Currently, the U.S. export market is dominated by large companies and multinational corporations. Kathawaba, Judd, Monipallil, and Weinrich (1989) state that only 10 percent of the total U.S. export business is conducted by small business despite the fact that foreign markets may offer the smaller firm solid opportunities for long-term growth and profitability. Furthermore, involvement in international business is not typically a formal objective flowing from the strategic thought processes of most U.S. small businesses. Instead, initial attempts to export are often stimulated by an inquiry from a potential customer located in a specific foreign country (Suzman and Wortzel 1984, Piercy 1981). Graham and Meloan (1986) found that 86 percent of the firms in their study initiated exporting as a result of these foreign inquiries and only 17 percent of the firms indicated that any significant research was completed before exporting began. Johnston and Czinkota (1985) had similar findings in their study of three industries. Only 38 percent, 50 percent, and 53 percent of the firms in each industry actively sought their first foreign order; conversely, between 47 percent and 62 percent of these firms received their first order on an unsolicited basis. Thus, despite the potential for sales growth and the existence of numerous government and private sector support programs, it appears that the majority of American small businesses begin exporting because someone overseas seeks them and/or their product, not because of a planned marketing strategy to enter a foreign market. Ironically, very few small businesses attempting to compete domestically would admit that they can be successful by waiting for customers to come to them. It may be just as illogical to expect high levels of international marketing success by taking this reactive approach. Although small businesses can seemingly achieve some success in exporting by waiting for foreign customers to contact them on an unsolicited basis, the more successful exporters probably pursue a focused, planned approach that clearly identifies foreign target markets and adapts their current domestic strategy when and where necessary (Dawson 1985, Kaynak et al. 1987, Namiki 1988). While a well organized, planned entrance into international markets will enhance the probability of success as well as the level of success (e.g., sales or profit volumes), many obstacles and challenges are likely to be encountered. These obstacles originate from sources both internal and external to the firm. Non-tariff barriers (NTBs) constitute a complex set of constraints that can frustrate and thwart the small business's international efforts. Recent literature has suggested that NTBs may now be the major obstacle faced by firms attempting to enter foreign markets (Czinkota, Rivoli, and Ronkainen 1989; Jeannet and Hennessey 1988). The purpose of this article is to provide an analysis of the NTBs most likely to be encountered by small businesses and to suggest strategies that can be used to overcome these constraints to international trade. NTBs are thus viewed as "restraints" to the small business international marketing efforts that can require business strategy changes in order to adapt to market differences. NON-TARIFF BARRIERS Non-tariff barriers did not seriously affect trade flows until the mid-1960s (Baldwin 1970). Prior to that time, tariffs (e.g., financial surcharges) were the dominant means of distorting world trade flows to the benefit of a particular host country. However, the success of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rounds has resulted in relatively low tariff levels (averaging between 4 and 7 percent) among industralized countries. As tariff protection has diminished, non-tariff protection has emerged as a difficult, challenging constraint and may now be the most significant trade distorting mechanism (Ray and Marvel 1984). …


Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis that may cause severe functional disability1 . At present, only oral corticosteroids and acitretin are systemic agents licensed in the European Union for this disease. Traditional treatment options include topical corticosteroids (TCS), phototherapy, methotrexate, and ciclosporin2 . There are also reports on successful therapy with biological agents and small molecules3-5 , and guselkumab has been licensed for the treatment of PPP in Japan.


This paper presents a novel approach for fault location in distribution system using neural network. The voltage and current in the instance of fault are used for training. Different faults are simulated in a specific feeder by PSCAD software. The MATLAB and EMTDC are used for simulation in this work. The results of case studies show the capability of neural networks in fault location with negligible error.


This paper presents the results of an integrated approach to the analysis of the geological structure and the subsequent of the productive Achimov deposits development: deposits X and Y located in Western Siberia. The main difficulties in the development of the Achimov deposits are associated with a high heterogeneity, a low degree of prediction of effective thicknesses, the difficulty of correctly calculating well flow rates, saturation behavior and, accordingly, water cut, and high production decline rates identified as a result of putting new wells into operation.


This paper aims to improve the effectiveness of retrieving images on the basis of color content by Color averaging technique. In this paper, a new technique of feature extraction based on relative mean is proposed. Here, the relative mean based technique initially normalizes the mean value into a binary form to reduce the computational complexity and to increase the speed of retrieval. Later, the binary values are represented as hexadecimal strings and stored in feature database. The proposed relative mean technique is tested on generic image database and indexed image database. Results obtained are compared with the existing technique based on memory utilization and query execution time. The experimental results show that proposed relative mean gives the better performance in terms of higher precision and recall values with less computational complexity than the conventional techniques.


Two slipless CPE schemes for 30 Gbaud QPSK systems are compared. We demonstrate to mitigate CS with 0.39% overhead and 4 MHz linewidth for VVPE + PAPU scheme within 1dB penalty at 10 <sup>−3</sup>.


Objective
To evaluate the diagnostic value of ferritin, procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) on infectious diseases.

Methods
A total of 190 patients with infectious diseases in our hospital from 2012 to 2017 were enrolled and analysed retrospectively. Among them, bacterial infection was found in 130 cases (bacterial infection group), and viral infection in 60 cases (viral infection group). Serum levels of erritin, CRP, PCT in 190 patients were deteceted for further statistical analysis.

Results
Among the 190 cases of infectious fever, serum levels of erritin, CRP, PCT in bacterial infection group were higher than that in the viral infection group, with significant difference. The receiver operating curve (ROC) curve analysis showed that area under curve (AUC) of CRP, PCT, ferritin were 0.797, 0.803, 0.883.

Conclusions
The present study identified ferritin, PCT and CRP that should be considered in the differential diagnosis of infectious diseases, providing useful information for future diagnosis.

Key words:
Communicable diseases/DI; Ferritins/ME; Calcitonin/ME; C-reactive protein/ME


Polyoxometalates (POMs) electrostatically bind to silica nanoparticles coated with cationic aluminum oxide "(Si/AlO2)n+" to form a new type of material (the anionic POMs replace Cl- counterions associated with the cationic surface sites). Association of a new ∼D3h POM of formula [(FeIII(OH2)2)3(A-α-PW9O34)2]9- (1) with the cationic nanoparticles (to form "K81/(Si/AlO2)") was studied in detail. Elemental analysis, particle sizes from both laser light scattering and TEM before and after association of 1, the size of 1 from X-ray crystallography, and other methods provide mutually consistent data that indicate about 58 K8[(FeIII(OH2)2)3(A-α-PW9O34)2]- monoanions associate with the average nanoparticle (diameter of the K81/(Si/AlO2) product = ∼17 nm). While heterogeneity of the cationic sites and roughness of the (Si/AlO2)n+ surfaces make the associated POMs structurally nonuniform, the equivalent of ∼1 monolayer of 1 is present in K81/(Si/AlO2). Remarkably, while 1, the precursor (Si/AlO2)n+, and the compone...


The article researched that Chinese logistics industry how to establish systematic talent strategy in the background of economic globalization and international competition on the basis of carrying forward the tradition and the advantages by quantitative and qualitative research methods.The study shows that China's logistics industry should establish personnel training and institution-building,which should be classified,layered with the development trend of China's logistics industry and adapt to economic globalization and international competition.


The purpose of this exploratory quantitative-approach study was to assess the implementation degree of holistic curricular management by curricular managers and professors when designing undergraduate curricula at 52 universities from nine Latin American countries. One-hundred-and-seventy-two educators participated in this study. A rubric was used to assess the socio-formative-curriculum design methodology. The results showed that degree programs applied phases for curricular management at a low-medium level. Significant differences were found in the application of phases between degree program curricular models. It is concluded that the profiling phase and the registration process are essential for defining registration profile competences and for addressing the social needs of future professionals. de diferentes opciones de resolución de los problemas en el contexto al realizar el diseño curricular


Total syntheses of (±)-blastmycinone (2) and its three diastereoisomers synthesis involve highly stereoselective aldol reactions of cobalt-complexed propynal 6 and uncomplexed propynal 7 with O-silyl ketene O,S-acetal 8, which possesses an n-butyl tether, un Mukaiyama conditions. (±)-Blastmycinone (2) and its 2-epimer 3 were stereoselectively synthesize through chelation-controlled reduction, whereas (±)-3-epi- and 4-epiblastmycinone (5 and 4) were obtained in a highly stereocontrolled manner with bromolactonization as a key step


Studies have shown that up to 6% of the population have an allergic reaction to titanium, which can lead to implant loss (non-integration or rejection) and peri-implantitis. At the same time, for more than 25 years, zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) has been successfully used as a material for the manufacture of suprastructures and retainers of dental implants in metal-free restorations, which demonstrates excellent biomechanical properties, such as high fracture toughness and flexural strength, and also ensures successful osseointegration. The European Society for Ceramic Implantology (ESCI) global survey on the performance of ceramic implants confirmed the benefits of zirconia in terms of biocompatibility and a weak association with inflammation. The review of the literature made it possible to identify a number of advantages of modern technologies in orthopedic dentistry using ceramic implants, which make it possible to improve the quality of providing orthopedic dental care to the population in terms of safety and reliability.


This paper reports on a project that aimed to assist the induction of three women teachers into the practice of mathematics teaching. In their first year of teaching the three teachers were located in schools at great distances from the normal support structures for the teachers. Further, the schools consisted of student populations with wide diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, not familiar to the teachers. The project had the following characteristics: Firstly, it employed the formation of an action research network. Secondly, it targeted the concern of the teachers on how to make mathematics more inclusive for children from a variety of backgrounds. Thirdly, it bridged the divide in jurisdiction between the responsibility of the university for preservice training and the responsibility of the school and the employment departments for induction and inservice professional learning. This paper discusses the procedures adopted in the project and the outcomes in teachers' learning and professionalisation.


