Measurement of progesterone is an indirect method for pregnancy diagnosis in many livestock species including cattle, buffaloes, sheep, and goats. Conception extends the life of the corpus luteum (CL) by preventing the luteolytic mechanism from being triggered, thus prolonging and maintaining its functional characteristics, ensuring continued high progesterone levels (Spencer, et.al., 1995). (Shemesh et al., 1973) proposed that the difference in peripheral plasma progesterone levels between pregnant and non pregnant cows, 19 days after insemination, can form the basis for a very early pregnancy test. (Laing and Heap 1972) first documented this in milk to diagnose cows in early pregnancy Progesterone maintains the uterine endometrium in a state which supports embryonic development, implantation, and foetoplacental development. Progesterone concentrations vary with the stage of the estrous cycle which makes it one of the most commonly studied reproductive hormones in bovine ruminants for pregnancy detection and ovarian activity (Kaneko,et.al.,1994). Studies in the bovine estrous cycle indicate that the milk or serum progesterone concentrations reach a maximum value 13-14 days after estrus, and if the animal is pregnant, these continue to remain elevated up to day 21 after fertilization (Parkinson, et al.,1994) . These high levels of progesterone in serum or milk between days 18 and 24 after insemination form the basis of establishment of pregnancy in cattle (Sasser, and  Ruder,1987; Shemesh,1973). Interferon-???? exerts its antiluteolytic effect by inhibiting the endometrial expression of oxytocin receptors, through which oxytocin stimulates pulsatile PGF2???? release (Wolf,2003). Although low progesterone concentrations at 18 to 24 days after breeding can accurately predict non pregnancy, high progesterone concentrations during this period are not the specific indicators of pregnancy due to variations among cows in duration of the estrous cycle as well as the incidence of early or late embryonic mortality. The advantages of progesterone assay for pregnancy diagnosis include noninvasive collection of milk sample and the feasibility to conduct the test on the farm using commercial cow-side milk progesterone test kits [Pennington,1985 ; Gowan,1982 ; Wimpy,et.al.,1986), though the sensitivity gets compromised to some extent with these assay kits.
Key Word:  progesterone, pregnancy, cows


Objective: To examine health professions trainees' end-of-life (EOL) care knowledge, attitudes, and intentions. Methods: IRB-approved online survey of 346 students/5 universities in final training years—public health, pharmacy, physician, physician assistant, occupational therapy, and physical therapy (April-May 2016). Queried knowledge, attitudes, and intentions toward EOL care. Results: Sufficient knowledge of palliative care was reported by 25% while sufficient knowledge of advance care planning (ACP) was 17%. Ninety-six percent thought it important to discuss EOL issues in training; 92% believed their professions played important roles in EOL care. Managing pain was chosen as the best example of palliative care by 93.6% and designating healthcare proxies was reported as the best example of ACP (5.8%). Pharmacy, public health, and rehabilitation therapy students were less likely than physician and physician assistant trainees to report intent to work in EOL care. Among those who want to work in EOL care, 65% reported having clinical experience with seriously ill or dying patients/clients. We discuss other findings related to perceptions of didactic preparation in palliative care, palliative care knowledge access/function, death/dying attitudes, and intentions toward seriously illness care. Discussion: There is interest in and knowledge of palliative care, including EOL care, among multiple health professions. Provides guidance for how we train health professionals to improve population health by optimizing EOL care.


The aim of criminal law interpretation is the law content that should be attained and clarified by interpreting the penal code norm.It's not only the ideal situation of interpretation,but also the standard that adjudicates the conclusion,which directly decides the general direction of criminal law interpretation.There are mainly three arguments regarding to the aim of the criminal law interpretation in the criminal academic circles: the theory of subjectiveness,the theory of objectiveness and that of eclecticism.Different theories have different original backgrounds and theoretical groundwork.Based on the faintness of the original intention of lawmaking,the agreement of the "Nullum crimen sine lege,nulla poena sine lege",the theory of objectiveness and the fluctuation of the connotation of words in penal code,the theory of objectiveness should be a reasonable aim of criminal law interpretation under the current situations and explaining systems in our country.


This article presents a new methodological framework for assessing the structure of coastal tourist landscapes, bearing the potential for development, in order to adjust to all sorts of other tourist landscapes. Through a combined application of landscape indicators, remote sensing and landscape character assessment methods, the proposed framework aims at the measurement of attributes of the state of a landscape. The paper, accordingly, proceeds from a) an extensive literature review, based on the elements and aspects of tourism and landscape that comprise the tourist landscape and on qualitative and quantitative landscape assessment methods, to b) the presentation of the proposed methodological framework and set of indicators and c) ends with a series of conclusions on the applicability of the proposed methodological framework, in a tourist landscape context.


The Ganjiang River Basin of Jiangxi province with rich resources of red culture heritage is famous for the red tourism. The purpose of this study is to investigate how to balance the preservation and presentation during the tourism development in digital times. In recent developments related to cultural tourism, the villages and towns with lesser stocks of red cultural heritages are suffering from a lack of preservation and in danger of vanishing. Apart from the form of traditional museums responsible for cultural heritage preservation, the protected model of Ganjiang River watershed in digital is one of the few alternative paths. With the promotion of an entire digital city network during the watershed area, the gap between urban and rural areas has been widened in the preservation for red cultural heritage. For rural areas, the model of an open air museum is a good choice in digital times. Based on the basin's protection practice and tourist diversity demand, upgrading interpretation systems and improving digital experiences have become the trend for red cultural heritage presentations. Effective online communication is another way to display red culture. Two models of protection and presentation for red cultural heritage have been developed.


der and gender nonbinary medical students and physicians. Transgender Health. 2019;4(1):209-216. 12. World Health Organization. State of the world's nursing 2020: Investing in education, jobs and leadership. 2020. https://www.who.int/publicationsdetail-redirect/9789240007017. Accessed September 30, 2021. 13. Carnevale T, Priode K. "The good ole'girls' nursing club": The male student perspective. J Transcult Nurs. 2018;29(3):285-291. 14. Powers K, Herron EK, Sheeler C, Sain A. The lived experience of being a male nursing student: Implications for student retention and success. J Prof Nurs. 2018;34(6):475-482. How to cite this article: Lydon S, Madden C, Byrne D, O'Connor P. Advancing consideration of gender within health profession education: What is required? Med Educ. 2022; 56(3):250-252. doi:10.1111/medu.14685


Education is a strong form of protection for children during emergencies whether they be war or natural disaster yet it one of the first supports to be lost when a crisis occurs. One of the leaders in this growing commitment within the humanitarian community to meet the education needs of populations in crisis World Education works as part of a consortium with World Learning in support of approximately 140000 Karen and Karenni refugees in nine camps along the Thailand-Burma border. (excerpt)


off-line backward gradient computation of a system output, or cost function, with respect to system parameters, using a circuit theoretic approach. The system can be any causal, in general nonlinear and time-variant, dynamic system represented by a Signal Flow Graph, in particular any feedforward, time delay or recurrent neural network. The gradient is obtained in a straightforward way by the analysis of two numerical circuits, the original one and its A related work is also the one by Martinelli and Perfetti [SI that applies an adjoint transformation to an analog real circuit implementing a Multi-Layer-Perceptron (MLP). Since this work is more related to hardware and the network considered is feedforward and static, it is less general and can be considered a particular case of the method presented here. adjoint (obtained from the first by simple transformations) without On-line training of adaptive systems is very important in real the complex chain rule expansions of derivatives usually employed. applications such as Digital signal hocessing, system identification and control, channel equalization and predistortion, since it allows the model to follow time-varying features of the real system [2,3]. By on-line learning in contrast to batch learning this In this Paper, making use of the Signal Flow Graph (SFG) is provided with no interruption of the operation of the system representation theory and its known properties [4], we derive u new (such as a communication channel). general method for both on-line and off-line backward gradient computation of a system output or cost function with respect to system parameters. The obtained gradient information can be used both for parameter sensitivity computation of systems and for


Network scanning is a common reconnaissance activity in network intrusion. Despite this, it's classification remains vague and detection systems in current Network Intrusion Detection Systems are incapable of detecting many forms of scanning traffic.
 This paper presents a classification of network scanning and illustrates how complex and varied this activity is. The presented classification extends previous, well known, definitions of scanning traffic in a manner which reflects this complexity.


In the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), various tasks are created dynamically because of the small quantity batch production. Hence, it is difficult to execute tasks only with devices that have limited battery lives and computation capabilities. To solve this problem, we adopted the mobile edge computing (MEC) paradigm. However, if there are numerous tasks to be processed on the MEC server (MECS), it may not be suitable to deal with all tasks in the server within a delay constraint owing to the limited computational capability and high network overhead. Therefore, among cooperative computing techniques, we focus on task offloading to nearby devices using device-to-device (D2D) communication. Consequently, we propose a method that determines the optimal offloading strategy in an MEC environment with D2D communication. We aim to minimize the energy consumption of the devices and task execution delay under certain delay constraints. To solve this problem, we adopt a Q-learning algorithm that is part of reinforcement learning (RL). However, if one learning agent determines whether to offload tasks from all devices, the computing complexity of that agent increases tremendously. Thus, we cluster the nearby devices that comprise the job shop, where each cluster's head determines the optimal offloading strategy for the tasks that occur within its cluster. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the compared methods in terms of device energy consumption, task completion rate, task blocking rate, and throughput.


