SUMMARY The need for humanities in technical curricula can be explained in part by the impact technology has on our society. Engineers are the class of people who contribute most, and most directly to the changing face of the earth. So they should have at least an idea of the context they are working in. Humanities, on the other hand, have been on the loosing side since World War II. This calls for some reconsideration. The ever more urgent call for languages, management and law competencies for engineers is an expression for this. Humanities can and must play an important role in every well-balanced engineering curriculum.


The main aim of this contribution is to give an overview concerning applications of graph transformation techniques to the area of Petri nets achieved by the team of TU Berlin within the APPLIGRAPH Working Group and the DFG Researcher Group on Petri Net Technology. Since about 10 years the strong relationships between the areas of Petri nets and graph transformation systems have been studied especially as part of the cooperation of the groups in Pisa and Berlin, while it was observed by Kreowski already in the early 80s how Petri nets can be considered as a special case of graph transformation systems. The main aim of the Pisa-Berlin cooperation was to transfer the well-known constructions leading to a truly concurrent event structure semantics from Petri nets to graph transformation systems. Vice versa the concept of high-level replacement systems, short HLR-systems, by Ehrig, Habel, Kreowski and Parisi-Presicce in [EHKP91] was the starting point to obtain new concepts and results for the area of Petri nets by application of graph transformation techniques. In fact the concept of HLR-systems in [EHKP91] is a generalization of the double pushout approach from graph transformation to HLR-systems in a categorical framework. The instantiation of HLR-systems to Petri nets leads to the concept of net transformation systems [PER95], which will be discussed in Section 2. In order to study property preserving transformations, the concept of HLR-transformations was extended by Padberg in [Pad96] to Q-transformations leading to safety and liveness preserving transformations in [PGE98,GHP99] and [GPU01] respectively reviewed in Section 3. In Section 4 we discuss in which way the module concept for graph transformation systems developed by Simeoni [Sim00] has been transferred to Petri nets [PHBS02] and to a generic component concept in [EOBKP02]. In Section 5 we discuss the modeling of open systems, where the


For large-capacity steam generator, piping zone diameter of U-tube section is nearly 5m, the range of U-shaped bend radius is very large from Zero meters to 2.5 meters, this affects obviously the Vibration characteristics of heat transfer tube, this effect is researched using numerical simulation. Engineering formulas of natural frequency of U-shaped tube under different conditions are given. According the vibration-type, The lowest natural frequency of U-shaped tube is plane vibration frequency of the first order for adding one anti-vibration bar or not. Natural frequency of U-shaped tube increases significantly adding anti-vibration bars to bend, which is favorable to avoid the resonance frequency and severe vibration of U-shaped tube


Abstract Known processes in the interaction of an energetic beam of particles with an aligned crystal are reviewed briefly. The use of energy-momentum dispersion diagrams facilitated their descriptions and helped identify new interesting processes for further studies.


THOROUGH LIMNOLOGICAL SURVEYS in Korea have not been carried out up to the present time; only a few brief studies on the plankton, especially on the rotatorian fauna, have been made in several districts . There are papers relating to the Korean rotatorians published by five authors, namely, Kawamura (1917), Bada (1936), Veno (1941), Sato (1939, 1941), and Yamamoto (1941) . One of the reasons why such studies have been neglected is the paucity of lakes and ponds suitable for collections, excep t for a series of brackish-water lakes on the coast of the Japan Sea and reservoirs recently built for hydroelectric plants. The studies of the fresh -water fauna of Korea are quite incomplete when compared with those made on the fauna of Manchuria which has been clarified by several researches under the direction of Professor T. Kawamura and summarized by Yamasaki (1940). The author, accompanied by M. Veno, made a trip for limnological work to the middle, eastern, and western districts of Korea from November 19 to 26, 1941. Since returning to the laboratory the author has engaged in a microscopical study of the rotatorians in the plankton obtained. At the same time collections made by us in the preceding yea; in the northern part of Korea, as well as ma terials preserved in our laboratory, were examined. These latter consist of specimens which were collected by T. Kawamura during


We consider the approximation of the sample influence curve or, equivalently, the effect of case deletion on the estimated regression coefficient for the proportional hazards model. We introduce an EM algorithm for iterative maximisation of the partial likelihood which is suitable for one-step approximations although it is not recommended for general use. To obtain a scalar measure of influence for a case we suggest computing a quadratic form, which we call D-star, in the approximation for the influence curve which is equivalent to Cook's D statistic, but obtained from a residual, e-star, for the proportional hazards model. We apply our techniques to the Stanford Heart Transplant data


A study was conducted to examine how different kinds of children1S nonverbal behavior developed across grade levels. The kinds of behavior studied were (11 proxemic, or observance of personal space: (21 haptic, or touching behavior; (3) oculesic, or gazing: (41 kinesic, or interpreting emotions from facial expressions: (51 vocalic, or identifying emotions from vocal cues: and (61.behavior stemming from perceptions of physical appearance. Nine hundred and one teachers from all grade levels were asked to irdicate what percentage of their students engaged in each of 64 nonverbal behaviors. The results indicated that observance of personal space increased with grade level, while interpersonal touching decreased except for sexual touching. The gazing variables indicated no developmental increase, with students at all levels maintaining eve contact when speaking and when spoken to. The kinesic variables also showed no developmental 'pattern, although smiling appeared to decrease until grade seven, then fluctuate through grade 12. The ability to identify emotions from vocal cues steadily ircreased with grade level. There was also a developmental pattern for the physical appearance variables, with avoidance of overweight children and concern about dress increasing with grade level. (HTH1


Karyology of the twelve accessions of Carthamus tinctorius L. were investigated. Diploid chromosome numbers and the basic chromosome number of the studied accessions were obtained as 2n=24 and x=12 respectively. The chromosomes were assorted in to different categories on the basis of arm's ratio. These were further subdivided in to different types, on the basis of total length of the chromosome. From an evolutionary point of view, variation in total chromosome length without major changes in the karyotype formula suggests that changes in the amounts of genomic DNA are proportional to the relative length of each chromosome arm. All the accessions possessed symmetrical or slightly asymmetrical karyotype. The karyological results of the study and the analysis of chromosomal morphology of each accession are shown as tables. These findings may provide useful information for Carthamus evolutionary, genetic, and breeding studies.


AbstractIn situ resource utilization (ISRU) of lunar regolith is indispensable for the success of large-scale and long-term human lunar explosions at lower costs. Many new technologies must be deve...


Tetracalcium phosphate (TTCP) requires the highest synthesis temperatures of all the calcium phosphates, but now a new process is available at 400 °C lower than previously, at 900 °C. Instead of ball-milling reactants for a homogeneous mix, the reactants were included in an amorphous phase. Heating produced hydroxyapatite, oxyapatite and then TTCP. Amorphous nanoparticles were synthesized and heated in air or in vacuum. The sequence of solid-state reactions were tracked with X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy. Heating in air stabilized the carbonate containing apatite, thereby requiring higher temperatures for decomposition, as per previous studies. Heating in vacuum promoted oxyapatite; a critical step for reaction with calcium oxide to generate TTCP. This faster process enables production at a lower temperature and reduces the use of ball milling for producing fine TTCP powders.


This chapter presents case studies from Illinois Institute of Technology and Willamette University that demonstrate how institutional researchers have harnessed new information technologies to streamline office functions. The authors also discuss the new skills needed to meet these challenges.


Patients prepared by the generally used fasting protocol show variable myocardial 18F-FDG uptake, which may result in difficult interpretation of mediastinal 18F-FDG uptake. This retrospective study described the effect of a 1-d fat-allowed, carbohydrate-restricted diet on myocardial 18F-FDG uptake. Methods: The study included 100 patients on a carbohydrate-restricted diet from the Medical Center Leeuwarden and 100 patients on an unrestricted diet from the University Medical Center of Utrecht. A visual uptake scale was used, with category 0 indicating myocardial uptake less than liver uptake, category 1 indicating myocardial uptake comparable to liver uptake, and category 2 indicating myocardial uptake considerably higher than liver uptake. Results: After a carbohydrate-restricted diet, 68% of patients had a homogeneously low myocardial uptake of 18F-FDG (category 0), 14% had moderate myocardial uptake (category 1), and 18% had homogeneously intense myocardial uptake (category 2). Without a carbohydrate-restricted diet, 69% of patients showed a homogeneously intense myocardial uptake (category 2), 16% a moderate myocardial uptake (category 1), and 15% a homogeneously low myocardial uptake (category 0). Conclusion: A fat-allowed, carbohydrate-restricted diet starting the day before 18F-FDG administration suppresses myocardial 18F-FDG uptake satisfactorily.


Cu2SnS3, a potential absorber layer for thin film heterojunction solar cells was successfully deposited onto soda lime glass substrates by spray pyrolysis technique at a substrate temperature of 360°C. The films were analyzed by studying their structural, compositional, morphological, optical and electrical properties. XRD studies revealed that the films are crystallized in tetragonal structure (14m). The lattice parameters were found to be a=5.414A and c=10.763A. From EDS analysis the films were found to be non-stoichiometric with Cu-rich and S-deficient composition. The direct optical band gap of the films was found to be 1.42 eV. Room temperature electrical resistivity was found to be 3.4×10−3 Ω-cm.


BTB (Brain/Tissue/Bio) Banks form essential repositories for clinical and basic research; The collection, storage, distribution and use of biological materials in research raise many legal and ethical issues which are currently not well regulated on an international level due to differences and conflicting laws and policies.


ABSTRACT

After the baby is born, breastfeeding is very important because breast milk is the best and complete food for babies. The importance of exclusive breastfeeding is a program recommended by the Government of the Ministry of Health, where babies are only given breast milk until the age of 6 months. Based on the target of the Bali Provincial Health Office Strategic Plan (2014), the achievement of exclusive breastfeeding in West Denpasar I public health center only reached 70.7% and has not reached the target set of 76%. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the level of knowledge and employment status of mothers with exclusive breastfeeding in the work area of West Denpasar I public health center, Bali Province. This type of observational study with cross sectional design and the number of research samples was 65 mothers of poor mothers. Data was collected by interview method. Data analysis using Chi Square statistical test. From the results of the study, it is known that mothers who have a good level of knowledge as much as (55.4%), the level of knowledge is enough as much (41.5%), and the level of knowledge is less as much (3.1%). Most mothers (53.8%) did work outside the home, and as many as (46.2%) did not work. Whereas (55.4%) mothers gave exclusive breastfeeding, and (44.6%) did not give exclusive breastfeeding. The results showed that there is a relationship between the level of knowledge with exclusive breastfeeding, p = 0.028. There is a relationship between the employment status of mothers with exclusive breastfeeding, p = 0.028.

Keywords : knowledge, mother's work status , exclusive breastfeeding


The liquid residence time distributions (RTD) and flow pattern are studied by tracer technique for a water/air system in an experimental semicircular sieve tray of 2 meters in diameter.Complicated mean RTD profiles on a large sieve tray are observed.A mathematical model based on residence time profiles for a large tray is developed to compute the concentration profiles as well as the Murphree tray efficiency from point efficiency.The calculated plate efficiencies are in good agreement with the value found in literature.


Building and operating versatile extreme-scale computing systems that work productively for a range of frontier research domains present many challenges and opportunities. Solutions created, experiences acquired, and lessons learned, while rarely published, could drive the development of new methods and practices and raise the bar for all organizations supporting research, scholarship, and education. This paper describes the methods and procedures developed for deploying, supporting, and continuously improving the Blue Waters system and its services during the last five years. Being the first US sustained-petascale computing platform available to the open-science community, the Blue Waters project pioneered various unique practices that we are sharing to be adopted and further improved by the community. We present our support and service methodologies, and the leadership practices employed for ensuring that the system stays highly efficient and productive. We also provide the return on investment summaries related to deploying and operating the system.


Parents of children with leukemia and malignant tumors take part in a program which helps to ease their own emotional strain and that of the staff.


Objective To explore the surgical method of bony mallet finger and to evaluate the clinical effect of fixed needle extrusion in treatment of bony mallet finger.Methods 28 patients with bony mallet finger were treated with kirschner needle extrusion to reset the fracture fragments and fix the fracture.The flexion or extension of distal interphalangeal joint(DIP),fracture healing and postoperative complications of the patients were observed.Results 27 patients were followed-up for 14 months.Crawford assessment standard was used to assess the efficacy.Before operation,the DIP extension limitation of 10 °-25 ° or obvious flexion obstacles existed in 8 cases(29.6%);the DIP extension limited by greater than 25 ° or the presence of persistent pain existed in 20 patients(70.4%).After operation,the fully active flexion and extension of DIP without pain in resting or action existed in 21 cases(77.8%);the full flexion of DIP,extension limitation from 0 ° to 10 °without pain in resting state existed in 6 cases(22.2%).All fractures in the patients healed,and the joint face apposition was good without osteomyelitis and wound complications such as infection,necrosis and recurrence of mallet finger deformity.Conclusion Kirschner needle extrusion fixation method for the treatment of bony mallet finger is a simple method with satisfatory curative effect.


The present invention provides a method for filling the furnace chamber 1 of a coke oven battery, into the interior of the filling process of the furnace chamber 1, and at least one measuring device 11 disposed in the flattened rod 9, the measuring device by the connected and calculation unit 5 to 11, the longitudinal direction of the bulk process is confirmed, relates to a method for adding charging of the furnace chamber 1 is performed according to the confirmed bulk process. According to the present invention, the longitudinal and transverse directions of the measuring apparatus 11 of the furnace chamber 1, the shape of the filling state of the three-dimensional is confirmed in the non-contact. The present invention is also a flattening device for carrying out the method with a measuring device 11 which operates in a non-contact arranged in flattened rod 9.


By using nonuniform (geometric) grid network, a new high-order finite-difference compact scheme has been obtained for the numerical solution of three-space dimensions partial differential equations of elliptic type. Single cell discretization to the elliptic equation makes it easier to compute and exhibit stability of the numerical solutions. The monotone and irreducible property of the Jacobian matrix to the system of difference equations analyses the converging behavior of the numerical solution values. As an experiment, applications of the compact scheme to Schrödinger equations, sine-Gordon equations, elliptic Allen–Cahn equation and Poisson's equation have been presented with root mean squared errors of exact and approximate solution values. The results corroborate the reliability and efficiency of the scheme.


Recent developments in the oil and gas industry suggest that investment behaviour is not necessarily changeless over time. We propose a micro-econometric procedure to investigate the stability of investment behaviour at the firm level. Applying system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) on a panel data set for 253 oil and gas companies over 14 years, we estimate accelerator models of investment with error-correction. Robust econometric evidence indicates a structural break in oil and gas investment in 1998. The process of capital formation over the last few years is more flexible than before, with significant and material changes in the role of explanatory factors like cash flow and uncertainty.


Abstract The dynamics of coherent wavepacket oscillations in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs superlattices are investigated by transmittive electro-optic sampling (TEOS) with femtosecond time resolution. The internal polarization dynamics of coherently superposed Wannier-Stark states in an externally biased superlattice, denoted as Bloch oscillations, can be monitored with high sensitivity in TEOS experiments. The amplitude, dephasing, and frequency of Bloch oscillations are studied as a function of applied electric field. The increasing localization of Wannier-Stark states at higher fields results in a decreasing Bloch oscillation amplitude. PACS: 42.50.Md, 78.47.+p, 73.20.Dx


In this paper we constructed the model of noncommutative plastic deformation and give the proof of Koiter hypothesis. We showed, that the occurrence of Koiter singularity has topological reasons and the number of Koiter singularities is the topological Pontriagin number.


A comprehensive theory of electron scattering from atoms and ions at high energies is formulated, incorporating the coupling of the scattering system to the radiation field. In particular, the photocapture process is discussed in detail, which can proceed either by a direct radiative capture or by dielectronic recombination following a radiationless capture into excited states. The latter process involves a collisional excitation of the inner-shell electrons of the target, followed by radiative decay of that excited state. The required sum over excitation probabilities to all the allowed bound states is estimated using the semiclassical projection operators and the single-particle model for the target system. A preliminary estimate of the cross sections for these modes of capture is obtained for the case of a hot-electron plasma interacting with highly ionized impurity ions.


Abstract A triethylamine-formate buffer system for the HPLC analysis of mixtures of oligopeptides is described. The volatility of TEAF facilitates buffer removal for subsequent field desorption-mass spectral qualitative and quantitative analyses. TEAF permits femtomole quantification of somatostatin, is UV transparent and enables high resolution separation of oligopeptide mixtures.


For all children, home is the best place to be brought up. Plenty of evidence has accumulated that children's homes and other similar institutions, however well equipped and well trained the staff, are less good at fostering optimal development than the ordinary affectionate family. The child with a'mental handicap is as susceptible to these family influences as the normal sibling. But does the presence of a child with a mental handicap, who needs more parental attention over a longer period, make that home a less good environment for the other potentially normal children? Should parents feel that they are being forced to sacrifice the well being of one child for the sake of another? Should parents who already have children of their own be allowed to adopt another with particular difficulties and more than the usual range of needs? Families vary widely not only in their initial reaction to a distressing event but how they cope with the problems later. The notion that a family with a handicapped child must be a handicapped family is offensive to many and discredited from evidence of recent research. Emphasis now is put on the variety of strengths as well as the weaknesses of the people concerned.1


The present invention is weather display The method includes the steps of acquiring orientation information of the weather information and the terminal, and generating a weather video based on the weather information and orientation information of the terminal, the step of displaying the weather moving in the terminal. The present invention is used to display the weather conditions more reliably and true than. .FIELD 1


Prostaglandin E2 was used to induce labour in 40 patients, between 29 and 42 weeks gestation. Vaginal delivery occurred in 37 patients; 3 other patients required Caesarean section. No fetal complications attributable to PGE2 were observed, nor any maternal cardiovascular or alimentary effects. One patient demonstrated transient uterine hypertonus when infused with 40 ng./kg./min.


In recent years, with large language models (LLMs) achieving state-of-the-art performance in context understanding, increasing efforts have been dedicated to developing LLM-enhanced sequential recommendation (SR) methods. Considering that most existing LLMs are not specifically optimized for recommendation tasks, adapting them for SR becomes a critical step in LLM-enhanced SR methods. Though numerous adaptation methods have been developed, it still remains a significant challenge to adapt LLMs for SR both efficiently and effectively. To address this challenge, in this paper, we introduce a novel side sequential network adaptation method, denoted as SSNA, for LLM enhanced SR. SSNA features three key designs to allow both efficient and effective LLM adaptation. First, SSNA learns adapters separate from LLMs, while fixing all the pre-trained parameters within LLMs to allow efficient adaptation. In addition, SSNA adapts the top-a layers of LLMs jointly, and integrates adapters sequentially for enhanced effectiveness (i.e., recommendation performance). We compare SSNA against five state-of-the-art baseline methods on five benchmark datasets using three LLMs. The experimental results demonstrate that SSNA significantly outperforms all the baseline methods in terms of recommendation performance, and achieves substantial improvement over the best-performing baseline methods at both run-time and memory efficiency during training. Our analysis shows the effectiveness of integrating adapters in a sequential manner. Our parameter study demonstrates the effectiveness of jointly adapting the top-a layers of LLMs.


Sustainability is the incorporation of environmental, health and social value in the firm's business. A Firm need to include sustainability in decision-making regarding all activities taking place in the whole supply chain. Businesses presently are in a competitive stage as every firm is trying to stay in place and be above their competitors, therefore every business are striving towards sustainability to give their business competitive advantage over their competitors. This paper adopts literature review and case studies to show the link between sustainability and competitive advantage, also to test if sustainability could actually bring about competitive advantage.


In Ecuador, the main cause of forest fires is caused by human activity since they consider the use of fire as a work tool for land preparation, approximately at least 24,000 hectares of vegetation have been consumed by fire in recent years 20 years, where plant recovery takes decades, where it is estimated that in a square kilometer of the humid forest there are about 1250 species of plants. The study of the hydric state of the vegetable fuel, specifically the moisture content of the fuel, is considered an important variable to be taken into account in fire initiation and propagation studies, since the magnitude of this variable will directly influence the flammability of the vegetation, probability of ignition, speed of propagation and behavior of the fire, as well as the impact it will have on the islet's ecosystem. The objective of this work is to demonstrate the potential of multispectral and thermal sensors aboard unmanned aerial vehicles to detect highly flammable zones with greater probability and potential danger of starting forest fires depending on the hydrological state of the islet's vegetable fuel. A field campaign was carried out for the acquisition of plant samples of 20 native species of the islet, which served to adjust the numerical model for the estimation of the islet's water status. Finally, a water fuel model was obtained for the whole island, which allowed areas with low and high flammability to be zoned, which will allow the competent authorities to take preventive mitigation actions in case of forest fires.


Current approaches to modeling range advance assume that the distribution describing dispersal distances in the population (the "dispersal kernel") is a static entity. We argue here that dispersal kernels are in fact highly dynamic during periods of range advance because density effects and spatial assortment by dispersal ability ("spatial selection") drive the evolution of increased dispersal on the expanding front. Using a spatially explicit individual‐based model, we demonstrate this effect under a wide variety of population growth rates and dispersal costs. We then test the possibility of an evolved shift in dispersal kernels by measuring dispersal rates in individual cane toads (Bufo marinus) from invasive populations in Australia (historically, toads advanced their range at 10 km/year, but now they achieve >55 km/year in the northern part of their range). Under a common‐garden design, we found a steady increase in dispersal tendency with distance from the invasion origin. Dispersal kernels on the invading front were less kurtotic and less skewed than those from origin populations. Thus, toads have increased their rate of range expansion partly through increased dispersal on the expanding front. For accurate long‐range forecasts of range advance, we need to take into account the potential for dispersal kernels to be evolutionarily dynamic.


As in many digital telecommunications systems, the received data streams over Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds (DVB-H) may contain bursty transmission errors. The bursty error characteristics affect the end users' perceived audiovisual quality. This study examined the perceived unacceptability of instantaneous but noticeable audio, visual and audiovisual errors. The erroneous streams were generated from four popular television contents by applying three simulated error patterns with different error rates (1.7%, 6.9%, 13.8%) and error burst durations. Instantaneous unacceptability of errors was evaluated by 30 participants with simplified continuous assessment while watching the program content. The results show that with the two lowest error rates the audio errors were more unacceptable than video errors and with the highest error rate the visual and audiovisual errors become the most unacceptable.


Combined with the coordinate transformation, the dynamic governing equations for elastic foundation under a moving load are established by using the reverberation ray matrix method, and the isolation effect of a graded wave impeding block is studied. The displacement and the stress are obtained in the time domain by using numerical inverse Fourier transformation. Via numerical examples, the effectiveness of vibration isolation of graded wave impeding block is compared to conventional single phase solid homogenous wave impeding block. The results show that compared with the single phase solid homogenous wave impeding block isolation system, the graded wave impeding block can effectively reduce the vibration amplitude and has more advantages and is effective under a moving load.


In this article, interference is defined as the incorrect and mostly unconscious transfer of linguistic features from one language to another by bilingual speakers (namely Albanians during the democratic transition period), caused by the mutual impact of both languages (German and Albanian). The aim of the present article is to make an exhaustive list of the interference occurrences at the phonetic and phonological level among bilingual Albanians during the transition period, to describe them and draw appropriate conclusions about such linguistic phenomena. The present study draws on important scientific findings as well as the collected data of an empirical study on Albanian-German bilingualism (including a questionnaire and corresponding interviews). According to the interviews carried out, this fact is put down to the Albanian language level of the test subjects which indicates that even those who pretend to be bilingual speakers cannot completely differentiate between the two language systems (Albanian and German). Phonetic and phonological interferences have often been noticeable among the German-speaking Albanians: Probably this might be caused by the significant difference in nature between the German and the Albanian language.


Modern technologies including smartphones, AirTags, and tracking apps enable surveillance and control in interpersonal relationships. In this work, we study videos posted on TikTok that give advice for how to surveil or control others through technology, focusing on two interpersonal contexts: intimate partner relationships and parent-child relationships. We collected 98 videos across both contexts and investigate (a) what types of surveillance or control techniques the videos describe, (b) what assets are being targeted, (c) the reasons that TikTok creators give for using these techniques, and (d) defensive techniques discussed. Additionally, we make observations about how social factors – including social acceptability, gender, and TikTok culture – are critical context for the existence of this anti-privacy and anti-security advice. We discuss the use of TikTok as a rich source of qualitative data for future studies and make recommendations for technology designers around interpersonal surveillance and control.


The thus far unexplored aliphatic region of the proton magnetic resonance spectra of ferrichrome peptides was investigated at 360 MHz. Six isomorphic diamagnetic analogues of the ferric cyclohexapeptide differing in the coordinated cation (AL3+ or Ga3+) and the amino acid composition were studied in d6‐DMSO solution. By use of a novel resolution enhancement technique which applies a sinusoidal half‐wave window to the free induction decay combined with multiplication by an increasing exponential, the proton chemical shifts and spin‐spin couplings were accurately measured. Homonuclear decoupling combined with Fourier difference spectroscopy was used to selectively extract resonances out of crowded spectral regions. The spectra revealed unique features of fine structure in the proton resonance lines. Thus, the conformation‐dependent geminal coupling constants of glycyl α‐protons were found to be constant throughout the suite of analogue peptides. A similar invariance was observed for the vicinal coupling constants between α‐, β‐, γ‐, and δ‐protons in the ornithyl side chains. Comparison of the proton spin–spin coupling constants with the crstallographic dihedral angles led to a unique stereochemical assignment of the side‐chain resonances. The combined data sets of x‐ray atomic coordinates and 1H‐nmr spin‐spin coupling parameters have been used to calibrate the coefficients for a Karplus curve related to the torsional x angles in amino acid side chains: \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$$ {^3J \left( {\theta} \right) = \left( {9.5 \pm 0.3} \right) \cos ^3 \theta - \left( {1.6 \pm 0.2} \right) \cos \theta + \left({ 1.8 \pm 0.6} \right) \left( {\rm Hz} \right) } $$\end{document} Structurial information was also obtained for the seryl residues, where the multiplet structures of the OH resonances indicate preferred spatial arrangements of the side chains.


The Promises In 1995, great expectations laid aheadof the launchof the first preventive service for young people at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. Researchers hoped to identify not only staterisk factors for psychosis but above all touncover "specific precursor features that predicted subsequentpsychosis in thenear futurewith ahighdegree of probability,"1(p285) by analogy defined as Koplik spot equivalentsofpsychosis,1 allowingeffectiveearlydiagnosisand treatment. Koplik spots are small white lesions on the buccal mucosa thatprecedemeaslesdiseasewithhigh sensitivity and are important inthepreventionofoutbreaks.AsforKoplikspots, earlysignsofpsychosisareclinicallydifficult todetect.Because ofthis,CHRresearchershavereliedonneuroimagingtechniques in their enduring search for the Koplik spots of psychosis.


The concept of multifunctional agriculture refers to the idea that agriculture has many functions in addition to producing food and fiber, like environmental protection, landscape preservation, and rural employment. The UE Common agricultural policy substains multifunctionality in agriculture by rural development plans that provide relevant frameworks to integrate environmental aims into agriculture. Integration of environmental instances with socio economical development is an important element also in natural resources conservation strategies. Recently, a new view of the ecological network concept has been developed to produce a more multiobjective vision that defines the ecological network as a system of natural and/or semi-natural landscape elements, that is configured and managed with the objective of maintaining or restoring ecological functions, while also providing opportunities for the sustainable use of natural resources. The study refers to a method, based on the Geographical Information System (GIS), for assessing the ecological network model in a rural landscape, where human activities are involved. Two models were developed: the landscape model and the connectivity model. The application in the study area showed the capacity of models to identify strategic places for ecological functions. The results pointed out the natural values of the area (matching the protected areas) and the most favourable expected ways of connection, or interruptions, between suitable areas. Agricultural and woodland areas were the main land uses involved in the ecological network structure. The maps which have been obtained can be useful instruments in order to involve policy makers, and other stakeholders, in the decision process on land use planning. In this way, the ecological network model can be a useful instrument in order to give valuable knowledge about environmental functions of rural landscape and to show constraints and possibilities to change the landscape in the boundaries of sustainability.


The superposition of signal and idler pulses in dual-chirped optical parametric amplification is proposed for the efficient generation of intensity-modulated pulses with periodic modulation. Both the duration and the modulation period are easily and independently adjustable. Numerical simulations for a three-stage optical parametric amplifier system predicted an efficiency as high as ~50% for about 40 mJ of output pulse energy at a wavelength of 2 µm. Sources of such intensity-modulated pulses near 1.6 µm or 2 µm wavelength, pumped by Ti:sapphire or Yb-doped lasers, can be ideally suited for intense multicycle THz pulse generation with tunable frequency and bandwidth by optical rectification for example in organic, semiconductor, or lithium niobate materials.


Numerical analysis of FSI problems is typically implemented, based upon a Lagrange finite element formulation for structural domain, and upon an arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) finite element formulation for fluid domain. Fluid-structure interactions often involve non-linearity associated with the convection in fluid flow and with the non-linear geometry change (large deformations). Usually the coupling of fluid and solid domains is performed through exchanging boundary conditions along the interface by imposing compatibility and equilibrium conditions. Particular care should be exercised to couple the fluid and the structure properly on the interface. In this work, we will use MLS-based variable node elements to insert non-conforming meshes on the interface between fluid and solid domains. The structure is described by means of updated Lagrangian finite element approach. An arbitrary LagrangianEulerian (ALE) formulation is adopted in fluid domain, which must be compatible with the motion of the fluid-structure interface. Independent discretization of fluid and solid domains allows flexibility of modeling in fluid and solid domains. A single entity of the interface without overlays and gaps is defined, and the MLS-based variable node elements are constructed on element layers bordering on the interface in order to satisfy the continuity and compatibility conditions. The equivalent nodal forces amounting to the fluid pressure are applied directly on the nodes of solid surface. Without a special method for load transfer through non-conforming interface, the present method transfers stress field through interface elements correctly. A difficulty associated with the definition of normals on the interface for non-matching meshes does not exist in the present method. Consequently, the present method does not need any special treatment of the continuity and equilibrium conditions on the interface. 1 epartment of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Science Town, Daejeon 305-701, Korea 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University of Technology, 172 Gongneung-2dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, 139-743, Korea


Laboratorio Tecnologico del Uruguay (LATU) is the National Metrology Institute of Uruguay and has the obligation to maintain the national standards stated by National Law 15298. At present LATU is acting as a secondary laboratory as well as a primary laboratory. LATU was ISO 17025:2005 DKD (Deutscher Kalibrierdienst) accredited from 2001 up to 2007. By that time LATU decided to support its Capabilities of Measurement and Calibration (CMCs) at CIPM-MRA (Mutual Recognition Arrangement between national metrology institutes (NMIs)) by peer assessment. A Peer Review has been done in 2008 in order to get the QSTF (Sistema Interamericano de Metrologia, Quality System Task Force) approval. "New "CMCs for Industrial Thermometers have been approved by the JCRB on September 2010. CMCs claimed for Standard Resistance Platinum Thermometers (SPRTs) calibration at fixed points have not been approved yet because there were some requirements of traceability of employed cells that were not fulfilled but will be solved prop...


We reviewed the COVID-19 vaccines that reached phase III of clinical development. For each of the 10 vaccines identified, we described the technology used for vaccine development, the available data from phase III clinical trials, data on vaccine safety, and the role of new SARS-CoV-2 variants on vaccine efficacy.


The article gives a brief description of the simple linear regression analysis and its use in situations with one dependent and one independent variable using SPSS software. The paper gives special attention to assumptions of linear regression and their testing. The article provides only general introduction to the simple method of prediction of the one variable based on the known values of the other. The readers are encouraged to consult statistical literature prior to analysing own data and preparing manuscripts.


Improved Complexity of Area Sequence Moments for Mouse Drawn Shapes Vinay Saxena Department of Mathematics, Kisan P.G. College, Bahraich, U.P. 271801, INDIA ______________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: A mouse drawn shape that is represented by a function of sequence of pixels can be completely specified by the locations of its corner pixels given in a correct sequence. The sequence can be specified according to either clockwise direction or counterclockwise direction tracing. Leu suggested a method which is much more efficient than the traditional occupancy array based method. This method computes the set of moments using only the comer pixels along a shape's boundary. The complexity of this method is linearly proportional to the number of comers along a shape's boundary, which in general is only a small fraction of the total number of pixels in the shape. In this work, we have been able to further improve the time as well as space complexity by introducing an intermediate optimization steps that discards most of the redundant vertices and retain only the points where the bend is sufficient to contribute towards the appearance of the shapes.


Contrary to public perception, empirical studies have constantly shown that persistent sex offenders constitute a small sub-group of the sex offender population. Indeed, only a small sub-group of sex offenders tends to persist over time, as recidivism rates tend to be approximately 10 to 15% over a period of about five years after release.1 This small sub-group has attracted a lot of attention from the criminal justice system. Such attention led to the development of various risk assessment tools designed to help practitioners screening persistent offenders. Many characteristics have been identified, and theoretical models have been proposed. 2,3 In the meantime, however, the behavior of persistent sexual offenders has been overlooked to a great extent. One could reasonably question what those risk assessment tools are really predicting, as the criterion used to develop those instruments is "sexual recidivism," which includes much heterogeneity in its manifestations. Of interest is the fact that many predictors of sexual recidivism are related to offending characteristics, such as having offended against an extra familial, male, prepubescent victim. The purpose of this study is to build on previous studies to further understand the sexual criminal activity of persistent sexual offenders.4 Emphasis here is on the tendency for that sub-group of offenders to switch from one sex crime category to another. Building on the criminological literature, we investigated the sexual criminal versatility of persistent sex offenders and the associated risk factors.


Regular readers of P&T understand that we are facing a crisis in continuing medical education (CME). This situation has its roots in multiple areas, including a history of financial abuses, congressional interests in these abuses, and a growing awareness that traditional clinical CME simply does not change clinician behavior. More frequently, we are hearing stories about academic medical centers banning detail representatives from all pharmaceutical companies. National organizations such as the American Medical Association (AMA), the Association of Academic Medical Centers, and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) are in the news nearly every day as they try to sort out these issues. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could find an unbiased source of professionally produced, cutting-edge, online CME lectures? I'm happy to report that help is at hand; it comes in the type of programming available through the Graduate Education Foundation (GEF).1 Founded in 2002, the GEF is a not-forprofit 501(c)(3) organization that is designed to enhance the training of health care providers by improving the quality of and access to continuing education. This is the first comprehensive Internetbased, grand rounds–style series of educational seminars directed at advancing professional knowledge. The organization is funded by non-pharmaceutical, non-interventional grants and revenue from subscriptions. First, a disclaimer. I am a faculty member participant in the GEF, and I am grateful for the outstanding programming I have been able to offer under its auspices. The GEF took my Microsoft Power Point slides and turned them into an amazing online presentation with graphics that were professionally customized to my needs. The GEF's educational Web sites— CMElectures.org and CEUlectures.org —can be accessed from anywhere at any time. The program consists of a comprehensive series of 130 online, evidencebased lectures. Most of the lectures are clinically oriented, but a series on patient safety, quality of health care, and risk management is also available. These presentations are designed to enhance efficiency, reduce practice costs, and minimize error rates.1 The GEF created the grand rounds format because of its inherent superiority in audiovisual presentation. Professional medical education experts take standard Power Point presentations and create a robust online experience unlike any other I have ever participated in. Potentially dull presentations are enlivened by a professionally narrated script and expertly created video material. The combination is a winning one indeed. A subject index and a table of contents enable users to easily search for and locate specific topics. Individual and institutional subscriptions are available. Institutional users can access the lectures through a co-branded Web page. All users have unlimited access to all lectures and symposia. Each grand rounds lecture qualifies for up to 2.0 hours of educational credit. The GEF is fully accredited by the ACCME, the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). Credits are awarded electronically upon successful completion of an accompanying examination. Our team has recently seen evidence that the innovative GEF model might really work.2 It succeeds in changing physician behavior, improving outcomes, and possibly reducing waste—areas that P&T committee members should certainly find worth exploring. There is no question that the very core of CME must change. We must find a way to eliminate former abuses and, more importantly, to create a vehicle for lifetime learning. I've covered some aspects of this in P&T and in my news letters.3,4 I believe that a vehicle like the GEF is ideal for enabling clinicians to obtain high-quality CME at their convenience without any discernible economic bias. The GEF can't fix the CME mess by itself, but it does represent a critically important step in the right direction. You can learn more about the foundation at www.gefcme. org. As always, I'm interested in your views. You can reach me at my e-mail address, email@example.com. Please visit my blog at http://nashonhealthpolicy. blogspot.com.


Despite achieving compelling results in engineering and optimization problems, coevolutionary algorithms remain difficult to understand, with most knowledge to date coming from practical successes and failures, not from theoretical understanding. Thus, explaining why coevolution succeeds is still more art than science. In this paper, we present a theoretical framework for studying coevolution based on the mathematics of ordered sets. We use this framework to describe solutions for coevolutionary optimization problems, generalizing the notion of Pareto non-dominated front from the field of multi-objective optimization. Our framework focuses attention on the order structure of solution and test sets, which we argue is a key source of difficulty in coevolutionary optimization problems. As an application of the framework we show, in the special case of two-player games, that Pareto dominance is closely related to intransitivities in the game.


Introduction. It is well known that every nonprincipal ultrafilter D on a set I is c-incomplete, provided the cardinal of the set I is not exceedingly large. (We refer the reader to the comprehensive paper by Keisler and Tarski [5] for all relevant information and further references.) Since ultrafilters are closed under finite intersections of its members, it is easy to see that D being co-incomplete is equivalent to saying that there exists a co-termed sequence


The competition in marketing at the Shopping Center s is getting hotter and besides this rivalry the purchasing power of customers are risin g. So what is important for the consumers is altering from perfect product to perfect consumer experience offered by companies. This paper makes use of service quality as the dis turbance variable and makes research on the impacts of experiential marketing on custome rs' satisfaction and customer loyalty. The study object is customers of Shopping Centers in Is ta bul and the data collection method used here is questionnaire. (Questionnaires are recovered the n SPSS 11.5 used to factor analysis, reliability & validity analysis, hierarchical regression analys is respectively). It is hoped that, the results and findings of the r esearch will be helpful to Shopping Centers in the application of experiential marketin g. Yaşar Kemal Topal, Mustafa Karadeniz, Güzide Öncü Ero ğlu Pektaş 47 DENEYİMSEL PAZARLAMA VE SERV İS KAL İTESİNİN ALI ŞVERİŞ MERKEZLER İNDEKİ MÜŞTERİ MEMNUN İYETİ VE MÜŞTERİ SADAKAT İ ÜZERİNE ETK İLERİ


Prototype cells of the configuration Li/~5M S as , THF, have been characterized with regard to capacity, rate, and rechargeability. Virtually 100% of the theoretical capacity could be realized at 50°C at rates below 1.0 mA/cm2. In high rate cell configurations, 75% cathode utilization is possible at ~4 mA/cm2 (C/3–C/4 rate). The capacities at high rate are enhanced by Lewis acids, although the ultimate cause of rate limitation is passivation of the current collector by discharge products. The self‐discharge rates of Li in contact with 4–5M S (as ) solutions reveal capacity losses of 0.5%/day at 25°C to 4.4%/day at 71°C. Based on the experimental results, a practical energy density of ~300 W‐hr kg−1 is possible using a standard cell design. Results on the battery's rechargeability are briefly reviewed.


in SK12-5, of mapping and nanopore-based sequencing technology. a precise localization of T-DNA within the of the transgenic SK12-5 line. demonstrates that the genetic mapping method and Oxford Nanopore sequencing technology can be used to identify insertion positions of transgenic sequences in genetically modi fi ed plants with large genomes.


Modern Africa has achieved great progress in education, urbanization, and economic development. Modernization, however, brings the traditional into frequent confrontation with the modern and tends to create conflicts in the lives of individuals. Modern Africa's youth need guidance. But to be effective, guidance practice must be based on philosophies that reflect true African thinking. Foreign models will be inadequate. This article examines some African viewpoints in order to suggest elements that might be used in formulating a philosophy of guidance and a mode of practice suitable for Africa.


Evacuation models represent one of the main tools used to assess building fire safety. Existing evacuation models are based on data from evacuation drills in western and developed countries, while there is a need for data from South Asian and developing countries (in general). This paper presents the results of an evacuation drill carried out in a library of a developing country in South Asia (Pakistan). The data of 85 student evacuees were recorded and analysed. Pre‐evacuation and walking speed data have been reported in this paper which are compared with the available data for library evacuations in other countries. The average pre‐evacuation time of 24.3 s (± standard deviation [SD] = 19.83 s) obtained in this study was shorter than previously published data for similar building types in other parts of the world. Furthermore, unimpeded horizontal speeds (mean = 0.74 m/s, SD = 0.28 m/s) were also smaller than the values reported in the available literature. Stair descending speeds (mean = 0.97 m/s, SD = 0.36 m/s) were within the ranges of stair movement data listed in previous studies. These findings represent a pioneering dataset for future building designs and evacuation simulations in developing countries.


The collision frequency of monodisperse inertia particles in a turbulent flow is governed by a wide range of scales of flow motion. Recent studies have shown that large-scale energetic eddies dominate the relative velocity between two colliding particles (the turbulent transport effect), whereas small-scale dissipative eddies can enhance the collision frequency significantly by inducing local non-uniform particle distribution (the accumulation effect). In this study, these two effects are separately investigated through direct numerical simulations (DNS) of monodisperse particles suspended in evolving turbulent flows. The data show that the turbulent transport effect can be predicted by existing models but the accumulation effect cannot. A new model for the accumulation effect has been developed by using the DNS data. Finally, an integrated collision kernel model, which consists of an existing model for the turbulent transport effect and our model for the accumulation effect, has been developed to predict the collision frequency at arbitrary Reynolds numbers and particle inertia.


In this work we study the effect of time finiteness of the existence of Cauchy problem for nonlinear Schrodinger equation solution. Together with the ill-posed Cauchy problem we consider its neighborhood in the space of operators, representing Cauchy problem. We explore the convergence of sequence of solutions of Cauchy problems with the operators, approximating the initial Hamiltonian.


A spatial filter, a granite optical bench, and a granite rectangular base which are the infrastructure of the optical laboratory, were designed and constructed. The spatial filter was composed of an objective lens(×10) and a pinhole(φ25㎛). Its performance was evaluated by the laser beam filtering. The granite bench has the 1/4-20 tap for fixing and its length is 1.5m. The rectangular base has the size of 10×10×5㎝ and the weight of 1.4Kg.


The utility model discloses an automobile steel plate surface burnishing device, which comprises an elevating platform, a moving platform and a burnishing block, wherein the elevating platform comprises a guiding column and an elevating driving component, one end of the guiding column is connected with the elevating driving component, the other end thereof is connected and fixed with the moving platform, a pushing rod is arranged at one end of the elevating driving component, and extends into the guiding column; a longitudinal guiding groove is arranged on the guiding column, an elevating crossbeam is also arranged on the guiding column, and one end of the elevating crossbeam penetrates through the guiding groove and is connected and fixed with the pushing rod; a driving lead screw is arranged inside the moving platform, a moving driving component is arranged at one end of the driving lead screw, and is connected and fixed with the end of the driving lead screw; the burnishing block is arranged under one end of the elevating crossbeam, a motor is arranged at one end of the burnishing block, and is connected and fixed with the end of the burnishing block. The burnishing device can avoid poor manual burnishing quality, improve the burnishing uniformity, save the operating time, eliminate the possibility of omission, avoid the happening of safety accidents, and enhance the quality qualification rate and the economic efficiency of the automobile steel plates.


The package XTOOS includes four new commands that allow to evaluate the out-of-sample prediction performance of panel-data models in their time-series and cross-individual dimensions separately, also with separate procedures for different types of dependent variables—either continuous or dichotomous variables. The name of the commands are xtoos_t, xtoos_i, xtoos_bin_t, and xtoos_bin_i. The time-series procedures (xtoos_t and xtoos_bin_t) exclude a number of time periods defined by the user from the estimation sample for each individual in the panel. Similarly, the cross-individual procedures (xtoos_i and xtoos_bin_i) exclude a group of individuals (for example, countries) defined by the user from the estimation sample (including all their observations throughout time). Then, for the remaining subsamples (training-sample), they fit the specified models and use the resulting parameters to forecast the dependent variable (or the probability of a positive outcome) in the unused time-periods or the unused individuals (testing-sample). The unused time-period or individual sets are then recursively reduced by one period in every subsequent step in the time-series dimension, or in either a random or an ordered fashion in the cross-individual dimension. The estimation and forecasting evaluation are repeated until there are no more periods ahead or more individuals that could be evaluated. In the continuous cases, the model's forecasting performance is reported both in absolute terms (RMSE) and relative to a naive prediction, by means of a U-Theil ratio. In the dichotomous case, the prediction performance is evaluated based on the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) statistic evaluated in both the training sample and the out of sample. The procedures allow to choose different estimation methods, including some dynamic methodologies, and could also be used in a time-series or a cross-section dataset only. They also allow evaluating the model's forecasting performance for one particular individual or for a defined group of individuals instead of the whole panel.


In order to count the number of trapping sets (TS), we changed Cole's Importance Sampling (IS) approach, which led to a message-passing decoder problem. Several concepts have been combined to suggest improvements to Cole's IS: utilizing short cycles and simultaneous TS impulse tree decomposition, un-wrapping of message passing iterations Tanner Graph/Forney's Normal Graph symmetry's Graph Authomorphism is a complex yet simple concept. Superior Velasquez-Subramani and Karimi-Banihashemi TS enumerating techniques were supported. The proposed technique under PEG (1008, 504) Mackay code for single thread implementation is 43 times quicker than the original Cole's method and 5027 times (71463 times, multi-thread) faster than the Velasquez-Subramani LP method. For the TS enumerating problem at (2640, 1320), Margulis's code is 37958 times quicker than the suggested Velasquez-Subramani LP approach for single thread implementation, 82 times faster than Karimi-Banihashemi, and 134 times faster than Cole's original solution. On the basis of the creation of QC-LDPC codes, we demonstrate the effects of improved EMD spectrum and increased hamming distance on the TS spectrum and BER/FER error-floor level.


The time resolved behavior of pyrenedecanoic acid excimers in spread phospholipid monolayers at the air-water interface is reported herein. Interactions of the pyrene-bearing probe, 1-pyrenedecanoic (PDecA) have been compared as functions of probe concentration and hydrocarbon structure of the host liquid to the character of the lipid environment. The time resolved fluorescence measurements of mixed PDecA-lipid monolayers exhibit two features at 480 nm: a very fast rise in excimer intensity and a dependence of the excimer decay on PDecA mole fraction in the layer. 9 references, 3 figures.


With the background of Shanghai Hunan Highway project,its regional road network,traffic flow,intersections,influences of exits entrances and current traffic constitution have been made a congestion analysis.On the basis of congestion cause analysis,several improvement countermeasures are put forward including improving regional road network,canceling signal control of branch intersection,adopting traffic organization of right in right out,increasing traffic lane scale and adopting traffic organization of main road + service road on partial road section,etc.Finally,the best solution to solve traffic congestion of Hunan Highway is increasing road lane scale and partial road section adopting the traffic organization of main road + service road,which can meet the travel demands from surrounding residents.


The purpose of this quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group study was to test theories of constructivism and motivation, along with research-based teaching practices of differentiating instruction and instructing within a child"s Zone of Proximal Development, in measuring the effect of computer-aided instruction on fifth grade students" attitude and achievement in math. Students in Pennsylvania completed an attitude survey at the beginning, middle, and end of the study (Pierce, Stacey & Barkatsas, 2007). Achievement was measured by the 4Sight Math assessment (Pennsylvania State Education Association, 2007) which was given at the beginning of the study, after the first seven weeks of instruction, and then at the end of the study. Five fifth grade teachers were randomly assigned as treatment or control, indicating which instructional strategy they would implement. Treatment groups received traditional direct instruction and guided practice, and then computer-aided instruction as a supplemental math practice session. Control groups participated in traditional instruction and guided practice, which incorporated Interactive Whiteboards, with only traditional methods used for supplemental practice. Data from the attitude survey were used to indicate changes that students showed after using the computer for practice as compared to using traditional methods of practice. Data from the 4Sight Math assessments were used to determine any changes in achievement after each method was implemented. Results determined that computer-aided instruction did not have a significant effect on student achievement, but did positively impact the attitude of low-achievers.


The lone pair electrons of the oxygen atom in ring A assist the fragmentation of the acetal (2ca), but not that of the isomer (2ta), with a trans ring-junction.


The invention discloses a skin structure of a light-small type unmanned aerial vehicle and a forming method of the skin structure. The skin structure is subjected to compression molding integrally, and successively comprises an outer-layer first FRP panel, an outer-layer second FRP panel, a PMI foam sandwiched core and an inner-layer FRP panel from outside to inside ; and after PMI foam sandwiched core is subjected to hot press molding and cured, a curved surface is formed. The skin structure of the light-small type unmanned aerial vehicle has the beneficial effects that (1) according to the skin structure, the PMI foam sandwiched core replaces light wood plate, glass fiber reinforced plastics and honeycomb composite materials, the weight of the skin structure is reduced, the rigidity of the skin structure is improved, and therefore, the skin structure is particularly suitable for the light-small type unmanned aerial vehicle; and (2) the PMI foam sandwiched core is subjected to hot press molding, the whole skin structure is subjected to compression molding, therefore, the labor cost is reduced, furthermore, the forming precision is high, deformation is small, and forming consistency and the surface forming effect are guaranteed effectively.


Abstract : The complexity of warfare and the requirement to shorten the kill chain against difficult targets has increased the need for Automatic Target Recognition (ATR). No single sensor currently provides a robust enough capability of detecting all classes of targets through the camouflage and deceptive elements of natural and/or man-made clutter. ATR is a sub-element of a larger class of problems known collectively as Target Identification. This study concentrated on image-based techniques as an ATR subdiscipline of target ID. The study panel concluded that no silver bullet exists that will dramatically improve ATR performance in the near term. However, more work and understanding in very specific areas could improve the way the Air Force uses ATR today. For example, CONOPS and technology can work synergistically (e.g. change detection) to improve mission capabilities; ATR can be an aid to, but not a substitute for, human judgment by both pilots and image analysts; and ATR is essential to better match image exploitation capabilities with collection capacity.


Camelina sativa that belongs to Brassicaceae family is an emerging oilseed crop. Camelina seeds contain approximately 40% storage oils per seed dry weight, which are useful for human and animal diets and industrial applications. Microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase2 (FAD2) catalyzes the conversion of oleic acid to linoleic acid. The polymorphisms of FAD2 genes are correlated with the levels of oleic acids in seed oils. Microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase2 (FAD2) catalyzes the conversion of oleic acid to linoleic acid. The polymorphisms of FAD2 genes are correlated with the levels of oleic acids in seed oils. In this study, three CsFAD2 genes (CsFAD2-1, CsFAD2-2 and CsFAD2-3.1) were isolated from developing seeds of Camelina sativa (L.) cv. CAME. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of three CsFAD2 genes were compared with those from dicotyledon and monocotyledon plants including Camelina cultivars Sunesone and SRS933. Three histidine motifs (HECGH, HRRHH, and HVAHH) required for FAD activity and a hydrophobic valine or isoleucine residue, which is a SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) marker related with enzyme activity are well conserved in three CsFAD2s. The expressions of CsFAD2-1 and CsFAD2-3.1 were ubiquitously detected in various Camelina organs, whereas the CsFAD2-2 transcripts were predominantly detected in flowers and developing seeds. The contents of oleic acids decreased, whereas the amounts of linoleic acid increased in dry seeds of transgenic fad2-2 lines expressing each CsFAD2 gene compared with fad2-2 mutant, indicating that three CsFAD2 genes are functionally active. The isolated CsFAD2 genes might be applicable in metabolic engineering of storage oils with high oleic acids in oilseed crops.


Monthly average daily global solar radiation data are essential in the design and study of solar energy conversion devices. In this regard, different empirical models based on Angstrom-Prescott model were selected to estimate the monthly average daily global solar radiation, H, on a horizontal surface for Terengganu state using only the sunshine duration. The hourly solar radiation data measured at Kuala Terengganu station during the period (2004–2007) were used to calculate the monthly mean values of H using selected models. The selected models were compared on the basis of the statistical error tests as the mean bias error, the mean percentage error, the root mean square error, Nash– Sutcliffe equation, correlation coefficient and the t-test. Based on the statistical results a new linear model H/Ho= 0.2207 + 0.5249 (n/N) based on modified Angstrom model is extremely recommended to estimate monthly average daily global solar radiation for Terengganu state areas and in elsewhere with similar climatic conditions areas where the radiation data is missing or unavailable. The present work will help to advance the state of knowledge of global solar radiation to the point where it has applications in the estimation of monthly average daily global solar radiation.


A novel d36-type piezoelectric wafer fabricated from lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT) is explored for the generation of in-plane horizontal shear waves in plate structures. The study focuses on the development of a linear phased array (PA) of PMN-PT wafers to improve the damage detection capabilities of a structural health monitoring (SHM) system. An attractive property of in-plane horizontal shear waves is that they are nondispersive yet sensitive to damage. This study characterizes the directionality of body waves (Lamb and horizontal shear) created by a single PMN-PT wafer bonded to the surface of a metallic plate structure. Second, a linear PA is designed from PMN-PT wafers to steer and focus Lamb and horizontal shear waves in a plate structure. Numerical studies are conducted to explore the capabilities of a PMN-PT-based PA to detect damage in aluminum plates. Numerical simulations are conducted using the Local Interaction Simulation Approach (LISA) implemented on a parallelized graphical processing unit (GPU) for high-speed execution. Numerical studies are further validated using experimental tests conducted with a linear PA. The study confirms the ability of an PMN-PT phased array to accurately detect and localize damage in aluminum plates.


Current cellular networks work by creating autonomous cells that fail to serve many users due to uneven coverage area. With the world becoming more reliant on the wireless communication system, a cellular network with multiple wireless access points, high spectral and energy efficiency is a must. These requirements are fulfilled by a cell-free Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) network. Apart from being ideal for the current wireless communication's requirements, it can also resolve a lot of currently faced interference issues. With this work, we aim to reduce the complexity so this system becomes more practical to deploy in the real world and reduce one of the limitations of a cell free massive MIMO system. We propose a new access point selection algorithm called CAPS (Cluster based AP selection) for the cell-free Massive MIMO which is aimed at reducing the computations workload and pilot contamination by introducing machine learning algorithm for clustering which in our work is the K-means++ clustering algorithm. The simulations and calculations show that using the proposed algorithm have performed better compared to prevailing approaches.


The mathematical model of functioning dynamics of the data integrity control service in the reference automated dactyloscopic information system is offered. The model allows to execute the quantitative analysis of the data integrity control functioning quality criteria, formalized as the probable time characteristics.


The ability to benchmark or validate software to ensure that design specifications are satisfied is an extremely difficult task. Test data, generally designed by the creators of said software, is generally biased toward a specific goal and tend not to cover many of the possibilities of combinations and interactions. The philosophy of suggesting that "a programmer will never do . . ." or "this particular situation will never happen" is altogether absurd. First, "never" is an extremely long time and secondly, the Hagel theorem of programming states that "if it can be done, whether absurd or not, one or more programmers will more than likely try it."


Riverine ecosystems are highly exposed to different forms of human activities and fish distribution in such habitats can be affected by different features of water. Tributaries of the Abbay and Tekeze Basins are supporting all life requesting activities in Ethiopia. Fisheries of these habitats are also the mainstay of livelihoods. However, brutal human activities are affecting these ecosystems and the fish therein. This study was thus undertaken to examine fish distribution and community structure in relation to water parameters in Ayima, Gelegu and Shinfa Rivers. 2719 fish specimens identified into 43 species were sampled using gillnets, cast nets and electro-fishing on a seasonal campaign. Based on frequency of occurrence (%FO), 5 species fell in the category of 'euconstant occurrence' or their FO was ≥75%, while many species were laid in the 'constant occurrence'. Among others, site depth, total phosphorus, dissolved oxygen and river channel diameter were key environmental factors determining fish community structure. Similarity percentage produced an overall average Bray-Curtis dissimilarity of 60.8% between the fish communities of the three rivers. The final model accounted for 77.2% of the total variance in fish composition, and all canonical axes were significant (Monte Carlo test 499, p = 0.002). Generally, this study was conducted in areas where no ecological studies are undertaken and the results obtained from this study could be important for sustainable utilization of Ethiopian fisheries.


Bio-fuel became worldwide focus due to dwindling of fossil fuels and its environmental impact. Pretreatment, saccharification, fermentation, and purification are the important steps involved in the production of bio-fuel from the biomass. As pretreatment is the prime and most expensive step in a conversion process, many investigations are currently involved in developing a viable pretreatment method(s). In addition, pretreatment has pervasive impacts on all other major unit operations in overall conversion process from choice of feedstock through to size reduction, hydrolysis, fermentation, separation, residue process. There are several pretreatment methods using physical, chemical and biological principles which are under various stage of investigation. Extrusion is a process where ingredients are subjected to heating, mixing, shearing, resulting in physical and chemical changes during the passage through the extruder, it can be used as one of the physical pretreatment methods towards biofuel production. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of high shear parameters on carbohydrate release from corn stover. Corn stover was pretreated in high shear bioreactor with five screw speeds (25, 50, 75, 100, and 125 rpm) and five barrel temperatures (25, 50, 75, 100, and 125 °C). Multi-enzyme complex and s-.glucosidase were used in enzymatic conversion of pretreated corn stover and glucose, xylose, galactose, arabinose and mannose was measured using HPLC. Screw speed and temperature had significant effect on carbohydrate release from corn stover. Higher glucose and combined sugar conversion of about 31 and 52% recorded at 125 rpm and 125°C and it was 1.5 and 1.6 times more than control. High shear pretreatment resulted in 85 and 80% of potential glucose and combined sugar from corn stover.


Quality evaluation of agricultural and food products is important for processing, inventory control, and marketing. Fruit size and surface quality are two important quality factors for high-quality fruit such as Medjool dates. Fruit size is usually measured by length that can be done easily by simple image processing techniques. Surface quality evaluation on the other hand requires more complicated design, both in image acquisition and image processing. Skin delamination is considered a major factor that affects fruit quality and its value. This paper presents an efficient histogram analysis and image processing technique that is designed specifically for real-time surface quality evaluation of Medjool dates. This approach, based on short-wave infrared imaging, provides excellent image contrast between the fruit surface and delaminated skin, which allows significant simplification of image processing algorithm and reduction of computational power requirements. The proposed quality grading method requires very simple training procedure to obtain a gray scale image histogram for each quality level. Using histogram comparison, each date is assigned to one of the four quality levels and an optimal threshold is calculated for segmenting skin delamination areas from the fruit surface. The percentage of the fruit surface that has skin delamination can then be calculated for quality evaluation. This method has been implemented and used for commercial production and proven to be efficient and accurate.


The author describes the DC/DC switching converter, voltage-controlled mode, in small-signal (AC) dynamic state, by means of a method that is obtained by the unifying two of the most used modeling methods of these circuits, namely: the state-space averaging method and the injected-absorbed-current method. The resulting method, called the averaged characteristic coefficient method, uses the switched circuit described through the state equations as the starting point and the canonical mathematical model with characteristic coefficients. In this method, the circuit model, obtained through the canonical mathematical model transposition, has a fixed topology, which contains the essential input-output and control-output properties for any switching converter.


1 The inhibitory effects of oxodipine, a new dihydropyridine, were compared with those of nifedipine on contractile responses in rat isolated aortic strips and on spontaneous mechanical activity in portal vein segments. 2 In rat isolated aorta oxodipine (IC50 = 7.8 ± 1.8 × 10−9 m) and nifedipine (IC50 = 8.5 ± 2.5 × 10−9 m) dose‐dependently inhibited the contractile responses induced by high K (80 mm), whereas responses to noradrenaline (NA, 10−6 m) were only slightly affected (IC50 > 10−7 m). These inhibitory actions were observed with both drugs added either before or after the induced contractions. 3 Contractile responses induced by addition of Ca to 0 Ca high‐K solution were also dose‐dependently inhibited by oxodipine (IC50 = 4.5 ± 2.5 × 10−9 m). However, oxodipine up to 10−6 m did not modify the contractile responses obtained in strips incubated in 0 Ca when Ca was added in the presence of NA. 4 Oxodipine and nifedipine also inhibited the development of spontaneous mechanical activity in portal vein segments. 5 Oxodipine inhibited 45Ca uptake stimulated by high K (I50 = 8.7 ± 2.5 × 10−9 m) or by NA (I50 > 10−7 m). However, it did not modify 45Ca uptake and 45Ca efflux in resting strips or 45Ca efflux stimulated by NA. 6 These results indicate that the effects of oxodipine on vascular smooth muscle may be due to the blockade of Ca entry through potential‐ and receptor‐operated channels; it was at least 10 times more selective for potential‐operated channels. Oxodipine did not modify Ca entry through passive leak channels and NA‐induced intracellular Ca release.


DBLP is a well-known online computer science bibliography. As nearly all important journals and conferences on computer science are tracked in DBLP, how to effectively search DBLP records has become a valuable topic for the computer science community. In this paper we present DBLP-Filter, a new DBLP search tool. The major features of DBLP-Filter are: (1) it provides new search options on concepts and literature importance; (2) it can maintain user profiles and can support user-area-aware search; (3) it provides the service of new literatures alert. Compared with the existing DBLP search tools, DBLP-Filter is more functional and also shows better effectiveness in terms of MAP and F-measure when tested under a set of randomly-selected queries.


In this article, futures and commodity options are analyzed in the context of Merton's (1987) model of capital market equilibrium with incomplete information. First, following Dusak (1973) and Black (1976), the conditions under which Merton's model can be applied to the valuation of forward and futures contracts are proposed. Then an application to futures markets is given. We provide a partial differential equation and the formulas for European commodity options, futures contracts, and American options in the same context. The models are simulated and compared to standard models with no information costs. We find that model prices are not significantly different from standard model prices. However, our models correct for some pricing biases in standard models. In particular, they reduce the overvaluation bias for European and American commodity options. It seems that the costs of gathering and processing information regarding the option and its underlying asset play a role in explaining the biases observed in standard models. This work can be applied to other futures markets. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 19: 645–664, 1999


Purpose: This article describes a patient with dual radiation-induced malignancies after treatment of neuroblastoma. Materials and Methods: A 12-year-old boy with a history of neuroblastoma was treated with chemotherapy, I-131 MIBG, and radiotherapy at age 4. He was disease-free for 8 years, but then developed left shoulder pain resulting from osteosarcoma. A thyroid malignancy was discovered during the evaluation. Results: The patient was treated with thyroidectomy and then chemotherapy according to a Children's Cancer Group Study protocol. Conclusion: Radiation-induced sarcoma should be suspected whenever a patient who has received radiation several years previously presents with pain or swelling in the irradiated area.


The market for Internet fashion/coordination shopping malls has been enormously increased year by year. However, online shoppers feel inconvenient because most of Internet shopping malls still rely on item classifications by category and do not provide the functionality in terms of which shoppers can find clothes they want. In an effort to build a fashion/coordination system for women's dress adopting the Heuristic-based method, one of the Context-based methods, we present a method for defining characteristics of a woman's dress as attributes and their inheritance relations, which can be input by a product manager. We also compare and analyze various methods for recommending the most similar clothes.


The cellulosic fibers were dyed to equilibrium with Congo Red before and after cellulase treatment. The fibers examined were rayon, polynozic, cupra, flax, and cotton. It was found that the volume term for dyeing (V) was associated with weight loss (WL) caused by the cellulase treatment, for the original fibers. Apparent affinity for dyeing (AF) for the cellulase-treated fibers was calculated using a constant value of V obtained for each kind of the original fibers. The results led to the assumption that there would be two kinds of the regions that could be accessible to dye. One would be the region that was readily digested by the enzymatic hydrolysis. The other would be the region that was additionally developed by the attack of cellulase. The previously dyed fibers were hydrolyzed by cellulase. It was found that the physical bondings that formed between cellulose and Congo Red molecules would block the hydrolysis by cellulase for all the fibers examined. It was also assumed that there would be a region that could be accessible to cellulase but not entirely to Congo Red. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


Abstract Background/aims: Similar to many chronic diseases, depression is common in patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD), although gender differences are less known. Understanding the burden of depression in this population may help identify at-risk patients who would benefit from early intervention. The purpose of this work, therefore, is to describe gender differences in depressive symptoms in patients with ESLD. Methods: Patient data were collected as part of a larger study (NINR: 1R01NR016017-01). Patients (≥ 21 years) diagnosed with ESLD from the outpatient hepatology clinics of two healthcare systems in Pacific Northwest completed Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Sample included 154 participants, 101 males (65.6%), average age 57 years (SD=10.92), and 53 females (34.4%), average age 55 years (SD=11.28). More than 75% of the sample (78% females and 77% males) reported at least mild depression (PHQ score ≥ 5); mean PHQ-9 scores were higher for males (M=9.26±5.86) than females (M=9.10±5.07), but were not statistically different (U=2396, p=0.99). There was no significant relationship between depression severity and gender [X2 (4, N=147)=1.90, p=0.594]. Conclusion: Our study showed a high prevalence of depression in patients. A higher percentage of females reported mild to moderate depression and had higher clinically significant levels of depression (PHQ-9 score ≥ 10) than males, indicating females may be at a greater risk for depression. Females may, therefore, gain greater benefit from interventions to improve depressive symptoms. Future studies should examine the benefit of interventions on depression severity in this patient population.


his editorial from V. Soriano and J. GarciaSamaniego is a deliberate provocation. These researchers support the hypothesis of avoidance of pretreatment liver biopsy in coinfected patients, which cancels a dogma that is supported by the most recent guidelines for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.1,2 In chronic hepatitis C, pretreatment liver biopsy is the gold standard for the assessment of histological stage and grading, which are the more reliable prognostic variables to predict the future course in the individual patient. In addition, the biopsy provides an approximate assessment of the impact of inflammation and fibrosis of several years of HCV infection and virus-associated liver injury. Liver histology is the best way to assess the urgency of anti-HCV treatment in the individual patient. Thus, liver biopsy gives, both to the patient and to the physician, good reasons to accept an injection therapy with several side effects that limits working capability and social life and that, in HIV seropositives, is frequently added to antiretroviral treatment. In patients on HAART, interferon and ribavirin add their toxicity to that caused by antiretroviral drugs and may potentially impair treatment adherence that is the main determinant of a successful HAART. Decompensated cirrhosis is an emerging cause of mortality in HIV-infected patients in the HAART era. Hepatitis C coinfection in HIV seropositives has a more rapid evolution towards cirrhosis3 and hepatocellular carcinoma.4 HCV coinfection is associated with a greater risk of HAART hepatotoxicity and probably impairs HAART-induced immune restoration.3 Consequently, there are many reasons to offer treatment For correspondence or reprints contact: Massimo Puoti, Clinica di Malattie Infettive, A.O. Spedali Civili, P.zz.le Spedali Civili 1, 25123 Brescia, Italy. Email: email@example.com for HCV to HIV seropositives even at an early histological stage. Recently, the addition of ribavirin and the use of more effective and comfortable pegylated interferon preparations has changed the evolution of treatment for chronic hepatitis C: more than half of HIV seronegatives with unfavorable HCV genotypes and more than 80% of those with more sensitive genotypes show sustained virologic response.5,6 Given the impact of HCV coinfection on HIV seropositives, if these results also apply to this population, combination treatment could be cost effective in all HIV seropositives without contraindication, excluding only those patients without fibrosis and with minimal signs of liver damage, who represent less than 5% in published biopsy series.3 Unfortunately, these revolutionary results have still not been confirmed in HIV coinfected patients, and preliminary data indicate that sustained response can be obtained only in one third of treated patients, even with the use of pegylated interferon preparations.7,8 However, as in HIV seronegatives, affordable predictors of response may be considered: sustained response rates seem to be higher than 50% in patients infected by HCV genotypes 3 or 2 and baseline CD4 counts greater than 500/μL are associated with higher probabilities of response.


A three-folio manuscript of Dunhuang provenance (ms. 羽619) located in the Kyōushoku collection (杏雨書屋) was described by the editor of the Dunhuang Miji (敦煌秘笈) as a different version of the Zengyi ahan jing (增一阿含經, T 125), and possibly belonging to a so far unattested or lost Ekottarika-āgama sūtra. The research project presented in this thesis aimed at verifying this hypothesis. In the course of my preliminary survey, I was able to locate another manuscript (ms. 近墨堂1002.hs), which, in facsimile, appeared very similar to ms. 羽619. This research finds that ms. 羽619 and ms. 近墨堂1002.hs can be collated and are in fact a single manuscript. After the collation, it was possible to closely inspect the content of ms. 羽619+近墨堂1002.hs. This contains stories of six eminent disciples of the Buddha, among whom five are bhikṣuṇīs. At first glance, the text may appear to belong to the chapter on bhikṣuṇīs in the Zengyi ahan jing (增一阿含經). On closer inspection and comparative textual study, however, I came to the provisional conclusion that the text may be closer in genre to a commentary such as the Fenbie gongde lun 分別功德論 (T 1507), an unfinished Chinese commentary on the Ekottarika-āgama. The text in question, though, cannot be identified as stemming from the Fenbie gongde lun (分別功德論) itself nor from a different version of the same work. As regards the dating, Fang Guang-chang (方廣錩) (2013) assigns ms. 近墨堂1002.hs to the Eastern Jin period (東晉) (AD 317–420). Since the translation of the Zengyi ahan jing (增一阿含經) was completed in AD 385, a new commentary (i.e., 羽619+近墨堂1002) based on this very translation could only appear later. Provided that manuscript 羽619+近墨堂1002 appears to belong was a commentary on the received translation of the Zengyi ahan jing (增一阿含經), on the basis of close parallels in phraseology between 羽619+近墨堂1002.hs and the extant Zengyi ahan jing (增一阿含經), I would suggest a dating to the period AD 385 onwards.


This study about political commentary in the newscasts looks at commentary as an indicator of the relationship between the media and politics in Portugal. In order to do that, the profile of commentators is analyzed in both free-to-air and cable network chan- nels, from 2000 to 2015. The quantitative and longitudinal analysis showed that television commentary slots are occupied mainly both by journalists and politicians, and that the increasing presence of  one profile did not imply the declining presence of the other throughout time. The study also showed a division of the commentary slots between the power parties and a stronger presence of commentatos coming from the right-wing parties. Results indicate that the interactional models between the media and politics theorized by the concepts of political paral- lelism and journalistic interventionism help us to argue that the media coalition around the power parties and also the autonomy of the media are both explanatory factors of how prime-time commentary has evolved throughout time. This study suggests that primetime punditry reflects and it is also a consequence of the complex relationship between media and politics in Portugal.


It introduces the reseach and application actuality of our electric actuators and development status of international intelligent electric actuators,points our main products of electric actuators are DKJ.DKZ and its remodeler.There are some difference between these and international intelligent electric actuators with simple configuration and powerful function.Its development trend is analyzed,electrco-mechanical integrative system intelligentized and NET system.


Research in new display technologies has garnered great interest in the recent years. Curved screens and foldable displays have already been commercialized. However a relatively new field of research is in dynamic shape-changing or shape-shifting displays. These displays utilize the ability to change their shape dynamically as another dimension of representing visual data. These displays potentially augmented with colors, can help visualize three dimensional data such as terrains, city and building plans, and medical data. They can also be used in new ways of Human-Computer Interaction by developing user interfaces that transform physically based on the scenario. While there is research being done on new ways of using shape displays for interaction and manipulation, not much focus has been given to the issue of cost and scalability. The general shape displays which are currently being developed have individual pixels which need to be actuated. The commercial linear actuators which are used in these displays are extremely expensive and are not meant for such purposes. This thesis presents a design for a dynamic pixel-based shape changing display which focuses on cost and scalability by using custom designed modular actuators and sensor


Part of a six-title set on Scottish thought and culture in the late 18th-century, this book reveals personal visions of the thought of this period. John Ramsey of Ochtertyre produced a vast number of pages about notable Scottish men and women of the age.


Higher education, despite being recognized as a fundamental core idea of development at a local level and of being an established human right, is not guaranteed to all people, neither in terms of access to nor continuity in programs of that educational level. Currently, thanks to decentralization, municipalities have the capacity to manage projects that make it possible to drive the expansion of access to higher education to citizens, thanks to broader scoped programs.
In the case of Medellin, the programs that have been executed in this area have been diverse, although the program Camino a la educacion superior (Road to Higher Education), which is executed with a participative budget, should be highlighted. This project is analyzed from two perspectives. In the first place, it is sought to determine the efficiency in the program's execution and, secondly, inquire on its execution and historie development, with an emphasis on the relation between the actors immersed in the changing normative system that determines the government's capacity.


This article probes to enlighten this old truth of the revelation and experience of God's love in a fresh, dynamic and different way, from the perspective of early Christian spirituality. How did the early Christians possibly experience the love of God existentially in their daily lives? Another question is, 'What did they experience when they have read this text of 1 John 4:7–21? This article looks briefly at how the author of 1 John understands the character of God which is necessary for understanding the love of God. The article continues to express how the 'love' of God (according to 1 Jn), was experienced by the Early Church through the following modes of lived faith experiences that emerged from the text and existential life situations: faith experience, relational experience and mystical experience. The article shows how the contemplative reading of sacred texts can contribute to a deeper understanding and lived faith experience of God.


The paper researches how cross-cultural experiences resulting from encounters trigger reflections that can lead to cultural and personal self-awareness which ultimately influences the perception of oneself. Given the increased global mobility, those encounters between socio-cultural backgrounds are more frequent every day which has an effect on the formation of "transnational identities". There are multiple factors that come into play when those encounters take place and which were considered in the reflective approach to those experiences. The method used to approach the project is autoethnography and the main gathering of empirical data, which is in coherence with the intrinsic subjectivity of each researcher, was a five day trip to North Macedonia. The analysis departs from the individual reflection of the experiences, based on the field notes and journals, structured under four main topics and each divided into micro reflections and meta discussions. The theoretical framework under which the reflections were considered is constructed from different theories in the social psychology domain. The narrative reflections are a combination of those theories and methodologies in form of journals. The aim of the project is to get an understanding through self-reflection of how the sociocultural environments affect the behaviour, perception and feelings. The results of the analysis were that the reflection is an ongoing open-ended process in which, the narrations will establish routines of meaning-makings that will potentially condition the future experiences. The pre-wired embodiments influence the positioning one assumes due to the complex response. This process is influenced and influenced the individual subjective and meaning-making patterns that stem from the individual sociocultural background and are represented in form of narrations.


Taking the project of "Enclosing Mountain for Green" that was carried out in the Hanquangou valley of Gansu province as study object and based on the multi-objective decision-making model,the authors of this paper developed a integrated evaluation indices system on the project performance through approaches of rural household survey,consulting experts,statistical report analysis,and in situ experiment.By the use of the evaluation system the authors synthetically evaluated the effect on ecological rehabilitation of the "Enclosing Mountain for Green" project in Hanquangou valley.It was concluded that the ecological effect is remarkable,producing economic value as 5.217×106 Yuan per year.Especially,the effects on ecosystem stability and soil conservation ability are outstanding.The score given for the comprehensive effect is 77.0,reaching relatively good level.