Allostatic load is the energetic cost required to maintain homeostasis. A significant increase in allostatic load which cannot be fulfilled by increased food intake would be expected to result in resource allocation trade-offs, i.e., reduced allocation of resources to one life-process so that allocation of resources to another, more critical process can be maintained. In young animals, maintenance of growth is essential, and when food intake is insufficient, other life processes such as components of the immune system may be down regulated, leading to increased susceptibility to infections. This study aimed to investigate the impact of allostatic load, indicated by faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations (fGCM), on the susceptibility to parasite infections as a result of resource allocation trade-offs, in juvenile spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Therefore, I measured the allostatic load using a cortisol-3-CMO enzyme immunoassay verified for this species (Benhaiem et al., 2012) and assessed the parasite burden using faecal egg counts (FEC) of the three most abundant parasite species (Ancylostoma, Spirometra and Cystoisospora) with the expectation that FECs would increase with allostatic load. In general, the results indicated that juvenile spotted hyenas have an overall high prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites (98%, n = 104), with a mean of 3.1± 1.6 parasite genera per juvenile. The genus Ancylostoma, Cystoisospora, Spirometra, Trichuris, Dipylidium and parasites from the family Taeniidae and Spirurida were found. The fGCM concentration ranged between 4.9 and 503.2 ng/g with a mean of 55.8 ± 72.4 ng/g. I demonstrated that fGCM concentrations were significantly correlated to FECs of Ancylostoma spp., Spirometra sp. and Cystoisospora spp. in relation to fGCM (Spearman's rank correlation test, ρ=0.371, p<0.001, ρ=0.272, p<0.05, ρ=0.287, p<0.01 respectively). In addition, I investigated the factors modulating infection intensity of Ancylostoma spp. and revealed that age and co-infecting interactions are key factors of infection intensity. Furthermore, a preliminary phylogenetic analysis of the coccidian parasites from several carnivores living in the Serengeti National Park is provided, indicating that several coccidian are present in the carnivores living in the Serengeti ecosystem. This study provides important information on the mechanisms shaping parasite infections in a free-ranging carnivore.


Today's flight test programs are experiencing increasing demands for a greater number of high-rate digital parameters, competition for spectrum space, and a need for operational flexibility in flight test instrumentation. These demands must be met while meeting schedule and budget constraints. To address these various needs, the Boeing Integrated Defense System (IDS) Flight Test Instrumentation group in St. Louis has developed an onboard processing capability for use with airborne instrumentation data collection systems. This includes a first-generation Onboard Processor (OBP) which has been successfully used on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet flight test program for four years, and which provides a throughput of 5 Mbytes/s and a processing capability of 480 Mflops (floating-point operations per second). Boeing IDS Flight Test is also currently developing a second generation OBP which features greatly enhanced input and output flexibility and algorithm programmability, and is targeted to provide a throughput of 160 Mbytes/s with a processing capability of 16 Gflops. This paper describes these onboard processing capabilities and their benefits.


This paper attempts to discuss the method of the digital signature,which consists of the two parts.One is the signature formula and the other is the test formula.It is available to have the digital signature with the digital method and prove the authenticity of the method.The paper not only presents the advantage and disadvantage but also mentions the safe system of the digital signature based on the RSA system of code.


We present a critical analysis of research on the thermodynamics, kinetics, and morphology of diffusion phase transitions in alloys. We show that diffusion phase transitions are mainly driven by the chemical potential difference due to a change in the sign of the chemical interaction among the component atoms. We explain how the sign of the chemical interaction energy can be obtained from experimental measurements. Examples are given to illustrate the kinetics and morphology of the ordering–separation phase transition in Ni- and Co-based alloys. We show how introducing the concept of the ordering–separation phase transition may affect our thinking in this area.


In this paper we consider a non-coherent and coherent spectrum sensing scheme for OFDM signals. In addition to perfect symbol timing information we also assume full channel knowledge in the coherent case. For the non-coherent and the coherent scheme we derive analytical expressions for the detection error probability. In a comparison of these analytical and additional numerical results we find that the increased complexity of the coherent scheme does not necessarily result in a better performance. We thus provide an important insight in the complexity performance trade-off of spectrum sensing schemes.


Airborne pollutants in subway facilities can be harmful to passengers. This study was done to examine whether the suspended particulates have clastogenic effects on the biological systems. Total suspended particulates were collected from subway stations in Seoul. Aqueous extracts from the particulates were tested with the Tradescantia micronucleus assay. All the plant cuttings exposed to the extracts resulted in a significantly increased micronucleus frequency. As the biological assay resulted in a positive response to the extracts, the air particulates from the subway facilities contains genotoxic materials, and thus can be harmful to the workers and passengers of the subway facilities.


We demonstrate the use of SNeRE, the acting component of the SNePS knowledge representation, reasoning, and acting system, by showing its use to implement a wumpus world agent [Russell and Norvig, 1995]1. For this purpose, we use SNePS 2.6.2, which consists of SNePS 2.6.1 [Shapiro et al., 2004] plus some patch files. We usually name our SNePSbased agents Cassie [Shapiro, 1989; 1998; Shapiro and Ismail, 2003; Shapiro et al., 2000; Shapiro and Rapaport, 1987; 1991]. To distinguish Cassie in the role of the wumpus world agent, we will call her CassieW. Our main motivation in developing intelligent systems is to model general human-level intelligence, not to maximize the use of computing power to optimize problem solving. CassieW has been developed accordingly.


This study found support for the application of a theory of motivation to counseling churches regarding member enjoyment and involvement. The suitability of one of self-determination theory's assessment instruments to this type of consulting situation was also demonstrated. The research revealed a relationship between the level of experience of three categories of variables associated with intrinsically motivated behavior and the growth or non-growth of church membership, attendance, and giving. Organizational behaviors found to tap into the intrinsic motivation systems of members are identified. The author suggests an intrinsic motivation approach to consulting might be useful not only with religious bodies but also with other nonprofit groups such as charities and fraternal groups reliant upon volitional behavior.


A hand-held fibre cleaving tool is described. The tool is simple to operate, produces good-quality ends and works well in the field environment.


Opportunistic orientation has emerged on the basis of smart coding network to improve the ability of wireless multi-hop network loss by reducing the amount of messages required reactions. Most business coding in network-based opportunistic routing in the literature assumes that independent links. This hypothesis has been invalidated by recent empirical studies have shown that the relationship between the links may be arbitrary. In this paper, we show that opportunistic routing performance based on the coding of the network and greatly affected the relationship between the links. We formulate the problem of productivity maximization while achieving justice under arbitrary channel conditions, and determine the structure of the optimal solution. As is the case in the literature, and the optimal solution requires a lot of instant information messages, which is unrealistic. We propose the idea of network message coding performance reactions, which shows that if the intermediate node waits to receive only one message the votes of each next hip node, we can calculate the optimum level of network redundancy coding form Distributed. Encrypted messages require reaction to a small amount of overhead as it can be integrated with packets. Our approach is also oblivious to losses and mutual relationships between links, but also improves performance without a clear knowledge of these two factors


Summary

Exchange reactions between 0.0in AlCl3 solutions of different pH and Ca-saturated montmorillonite, vermiculite, illite, and soils from the Park Grass Experiment at Rothamsted and the Deerpark Experiment, Wexford, Ireland, showed that Al3+ and Al(OH)2+ were adsorbed from solutions of pH > 4.0 and Al3+ and H+ from solutions of pH < 3.0. When Al was adsorbed, the cation exchange capacity of Ca-saturated soils and clays increased.

Conventional Ca: Al exchange isotherms showed that Al3+ was strongly preferred to Ca2+ on all soils and clays. The equilibrium constant for Ca: Al exchange, K, was identical for soils before and after oxidizing their organic matter and did not vary, for any exchanger, with Al-saturation or the initial pH of the AlCl3 solution. This proved the validity of the procedure used for calculating exchangeable Al3+.

K values for Ca:Al exchange favoured Al3+ in the order: vermiculite > Park Grass soil > Deerpark soil > illite > montmorillonite.

The influence of surface-charge densities of the clay minerals on this order is discussed and a method proposed and tested for calculating the K value of a soil from its mineralogical composition.


Besides physical capital and human capital,another important factor that influences enterprises' technological innovation is social capital,which is usually neglected.The social capital,however,provides a new research direction for technological innovation.By combining the theory of social capital with that of technological innovation,this paper reveals the relation between technological innovation and necessary information so as to provide new idea for enterprises' technological innovation.


interface design Abstract interface objects, responses to external events, interface transformations Abstract data views configuration diagrams ADV-charts design patterns Mapping between navigation and perceptible objects. Composition and generalization/ specialization Model perceptible objects, implementing chosen metaphors, describe interface for navigational objects define lay-out of interface objects implementation Running application Those supported by the target environment Those provided by the target environment Performance completeness F.M. Ghaleb et al. / Hypermedia systems 358 Alexandria Engineering Journal, Vol. 43, No. 3, May 2004 This paper is concerned with the conceptual design and the navigational design of a hypermedia system. The model is presented using UML and the implementation of this model is using ORACLE8i. 3. Database modeling in UML Conceptual modeling is an important phase in designing a successful database application. The Entity-Relationship ER model is a popular high-level conceptual data model. This model and its variations are frequently used for the conceptual design of "traditional" database applications. Object modeling methodologies, such as UML (Unified Modeling Language) and OMT (Object Modeling Technique) are becoming increasingly popular. Although these methodologies were developed mainly for software design, a major part of software design involves designing the database that will be accessed by the software modules. Hence, an important part of these methodologies-namely, the class diagrams are similar to ER diagrams in many ways. The UML distinguishes between the notions of diagram and model. A model contains all of the underlying elements of information about a system under consideration and does so independent of how these elements are usually presented. A diagram is a particular visualization of certain kinds of elements from the model and generally exposes only a subset of these elements detailed information. A given model element might exist on multiple diagrams, but there is one definition of that element in the underlying model. The notation and semantics for the following kinds of diagrams are supported in UML:


In this article we show that holomorphic Fredholm-valued mappings defined on connected pseudo-convex domains in Banach spaces with unconditional basis always have meromorphic generalised inverses. We show they have holomorphic generalised inverses if and only if the kernels have the same dimension at all points in Ω.