Introduction The Nigerian Federal Ministry of Education discharges its responsibility for National Examinations mainly through four educational agencies designed to handle particular and specific examinations. The best known is the West African Examination Council (WAEC) which is an international examining body that serves five nations (Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra-Leone), in the West African sub-region. The other three agencies are the National Board for Educational Measurement (NBEM), the National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) and the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB). Whereas three (WAEC, NBEM and NABTEB) handle terminal and exit examinations in Secondary schools and technical Colleges, the fourth (JAMB) handles admissions into tertiary institutions. Since its establishment the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) has become the cornerstone in the execution of policies concerned with admissions into Nigerian tertiary education systems. It carries out the following functions within its jurisdiction: * Conducting matriculation examinations for admission into all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. * Placement of suitable qualified candidates in the institutions. * Collation and dissemination of information on all matters relating to admissions into tertiary institutions (Olagboye, 1998). Decree No. 2 of 1978 established JAMB. This was amended by Decree No. 33 of 1988 which extended its jurisdiction and powers to conduct entry qualifying examinations into Nigerian Polytechnics and Colleges of Education. This in turn was subsequently amended by Decree No. 4 of 1999, which officially removed discretionary considerations from the parameters for admission. The University Matriculation Examination (UME) which is conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) may be viewed as part of a simultaneous process of centralizing key decisions about equity in the admission of candidates into the existing places in Nigerian higher institutions. In this regard consideration is also given to the political configuration of the country and the educational imbalance existing among states in the country (Durosaro, 1997). Before the introduction of JAMB each tertiary institution carried out its own admission process in its entirety. It conducted examinations and then offered places to the successful candidates in accordance with laid down criteria. Each school was unique in its values, goals and expectations, which were 'protected' and 'promoted" in order to be respected and sought for by the society. Each institution still carefully but judiciously reflected its "self-conception" and "external expectations" (Frackmann, 1992). Likewise a potential candidate was free to apply to two or more universities with the hope that he/she will be admitted into one of the universities for a course of study. Therefore JAMB became a unifying mechanism to move away from individualism, self-control and quality to emphasis on the actual (numerical) input and output to be achieved by the institutions of higher learning. JAMB system of admission into higher institutions particularly the first generation universities (Ibadan, Ife, Lagos, Zaria, Nsukka and Benin) is classified into three broad categories: 1. The Merit List includes the potential students who sat for and met the stipulated cut-off mark for a particular course of study. It accounts for 45% of the candidates admitted for each course. 2. The Catchment's Area (Locality) takes up 35% of the overall admission into each course. It takes care of candidates that live in the area where the university is located together with some affiliated areas. The Catchment's Area is determined every year by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board. 3. Educationally Less Developed States. This takes care of students from states which are considered to be educationally disadvantaged (retarded in educational development). …


In a case study located in suburban sectors of the metropolitan area of the Lerma Valley (Valle de Lerma), in the province of Salta (Argentina), 24 informal decentralized wastewater treatment systems (DWWTS) were evaluated. The analyzed systems had three general configurations: A, septic tank; B, septic tank combined with upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor; C, septic tank combined with UASB and a final filtration step. Statistically significant differences ( p


Studying the history of syncretism's use indicates wider interpretative problems in religious studies and theology regarding race and revelation. It also indicates the importance of seeing "tradition" as adaptive and amalgamating rather than static. In theology and religious studies alike, discourses of syncretism are positioned within racialized perceptions which construct a center and periphery based upon white European knowledge. In Christian theology more specifically, syncretism's use also shows ways that theologians try to protect the category of divine revelation from human interference, leading to interpretative problems that sidestep material history. The book makes this case through an intellectual history of the word syncretism, tracking its changing associations and especially its pejorative turn in Christianity in the early twentieth century. After diagnosing challenges related to syncretism, the book makes two constructive arguments. First, it defends the concept of "tradition"—for religious studies and theology alike—as a means of understanding cultural continuity amid the perpetual flux of syncretism. Second, in Christian theology specifically, it offers a constructive response to syncretism drawing from theologians Jean-Marc Éla and Rowan Williams. The Holy Spirit, through tradition, builds knowledge of the divine Logos across history often by way of contested religious mixtures with culture. The book concludes by examining positive examples of syncretism in Christianity like the incorporation of ancestor reverencing.


The tunnel ventilation schemes for tunneling period are considered and it's shown that major characteristics of aerogasdynamics processes during tunneling period are parameters moving air flow and diffusion transfer of escaping gas admixtures. Basic theoretical foundations of modeling motion and diffusion gas admixtures in tunnels were substantiated.


We study a method for minimizing the energy of N point charges on a sphere. It is estimated that the number of distinct local minima of the energy function grows exponentially with N, and they have energies very close to the global minimum. In this paper, we present a hybrid approach for tackling this problem, knowing as Thomson problem, by using an evolutionary algorithm and a nonmonotone spectral gradient method.


Facing a substantive review of its governance of macroeconomic policies in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis and a certain fatigue after the 'big bang' expansion in 2004/07, the EU has to reform its enlargement policy. Primarily, the EU has to tackle the issue of Europeanization towards the Eastern neighbours. Within the Eastern Partnership (EaP), the EU tries to avoid the controversial topic of accession. Nevertheless, the EaP target countries – most notably Georgia and Moldova – are not shying away in expressing their interest in prospective EU accession. The EU enlargement policy is enshrined in the Treaty on European Union giving membership perspective to "any European State which respects the values referred to in Article 2 and is committed to promoting them" (Article 49 TEU). The EU has developed a catalogue of accession criteria (Copenhagen Criteria) for candidate states. However, the case of Turkey has become a litmus test for bringing a country closer to the EU via the membership perspective. Turkey joined the EU customs union in 1995 and has been a candidate for EU membership since 1999 without any substantial progress.


In11, Kulli and Janakiram initiate the concept of maximal domination in graphs. In this paper, we obtained some bounds and characterizations. Also, we estimate the value of the maximal domination number of some graph products such as join of graphs, corona product, cartesian product and strong product.


Abstract 3-D Seismic attributes have been correlated with reservoir properties at Ubi-Sikladi fields in Central Sumatra. Statistical analysis was first used to determine how seismic attribute(s) correlate with the reservoir property(ies). For these fields, a correlation was established between average seismic amplitude and reservoir properties that relate to the quality of reservoir sand development. Porosity, shale volume, and water saturation were among the reservoir properties modeled for these fields. Armed with this information, two techniques (direct and geostatistical) were then evaluated to determine the best way to interpolate reservoir properties using 3-D seismic attributes. This evaluation was done by systematically removing some of the 45 known control points (wells) and measuring the error between the seismically derived reservoir property and the actual property as indicated from well logs. These techniques demonstrate that the well data and seismic data can be readily combined to produce a reservoir property map that is more accurate than maps generated from well data alone.


Over the last few years there has been an often lively debate concerning the appropriate philosophical and conceptual foundations for behavioral psychology. This debate has involved, amongst other things, discussion about how we should conceptualize our subject matter, how we might best define an explanation, and how we can communicate most effectively with related disciplines. The following seven articles form part of this ongoing discussion. Each of the articles is based on a" oral paper presented at a symposium, entitled Philosophical and Conceptual Issues in Behavioural Psychology, that formed part of the annual conference of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Group, in London, England during the Spring of 1996. The articles cover a broad range of topics, but are bound together by their concern with those very basic assumptions that help to characterize behavioral psychology as a distinct and coherent form of scientific inquiry. In the first article, Edward Morris reflects upon the ongoing debate concerning the very nature of behavioral psychology itself. Is it a mechanistic psychology that assumes, for example, that psychological events and processes are independently existing regularities waiting "out there" in an ontologically real universe to be discovered by the behavioral scientist? Or, is it a contextualistic psychology that views psychological events and processes as acts in context that emerge, in part, out of the analytic behavior of the behavioral scientist? Morris's paper provides an overview of this debate, and he also reminds us that ontological assumptions are behavioral events, and will therefore evolve or change as a function of the scientist's behavioral interactions. The contextualistic notion that the behavior of the behavioral scientist, in a sense, creates or constructs a scientific reality is also addressed in my own paper coauthored with Bryan Roche. Our examination of this issue brings us to the very edge of conventional, scientific language, and leads us to consider, if only briefly, the "mystical experience" from a behavioral perspective. In the next article, Linda Hayes examines mysticism as a philosophical tradition and considers some important points of contact between this tradition and modern science, focusing in particular on behavioral psychology and physics. The article identifies areas of overlap between science and the mystical, but at the same time makes clear where the two remain distinct.


I NASMUCH as the concept of preinvasive carcinonia has come into wider acceptance during recent years, i t is felt that a report of the pathological findings in sixteen cases of preinvasive adenocarcinorna of the appendix would be of interest. Preinvasive carcinoma may be defined as carcinoma that is confined to the natural surfaces, without penetration of the basement membrane of the epithelium. In the absence of invasion, the diagnosis of carcinoma depends on cytological alterations and lack of uniformity in the glandular structure. T h e striking resemblance of the cells ol preinvasive carcinoma to those of invasive cancer offers convincing evidence that these changes are irreversible and that ultimately an invasive carcinoma would follow. Because the process of invasion produces most of the gross changes usually seen in carcinoma, the diagnosis in the preinvasive stage is necessarily microscopic. The microscopic characteristics on which tht: diagnosis of carcinoma was based in this series of sixteen cases included irregular branching and bizarre structure of the mucosal glands, pronounced excess secretion of mucus, and hyperchromatic vesicular nuclei, which at times varied considerably in size and shape and had a frequent tendency to stratification (Figs. 1, 2). No gland formation was evident in a few areas of some specimens, the lining niucosa consisting either of a single or stratified layer of anaplastic cells. In no instance was there penetration of the basement membrane. In five of the sixteen cases, the carcinoniatous epithelium was found throughout the appendix, either diffusely replacing the mucosa or occurring in focal areas in various segments. In the remaining instances, the ncoplasia was limited to one segment of the appendix, or even to a solitary focus which could be encompassed by a single low-power microscopic field (Fig. 3). T h e carcinomas


1,1-Difluorodecamethyl- and 1,1,4,4-tetrafluorooctamethylcyclohexasilane were synthesized by the reaction of LiF with the corresponding trifluoromethanesulfonic derivatives and were characterized by spectroscopic methods, mainly by modern NMR techniques. The stability of the fluorinated cyclosilanes decreases with an increase of fluorine substituents. This seems to be the reason for the instability of perfluorinated cyclosilanes.