Students critical thinking skills are important skills in learning. The critical thinking indicator in this research consists of 4 indicators. The result of observation in SMA Negeri 18 Surabaya shows only one indicator has been achieved that is the interpretation . For that purpose, the research is related the application of guided discovery learning to describe the implementation of learning, improvement of critical thinking skill, and students response to simple harmonic motion. This research uses experimental method with pre-experimetal design and type of this research is one group pre-test post-test design using one experiment class and two replication classes. The implementation of the three classes observed from the teacher activity for two meetings was stated to be very well executed. Based on the analysis of n-gain, critical thinking skills in the experimental class and the replication class 1 increased with high category while in the replication class 2 increased with medium category. The learning proces get positive response from the students with very good category. The critical thinking skill that gets the lowest increase is the analysis. Overall learning by applying the guided discovery model can improve students critical thinking skills. Key word: guided discovery learning, critical thinking skill, simple harmonic motion


Adiponitrile (ADN) is an important raw material in the chemical industry, and is primarily used in the synthesis of 1,6- hexamethylenediamine (HMDA), a component of nylon 6,6. In present-day China, the technology required for the synthesis of ADN has been monopolized by several foreign corporations, including BASF, Invista, Asha and Solutia, which has hampered the development of a domestic nylon 6,6 industry. Based on this scenario, it is anticipated that the ADN market patterns in China will remain unchanged for a significant time span, suggesting that the domestic ADN industry will face long-term challenges. There are three main methods of producing ADN: electrolytic hydrodimerization of acrylonitrile, hydrocyanation of 1,3-butadiene and catalytic dehydration of adipic acid and ammonia. In the case of the electrohydrodimerization process, earlier versions employed the diaphragm method. Considering acrylonitrile do not participate in the anodic reaction, process improvements have removed the need for a diaphragm, thus allowing a simplified, one-step reaction process. However, the electrohydrodimerization method still consumes large amounts of electric energy, and the associated reaction parameters, such as the acrylonitrile concentration, electrolyte pH, current density and electrolyte flow rate, must be strictly controlled, as they may potentially affect both the selectivity and yield of the reaction. The dehydration process is typically conducted in either the liquid or vapor phase, and has the advantages of requiring minimal investment and equipment. However, the atom economy associated with this process is unsatisfactory as a result of the high reaction temperature and uncontrollable side reactions. The hydrocyanation process is comparatively superior, with the advantages of low raw-material costs, reduced energy consumption, short process flows and higher atom economy. However, the raw material hydrogen cyanide is highly toxic and its use involves significant risk, thus requiring extremely rigorous control of production equipment, operating conditions and process management practices. This paper presents an analysis of the specific technical aspects, reaction mechanisms and atom efficiencies of these different processes. The review presented herein concludes that the development of greener processes and autonomous technologies to produce ADN in place of traditional methods would be of significant benefit to the nylon 6,6 industry in China


With subjects ranging from mediaeval metalwork to early 20th-century architecture and a geographic horizon spanning between Europe and China, the essays in this volume reflect not only the multifarious scholarly interests of its dedicate but also the variety of phenomena which has been defined by western academia as Islamic art. On the other hand, despite studies about Mughal painting or European lacquer, the book is dominated by studies about the core subject of Doris Behrens-Abouseif, namel...


A 10-year-old girl was referred with eczematous areas where she wore jewellery. She was patch tested with the Spanish baseline series (Chemotechnique, Malmö, Sweden) and a metal series (Marti-Tor, Barcelona, Spain) using Finn Chambers (Epitest Ltd Oy, Tuusula, Finland) on Scanpor tape (Alpharma Norgesplaster AB, Vennesla, Norway). Patch tests at D2 and D4 showed positive (þþ/þþ) reactions to nickel sulfate 5% pet., palladium chloride 2% pet., and gold sodium thiosulfate 2% pet. The patient returned at D15 because her mother had noticed an erythematous lesion on her back where the metal series had been applied. Subsequent patch testing with the metal series gave a þþ/þþ reaction at D2/D4 to beryllium chloride 1% pet. only.


The multi-carrier-frequency MIMO radar uses a sparse-array to transmit the FMCW signals of multiple carrier frequencies, and an array to receive the echoes. The signal model of multi- carrier-frequency MIMO radar is analyzed in this paper. A new method for impulse and aperture synthesis is presented. Every range cell after coherent integration is divided equally into Nn parts, which is weighted by the coherent integration results. As a result, the range grating lobes are suppressed greatly and the aperture of transmitting and receiving array is utilized adequately. The simulation results indicate the validity of the method presented in this paper. (4 pages)


Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) coordination is a major challenge for complex buildings and industrial plants. It involves locating equipment and routing connecting elements for each system using a process of sequentially comparing and overlaying transparent drawings of MEP systems on a light table to detect spatial interferences. This multi-discipline effort is time-consuming, expensive, and requires knowledge regarding each system over the project life. Currently, designers and constructors use tailored computer tools to design and fabricate MEP systems, but no knowledge-based computer technology exists to assist in the multidiscipline MEP coordination effort. Effective MEP coordination requires recalling and integrating knowledge regarding design, construction, operations, and maintenance of each MEP system. The research investigators believed that the use information technology could significantly improve the current process. Hence, the purpose of this research was to develop a technology that integrates a number of knowledge bases – design criteria, construction, operations, and maintenance – into a knowledge-based system that is able to provide valuable insight to engineers and construction personnel, as well as assist them in


Semiartificial photosynthetic systems have opened up new avenues for harvesting solar energy using natural photosynthetic materials in combination with synthetic components. This work reports a new, semiartificial system for solar energy conversion that synergistically combines photoreactions in a purple bacterial photosynthetic membrane with those in three types of transition metal–semiconductor Schottky junctions. A transparent film of a common transition metal interfaced with an n‐doped silicon semiconductor exhibits an in‐plane potential gradient when a light‐penetration variance is established on its surface by optical shading of photoabsorbing photosynthetic membranes. The in‐plane potential gradients (0.08–0.3 V) enable a directional charge transport between the synthetic and natural photoelectric systems, which is further enhanced in a device setting by a biocompatible thixotropic gel electrolyte that permeates the membrane multilayer, facilitating a strong and steady photoelectric current as high as 1.3 mA cm−2, the highest achieved so far with any anoxygenic photosynthetic system.


Long‐term survivors of non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) must cope with treatment complications and late toxicities that affect their health‐related quality of life. Little is known about the risk‐to‐benefit ratio of new agents like rituximab. The impact of treatment regimens and health disorders on long‐term fatigue levels was investigated in a cross‐sectional study.


In this work, the influence of the coupling fluid in the measurement of the thermal properties of solid samples using a photopyroelectric (PPE) setup in the standard back configuration is analyzed. It is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally that due to the coupling fluid, the thermal diffusivity of the sample is underestimated. However, its influence disappears when performing relative measurements as a function of the temperature. That is the reason why the PPE technique is very appropriate for the thermal characterization of phase transitions.


Airplane accidents are generally more serious than accidents involving other methods of transportation. One cause of airplane accidents is a collision with a bird, which is called a bird strike. Particularly, if the bird is ingested by the jet engine, the airplane may lose power and crash. Therefore, it is useful to understand the bird strike risk before opening a new airport. In this paper, the bird strike situation at existing airports in Japan is investigated, and the frequency and factors of bird strikes are presented (including geographic information, the number of takeoffs and landings, land use around the airport, and so on). Also, the relationships between these various factors and bird strike occurrence are analyzed. Furthermore, risk analysis is performed using Monte Carlo simulations of Haneda Airport as an example (which is the biggest airport in Japan), and bird strike countermeasures are suggested.


Studies on participation in health are based on different theoretical and methodological approaches and dialogue with different contexts and local problems, producing formal and informal collaboration networks that contribute


The effluent sediment from the land-based seawater fish farms of Jeju consists of proteins, fats, ash and moisture. An evaluation of the effluent sediment as substrate for growth of phototrophic or lactic acid bacteria revealed that the sediment supported the growth of phototrophic bacteria but could support lactic acid bacteria only on supplementation with sugar. The possibility of using phototrophic bacteria for recycling the land-based seawater fish farm effluent is shown.


Src homology region 2 domain‐containing phosphatase 2 (SHP2) is a novel target for Kirsten rat sarcoma oncogene (KRAS) mutant cancer. We retrospectively studied the significance of SHP2 in KRAS mutant non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with immunotherapy and its relationship with tumor microenvironment (TME).


We investigated whether an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor increases the production of nitric oxide (NO) in exhaled air in normotensive and hypertensive subjects. In study 1, 8 normotensive male subjects received a single oral dose of enalapril (5 mg) or nitrendipine (10 mg) in a crossover manner. Exhaled air was collected at baseline, and at 2, 4, and 8 hours after administration of the drug. In study 2, 10 normotensive subjects (6 men and 4 women) and 10 hypertensive subjects (6 men and 4 women) received a single oral dose of enalapril (5 mg). Exhaled air was collected at baseline and at 2 and 4 hours after administration of the drug. In study 1, enalapril significantly increased the NO release rate from the lung in normotensive subjects (36.9±5.1 pmol/s at baseline versus 58.3±7.3 pmol/s at 4 hours, P <0.01). Nitrendipine did not change the NO release rate. In study 2, enalapril significantly increased the release of NO from the lung in normotensive subjects (40.4±6.0 pmol/s at baseline versus 70.3±11.4 pmol/s at 4 hours, P <0.01) but not in hypertensive subjects. ACE inhibition increased NO production from the lung in normotensive subjects but not in hypertensive patients. The reduction of angiotensin II production and/or the accumulation of bradykinin in the pulmonary tissue may be responsible for increased NO production in components of the lung, such as the pulmonary vascular endothelium, bronchial epithelial cells, macrophages, nasopharyngeal cells, and neurons. However, the effects of ACE inhibition on NO production from the lung differ between hypertensive subjects and normotensive subjects.