Wool has been modified with activated mono- and di-functional vinyl compounds in aqueous, dimethyl sulfoxide, and mixed media. Amino acid and chemical analyses showed that lysine and histidine wool side chains reacted in relative proportions dependent on the specific vinyl compound. Order of reactivity paralleled electronegativity of the activating groups: (1) vinyl sulfone (sulfone group); (2) acrylonitrile (cyano group); (3) tetramethylene diacrylate (ester groups) and N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (amide groups). Reduced solubility in ammonia after peracetic acid oxidation suggests that some difunctional reagents form new crosslinks. Maximum weight gain was about 5%. Hand and color were good. Tear strength was impaired. Both vinyl sulfone and acrylonitrile greatly retarded the supercontraction of felts by hot dimethyl sulfoxide. Acid dyeing tests accord with some blocking of basic dyeing sites. Cross dyeing is a potential application of the observed dye resistance.


Wireless multicast is a rising technology for delivering data from one base station (BS) to multiple mobile stations (MSs) using resource sharing to increase system efficiency. Beamforming is a feature of the 5G base station commonly used in wireless multicast to increase system throughput. However, when we take both beamforming and multicast into account, allocating the resources becomes a considerable problem. In this paper, we propose a beam-aware multicast resource allocation mechanism based on bid transformation and a modified Vickrey–Clarke–Groves (VCG) auction. Our analysis shows that the mechanism is strategy-proof, individually rational, (weak) budget-balanced, and maximizes social welfare. Moreover, the proposed mechanism runs in polynomial time.


The diffusion-absorption heat pump (DAHP) offers advantages including no moving parts, noise and vibration free operation and operation without electric power. An example of such a cycle is the gas-fired domestic refrigerator. The cycle is similar to an absorption cycle but differs in that an auxiliary gas is used to equalize the pressures throughout the system and to allow a heat driven bubble pump. The effort covered by the report focused primarily on an experimental evaluation of DAHP performance. This involved testing of several machines over a wide range of conditions including: variable ambient temperature, hydrogen and helium gas, variable power input, variable charge pressure and variable evaporator load. The results are extensively documented. One particularly interesting result was that the machines worked reasonably well with helium in place of hydrogen. Although helium resulted in some performance degradation, the safety advantage of helium may indicate it as the preferred choice for some applications.


A group of prediction models that can predict the life of concrete structures are established by the gray system theory. This paper gets a satisfying precision according to the prediction to the damnifing coefficient. A practical engineering example verifies that these models can meet the project requirement. It is a new method for predicating the life of concrete structures.


Urban higher education system of agriculture gradually took shape with the requirements of talents,technology,and intellectual support by Beijing agriculture in different stages of development.Management and operational means of information runs through the peri ods before,while and after agricultural production.Regardless of the configuration and optimization of resources in early production,or the digitization,intellectualization and precision in medium-term production,the means aims at standardization of production and manage ment,thus it needs information professional talents with both solid agricultural knowledge and knowledge of agricultural production,oper ating and management to serve for the construction of urban agricultural information service technology.


Objective: Preparation of novel, safe, and low-cost composite by addition of graphene oxide (GO) to polyvinylpyrrolidone-acrylic acid composite (PVP-AAc) to remove the doxycycline hydrochloride (D) from polluted aquatic environment.
Methods: Different concentrations of D were used to study the adsorption process of the antibiotic on the surface of GO/(PVP-AAc) hydrogel composite. The aquatic solution of D was used for studying the adsorption process through a series of different experiments to determine the contact time, adsorbate amount, appropriate temperature, the preferred pH, ionic strength, adsorption kinetics and isotherms on the adsorbent surface of GO/PVP-AAc composite. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) were used to detect the structure, functional groups and surface morphology of the composite before and after D adsorption.
Results: Doxycycline is adsorb on the surface of GO/PVP-AAc hydrogel composite through by physical interactions. The adsorption kinetics correlated to the pseudo-second-order model, contact time studies of D equal to 180 min and the high R2 value of 0.98 indicates that Langmuir isotherm model better fitted to the data for the removal of D at 15 °C. The results of thermodynamic parameters show that the nature of the adsorption process is physical, exothermic, orderly and spontaneous. The adsorption capacity of D favors the acidic media. When NaCl is added to the solution, the adsorption capacity of D will increase.
Conclusion: Graphene oxide/PVP-AAc composite is a novel, worthy and efficient adsorbent for the removal of the doxycycline polluted the water because of its low cost, hydrophilic properties, large surface area and special structure that give impressive dispersible activity in aquatic solutions.


This study explores the effect of pH and oxidizer concentration on the chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of Cr-DOPED Sb2Te3(CST) thin film using the colloidal silica-based slurry. In this work, CMP of CST was investigated in the presence of Acidic Permanganate as an oxidizer. The influence of slurry parameters including pH values, concentration of oxidizer was investigated. And the effects of the process parameters including down force was studied in detail. The results observed a monotonic increase in Material Removal Rate (MRR) with increasing oxidizer concentration indicating its importance in defining the MRR. Finally, it is verified that slurry with Acidic Permanganate has no influence on the electrical property of the post-CMP CST film through the resistivity test. And the best effect of the root mean squre(RMS) roughness was reduced from 4.28nm to 0.52nm and the MRR can be achieved at 287.56nm/min.


The article provides a semantic analysis of the category of adaptation, analyzes the main stages of adaptation and the determinants of the adaptation process of young professionals, also developed indicators for assessing the effectiveness of adaptation and recommendations for improving the processes of their adaptation. The proposed indicators can be used in managing the adaptation of young professionals in the organization, as well as methodologies for evaluating the effectiveness of this process. It is the use of the potential of young specialists that is the main factor in the competitiveness of an organization in the modern period of intensive development of the Russian economy.


Abstract Interlanguage is a concept that is manifest in any trajectory of language change in a learner: typical first language, second language or language disorder. To understand those trajectories we need a rich psychological model of what creates them. This paper applies one such model–Sharwood Smith and Truscott's Modular On-Line Growth and Use of Language model (MOGUL)–to childhood developmental language disorders, and suggests that the model's components of language processing and their interaction shed significant light on why children with a wide range of different language disorders exhibit the language behaviours that are the characteristic of their diagnoses. Following a brief summary of the MOGUL model, the paper explores the impact on language development of differences in sensori-motor input, in the functioning of the various modules and the interfaces between them, and in the storage and activation of memory. Like Relevance Theory, with which the paper makes a direct connection, MOGUL encourages one to take a view of developmental language disorder as emerging from the same set of psychological resources as typical development (first or second) but as being the result of adjustments to, or compensations for, differences in how the various modules function and connect with each other.


FRB/US, a large-scale, nonlinear macroeconomic model of the U.S., has been in use at the Federal Reserve Board for 25 years. For nearly as long, the FRB/US "project" has included a linear version of the model known as LINVER. A key reason that LINVER exists is the vast reduction in the computational costs that linearity confers when running experiments requiring large numbers of simulations under the assumption that expectations are model-consistent (MC). The public has been able to download FRB/US simulation code, documentation, and data from the Federal Reserve Board's website since 2014. To further expand access to and understanding of the FRB/US project, a package devoted to LINVER is now available on the website. In this paper, we provide both a general introduction to LINVER and an overview of the contents and capabilities of its package. We review the ways that LINVER has been used in past research to study key policy issues; describe the package's comprehensive set of programs for running simulations with MC expectations, with or without imposing the effective lower bound (ELB) on the federal funds rate and other nonlinear constraints; and illustrate how LINVER deterministic and stochastic simulations can be used to gauge the implications of the ELB for macroeconomic performance and to assess different strategies for mitigating its adverse effects.


The pancreas is the unique gland having exocrine and endocrine functions. At the time of histogenesis of foetal pancreas their cellular composition changes as age advance. It was noticed a decrease in the amount of glycogen in acinar cell buds with the advancement of foetal age in human (Conklin, 1962) but literature is scanty in foetal goat pancreas. Therefore, present study was undertaken to see the reactions in different components of pancreas in prenatal goat.


This article describes a project based on a service provided to families going through the divorce process and its aftermath. As divorce figures increase, a growing proportion of children will experience its effects and some will have that experience more than once. If present trends continue, one in four children will experience the divorce of their parents before they reach the age of 16. Research in this field is relatively recent and the evidence is controversial. Some studies conclude that children of divorce do worse than those in intact families in several aspects of their development. Other studies suggest that it is the combination of divorce with other factors that makes a difference in terms of children's development. The model described includes interviewing children and parents separately as well as offering family interviews. Particular attention is paid to the children's perspective as our clinical experience shows that in the acute aftermath of divorce, there is a conflict between the parents' own needs and their ability to think about the children's needs. Issues emerging from the interviews, such as the loyalty bind in which children often find themselves and the need for a coherent story of the parents' separation, are discussed. Clinical examples illustrate a way of working towards a more cooperative method of parenting in order to meet the needs of the children.


A method and apparatus for implementing sharing Internet protocol Multimedia Sub-system (IMS) public user identity for non-IMS terminal is introduced by the present invention. In the prior art, the non-IMS terminal can access IMS network and share one IMS public user identity with other terminals, but users can not distinguish the non-IMS terminal from other terminals which share the IMS public user identity. The present invention imports a proxy server and a mapping table. Said proxy server transforms a request from the non-IMS terminal to a signaling in IMS network, wherein, by inquiring the mapping table, the identity of the non-IMS terminal is transformed to a unique identity in IMS network (for example Globally Routable User Agent URI (GRUU)). When receiving the request message from IMS network, the proxy server transforms the identity in IMS network correlative to the called party in the request message to a unique identity of the non-IMS terminal by inquiring the mapping table, and thus sends a request to the non-IMS terminal corresponding to the identity of the non-IMS terminal.


The agreement to abolish the quotas on textiles and clothing introduced under the Multi-fiber Arrangement (MFA) will create a new and much more competitive world market for India's exports of textiles and clothing. India's inefficient and costly policies, such as cotton export quotas, the hank yarn obligation, and the restrictive policies on foreign investment that have held back productivity in the Indian apparel sector, will impose serious costs. The authors consider the implications of reforming these policies in an open trading environment using a multiregion, applied general-equilibrium model. They find that the costs of these policies to India increase substantially following abolition of the MFA; the benefits to India from domestic reforms are considerably enhanced when there is global free trade in textiles and apparel.


Wallace Stevens' Early Poems Are Considered Less Reflective Than Intuitive Than the Later Ones. in Teaching the Poem, the Emphasis Should Be Laid on the Fact That Stevens' Early Poems Are Actually Intuitive Yet Meditative, Imaginative Yet Imaginary. by Reading Stevens' Poem "Tea"in a Spatial Way, Analyzing the Spatial Patterns in Which His Non-Romantic Imagination Serves as the Medium of the Multiple Spaces, It Will Occur to the Students That the Harmony Stevens Constructed is Precariously Sustained by the Colonial Exploitation Which Imprisons the Poet and Might Throw Him into Greater Perplexity.


This work describes a framework for the elaboration and evaluation of management policies for production and transportation supply chains in the forest product industry. The approach deals with the issue of coordination between the tactical and operational decision levels. First, we introduce LogiLab, a software system allowing to model the network and to optimize product flows in the supply chain. We than show how one can use this tactical aggregated plan to identify management policies that will guide day to day operations at the operational level. Finally, a discrete event simulation model allows assessing with more details what would be the impact of implementing these policies at the operational/execution level.


Stainless laminated strips has usually been selected as a load - bearing structure in main rotor hub and tail rotor hub of a helicopter. With the example of stainless laminated strips used in Z11 tail rotor, this paper presents the configuration design, material selection, design calculation and manufacture method of stainless laminated strips as well as the test instance of stainless laminated strips.


| african arts SPRING 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 1 Anna Craven, now retired, worked in the 1960s and 1970s as an ethnographer, researcher, and curator of national museums in Africa and the southwestern Pacific. Also, when based in London, she conducted research relating to race relations and for documentary films. She has maintained connections with all the countries where she previously worked, returning to them all since 2003. In 2007 she made a second collection of pottery from the north of Ghana for the University of Ghana Department of Archaeology and Museum Studies, forty years after her first visit in 1964. firstname.lastname@example.com The Art and Material Culture of the Eloyi (Afo) People, Nigeria 1969/70 A Photographic Essay


The solvent displacement method involves three main steps to obtain nanoparticles: dissolution of both the polymer and the drug into a solvent, mixing of the obtained solution with the anti-solvent, and elimination of the solvent through evaporation. 1 Mixing leads to rapid diffusion of the solvent into the anti-solvent and spontaneous particle formation. Particle formation is extremely rapid and therefore mixing must be very fast: for this reason special efficient continuous mixers must be used, such as Confined Impinging Jets Reactors (CIJR), 2,3 in which two solutions of solvent and anti-solvent are mixed in a very small volume in the center of a mixing chamber, where owing to collision and impingement of the two jets, turbulent kinetic energy is generated and then quickly dissipated. This reactor generally leads to high mixing efficiencies, which allows production of very small particles. In this work poly(methoxypolyethyleneglycol cyanoacrylate-co-hexadecyl cyanoacrylate) (P(MePEGCA-co-HDCA)) 4 nanoparticles formation in CIJR by solvent displacement was investigated. Poly(hexadecyl cyanoacrylate) (PHDCA) nanoparticles were also prepared. Acetone and tetrahydrofuran (THF) were used as solvents, whereas water was used as anti-solvent. The incorporated active principle was doxorubicin (DOX). The effect of the different operating conditions (initial polymer and drug concentration, anti-solvent to solvent ratio, mixing rate and solvent type) on the final nanoparticles characteristics (mean particle size, zeta potential, morphology and stability) was investigated. The results showed that the effect of the flow rate (FR) (and therefore of the mixing rate) and of the initial P(MePEGCA-co-HDCA) concentration on the final mean particle size is quite important. The effect of the FR is such that, by employing the very same initial solutions and by increasing the FR from 3 to 120 ml/min, a reduction of the mean particle size from 350 to 80 nm is detected. When the FR is increased, better mixing efficiencies in the reactor are achieved, generating higher super-saturation levels and promoting the nucleation of smaller particles. If the initial polymer concentration is increased, particles become bigger and their size changes from less than 225 nm up to 300 nm. The zeta potential does not change much in sample prepared under different mixing rates. It is also possible to detect a correlation between FR and standard deviation that seems to exist for size and also for zeta potential. Also the solvent type (i.e., acetone versus THF) and the anti-solvent to solvent ratio influence the final mean particle size, which increases as the anti-solvent to solvent ratio is increased from 1 to 8. Nanoparticles obtained by employing acetone as solvent are smaller. The presence of DOX (drug loading of about 4%) induces the formation of bigger particles, suggesting the incorporation of the drug in the polymeric matrix. Morphological analyses SEM and FESEM showed that nanoparticles have a spherical shape, with a size in agreement with the nanosizer measurements. Drug release and in vitro tests (i.e. antitumoral activity, confocal microscopy) are in progress.


A method and a circuit arrangement using an integrated encryption module within a processing core of a multiple-core processor to encryption operations, that is encrypt and decrypt secure data, perform in connection with accessing such data storage access requests. The integrated encryption module is used in combination with a memory address translation data structure as Effective-to-Real-Translation (ERAT) or Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB), which has been extended to encryption-related page attributes to indicate which are encrypted in the data structure memory pages marked, so that a secure memory access request associated data processing core based on the encryption-related page attribute can be selectively streamed to the integrated module for the encryption associated with the memory access request memory page.


This research focused on the multi-pass heat exchanger using the minichannel possessing the spring fin. An air-water was used as working fluid. The characteristics of liquid single phase heat transfer were verified. The compact heat exchanger (heat transfer area density : s= 2,146 ㎡/㎥), based on the shape of header(Top combining header), 63 minichannels (D i : 1.4 ㎜, L : 0.25 m) and the air side adopting the copper wire spring fin, was fabricated. The heat transfer area density of the air side was improved up to 161% when compared with the conventional fin-tube heat exchanger that adopts the heat transfer tube with the inner diameter of 5 ㎜. With regard to heat transfer performance, heat transfer rate per unit volume increased up to 142% when compared with the fin-tube heat exchanger adopting the heat transfer tube with the inner diameter of 5 ㎜.


A method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data. How A transmitting terminal in a MIMO system that uses a variable frequency band according to an embodiment of the present invention transmits data to the receiving terminal, the signal repeatedly in accordance with the frequency bands applied to the transmission of the data frame step generating a field; step for generating a data field containing the data; step for generating the signal field and a data frame containing the data field; and transmitting the data frame to the receiving terminal; including. According to the present invention, when transmitting the data to the transmission terminal receiving terminal in the MIMO system, there is an effect that it is possible to send a signal field transmitted together more efficiently.


Abstract Spectrophotometric investigation of palladium(II) or of tartaric acid in presence of niobium(V) were conducted using their colour reactions with 5‐(benzothiazolyl‐azo)2,5‐naphthalenediol (I), 1‐(2‐benzothiazolylazo)2‐hydroxy‐3‐naphthoic acid (II) and 5‐(2‐benzothiazolylazo)8‐hydroxyquinoline (III) in acidic medium, or weak acidic medium. The stoichiometric ratios and stability constants of the formed complexes were determined. The calibration graphs were linear in the range of 0.02–1.35, 0.02–1.20, and 0.02–1.10 µg mL−1 of Pd2+ with apparent molar absorptivities of 6.15 × 104, 7.27 × 104 and 5.80 × 104, L mol−1 cm−1 using I, II, and III, respectively, at λmax 638, 677, and 656 nm. On the other hand, calibration graphs for tartaric acid in the presence of Nb5+ were linear in the 0.01–1.60, 0.01–1.7, and 0.01–1.45 µg mL−1 range with ϵ of 1.27 × 105, 1.13 × 105, and 1.45 × 105 L mol−1 cm−1 at 692, 649, and 661 nm, respectively. Sandell sensitivity, detection, and quantification limits were also calculated. The proposed methods were selective and sensitive in comparison with other methods and the effect of foreign ions Cu2+, Ni2+, and Fe2+ was negligible for the assay of Pd2+.


