The topic of this paper is modeling of wireless ad hoc networks in order to obtain the mathematical expressions for the maximum clique size and the node degree distribution function. Two types of the node distribution are considered: a uniform distribution of the Cartesian coordinates and a uniform distribution of the polar coordinates. The focus here is on the one-hop neighborhood of the specific node. The nodes of network are in a disk having its radius equal to the transmission range of the nodes. This approach highly simplifies calculation of the link probabilities in a network. The simulation results indicate an acceptable accuracy of the proposed mathematical expressions even in a widely used random geometric graph model of the network in the rectangle area.


Aiming at the problem of model uncertainty caused by the change of external disturbance,DC motor conditions and the modeling error,robust DC servo motor speed control system was designed usingμcontrol theory.Firstly,by introducing fictive uncertainty,the robust performance problem was transformed into robust stability problem of augmented system.Secondly,the DC servo motor speed control system design was constructed into the general framework ofμsynthesis according to the principle of interference suppression,and weighting functions was selected properly to get the augmented controlled object.Lastly,the D-K iteration algorithm was used to solve the seventeen-order controller,and this controller was reduced to fourth-order successfully using the Hankel singular values and dominant-pole procedure.Robustness analysis was performed in term of the controller,results showed that the reduced-orderμcontroller yielded the desired robust stability as well as the robust performance.


Doucet describes mediated images as a data bank of "reality" and how she uses images and language to talk about death. Includes texts from the artist's diptychs and biographical notes.


An attribute reduction method based on fuzzy rough set is applied for the result obtained by PCA method and the recognition process use neural network ensemble. The method avoids losing of information caused by dispersing before rough set attribute reduction. The reduction result can reflect the classification ability of the original information system completely. As a result, the recognition accuracy is improved. Meanwhile, computational complexity is reduced for the genetic algorithm


A subsidized bus transit system was the main feature of a federally funded demonstration project carried out at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. A fleet of 13 buses were used for no-fare service on headways of from 5 to 10 minutes on intracampus circulation routes serving dormitories, commuter parking lots, and housing adjacent to the campus. On the basis of measurements taken and analyses made, it appears that truck noise dominates and tends to mask the effects of large increases in either automobile or bus traffic. It also may be seen that increased bus service, even at a 30:1 utilization rate, tends to increase the L10 noise level. This in turn suggests that while buses may have a negative air pollution environmental impact on a gram per passenger mile basis, they may well have a noise pollution impact in terms of L10 levels. /HRIS/


Botulinum toxin (BTX) is a potent neurotoxin which blocks acetylcholine release from nerve terminals, and therefore leads to cessation of somatic motor and/or parasympathetic transmission. Recently it has been found that BTX also interferes with sensory transmission, thus, the present study was aimed at investigating the neurochemical characterization of substance P-immunoreactive (SP-IR) bladder-projecting sensory neurons (BPSN) after the toxin treatment. Investigated neurons were visualized with retrograde tracing method and their chemical profile was disclosed with double-labelling immunohistochemistry using antibodies against SP, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), galanin (GAL), calbindin (CB), and somatostatin (SOM). In the control group (n = 6), 45% of the total population of BPSN were SP-IR. Nearly half of these neurons co-expressed PACAP or CGRP (45% and 35%, respectively), while co-localization of SP with GAL, nNOS, SOM or CB was found less frequently (3.7%, 1.8%, 1.2%, and 0.7%, respectively). In BTX-treated pigs (n = 6), toxin-injections caused a decrease in the number of SP-IR cells containing CGRP, SOM or CB (16.2%, 0.5%, and 0%, respectively) and a distinct increase in these nerve cells immunopositive to GAL (27.2%). The present study demonstrates that BTX significantly modifies the chemical phenotypes of SP-IR BPSN.


$0 $0$0 $0 Introduction:Advances in determining the structure of GPCRS can be a means of analyzing thedistributions of amino acids in several regions of GPCRs including theintracellular and extracellular tail regions along with the transmembranehelical segments.Materialsand Methods: The periodic distribution of amino acids in the sequence of 28987TM GPCRs extracted from Uniprot has been analyzed with emission matrixprobability values obtained from the hidden Markov model. The method does notinvolve any information about the physicochemical properties of amino acids.The illustrations obtained for six regions including the intra-/extra- cellulartail regions and helical segments showed the distribution of various classes ofamino acids (i.e., aliphatic, hydroxyl or sulfur containing, cyclic, aromatic,basic and acidic and their amide).Results: Theresults showed that the aliphatic class and large hydrophobic amino acids aremostly seen in TM helical segments whereas the aromatic and charged amino acidsare most prevalent in regions other than transmembrane regions. Moreover basicand acidic and their amide amino acids were mostly seen in extra- cellulartail  and intra-/extra- cellular tail regions respectively. The hydroxylclass types were seen mostly in even TM segments and the tail regions. The notableresult was the presence of Arg, His, Lys that is for making cystolic ends of TMhelical segments based on positive inside rule.Conclusion:The results obtained from the emission matrix probability values extracted fromthe Uniprot database strongly confirm the distribution of membrane proteinsthat can be also applied to GPCRs.  $0 $0$0 $0


The kinetics of esterification reaction of polymerized rosin with glycerol catalyzed by solid superacid SO~(2-)_4/TiO_2-SiO_2 was studied.The esterification reaction of polymerized rosin with glycerol was carried out in the conditions of: n_(poymerozed rosin)∶n_(glycerol)=3∶2.5,270(°C),60 min,agitation rate 800 r/min,the diameter of catalyst 150 μm and the amount of catalyst 0.6%.The results showed that excessive glycerol could improve the esterification yield and product quality.The change of the diameter of catalyst and agitation rate could eliminate the effect of internal and external diffusion.The esterification reaction was a second order reaction based on the fracture of acyl and oxygen bond.The kinetic equation was k=(1.39)×10~(-11)e~(-127787/RT),and the process was limited by diffusion controlled interface chemistry.


Because the cost of attracting the fresh customers is much advanced than cost of retaining current and old customers, possession on students' satisfaction has become scorching debate in modern era. Service quality management plays its vital role for this concern. This current research paper aims to highlight the concepts of service quality management dimensions and its effect on students' satisfaction. In this study, the dependent variable was students' satisfaction that measured by the independent variable service quality. The secondary school students of public and private education institutions were the population of this study in Punjab Pakistan. Random sampling approach applied for the delimitation of the population. Sample was 727 students (public 345, private 382). Five point Likert scale used in questionnaire for the collection of data. This study adopted from Parasuraman'S SERVEQUAL dimensions model (1991). The test applied for analysis: Descriptive analysis, Factor analysis, independent sample t-test and Pearson Correlation. The findings of the study show that the quality of the public secondary schools was better as compare to private school. The correlation was resulted between .7 to .8, It shows that there was a significance effect of service quality management on students' satisfaction. The paper provides the guidance for sort out the most effective factors about the customers' satisfaction regarding service quality.  This research study will prove as a stepping-stone for the development of the managerial strategies. It will also helpful for educational leaders, policy makers and head of the department for the development of quality education.


The bicomponent CuO/NiCo2O4 nano-catalyst exhibited highly efficient reactivities towards both the dehydrogenation of ammonia borane and tandem hydrogenation of chloro- or bromo-substituted nitrobenzenes except iodonitrobenzenes.


The results of a field and laboratory investigation of unconsolidated sediments contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons and undergoing natural biodegradation are presented. Fundamental to geophysical investigations of hydrocarbon impacted sediments is the assessment of how microbial degradational processes affect their geoelectrical response. Therefore, the primary goal of this study was to understand how microbially mediated processes in hydrocarbon impacted sediments influence the geoelectrical response of this impacted zone. The field and laboratory results showed higher bulk conductivity in sediments impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons. The impacted sediments also showed increased populations of alkane degrading microbes and elevated dissolved cations (e.g. Ca). The elevated cations in the contaminated sediments relative to uncontaminated sediments suggest enhanced mineral dissolution related to the microbial degradation of the hydrocarbon. Both the laboratory and field data showed the highest bulk conductivities occurring within zones impacted with the free-phase and residual phase hydrocarbon and not within the water saturated zone. A model using a simplified form of Archie's Law suggests highly elevated estimated pore water conductivities within this conductive zone (~4 to 6 times background bulk conductivity) for both the laboratory and field data. The similar results for hydrocarbon contaminated sediments in laboratory experiments and field settings suggest that the mechanism for the high bulk conductivity in the contaminated zone is related to the microbial metabolism of the hydrocarbon and the resulting geochemical alterations within the contaminated zone. This study demonstrates that the higher bulk conductivity measured by geoelectrical methods at hydrocarbon impacted sites may be in part related to the microbial mineralization of the hydrocarbon.


The Pain and the Promise: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Tallahassee, Florida. By Glenda Alice Rabby. (Athens, Ga., and London: University of Georgia Press, c. 1999. Pp. xii, 330. $40.00, ISBN 0-8203-2051-X.) Glenda Alice Rabby's well-written study of the civil rights movement in the capital of the "Sunshine State" challenges V. O. Key's oft-repeated assertion that "Florida is unlike other states of the South ... it occasionally gives a faintly tropical rebel yell, but otherwise it is a world of its own" (p. 1). Tallahassee is just eighteen miles from the state's border with Georgia, and Florida's state capital had a racial caste system as cruel and intransigent as many of its Confederate neighbors. From 1900 to 1930 Florida even had the dubious distinction of being the site of more lynchings per capita than any other southern state. Rabby's account of the freedom struggle in Florida places that state securely within "the annals of civil rights history" (p. 63). Tallahassee blacks launched a successful bus boycott in 1956 and demonstrated that the better-known Montgomery, Alabama, boycott was not an aberration. The boycotts signaled a dramatic shift in race relations and black protest. During the next sixteen years local African Americans, in particular students from the historically black Florida AM for the next several years it used McCarthyite tactics against the NAACP, communists, and homosexuals. This book is a largely successful look at the subject, but some problems remain. Rabby generally eschews the interpretive role of the historian for a more traditional narrative treatment. The inclusion of African American women in the movement is one of the strengths of the book, yet there is little analysis of their participation. Although Rabby makes a passing reference to the activist Stephens family, for example, we are left wondering how and why the Stephens sisters emerged as local leaders. …


Tea is one of the most popular and widely consumed beverages in the world, making it a highly valuable agricultural commodity (1). India is the world's second largest producer of tea behind China, with most production based in the north-eastern states of Assam, West Bengal, and Tripura. Other tea plantations are in Kangra (North India) and Nilgiri (South India). Overall, Indian tea is categorized into three types: Assam (most grown variety), Darjeeling (superior quality and highest market value), and Nilgiri (known for its subtle flavors) (2). Authors Dr. Vinay Jain1, Shuofei Dong2, and Bappaditya Kanrar3 1Agilent Technologies, Manesar, India


The role of basic calponin in vascular smooth muscle contraction continues to be the subject of speculation. Although calponin's inhibition of α‐actin is known to be released with phosphorylation by PKCα, the versatility of this protein lends credence to speculation that calponin may play a larger role in the overall contraction process. Here, we have confirmed calponin's association with key contractile proteins via FRET microscopy. Subsequently, calponin's impact on A7r5 smooth muscle cell contractility was evaluated by altering calponin levels with cytokine treatment prior to stimulation with phorbol‐12, 13‐dibutyrate (PDBu). Transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β1 and platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF)‐BB were used to up‐ and down‐regulate calponin, respectively. Consequently, actin remodeling and therefore cellular contraction was prohibited in A7r5 cells. This insight has provided the basis for proposing a more prominent role of calponin in the vascular smooth muscle contraction process.


AbstractThis paper describes a method for automatic reconstruction of concise polygonal curves from unorganized dense planar points. In reverse engineering, these planar points may be generated by slicing 3D data points and projecting them onto a plane. It is necessary to approximate these points by constructing 2D polygons, while keeping the shape error within a given tolerance. These 2D polygons can be used for fabrication using rapid prototyping processes. With the method outlined in this paper, the curve to fit these data points can be constructed without considering the structure, orientation and topology information of the points. The final 2D polygon obtained possesses the minimum number of points while keeping the shape error within a given tolerance. This is accomplished in several steps: firstly, the planar points are sorted by a tangent-vector based method, which uses a fixed neighbourhood size to estimate the tangent vector of a point. Secondly, the sorted points are decomposed into different ...


The aim of this study was to make sure that there are no health issues for ordinary virgin olive oil (OVOO) category, through a biological study. Twenty-four male Albino rats weighting approximately 200 grams were divided into four groups, each group containing six rats. Group G1 fed on basal diet as a control negative group. The fat was replaced in the other three groups as follow: group G2 fed on basal diet with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), group G3 fed on basal diet with OVOO and group G4 fed on basal diet with olive oil (OO) (mixture of virgin olive oil and refined olive oil). The experimental period was 60 successive days. At the end of the experiment lipid profile, liver functions, kidney functions and the activities of SOD, CAT, GSPx, GSH and MAD levels were determined. Undisputedly, EVOO had the best results in all study. OVOO did not affect negatively on all parameters unlike olive oil (contains refined olive oil) which caused significant increases in TC, LDL, VLDL, TG and MAD levels and also increased ALT, AST, ALP, SOD, CAT GSPx activity whereas HDL and GSH levels were decreased. Moreover, OVOO did not show any histopathological alterations in examined liver sections. .


In order to study the seismic behavior of CFRP-reinforced seismic-damaged joints in composite frame consisting of concrete-filled square steel tubular(CFSST) columns and steel beams,four one half scaled models of exterior joints in composite frame consisting of CFSST columns and steel beams were designed and manufactured.The test consisted of pre-damage loading,rehabilitation with CFRP and destruction tests under lateral cyclic loading.The effectiveness of CFRP-strengthened seismic-damaged joints and the reinforcement effect on different levels of seismic damage were studied.Based on the test data,the hysteretic loops,skeleton curves,the CFRP strain,ductility,dissipative ability,ultimate strength and stiffness degradation,etc.were obtained.Results show that CFRPstrengthened seismic-damaged exterior joints in composite frame consisting of CFSST columns and steel beams meets the strong column-weak beam requirement of seismic design,and the failure modes of all joints are bending failure of beam.The reinforcement with CFRP has a significant on increasing the ultimate capacity and the seismic behaviors of the joints.The study indicates the rehabilitated joints can reach or even exceed the level of their original seismic performances before seismic damage in a certain extent of damage level.


A novel numerical scheme is developed for steady-state, 2-D incompressible Navier-Stokes equations using the nodal integral method (NIM). The NIM-based schemes have been used to solve partial differential equations in different areas of physics and are known to have very high accuracy compared to conventional numerical schemes. The scheme is implemented using a SIMPLE (Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations)-like algorithm for pressure and velocity correction instead of solving the exact pressure Poisson equation. To verify the results, two well-known test problems, the lid-driven cavity and natural convection of air in a square cavity, are chosen. For both cases, results are in good agreement with the benchmark solutions even for quite coarse grids.


The study is devoted to the analysis of the speech genre of the webinar related to the educational field – the field of teaching children and adults. The relevance of the study is due to the lack of genre studies of webinars as such, conducted for educational purposes. The webinar genre is currently a highly demanded speech genre, formed on the basis of the seminar genre, taking into account its use in the Internet space. The objectives of the study were to identify the basic and variable genre features of an educational webinar in terms of its communicative goal, addresser and addressee, the image of the past and the image of the future, dictum (event) content, linguistic embodiment. As a result, a basic model of the speech genre of the webinar was built and the variability of this model was noted. The basic model also includes speech strategies and tactics used in this speech genre; their potential variability is revealed. The scientific novelty of the study lies in a comprehensive analysis of the genre features of the webinar in accordance with the questionnaire of the speech genre, focused on the analysis of the speech genre in the pragmalinguistic aspect. This aspect involves the analysis of the speech genre body of content, their goals and objectives, the social roles of the communicants, their speech expectations and the way they are implemented in the process of communication. It is noted that almost every element of the webinar structure allows for significant variability, which indicates the constant development of this genre, the continuation of the process of its formation. The least variable elements of the webinar speech genre model are the image of the past and the image of the future.


Ordered mesoporous silica with a 3D hexagonal structure was synthesized using mixed cationic CnTMBr(n=12,14,16,18) and amphoteric biological surfactants sodium N-dodecyl glycine(SDG) at a molar ratio of 8∶2.Synthesis proceeded with hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate(TEOS) under acidic conditions,followed by aging in an alkaline medium.The synthesized products were characterized using X-ray diffraction,scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy,and nitrogen sorption analysis.Mesoporous silica with pore diameter of about 9 nm was obtained using C16TMBr or C18TMBr and SDG,as mixed templates.The presence of the amphoteric biological surfactant SDG was responsible for formation of the 3D hexagonal structure.


: The contemporary relations of the Republic of Serbia with the People's Republic of China (hereinafter: Serbia and China) are conditioned by many political, legal, economic and social factors. Although these factors determine the mutual relations between the two countries, in the end, these factors do not limit the great opportunities for developing good and friendly relations imbued with mutual respect and trust. Even more so, in the historical and international legal sense, the relations of the two countries are characterized by the continuity of diplomatic relations established on 2 January 1955 between the then Federal People's Republic Yugoslavia and the People's Republic of China. Serbia as the successor state of SFR Yugoslavia continues to treat China as one of its most important partners in international relations, which is manifested through the foreign policy course, according to which China is one of the main 'pillars' of Serbia's foreign policy alongside the European Union, Russia and the United States. Hence, the mere mention of 'pillars' in Serbia's foreign policy orientation indicates that China is a key player in international politics for Serbia and a great power with which it should build its relations and deepen its friendship in accordance with the already established policy framework on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This approach should come as no surprise since the development of Serbian-Chinese relations at the bilateral and multilateral levels (especially at the UN, regional international organizations and political forums, such as the '17 + 1' cooperation mechanism between China and Central and Eastern European countries) contributes to a better strategic positioning of Serbia and China in the world of global change. competences encompasses the integration of the theory of international relations and its functionalist approach.


Several international agencies have in recent years sought to establish a generally accepted code of behaviour to be observed by countries in formulating their agricultural policies. The objectives and vision of problems stimulating these endeavours have varied. OEEC aimed primarily at coordination of the agricultural policies of participating countries in order to increase efficiency and incomes in agriculture for the region as a whole. GATT and FAO have been primarily concerned with the repercussions of domestic agricultural problems upon the levels and stability of international trade, with the consequences for the terms of trade of primary-exporting countries, especially of those in a less advanced stage of economic development, and with the need to prevent further accumulation of burdensome surpluses of agricultural products. This note reviews the outcome of these efforts, with particular attention to the guiding principles agreed upon at the last FAO Conference. A preliminary appraisal indicates that the principal weakness in the FAO guidelines is the lack of proposals for active review of national policies by an international body.


Background: Hemorrhagic transformation (HT) is a complication of stroke described as cause of early neurologic deterioration. Previous studies are discordant about the real impact of HT on stroke prognosis. Objectives: to describe the impact of HT in patient prognosis. Design and setting: Prospective cohort with acute ischemic stroke patients from a Stroke Unit, admitted between 2017 to 2020. Methods: All patients performed a brain computer tomography (CT) scan on their arrival and 24 hours later. Patients with or without HT were compared regarding functional 90-day outcome using the modified rankin scale (mRS). Functional disability was considered as mRS < 2. Results: 383 patients were included, mean age was 62,2 (±13,8), which 54,3% were male, 80,9% hypertensive, 33,1% diabetics and 27,2% were dyslipidemic. HT occurred in 11,5% patients (n= 44) increasing the risk of poorer functional outcome in discharge [RR= 1,47; (IC95% 1,25–1,72), in 30 days [RR = 1,54; (IC95% 1,01-1,92)], and in 90 days [RR= 1,39; (IC95% 1,01-1,92)]. Multivariate analysis HT was not associated with worse outcome in 90 days (mRS>2) [OR= 1,01; (IC95% 0,44–2,33) p= 0,987], when adjusted to age, sex, NIHSS, ASPECTS, trombolysis and other relevant variables. Conclusion: Although the occurrency of HT had been associated with worse short-term outcomes, patients seems to recover from disability over time.


Probably the most distinctive characteristic of Herpomyces paranensis Thaxter is the slender, flexuous prolongation of the uppermost cell of the primary axis of the female thallus. Thaxter (1902) re? ported that the terminal cell of the male is similarly developed; the irregular arrangement of the cells in his drawing of a male (1908), how? ever, suggested that a misinterpretation of the structure of the thallus might have been made. The mature female thallus consists of 2 series of 3-spined perithecia; each series is joined by a short branch to the primary axis. The broad, straight shield of the initial perithecium of each series covers those of subsequently formed perithecia; consequently, the relationships between the perithecia are obscured. Although Thaxter (1908) was able to observe that the perithecial series seemed to result from continued secondary branching, the exact growth pattern of the thallus was not determined. The manner in which the primary axes and the perithecia develop was not indicated. The female thallus differs in 4 significant ways from that of H. stylopygae Spegazzini. In the latter species, each perithecium is pro? duced by a separate outgrowth from the primary axis; a large, curved shield develops; the perithecium has only one spine; and the primary axis bears the persistent spinous spore apex and 2 lateral black holdfasts (Richards and Smith, 1955b). This study of H. paranensis was made for 2 major reasons: first, to determine the form of the primary axes in both sexes and the branching pattern in the female; and secondly, to discover the extent of the similarity between the development of the perithecium and secondary receptacle in H. paranensis and that in H. stylopygae. It is only through careful studies of thallus structure, combined with a knowledge of the interrelationships between host species, that an understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of the species in the genus Herpomyces will be attained. materials and methods


A somewhat profane travesty of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 in a well-known play by Tom Stoppard draws attention to the way in which context influences interpretation. With Shakespeare, it is common to leapfrog between what scholarly interpretations have said about it and what you think you are reading, with the result that, instead of reading the text, the reader looks for, or imposes a "one-to-one", " this -means- that ", significance which may have little to do with the actual experience of reading itself. This sonnet characteristically subjects emotion and desire to the conventions of the sonnet form, although, once released from its given context, or once seen as text, it begins to signify in different ways, even allowing for a bawdier rendering which the poem itself, through its own connotations and associations, legitimates.


The efficacy of the ultraviolet (UV) reflective plastic mulch Extenday ® for preventing onion thrips (Thrips tabaci) from colonising onions was evaluated. The mulch reflected 35% of incident UV at 250 nm wavelength and 25% of incident UV at 360 nm, while bare soil reflected 11% and 4% UV at these wavelengths, respectively. In a field trial, the total number of thrips at 8 weeks after transplanting was lower with mulch (18.5 thrips/ bulb) than in the control (28.0 thrips/bulb). However, thrips populations were similar for both treatments in subsequent assessments. When onions in seedling trays were placed adjacent to an onion field for 8–18 days during early, mid and late summer, aluminium foil, which reflected UV 250 nm by 43% and UV 360 nm by 35%, and Extenday ® did not reduce


The invention provides a clean production method for acetic acid cracking for preparation of diketene. The method comprises the steps of cracking, condensation, absorption, polymerization, distillation, and residue hydrolysis treatment. The method is characterized in that dilute acetic acid is added in the residue hydrolysis section to obtain acetone, acetic acid and secondary residue; the acetone is for recycling, part of the acetone is mixed with the secondary residue to provide heat for fuel production; and acetic acid is subjected to separation, extraction and concentration and enters the cracking section as a production raw material. The invention has the advantages that by optimizing the process and the circular route, the generated waste gas and residue in the production process are digested and absorbed in the system, so as to realize clean production.


As domestic oil supplies continue to dwindle over the coming decade, California must import nearly 1 million barrels per day of crude in order to meet the demand. The demand for crude oil is forecasted to rise by 20 percent over the next ten years even after accounting for the increased efficiencies of consumption and the rising popularity of alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles. To help meet this demand, independent pipeline and terminal operator Pacific Energy Partners is proposing to construct a Crude Oil Import Terminal on Pier 400 (Berth 408) at the Port of Los Angeles with the capacity to import 250,000 barrels per day. While other papers are focusing specifically on the challenging structural issues associated with this terminal, this paper highlights the broader technical, environmental, and political challenges faced during the course of the project development. As the first marine oil terminal to be constructed in California since 1984, the design criteria and approach to safety and spill prevention paved new ground that will set the standard for future facilities of this type. The terminal design incorporated many state-of-the-art systems and features, exceeding regulatory requirements in many cases, including: Laser-assisted Docking Aid System; Quick Release Mooring Hooks With Integral Load Monitoring and Staged Alarm; Unloading Arms With Quick Connect/Disconnect Couplers; Real-time Environmental and Seismic Sensor Monitoring; Gangway Tower With Integral Position Monitoring and Staged Alarm; Redundant Fire Protection System; Distillate Fuel Loading System to Tankers For Cleaner Emissions; Emergency Shutdown System; and Systems Integration For Effective Operator Control. In addition, several state-of-the-art analyses performed during the course of the planning and design phase of the project are discussed herein, including: Berth Availability Due to Wind and Wave Conditions; Passing Vessel Motion Analyses; Tsunami Hazard Analysis; Seismic Structural Analysis Per New MOTEMS Requirements; and Structural and Piping Stress Analysis. Lastly, the design of the terminal involved many challenges, some of which are unique to the modern permitting environment in California. The challenges and hurdles discussed herein include: Regulatory and Permitting Hurdles; Political Challenges; and Alternative Marine Power Challenges. This facility incorporates all the requirements of the new Marine Oil Terminal Engineering and Maintenance Standards (MOTEMS) that were recently promulgated by the California State Lands Commission, Marine Facilities Division. These new standards address structural and geotechnical seismic analysis and design, berthing and mooring system design, electrical and mechanical systems design, pipeline design and fire detection, prevention, and suppression design. The features and systems incorporated into the terminal design, and the rigorous analyses conducted to understand and justify the design, culminate in the most modern marine oil terminal ever to be constructed in the United States that should ensure the safe and environmentally conscious oil supply to the state of California over the coming decades.


Fuerst and Kirkegaard (this issue) have done a Herculean job in generating data on the relationships existing between European ancestry and complex cognitive ability (CCA) - the construct measured by IQ scores and/or student achievements in math, reading, and/or science (Rindermann, 2007) - simultaneously considering infectious diseases, socioeconomic outcomes, and other variables in several American countries. Their analytic approach is rigorous and includes lasso regression. But their findings contradict the results of a ministudy of 11 large American countries in which both European ancestry and absolute latitude determined national PISA scores; in that study, whereas the cognitive effects of absolute latitude remained significant when European ancestry was controlled, those of ancestry lost significance when absolute latitude was controlled (Leon, 2015b). Hence, rather than commenting their valuable paper, I decided to resolve the empirical issue by generating new evidence at a higher level of analysis. Neither the study by Leon (2015b) of 11 countries nor the Fuerst and Kirkegaard study of USA state data distinguished between exogenous and endogenous variables. I decided to use fully saturated path models entailing two exogenous and three endogenous variables and targeted US states because in this country latitude has been found to correlate with CCA (Kanazawa, 2006; Leon, 2015a; McDaniel, 2006a, 2006b; Pesta & Posnanski, 2014; Ryan, Bartels, & Townsend, 2010) and other relevant variables, such as infectious diseases (Eppig, Fincher, & Thornhill, 2011), income per capita (Ram, 1999), as well as the seroprevalence of infectious diseases (McQuillan et al., 2004) and georesidential pattern of Whites vis-a-vis African Americans and Hispanics (U.S. Census, 2010). Whereas the percentage of Whites is higher in the northern than southern United States, these minorities are more demographically important in the southern U.S.I calculated the percentage of Whites in each of the 48 contiguous U.S. states using data from the U.S. Census (2010), which uses self-identification. Other important categories are African American, Hispanic, Native American, East Asian, and Pacific Islander. The latitude of each capital city was obtained from the World Atlas (2015). Math and reading scores from male and female publicschool students in 4thand 8thgrade are from the most recent report of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, corresponding to 2013 (NAEP, 2015). Data on income per capita came from the U.S. Department of Commerce (2015). Finally, I incorporated measurements of prevalence of infectious diseases per state from a standardized Parasite Stress USA index encompassing cholera, measles, meningitis, pertussis, rubella, tetanus, and tuberculosis in 1993-2007 (Eppig, Fincher & Thornhill, 2011; Fincher & Thornhill, 2012). I did not include more variables to avoid problems of multicollinearity with a small number of observations.Percent White is treated as an exogenous variable in the path analyses because the causes of its distribution in the U.S. territory are historical and unrelated to the other variables in the path models; the earliest English immigrants settled in the U.S. northeast in the 16th century because it was close to England, and then moved south and west; they were followed by immigration from Africa into the rural South because slaves were needed in the cotton plantations, while Hispanics came later, mainly from Mexico and Cuba into the southern U.S. because they came from places south of the U.S.In all figures, I use+ p≤ .10, * p ≤ .05, **p ≤ .01, and ***p ≤ .001. The results shown in Figure 1 reveal that CCA is influenced only by latitude, whereas income is determined positively by CCA and negatively by Percent White. The latter finding can be understood considering that the White population is most prevalent in the U.S. northwest and north-midwest, that is, states with low population density and scarce natural resources (see Fig. …


In recent years, the scale and pace of urban change have been associated with fine-scale fragmentation of the lifestyles of urban populations. One manifestation of this is that households of diverse means and circumstances may be found living in proximity to one another, particularly in urban areas. In this paper we argue that in these changed circumstances conventional deprivation indicators fail adequately to detect within and between small area variations in socioeconomic and environmental conditions. Using a case study of Bristol, England, we develop an analysis around Gordon and Forrest's Breadline Britain indicator in order to reveal the diversity of economic conditions that exist within wards that might be labelled as either affluent or deprived. We argue that adequate representation of diversity requires a greater sensitivity to difference at fine scales. In this context, we begin to evaluate the claims of marketeers who use commercial sources of data to model incomes at unit postcode and even household scales. We undertake an evaluation of such data and extend their application to calculation of Breadline Britain index scores. The results suggest some potential for using unconventional sources of data to 'freshen up' census information and provide direct, meaningful, measures of deprivation.


A method for forming a sense amplifier of a semiconductor device is provided to prevent step difference of an interlayer dielectric and bridge of a bit line by using a mask pattern having a hole-type opening part. A P+ pick-up(350b) and an N+ pick-up(360b) of bar type are formed in a substrate(300) between an NMOS and a PMOS. An insulating layer between the P+ pick-up and the N+ pick-up is formed to make bridge with the other insulating layer located between the NMOS or the PMOS and the pick-up. An interlayer dielectric is formed on the resultant structure. Contact holes are formed to expose a junction region(350a) of the NMOS, a junction region(360a) of the PMOS, and a gate(340) of the pick-up by etching the interlayer dielectric. A mask pattern(M3') with a hole-type opening part is formed to selectively expose the junction region of the PMOS and the P+ pick-up. P-type impurities are implanted to the exposed region. After the mask pattern is eliminated, the resultant structure is cleaned. A bit line is then filled in the contact holes.


This study sheds ample light on the various tropes used by Cameroonian writers in an attempt to imprint their fictional writing with the thought patterns and modes of speech of Cameroonians. Cameroonian Francophone writers appropriate the French language by having recourse to rhetorical devices and tropes that transgress the canons of standard French. The reason for resorting to linguistic indigenization goes beyond the mere urge to jettison the writing canons imposed on them by colonial masters.


Preface: Kabelitz, D. Schroder, J.M. Antimicrobial Peptides: Basic Features and Clinical Relevance Antimicrobial Peptides in Drosophila: Structures, Activities and Gene Regulation: Imler, J.-L. Bulet, P. Antimicrobial Peptides in Human Skin: Harder, J. Schroder, J.M. Human Defensins in Crohn's Disease: A Molecular Link to Mucosal Barrier Dysfunction: Wehkamp, J. Fellermann, K. Stange, E.F. Antimicrobial Peptides in Lung Inflammation: Beisswenger, C. Bals, R. Reciprocal Interactions of Host Cells and Microbes Bacterial Evasion of Innate Defense at Epithelial Linings: Hornef, M.W. Normark, S. Henriques-Normark, B. Rhen, M. Recognition of Bacterial Products by Toll-Like Receptors: Helne, H. Ulmer, A.J. TLR Signalling and the Function of Dendritic Cells: Hemml, H. Akira, S. Contribution of T Cells to Epithelial Defense Immunosurveillance by [gamma][delta] T Cells: Focus on the Murine System: Girardi, M. Hayday, A.C. [gamma][delta] T Cells Link Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses: Focus on Human V[gamma]9/V[delta]2 and V[delta]1 T Cells: Holtmeier, W. Kabelitz, D. Author Index Subject Index.


Some fundamental explanatory elements of credit in Brazil in the colonial period started to be generated more than one century ago. Th e most recurrent explanation is linked to the idea of the scarce money supply until 1808, when a set of measures were put in practice to fulfi ll such cash demand in the country. Th e most prominent of these measures was the creation of Banco do Brasil, on October 12 th , 1808. Th e aim of the present article is to discuss the recent historiography of credit in Brazil between the 17 th and the 18 th centuries, with emphasis on its association with money supply. Moreover, it refutes the premises of money shortage and of search for credit resulting from it. A detailed examina-tion of sources extrapolated the scope of the current article, since it is a historiographical review; however, it emphasized the need of broadening studies based on so far unexplored documents, as well as of deepening the analyses about legal instruments to protect credit operations.


For the purpose of predicting the environment encountered by hypersonic, ablating vehicles employing non-charring thermal protection systems, the coupling of a NavierStokes solver to both a material response code and finite-rate surface chemistry code is described. The Navier-Stokes solver used in this study is LeMANS, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics code used to simulate hypersonic flow fields including gasphase nonequilibrium thermochemistry. The material response solver used in this study is MOPAR, an implementation of the one-dimensional control-volume finite-element method for modeling heat conduction and pyrolysis gas behavior. The finite-rate surface chemistry code used in this study is a generalized framework that allows for any number of several types of surface reactions, such as adsorption/desorption, Eley-Rideal recombination, Langmuir-Hinshelwood recombination, oxidation/reduction, and sublimation/condensation to be considered. The test case used in this study is the nosetip of the IRV-2 vehicle, which employed a thermal protection system composed of non-charring carbon. A detailed discussion is given of the strategies used to couple the flow field solver, the surface chemistry solver, and the material response solver. The results produced using two finite-rate surface chemistry models are compared to previous results produced using the assumption of chemical equilibrium at the surface of the vehicle for a number of trajectory points of the IRV-2 vehicle.


The Candida species causing the common infection in human.
This species can often be confused owing to similarities of their
morphological, biochemical and physiological properties. The
purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of Corn Meal
Agar, Chromogenic Medium and API ID 32C in identification of
Candida Species. 129 Candida strains were isolated from various
clinical specimens. Candida species were identified a total of 10
and, C. albicans was determined as the most common species.
C.dubliniensis rates were strikingly higher. While identification
of all species was done with the API system, 9 species other than
C.colliculosa were determined by Corn Meal Agar. However, only C.
albicans, C.tropicalis, C.dubliniensis and C.krusei were identified
by chromogenic agar medium. Conventional methods, such as Corn
Meal Agar and semi-automated systems, such as API, can be used as
a identification method in basement laboratory. But, the chromogenic
media may be only an additional diagnostic method, because it has
uncertainties and variable performance


Because receives the global finance profession crisis the influence,the auto market also presents the irregular condition in each place sales situation,China took in the whole world auto market does not fall an example which instead rises also to attract the multitudinous international automobile brand manufacturer to come China to pan for gold in abundance.How obtained the potential consumer's favorable impression in the plane advertisement design also to become various manufacturers to carry on sales the opportunity.This article mainly aims at the design form which the present each high,middle and low end automobile brand in the plane advertisement dissemination uses to carry on the comparison classification,explores each section automobile the main selling point in the advertisement dissemination effect,by the time to the future automobile plane advertisement design work proposed suggested effectively.


This paper provides an introduction to the description of information systems using formal, mathematical specifications written in the Z notation, and to the refinement of these specifications into rigorously checked designs. The first part introduces the idea of a formal specification using a simple example: that of a 'birthday book' in which people's birthdays can be recorded, and which is able to issue reminders on the appropriate day. The behaviour of this system for correct input is specified first; then the schema calculus is used to strengthen the specification into one requiring error reports for incorrect input. The second part of the paper introduces the idea of data refinement as the primary means of constructing designs which achieve a formal specification. Refinement is presented through the medium of two examples: the first is a direct implementation of the birthday book from part one; and the second is a simple checkpoint facility, which allows the current state of a database to be saved and later restored. A Pascal-like programming language is used to show the code for some of the operations in the examples.


One of the main limiting factors for exploration in marine environment is the ghost reflections. Regardless of the "designed" source signature, the presence of air/water contact introduces "ghost" reflections, which attenuate certain frequencies and distort the designed source signature. Ghost reflections exhibit themselves as notches in the frequency domain and are responsible for attenuating the low frequency component of the spectrum. We demonstrate the applicability of a ghost removal method and its impact on resolution on various acquisition configurations, including over/under, slanted and traditional streamer seismic data. We will demonstrate the impact of deghosting on signal analysis and imaging steps.


The aim of the study was to determine the effects of time and temperature during the pre-treatment in hot water semi-products obtained from potatoes. This treatment results in leaching of reducing sugars and influences on the texture of fried potato products. Studies were carried out on samples of potatoes in the form of slices (having a diameter of 57 mm and a thickness of 4 mm) and sticks having a cross section of 10×10 mm and a length of 100 mm.The semi-products formed had a comparable weight of ca. 10 g. Prepared semi-product were immersed in demineralised water at temperature 20C, 30oC, 40oC. The immersion time was 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min. Ater 10 minutes from frying ended, the products were subjected to loads in which unit cutting resistance values were measured (N:mm-1), which served as the texture indicators. The product shape, temperature of water for washing sugars and treatment time are statistically significant for product texture. Lower texture values are found in the slices. The sample tested significantly differs, in unit cutting resistance values, from other samples subjected to washing ope1ration. Correspondence: Bogusława Łapczyńska-Kordon, Katedra Inżynierii Mechanicznej i Agrofizyki, Wydział Inżynierii Produkcji i Energetyki, Uniwersytet Rolniczy im. Hugona Kołłątaja, ul. Balicka 120, 30-149 Kraków, phone: 12 662 46 42, e-mail: email@example.com


Investigation of survivability of key gas and other communications devices in the event of a major fire or explosion in underground coal mine.


We have experimentally confirmed an improvement of Q-value by mitigating the skin effect in an RF coaxial cavity. This was achieved by putting an insulated conductor foil on the lengthwise portion of the inner conductor of the cavity with the foil's end region raised by additinal spacer. By properly selecting the geometry and material of the layers, the Q-value at the 150 MHz resonance of the cavity was improved by 10%. The data have shown good agreement with the 2-dimensional simulation results.


BACKGROUND
Grip strength has prognostic value for aging-related health outcomes. Whether the associations of grip strength with risk of dementia and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) vary by genetic risk of AD and related dementias (ADD) is unknown.

METHODS
This study included 148,659 older adults of white British ancestry (aged ≥60 years) participating in UK Biobank with no dementia, self-reported poor health status at baseline. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for ADD were calculated based on 64 genetic variants. Grip strength was measured by hand dynamometers.

RESULTS
The hazard ratios (HR) of dementia (n=4,963) and AD (n=2,373) for high genetic risk of ADD were 2.36 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.15-2.59) and 3.00 (95% CI: 2.61-3.44), respectively, compared with low genetic risk. Compared with the bottom tertile of grip strength, the top tertile of grip strength had a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.69 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.64-0.74) for incident dementia, and 0.74 (95% CI: 0.66-0.82) for incident AD, after adjustment for confounders and PRS for ADD. Risk of dementia and AD was lower with the top grip strength tertile within each level of genetic susceptibility to ADD. There was no evidence of multiplicative interaction between grip strength and genetic susceptibility to ADD for both dementia (p-value: 0.241) and AD (p-value: 0.314).

CONCLUSION
Older adults with higher PRS for ADD are at higher risk of developing dementia and AD. Risk of dementia and AD was lower in individuals with higher grip strength, regardless of their level of genetic susceptibility to ADD.


Abstract The P-T equilibrium curve of the reaction of magnesite + enstatite = forsterite and CO2 was determined in the ranges 6-25 kbar and 700-1100 °C by 53 reversed experiments carried out in 1.91 cm diameter piston-cylinder apparatus with NaCl pressure medium. Silver oxalate was used as a CO2 source and charges were buffered at hematite-magnetite oxygen fugacity. Reaction progress was monitored by weight changes upon puncturing of CO2-inflated quenched charge capsules and was confirmed by comparing X-ray diffractograms of charges made before and after the experiments. The data satisfy the relation: PEQ = -3.215 - 4.784 × 10-3 T + 2.542 × 10-5 T2 with P in kbar and T in °C. A P-T curve calculated with the 1994 version 2.3 THERMOCALC program agrees well with our results except in the highest pressure range. Our data, together with three existing tight experimental brackets on the decarbonation reaction of magnesite to periclase and CO2, give ΔH0f (298 K) (forsterite) = -61.20 ± 0.87 kJ/mol from the oxides. This value is in 0f agreement with the value adopted by Berman (1988). An analysis of various proposed equations of state for CO2 shows that only those of Mäder and Berman (1991) and Frost and Wood (1997) meet the constraints imposed by this study near 1000 °C and 10-20 kbar. The modified Redlich-Kwong (MRK)-based equations of state overestimate CO2 fugacity in this pressure range.


A modified analytical method of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) has been employed for the determination of linear alkylbenzene sulphonates (LAS) in river water. Following this technique, the results obtained for LAS in several points of Tajo river are shown, and a comparison with total anionic surfactant level is made


The data-link layer takes charge of reliable inter-node communication in open systems interconnection (OSI) reference model. Generally, in the environment of wireless sensor network (WSN) where errors are frequently occurred, the forward error correction (FEC) method is mainly used at this data-link layer. However, the FEC method requires more amount of energy consumption as it has higher ability of error correction rate, thus reducing the network lifetime seriously. Meanwhile, as the energy is regularly recharged in the solar-powered WSN (in contrast with the battery-based WSN), a greater amount of energy than that required for fundamental operation of nodes might exist in the node. By utilizing this surplus energy efficiently, the proposed energy-aware FEC method can reduce the data loss rate without any decrement of network lifetime. This method uses a trade-off relationship between the energy and data loss rate by adjusting the parity length in the FEC method according to a state of energy in each node. The performance of the proposed scheme is verified through the simulation.


The large number of "false" targets, which are commonly faced by the aviators in real battlefields, will deteriorate the efficiency and initiative of the campaign. To detect and remove these "false" targets, a novel tracking simulation system is presented in this paper. As the key part of a multi-sensor information fusion simulation system, this tracking simulation sub-system consists of tracking pre-processing, tracking association, tracking fusion and tracking management modules. In the tracking association module, a multi-factors fuzzy synthetic evaluation (MFFSE) approach is adopted, and decision is made through common factors extraction, fuzzy synthetic function selection, fuzzy evaluation set construction and similarity construction. The architecture of the system, the process of information processing process, as well as design and implementation of algorithm are discussed in detail. Simulations are also performed, and it is verified that the multi-factors fuzzy synthetic evaluation based track-association method can remove the "false" targets effectively and improve the quality of object tracking significantly. Besides, the distributed multi-sensor information fusion simulation system presented here can act as a universal verification platform for different track association algorithm evaluation.


Hydroxyapatite deposition disease (HADD), or calcific tendinosis, is a common cause of atraumatic pain. Radiologists can be of great diagnostic assistance using imaging and clinical data to decipher HADD from other similar presenting pathologies such as infection, gout, trauma, and tumor. The radiologist should be aware of the various diagnostic imaging pitfalls and mimics of calcific tendinosis so that they may prevent further unnecessary workup and invasive procedures. In addition, radiologists should understand the role of percutaneous image-guided interventions as treatment options for HADD. The radiologist's understanding of the clinical presentation, imaging features, and treatment options of HADD will improve diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes.


AbstractPreoperative evaluation of the curability of gastric and cardia cancer is important to avoid risks of unnecessary surgery. Our previous study has reported several clinical parameters associated with incurable gastric surgery. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the correlation between CA125 and the curability of gastric and cardia cancer.A total of 297 cases of gastric and cardia cancer were analyzed retrospectively, including 153 cases with radical surgery and 144 with surgery for incurable gastric or cardia cancer. &khgr;2 test was performed to analyze the associations between curability or incurable factors and clinicopathological data, including CA125 value. ROC curves were generated, and cutoff points for curability, T status, N status, peritoneal metastasis, and distant metastasis were found, respectively. Binary logistic regression was performed to verify the associations between dependent variables (curability, T status, N status, peritoneal metastasis, and distant metastasis) and covariates (related clinicopathological data from step 1 and cutoff points from step 2).Esophageal involvement, T grade, and CA125 were risk factors of curability. T grade and Borrmann type were risk factors of T status. T grade and CA125 were risk factors of N status. Age, esophageal involvement, T grade, and CA125 were risk factors of peritoneal metastasis. CA125 was risk factor of distant metastasis.CA125 is a potential biological marker for curability prediction of gastric and cardia cancer.


The objective of the present paper is to assess health-related quality of life (HQOL) of oncological patients. The treatment of cancer and of other invalidating and chronic pathologies cannot neglect the patients' personal dimensions, let alone the uncertainty surrounding therapies and their effectiveness. Simultaneous consideration of all these factors makes it possible to identify the patients' needs concerning their hospital experience, together with self-perceived health status, and to isolate crucial factors that improve patients' satisfaction. For this purpose, health related quality of life (HQOL) was measured through the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the EuroQOL-5D questionnaire for the sample of 600 cancer patients who live in two countries (300 in Italy and 306 in Bulgaria). Another validated scale employed in the research explored uncertainty through the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale – MUIS, while other aspects related to cancer were measured through a tool developed by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). In the estimated Tobit model, a dummy variable was included among the regressors to control for the place of residence. The econometric analysis highlighted the need to account for relational and uncertainty-in-illness factors in the management of oncological diseases. Since both national sub-groups were not representative of the whole sample, we re-ran the same analysis for colorectal cancer, i.e., the most frequent type of cancer in Italy and Bulgaria both. The results of this second model only partially confirmed the main regression results, while the national effect lost its statistical significance. This suggests that the nature of the face-to-face relationships and the type of cancer under consideration matter more than the national institutional setting in providing a person-centered care.


Background: The Brucellosis is recognized as a significant public health problem, with major economic and financial burdens in countries where the disease remains endemic. The disease is one of the most important worldwide zoonosis affecting livestock and humans. The aim of the present study was to genotypically characterize Brucella strains isolated from human and animal samples in two provinces of Iran. Methods: Twenty seven Brucella strains isolated from patients and animals during April 2015 - December 2016. Thirteen human and fourteen animal strains were identified by biochemical tests and confirmed by amplification of fragment 1100bp omp2a gene using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method. Isolates were genotypically characterized by XbaI digestion and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) technique. Results: In PFGE analysis totally, 7 common clones and 3 single clones were obtained. In genotyping, in two clones/clusters, human isolates were grouped with genotypes from animal isolates. Also PFGE results indicated 21 Brucella strains an overall similarity higher than 90, and three clusters based on 100 similarity were revealed. Conclusion: According to dendrogram clinical strains had a high degree of homology compared to animal strains. The information of this study indicating a close genetic relatedness or common origin of the isolates in the two geographical region of Iran and it implies that B. melitensis cross-infected between human and livestock.


Russell, Peter H. and Lorne Sossin, eds. 2009. Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN: 978-1-4426-1014-9. Paperback: 24.95 CAD. Pages: 201.

Topp, Brian. 2010. How We Almost Gave the Tories the Boot: The Inside Story Behind the Coalition. Toronto: Lorimer. ISBN: 978-1-55277-502-8. Paperback: 24.95 CAD. Pages: 192.


This paper provides a review of assessing the accessibility to recreational facilities owing to the fact of a theory that services are high in demand but few in supply. An integrated qualitative method was employed in this research, using the Geometrical Data Analysis and Point Mode which identified and map out the various recreational activity areas. It touches on the concept and policy as it affects recreational facility provision. The challenges range from distance to a recreational facility, high cost of transportation to a recreational facility area, and inadequate recreational facility as it relates to population threshold. It further discusses the random distribution as it affects the different sectors. Based on the problems mentioned, suggestions were offered to achieve equity in distribution, appropriateness and proper location of the recreational facilities. Thus, the need to make provision of recreational facilities achievable according to the laid down policies and strategies to areas of disadvantage, which invariably connotes easy reach and enhances the development of a friendly city.


In the present paper the micellization effect on the }-radiolysis of TEMPO in aqueous solutions was studied. The decomposition yield G (-TEMPO) in CTAB micellar systems deaerated or saturated with N20 was found equal to 1.8 and 2.8, respectively. Comparison of these values with the corresponding values 3.2 and 0, obtained in homogeneous aqueous solutions, leads to the conclusion that TEMPO is solubilized close to the surface of the micelles so that partial hydration of nitroxyl is allowed. Furthermore, results of irradiation in the presence of CTAB in concentrations lower than that of the critical micelle concentration are consistent with


This work presents a preliminary design of a two-stage vacuum evaporation process converting a diluted liquid digestate into concentrated liquid fertilizers. Digestate is produced in a 1 MW biogas plant during the anaerobic digestion of poultry manure and corn silage. Laboratory experiments showed that in the first evaporation stage, about three-quarters of input digestate can be stripped to a diluted ammonia solution, while the concentrate can be used as phosphorus-potassium PK-fertilizer. After neutralization with H2SO4, the ammonium sulphate solution is concentrated in the second evaporation stage. Feasible operating temperatures that allow heat integration between the two stages were determined in a laboratory environment at 40 oC for the first stage and 60 oC for the second. A preliminary process flow sheet was simulated in Aspen Plus to obtain data for heat integration and optimization of industrial-scale processes. The process was completely integrated by using the waste hot utility available at the site, while the external utilities demand was virtually zero. Optimizing the flow rate of the added sulphuric acid improved overall economic performance. The optimization and heat integration of the two-stage vacuum evaporation process within a biogas plant resulted in a circular and economically viable waste management technology.


The invention relates to an automatic automobile body-in-white welding spot division method based on sphere interference. The method includes the following steps that firstly, a board tree structure is established according to a welding sequence; secondly, level marking is conducted on joints of a board structure tree; thirdly, a welding spot sphere is established with each welding spot as the center; fourthly, interference calculation is conducted on the welding spot balls and boards, and an interference board set is acquired; fifthly, according to the interference number and the welding layer number, welding spots are divided according to a certain division principle, and the welding spots are divided into the corresponding board assembly joints.


Magnetic susceptibilities and electronic specific heat are calculated for bcc iron in the band model by making use of the calculated density of states by Connolly. From the observed temperature variation of the magnetization, the dependence on the magnetization of exchange energy is estimated. Electrical resistance, thermal conductivity and thermoelectric power are also calculated for paramagnetic bcc iron in a simple model of Fermi surfaces by averaging electron-phonon interactions over Fermi surfaces. It is shown that the observed temperature variations of susceptibility, electrical resistance and thermoelectric power in the paramagnetic state and of specific heat can be explained by our calculated results in the simple band model.


subsequent expansion of that Church elsewhere in Nigeria as well as in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ghana, and even ' overseas' (i.e. in London). Vol. n proceeds to a description and a careful theological analysis of the doctrine, organization, and mode of worship of the Church of the Lord. The approach throughout is in the tradition of Sundkler: it is that of a Christian theologian, but a theologian well aware of the sociological aspects of his subject, as well as wide and charitable in his sympathies towards any sincere effort to reinterpret Christianity in terms of West African needs. Indeed, Dr. Turner seems at times almost overanxious to give Aladura doctrine and worship the benefit of any possible doubt; as for instance in the use of ritual symbols which might well be susceptible of a magical interpretation. He arrives at the conclusion that the Church of the Lord satisfies the definition of a Christian church, despite a somewhat weakened doctrinal emphasis on Christ in comparison with the other two Persons of the Trinity ; and pays tribute not only to its essential rationality and endeavour to control excessive emotionalism in its congregation, but also to its considerable liturgical inventiveness. Dr. Turner is particularly illuminating in his discussion of the Mount Taborar ritual and of the use of ' holy words ' as devices for the expression of a sense of the numinous ; he points out that the Western churches make a comparable use, not only of the ' specialized ' because antiquated language of Bible and services, but also of architectural features and the ' dim religious light' of stained glass. As regards the discussion of non-verbal symbols, especially the central Aladura symbol of consecrated water, it seems a pity that Dr. Turner has made no use of his namesake, V. W. Turner's, later work on the ' fan ' or ' penumbra ' of meanings that may attach to a polysemous symbol of this kind.


Abstract Using torsion tests, the no-recrystallisation temperature Tnr was determined for two cooling rates in a Nb-V-Ti microalloyed steel. The same tests made it possible to deduce the Ar3 phase transformation temperature. When Tnr is known, it is possible to establish approximately the conditions for which the strip rolling or plate rolling of this steel must be performed to obtain the appropriate microstructure. With the aid of a recrystallisation model and the results obtained in other work, a discussion is made of the concept of Tnr the conclusion being that it represents the temperature above which the fraction recrystallised between consecutive passes reaches a value close to 50% and not 100%. This parameter, and the value of Ar3, can be determined at minimal cost and in a relatively short time. Both economic and time aspects are of interest to any steel manufacturer producing hot rolled microalloyed steels.


On the basis of studying the contact-rubbing vibration behavior of a rotating machine rotor an axial locating method for a rotor contact-rubbing point was explored,and a vibration vector analysis-based axial locating method for a contact-rubbing fault put forward.The results of the study indicate that the contact-rubbing of a rotating shaft surface with some portion of a stator will lead to a temporary thermal bending of the rotor,thus giving rise to a change in non-equilibrium state of the rotor.This change can be reflected through a change in vibration vector at the two ends of the rotor.By utilizing the variation relation of the vibration vector at the two ends of the rotor it is possible to ascertain the axial location of the contact-rubbing point at the rotor surface.The analysis of a practical usage case has shown that the method of locating the contact-rubbing fault of a rotating machine as proposed by the authors possesses adequate precision.


undertones as well as overtones.) Various Food and Drug and Therapeutic Substances Acts have done much to ensure the purity and strength of medicines. Cancer and Venereal Diseases Acts and the Pharmacy and Medicines Act prevent charlatans from deluding the public by advertising quack nostrums for the treatment of serious diseases, and Poisons Regulations and Dangerous Drugs Acts prevent the counter sale of certain medicines without


Ashland Synthetic Fuels, Inc. conducted an intensive industrial hygiene monitoring program to identify and characterize H-Coal Pilot Plant worker exposures to aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxides, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. Area and personnel samples were utilized, with emphasis on personnel samples collected on operations and maintenance workers grouped into 14 functional job categories. Generally, the industrial hygiene effort indicated that the worker exposure levels were typically well below threshold limit values, and that those job activities where threshold limit value excursions occurred could be readily controlled through engineering or personal protection methods to reduce worker exposures to the above mentioned air contaminants. However, the average exposure to one contaminant, coal tar pitch volatiles, slightly exceeded the threshold limit value. Process sample technicians, pipefitters, and boilermakers consistently showed higher mean and peak exposures than workers in other job categories. The categories with consistent low relative exposures included tank farm operators, wastewater operators, and laboratory technicians. A vent condenser was found to substantially reduce emissions of benzene, toluene, xylene and hexane from a hot oil storage tank vent. Improvements in air cleaning devices for flaking units are recommended for future operations at pilot or commercial coal liquefaction facilities.


Achieving social security system's universal coverage in 2020 is one of the targets of "Xiao-kang Society." Currently, the main coverage gap exists in the rural areas. This article assesses China's rural social old age insurance plan by the indicator of coverage rate. The results suggest that this plan just covers 4.6% of the rural residents aged 60 or over and 10% of rural workers. The policy results of Rural Social Old Age Insurance Plan implies that this model is just appropriate in some affluent areas, while never a feasible way to achieve universal coverage as proclaimed by Chinese government. As demonstrated by six constraining conditions, the universal rural public pension system must include a part of non-contributory pension plan. Based on the current policy and experience from other developing countries, this article proposes fours policy suggestions for China's rural public pension system.


Steven has extensive technical, operational, process and physical metallurgy experience in steelmaking, clean steel technology, thick and thin slab casting and hot rolling of plate, sheet and long products. He has published over 125 papers in process and physical metallurgical research and development and is a peer reviewer for the industry. Steve holds one patent and received numerous metallurgical awards, including the Charles Hatchett Award, and is a member of various metallurgical organizations (AISTech, ASM, ASME, ASCE and ASTM and chaired various committees.) With over 30 years of experience in the steel industry, Steven's expertise is extensive with technical, operational and business-related expertise with a deep commitment to the integration of metallurgical/materials science engineering and environmental considerations that impact both the production process as well as the research engineering. For example, he was granted the Charles Hatchett Award presented at the Royal Society of London (chosen as the best global niobium -related metallurgical paper on the topic of windtowers in 2012 entitled "Evaluation of Low and Medium Carbon Nb-Microalloyed Plate Steels for Wind Tower Applications."


The existing pump-stopping pressure drop models for the hydraulic fracturing operation of tight oil reservoirs only consider the main hydraulic fracture and the single-phase flow of fracturing fluid. In this paper, a new pump-stopping pressure drop model for fracturing operation based on coupling calculation of the secondary fracture and oil-water two-phase flow is proposed. The physical model includes the horizontal wellbore, the fracture network and the tight oil reservoir. Through the numerical simulation and calculation, the wellbore afterflow performance, the crossflow performance between the main hydraulic fracture and the secondary fracture, the fracturing fluid leakoff and the oil-water replacement after termination of pumping are obtained. The pressure drop characteristic curve is drawn out by the bottom-hole flow pressure calculated through the numerical simulation, and a series of analyses are carried out on the calculated pressure drop curve, which is helpful to diagnose the -oil-water two-phase flow state and the fracture closure performance under the control of the fracture network after hydraulic fracturing pumping. Finally, taking a multi-stage fractured horizontal well in a tight oil reservoir in the Junggar basin, China as an example, the pump-stopping pressure drop data of each stage after hydraulic fracturing are analyzed. Through the history fitting of the pressure drop characteristic curve, the key parameters such as fracture network parameters, which include the half-length of main hydraulic fracture, the conductivity of main hydraulic fracture and the density of secondary fracture, the fracture closure pressure are obtained by inversion, thus, the hydraulic fracturing effect of fractured horizontal well in tight oil reservoirs is further quantified.


Mobile access to point-of-care reference tools, drug information resources, journals, e-books and other knowledge resources is an attractive feature to offer to busy health care professionals. In 2012, Library Services at Capital Health (now Nova Scotia Health Authority, Central Zone) began actively promoting mobile access to resources including BMJ BestPractice, Micromedex App Suite, ClinicalKey and Isabel through an online resource guide and training events. Capital Health was one of nine former health authorities in the province of Nova Scotia, covering services in Halifax, Dartmouth, Eastern Shore, and West Hants (NS Government, 2015). Halifax and Dartmouth are urban areas in the most populous part of Nova Scotia, and home to the main tertiary care facilities in the province, including hospital sites specializing in Rehabilitation (Halifax) and Mental Health and Addictions (Dartmouth). Both Halifax and Dartmouth have physical library locations. With awareness and promotion of mobile resource access on the rise, Library Services received a request in June 2015 from a clinical nurse educator at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation and Arthritis Centre (NSRAC) in Halifax to assist with a grant-funded project to make three iPads available for staff and patient use, including installation of health-related and other mobile applications (apps). Just as health care staff are interested in resources available on mobile platforms, patients are also attracted to mobile devices to occupy time while in hospital, to connect with family and friends, or to look up trusted health information. The setup and lessons learned from working with NSRAC were used to inform a second collaboration starting in July 2015 with the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia (MHFNS), based at the Nova Scotia Hospital site in Dartmouth. MHFNS had dedicated funds to the purchase of a group of iPad minis and wanted to make them available for patient use on-site. Literature on mobile device setup, lending processes, and app support in health libraries (both hospital and academic) was consulted throughout the


The lack of primary sources makes it still easy to find unexplored territories when referring to the afro descendants of Buenos Aires in the XIXth century. Here we will analyze their intervention in the presidential elections in 1874. We will see, through the analysis of the newspapers that this community used to edit, the importance of these political moments, the organization they sewed for these times and the different ways in which they were seduced and recruited.


antimicrobial classes. [2-3] Their resistance to several antimicrobial agents, whether intrinsic to penicillin, cephalosporins and aminoglycocides or acquired (glycopeptides, high concentrations of aminoglycosides), is of great concern. [3-4] More than 50% of the enterococcus isolates in this study exhibit resistance to aminoglycosides, ampicillin and quinolones, which are three of the traditionally most useful anti-enterococcal antibiotics, and resistance to vancomycin and newer antibiotics such as linezolid was more than 30%. Rare occurrences of linezolid resistance were reported in North America (0.8–1.8%). [4] Ciprofloxacin resistance in North America was >99% and in Europe was varying from 85.7% to 87.5%. [4] Other studies confirmed that previous antibiotic use and prolonged hospital stay are significantly related to VRE colonization. [5] In contrast, we reported that VRE carriage is not associated with prolonged hospital stay and antibiotic usage. Our study demonstrates that VRE prevalence is high in our hospital. VRE colonization must be monitored and risk factors should be determined because they are useful for screening hospitalized patients for VRE colonization in order to establish prevention and control measures.


This paper provides a case study in which Indigenous knowledge and traditional stories relating to cloud formation, lightning, wind direction, rains, drought, disaster prediction, response, mitigation, and effects of weather on crops are applied in a contemporary context by the tribal peoples of Rajasthan, India. The state of Rajasthan falls in an area of high climate sensitivity, maximum vulnerability and low adaptive capacity. The study documents how individuals in these tribal communities (including Bhil, Meena, Banjara, Kathodi, Rabaris, Sansi and Kanjar ) perceive and manage natural disasters and extreme weather events, including their strategies for early detection of coming events and for coping with these events, as well as their perceptions of their short and long term impacts on biodiversity.


The Manistique River in Michigan's upper peninsula flows into Lake Michigan. Sediment contaminated with PCBs and lumber mill waste affect boating and fishing.


A simple power law model (PLM) of J-V equation to characterize an illuminated solar cell can be represented as j = 1 - (1 - γ)ν - γνm where the normalized voltage, v and normalized current density j can be represented as ν=V/Voc and j=J/Jsc and γ and m are parameters related to the physical parameters of the solar cell. Using this model, the empirical equation for the peak power voltage works only for good quality solar cells. Here in this paper, a semi-empirical approach is considered to determine the peak power voltage for any illuminated solar cell.


According to the current guidelines of the Polish Society of Hypertension on the management of primary aldosteronism (PA) associated with aldosterone-producing adenoma, the treatment of choice is unilateral laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Isolated deficiency of aldosterone after adrenalectomy for Conn's syndrome is rare. The literature finds few reports on postoperative hypoaldosteronism requiring mineralocorticoid replacement. In this case study we present a patient who developed postoperative hypoaldosteronism.


In the present study, a low-cost adsorbent derived from Moringa peregrina plant has been used for its ability to remove two common textile dyes, namely Methyl Orange (MO) and Reactive Red 198 (RR-198) from aqueous solutions. The effect of various operating parameters such as initial concentration of dye (10-150 mg L), contact time (10-150 min), adsorbent dosage (1-13 g L) and pH (2-11) is investigated. At an optimum pH of 2, approximately 96% removal of dye (50 mg L) is obtained for an adsorbent dose of 7.0 g L after a 70 min contact time. The equilibrium assessment reveals that the Langmuir model is better than Freundlich model for the experimental data. The thermodynamic properties (∆Go, ∆Ho and ∆So) show that the adsorption of RR-198 and MO dyes onto Moringa peregrina tree shell ash (MPTA) is spontaneous, endothermic and feasible in the temperature range of 293-313 K. Also, the magnitude of enthalpy change indicates that the adsorption is physical in nature. Finally it can be concluded that the MPTA can be used as a low-cost adsorbent for the removal of different concentrations of anionic dyes from aqueous solutions.


Temperature changes affect current delivery and electrochemical assessment of galvanic anode–steel in concrete systems. Interfacial corrosion processes are thermally activated and, hence, temperature dependent. In addition, concrete resistivity varies with temperature, with consequent change in any resistive polarization component that may be present. This work presents advances in the approach to temperature correction procedures. Galvanic current, electrode potentials, and resistivity measurements were determined as a function of concrete temperature in outdoor reinforced concrete slabs where sacrificial point anodes were connected to the steel. Measured values were successfully standardized to an equivalent resistivity/current at a predefined reference temperature, through the application of a master temperature correction equation based on a differential formulation that derived correction parameters from short-term fluctuations and filtered long-term aging trends. A refined steel cathodic polarizatio...


InGaAs/GaAs strained quantum well laser has its own specific rang of wavelength.Its structure and typical characteristics as well as its applications are introduced.


To investigate the role of mast cells and histamine on the injury to intestines,the mast cell number and histamine content in intestine of broilers were observed by light microscope and fluorospectrophotometer in heat stress.The result showed that the mucous membrane was injured and the edemaappeared in duodenum,jejunum and ileum,with the days going,it became severe.The number of mast cells and histamine content in experimental groups were higher than that in control group(P0.05).These results showed that injury to intestines induced by heat stress relate to the change of mast cell number and histamine content.


The global Covid-19 pandemic has caused numerous deaths and illnesses and posed unprecedented social and economic challenges to many countries. One of the key strategies to contain the pandemic is mass vaccination. While it is essential to ensure safe and easy accessibility to Covid-19 vaccines for all communities, limited research has been carried out to understand and validate the spatial accessibility of these vaccines. This study addresses this gap by measuring and validating the spatial accessibility to Covid-19 vaccines with a particular focus on England, United Kingdom. More specifically, we compare three floating catchment area (FCA) methods with differing parameters for measuring the small-scale spatial accessibility to vaccination services. Then, we calibrate these accessibility measurements using a beta regression model and the reported vaccination uptake rates. The results show that the three-step FCA method with a distance parameter of 30 miles is the optimal model for measuring the spatial accessibility to Covid-19 vaccines. The findings provide an improved understanding of the spatial inequality of vaccine services. Further, the framework of calibrating spatial accessibility to vaccine services is generalisable to other types of healthcare services.


This paper investigates the impact of battery ageing on the fuel economy and drivability capability of a power-split hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). The HEV is modelled first, an optimal energy management strategy based on dynamic programming is then implemented, and experimental characterization data for the battery cell is presented. The batteries are tested to a heavily aged state, with up to an 84% loss of capacity. Numerical simulations for the HEV performing the WLTP cycle and full power acceleration maneuvers are used to calculate the progressive worsening of fuel economy and rate of acceleration as the battery ages. The fuel economy and acceleration of the vehicle are found to be relatively unaffected until the battery loses more than 20% of original capacity. For the most aged case, with 84% loss of capacity, vehicle fuel economy increases by 25% and 0 to 100 km/h acceleration time reduces by 3.5 seconds compared to performance with a new battery.


The central tenet of this paper is to pioneer a review of strategic human resource management, overview of strategic management theories and to show its correlation with the human resource-based view (HRVB) of the organizational competitive advantage. A review of relevant literature on the topic was conducted and it was identified that there is some meaningful relationship amidst strategic human resource management, strategic management theories and organizational competitive advantage from the human resource-based view perspective. This identified linkage brought about the findings that the human resource-based view of firm's competitive advantage being one of the major components of strategic management theories is applicable to explain firm's performance, effectiveness and growth. The human resource-based view provides useful guideline to examine firm's competitive advantage as dependent to the quality of its people (human capital, talents, employee capabilities and skills, knowledge and expertise, and so on) towards attaining and maintaining competitive advantage. No doubt, products can be copied and reproduced, strategy can be benchmarked, edge in technological advantage is transitory but the quality of a firm's workforce is totally an extraordinary resources.


According to the theory of autonomous learning,this paper aims at analyzing and discussing the book Reader's Choice in terms of five aspects: highlighting reading skills,tasks-centered designs,the ability of choice,arousing motivation and group discussions,with the conclusion the philosophy of this book is identified with that of autonomous learning-cultivating independent readers.


In the article, the Near-Field to Far-Field (NF-FF) transformation problem is solved using the Source Reconstruction Method (SRM). The theoretical foundations of the method are considered. In particular, the main stages of a linear algebraic equations system obtaining are described, and a method for the numerical solution of the system based on the geometric interpretation of the equation is presented. Particular attention is paid to the technical aspects of measurements, namely, the influence of the measuring probe on the antenna under study near field preliminary correction procedure based on the plane waves theory and modern electromagnetics simulation systems is proposed to exclude the systematic error generated by a measuring probe. The necessity and effectiveness of preliminary correction of the SRM were demonstrated on a test model, and also confirmed by experiments with real existed antennas. Qualitative and quantitative indicators of the effectiveness of the correction procedure are considered both from the point of view of restoring the unperturbed near-field and reconstructing the far-field of the antenna.