This article is based on the examination of seven old age psychiatry in England in 1991, and it addresses the main issues in the organization of community‐orientated clinical services for elderly people with mental disorders. The current practice of old age psychiatry places much emphasis on assessment of patients at home wherever possible. Domiciliary assessments were performed by all the services, but there were marked differences in emphasis. The most controversial issue was whether all patients should initially be seen by a psychiatrist or whether assessments by non‐medical professionals were acceptable. Several areas of recent development in old age psychiatry are also discussed.


This research was made possible through a grant from the Central (now Canada) Mortgage and Housing Corporation of the Federal Government of Canada.


A series of polymer light emitting devices (PLEDs) based on the composite films of N-arylbenzimidazoles trimer (TPBI), poly (n-vinylcarbazole) (PVK), and a triarylaminooxadiazole-containing tetraphenylsilane light emitting polymer (PTOA) were investigated. Electroluminescence (EL) performance is enhanced with doped TPBI into the light-emitting layer for the PTOA-based devices. A deep blue emission (Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIEx,y) corodinates (0.16,0.06)) is obtained for the TPBI-PTOA-based device. Brightness and current efficiency of the TPBI-PTOA-based device can be as high as 961 cd/m2 and 1.85 cd/A, respectively. The EL performances of TPBI-PTOA composite film-based devices are further enhanced by inserting a TPBI layer into the light emitting layer and cathode interface for a better electron and hole charge balance. Doping TPBI into the light-emitting layer of PVK-PTOA is not favorable for enhanced EL performances. Brightness and current efficiency reduced with increasing TPBI content for the TPBI-PVK-PTOA-based devices. Similar results are obtained for devices based on the TPBI-PVK-PTOA/TPBI bi-layer composite solid film. Morphology and charge balance effects on EL performances of TPBI-PTOA and TPBI-PVK-PTOA composite films based PLEDs are discussed in detail. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008


S-ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH An accelerator for real time digital signal processing with microprocessors An accelerator consisting of a fast digital multiplier and AID and D/A converters is designed for the BBC microcomputer. The circuit enables 'hands-on' experience of digital signal processing to be provided at minimal cost. Examples of implementations of FIR filters and an autocorrelation algorithm are provided. Un aeeelerateur pour Ie traitement en temps reel de signaux nwneriques sur mieroprocesseur Un accelerateur consistant en un multiplieur numerique rapide et des convertisseurs analogique/numerique et numerique/analogique a ete construit pour Ie microcalculateur BBC. Le circuit permet des experiences pratiques sur Ie traitement de signaux numeriques Ii un cout minimal. Des exemples d'implementations de filtres FIR et un algorithme d'auto-correlation sont presentes, Ein Bescbleunigungsgerit zur Realzeit-Digitalsignalverarbeitung mit Mikroprozessoren Ein Vervielfacher, bestehend aus einem schnellen digitalen Vervielfacher und AnalogDigital-, sowie Digital-Analog-Wandlem, wird fiir den BBC-Mikrocomputer entwickelt. Die Schaltung ermoglicht den Erhalt praktischer Erfahrung in der Verarbeitung digitaler Signale bei geringsten Kosten. Beispiele von Ausfiihrungen von Endlichimpulsantwortfiltem und eines Autokorrelationalgorithmus werden gegeben. Un aeelerador para el proceso de seoales digitales en tiempo real con mieroprocesadores Se ha diseiiado un acelerador, que consiste en un multiplicador digital rapido y convertidores AID y D/A, para un microcomputador BBC. EI circuito permite adquirir experiencia personal en el tratamiento de seiiales digitales con costo minimo. Se acompaiian algunos ejemplos para la implantacion de filtros FIR asi como un algoritmo de autocorrelacion, BOOK REVIEW McGraw Hill Dictionary ofElectrical and Electronic Engineering: ed. S. P. PARKER (McGraw Hill, 1984,488 pp., £19.95 paperback) The contents of this dictionary have previously been published in the McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 3rd ed. Like other technical dictionaries, this one is unlikely to be of use to a specialist in electrical and electronic engineering. Technical editors or translators may find it of use, though some explanations of terms are rather out of date, while more up-to-date references are missing. ANNE BUCKLEY, Assistant Editor


A high-surface-area polyethylene-fiber adsorbent (AF160-2) has been developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory by radiation-induced graft polymerization of acrylonitrile and itaconic acid. The grafted nitriles were converted to amidoxime groups by treating with hydroxylamine. The amidoximated adsorbents were then conditioned with potassium hydroxide (KOH) by varying different reaction parameters such as KOH concentration (0.2, 0.44, and 0.6 M), duration (1, 2, and 3 h), and temperature (60, 70, and 80 °C). Adsorbent screening was then performed with simulated seawater solutions containing sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate, at concentrations found in seawater, and uranium nitrate at a uranium concentration of ∼7–8 ppm and pH 8. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and solid-state NMR analyses indicated that a fraction of amidoxime groups was hydrolyzed to carboxylate during KOH conditioning. The uranium adsorption capacity in the simulated seawater screening solution gradually increased with co...


This time is recognized as a crisis period for both our democracy and the Christan Church. The nation now emerging from a war of gigantic proportions faces difficult adjustments both here and abroad. Professor Kenneth Scott Latourette of Yale University, in the Nobel Lectures delivered at Harvard University, 1940, stated then that the Church faced the most crucial time it had known since the Moham-


In this work, we perform the first systematic investigation of effects of the presence of dark matter on r-mode oscillations in neutron stars (NSs). Using a self-interacting dark matter (DM) model based on the neutron decay anomaly and a hadronic model obtained from the posterior distribution of a recent Bayesian analysis, we impose constraints on the DM self-interaction strength using recent multimessenger astrophysical observations. The constrained DM interaction strength is then used to estimate DM self-interaction cross section and shear viscosity resulting from DM, which is found to be several orders of magnitude smaller than shear viscosity due to hadronic matter. Assuming that the DM fermion is in chemical equilibrium with the neutrons in the neutron star, we estimate the bulk viscosity resulting from the dark decay of neutrons, and find it to be much smaller than the hadronic bulk viscosity. We also conclude that the $r$-mode instability window with minimal hadronic damping mechanisms can become smaller when including DM shear and bulk viscosity but remains incompatible with the X-ray and pulsar observational data for the chosen DM model.


The common edge detection algorithm is improved on,and presentd an edge detection algorithm of self-adaptive threshold applying to gray level images based on the definition of gradient.According to the different gray level of the pixels on the edge,the nine pixels in the mask were divided into two groups for analysis,the gradient magnitude and gradient direction of each pixel was calculated.The image is divided into several regions by the different gradient values.The edge detection can be implemented when the average gray level is figured out for each region and determine the threshold.The experimental result shows that this method can detect thinner and more accurate edge,it can also eliminate the false edges.It is an effective method to detect the edge for the gray level image.


Objective:To assess the protective effects and explore the mechanism of fresh Rehmannia juice on intestinal ischemia-reperfusion(I/R)injury in rats.Methods:One hundred and four SD rats were randomly divided into normal group,I/R group,pretreatment with fresh Rehmannia juice(large/small dose)groups and lactulase control group.In the expements,the root of superior mesenteric artery was blocked with none injury artery clap for 0.5 hour and repefusion for 24 hours,48 hours and 72 hours.Then the damage of intestinal mucous were observed by histopathology,the level of endotoxin were measured.Results:Compared with the I/R group,the damage of intestinal mucous score,the level of D-lactated endotoxin in fresh Rehmannia juice and lactulose groups were obviously decrease(P0.05).Conclusion:Fresh Rehmannia Juice can protect rats from intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury.


To improve the quality of software and the capability of key process,firstly the concept of orthogonal defect classification(ODC) and how to associates defects with phases of the development process are introduced.Then,it evaluates the implement of phases that associated with specific defects via ODC.In additional,a method using history data of similar modules to improve inference on phases that principally associated with specific defects is proposed.It can focus on the problems at an early phase of software development.Finally an actual project is presented to show how to use ODC to analyze development process and determine which phase should be paid close attention.


In the hybrid wireless sensor networks, mobile sinks move to pre-specified sink locations to gather sensory data provided by static sensors. In this setting, scheduling mobile sinks efficiently while prolonging the lifetime of network is a challenge. To remedy this problem, we propose a three-phase energy-balanced heuristic in this paper. We firstly divide the hybrid WSN into grid cells, cluster these grids into clusters according to data communication consumption, and then rebalance these clusters with considering movement consumption by a heuristics algorithm. Therefore, all clusters are balanced in energy consumption when considering the cost of both data gathering and sinks movement. The evaluation results indicate that our technique can compute an optimal grid division within limited time of iterations.


In recent years, the market for children's furniture has grown every year, especially, as parents' attention is concentrated on study furniture, various brand study furniture are being released centering on desks and chairs. However, products focused on study furniture for junior, rather than products of various age groups, are dominant. Therefore, this study considered the developmental and behavioral, emotional and emotional developmental aspects of children by age group and conducted basic study for the development of ideal study furniture for each age group taking into account the complex and integrated dimension such as stability. In order to derive appropriate types of children's study furniture for each age group, From the age of two to begin using study furniture, we classify children aged 2-3, 4-5, 6-7 as infants and 8-9, 10-11, and 12-13 as students. We identified children's development, behavior, play, emotional factors, and study furniture safety design elements and quality standards and used it as a study furniture design standard. In addition, we analyzed the product type by dividing the type of furniture marketed by 51 domestic companies and 53 overseas companies into infant and student furniture, and derived the type of study furniture by integrating it with its furniture design considerations. Based on this, we finally proposed the development direction along with the type of study furniture design, focusing on the check element for developing appropriate learning furniture for each age group, focusing on the home desk, chair, and bookcase.


oC for 7 days. Among several alcohol fermentation yeasts, ethanol contents was the highest in pear Yakju made by S. cerevisiae K-7 and also showed high ethanol content in pear Yakju which was made by commercial S. cerevisiae C-2. Therefore, we selected S. cerevisiae K-7 and S. cerevisiae C-2 as suitable yeasts for brewing of KTPY. Maximal ethanol production (10.4%) was obtained when cooked non-glutinous rice (100 g) and nuruk (30 sp/g) were mixed and added into pear juice (600 ml) with S. cerevisiae K-7 (5%) and fermented at 25 o C for 7 days and also its antihypertensive angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity was 57.2%. Addition of antihypertensive starchy materials into the mash was not affected in ACE inhibitory activity and total acceptability of KTPY.


