Background: Clinical research in the 21 st century will require a well-trained workforce to ensure that research protocols yield valid and reliable results. Several organizations have developed lists of core competencies for clinical trial coordinators, administrators, monitors, data management/informaticians, regulatory affairs personnel and others. Methods: We used data collected by the joint task force on the harmonization of core competencies from a survey of research professionals working in the US and Canada to create competency Indices for clinical research professionals. Respondents reported how competent they believed themselves to be on 51 clinical research core competencies. Results: Factor analyzes identified 20 core competencies that defined a competency index for clinical research professionals—general (CICRP-General, i.e., GCPs) and four sub-indices that define specialized research functions: Medicines Development; Ethics and Participant Safety; Data Management; and Research Concepts. Conclusions: These indices can be used to gage an individual's readiness to perform general as well as more advanced research functions; to assess the education and training needs of research workers; and to evaluate the impact of education and training programs on the competency of research coordinators, monitors and other clinical research team members.


The invention provides a dual-camera mobile terminal comprising a dual-camera module group having a 3D shooting function and a shooting quality improvement function, an input module for man-machine interaction, a display module for data previewing, a storage module for data storage, and a processor. The input module, the display module, and the storage module are connected with the processor. And the dual-camera module group consists of a first camera and a second camera that are connected with the processor and are used for shooting a same object simultaneously. In addition, the invention also provides a shooting method using the dual-camera mobile terminal. With the mobile terminal and the shooting method, the shooting quality improvement function and the 3D shooting function are realized.


Os odontoideum is a cervicovertebral junction anomaly in which an independent ossicle exists in the place of the dens, cephalad to a hypoplastic odontoid process. It is unclear whether this anomaly is acquired or congenital, although there is a growing body of evidence that many cases are a result of trauma. The dens receives dual blood supply from both the internal carotid and vertebral arteries, and it is hypothesized that os odontoideum may be the result of a traumatic fracture to the dens followed by impaired blood flow to this watershed area. Delayed posttraumatic development of os odontoideum in spines that were radiologically normal immediately postinjury has also been reported. In these cases it has been suggested that decreased blood supply as a result of injury to vessels running with the accessory, alar, and apical ligaments results in avascular necrosis of the odontoid. Acquired os odontoideum in children with cerebral palsy has rarely been reported in the literature, and no reported cases have documented radiographic evidence of a normal odontoid prior to diagnosis. Here we present a case of dystonia in a child who had a previously normal odontoid and developed myelopathy as a result of an acquired os odontoideum. An 8-year-old boy with dyskinetic cerebral palsy of unknownetiologypresented to theclinicwithnewweakness. He was born at term after uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery as the second child of healthy, unrelated parents with no family history of congenital or neurologic disorders. At the age of 4 months he was unable to control his head andat 6months hedemonstrated truncal hypotoniawithdystonia of his upper extremities. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of his neuroaxis and extensiveworkup for genetic, neuromuscular, and metabolic etiologies was unrevealing. A repeat MRI of his neuroaxis at the age of 3 years was also unremarkable and showed a normal odontoid process. By 3 years of age his dystonia increased, with presence in the neck, and he was noted to have athetosis as well. His movement disorder was poorly controlled despite trials of trihexyphenidyl, gabapentin, diazepam, carbidopalevodopa, and oral and intrathecal baclofen. At age 7 he had atraumatic onset of severe neck pain and decreased urination. His primary care physician ordered flexion


Hens and roosters naked neck (324 females and 60 males) were characterized morphological and phenotypically in four villages of the ch'orti area in the province of Chiquimula. Variables evaluated were 18 quantitative for females and 16 for males, nine qualitative and eight zoometrics ranges. The zoometric variables analyzed were made according to the univariate analysis procedure with measurements of central tendency and dispersion measurements to analyze the proportion and harmony between the different corporeal areas we used the Pearson correlation. In the results weight of 1.84 kg/female and 2.29 kg/male; raised 27.84 cm/female and 32.51cm/male; metatarsal 10.25 cm/female and 11.76 cm/male; the hen has more height than length, raised in the front, concerning to the perimeters, the abdominal is the biggest and curved, which is characteristic in lay eggs hens with flat dorsal. Corporeal indices, they are elongated birds, reproductive capability (pelvic index 71.82%) and less muscles developed to produce meat as food for humans (compactness index 6.80% female and 7.03% male), elongated head, elliptical thorax and long and strong extremities. Phenotypically and morphologically characteristics describe a bird with white skin, yellow metatarsus, feathering on the throat, simple crest, chin and earlobes, the feathering colors are a combination of brown, black, grey, and white, and the colors of the egg shell are from white to light brown, and also has a good corporal harmony up to 61%, which brings an acceptable mild homogeneity comparable to the structure of a hen.


Florida State University Abstract: This study examined effects of person-centered planning on career choice and employment outcomes attained by 83 supported employees. Choice was measured by analyzing degree of match between employees' career preferences and their current employment. High and moderate levels of preference match were attained by 72 (83%) of employees studied. Wages and length of employment did not differ significantly by level of match. These employment outcomes tended to favor employees in high and moderate match groups, however. Imple- mentation and evaluation issues related to person-centered planning were further examined through a focus group of service providers. Responses identified measuring effectiveness of person-centered planning, supporting training and commitment of service providers, collaborative problem solving, and continuous process improve- ment as issues requiring further research. Person-centered planning has become a widely used tool in both education and adult programs serving individuals with develop- mental disabilities. In school settings, person- centered planning has been used to gather information and plan supports in programs focusing on inclusion of students who were deaf and blind (Perlroth, Pumpian, Hesche, & Campbell, 1993); to enhance student and family participation in educational planning (Getzel & deFurs, 1997; Whitney-Thomas, Shaw, Honey, & Butterworth 1998); and to encourage student-focused transition plan- ning (Hagner, Helm, & Butterworth, 1996; Miner & Bates, 1997). Artesani and Mallar (1998) utilized person centered planning to assist in the functional assessment of challeng- ing behaviors in general education settings. In adult programs, person-centered plan- ning has been used to determine employment preferences (Everson & Reid, 1997) and to assist in the development of employment sup- ports (Abrams, DonAroma, & Karan, 1997). Reid, Everson, and Green (1999) utilized a person-centered method to assess the pre- ferred leisure activities of adults with pro- found and multiple disabilities. Heller, Miller,


As a new developer, getting to know a large unknown software system is a challenging task. If experienced developers are available, they can suggest which classes to read first, helping new developers to quickly grasp the system's most fundamental concepts. In practice, however, experienced developers often are no longer available. In these cases, the set of most important classes must be reverse engineered. This paper presents a thorough analysis of using different network analysis metrics on dependency graphs to retrieve central classes. An empirical study on four open source projects evaluates the results based on a survey among the systems' core developers. It demonstrates that the algorithmic results can compete with the suggestions of experienced developers.


Reactive metal penetration (RMP) has been used to produce interpenetrating phase composite (IPC) materiaReactive metal penetration (RMP) has been used to produce interpenetrating phase composite (IPC) materials. These materials differ from classical metal matrix composite (MMC) structures (i.e. a discrete reinforcement within a continuous matrix) in that their microstructure consists of co–continuous or interpenetrated metal and ceramic phases. Two types of IPC materials were produced the first was an Al2O3 (70 vol.%)–AlSi20 (30 vol.%) composite; the second was constituted by SiC particles (~50 vol.%) dispersed in an interpenetrating Al2O3 (32 vol.%)–AlSi20 (18 vol.%) matrix. These composites have been targeted to wear applications and for this reason their tribological behaviour has been studied. The friction and wear tests were carried out under dry sliding conditions against steel (a surface ardened AISI 1040) and ceramic (an Al2O3–TiO2 coating plasma–sprayed onto an AISI 9840 steel) countermaterials, at various applied loads and sliding speeds. The wear resistance of these new composites has been also compared with that of conventional particulate reinforced aluminium metal matrix composites. In the case of dry sliding against steel, both IPC materials showed a mild wear regime, with also negligible wear of the counterface; the coefficients of friction ranged from 0.6 to 0.8 (the lower values being measured at the highest sliding speed). The worn surfaces were always covered by an iron–oxide transfer layer, which formation was clearly due to the abrasive action of the ceramic phases against the steel countermaterial. The presence of this layer reduced the wear damage of both counterfacing surfaces. The IPC materials, moreover, exhibited a greater wear resistance respect to the conventional aluminium MMCs, due to both the high volume fraction of the ceramic phases and to the good interfacial bonding between the interpenetrating phases. Substantially different was, instead, the tribological behaviour of the studied composites against the ceramic coated countermaterial. Severe wear both of the IPC materials and of the countermaterial was observed, in almost all the investigated testing conditions, with coefficients of friction around 0.45. Wear mainly occurred by brittle fracture of the ceramic phases and, once the ceramic phases were fractured, the relatively low fracture toughness of the composite negatively affects their wear resistance.ls. These materials differ from classical metal matrix composite (MMC) structures (i.e. a discrete reinforce– ment within a continuous matrix) in that their microstructure consists of co– continuous or interpenetrated metal and ceramic phases. Two types of IPC materials were produced the first was an Al2O3 (70 vol.%)–AlSi20 (30 vol.%) composite; the second was constituted by SiC particles (50 vol.%) dispersed in an interpenetrating Al2O3 (32 vol.%)–AlSi20 (18 vol.%) matrix. These composites have been targeted to wear applications and for this reason their tribological behaviour has been studied. The friction and wear tests were carried out under dry sliding conditions against steel (a surface ardened AISI 1040) and ceramic (an Al2O3–TiO2 coating plasma–sprayed onto an AISI 9840 steel) countermaterials, at various applied loads and sliding speeds. The wear resistance of these new composites has been also compared with that of conventional particulate reinforced aluminium metal matrix composites. In the case of dry sliding against steel, both IPC materials showed a mild wear regime, with also negligible wear of the counterface; the coefficients of friction ranged from 0.6 to 0.8 (the lower values being measured at the highest sliding speed). The worn surfaces were always covered by an iron–oxide transfer layer, which formation was clearly due to the abrasive action of the ceramic phases against the steel countermaterial. The presence of this layer reduced the wear damage of both counterfacing surfaces. The IPC materials, moreover, exhibited a greater wear resistance respect to the conventional aluminium MMCs, due to both the high volume fraction of the ceramic phases and to the good interfacial bonding between the interpene– trating phases. Substantially different was, instead, the tribological behaviour of the studied composites against the ceramic coated countermaterial. Severe wear both of the IPC materials and of the countermaterial was observed, in almost all the investigated testing conditions, with coefficients of friction around 0.45. Wear mainly occurred by brittle fracture of the ceramic phases and, once the ceramic phases were fractured, the relatively low fracture toughness of the composite negatively affects their wear resistance.


The demand for nuclear fuel for research reactors is increasing worldwide. However, some nuclear fuel factories have small production volumes. There is a gap in the literature regarding how to expand capacity of those facilities in a safe and reliable way. Thus, the purpose of this work is to propose and validate a conceptual model to increase the production capacity of these factories. We addressed factories that produce plate-type fuel elements loaded with LEU U3Si2-Al, which are typically used in nuclear research reactors. We collected data from a real nuclear fuel plant and applied the model to that data, i.e., we set up a case study. We developed two different strategies for the use of the model, thus generating several production scenarios. Each scenario is an experiment of the different possibilities to enlarge the capacity. We applied discrete events simulation in order to cover all production scenarios. Our tests indicated significant increases in productive capacity, thus showing that the model has fully achieved its proposed objective. One of the main conclusions that we point out is the model's effectiveness. That effectiveness was demonstrated by using the model in two different strategies and obtaining increases in capacity with both of them.


Research into the growth and development of Thoroughbreds managed on commercial breeding farms is reviewed in this paper. As horses are not meat producing animals, less research has been performed quantifying growth, muscle and bone development than with other production animals. However, variations in growth and development are linked with both value and wastage in young Thoroughbred horses, and can have a long-term impact on racing performance. In Thoroughbred horses, the breeder aims for optimum, or consistent, growth rather than maximum growth. Factors affecting equine growth including environment, nutrition, season and management are discussed in sections covering conception to weaning, weanling to yearling and yearling to 2 years old when horses are nearly fully grown and racing begins. The importance of reference curves for different ages, sex and locations is highlighted. While average daily gain (ADG) declines as the foal gets older, there are seasonal and management influences to consider. Month of birth has an influence on both birthweight and the expected ADG at different ages, which are believed to be related to ambient temperatures and pasture availability for the mare and growing horse. Weaning leads to a growth setback and ADG declines through winter, but increases in spring for the yearling as temperatures and pasture quality and quantity increase. Management factors such as yearling sale preparation are associated with an increase in growth rate, with gains of over 1 kg/day common during the yearling sales preparation process of 6–12 weeks. 'Home-bred' horses that do not go to a yearling sale grow at a slower rate but will reach the same endpoint in mature size. Growth of Thoroughbreds is influenced by country, and regions within a country, related to genetics, climate, management practices, market preferences and sale timing. More research is needed into factors affecting growth and development of Thoroughbred horses on commercial farms and the influence differing rates of growth and development have on wastage (such as developmental orthopaedic disease) and commercial outcomes such as yearling sale results and, ultimately, racing performance.


The Journal Editor was contacted by the Research Integrity Office of the Harvard Business School (HBS) regarding the outcome of an internal investigation their office conducted into the data reported in this article. An investigation by an independent forensic firm engaged by the HBS revealed discrepancies between the published data sets and what HBS referred to as the earliest known versions of the data, which were retrieved from the first author's research records (HBS specified the earliest known and published datasets were each created and last saved in 2012, according to their Excel properties). HBS's investigation concluded that there appear to be anomalies in the dataset used for analyses in Experiment 4:


1. Extra-and intra-cellular recordings of action potentials and miniature electrical oscillation (MEO) in the tymbal muscle and the recording of vocal vibration were performed with the tymbal nerve-tymbal muscle preparation of some cicadae.2. MEO had a characteristic interval (T) which was specific in respective species and was liable to synchronize with interval near about T or its integral multiples.3. Repetitive action potentials caused by single shock related closely with MEO and the intervals corresponded to T, 2T, …4. The intervals of spontaneously discharged action potentials in a preparation innervated by mesothoracic ganglion also corresponded to T, 2T, … of MEO.5. The repetition of vocal vibration was related to the action potential in ratio of 1: 1, so that the intervals of the former also corresponded to T, 2T, …6. The muscle showed best responsibility for the stimulation in the frequency of 1/T, 1/2T, …7. Therefore, it was recognized that the muscle was governed not only with nervous innervation but also with its characteristic interval (T) which was determined by the synchronization of MEO.


We deal with the problem of evaluating and ranking fuzzy quantities. We call fuzzy quantity any non-normal and non-convex fuzzy set, defined as the union of two, or more, generalized fuzzy numbers. For this purpose we suggest an evaluation defined by a pair index based on "value" & "ambiguity". Either value or ambiguity depend on two parameters connected the first with the optimistic/pessimistic point of view of the decision maker and the second on an additive measure that can be used to express the decision maker's preferences.


Renal transplantation is economically advantageous, offers improved survival and growth potential, cognitive development, social adjustment and quality of life when compared to dialysis. Children with ESRD will benefit with preemptive transplantation; if dialysis is unavoidable, every attempt should be made to minimize the time on dialysis with early transplantation. There is a lot to be gained in reducing wait times for transplantation. Unfortunately, expansion of the number of children on the deceased donor renal transplant waitlist has far outstripped the supply of organs in most countries. Numerous strategies have been employed to increase supply by increasing the donor pool and to maximize the utilization of donor organs. The use of grafts from deceased small pediatric donors is a potential approach to expand the donor pool and thus minimize wait time. We are now seeing increasing evidence supporting the effectiveness of recovering and transplanting kidneys from very small donors. Such practice still remains uncommon and pediatric donor organs are underutilized with only ~1.5% and ~9% of donors between the ages of 0–1 and 2–5 yr, respectively (1). Most kidneys from small donors are not recovered; discard rate of the kidneys that are recovered is high (2). In fact, there is a clear relationship between smaller donor and lower kidney recovery rate. The odds of transplant of recovered small donor kidneys is significantly higher with increasing age and size. In addition, en-bloc (i.e., where both kidneys are harvested along with the major blood vessels [aorta, inferior vena cava] in one piece and the vascular anastomosis is performed between the larger allograft vena cava and aorta [rather than smaller renal vessels] to the recipient vessels) as opposed to single recovery of kidneys from small pediatric donors may result in the highest probability of transplantation. Currently, available kidneys from small donors usually go to adult recipients. Could these kidneys be better utilized in the pediatric population? Should these kidneys be used for en-bloc or single-kidney transplantation? In this issue, Sui et al. discusses the possibility of utilizing very young pediatric donor kidneys for pediatric recipients and also using more single-kidney transplants rather than en-bloc kidney transplantation with an aim to maximize the number of transplants and shortening the wait time for pediatric candidates (3). The authors have followed 38 pediatric transplants (10 en-bloc and 28 single-kidney transplants) from very small pediatric donors (as young as 6 days) <15 kg over 3-26 months. Ten percent of patients had early graft loss after transplantation from vascular thrombosis. The authors propose that, in the current era of severe organ donor shortage, kidneys from low-body-weight donors could be transplanted to pediatric recipients, and the kidneys from infant donors ≥5 kg can be used in single-kidney transplant procedures at experienced centers allowing for valuable utilization of deceased donor kidneys that might otherwise be discarded. There are, however, limitations of drawing conclusions based on such a small number of patients, with a short followup period. While utilizing small donor kidneys will certainly maximize the donor pool, it is absolutely essential that clinicians continue to make appropriate decisions that focus on enhancing patient and graft survival and not just increase the number of transplants. There are unique challenges with kidney transplantation from very small pediatric donors. Small renal vessels are prone to increased vasospasm, associated with relative decrease in renal perfusion prior to procurement, and decreased allograft perfusion post-transplantation is a factor leading to significantly poorer results in recipients from very small donors. The risk of graft loss from a neonate donor is ~ 2.7-fold that of the ideal donor (age 20–25 yr) (4). Graft failure occurs predominantly due to vascular thrombo-


For most of us, May has brought a welcome respite from the cold and it was a real joy to see the Spring flowers burst into life and watch the swallows swoop overhead after their long journey from Africa. It is now all too easy to put last year's wet summer and the long, cold winter behind us.

Although many will have seen farmers struggling to pull livestock out of the snow and pictures of dead stock on the television during the spring, not all will realise the long-term impact this has on our farming patients.

The current problems are more complex than simply the issue of sheep lost under the snow and will significantly impact on both the physical and mental wellbeing of farmers. The rate of suicide in farmers is twice that of the general …


Our study examines the contingent effect of formal institutions namely financial, educational and political systems on the relationship between people's access to resources and the likelihood of th...


The task of finding the optimal version of the multi-shop compressor station is the task of finding the optimal plan for the distribution of loads between its individual shops. This is based on a minimum of total energy costs, taking into account the relevant technological constraints.


Scottish Borders and East Lothian councils, along with SEStran, have submitted a joint bid to the Scottish Government's Rail Station Fund.


The Hawaii Islands still retain the image of a pristine tropical paradise, although environmental pressures can be observed in some locations, particularly on the island of Oahu, where 83% of the state's nearly 800,000 inhabitants reside. Hawaii's water quality standards for coastal waters are readily adaptable to point sources of pollution but they are relatively ineffective in controlling nonpoint pollution sources such as sediment and nutrients from urban and agricultural runoff which can be detrimental to the island's shoreline coral beds as well as accelerating eutrophication of the receiving waters. Nonpoint pollution sources are best controlled by proper land use management practices. The recognition of the need for environmental management in Hawaii to maintain its pristine image is evident not only in the millions of dollars presently being expended on pollution control facilities but also by the fact that Hawaii has become the first state to establish land-use zoning for the entire state.


This paper focuses on the new approach and information technology of planning and bottleneck analysis of enterprise project portfolio. Comprehensive use of a multi-agent model of resource conversion processes and critical path method allows solving the problem of bottleneck analysis both for tools and for resources.


The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which accounting records are applied and the use of accounting information for MSMEs. The research method used is a qualitative descriptive case study approach. The object of this study took 10 MSMEs registered in the financing of Bank BRI Syariah KCP Semarang. Collecting data from this study using interview methods, questionnaires, and documentation. The data obtained were triangulated and analyzed. The results of this study, that the application of accounting records and the use of accounting information on MSMEs registered in the financing of Bank BRI Syariah KCP Semarang has been implemented even though it is still simple in nature. MSMEs have made accounting recognition such as assets, liabilities, equity, income, and cost of goods and expenses. Financial reports are made in the form of cash flows and notes to financial statements. MSMEs have also used accounting information in the form of operational information, management information, and financial information to make decisions.


Standard setting in environmental health has tended to evolve after the fact of adverse health effects. In the case of standards for the use of chemicals and food formulations, these have been set and enforced and refined largely after die event. This illustrates the development of health regulations which often follow rather than precede the findings of adverse effects, or development of more sophisticated technologies. Development of regulation that anticipates problems would appear to require evaluation of the sense and trend of scientific methodology, as well as its validation (Campbell, 1980). In environmental health, the 'burden of proof effectively rests with regulators to deal with air contaminants and other potential hazards. It is the environmental health regulator's responsibility to establish the hazard of a given contaminant before promulgation of standards aimed at protecting health. By contrast, in other areas eg dealing with industrial chemicals, pesticides and agricultural chemicals, the burden of proof rests with industry to establish that a chemical can be safely introduced and used in Australia. The NHMRC risk assessment report on lead (NHMRC, 1993) recognises some important principles of this process and recommends a specific strategy for dealing with environmental health problems, taking into account the need for action, both in terms of die population affected and the exposures experienced. Regulators whose job it is to protect health, rely heavily on toxicological concepts and experimental data in assessing the probable risk to human health of a known hazard or 'stressor' (Merrill, 1991). The standard is selected after consideration of the hazard and exposure, and consideration of environmental exposure which will be unlikely to contribute to excess risk to health. The prescribed standard, often a single concentration or a single level of a substance, is then published, with consideration of die socio-economic and other impacts, if undertaken, after recommending the new standard.


INTRODUCTION This chapter reviews the status of technologies for the space segment of communications satellite systems. The discussions highlight changes since the 1992/1993 study and emphasize developments that are both new and important. Although the tendency to emphasize satellites in any discussion of satellite communications was in evidence during site visits, a pleasant change was the recognition of the importance of satellite terminals both in the economics and user acceptance of systems. Designers of systems have exercised the tradeoffs between satellite and earth terminals in the conscious attempt to achieve high system capacity while realizing a small and affordable terminal. Some designs for mobile satellite systems have reduced the orbit altitude and employed a larger than familiar number of satellites to achieve continuous global coverage. The reduced altitude reduces the propagation (spreading) path loss, which can be traded for lower transmit radiated power. Although this design approach leads to smaller satellites, innovations have nevertheless been introduced, such as use of Global Positioning System (GPS) (satellite) receivers on satellites for autonomous station keeping; multiple crosslink (intersatellite link) antennas; phased array antennas for up and downlinks; and onboard baseband processing. The assembly of satellites used to proceed on the basis "one of a kind-one at a time." Some manufacturers (notably for the Iridium and Globalstar satellites) have adopted techniques from the automobile industry by setting up assembly lines and generally reducing the extensive environmental testing conducted on satellites prior to launch. Manufacturers of geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellites have also streamlined assembly by concentrating on standard buses. While low and medium orbit constellations attracted much attention in the past few years, geostationary orbit communications satellites continue to thrive. The ability to keep coverage fixed and provide high capacity over long distances may offer the possibility of gradual market entry or market development. In any case, there is continued development of ever larger buses to support ever increasing antenna size and complexity, large numbers of transponders, and other dimensions in sophistication and complexity. The trend in GEO satellites is increased power and increased number of transponders. Satellites with numerous C and Ku-band transponders are becoming commonplace. These increases have not resulted in a proportionate scaling of the weight of the satellites, since the use of shaped antennas eliminates the need for considerable microwave plumbing and the use of lighter structures has helped contain the weight of the satellites. Nevertheless, GEO satellites are becoming …


Objective To investigate the therapeutic roles of α-lipoic acid in treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods 120 subjects were assigned randomly to two groups for treatment with α-lipoic acid or mecobalamin for 2 weeks . The changes in the symptoms and signs were observed. The motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities of median nerve and common peroneal nerve were detected with electromyography. The plasma level of endothelin and C reactive protein as well as urinary albumin were determined before and after the treatment. Results The α-lipoic acid was similar to mecobalamin in accelerating the nerve conduction velocity. There was a significant decrease in the plasma level of endothelin and C reactive protein as well as urinary albumin in α-lipoic acid versus control group. Conclusion Antioxdant α-lipoic acid could accelerate the the nerve conduction velocity and improve the symptoms in patients with DPN.


In the spring semester of 2003, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, occupied the position of Citizens' Chair at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. The Citizens' Chair was created in 1965 by the state legislature to attract individuals of extraordinary scholarly and creative accomplishments to our University with the mandate that their presence would benefit both the academic and the larger communities of Hawai'i. In addition to conducting a graduate seminar, "Narratives of the Multiple Politics of Culture," Spivak gave numerous talks: "Terror" here at the university; "The Humanities in the Twenty-First Century" at the Honolulu Academy of Art; "Beyond Academe" for the Graduate Student Conference in Languages, Linguistics and Literatures; "Two Worlds Meeting: Conversations on Indigenous Issues and Settler Viewpoints" with Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, Director of the Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa; a roundtable on film and social justice for the South Asian Studies Symposium; and several presentations on the other islands. Although not regularly associated with the field of life writing, Spivak's work provides integral contributions to it, as evidenced by the many references to her work in this volume. A cultural and literary critic, translator, and teacher, Spivak has been at the forefront of the disciplinary formation of postcolonial studies. Her influential books range from In Other Worlds (1987) to Death of a Discipline (2003). Her interest in those parts of the world that are left out of or "jumped over" by hegemonic orders such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation brings to the foreground the importance of narratives that testify to the resilience of people and oppositional cultural practices. A feminist who has participated in the Subaltern Studies Collective, Spivak challenges as well as provides insights into questions of agency, authority, and representation, all of which are crucial to life writing studies. Known for


Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine the risk of depression and anxiety levels of seborrheic dermatitis (SD) and effect of illness on quality of life. Methods: We conduct this study among patients referred to dermatology outpatient clinic in our hospital. Patients diagnosed with SD according to medical history and dermatological examination were included in the study. After recording sociodemographic information such as age, gender, education level and their clinical features of SD, Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HAD) and Short form-36 (SF-36) were administered to patients. Results: We enrolled 50 patients in the study (27 females and 23 males). It was determined that 32% of patients were at risk for anxiety while 34% were at risk for depression. Deterioration in all fields, foremost emotional role functioning and social functioning, were determined in SD patients. Conclusion: It was evaluated that depression and anxiety levels of SD patients were high and quality of life is impaired in patients with SD.


Regression analysis was adopted to evaluate the influences of the regional social-economic factors on the fire occurrences in Jiangsu Province from 1997 to 2001. It was found that the level of the economic development of various stages could result in severe constraints on the fire occurrences, in addition to other relevant factors. It was also shown that there was an insignificant effect on the fire cases of the education-indicative social factor. However, the analysis indicated that, in the trend, the development of Social-economical levels in Jiangsu Province would lead to marked and downward inhibition on the fire occurrences.


The change in strength of barium titanate/zirconia composite on polarization treatment is evaluated, and the mechanism of this phenomenon is discussed. We have already reported that the bending strength of this composite has increased on longitudinal poling. In this study bending strength of BT/8YSZ composite increased on longitudinal poling and decreases on transverse poling compared with the untreated samples. Both strengthened and weakened specimens tend to return to the almost original strength by heating over Tc of barium titanate. Then, the crack propagation after polarization treatment is observed by SEM, and the detour of cracks around barium titanate grains is found in the cracks going along the poling direction. The detour of crack probably has close connection with the increase in strength in the poling direction.


The corrosion resistance of the U-3/4 Ti alloy selected as the ammunition ''kinetic energy penetrators'' to be used in the U. S. Air Force rapid-fire gun (GAU-8/A) has been studied. Corrosion testing showed that neither the chemistry nor the metal processing variables examined caused a change of practical significance in the material's corrosion response in either salt fog or moist nitrogen. Based upon the data obtained, a coating system to protect the penetrators during long-term storage is not necessary.


Purpose: Weight gain frequently accompanies smoking cessation. This study examined if increasing body mass index (BMI) during the early years of smoking influences quitting by young adulthood. Design: Longitudinal, observational study using in-home interview data. Setting: National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health (Add Health) 1994 to 2008. Subjects: Nine hundred forty-nine adolescent smokers (12-19 years) followed into young adulthood (20-32 years) through 4 waves of in-home interviews. Measures: Outcome variable: Young adult smoking status (yes or no) reported at in-home interviews. Factors: Gender and 4 longitudinal adolescent/young adult BMI trajectories—normal/normal, normal/overweight, normal/obese, and overweight/obese. Covariates: Race-ethnicity, education, household income, and recent quit attempt in adolescence. Analysis: Binary logistic regression analysis. Results: Overall, the rate at which young adults quit smoking was not significantly different based on gender. However, longitudinal changes in BMI trajectory and gender interact to influence young adult smoking status. Women having normal/overweight and normal/obese BMI trajectories were less likely to quit smoking than men. Odds that young adults having some college or post-high school education quit smoking were greater than those with high school education or less. Conclusion: At a minimum, providing direct information regarding anticipated weight changes after quitting is indicated in smoking cessation intervention, in addition to strategies to mitigate postcessation weight gain. Faced with weight gain, younger smokers, particularly women, may be more resistant to quitting smoking.


The rapid development of many sectors at the Bandung-Soreang Groundwater Basin has increased the demand for clean water. It is estimated that approximately 70 per cent of the clean water demand is still fulfilled by ground water. In the last five years, the use of ground water from deep and dug wells has shown a tendency of increase. In 2001, total use of groundwater reached 46.6 million cu m, and in 2005 had increased to 51.4 million cu m. The increasing use of ground water at middle aquifer and deep aquifer has intensified the depth of ground water level. A distribution of ground water level decrease at middle aquifer was observed at some areas in West Java, i.e. South Cimahi – 91.0 m bgl; Dayeuhkolot – 62.0 m bgl; Rancaekek – Cimanggung – 68.0 m bgl; Majalaya – 43.0 m bgl; and the city of Bandung – 62.9 m bgl. The depth of ground water at deep aquifers at areas such as, South Cimahi, Dayeuhkolot, Cikeruh and Rancaekek varied between 24.7 68.2 m bgl. Between the years of 2000 and 2006, at middleand deep aquifer respectively, the decrease of ground water level showed a rate of 0.11 – 12.03 m/year and 0.16 – 2.61 m/year.


Background Blazars are a subclass of active galactic nuclei (AGN). AGN are galaxies with a black hole at the center that are actively accreting matter. Figure 1 shows an artist's conception of an AGN as well as the relevant parts. Blazars are AGN that we happen to be looking at down the jet axis. Blazars are compact, highly variable sources. A subclass of blazars are objects known as BL Lacs, or BL Lacertae objects. These are blazars with intrinsically weak radio emission. All of our chosen sources fall into the category of being BL Lacs. BL Lacs have a characteristic two hump spectral energy distribution (SED). High frequency peaked BL Lacs (HBLs) have a synchrotron hump that peaks in the UV/X-ray and low frequency peaked BL Lacs (LBLs) have a synchrotron hump that peaks in the Infrared/Optical. All of our sources are also HBLs. HBLs are neutrino point source candidates. As can be seen from Figure 2, the SED of Markarian 421, there are two very distinct energy humps. It is generally agreed upon that the low energy component of this SED is synchotron emission from relativistic electrons. (Mucke A., et al. 2003) The mechanism responsible for the high energy hump is still in dispute. There are both leptonic models and hadronic models for the source of these high energy X-rays and gamma rays. In leptonic models there is no neutrino production, but in hadronic models including the Synchrotron Proton Blazar Model proposed by Mucke A., et al. 2003, and the hadronic Synchrotron Mirror Model proposed by Reimer A., et al. 2005 gamma ray production by pion photoproduction would also lead to neutrino production through the decay of charged pions, and muons. These decays would result in the production of both electron and muon neutrinos. The major difference between leptonic and hadronic models is that in leptonic models, sometimes known as synchrotronself Compton (SSC) models, the gamma ray emission is correlated with the X-ray flares. There is one very clear example of an "orphan" TeV flare, that is a gamma ray flare with no corresponding X-ray flare, from the source 1ES 1959+650. This orphan flare was observed on June 4, 2002 approximately fifteen days after an initial TeV flare that was correlated with X-ray emission. Krawczynski et al. 2004 Several hadronic models use the presence of protons to explain this orphan flare. Protons then create charged and neutral pions, which would result in both high energy gamma rays and neutrinos. These hadronic models could be confirmed by the detection of neutrinos by IceCube in the right time window and from the right direction as a TeV flare.


Diversity and complexity of the process of physical changes in urban environments have led to consider the conceptual framework as a tool for simplifying the perception of changes in identifying the indicators and variables affecting changes and changes types resulting from classifying variables and indices. The conceptual framework can be used to identify the levels of study and kinds of variables as well as to analyze, and illustrate their impact on the environmental change. The present study has adopted structure of DPSIR conceptual framework with the aim of introducing a functional tool capable of describing and classifying variables affecting such physical changes in urban areas, regarding kind and level of effectiveness. This conceptual framework is considered one of the most common analytical tools in environmental studies. DPSIR is the acronym which stands for Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts, and Responses. In this study, the causes of physical changes occurred in the study area (Region 11 of Tehran Municipality) and their implications have been identified through the study of content analysis of the urban plans and methods of field data collection (such as questionnaires and interviews) on the basis of DPSIR conceptual framework with respect to the level and type of impact each variable exert on the descriptive analysis method. The results of the analytical-descriptive diagnosis show that four variables of intention to reside, immigration, ethnic orientation and expanding markets for goods and services in the study area are the key drivers of change in the status of the physical and social structure of the area


I. AUTOMOBILES AND SOCIETAL STRUCTURES. 1. Humanity on the Move. 2. Industrial Ecology. 3. Culture, Psychology, and the Automobile. 4. Automotive Technology as a System. II. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES. 5. The Evolution of the Automobile. 6. The Evolution of the Automotive Infrastructure. III. DESIGN FOR ENVIRONMENT. 7. Choosing Materials. 8. Environmental Interactions During Manufacture. 9. Energy Consumption 10. Environmental Interactions During Product Use. 11. Design for Recycling. 12. How Green Is the Automobile and its Infrastructure? IV. FUTURE PROSPECTS. 13. The Future of the Automobile and Its Infrastructure. 14. Epilogue. APPENDICES. Appendix A: Environmentally-Responsible Product Matrix. Appendix B: Conversion Factors and Units of Measure. Index.


This study aimed to analyze in cows and buffaloes, submitted to mastitis induced by inoculation of S. aureus, the concentration of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), the somatic cell count (SCC), and their correlation with some parameters of local and systemic response to inflammation. The animals had one mammary gland inoculated and the inflammatory process was monitored by milk culture, SCC, IL-1β measurement in the milk, evaluation of the gland appearance/consistency, milk secretion appearance (localized response to inflammation) and rectal temperature measurement (systemic response to inflammation). There was increase in the levels of IL-1β, SCC, and both local and systemic inflammatory response, in bovine and bubaline species. The production kinetics of the cytokine was different between the two species (P 0.05) of SC/milk mL, with different concentrations (P<0.05) of IL-1β/mL. The parameters used to verify the local response to inflammation showed higher mean scores in bovine specie. Positive correlation between IL-1β concentration in the milk, SCC and parameters used to analyze the severity of mastitis was verified only in the bovine specie. The results evidenced that the kinetics of IL-1β production was different in the bovine and bubaline species, and demonstrated that the buffaloes developed a milder inflammatory process with faster recovery of the parameters used for mastitis severity evaluation


1. A method for removing an adhesive from a surface comprising: applying a detergent composition to the surface from which the adhesive must be removed, and removing said adhesive from the surface for less than about 10 min, wherein the cleaning composition comprises an aqueous or non-aqueous basic organic solvent and / or amine solvent, a chelating compound, a surfactant and less than about 25 wt.% sodium hydroxide (alkali), wherein the organic and / or amine solvent replaces At least a portion of the alkaline solution, and wherein the temperature of the detergent composition is less than about 70oS.2. A method according to Claim. 1, wherein the pH of the detergent composition is at least about 2 and less 13,5.3. A method according to Claim. 1, wherein the detergent composition totally replaces alkaline rastvor.4. A method according to Claim. 1, wherein the detergent composition is at a temperature less than about 60 ° C and remove the adhesive substance for less than about 5 min.5. A method according to Claim. 1, wherein the organic solvent is selected from the group comprising alcohols, polyols, lower alkanols, lower alkyl esters, glycols, aryl glycols, lower alkyl ethers of glycols, and combinations thereof, and wherein the amine solvent is selected from the group comprising monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine, furfurylamine, 4-methylbenzylamine, tris [2- (2-methoxyethoxy) ethyl] amine and sochetaniya.6. A method according to Claim. 1, wherein the adhesive material is completely removed from the surface together with complete removal of the label (e.g., of paper or other material), without leading to deterioration of any detergency efficacy against the surface and / or the formation of a pulp or other


173 simultaneous determinations of serum copper levels (SCL), serum zinc levels (SZL) and copper/zinc ratio (CZR) were made by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in 51 previously untreated lymphoma patients. SCL and CZR were significantly higher in patients before treatment (mean value 22.97 μmol/L, 1.55, respectively) and in those who did not reach complete remission (mean 21.21 μmol/L, 1.36) as compared with the patients in complete remission (mean 16.36 μmol/L, 1.06) or normal controls (mean 15.67 μmol/L, 0.98). The mean value of SCL and CZR of patients in complete remission did not differ significantly from those of normal controls. Patients in stages HI and IV had higher SCL and CZR (mean 25.15 μmol/L, 1.79) than those in stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ (mean 19.30 μmol/L, 1.16). No significant difference in SZL was observed between the patient groups and normal controls. Thus, SCL and CZR may be used as prognostic indicators for monitoring disease activity and response to therapy in malignant lymphoma.


Based on the dispersion of the main index of refraction of the e light and the law of refraction of the crystal of Iceland Spar,the thesis theoretically dedues the splitting angle's formulae with the Los austro-hungarian prism in different optical wavelengths and angles of incidence,studies the splitting angle's features of the Los austro-hungarian prism in detail.The results from the experimental tests in which our panel utilize three kinds of light source of laser to test the spectral effects and the angle of incidence effects demonstrates that wavelength and the incident angle of light affect on the splitting angle.For the Los austro-hungarian prism with a certain structure,the splitting angle decreases as the wavelength increases when the angle of incidence remains unchanged,while the splitting angle varies as the angle of incidence does for a certain wavelength,especially when the angle of incidence is a negative figure,the varying will be less affected,and it is in the contrary in turn.


As the problem of sexual addiction and co-addiction surfaces among women within Christian circles, more of these strugglers will seek treatment. They are most likely first to turn for help within their community of faith by seeking counsel from a clergy person or Christian therapist. Unfortunately, these resources typically fail to provide an adequate response. This article, based on the author s experience as a Christian counselor who works with Christian sex addicts and co-addicts, outlines the common treatment errors made by faith-based clinicians and suggests ways secular practitioners can understand and help this specialized population.


In today's world, organizations are increasingly held accountable for the social and environmental impact of their activities. As a result, effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies have now become a widespread requirement. Evidence of this can be seen by the increasing number of CSR rankings, indexes, and monitoring institutions, and by the ever-widening nature of CSR issues (e.g., child labor, sweatshops, workplace discrimination, corruption, gene-modified organisms, pollution, etc.). Expectations regarding responsible corporate behavior are now common to many, if not all, industries.


Urinary tract infection is the most prevalent infection in the human societies. This study aims to identify G. vaginalis in the urinary samples of the patients suffered from UTI by culture and PCR techniques. 200 patients with urinary tract infection signs have entered in this study. urine sample was cultured in the blood agar medium, a small quantity of the sample used for the purpose of molecular technique. In order to analyze the data, SPSS software and chi square (x2) test has been used. Of 200 studied patients, G. vaginalis was isolated and identified in 6 (3%) and 29 (14.5%) patients with the culture and PCR techniques, respectively. The sequencing of the samples confirmed phenotyping identification. On the basis of the results obtained from both two techniques, it can be expressed that PCR technique is more appropriate to identify G. vaginalis. The achieved results show that G. vaginalis is regarded as one the agents causing the occurrence of urine infection. Yet, in many medical diagnosis laboratories, the bacterium is undetectable due to hardly growth. Also, considering the conducted techniques, PCR method is of a higher accuracy and speed.


2549Background: CEA CD3 TCB (RO6958688) targets CEA on tumor cells and is agonistic for CD3e on T cells. In mouse models, CEA CD3 TCB displays potent anti-tumor activity, leads to increased intra-t...


The authors are solely responsible for the content of this technical presentation. The technical presentation does not necessarily reflect the official position of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE), and its printing and distribution does not constitute an endorsement of views which may be expressed. Technical presentations are not subject to the formal peer review process by ASAE editorial committees; therefore, they are not to be presented as refereed publications. Citation of this work should state that it is from an ASAE meeting paper. EXAMPLE: Author's Last Name, Initials. 2004. Title of Presentation. ASAE Paper No. 04xxxx. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASAE. For information about securing permission to reprint or reproduce a technical presentation, please contact ASAE at firstname.lastname@example.com or 269-429-0300 (2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659 USA). Abstract. In order to meet the U. S. government's goal of supplementing the energy available from petroleum by increasing the production of energy from renewable resources, increased production of bioenergy has become one of the new goals of the United States government and our society. U.S. Executive Orders and new Federal Legislation have mandated changes in government procedures and caused reorganizations within the government to support these goals. The Biomass Researchmore » and Development Initiative is a multi-agency effort to coordinate and accelerate all U.S. Federal biobased products and bioenergy research and development. The Initiative is managed by the National Biomass Coordination Office, which is staffed by both the DOE and the USDA. One of the most readily available sources of biomass from which to produce bioenergy is an agricultural crop residue, of which straw from small grains is the most feasible residue with which to start. For the straw residue to be used its collection must be energy efficient and its removal must not impact the sustainability of the growing environment. In addition, its collection must be economically advantageous to the producer. To do all that, a single pass multi-component harvester system is most desirable. Results from our first prototype suggest that current combines probably do adequate threshing and that a separate chassis can be developed that does additional separation and that is economically feasible.« less


Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) play an important role as natural food preservatives. However, the characterization of the variety of their metabolites is limited. The aim of this study was to determine specific metabolites produced by Lactobacillus gasseri ATCC 33323 by an optimized liquid chromatography with an ultraviolet/diode detection (HPLC-UV/DAD) method and to investigate their potential antimicrobial activity against specific food pathogens (Salmonella enterica ATCC14028; Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213; Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 700603). At the same time, the possible antioxidant activity of metabolites of L. gasseri was tested using the free radical DDPH• (a, a-Diphenyl-β-Picrylhydrazyl). Based on the results of this study, the major metabolites detected in L. gasseri were 6.0 ppm OH-PLA, 3.73 ppm 1,2-dihydroxybenzene, 2.31 ppm benzoic acid in 5 days. This study provides a different alternative approach to the others involved in the antimicrobial activity of food fermented by microorganisms. These molecules can be used as antimicrobial ingredients in the food industry instead of conventional chemical preservative.


The endogenous opioid system is critical for natural reward responses that drive positive behavioral reinforcement, as well as the reinforcing effects associated with addictive substances, such as morphine. The rewarding and reinforcing properties of many drugs of abuse depend on the activation of the m‐opioid receptor (MOR). MOR is a G‐protein coupled receptor whose signaling efficiency is controlled by the regulator of G‐protein signaling (RGS) proteins. In vitro studies have demonstrated that RGS7, a member of the R7 family of RGS proteins, negatively regulates MOR signaling via inhibitory G‐proteins of the Gi/o class. Co‐labeling studies performed in the CNS show that RGS7 and MOR are co‐expressed in the same neuronal population. However, the impact of RGS7 on MOR signaling in vivo is unknown. This study utilizes both genetic and viral approaches to ablate RGS7 both globally and in specific neuronal populations to determine the contribution of RGS7 in reward‐related behaviors. Global RGS7 knockout mice display enhanced morphine‐induced conditional place preference (CPP) and increased locomotor activity in response to morphine. Conditional elimination of RGS7 in striatal neurons results in similar enhancement of morphine‐induced reward in the CPP test. Using an operant self‐administration task these conditional RGS7 knockout mice also displayed increase active lever pressing, as well as a vertically shifted dose‐response profile of morphine‐intake. Together this suggests that RGS7 modulates the reinforcing properties of morphine. To investigate the impact RGS7 has on morphine‐induced alteration in neuronal excitability and plasticity of glutamatergic synapse, electrophysiology approaches were applied to those mice that underwent morphine self‐administration. It was found that RGS7 exerted its effects by controlling morphine‐induced changes in excitability of medium spiny neurons in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and gating the compositional plasticity of AMPA and NMDA receptors. We further studied the role of RGS7 in reward‐related behaviors in response to other drugs of abuse, such as psychostimulants. Interestingly, mice lacking RGS7 KO exhibit similar responses to cocaine‐induced CPP as their wild‐type littermates. Overall, the results show that RGS7 in the NAc specifically control the rewarding and reinforcing effects of opioids but not of psychostimulants.


Aiming at the fact that the dependence of modern high-tech warfare on the command and control system is increasing,and that the command and different control system itself characteristics and the different mission requirements make the evaluation effectiveness unstable,a dynamic evaluation model with the matching degree of system space and mission as the target is presented,in combination with the Air-based command control system function,characteristic and application research,on the basis of command control system flight-test data illustrating the broad applicability and real-time effectiveness of the warfare with the Lanchester Equation.By using this method,the operation and the mission of the system are combined together to calculate the relation between the trajectory of the system property space and the mission-required trajectory according to the numeric area of the system in certain circumstance,and finally the whole measurement of the Air-based command control system is given.The method makes up the evaluation difference caused by the unreasonable choice of mission property.The simulation results verify the validity and rationality of the method.


The invention concerns the use of at least a linear or cyclic, preferably linear, polyorganosiloxane (POS) functionalised with Y groups bearing epoxy units, as active substance in a liquid silicone composition designed to impregnate a porous building material, [for example mineral or (ligno)cellulosic], so as to make it water repellent. Said POS represents at least 50 wt. % of the active substance and is crosslinkable when it is contacted with the building material and/or reactive with the latter to be bound to it. The invention enables to obtain the best possible technical compromise for the liquid silicone composition for water repellency treatment in terms of cost, facility for use, storage stability, and adherence to the materials to be made water repellent, as well as for efficacy of the water repellency treatment, both in intensity and duration. The invention also concerns the preparation of the liquid silicone composition for water repellency treatment based on an epoxy-functionalised POS, and the water repellency treatment of porous materials such as building stones or concrete mixtures or mortars, using said composition.


Correspondence: Dr Sclafani, The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, 310 E 14th St, Sixth Floor, North Building, New York, NY 10003 (email@example.com). Author Contributions: Dr Reksodiputro had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Study concept and design: Reksodiputro, Koento, Boedhihartono, and Sclafani. Acquisition of data: Reksodiputro, Koento, Boedhihartono, and Sclafani. Analysis and interpretation of data: Reksodiputro, Koento, Boedhihartono, and Sclafani. Drafting of the manuscript: Reksodiputro, Koento, Boedhihartono, and Sclafani. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Reksodiputro, Koento, Boedhihartono, and Sclafani. Statistical analysis: Reksodiputro, Koento, Boedhihartono, and Sclafani. Obtained funding: Reksodiputro, Koento, and Boedhihartono. Administrative, technical, and material support: Reksodiputro, Koento, Boedhihartono, and Sclafani. Study supervision: Reksodiputro, Koento, Boedhihartono, and Sclafani. Financial Disclosure: None reported.


Packaging Integration (PI) refers to the integration of separately manufactured components into a higher-level assembly that in the aggregate provides enhanced functionality and improved operating characteristics.


The aim of this paper is twofold: first, to construct the compact regular coreflection of uniform frames, that is, the frame counterpart of the Samuel compactification of uniform spaces (Samuel [10]), and then to use this for a new description of the completion of a uniform frame, as an alternative to those previously given by Isbell [6] on the one hand and Kříž [8] on the other. In addition, we present a few further results, as well as new proofs of known ones, that are naturally connected with completions and arise particularly easily from our approach to them. Most prominently among these, we identify the uniform space of minimal Cauchy filters of a uniform frame as the spectrum of its completion.


The critical constants and acentric factor are generally required in thermodynamic calculations based on the principle of corresponding states. In this work, these properties of hydrocarbons and derivatives are correlated with the molecular weight, specific gravity, and normal boiling point. Properties of n-alkanes are correlated with the molecular weight. Properties of other hydrocarbons and derivatives are expressed as perturbations from those of the n-alkanes, and the perturbations are corrlated in terms of specific gravity and normal boiling point.


Ricks Exploration Co. has developed techniques to correct severe deviation problems while maintaining economical penetration rates. A downhole motor with bent sub oriented opposite the natural drift tendency is used on alternate bit runs. A packed hole assembly follows to smooth the minor dogleg. High bit weights are used on both drilling assemblies. Fast penetration resulted, and dogleg problems were eliminated. These techniques helped save $380,000 while drilling the 18A Gatlin in Southern Oklahoma.


There are hundreds of small Pinus patula plantations in the Mexican states of Veracruz, Puebla, Tlaxcala, and Hidalgo, among others. Nonetheless, their financial feasibility is rather unknown to date. By means of the Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit/Cost ratio (B/C), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) indicators, the financial feasibility of a 3 000 m2 P. patula plantation, 17 years old, whose production is to be used for making pulp and sawnwood, was assessed. Both costs, benefits and mensuration data were recorded along the project life, except for the first five and for the last three years. Costs for the initial five years were derived from interviews to the plantation owner. Costs and benefits during the last three years of the project were estimated from the plantation mensuration data and regional prices of the products projected. The NPV, B/C ratio, and IRR for the plantation were MX$ 37 959.00, 2.32 %, and 26.61 %, respectively. The costs and benefits that impacted the most the final financial balance of the project were those occurring at the early stages. Accordingly, the implementation of strategies to decrease costs and increase benefits during the initial stages of the project is advisable. Agroforestry systems, among others, may provide appropriate schemes in this direction.


With proliferation of computer and wireless network technology, it is common to access Internet through wireless network using mobile device. Ratio of using streaming media out of many applications through Internet is increasing not only in wired network but also in wireless network. Streaming media is much bigger than other contents and requires more network bandwidth and more computing resources. However mobile devices hate relatively poor computing resource and low network bandwidth. If media streaming service is provided for mobile devices without any consideration about network bandwidth and computing power, it is hard for the client to get high qualify service. Since mobile device is supported with very limited energy from the battery, media streaming should be adjusted to varying energy state of mobile device in realtime to ensure complete playback of streaming media. In this paper, we propose DFRC to provide high qualify service to mobile client through wireless network by controlling the number of frames transmitted to client based on computing resource and energy state of mobile device.


Vitamin D's potent immunomodulatory properties have led investigators to examine its role in the development of allergy and asthma. Previously, the


Interval training can be adapted to match the needs of a sport when it is aimed at the development of specific speed endurance Shows the description and application of cardio and interval training (HIT- high intensity training, HIIT-high intensity interval training and Tabata method) in order to increase the efficiency of high intensity interval training. A cardio training should be based on individual goals. If the goal of a cardio training is burning fat, then one should focus on nutrition and weight training. Interval trainings (HIT-high intensity training, HIIT-high intensity interval training and Tabata method) are a much better option for the loss of fat deposits than traditional jogging. Aforementioned examples of HIIT have shown that with fitness enthusiasts and sports people it is possible to carry out a systematic training in a safe and efficient way without disturbing the development of motor abilities and sports techniques.


An improved hearing aid that reduces occlusion caused by the accumulation of ear wax includes a hearing aid body, an amplifier disposed within the hearing aid body, and an ear canal body adapted for insertion in the auditory canal of a human ear. The ear canal body has a deep transverse groove about 1 mm to 5 mm in width to form a cavity that is accessible to clear ear wax buildup in the cavity. A first passageway from the amplifier to one side of the cavity provides a conduit for sound to travel from the amplifier to the cavity. An end portion of the ear canal body forms a plow to divert ear wax as it is inserted into the auditory canal. The plow portion is of a cross sectional area substantially equal to the auditory canal. The plow portion has a second passageway that joins the cavity and the end of the ear canal body closest the ear drum. The second passageway is larger in diameter than the first passageway and its central axis is offset from the central axis of the first passageway.


The effect of DC-pulse electric stimulus on the swimming behavior of larvae of the freshwater mussel Limnoperna fortunei was investigated under flowing water conditions in a pipe. Freshwater mussel larvae were collected for microscopic observation after having been made to pass through an electric field by pumping lake water from a dam through a pipe electrode. Two types of pipe electrode configuration were tested: one with alternating+and-electrodes along the pipe and the other with several+electrodes between two-electrodes. In the case of the latter electrode configuration, 7kV voltage effectively immobilized the larvae and 80% of the larvae were stunned when given an electric stimulus (voltage x total pulse discharge) of approximately 270. Freshwater mussel larvae were effectively stunned with DC-pulse electric stimulus under flowing water conditions. Hence, installation of pipe electrodes upstream of target sites may prove an effective method of protection from mussel fouling by stunning passing larvae. In future studies, the settlement condition of the larvae after passing through the electric field will be investigated as part of our efforts to establish an antifouling method against the freshwater mussel using a DC-pulse electric system.


Wong's article seeks to model the energy balance of humans inclusive of both sensible and oxidative energy content of food with the objective of finding means to modify the human energy balance and reduce obesity [1]. The author proposes that the temperature at which foods and beverages are consumed can make a significant contribution to whole body energy balance, and the temperature of foodstuffs can be manipulated to minimize risk for either positive or negative energy balance. He indicates that this important concept has been neglected in conventional nutritional science. With the current epidemic of obesity and associated disease sequelae, researchers in the field can appreciate the importance of exploring novel approaches to its prevention and treatment. However, the conclusion that sensible heat in foods can be a source of significant energy input to the human diet must discounted due to unit conversion errors and some general misunderstandings of human heat balance, thermoregulation, and energy metabolism. The energy in food is measured by and communicated to the general public through a metric of its oxidative energy content. The traditional way of measuring the energy content of foodstuffs is to use a "bomb calorimeter" in which the heat produced when a sample of food is combusted (under high pressure of oxygen) is measured. The total heat liberated (expressed in kilocalories or kilojoules) represents the gross energy value or heat of combustion of the food [2,3]. However, the net value of any food is not based on its gross energy value, but rather its availability for use in the body, which takes into account digestibility and cellular access to the food's organic molecules, i.e., carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that undergo oxidative metabolism. In the article, Wong does not differentiate between the units of food calories (equal to 1 kcal) and the units of small calories (equal to 1 cal) [4]. With this correction, the 10,100 cal of sensible heat that is available to the human body from 500 g of soup is approximately 10% of the 98,000 cal of oxidative energy content available in the same soup and is less than 0.3% of 2,800,000 cal of gross energy of food required per day. In the example carried through to the article's conclusion, to gain 600 kcal from the sensible heat in food, the human body would have to consume 28 liters of hot tea per day. So, although sensible heat in food is a component of the well-established understanding of human energy balance [5,6], its effect is 1000 times smaller than is described by Wong. As speculated upon in the article, the human body does indeed have many mechanisms to reduce its core temperature when the body is heated by ingestion of hot food or to increase its core temperature when the body is cooled by ingestion of cold food. Whether by perspiration, dilation, or constriction of peripheral blood vessels or shivering, the body is actively actuating a variety of heat generation and heat transfer mechanisms to maintain a homeostatic core body temperature [5,6]. Actuating these mechanisms causes metabolism to increase from the basal metabolic rate when the core temperature of the body cannot be maintained. These effects have been measured due to changes in ambient temperature [7], clothing type [8], or ingestion of cold or hot water [9,10]. The high sensitivity of the body's thermoregulatory control system means that the ingestion of hot or cold water causes a small change to the body's abdomen temperature (on the order 0.01–0.1 C [11,12]), resulting in large themo-effector responses and active feedback control of the body's core temperature [13]. The human thermoregulation system is sensitive because the metabolic costs of changes in body temperature are high [14]. By definition, the absorption of sensible heat involves a change in temperature. So, although Wong's first law analysis is correct that sensible heat is a component of human energy balance, the body's ability to absorb sensible heat from food is limited because the action of the human thermoregulation system serves to stabilize core body temperature. Next, Wong suggests that a person who increases the amount of sensible energy consumed would displace an equivalent amount of oxidative energy, leading to satiation under energetic imbalance and therefore weight loss. He suggests that consumption of hot foods and drinks could reduce the energy intake requirements for an average male from 2800 to 2200 kcal without creating a metabolic energy imbalance. According to this logic, the sensible energy of the food and beverages would reduce the body's daily energy expenditure by obviating the need to oxidize carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins to generate 600 kcal of heat necessary to maintain body temperature. This hypothetical mechanism is not supported by the literature on animal metabolism. In fact, the consumption of either cold or hot foods requires oxidative energy to bring the food to body temperature [9]. Although the effect is relatively negligible in humans (due to the very small fraction of food energy that is sensible heat, as indicated earlier), it can be significant in other organisms. For example, hummingbirds eat four times their body weight per day in nectar that can be at ambient temperatures of 5 C. Under these conditions, the energy required to warm this volume of nectar can lead to a 2% weight loss per day [15,16]. When the human body's mechanisms of thermoregulation are saturated, the sensible heat of food or drink will play a more sizeable or measureable role in energy balance [17,18]. For example, exercising humans can reduce their bodies' core temperature by ingesting cold drinks, and hypothermia can be treated with warm drinks (although again, the effects are insignificant when compared to daily energy expenditure) [19]. Any article claiming to instigate reform of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and "conventional nutritional science" should be held to special scrutiny. Wong's article does not present credible recommendations due to unit errors, a simplified analysis, and general misunderstanding of the role of sensible heat, metabolism, and thermoregulation in the energy balance of humans.


Abstract Aiming at the low power supply voltage of 12 V and 24 V, low-salience and low-speed performance of parts such as water pumps and fans in the automotive field, to improve the accuracy of angle and speed identification, a sensorless control strategy based on the high-frequency square-wave injection is introduced. The control and angle signals are demodulated by two consecutive samples at the adjacent times, which effectively avoids the use of filters, greatly improves the bandwidth of double closed-loop control, simplifies the signal demodulation process, and carries out verification and analysis through the MATLAB/Simulink simulation model.


In his article 'An Ameliorative Analysis of the Concept of Education', Jack Marley-Payne sets out to provide an ameliorative analysis of the concept 'education'. Marley-Payne draws an important distinction between what he labels the 'Broad' and the 'Narrow' account of education. His conclusion is that an ameliorative conceptual analysis of education favours the narrow account. The main argument is that a narrow approach, tightly connected to formal schooling, provides a better basis for pursuing an egalitarian agenda. Contrary to Marley-Payne, I will argue that an amelioration of the concept education need not favour either a wide notion or a narrow notion. I believe that there are other alternatives to choose from, that in fact leads to an amelioration of what education can and ought to mean. The problem with Marley-Payne's conclusion is thus, not only that it builds upon a false dichotomy but also that it is not emancipatory enough. We need an amelioration that is inclusive rather than exclusive.


In orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, parametric channel estimation-based algorithms are known to improve performance when the multipath is sparse in nature. Likewise, subspace-based techniques, that exploit the slowly-varying delay-subspace, are also known to improve the channel estimation performance. However, these methods assumed that the channel is constant over one or many OFDM symbols. In this letter, we present the parametric- and delay-subspace-based algorithms for channel estimation in scenarios where the channel is varying within an OFDM symbol duration. It is also shown that performance considerably improves, when these methods are used in conjunction with a Kalman-based channel-tracking algorithm.


When the circuit breaker (CB) fitted with grading capacitance was being switched off,the ferromagnetic resonance among CB grading capacitance,capacitive voltage transformer and nonlinear inductance of voltage transformer leads to sustained overvoltage and causes the much higher than normal current,it could result the electric equipment insulation failure or thermal breakdown or both.The paper describes the material of practical operation,theoretical analysis and simulated verification about this ferromagnetic resonance,and presents some preventative measurs for it.


Abstract With regard to the large presence of Jews in the legal system during the early modern period the present article investigates judicial and sentencing practices. It is focused on the discrepancy between the equal treatment of Jews in court as cives romani on the one hand and on the other hand anti-Jewish stereotypes in the society of that time. The Jewish delinquency was marked by the stereotype of the "deceitful Jew", which was often encountered during court proceedings. However, court decisions were usually not affected by this stereotype.Hereby, the courts supported the interests of the local authorities in ensuring a peaceful life in the villages, thus indirectly stabilizing the Jewish-Christian coexistence.


An algoritTlm is proposed to decide whether a function of nvat.ial,les is a quadratic Boolean fullctioll.If sol how can wu o1J;oain the quadratieterms? Diesel-el.t frolil the Quine--McOluskey method, our algorithm is based on t.heeounting uf valued 0, i and allows a high 16vel of parallelism.


Many scientific disciplines provide composition primitives whereby overall properties of systems are composed from those of their components. Examples include rules for block diagram reduction in control theory and laws for computing equivalent circuit impedance in circuit theory. No general composition rules exist for real-time systems whereby a distributed system is transformed to an equivalent single stage analyzable using traditional uniprocessor schedulability analysis techniques. Towards such a theory, in this paper, we extend our previous result on pipeline delay composition for preemptive and non-preemptive scheduling to the general case of distributed acyclic systems. Acyclic systems are defined as those where the superposition of all task flows gives rise to a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). The new extended analysis provides a worst-case bound on the end-to-end delay of a job under both preemptive as well as non-preemptive scheduling, in the distributed system. A simple transformation is then shown of the distributed task system into an equivalent uniprocessor task-set analyzable using traditional uniprocessor schedulability analysis. Hence, using the transformation described in this paper, the wealth of theory available for uniprocessor schedulability analysis can be easily applied to a larger class of distributed systems.


The Wei-Jin dynasty is an age of human's wakefulness.I have tried to study human's wakefulness by analyzing the intellectuals' image of Wei-Jin dynasties in ANewAccountofTillsofthe World.The intellectuals of Wei-Jin dynasties are so characteristic and charming in Chinese history.They deeply felt the shortness and impermanence of life and never gave up,showing strong sense of life.They pursue freedom by resisting the authority or established convention and going beyond themselves.They believe in themselves and respect others,always attaching importance to sincerity and spunkiness of the personality.The human nature's precious value of the intellectuals of Wei-Jin dynasties is the speaking witness of human's wakefulness in Wei-Jin dynasties.


For high maneuvering fighters, we propose an intelligent control method which has strong robustness in the sense that the system nonlinearities are almost completely unknown and dead-zone nonlinearity is present. Moreover, the proposed intelligent controller has very simple structure since approximators are not used and differentiation of virtual control is avoided. It is proved that all the signals in the closed-loop control system are bounded, and the attitude angle tracking error can converge to an arbitrarily small neighborhood around zero by choosing the appropriate design parameters.


Kartini, an important figure in Indonesia's women emancipation had an invaluable dream to realize the idea of gender equity. Unfortunately, this dream has not been fully manifested in our everyday life. Now with the ratification of UU No 23/2004 on the Elimination of Domestic Violence in Indonesia, we expect that gender equity will be practiced, even if it merely limited in the smallest unit of society, that is, family.


PURPOSE: To attain accurate measurement by connecting a measuring device to the tip ends of a calipers arm and first and second probes so as to measure the difference between the positions of tip ends of the first and second probes and to generate the output relating to the diameter of an object to be machined. CONSTITUTION: A gauge block 22 has a semispherical groove 34, which contains a pair of calipers arms 36 and 38. The arm 36 has a probe tip end part 40 which is directly in contact with a journal 12 of an object to be machined. In similar, the arm 38 contains a probe tip end part 42, which is engaged with the journal 12 at such a point where the contact point of the tip end part 42 is opposite to the diameter direction. A measuring device is used to measure the difference between the positions of the arms 36 and 38 and to measure the diameter thereby. An air jet gauge component is used to the measuring device, so that the diametric accuracy of within 2.5μm can be obtained. COPYRIGHT: (C)1990,JPO


Shoham In this chapter we consider the empirical hardness of the winner determination problem. We identify distribution-nonspecific features of data instances and then use statistical regression techniques to learn, evaluate and interpret a function from these features to the predicted hardness of an instance, focusing mostly on ILOG's CPLEX solver. We also describe two applications of these models: building an algorithm portfolio that selects among different WDP algorithms, and inducing test distributions that are harder for this algorithm portfolio.


Atmospheric ammonia (NH3) plays an important role in secondary particle formation and air quality. Herein, we conducted real-time measurements of NH3 at Samcheon-dong in Jeonju from May 2019 to January 2020. During the measurement periods, the average concentration of atmospheric NH3 was 10.5±5.1 ppb. NH3 monthly variations were dependent on its source and meteorological conditions. The highest monthly average value of NH3 was 17.1±5.4 ppb in June, which was approximately 2 times higher than in wintertime, with peak concentrations from late afternoon to midnight. The increased NH3 level was influenced by agricultural activities and regional transport, coincided with the prevailing meteorological conditions of extended planetary boundary layer. However, the concentration of NH3 was decreased remarkably after the rainy season and the concentration was maintained over the wintertime. When the NH3 level dropped down to below 10 ppb, significantly different diurnal variation was monitored with two peaks in the morning and late afternoon. The diurnal cycle of the NH3 level in the period was dependent on the traffic emissions nearby.


We present two algorithms, one quantum and one classical, for estimating partition functions of quantum spin Hamiltonians. The former is a DQC1 (Deterministic quantum computation with one clean qubit) algorithm, and the first such for complex temperatures. The latter, for real temperatures, achieves performance comparable to a state-of-the-art DQC1 algorithm [Chowdhury et al. Phys. Rev. A 103, 032422 (2021)]. Both our algorithms take as input the Hamiltonian decomposed as a linear combination Pauli operators. We show this decomposition to be DQC1-hard for a given Hamiltonian, providing new insight into the hardness of estimating partition functions.


Introduction Natalizumab is licenced in the UK for highly active relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) which is in contrast to the original trials that only studied early RRMS. These original studies demonstrated a reduction in relapse rates of 82% after 1 year compared to the year prior to therapy. They also showed significant reductions in gadolinium-enhancing lesions and accumulating T2 lesions. Aim To assess the effect of natalizumab on relapse rate and MRI activity in a single UK Neurosciences Centre. Methods Three analyses were performed: clinical/MRI, nursing documentation/protocol and a patient survey. Results Mean age was 40 years (range 19–67, n=120, 64% female) with mean disease duration of 10.3 years. Natalizumab reduced relapses by 76% compared to the year prior to therapy. 69–71% subjects were relapse-free at 1 year. When compared to baseline, gadolinium-enhancing lesions were reduced at 6 but not 12 months. Accumulating T2 lesions stabilised up to 12 months. There were wide variations in individual responses with 4% discontinuing therapy in the first year. Discussion Clinical experience of treating highly active RRMS replicates the reduction in relapse rates seen in trials. Studying individual data may allow the identification of specific subject characteristics predicting differential responses to therapy.


Congruence between citizens and political actors is one of the most frequent discussed topics in research on representation nowadays. The concept is one of the main indicators for evaluating representation. The implicit assumption is: the higher the congruence, the better the quality of representation. This article attempts to test the (normative) assumption empirically and relates congruence to the citizens' judgements about representation. In doing so, subjective congruence between citizens and political parties is analyzed by measuring the many-to-many-relationship. The data is driven from EES (2009), CSES (2005-2009). The results prove that congruence as well as perceived parliamentary responsiveness differ among the European citizenry. Despite, the findings indicate that congruence as a many-to-many relation does not correlate strongly to citizens' (positive) evaluation of parliamentary representation. I conclude by discussing the implications of these results for analysing representation and judging about the quality of representation. Paper prepared for presentation at the ECPR General Conference, Bordeaux September 4-7, 2013. *Research Associate and PhD Student at University of Stuttgart, Department of Comparative Politics and Political Sociology, Breitscheidstr. 2, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany, firstname.lastname@example.com


The Robotic Cane is an electronic travel aid for the visually impaired. The device is a wheeled platform, equipped with three ultrasonic sensors, which autonomousliY steers around obstacles. It is pushed biYthe user and to avoid obstacles the user has to simpliY walk behind it. However, the cane's control siYstem does not know what the user wants to do. Therefore, user interactions are integrated into the shared control system. This paper improves on a previousliY presented control strateg)T which only utilised "distance to obstacle" data to determine the steering action. Presented here are three new control strategies to determine the steering action of the cane. The first strateg)T is based on the cane's velocitiY and the second on sensor confidence. The third method is based on a combination of velocity and sensor confidence.


Automatic and accurate delineation of ECG characteristic's points play a pivotal role in computerized electrocardiography for prognosis of heart diseases. The paper presents an algorithm research for removal of artifacts& noises and delineation of ECG characteristics points based on wavelet transform. The multi-resolution, thresholding, minima/maxima pairs with window searching feature of wavelet transform has been used for the implementation of algorithm. The measured values of characteristics waves of ECG are validated for European ST-T database records. The result shows over 100% accurate detection rate in terms of amplitude and occurrence with respect to time for P wave, QRS complex & T wave and also can be easily distinguished even contaminated with baseline drift and artifacts.


Genetic algorithms (GAs) are becoming increasingly popular due to their ability to solve large complex optimization problems which other methods have difficulty solving. In this paper, an introduction to the theory of GAs and its operators are presented. A brief overview of the current research using GAs in aerospace engineering applications is given. Based on the author's previous work, optimal piezoelectric actuator placement for space telescope mirrors using GAs is discussed. The problem discussed here involves finding optimal locations and optimal voltages for 15 piezoelectric actuators, selected from a maximum of 193 candidate locations. The GA was found to be effective and robust in solving this problem with more than 8.4*1021 possible solutions. Two sets of actuator placements are given as solutions to the multi-criteria optimization problem. The use of GAs for structural damage detection inverse problems for concentrated damage of a continuous beam is also shown. A real number encoded GA was found to provide relatively accurate solutions for this damage detection problem.


It is that described herein is a method for balancing a group voltages of at least two accumulator group (302) having connected in series and each of the plurality of storage units (303). In the present invention, the accumulator group (302), the coil (370 ') used to connect the windings of the (370) and excitation of the said coils, subsequently, the coil (370 energized'), the the winding and (370), charging the accumulator group by connecting a separate accumulator group (302). The present invention further relates to corresponding electric accumulator (301).


AbstractIn February 2017, a wildfire occurred in the Port Hills on the southern boundary of Christchurch city in New Zealand. It was one of the country's most severe fires of the last decade in ter...


The importance of spatial pattern in ecosystems has long been recognized. However, incorporating patchiness into our understanding of forces regulating ecosystems has proved challenging. We used a combination of continuously sampling moored sensors, complemented by shipboard sampling, to measure the temporal variation, abundance and vertical distribution of four trophic levels in Hawaii's near shore pelagic ecosystem. Using an analysis approach from trophic dynamics, we found that the frequency and intensity of spatial aggregations—rather than total biomass—in each step of a food chain involving phytoplankton, copepods, mesopelagic micronekton and spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) were the most significant predictors of variation in adjacent trophic levels. Patches of organisms had impacts disproportionate to the biomass of organisms within them. Our results are in accordance with resource limitation—mediated by patch dynamics—regulating structure at each trophic step in this ecosystem, as well as the foraging behaviour of the top predator. Because of their high degree of heterogeneity, ecosystem-level effects of patchiness such as this may be common in many pelagic marine systems.


It has been reported that the addition of 1 vol. rabbit plasma to 60 to 100 vol. chick extract greatly increases the coagulative power of the extract. 1 According to the theory of Mills 2 there are two coagulants which may cause the clotting of blood fibrinogen, thrombin, which acts in the absence of ionized calcium, and tissue fibrinogen which causes coagulation only in the presence of the calcium ion. The above criterion is utilized in an attempt to establish the nature of the substance causing the marked increase in the coagulative power of an extract which has been activated by the addition of a small amount of plasma. Chick extract is made by extracting a 10-day chick embryo in 10 cc. of Ringer fluid. It is activated by adding 1 vol. citrated rabbit plasma to 20 vol. of extract. The same extract without plasma addition serves as control. Coagulation time is determined as described in an accompanying paper. The results with and without calcium are shown graphically in Fig. 1. The extract was activated at 11:35 and tested for coagulative power at subsequent intervals as indicated. The line labelled "Tissue Extract" shows the coagulative power of the control extract on recalcified citrate plasma; without recalcification of the plasma this extract causes no coagulation in 24 hours. The line labelled "Tissue Extract Activated" shows the coagulative power of the activated extract on recalcified citrate plasma; the solid line gives the power of the same extract when the plasma is not recalcified. Comparison of the power of the activated and control extract, in the presence of the calcium ion, shows that the former is much more powerful than the latter. According to the work of Mills 3 a decrease in coagulation time from 1 1/4 minutes to 20 seconds indicates an increase in the concentration of the coagulant of about 64 times.


The numerical analysis using the vorticity and the stream function is so useful to study two-dimensional viscous liquid flows that many problems have been solved by this method. In the present paper, this method has been expanded to two-dimensional viscoelastic liquids, and, as an example, the flow of a viscoelastic liquid into a slit has been calculated by using the Maxwell model.Comparing the results of numerical calculations with those of experiments, we found that the former agreed well with the latter. From this fact, it is clear that this numerical analysis is valid for the study of viscoelastic liquid flows.As it is easy to change the constitutive equations in this method, this method is applicable to the analysis of many viscoelastic flows.


Since the first description of an arteriovenous haemofiltration technique by Kramer et al. in 1977, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) has become the modality of choice for treating ICU patients with acute kidney injury (AKI), especially in the case of haemodynamically unstable AKI patients.[1] Nowadays, pump-driven venovenous systems have replaced arteriovenous techniques. Modern devices for CRRT are capable of providing different modes. Continuous venovenous haemofiltration (CVVH) is based on convection, whereas continuous venovenous haemodialysis (CVVHD) is based on diffusion. Continuous venovenous haemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) combines both methods. Due to the lack of comparative studies showing that one of these modalities is superior, the choice of the employed technique is mainly influenced by local experience, preference and availability. CVVHD is used relatively infrequently in comparison with the other modes. Based on published practice survey data in different countries and regions, it appears that CVVH and CVVHDF are, by far, the preferred modes of CCRT. [2] Apparently, physicians tend to use a mode with at least some haemofiltration, perhaps anticipating a benefit associated with haemofiltration.