The present U.S. development effort toward large horizontal axis WECS concentrates on the configuration with two rigid blades with collective pitch variation and a yaw gear drive. Alternative configurations without yaw gear drive were considered where the rotor is either selfcentering or where the yaw angle is controlled by blade cyclic pitch inputs. A preliminary evaluation of the dynamic characteristics for these alternative design configurations is presented.


A hot pot bottom material is characterized by comprising the following raw materials by weight: 15-30 parts of black bone chicken, 20-40 parts of small-sized shrimp, 20-40 parts of small cuttlefish, 50-100 parts of fresh oyster, 5-10 parts of medlar, 5-10 parts of ginseng, 5-10 parts of cinnamon, 5-10 parts of myrcia, 5-15 parts of fresh pepper, 5-15 parts of bamboo shoots, 10-20 parts of kelp, 10-20 parts of broccoli, 5-10 parts of garlic, 5-10 parts of raw ginger, 5-10 parts of onion, 4-8 parts of sugar, 5-15 parts of salt and 5-15 parts of monosodium glutamate. The hot pot bottom material uses poultry, seafood and vegetables for mutual combination for preparation, and has the advantages of high nutritional value, reasonable nutrition combination, simple manufacture, low cost, delicious taste, no greasy, benefit for health, and the like.


Morphologic analysis and phenotypic variations observed in the acid glands of Apis mellifera L. (1758) africanized worker bees (HYM.: Apidae) in the region of Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. In Apis mellifera, the acid gland can present atypical branching. It is composed of secretor cells that surround a canal leading into a non-muscular reservoir. We proposed to evaluate the morphology of the gland in worker bees of genetically distinct colonies, in terms of the presence and size of branching, the length of the main duct of the reservoir up to the branching point, and the total length of the gland. It was observed that the presence of branching varied from 30% to 76% with X = 59% ± 11.5%, and its length varied from 0.13mm ± 0.24mm to 1.03mm ± 1.54mm with X = 0.53mm ± 0.27mm; the variation in size of the main duct was from 5.97mm ± 1.61mm to 20.95mm ± 6.66mm with X = 12.3mm ± 5.7mm; the distance from the reservoir to the branching point was from 5.52mm ± 1.84mm to 19.53mm ± 6.42mm with X = 11.42mm ± 5.31mm, and the total length of the gland varied from 6.22mm ± 1.60mm and 21.98mm ± 7.40mm with X = 12.86mm ± 5.88mm. A large phenotypic variation was evident. The samples presented branching in at least 30% of the individuals, this characteristic being considered primitive. However, glands without branching suggest an evolution in that direction for this type of bee in the region. Concerning the genetic characteristics of the gland, in 31% of the colonies the workers presented small poison glands, genotype recessive homozygotes gm1gm1 and gm2gm2; in 69%, the workers presented large glands in heterozygote Gm2gm1 and dominant homozygotes Gm1Gm1 and Gm2Gm2. These results indicate a concentration of bees with large acid glands in the region, favoring a selection process for the production of poison.


Obstructive pulmonary diseases cause limited airflow from the lung and severely affect patients' quality of life. Wheeze is one of the most prominent symptoms for them. High requirements imposed by traditional diagnosis methods make regular monitoring of pulmonary obstruction challenging, which hinders the opportunity of early intervention and prevention of significant exacerbation. In this work, we explore the feasibility of developing a mobile sensor-based system as a convenient means of assessing the severity of pulmonary obstruction via respiration phase-based symptomatic wheeze sensing. We conduct a 131 subjects' (91 patients and 40 healthy) study for the detection (F1: 87.96%) and characterization (F1: 79.47%) of wheeze. Subsequently, we develop novel wheeze metrics, which show a significant correlation (Pearson's correlation: -0.22, p-value: 0.024) with standard spirometry measure of pulmonary obstruction severity. This work takes a principal step towards the unobtrusive assessment of pulmonary condition from mobile sensor interactions.


Mudskippers have a unique adaptation allowing them to live on the land and commonly inhabiting the mangrove ecosystem. A fundamental study on the Blue-spotted mudskippers, Boleopthalamus boddarti were purposely to identify the species through morphometric and meristic characteristics, observation on the gonad organs as well as to correlate with their length-weight relationship. Collection of B. boddarti (n=72) from Matang Perak, Pendas Johor and Pekan Pahang was conducted using hand and net. Data collection on seventeen morphometric and seven meristics characters, length and weight, and pictorial documentation on male and female gonads were conducted. The means of each characteristic were estimated by using analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with P<0.05. The morphometric analysis found eye diameter and posterior dorsal fin ray count characteristics were significantly different (P<0.05) followed by five meristics characteristics except for anterior dorsal fin ray count and upper jaw teeth characteristics (F value ≥ 1.0). The mature gonad of female B. boddarti was found with an ovary in bright yellow coloration, turgid, firm and visible presence of eggs. Male gonads were identified with a testis having two lobes, a swollen structure at the top of the elongated shape and appear pale pink and thicker than the immature testes that generally exist in string-like structures. The length and weight of the fish were found directly proportional to the regression curve displayed b≠3. Morphometric and meristic characteristics were a reliable method in the identification of fish in general and for B. boddarti in specific. The observation of gonads differentiation helps understand the mature and immature state of the sex organs. This study offered an easy, quick and low-cost approach in determining species and sexes compared to the molecular method.


LB-35 Secreted Protein Acidic Rich in Cysteine (SPARC) is highly expressed in all grades of astrocytoma. We have previously shown that SPARC increases glioma invasion, while suppressing tumor growth. It is thought that these functions may be independently regulated by different domains within SPARC. To gain insight into these functions, deletion mutant constructs were created. SPARC is composed of an N-terminal acidic domain, a follistatin-like domain, containing an Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF)-like module, and a C-terminal extracellular calcium binding (EC) domain. This study focuses on the acidic domain and the EGF-like module, to determine whether either region contributes to the effects of SPARC on cell proliferation (growth curves and signaling through ERK1/2 and AKT), and/or cell migration (p38 MAPK/Hsp27 pathway). The deletion constructs, lacking either the acidic domain or the EGF-like module, were created from a parental vector encoding SPARC with a C-terminal Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) tag. U87 cells were stably transfected with GFP vector, SPARC-GFP, or either of the deletion mutants. Clones were selected and expression and intracellular localization were determined by fluorescence imaging. The expression levels and secretion of each of the constructs were determined by Western blot analysis. Like wildtype SPARC, the intracellular localization for both constructs is perinuclear. Both mutants are secreted and are at the expected size on Western blot, which indicates that they are being expressed and processed normally. To assess the effects on proliferation, growth curves were generated by counting viable cells (trypan exclusion) on days 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8. By day 8, cells expressing the EGF-like module-deletion construct showed a decrease in proliferation compared to control cells (p


Optimization models used for forest planning can be computationally complex and the demand for real forest data to test them far exceeds the supply. As a result, hypothetical forest landscapes are often used, although their capacity to match the characteristics of real forests is limited and they offer little control over important landscape metrics such as average adjacency. Using four landscape metrics that are believed to be relevant to the computational efficiency of forest harvest scheduling models, we describe a new method for generating hypothetical landscapes of prespecified characterization. The new approach produces landscapes based on Voronoi tessellation, created from points chosen by a combination of random point processes. Through a series of multiple regressions, the proposed algorithm determines appropriate control parameters to ensure that the output landscape will match target characteristics within a given statistical tolerance and with a predefined probability. The new method can produ...


Objective To explore effect of intermittent pneumatic compression(IPC) on venous homodynamic of the lower extremities and choose an IPC mode which enhances blood flow best.Methods Peak venous velocity,average venous velocity and blood flow in femoral vein were evaluated by using color Doppler ultrsonography on 20 limbs in 10 healthy volunteers when they were under five different interventions,including supine resting,active dorsal to plantar flexion(aDPF),IPC 6.0 kPa(45 mmHg) mode,IPC 7.3 kPa(55 mmHg) mode,IPC 8.7 kPa(65 mmHg) mode.Results Compared to supine resting,the homodynamic were higher in other four interventions,aDPF produced a highest increase,increasing venous velocity 149%,venous average velocity by 148%,blood flow by 1.18 L/min,then was IPC 6.0 kPa(45 mmHg) mode,increasing venous velocity 143% venous average velocity by 144%,blood flow by 1.15 L/min.There was no significant difference between these two groups(P0.05),but both had higher homodynamic than IPC 7.3 kPa(55 mmHg) mode and IPC 8.7 kPa(65 mmHg) mode(P0.01).Conclusion IPC 6.0 kPa(45 mmHg) mode is the best one in the three modes which enhances blood flow well and can be used as a nursing intervention to prevent deep venous thrombosis after surgery.


A collection of six modern fairytales by the author of Matisse Stories and Possession, which won the Booker Prize and Irish Times/Aer Lingus International Fiction Prize in 1990.


This paper presents a Web Service Credit Model LUCIDA.In this model,information of Web Service is obtained and collected through UDDI so that the credit assessment of Web Service can be provided to Web Service consumers.It analyses the implementing strategy of LUCIDA,presents the implementation of the model and discusses the related Specification and key technique.Finally,an instance is given to verify the feasibility of the model.


List of charts, tables and figures Prolegomenon Part I. Amateur Observing: Telescopes Eyepieces Finderscopes and finding Star atlases Gadgets Looking through the telescope Lighting and the recording of notes Observing locations Instruments used in the survey of deep-sky objects Observing sites for the survey Part II. Deep-Sky Data Sources: Galaxies Open clusters Globular clusters Planetary nebulae Galactic nebulae Double stars Part III. Observations: Notes on references for deep-sky observers Catalogue Appendix of double stars.


The unprecedented growth of globalization of companies specializing in the creation and operation of digital platforms, which is currently observed, is fundamentally changing the way economic agents interact in various markets, influencing the mechanisms of value creation. These trends have contributed to increased interest in digital platforms from researchers. At the same time, from an economic point of view, digital platforms still remain little studied. This article aims to fill this gap and aims to assess the main characteristics of digital platforms and reveal the economic nature of digital platforms. The paper uses a structural-functional approach to the study of the essence of digital platforms using methods of analysis and synthesis, visualization and demonstration. The paper considers the main features, as well as the advantages and disadvantages, opportunities and threats associated with the activities of digital platforms. The process of "network effect" achieved by the interaction of economic agents on digital platforms is described. Indirect positive and negative effects from such interaction on digital platforms are given. The differences between operational, innovative, investment and integrated platforms are described. In addition, a classification of income generation models by digital platforms is given with a description of their key characteristics. A general description of the digital platform market is given, and the risks for national economies associated with the market concentration of global digital platforms are indicated. The necessity of state intervention in this area at the national and supranational levels is outlined, the expediency of developing local digital platforms is substantiated, and some measures in this direction are proposed. The results of the study make a certain contribution to the development of the theory of the digital economy and can be used to prepare lectures in relevant disciplines, and can also serve as a basis for more in-depth research.


The F1Fo ATP synthase is a multienzyme complex that produces mitochondrial ATP. Aberrant expression or assembly of F1Fo ATP synthase subunits leads to alterations in energy metabolism. We recently found that breast cancer cells exposed to fluid shear stress (FSS) have significantly enhanced metastatic behavior including chemoresistance and cell proliferation. Chemoresistance depends upon active transport systems, and cell division and growth require ATP. Therefore, we hypothesized that circulating breast cancer cells undergo altered energy metabolism via FSS-induced changes in F1Fo ATP synthase subunits and subsequent mitochondrial remodeling.

 Non-metastatic MCF7 and metastatic MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells were treated with or without FSS and cultured. Cellular proliferation was assayed by measuring cell number and gap distance. Metabolic profile including intracellular ATP and oxygen consumption rate were analyzed. We also quantified abundance of F1Fo ATP synthase subunits using immunoblotting.

 Treatment with FSS significantly increased proliferation of both MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. FSS significantly increased intracellular ATP in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells while ATP levels in MCF7 were not significantly changed. MDA-MB-231 cells retained increased ATP after treatment with the uncoupler FCCP, indicating remodeling and decreased reliance on mitochondrial energy metabolism. Interestingly, oxygen consumption rate was significantly increased in both MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 by FSS. We further quantified the abundance of F1Fo ATP synthase subunits in both cell lines. The β- and c-subunits of the F1Fo ATP synthase were significantly depleted in both lines of FSS-treated breast cancer cells.

 Our data show that FSS alters abundance of the F1Fo ATP synthase subunits leading to metabolic remodeling. We suggest that FSS may influence non-metastatic (MCF7) and metastatic cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) differently. Underlying changes in mitochondrial and cytoplasmic ATP production in these cells is still under investigation. However, it is possible that reactive oxygen species generated during FSS may signal a switch to cytoplasmic intracellular energy metabolism.

 Alabama Life Research Institute Pilot Project (University of Alabama)


Bound states in the continuum (BICs) and exceptional points (EPs) are unique singularities of non-Hermitian systems. BICs demonstrate enhancement of the electromagnetic field at the nanoscale, while EPs exhibit high sensitivity to small perturbations. Here, we demonstrate that several BICs can be merged into one EP, forming an EP-BIC. The resulting state inherits properties from both BICs and EP, namely, it does not radiate and shows extremely high sensitivity to perturbations. We validate the developed theory with numerical simulations and demonstrate the formation of second and third-order EP-BICs in stacked dielectric metasurfaces. We also show that the losses of the resulting leaky resonances exhibit an anomalous behavior when the unit cell is broken, which differs from the asymptotics commonly attributed to BICs.


ABSTRACT The hepatic rupture durig pregnancy is a catastrophic clinical issue associated with high fetal and maternal mortality. We describe the case of hepatic hemangioma rupture complicated by massive thrombosis of the inferior vena cava successfully treated by using AngioVac aspiration system. Although an aggressive surgical strategy is recommended, a multidisciplinary approach using modern devices can represent a new frontier in the treatment of these patients.


Technical activities on seafloor for harvesting polymetallic nodules result in a displacement of a large amount of sediment, which is convected away from the site by the underlying currents and turbulent diffusion, with a possible impact on the benthic communities living in the neighborhood. To better understand the dispersion mechanism of the resuspended sediment, a smoothed particle hydrodynamics technique augmented by a message passing interface parallel algorithm to address the intensive demand on the three-dimensional simulations is developed. Our numerical results show that the resuspended sediment would occupy a downstream area extending to about 5 km, for a nominal current speed of 5 cm/s. The evolution of the sediment plume occurs mainly along the current direction, while the turbulent diffusion disperses the sediment laterally. Coarse sediment particles are found to return to the seafloor fairly quickly after being resuspended, while fine particles are more persistent in the suspended state and travel much further downstream. In 900 tons of sediment resuspended for 18 h, 318 tons have returned to the bottom at the end of the simulation period. The majority of the deposited sediment is composed of coarse sediment particles (d > 60 μm), and almost half of the deposited sediment is distributed within the harvesting region. The sediment deposition rate reaches up to 48% of the resuspension rate and is still rising after 18 h. The horizontal turbulent diffusivity, which is supposed to be weak at the ocean bottom, does not have any obvious influence on the dispersion of the resuspended sediment; it only slightly reduces the deposition rate.


Neonatal mortality is recognized as an important global public health problem, of which more than one-third is due to severe infections and a quarter due to the clinical syndrome of neonatal sepsis. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the risk factors associated with neonatal sepsis and formulate a proper guideline for management on analysis of the antimicrobial susceptibility patternin this geographical area of North East India. On clinical suspicion of septicaemia, at least two sets of test for blood culture were performed. The data obtained of culture proven septicaemia were analysed in reference to onset and associated risk factors. Sepsis was suspected in 150 cases and blood culture was positive in 59(39.3%) cases. Early Onset Septicaemia (EOS) was confirmed in 34 neonates (57.6%) and Late Onset Septicaemia (LOS) in 25 patients (42.4%). The most important maternal and neonatal risk factor found associated with the proven cases of septicaemiawere maternal pyrexia (16.9%) and Low Birth Weight (71.2%) respectively. Septicaemia was more associated with Operative delivery (64.4%). Among the clinical features, Pneumonia was found in 55.9% neonates followed by respiratory distress and tachypnea. Staphylococcus aureus was the most predominant blood culture isolate (32.2%) followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (22%).All the gram positive blood culture isolates were sensitive to Vancomycin. The Cephalosporins, Clindamycin and Amikacin were found significantly sensitive in Staphylococcus aureus(94.7%). All gram negative isolates were sensitive to Imipenem, followed by Piperacillin-tazobactum and Amikacin. The first line regimen for treatment of cases of septicaemia in our setting was chosen to be Amikacin along with a third generation Cephalosporin like Cefotaxime.


A new process of hot precision forging the clutch gears was put forward. The most suitable shape of blank is designed which forms the clutch gears easy by precision forging. A practical die structure is presented for a hot precision forging the clutch gears in this treatise. A powerful die separator on the die forces the forge piece to break away from male die as soon as the hammering is over. The key technical problems that the hot forge piece sticks to the male die are solved. The improvement on technique and the economic benefit are very remarkable.


This dissertation,focusing on Liu's concrete works,mainly using the techniques of comparison and comprehension,tries to make a research on his thought about"Combined Confucianism with Buddhism",Based on Confucianism,but all-embracing other theories,getting rid of corrupt practices,developing the functions of self-cultivation,social assistance,his thought had more actual significances,and affected his life style and literary creation.


SUMMARY An attempt has been made to assess whether the dose dependent effect of benzene extract ofOcimum sanctum leaves on the morphological changes in the cauda epididymal spermatozoa andsperm parameters in male albino rats. Scanning Electron Microscope observations illustrate thedisturbance in plasma membrane as well as acrosomal membrane. Most of the sperms appearmorphologically abnormal in the mid region of the tail; there is formation of balloon likecytoplasmic droplet. Sperm parametric study exhibits decrease in the total sperm count, spermmotility, forward velocity and increase in the percentage of abnormal sperms in dose dependentmanner on treatment benzene extract of Ocimum sanctum leaves. The results suggest that theeffects may have resulted from a general disturbance in the proteins and alteration in caudaepididymal milieu probably due to androgen deficiency consequent upon antiandrogenicproperty of Ocimum sanctum leaves.Key words: Ocimum sanctum; Cauda epididymis; Spermatozoa; Scanning Electron Microscope;Albino rats


In JP PEU mines, primarily in the mines 'Lubnica', 'Soko' and 'Rembas', designed to open new mining fields and ditches, where the total length of projected space about 26000 m. The most common form of cross-section is a circular underground chambers (66%), a suburb steel circular permissive diameter φ = 3.5m, with a light cross-sectional area of 9.62 m². What would be designed premises for drilling-only demolition will result in significant delays in opening new production facilities, it is necessary to consider the possibility of mechanized construction of underground spaces. Introduction of mechanized construction of underground spaces in the mines JP PEU, it becomes a question of justification of the current forms of underground rooms and type of support. One of the alternative proposal is that instead of a circular underground room used arched form, and instead of circular steel roof supports, to use the combined support. Mixed-timbering in this case includes a built-in steel support on a larger axial distance in combination with anchors that are installed between the steel support frame. Based on the above proposals, in this paper deals with the influence of the shape of underground facilities and the types of support on the use of machines for underground coal mines.


configurations. Dualfrequency operation oftriangular Thenarrow bandwidth ofmicrostrip antenna isoneofthe microstrip antennas havebeenstudied bymanyresearchers important features that restrict its wideusage. This paper presents using probe feedordirect coupling [2],[3]. abandwidth enhancement technique using coplanar waveguide. A Basically, feeding system canbedivided into two newdesign ofcoplanar waveguide feedline fordualfrequency types suchasdirect coupling andelectromagnetic coupling. triangular microstrip antenna toincreasing thebandwidth is proposed andexperimentally studied. Thetworesonantfrequencies


Transport is the invisible glue that holds our lives together, an under-recognized contributor to economic, social and personal well-being. In public health terms, the medical profession had previously allowed itself to focus almost exclusively on the downsides of transport. However, the research basis for transport, driving and ageing is steadily evolving and has important academic and practical considerations for gerontologists and geriatricians. For gerontologists, teasing out the critical role of transport in the health and well-being of older people is an imperative, as well as the key challenges inherent in transitioning from driving to not driving. The safe crash record of a group with significant multi-morbidity allows us to focus on the remarkable strategic and adaptive skills of older people. From a policy perspective, strictures on older drivers are an exemplar of institutionalized ageism. For geriatricians, a key challenge is to develop strategies for including transportation in our clinical assessments, formulating effective strategies for assessment of medical fitness to drive, incorporating enabling techniques, giving due consideration to ethical and legal aspects, and developing and promoting multi-modality and alternative transportation options.


In this note a simple iterative method for simultaneously finding all zeros of a polynomial is established.The method does not require repeated evaluation of the polynomial or its deriva-tives,and is globally convergent for quadratic polynomials.


E-commerce systems involve collaborative systems that support and enable trading partners to work together as members of communities of practice. Eliciting the information requirements necessary to design, develop and run these systems requires understanding of what practitioners do in practice, as well as what policy directives impose as practice. A practice-centric approach is proposed for identification of elements of practice, a brief summary is made of some tools and concepts from Social Activity Theory and their relevance for further analysis of collaborative system information requirements is assessed.


This paper presents experimental results which are in conflict with existing theories of metrical interpretation [H. C. Longuet‐Higgins and C. S. Lee, Perception 11, 115–128 (1989); H. C. Longuet‐Higgins and C. S. Lee, Music Perception 1, 424–441 (1984); F. Lerdahl and R. Jackendoff, A Generative Theory of Tonal Music (MIT, Cambridge, MA, 1983); D. J. Povel and P. Essens, Music Perception 2, 411–440 (1985)] and a new model, based on the algorithm in Longuet‐Higgins and Lee (1982), which accounts for the main features of these results. Musically sophisticated subjects listened to sequences of identical tones in various rhythmic arrangements and transcribed them using standard musical notation. The results disconfirmed key predictions of all four theories, in that subjects displayed a general reluctance to choose interpretations containing an upbeat. However, the results did show that subjects were more prepared to avoid syncopated interpretations than those in which long notes occurred on weak beats. These...


In this study, select the Republic of Korea mother-of-pearl lacquerware Lim chung hyu coach, I tried to find out the until the background and coach of his growth. And it was done looking for the elements of the future development of the mother-of-pearl lacquerware through the tendency of his work after the coach has been. Lim chung hyu coach is, unlike other mother-of-pearl lacquer craftsman, confirmed the affection and passion to his mother- of-pearl lacquerware as seen through the work to manufacture in his unique way. Through the mother-of-pearl lacquer-ware production processes and trends of his works of Lim chung hyu coach it increased the overall understanding of the mother-of-pearl lacquerware. The work of Lim chung hyu coach was studied analysis confirmed the superiority of the mother-of-pearl lacquer crafts that are completed through a number of steps. Through the work trend of the traditional while it adheres to craft system in pursuit of modernization together the Republic of Korea lacquerware masters Lim chung hyu coach, has described a vision for the potential of the development of the mother-of-pearl lacquerware to pursue him.


The importance of protecting data and privacy cannot be overemphasized in this day of technological and digital breakthroughs. Nigeria, a developing nation, is prone to suffering from the shortcomings of conventional methods of data protection as well as from the cost of insufficient legislation to secure the data or the privacy of the data users. This has brought up a number of issues, including the applicability and responsiveness of current laws and how it tends to handle or manage violations. It is imperative to address these issues and challenges faced by data and privacy protection in Nigeria, given the complexity of the emerging data technology and the privacy challenges posed by the use and retention of data. The paper identified the lack of a comprehensive data protection legislation as well as their non-enforcement as the main barrier to effective data protection in the country. In order to solve some of the issues affecting effective data privacy in Nigeria, this paper proffers cogent and practical recommendations.


Orientalist discourse, supposedly a dispassionate academic discipline, has continuously inclined to treat oriental people as indiscriminate masses. Whereas in this discourse the Western world is constantly lauded due to the fact that it respects the individual and puts the interest of the individual before that of the society, Orientals are always denied individuality. In fact, it is a common practice for the discourse to contrast the Western individual with the non-Western collectivity, with the advantageous position almost always saved for the former. The point here, of course, is not that non-Westerners do or should crave for Western individualism, since it is not as liberating and democratic a belief as it promises to be. Sandhu A [1] views individualism as a tool at the service of the powerful classes whose aim is to "obscure their considerable hegemony-notably educational, legal, economic and social advantages-through their professed attachment to the values of 'the' individual that enables them to be figured as exceeding the confinement of class interest". The point, however, is that such a rejection of individuality of non-Westerners and the collective treatment of them is quite ideological and carries with it certain hidden imperialistic intentions.


The purpose of this study was to develop the professional football team of brand association scale in Korea. By using convenience sampling method, 316 spectators who attended professional football games were selected to participate in the survey. The scale of professional football team brand associations was consisted of 4 subdimensions with 17 items. In data analysis, exploratory principal components analysis(EFA), confirmatory factor analysis(CFA), and path analysis were used to confirm the validity and reliability of the scale. Results are as follows: First, the brand association scale was found to subdimensions were named as core product, actual benefit, augmented product, and sponsoring corporate. Second, validity further was proved by faced validity, content validity, and construct validity(convergent validity, discriminant validity and nomological validity). Third, reliability was proved by the Cronbach's αcoefficient and C.R.(construct reliability).


Canadian water export is an important, yet not an autonomous, policy in its own right that would justify direct governmental intervention. Water export policy should be understood as a by-product of larger and more imperative national governmental agendas such as the institutionalization of neoliberal projects, perceived national security concerns, and Canadian federal–provincial relations. Consideration of these agendas as primary movers and shapers of water export policy in Canada helps to fill in contextual gaps and bring into play a broader spectrum of evidence. Further, this approach may refine our understanding of the phenomenon and show that an explanation for the emergence of the policy problem under investigation could be found in the policies surrounding it.


Background: Endometriosis is a common gynecological condition that often presents with pelvic pain and infertility, but in rare cases may masquerade as a gastrointestinal or gynecologic malignancy. Case: A 49-year-old G0 presented with abdominal pain, fevers, elevated tumor markers, and a large adnexal mass concerning for malignancy. Intra-operatively, mucinous lesions diffusely involved abdominopelvic structures. Intra-operative frozen section (IOFS) revealed invasive cancer and full cytoreductive surgery was completed. Final pathology was downgraded to atypical cystic endometriosis with mucinous metaplasia. Conclusion: Endometriosis, a nonmalignant condition, can present as pelvic masses associated with elevated tumor markers. The case presented here depicts a confounding preoperative and intraoperative picture where endometriosis was falsely identified as malignancy. Endometriosis should always remain a part of the differential diagnosis in a premenopausal patient with presumed gastrointestinal or gynecologic malignancies.


Based on a retrospective analysis of case histories, the article presents modern data on the features of the clinical course of Crohn's disease in childhood, laboratory, endoscopic and morphological markers of the disease. The symptomatology of Crohn's disease is described in the onset and in the period of the developed clinical picture, depending on the localization of the inflammatory process.


Evaluation of: Rodriguez-Rocha H, Gomez-Gutierrez JG, Garcia-Garcia A et al. Adenoviruses induce autophagy to promote virus replication and oncolysis. Virology 416(1–2), 9–15 (2011). This publication addresses the potentiating effects of autophagy induction on adenovirus replication and cell lysis. After demonstrating the induction of autophagy during infection in several cancer cell lines, the authors investigated how adenovirus benefits from this phenomenon. By interrogating the differences in autophagy regulation among wild-type adenovirus, the E1B-deleted Adhz60 and AdLacZ, a nonreplicating adenovirus, the authors present evidence that autophagy is only triggered by a replication-competent adenovirus. Moreover, they show that when autophagy is inhibited, it becomes a limiting factor in oncolytic efficacy. The significance of this report is based on the potential of targeting autophagy modulation to enhance oncolytic adenoviral therapy. This paper evaluation will shed light on the context of these stud...


Sets are a construction within André Bazin's "recreation of the world in its own image." During the 1920s, advances in film stock (which improved image clarity) and better lenses (which expanded depth of field) meant that the visual fidelity of sets had to increase. Most critical was more sophisticated camera motion. Cranes could now take the camera into sets, which required more complete environments. Sets have mutated and spread ever since. Architects began working in the movie industry and movie people began working as architects. With the introduction of the first Disney theme park, this practice became codified and thematic placemaking has since proliferated globally. Sets later provided the blueprint for digital games, and as embodied in the game engine have reached virtual holism. Today, Industrial Light & Magic's StageCraft pairs LED display walls with game engine technology on a soundstage called the Volume. StageCraft replaces both CGI and the traditional set with mixed reality, photorealistic digital environments. Filmmakers can also make design changes in real time and move these virtual backgrounds around the players. This article posits a new history of the spatial philosophy of set design in which the experiential mode of themed spaces, video games, and virtual reality each become a unified recombination of Bazin's rigid theatre/ cinema dichotomy.


Although the Clean Water Act has been in effect for over thirty-three years, many aspects of the Act remain for the Supreme Court to define. In fact, the Court is still called upon to determine certain threshold questions about the Act's scope and jurisdiction, permits, water quality standards and enforcement. One central question has been the definition of "navigable waters" as it relates to wetlands. The purpose of the Act is to protect the nation's waters, and a logical question that the Court must address is "to what extent can wetlands be included as navigable waters?" Two cases have been instrumental in addressing this question, finding that wetlands must bear some connection to navigable waters or interstate commerce. These cases also serve to highlight the split amongst the circuits with regard to the connection between wetlands and navigable waters, i.e., is there a need for "adjacency," "ecological connection" or "direct abutment?" Questions have also arisen with regard to pollutants and point sources and whether pesticides may be considered pollutants. Similarly, can mine shafts be considered point sources that discharge pollutants? Other sources of controversy among the key terms of the CWA include those involving concentrated animal feeding operations, ballast discharges, general permits, storm water permits and NPDES delegation. This article attempts to answer these questions.


The perceptual experiences which occur at a product or service interface are fundamental towards cognitive and emotional engagement. The current study investigates what form of correlation may exist between measures of the valence and the arousal dimensions of the human affective response to steering wheel stimuli felt at driver's hands and vibration intensity metrics. Seventeen steering wheel signals from mid-sized European automobiles and European roads were selected such that the widest possible operating envelope could be achieved. A laboratory-based experiment was performed with 30 participants who were presented the seventeen signals and asked to rate their feelings of emotional valence and emotional arousal by means of a Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) scale. The results suggest that while vibration intensity plays a significant role in eliciting emotional feelings, there are also other stimuli properties which influence the human emotional response to steering wheel vibration such as the presence of high peak events or high frequency band amplitudes.


As we move into a more electrified and automated reality, the sustainability of functional safe and secure electronic systems is a major concern of automobile manufacturers. The complexity of high performance systems is not possible without the application of the latest semiconductor technology nodes. However, the effort to compensate for reliability and robustness gaps in those technologies via resilient design strategies, that are also compliant to cyber security IP and that address defect related attack vectors, creates challenges with respect to performance, size, power, security and cost (PSPSC).Technology generation dependent resilient design measures always relate to the physics-of-failure (PoF), making it evident that defectivity management in the leading edge domain is no longer simply a manufacturing concern, but rather an interdisciplinary task for design and process engineering teams, including process logistics. A process monitoring approach that effectively helps to reduce a) the number of critical defects and b) the number of defect types automatically reduces the resilient design effort for detection and compensation (circuit adaption).In this paper we will illustrate anonymized case studies and exemplary fab benchmarks to bridge the link between design and process engineering in order to infer best practices for automotive related semiconductor manufacturing. Following a systems engineering approach, the effort/cost for effective defectivity management including contamination control is weighted against effort/cost for resilient design and test strategies. It is therefore possible to create a framework that systematically identifies the optimization potential in the below defect detection threshold domain.


OBJECTIVE
To compare growth performance, animal health characteristics, and carcass characteristics of feedlot calves treated with ivermectin topically with that of feedlot calves treated with a combination of fenbendazole orally and permethrin and fenthion topically.

DESIGN
Clinical trial.

ANIMALS
14,184 British crossbred steer calves (mean weight, 286 kg [630 lb]) in 30 pens at a commercial feedlot in Nebraska.

PROCEDURE
On arrival at the feedlot, calves were randomly assigned to be treated with ivermectin topically or with a combination of fenbendazole orally and permethrin and fenthion topically (control). At the time of assignment to treatment groups, fecal samples were collected from 5% of the calves. Growth performance, carcass characteristics, and health information were recorded.

RESULTS
Geometric mean fecal egg counts at the time of arrival at the feedlot were not significantly different between groups. Final weight, weight gain, average daily gain, and the dry matter intake-to-gain ratio were significantly improved for calves in the ivermectin group. The percentage of carcasses classified as quality grade choice was higher for the ivermectin group than the control group; however, the percentage of carcasses classified as yield grade 1 and the dressing percentage were higher for the control group than for the ivermectin group.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Results suggest that topical administration of ivermectin to feedlot calves is relatively more cost-effective than administration of a combination of fenbendazole orally and permethrin and fenthion topically.


Objective To investigate the tumorigenicity of human adult bone marrow-derived neural stem cells(Md-NSCs) by mutation detection of the three important tumor suppressor genes p53,Rb1 and p16 in these cells.Methods Human adult marrow stromal cells(hMSCs) were obtained from adult normal volunteers and induction culture into Md-NSCs in vitro,the mutation detection of the exons 5-9 of p53 gene,the exons 19-21 of Rb1 gene and the exons 1-2 of p16 gene in Md-NSCs were carried out by polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing subsequently.Results Md-NSCs could be efficiently generated from hMSCs by induction culture in vitro,the sequences of the exons 5-8 of p53 gene,exon 19-21 of Rb1 gene and exons 1-2 of p16 gene in Md-NSCs were all consistent with the wide types,without any mutation found.Conclusion No common mutations of important tumor suppressor genes could be found in Md-NSCs,which provided useful information for assessing the long-term tumorigenicity of these cells upon autologous transplantation.


Xylanases from Penicillium chrysogenum: production, purification, characterization, and their application to pre-bleaching cellulosic pulp of banana tree The aim of this work was to study the potential of xylanases present in culture filtrate of Penicillium chrysogenum and of this xylanases purified in favor of the pre-bleaching of pseudostem cellulosic pulp of banana trees. Early, it was established the optimal media and time of culture to production of xylanases by IFO-4626 and M-85 Penicillium chrysogenum strains. Both strains have presented such characteristics as to contribute to their use in pulp and/or cellulosic fibers industrial process, besides the high activity of pectinases and the low activity of cellulases. To the IFO-4626 strain, the best production of xylanases using as inductor oat spelt xylan was obtained in the Ferreira medium, after 60h of culture. The performance of M-85 strain only was equal to that at the 72 hours in the Haas medium. As carbon sources, both sugar-cane straw and coconut fiber can substitute the oat spelt xylan in the production of xylanase by IFO-4626 strain. Xylose can induce the synthesis of xylanase when no xylan source was added to the culture medium. The inhibition of activity of xilanase was observed in medium with xylan plus glycose (1%) or galactose (1%). In the essays about xylanase purification, it was used the culture filtrate of IFO-4626 strain, obtained after 72 hours of culture in Ferreira medium. Two peaks with xylanase activity were obtained after the elution in an anionic-exchange column DEAE-Sephacel. The xylanase I, showed molecular mass of 12.6 kDa, Km = 12.14mg/mL and Vmax = 7.75 U/μg of protein, and it was not bind to the resin, and the xylanase II, with molecular mass of 20 kDa, Km = 39.32 mg/mL and Vmáx = 1579.62 mg/mL, was eluted with NaCl 100 mM. The xylanases in the culture filtrate, and the xylanases I and II, have presented good stability at 40°C and 50°C, and in pH values 3.5 to 9.0, despite of having no good stability at 60°C, their optimal temperatures and pH of reaction are low. The xylanases present in culture filtrate were activated by the presence of Fe, Mn, Ca and dithiothreitol (DTT) and inhibited by the presence of Zn, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), Pb and Hg. The xylanase I activity was stimulated by DTT, Ca, and Mn, and inhibited by Cu, Zn, SDS, and Hg. On the other hand, the xylanase II was inibited by Hg, and it was activated by several ions, like as: Mn, Co, Fe, Ba, Ca, Cu, Mg, and by NH4 and DTT. The xylanases from IFO-4626 strain, present in


Solid drayed meaning water separate from solid substance. One of drying equipment is rotary dryer, it consist of one rotary cylinder, horizontal, or rather oblique downwards with DCS (Distributed Control System), in order to control manufacturing process continually or batch-oriented. In this case using 5 kg corn each experimental variable with 2 minutes time sample. Drying can be done on 80°C, 75°C, and 70°C. Largest drying flow it's on 80°C as big as 0,152 lb / ft2 h. Meanwhile on 75°C as big as 0,101 lb / ft2 h and on 70°C as big as 0,091 lb / ft2 h. The biggest water evaporated material on 80°C as big as 3%. On temperature 75°C and 70°C that is evaporated water rate as big as 2% and 1,8%. More drying time it takes, more evaporated water loss and also the drying flow. Drying flow straight equal with temperature and equal with evaporated H2O. As a result, the best operational condition is on temperature 80°C because it's the highest evaporated water and also the larger drying flow that can make the corn more dry.


Let X be a completely regular space. We denote by Cb(X) the Banach space of all real-valued bounded continuous functions on X endowed with the supremum-norm. In this paper we prove some characterisations of weakly compact operators defined from Cb(X) into a Banach space E which are continuous with respect to fit, βt, βr and βσ introduced by Sentilles. We also prove that (Cb,(X), βi), i = t, τσ , has the Dunford-Pettis property.


A multi-page tutorial on evaluating web sites, for beginners and those who think they know. Serarch National Academies Press for material on cell phones


A key to producing reliable engine diagnostics and prognostics resides in fusion of multisensor data. It is believed that faults will manifest effects in a variety of sensors. By 'integration' (fusion) of information across sensors detections can be made of faults that are undetectable on just a single sensor. Data to support development of prognostic techniques is very rare. The development requires continuous collection of significant amounts of data to capture not only "normal" data but also capture potential fault event data well before the fault is detected by existing techniques, as well as capture data related to rare events. The collected data can be analyzed to develop processing tailored to new events and to continuously update algorithms so as to improve detection and classification performance and reduce false alarms. IAC in collaboration with the Air Force and the Army is developing a testbed to perform data collection and to develop fusion techniques for gas turbine engine health monitoring. The testbed and examples of its operation are presented here.


An experiment on Benard–Marangoni time-dependent convection shows evidence of an amplitude turbulent regime in the temperature signal which is modeled by a delayed dynamical system. Application of a control procedure, which perturbs the value of the delay time, leads to the control of such dynamical regime, by suppression of phase defects and stabilization of the regular oscillations. The control technique is robust against the presence of large amounts of noise.


"Art thou the Christ, the son of the Blessed one?" The reply to this question is of supreme importance for NT christology, be it concerned with Jesus' own understanding or with that of the early Church as represented by the evangelist Mark. But interpretation should not proceed until the original text of the Gospel is established with confidence. At present most exegetes follow the majority of textual witnesses, apparently without question, in reading the simple affirmative reply ycy ~4Lu ("I am"), although a number of


Abstract. Some tracking algorithms based on Siamese network have made great progress in similarity learning via features cross-correlation between an object branch and a search branch. However, it is significantly challenging for object tracking in video sequences in terms of target deformation with greatly varying. We propose a Siamese network based on global and local feature matching for object tracking including three phases with the aim of addressing the above issues. In the first phase, obtaining the global similarity matching and local relational mapping similarity of the template branch and the search branch by a selection mechanism of object template-aware features are to reduce the impact of background features on the local matching. In the second phase, introducing correlation matching of the local feature for establishing correspondence among partial-level pixels. Finally, combining the classification and regression results with global matching features and local matching features in a weighted fusion. Extensive experiments are conducted on datasets (OTB-100, LaSOT and GOT-10K) demonstrate that the proposed network enables to achieve superiority compared against the state-of-the-art method and provides an efficient scenario for tackling the issue.


4. It is not possible to specify rules, or provide specific guidance to cover all circumstances and situations. However, all officials are expected to know, understand and follow the rules and procedures noted in paragraph 1 above. Relevant guidance may also be found in professional rules of conduct and codes of practice applying to members of a specific profession. Office of the Director Bureau de la Directrice


Citronella grass cultivation is commercially done for its aromatic oil. Oil contains Citral which has odour like lemon, that's why the grass is also known as Lemon grass. Scientific methods of cultivation give good yield and the appropriate time of harvest gives good quality of oil. Oil of Java citronella is of superior quality. Aromatic oil obtained by the method of steam distillation is useful in cosmetic industry, perfumes, soaps and detergents; also it is used for medicinal purpose. Thus farmers can get good money by cultivation of aromatic grasses.


Objective To explore the feasibility of trans-obturator tension-free vaginal tape for female stress urinary incontinence(SUI) performed during gynecologic surgery.Methods Twelve females with benign gynecologic disease and stress urinary incontinence were treated with trans-obturator tension free vaginal tape during gynecologic surgery.Nine patients had uterine and vaginal anterior wall prolapse,2 with uterine myoma and 1 with endometriosis.The operation time,blood loss and complications were recorded. Results The patient′s average age was 58.5 years.All the TVT-O operations were finished between 15-25 minutes(mean 19.8 minutes) and with the estimated blood loss of 20-40 ml(mean 22 ml).None of them had bladder injury,hematoma or nerve damage.During follow up from 2 to 12 months(mean 8.2 month),12 patients were cured successfully without urinary incontinence recurring.The cure rate was 100%.Conclusion Trans-obturator tension-free vaginal tape during gynecologic surgery is a practical procedure with little more operating time,less risk of infection,minimal invasion and better outcomes for patients with gynecologic disease and stress urinary incontinence.Colposcopy is not necessary because less risk of injury to the bladder.


At present,almond is produced in Xinjiang,but it can't meet the needs of the market in China.Along with the growth of economy and rise of people's living standard in China,people's demand for almond is increasing continually.Nevertheless,various problems seriously affect the almond industry in China,such as,intermingled varieties,blindness development in wrong area,and poor orchard management,low benefit and so on.Therefore,the author takes the problems about almond mentioned above as a potential starting point,compares and analyzes various areas in Shanxi.From the point of macro-angle,the author roughly classifies the suitable areas of Jinbian series almond in Shanxi,and put forward some suggestion on almond development,with such an expect that almond industry really becomes an effective way of arid and semi-arid mountain to cast off poverty and become better off in Shanxi suitable development area.


The roots of time series models are important for analysing model dynamics and have a special importance in the unit root and co–integration literature. In this paper known results about the equivalence of state space and auto–regressive moving–average (ARMA) models are exploited to give better calculations of VAR and ARMA model roots. The improved computational accuracy is illustrated with an especially difficult example.


What are the main concerns that continue to motivate active audience research since its prominent beginnings in the context of British cultural studies? Where do agency and its political potentials come from in the era of globalization? In what sense is the subject passive or active? In his book Active Audience: A New Materialistic Interpretation of a Key Concept in Cultural Studies, Huimin Jin, Chair Professor at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, addresses these questions from a unique cultural and theoretical perspective. Inspired by a wide range of Chinese thinkers, his book rearticulates the insights of the Birmingham…


Abstract In this paper a new bivariate distribution called Marshall–Olkin–Morgenstern-bivariate-Weibull distribution is introduced and studied. Two different models of minification processes with the above bivariate distribution as stationary marginal distribution are developed. It is shown that the process is strictly stationary. The properties of the process are derived. The expressions for reliability under stress-strength analysis when the components are in series and parallel are obtained. The process is extended to pth order as well as k-variate cases.


The dimeric complex [{Ru(η6-p-cymene)(μ-Cl)Cl}2] reacts with iminophosphorane-phosphine ligands Ph2PCH2P(NR)Ph2 (R = SiMe31, p-C6F4CN 2, p-C5F4N 3), in dichloromethane at room temperature, to afford the neutral derivatives [Ru(η6-p-cymene)Cl2{κ1-P-Ph2PCH2P(NR)Ph2}] (R = SiMe34, p-C6F4CN 5, p-C5F4N 6). Treatment of 4–6
with NaPF6 in methanol allows the preparation of cationic species [Ru(η6-p-cymene)Cl{κ2-P,N-Ph2PCH2P(NR)Ph2}][PF6] (R = H 7, p-C6F4CN 8, p-C5F4N 9). While complexes 8 and 9 react with anionic ligands yielding neutral derivatives [Ru(η6-p-cymene)X2{κ1-P-Ph2PCH2P(NR)Ph2}] (R =
p-C6F4CN, X = Br 10a, I 10b, N310c,
CN 10d, NCO 10e; R =
p-C5F4N, X = Br 11a, I 11b, N311c, CN 11d, NCO 11e), cationic species [Ru(η6-p-cymene)X{κ2-P,N-Ph2PCH2P(NH)Ph2}][PF6] (X = Br 12a, I 12b, N312c, CN 12d, NCO 12e) are exclusively formed starting from 7. Complexes 8 and 9 also react with neutral ligands such as phosphines, pyridine, acetonitrile or isocyanides affording compounds [Ru(η6-p-cymene)Cl(PR3){κ1-P-Ph2PCH2P(NR)Ph2}][PF6] (R =
p-C6F4CN, PR3
= PMe313a, PMe2Ph 13b, PMePh213c, PPh313d; R =
p-C5F4N, PR3
= PMe314a, PMe2Ph 14b, PMePh214c, PPh314d), [Ru(η6-p-cymene)Cl(py){κ1-P-Ph2PCH2P(NR)Ph2}][PF6] (R =
p-C6F4CN 15; R =
p-C5F4N 16), [Ru(η6-p-cymene)Cl(NCMe){κ1-P-Ph2PCH2P(NR)Ph2}][PF6] (R =
p-C6F4CN 17; R =
p-C5F4N 18) and [Ru(η6-p-cymene)Cl(CNR′){κ1-P-Ph2PCH2P(NR)Ph2}][PF6] (R =
p-C6F4CN, R′
=
Cy 19a, 2,6-C6H3Me219b; R =
p-C5F4N, R′
= Cy 20a, 2,6-C6H3Me220b), respectively. The synthesis of complexes [Ru(η3:η3-C10H16)Cl2{κ1-P-Ph2PCH2P(NR)Ph2}] (R = SiMe321, p-C6F4CN 22, p-C5F4N 23) and [Ru(η3:η3-C10H16)Cl{κ2-P,N-Ph2PCH2P(NH)Ph2}][BF4] 24 starting from the bis(allyl)-ruthenium(IV) dimer [{Ru(η3:η3-C10H16)(μ-Cl)Cl}2] and ligands 1–3 is also reported.


abstract The purpose of this study is to evaluate and analyze the house unit planning at Chitlada State Railway of Thailand (SRT) housing site in Bangkok. Row houses at Chitlada were made of timber and were built on concrete pillars and had multipurpose space such as a Taithun (underneath) and a Chan (terrace) which were often seen at traditional Thai houses. In this paper, we discuss about the use of house unit and its relationship with the shared Chan. We found that the use of house unit shows the demarcation of sleeping space and multipurpose connecting space. The shared Chan is not actively used for daily social communications as used to be, however still helped for practical uses such as work space, housework, storage, passage and as ritual space. In addition spatial perception of Chan as multipurpose connecting space can be shared among residents. The shared Chan supports the residents' continuous living and indicated its importance in house unit planning which reflects the Thai way of life.


In this Note, we take up the problem of post-COVID-19 gradual adjustment in the industry as well as whether and to what extent opening with limited capacity might be feasible. We find that (i) reopening gradually requiring only nonnegative profits is quite feasible but (ii) reopening requiring the same level of profit as in the pre-COVID-19 period is considerably more difficult, and seems feasible by reopening at capacity near 33%. Lower capacities would require governmental subsidies which could vary considerably from hotel to hotel.


T he editor tells me there's been an unprecedented level of interest in contributing to this edition of Waterlines. We really struggled to choose between submissions – some excellent articles will have to go into later editions. Fortunately, with a topic like water and livelihoods, there's plenty of overlap with most themes which are likely to come up. As Patrick Moriarty comments in his overview paper, (Sustainable) Livelihoods Approaches, which have stimulated the focus on livelihoods in the water sector, have been described as 'applied common sense', so this edition is about sensible approaches to water-sector interventions, leaving plenty of scope for future editions. Of course, the equation of Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches (SLA) with common sense is a backhand compliment. There is a concern in some quarters that the international development spin-doctors are promoting yet another miracle cure – with strangely familiar ingredients. Well, it is certainly not new. Sustainable Livelihoods thinking was first articulated in the 1980s in the rural development sector and was closely associated with the work of Robert Chambers and colleagues at the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University in the UK. And indeed Sustainable Livelihoods has included in its ambit well-established ways of working such as participation, interdisciplinary work and a focus on policy as well as field level work. While some would see this as stealing the credit, others find it useful in its very integration of so many existing approaches. Above all, many welcome it because of its very positive focus of building on the strengths of poor people, supporting them in the way they use assets, capabilities and strategies in order to make a living as well as avoiding compounding their vulnerability. In the context of the water sector, SLAs have a particular value in moving the focus upwards and outwards from the traditional justification of water interventions on health grounds. The appropriate technology movement has not succeeded in moving engineers in many developing countries away from a narrow objective of high technical standards for assuring water quality towards a broader understanding of health in the context of the manifold links between poverty and poor health. An explicitly holistic approach might help. A focus on poverty and poor people's livelihood strategies makes us analyse carefully what poor people are doing with water, and how the wider context changes that. This encourages another look at questions of financing interventions. The articles in this edition cover a wide range, but still cannot illustrate the full variety of contexts within the water sector where SLAs can make a difference. Sanitation and livelihoods probably deserves a separate edition. Patrick Moriarty's article sets out what this broader rural development thinking in SLAs can bring to the rural water supply and sanitation sector. For a start it increases the range of benefits from water projects – beyond health, time and savings. The paper notes the good fit with Demand Responsive Approaches, and the implications for financing. A number of examples are mentioned, including a case-study on the Zimbabwe collector wells project – familiar to Waterlines readers. It concludes with practical implications for policy-makers as well as practitioners. Two of the main articles which follow, as well as a shorter one by John Butterworth, deal with water management, traditionally within the field of rural development. In different ways they illustrate the trade-offs between people's livelihoods, tough choices which good livelihoods analysis will reveal. The delivery of water is one


Pharmaceutical marketing is to draw the attention of the recipi- ent on the price, availability and positive effects that are associated with their use of the product. It is constructed so that the potential recipient feels satisfied. Easy access to pharmaceuticals, the popularity and prom- ise made by producers in the advertising slogans are the most important elements responsible for product recognition. After hearing the public opinion of society on pharmaceuticals in the media, it is important to analyze how the ads affect the subconscious customers, how often they buy medication and whether these satisfy the their expectations In the survey, respondents answered questions related to the use of pharmaceuticals. The survey was designed to determine what factors affect people when buying medical supplies. Also asked about the feelings and reactions of respondents that have them advertised pharmaceuticals. The research shows that respondents are reluctant to buy adver- tised measures which have not previously tested. During their choice they are primarily driven by personal experiences. The vast majority number of respondents are aware that the advertising purchase a particular phar- maceutical and despite their belief that it is worth to trust well – known medications, customers are inspired by advertising.


Test coverage criteria help the tester to analyze the quality of the test suite, especially in an evolving system where it can be used to guide the prioritization of regression tests as well as the testing effort of new code. However, coverage analysis of more powerful criteria such as path coverage is still a challenging task due to the lack of supporting tools. In this paper, we evaluate the opportunity of using machine learning algorithms to estimate the prime-path coverage of a test suite at method level. We use a knowledge discovery in database framework and a dataset built from real-world projects to devise a regression model for prime-path prediction. Experimental results demonstrate that a suitable predictive model can be defined with RMSE 0.118 on cross-validation and an average error rate of 26% in a cross-project scenario. We also show how the tester can use the proposed strategy in a practical cross-project scenario.


In this paper, we describe a general-purpose timing and tracing package, called CASPER, for UNIX® System V. We also present the results of a study of the behavior of the UNIX System V fork system call using this package. CASPER is designed to support high-resolution timing and tracing of software under UNIX System V. With CASPER, we were able to obtain detailed and accurate information on the behavior of the fork system call, which led to minor algorithmic changes that reduced the time to execute small forks by about 15 percent.


The rise of web services have become increasingly more visible. Monitoring these services ensures Quality of Service and it is the basis for verifying and potentially predicting e-contract violations. This paper proposes a fuzzy scheduling mechanism that attempts to predict a possible e-contract violation based on historical data of the provider's services. Consequently, there is a self-configuration on the architecture that changes service priority, making the provider processes the high priority services before low priority services. This prediction can also helps the self-optimization of the architecture. A decrease of e-contract violations can be observed. Though it is not always possible to predict a failure, the architecture is capable of self-healing by using recovery actions. Comparing the fuzzy scheduling with others known in the literature, an improvement of 31.52% in the e-contracts accomplishment is observed, and a decrease of 35.59% in average response time was achieved. Furthermore, by using the fuzzy scheduling, the overload of the provider was better balanced, varying at most 8.43%, while the variation in other scheduling mechanisms reached 41.15%. The results show that the fuzzy scheduling mechanism is promising.


second section of this book, which is called "A Pillar of Fire," the greatest suffering comes to a woman in the form of spiritual anguish when her home is uprooted, her husband taken from her, and her children separated. Both accounts make for tender sympathy for those who were called upon to undergo what these women underwent. Such a book — true stories — should help rebuild trust and confidence in human beings so recently at serious odds with one another.


In the current work,observation was performed on the microstructure of different regions on the welded joint of a 2.25Cr-1Mo steel pipe that had been operating at 571 ℃ for about 260 000 h in a power plant.The creep damge in heat affected zone(HAZ) was mainly analyzed.The results show that the HAZ of welded joint intrades was mainly fine-grained structure.The creep cavity area in fine-grained zone was about 0.8% when steel pipe approached the design life,which could be a criterion for the creep failure of welded joints made of the same material.There were many MnS inclusions inside the fine-grained zone accompanied by cavities and microcracks,which was a factor of affecting the creep life of the welded joint.


Objectives: To measure speech detection in noise performance for children with bilateral cochlear implants (BiCI), to compare performance in children with simultaneous implant versus those with sequential implant, and to compare performance to normal-hearing children. Study Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Tertiary academic pediatric center. Patients: Children with early-onset bilateral deafness and 2-year BiCI experience, comprising the "sequential" group (>2 yr interimplantation delay, n = 12) and "simultaneous group" (no interimplantation delay, n = 10) and normal-hearing controls (n = 8). Intervention: Thresholds to speech detection (at 0-degree azimuth) were measured with noise at 0-degree azimuth or ±90-degree azimuth. Main Outcome Measures: Spatial unmasking (SU) as the noise condition changed from 0-degree azimuth to ±90-degree azimuth and binaural summation advantage (BSA) of 2 over 1 CI. Results: Speech detection in noise was significantly poorer than controls for both BiCI groups (p < 0.0001). However, the SU in the simultaneous group approached levels found in normal controls (7.2 ± 0.6 versus 8.6 ± 0.6 dB, p > 0.05) and was significantly better than that in the sequential group (3.9 ± 0.4 dB, p < 0.05). Spatial unmasking was unaffected by the side of noise presentation in the simultaneous group but, in the sequential group, was significantly better when noise was moved to the second rather than the first implanted ear (4.8 ± 0.5 versus 3.0 ± 0.4 dB, p < 0.05). This was consistent with a larger BSA from the sequential group's second rather than first CI. Conclusion: Children with simultaneously implanted BiCI demonstrated an advantage over children with sequential implant by using spatial cues to improve speech detection in noise.


and poetic style apparently draws most attention to the au thor's detachment. Yet the detachment was won with labor through many false starts, and what we have at the finish is also unmistaka bly something intimate, as the diary entries also imply: "I have in sisted on saying, by hook or by crook, certain things I meant to say" (2 Feb. 1931). "I stumble after my own voice." "I have netted that fin in the waste of water which appeared . . . over the marshes at Rod mell when I was coming to an end of To The Lighthouse" (7 Feb. 1931). As To The Lighthouse was haunted by her parents, this book is haunted by her dead brother Thoby, the figure on whom Percival is based, who in the real world of her own youth brought the fourth terrible lesson in loss and emptiness (after the deaths of her mother, stepsister, and father). Thoby in fact and Percival in fiction repre sented for Virginia Woolf that fully completed self that neither she nor any of her characters could become. Yet she cannot dedicate this book to Thoby, though that thought is present as she finishes it, nor can she give his representative Percival speech (his earlier representa tive, Jacob, spoke unwisely). The mysterious fin in the waste of wa ter, netted or not, appears to have something to do with this cluster of meanings: isolation, impotence, nothingness, death. To lay one's hand on the fin is finally to deal, somehow, with these threats, which are generalized in the first draft of The Waves as "some existence not ours" (G 258). Emptiness can be filled with words, even if one is painfully conscious of the limits of words. Bernard, the author's most obvious representative in this book, seeks phrases to sum up, finally, not only himself and the other characters but reality itself. His most determined attempt comes, as one might expect, in the last chapter. Yet here we find that Bernard falters, he circles and repeats, and there is room to argue that his author too, faltered—at least until the scene at the gate (see below, section 5). Trying to be everyone leads too This content downloaded from 18.104.22.168 on Tue, 27 Sep 2016 04:19:16 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms