The performance of Xe*2 as a 172‐nm fluorescence or laser source when pumped by a low‐current, long‐pulse electron beam was determined. The fluorescence efficiency of Xe*2 is near the theoretical limit of ∼50% at modest pressures over a range of pump rates up to 106 W/cm. The laser efficiency is limited to values <1% by a very strong medium absorption that is probably due to Xe*2 photoionization. Laser performance is further degraded by early pulse termination that appears related to mirror degradation. An improved kinetics and extraction code was developed to model the performance of the Xe*2 system. A key component of the model is a more detailed treatment of the interactions between secondary electrons and excited atomic and molecular xenon states. Rates for these processes were derived as described herein. With this model, good absolute agreement was obtained between experiments and calculated parameters at pressures as low as 0.5 atm.


Raden Saleh, a prominent Indonesian artist, has regained attention in recent times with the release of the film "Mencuri Raden Saleh" (Stealing Raden Saleh). One of the film scenes depicts a painting portraying the capture of Prince Diponegoro, which is said to represent resistance against the Dutch colonial rule and nationalism. This raises the need to delve into Raden Saleh's life, the emergence of the painting depicting the capture of Prince Diponegoro, and to understand the historical context and Raden Saleh's position within it. It is essential to provide a clear historical framework to avoid any misconceptions about Raden Saleh and his role. This research utilizes the Historical Method, beginning with the identification of the topic. The heuristic phase involves gathering primary sources such as newspapers, articles, magazines, and online archives like Delpher.nl and the Library University Leiden KITLV. Secondary sources such as books and journals are also employed. The collected sources undergo verification through external criticism to ensure their authenticity and internal criticism to establish the credibility of historical facts. Subsequently, the verified findings are interpreted through analysis and synthesis to construct a historical narrative. Finally, historiography is employed to reconstruct the gathered historical facts.


After Slovenia gained its independence and the privatization of the public housing stock took place, housing policy was considerably transformed. According to 1991 Constitution, the responsibility of the state has been only to provide appropriate conditions for citizens to settle housing situation. Although a number of housing policy documents were adopted by the Parliament, many of them did not take into account the genuine needs and situation in the country. Due to the austerity measures adopted by the Government, many social benefits have been restricted or cancelled, which in turn leads to a gradual decline in the level of welfare.


Abstract Let a(x){a(x)} be non-constant and let bj(x){b_{j}(x)}, for j=0,1,2,3{j=0,1,2,3}, be real or complex polynomials in the variable x. Then the real or complex equivariant polynomial Abel differential equation a(x)y˙=b1(x)y+b3(x)y3{a(x)\dot{y}=b_{1}(x)y+b_{3}(x)y^{3}}, with b3(x)≠0{b_{3}(x)\neq 0}, and the real or complex polynomial equivariant polynomial Abel differential equation of the second kind a(x)yy˙=b0(x)+b2(x)y2{a(x)y\dot{y}=b_{0}(x)+b_{2}(x)y^{2}}, with b2(x)≠0{b_{2}(x)\neq 0}, have at most 7 polynomial solutions. Moreover, there exist equations of this type having this maximum number of polynomial solutions.


Grid adaption is one of several approaches for model-set adaption in variable structure multiple model(VSMM) algorithm. Compared with other approaches, it is unique one with ability to produce new model-set that are not predefined and model parameter can be any value within continuous mode space. In order to improve estimation performance of system mode transition stage and steady-state stage, a new approach to grid adaption is presented in this paper. In contrast to existed grid adaption methods, grid adaption is achieved through using both model posterior probability of last scan and model prediction probability of current scan and thus information of posterior expected-mode of previous scan and predicted expectedmode of current scan are both utilized. Performance of proposed method is evaluated via two simulated example of maneuvering target tracking problem. Simulation results indicate that performance of the AGIMM algorithm, in which our new grid adaption approach is adopted, actually outperform those of algorithms in which only one kind probability is applied.


Introducing the desired amount of distortion in an optical system is possible and relatively straight forward for optical designer. Known f-theta lenses used in laser scanner system is one of the most popular lenses of this type. With the development of DWDM system, compact spectrometer and various grating based devices, the interest in solving optical problems with innovative optical design has been a revival. On the other hand, it is possible to simplify considerably the task of the software by designing more sophisticated optical element. The F-sin(theta) lens is such a device which can be used in various grating based devices to improve the performance. This optical device is intended to provide a new lens or lens group which can be used with a diffraction grating to provide a linear output plane with the wavelength (lambda), but also with the order of diffraction (m), or with the grating spatial frequency, or with the inverse of the index of refraction (1/n). Based on theoretical consideration, we calculated which amount of distortion is desired to get linear output plane for a grating based device. We present singlet, achromatic doublet and mirror having this characteristic. These F-sin(theta) lenses present satisfactory distortion characteristic and have an improved correction for the curvature of image plane. F-sin(theta) lens will be also name F-lambda lens.


Understanding observable-based observables (OBP) phenomenology should make it possible to link observables, extracted from measured or computed data, to the wave mechanisms from which they originated, aiding in data inversion: we have referred to such a scenario as wave-oriented data processing. Thus, in wave-oriented data processing, one first parameterizes the forward problem in terms of a concise set of observables (forward problem), and then signal-processing algorithms are developed to extract these observables from data (inverse problem). To close the loop, we must show that the data processing algorithms extract wave phenomenology which is consistent with the forward OBP. The authors describe the forward and inverse phases of this strategy in greater detail. A general strategy is then implemented for a very specific scattering problem: frequency-domain (FD) and time domain (TD) scattering from periodic and weakly aperiodic arrays. That scattering problem is described and the results of their previous forward modeling are summarized. The remainder of the article emphasizes inverse, wave-oriented data processing. Processing options for phase-space processing are summarized,and the results for FD and TD scattering are presented.<<ETX>>


This research conducted to analyze and to know the influence of Current Asset (CR), Debt to Equity Ratio (DER), Earning Per Share(EPS) and Return On Asset (ROA) on Stock Return at coal mining company listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange period 2013-2016. The population used in this research is all coal mining companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange 2013-2016. The sample of this research are 17 coal mining companies that appropriate the criteria. The analysis technique used in this research is panel data regression with using Eviews 9. Based on Chow test and Hausman test Panel Data Regression Model selected Is Fixed Effect Model. Based on t-test the result showed that Current Ratio (CR) has a significant effect on Stock Return, Debt to Equity Ratio (DER) has no significant effect on Stock Return, Earning Per Share(EPS) has no significant effect on Stock Return, and Return On Assets (ROA) has no significant effect on Stock Return. Based on F-test the result show that Current Ratio, Debt to Equity Ratio, Earning Per Shareand Return On Asset has a significant effect on Stock Return.Keywords : Stock Return, CR, DER, EPS, ROA


The Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), Waste Tank Organic Safety Project is conducting research to support Westinghouse Hanford Company`s (WHC) Waste Tank Safety Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy`s Tank Farm Project Office. The goal of PNL`s program is to provide a scientific basis for analyzing organics in Hanford`s underground storage tanks (USTs) and for determining whether they are at concentrations that pose a potentially unsafe condition. Part of this research is directed toward determining what organic concentrations are safe by conducting research on organic aging mechanisms and waste energetics to assess the conditions necessary to produce an uncontrolled energy release in tanks due to reactions between the organics and the nitrate and nitrate salts in the tank wastes. The objective of the Organic Concentration Mechanisms Task is to assess the degree of localized enrichment of organics to be expected in the USTs due to concentration mechanisms. This report describes the progress of research conducted in FY 1994 on two concentration mechanisms of interest to the tank safety project: (1) permeation of a separate organic liquid phase into the interstitial spaces of the tank solids during the draining of free liquid from the tanks; and (2) concentration of organicsmore » on the surfaces of the solids due to adsorption. Three experiments were conducted to investigate permeation of air and solvent into a sludge simulant that is representative of single-shell tank sludge. The permeation behavior of air and solvent into the sludge simulant can be explained by the properties of the fluid pairs (air/supernate and solvent supernate) and the sludge. One important fluid property is the interfacial tension between the supernate and either the solvent or air. In general, the greater the interfacial tension between two fluids, the more difficult it will be for the air or solvent to displace the supernate during dewatering of the sludge.« less


The requirements and significance of constructing a synthetic environment of dynamic simulation for underwater multi-weapon platform combat are analyzed. A scheme to construct an open and extensible underwater combat simulation synthetic environment by utilizing advanced modeling and developing software platform of HLA: LabWorks and pRTI is presented. And a single-submarine and single-ship underwater confronting process is taken as a typical instance, and the architecture and functional requirement of the system are explored. Federate development process and key technologies are discussed. So far the simulation system has been put into practice, simulation test shows that the anticipated result has been reached.


A Boy With Trisomy 13 Presenting With a Subtle Clinical Picture and Metopic Synostosis Sevim Unal, Fatma Cakmak Celik,* Derya Soy, Serdar Ceylaner, and Gulay Ceylaner Neonatology Department, Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health Ankara Diskapi Children's Health Training and Research Hospital, Diskapi, Ankara, Turkey Department of Pediatrics, Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health Ankara Diskapi Children's Health Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey Intergen Genetics Center, Ankara, Turkey


Aquantitativeunderstandingofthree-phase∞owinporous media is required to address many diverse processes in the subsurface, e.g., improved oil recovery, CO2 sequestration, and aquifer clean-up. In turn, all predictive models of three-phase ∞ow originate from interpretations of onedimensional laboratory experiments; when these interpretations are ∞awed, so are the models. In this paper we revisitthefoundationsofdisplacementtheoryinthree-phase ∞ow and provide the most general conditions for any relative permeability model to be physical anywhere in the saturation triangle. In doing so, we put to rest a controversy that has persisted in petroleum literature for the better part of the last six decades. When capillarity is ignored, the system of conservation laws describing incompressible immiscible ∞ow should be strictly hyperbolic. This natural property of the system fails for most relative permeability models used today. We identify necessary conditions that relative permeabilities must obey to preserve strict hyperbolicity. These conditionsareinagreementwithexperimentalobservationsand pore-scale physics. We also present the most general analytical solution to theRiemannproblem(constantinitialandinjectedstates) for three-phase ∞ow, and describe the characteristic waves thatmayarise,concludingthat only 9combinationsofrarefactions,shocksandrarefaction-shocksarepossible. Some of these wave combinations have been overlooked by many becauseoftheassociatedconceptualandmathematicaldifflculties. The analytical developments presented here will be useful in the planning and interpretation of three-phase displacement experiments, in the formulation of consistent relative permeability models, and in the implementation of streamtube simulators.


The antemortem diagnosis of atrial myocardial infarction can be made only with ECG. Nonetheless, ECG findings in atrial infarction are frequently overlooked by electrocardiographers. I review herein the ECG criteria for the diagnosis of atrial infarction and their clinical usefulness in establishing a diagnosis. REPORT OF A CASE A 59-year-old man was brought to our cardiac catheterization laboratory for coronary angiography because of a four-month history of angina pectoris (New York Heart Association class IV) that had persisted despite medical management with β-blockers, nitrates, and nifedipine. After coronary angiography, the patient had chest pain associated with hypotension, sinus bradycardia, periods of complete atrioventricular block, and one episode of ventricular fibrillation. Following treatment with DC cardioversion, dopamine hydrochloride, and a temporary pacemaker, his condition rapidly stabilized. An ECG demonstrated marked elevation of the P-Tasegments in leads II, III, and aVFconsistent with atrial infarction. There was no ECG


Electrolytes additives are ubiquitous and indispensable in all electrochemical devices. In this sense, the principle and the classification of film-forming additives for lithium ion secondary batteries are described. The film formation mechanism and research progress of the pyrazole derivatives, organic halogenide, esters and derivatives, boron compounds and inorganic compounds are introduced. Emphasis is focused on the principles and film-forming mechanisms of each additive. The development of film-forming additives is forecasted and prospected.


Objectives: Futile medical care is considered as the care or treatment that does not benefit the patient. Staff of intensive care units experience moral distress when they perceive the futility of care. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between perceptions of nurses regarding futile medical care and their caring behaviors toward patients in the final stages of life admitted to intensive care units. Method: This correlation, analytical study was conducted with 181 nursing staff of the intensive care units of health centers affiliated to Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Mazandaran, Iran. The data collection tool included a three-part questionnaire containing demographic characteristics form, perception of futile care questionnaire, and caring behaviors inventory. To analyze the data, statistical tests and central indices of tendency and dispersion were investigated using SPSS, version 19. Pearson's correlation coefficient, partial correlation, t-test, and analysis of variance tests were performed to assess the relationship between the variables. Ethical considerations: The study was reviewed by the ethics committee of the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Informed consent was obtained from participants. Results: Our findings illustrated that the majority of nurses (65.7%) had a moderate perception of futile care, and most of them (98.9%) had desirable caring behaviors in taking care of patients in the final stages of life. The nurses believed that psychosocial aspects of care were of utmost importance. There was a significant negative relationship between perception of futile care and caring behavior. Conclusion: Given the moderate perception of nurses concerning futile care, and its negative impact on caring behaviors toward patients, implementing suitable interventions for minimizing the frequency of futile care and its resulting tension seems to be mandatory. It is imperative to train nurses on adjustment mechanisms and raise their awareness as to situations resulting in futile care.


The phenomenon that the state-run enterprises are going forward while the private ones are lagging behind will surely lead to the adjustment of a series of interests.This has become the focus of our attention.In China's modern history,the Westernization Movement,three to four decades of the 20th century,and the early years of the PRC,such phenomenon occurred in a large scale.Their historical background,the specific ways,fields concerned,the degree and impact were quite different.Accordingly,it does not seem to be unjustifiable.


Breeding by hybridization in GuzmaniaBromeliad was investigated by the use of Guzmania wittmackii Red and Guzmania dissitifloraas parents.The technical system of breeding by hybridization in Guzmania was established,and a new cultivar Guzmania'Bubugao'was developed.The new cultivar had a compact plant architecture,a novel complex spikes and pink inflorescence bracts,and was easy to cultivate with a high commodity rate,a long ornamental period,broad adaptation and good disease resistance.Problems in creation of newGuzmaniacultivars were also discussed here.


It is well-known that developing pragmatic skills is the final purpose of language learning. After Chinas entry to WTO, majors of specialties concerning activities involving foreigners are required to have better cross-cultural communicative competence. However, the findings of our test indicate that most of them don't have good pragmatic skills. To solve the problem, College English teaching should focus on improving the students communicative competence by increasing the students language input and reforming the old-fashioned teaching methods. 


Angelica dahurica is commonly referred to as 'Baizhi' in China and has been noted for its therapeutic significance. The major active ingredients of Angelica dahurica is coumarin, which is reported as a kind of potent inhibitor of cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP450s). The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibition of CYP3A enzymes by total coumarin extract (TCE) obtained from dried root of Angelica dahurica by using in situ single pass intestinal perfusion (SPIP) and in situ liver perfusion in rats. When midazolam (MDZ) which is a substrate of CYP3A co-perfused with TCE (198 μg/mL) from Baizhi in duodenum and ileum segments, the Peff of MDZ has increased significantly compared with the MDZ single perfused group (p 0.05) (n = 6). During in situ liver perfusion study, the results demonstrated that, 3 days oral administration of TCE obtained from Baizhi could significantly reduce the elimination rate of MDZ in the perfusate (p Angelica dahurica extract co-administrated with drugs which are the substrates of CYP3A, much more attention should be paid rather than that of other CYP450 enzymes. These findings may facilitate in predicting possible herb-drug interactions (HDIs) when Angelica dahurica is used in combination with other drugs, and decrease the incidence of the CYP450-mediated HDIs.


Severe dermatitis, multiple allergies, and metabolic wasting (SAM) syndrome is a rare congenital skin disease. We report on a 16-month-old infant presenting with severe disseminated dermatitis, characterized by erythema and lichenified plaques. The crucial result of de novo missense mutation in the DSP gene (c.1769T>C, p.F590S) discovered by next-generation sequencing finally confirmed the diagnosis of SAM syndrome. The eruptions and skin pruritus significantly improved after a 4-week treatment with secukinumab.


We have observed normally forbidden two-quantum transitions in the optical spectrum of a helium plasma. We induced these transitions by applying a microwave field to a separately generated steady-state helium discharge. Measurements of the relative intensity and wave-length of the optical photons emitted in the two-quantum transition $5^{1}F^{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2^{1}P^{0}$ in He I determined both the frequency and the strength of the microwave field in the plasma. The field strength was also measured by observation of the Stark shift of a spectral line and by measurement of the microwave power input and the $Q$ of the microwave cavity. All measurements of the field strength are in satisfactory agreement and indicate an rms microwave field strength in the plasma of about 215 V/cm. The spectroscopic measurement of the frequency of the microwave field is within 3% of the actual value, and the measured polarization of the radiation agrees with theory.


Error forecasting for electric energy measurement equipment is the foundation of its operation condition forecasting and fault early warning. This paper proposes a kind of forecasting model and algorithm for electric energy metering error based on intrinsic time-scale decomposition (ITD) and time series analysis. Error is decomposed into a steady baseline component and multiple rotation components of time series by ITD method. This method adapts subsection linearization between adjacent extreme points and can significantly improve the decomposition efficiency for each error component. Considering the stationary and non-stationary characteristics of trend and rotation component respectively, auto regressive moving average (ARMA) and auto regressive moving integrated average (ARIMA) are used to establish the forecasting model for measurement error trend and rotation components. Then the forecasting value will be acquired by adding each error forecasting component. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the analysis of metering error of electric energy monitoring data in a 110 kV substation.


Abstract In this study, an attempt has been made to assess the landslide risk zones using a GIS based weighted linear overlay method with Satty's analytical hierarchical process to maintain consistency for assigning rank and weight for following factors includes geology, geomorphology, rainfall, soil, road density, drainage density, and topographic triggering factors such as slope and aspects are taken as input for assessment of landslide risk.Thus the technique used in landslide risk zonation has produced the result depicts very low landslide zone consists area of 0.96 km 2 , low landslide zones consists area of 1477.36 km 2 , moderate landslide zone consists area of 1652.96 km 2 , High landslide zone consists area of 649.16 km 2 , and very high landslide zone consists area of 182.37 km 2 in Kodagu District, Karnataka, India Keywords: Landslide, GIS, Remote Sensing, weighted linear overlay Cite this Article Ramu, M.Vinay, Bendantola Longchar. Landslide Risk Assessment in Kodagu District, Karnataka: A Case Study. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering. 2017; 4(3): 19–34p.


Volunteers to advise a parks management board are being sought, as alternative approaches to managing Crystal Palace Park are being explored.


This paper considers the problem of inferring a Boolean network (BN) from gene expression data that is available as a frequently sampled time-series. The particular problems that arise are discussed and monotonic time transformations (MTT) are presented as a possible solution. Several different methods of clustering are used to form different transformations. The results with data generated by a simulation model show that the method presented can improve the inference performance in the described cases. The real-world measurements currently available are not yet suitable for testing the method because of the low sampling rates and the amount of noise present.


Concerns with the interpolatory convexity preserving subdivision schemes for surfaces. For given convexpolyhedra, we construct a convex surface, which interpolates the vertex of the polyhedra. The convergence analysisis presented. The limited surfaces are C1. The schemes are nonlinear in the control points.


Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia Correspondence: Mr Joshua Gillis, c/o Dr Jason Williams, Dalhousie University, Division of Plastic Surgery, Suite 4447, Halifax Infirmary, 1796 Summer Street Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3A7.Telephone 902-473-6315, fax 902-473-6296, e-mail email@example.com The thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) joint, a biconcave-convex saddle joint, consists of the articulation between the first metacarpal of the thumb and the trapezium carpal bone. Other significant articulations of the trapezial bone are the scaphoid and trapezoid carpal bones and the second metacarpal bone. Because the CMC joint lacks bony confimement, there are various ligaments that play a role in stabilizing it; however, the most important is the anterior oblique (also known as 'beak'), ligament. One of the main contributors to osteoarthritis (OA) of the CMC joint is laxity of this ligament, which leads to increased stress loads on the CMC joint, causing cartilage loss, bony impingement and pain. The treatment of CMC OA is aimed at relieving this pain and restoring joint stability (1,2). The arthritic CMC joint cartilage loses glycosaminoglycan from the extracellular matrix, which causes progression of the disease (1). The structure of the CMC joint enables three different planes of motion: adductionabduction, flexion-extension and axial rotation. This property of the joint has contributed to the fact that CMC OA is the second most common degenerative joint disease of the hand. It typically affects postmenopausal women in their fifth to sixth decade of life, where it has been estimated that between 17% and 33% of these women have evidence of CMC OA, compared with 5% to 11% of men of similar age (1,3). This is possibly due to a hormonal predisposition for OA in women (4).


Juhamatti Korhonen received the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering and the D.Sc. degree in power electronics from Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland, in 2008, and 2012, respectively. He is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher with the School of Energy Systems, LappeenrantaLahti University of Technology LUT. His research interests include power electronic converters, control and modulation of power electronics, multilevel inverters, and electric drives.


The state of grain production in Ukraine is studied. Changes in the structure of production of the grain subcomplex and changes in the commodity characteristics of grain are determined. The structure of production and consumption of grain products and the volume of its exports are studied. The main directions of grain processing are determined. Attention is paid to the practice of effective functioning of individual enterprises of the grain industry. Prospects for the development of grain processing for bioethanol in distilleries and the need to build new elevators. It is determined that the construction of a new elevator is a guarantee for the surrounding local agricultural producers of the ability to store and sell their crops. The directions of development of the grain processing industry of Ukraine focused on processing products within the state. Determining significant stocks of grain at enterprises is due to a number of factors, namely: expectations of higher prices; formation of stocks for own production, lack of sufficient elevators for grain storage. The directions of development of production and processing of grain in Ukraine are offered, namely: development of infrastructure by construction of new elevators; stimulating the cultivation of grain crops of 1–2 classes through the system of seed production development in Ukraine and the use of more advanced technologies (state subsidies to producers of cereals focused on growing durum wheat); reduction of export quotas for grain and a ban on the export of durum wheat in order to develop its own production of pasta and bakery products; compensation of interest on loans for the construction of low-capacity flour mills to small farmers in order to develop processing in rural areas; creation of production facilities for fodder grain processing on the basis of privatized distilleries with a focus on the production of alcohol and bioethanol. It is established that the implementation of the proposed measures will significantly increase the competitiveness of grain products on world markets, maximize the profits of agricultural producers, increase government GDP and reduce dependence on imported energy.


A QRS detection algorithm has been developed for use in body surface mapping of ventricular tachycardia. To detect the QRS complexes the algorithm uses three computed signals: the sum of the absolute value of all leads, the sum of the absolute value of the differences of consecutive samples in all leads and, the second order derivative of the first mentioned.


The purpose of this study is to compare gait patterns of elementary school female students in higher grades pursuant to their character styles. Total 8 students of 4 female students with extroversive character and 4 female students with introverted character were selected through MMTIC extroversive-...


In this paper, the Homotopy perturbation transform method and New Iterative transform method are implemented to evaluate the time-fractional Cauchy reaction–diffusion equation's solution. In this method, Elzaki transform is combined with the Homotopy perturbation method and New Iteration method. Four problems are investigated to show, demonstrate and validate the efficacy of the current technique. The analytical results achieved by the current technique indicate that the approach is easy to implement and accurate. These solutions reveal that the suggested method is very useful and straightforward to perform the problems of engineering sciences.


Neonatal seizures, with their distinct electroencephalographic (EEG) patterns and etiologies, have long been set apart from the seizures of older children and adults. Newborns were included in the 2010 International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) terminology and concepts for organization of seizures and the epilepsies.1 However, the 2017 ILAE operational classification of seizure types2 specifically called for a separate task force to develop a classification of neonatal seizures because "seizures in the neonate can have ... little or no behavioral manifestations." The new "ILAE Classification of Seizures and the Epilepsies: Modification for Seizures in the Neonate"3 is a major advance for the field of neonatal neurology. A few controversial areas remain, however, and key points ought to be emphasized.


Social media platform has become one of the main attributes for teaching and learning. One of those digital platforms widely used is YouTube. YouTube functions not only as a social media for interacting with the world, but also as a teaching media for delivering material. This research is conducted to gain more information related to the use of YouTube in teaching and learning. The research question was, "How was the use of YouTube in delivering English class to the first semester students of Islamic Education Management Study Program at Datokarama State Islamic University Palu?" This is a case study in qualitative research. The instruments applied in this research were observation which was conducted as many as six meetings and an interview with eight questions to thirteen first semester students of Islamic Education Management Study Program at Datokarama State Islamic University Palu. The result of this research showed the point of view from the lecturers and the students related to the research question. The lecturers viewed YouTube as one of solutions for solving the problem of delivering distance learning. Explaining material of English via YouTube can be seriously challenging. The lecturers should perform well in front of the camera while delivering the material. From the students' point of view, YouTube helped them understand the explanation of English material easily. They did not have to download videos and save them in the phone memory. They only needed to click the link and watch the videos in YouTube.


Until recently small provision was made for training pupils of artistic inclination. The community sensed its responsibility in the fields of literary and scientific educaton, but seemed indifferent to the development of students with artistic bent. &dquo;The sciences give us utility but the arts give us beauty&dquo; (Croce-Aesthetic). And now attention is beginning to focus upon all branches of the fine arts as offering as rich and varied values as the two other fields, for we cannot but agree with Dewey that &dquo;education must be re-conceived, not as merely a preparation for maturity * * * * but as a continuous growth of the mind and a continuous illumination of life. In a sense, the schools can give us only the instrumentalities of mental growth; the rest depends upon our absorption and interpretation of experience&dquo;. '


In group-allocation studies for comparing behavioral, social, or educational interventions, subjects in the same group necessarily receive the same treatment, whereby a group and/or group-dynamic effect can confound the treatment effect. General counterfactual outcomes that depend on group characteristics, group membership, and treatment are developed to provide a structure for specifying causal effects of treatment in the multilevel setting. An average causal effect of treatment cannot be specified, however, without a simplifying assumption of group-membership invariance (i.e., no group-dynamic effect). Under group-membership invariance and ignorability assumptions, the average causal effect is then connected to estimable quantities of the hierarchical linear model (HLM). Furthermore, it is shown that the typical specification of the HLM involves conditional independence assumptions that actually preclude the group-dynamic effect.


System Designing and Modeling have been a vital part of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). There are various approaches for designing and modeling of a system. Two of the most common approaches are: Structured approach and Object-Oriented (OO) approach. The concepts of Structured and Object-Oriented analysis are not comparatively new but these approaches still play a very significant role in the present programming paradigm. Systems being developed presently are both complex and concurrent. Hence, in order to cope up with this, inclination towards Object-Oriented methodology in analysis and design of a system has aroused in recent years. This electronic document thus focuses on the unique features of structured analysis and OO analysis and designing. Besides, to best fit the OO concepts with the existing coherent discussion of structured approach, still faces a challenge. This paper also addresses some of the associated aspects of these design paradigms and offers depiction of Object-Oriented design methods used to develop a software system or any non-software system to replicate its functioning and


A method was provided for experimental data processing of sound insulation measurement by computer,which is much more precision than the usual way.So,students' time can be saved and their study efficiency can be improved.


The present article correlates with a fuzzy hybrid technique combined with an iterative transformation technique identified as the fuzzy new iterative transform method. With the help of Atangana-Baleanu under generalized Hukuhara differentiability, we demonstrate the consistency of this method by achieving fuzzy fractional gas dynamics equations with fuzzy initial conditions. The achieved series solution was determined and contacted the estimated value of the suggested equation. To confirm our technique, three problems have been presented, and the results were estimated in fuzzy type. The lower and upper portions of the fuzzy solution in all three examples were simulated using two distinct fractional orders between 0 and 1. Because the exponential function is present, the fractional operator is nonsingular and global. It provides all forms of fuzzy solutions occurring between 0 and 1 at any fractional-order because it globalizes the dynamical behavior of the given equation. Because the fuzzy number provides the solution in fuzzy form, with upper and lower branches, fuzziness is also incorporated in the unknown quantity. It is essential to mention that the projected methodology to fuzziness is to confirm the superiority and efficiency of constructing numerical results to nonlinear fuzzy fractional partial differential equations arising in physical and complex structures.


Financial literacy skills are important skills needed by every individual in achieving most of their life goals. Students are also not excluded from the responsibility of managing their own finance to achieve financial well-being when they attain adulthood. Financial literacy skills comprise of three components: financial knowledge, financial behavior and financial attitude. This study was conducted to examine the level of financial literacy skills of students and to determine the socioeconomic factors that influence the financial literacy skills of secondary school students. A total of 384 respondents were selected among Form 2 students using stratified sampling method. 13 schools were selected from 6 district education offices in Negeri Sembilan. Data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed by using descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. The findings show that students' financial literacy is at moderate level. Multiple regression analysis shows that ethnicity and fathers' occupation are two important socioeconomic factors that influence the financial literacy skills of secondary school students in Negeri Sembilan.


In December 2009, Southeastern will begin operation of the new high speedcommuter rail services from St. Pancras and Stratford International London, to the Thames Gateway and Kent. MVA have been working with Southeasternfor over a year to help them make the most of this exciting opportunity. This work began with an extensive market research programme, including a customer profiling survey, stated preference surveys with existing users, and telephone surveys with non-users, providing Southeastern with a robust basis for planning its new services. This study considers the interaction between Southeastern and the growth areas of the Thames Gateway, includingthe impact of the new Ebbsfleet International station, as well as regeneration areas within the county of Kent. The profile of the business and population likely to be attracted to the new areas, and how these changes will affect the pattern of rail travel in the area is outlined. These effectshave been studied through a mixture of interviews with key organisations,desk research and modelling. Even with the extra capacity provided by thenew high speed services, the increase in demand across the whole region will continue to put pressure on other parts of the rail network. How the new high speed service will release capacity on the existing rail network is considered, and how Southeastern can make best use of this to enable passengers who might otherwise be crowded off to travel. Where capacity is still an issue, how growth can be accommodated by encouraging passengers whoare not constrained to travel at particular times to move to earlier services is investigated. For the covering abstract see E145999


Abstract In a large, system-wide, healthcare personnel (HCP) testing experience using severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and serologic testing early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we did not find increased infection risk related to COVID-19 patient contact. Our findings support workplace policies for HCP protection and underscore the role of community exposure and asymptomatic infection.


The 200 West Area Carbon Tetrachloride Expedited Response Action (ERA) is being conducted by the US Department of Energy (DOE) at the direction of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Washington Department of Ecology as a provision of both the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and the Integrated Demonstration for Cleanup of Volatile Organic Compounds at Arid Sites (VOC-Arid ID). The ERA allows expedited response to be taken at waste sites where damage to the environment can be significantly reduced by early action to locate, identify the extent, and remediate imminent hazards. The ERA is focusing specifically on the removal of carbon tetrachloride vapor from the soil column and protection of the groundwater in the 200 West Area. The VOC-Arid ID program allows demonstration of new drilling technologies for environmental characterization monitoring and remediation. Soil vapor vacuum extraction has been proposed to remediate the site. This may require vapor extraction wells to be installed within the plume.


Starting with the basic conception and evidential fusion reasoning method of Dempster-Shafer evidential theory, multi-fault characteristic information fusion diagnosis frame is constructed. A new approach to fault diagnosis based on multi-information fusion of fault characteristic, Dempster-Shafer evidential theory and basic probability assignment contribution method is proposed. An example is present. It is shown that the method is good to improve the reliability of the diagnosis and decrease the uncertainty markedly.


Interest in computational problems in Biology has intensified over the last few years, partly due to the development of techniques for the rapid cloning, sequencing, and mutagenesis of genes from organisims ranging from E. coli to Man. The central dogma of molecular biology; that DNA codes for mRNA which codes for protein, has been understood in a linear programming sense since the genetic code was cracked. But what is not understood at present is how a protein, once assembled as a long sequence of amino acids, folds back on itself to produce a three-dimensional structure which is unique to that protein and which dictates its chemical and biological activity. This folding process is purely physics, and involves the time evolution of a system of several thousand atoms which interact with each other and with atoms from the surrounding solvent. Molecular dynamics simulations on smaller molecules suggest that approaches which treat the protein as a classical ensemble of atoms interacting with each other via an empirical Hamiltonian can yield the kind of predictive results one would like when applied to proteins.


Abstract Phthalocyanines (Pcs) and their derivatives have attracted a lot of attention because of their both biological importance and technological applications. The properties of Pcs can be tuned by replacing the central atom, by modifying the periphery of phthalocyanine ring, and by changing the meso-atoms. One more promising pathway for modifying Pcs and their derivatives can be the core-modification, or substitution of the core isoindole nitrogen(s) by other elements. Motivated by the results obtained for some core-modified porphyrins, we investigated computationally complete core-modification of regular Zn phthalocyanine (ZnPc) with P and S. We performed density functional theory studies of the structures, charges, and frontier molecular orbitals of P-core-modified and S-core-modified ZnPcs, ZnPc(P)4 and ZnPc(S)4, using both B3LYP and two dispersion-corrected functionals. Also, we studied computationally formation of complexes between the fullerene C60 and ZnPc(P)4 and ZnPc(S)4. Both ZnPc(P)4 and ZnPc(S)4 show strong bowl-like distortions similar to the results obtained earlier for ZnP(P)4 and ZnP(S)4. The size of the "bowl" cavity of the both core-modified Pcs is essentially the same, showing no dependence on the core-modifying element. For ZnPc(S)4, the HOMO is quite different from those of ZnPc and ZnPc(P)4. When the fullerene C60 forms complexes with the ZnPc(P)4 and ZnPc(S)4 species in the gas phase, it is located relatively far (4.30–5.72 Å) from the one of the P-centers and from the Zn-center of ZnPc(P)4, whereas with ZnPc(S)4 C60 forms relatively short bonds with the Zn-center, varying from ca. 2.0 to ca. 3.0 Å. The very strong deformations of both the ZnPc(P)4 and ZnPc(S)4 structures are observed. The calculated binding energy at the B3LYP/6-31G* level for the C60-ZnPc(P)4 complex is quite low, 1.2 kcal/mol, which agrees with the quite long distances fullerene - ZnPc(P)4, whereas it is noticeably larger, 13.6 kcal/mol, for the C60-ZnPc(S)4 complex which again agrees with the structural features of this complex. The binding energies of the complexes optimized using the dispersion-corrected functionals, CAM-B3LYP and wB97XD, are significantly larger, varying from ca. 14 till 52 kcal/mol which corresponds with the shorter distances between the fullerene and ZnPc(X)4 species.


In this study, a numerical simulation of nonlinear sound wave propagation in the time domain is performed by the constrained interpolation profile (CIP) method. The CIP method is one kind of method of characteristics, and is a high-accuracy scheme in which numerical dispersion errors are hardly caused because not only the acoustic field values on the grid point but also their spatial derivatives are used in the scheme. Two CIP formulations are made for one-dimensional nonlinear sound wave propagation: one is the standard formulation in which the nonlinear equation is divided into the advection term and the nonadvection one corresponding to the nonlinear term, and the other is the formulation based on the dependence of local sound speed on particle velocity. In the latter method, the nonlinear term is included in the local sound speed of the advection term, which can be directly solved by the CIP method. The CIP conservative semi-lagrangian of the fourth-order (CIP-CSL4) scheme, which is a higher-order accuracy version of the CIP method, is also formulated. Some numerical demonstrations are performed for one-dimensional nonlinear sound propagation in air. The numerical results are compared with the analytical results. It is confirmed that the present formulation based on the dependence of local sound speed on particle velocity is more suitable for the simulation of nonlinear sound wave propagation.


We have developed contact Nd-YAG laser technigue which provides excellent incisional capabilities and minimal tissue damages. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect and healing of contact Nd-YAG laser irradiation in the tongue of rabbits and to compare it to other conventional scalpels such as CO2 laser and electric scalpel. This study comfirms that contact Nd-YAG laser may offer specific advantages over other scalpels by histological and histochemical studies. Areas of the damaging tissues after contact Nd-YAG laser irradiation are much lesser than other two scalpels.


this change as provoked by a growth in hostility between the Phoenicians and their neighbours, but does note that Justin records an attack by 'King Theron' on Cadiz (Justin 44.5). In short N. provides an invaluable update concerning our knowledge of this understudied aspect of western Mediterranean history. Where the volume fails is perhaps in not placing these settlements fully in their wider cultural context; the whole question of Tartessic culture is treated rather brusquely. None the less it is a μne introduction with much of value for students both of the Iberian peninsula and early forms of colonisation in general.


A b-coloring of a graph [Formula: see text] is a proper coloring of the vertices of [Formula: see text] such that there exist a vertex in each color class joined to at least one vertex in each other color classes. The b-chromatic number of a graph [Formula: see text], denoted by [Formula: see text], is the largest integer [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text] has a b-coloring with [Formula: see text] colors. The b-chromatic sum of a graph [Formula: see text], denoted by [Formula: see text], is introduced and it is defined as the minimum of sum of colors [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] for any [Formula: see text] in a b-coloring of [Formula: see text] using [Formula: see text] colors. A graph [Formula: see text] is b-continuous, if it admits a b-coloring with [Formula: see text] colors, for every [Formula: see text]. In this paper, the [Formula: see text]-continuity property of corona of two cycles, corona of two star graphs and corona of two wheel graphs with unequal number of vertices is discussed. The b-continuity property of corona of any two graphs with same number of vertices is also discussed. Also, the b-continuity property of Mycielskian of complete graph, complete bipartite graph and paths are discussed. The b-chromatic sum of power graph of a path is also obtained.


The purpose of this research is to understand the meaning of the forms of gender injustice contained in Yuni's film. The research method used is qualitative research by applying Roland Barthes' semiotic analysis technique, which consists of three levels of meaning, namely denotation, connotation, and myth. In order to achieve the research objectives, the scenes and dialogues that contain gender injustice against women in the film are analyzed and divided into eight units of analysis. The results of the study show that the female characters in Yuni's film experience various forms of gender injustice, including marginalization, subordination, stereotypes, violence, and double burdens. This gender injustice occurs because of the existence of patriarchal ideology adhered to by women leaders and the community in the environment where they live. The strong patriarchal culture causes the powerlessness of female figures who live in rural areas to fight the injustice they experience.


We investigate two realizations of parallel abductive reasoning systems using the model generation theorem prover MGTP. The first one, called the MGTP + MGTP method, is a co-operative problem-solving architecture in which model generation and consistency checking communicate with each other. There, parallelism is exploited by checking consistencies in parallel. However, since this system consists of two different components, the possibilities for parallelization are limited. In contrast, the other method, called the Skip method, does not separate the inference engine from consistency checking, but realizes both functions in only one MGTP that is used as a generate-and-test mechanism. In this method, multiple models can be kept in distributed memories, thus a great amount of parallelism can be obtained. We also attempt the upside-down meta-interpretation approach for abduction, in which top-down reasoning is simulated by a bottom-up reasoner.


Over the last few years, topics of displaying, presentation, lighting, energy saving and issues related to the environment while selling the fresh food (fruits, vegetable, bakery products, meat) are becoming an important matter among traders. However, just bigger companies with transnational capital have devoted their attention to this issue yet. Generally, the energy costs make up 70% of operating costs in retail stores where the cooling system and lighting are the most energy consuming. Accent lighting in modern retails is largely involved in the overall design and atmosphere in shops and plays a crucial role in presenting the goods as well. Using of accent lighting can draw the customer's attention to a specific part of the sales area and achieve the overall harmonization in the store. With the rational using of combination of energy saving and effective accent lighting retailers can achieve not only attractive presentation of displayed products but also appreciable savings in the operation of their stores. It is the only factor that can be exactly measured and controlled. Using a Colour and Lux Meters we found out the intensity and color temperature of accent lighting used in domestic and foreign retail chains for the different kinds of fresh food products. Based on the obtained values we have compiled graphs, which are showing visual comfort. We also identified different types of accent lighting, which we assigned to their impact on emotional involvement of consumers. The starting points were the tests we conducted in simulated laboratory conditions. While searching of a compromise between effective and energy efficient accent lighting we take into consideration consumers' emotional response as well as the annual electricity consumption of different types of light sources. At the end we recommend options for energy-efficient, effective and spectacular lighting while using the optimal number of light sources and their logical organization, automatic control as well as using energy-saving LED lights or practical skylights. Improvements in energy efficiency of technical equipments could reduce the operating costs for retailers as well as enhance the attractiveness of displayed goods and customer satisfaction and thereby increase their sales.


We analyze the problem of choosing the w contestants who will win a competition within a group of n > w competitors when all the jurors commonly observe who the w best contestants are, but they may be biased and some of these jurors are partially honest. We use two notions of honesty, one of which is linked to the unbiasedness of the juror. The other stronger notion, requires a partially honest individual to have a strict preference for revealing the true state over lying when truth-telling does not lead to a worse outcome (according to preferences in the true state) than that which obtains when lying. We first look at the many person implementation, when the jury consists of at least one partially honest juror, whose identity is not known to the planner. We find that the socially optimal rule is Nash implementable if for all beliefs of the planner (regarding the unbiasedness of the juror) and for each pair of contestants, there are two jurors who treat the pair in an unbiased manner and one of these jurors is partially honest. We also analyze the problem, when there are only two jurors and consider cases both with and without partial honesty.


We demonstrate that a combination of disorder and interactions in a two-dimensional bulk topological insulator can generically drive its helical edge insulating. We establish this within the framework of helical Luttinger liquid theory and exact Emery-Luther mapping. The gapless glassy edge state spontaneously breaks time-reversal symmetry in a `spin glass' fashion, and may be viewed as a localized state of solitons which carry half integer charge. Such a qualitatively distinct edge state provides a simple explanation for heretofore puzzling experimental observations. This phase exhibits a striking non-monotonicity, with the edge growing less localized in both the weak and strong disorder limits.


The research reports corresponding to the titles we list in the following pages can be consulted in the Foreign Languages Department at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. There, we can find a detailed account of the theoretical issues that led teachers to undertake classroom research. Reference is also made to research procedures and findings in the teaching settings where investigations were carried out.


This study presents the results of a kinetic investigation of adenylate cyclase in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. In the presence of a saturating concentration of substrate (1 mM), the basal activity was increased severalfold by increas- ing MgZ+ from 1 to 25 mM. A Hill coefficient of 1.9 was obtained for Mg'+ or ATP. The data suggest cooperative interactions between the substrate binding sites in the neutrophil adenylate cyclase complex. It has been observed that guanyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p) (S,,., = 10 FM) significantly increased and Ca2+ (S,,, = 0.5 mM) significantly decreased only the V,,,,, without affecting the Hill coefficient or S,,, for ATP. The Hill coefficients for Ca"+ or Gpp(NH)p were 0.9 and 0.8, respectively. The Hill coefficient for Ca"+ was not changed by the increased Gpp(NH)p concentrations. It appears that neutrophil adenylate cyclase has distinct binding sites for Gpp(NH)p and Ca"+, one for each compound. The binding of ligands is not changed by the other effecters and the action is directed only toward the V ,nax


The invention relates to a novel multifunctional nano assembly inorganic antibacterial agent and a preparation method thereof. The multifunctional nano-assembly inorganic antibacterial agent of the invention is a novel multifunctional nano assembly inorganic antibacterial agent product, with antibiotic, mildewproof and anti-algae effects, which is prepared by taking food-grade silica with a nano aperture (the particle size of 1 to 2 micrometers) or nano silica (the particle size is 20 to 100 nanometers) as a carrier and assembling antibacterial components such as silver, copper and zinc into nano pores. The antibiotic, mildewproof and anti-algae effects of the antibacterial agent product can be freely controlled by controlling the variety and content of the antibacterial components such as silver, copper and zinc. The antibacterial agent of the invention has the prominent characteristics of high-efficiency wide-spectrum antibiosis mildew resistance, algae resistance, long-term effect, safety, non-toxicity, no skin irritation, anti-bacterial sustainability, high temperature resistance, high stability, low comprehensive cost, high cost performance and the like and can be used as a functional additive of sanitary and safe products such as interior wall latex paint, drying water specific coating, swimming pool specific coating, food warehouse specific coating and granary specific coating.


We compare the performance of three different schemes for selecting restoration paths in a typical inter-city backbone network under 500,000 single and multiple failure scenarios.


The authenticity and reliability of accounting information constitute the premise to guarantee users of this information make correct decisions.And they are the principal and essential requirements for the accounting mechanism and the accounts.But the deceptive behaviors in accountancy in actual economic life have caused the increasing severe distortion of accounting information,which make the leaders difficult to distinguish true and false.So impacts of distortion in accountancy on the economic and society are severe.This article analyzes the reasons of the distortion of accounting information,and presents the possible countermeasure to dealing with that.


The slow combustion of isobutyraldehyde at 290–330° in a static system, using vessels coated with vanadium pentoxide, molybdenum oxide and bismuthphosphomolybdate, has been studied. Some results have also been obtained with isobutene oxide, isobutyric acid, propionaldehyde and n-butyraldehyde. A rapid oxidation of isobutyraldehyde occurred at 320°, the initial rate with the phosphomolybdate coating depending markedly on both the aldehyde and oxygen pressures and the overall activation energy being 23 kcal/mole. High yields of methacrolein were obtained using this coating, but much lower ones with the V2O5 and MoO3 surfaces, considerable quantities of other products such as acetone being formed. Using the phosphomolybdate-coated vessel much the same analytical results were obtained with isobutene oxide (as with isobutyraldehyde) and quite a high initial yield of methacrylic acid was obtained from isobutyric acid oxidation. However, with the straight-chain aldehydes, little of the corresponding unsaturated aldehydes was formed.

The oxidative dehydrogenation probably occurred on the surface and involved an allyl type intermediate. The reaction was most likely with carbonyl compounds of the structure R1R2CHC(R3)CO. With isobutyraldehyde, bismuth phosphomolybdate was an active catalyst and specific towards methacrolein formation, while MoO3 was not very active but probably quite specific and V2O5 was active but not very specific.


rative diseases, the THP induced modification of NF-L and the effects of carnosine on THP-mediated NF-L modification had not yet been reported. In this study, we examined the THP induced modification of NF-L, then the protective effects of carnosine and anserine were further investigated.


Previous research (Greitemeyer & Weiner, 2003) has demonstrated that compliance to commit a transgression for an anticipated reward as opposed to an anticipated punishment results in greater inferences of personal responsibility. The present studies extend these findings to a courtroom context in which punishment decisions are made. In Study 1, a nurse who administered a non-approved drug was perceived as more responsible; and more severe punishment decisions were recommended, given compliance for an offered reward relative to a threatened punishment. These findings subsequently were replicated while varying the consequences of the drug administration (Study 2) and employing an antisocial scenario (Study 3). Legal theory, field theory, and prospect theory are discussed as possible explanations for these phenomena.


Background: Early determination of severity of acute pancreatitis is essential for prediction of prognosis and proper treatment selection. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Modified Marshall scoring system in evaluating severity in acute pancreatitis at admission.
Methods: A hospital based prospective observational study was conducted at SMS medical college, Jaipur from May 2019 to September 2021 with a sample size of 60 patients. Modified Marshall Score and Ranson's score were done at admission and 48 hours respectively for same patient.
Results: Most patients (31.66%) were among age group 31-45 years (mean age 43.95±16.28 years) with slight female (51.55%) preponderance. The mean hospital stay was 4.883±3.405 days with maximum mortality in first week (6/8). All patients with mild pancreatitis under Modified Marshall score were discharged uneventfully while patients with severe pancreatitis, 8 (25%) died. Respiratory system failure (48.33%) was most commonly involved followed by renal (16.66%) and cardiovascular system (11.66%). Single organ failure (35%) had no mortality while 2/3 patients with all three-organ system failure died. The AUC value of ROC curve (0.863) (p<0.001) showed that Modified Marshall score is a significant predictor for severity of acute pancreatitis. The correlation coefficient was strongly positive and statistically significant (p<0.001) for the relationship between Ranson's score, Modified Marshall score and hospital stay.
Conclusions: Modified Marshall Score is simple and equally effective tool for predicting severity and prognosis early in the course of disease. Therefore, it prevents delay in aggressive treatment of critically ill patient and would contribute to decrease mortality.


This paper discusses a system for online new event detection as part of the Topic Detection and Tracking (TDT) initiative. Our approach uses a single-pass clustering algorithm, which includes a time-based selection model and a thresholding model. We evaluate two benchmark systems: The first indexes documents by keywords and the second attempts to perform conceptual indexing through the use of the WordNet thesaurus software. We propose a more complex document/cluster representation using lexical chaining. We believe such a representation will improve the overall performance of our system by allowing us to encapsulate the context surrounding a word and to disambiguate its senses.


An iterative method is proposed for the sharpening of programmable filters in a 4-f optical correlator. Continuously variable spatial light modulators (SLMs) permit the fine adjustment of optical processing filters so as to compensate for the departures from ideal behavior of a real optical system. Although motivated by the development of continuously variable phase-only SLMs, the proposed sharpening method is also applicable to amplitude modulators and, with appropriate adjustments, to binary modulators as well. A computer simulation is presented that illustrates the potential effectiveness of the method: an image is placed on the input to the correlator, and its corresponding phase-only filter is adjusted (allowed to relax) so as to produce a progressively brighter and more centralized peak in the correlation plane. The technique is highly robust against the form of the system's departure from ideal behavior.


Candida krusei is the anamorph (conidial state) of Issatchenkia orientalis, which is a natural commensal on the skin and mucous membrane of animals and human beings (Kwon-Chung and Bennett 1992, Kurtzman 1998). This yeast is sometimes isolated from gastrointestinal, respiratory and urinary tracts of humans with episodes of therapy-induced granulocytopenia and prolonged antibiotic therapy (KwonChung and Bennett 1992). Infection with C krusei has been reported occasionally in association with bovine mastitis (Elad and others 1995, Sheena and Sigler 1995). This short communication describes the isolation of C krusei from the nasal discharge of a heifer with bronchopneumonia. A one-year-old Holstein heifer with a history of ventricular septal defect, was presented with dyspnoea and a productive cough. On physical examination, respiratory distress and abnormal lung sounds were recognised. The body temperature was 41-5°C. The patient was sneezing and showed serosanguineous to mucopurulent discharge from the nostrils. Total blood cell counts were within normal ranges. Microscopic examination of the nasal discharge from the patient disclosed Gram-positive Staphylococci and yeast-like cells. The treatment of this case was initiated with an antibiotic (enrofloxacin). However, the animal's condition appeared to worsen and clinical signs of dyspnoea, cough and nasal discharge continued. After one month, the patient was euthanased and postmortem examination of the heifer was carried out at the Iburi Nosai Hokubu Veterinary Clinical Center. The postmortem examination revealed suppurative bronchopneumonia and ventricular septal defect. However, microscopic examination was not carried out by this laboratory. Colonies of yeast were cultured from the nasal discharge after the first examination. The same yeast was reisolated from the nasal discharge after five days of treatment. However, Candida antigen was not detected in serum by the latex agglutination test (Pastorex Candida; Sanofi Panofi Diagnostics Pasteur). The clinical isolate cultured on Sabouraud's dextrose agar at 27°C for five days was yellowish in colour and moist with a wrinkled surface and an undulate margin. Microscopic examination of the isolate revealed abundant blastoconidia and pseudohyphae (Fig 1). An assimilation test of the yeast was carried out by Vitek YBC (bioMerieux Vitec) at 37°C for 48 hours. The biological characteristics of the clinical isolate were identical to those of a reference strain of Candida krusei (Kurtzman 1998). DNA from the yeast cells and 300 [1l of serum were prepared as described by Kano and others (1999). The genomic DNA samples were amplified as described by Kurtzman and Robnett (1997). The sequences of the degenerate primers for the large subunit (26S) ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) gene were determined on the basis of the sequences reported: primer NL(5'-GCA TAT CAA TAA GCG GAG GAA AAG-3'); primer NL-4 (5'GGT CCG TGT TTC AAG ACG G-3'). PCR amplification was carried out for 40 cycles consisting of template denaturation (one minute at 94°C), primer annealing (two minutes at 52°C) and polymerisation (three minutes at 72°C). The nucleic acid sequences of the PCR products from the clinical isolate were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using an ABI Prism 310 genetic analyser (Perkin-Elmer). The LSU rDNA nucleotide sequences of the isolate showed 100 per cent similarity to that of C krusei in the GenBank database (accession number I orientalis U76347) (Kurtzman and Robnett 1997). The isolate was, therefore, identified as C krusei, the anamorph of I orientalis, by molecular analysis. Moreover, the primers from the patient serum also yielded fragments of about 600 bp, of which the nucleotide sequences showed 100 per cent similarity to that of the isolate and C krusei in the GenBank database. Thus C krusei infection was confirmed in this case, and candidaemia was suspected. C krusei is included among the normal endogenous microflora ofman and animals, and it is possible that opportunist infections of the lower respiratory tract due to this fungus occur in animals as well as in man (Kwon-Chung and Bennett 1992, Kurtzman 1998). The heifer had a ventricular septal defect, which may predispose an animal to opportunist infection of bronchopneumonia due to C krusei. Although Candida antigen was not found by the latex agglutination test, and yeast cells were not cultured, C krusei DNA was detected in the patient's serum by nucleotide


In the decision-making of ship design,the requirement of shipowner must be considered fully in order to realize the idea of user first. So the decision-making method of ship design based on quality function deployment( QFD) is put forward according to the characteristic of decision-making problem of ship design. In this method,the requirement of shipowner and the decision-making indexes of ship design is combined availably,the house of quality for the decision-making of ship design is established,and the weight of the decision-making indexes is worked out. Then the model of decision-making of ship design is established based on the theory of entropy,optimal decision of ship design can be obtained according to the computational result of the model. The rationality and effectiveness of the method is verified by an applying example of the method. Therefore,a reasonable and effective method for the decision-making problem of ship design is provided in the paper.