To the Editor:

I read with interest the article "Characterization of side effects sustained by chiropractic students during their undergraduate training in technique class at a chiropractic college: a preliminary retrospective study" by Macanuel et al. and I have a couple of comments:

It is a worthwhile cause to look into the safety of chiropractic students. This study is therefore certainly both timely and relevant. However, it is always important that the research we conduct and publish is carefully conducted and meticulously reported, in particular so in politically sensitive areas. Using a common Scandinavian phrase as an analogy, sometimes readers deal with written text "like the devil reads the bible"; in other words, deliberately taking something out of context and twisting the meaning. From this point of view, I have some problems with this report.

My main problem is the choice of vocabulary. The term "side-effect" is a general term that needs further definition, i.e. what type of side-effect was this and was it common or uncommon, mild or severe, acceptable or unacceptable. Thus side-effects can be transient and of no physical or pathological consequence, as is probably the case in most reactions following spinal manipulative treatment, i.e. the "normal" reactions. Side-effects can also be transient even if they are of a more sinister type, because Mother Nature allowed healing to occur. These would be "unsuitable" reactions but without further consequences. Unsuitable reactions, whether mild or severe, that persist are most likely signs of real injuries. The authors of the present article correctly use the term "side-effect" in the title but, unfortunately, also use the term "injury" in the text, as a synonym to "side-effect". This, as explained, is not a good idea; it gives the reader (possibly the devil) the idea that students who treat each other may inflict irreversible injuries on each other – or perhaps on themselves.

My second problem has to do with the calculation of percentages, which requires a numerator (the number you find) and a denominator (out of so many), for example 12 students out of 120 (10%) who received a lumbar roll reported a side-effect. Unless you know the total number of treatments or persons submitted to treatments, you cannot determine whether the figure you report represents a large or a small proportion of the total number. For example, how would you know, whether it is less risky to treat the lumbar spine (35% of the reported "injuries") than the cervical spine (44% of the reported "injuries"), unless you know the total number of cervical and lumbar spine adjustments? The same is true for procedures; perhaps the 1.9% of all "injuries" reported by students to occur after a drop-piece treatment was in fact very high, because almost no such procedures were performed, whereas the much more frequently reported "injuries" appearing after side-posture adjustments were relatively very rare, because they arose out of a very large number of such procedures.

My third problem is, related to the inequality of the recall periods between the participant groups from the different years of the study. According to Table 3, which I have recreated below, the 161 "injuries" occurred mainly in the second year of study.

According to the authors, technique classes were not common in the first year. Technique was probably an important aspect of the education from the second till the fourth year. It therefore appears, and the authors also point out, that year two is particularly dangerous.

However, participants in the survey were students from the second, third and fourth year of study. In other words, the fourth year students could report from the first to the fourth year, the third year students from the first to the third year, and the second year students from the first and second year. In other words, year two could be reported on by all but year three only by some and year four only by even fewer. Therefore, there is bound to be a higher number of events from the second year than from the third or fourth but this may have nothing to do with the proportion of treatment sessions that resulted in such reactions. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence to appoint year two as the most dangerous period.

 Year of study Count Percent
First year 37 22.9
Second year 95 59.0
Third year 28 17.4
Fourth year 1 0.01

View it in a separate window

My fourth concern is that the authors do not seem to consider the potential consequences of the low response rate. Who was more likely to respond, the one with an unpleasant event or the one without? Could this have resulted in an over- or under-reporting of reactions?

And finally, I find the retrospective study design problematic. This may be acceptable if the recall period is not too long, but how can anybody be expected to remember details about these events up to three years ago? Even I, with the special interest I have in this research area, do not think that I would be able to recall when a reaction started, how long it lasted and how bad it was three years later.

My closing comment is that "preliminary" studies should keep a certain intellectual standard so as not to make it too easy for the devil when he sits down to read scientific articles.


According to the modern firm property right theory,firm consists of different production factors(resource),including the combination of a series of contracts arrived at through the game of the owners of human resources,and is the union of different factors.There exists a legally contractual relationship between shareholders,enterprise managers,creditors,staff,government and customers which comprise the enterprise.This requires that enterprise not only consider the interest of shareholders,but that of interest-related parties.The wealth maximization of interest-related parties completely conforms to the features of the financial management target in contemporary society.When enterprises establish the financial management target they should give consideration to the economic interest of different interest-related parties such as shareholders,creditors and managers,determine the financial management target of wealth maximization of interest-related parties and realize the interest maximization of shareholders,managers,staff,state and society.


Application of double center projection algorithm for stereo image generation, The related calculation formulas are introduced, And a detailed description of the OpenGL Stereo display a cube steps, using red and green filters to generate eye stereoscopic image observation. Through the above experiment, calculated using the double center projection algorithm can obtain better stereo effect, It can be widely applied to buildings and scene roaming a variety of occasions.


In this paper transient temperature profiles in multilayer slabs are predicted, by simultaneously solving Maxwell's equations with the heat conduction equation, using Galerkin-finite elements. It is assumed that the medium is homogeneous and has temperature-dependent dielectric and thermal properties. The method is illustrated with applications involving the heating of food and polymers with microwaves. The temperature dependence of dielectric properties affects the heating appreciably, as is shown by comparison with a constant property model.


The paper presents the results of examinations concerning the properties and possibilities of application of the Mobile Intelligence Motion Sensor (IMCR) in the rehabilitation and monitoring of the human posture. The verification of the human motion was made in relation to the real human gesticulations. The present study is based on data collected from cameras that are used to verify the information submitted by means of IMCR. Sensors were placed on the selected regions of the human body. These data are helpful in the elaboration of three-dimensional model for visualization of human motion. The technical capabilities and functionality of the system may find application in medicine and sport.


Chemerin is a kind of adipokines discovered in 2007. Chemerin and its receptor CMKLR1 are widely distributed in tissues, especially in white adipose tissues, conducting biological effects in an autocrine/paracrine manner. Experimental and clinical data have indicated that localized and/or circulating chemerin expression are obviously elevated in numerous inflammatory and metabolic diseases. Chemerin plays an important role in inflammatory response, regulating adipocyte differentiation and metabolism, and its expression level is closely related to obesity, abnormal glucose metabolism, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The biological functions of chemerin in cells and animal models are discussed in present paper in order to further understand the relationship between chemerin and human health and diseases.

 DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2016.05.16


Although the great findings on the history and identity of korean architecture has been achieved for last 5 decades, korean architecture is rarely paid attention in the global education. One of main reason must be the limited information and knowledge which are provided by English textbooks. This paper reviews the textbooks which are used in architectural education of United States, examining how the textbooks describe and evaluate on korean architecture. The results show that the distinctive features of korean architecture among East-asian society have been rarely introduced in English textbooks, what is worse, some of them give wrong informations which might bring the negative image. The conclusion suggests some ideas which will afford the new knowledge system on the history and cultural identity of korean architecture to the global society.


ArcView and water network models have been integrated to develop the water network modeling system based upon GIS. To develop this system, pre, main, and post processing systems are required. GIS programming technique was adopted by using the ArcView's script language Avenue. The input data of models have been prepared by using the AutoCAD Map3D through the conversion of modeling input data to GIS data for A city. The modeling has been implemented by using EPANET, WaterCAD, InfoWorks. To develop the post processing system, the modeling results of the water network models have been analyzed by using GIS. During the application process of the developed system to B city with 300,000 population, main problems were found in the constructed GIS DB of that city. Thus, pilot study area of B city has been constructed, and pre-, main, and post-processing techniques were invented based upon GIS. Finally, the problems related to waterworks GIS projects in Korea were discussed and solutions were suggested.


Before moving on to the problem of upgrading the infrastructure of small towns, it is worthwhile to summarize the pure static interpretation of the concepts" small town "and" infrastructure", separating them from their dynamics. This work will help to overcome the confusion that may occur in our imagination in the present time concerning these complex concepts. In general, in the social life of society, the main functions of the subjects of social infrastructure are planning the current and future needs of the population, making preferential payments, satisfying the basic physical needs of the population, assessing qualifications and important professional qualities, increasing the level of literacy of the population, training them, forming a reserve of personnel, meeting moral needs, meeting social, formation of corporate culture and improvement of social security of the population will be reflected. If the infrastructure initially expressed the conditions created by the workers due to their specific interests, needs and goals, then this concept was also evaluated in terms of the opportunity for these workers to improve their life performance as well as for their family members to work effectively. This is because the development of cities is manifested not only in their economic, but also in the qualitative transformation of their social infrastructure.


The in vitro reconstitution of complex biological behavior from simple components is challenging in wet ALIFE. Here, we present the reconstitution of host-parasite oscillation dynamics in vitro usi...


The design of a bootstrapped switch in digital 90 nm CMOS technology, with 1.0 V supply voltage and 1 GHz sampling frequency for a 300 fF capacitive load is presented. Simulation results indicate that the switch has 10 bit linearity up to an input signal of 1.0 V peak-to-peak and frequency of 100MHz. The switch is intended for use in state-of-the-art data converters.


The article elucidates the retrospective of the breeding of flowering plants in the Laboratory of Ornamental Plants of the National Botanical Garden (Institute) for about six decades, and also the recent results obtained in the field. The mobilization and introduction into culture of thousands of intraspecifi c taxa generated unique collections of ornamental flowering plants, which served as a basis for obtaining new varieties. More than 300 cultivars have been obtained by: the method of induction of mutations, directed hybridization, selection of spontaneous mutations and natural pollination. Approximately 150 varieties have been certified, homologated, and some patented with the support of the State Agency on Intellectual Property, and also abroad. Currently, 56 ornamental varieties are registered and maintained in the Catalog of Plant Varieties of the Republic of Moldova. In the last decade, more than 60 cultivars were selected, of which 12 were patented. The work of the breeders was appreciated with gold and silver medals, diplomas for participation in national and international inventions exhibitions.


The purpose of this study was to find out how the dynamics of forgiveness of domestic violence victims. Anything that is the reason for the victim chooses to provide forgiveness and maintain the relationship of his household. The method used in this article is the library research method. The results of this study indicate that victims of domestic violence choose to provide forgiveness because it is influenced by certain factors. This factor becomes a force of the victim to maintain his household relationship. As for some of these factors, such as the presence of children, feeling ashamed to report the treatment of their husbands, not having a job so that they depend on living fully with their husbands and considering the length of marriage that has been fostered together.


The objective of the invention is to provide a communication system that can prevent control signals occurring in a mobile communication network from numerously occurring when reducing virtual machines (VMs) in node apparatuses without interrupting services. The communication system of the invention comprises: a communication apparatus (1); and a communication apparatus (2) that uses a plurality of VMs to control a plurality of sessions established between the communication apparatus (1) and the communication apparatus (2). When the communication apparatus (2) has determined that a plurality of sessions currently controlled between the communication apparatus (1) and one of the VMs (3) are to be controlled between the communication apparatus (1) and one of the VMs (4) different from the VM (3), the communication apparatus (2) notifies the communication apparatus (1) of identification information used in the VM (4) and updates the sessions.


Cultivating wheat cultivars on nutrient depleted soils causes poor stand and low yield. Little attention is paid to the performance of newly developed cultivars grown on nutrient deficient soil improved with different types of compost and organic manures. Field studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of organic manures viz; Farm Yard and Poultry manure and inorganic nitrogen fertilizer alone and incombination with EM on phenology, yield and nutrient uptake efficiencies of Wheat. The experiment was conducted at farmer's field, Dargai Malakand Agency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan during winter season 2011-12 and 2012-13. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement. In the main plots, presence and absence of EM was compared. In sub plots, the treatments include T1 = control, T2 = Urea @ 120 kg N ha-1, T3=FYM @ 8 t ha-1, T4 = PM @ 4 t ha-1, T5 = 50 % N from Urea + 25% N from FYM + 25% N from PM were studied. The results revealed that sole application of organic and inorganic N fertilizers did not improve the growth and yield attributes significantly. Results further indicates that combined application of 50 % N from Urea + 25% N from FYM + 25% N from PM along with EM @ 50 L ha were found more effective in enhancing biological yield (13.08tha-1) and grain yield (3.65t ha-1). Application of EM along with FYM, PM or inorganic fertilizers enhanced nutrients/NPK uptake efficiencies in plant tissues by 19.66, 9.53 and 12.06 % as compared to control plots receiving no fertilizer/ manure.


Hungarian position on the eastern front collapsed. Falkenhayn's strategy of attritional battles was exemplified by Germany's series of victories in 1915 against Russia. The importance of surprise and artillery preparations became a standard element of German doctrine. In the west, small German forces were able to hold out against allied attacks, confirming Falkenhayn's poor impression of them. In late 1915 and early 1916, Falkenhayn drew up the plans for Verdun with the Fifth Army. Foley argues that Falkenhayn had a coherent military strategy, based on the tactical and operational problems posed by the war. The strength of the defence meant that his strategy aimed to force the French to attack German positions. His aim at the battle of Verdun was not to capture the fort, but was to establish German forces on the right bank of the Meuse. French counterattacks to relieve the pressure on the fortress would wither in the German field of fire. Foley's detailed treatment of relations between the Fifth Army and Falkenhayn shows that the latter did not understand the plan before and during the battle. His reluctance to commit troops to the operation also diminished the possibility of success. German forces failed to reach the heights in the first attacks, destroying any hope of success for the plan. Falkenhayn also underestimated the French army's powers of resistance. By the end of the battle, French and German casualties were almost equal, a disastrous result for the side with a smaller population. Never popular and conducting an unorthodox and unsuccessful campaign, Falkenhayn was replaced in August 1916 by Ludendorff and Hindenburg. Falkenhayn's strategy of attrition eventually delivered victory – not against Russia in 1917, but against Germany in 1918. While Foley defends the coherence of Falkenhayn's military strategy, he concludes that the goal of a moderate peace with one of the Entente powers was impossible to achieve. Falkenhayn's inability to recognize this demonstrated his failure to adjust to the imperatives of a modern, industrial war, sustained by popular mobilization.


Indian government has removed the disputed article-370 from Jammu and Kashmir on 5th August 2019. From seven decades, J&K has enjoyed being an autonomous state, this means that all the provisions of the Constitution which are applicable to other states are not applicable to J&K.Main focus of this paper is to present positive impact of revocation of 370 article on different sectors. This is important from the investment point of view, and overall development


There are numerous studies describing nest-boxes as breeding places for birds, and sometimes for mammals. However, our results show that in urban conditions nest-boxes are also important nesting places for Hornets (Vespa crabro). The proportion of nest-boxes occupied by V. crabro in this study was between 8 and 20% and varied significantly from year to year. We did not find any relationship between birds' presence in nest-boxes in winter, as well as in spring, and nest-box occupancy by Hornets. We found high nest-site tenacity, defined as a preference to re-use the same nest-box during the study period. However, this tenacity did not persist in the last season when new boxes were added. The high occupancy level of nest-boxes we have observed might increase human-hornet conflicts. Therefore, when placing bird nest-boxes in urbanized areas it must be borne in mind that a substantial proportion may become occupied by this particular insect.


Managing Sports Injuries is written as a guide for students and clinicians of physiotherapy and other manual therapies involved in the treatment of athletic injuries. The text contains 19 chapters, which are divided into two major sections. The first section outlines the principles of sport injuries including injuries, healing and training. The second section contains chapters related to injuries and conditions specific to regions of the body. Each chapter contains information on assessment, diagnosis and treatment including soft tissue therapy, mobilization and rehabilitative exercises. The chapters are well laid out with subheadings, diagrams and illustrations. Boxes for definitions and key points are present throughout the chapters that reiterate important concepts.

The strengths of this book are the helpful illustrations, rehabilitative exercises and clinical pearls that are provided. However, the book has some limitations, which cannot be disregarded. References are provided at the end of each chapter, however, the majority of references are not up to date. Furthermore, the author includes course notes as a reference, which may be unattainable for readers. The author also includes pre-manipulative testing of the cervical spine for which there are no reliable provocative tests to screen for vertebrobasilar insufficiency, according to the most recent literature.

An updated version of the book, which incorporates more current evidence and accessible references, has the potential to be a valuable reference for clinicians and students.


47

 High sodium intake in the Dahl salt-sensitive (S) rat causes hypertension and renal damage. Our goal was to determine if long-term iv infusion of Tempol, a superoxide dismutase mimetic, would ameliorate the hypertension and reduce renal damage in Dahl S rats subjected to high sodium intake. Dahl S/Rapp rats with indwelling arterial and venous catheters were maintained by iv infusion for 3 weeks on either high Na(20.6 mEq/day)(HN), high Na + Tempol(125μmol/kg/h)(HNT)or low Na(0.9 mEq/day) + Tempol(LNT). Arterial pressure was measured 24 hours/day, and as seen in the figure, was significantly decreased in high Na S rats by Tempol.
 †
 -P<.05 compared to HNT,
 *
 -P<.05 compared to LNT. At the end of 3 weeks, rats were anesthetized with isoflurane, and kidneys were removed for histological examination. At this time, the percentage of glomeruli with either focal or global sclerosis in HN, HNT and LNT rats was 3.4±0.8
 *
 †,
 1.4±0.4
 †
 and

 0.6±0.08,

 respectively, and glomerular cross-sectional area (mm
 2
 ) was 14.3±0.4,12.9±0.5 and 12.2±0.6. Therefore, Tempol significantly reduced arterial pressure and indices of renal damage, glomerular sclerosis and glomerular cross-sectional area. These data suggest that oxidative stress significantly increases arterial pressure and exacerbates renal damage in salt-sensitive Dahl rats during increased sodium intake.


Child care providers are likely to be the professionals who most frequently interact with families with young chil- dren. Thus, infant and toddler child Twenty parents and staff of the Play and Learn Child Care Center gathered for a workshop on coping with challenging behaviors in young children. This issue had been coming up at the center recently. Both staff and parents had noticed an increase in difficulty handling the aggressive, angry, and defiant toddlers and 3-year-olds. Even the infant teachers found the babies were fussier than usual, crying more throughout the day, and having a hard time with transitions throughout the day. As the discussion progressed and the sense of connection among the participants built, Dan, one of the fathers, spoke the truth. "I will admit I have been a lot more short-tempered than usual these past few months. Maybe I have been taking it out on my kids. They've cut back my hours at work and there just isn't enough money. The other day the pipes in my bathroom broke and I can't afford the plumber to come out and fix them. Now we can't even use the tub!"


Variations of the height and temperature of tropopause over India have been discussed in this paper. Seasonal and latitudinal variations over India have been compared with those over neighbouring stations. Smith (1963) suggested that increase in moisture contributes to the lowering of the tropopause; but a comparison of the mixing ratios with tropopause heights over India does not seem to bear this out.


Objective and accurate evaluation of patients who underwent lower limb operation is important in determining a proper rehabilitation process according to the patient's recovery status. Gait symmetry analysis is a common protocol that is used to evaluate lower limb function; however, most studies have focused only on the terminal symmetry of lower limb during gait motion and were unable to provide information about detailed motions of the whole leg. To more accurately analyze mutual symmetry of the left and right leg during gait motion, measurement of motions of the whole left and right leg including the pelvis, hip, knee, and ankle is required. Eight patients (mean [standard deviation]: age = 22.87 [6.05] years; height = 167.81 [5.86] cm; weight = 629.52 [133.63] Newtons) who underwent limbsalvage surgery and eight normal volunteers (age = 28.87 [3.79] years; height = 167 [8.36] cm; weight = 657.46 [157.02] Newtons) participated in this study. Using motion capture cameras arranged around each subject, rea...


Let M be von Neumann algebra over complex Hilbert space H,researched the generalized anti-derivable mappings at zero point(unit)on M,It is proved that every norm continuous linear generalized anti-derivable mappings at zero point(unit)is a generalized inner derivation of M.


A comparison of US and Japanese produced Automotive springs was made regarding the following:1. Material used2. Quality and Grade of steela. Incidental alloying elementsb. Non-metallic inclusionsc. Grain size3. Scale and DecarburizingResults of comparison were follows:1. US springs were made of Silicon-Manganese steel, Chromium steel and Molybdenum steels, but Japan mades were chiefly of Silicon-Manganese steels.2. The quality and grade of steels used for US springs were superior to those of Japan make.3. Scale and decarburizing on surfaces of US spring could not be observed, but they were usually observed on surfaces of Japanese springs.


This paper is based on the guiding outline of Physical Education and Health of regular colleges and universities. It analyses basic characters of the outline and the new changes. And it puts forward the questions and requirements to which the Physical Education teachers in the 21st century should pay more attention. Thus the Physical Education teachers can improve the acquaintance of Physical Education and Health of regular higher schools so that we can carry out better the instructions of "Quality Education" and "Health First".


Alternative reproductive tactics can be maintained through different evolutionary avenues. They can be genetically or stochastically determined, in which case they must yield equal fitness, or their use can be conditional, in which case the fitness payoff of alternatives may differ. We attempted to assess the reproductive success of alternative reproductive tactics employed by wild male and female burying beetles in natural associations on carcasses placed in the field. A beetle's reproductive tactic was defined by its potential involvement in care of larvae, and parentage was assessed using oligolocus DNA fingerprinting of offspring and potential parents. Both in males and in females, alternative tactics yielded significantly different reproductive benefits: subordinate females (brood parasites) and males (satellite males) had considerably lower reproductive success than dominant or uncontested individuals. Joint breeding was too infrequent for statistical inferences, generating intermediate offspring numbers. About 15% of offspring were sired by males not present on the carcass, suggesting that mating away from reproductive resources can produce reproductive benefits to males. Our results, in concert with the observation that beetles using one tactic can be manipulated into employing the alternative, support the notion that Nicrophorus vespilloides uses alternatives conditionally, opportunistically employing lower-benefit tactics when more profitable tactics are not available, or as additional "on-the-side" tactics to bolster reproductive success. Copyright 2007.


The authors summarize the dynamic features of Himalaya stages in Yingxiong Ling Uplift(YL), west of Qaidam Basin,from integration of geology, 2D/3D seismic, remote sensing, gravity, aeromagnetic and well data. During the later stage of Himalayan orogeny, Aktenen mountain, a part of Altin Zone, in the west of YL Uplift rotated clockwise and uplifted because of SN regional compression, while a SE local compression stress field developed in Ganchaigou zone(middle part of west YL Uplift), which resulted in the basement uplifted rapidly. In the near southern area of YL, local extension tectonic stress field developed, and a Neogene-Quaternary lake formed. The middle stage movement of Himalaya orogeny transformed the paleogene transtensional tectonic setting into down-warping in West Qaidam basin. The Altyn mountains rised, sediment center migrated toward east and north. By analyzing the major faults, tectonic blocks and sediment depression distribution, the authors realize that the local extension tectonic setting developed, the stable fault basin formed, and fine source rocks developed in the YL and adjacent area. The perspective exploration targets include fracturing traps, stratigraphic traps and Oligocene epoch raised fault blocks in the study area.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Turkish individual investor sentiment on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) and to investigate whether investor sentiment, stock return and volatility in Turkey are related. Design/methodology/approach – This study used the monthly Turkish Consumer Confidence Index, published by the Turkish Statistical Institute, as a proxy for individual investor sentiments. First, Turkish market fundamentals were regressed on investor sentiments in order to capture the effects of macroeconomic risk factors on investor sentiments. Then, it used the impulse response functions (IRFs) generated from the vector autoregression (VAR) model to examine the effect of unanticipated movements in Turkish investor sentiment to both stock returns and volatility of the ISE. Findings – The generalized IRFs from VAR shows that unexpected changes in rational and irrational investor sentiment have a significant positive impact on ISE returns. This suggests that a positive inves...


This paper contributes to our understanding of how the performance of IT projects might be improved. It identifies the need for including drivers of failure and underperformance in models of project performance and proposes such a model, focusing on organizational capabilities available to apply to projects. Barriers to learning and capability development are proposed that can offset capability accumulation, reducing the organization's ability to perform well.


Tilley, H.—Acute and Chronic Suppuration of the Nasal Accessory Sinuses. " Lancet," October 28, 1911, p. 1179. This lecture deals with aetiology, diagnosis, and treatment from the point of view of the general physician aud surgeon. In his conclusions, the author considers that 6'8 per cent, represents the average of sinus suppuration in the general mass of the population. No categorical reply can be made to the important question—To what degree does the presence ui chronic suppuration in one or more sinuses (a) imperil the patient's health, (b) constitute a danger to life? He deprecates radical operation I''fore simpler measures have been tried. Macleod Yearsley.


The Internet is a rich environment for computation. There is a need for design principles to organize distributed computational activity on the Internet, something analogous to the way the World Wide Web is an organizing principle for documents. This thesis introduces the idea of an ecology of distributed agents as a paradigm for building distributed software. Computers run servers that are local environments of computation. Applications are built out of agents that live in these servers. Mobile agents move to servers to use local resources and servers support agent query services to allow agents to discover each other and communicate information over the network. A system that creates an ecology of distributed agents, Straum, is presented with a technical discussion of its implementation. Two applications, communicating user presence and monitoring server activity, are presented along with sketches of other possible applications. Straum and the underlying design paradigm are evaluated with respect to other distributed systems research. Finally, ideas for future work are presented, plans towards making the Internet a natural environment for computational activity.


The present invention provides a semiconductor element such as TFT can be made of the pad pitch of downsizing and improved conduction reliability of the semiconductor device, while preventing breakage of a semiconductor device manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, a semiconductor device and a semiconductor the method of manufacturing an EL device apparatus, a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using an EL device. Characterized in that between the element (13) and the mounting substrate (10), by using a single film made of a conductive material (11) made of a direct connection.


The present invention relates to an ultrasonic surgical instrument having an end effector of a modular. Having a transmission component, a surgical instrument transducer, and handle assembly can be transmitted by the lock mechanism of the connector assembly to the handle assembly. The locking mechanism is operable to limit the actuator member connected to said rotational movement and said transducer assembly relative to the handle. The locking mechanism further operable to trigger the handle assembly is locked in the first position. The inner tubular actuating member transport assembly threadably attached to the actuator member is connected, or connected to the actuator member may include a latch mechanism to be connected to the inner tubular actuating member flared portion . Said waveguide transmission component may also be attached to the threaded transducer. In an alternative form, the trigger can be configured by the first position or the third position when transferred to pivot distally to operate the locking mechanism.


Edwin Ellis, into his transcriptions of Irish folklore, and into the two books elaborating his historical and metaphysical system. All thi , although no recognized as critici m, has had an import nt influence on taste. The main reason, however, for Yeats's small standing a a critic is that we needed Eliot's criticism before we could be ready for Yeats's. Because we are now ready, the appearance of this volume which in any case would be an important event given Yeats's standing as a poet is the most important literary event of the past year. It should establish Yeats as a critic who is in


This manual is designed to familiarise you with some basic ideas about the system of law in England and Wales. It is largely English law that you will be learning and applying in this course. The law of any country is much more than a "set of rules". The rules are what we perceive on the surface, but creating and underpinning them is a "legal culture" or way of thinking. The way the rules work can only be understood by considering the context in which they are generated and applied.

If you have not studied or worked with English Law before, you will find it invaluable to gain a basic knowledge of legal structure, legal language, legal research and legal analysis, before looking at the substantive law which forms the main body of this course.

Throughout this text you will find formative exercises, many of which you will attempt in the tutorials and as homework.


Background: In recent decades, measures of asthma-related quality of life have become important outcomes alongside clinical objective outcomes. In this study we sought to investigate the predictors of asthma-related quality of life in a large cohort of patients recruited from a secondary care center. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on asthmatics recruited from the asthma clinic of Chu Liège (Belgium). After carrying out a descriptive analysis highlighting the distribution of the mini asthma quality of life questionnaire (Mini-AQLQ) and its 4 dimensions (symptoms, activity limitation, emotional function and environmental stimuli), we performed a multiple regression analysis to identify the independent predictors of AQLQ.Results: The median score (IQR) of global AQLQ was 4,53 (3,47-5,6), while the median score of symptom dimension, activity dimension, emotional dimension and environmental dimension were 4,2(3,2-5,4), 4,8 (3,3-6), 4,7 (3,3-6) et 4,7 (3,7-6) respectively. Multiple regression beta analysis showed that AQLQ and its 4 dimensions were primarily associated with asthma control test (ACT) (p<0,0001 in all instances). Female gender was associated with altered asthma quality of life for its activity and environmental dimension (p<0,05 for both), while current smokers had a greater asthma quality of life in its environmental dimension (p<0,0001). Receiving any asthma treatment was associated with impaired asthma quality of life in its emotional dimension. BMI was associated with impaired asthma quality of life in its activity dimension (p<0,0001), while the reverse was found regarding FeNO (p<0,0001). Conclusion: Asthma control is the main predictor of asthma-related quality of life, but demographic factors like gender, smoking status and BMI may impact some dimensions of the asthma quality of life. FeNO is an independent predictor of the activity dimension of AQLQ and positively associated with it.


I first recall the last occasion of meeting the late Professor Yoichiro Nambu in a hospital in Osaka. I then present a brief introduction to the moonshine phenomenon in string theory which is under recent investigations.


This article deals with one of the topical issues of modern linguistics is a question of the purity of the Russian language and culture of foreign words lawyers of the XXI century. In the center of attention of the author correlation of the terms «the richness and variety of the modern Russian literary language», «linguistic ecology», «culture of speech of the lawyer», «linguistic taste of the age», «a measure of the functioning of the foreign-language words».


The present paper focuses on non-profit sector and civil society initiatives within urban change processes. More specifically, it looks into experiences that are characterised by a local/area-based approach and that arise in relation, response and reaction to the processes of city change, becoming and being recognised as one of its actors. By examining different initiatives variously involved in the regeneration process of a semi-central neighbourhood of the city of Torino (Italy), and by investigating their origins, goals and actions, the paper addresses the transformations that they go through over time, their complex relation with other local actors, and their role in the regeneration process, overall pointing out the different forms of ambiguity and ambivalences that they bear.


The temperature field of slab during air\|cooling was simulated by two dimension FEM program developed by us in the practice production line.To simulate the temperature of the CC\|DR processes,we calculated the temperature difference and temperature field of the slab from conticaster to descaler.The values calculated coincidence well with the values measured.To realized the CC\|DR processes,the slab of high temperature and no deffects are required in steel\|smelting,slab edge heating device in front of descaler is needed.The results are important to implement the CC\|DR and to lay a plan for rolling processes.


Many computer applications must obtain the state of the real world. Tracking is a class of such applications. It involves obtaining the state of targets of interest moving in a tracking region using limited sensors. Tracking algorithms are necessary to aggregate the noisy and ambiguous output from the sensors over time and produce a prediction of the state of the world. Tracking in camera networks is a tracking problem instance, where the state (position) of several targets (usually persons) must be obtained using video cameras. Existing solutions usually focus only on the problem of matching a detection with the detections already received in the past throughout the camera network, but light variations, incorrectly detected blobs, or variations in the persons' clothing, lead to incorrect associations which need to be corrected by a tracking algorithm. Resident tracking is another instance of a tracking problem. Smart homes have many limitations and shortcomings, and resident tracking can help overcome some of them. But while most authors focus on tracking with just one type of sensor, a good tracker must be able to fuse the output from different types of sensors, and deal with the associated ambiguities (for example any of the residents could have cause a movement sensor detection). The Multiple Hypothesis Tracking algorithm is known to produce good results, even in difficult tracking situations, but is notably difficult to implement. Thus, a library is proposed to ease its implementation. It is demonstrated and validated through its application to the aforementioned problems.


I N 1878, Thomas Smith of England performed what was apparently the first ureterointestinal anastomosis. Since t hat time approximately 80 different technics of urinary diversion, based on eleven principles, have been described. This suggest that an ideal method of compensat ing for the lack of normal urinary bladder function remains to be described. It is not our purpose to recount the varied efforts of others but instead to discuss a method which we believe offers a atisfactory , if imperfect, solution of the problem.


As one of the most popular and successful methods in industrial applications, model predictive control (MPC) has attracted increasing interest in the past two decades. However, one of open issues in this research filed is how to solve the constrained nonlinear optimization problems in MPC. From the perspective of evolutionary algorithm, this paper presents a novel population extremal optimization (PEO) based modified constrained generalized predictive control (CGPC) method called CGPC-PEO. The key idea behind the proposed CGPC-PEO is using PEO for rolling optimization to minimize the weighted objective function subjecting to a set of constraints. Its superiority to other evolutionary algorithms such as genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization based CGPC is demonstrated by the simulation results on an industrial process plant.


Occupant safety is an essential aspect in vehicle development and of equal importance with vehicle performances, comfort, environmental compatibility, and fuel consumption. To meet increasing customers' demand for safety, the time to develop occupant restraint system such as airbag and seat belt should be minimized without any compromise to their occupant protection performance. This is achieved by using F. E. A. (Finite Element Analysis) as a tool to make up-front assemssment of the design.
This paper details the implementation of F. E. A. in developing knee bolster system and seat be1tsystem from the modeling, simulation and correlation points.


Standing myelography was conducted in six neurologically normal adult horses. Myelograms were performed without general anesthesia or tranquilization. Four horses were premedicated orally with 2.2 milligrams/kilogram (mg/kg) of phenobarbital 16 hours and 4 hours prior to myelography to raise their seizure threshold. One-hundred milliters (ml) of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) was withdrawn from the lumbosacral space prior to injection. Approximately 100 ml of technical grade metrizamide* was injected into the subarachnoid space via a lumbosacral tap. After injection the horse's head was lowered for approximately 10 minutes to facilitate cranial movement of the metrizamide. Lateral cervical radiographs were taken in a standing position. Filling of the subarachnoid space in the cranial cervical region was good to excellent in five horses. In one horse there was poor definition of the cranial cervical region. There was good to excellent filling of the subaranoid space in the caudal cervical region in all six horses. Reactions to metrizamide injection varied. The most severe reaction was generalized seizure.


Regardless the obvious success of using hydropower plants to supply energy for economic development, they may result in several environmental and social impacts with different levels of severity on the aquatic ecosystems and on the human communities living in the region. The objective of this study was to identify environmental problems and impacts to the aquatic ecosystems in Tocantins river related to the development of its hydropower potential and contribute to the target of balancing of energy generation with biodiversity and genetic flux preservation. The scenario considered the hydropower plants Peixe Angical and Sao Salvador. The Causal Chain Analysis (CCA) was used to identify the environmental impacts and their immediate, sectarian and root causes. The impacts were ranked according to the characterization matrix, having the fish communities as the main indicators. The most relevant impacts were: (i) degradation of water resources, (ii) loss and changes in habitats, (iii) changes in the ecosystems stability, (iv) reduction of fish stocks, (v) interference with benthic communities and microorganism's populations, (vi) changes in the food-chain and (vii) interference with the dispersion of fishes and mammals.


University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. May 2016. Major: Hispanic and Luso Literatures, Cultures & