When determining interrater reliability for scoring the Rorschach Comprehensive System (Exner, 1993), researchers often report coding agreement for response segments (i.e., Location, Developmental Quality, Determinants, etc.). Currently, however, it is difficult to calculate kappa coefficients for these segments because it is tedious to generate the chance agreement rates required for kappa computations. This study facilitated kappa calculations for response segments by developing and validating formulas to estimate chance agreement. Formulas were developed for 11 segments using 400 samples, cross-validated on 100 samples, and applied to the data from 5 reliability studies. On cross-validation, the validity of the prediction formulas ranged from .93 to 1.0 (M = .98). In the 5 reliability studies, the average difference between estimated and actual chance agreement rates was .00048 and the average difference between estimated and actual kappa values was .00011 (maximum = .0052). Thus, the regression formul...


Back-side die polishing for thinning silicon uniformly to less than 100 μm is challenging due to sample warpage issues. A novel method involving back-side die polishing at elevated temperature has been used to minimize warpage of the sample during the actual milling process. The optimized process achieves highly uniform silicon thickness across the whole die. High-resolution laser images can be obtained across the samples at the same focal length, thus greatly improving the capability and accuracy of electrical fault isolation necessary for advanced devices.


Battery Management System (BMS) an Electric Vehicle's most crucial and essential component. The primary function of a BMS is to safeguard the battery, which provides smooth and reliable operation. A lithium-ion battery is chosen over a lead acid battery to keep the reliability and safety of the battery, but a li-ion battery should be operated within safely due to being extremely sensitive to high temperatures and inherently explosive, which can lead to danger. So, it is challenging to design the proper BMS for the electric vehicles. In this work, the performance analysis of the 48V battery pack has been simulated and validated by analyzing the charging and discharging characteristics of the battery and applying cell balancing technique. To validate the performance MATLAB/Simulink platform has been used. The results prove that the electric vehicle's battery life cycle, drive performance, power management, and security are successfully improved.


As the development of the nuclear industry, passive technology turns out to be a remarkable characteristic in the design of advanced nuclear power plants. Since the 20th century, much effort has been given to the passive technology, and a number of evolutionary passive systems have developed. Even more interest is placed on the passive technology after Fukushima because of its independence on off-site power. In this paper, the CPR1000 plant, which is one kind of mature pressurized water plants in China, is improved with some passive systems to enhance safety. The passive systems selected are as follows: (1) the RMT (reactor makeup tank); (2) the A-ACC (advanced accumulators); (3) the IRWST (incontainment refueling water storage tank); (4) the PEFS (passive emergency feed water system), which is installed on the secondary side of SGs; (5) the PDS (passive depressurization system). These passive systems operate as a backup system for the original safety system of the CPR1000. Utilizing the RELAP5/MOD3.3 code, an analysis of SBLOCA (small-break loss-of-coolant accident) of this passive CPR1000 plant was presented to demonstrate whether the passive systems could mitigate the consequences caused by the accident. When the SBLOCA occurred, the RMTs were initiated to inject water into the pressure vessel. The low water level in the RMTs trigged the PDS, which depressurized the coolant system drastically. As the pressure of the coolant system decreased, the A-ACCs and the IRWST were put into work to prevent the core uncovery. The results show that, after the small-break loss-ofcoolant accident, the passive systems can prevent the core uncovery and guarantee the safety of the plant.


One conception of ego development and recent research on its outcome are presented. The infint first asserts his selfhood through demand and negation. This is the Impulsive stage. The next stage is the Ritual-hedonistic stage, in which controls are supplied by ritual observances, and reward and punishment remain important sanctions. The next stages include the Conformist stage, at which the child accepts the rules of the group; the Conscientious stage, at which he evaluates for himself which rules he shall follow; and the Autonomous stage, at which he tolerates ambiguity. The work of Piaget and Erikson are reviewed to shed light on these stages. (CR) FILMED FROM BEST AVAILABLE COPY Recent Research on Ego Development* Jane Loevinger Washington University U 1 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EDUCATION &WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO DUCE° EXAC TL Y AS RECEIVED T THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN ATING IT POIN TS Or VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NEC ESSAR,L Y RFPRE SENT OX CICIAL NA T,ONAL eNSTITUTF Or EDUCATION PO5ITION OR POLICY Psychoanalysts at various times use at least three different conceptions of ego development, not altogether compatible with each other. The most common usage seems to cover the development of all ego functions, as if the ego is a bag of tricks, any one of which can develop by itself. This involves no conception of the ego as an organization nor of development as an organic process. It is not so much a conception as default of conception. It is a grab bag ccncept and does not serve theoryor enlighten clinical discussion. The second usage restricts the term largely to the period of early infancy, culminating in the first consolidation of the ego. Thus "ego development" is 00 taken to mean the coming into existence of the 'go. Occasionally the conception of ego development is then extended by cootrasti.ng this early ego with that of a CO mature, wise, and well-balanced adult, implying that between infancy and that consummation nothing very eventful with respect to ego development takes place, C\-?: that the development occurs in a straight path. That is a dangerous mistake, since what most characterizes ego development is the enormous complexity of the Cs) periods between the earliest and latest discernible stages. Indeed, and herein lies the danger of an over-simplified view, the necessary way-stations it many respects appear entirely opposed to the state of wisdom and humanity that marks ego maturity. Erikson's conception is widely acclaimed among psychoanalysts and rsychologists, usually without explicit recogetion that it constitutes a third usage, quite different from the preceding ones. Erikson recognizes and has name:, for the many complex stages that lie between infancy and maturity. His conception, rich as it is clinically, has a defect that makes it inelligible as a scientific construct. Erikson's version is defined in terms of the "average expectable" course. This leads to ambiguity in applying the conception to exceptional cases, a point to which I will return. *Parts of this paper were given as an invited address to the Society for Research in Child Development, March 31, 1973, Philadelphia. Preparation of this report and the research described herein were supported by Grant MH-05!15 and Research Scientist Award K5 MH-657 both from the National Institute of Mental Health, Public Health Service. Loevinger SRCD page 2 I shall sketch an alternative conception of ego development and show some recent research to which it has led. This is a self-consciously scientific construct. It is capable of standing on its own as a psychological conception, but I believe it is also fundamentally compatible with the essential corpus of psychoanalytic theory and with the usage of the term ego development by some psychoanalytic theorists, such as Loewald., Anyone with sharp eyes can observe.. a child's psychological development, perhaps even make original observations. If there is more than one kind of development occuting at a time, as.there surely is, mere observation will not serve to define or differentiate the strands. Ego development, intellectual development, and psychosexual development are radically different, yet observation by itself cannot establish that fact. When a child's behavior changes from one year tc the next, shall we attribute the change to ego development, to psychosexual development, or to intellectual development, or perhaps to something entirely different, say, a change in the environmental demands on him? To carve out a part of that territory and call it ego development requires a construct. Neither observation nor theory alone but only observation guided by constructs can lead us to a science of child development.' While I stress the importance of a construct, paradoxically I avoid beginning my discussion of ego development with a formal definition (Loevinger, 1966). I prefer to begin by tracing the stages. The highest stages are problematic, since every author reserves the right to project his own ideals and aspirations into his theory. There is no question about where to find the earliest stages, though their exact nature is somewhat problematic for a different reason, that is, the subjects will not tell us. The task of the first stage can be loosely described as differentiating self from nonself or as the mutual structuring of self and reality. This is the stage sometimes referred to as the period of ego development in one psychoanalytic usage. I would prefer to consider it a kind of preparatory stage, and reserve the term ego development primarily for the later transformations of the ego. The infant first asserts his selfhood through demand and negation. For short, this can be called the Impulsive stage. At first the infant is entirely dependent on the environment for control; later he becomes responsive to direct, immediate rewards and punishments. But the mark of this period remains that the impulse to do something predominates over the calculation of longterm gains. Some persons of this type, however, are very passive. Loevinger SRCD page 3 The next stage of childhood can be called the Ritual-hedonistic stage. Controls are supplied by ritual observances, and reward and punishment remain important sanctions. Normally, however, the capacity to anticipate the future has broadened; so impulsivity has declined. The child at this stage may be slyly opportunistic, something not possible for the impulsive child. The next stage is the Conformist stale, at which point the child accepts the rules of the group, be it family, school, or, country. Rules are given by the Authorities, and they are sacred and unchangeable. The Conformist stage is videly recognized and described, whether with approval or alarm. The next big jump is to the Conscientious stage. Uhile the Conformist child has internalized the necessity to obey the rules, his source of rules is still external. The person at the Conscientious stage, )y contrast, evaluates and decides for himself what rules he will give his allegiance to. Thus, internalization is carried a decisive step further. The next stage is called the Autonomous stage. The person at this stage, hardly ever a child, is at least partially liberated from excessive demands of conscience. He appreciates paradox and tolerates ambiguity. At their best 'these people become what Abe Maslow called Self-actualizing people. Besides being a developmental sequence, this is also a dimension of individual differences, that is, a typology or characterology. A Conformist stage person of 40 years is not exactly like a Conformist of age 10, but there are common elements, and those common elements are the essentials of the stage. The assumption is that a person develops up to some point and then, for reasons we do not know, ceases to change with respect to this basic aspect of his character. He meets his problems for the rest of his life in whatever terms characterized his frame of reference at the point that his ego development stopped. For the majority of adults in American society, this is in the Conformist stage, the Conscientious stage, or, most often, a stage or point of transition squarely between those two; one might call the average American a Conscientious Conformist. My colleagues and I began by numbering our stages. As we learned to make new disLiacLions and as we clarified the characteristics of what we thought of as transitions between stages, we risked terrible confusion if we renumbered; so we have moved towards using names. There are difficulties in using names, too. The names are an attempt to capture the central problem of each stage. It is not the case, obviously, that all conformist actions indicate that the Loevinger SRCD page 4 person is at the Conformist stage, nor that conscience does not appear prior to the Conscientious stage. The literal-minded can easily misinterpret any system of titles. Obviously much more must be said to define the several stages, which have characteristic manifestations in impulse control and character formation, in mode of interpersonal relations, and in self-conception and cognitive style. I have described these stages at length elsewhere (Loevinger, 1966; Loevinger Wessler, 1970); moreover, many people are familiar with another more or less similar one, such as Kohlberg's stages of moral development. There are many other versions. Some of those who have captured a major part of this sequence have seen it almost exclusively as a developmental sequence, overlooking the fact that it generates a major dimension of individual differences. Piaget's Moral Judgment of the Child is a prime example. Others have caught the characterology without detecting its origin in development. The Authoritarian Personality is a well-known example , noteworthy for being the first to have caught the complex web of diverse manifestations. H. S. Sullivan was probably the first to see that the developmental sequence


tradition as well, particularly that recorded in ancient Tamil literature. The work begins with an account of the prehistoric period to the Muslim invasions, which, though necessarily brief, provides the essential framework for what follows. Next Hindu political theory and practice are examined with reference to the sources both literary and epigraphical. Chapters dealing with Society and Class, and Everyday Life, are likewise adequately documented. One chapter on Religion and Philosophy deals with a subject that has been more amply treated than any other aspect of ancient Indian civilization, and in this section the effort of summarizing is more obvious than elsewhere. Dealing with Art, Dr. Basham begins by considering the paradox presented by the contradiction between its intense vitality and concentration on the many-sided activities and delight of earthly life, and the contempt of earthly existence and concentration on release from it which is the avowed object of all the religions in whose service art was employed. This, he considers, is not to be explained away by any allegorical interpretation, but to be accepted for what it is, illustrating a permanent duality of temperament and attitude characteristic of ancient Indian civilization. The chapter on literature contains well-chosen selections excellently translated, and besides standard works widely known the author has provided interesting extracts from a number of texts lying off the beaten track. A number of appendices give useful information on a variety of special subjects which could not be treated in the body of the work. It is illustrated by eighty-nine plates chosen with great discrimination and admirably produced.


Chapter 2 expands the concept of biophilia to encompass an awe for the majesty of creation beyond the Earth's biosphere. Also treated in this chapter is the need for a new ethics that is more inclusive of the unknown, much as the Theory of Biophilia calls for more inclusion of the unrepresented. There will be a need to redefine awe and rethink companionship, as human explorers endure extended time away from reminders of home in the pursuit of endless discovery. This chapter will take the reader to where no theory has gone before.


In this note we investigate two-level difference schemes for the solution of the adjustment and advection stages of a split atmospheric model by means of von Neumann stability analyses. The stability properties of the schemes proposed by Gadd are discussed using generalized formulations of which his schemes are special cases. In particular it is shown (in one and two dimensions) that the criterion for linear computational stability for the modified Lax—Wendroff advection scheme can be relaxed somewhat if Gadd's choice of parameter is extended to allow negative as well as positive values.


Complexes based on the cis-[Re(CO) 2 ] + core present biological properties which are similar to the ones of the well-known complexes based on the fac-[Re(CO) 3 ] + core. However, they are much less studied than the latter and thereby, their chemistry is more challenging to access. In this work, we report the synthesis of such a compound bearing the medically relevant clotrimazole ligand. The synthetic route chosen for this purpose was optimized and the final product was characterized by ESI-MS, IR spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy and NMR spectroscopy. Deeper analysis concerning some intermediates and the final product were also carried out by comparing their spectroscopic properties. Finally, attempts to synthesize a few analogue species were performed and assessed by ESI-MS in order to investigate the potential of rhenium dicarbonyl chemistry.


The simulation of injection molding involves the filling of cavities and runners in complicated shapes. The 3D elements in large numbers are generally required to satisfy the precise simulation of real processes. It results in the computation in large scales, so that the efficiency of computation becomes very important. On the basis of previous explicit software realized by the authors, the new algorithm avoids the global solution for pressure fields to improve its efficiency. Another feature of the new algorithm is the use of same order interpolation elements instead of MINI elements, which simplifies significantly the software procedures. Except for the operations at element level, neither global solution nor the construction of global matrix is required in simulation. A special feedback regulation strategy is used to meet the incompressibility in filled domain at each time step. In case of the mold filling problems, this method provides a fast way to simulate the filling processes. The computational cost is about linearly proportional to the degree of freedom number. Comparison of velocity field obtained by the previous algorithm using MINI element and analytical theoretical solution proves that the feedback regulation strategy in the new algorithm can satisfy well incompressibility. Moreover, comparison with the results of filling process and temperature field obtained by the previous algorithm proves the validity of the new algorithm. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers


alpha-Albumin, a specific brain protein observed after agar gel electrophoresis and shown to be identical to the later described GFA, has been determined in normal and pathological human central nervous system and cerebrospinal fluid. The outcome of this study underlines the value of the detection of specific proteins of the brain in biological fluids.


The basic idea of artificial intelligence and machine learning is that machines have the talent to learn from data, previous experience, and perform the work in future consequences. In the era of the digitalized world which holds big data has long-established machine learning methods consistently with requisite high-quality computational resources in numerous useful and realistic tasks. At the same time, quantum machine learning methods work exponentially faster than their counterparts by making use of quantum mechanics. Through taking advantage of quantum effects such as interference or entanglement, quantum computers can proficiently explain selected issues that are supposed to be tough for traditional machines. Quantum computing is unexpectedly related to that of kernel methods in machine learning. Hence, this chapter provides quantum computation, advance of QML techniques, QML kernel space and optimization, and future work of QML.


In this paper, we present an end-to-end framework for visual tracking that contains fully convolutional template matching network and fully convolutional foreground detection network. It fuses the response maps of foreground detection and template matching for robust tracking and it can inherits all the merits of them. Besides, our network don't need additional datasets to train and only object information in the first frame is needed in training stage. We conduct extensive experiments on OTB2013 and OTB2015 and our tracker achieve state-of-the-art performance in both efficiency and accuracy.


Sepsis syndrome or septic shock (sepsis syndrome with hypotension) is a frequently fatal inflammatory response to infections usually involving endotoxin-producing gram-negative bacteria and sometimes other organisms. Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp, and Staphylococcus sp are the most commonly encountered organisms. Sepsis affects hundreds of thousands of people in the United States each year. In more than 50% of patients the syndrome leads to major organ damage, often involving the lungs. Depending on the patient population, from 20-90% die despite treatment.' Investigators have identified endotoxin, a component of the outer membrane of gramnegative bacilli, as an important mediator of septic shock. Endotoxin infusion in human subjects results in a systemic response similar to that observed during gram-negative sepsis.* Interventions directed at endotoxin appear to be protective in experimental and clinical s e ~ s i s . ~ Rackow and Astiz noted, "Endotoxin induces the activation of the complement system, the coagulation cascade, the kinin system, and plasma phospholipases and the release of various cytokines, p-endorphins, platelet activating factor, prostaglandins, and leukotrienes. . . . Macrophage, monocyte, neutrophil, and endothelial cell activity is also stimulated by end~toxin."~ Endotoxin-macrophage interactions, with the subsequent release of cytokines, are also important. An increased level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or interleukin (IL)-1 correlates with poor outcome from clinical septic Some regard TNF as a central mediator of the pathophysiologic changes associated with the release of the lipopolysaccharide component of endotoxin.'j Others hold that a central mediator of sepsis does not seem to exist: "Rather than being caused by any single pathogenic mechanism, it is more likely that sepsis is related to the state of activation of the target cell, the nearby presence of other mediators, and the ability of the target cell to release other mediators."' The symptoms of sepsis syndrome usually include fever, chills, lethargy, hypotension, tachycardia, hyperventilation, thrombosis, and leukocytosis. Adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a condition characterized by edema of the alveoli, acute respiratory failure, and shock, is commonly the result of the syndrome.' Traditional treatment consists of intravenous fluid replacement, antibiotics to combat underlying infection, and mechanical ventilation. These generally are administered in the intensive care unit, where the stay may be long and expensive.' Antibiotics can significantly enhance survival. "Therapy should be initiated promptly and should usually include two bactericidal antibiotics, one of which is an aminoglycoside, because of the frequency of gram-negative sepsis as the cause of s hoc k.'I4 The aim of pharmacologic intervention is to optimize cardiac output and systemic oxygen delivery. Survival correlates closely with cardiac output and total blood volume. Dobutamine, predominantly a p-adrenergic inotropic agent, is administered when blood pressure is adequate. Norepinephrine, an a-adrenergic agent, is effective in patients who remain hyp~tens ive .~ Corticosteroids may be given to suppress inflammatory response. Recent reports, however, including results from large multicenter trials, failed to demonstrate improved survival with steroid therapy.*. A review of the literature concluded, "Taken together, these studies provide no support for the routine use of high-dose steroid in septic shock."lo


OBJECTIVE To study the chemical constituents of starfish Asterina pectinifera from Yellow Sea.METHODS The compounds were isolated and purified by various chromatographic techniques such as silica gel chromatography,Sephadex LH-20 gel chromatography,preparative thin layer chromatography,and recrysta-llization,and the structure elucidations were aided by physicochemical properties and spectral data.RESULTS Eight compounds were isolated and identified as cyclo(Pro-Thr)(1),1-O-hexadecanoyl-3-O-β-D-galactopyranosyl glycerol(2),3β-hydroxy(22E,24R)-ergosta-7,22-dien(3),cholesterol(4),phenylalanine(5),stigmasterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(6),batyl alcohol(7) and octadecanoic acid(8).CONCLUSION Compound 1 from the Asterina genus and starfish Asterina pectinifera,and compounds 2,3,6,and 8 from the starfish Asterina pectinifera are obtained for the first time.


The article analyses different approaches to studying organizational adherence, defines two factors of organizational adherence which give a clearer representation of organizational relations.


Creative Commons has helped to build considerable pool of open content. Open content has license terms that grant licensees more rights than typical all rights reserved model. Creative Commons provides these licenses with tools that make licensing easy. Treating open content licenses as contracts under lex contractus or as non-contractual tools affects the interpretation of the license terms, enforceability of the licenses and the potential remedies that might exist if a licensee fails to comply with the terms of the license. This paper analyzes the nature of the Creative Commons licenses by examining them in detail.


����� GABRIELJ. ESCOBAR* During the closing stages of World War II, an event with tragic consequences for English literature took place. I refer to the death of Friedrich Siegenthaler, M.D., ship's surgeon, during a kamikaze attack that sank the escort carrier, the USS Salem, on which he served. Scattered about the waters on that fateful day in late 1944 were the rough drafts of a play, Elizabeth, which was to be his crowning work. After years of painstaking research, I came to the conclusion that Friedrich Siegenthaler actually wrote the works attributed to one "William Shakespeare." Siegenthaler's modest genius, his self-effacing humor—only exceeded by his consummate skill in the operating theatre—led him to employ a pseudonym. Why he chose the name "William Shakespeare" is a question I will leave to future historians and neo-Freudians. I have little time for such considerations these days, days in which slanderous allegations defiling the name of Siegenthaler are made. Recently, Dr. Jake Hendassy, an illiterate pseudointellectual with scholarly pretensions, asserted that "William Shakespeare" was actually an obstetrician, R. H. Barraclough, who practiced outside Omaha, Nebraska, in the 1940s. Hendassy bases his entire book on the analysis of one line of Siegenthaler's tragedy, Macbeth. ... Macduff was from his mother's womb Untimely ripped. (5.8.15-16) Had Hendassy bothered to read the rest of the play, as I have, and had he bothered to employ even a fraction of his minute intellect, he would have arrived at strikingly different conclusions. Moreover, he never took the time to investigate the archives of the Okinawa campaign, where


Article Notes: Received: Aug 04, 2020 Received in revised form: Sep 02, 2020 Accepted: Sep 02, 2020 Available Online: Sep 23, 2020 Background & Aims of the Study: Improper posture of dentists causes cumulative pressure on their body and ultimately leads to occupational injuries. Despite the existence of numerous studies performed on musculoskeletal pain, complaints around this disease are still widespread in the dentistry profession. This study was aimed at the precise identification of individual and occupational risk factors for musculoskeletal pain among dentists working in Qom, Iran, in 2018. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 51 dentists with at least one year of work experience. In this study, the occupational sitting activities were taken into account. In order to evaluate the ergonomics status of such activities, Branson's Posture Assessment Instrument (BPAI) was used. The data were collected using a researcher-made demographic form and body map questionnaire. Statistical analysis of data was performed in SPSS software (Version 22) by Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and Spearman's correlation coefficient. Results: Based on the results of the study, 84.3% (n=43) of the dentists had pain in at least one or more parts of their musculoskeletal system. The most commonly affected areas were the neck (72.7%) and shoulder (54.5%). In addition, 21.6% and 80.4% of postures were at acceptable and compromised levels, respectively. It was revealed that posture had a significant relationship with work experience and the amount of rest breaks (P<0.05). Based on the results of Spearman's correlation coefficient, the final BPAI score showed a significant relationship with the amount of rest breaks , number of training courses, and work experience (P<0.05). Conclusion: Despite the implementation of preventive measures and utilization of new tool and equipment design processes, ergonomic disorders are prevalent in dental profession. Therefore, it is required to make reforms at various physical and systemic levels to improve the situation.


A Photoplethysmographic (PPG) signal is invariably corrupted with motion artifacts (MA) due to voluntary or involuntary movements of the patient. PPG is a non-invasive signal, used for the estimation of arterial blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), which helps the physician to know the hypoxic status of patient during clinical investigations. This paper presents an efficient Adaptive Step-size Least Mean Squares (AS-LMS) based adaptive filter for reducing the MA from corrupted PPG signals. The novelty of the proposed algorithm lies in the fact that a synthetic noise reference signal for adaptive filtering, representing MA noise, is generated internally from the MA corrupted PPG signal itself instead of using any additional hardware such as accelerometer or source-detector pair for acquiring noise reference signal. Convergence analysis, SNR calculations and Statistical analysis revealed that the proposed AS-LMS algorithm has a clear edge over the Time-Varying Step-size LMS (TVS-LMS) and Constant Step-size LMS (CS-LMS) based adaptive algorithms for MA reduction from PPG signals. Experimental results, for the PPG data recorded with different motion artifacts (Horizontal, Vertical and Bending motion of finger), demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed algorithm in MA reduction and thus making it best suitable for real-time pulse oximetry applications.


Do political parties matter when it comes to Canadian foreign policy? Conventional wisdom says they do. We often hear the argument that some past decision would not have been made if only another party had been in power, or that some current policy is likely to be overturned as soon as another party comes into power. The parties themselves have worked hard to encourage this way of thinking, playing up the coherence and continuity of foreign policy priorities within parties and the supposedly stark differences between them. Yet there are some enduring patterns in Canadian foreign policy that seem to over-ride party differences. Governing parties sometimes pursue policies that seem starkly at odds with what they have told us about their purposes and priorities. And while Canadians seem to have strong feelings about parties' foreign policy choices, opinion polls suggest that foreign policy issues usually have little to do with most Canadians' voting decisions. In fact there are a number of reasons why we might expect political parties to matter very little in Canada, perhaps even less than in other comparable countries. How do we reconcile these apparent discrepancies? When and how does party make a difference?Much has been written about the question of parties and foreign policy in Canada, but most of it takes the form of a passing reference here or there, never really explained or supported. We still do not yet have any sustained efforts to think about the question theoretically, or to try to answer the question systematically (as opposed to anecdotally) . This is particularly striking in the textbooks on Canadian foreign policy. Most of them have paid at least some attention to the role of parliament - or, in most accounts, the non -role of parliament - in foreign policymaking. But their concern is with the relationship between the prime minister and parliament as an institution, or between the cabinet and parliament in general terms, and they refer to parties and partisanship only incidentally.1 Kim Richard Nossal' s landmark The Politics of Canadian Foreign Policy - which, as the title suggests, is specifically concerned with the political institutions and processes that bring about foreign policy decisions - covers political parties in about three pages.2 Nossal concludes that parties generally have not been important, mostly because of the broad consensus between the two major parties on foreign policy issues during the Cold War.3 This is probably correct, and might still be true even after the end of the Cold War. But even where there is broad agreement on foreign policy goals, there can still be important disagreements about how to pursue them, and these differences over means and "details" could still leave plenty of room for parties and partisanship to play a pivotal role in foreign policymaking.The question of parties and partisanship deserves more attention than it has received so far, whether we ultimately decide that parties are important or not. If parties and partisanship do matter, then we need to say more about when, why, and how, in much the same way that we would want to assess and explain the role of interest groups, the bureaucracy, or the news media. If parties don't matter, or matter very little, then that would seem to be important in itself, if for no other reason than the possible negative implications for Canadian democracy.4Before we can get started on answering the question, we need to untangle some of the different ways in which we might say that "party matters." It might be that the major parties have consistently had different priorities when it comes to foreign policy, and that these different priorities have more or less consistently translated into different policies. It might be that the major parties do not have consistent priorities, but that their efforts to outmaneuver one another in the electoral game have shaped their positions on various foreign policy issues, which are sometimes translated into effects on actual policy outcomes. …


The special role of molecular beams in providing fundamental information on the dynamics of neutral reactive molecular collisions is discussed. An outline is given of the experimental techniques used for atomic and molecular beam formation, and product particle detection including state and energy analysis. Selected experiments are used (a) to show how angular distribution measurements give rise to reaction models and (b) to highlight the scope and versatility of the experimental techniques. The ability of theory to predict reaction behaviour is reviewed briefly. Finally, some new and promising techniques for probing reactions at a most fundamental level are presented.


Background: Pregnancy is a diabetogenic condition, with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) developing in 3 to 25% of all pregnancies. GDM has unfavorable short- and long-term consequences for both mothers and their children. We conducted this study aiming to assess the prevalence of gestational diabetes and associated risk factors during pregnancy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional survey study. GDM diagnosis was based on the universal two-hour 75 g OGTT. GDM cases were defined using the 75 g OGTT with at least one value of plasma glucose concentration equals to or exceeds the thresholds of 92 mg/dl, 180 mg/dl, and 153 mg/dl for fasting one-hour, and 2-hour post glucose, respectively. The data was collected by the study authors from patients' files using a data collection form that included the oral glucose tolerance test results in addition to the participants' socio-demographic data. Results : A total of 384 pregnant women were recruited, the highest percentage (29.7%) of them aged 26 to 30 years old, 35% were overweight and 24.5% were obese, and 72.4% were multi-parity. Based on the 2h OGTT, the prevalence of GDM was 32.6%. The univariate logistic regression analysis showed that old age, low educational level, higher BMI, family history of DM, higher rates of multi-parity, abortions, C-sections, and hypothyroidism were significant risk factors for GDM. On the other hand, there were no significant associations between occupational status, PCOS, preeclampsia, hypertension, asthma, and GDM. Conclusion: GDM diagnosed on basis of the OGTT criteria was very common among pregnant women in Saudi Arabia. Overweight and obesity as well as older age were associated with an increased risk of GDM. Also, low educational level, family history of DM, GDM history, history of abortion, and C-section were all significant risk factors of GDM.


DC-DC Boost Converters with grid-connected systems make extensive use of high voltage gain components. that include renewable energy sources. The objective is decreasing prices and size by removing transformers and other power equipment with the goal of minimising conversion losses. This research suggests a high gain converter for HVDC and fuel-based applications. The boost-z source converter layout presented here minimises the number of input DC sources and switches. Switching stress and switching losses are reduced by using a high gain topology with a low duty cycle. Snubber protection is provided by the blocking diodes in the suggested converter architecture. The PI controller is employed in the converter for closed loop steady state voltage functioning. The Grid Synchronization approach is used to address power quality concerns. Matlab simulation was used to create this project.


In modern architecture, the roof function is not only to protect buildings against environmental influences. Designers often use single or multi-curved roofs. One of the issues to be considered at the structural design stage is selection of the support structure technology, thanks to which it will be possible to obtain a curved roof with a smooth surface. In case of objects such as airport terminals (eg., in Wroclaw, Lodz, RzeszowJasionka), sports and entertainment halls, conference centers (such as presently constructed in Krakow) and theme parks, mostly self-supporting metal panels are used (usually aluminum, about the length of one element up to tens of meters. The paper will present selected issues of forming the supporting structure of the multi-curved roofs made of self-supporting metal panels.


Deep water, string-like, marine risers subject to strong ocean currents, suffer from vortex-induced vibrations (VIV), where vortex shedding interacts with the structural properties of the riser, resulting in large amplitude vibrations in both in-line and cross-flow directions. This thesis presents an experimental approach to model and quantify the motions and hydrodynamic forces associated with the excitation of a deep water marine riser by considering the combined cross-flow and in-line excitation of a rigid cylinder. For deep water risers, the excitation of the structure through vortex shedding can lead to a condition of dual resonance, where the vortex shedding frequency locks in to the effective natural frequency (adjusted for added mass effects) in both in-line and cross-flow directions. Large motion amplitudes are observed in this condition along with large magnitude third harmonic forces in lift. Flow visualization of the wake behind the cylinder in combined in-line and cross-flow motion, shows that third harmonic forces are caused by the relative motion of the cylinder with respect to a '2P' (two pairs of vortices) or '2T' (two triplets of vortices) shedding pattern, since vortices shed in these modes remain in close proximity to the cylinder over one cycle of motion. Forced motions of a cylinder with combined in-line and cross-flow motions are performed, generating a database of force coefficients to be used in riser VIV prediction. The assumption of dual resonance is used to predict the motions of an elastically mounted rigid cylinder using measurements from forced cylinder motions. Two passive vortex suppression methods are studied for eliminating combined cross-flow and in-line cylinder motions and suppressing large third harmonic forces. Thesis Supervisor: Michael S. Triantafyllou Title: Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering


Studies of the function of the avian peripheral auditory system originated with cochlear microphonic recordings from pigeon by Wever and Bray in 1936. More recently, there have been several studies of the response properties of avian auditory‐nerve fibers; these will form the basis of our review of the function of the avian periphery. In many respects, the characteristics of avian auditory‐nerve fibers are quite comparable as is the precision of phase‐locking to low‐frequency tones. On the other hand, there do appear to be significant differences. For example, tuning curves of avian auditory‐nerve fibers seem to lack the low‐frequency tails found in tuning curves of mammalian fibers. Rates of driven and spontaneous activity are higher in birds than in mammals. Spontaneous activity of many avian fibers can be suppressed by appropriate single tones, whereas single‐tone suppression has rarely been reported in mammalian auditory‐nerve fibers. In light of these similarities and differences in function, it is i...


Use of recycled aggregate (RA) in concrete can be useful for environmental protection and in economical terms. Recycled aggregates are the materials for the future. It is a well-known fact that it gives a little lower strength than natural aggregate concrete. Though, if used up to 20% of replacement, it can give almost similar strength as that of natural aggregate concrete. Hence, it is necessary to improve strength of recycled aggregate concrete for higher recycled aggregate content. Silica fume is a very popular material used for strength improvement. Hence, popular mix of 1:1.5:3 was checked with different percentage of silica fume combination; 5%, 7% and 10% of silica fume was replaced with cement and 30%, 50% and 100% of recycled aggregates were replaced with natural aggregate and results were analyzed. Thus a total of nine trials were analyzed and conclusions were derived in detail. Keywords :  Silica fume, recycled aggregates, recycled aggregate concrete


A comparative value for the lowering of the ionization potential in an argon plasma was determined from values of the series limits for recombination of free plasma electrons into the ls and 2p states of the argon atom obtained from the measured frequency dependence of the electron continuum. The results were used to compare existing theories which relate the ionization potential lowering to the electron density and temperature. (auth)


Temperature field has an important influence on the phase changes and, finally, on the microstructure and mechanical properties, residual stresses and strains development in the welded joints. During the welding, temperature field shape and its profile depend on many factors but, assuming some assumptions regarding homogeneity and materials isotropy, the mathematical relations for different practical cases can be obtained. Besides, welded bodies can be infinite or semi-infinite as the plates, bars and massive bodies are considered. The instantaneous or permanent thermal sources, fixed or mobile have an important influence on the temperatures distribution. Therefore, the paper presents some analytical solutions for the temperatures prediction in the welded joints in case of the mobile sources with 2D and 3D Gauss distribution.


Corrosion of copper is a key-issue in the safety assessment of deep geological repositories for spent nuclear fuel utilizing copper coated canisters to isolate the spent nuclear fuel from the surro ...


Several antimony and platinum doped tin dioxide electrodes supported on titanium have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (EXAFS) techniques. Ti/SnO2−Sb electrodes show a rutile-type nanostructure with a distorted unit-cell because of the substitution of the Sn(IV) ion by Sb(V). The presence of platinum on the electrode coating modifies the lattice parameters of the SnO2 cell due to an amorphization of tin oxide layers. The structural modifications on the different electrode after anodic polarization−deactivation have been analyzed.


Application of aspheric surfaces in Microlithographic projection optics is discussed, along with the manufacturing and test methods needed to ensure the extremely high surface quality needed for this application.


Lung carcinoma may erode into different adjacent structures and cause various local complications, including the formation of fistulas. A middle-aged male with a history of fever, cough with hemoptysis, and progressive dyspnea was found to have right upper lobe non-small cell carcinoma of the lung. Subsequently, he developed right pyopneumothorax and persistent air leak suggestive of bronchopleural fistula and suffered hypoxic cardiac arrest. Postintubation and return of spontaneous circulation, the patient started exhibiting persisted air leak from oral cavity, which made ventilation difficult along with leak via chest drain. An ulcer around the upper esophagus necessitated a computed tomography scan, which revealed two trachea-esophageal fistulas. Left-sided one-lung ventilation was employed, which improved ventilation, but the patient succumbed to the underlying disease process and septic shock. On the background of lung carcinoma and a known leaking process, a source of a second leak can often be missed. Positive pressure ventilation can be a daunting task in the presence of two concomitant leaking processes. Thus, it is imperative for an intensivist to have a high index of suspicion to detect such occurrence in a patient with lung carcinoma.


NISHIDA, S. & VAN DER WERFF, H. Do cuticle characters support the recognition of Alseodaphne, Nothaphoebe and Dehaasia as distinct genera? Reinwardtia 14(1): 53 – 66. ? The Asian members of the Persea group are divided among the genera Alseodaphne, Apollonias, Dehaasia, Machilus, Nothaphoebe and Phoebe. A recent phylogenetic analysis has shown that Machilus and Phoebe are supported as monophyletic genera but evidence that the closely related genera Alseodaphne, Dehaasia and Nothaphoebe are monophyletic or not was equivocal. In this study we analyzed cuticle characters of 95 collections belonging to the Asian members except for Apollonias. We anticipated two possible outcomes. If the genera were not monophyletic, we expected that the groups based on cuticle characters would consist of species belonging to different genera. If the genera were monophyletic, we expected that the groups based on cuticle characters would consist of species belonging to the same genus. We found 16 groups based on cuticles. Of these, 12 consisted of species of a single genus (one group included a single species and thus a single genus).  The four mixed groups included mostly species of one genus with 1 or 2 species of a different genus. Our results support the recognition of Alseodaphne, Dehaasia, Machilus, Nothaphoebe and Phoebe as distinct genera.


GPA (Grade Point Average) is a reflection of a person's performance while at university which is described in the form of numbers. There are several factors that influence the size of a person's GPA. One factor that may have an influence is the length of study time, because studying in any form is closely related to all lecture activities that support grades. The aim of the research is in response to the desire to understand how certain factors can influence a student's academic achievement and whether there is a relationship between GPA and length of study time. The research method used is the chi-square test of independence as a statistical method and field studies for data collection and processing. The source of research data used by researchers is students from Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University who were collected through questionnaires. Respondents will be given the choice of a GPA level of more than 3.5 or less than 3.5 and also the length of study time at a level below 2 hours and above 2 hours. Then the answers from the respondents have been collected, then the answers will then be processed and analyzed again to find conclusions. Thus, from the survey, the results of H0 were not rejected and it can be concluded that there is no association between GPA and length of study time.


AIM
To perform the analysis of correlation of clinical symptoms and laboratory sings in patients of elderly and senile age with coronary heart disease depending on a blood flow condition in the pool of abdominal aorta.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Longitudinal clinical research was conducted. The register was made by 132 patients of elderly and senile age with coronary heart disease being on treatment during the period since 2013-2014.

RESULTS
Results of the research of correlation of clinical symptoms and indexes of lipidemia in patients of elderly and senile age with coronary heart disease depending on a blood flow condition in the pool of abdominal aorta are performed.

CONCLUSION
Specific features of the cardiovascular pathology and a course of coronary heart disease in combination with atherosclerosis of the abdominal aorta and its visceral branches are revealed.


determined, not merely by the primary sexual characters, that is by the genital organs and particularly by the external genitalia, but by a general consideration of the sexual characteis, primary and secondary, which are present in any individual. Further it is insisted upon that every fertilised ovum is potentially bisexual, and that, while in every person there is predominating masculinity or femininity, which decides the sex-domination, it is equally obvious that there are latent traits of the opposite sex always present; some men are described as effeminate, while many a woman has the smallest possible balance of femininity in her favour. These


In the work presented here, microwave non-destructive testing using a rectangular waveguide loaded with a novel planar unit cell filter for the inspection of defects in the composite is studied. The proposed planar filter is designed as a unit cell with a copper (annealed) microstrip component on an FR-4 substrate. The waveguide loaded with the planar filter exhibits a reflection coefficient of −35.919 dB at a frequency of 10.548 GHz. This planar filter waveguide is used as the sensor probe for the non-destructive testing method proposed here and is aimed to increase the sensitivity by measuring the differences in permittivity of materials. Computer simulation technology software (CST studio suite) is used for implementing the design, simulation, and material/defect evaluation. The defects studied are voids, cracks, and delamination in an epoxy-based natural flax fiber-reinforced composite material. The performance-improved microwave sensor probe is used to pick up permittivity variations in the presence of defects in lax-based natural fiber-reinforced composite material.


The utility model discloses an on-line leveling device for internal and external welding seams of stainless steel welding pipes, which comprises a hydropneumatic system, an automatic control system for electrohydraulic gas, a machine frame, a roller and a base. The utility model is characterized in that a piston rod of a hydraulic cylinder is movably connected with a roller seat for an upper roller of a horizontal roller, and the circumference of the horizontal roller is provided with bore-shaped grooves; the rear surface of the horizontal roller is provided with a vertical roller, and the circumference of the vertical roller is also provided with bore-shaped grooves; the hydraulic cylinder, the horizontal roller and the vertical roller are all arranged on the machine frame, and a core bar is arranged in a stainless steel welding pipe; the core bar is connected with an air cylinder by a steel cable, and a movable bearing of the machine frame is placed on a bearing rod of the base. The weld reinforcement of inner and outer welding seams of the stainless steel welding pipe can be thoroughly removed when the utility model is used for processing the inner and the outer welding seams of the stainless steel welding pipe, therefore the application area of stainless steel welding pipes is widened; additionally, the utility model solves the problems of not ideal materials of stainless steel seamless pipes and not ideal mechanical performance.


Tourism soundscape is a new field of tourism landscape research, soundscape designs offer new concepts for the landscape research and development. Taking China Dinosaur Land in Changzhou City for example, visitors' perception about soundscape comfort in theme parks was studied. The researches found that acoustic comfort was infl uenced by objective parameters of sound and subjective perception of visitors, and when the soundscape volume stayed at a certain threshold value, visitors would gain the most satisfi ed acoustic comfort experience, and they were most sensitive to sound elements that able to convey cultural connotations of the theme park. On this basis, this paper adopted positive design, negative design, and zero design, and proposed the concepts of optimizing theme park soundscapes.


A Seismic Reflection Amplitude study carried out over the Goodwyn Gas Field found that reflection amplitudes at the major erosional unconformity bounding the reservoir sequence could be directly related to the lithology and fluid content of the subcropping reservoirs. A colour coded amplitude map was generated and has been used for the prediction of lateral sand distribution/continuity within the reservoir units, both in the interpretations leading to the successful 1986 Goodwyn North appraisal drilling campaign and subsequently in planning for development of the field.


Photovoltaic conversion is an optimal solution for the electrification of rural areas, especially deserts for the abundance of solar energy in these regions. In recent years, many studies have been carried out to maximize the energy productivity of a PV array system and increase its efficiency. However, the arid and semi-arid region is characterized by a climate whose parameters significantly influence the operation of PV installations. This paper presents an overview investigation of the major internal and external factors significantly affecting both the efficiency and the performance of solar cells and the power of PV systems. These factors include the type of PV material, solar radiation intensity received, cell temperature, parasitic resistances, cloud, and other shading effects, inverter efficiency, dust, module orientation, weather conditions, geographical location, and cable thickness. Simulation of a PV system has been carried out in MATLAB-SIMULINK to prove the effectiveness of the proposed modeling method. These simulation results are useful to predict the production of the PV module under real operating conditions.


Experimental studies have contributed tremendously to our understanding of metamorphic processes over the past 50 years or so, and in particular rates and mechanisms of fluid-rock interaction have been investigated in experiments. However, until recently, a direct observation of metamorphism was impossible and experimental outcomes were quantified through indirect measurements or post-mortem analyses. The utilization of x-rays and/or neutrons to image rocks that are engaged in metamorphic reactions in real time enhances our tool box dramatically. In this presentation, I will synthesize the findings from several collaborative experimental studies that documented and quantified fluid-rock interaction in 4-dimensional x-ray microtomographic datasets. The experiments include 1) carbonation of olivine [1], 2) dehydration of gypsum, both poly-crystalline (2a, [2]) and single-crystal (2b) and 3) dissolution and precipitation of salt [3]. I will report on the bespoke x-ray transparent environments we developed and built for these experiments. I will furthermore outline the most important findings to draw a detailed picture of what in-situ microtomography experiments can contribute to the understanding of metamorphic processes.


Stem is a system administration "enabler." It is not an administrative tool, but rather a general-purpose development framework that allows an administrator to craft tools to perform a wide variety of tasks in a distributed environment easily and quickly. Many common tasks can be performed with Stem scripts involving a few lines of declarations. Current example applications include log file collating and service load balancing. Using Stem, a non-programmer can craft reliable network software in a few lines of declarations that would require hundreds or thousands of lines of code in a traditional programming language such as C.


A complete soluble protease (Pase-S) possessing Nα-benzoyl-DL-arginine p-nitroanilide (BApNA) hydrolytic activity was isolated from culture supernatants of Porphyromonas gingivalis and purified until homogeneous (43kDa) on western immunoblotting with anti-Pase-S serum, by a combination of acetone precipitation, gel filtration, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on Biofine IEC-DEAE, and HPLC on Superose 6. N-Ethylmaleimide, leupeptin, antipain, and p-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone strongly inhibited BApNA hydrolytic activity of Pase-S. This enzyme was capable of degrading type IV and denatured type I collagens, but not native type I collagen. It possessed neither Nα-benzoyl-DL-lysine p-nitroanilide hydrolytic activity nor hemagglutinating activity. Our findings suggest that the characteristics of Pase-S are clostripainlike rather than mammalian trypsin-like, and are very similar to those of Pase-B, a membrane bound protease previously described1).


The objective of this multiple case study was to examine how three pairs of high school students from a northern Vermont high school approached quadratic functions through traditional and multiple representation tasks. Four research questions were examined: 1) How do students think about the quadratic function as they work on a series of tasks? 2) What mathematical strategies do students employ when they work on a series of tasks related to the quadratic function? 3) How does the type of task, traditional versus multiple representation, impact students' understanding of the quadratic function? 4) What kinds of knowledge (procedural or conceptual) do students utilize when completing a series of tasks about the quadratic function? Qualitative research methods that utilized think-aloud protocols while students were engaged in four tasks pertaining to the quadratic function were employed in this study. Results suggested that students tend to think about isolated parts of the problem when solving quadratic problems. Early on in their learning about quadratics, students primarily relied on procedural strategies such as think-alouds, gestures, algebraic formulas, converting equation forms, process of elimination, dissecting problems, backtracking, and drawing pictures. In addition, students preferred the standard form to the vertex form when solving quadratics and often confused the y-intercept of the standard form with the y-coordinate of the vertex when the function was in vertex form. Results also indicated that students preferred to algebraically solve a problem versus tabular or graphical strategies. By exploring how students approach the quadratic function through their own voices, this study offers some insight into the conceptions and strategies that students use for solving problems that involve the quadratic function as well as possibilities for how quadratics may be taught in high school.


In the modern period of industrial age the consumption of water is drastly increased, so does the generation of waste water. Wastewater to a large extent is responsible for the degradation of environment. Discharge of wastewater to a fresh water body is polluting the environment which could be fetal for the aquatic life along with humans. Stagnation of wastewater produces unpleasant odour in it. The main cause of this nuisance odour in water is presence of H2S gas. The unpleasant smell of could be prevented at initial stages. This could be done chemically and biologically. Chemically by mixing bauxite and biologically by introducing bacterial to wastewater could be used to prevent the unpleasant smell. In Jaipur the main odour producing source is AMANISHAH NALA.


In this paper, we introduce the effective use of Gerschgorin radii (Wu et al, 1995; Wu and Yang, 1996) of the unitary transformed covariance matrix for source number detection. The heuristic approach, applying a new Gerschgorin radii set developed from the projection concept, overcomes the problem in cases of small data samples and an unknown noise model. The proposed method is based on the sample correlation coefficient to normalize the signal Gerschgorin radii for source number detection. The performance of the proposed method shows improved detection capabilities over the Gerschgorin disk estimator (GDE) (Wu et al, 1995; Wu and Yang, 1996) in the Gaussian white noise process.


Two varieties of tracks and trails from sandstone in the Lower Devonian Jacquet River Formation (lower Dalhousie Group; i.e. Helderberg) from northern New Brunswick are attributed to arthropod, pos...


This study aims to determine the role of type B progesterone receptor gene polymorphisms as a risk factor for pelvic organ prolapse in Balinese women. This paired case-control study involves 29 patients with pelvic organ prolapse as the case group and 29 patients without pelvic organ prolapse as the control group. The study was conducted at Sanglah Hospital, Denpasar and the Integrated Biomedical Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University. Three milliliters of venous blood samples were taken from each patient and PCR examination was performed to determine the type b progesterone receptor gene polymorphisms. Risk assessment of the type b progesterone receptor gene polymorphism for pelvic organ prolapse was done by controlling for confounding variables, including age, parity, body mass index, occupation, menopausal status, and history of hysterectomy, through multiple logistic regression tests. The type b progesterone receptor gene polymorphism increased the risk of pelvic organ prolapse three times compared to non-prolapsed in Balinese women (OR 3.90, 95%CI 1.16-13.07, p = 0.023). After controlling for various confounding variables, type b progesterone receptor gene polymorphism still increased the risk of pelvic organ prolapse up to four times (AOR 4.54, 95%CI 1.16-17.68, p = 0.029). The type b progesterone receptor gene polymorphism significantly increases the risk of pelvic organ prolapse in Balinese women.


Peripheral nerve blocks are frequently used as the sole anesthetic technique or as an adjuvant to general anesthesia, However, the duration of sensory nerve block after single doses of long-acting local anesthetics is not consistent enough to avoid the use of postoperative opioids. Many adjuvants have been added to prolong the duration of nerve block, It was recently suggested that, based on current evidence, perineural dexmedetomidine is the most promising adjuvant to extend the duration of long-acting local anesthetics

 The aim of this work is to study the effects of dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to bupivacaine in various peripheral nerve blocks. The study will include: supraclavicular brachial plexus block, paravertebral block and femoral nerve block.

 Adult patients of either sex aged 25 – 60 years, ASA physical status I and II, Elective surgeries appropriate for the nerve block.

 patients received bupivacaine 0.5% alone in (group I) or bupivacaine 0.5% combined with 100 dexmedetomidine (group II) in peripheral nerve blocks. Motor and sensory block onset times; durations of blockades and analgesia were recorded

 Sensory and motor block onset times were shorter in group II than in group I. Sensory and motor blockade durations were longer in group II than in group I. Duration of analgesia was longer in group II than in group I. Systolic, diastolic arterial blood pressure levels, and heart rate were less in group II.

 In the current study, it was obvious that:(Addition of dexmedetomidine to bupivacaine in supraclavicular nerve block, paravertebral nerve block and femoral nerve block has shortened the onset times of both sensory and motor blocks and significantly prolonged their durations, Dexmedetomidine had also the added effect of sedation with minimal side effects, which makes it a beneficial adjuvant to local anesthetics in peripheral nerve blocks, Addition of dexmedetomidine to bupivacaine prolonged the postoperative analgesia with subsequent consumption of less amount of analgesics and The use of ultrasonography in performing nerve blocks significantly reduced the incidence of complications such as pneumothorax or intra-arterial injection and hence, lowered the incidence of systemic toxicity of local anesthetics).


Some persons with aphasia, particularly those diagnosed with a Broca's aphasia, exhibit a delayed time course of lexical activation in canonically ordered S-V-O sentences (Ferrill et al., 2012) and delayed re-activation of displaced arguments in sentences that contain syntactic dependencies (Love et al., 2008). These patterns support the Delayed Lexical Activation (DLA) hypothesis: Lexical activation is delayed relative to the normal case, and thus lexical activation and syntactic operations are de-synchronized; that is, lexical access is too slow for normally fast-acting syntactic operations. This delay in lexical access leads to what appear to be syntactic comprehension deficits in aphasia. In the current study we further examined lexical activation during sentence comprehension in persons with aphasia by using unaccusative verbs. Unaccusative verbs are a type of intransitive verb with a single argument that is base generated in object position and displaced to the surface subject position, leaving behind a copy or trace ('gap') of the movement (see, for example, Burzio, 1986), as in:

1. The girl vanished
Thus there is a syntactic dependency between the two positions. When encountering sentences that contain syntactic dependencies (e.g., object relatives, Wh-questions) neurologically unimpaired individuals immediately reactivate the displaced argument at the gap (Shapiro et al., 1999; Love et al., 2008). In contrast to this immediate reactivation, prior findings indicate that neurologically unimpaired individuals do not reactivate the displaced argument in similar sentences with unaccusative verbs until 750ms downstream from the gap (Friedmann et al., 2008). This built-in delay observed with unaccusative verbs in neurologically healthy participants provides a unique opportunity to further examine lexical delays in individuals with Broca's aphasia. Importantly, individuals with Broca's aphasia may have unaccusative verb deficits. Previous research has found that persons with aphasia have difficulty producing unaccusative verbs. Offline truth-value judgment tasks with intransitive sentences containing unaccusative verbs do not reveal comprehension deficits (Lee & Thompson, 2004). However, in a sentence-picture matching task, McAllister et al. (2009) found lower accuracy for intransitive sentences that contained unaccusative verbs than transitive sentences. We entertain the following hypothesis: The delayed lexical access routines better synchronize with the delay of reactivating the argument of unaccusatives, suggesting that individuals with Broca's aphasia should evince a pattern like that of unimpaired individuals. Alternatively, participants with Broca's aphasia might show activation even further downstream from the gap, given that in other sentence constructions containing syntactic dependencies they exhibit a delayed pattern of reactivation compared to neurologically unimpaired individuals.


In the recent years most common gynecologic malignancies worldwide is still cervical cancer. Early screening is the most efficient method of reducing the worldwide burden of cervical cancer because it is a disease that is highly preventable. However, due to limited knowledge and access in developing nations, the vulnerable patient must go to medical facilities and undergo very costly operations. The majority of people cannot afford to be checked out frequently. An ensemble strategy is offered to assess the possibility of cervical cancer in this paper. The ensemble techniques like bagging including random forest, boosting including Adaptive Boosting and Extreme Gradient Boosting, Light gradient boosting machine, and other effective algorithms such as Decision tree and Support Vector Machine are showcased. This method is used to overcome the challenges that previous cervical cancer studies encountered. To improve performance, a method for data rectification is proposed. Since the ensemble strategy performs better than single classifier, this proposed approach is more scalable and useful than others.


AIM: To establish a scientific and economical degenerative animal model for the study of intervertebral disc. METHODS: Fifteen rabbits were randomly divided into five groups: control group, +6Gz/1 d group, +6Gz/2 wk group, +6Gz/4 wk group and +6Gz/6 wk group. The rabbits in the experiment group were exposed +6Gz/45s (5 times every day) for 1d, 2 wk, 4 wk and 6wk. Lateral cervical radiographies of each rabbit were studied with self-control method. Pathological changes of the cervical vertebrae were observed by light microscope after staining with hematoxylin and eosin. RESULTS: ① As compared with control, the X-ray film revealed that there were no cervical vertebra changes in the rabbits of 1 d and 2 wk groups, while the intervertebral discs of rabbits in 4 wk and 6 wk groups had significant degenerative changes (P0.01). ② Histological results showed that the fibrous ring of intervertebral disc in all model groups had some fissure and irregular arrangement. In 6 wk group, nucleus pulposus shrank or became smaller and cartilage cells were observed. CONCLUSION: The rabbit cervical intervertebral disc degerenation model established by repeated +Gz exposure can be used in the study of cervical spondylosis.


This paper is devoted to improving the synchronization and robustness performance of a parallel robot used for automobile electro-coating conveying via a novel synchronous robust sliding mode control (SMC). A sliding surface is designed based on a composite error, which is composed of the tracking error of each joint and the synchronization errors among the joints. By incorporating a nonlinear disturbance observer into the finite-time SMC based on the composite error, the synchronous robust SMC of the parallel robot is realized. The finite-time Lyapunov stability of the sliding variable and the asymptotic convergence of the tracking error and synchronization error have been proved theoretically. The lumped disturbance in the system is estimated by the proposed scheme, and restriction on the change rate of the lumped disturbance has been relaxed. Due to the feedforward compensation with the disturbance estimation value, the switching gain of SMC required is merely larger than the upper bound of the disturbance estimation error, rather than the upper bound of the disturbance, resulting in chattering attenuation. Finally, the numerical simulation and experiment on the prototype system of the parallel robot are implemented to validate the effectiveness of the synchronous robust SMC.


Judy Scott warns that the new rules on Permitted Work may not be as helpful as we have been hoping — and that the literature being issued by the Department for Work and Pensions may mislead the unwary.


This paper analyzes the research and development in the sea-keeping of ship,and summarizes the sea-keeping criteria of ships in sea and the various evaluation methods of ship's sea-keeping quality,finally puts forward the direction of development and key problems of sea-keeping evaluation for future research.


Proliferation of robust user-centric applications has gained a significant growth due to widespread influx of mobile and web-enabled service-oriented devices. Today, a number of electronic prescribing applications (EPAs) are available on mobile and web platforms but user acceptability and satisfaction of the platform to access such applications is highly imperative to realizing the primary objective of automating the prescription service. In this paper, the end-user's most preferred platform for accessing EPAs developed for web and mobile platforms is investigated. Comparative analysis was conducted based on certain assessment factors, that can influence the user's choice of either mobile or web platform to access EPAs, including cost, ease-of-use, mobility, privacy and security. Relevant


The pressure to publish rapidly and constantly is a phenomenon engulfing academia in all countries of the globe. It has, over the years, affected research and innovation in a mostly negative way. In Nigerian universities in particular, this culture has mainly been a syndrome, manifested by (1) the urge among faculty members to publish more for promotions and positions than for genuine research production, (2) publishing for purely capitalistic motivations, (3) the use of unorthodox methodologies to boost citation index, and (4) fictive authorship of research works among others. All these objectionable practices have been responsible for various forms of decay in research and teaching in the Nigerian university system. They have, for instance, made plagiarism, data mining, predatory journals, duplicate publications, among other challenges, pervade research in Nigerian universities, causing innovation to remain more an ideal than a reality in these tertiary institutions. Using empirical understandings and critical observations, this chapter illustrates all these issues.


The patterns of reinforcement behaviors of elementary school teachers in special, integrated, and regular classroom settings were examined. Classroom data were collected on the Positive Reinforcement Observation Schedule (PROS), irrdirating the frequency of positive and negative types of reinforcement delivered to special and regular students. Trends in the data revealed, across classroom settings, that teachers in special education classrooms delivered a greater number of reinforcements of all types to their students than teachers in regular and integrated settings. Students in self-contained special education classrooms tended to be the recipients ofmore praise and positive reinforcement than typical students in regular classrooms. In integrated classrooms, however, the opposite trend was apparent, with regular students receiving more praise and reinforcement than special population students. Although the results were statistically nonsignificant, they clearly indicate patterns of differential teacher treatment of students based on ability. The ftndings are discussed in terms of their impliratians for teuching, particularly with respect to integrated classrooms where special and regular students learn side by side.


Network protection has come to be extra vital to confidential users, associations, and the army sources. The uses of the internet, protection came to be a main concern and the past of protection permits a larger understanding of the rise of protection technologies. The design of the internet, after adjusted can cut the probable aggressions that can be dispatched across the network. There are a colossal number of confidential, businesses, martial. Power data on networking infrastructures worldwide countless companies safeguard. Knowing attack methods permits for the appropriate protection to emerge. The center earth of web protection is large. The scope of discover encompasses brief recovery back to internet's origins. The companies craft an " intranet " tore main related to the internet but safeguarded from probable threats. With regard to comprehend scrutiny been given nowadays, behind view of the net, consequently revised.


The photo-induced alignment quality of a ferroelectric liquid crystas (FLC) onto a photochemical stable azodye film was studied for various procedures of the azodye film photo-treatment and the FLC structure. The alignment quality of FLC depends mainly on the order parameter of the azodye film, however the structure of FLC layer is also important. So, the photo-aligned deformed helix ferroelectric (DHF) liquid crystal exhibits the contrast ratio CR>500:1, while for the helix free FLC the contrast ratio CR>1500:1.


SUM MARY 1. Light induces a decrease in the concentration of violaxanthin in the algae, Scenedesmus and Chlorella. 2. The specific radioactivity of a number of pigments has been determined for algae fed C"402 for varying periods of time. 3. The specific radioactivity of chlorophyll a is nearly 3 times that of chlorophyll b; therefore these 2 substances are not involved in a rapid, reversible conversion. 4. The specific radioactivity of a group of carotenoids varies from 1000 for the carotenes. down to a value less than 10 for xanthophyll-epoxide. 5. The specific radioactivity of violaxanthin and xanthophyll are very nearly equal at 75. 6. It is suggested that violaxanthin and xanthophyll are rapidly interconverted in a light dark reaction, and that this reaction may be part of the 02 evolution sequence in photosynthesis.


We're always told not to judge a book by its cover or a bottle of wine by the design of its label. However it's a fact of life that there are multi-million pound industries whose customers are doing just that! One of the key, initial factors in making a purchasing decision is the perception of image. Competition is fierce in the current marketplace. What image does your organisation convey that will influence your customers to choose your company over another?People buy from people and the way customers perceive your staff is key to the success of any organisation - that's a fact! Whatever you want to say about your company or, more importantly what you want your clients and customers to think, customer service, and the perception of your brand can both be attributed to the image you portray. Ask yourself the follpwing questions:* Does the public image of your organisation fail to live up to the version that management would like to convey?* Does the business spend thousands of pounds on a training budget and fail to recognise the importance of dress codes and image management?* Are there inconsistencies in company policy that leave your staff and even more importantly, your customers, confused?The contribution of Image management to the bottom lineWhen competition is tough and business harder to come by, image management can give you the edge where it matters most, and it really can affect your bottom line. If you want your staff to stand out from the crowd and present a unified team image, think about your key company messages. Are your people dressed appropriately? A client remembers what they see, rather than what they hear, so if your staff are portraying positive, appropriate, non-verbal messages about whom they work for and how they deliver for customers, everyone benefits. The right image can set your business apart from your competitors.How image coaching can help managersHowever, you may wonder how image coaching can help your role as a manager, Here are just a handful of the benefits that can be derived from image coaching:* It helps to build cohesive teams* If staff all 'sing from the same hymn sheet', they send out a consistent company message* Image coaching helps build trust and reliability in the eyes of clients and colleagues alike* People actually start to look the part* You achieve consistent company branding throughout the organisation, an image that is continually being reinforced by your people* Image coaching demonstrates commitment to staff development and your people will feel valued and proud of the organisation that employs them, as well as a sense of personal pride, creating a win-win situationDress codesThe trend in the last decade has been to veer away from strict dress codes. …


In the paper,a forum in Internet is established using ASP,and the detailed analysis of this forum is intruduced, including its developer editions?functions of this forum?unique skills and so on.


In the Sparre-Andersen model, claim sizes and claim occurrence times are assumed to be independent. The independence assumption was used for simplicity in the literature. In this paper, we introduce correlation and consider two classes of bivariate distributions to model claim sizes and claim occurrence times. We derive exact expressions for the ultimate ruin probability and establish the effect of correlation on ruin probability using the Wiener-Hopf factorization. ∗Emmanuel Thompson, is a PhD Candidate in Statistics with concerntration in Actuarial Science in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada, email@example.com. †Rohana S. Ambagaspitiya, PhD, FSA, is an Associate Professor of Actuarial Science in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada, email@example.com.


For the structure design of a multi-layer feedforward neural network (MFNN), the number of input, output and training datum of MFNN is known, and how to establish the structure of hidden layers, such as numbers of hidden layers and unit number per hidden layer, is the most important process. Based on algebra equation theory, the expression composed by power and threshold was established. Furthermore, a general confirming method of rational construct of MFNN was proposed. And then the target function and restricting condition to optimize the structure of MFNN were given. The simulation results show the structure of MFNN constructed by the proposed method is reasonable.


For treating massive quantity of data in pipeline integration management, especially for spatial data, the optimum method is to utilize GIS as a working platform. This paper expatiates on the flow of pipeline integrity management, introduces design mode, GIS developing method, database design and function design of pipeline integrity management system based on GIS. This system brings the existing spatial analysis function of GIS software and spatial data management function into full play, and conforms the two functions. It provides a real "dynamic regulation" working environment and an applicative working platform of pipeline integrity management.


E-governance means the utilization of internet and World Wide Web (WWW) for transfer of information and delivery of services from government to citizens. With the growing progress in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and rise of innovative and creative instruments has also contributed towards the expansion and growth of government activities in the various countries around the world. For the economic and social empowerment of the citizens particularly of the developing countries, the Information and Communication Technology is recognized as an apparatus of development and mechanism of empowerment. Use of Information and Communication Technology in E-governance has created new prospects of innovation and expansion in the activities of the government and delivering services to the citizens. To improve the quality of life and to get faster economic development, the electronic governance takes for granted better importance in the platform of contemporary governmental organizations. In the project of electronic-governance, the various methods and technologies are being used to provide a structure for successful execution of government services up to grassroots level. The growth and development of various nations are mainly based on the utilization of Electronic-Governance with their penetration in contemporary periods. This E-governance has minimized the corruption and saving the time along with increasing the level of transparency in the governmental process and operation. However, the various projects such as e-seva, e-kranthi, smart government and digital India have been launched by the Government of India to execute and support the initiatives of E-governance. This research paper is an effort to examine the initiatives of E-governance which is directly related to citizens. The present work is an attempt to examine whether the latest information and communication technologies can create an important impact to the success of Electronic-governance.


The use of carbon/carbon composite (C/C) is essential for many high temperature applications such as aircraft brakes, interior of furnaces or carriers for metal hardening. C/C is manufactured via several high temperature process steps, which are expensive and time consuming. Till now the majority of all C/C applications are continuous fiber reinforced among others due to a lack of knowledge about the essential manufacturing parameters of short fiber C/C [1, 2]. This paper describes a parameter study of fiber length, fiber type, and fiber volume fraction on the flexural strength of short fiber C/C.


Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine new assumptive value of one ]eonsang of Jung-Kyung fomulae. Methods : Find out the Osujeon that the one money of Jangjunggyung period, and measured use Osujeon. And find out the new assumptive vaule. Results: 1) The 1 Jeonsang of Radix kansui is a.20g. 2) The 1 Jeonsang of Cwachesan is 0.22g 3) The 1 Jeonsang of Baegsan is 0.15g. 4) The 1 Jeonsang of Sibjotang is 0.19g. Conclusions : According to the results mentioned above, the assmumption that one Jeonsang is 1.5-2.0g is unreasonable. The assumption that one Jeonsang is 0.15-0.22g is reasonable.


Accepted esthetics points out that works' value depend on readers' acceptable consciousness.Based on aesthetic theory of acceptance,people will easily discover that the creation stand and theme of ethnic groups' poems show acceptable effect,diachronic characteristics and value in ethnic groups' poems.


The pseudoscalar pole contribution is the dominant source of the $\mathcal{O}({\ensuremath{\alpha}}^{3})$ hadronic light-by-light scattering effect in muon $g\ensuremath{-}2$. We have examined this contribution, taking account of the off-shell structure of the pseudoscalar-photon-photon anomaly vertex deduced from available experimental data. Our work leads to an improved estimate $\ensuremath{-}79.2 (15.4)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}11}$ for the total hadronic light-by-light scattering contribution to the muon $g\ensuremath{-}2$.


The authors consider a special class of Block Hopscotch Algorithms for solving the diffusion equations in two space dimensions. Meticulous convergence analyses are given and a satisfactory higher order accuracy is obtained. The numerical results obtained by this algorithm for several different block splitting are included and are in good agreement with the exact solution.


Abstract A curious story featured as no. 207 in the Old Yiddish Mayse bukh tells about the courtly education of a Pomeranian prince. The touchstone for his successful mastery of courtly manners is his telling an aventiure during a banquet. His education involves skillful treason, pursuing his own material and sexual interests and seducing the three daughters of his host. The youngest becomes pregnant and they fall in love, but it takes yet another ploy to get the permission to marry her. The mayse stands out from the rest of the compilation due to its apparent lack of morality which the Mayse bukh's compiler seems to hold high otherwise. But a closer look reveals the narrative means of commentary and irony which distance the Jewish recipients of the mayse from the narrated content that is set in the exotic sphere of a Christian court. Readers are led by the narrator to view the narrated events as immoral actions, which are not part of their own culture.


The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of teachers and students related to the use of e-modules using the integrated STEM flipped classroom approach. The approach used was a STEM-integrated flipped classroom. Data collection methods using a questionnaire were analyzed with descriptive analysis with the 15 professional and unprofessional teachers and 30 students in Lampung province as respondents. The results of teachers 'perceptions about e-modules amounted to 66.7% if presented as belonging to the required category, while the results of students' perceptions using e-modules amounted to 63.3% and classified as needed. The practice was also needed in making e-modules with the results of 73.3% of teachers answering practical answers and 56.7% of students answering practical questions. It can be inferred that students need new teaching materials to support practical and easy to use learning t any time limit. Keywords: e-Module, Flipped Classroom, Critical Thinking Skills. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23960/jpf.v8.n1.202001


Through making statistical analysis on advertisement of 170 issues published in world table tennis in 26 years,this paper found out that the development of periodical advertisement came through the infant phase of 1994,market operation phase of 1994~2004 and culture operation phase after 2004.The page for advertisement occupies the 36% of whole page after 2000.The content for advertisement mainly focuses on equipment of table tennis,service machine,speciality store,recruitment information and something related with table tennis.


admission to hospital is advisable for all children in whom this diagnosis is likely. While the association of encephalomyelitis with the specific fevers is fairly well known, in the various unclassified forms the diagnosis may be in doubt until the cerebrospinal fluid is examined or neurological signs have become evident. Examination of the cerebrospinal fluid is the key to the diagnosis in most cases. The various forms may present signs and symptoms suggesting meningitis, chorea, cerebral tumour, or an infectious fever with convulsions. The cerebrospinal fluid is usually clear, with a mononuclear pleocytosis and increased protein, but may occasionally be normal, particularly at the outset. The withdrawal of a clear fluid by lumbar puncture excludes meningitis (except tuberculous meningitis and choriolymphocytic meningitis, which have, however, other characteristic findings) and thus is a contraindication to prescribing intensive chemotherapy, which is of no value in encephalitis. The prognosis may be difficult to determine, both of the immediate outcome and of the ultimate mental and physical state after recovery. In general, Brewis found that the mode of onset, the depth of unconsciousness, and the frequency of fits were the immediate guides to the severity of the condition. Viruses, and especially neurotropic viruses, seem to be on the increase. More forms, and more cases, of encephalitis are therefore likely to be seen among infants and children.


A field contrastive experiment was set up at drainage and irrigation experimental station,Jingzhou Yajiao,Hubei.Results showed that controlled drainage reduced drain outflow and nitrogen loss.Drain outflow and nitrogen loss declined with increment of the controlled water table.There was a positive linear relationship between drain outflow and time.Accumulation of nitrogen loss from pipe drainage fluctuated with time fitted a conic curve and the related coefficient was up to 0.95.The increment of drain outflow accumulation from controlled drainage of 30 cm increased with time and from other controlled treatments and free drainage treatment decreased with time.Controlled water table would too high to reduce nitrogen loss.


: Background-Aim: The current financial situation in Greece has affected among others and the Public National Health System in various ways. The most important asset of healthcare organizations, employees have been experienced difficult working conditions. This paper sheds new light on the role that Job Burnout has on the relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Job Performance on Hospitals in Greece. Methods - Results: A 54 item structured Likert 5- point scale questionnaire, conducted from 10/08/2017 to 20/10/2017, which consisted of Job Burnout, Emotional Intelligence and Job Performance, was carried out to investigate the relations between these variables. Questionnaires were distributed to 330 healthcare employees in the public hospitals in Greece, (doctors, nurses and administrative) and 269 were analyzed to measure each employee's level of Job Burnout, Emotional Intelligence and their effect to Job Performance, using Structural equation model (SEM). Our results suggest that Emotional Intelligence (0.681) and Job Burnout (-0.134) significantly affect Job Performance at 0.01 level. What's more, Emotional Intelligence (-0.386) significantly affects employees'Job Burnout level (0.001 level). Conclusion: This study both Job Performance and Emotional Intelligence levels.


As suggested by the statistics only 3 percent of freshwater is available for our use, the majority of which is used for agricultural purposes. As the population is increasing, so is the need of water, hence it's crucial for us to incorporate water management systems. Water management is the process of planning, managing, and distributing water resources in the most efficient way possible. It includes industrial water, irrigation, water resources, wastewater, and water table management. Many underprivileged homes in a developing nation's cities lack access to municipal piped water, relying instead on communal standpipes and other alternative sources such as rivers, private water sellers, tanks, wells, and borewells, which may be unlawful, illegitimate, and dangerous to use. The consequences go beyond the economics of water access; they add up to have a considerable impact on people's productivity, longevity, and dignity.


The expansion factor endowments theory including two dimensions: the quantity and quality elements which make different contributions to the mechanism of the economic convergence.Given the difficulties in introducing directly the factor number,this paper uses intermediate input model to change the increase of factor number into the expansion of intermediate products,then derives the factor number through the endogenous growth model,especially the factor number mainly based on population or human capital is the key element for the backward country or region to develop.Then,the developing countries or regions should pay attention to developing human capital,upgrading technological infrastructure,and creating a favorable environment for innovation,and reducing innovation costs to accelerate economic convergence.


Objective: To explore the value of sialic acid in thedifferential diagnosis of common gynecologic benign tumors and malignant tumors. Methods: The content of serum sialic acid was detected by spectrophot meteral method in 440 patients with gynecologic tumors: 107 with leiomyoma of uterus, 217 with ovarian benign cystadenoma, 28 with mature malignant teratoma, and 88 with ovarian carcimoma. Results: The serum sialic acid content in ovarian carcimoma group was 726.85±135.26;leiomyoma of uterus,573.08±68.60; ovarian benign cystadenoma, 557.25±63.39; and ovarian mature teratoma,569.11±59.71. Among the four groups, the serum siali acid content of ovarian carcinoma group was the highest (P0.001), and statistically significant while the results of the other three groups were not (P0.005). The positive rate in ovarian carcinoma was obviously higher than that in the rest. (P 0.001). Conclusion: Serum sialic acid content detection is clinically of great value in the differential diagnosis of gynecologic tumors.


Towards the end of her seminal work on the notion of representation Hanna Pitkin makes the following observation: At the end of the Second World War and during the Nuremberg trials there was much speculation about the war guilt of the German people. […] Many people might argue the responsibility of the German people even though a Nazi government was not representative. We might agree, however, that in the case of a representative government the responsibility would be more clear-cut.


Two of the methods used to treat diabetic retinopathy are retinal photocoagulation and pituitary ablation. The beneficial effects of photocoagulation are hard to assess. Pituitary surgery is beneficial in some patients but criteria for selection are rigid and there is no way to identify those who will not benefit. Good diabetic control is still the best approach.


Illustrating how deeply-engrained inflationary expectations were at that time, I recalled that I had just moved to Wellington and was living in a rented apartment. A real estate agent had phoned to tell me about a property for sale which he thought would suit me ideally. It sounded very suitable, so I asked about the price. Just $300,000 I was told. Wait a minute, I replied, that is going to cost me roughly $45,000 a year in interest (mortgage rates were over 15 per cent at the time), plus the expense of rates, insurance and repairs, in total probably at least $50,000 a year, or about $1,000 Myths about the Reserve Bank and proper ty inves tment