This paper describes Bayesian selectional preference models that incorporate knowledge from a lexical hierarchy such as WordNet. Inspired by previous work on modelling with WordNet, these approaches are based either on "cutting" the hierarchy at an appropriate level of generalisation or on a "walking" model that selects a path from the root to a leaf. In an evaluation comparing against human plausibility judgements, we show that the models presented here outperform previously proposed comparable WordNet-based models, are competitive with state-of-the-art selectional preference models and are particularly well-suited to estimating plausibility for items that were not seen in training.


In May 2001, we revisited seven sites in the wave-zone of the north shore of the eastern basin of Lake Erie that had been sampled in 1974/75 by Barton and Hynes. Qualitative collections of benthic invertebrates were made using the same methods in both surveys. Total diversity dropped from 122 taxa in 1974/75 to 83 in 2001. The most substantial changes were the disappearance of formerly abundant Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, and other insects, and the appearance of Dreissena bugensis and Echinogammarus ischnus. No Dreissena polymorpha was found but D. bugensis occurred at every site in 2001, accounting for 19.5% of the animals collected. Amphipoda were numerically dominant in both years: the relative abundances of E. ischnus and Gammarus fasciatus together were similar to that of G. fasciatus alone in 1974/75. Gastropoda were relatively more important in 2001. The reduced biodiversity in the fauna of the wave-zone of eastern Lake Erie appears to have been caused primarily by the establishment of dreissenid mussels. INDEX WORDS: Biodiversity, Dreissena, Lake Erie, macroinvertebrates. J. Great Lakes Res. 29(4):608–615 Internat. Assoc. Great Lakes Res., 2003


A field experiment was carried out in the years 2004–2006 at the Experimental Farm in Zawady owned by the University of Podlasie in Siedlce. Two factors were investigated in the study: factor I — potato cultivars: Wiking, Mors and Żagiel, factor II — six ways of Colorado beetle control including the following insecticides: Actara 25 WG, Regent 200 SC and Calypso 480 S.C. (each at three rates), and a control treatment without chemical control. Yields in the study years were low and ranged from 17.59 to 33.33 t  ha -1 . The total tuber yield largely depended on cultivar properties and chemicals applied to control Colorado beetle. The highest ( 26.3 t·ha -1 ) and the lowest (22.3 t·ha -1 ) average total tuber yields were recorded for cultivars Mors and Żagiel, respectively. Significant effects of the insecticides applied upon yielding of potato plants were observed.


Abstract : The report summarizes work done on techniques for fabricating thin conductive, resistive and dielectric films by complete or partial oxidation of a suitable metallic film deposited in predetermined patterns and sequences. Investigation of the mechanism of the deposition process continued. A general law for the relationship between resistivity and time is expressed in logarithmic form. A study was made of the aging characteristics of deposited films. A large series of tests has begun in order to obtain information on the reactive-sputtered Ta2O5 dielectric. The 455 kHz amplifier test vehicle did not notch at the nominal frequency but rather at 1.5 MHz. Attempts were made to selectively etch reactively sputtered tantalum by back sputtering. The conclusions on work results are: (1) For a practical production process, a limit of about 500 ohms/square for sheet resistivity must be set; (2) Better control of the sputtering ambient gas is necessary; (3) Work on the 455 kHz amplifier has stopped pending further work on the MnO2 layer to reduce capacitor losses at high frequency; (4) Gold-doped resistors require further analysis to establish temperature coefficient of resistivity values and the maximum sheet resistance obtainable; and (5) Sputter etching is not applicable to the removal of heavily oxidized tantalum films from silicon oxide substrates. (Author)


The inquiry into the modern processes of ideologization played a crucial role within the contemporary debate about the 20th Century as the "age of extremes". Among the most original and interesting reading of the historical assumptions of this phenomena, it worth the while to point out the research developed in Germany within the Begriffsgeschchte laboratory. Moving from the seminal reflection on the "age of ideologies" developed by Otto Brunner, the essay focuses on the original ways of conceptualizing this issue articulated by Reinhart Koselleck, and on its outputs for the whole lexicographic field of Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe.


The text presented deals with an approach on cultural heritage in the context of the experiences lived by a social group. The proposed objective was to portray landmarks of black culture in the urban space of the city of Rio Claro-SP (Brazil). The methodology used was based on narratives of community representatives and images to build spatial and temporal references of places identified by relations of belonging. Individual and collective memory allowed to reconstitute the dialectic of time and space through the memories and everyday experiences brought by the informants. The places of memory are spaces of collective belonging that allow the individual to reconstruct themselves.


The main difficulties faced by enterprises in the 21 st century are the competition and combination of various resources,especially the competition and use of personnel.With the approach of knowledge economy,human capital has overtaten the material and monetary capitals to become the most important part in the production factors and society wealth.By analyzing the current situation in enterprise's human resources of China,this paper points out,apart from referring and absorbing foreign advanced theories and experiences,the enterprises should strengthen the establishment of its own enterprise culture and promote it form the important theoretical basis for the development and management of human resources.


A non-linear torsional vibration model of harmonic gear drive is proposed in the current study. The model includes clearance, nonlinearity torsional stiffness and nonlinearity damping. The clearance model is developed by introducing the piecewise-linear displacement functions. The function of nonlinearity torsional stiffness is obtained by torsional stiffness experimental. The model of nonlinearity damping is used to describe the process of transmission. The non-linear differential equations are solved using Runge-Kutta method. The numerical simulation results show that the influence of nonlinear factors on dynamic behavior, which has chaotic characteristics, is remarkable.


We report on the parallel implementation of a multi-view image segmentation algorithm via segmenting the corresponding three-dimensional scene. The algorithm includes the reconstruction of a three-dimensional scene model in the form of a point cloud, and the segmentation of the resulting point cloud in three-dimensional space using the Hough space. The developed parallel algorithm was implemented on graphics processing units using CUDA technology. Experiments were performed to evaluate the speedup and efficiency of the proposed algorithm. The developed parallel program was tested on modelled scenes.


83 Retrieval Number: G0687034720/2020©BEIESP DOI: 10.35940/ijmh.G0687.034720 Journal Website: www.ijmh.org Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering & Sciences Publication © Copyright: All rights reserved. Abstract: Replacement of inorganic fertilizer with organic manure is welcome by the world due to health concern and increasing cost of production. In the coconut sector, inorganic fertilizers are heavily used and it is costly. Therefore, three treatment combinations were tried to supplement or replace the inorganic fertilizer with the organic manure for the coconut palms. The study revealed that completely forgetting the inorganic fertilizer with the tested amount of organic manure is not possible. Addition of organic manure to the existing inorganic fertilizer dose recommendation is not increasing the nut's yield in number but the nut's quality.


A source repeatedly communicates a message through a channel so as to persuade a decision-maker to take a favorable action. The decision-maker observes the environment, the message and his cumulative learning experience and stochastically goes through a sequence of information processing states before taking an action. The transient and the steady state components of this information processing behavior are modeled in the semi-Markov process framework. Given such behavior, the problem of optimal communication system design is considered, using different measures of effectiveness of the persuasion process. Applications to advertising, decentralized planning and organizational decision-making are indicated.


The Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa was founded in the 1950s to promote social and economic development in the Basque region of Spain. Its underlying mission and its working guidelines are based on Catholic Social Thought (CST). In this article we see how the CST foundations of Mondragon have led to a business organization that is very different from the standard business model. ********** Introduction Too often in business schools we look at the modern large corporation as the only model for organizing a business enterprise, yet there have been many successful organizations that have adopted a different form. One example is the Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa ("Mondragon"), a large and successful business which has been built on Catholic social thought principles. This article addresses the response to the "calling" of the Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa, a for-profit organization, to promote Catholic social thought by embodying it in its stated principles and in its day-to-day practice. Mondragon responds to a calling to holiness as an organization that competes successfully in a global market economy while maintaining its congruence with Catholic social thought. My goal is to illustrate how Mondragon embodies Catholic social thought, as reflected in the 10 basic principles (see Appendix) which, as will be shown, are not just part of an ideal set of guidelines, but are substantiated as pragmatic policies and practices. This article is structured as follows: first, there is a description of Mondragon and of a contrasting "traditional organization." Then a brief definition of justice and solidarity according to Catholic social thought is provided, and further explicated throughout the article as the various practical applications of Catholic social thought in Mondragon are described. And third, the Mondragon principles, policies and practices are described, which, for the sake of clarity, have been classified under social justice, economic justice, the dignity of persons and their work, and solidarity, the four main themes in Catholic social thought. However, as will become evident to the reader, the Mondragon principles and practices are closely interrelated and are difficult to classify exclusively in terms of any one concept, because Catholic social thought permeates all aspects of Mondragon. Description of Mondragon and a Traditional Organization The following descriptions of Mondragon and a "traditional organization" distinguish the two types of organizations. Mondragon, a for-profit organization with headquarters in the Basque region of Spain, was founded in 1956 by five young engineers, inspired by a Catholic priest by the name of Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta. Today Mondragon has 60,000 managers and employees (called worker-owners) in a conglomerate of almost 150 cooperative enterprises, with annual revenues of eight billion dollars. Mondragon has industrial, retail and financial operations throughout Spain, 34 manufacturing facilities in 12 other countries, three major research and development centers, a multi-campus university, and its own bank and health care system (www.mondragon.mcc.es). Based on Arizmendiarrieta's teachings, and on the evolving practical experience of the Mondragon worker-owners for the last 45 years, Mondragon has institutionalized a system of work that is consistent with Catholic social thought. Mondragon is a principle-based, worker-owned and managed Entrepreneur.com http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/print/116926710.html 1 of 13 6/22/09 2:51 PM cooperative organization. It promotes broad participation in management while distributing decision-making power throughout the organization. Mondragon is a unique example of an integrated economic and social system that has thrived in profitability and accelerated growth for almost 50 years. For the purpose of this study, a traditional organization (for-profit or not-for-profit) is characterized by top-down decisionmaking, (with) restricted participation of employees, a concentration of power at the top of the organization, and limited information about the organization available to employees. A traditional for-profit organization is further characterized by capital investors and employees usually being different people; maximization of economic benefits to primarily reward capital investors; objectives of investors, managers and workers often not being consistent with each other; and voluntary economic participation in the community. Description of Four Concepts in Catholic Social Thought For our present purposes, we will limit ourselves to four basic concepts of Catholic Social Thought: social justice, economic justice, the dignity of persons and their work, and solidarity. Abbreviated descriptions of these terms are provided for reference. Social justice "implies that persons have an obligation to be active and productive participants in the life of society and that society has a duty to enable them to participate in this way" [emphasis on the original, National Conference of Catholic Bishops--henceforth abbreviated as NCCB, No. 71]. The right to participate in economic gains and decision-making is also fostered in Catholic social thought. "The active sharing of all in the administration and profits of ... enterprises ... is to be promoted," because, in economic enterprises, it is persons who work together, that is, free and independent human beings created in the image of God [Gaudium et Spes, 68]. Economic justice is inextricably connected with social justice, because the latter cannot be attained without addressing the former. "Work with adequate pay for all who seek it is the primary means for achieving basic justice in our society" [NCCB, No. 73]. Two of the main components of economic justice, therefore, are the right to work and the right to a just wage [Laborem exercens, 18-19]. "Human labor which is expended in the production and exchange of goods or in the performance of economic services is superior to the other elements of economic life. From this fact "arise[s] every man's duty to labor faithfully and his right to work. It is the duty of society, moreover, according to the circumstances prevailing in it, and in keeping with its proper role, to help its citizens to find opportunities for adequate employment" [Gaudium et Spes, 67]. The dignity of human persons and their work has been part of Catholic social thought from the beginning. As stated in Genesis: Entrepreneur.com http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/print/116926710.html 2 of 13 6/22/09 2:51 PM "Man is made to be in the visible universe an image and likeness of God Himself, and ... he is called to work. Work is one of the characteristics that distinguish man from the rest of creatures, whose activity for sustaining their lives cannot be called work" [emphasis in the original, Laborem exercens] ... "As the 'image of God' [man] is a person ... a subjective being capable of acting in a planned and rational way ... As a person, man is therefore the subject of work" [emphasis in the original, 6]. Solidarity, for the purpose of this article, is understood as a pursuit of the welfare of all. According to Pope John Paul, solidarity "is the structural response demanded by gospel love ... [It] is undoubtedly a Christian virtue" [12:185]. As described in Pope John Paul II's encyclical letter Sollicitudo rei socialis (The Social Concerns of the Church), solidarity is "a firm and persevering determination to commit to the common good ... to the good of all and of each individual, because we are really responsible for all (as cited in Pilarczyk [19:23]). "Solidarity," adds Pilarczyk, "is justice writ large." Mondragon Principles, Policies and Practices and Catholic Social Thought (1) It is relevant to initiate the description of Mondragon by referring to Don Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta, the Catholic priest who inspired the founders of Mondragon and whose social thought has profoundly influenced its principles, policies and practices throughout its history. Arizmendiarrieta never wrote anything for publication but excerpts from his journals have been published in English as a book called Reflections. (2) Due to the essential role that Arizmendiarrieta and his social thought have played in the creation and continued transformation of Mondragon, this article will include numerous citations from the Reflections book, and for simplicity, unless otherwise noted, his citations will be identified with a page number only. Mondragon Principles that Promote Social Justice The two seminal principles that serve as a foundation to promote social justice in Mondragon are democratic organization, and worker-owners' participation. About democracy, Arizmendiarrieta wrote: "Democracy, once adopted nobly, is conducive to discipline, to responsibility, to the reaffirmation of solidarity. Definitely, democracy is conducive to authentic social progress" [20:52-53]. About participation, Arizmendiarrieta stated: "The self-managed society will be that in which all of us, with our education and willingness to participate, are able to realize accomplishments" [20:57]. He believed that participation in decision-making was necessary to achieve individual and collective freedom and that effective participation was possible only after one became educated and informed about the issues being decided upon [2:818-819]. The Grounding of Justice and Solidarity: Mondragon as a Democratic Organization The "Mondragon experience" is possible, first and uppermost, because of the principle of Democratic Organization, which creates the legal, moral and operational environment that allows all other principles, policies and practices to exist. According to Pilarczyk, Catholic Social Thought implies that persons should participate in governance according to their capabilities. In other words, "the term social justice ... designate[s] the right and obligation of individual persons to be invo


This paper analyzes the key influence factors of large scale project decisionmaking, puts out a model based on entropy coefficient and fuzzy theory, the double base points method for multiple attribute decision making is also used in this model. In the model, we introduce the concepts of entropy coefficient and the closeness to ideal point, definite the key degree of influence factor for large project decisionmaking. At last, one example is given, it shows the model is reasonable and effective for key factor analysis of large scale project decisionmaking.


Functional design is a process in engineering design that dominates the key features of the result to be developed. Designing good functions that both satisfies the requirements and leads to better results is a challenge due to uncertainties on the consequences of the selected functions, and the lack of analysis methods for identifying the properties of function structures. Therefore, extensive experiences are usually required for functional design. This research argues that the physical relationships among the resulting components of a design are the consequences of functional dependencies developed during the functional design process. Therefore based on the understanding of functions and functional dependencies, a reasoning procedure can be developed to predict the performance properties of the design so that the effectiveness of the functional design can be evaluated at an early design stage. This paper proposes a dependency-based function modeling and analysis method that can be applied to represent and assess functions and function structures at the functional design stage. Designers can predict the properties of the functions they designed without having to have similar design experiences. An application software is also developed to implement the method and demonstrate its effectiveness.© 2002 ASME


In this paper we review theories on the economic significance of IT and telecommunications, and discuss the nature of the economic effects that should be expected from the diffusion of these technologies and increased emphasis on information activities. Economic and social theory both lead to the suggestion that the diffusion of IT and telecommunications, and intensification of information activities do not lead deterministically to economic growth. Rather, organisations are faced with pressures to work out changes in the ways they do business or deliver their services, and policymakers must plan for a macro-economic environment that facilitates economic and social changes. A crucial question which emerges in this context is whether organisations in developing countries acquiring information and communication technologies (ICT) should also seek to transfer 'best practice' for doing business. In this paper we question the feasibility and desirability of such an approach, and suggest that developing countries should make efforts to develop organisational practices which are locally appropriate.


We present new results on nonlocal Dirichlet problems established by means of suitable spectral theoretic and variational methods, taking care of the nonlocal feature of the operators. We mainly address: First, we estimate the Morse index of radially symmetric sign changing bounded weak solutions to a semilinear Dirichlet problem involving the fractional Laplacian and derive the conjecture due to Bañuelos and Kulczycki on the geometric structure of the second eigenfunctions. Secondly, we study a small order asymptotics with respect to the parameter of the Dirichlet eigenvalues problem for the fractional Laplacian. Thirdly, we deal with the logarithmic Schrödinger operator. In particular, we provide an alternative to derive the singular integral representation corresponding to the associated Fourier symbol and introduce tools and functional analytic framework for variational studies. Finaly, we study nonlocal operators of order strictly below one. In particular, we investigate interior regularity properties of weak solutions to the associated Poisson problem depending on the regularity of the right-hand side.


This investigation was undertaken to examine the relationship between identity status and authoritarianism through techniques of meta-analysis. Identity theory and earlier research have suggested associations between these constructs, but they have not previously been submitted to meta-analysis procedures. This analysis examined the hypothesis that foreclosures would score significantly higher on measures of authoritarianism than achievement, moratorium, or diffusion statuses. An initial database of 565 empirical studies of Marcia's identity statuses, conducted between 1966–2005, was identified from the PsycINFO, ERIC, Sociological Abstracts, and Dissertation Abstracts International databases using the following search terms: "identity status," "identity and Marcia," "identity and Marcia's," and "ego identity." Thirteen of these studies examined the relationship between identity status and authoritarianism, and nine (N = 861) provided sufficient data for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Hedges's g was the effect size measure used in analyses, and results showed the mean Hedges's g for the foreclosure status to be significantly higher than for all other identity statuses. Furthermore, these effect sizes were all large in terms of Cohen's criteria and were significant. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future research.


My article narrates and theorizes one educational moment of speaking 'across' the social and political margins in a peripheral college on the northern border of Israel. I recognize the academic space as what historian Louise Pratt titled a 'contact zone' where peoples geographically and historically separated meet within radically asymmetrical relations of power. In the Israeli academia, secular Westernized Jewish students and teachers from hegemonic groups interact with students from political and social minorities. Despite continued estrangement and mutual hostility, these encounters at times lead to unexpected moments of multicultural alliances. Feminist critical pedagogies serve to identify and create occasions for such interactions that are missing from most academic locations. However, as I demonstrate in this article, these moments which create potential unforeseen resistance to the existing power structure can easily be overlooked. The article focuses on a moment of pedagogical failure to identify an attempt by two female students to cross national affiliations and overcome mutual hostilities, expressing unforeseen solidarity with each other. Reflecting on the political and social reasons for my failure, I end the article by imagining an attempt at amending the pedagogical damage, giving the two students another chance to express their solidarity.