This study investigates experimentally the applicability of selectively weakening retrofit for existing and non-ductile squat shear walls. To evaluate the effect of vertical seams on the wall panel on the hysteretic behavior and failure mode of Strain-Hardening Cement Composite (SHCC) squat shear walls, two 1/3 scale shear walls with vertical seams as a variable were made and tested under reversed cyclic loadings. All specimens had same rectangular cross-section 1,100mm¡¿50mm, with panel height 600mm. The vertical seam is 40mm wide and 260mm high and 460 high. SHCC for wall specimens was supplied by a local ready mix company with specified strength of 50MPa. The test results of this study; length of the slit is increased in squat shear wall, which the specimen became load-carrying capacity and stiffness. But have vertical silt, the squat shear wall shows aspects of ductility destruction.


The article presents a comparative research of the phraseological representation of the concept "Space" by native speakers of the Belarusian and English languages. Attention is focused on the archetypal oppositions "near far" and "top bottom". Special cultural significance of somatic lexemes as names of human body parts is emphasized. The analysis of phraseological verbalization of the concept "Space" helps to recreate the ethno-cultural image and peculiarities of the mentality of the Belarusian and English speakers.


Viscosity measurement using a cone-and-plate rheometer is considered to provide an objective and reliable evaluation of thickening agents for dysphagia management. Here we showed its measurement uncertainty in the context of an inter-laboratory study. Eight test samples (i.e., four viscosity standard liquids, one xanthan gum reagent powder, and three commercial thickening agent powders) were distributed to ten laboratories in a blinded manner. According to the same standard operating procedure, each laboratory dissolved the xanthan gum or thickening agents at four concentrations (0.5-4.0 g/100 g) and then measured their viscosity (35-803 mPa∙s). As for the viscosity of the standard liquids, the grand means were 98-100% of the certified values, and the relative standard deviations for repeatability (RSDr ) and reproducibility (RSDR ) were ca. 1% and ca. 5%, respectively, suggesting good accuracy in the measurement process. On the other hand, as for the viscosity of the thickening agents, RSDr and RSDR were ca. 2-6% and ca. 5-8%, respectively; however, heterogeneity in the preparation process comprising a manual dissolving step may increase these to near 60%. Furthermore, RSDr and RSDR of estimated additive concentrations to achieve targeted viscosities (50-500 mPa∙s) based on concentration-viscosity curves were ca. 1-3% and ca. 3-5%, respectively, with a few exceptions. These findings suggest that a strictly standardized procedure provides reliable data on the viscosity measurements for thickening agents. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


With the ball beam system as the researching object,a single-end hinged ball beam system was designed. In this system,a rolling potentiometer was used to set the ball ideal position on the beam,a high frequency short distance laser displacement sensor was utilized to detect the ball real position,and then the PWM frequency of output was calculated by the MCU internal PID algorithm. When the PWM frequency was send to the ball screw motor drive,the drive made the ball screw motor rotate to realize the ball stay at the initial setting position.The sensitive factors was tested in the Matlab /Simulink environment. The results show that the initial position and sliding friction can influence the system stability.


Paper chromatographic separation of hydroxydimethylarsine oxide (cacodylic acid), monosodium methanearsonate (MSMA), sodium arsenate, and sodium arsenite was achieved with the aid of four solvent systems. Aqueous extracts of plant tissues removed essentially all the arscnicals applied, but mechanoiic fractionation was required before the extracts could be analyzed by paper chromntographic procedures. A standard nitric-sulfuric acid digestion procedure was employed for arsenic analyses, but great care was taken LO avoid sulfuric-acid-induced charring by first adding relaLively large amounts of ni tr ic acid to drive off chlorides present . Depending upon the amount of chloride present, substantial losses of arsenic as arsine chlorides were observed if the samples charred. Five minutes in fuming sulfuric acid to completely break the carbon-arsenic bonds was another critical requirement for the quantitative determination of arsenic from cacodylic acid and MSMA. The silver diethyldithiocarbamate calorimetric method was useful for detecting as little as 0.6 pg or as much as 20 llg of arsenic per sample. T r~I~oucx* the lone history of use of arsenicals as trypanocides, insecticides, and herbicides, several hypotheses concerning the toxic effect of arsenic-containing compounds have been proposed. Many investigations have indicated differences in absorption or metabolic conversion of the applied arsenical to other compounds, 'Rcccived November 13, 1970. Y)n leave from Ihe Univ. of California. Davis. California. from September 1969 lo September 1970. SPrescnt address: Weed Sci. Lab., Colorado State [Jniversity, Fort Collins, Cola. 'Plant I'hysiologis& Plant Sci. Lab., Fort Detrick, F&crick,


In order to improve the quality of standardized training in department of orthopedics, it is necessary to ensure and strengthen the discipline management of standardized training. According to management experience of the standardized trainees in the department of orthopedics in the past years, this paper analyzes present situation of standardized training in orthopedics department, including the composition and characteristics of the students and the structure of existing management staff and discusses the management measures, such as the establishment of electronic supervision system and the establishment of a new management structure. By doing so, we hope to achieve the institutionalization and normalization of the discipline management of standardized training and provide valuable experience in discipline management for other bases.

Key words:
Orthopedics; Standardized training for residents; Discipline management


The invention provides a production method capable of controlling titanium inclusions of thin-size high-end tire cord steel. The production method comprises the steps of molten iron desulphurization, smelting with a converter, refining, square billet heating, hot continuous rolling, cooling and coiling; the content of Ti, by weight percentage, in blast-furnace molten iron is selected to be smaller than or equal to 0.05%; a magnesium-powder spraying desulphurization process is adopted, the content of S, by weight percentage, in molten iron output from a station is controlled to be smaller than or equal to 0.005%, and desulfurized slag in a tank is cleaned up; in smelting with the converter, top-bottom blowing is adopted, a carbon-content raising and post blowing process is adopted at the terminal point, and at the terminal point of the converter, the content of C is controlled to be 0.10-0.30%, and the tapping temperature is controlled to be 1640-1660 DEG C; in refining, argon is blown all the way, CaC2 and special silicon are added for slag melting to form white slag, and then FeMn alloy is added for ingredient adjustment; the temperature of a soaking zone is 1050-1150 DEG C, the head and tail temperature difference is smaller than 50%, and the heating duration is 240-260 min; in hot continuous rolling, the initial rolling temperature is 1030-1070 DEG C, and the temperature at a finish rolling inlet is 870-900 DEG C; the temperature of an inlet of a reducing and sizing mill is 905-925 DEG C; and the spin temperature is 910-925 DEG C, and the spinning rate is 85-90 m/s. According to tire cord steel cords, with the diameter being 5.5 mm, produced through the production method, the Ti inclusion penalty value is obviously lowered, and the average value is smaller than 5.


We investigate whether accusations by the popular press regarding the potential destabilizing force of sovereign wealth fund (SWF) investment have merit. SWF investments are associated with a reduction in the compensation of risk over the five-year term examined. Firm volatility decomposition suggests that it is mainly idiosyncratic risk that drives these impacts. Granger causality results suggest that SWFs are poorly informed in their investments (compared to the market) or they have nonfinancial motivations. There is no evidence that the media coverage precedes the poor performance. These findings suggest that SWF investment could be potentially destabilizing.


The article describes two priority lines for action to restart national projects. First, it is necessary to move to the five-year national economic plan as a system of national projects. Second, we need new national projects, because the existing 13 projects do not cover some tasks formulated in the decrees of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin. We are talking about such tasks as increasing the real incomes of Russians and overcoming poverty, about ensuring a technological breakthrough. The author notes that we need a system of national projects, focusing on key sectors of the Russian economy, primarily in mechanical engineering. We also need new national projects to ncrease investments in the fixed capital and human capital (in the "knowledge economy"). Moreover, it is necessary to adjust the content and system of measures for some existing national projects.


A composite catalyst based on poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) and polyoxovanadometalate is developed for the oxidation of sulfides and allylic alcohols under mild conditions in water.


Cyberspace has become an important domain the same as the land, sea, air and space. Many cyberspace models were proposed to explain such a high coupled complex domain, but lack of practical method of construction these models make them hard to function. This paper proposes an event based method of construction of cyberspace models. We formalize a cyber event as an attribute group by abstracting key elements of the event. Through entity-mapping and relation-mapping, we construct cyberspace models base on graph theory by representing cyber entities as vertexes and relations between entities as edges.


The purpose of this project is to facilitate online learning by providing students with a design challenge that engages them with a preselected fashion blogger on the social media platform, Instagram.


The extraction of lactic acid from aqueous solutions through an emulsion liquid membrane containing Alamine 336 as carrier was investigated. The influence of mixing speed, diluent type, surfactant concentration, extractant concentration, feed solution pH, stripping concentration, phase ratio, and feed concentration were examined. Liquid membrane consists of a diluent (n-heptane, toluene, kerosene, Escaid 100, and Escaid 200), a surfactant (Span 80) and an extractant (Alamine 336), and Na2CO3 were used as a stripping solution. It is possible to extract 91% of lactic acid from aqueous solutions using Alamine 336 in Escaid 100, as an extractant and a diluent respectively.


The main objective of this study is to investigate suitable approaches to monitor the land infrastructure growth over a period of time using multimodality of remote sensing satellite images. Bi-temporal change detection method is unable to indicate the continuous change occurring over a long period of time and thus to achieve this purpose, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and multispectral satellite images of same geographical region over a period of 2015 to 2018 are obtained and analyzed. SAR data from Sentinel-1 and multispectral image data from Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 are used. Statistical composite hypothesis technique is used for estimating pixel-based change detection. The well-established likelihood ratio test (LRT) statistic is used for determining the pixel-wise change in a series of complex covariance matrices of multilooked polarimetric SAR data. In case of multispectral images, the approach used is to estimate a statistical model from series of multispectral image data over a long period of time, assuming there is no considerable change during that time period and then compare it with the multispectral image data obtained at a later time. The generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) is used to detect the target (changed pixel) from probabilistic estimated model of the corresponding background clutter (non-changed pixels). To minimize error due to co-registration, 8- neighborhood pixels around the pixel under test are also considered. There are different challenges in both the cases. SAR images have the advantage of being insensitive to atmospheric and light conditions, but it suffers the presence of speckle phenomenon. In case of multispectral, challenge is to get quite large number of datasets without cloud coverage in region of interest for multivariate distribution modelling. Due to imperfect modelling there will be high probability of false alarm. Co-registration is also an important criterion in multitemporal image analysis.


THE Southport meeting promises to be one of the most successful since the Association met in Liverpool twelve years ago. According to the latest statistics it is expected that in attendance it may even rival the York meeting, when over 2500 people gathered to celebrate the jubilee of the Association. From the information we have already published it will have been seen that Southport has shown the greatest zeal in preparing to give a generous reception to the representatives of British science; and if only the weather be propitious, there can be little doubt that the meeting will be a success. Both the papers to be read and the reports to be presented are expected this year to suggest some specially interesting subjects for discussion.


The species composition,quantitative distribution,dominant species and community structure of the zooplankton in the coastal waters of mid-northern Zhejiang province(28°30′-30°45′N,121°30′-123°15′E) was studied in Spring and Summer,2009.177 species belonging to 18 groups were identified from the samples,among which Copepoda was the most diverse.It had no common dominant species between Spring and Summer.The dominant species in Spring were Calanus sinicus,Lensia subtiloides,Muggiaea atlantica,Pseudeuphausia larvae,and in Summer were Diphyes chamissonis,Sagitta enflata,Dolioletta gegenbauri and Eucalanus subcrassus.It showed significant difference(P0.001) on biomass and abundance of zooplankton.The abundance of zooplankton ranged from 8.80 to 581.19 cfu/m3 with an average of 164.48 cfu/m3 in Spring and from 15.09 to 1102.07 cfu/m3 with an average of 352.47 cfu/m3 in Summer.The biomass of zooplankton ranged from 3.76 to 569.50 mg/m3 with an average of 140.16 mg/m3 in Spring and from 16.35 to 1603.09 mg/m3 with an average of 442.73 mg/m3 in Summer.All the results showed significant difference(P0.001) on individual,species and Shannon-Wiener index(P0.001) between Spring and Summer.


We present the results of an investigation into the recognition a design style by analysing keywords in the text descriptions of design styles. A simple keyword-based matching technique is used to classify a design style by examining its text description. Domain specific dictionaries of keywords are used to reduce the dimensions of the feature space. The results of the classifier are compared with those of SVM and decision tree based classifiers. The results conclude that design style in the domain that we analysed can be recognised with accuracy of approximately 75% from its descriptions.


SUMMARY This paper analyses environmental, social and economic impacts of FSC certification in Estonian state forests. The rapid expansion in forest certification is causing the need to evaluate actual costs and benefits of certification at the organizational and macroeconomic levels. The authors have used results of stakeholder interviews, comprehensive questionnaires among the staff of the certified State Forest Management Centre and a field inventory of managed forests. Results reveal that certification has increased the reputation of the certified organization and the international reputation of Estonian forestry in general. FSC certification has helped to improve several social and environmental aspects of forest management. On the other hand certification has not reduced the share of clear-cut free forestry or increased the preference for mixed stands, as hoped by many stakeholders.


The language is not only describes the national experience, the material and spiritual wealth of the nation, but it has the function of saving it from generation to generation. In this sense, language is not only an "important means of communication", but also a culture that was born out of the conscious use of language in society. Each culture has its own model.The model is a sample of the world, formed through national culture. A person does not perceive a copy, but perceives the real picture of this world through language in its necessity.The linguistic picture of the world accurately describes the phenomena of nature.The linguistic picture of the world is a reflection of the knowledge that a person has experienced and perceived it in the language. Man is the creator of the linguistic picture of the world, the source of language change in every age. The article is aimed at studying the foundations of a national worldview in the context of the names of celestial bodies and its place in modern linguistic anthropology.


In WCDMA system interior distribution design,pilot pollution problem is inevitable,pilot problems can easily cause the frequent switching,lead to drop the words,affects the performance of network and the network quality. Analysis of the pilot pollution specific reasons,according to the actual situation and then presents pilot pollution solution,optimization of the pilot pollution or cover empty appeared in the WCDMA network.


WHEN HEALTH secretary Alan Milburn stood up in the Commons to tell MPs the outcome of the biggest ever public inquiry into health care in the UK, it soon became clear that the implications would be significant for the whole of the NHS.


Abstract The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is vital for a range of brain functions requiring cognitive control and has highly divergent inputs and outputs, thus manifesting as a hub in connectomic analyses. Studies show diverse functional interactions within the ACC are associated with network oscillations in the β (20–30 Hz) and γ (30-80 Hz) frequency range. Oscillations permit dynamic routing of information within cortex, a function that depends on bandpass filter–like behavior to selectively respond to specific inputs. However, a putative hub region such as ACC needs to be able to combine inputs from multiple sources rather than select a single input at the expense of others. To address this potential functional dichotomy, we modeled local ACC network dynamics in the rat in vitro. Modal peak oscillation frequencies in the β- and γ-frequency band corresponded to GABAAergic synaptic kinetics as seen in other regions; however, the intrinsic properties of ACC principal neurons were highly diverse. Computational modeling predicted that this neuronal response diversity broadened the bandwidth for filtering rhythmic inputs and supported combination—rather than selection—of different frequencies within the canonical γ and β electroencephalograph bands. These findings suggest that oscillating neuronal populations can support either response selection (routing) or combination, depending on the interplay between the kinetics of synaptic inhibition and the degree of heterogeneity of principal cell intrinsic conductances.


In North America considerable attention has been given to the species of the genus Ceratostomella that stain wood (4, 10, 17, 20, and 23) and that cause plant diseases (1, 2, 3, 11, and 14). Such studies indicate the economic importance of the genus, but the present paper deals with a number of species that have been isolated from wood in the course of decay studies and so far as is known were not associated with pronounced discoloration or disease in the host substrata. The five species described here fall into two fairly distinct groups, which have been referred by some mycologists to separate genera. For the present they are being assigned to the genus Ceratostomella with an indication of the subgroup to which they belong.


Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) beams with a radial mode index p = 0 and azimuthal mode indices l from −5 to 5 are reflected at a glass–air interface near critical incidence, and the transverse lateral and longitudinal angular shifts of the intensity center of gravity are measured relative to the LGp=0,l=0 beam. The LG beams are generated with a programmable spatial light modulator that displays computer-generated holograms encoding phase and amplitude information. The measured relative shifts are greatly enhanced near the critical angle and agree with the theoretical values numerically calculated using the wavenumber-space representation.


The devolution of decision-making authority to local levels has remained an illusive goal even now that Nepal is a multiparty democratic polity. However, Self-help groups (SHGs) can successfully perform many natural resource management functions. In fact, these groups have emerged as successful example of decentralized institutions that can fulfill local level governance tasks. This paper argues that SHGs are a potent institutional arrangement for bringing about accountability at the local level.

 Water Nepal Vol.9-10, No.1-2, 2003, pp.321-326


Security, access control and risk mitigation in the smart grid are matters of great impact for this important sector of the critical infrastructure. Situational awareness requires a means of aggregating information and presenting that information in a manner conducive to assessing risk. While major components of the electric power grid were traditionally deployed in physically isolated networks, they are now utilising IP-based, open, interconnected networks to transmit and manage the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) messages. Unfortunately, SCADA protocols used for communications and the systems that implement those protocols were not originally designed with security in mind. Therefore, in order to enhance security and detect potential malicious behaviour, smart grid operators need detailed and accurate information about the status, integrity, configuration and network topology of SCADA devices as well as information about any threats that may impact the grid. This paper describes a comprehensive framework that provides situational awareness (SA) for SCADA devices and their operations in a smart grid environment. Situational awareness is achieved by processing information collected by monitoring sensors and understanding threats that may affect operations. The proposed framework employs a threat modelling methodology to support this mission.


It has been a pleasure to organize this special issue of Molecular Plant on 'Assimilate Partitioning and Plant Development'. Assimilate, a collective term describing organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), is of paramount importance for plant development and realization of crop productivity. The rapid advances in C and N research in recent years and their direct applications to, or implications in, increasing world crop yield, which needs to increase two-fold by ∼2050, make this themed issue a timely publication. We are delighted to present in this special issue 10 articles covering key aspects of organic C and N transport, metabolism, and signaling from molecular to whole-plant levels. Also included in this issue is a regular submission on molecular regulation of secondary cell wall biosynthesis, which shares a strong synergy with the theme of the issue.This issue is featured with a comprehensive review on the current understanding of how organic C and N metabolism is integrated and regulated, which builds contemporary insight into the field (Nunes-Nesi et al., pp. 973–996). It evaluates recent advances on C/N metabolisms as well as sensing and signalling systems in leaves and provides a perspective of the type of experiments required for further understanding. This follows with a review on sugar import, metabolism, and signaling mediated by invertase (INV), a key enzyme responsible for the degradation of sucrose into hexoses (Ruan et al., pp. 942–955). It focuses (1) new or emerging roles of INV in plant development, interactions between INV and its inhibitor proteins and between sugar signaling and hormonal control of development and (2) sugar and INV-mediated responses to drought and heat stresses during seed and fruit set. Two research papers provide detailed analyses on the roles of post-translational regulation of cell wall INV activity in plant defense and sugar–hormone cross-talk during seed development. Here, the release of cell wall INV activity by repression of INV inhibitor expression during pathogen infection is shown to be required for the defense response in tobacco leaves (Bonfig et al., pp. 1037–1048). Examination on expression levels of IAA biosynthetic genes in the maize miniature1 INV-deficient mutant reveals new levels of complexity in the cross-talk between sugar signaling and auxin regulation of seed development (Chourey et al., pp. 1026–1036).Linking sugar metabolism with transport, the role of plasma membrane hexose transporter in fruit sugar accumulation was demonstrated in tomato. This was based on functional characterization of the transporters in yeast and transgenic analyses of a set of RNAi plants (McCurdy et al., pp. 1049–1063). Another frontier in understanding the mechanisms controlling 'Assimilate Partitioning' is the regulation of the targeting process of sugar transporters from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to membrane destination. To this end, cellular and molecular studies provide evidence on the involvement of cellular redox status, cytoskeleton and membrane microdomains in regulating intracellular targeting and recycling between ER and plasma membranes in yeast and plant cells including the phloem path, sieve element (Liesche et al., pp. 1064–1074).Similar to transport and utilization of sugars, plants have evolved efficient and selective systems for the uptake and allocating of N within the plant to sustain vegetative development and reproduction. A review summarizes current knowledge on membrane proteins facilitating transport of amino acids and peptides a focus on uptake of these organic nitrogen by the root, partitioning between source and sink, and import into floral tissues and seeds (Tegeder and Rentsch, pp. 997–1011). Regulation of amino acid biosynthesis is featured in another review by Tzin and Galili (pp. 956–972). It provides new insights into the shikimate and aromatic amino acids biosynthesis pathways in plants and updates recent progresses in identifying transcription factors regulating the expression of genes encoding enzymes of the shikimate and aromatic amino acids pathways as well as of multiple secondary metabolites derived from them.The close coupling between 'Assimilate Partitioning' and crop yield has been further explored in two research papers. In one study, light and electron microscopic analyses and immunolocalization experiments were conducted to assess the potential role of transfer cells (TCs) in the increase of seed yield from a comparative evolutionary perspective (Pugh et al., pp. 1075–1086). The analyses revealed that the degree of TC wall ingrowth correlated with the estimated capacity of the TCs to transport assimilates and hence the seed and fiber biomass yield increase in cotton during evolution. In another study, comparative gene expression profiling and biochemical measurements between parental lines and F1 hybrid point to the roles of enhanced expression of genes encoding carbon-fixation enzymes in rice heterosis (Song et al., pp. 1012–1025).There is no doubt that 'Assimilate Partitioning and Plant Development' is a rapidly advancing field in contemporary Plant Biology with ever increasing significance in Agriculture and Plant Biotechnology. We hope this special issue will contribute to shedding light on some major aspects of organic C and N allocation and stimulate further fruitful research in this critical area. Finally, we would like to thank the scientific community for their warm response and the contributing authors for their support.


of such stories. Instead, she grips onto the dangers in these precautionary poems. When crossing a burning bridge in "Suspension," the speaker provides a warning in an instructional string of advice: "Once you cross, as you must, / you cannot go back." During the crossing, one must "Whittle yourself to transparency. Cross the bridge as it burns, sparks / in the wisps of your hair." All anyone can do is move forward on the literal, and metaphorical, burning bridge, which takes on both a fantastical and very realistic materiality. If one does not move, one will be consumed. Throughout this collection, the modern and the fable continue this meeting through landscape. The fairy tale forest merges with the Midwestern landscape, like in "Ohio," where "The landscape sings in you like a dial tone," flat and unending in the speaker's childhood memory. Although the memories are pleasant, the speaker reminds the reader of both the happiness in reminiscing and what isn't remembered or occurs outside memory:


In order to resolve the problem of integrating the dispersed and heterogeneous original data and generating accurate and consistent objective data efficiently,a service-oriented data Exchange platform is built based on SOA and Web service technologies. The platform makes full use of the newest XML-binary Optimized Packaging(XOP) criterion and packages data as the attachment of XOP message. Several design strategies such as data encoding rules,transmission mode,security of the platform and data consistency are specially discussed. Practical enterprise application indicates that the platform can deal with 400 thousands recodes with images daily and achieves the continuous transmission of large quantities of data and operations stably with high efficiency.


Objective To observe the effect of cariporide on the endothelial function impaired by exogenous advanced glycation end products(AGEs) in rats.Methods Rats were given exogenous AGEs by tail vein injections of AGEs-BSA to induce vascular dysfunction and were treated with cariporide(0.1,1 mg·kg-1·d-1) simultaneously for 4 weeks.The thoracic aortas were used for the determination of the ACh-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation response(EDR) and the aortic arches were used for immunohistochemical study of NF-κB-p65.The serum NO and MDA contents were also measured.Results The EDR induced by ACh was inhibited with decreasing serum NO content and increasing MDA level.Cariporide improved the EDR and maintained the serum NO and MDA content in a dose-dependent manner.The activation of NF-κB in rat endothelium was significantly increased during the administration of exogenous AGEs.Cariporide significantly reduced the activation of NF-κB in AGEs-treated rats.Conclusion Cariporide has protective effect on the endothelial impairment caused by AGEs-BSA. The mechanism may be involved in the inhibition of the activation of NF-κB and oxidative stress.


Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs) have used for many applications. Mesh networks are one of the wireless communication process for long indoor and outdoor areas. The goal of this study is to use advantages of the mesh networks in long areas and to observe instant sensor data via the Internet. Arduino and DigiMesh 868 MHz transceivers were used for this experiment. Finally, the results of the each sensor values were viewed from the webpage. Кеу words - wireless communication, mesh network, arduino, sensors, Digimesh.


With the rise of service economy around the world,people shift the centre of attention away from tangible products toward intangible products gradually,and the dominant logic of marketing is undergoing the change from the product centrality to customer centrality step by step.For services firms,physical environment and physical evidence are important parts of services offerings,and the primary form of competition as well.With the fast development of economy and continuous changes in people's life style,the consumption habit of China's resident,urban residents in particular,is in a constant state of change.Leisure industries have become much more diversified and colorful,which focus on tourism,entertainment and catering.People have combined shopping with relaxation little by little.Hedonic service consumptions(like themed restaurants,hairdressing salons,high fidelity cinemas,etc.) become the consumption hotspots.Customers stay longer in the service places and pay more attention to the facilities and environment of the service firms during hedonic shopping.Service environment has become an important marketing tool to enhance customers' experiences.Some well-known service enterprises,like Starbucks,McDonald's,and so on,even put forward that the service environment is one of the most significant strategic tools in the Service-Dominant Logic.These service firms try implanting social and cultural elements into the environment,products and management to meet the needs of customers' experience.Retailers facing an increasingly competitive market-place are finding it more difficult to differentiate their stores solely on the basis of merchandise,promotion,or location.The store itself,however,can offer a unique atmosphere,or environment,that may influence the consumer's patronage decision.Bitner(1992) defined the servicescape as various kinds of tangible and intangible environmental elements,and then servicescape had gradually become a generic term in the research of service environment.As an important component of service environment,servicescape has a significant influence in customer's service experience.Previous researches on servicescape always focus on the influence of physical cues.As the rational consumption demand transfers to emotional,the impact of social cues is more and more important.In recent years,both researchers and service enterprises payed much attention to the relationship between the social cues and customer behaviors.Customers in the servicescape always have positive emotions and high perceived service quality because of the social cues.For further exploration,this study added scene impression and self-congruence to the action mechanism of social cues in the servicescape and customer behavioral intention.Based on literature review,a conceptual model was put forward.A questionnaire survey was conducted and the data was analyzed by structural equation mode.The results reveal that the social cues embedded in the servicescape play a positive effect on the scene impression.This scene impression will significantly affect the customer's actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence,improve the customer's positive emotions,enhance the customer's perceived service quality,and thus will strengthen the customer's purchase intention and repatronage intention.Moreover,consumption types(hedonic shopping and utilitarian shopping) play a significant moderating effect on the relationship between social cues in the servicescape and customer's scene impression.There exist no obvious differences between the effects of service personal factors playing on customer's scene impression in the hedonic shopping and that in the utilitarian shopping.While in the utilitarian shopping,other customer factors play a greater role on customer's scene impression.The conclusion provides a new perspective for the managers,emphasizes that the service staff and other customers in the servicescap are important marketing methods to attract and keep customers,to meet the demand of customers well,to improve customer's positive emotions and perceived service quality,and then to deepen the service place's identity,finally to spur the purchase decision.


Ömer Seyfettin, who is a representative of the "New Language" movement in Turkish literature and considered one of the founders of the National Literature, constructs his stories usually on the idea of nationalism as he has an active role in the era he lived in in the actual and philosophical sense. In this context, it may be argued that Ömer Seyfettin, who aims to resurrect the identity information and cultural memory that develops along with nationalism, takes on a social mission in his stories.
In this study, the story "Piç" by Ömer Seyfettin, which is among the stories that he builds upon main etyma such as national self/identity, sense of belonging, and clinging to cultural values, is discussed in the context of the issues of self and identity. In the story, the writer describes the existence of the Turkish nation as a concept that is dependent on the protection of a sense of individual and national self/identity by using self and identity information that protects the person against attacks in the physical and cultural fields and transfers their roots to the future. On the other hand, the writer, who does not consider the alienated tendencies of people who trivialize their attributes by making the sphere of both individual and social existence open to the attacks of the other as they do not have this conscience that is reflected in the emotional, philosophical and actual sphere unethical and indifferent, harshly criticizes the failure to preserve selves and identities. The story transforms into a polyphonic form of narration with the support of the writer, who adopts a cautionary and guiding discourse in addition to this critical discourse, for the content with psychological, sociological and historical information, as well as the richness he contributes to the narrative.


The construction of the tunnels through the Hallandsås ridge in Sweden is still going on. Difficult rock conditions, a lot of water and problems with lowering of the ground water level in rock and soil have made it a difficult task. Another large project, Citybanan, has just started in Stockholm. The question in both cases is: Are decisions on location of tunnels and selection of construction methods based on assessments of rock, soil and water conditions and can severe rock conditions be communicated between geologists and engineers in a way that gives a realistic risk assessment? The intention of this paper is to introduce an early version of a methodology for assessment of rock conditions and for rock construction design based on geological and hydrogeological information. Valuable information is often available (e.g. in geological maps and data bases) but has to be translated and communicated to those constructing in rock.


Purpose: The purpose of study is sheds light on the internationalization/globalization and performance factors of international new ventures (INVs), which have recently attracted a lot of attention in the field of international business. This study aims to present an important theoretical framework for the internationalization of INVs and their impact on performance. In particular, theoretical research is conducted from the perspective of integrating the industrial-based perspective, resource-based perspective, and institutional-based perspective. These studies intend to motivate future empirical studies.
Research design, data, and methodology: As for the method of the study, existing prior studies are considered and complements the theoretical deficiencies of these studies. What the study argues is that existing fragmentary studies do not produce consistent results in identifying the influencing factors on internationalization and performance of INVs, making it difficult to accurately understand the behavior of INVs, so it is necessary to understand the industry-resource-institution based view from an integrated perspective. Therefore, an integrated model for the antecedents of internationalization//globalization and performance of INVs.
Results: The results of the study are expected to be a guide for empirical analysis in the future. However, the limitations to sufficiently consider factors other than industry, resources, and Institutions is a limitation.
Implications: This study was conducted from an integrated perspective to overcome the fragmentation of studies that investigated the impact of existing studies on the internationalization and performance of INVs from a specific perspective and the inconsistency of research results. Through this study, it can be said that the implications are great in that the foundation for empirical analysis has been developed in subsequent studies.


It is seen that Tokat vine leaf obtained from Narince variety has become a brand in the market. For this reason, sometimes it is a special local product which can be sent to relatives outside of the province as a gift and sometimes upon request. There are no statistical data or scientific studies that will reveal the potential of customers on a larger scale. In this study were tried to be determined some details about the amount, frequency and delivery type of grapevine leaf sent out of the province for non-commercial purposes by the settled people in Tokat. Thus, it is intended to provide a perspective on what is the potential for out-of-province demand of this product as a regional value. The research is based on survey data. Tokat province was determined as the research area and the five districts of which the highest population were included in research. As a result of the sampling study in which five districts were taken into consideration, it was found appropriate to work with 383 households. Women were interviewed to represent the households. The data obtained were evaluated by means of percentage distributions and other descriptive statistics. According to the results, a significant percentage of the interviewed individuals send or take a significant amount (16.26 kg per year) of vine leaves out of Tokat province. The leaf processed by conventional means is preferred predominantly. it is important to solve the existing quality problems, especially in industrial production, and to make efforts for the healthy development of the vine leaf product market that is just starting to grow.


Interpolymer resin having ethylene monomer residues and non-conjugated diene comonomer residues yoke. The non-conjugated diene comonomer may be two alkenyl phthalate. Interpolymer incorporated into non-conjugated diene comonomers may provide additional sites of unsaturation for crosslinking unstable. The crosslinked interpolymer and variants thereof may be used in various articles, for example, a power cable as an insulating material.


The research study attempts to focus on the general attitudes that consumers tend to form towards advertising based on its three primary determinants of product information, social integration and hedonism. The literature starts by defining what attitudes actually are and their role in inclining people towards the desired products and services. It then highlights the ABC model of attitudes by focusing on the interrelationships among feeling, knowing and doing. Moving on with the research study, attitude towards advertisements accompanied by optimum advertising has also been described. The optimal distribution of resources between the various elements of the marketing mix tools remains a significant issue relevant to both the practitioners and academics. In factual terms, the issues crowding advertising and sales promotion spending continue to attract considerable managerial attention. Giving an ending note to the literature review, the significance of mass media advertising comprising of its primary determinants have been comprehensively described. In this research study, Statistical Package for the Social Science 20.0 was applied. Being an effective tool for performing quantitative research, it is quite easy to use and serves as a good starting point to adapt to advanced statistical packages. The results clearly pin point, that the independent variables of product information, social affiliation and hedonism have a positive impact on the general attitude development of the consumer towards advertising. The strongest positive correlation was against hedonism indicating that the emotional and excitement appeals play a major role in influencing consumers to be exposed to mass media promotional tools. Regression analysis was also applied to evaluate the relationship between one dependent variable and one or more independent variables, which indicated that the predictors explained the dependent variable of attitude towards advertising by 73%. Overall the results of the study truly supported our three hypotheses which show that as time passes by, the role of mass media advertising will play a major role in influencing potential consumer's attitudes towards the advertised product and services. © 2014 Elixir All rights reserved ARTIC LE INF O Article h istory: Received: 2 December 2013; Received in revised form: 1 February 2014; Accepted: 12 February 2014;


Excess potentially toxic elements (PTEs), including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn), above permissible limits in the environment, have detrimental effects on trophic levels. Hence, imperative to devise advertent measures to address this situation, especially in the soil ecosystem: the major reservoir of many PTEs. Using aerial plant parts (shoot) to accumulate As, Cd, Pb, and Zn - hyperaccumulators are considered a permanent approach to PTE removal from soils. This communication expatiated the principles that govern the hyperaccumulation of plants growing on As, Cd, Pb, and Zn-contaminated soils. The contribution of soil microbial communities during hyperaccumulation is well-elaborated to support the preference for this remediation approach. The study confirms a flow direction involving PTE uptake–translocation–tolerance–detoxification by hyperaccumulators. Rhizosphere microbes exhibit a direct preference for specific hyperaccumulators, which is associated with root exudations, while the resultant formation of chelates and solubility of PTEs, with soil physicochemical properties, including pH and redox potential, promote uptake. Different compartments of plants possess specialized transporter proteins and gene expressions capable of influx and efflux of PTEs by hyperaccumulators. After PTE uptake, many hyperaccumulators undergo cellular secretion of chelates supported by enzymatic catalysis and high transport systems with the ability to form complexes as tolerance and detoxification mechanisms. The benefits of combining hyperaccumulators with beneficial microbes such as endophytes and other rhizosphere microbes for PTE removal from soils are vital in enhancing plant survival and growth, minimizing metal toxicity, and supplying nutrients. Inoculation of suitable rhizosphere microbes can promote efficient cleaning of PTEs contaminated sites utilizing hyperaccumulator plants.


We review our recent work concerning the development of dilute nitride solar cells by molecular beam epitaxy. This epitaxial technology enables a high level of control of the growth conditions and alleviates known issues related to epitaxy of dilute nitrides ultimately enabling to achieve high quality materials suitable for solar cell developments. In particular, we focus on discussing the mechanisms linking the epitaxial and annealing conditions to the operation of dilute nitride solar cells. We also report operation of a single junction dilute nitride solar cell with a short circuit current density as high as ~39 mA/cm2 under 1 sun illumination.


Polyps of the gallbladder are demonstrated on ultrasonography in about 5% of cases in unselected patient material.' The most common nonneoplastic type is the cholesterol polyp, accounting for about 33% of gallbladder polypoid lesions. These require no surgical intervention.2 The more uncommon papillary adenomas are, on the other hand, thought to be premalignant and should be removed. * Inflammatory polyps are rare, found in less than 1% of surgically removed gallbladders.2 A careful review of the literature has not revealed any prior report of the ultrasound appearance of inflammatory polyps. Here we present a case report of a solitary inflammatory polyp, appearing as hypoechoic intraluminal mass on ultrasonography, and the differential diagnoses are discussed.


Membrane oxygenators or artificial lungs have become a reliable and live saving clinical technique. To limit side effects on blood platelet parameters the high extrinsic surface introduced by the hollow fiber membrane packing has to be decreased. This adjustment must be accompanied with an improvement of gas exchange performance to guarantee sufficient blood gas transfer. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) provides a spatial and temporal resolution of the membrane oxygenation process and enables systematic optimization of artificial lungs. In scope of this research a new CFD approach to examine the gas exchange performance of oxygenators was developed. Blood and sweep gas flow in the fiber packing as well as blood gas exchange through the membrane between blood and sweep fluid are fully resolved and simulated. The results were compared to in vitro experiments comprising determination of blood side pressure loss and CO2 exchange performance of a prototype membrane module. While flow simulations were conducted for the complete prototype module, gas exchange simulations were limited to a representative fiber packing segment. The presented simulation approach provides a basis for the design of future artificial lungs.


Based on wavelet transform and Auto Regressive Moving Average(ARMA),the forecasting traffic flow model which is used in optimal control of Intelligent Traffic system is researched.First of all,we have extracted the new data from the online measured raw data of traffic flow via wavelet transform and constructed the forecasting model of traffic flow;Secondly,we have detailedly analyzed the parameter structure of ARMA by method of least squares;Simultaneous,we have designed the running principium of the optimal control system of traffic flow,the network topological structure and the data transmitted model;Finally,a simulated example has shown that the technique is effective and exact.The theoretical analysis indicates that the forecasting model and algorithms have a broad prospect for practical application.


In the current market context products are technically akin. Therefore, there is a need to look for sources of differentiation that will allow companies launch products that will satisfy not just functional and economic needs, but also needs that cater for more emotional demands that will help establish affection bonds between the user and the product from the very moment the item is purchased.
As a result, there has been a shift from product design based on technological-criteria to a design of experiences rooted in sensitive and emotional criteria. People-oriented design has brought about the development of different methodologies such as the Quality Function Display (QFD), the Kano model or Kansei Engineering (KE).
In order to apply KE as a methodology for emotional design, the perceptions of consumers as regards a certain product must be measured. The most widely spread tool to accomplish this goal is the Semantic Differential (SD) method.
The article attempts to illustrate the influence of different scales in the gathering of data for the measurement of the perception of consumers as regards a certain product by applying SD methodology. In order to attain this objective a research about the perception of elevator cabin controls has been conducted.


Abstract:In the early hours of November 30, 1905, Min Yŏnghwan took his own life in protest against the Japan-Korea Protectorate Treaty that had been forced on the Korean cabinet in the wake of Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905)—thus ended the career of an elite member of Korea's Confucian ruling class, who had unique experience in dealing with foreign diplomatic officials due to his two visits to the West in 1896 and 1897. Four years later An Chunggŭn, a convert to Roman Catholicism, was hung for the assassination of Itō Hirobumi, the Japanese statesman responsible for the protectorate treaty. This article examines the ideas of these two men as expressed in their writings, namely, Min's policy essay Ch'ŏnilch'aek (One policy out of one thousand) and other pieces from his collected works Min Ch'ungjŏnggong yugo (Posthumous works of Min Yŏnghwan), which were not inherently antagonistic to the Western powers other than Russia and focused primarily on exposing the aggressive intentions of Japan, and An's treatise, Tongyang p'yŏnghwaron (A treatise on peace in the East), which viewed the West as posing a common threat to China, Japan and Korea that required a collective response based on racial solidarity and the mutual recognition of each state's sovereignty and independence. The article will also examine their ideas in the context of Western views of the region as well as the responses of Western commentators to their final acts of protest.


Focusing on journalists' professional behaviors during the 2013 Gezi Protests in Turkey, this article offers a theoretical framework for understanding the transformation of inertia into contentious action. Accordingly, the emotion of shame triggers contention when it is experienced with a contingent event that generates hope for change. In Turkey, journalists working in the mainstream media extensively practiced self-censorship before the 2013 Gezi Protests and felt ashamed of themselves. This feeling became a trigger for joining public protests, resigning and/or producing non-compliant news stories when Gezi offered them an opportunity for social change. This argument builds on the sociology of emotions and events, and is inductively derived from 20 in-depth interviews conducted with journalists. The article presents the social context in which shame arises and the place of this emotion in generating contention. Through this research, the Gezi Protests assert their continuing relevance for understanding the relationship between repression and contention, especially in countries hit by the current wave of authoritarianism.


560 patients were identified. 249 were treated before, and 311 after protocol implementation. The proportion of extubated patients was 37.2% vs. 48.4% at 12, 42% vs. 52.0% at 16 and 73.2% vs. 82% at 24 hours (p<0.02, before/after protocol implementation). The maximum rate of extubation after protocol occurred around 4.6 hours, at which time 26.3% vs. 14.0% (p=0.001) were extubated after vs before protocol implementation (odds ratio 2.2). No significant differences existed between the two group regarding age, weight, sex, type of congenital heart disease, bypass time, cross clamp time, or aristotle score. Median ICU and hospital stay (days) were 1.98 vs 1.84 (p=0.002) and 11.08 vs 11.19 (p=0.313) for the two groups. Re-intubation rates were 7.4% vs 6.5% before and after protocol implementation (p=0.7).


Although, synthetic dyes have toxic effects on to environment, are very important for coloration of large number of materials and lead to increasing concerns about color removal worldwide. Immobilization of microorganisms is one of the promising techniques for biological treatment of wastewater with the many advantages for industrial usage. This study aimed to determine the efficiency of immobilized four different Bacillus species (B. cereus, B. megaterium, B. subtilis and B. thuringiensis) on decolorization of dyes (maxilon red, methyl red and doracryl blue) at different Na-alginate concentrations. B. megaterium and B. thuringiensis were most effective and decolorized the maxilon red 92.63% and 90.74%, respectively, with the Na-alginate concentration of 2.5%. B. megaterium was the most effective strain in decolorization of doracryl blue with 75.91% decolorization value and with beads at 10% Na-alginate concentration. B. megaterium was the most effective strain in decolorization of methyl red with 64.99% decolorization and the beads were prepared with 10% Na-alginate concentration. Among the four Bacillus species, B. megaterium was the most effective in the decolorization experiments of all three dyes. Results of this study could be used as a reference for the development of effective removal technique for dyes in textile wastewater.


Abstract:  Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is observed in mutant amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgenic mouse models of familial AD. Melatonin is a potent antioxidant, can prevent toxic aggregation of Alzheimer's beta‐amyloid (Aβ) peptide and, when taken long term, can protect against cognitive deficits in APP transgenic mice. To study the effects of melatonin on brain mitochondrial function in an AD model, APP/PS1 transgenic mice were treated for 1 month with melatonin. Analysis of isolated brain mitochondria from mice indicated that melatonin treatment decreased mitochondrial Aβ levels by two‐ to fourfold in different brain regions. This was accompanied by a near complete restoration of mitochondrial respiratory rates, membrane potential, and ATP levels in isolated mitochondria from the hippocampus, cortex, or striatum. When isolated mitochondria from untreated young mice were given melatonin, a slight increase in respiratory rate was observed. No such effect was observed in mitochondria from aged mice. In APP‐expressing neuroblastoma cells in culture, mitochondrial function was restored by melatonin or by the structurally related compounds indole‐3‐propionic acid or N(1)‐acetyl‐N(2)‐formyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine. This restoration was partially blocked by melatonin receptor antagonists indicating melatonin receptor signaling is required for the full effect. Therefore, treatments that stimulate melatonin receptor signaling may be beneficial for restoring mitochondrial function in AD, and preservation of mitochondrial function may an important mechanism by which long term melatonin treatment delays cognitive dysfunction in AD mice.


As a versatile chiral ammonia equivalent, chiral tert-butylsulfinylamide (6) (TBSA) is a very useful auxiliary due to the characteristics of highly stereoselectivity in asymmetric induction and the sulfinyl group being easily removed compared with other amine auxiliaries since its introduction as a stable compound by Ellman in 1997.[1] Considering the importance of TBSA 6, search for efficient methods for the preparation of enantiopure TBSA (6) is the great interesting topic in synthetic chemistry. There were only three methods for the preparation of enantiopure TBSA (6) reported in the literature.[2] In this paper, we report an alternative three-step procedure to synthesize enantiopure TBSA (6) with a key step being the formation of tert-butylsulfinyloxazolidinone (4).……


Abstract Over 26,000,000 BO (4.13×106 m3) have been produced from the fractured Upper Cretaceous Niobrara section in northwestern Colorado. Fracture intensity and permeability in the Niobrara is controlled by tectonic setting, calcite mineralization, and Niobrara lithology. Most producing Niobrara fields in northwestern Colorado are intimately associated with Laramide-age anticlinal and monoclinal folds. Detailed field studies indicate that significant tectonic fracturing developed during this folding phase, but that a second and perhaps more important tectonic element was the generation of post-Laramide fractures during mid-Tertiary extensional tectonism. Productive fractures within the Niobrara Formation are mineralized with calcite, which partially filled the fractures prior to oil migration. Five crystallographic forms of calcite have been identified within the fractures. From carbon and oxygen isotope ratios, fluid inclusion studies, and cross-cutting relationships in both surface outcrops and subsurface drill cuttings and cores, the age sequence of the five crystal forms has been determined. Early (Stage I) fractures, formed during Laramide folding, tend to be completely or largely plugged and filled by solid vein calcite. In contrast, the best fracture porosity occurs in later (Stage II) extension fractures, or along zones of rejuvenation of pre-existing fractures. In these later extensional fractures, the calcite cements tend to line, but not fill, the fracture openings. Calcite-lined fractures are also often found in surface fractures in younger, brittle beds overlying or adjacent to producing Niobrara fields. The Niobrara Formation, which is primarily a calcareous shale or marl in the study area, ranges in thickness from 1,000 to 1,400 ft (305 to 428 m) and is sealed between two plastic non-calcareous shales: the overlying Mancos and the underlying Carlile. Enhanced fracturing occurs in several discrete zones or benches of the Niobrara that are more calcareous or siltier and sandier than underlying and overlying units. The Niobrara is its own source rock and has no bottom water. Niobrara oil is low in sulphur and of high gravity (35-40 API), and sells for a premium price. Detailed studies that include the Buck Peak and Rangely fields indicate that although tectonic fractures generated during Laramide compression may be significant, enhanced fracturing occurs along and adjacent to post-Laramide normal faults and zones of extensional tectonism. Exploration for Niobrara fields involves the identification of good fracture fairways (sweet spots) without regard to structural closure. Application of concepts developed from studies of existing fields, combined with a variety of surface and subsurface exploration methods, should result in the discovery and development of significant additional oil reserves in the fractured Niobrara of northwestern Colorado.