A cross sectional study to evaluate symptom reporting and neuropsychological test performance among a cohort of car body repair workers (n = 124) was performed using a computer-administered test system. Subjects with high and medium current exposures to solvent and paint (n = 39 and 32), and low exposure subjects who formerly painted (n = 29) reported significantly more acute and chronic neurological symptoms than did low exposure subjects with no history ofpainting (n = 24). Subjects with higher current exposure performed significantly less well on selected tests of visual perception and memory, but there were no significant exposure related differences in mood state, motor speed, or visuomotor performance. The exposure related effects were most noticeable among subjects 35 years or older. The findings are consistent with age interactive central neurotoxic effects of current exposure to solvents or of cumulative past exposure, although the study is unable to distinguish between these possibilities. The computer administered test system was effective in this field based investigation involving multiple, geographically dispersed worksites. (British Journal of Industrial Medicine 1993;50:368-377) Organic solvents are a broad class of chemical compounds used extensively in industrial processes and in consumer products, commonly in the form of Field Research and Consultation Group, Department of Environmental Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington W Daniell, A Stebbins, J O'Donnell, S W Horstman Occupational Medicine Program, Departments of Environmental Health and Medicine, University of Washington W Daniell, Linda Rosenstock The Boeing Company, Seattle, Washington J O'Donnell Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky S Horstman mixtures. Their ability to produce adverse effects on various human organs, particularly the central nervous system, is well recognised. Most individual organic solvents are capable of producing acute narcotising effects,' and there is substantial evidence that solvents as a class may be associated with chronic neurological deficits after repeated exposures over long periods. Workers exposed to solvents seem to be at increased risk for the development of clinically significant mood alterations and neuropsychological deficits, and there is evidence that such manifestations may be permanent after about a decade of exposure.2 Also, numerous studies have documented actively employed, solvent exposed workers to have relative decrements in group average neuropsychological performance as well as greater prevalence of otherwise unexplained non-specific symptoms than are found in comparable non-exposed workers.' Recruitment and evaluation of individual subjects poses a logistical challenge in any occupational epidemiological study. Control of the circumstances of evaluation is essential to ensure optimal quality of collected data and investigators commonly attempt to standardise evaluation by targeting worksites with large numbers of employees or by recruiting workers to come for evaluation at a central location away from their worksites. The second approach can impair rates of participation, and the first fails to consider the problems of small workplaces. Small workplaces are more likely than large ones to have worse hygiene and potentially greater risk for health problems."4 A number of investigators have developed computer administered neuropsychological test batteries. Although these instruments may sacrifice some attributes of analogous interviewer administered tests, they offer the potential benefits of standardised test presentation, minimisation of interviewer bias, and reduced training ofadministrators. To the degree that they preserve the sensitivity and reliability of interviewer administered tests, computerised test batteries are ideal instruments for field based investigations in small, geographically dispersed worksites. This study used one such system, the neurobehavioural evaluation system (NES),56 to evaluate workers in car body repair shops, which commonly employ only one to three painters and three to 10 production workers in total. Results were British Journal of Industrial Medicine 1993;50:368-377 group.bmj.com on June 16, 2017 Published by http://oem.bmj.com/ Downloaded from


Abstract An estimate of the strength of the austral summer Antarctic Oscillation using station sea level pressure records for the period 1878–2000 is presented, the first to the authors' knowledge. The reconstruction was obtained by relating the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) intensity derived from NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data to the leading principal components of station records using multiple regression analysis. Particular effort has been made to fit the model in a way that is robust to the questionable trends in the NCEP–NCAR data in the Southern Hemisphere. The trends in the reconstruction are derived from the station data, not from the NCEP data. Cross-validation with the NCEP data and comparison with other analyses of the AAO over the late instrumental period give confidence that this station-based reconstruction can be regarded as trustworthy. With regard to the whole reconstruction period, some unquantifiable uncertainty stems from potential instability of the statistical relationships. To extend this...


The review of Towards Creative Learning Spaces: Re-Thinking the Architecture of Post-Compulsory Education is a brief summary of the perceived aims and intentions of the author, Jos Boys. The review highlights the main discussion points of the book and critiques how the author presented the information. In conclusion the reviewer recommends this book to audiences of design students and professionals.


Rizatriptan is a potent, oral, 5‐HT1B/1D agonist with more rapid absorption and higher bioavailability than oral sumatriptan. It was postulated that this would result in more rapid onset of effect. This randomized, double‐blind, triple‐dummy, parallel‐groups study compared rizatriptan 5 mg, rizatriptan 10 mg, sumatriptan 100 mg, and placebo in 1268 outpatients treating a single migraine attack. Headache relief rates after rizatriptan 10 mg were consistently higher than sumatriptan at all time points up to 2 hours, with significance at 1 hour (37% versus 28%, P=0.010). All active agents were significantly superior to placebo with regard to headache relief and pain freedom at 2 hours (P≤0.001). The primary efficacy endpoint of time to pain relief through 2 hours demonstrated that, after adjustment for age imbalance, rizatriptan 10 mg had earlier onset than sumatriptan 100 mg (P=0.032; hazard ratio 1.21). Rizatriptan 10 mg was also superior to sumatriptan on pain‐free response (P=0.032), reduction in functional disability (P=0.015), and relief of nausea at 2 hours (P=0.010). Significantly fewer drug‐related clinical adverse events were reported after rizatriptan 10 mg (33%, P=0.014) compared with sumatriptan 100 mg (41%). We conclude that rizatriptan 10 mg has a rapid onset of action and relieves headache and associated symptoms more effectively than sumatriptan 100 mg.


AS a general rule, radiograms are taken mainly with the idea in mind of making a diagnosis for surgical or non-surgical interference, but the study of X-ray films after operation has been neglected or treated lightly and only in gross errors or medico-legal cases have they been called into play. Then, too, the number of monographs in the literature which deal with diagnosis of diseases of the head and neck by the radiogram is relatively small. This is especially true if one takes into consideration only the publications of those authors who have broad experience of the clinical and pathologic entities in this field. There can be no doubt that radiography of the head, when properly undertaken, is distinctly a science—a branch of medicine of the utmost importance—but it can rightfully be said that knowledge of the pathologic conditions and of their clinical values is by no means the common property of all physicians. What is meant by the pre-and post-operative study of radiograms? Since we are discussing wh...


Abstract The electrochemical behavior of La2O3 was investigated in LiF-NaF-KF (FLiNaK, 46.5-11.5-42.0 mol %) eutectic at 700°C. In the electrochemical tests, two kinds of working electrodes, i.e., tungsten and graphite, were utilized. The present study showed that La3+ ions can be deposited in the form of La metal on a tungsten cathode or LaC2 on a graphite cathode, and O2− can be removed in the form of CO/CO2 using a graphite anode. Therefore, a graphite or tungsten cathode (for La3+ removal), and a graphite anode (for O2− removal) are good options to remove both La3+ and O2− from the molten salts. In addition to the electrochemical tests, inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy analysis was used to measure the concentration of the lanthanum element and X-ray powder diffraction techniques were applied to determine the chemical forms of lanthanum in the salt. It turned out that the solubility of La3+ in the molten FLiNaK was 6.81 × 10−4 wt% at 700°C and LaOF was formed by the chemical reactions between La2O3 and alkali fluorides during the heating process.


Abstract A case of recurring fulminant thrombocytopenia is described. Three of the five documented thrombocytopenic episodes are known to have been preceded by ingestion of ethclorvynol. The last i...


The Prangos platychlaena Boiss belonged to the family of Apiaceae is a native medicinal plant of Kurdistan-Iraq. The stem, leaves and flowers of the plant were collected in the mountain of Halgurd of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and hydrodistilated to obtain the volatile compounds, using both Gas Chromatography ( GC ) and Gas chromatography/ Mass spectroscopy (GC/MS). The results showed that the P. platychlaena Boiss essential oils containing several compounds such as Sylvestrene, α-Pinene oxide, (Z)-Epoxy-ocimene, Borneol, epiLongipinanol, Germacrene D-4-ol, epi-α-Cadinol, 3-Thujanol acetate and Acorenone with different amount which were not found in any other Prangos species, and all showed antibacterial activity. This experiment was concducted to reveal the toxicity of flowers essentail oils of the P.platychlaena Boiss on skin burns of the rat. The results revealed that the base cream which contains 1% of the essentail oils showd less time in healing wounds in comparing with the other groups. Histological examination of the treated ones showed significantly the formation of new epiderm in those rats which were receiving the base cream containg 1% essentail oils. These finding sugested that the essentail oils of this plant can be used as a surface treatment agent for the human


We present a joint spatial and spectral denoising front-end for Track 1 of the 2nd CHiME Speech Separation and Recognition Challenge based on the Flexible Audio Source Separation Toolbox (FASST). We represent the sources by nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) and full-rank spatial covariances, which are known to be appropriate for the modeling of small source movements. We then learn acoustic models for automatic speech recognition (ASR) on the enhanced training data. We obtain 40% average error rate reduction due to speech separation compared to multicondition training alone.


This paper investigates interactions between firms and universities in a global context. The point of departure is a review of the ever-evolving literature on innovation. Three major strands of the literature can be identified: interactions between firms and universities, transnational corporations and their global reach, and more recently, global innovation networks (GINs). These strands have intersections that provide a starting point for a theoretical framework presented in order to assist the analysis of the role of universities in innovation networks, and the ways in which emerging countries are inserted into global hierarchies. Underlying the framework is the notion that the nature of national innovation systems shapes the national role in existing innovation networks. Therefore, immature national innovation systems will be associated with immature or incomplete GINs.


It is important to safe reentering of a hypersonic. vehicle that the local thermal protectionstructure of the vehicle is of high renablilty . The temperature of local thermal protection structure is numerically predicted in this paper. And the temperature varying with reentry time at some significant positions, which plays all important role in the design of local thermal protection structure, is given. Which provides a reference and fundation to the design of thermal protection.


This work presents an application of a method for assessing the operational risks associated to the development of new products, aiming to address the uncertainties of technical and managerial risks. The method has been developed using the Design Research approach, which enabled the development of a set of artifacts linked through six steps, where the main artifact is a Bayesian Network model. The performance evaluation of the application was carried out by a tentative application in a new product being developed at a design center of a global company, where the main focus was to assess the risks associated with reliability failures. This research, besides contributing with a proposal of an application to support the new product risk management, indicates potential enhancements to the decision making process, and to the knowledge management in project environments.


Of late, much has been debated on the issue that whether astrology is a science or not. Hard core scientists particularly with the background of physical science deny it to be science, whereas specialists of other sub-fields show a tassist view. The book begins with the proposition that popularity of the discipline of astrology and palmistry emanated from individual's curiosity of knowing the future. The author, being a professional anthropologist, aims to study the 'constant mind' of the people in spite of changes taken place due to technological involution. But again it raises another debate that can a mind be 'constant'? A 'static state of mind' may help an astrologer to pursue his' own methodology' but dynamicity of mind has its own course of action to follow up survival strategy. Keeping aside all these conjectures, what becomes imminent in the book is that it takes futo cognizance of a sort of sociology of astrology with astrologers and palmists in focus. Probably the departure lies in the fact that unlike other literatures available on astrology, it has been empirically drawn on a long-term people-contact study with the methodological background of social science. Containing six chapters, an epilogue, and four indices, it provided a rich bibliography, which, otherwise, finds a place in the academic world.


In this paper, we will discuss a new approach for semantic Web services ranking. This helps users to find required services in a precise manner. In fact, this new approach represents a ranking algorithm based on vector space model (VSM). In this model, the user query and each of its related results (retrieved services) will be modeled as a vector. By using of this method, each service vector which is closer to the query vector will be ranked higher. There are no predefined rank values for web services in this system and ranks will be calculated dynamically, while users make their query to the system.


Evalueserve's research indicates that although patent filings at the Indian Patent Office (IPO) have been increasing at an impressive rate, a sizable portion of this increase can be attributed to foreign companies and multinational corporations. On analyzing patenting activity at the IPO for the last three years (Jan 2005 to Dec 2007), Evalueserve's analysis shows that there are only 22 "pure-bred" Indian companies among the top 200 filers at the IPO. On closer examination of the patent-filing behavior of Indian companies, significant differences are observed in their patenting strategies with respect to the geographical coverage sought for patent protection. Some companies that fare satisfactorily in their number of IPO filings have much lower patenting activity in foreign jurisdictions. Many Indian companies seem to lack a coherent strategy to coordinate their Indian and foreign filings. Predictably, pharmaceutical companies fare better than IT and auto companies. However, even among pharmaceutical companies, many lack the foresight to increase their number of foreign filings. The Indian IT sector has a disproportionately low number of patent filings, considering the revenues it generates. Auto companies are roughly midway between the pharmaceutical companies and the IT firms with respect to their patent-filing intensity. Indian companies in the auto and IT sectors can learn substantially from Indian pharmaceutical companies, which are relatively new with respect to building strong patent portfolios, and increase their patenting activity worldwide if they want to become strong global players in their respective domains. Finally, Indian companies lag behind substantially in patent-filing intensity as compared to their Chinese counterparts. Filing of invention patent applications at the IPO is approximately at the same level as it was at the Chinese Patent office (SIPO) in 1997, thereby lagging behind China by a decade. While more domestic Chinese organizations are filing at the SIPO, the reverse is true for domestic Indian firms filing at the IPO, which, in the long term, is unhealthy for the Indian economy (especially since it is trying to transform itself from an agriculture-based to a knowledge-based economy).


Experimental data on burnout in steam-water mix- tures are presented. From burnout studies a new correlation of heat flux data is proposed and a comparison between the existing and proposed correlations is made. The first burnout data obtained with the CISE experimental facility are reported. (J.R.D.)


Consumers can make repeat purchases for the umpteenth time for the same products and services on a regular basis. At the same time, consumers also pay attention to current and future situations and conditions. This study aims to understand the application of experiential marketing factors and service quality that can affect customer satisfaction and consumer intentions to make repeat purchases. The focus of this study is to analyze these factors in the service of Korean restaurants in Surabaya. This research is a causal type of quantitative research that uses the Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis technique. Respondents in this study amounted to 175 Korean restaurant customers in Surabaya who were designated as objects in this study. Determination of respondents is done by using a purposive sampling technique. This study found that experiential marketing positively affects customer repurchase intention directly. That is, efforts to increase experiential marketing can increase customer intention to repurchase. This study also proves that service quality does not significantly affect customer intention to repurchase. This finding shows that service quality has become a fundamental factor considered normal for every restaurant service. Other results prove that the marketing experience is able to influence customers to make repeat purchases if they are satisfied with the products or services they consume.


We show how to approximately represent a quantum state using the square root of the usual amount of classical memory. The classical representation of an n-qubit state ψ consists of its inner products with O( √ 2n) stabilizer states. A quantum state initially specified by its 2n entries in the computational basis can be compressed to this form in time O(2npoly(n)), and, subsequently, the compressed description can be used to additively approximate the expectation value of an arbitrary observable. Our compression scheme directly gives a new protocol for the vector in subspace problem with randomized one-way communication complexity that matches (up to polylogarithmic factors) the best known upper bound, due to Raz. We obtain an exponential improvement over Raz's protocol in terms of computational efficiency. A pure n-qubit state ψ is fully specified by its 2 amplitudes in the computational basis. Here we are interested in a compressed representation of size 2 that can be used to approximately recover some of its features. Aaronson described a compressed representation that can be used to approximate the expectation value of any observable from a known set [1]. He showed that for any n-qubit state ψ and any finite set S of n-qubit observables, there is a compressed representation of ψ of size O(n log(n) log(|S|)) which suffices to additively approximate expectation values of any observable in S. So for example even if |S| = exp(poly(n)), then one obtains a remarkable exponential reduction in the classical description size! 1 There are two limitations of Aaronson's scheme that we address here. The first is its efficiency: the algorithm used to compress an n-qubit quantum state scales as Ω(c|S|) for some constant c > 2, which can be impractical. A second drawback is that one must first fix the set of observables S and the compressed representation of ψ then depends on this set. In this sense the compressed representation cannot be viewed as an unbiased description of ψ. Below we present a compressed representation which can be computed quickly, that is, in O(2poly(n)) time, given the 2 amplitudes which fully describe a quantum state ψ. We note that a different compression method which achieves similar performance to Aaronson's (in terms of the parameters described above) can be inferred from Ref. [3]. In this case the compressed representation is a classical description of the state produced at the output of Algorithm 5. 1 ar X iv :1 80 1. 05 72 1v 1 [ qu an tph ] 1 7 Ja n 20 18 This renders our method practical. Moreover, we do not fix a set of observables a priori– it is possible to approximate the expectation value of an arbitrary observable with high probability. We note that Montanaro has recently ruled out the possibility of a more powerful kind of compressed representation of ψ that would allow one to sample from the probabilty distribution obtained by measuring an observable [11]. A compression scheme of the type we consider has two components. First, there is a classical compression algorithm which takes an n-qubit state ψ specified by its amplitudes in the computational basis, along with two parameters , p ∈ (0, 1), and computes the compressed representation which we denote D(ψ, , p). The compression algorithm may be probabilistic in which case D(ψ, , p) is a random variable. Secondly, there is a classical expectation value algorithm which takes as input D(ψ, , p) along with an n-qubit Hermitian operator M satisfying ‖M‖ ≤ 1, and outputs an estimate E such that |E − 〈ψ|M |ψ〉| ≤ (1) with probability at least 1 − p, over the randomness used in both the compression and expectation value algorithms. The classical description size is the number of bits |D(ψ, , p)|. We want this to be as small as possible. As we now explain, the best we can hope for is a classical description size which scales mildly exponentially with n. Indeed, a limitation follows from related work concerning the communication complexity of the vector in subspace problem [9, 13, 14]. Suppose Alice can send Bob information over a classical channel and that they may share a random bit string. Alice is given a (classical description) of an n-qubit quantum state ψ and Bob is given an n-qubit projector Π. How much classical information does Alice need to send Bob so that he can compute the expectation value 〈ψ|Π|ψ〉? Suppose that we are promised that either 〈ψ|Π|ψ〉 = 0 or 〈ψ|Π|ψ〉 = 1, so that Bob's goal is to compute just this one bit of information; we allow him to err with probability at most 1 4 , say. The number of bits that Alice needs to send for them to jointly succeed at this task is called the one-way (randomized) classical communication complexity of the vector in subspace problem. Raz showed that Alice need only send O( √ 2n) bits for them to succeed [13]. He proposed the following simple protocol which achieves this bound. Using the shared random bit string Alice computes a set of N = 2 n/2 Haar random n-qubit states φ1, φ2, . . . , φN and then computes the inner products 〈φ1|ψ〉, . . . , 〈φN |ψ〉. She identifies the state φj such that |〈φj|ψ〉| is maximal and sends the index j to Bob, encoded as a bit string of length 2. Using the index j along with the shared random string Bob can compute the state φj. He then computes 〈φj|Π|φj〉 and outputs 1 if it is larger than a certain threshold value and zero otherwise. A detailed analysis of this protocol is provided in Ref. [11]. Note that it is not a practical method of compressing a quantum state as its runtime is doubly exponential in n. While Raz provides the best known upper bound of O( √ 2n), Klartag and Regev established a Ω(2) lower bound on the one-way communication complexity of the vector in subspace problem [14] (in fact, their bound is considerably stronger as it applies to more general protocols with multiple rounds of classical communication). These bounds directly provide limitations on compression schemes of the type described above. Indeed, any such compression scheme can be trivially converted into a protocol for solving the vector in sub-


Abstract This article addresses the extent to which housing market constraints contribute to spatial stratification of the U.S. population by income and race. Differential patterns of residence based on income and race may result from local and federal regulatory policies or from housing market discrimination by private and public actors. Income homogeneity within communities results directly from local control over taxes, public services, and land use. The empirical literature shows that local regulations have effects on housing prices that tend to exclude low‐ and moderate‐income households. These regulations are also likely to promote racial segregation because of the correlation between income and race, although the magnitude of this effect is unclear. Discrimination by government and private actors directly generates spatial segmentation based on race and ethnicity. While federal policy could alleviate these patterns, current and past federal policy initiatives have themselves increased stratificatio...


Objective
To evaluate the feasibility and value of multi-detector computed tomography venography (MDCTV) and three dimensional reconstruction image in the assessment of central venous occlusive disease in hemodialysis patients, and in the value of guiding interventional treatments.

Methods
Sixty hemodialysis patients with swelling of upper limbs were scanned by Toshiba 128-multislice spiral computed tomography (128-MSCT) and totally 80-100 ml non-ionic contrast media was injected into each of the patients via the peripheral veins of the contralateral limb with the rate of 4 ml/s. MSCT scanning was taken by the technique of intelligent triggering after setting scanning triggering threshold, with the monitoring point set in the development of the lumen of inferior vena cava, to detect the position and degree of vascular stenosis. The images were reformed as maximum intensity projection (MIP), volume rendering (VR), curved planar reformation and three-dimensional image reconstruction technique.

Results
MDCTV clearly demonstrated the lesion location in all cases enrolled. Seventy-five occlusive lesions were detected in the total of 60 hemodialysis patients with swelling of upper limbs by MDCTV, of which the lesions of brachiocephalic vein was 47, superior vena cava 15 and subclavian vein 13. Among the 75 stenosis lesions, the number of complete occlusive, severe, moderate and mild stenosis was 31, 24, 19 and only 1, respectively. MDCTV provided information coincident with that of digital subtraction angiography (DSA), which the correlation index was 0.401, while DSA showed that number of complete occlusive, severe, moderate and mild stenosis was 49, 7, 14 and 5, respectively. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty was performed in 53 patients, and stent placement was done in 40 patients. After interventional treatments, swelling of upper limbs were obviously relieved and vascular accesses got functional recovery to the extent that they could meet the requirement of hemodialysis.

Conclusions
MDCTV is the first choice to evaluate the condition of central venous occlusive diseases of hemodialysis patients with advantages of non-invasion, high definition and three-dimensional reconstruction. It can provide accurate evaluations of the conditions of occlusive lesions, which can be of great clinical significance to subsequent interventional therapy.

Key words:
Uremia; Renal dialysis; Angiography; Central venous occlusive diseases; Interventional treatment


IMC is one of the most controversial areas of marketing education during the past decade. While many definitions of TMC have been put forth, agreement on the discipline's constructs remains unresolved. The core of future legitimacy of IMC resides in the development of a stream of research that develop s theory and methods for evaluation of IMC effectiveness. This paper reviews more than a decade of research on IMC effectiveness, suggests where the
field is heading. and identifies future directions for fMC research.


The Albright-Goldman oxidation of [184.108.40.206]metacyclophane ([126.96.36.199]MCP, 2) containing hydroxy groups at the bridge yielded [22.214.171.124]MCP tetraone 3. The subsequent condensation reaction of 9-anthraldehyde afforded 2-(9-anthryl)imidazole-annulated [220.127.116.11]MCP 3. The UV and fluorescence spectra and their influence of sodium and lithium ion of the [220.127.116.11]MCP 2-(9-anthryl)imidazole adduct 4 were reported.


Based on the data of previous Chinese censuses, this paper briefly reviews the development process of the development of China's ethnic minority population, discusses the differences in the population number and population growth trend of Chinese ethnic groups, and discusses the characteristics and change trend of China's ethnic minority population in terms of regional distribution, age structure, mobility level, inter ethnic intermarriage and education level. Referring to the data of the seventh national census, this paper gives a preliminary judgment on the population situation of China's ethnic minorities in 2020.


Article presents information about creating meshes with help of CAD methods and Netgen Mesher. Mesh tessellation provides enhanced capabilities for modeling object shapes in a more detailed way. Authors describe also application of BEMLAB. BEMLAB is the open source Boundary Element Method (BEM) numerical software. Modelling of mesh with use of computer methods.


This paper investigates the ability of large scale wind farms in damping improvement of inter area oscillations in power systems. Considering the increasing penetration level of wind farms in power systems, their contribution in damping improvement of oscillations will be of great importance. The purpose of this paper is to employ the synchronverter control model for wind farms in order to enhance the inter area oscillations. To perform required simulations, the wind farm as well as its controllers are thoroughly modeled in DIgSILENT Power Factory using DSL programming. The Kundur two-area test system is utilized for time domain simulations to demonstrate the capability of wind farms with synchronverter control models in damping improvement of inter area oscillations. Simulation results reveal the suitable performance of the investigated method in the event of various disturbances including short circuit faults and mechanical torque variations of synchronous generators.


Linear grouping is a technique where linear relationship information is gathered for a set of rigid points. This information is used to accelerate vertex transformation, vertex clipping, texture transformation, etc. The linear grouping technique is an optimization problem, originally implemented in a best-first branch-and-bound search. In this paper, we introduce several new extensions and improvements to linear grouping. In particular, the search algorithm is greatly improved.


The main characteristic of the culture of the cofee , of what it consists of the handling of fertilizers and punishments, mentions the fact to it of that, after the plantation, the agricultural operations, mainly those mechanized ones and that they involve the ground are limited had to the damages that can be caused to the culture. The present work had for objective the evaluation of the different doses of the fertilization P in the culture of the coffee and its influence in chemical texts of the ground. The experimental farm was localized out at the City of Selviria, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, with the Coffee cultivar Mundo Novo. The row spacing was 3,5 x 1,0, in the factorial system 5x2, in the completely randomized plots. The treatments were arranged with the factors phosphorus levels and methods of its application, with the amount of ten treatments with three replications. The results showed that the highest values of stem diameter and number of reproductive branches with the level of 50 kg.ha applied in lines or broadcasted.


The combination of dissimilar materials like brass and stainless steel is often needed in watch movements due to tribologic aspects. For mass production in automotive applications, a joining technique for alloyed copper with alloyed steel is needed. Laser beam micro welding offers an alternative to conventional joining techniques like press fit or soldering. The laser beam micro welding of stainless steel (X5CrNi1810) to copper (CuNi3SiMg) and brass (CuZn37) with a fiber-guided pulsed Nd:YAG laser is investigated. The weld seams are produced with the SHADOW-Welding: one single pulse with high feed rate by beam movement or part movement. The joint configurations are t-joints. High strength and reproducibility as well as good appearance are the main objective of joining dissimilar metals. Cracks and spatter formation are affected by the different physical properties and should be avoided. The welding results of joint configurations as well as welded parts are presented. The length of the continuous welding seams are up to 15.7 mm at a feed rate of up to 60 m/min. The weld width attained is from 50 to 250 µm and a weld depth from 20 to 150 µm. This low energy joining process with minimized head input results in low distortion of the parts joined.The combination of dissimilar materials like brass and stainless steel is often needed in watch movements due to tribologic aspects. For mass production in automotive applications, a joining technique for alloyed copper with alloyed steel is needed. Laser beam micro welding offers an alternative to conventional joining techniques like press fit or soldering. The laser beam micro welding of stainless steel (X5CrNi1810) to copper (CuNi3SiMg) and brass (CuZn37) with a fiber-guided pulsed Nd:YAG laser is investigated. The weld seams are produced with the SHADOW-Welding: one single pulse with high feed rate by beam movement or part movement. The joint configurations are t-joints. High strength and reproducibility as well as good appearance are the main objective of joining dissimilar metals. Cracks and spatter formation are affected by the different physical properties and should be avoided. The welding results of joint configurations as well as welded parts are presented. The length of the continuous welding ...


A novel technique for vectorization of engineering drawings is presented. The novelty of the algorithm lies in exploiting certain digital-geometric properties of straightness to vectorize inclined line segments and curve segments after vectorizing the horizontal and the vertical pieces using the conventional morphological opening. The primitives, hence vectorized, are classified into (i) horizontal, (ii) vertical, (iii) inclined line segments, and (iv) curved segments. Such a classification expedites the reconstruction of an engineering drawing from the vector format. Experimental results on several benchmark datasets have been given to demonstrate its efficiency and elegance.


ABSTRACTAfricans, like people elsewhere in the world, have a set of values which they consider worthwhile and necessary for the preservation and wellbeing of their culture. In this way, it may be s...


A complex conservation process revealed the layer of the painting inits original subtlety and delicate retouchings recreated the integralsurface of the painting. As a result, we can confirm that it is a paintingof high artistic quality dating most probably from the middle ofthe 17th century, painted on an oak panel of German origin. Weremain doubtful about the Internet auction suggested authorship,as the painting does not reach the artistic quality of Jan DavidszDé Heem, a top rank artist from the Netherlands. It is possible tocontinue with the art-historical analysis (and other investigations)of the painting, to find further proof for the hypothetical dating andmaybe even reach an attribution but we must not forget to ask thequestions whether and to whom it would be necessary. What matters
for the owner of the painting is the fact that an artwork which decorates
the wall of his home has both aesthetic and historical value –
even without knowing its exact date or the painter.


In the past decade, digital technology has become widely integrated into many professional training settings, yet at present we lack a detailed understanding of how new technology alters networks of social and technology-mediated interactions present in such environments. I have been engaged in a multi-year ethnography-for-design study in a dental hygiene training program in National City, CA. During the project, I helped design a new clinical training laboratory, equipped with embedded digital media technology, such as flat-panel monitors, computer workstations and overhead cameras. Here, I detail the ethnographic motivations for the design of the technology integrated into the training program. I also present an analysis of how a collaborative video blogging system (a .vlog.), used in an introductory clinical instruction course, affects the network of social and technology-mediated interactions. In particular, I examine how interactions with videos structured the way students and instructors work with each other in the clinic. Additionally, I report how the faculty.s acceptance of technology was influenced by the presentation of divergent methodology in the vlog content.


Exam-only education is the ultimate pattern of exam-oriented education,which deviates from educational aim and leads to the alienation of education.It results from the interests of many parts,such as family,school and society.However,government is the highest representative of the interest of our country and undertakes the hope of our nation.Therefore,it is an inevitable duty for our government to keep exam-only education under control and carries on quality education.


Obesity is associated with chronic low‐grade inflammation and decreased tissue repair capacity. Circulating progenitor cells (CPCs) are a heterogeneous cell population involved in tissue repair, and include hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) that are precursors to all mature hematopoietic cells. Rodent models have shown that acute inflammatory stimuli induce myeloid differentiation of HSPCs via Toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling. However, the effects of a chronic inflammatory condition, like obesity, on CPC content and differentiation has not been previously examined in humans. The purpose of the present cross‐sectional study was to compare the quantity of various CPC populations, HSPCs expressing TLR4, and HSPC colony forming unit (CFU) capacity between obese (OB) and healthy weight (HW) adults. Participants were divided into HW (n=19) or OB (n=15) based on body mass index. Blood was collected for quantification of the following CPC populations: CPCs (CD34+), hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs: CD34+/CD45dim), HSPCs expressing TLR4 (TLR4+HSPCs: CD34+/CD45dim/TLR4+), bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BM‐MSCs: CD45−/CD34+/CD31−/CD105+, adipose‐derived MSCs (AT‐MSCs;CD45−/CD34+,CD31−/CD105+), endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs: CD45−/CD34+/CD31+), endothelial cells (ECs; CD34+/CD31−), common myeloid progenitors (CMPs: Lineage−/CD34+/CD38+/CD123low/CD45RA−), and common lymphoid progenitors (CLP: Lineage−/CD34+/CD38+/CD10+) by flow cytometry. Granulocyte (CFU‐G), macrophage (CFU‐M), and mixed (CFU‐GM) colony forming capacity was also evaluated. HSPCs expressing TLR4 were lower (P<0.05) in the OB group compared to HW. Granulocyte, macrophage, and granulocyte‐macrophage colonies were greater (P<0.05) in the OB group compared to HW. Adipose tissue derived MSCs in the OB group trended to be lower (P=0.12) compared to HW. There were no differences between groups in the other cell populations analyzed. Here we show that HSPCs from OB have increased myeloid lineage CFU capacity. Enhanced myeloid CFU could have been due to increased differentiation of TLR4+HSPCs leading to an overall decrease in TLR4+HSPC quantity. Together, these data indicate that obesity is associated with increased myeloid differentiation of HSPCs, perhaps via differentiation of TLR4+HSPCs, which likely exacerbates the chronic inflammation observed in obesity.


The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between social support and papers developed by women who pursue beekeeping activity in order to maintain its share of the support networks that 1 Endereco para correspondencia: Departamento de Ciencias Sociais, Centro de Ciencias Sociais Aplicadas, Universidade Estadual do Maranhao, Cidade Universitaria Paulo VI, s/n, Tirirical, Sao Luis, MA, Brasil 65000000. Caixa-postal: 09. E-mail: email@example.com, email@example.com e firstname.lastname@example.com Apoio fi nanceiro: Universidade Estadual do Maranhao (UEMA)/ Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifi co e Tecnologico (CNPq)/ Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES). Pinto, N. M. A., Pontes, F. A. R., Silva, S. S. C. 298 guarantee the exercise of the activity, and consequently the occupation and income to the survival of families in rural communities of Maranhao. Participants were seven women in two communities integrated with Project Native Bees (PAN), which aims at the development of beekeeping as a sustainable activity. Semi-structured interviews were used, DC and M5C, which allowed to evaluate the structure and function of social support networks. There was a strong social support network for women maintained a presence in all fi elds studied. It appears that the existence of this network allows women to the movement in various contexts, as well as the interaction between people of other microsystems so adapted and balance in power relations, providing the ability to succeed in performing the activity of beekeeping.


One way to determine an optimum price for a product or service is to assess what the customer is willing to pay and then set production methods and costs to achieve a profit based on that price. Traditional pricing methods, including "cost-plus" and "gut feel," operate backwards by setting a price based on the operator's costs or profit goals. Measuring the customer's price sensitivity in a reasonably unbiased way is difficult, however. Moreover, the matter of appropriate pricing is complicated by the fact that consumers use price as an indicator of quality. So, it is not only possible to set a price too high (pricing the item out of the market), but also to set it too low (giving a perception of unacceptably low quality). The statistical technique of price-sensitivity measurement (PSM) works by asking consumers questions that allow them to indicate when a product is "too expensive" or "too cheap." Graphing these numbers shows a range between expensive and cheap-indicating the likely best price range. Proprietors of Taco Bell applied the PSM method in creating their value menu, with considerable success. As an example, the authors developed a price-value range for buyers in the association-meeting market.


The aim of this article was to provide practitioner guidelines for the use of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale — 4th Edition (WAIS-IV) within the South African context, given the absence of local norms for this edition of the test. Normative indications for WAIS-III test performance (English administration), in respect of South African black African (predominantly Xhosa) first language samples (age range 19–30), demonstrate that Grade 12 and Graduate Xhosa groups with disadvantaged education were significantly lower than the US standardization by 20 to 30 IQ points. This raises the question as to whether practitioners should use the WAIS-III rather than the more clinically advanced WAIS-IV for such testees given the lack of appropriate norms. In response to this dilemma, a mechanism is presented for converting a WAIS-IV raw score test profile into a WAIS-III test profile such that it may be subjected to analysis in terms of available WAIS-III cross-cultural norms. Following this procedure, WAIS-III subtest scaled scores and index scores were calculated from WAIS-IV data for three young adult Xhosa speaking individuals with disadvantaged education. Descriptive comparisons of the original WAIS-IV scores and the derived WAIS-III scores reveal substantial equivalence across each of the three test profiles. Taking both clinical and statistical data into account, a neuropsychological analysis was elucidated in respect of one of these cases, on the basis of which a contextually coherent interpretation of a WAIS-IV brain injury test protocol using the Shuttleworth-Edwards et al. WAIS-III cross-cultural norms is achieved. While further research is warranted, it appears that for diagnostic purposes practitioners can legitimately proceed to the use of the WAIS-IV in respect of such educationally disadvantaged populations by means of cautious application of these WAIS-III local norms.


Hydrodynamic equations and a simple model for the density variation are used to examine resonance oscillations in a hot nonuniform plasma. (C.E.S.)


This work presents a text-to-audio-retrieval system based on pre-trained text and spectrogram transformers. Our method projects recordings and textual descriptions into a shared audio-caption space in which related examples from different modalities are close. Through a systematic analysis, we examine how each component of the system influences retrieval performance. As a result, we identify two key components that play a crucial role in driving performance: the self-attention-based audio encoder for audio embedding and the utilization of additional human-generated and synthetic data sets during pre-training. We further experimented with augmenting ClothoV2 captions with available keywords to increase their variety; however, this only led to marginal improvements. Our system ranked first in the 2023's DCASE Challenge, and it outperforms the current state of the art on the ClothoV2 benchmark by 5.6 pp. mAP@10.


In limited-view computed tomography reconstruction, iterative image reconstruction with sparsity-exploiting methods, such as total variation (TV) minimization, inspired by compressive sensing, potentially claims large reductions in sampling requirements. However, a quantitative notion of this claim is non-trivial because of the ill-defined reduction in sampling achieved by the sparsity-exploiting method. In this paper, exact reconstruction sampling condition for limited-view problem is studied by verifying the uniqueness of solution in TV minimization model. Uniqueness is tested by solving a convex optimization problem derived from the sufficient and necessary condition of solution uniqueness. Through this method, the sufficient sampling number of exact reconstruction is quantified for any fixed phantom and settled geometrical parameter in the limited-view problem. This paper provides a reference to quantify the sampling condition. Using Shepp-Logan phantom as an example, the experiment results show the quantified sampling number and indicate that an object would be accurately reconstructed as the scanning range becomes narrower by increasing sampling number. The increased samplings compensate for the deficiency of the projection angle. However, a lower bound of the scanning range is presented, in which an exact reconstruction cannot be obtained once the projection angle is narrowed to this extent no matter how to increase sampling.


The current study builds on research on mood distinction in Spanish, which has focused on the subjunctive mood, by examining the full inventory of verb forms that second-language learners and native speakers (NSs) of Spanish use in mood-choice contexts. Twenty NSs and 130 learners corresponding to five proficiency levels completed three oral-elicitation tasks. The results show that participants use a wide repertoire of tense/mood/aspect forms in mood-choice contexts and that NSs and learners use largely the same forms. An analysis of the conditional and imperfect suggests that learners tend to restructure and strengthen their form-function connections between these verb forms and a range of functions.


This paper is based on the experiment of variable nozzle turbocharger(VNT) of turbocharged diesel vehicle in plateau and plain under different operating states,which are starting,accelerating and slowdown.And made the test research on the transient speed of VNT and diesel engine and the velocity of vehicle in plain and plateau.These parameters have been compared and analysed.The result of study shows that the speed of VNT lags behind in the speed of engine in engine starting operating model,transient response of the speed of VNT varies fast with the speed of the engine in starting and accelerating operating mode,the speed of VNT increases with increasing of the speed of the engine in gear changing and accelerating operating model,VNT speed presents the downward trend when the speed of the engine drops in moderating the operating mode.For VNT effective regulation,the turbine does not overspeed.VNT can improve the transient state characteristic of the turbocharged diesel engine,and benefits the steering performance of the vehicle in different operating mode.


A robust, selective and highly efficient method for the preparation of 1,3,4-triaryl 1,2,3-triazolium salts has been developed. It features arylation of a click triazole with a diaryliodonium salt in the presence of a copper catalyst under neat conditions. The presence of pyridine functionality is tolerated, enabling the first access to key precursors of pyridyl-mesoionic carbene ligands. The method has been integrated into a one-pot protocol with a terminal alkyne, sodium azide, and diaryliodonium salt as staring compounds.


Flexible Bi-2212 multilayer tapes of ∼80 m length were prepared by a combination of the oxide-painting method and the continuous heat-treatment technique. The tapes were heat-treated by passing them through a tube furnace having temperature gradient which induced partial melting and slow cooling. The tapes had critical current density (J c) values higher than 1× 105 A/cm2 at 4.2 K and 12 T. The tapes showed excellent J c vs strain properties. J c was almost constant up to the bending strain of 0.7% (the bending diameter of 30 mm). Hence the "react & wind" technique could be applied to the fabrication of coils. A small pancake coil fabricated by the "react & wind" technique had J c values almost equal to those of short straight tapes.


In this paper, the present status of DA system, which is used in designing computers in NEC is introduced, and the development procedure and use of this system are described. Then, on the basis of the actual results of this system, the future problems of DA systems to be solved are also described.
 In designing the present high speed and large scale-computer, the role of DA systems becomes more and more important because the processing of complex and a great deal of data is requested, and still more accurate, reliable and rapid processing capability is required.


The author of this article intends to bring into attention aspects of the correlation between the employees' emotionality, stress and conflicts at workplace, as well as some suggestions to improve the effects of all this. Since IT development facilitates information analysis and increases decision-taking powers (thus creating new jobs and rendering useless other jobs), people are hired for their skills to perform a temporary role, caused by temporary or unexpected changes in the external world. For the new employees, coming into an organization means an effort to give the measure of their professional competence and to understand and adapt to the environment, to organizational culture, policies and procedures.


An annual that will update the practitioner on a variety of "hot topics" in ophthalmology in a compact, yet comprehensive, manner is a concept whose time has come. In his Ophthalmology Annual: 1985, Dr Reinecke and 13 respected authorities in several ophthalmic subspecialties provide the first edition of such a series. This volume contains ten chapters, which are devoted to topics that have recently become important (eg, computer technology), that have evolved considerably in recent years (eg, laser management of glaucoma), or that are of extreme clinical importance (eg, corneal ulcers). While it is stressed in the introduction that these are not "review articles," most of the chapters provide a good historical background of the topic, with discussion of the pathophysiology and therapy of the disease. All of the chapters are well written, current, and supported with excellent illustrations and bibliographies. "... an excellent reference source for many important topics..." The


The interaction between the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) and eIF4E binding proteins (4E‐BP) is a promising template for the inhibition of eIF4E and the treatment of diseases such as cancer and a spectrum of autism disorders, including the Fragile X syndrome (FXS). Here, we report an atomically detailed model of the complex between eIF4E and a peptide fragment of a 4E‐BP, the cytoplasmic Fragile X interacting protein (CYFIP1). This model was generated using computer simulations with enhanced sampling from an alchemical replica exchange approach and validated using long molecular dynamics simulations. 4E‐BP proteins act as post‐transcriptional regulators by binding to eIF4E and preventing mRNA translation. Dysregulation of eIF4E activity has been linked to cancer, FXS, and autism spectrum disorders. Therefore, the study of the mechanism of inhibition of eIF4E by 4E‐BPs is key to the development of drug therapies targeting this regulatory pathways. The results obtained in this work indicate that CYFIP1 interacts with eIF4E by an unique mode not shared by other 4E‐BP proteins and elucidate the mechanism by which CYFIP1 interacts with eIF4E despite having a sequence binding motif significantly different from most 4E‐BPs. Our study suggests an alternative strategy for the design of eIF4E inhibitor peptides with superior potency and specificity than currently available.


Lengthy comments are offered on some remarks made in the paper by D.A. Vechinski and S.M. Rao (see ibid., vol.40, no.6, p.661-5, June 1992) regarding the solution procedure described by B.P. Rynne (1991). Vechinski and Rao offer arguments in rebuttal. >


Phase coherent acoustic communication systems, which employ joint adaptive channel equalization and phase‐locking synchronization, have been shown to yield a much higher symbol rate (e.g., 2 kb/s at 3.5 kHz) by successfully tracking and updating time varying phase fluctuations in signals dominated by multipath components. This communication technique holds high promise for many applications. Its performance, however, can strongly influence (and could be limited by) the signal and noise fluctuation characteristics of the propagation channel. A statistical underwater acoustic communication model which incorporates random media propagation physics is needed to predict the performance of phase coherent acoustic communication algorithms. In this paper, the ocean acoustic propagation physics and signal processing issues which must be addressed to develop a physics‐based performance prediction model are outlined. Acoustic communication simulation results for a dynamic underwater acoustic channel with time varying internal waves, fine and microfine structures, and surface waves are presented. Initial performance assessments (predictions) are given based on previously measured signal fluctuation statistics as characterized by the signal amplitude fading and phase spectra. [Work supported by the Office of Naval Research.]


The syntheses of group 4 metal complexes containing the ((dibenzylamino)ethyl)dicarbollide ligand DcabHC(2)N (nido-7-HNBz2(CH2)2-8-R-7,8-C2B9H10; 2) are reported. Various new types of constrained-geometry complexes [{(η5-RC2B9H9)(CH2)2(η1-NBz2)}MCl2] (M = Ti (3), Zr (4); R = H (a), Me (b)) were prepared by the reaction of the potassium salt of 2 with titanium or zirconium tetrachloride. The reaction of 2 with Ti(NMe2)4 in toluene affords [{(η5-RC2B9H9)(CH2)2(η1-NBz2)}Ti(NMe2)2] (5), which readily reacts with Me3SiCl to yield the corresponding chloride complex 3. The structure of the constrained-geometry complex [{(η5-C2B9H10)(CH2)2(η1-NBz2)}Ti(NMe2)2] (5a) was established by X-ray diffraction, which showed an η5:η1 bonding mode derived from the dicarbollylamino ligand fuctional group. In contrast, the reaction of 2 with Zr(NMe2)4 produced the untethered half-metallocene complexes [{(η5-RC2B9H9)(CH2)2(NBz2)}Zr(NMe2)2(NHMe2)] (6). The identity of 6 was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Due to c...


Background and Objective: Today, high risk behaviors in adolescents have become one of the most important concerns of society which are influenced by various factors. Time perspective is how one perceives or evaluates past, present, and future that greatly influences on its decisions. Peer rejection is also one of the variables that has received special attention in the area of adolescent behaviors. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the role of time perspective and peer rejection in predicting high-risk behaviors of adolescents of Yazd city. Materials and Methods: This study was descriptive cross-sectional. Statistical population consisted of adolescents aged 15-17 that from them 378 persons were selected using quota sampling method. The tool used in this study was Time Perspective Questionnaire, Iranian Adolescents Risk-Taking Scale, and Peer Rejection Questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics including Pearson correlation test and multiple regression analysis were used for data analysis. Results: The results of regression analysis showed that in girls, among the dimensions of the time perspective, only the past negative dimension (p=0.03) could predict high-risk behaviors and in boys the past negative (p=0.001), past positive (p=0.04) and present fatalistic (p=0.006) are predictors of high-risk behaviors. Peer rejection was not able to predict high-risk behaviors in any of the groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: According to the findings, time perspective is one of the factors affecting the high-risk behaviors of adolescents. Therefore, psychological education based on time perspective can be effective on high-risk behaviors.


The present Letter deals with the rapid green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using fresh leaves of Saccharum officinarum
 (sugarcane). Silver nanoparticles were formed by treatment of aqueous solution of AgNO
 3
 (1 mM) with fresh leaves extract of S. officinarum
. Rapid synthesis was achieved within a few minutes with increased pH and microwave irradiation. UV-vis specrophotometric analysis was carried out to assess the formation of silver nanoparticles. Microwave irradiation mediated synthesised silver nanoparticles were further characterised by using nanoparticle tracking analyser, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectra. Silver nanoparticles with controlled size and shape were observed under TEM micrograph. Silver nanoparticles showed antibacterial activity against multiple drug resistant hospital isolates of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis
 and hospital isolates of Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterococcus feacalis
. The antifungal activity was checked against Candida albicans
 (hospital isolate) and Aspergillus niger
 (NCIM 616). The synergistic effect of silver nanoparticles along with antibiotics against multiple drug resistant hospital isolates was found to be effective. The extracellular synthesis of silver nanoparticles using leaves of S. officinarum
 appears to be rapid, cost effective and eco-friendly.


A patient with an extremely high level of von Willebrand factor (8X normal) failed to show any response to ristocetin with her platelet-rich plasma. The patient also had a long bleeding time and a large amount of a paraprotein. Using a washed platelet assay system and dilutions of her platelet-poor plasma, ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation activity could be recovered to 40% of normal. Purification of the von Willebrand factor from the patient's plasma resulted in an increase in ristocetin-induced platelet aggregating activity associated with the von Willebrand factor. Electrophoretic comparison by SDS disc gel electrophoresis and crossed immunoelectrophoresis showed no differences between this patient's von Willebrand factor and either purified normal plasma or serum von Willebrand factor. The patient's plasma, following removal of the von Willebrand factor, inhibited ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation in normal platelet-rich plasma and in a washed platelet system using purified normal von Willebrand factor. These observations indicate the presence of an abnormal plasma protein which binds ristocetin and thereby inhibits platelet aggregation. Furthermore, the abnormal protein must interfere with the in vivo functions of the von Willebrand factor as witnessed by the increased bleeding time presented by the patient. This behavior is explained by a model system in which ristocetin mimics a structural component found in the lining of the vessel walls which is exposed by tissue injury. The abnormal plasma protein competes with the von Willebrand factor and interferes with von Willebrand dependent platelet adhesion. Supported by an NIH Research Career Development Award and the American Heart Association.


The present invention relates to a data transmission system for use in an optical connection that is required for high-speed large-capacity data transmission. For the optical connection of data transmission systems have a two-way transmission and reception circuit for selecting output to the output stage after to be installed at both ends of the data lines between the chips or boards input the electric signal or the optical signal inputted from the input terminal selectively amplifying conversion is provided and a transmission circuit and a receiving circuit was designed and manufactured separately for transmission and reception in the conventional integrated into one lower design and manufacturing cost of the circuit, the operating power consumption reduced, and also to integrate the two-way transmission circuits at the same time, the highly integrated semiconductor chip may have not only to be expanded in the form of a multi-dimensional multi-channel may be smaller, simplifies package, plus the freedom to choose the input and output signals in the form of at input and output terminals by the inner select switch two-way transceiver circuit into an electric signal or an optical signal it can be applied to a wide range of applications . Optical connecting a data transmission system, two-way transmission and reception circuit, the pre-amplifier, a main amplifier, the selection switch for


This article deals with a non-local problem for the harmonic function in a disc, when the value of the function on one part of its semi-circle and the relation of unknown function values on the semi-circles of concentrated circles on the other part of the circle are given. This problem is reduced to the integral equation with a periodical kernel. To solve it, the analogue of the Wiener–Hopf method for a discrete case is developed. Its use allows one to obtain the problem equivalent to the factorization problem which has a unique solution. An effective solution is constructed.


The chicken is the only confirmed natural host to infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) (Hofstad 1984). We report the isolation of IBV from a flock of racing pigeons and assess its significance. During the winter of 1985, a racing pigeon fancier in north eastern Victoria observed an acute illness in his loft of 150 racing pigeons. Affected birds had ruffled feathers, dyspnoea and excessive mucus at the commissures of the beak. Eleven birds died during the first 24 h and 11 more over the next 2 days. Seven birds were submitted for necropsy. The flock was treated with antibiotics. Affected birds recovered over the next 2 to 3 weeks. At post-mortem examination, all birds were in average body condition. They had recently eaten but the linings of the oesophagus and crop were ulcerated. Mucoid pharyngitis and tracheitis were noted. The lower intestines contained fluid. Histological examination of oesophageal tissues confirmed that the birds were infested with trichomonads. Four clarified suspensions from pooled samples of 5 tracheal mucosae and from 7 cloacal swabs were each inoculated into the allantoic cavity of sets of 5 nine-day-old fertile chicken eggs, Allantoic fluids, from the third passage, were collected 72 h after inoculation of each set of eggs, clarified and pelleted in an ultra centrifuge. Coronaviruses were seen when the pellets were examined by electron microscopy. Ten days after inoculation, all eggs were opened and the embryos examined. Embryos in each set were curled and stunted, changes which are characteristic of IBV. An aliquot of a tracheal isolate was passaged 3 times in eggs at 48 h intervals. Fluorescence, shown to be specific for IBV, was seen in the aliantoic cells of each passage (Endo and Faragher, unpublished). After concentration and treatment with phospholipase C type 1, allantoic fluid from the third passage haemagglutinated chicken red blood cells. The haemagglutination was inhibited by specific IBV antiserum, indicating IBV of sub-type B (Faragher 1987). The IBV was then sub-typed by plaque reduction serum neutralisation tests using serums specific for each of the 9 Australian IBV subtypes (Wadey and Faragher 1981), and shown to belong to sub-type B. Twenty-six days after the onset of disease in the pigeons, samples of serum were obtained from 10 birds in the affected flock and also from 12 birds in an unaffected flock kept in a separate loft 4OOm away. IBV haemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody was detected at levels from 2 to 2'. The titres in serum from the unaffected and the affected pigeon flocks were similar. The pathogenicity of a cloacal IBV isolate was examined. Four 4-week-old CSIRO SPF chickens and four 8-week-old meat pigeons that were housed in the same cage were each inoculated by intranasal, intraocular and oral routes with allantoic fluid containing 10' EID,, of IBV. Meat pigeons were chosen rather than racing pigeons to reduce the likelihood of previous exposure to IBV. A similar number of birds of both species was inoculated with phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and housed in a separate room. Four days after inoculation, all the chickens inoculated with IBV had marked respiratory rales. A11 pigeons and those chickens inocuIated with PBS remained healthy for 18 d when all the birds were bled and killed. Levels of IBV HI antibodies in the chickens increased from 2' before inoculation to 2' to 24 18 d after inoculation. This response is common following vaccination of chickens, whereas wild IBV stimulate higher antibody levels. No IBV HI antibody was detected in the pigeons. The IBV may have caused disease in the racing pigeons because their resistance was lowered by intercurrent disease. Pigeons raced over long distances have been seen to shelter in open-sided caged-layer poultry sheds when they are attacked by raptors (J Dark, personal communication). Such direct contact may have been the route of transmission to the pigeons of an IBV shown to be of the same serotype as widely used Australian IBV vaccine strains. A stray pigeon which the pigeon fancier had seen join his flock a week before the onset of disease may have been implicated in the transmission of the IBV. Laboratory contamination as a source of the isolate was considered to be a remote possibility because no other IBV was isolated during the 5 days immediately preceding or following this case. We thank Mr G Beavis for submitting the pigeons and assisting with the investigation.


Two approaches to the computation of the discrete Hartley transform (DHT) are proposed. The first approach is based on computing a prime length DHT using a radix-2 number-theoretic transform. The number of multiplications required in this method is equal to N-1, which is less than the number of multiplications required for direct computation of the DHT using radix-2 or split radix algorithms. In the second approach, short-term transforms are implemented with rotations replacing multiplications. The availability of VLSI cordic processors implementing circular rotation makes this approach an interesting alternative to the realization of the transform.<<ETX>>


Generally, epoxy resin will be softened and its bond capacity will decrease remarkably under a high temperature environment near to or higher than the glass transition temperature (Tg) or deflection temperature under load (HDT) of epoxy resin. This paper summarizes a series of investigations for confirming the temperature effect on bonding behavior between fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) sheets and concrete. An experimental program is designed by using prism specimens subjected to a direct tensile load. The temperature around the concrete prism and the types of epoxy resin are considered as the experimental parameters. The experimental results are exploited to determine the debonding fracture energy (Gf), failure mode, and effective bonding length (Le) of the test specimens. It is observed from results that the value of Gf decreases and Le increases largely at temperatures near to or higher than Tg or HDT. Moreover, the newly developed epoxy resin presents higher temperature-resistance behavior than ordinary epoxy resin.


Mastitis is the most frequent and prevalent production disease in dairy herds in developed countries. Based on a milk somatic cell count (SCC) of either >300,000 or <200,000 cells/ml in this study, we defined the quarter as either inflamed or uninflamed, respectively. The electrical conductivity (EC) of milk was used as an indicator of udder epithelial cell damage. We determined the amount of H2O2 produced by utilizing a small molecular weight compound in milk, and examined the characteristics of H2O2 production and EC in milk from inflamed and uninflamed quarters. In cows with milk of delivery grade (control population), H2O2 production and EC were 3.6+/-1.3 nmol/ml and 5.4+/-0.4 mS/cm (mean+/-sd), respectively. In 37 inflamed quarter milk samples, the production of H2O2 was 1.9+/-1.0 nmol/ml and was significantly smaller than that in the control population (P<0.01). Production of H2O2 was moderately but significantly correlated with EC (r<-0.71). In 20 cows with inflamed quarters, the production of H2O2 in milk from inflamed quarters was significantly smaller than that in milk from uninflamed quarters (P<0.01). In 18 out of 20 cows, milk from inflamed quarters showed the smallest H2O2 production among all tested quarters in each cow. We conclude that inflammation caused a decrease in H2O2 production in milk. In this study, we present parameters for evaluating the lactoperoxidase/H2O2/thiocyanate antibacterial defence system in bovine milk.


The management of type 2 diabetes mellitus needs to change in response to the evolving evidence base now available. Research from the ADVANCE and the ACCORD trials was presented during the American Diabetes Association 58th annual advanced postgraduate course in New York City.


Abstract This paper identifies the learning which has emerged from some of the initiatives funded by Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Health Action Zone (LSLHAZ) which have focused on the participation of children and young people in service planning, improvement and delivery. Evaluation reports from a number of LSLHAZ funded participation initiatives were analysed. In addition, staff working with children and young people were invited to a learning event to identify some of the tacit knowledge not made explicit in reports. The paper identifies the success factors and benefits for children and young people's participation, and offers a strategic framework for professionals and organisations willing to embed children and young people's participation into their work.


In The Birthright Lottery, Ayelet Shachar subjects the institution of birthright citizenship to close scrutiny by applying to citizenship the historical and philosophical critique of hereditary ownership built up over four centuries of liberal and democratic theory, and proposing compelling alternatives drawn from the theory of private law to the usual modes of conveyance of membership. Nonetheless, there are some difficulties with this critique. First, the analogy between entailed property and birthright citizenship is not as illustrative as Shachar intends it to be; second, the mechanism of the birthright privilege levy is insufficient for addressing structural impediments to growth; and third, the principle of ius nexi, while an important corrective to currently dominant principles of nationality, will likely have effects both unnecessary and insufficient to correct the injustices that Shachar identifies. In the end, the most significant improvements in the lives of the neediest persons on the planet are more likely advanced through conventional arguments for the lowering of barriers to the circulation of goods, labor, and capital. This shift in attention from opening borders to extending citizenship risks being a distraction from more effective means of addressing the injustices associated with global inequality.


Objective: To investigate the diagnosis and surgery therapy in parathyroid adenoma patienysis was carried out in seventeen parathyroid adenoma patients from 1999 to 2010 abts.Methods: To retrospectively analout clinical manifestation,diagnosis and surgical therapy.Results: The serum calcium and PTH levels were above average,and the accuracy of location of parathyroid adenoma with color doppler ultrasound,CT and 99Tcm-MIBI was 94.1% before operation.All these patients occured short-term hypocalcemia after operation.Conclusion: It is a reliable qualitative diagnosis by detecting the plasma calcium and PTH concentrations and it is a sensitive localization diagnosis with color doppler ultrasound,CT and 99Tcm-MIBI.An effective therapy for parathyroid adenoma is parathyroidectomy.


According to the status and existent problems of the management of forest resources in Fujian province,this paper,adopting the scientific development philosophy,proposes four aspects of overall thinking on the management system in the new era and puts forward ten reform measures.


There has been recent interest in near-conformal, microwave and millimeter-wave antennas for airborne and ground transportable platforms. For reflector antennas to be effective in such applications, they must be both low profile and high efficiency. Reflector antenna concepts which exhibit high efficiency immediately suggest reflector shaping. Near-conformality imposes physical constraints which force the radiating aperture to be highly elliptical or rectangular. Since an elliptical or rectangular radiating aperture is required, a suitable expression must be selected for the aperture shape. It is important to select a form which is general enough to be useful but which yields integrals which have tractable, closed-form solutions. A piecewise-linear approximation is shown to fit this requirement. An approach is developed that involves manipulating the applicable constraints into a triangular matrix form whose solution is known to exist, is known to be unique, and is relatively straightforward to solve numerically. Elliptical, compact structures capable of being fitted into a complementary pedestal-positioner to form a low-profile antenna assembly are considered as examples.<<ETX>>


In the present study we evaluated the short-term effect of lansoprazole in controlling intragastric acidity in 20 patients with duodenal ulcer. Twenty- four hour intragastric acidity was measured respectively by ambulatory acidity monitors, before and after daily treatment of 30mg oral lansoprazole, for 1 and then 7 doses. The pretreatment of mean 24-hour median pH of 20 patients was 1.31 ± 0.28, then the mean 24-hour median pH was raised to 2.84±1.88 (P=0.002) after 1 dose. After 7 doses, the mean 24-hour median pH had raisen to 4.32±2.35 (P=0.018). 14 patients (70%) got a marked gastric acid, suppression. The acid suppression seemed not significantly correlated with basic characteristics (age, sex, height, weight) of these patients. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that short-term oral lansoprazole 30mg had major portion on intragastric acid suppression in patients with duodenal ulcer.


This article summarized the current situation of nursing human resource,nurse staffing and the research prospect of nursing human resource abroad and in China,which aimed to provide some information and reference for nursing managers.


Plantar fasciitis is a common cause of heel and foot pain. It affects approximately 2 million Americans annually. Physiotherapy is the first treatment prescribed, and its success depends on the patient's adherence to treatment. Objective: This study aimed to develop a manual with orientations and exercises for patients with plantar fasciitis and to assess its clarity, level of understanding, and satisfaction among patients and physiotherapists. Method: Thirty physiotherapists and thirty patients, who were literate and showed no cognitive deficit, participated in this study. They analyzed a manual that consists of 10 exercises and orientations for patients with plantar fasciitis. Results: All exercises and orientations were well understood (above 90%). The manual was considered excellent by the patients and great by physiotherapists. Conclusion: Demonstrating a relevant level of understanding and satisfaction among therapists and patients, the manual proved to be a supplementary tool in the treatment of patients with plantar fasciitis.


Infant mortality is the death that is occurred after born until exactly before
one year old baby. The number of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is always
being a medical concern in the world, especially in developing countries. It
is in
uenced by many factors, however in broad outline, there are two causes
of this mortality; endogenous and exogenous. Preventing diagnosis mistake
of infant pain is one of any efforts to reduce the infant mortality rate. The
difference of infant's face expression in pain is able to be identified not only
by seeing and watching, but also assessing any characteristic parameters. This
problem encourages research on the pain identification of infant facial expres-
sions. This study is aim to distinguish infant's face that showing the pain
or not by analyzing some change in their face using Ganglion Cells working
principles with nCRF mechanism and Neonatal Facial Coding System (NFCS)
indicators.
The research design was an early phase and exploratory study. There was
two groups, pre-operative infants and post-operative infants. There are several
ways of infant pain identification in medical, Neonate Facial Coding System
(NFCS) is one which focuses in face. Pain assessment in infants with NFCS
has ten indicators, but the last indicator did not happen to full term infants.
Five of nine indicators are selected in this study, include brow lowering, eyes
squeezed shut, mouth stretch, and lip pursuing. This research find that GC's
nCRF is able to generate some features of NFCS pain assessment in five facial
actions that commonly occur in pain infants.


The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) posits that environmental degradation increases at the initial stages, but declines as the economy achieves a certain level of economic growth, measured in per capita income terms. This postulated relation produces an inverted Ushaped curve. The topic has drawn much research attention for both developed and emerging economies. Over the past few decades Bangladesh has been achieving remarkable rates of economic growth. A dense population along with a growing industrial base has raised the specter of a looming environmental crisis. The present study empirically investigates the EKC hypothesis for Bangladesh using data from 1971 to 2010. The Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration has been implemented for a long run relation; and the Granger causality within the vector error correction model (VECM) for the short run dynamics. The series are found to be cointegrated. We find that energy consumption is a major contributor to CO2 emissions. Trade openness improves environment, but urbanization worsens it. Economic growth, energy consumption, trade and urbanization Granger cause CO2 emissions. Knowledge of the existence of an EKC relation can help craft appropriate policies to promote economic growth and identify the turning point, and help preserve the environment.


Article history: Received January 12, 2013 Received in revised format 10 May 2013 Accepted June 19 2013 Available online June 2


The resolution phenomenon appeared in construction of asphalt pavement has great affection on pavement quality. Therefore, it has important practical significance to present methods which can reduce resolution phenomenon.


The use of radar rainfall for hydrological appraisal has been a challenge due to the limitations in raw data generation followed by the complex analysis needed to come up with precise data interpretation. In this study, RAIDOM (RAdar Image DigitalizatiOn Method) has been developed to convert synthetic radar CAPPI(Constant Altitude Plan Position Indicator) image data from Korea Meteorological Administration into digital format in order to come up with a more practical and useful radar image data. RAIDOM was used to examine a severe local rainstorm that occurred in July 2006 as well as two other separate events that caused heavy floods on both upper and mid parts of the HanRiver basin. A distributed model was developed based on the available radar rainfall data. The Flood Hydrograph simulation has been found consistent with actual values. The results show the potentials of RAIDOM and the distributed model as tools for flood prediction. Furthermore, these findings are expected to extend the usefulness of radar rainfall data in hydrological appraisal.


Cauda equina syndrome(CES)is a rare complication of long‒standing ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Cerebrospinal fluid(CSF)circulation disorder occurs because of chronic inflammation, and it affects the cauda equina nerve root. Based on this mechanism, there are some reports of lumboperitoneal (LP)shunt performed for preventing the development of CES symptoms by improving the CSF flow circulation. We report two cases of CES in AS treated with an LP shunt. A 71‒year‒old woman developed pain in the lumbar area and lower extremities, followed by bilateral lower extremity dysesthesia and urinary disturbance. Magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)and computed tomography myelography(CTM)revealed arachnoid cysts in the dura mater and dural ectasia. CTM also revealed communication between the cyst and the subarachnoid space. We performed an LP shunt with the aim of decompression by the cyst. After the operation, the patient's pain subsided. A 54‒year‒old man developed left lower extremity dysesthesia, followed by bowel and urinary disturbance. MRI revealed dural ectasia, but no obvious mass lesion was observed in the dura mater. We performed lumbar CSF drainage to evaluate whether an LP shunt would be effective. After CSF drainage, the patient's symptoms slightly improved; therefore, we performed an LP shunt. After the operation, the patient's symptoms improved slightly. The mechanism underlying the effectiveness of LP shunt is unknown. It may normalize CSF flow circulation, leading to normalized CSF pressure in the dura mater, and decrease nerve root compression. LP shunt for CES in AS is beneficial in halting the progression of symptoms. (Received:April 3, 2019;accepted:July 24, 2019)


We show that whenever $\delta>0$, $\eta$ is real and constants $\lambda_i$ satisfy some necessary conditions, there are infinitely many prime triples $p_1,\, p_2,\, p_3$ satisfying the inequality $|\lambda_1p_1 + \lambda_2p_2 + \lambda_3p_3+\eta|<(\max p_j)^{-1/12+\delta}$ and such that, for each $i\in\{1,2,3\}$, $p_i+2$ has at most $28$ prime factors.


Static binary rewriting is a core technology for many systems and security applications, including profiling, optimization, and software fault isolation. While many static binary rewriters have been developed over the past few decades, most make various assumptions about the binary, such as requiring correct disassembly, cooperation from compilers, or access to debugging symbols or relocation entries. This paper presents MULTIVERSE, a new binary rewriter that is able to rewrite Intel CISC binaries without these assumptions. Two fundamental techniques are developed to achieve this: (1) a superset disassembly that completely disassembles the binary code into a superset of instructions in which all legal instructions fall, and (2) an instruction rewriter that is able to relocate all instructions to any other location by mediating all indirect control flow transfers and redirecting them to the correct new addresses. A prototype implementation of MULTIVERSE and evaluation on SPECint 2006 benchmarks shows that MULTIVERSE is able to rewrite all of the testing binaries with a reasonable runtime overhead for the new rewritten binaries. Simple static instrumentation using MULTIVERSE and its comparison with dynamic instrumentation shows that the approach achieves better average performance. Finally, the security applications of MULTIVERSE are exhibited by using it to implement a shadow stack.


Sustainable economic growth assumes interdependencies among social, economic, and environmental dimensions of growth. For Romania, in particular, the sustainable economic growth is both a challenge and an opportunity for prosperity. This paper aims at assessing the sustainability of economic growth in Romania in the period 1995-2019 by identifying the social, economic, environmental, and institutional drivers of the process of economic growth. Multivariate time-series analysis was used to analyse if the Romanian economic growth in the period 1995-2019 is sustainable. We also estimated the GDP per capita growth rate based on the determinants with which we found significant relationships.


Aiming at the deficiency of traditional grey relative analysis,this paper proposes an improved grey relative analysis method on the basis of entropy-AHP comprehensive weight.And then it applies to social assessment of the Jiangya Hydro-junction.The results show that the proposed method avoids the subjectivity of human inference and it has higher accuracy.


COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered type of coronavirus. This new virus and the disease it cause were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. COVID-19 is now a pandemic that is occurring in many countries around the world, including Indonesia. The massive spread of the Covid 19 virus has attacked almost all regencies and cities throughout Indonesia, including Bogor Regency. Real-time information related to Covid-19 cases in each sub-district is very much needed by the people of Bogor Regency in general and Cileungsi District in particular. However, the problem is related to Covid 19 information per cluster in each sub-district that has not been presented quickly and measurably, this will cause information regarding the spread of Covid 19 per cluster in the sub-district to the community to be less clear. With these problems, this study aims to design a web application related to information on the spread of Covid-19 per cluster in each sub-district in the form of a Map Geographic Information System (GIS). The design of this GIS Web application is designed using the Leaflet Map Framework with the Postgre database system. After testing the GIS web application regarding the information on the spread of Covid 19 per cluster in each sub-district in Bogor district and especially in the Cileungsi sub-district, the information presented in real-time and up-to-date regarding the spread of covid 19 per cluster in the community, so it is very useful in monitoring and mobility of the movement of the spread and preventive measures in the community. © 2023 Author(s).


The article discusses the relation between the peer relationship and the development of children's self-efficacy.Peer relationship provides abundance information for the development of Children's self-efficacy;The development of children's self-efficacy also influences the peer relationship's establishing and the peer's activity.


Bed-by-bed collected ammonites :have permitted a recognition of the hybonotum , darwini , semiforme , and fallauxi Zones, Lower to Middle Tithonian, at the classic locality at Rogoźnik, in the Pieniny Klippen Belt of Poland, and a precise stratigraphic location of several ammonite species monographed by Zitiel (1870).


The invention provides a power-control-based energy consumption monitoring method and a power-control-based energy consumption monitoring system. The energy consumption monitoring method comprises the following steps that monitoring terminals acquire energy consumption parameters of load equipment to be monitored; the monitoring terminals regulate own uplink signal transmission power according to the energy consumption parameters; the monitoring terminals transmit uplink signals to an energy consumption monitoring access gateway based on the regulated transmission power; the monitoring access gateway monitors and acquires the uplink signal of at least one monitoring terminal, and determines the energy consumption parameters of the load equipment corresponding to the monitoring terminal according to the power of the uplink signal of the monitoring terminal. According to the technical scheme, the characteristic that the monitoring access gateway can detect and identify the power intensity of the uplink signal is utilized, and the power intensity corresponds to the energy consumption parameters, so that additional energy consumption parameters are not required to be carried by the uplink signals of the monitoring terminals, and data transmission and the analytical identification processing cost are reduced.


In the modernization tidal waves,the Elunchun nationality can not acclimate themselves to complicated environment that is changing dramatically due to small population,occlusive geological position,small cultural market,and small power of cultural development to promote economy,and thereby traditional culture was impacted severely.One possible method for saving traditional culture of the Elunchun nationality is to build a "Cultural Reserve",namely,to reserve a traditional "territory" with a certain range in the inhabited area of Elunchun nationality in the Autonomous Flags of Elunchun,and let the local people keep their own,intrinsic production and living styles,so as to preserve and develop their national culture in daily life.To build a "Cultural Reserve" does not mean returning to the "past" state regardless of the present situation,instead,the author suggests to learn from foreign preserves while keeping traditional life style,and scientifically,so as to keep up with the times.Therefore,the "Cultural Reserve" will have new connotations.


This paper proposes a deep learning-based Mandarin-Tibetan cross-lingual speech synthesis to realize both Mandarin speech synthesis and Tibetan speech synthesis under a unique framework. Because Tibetan training corpus is hard to record, we train the acoustic models with a large scale Mandarin multi-speaker corpus and a small scale Tibetan one-speaker corpus. The acoustic models are trained with deep neural network (DNN), hybrid long short-term memory (LSTM), and hybrid bi-directional long short-term memory (BLSTM). We also further extend our Chinese text analyzer by adding a Tibetan text analyzer for generating context-dependent labels from input Chinese or Tibetan sentences. The Tibetan text analyzer includes a text normalization, a novel Tibetan word segmentation that combines a BLSTM with conditional random field, a prosodic boundary prediction, and a grapheme-to-phoneme conversion. We select the initials and the finals of both Mandarin and Tibetan as the speech synthesis units to train a speaker-independent mixed language average voice model (AVM) with DNN, hybrid LSTM, and hybrid BLSTM from Mandarin and Tibetan mixed corpus. Then the speaker adaptation is applied to train speaker-dependent DNN, hybrid LSTM, or hybrid BLSTM models of Mandarin or Tibetan with a small target speaker corpus from an AVM. Finally, we synthesize the Mandarin speech, or Tibetan speech though the speaker-dependent Mandarin or Tibetan models. The experiments show that the hybrid BLSTM-based cross-lingual speech synthesis framework is better than the other two cross-lingual frameworks and the Tibetan monolingual framework. The mixed Tibetan training corpus does not influence the voice quality of synthesized Mandarin speech. Furthermore, the hybrid BLSTM-based cross-lingual speech synthesis framework only needs 60% of the training corpus to synthesize a similar voice as the Tibetan monolingual framework. Therefore, the proposed method can be used for speech synthesis of low resource languages by borrowing the same tremendous resource language's corpus.


The main objective of the present study is to establish the relationships between the process variables and the quality of thermoplastic composite laminates fabricated by tape placement. The quality parameters considered in the process modeling are interlaminar bond strength, weight loss through thermal degradation, and crystallinity. Stress, heat transfer, crystallization, degradation, and bonding models are developed. These models relate the process parameters (e.g., roller velocity, roller pressure, heat input) to temperature, stress, and crystallinity distributions, degradation weight loss, and degree of bonding within the composite. These relationships are used to develop a process window to ensure product quality. The process parameters are then optimized to reduce the lay-up time.


The tracking measur ements of different backfat thickness in one gestation cycle were implemented in Large White and Landrace sows with the B-mode ultrasonic scanner, then the effects of backfat thickness in different gestation periods on reproductive performance were analyzed to determine favorable ranges of backfat thickness in different gestation periods and provide the reference for the breeding management of pregnancy. The results showed that high backfat thickness(18.41 mm) had favorable effects on measured reproductive performances before 60 days of pregnancy, while the backfat thickness should be controlled after 60 days of pregnancy and stay the medium level(13.26 mmx≤17.13 mm) in Large White sows. In the entire process of pregnancy, medium backfat thickness(13.82 mm x ≤18.18 mm) should be maintained in Landrace pigs. Especially, medium backfat thickness played an obvious role in promoting total number born, number born alive and litter weight at birth from 90 days of pregnancy to the pregnancy in farrowing crate.


This paper aims to present the strategic motivations which lead companies to practice competitive intelligence and the difficulties that they meet. Through the results of three case studies conducted in multinational firms, we notice that these organisations have too different modes of interpretation varying from enacting to discovering mode. The ideal model of competitive intelligence is the fusion of these two modes. Consequently, these firms find themselves whit an incomplete model of competitive intelligence.


Abstract A metastable hexagonal close-packed (hcp) phase obtained by rapid quenching from the melt has been compressed to 5.7 GPa and annealed up to 1023 K. The axial ratios (c/a) of the hcp structure at the initial state, the stable state annealed under high pressure (5.7 GPa, 673 K) and the quenched state from high pressure and high temperature condition are 1.630, 1.635 and 1.628, respectively. The volume reduction of the hcp structure by application of high pressure gives rise to increase the c/a ratio, which corresponds to an apparent reduction in the number of valence electrons per atom (e/a) in the Hume-Rothery alloys.


The invention discloses a herbal tea with a function of improving ozostomia and a preparation method of the herbal tea. The herbal tea comprises the following raw materials in parts by weight: honeysuckle, field mint, broadleaf holly leaf, bunge corydalis herb, houttuynia cordata, Pu'er tea, red dates, arabian jasmine flower, acacia leaves, sweet-scented osmanthus, ageratum, bamboo leaves, raw rhubarb, galangal, raw rhizoma phragmitis, cucumber, lotus leaves, kelp, sanchi flower, honey, vitamin and organic acid. The preparation method comprises the steps: (1) weighing the raw materials in a ratio for later use; (2) soaking the raw rhubarb, the galangal and the raw rhizoma phragmitis; (3) removing impurities from the acacia leaves; (4) preparing a semi-finished tea; (5) preparing a concentrated solution; (6) preparing a finished tea; (7) preparing the herbal tea. The herbal tea has the characteristics of being simple in ingredients, easily obtaining the materials, being low in cost, being simple and convenient to make, being good in taste, and being capable of well improving the ozostomia, and is suitable for being drunk by all people.