Abstract Six species of the genus Aptesis Förster 1850 belonging to the tribe Hemigastrini of the subfamily Cryptinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) are reported from China. Three of them, Aptesis elongata Li & Sheng, sp. n., Aptesis melana Li & Sheng, sp. n. and Aptesis nigricoxa Li & Sheng, sp. n. reared from sawflies in China, are new to science. The biology of Aptesis melana is described. A key to the species of Aptesis known from China is provided.


CONGENITAL cyanotic heart disease is extremely rare in animals suitable for cardiovascular research. In the dog, for example, the incidence of congenital cardiovascular abnormality in a population of 5000 was 4.5 per cent (Patterson, 1965), and of the various lesions less than I per cent were of the type which could induce central cyanosis. The rarity of the naturally occurring condition has made it necessary to devise techniques for inducing a large right-to-left shunt in normal laboratory animals so that cyanotic subjects can be made readily available for experimental work. The various operations which have been described for this purpose are grouped here under four headings :Pulmonary Arteriovenous Fistulae : Blalock (1946) j Takaro, Essex, and Burchell (1951); Dalton, Hardy, and Jackson (1963). Septa1 Defects with Increased Right Heart Pressure : Blalock (1946) ; Watkins, Pomeranz, Goldsmith, and Gross (1953). Partial Inferior Vena Cava-Left Atrial Diversion : Spencer, Eiseman, and Reeves (1965); Miyauchi, Fraser, and Paton (1967). Total Superior or Inferior Vena Cava-Left Atrial Diversion : Gerbode and Hultgren (1950) ; Fuson (1965); Zaroff and Lowenstein (1965); Miyauchi and others (1967). The mortality with these operations varied between 20 per cent and IOO per cent. In the first three groups the size of the shunt was unpredictable and some of the animals failed to become cyanotic. In the last group all the survivors were cyanotic but the operative techniques involved one or more of the following: the insertion of a Dacron graft, the use of an extracorporeal circulation, or temporary occlusion of the thoracic aorta. This study was made with the object of devising a simple reliable operation of low mortality which would divert a large and predictable percentage of the venous return past the lungs.


The effectiveness of phage biocontrol depends on the activity of bacteriophage in a given environment. In order to investigate the infectivity and the stability of bacteriophages in representative environments, three virulent phages, Listeria phage A511, Salmonella phage Felix O1, and Escherichia coli phage T7, were subjected to different temperatures, pHs and salt concentrations (NaCI). Phage infectivity was also determined in the presence of divalent cations (Mg or Ca). As a result, three phages exhibited a wide range of survival rates under various environments. Phage infectivity was directly correlated with bacterial growth under the applied conditions. One exception was Felix O1 that did not kill Salmonella grown in low pH (4.5). The failure was attributed to defective adsorption of Felix O1. This finding is significiant as it provides an explanation for the inefficient phage biocontrol. Therefore, such information is crucial to improve phage biocontrol of pathogens.


This research aims mainly to reveal the relationship between piety and its aspects and its practical connections based on what is cited in the verse: "O Prophet, we have sent you as a witness, a herald and a warner"1. It was found that the Holy Qur'an, through the verse, has identified three goals for the message of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) which are: faith and belief in the existence and oneness of Allah (SWT), as well as belief in his angels, books and messengers (witnessing), guidance to implement and achieve what is stated in the Qur'an, clarification and explanation of what is permissible and what is not permissible (a bearer of good tidings), and a warning of the consequences and the reckoning of recompense for the deeds committed (a warner). In the introduction, piety and its meanings, definitions, and formulas were presented and clarified, in addition to the importance of piety in Islam. It came in two sections: In the first, the aspects of piety in the Holy Qur'an were analyzed, including the classification of piety in three interrelated and mutual aspects: faith, application and accounting piety. In the second, five important relationships of piety in Islam were presented and detailed including: the relationship between faith and piety, sincerity, interdependence, exchange and integration in aspects of piety, the ways to achieve piety, and the relationship between intention and piety. The method used in the research is a combination of the descriptive and inductive method and the content analysis method. The research was completed with a conclusion section that included the most important achieved results.


21 JUNE 2003 Fans continue to present problems concerning noise emission and this is exacerbated by their ever-widening applications both industrially and domestically. The First International Symposium on FAN NOISE was held in September 1992 in Senlis and attracted over 250 participants from 20 countries. During the intervening decade, important progress has been made in understanding, predicting and reducing fan noise by improvements in design and installation, together with the extended use of control devices. This Second International Symposium offers a timely opportunity to examine and review the progress that has been achieved over the past ten years by workers in the field. It will be of particular relevance to designers, installers and users. All types of fans are considered, except high speed fans in aeronautical propulsion applications. The programme of this three-day event will include two invited lectures and 65 technical papers presented in oral and poster sessions, with significant time left for discussion at the end of each oral session. Presentations will be given in English with an English-French simultaneous translation.


We report a case of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) associated with denosumab therapy in a 69-year-old female patient being treated for osteoporosis. The patient was admitted in Oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic twice because of nonhealing extraction wounds and inflammatory complications. We recommend conservative therapeutic approach and avoidance of extensive surgery in patients with ONJ.


We present a digital polymer switch based on a novel robust waveguide concept. The device is polarisation independent, high temperature stable (Tg>350/spl deg/C) and exhibits an extinction ratio of more than 25 dB.


A method introduced by Stillinger for finding global minima of potential surfaces and for achieving the optimization objectives of simulated annealing is shown to require caution in some of its applications. In particular, a range parameter is varied to eliminate secondary minima on the potential surface or hypersurface of the objective function of interest. We show that in some cases, using minimizations on the simplified surface to reveal minima on the more complex surface require scrutiny of the sequences of low‐energy minima, as functions of the range parameter whose variation controls the complexity of the surface.


PNAS u March 20, 2012 u vol. 109 u no. 12 u 4337–4338 www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/iti1212109 Whole genome sequencing has helped researchers understand how viral pathogens evolve within their hosts. Compared with viruses, however, bacteria have larger genomes that replicate more faithfully and tend to conceal genetic variations that reflect population dynamics and functional adaptation within the host. Bernadette Young et al. (pp. 4550–4555) used whole genome sequencing to examine methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the bacteria responsible for a deadly, antibiotic-resistant hospitalacquired infection. The authors report that just eight mutations may underlie the transition from bacteria carried in an asymptomatic population to the bugs responsible for a fatal bloodstream illness. From a large cohort of subjects with nasally carried asymptomatic methicillinsensitive S. aureus (MSSA), the authors charted the evolution of the bacterial population in an elderly patient who developed an S. aureus bloodstream infection 15 months after joining the study. When compared with two asymptomatic carriers, the authors found dynamic populations of staphylococci, harboring relatively few genetic variations that evolved measurably through time. Notably, the authors report, half of the mutations that distinguish the asymptomatic from bloodstream bacteria produce stop codons that truncate proteins prematurely and likely contribute to pathogenesis. The authors conclude that high-throughput sequencing may help researchers characterize bacterial genetic variation and evolution within the host. — T.J. Staph population genetics may reveal pathogenesis


Abstract Toxoplasma gondii and Bartonella spp. are zoonotic pathogens of cats. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLv) are related to human immunodeficiency virus, and human leukemia virus, respectively; all of these viruses are immunosuppressive. In the present study, the prevalence of antibodies to T. gondi, Bartonella spp., FIV, as well as FeLv antigen were determined in sera from 75 domestic and 101 feral cats (Felis catus) from the Caribbean island of Grenada, West Indies. Using a modified agglutination test, antibodies to T. gondii were found in 23 (30.6%) of the 75 pet cats with titers of 1:25 in 1, 1:50 in 3, 1:400 in 4, 1:500 in 12, 1:800 in 2, and 1:1,600 in 1, and 28 (27.7%) of 101 feral cats with titers of 1:25 in 4, 1:50 in 7, 1:200 in 4, 1:400 in 1, 1:500 in 3, 1:800 in 2, 1:1,600 in 3, and 1:3,200 in 4. Overall, in both pet and feral cats, the seroprevalence increased with age. Antibodies to Bartonella spp. were found in 38 (50.6%) of the 75 pet cats and 52.4% of 101 feral cats. Antibodies to FIV were found in 6 domestic and 22 feral cats. None of the 176 cats was positive for FeLv antigen. There was no correlation among T. gondii, Bartonella spp., and FIV seropositivity.


The present invention relates to a Duoyi fruit juice beverage. The Duoyi fruit is a kind of specific wild fruit of Yunnan prov. of China. Said invention uses the Duoyi fruit juice as main raw material and forms two main formulas, in which one formula consists of (wt%) 11-20% of Duoyi fruit juice, 11-16% of white sugar, 0-0.08% of honey, 0-0.05% of licorice, 0-0.03% of ginseng, 0-5% of passionfruit juice and the rest is water, and another formula contains no passionfruit juice. Its processing method includes pressing Duoyi fruit to make juice, adding white sugar, honey, passionfruit juice, licorice or ginseng extract and water in the Duoyi fruit juice, stirring, filtering, deaerating, filling and sealing, sterilizing, heat-insulatng and inspection.


--To increase understanding of roosting habitat of Mexican Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis lucida) and factors that influence use of roosting habitat, we sampled habitat characteristics at 1790 sites used for roosting by 28 radio-marked Mexican Spotted Owls in three study areas in Arizona and New Mexico. We explored potential patterns of variation in roost-site characteristics by estimating similarity among all possible pairs of roost sites and summarizing patterns in these similarity estimates using a linear model. Factors in the model included owl identity and season. We conducted these analyses within study areas, because habitat characteristics differed among study areas. We used a repeated-measures model which assumed that similarity estimates computed between roost sites of the same owl or pairs of owls were correlated. This model significantly improved model goodness-of-fit over a null model assuming no such correlation structure. Similarity estimates were relatively high (0.744-0.775) in all three study areas, suggesting consistent patterns of selection among owls within areas. Owl and season effects were relatively small but detectable in all study areas, with the relative magnitude of these effects differing among areas. The seasonal effect was greatest in the area dominated by pine-oak forest and relatively slight in two areas where owls roosted primarily in mixed-conifer forest. Relative to areas where owls roosted in mixed-conifer forest, roosts in pine-oak forest occurred on moderate slopes, on southwest to northwest aspects, and were less concentrated on lower portions of slopes. We suspected that much of this difference reflected differences in stand-development processes in different forest types. This suggested that land managers should incorporate knowledge of such patterns in different forest types and topographic locations in planning decisions involving management of Spotted Owl habitat.


This paper is the result of a pedagogical intervention project carried out in a primary school. The intervention took place in a 4th grade class (n=24) and involved an inquirybased approach to the teaching of the curricular topic "water phase changes". The project employed an action research methodology whose main goals were: a) to promote inquiry-based science teaching; b) to describe and analyse the process of the construction of meanings in relation to the phenomena under study, and c) to evaluate the learning acquired by the students. At the end of each lesson, a class diary was prepared a descriptive and reflective narrative compiled from the field notes and audio recordings made during participant observation in the classroom. It was one of these class diaries that served as basis for this article, which describes and analyses the process of scientific meaning construction occurred in the classroom, around the phenomenon of "water evaporation". The results of the assessment on the learning acquired show that the vast majority of students developed an atomistic model to explain the phenomenon of water evaporation, in which liquid water turns into small, invisible particles (water vapour), which become part of the air around us. This model is consistent with the notion of conservation of matter.


Dr Joan Ostaszkiewicz questions whether padding incontinence at night is really the best we can do for people living in residential aged care.


On-line Auger electron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS) were employed to determine the concentration, spatial distribution, and local chemical bonding of nitrogen in ultrathin oxynitride films grown by Ar/N2O remote plasma processing. Nitrogen incorporation in the films occurs primarily at the Si–SiO2 interface irrespective of rf power (5–50 W); however, the interfacial nitrogen concentration increases with rf power. Up to 0.6 monolayers of nitrogen atoms, bonded as (Si–)3N, are incorporated at the interface. Atomic oxygen generated in N2O plasma decomposition scavenges nitrogen from the bulk of the film, effectively confining nitrogen to a very narrow region near the substrate. A very small concentration of nitrogen, bonded as (Si–)2N–O, is detected on the top surface of the film by ARXPS.


The plant Chasmanthera dependens (Hochst) have been used to manage many diseases including diabetes mellitus without scientific evaluation of its efficacy and safety. The main objective of the project was to determine the antidiabetic activity of Chasmanthera dependens plant in a rat model. Experimental design was used where the stem of the plant was collected, dried, crashed into fine powder, extracted with distilled water at 60°C and lyophilized using a Freeze Dryer, packaged in air tight container and stored at -20°C ready for use. The extract was orally and intraperitoneally screened in alloxan induced diabetic mice for its hypoglycemic activity at doses of 25, 48.4, 93.5, 180.9 and 350 mg per kg body weight. Diabetes in mice was induced using 186.9 mg/kg of alloxan monohydrate. Negative controls included normal and diabetic rats orally and intraperitoneally administered with physiological saline while positive controls included diabetic rats administered with glibenclamide as oral and insulin as intraperitoneal reference drug. The results revealed hypoglycemic activity in Chasmanthera dependens at the five different doses when given either orally or intraperitoneally. In conclusion, the medicinal plant at the various doses demonstrated significant (ρ ≤ 0.05) hypoglycemic activity. The author's recommendation is continued use of the plant extracts at low therapeutic doses. Consideration should be made to carry out the same studies using higher animals including man.


In x-ray multilayer, the thickness of top layer plays an important role in determining its reflectivity performance. In experimentally grown multilayer, the top layer parameters are found significantly different from those of underneath layers due to growth related issues and contamination effect. The calculations suggest that for top layer characterization the sensitivity of reflectivity technique depends on layer material. Considering the top layer of silicon the first Bragg peak reflectivity of Mo/Si multilayer changes by 2-3% while change in top layer thickness by a factor of two and more, In case of SiO2 as a top layer material the 1st Bragg peak reflectivity changes by 13%. The analysis of total electron yield (TEY) data reveals that the technique can be used to probe 2-4 A variation in top layer thickness. The both technique-reflectivity and TEY, together gives an complete information of multilayer structural parameters.


The development of online social network has greatly promoted the interaction between users. Trust plays an important role in social activities of social network, which can effectively avoid the risk from unreliable users. In fact, most users have no direct interaction, i.e., there is no direct connection in the social network, so the indirect trust of the target user can only be evaluated by the friends who contact indirectly. The propagation and aggregation methods of trust affect the results of trust evaluation to a great extent. The existing aggregation methods generally have the problem of low prediction accuracy. In addition, how to find a reliable path to propagate trust is also a major challenge. This paper proposes a DoubleDQNTrust(DDQNTrust) algorithm based on reinforcement learning DoubleDQN to find reliable trust paths. Secondly, based on standard collaborative filtering and considering the similarity between users, a new aggregation method is proposed. The experimental results on Filmtrust online social network data set show that DDQNTrust algorithm can effectively find reliable trust paths, and can evaluate trust with high prediction accuracy.


With the development of bioligical gene engineering,transgenic herbicide—resistant crops have been widely planted all round the world,world,and great economic profits havs been obtained.The classifiaction,functional mechanism and safety appraisal,of transgenic herbicideresistant crops,sre reviewed.


The preparation, stability and decomposition of methylhydrazine oxalate (MHOX) were investigated. White needles of MHOX were prepared. The molecular formula of MHOX is (CH3N2H4)2C2O4. The aqueous solution of MHOX is stable at ambient temperature. The kinetics of redox reaction between oxalic acid and H2O2 used as an oxidant was studied. The kinetic rate equation is as follows -d[Ox]/dt = k [Ox][H2O2][H+]0.34. The kinetics of redox reaction between methylhydrazine and H2O2 was also studied. The rate of decomposition of methylhydrazine is higher than that of oxalic acid. The decomposition reaction is given as follows: CH3N2H3+H2O2 →N2+CH4+2H2O . The proposed kinetic rate equation is as follows: -d[CH3N2H3]/dt = k[CH3N2H3][H2O2]. The rate of decomposition of MHOX with H2O2 depends mainly on that of oxalic acid. Experiments show that the washing efficiency of uranium from 30% TBP-kerosene (OK) used with MHOX is the same as that with Na2CO3. The washing efficiency of Pu and Am with MHOX is greater than that with Na2CO3.


Abstract In 1883 and early 1884 the controversial commemoration of the four-hundredth birthday of Martin Luther, celebrated in Germany and worldwide, captured much British public attention. The examination of this celebration offered here will improve current understanding of late Victorian religious controversies and indicate their continuing centrality to a range of cultural and historical debates in the period. The commemoration invigorated historic antagonisms in the British religious landscape, yet it also did far more than this. The commemoration provided a platform for those who wanted to foster Protestant unity in the face of what was widely perceived to be a revived threat from 'popery' and religious indifference at home and abroad. Whereas some religious and not-very-religious commentators, often belonging to a younger generation, wanted closely to associate Luther's world-historical role with liberalizing intellectual and social progress, others – sceptics, Catholics, high Anglicans, older Protestants – resisted this. Arguments about Luther's life and teaching often became more broadly Victorian discussions of the family, Anglo-German affinities or antagonisms, and the nature of modernity. By relating themes in the study of modern religious history to current concerns in the history of historical writing, this article will point to wider lacunae in scholarly approaches to nineteenth-century culture.


In this paper,we reported the spectroscopic properties of praseodymium ions(Pr~(3+)) doped transparent oxyfluoride glass ceramic excited with different laser lines,such as 532,514.5 and 476.5 nm.and the spectroscopic features of Pr~(3+) ions in LaF3 nanocrystals(NCs) and in oxide glass were presented.It was found that the population on 3P0 state of Pr~(3+) ion in NCs and in glass can be achieved by multi-phonon assistance process when excited by 514.5 nm laser lines.As a comparison,476.5 nm laser line which is mainly resonant with the 3H4 to 3P0 transition of Pr~(3+) ions in NCs is used as the excitation source,transitions from 3P0 state to many lower states,such as 3H5,3H6,3F2 manifolds were observed and it showed significant difference from those excited by 532 nm and 514.5 nm laser lines in which only transition from 3P0 to 3H5 exists.We attribute those different spectroscopic features as selectively excitation of Pr~(3+) ions in different environments where exist strong/weak electron-phonon coupling in the 3P0,1 states of Pr~(3+) ion in NCs and in glass.Crystallization behavior and vibrational properties of transparent glass ceramic were also stu-died by Raman spectroscopy excited by 532 nm and 514.5 nm laser lines.


