saline irrigations and topical corticosteroids. Surgical intervention is considered for patients with CRS who have failed appropriate medical therapy. However, there are new promising therapies on the horizon. The EPOS 2020 guidelines signaled the impact of immunomodulation


The laboratory and pilot plant evaluation of Northspan uranium concentrate is presented. Chemical analyses reveal that it meets all existing impurity tolerance limits, except that for thorium. The thorium tolerance limit can be met by the addition of phosphate, as is required for thorium containing concentrates. Digestion and extraction tests indicate that this concentrate should present no problems in the refinery process if standard operting conditions are used. (auth)


The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) during exercise and ventilatory threshold (VT), using the MemCalc system which is superior in spectral analysis. Nine healthy male subjects with no cardiopulmonary disease performed an exercise test to exhaustion to determine VT on a bicycle ergometer. Low frequency (LF : 0.04-0. 15 Hz), high frequency (HF : 0.150.40 Hz) and LF/HF ratio power spectra were calculated by maximum entropy method (MEM) spectral analysis, using the MemCalc system. In each case, when the subject started exercise, the HF component declined rapidly during the first 30 seconds ; and compared to the resting value, it declined to approximately 5 % at VT. The possibility of using this phenomenon as a criterion for setting intensity of exercise is tinder consideration. The LF/HF ratio showed different patterns of variation among the subjects. A significant linear relationship was seen between the declining rate of the HF component and VT (r=0.93, p<0.001), suggesting a corres pondence between the heart's capability of adjusting to maintained exercise and high endurance capacity. Upn. J. Phys. Fitness Sports Med. 2001, 50 : 185•`192) key word : Autonomic Nervous System, Ventilatory Threshold, MemCalc System, Power Spectral Analysis of Heart Rate Variability


To use and conserve reasonably natural enemies for comprehensive control of Bemisia tabaci,in this present work,the quality,time and spatial framework of Bemisia tabaci and its predatory natural enemies was further studied using grey system analysis,ecological niche analysis and aggregated-intensity index analysis of spatial patterns.The synthetic ranking result indicated that the order of main natural enemies of Bemisia tabaci adults was Clubiona japonicola,Therdiong octomaculatum,Erigonidium graminicola and Orius minutes.The numbers of Bemisia tabaci adults during spring-summer and autumn-winter season in pepper fields was compared using T-test(T= 7.9063,tt0.01 = 2.85),which showed a highly significant difference.In addition,there were also highly significant differences in the numbers of predatory natural enemies,i.e.Therdiong octomaculatum(T= 4.8553,tt0.01=2.85),Harmonia axyridis(T= 3.1780,tt0.01=2.85),Clubiona japonicola(T= 3.6550,tt0.01=2.85),Erigonidium graminicola(T=4.7893,tt0.01=2.85),Propylaea japonica(T= 3.2325,tt0.01=2.85),and Tetragnatha maxillosa(T=2.1009,tt0.05=2.09) between the two seasons in pepper fields.The further T test showed that the numbers of Bemisia tabaci adults population in autumn-winter season existed significant difference(T=2.4564,tt0.05=2.09),while no significant difference was found in spring-summer season(T=1.4628,tt0.05=2.09) between pepper and tomato fields.The results indicated the amounts of Bemisia tabaci adults in tomato fields were apparently higher than that in pepper fields.Above results may provide clues for protecting natural enemies and optimizing control strategies of Bemisia tabaci adults.


Abstrcat The knowledge of reduction is one of the important issues in the research of rough set theory. Every heuristic information for the reduction of decision table must depends on a measure of the significance of attributes in the table, because it is the key heuristic information to determine which attribute is reducible in decision table. Based on the new definition of generalized eigenvector presented in this paper and analysis of its property, a new measure of the significance of attributes in decision table is given based on the generalized eigenmatrix. The new measure can discern the difference of significance of no-core attributes that cannot be discerned by the widely-used common measures. The new definition is very useful in the practice of data mining and knowledge reduction.


The paper intends first to deepen the concept of gift within an alternative economic circuit to the traditional market, fair trade, going to identify the opportunities that this economic alternative offers to hundreds of thousands of people in the world. Subsequently, taking up the inspiring principles of this trade, the links with the educational field will be outlined, also showing an example of the path taken with secondary schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Finally, we will try to sketch some reflections and some feedback for the pedagogical field, trying to sketch, also thanks to the suggestions of intercultural education to social justice, the traits of what could be a more equitable school for everyone.


SUMMARY F1 hybrids were produced using the German spring wheat variety Remus as a female parent and eight Croatian wheat varieties (six winter and two spring types) as male parents. The heterosis (MP-mid parent, BP-better parent) for five yield components was investigated in eight cross combinations. Data are based on field trial. All the combinations tested gave average heterosis (MP, BP) for 1000-grain weight (14.38%, 6.12%) and grain weight per spike (11.47%, 3.68%). The highest heterosis (MP, BP) was found for 1000-grain weight (35.27%, 28.42%) in the hybrid Remus/Sivka and for grain weight per spike (20. 45%, 19.1%) in the hybrid Remus/Dukat. These data showed that the spring wheat variety Remus could be used in cross combinations for improvement of yield through higher 1000-grain weight and grain weight per spike.


With the integration of advanced computing and communication technologies, smart grid is considered as the next-generation power system, which promises self healing, resilience, sustainability, and efficiency to the energy critical infrastructure. The smart grid innovation brings enormous challenges and initiatives across both industry and academia, in which the security issue emerges to be a critical concern. In this paper, we present a survey of recent security advances in smart grid, by a data driven approach. Compared with existing related works, our survey is centered around the security vulnerabilities and solutions within the entire lifecycle of smart grid data, which are systematically decomposed into four sequential stages: 1) data generation; 2) data acquisition; 3) data storage; and 4) data processing. Moreover, we further review the security analytics in smart grid, which employs data analytics to ensure smart grid security. Finally, an effort to shed light on potential future research concludes this paper.


This book begins with a very high level overview of the tradeoffs between things like spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, bandwidth, and power. The book ends with a chapter describing some projects such as Energy Aware Radio and neTwork tecHnologies (EARTH); test beds; and consortiums. In between there are chapters on energy harvesting, energy consumption models, comparing coding for efficiency, and modulation methods. As with any book involving networks at a high level, there are lots of acronyms. The claim is made that the energy consumed by our wireless network can easily be reduced by two thirds. The case is also made that some form of energy harvesting such as solar or wind powered microturbines has promise and would add to the overall efficiency. Many of the chapters focus on media access control, cooperative efficiency, multiple nodes and hop networks, and metrics for measuring efficiency while considering the quality of service. This book contains contributions from almost 60 scientists and engineers in academia and industry. Green Radio Communication Networks is an excellent snapshot of the state of green in wireless networking, and it is a nice overview of who is doing what and where in the field.


Background: Acute gastroenteritis is one of the major causes of pediatric hospitalization and mortality worldwide. Vitamin D can improve the immune system, and its deficiency may exacerbate the severe symptoms of any infectious disease. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of vitamin D on children admitted to a hospital due to acute gastroenteritis.

Methods: In this double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial, 100 children aged 3 months to 14 years old hospitalized due to acute gastroenteritis in Bandar Abbas pediatric hospital, Iran, were enrolled. The participants were divided into two groups of case and placebo (n = 50 per group). Patients were excluded from the study if they met the exclusion criteria. After obtaining parental (or guardian) consent, in addition to the conventional treatment of gastroenteritis, the placebo group received 2 cc of olive oil (as placebo) and the cases received 100000 IU of vitamin D (ZAHRAVI Vit D3). Discharge criteria included reduction of fever and defecation and improvement of the patient's general condition. The required data including age, sex, baseline serum vitamin D level, level of dehydration, axillary temperature, and length of hospital stay were recorded in a checklist by a physician. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and Student's t-test were used to compare the recorded data in SPSS, version 24.

Results: The mean lengths of hospital stay were 3.46 and 2.54 days in the placebo and case groups, respectively, indicating a significant difference between the two groups in this regard (P < 0.001). However, there were no significant age and sex differences between the two groups regarding hospital stay (P = 0.09 and P = 0.14). Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between length of hospital stay and the level of dehydration in either group (P = 0.15). We found that axillary temperature at discharge was significantly lower in the vitamin D group than the placebo group (P = 0.017). In general, length of hospital stay was shorter in the vitamin D group, and there was no difference between patients with baseline vitamin D level of < 30 ng/mL and those with vitamin D level of ≥ 30 ng/mL in the vitamin D group regarding length of hospital stay (P = 0.057). On the contrary, in placebo group, hospital stay was significantly longer in those with vitamin D level of < 30 ng/mL (P = 0.039).

Conclusions: This prospective study demonstrated that vitamin D supplementation is significantly related to the reduction of hospital stay in pediatric acute gastroenteritis patients aged 3 months to 14 years old. This finding was achieved after unification of the confounding variables such as socioeconomic status. We also noted that the effect of vitamin D on hospital stay was not associated with age, sex, and level of dehydration.


Overview: During a live panelist discussion of transmedia, remediation and the simulacrum the artist will simultaneously remediate the panelist discussion and conjure a virtual Mario using a live video feed and AR technology and then invite the panelists to discuss their mediated presence and the presence of Mario amongst them as both an example of transmedia and the simulacrum.MethodThe artist will project a live video feed of the panelists on a screen behind them and then use a Nintendo 3DS portable games console and augment their image with a life size Mario produced from the use of an enlarged AR Card.The resultant immediated (immediated: neologism combining immediate and mediation) imagery will be captured via camcorder and projected on to a screen behind behind the colloquium participants and visible to the attendees.ObjectivesTo simultaneously present a live panel discussion of mediation, transmedia and the simulacrum in its unmediated, mediated and augmented forms.The augmentation of the live mediated image of the panel by an example of transmedia (Mario) which becomes an example of the simulacrum (Baudrillard) due to the Mario avatar's break with the media for which he was designed (Super Mario Bros. Game) and his re-appropriation by the artist as a participant in a panelist discussion about transmedia and mediation.


The article analyzes the quality of higher education and its economic diagnosis. Defined methods for modeling economic diagnostics. There are scientific conclusions and practical recommendations on the economic assessment of the quality of higher education.


This paper presents findings from a comparative study of libraries, telecentres, and cybercafés in 25 countries around the world (and is part of a larger study in Latin America, Africa & the Middle East, South & Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe); it focuses particularly on the factors that contribute to the centres' success across countries and types of centres. We clustered the results into five key success factors for public access computing: (1) understand and take care of local needs first,(2) build alliances with other venues, (3) collaborate with other media and community services, (4) strengthen sustainability, (5) train infomediaries and users. Taken individually, these factors are not new, as evidenced in the literature in the field. The value of these findings is their presentation together as a result of comparative research across multiple countries and different types of public access centres. This study provides strong validation that these five success factors are critical variables to be considered in policy decisions and program implementation. They also provide valuable direction for future research to explore each of the issues in more detail.


A styrene-based thermoplastic resin composition is provided to have a highly low gloss, a good balance of physical properties, and improved processability and impact strength. The styrene-based thermoplastic resin composition having highly low gloss comprises 1-10 parts by weight of a low-gloss additive based on 100 parts by weight of a base resin. The base resin consists of 20-50 parts by weight of a graft copolymer including rubber-modified styrene and 50-80 parts by weight of a copolymer including styrene. The low-gloss additive is selected from the group consisting first extruded materials of a styrenic copolymer(c1) including glycidyl methacrylate functional groups, (c2) a low-molecular-weight compound having at least two carboxy functional groups per a molecule, (c3) a copolymer including methyl methacrylate, and (c4) a rubber-modified styrene.


This article focuses on self-assembled photovoltaic materials based on a new class of semiconducting block copolymers for application in photovoltaic devices.Topics discussed include the materials concept for efficient photovoltaic-device structures, their macromolecular design and synthesis, and their performance in relation to their molecular, mesoscopic, and interfacial structures. An ideal organic material for this application would have to compete with amorphous silicon in regard to energyconversion efficiency and fabrication costs. The potential of the semiconducting block copolymers presented in this review lies in the promise of large-area, mechanically flexible, self-structured photovoltaic devices fabricated by inexpensive processing techniques.


This research was to study effect of milling, which was affected on surface finish of Chromium-Molybdenum steel. Fifty-four pieces of JIS SCM 415 steel was used specimen. The experiment was done by CNC vertical milling machine and cutting tool was PVD coated tungsten carbide tool. The factorial design was applied and factors were consisted of three factors: cutting speed and feed rate and depth of cut that were set in three levels. The results revealed that surface finish was affected by two main factors of feed rate and depth of cut. On the other hand, cutting speed was not significantly main factor. However, interaction between cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut were factors controlling surface finish. Finally, the effects of milling factors on surface finish were analyzed and discussed.


Organizations execute daily activities to meet their objectives. The performance of these activities can be fundamental for achieving a business objective, but they also imply the assumption of certain security risks that might go against a company's security policies. A risk may be defined as the effects of uncertainty on the achievement of the goals of a company, some of which can be associated with security aspects (e.g., data corruption or data leakage). The execution of the activities can be choreographed using business processes models, in which the risk of the entire business process model derives from a combination of the single activity risks (executed in an isolated manner). In this paper, a risk assessment method is proposed to enable the analysis and evaluation of a set of activities combined in a business process model to ascertain whether the model conforms to the security-risk objectives. To achieve this objective, we use a business process extension with security-risk information to: 1) define an algorithm to verify the level of risk of process models; 2) design an algorithm to diagnose the risk of the activities that fail to conform to the level of risk established in security-risk objectives; and 3) the implementation of a tool that supports the described proposal. In addition, a real case study is presented, and a set of scalability benchmarks of performance analysis is carried out in order to check the usefulness and suitability of automation of the algorithms.


The invention discloses a preparation method of an aerated concrete building block which is produced by taking cement, lime, desulfurized gypsum and fly ash as basic raw materials through the technical processes of raw material preparation, blending, pouring, primary curing, cutting, autoclaved curing and the like. According to the preparation method, lump lime is levigated to prepare a cementing material by using a dry method mixed milling process, the fly ash and the gypsum are levigated to prepare a slurry through wet ball milling, the slurry is blended and stirred with the cement and an aluminum powder paste, fixed point pouring, track conveyance and tunnel type heat chamber static standing and primary curing are adopted, and a flip cutting machine is used for cutting, so that the production speed is accelerated and the yield is improved. The aerated concrete building block prepared by the preparation method is a novel wall body material tightly around the concepts of resource comprehensive utilization, environmental protection, building energy conservation and the like, reliable process, equipment and technology are adopted, and a contribution is made to the development of novel wall materials and waste utilization energy conservation causes; because of the advantage of energy conservation of the technology and the superiority of social and economic benefits, the preparation method can be applied more and more widely to construction engineering.


According to the feature of radar/ARPA simulator,this paper presents a novel algorithm of objects detection in automatic alert circle using modern image processing technology.The algorithm turns two echo images of consecutive scanning period into two binary images,and then uses logical operation and the method of region growing to detect objects in automatic alert circle.The algorithm doesn't need complex operations,and filters out the detecting interference of the noise.Experiments show that the algorithm can be used in objects detecting of radar/ARPA simulator.


GenBank (2010) is a collection of publicly available DNA sequences maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information. It currently contains about 7000 homo sapiens mtDNA 'full genome sequences', although some of these are complete in the coding region only. Abstracts of these sequences that list differences from the CRS are available through Ian Logan's Checker web site (Logan I, 2010). This paper describes the selection of sequences from this source that belong to SuperHaplogroup N, its subordinate haplogroups, and their clades, and how these sequences were organized into a matrix reflecting the current consensus about the phylogeny of homo sapiens mtDNA. Features of this matrix are described, the content analyzed, and a number of issues articulated relative to the use of various alleles in clade definitions. Illustrated herein is also a scheme for quantitatively assessing the quality of alleles used in the clade definitions. Products of the application of this scheme, in turn, are used as major components of a semi-automated allele encyclopedia. Finally, there is a description of the tools used to develop and maintain the matrix, perform ongoing analysis, and produce the core structure of an allele encyclopedia.


The temperature dependence of magnetocrystalline anisotropy was investigated in detail for the polycrystalline Ni50Mn25Ga25, Ni50Mn25Ga20Ti5 and Ni50Mn25Ga20Gd5 ferromagnetic shape memory alloys in the temperature range of 50–400 K. The effective anisotropy constant was estimated from a series of high field magnetization curves based on the fitting procedure according to the law of approach to magnetic saturation. The low temperature martensitic phase was found to have a significantly higher anisotropy energy in comparison to a high temperature austenitic phase, which was observed through a sudden, distinct drop of anisotropy energy. The calculated values of the effective anisotropy constant were comparable to the results published by other authors. Moreover, the strong influence of chemical composition on the first-order phase transition and the second-order ferromagnetic to the paramagnetic transition was revealed. Finally, the strong coupling between the temperature dependence of the coercive field and the temperature dependence of magnetocrystalline anisotropy was also shown and discussed in the present study.


A piece of non-ink printing paper comprises a piece of page paper, amplitude modulation dots printed on the page paper, row scanning lines printed on the page paper, line scanning lines printed on the page paper, and line scanning leads printed on the page paper; and contents of the non-ink printing paper can be fast written-in and renewed, so that the non-ink printing paper can realize fast printing and repeated reuse of paper.


Objective To describe the initial outcomes and safety of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) assisted by a femtosecond laser for stromal corneal pathology.Methods In a case series,14 eyes of 13 patients with various stromal corneal diseases (1 eye post-traumatic corneal scar,8 eyes post-keratitis corneal scars and 5 eyes stromal corneal dystrophies) underwent DALK procedures by using a femtosecond laser.The parameters measured include uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA),best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA),endothelial cell density (ECD) and complications.Results All eyes were successfully treated without intraoperative complications.Mean follow-up was 7.3±3.8 months (range,2-14 months).Uncorrected visual acuity improved in 11 eyes compared to preoperative UCVA.The mean difference between preoperative and postoperative UCVAs was a gain of 1.7 lines (range,unchanged-6 lines).Best-corrected visual acuity improved in all eyes compared to preoperative levels.The mean difference between preoperative and postoperative BCVAs was a gain of 2.4 lines (range,1-8 lines).Adjuvant surgical procedures were performed on 3 eyes (treated with phototherapeutic keratectomy),the mean reduction in endothelial cell density was 1% at the last follow-up.No graft rejection,infection,or epithelial ingrowth was found in this series of pati ents.Conclusion Femtosecond laser-assisted deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty can improve UCVA and BCVA in patients with various stromal corneal pathologies.Our early results indicate that the femtosecond laser produced an effective and smooth dissection through opaque corneas even at deeper settings.

Key words:
Femtosecond laser;  Corneal transplantation;  Corneal stromal pathology


The impact of Britain's withdrawal on Western strategic interests in Cold War Asia constitutes the focus of this article. In particular, the article provides an analysis of the problems and the challenges which confronted Australia in its response to the Wilson government's controversial decision to pull out of Southeast Asia. While the US reaction to Britain's disengagement has been examined in some detail, Australian and New Zealand responses to changes in British policy in Cold War Asia have been largely overlooked. This article therefore aims to redress this situation by examining the consequences of withdrawal for Australia, a country strongly committed to the West's containment strategy in Cold War Asia.


Two species of jacks, Almaco jack (Seriola rivoliana) and greater amber jack (Seriola dumerili) were collected from the landings by hooks and line operating in oceanic waters off Tuticorin beyond 70-100 m depth. The former species appeared in the catch in stray numbers recently while six specimens of the latter were landed only once in August 2007. Morphological and meristic studies of both species were made. Since another closely resembling species, the banded trevally (Seriolina nigrofasciata), occur regularly in the catch, a brief description of that species is also given for comparison.


Chronic heart failure (CHF) is the terminal stage of various heart diseases, and is the main cause of death from cardiovascular disease. In recent years, the prevalence of CHF combined with anxiety and depressive state has shown an upward trend, and this paper was aimed to provide a reference for the diagnosis and treatment of CHF combined with anxiety and depression using Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine.


A number of fuzzy techniques have been introduced for image enhancement, with an unidentified criterion defining the variable success of each technique. Applying these algorithms to mammography demonstrates that the ability to accentuate regions of interest (ROI) through contrast improvement is inherently dependent on the breast tissue densities represented by the mammograms. Discrimination between different breast tissue density types can ensure that each class of mammogram is enhanced using the most effective fuzzy algorithm available, consequently providing the most accurate and precise results for contrast improvement, and thus, breast cancer detection.


The effect of rainfall on Neotropical snake activity in general, in different adaptive zones and on seasonal differences in prey taken by snakes was studied utilizing 177 preserved specimens of 22 species collected in 19671974 in the area of Orange Walk Town, Belize. In addition, certain aspects of resource partitioning in a Neotropical snake community were examined. There is an apparent positive correlation between the number of snakes collected and amount of precipitation. The aquatic colubrid Tretanorhinus nigroluteus was, however, taken more often in the dry months than any other species and not at all in the peak of the rainy season. The number of snakes taken in each adaptive zone reaches a peak in September (the wettest month), or an equal number in September and another month, except for leaf litter and aquatic species. Stomach content analysis showed that 37.8% of the wet season and 22% of the dry season stomachs contained food. Anurans were the most common prey items, but they were not taken in the dry season. Snakes that did not prey on anurans were the ones most frequently taken in the dry season. Resource partitioning among the common anuran predators suggests that they are segregated either temporally or spatially. The Orange Walk snakes may or may not be directly rainfall dependent, but the prey (anurans) of many of them are directly rainfall dependent. Snake activity peaks in September and so, probably, does anuran activity. Many species of snakes hatch or are born in the wet season when anuran prey is most abundant and localized. The February-May inactive period is possibly induced by water loss and snakes might secrete themselves in damp, dark microhabitat in order to keep water loss to a minimum.


Hospital Kalooran Amurang South Minahasa Regency is a private organization engaged in the field of health care in South Minahasa regency, North Sulawesi Province. The dynamics of the problems encountered in the field of public health is likely to continue to grow. Therefore the Hospital Kalooran Amurang have to work hard, in order to carry out the health care function optimally. Employee productivity is one aspect that should get the attention of the leadership Hospital Amurang Kalooran South Minahasa District. Through effective work, the cure rate of patients treated will be higher. Which in turn will improve the quality of people's lives, and have an impact on the reputation and public confidence in the Hospital. This research objective is to analyze the influence of the physical work environment and non-physical work environment on employee productivity in General Hospital GMIM Kalooran Amurang South Minahasa regency simultaneously and partially. The population of this research is all employee in General Hospital GMIM Kalooran Amurang South Minahasa. By using a purposing sampling method, this research sample is 54 employee as a respondent. Using a Multiple Regression as a analysis tool, this research found that there is a significant influence of the physical work environment and non-physical work environment on employee productivity in General Hospital GMIM Kalooran Amurang South Minahasa regency simultaneously and partially.