In this paper, we describe and discuss the use of multiple tools in distance learning. We focus on HyperMirror, but also look at other tools used for videobased interactions during our HyperMirror projects. First, we describe what HyperMirror is. Then we explain the application of HyperMirror to distance learning, especially our HyperMirror projects, and introduce previous studies of distance learning using HyperMirror. Examples of usage of HyperMirror along with other tools: standard video cameras, overhead cameras, and shared work space tools are provided. Finally, based on these examples, we discuss the use of HyperMirror and/or other tools. It became clear that the choices of appropriate tools in distance learning were important. Also, we saw that multiple tools can supplement each other when used together in distance learning projects.


In September 2019, the UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee warned that the UK's food supply was vulnerable to climate change. Within the UK food retailing is highly concentrated with the four leading food retailers accounting for almost 70% of all food sales. In the face of the threat of climate change to food supplies, a focus on resilience might be seen to have much to offer retailers. However, little work has been published in the academic literature on if, and how, retailers are employing the concept of resilience in their business plans. With these thoughts in mind, this commentary paper provides an exploratory review of how, the UK's four leading food retailers, namely Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons, have publicly acknowledged the importance of resilience in the face of climate change. The paper outlines definitions of resilience and retail resilience, draws out four general themes within the UK food retailers' resilience plans and offers some wider reflections on the retailers' resilience plans in the face of climate change.


Connectivity is a fundamental concept that is widely utilized in spatial ecology. The majority of connectivity measures used in the recent ecological literature only consider the nearest neighbor patch/population, or patches within a limited neighborhood of the focal patch (a buffer). Meta-analysis suggests that studies using nearest neighbor connectivity measures are much less likely to find statistically significant effects of connectivity than studies that use more complex measures. Here we compare simple connectivity measures in their ability to predict colonization events in two large and good-quality empirical data sets. The nearest neighbor distance to an occupied patch is found to be an inferior measure. Buffer measures do much better, but their performance is found to be sensitive to the estimate of the buffer radius. For highly fragmented habitats, the best and most consistent performance is found for a measure that takes into account the size of the focal patch and the sizes of and distances to all potential source populations. When experimenting with reduced data sets, it was discovered that nearest neighbor measures fail to find a statistically significant effect of connectivity for a large range of data set sizes for which the more complex measures still detect a highly significant effect. We conclude that the simplicity of a nearest neighbor measure is not an adequate compensation for poor performance.


That a mobile welding robot with an adaptive seam tracking ability can greatly improve welding efficiency and quality has been extensively studied. To further improve automation in multiple-station welding, we developed a novel intelligent mobile welding robot consisting of a four-wheeled mobile platform and a collaborative manipulator. With the support of simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology, the robot is capable of automatically navigating to different stations to perform welding operations. To automatically detect the welding seam, a composite sensor system including an RGB-D camera and a laser vision sensor is creatively applied. Based on the sensor system, a multi-layer sensing strategy is performed to ensure that the welding seam can be detected and tracked with high precision. By applying a hybrid filter to the RGB-D camera measurement, the initial welding seam could be effectively extracted. Next, a novel welding start point detection method is proposed. Meanwhile, to guarantee the tracking quality, a robust welding seam tracking algorithm based on laser vision sensor is presented, to eliminate the tracking discrepancy caused by the platform parking error, through which the tracking trajectory can be corrected in real-time. The experimental results show that the robot can autonomously detect and track the welding seam effectively at different welding stations. Also, multiple-station welding efficiency can be improved and quality can also be guaranteed.


By the method of theory of complex functions, elastodynamics equations on axial symmetry for transversely isotropic body were deduced. Axisymmetric dynamics problems with arbitrary index of self-similarity are solved by the ways of self-similarity, and the general representations of the analytical solutions are deduced. The considered problems become considerably simple and possess an evident universality, hence deduction of self-similar solutions has significance.


REEVE PARKER'S EXCELLENT ARTICLE ON THE BORDERERS, "'IN SOME SORT Seeing With My Proper Eyes': Wordsworth and the Spectacles of Paris," begins with the specter of Mortimer wandering alone on the barren heath, where "[n]o human ear shall ever hear my voice" (V.iii.267), (1) and concludes that in this wandering Wordsworth rejects the kind of rhetorical coup de grace represented by Karl Moor in Schiller's Die Rauber (a hero Mortimer closely resembles) in favor of a "deist ex machina--inspired international brigade of heroes, of pentecostally vocal, aeolian worthies": Yea, I could almost Have prayed that throughout earth upon all souls, Worthy of liberty, upon every soul Matured to live in plainness and in truth, The gift of tongues might fall, and men arrive From the four corners of the winds to do For France what without help she could not do, A work of honour. (The Prelude 1805, 10.117-24) (2) One might wonder exactly what the rhetorical politics of this sort of automatic writing is. At first, Parker's view of Wordsworth would seem to move Wordsworth firmly into the realm of the Romantic ideology--an illusory vision of the individual poet's consciousness turned into collective consciousness. But if Wordsworth's rhetorical stance is ultimately about consciousness, it is also about rhetoric--the "gift of tongues"--and particularly about active rhetoric--a speech that can "do / For France what without help she could not do." It is a rhetoric of immediate spontaneity, a rhetoric of "everyone already knows." But it is also a rhetoric of future promise, of the "wonderous power of words" that can do a work of honor. In this article, I would like to suggest that Wordsworth set out to explore the implications of this rhetoric of "everyone already knows" in The Borderers. How is one to find this brigade of pentecostal worthies, souls "Matured to live in plainness and in truth"? How do they share the consensus that allows them to speak, if not persuaded through rhetoric? And what form might the rhetoric of inspired souls ultimately take, if not a coup de grace of rhetorical heroism? To answer these questions, I would argue, would entail taking The Borderers seriously as belonging not only to a partially visual medium--the drama--but also to the only medium that offers the possibility of live contact between actors and audience. Although Wordsworth has always been known as the poet of the visual--there is perhaps no poet in the English canon whose work so powerfully engages the simple act of looking--the analysis of vision in Wordsworth's drama has been unambiguously negative. Mary Jacobus has argued that although Wordsworth is thrilled to see his dreams of parricide made startlingly concrete in the French Revolution books of The Prelude, his dominant feeling is one of helplessness as a startled spectator before his own creations, and David Marshall has argued that The Borderers deliberately places its spectators in a position where they are forced to repeat the hero's crime of leaving a helpless old man to die alone on the barren heath. (3) However, vision also has a more positive aspect in The Borderers. It is a non-verbal medium of knowledge and inspiration--a truer and more reliable index of the real than Rivers' and Herbert's "tales"--and a means for forming the collective knowledge that is ultimately required to speak that truth to a willing audience. Moreover, there is, for Wordsworth, an almost mystical force to personal presence, to live contact between actors and audience, which is only hinted at in Marshall's analysis. Personal presence offers a form of contact that can produce the unanimity that Parker sees in Wordsworth's mysterious voices of Paris, and also produces the qualities that those voices sing: compassion, fellow feeling, and, somewhat counterintuitively, a recognition of difference and weakness that the leveling philosophies of Godwin and the French Revolutionaries deny. …


Abstract We empirically investigate and present evidence of nonlinearity and heterogeneity in the impact of abnormal loan growth on risk-taking in the Vietnamese banking system between 2007 and 2019, using a quantile regression method. Our results showed that abnormal loan growth initially helped banks to reduce risk-taking. However, this relationship was U-shaped and heterogeneous. The effect of abnormal loan growth was more significant for banks at the upper tail of the risk-taking distribution. Our findings also demonstrated that the turning point of abnormal loan growth increased throughout the risk-taking distribution. Hence, our findings suggest that the pursuit of excessive lending is more likely to result in greater bank risk-taking.


In Morocco, like in all developing countries, sanitation and sewage treatment are one of the biggest environmental problems. The lack of public network for waste water treatment, the absence of control and of environmental sensitivity contribute to spreading diseases, degrading landscapes and contaminating surface as well as underground water. Wastewater is considered their main polluting factor.In Morocco, the treatment of wastewater by the natural lagoon is probably the most efficient solution both in economic terms and in terms of performance. The objective of this work is to study the physical, chemical and bacteriological parameters of raw and treated water from the station.For this, we opted carried out a series of measures: For the physicochemical parameters as temperature, pH, salinity, turbidity, the redox potential, electrical conductivity (EC), biochemical oxygen demand BOD5, chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solids SS, and O2 dissolved oxygen and bacteriological parameters as fecal coliforms (FC) and total coliforms (CT). Data analysis showed that the treatment efficiency of the station reached respectively 15,86%, 55,34%, 55,58% of the SS, COD and BOD5 which does not meet the discharge standards. The bacteriological analysis showed faecal pollution of human origin and performance of abatement of fecal germs can be deduced that the treatment adopted by facultative ponds far beyond the values required by Moroccan or European standards.


The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of the bioethanol addition on the spray behavior and atomization characteristics of biodiesel fuel. Spray behavior characteristics were studied by analyzing the spray tip penetration, spray centroid, and spray cone angle. In addition, the spray tip penetrations estimated by theoretical and empirical equations were compared with the experimental results. Droplet size and axial velocity were investigated for analyzing the fuel atomization characteristics. Bioethanol fuel was blended with biodiesel fuel derived from soybean oil in a volumetric ratio from 10 to 30% in 10% intervals. It was revealed that the blending ratio of bioethanol fuel had little effect on the spray tip penetration. The spray cone angle of blended fuels was increased by adding the bioethanol fuel. When the ambient gas temperature increased, the spray tip penetration of an undiluted biodiesel fuel increased due to the decrease in ambient gas density. However, the spray tip penetration of b...


A sealed closure between a cylindrical tubular member and an inserted member is effected by rolling over the projecting end of the tubular member with a roller which is moved radially with respect to the tubular member but exerts a deforming force obliquely to the axis thereof, so as to effect deformation of the inserted member and a fluid tight seal without interposition of a separate sealing ring or the like.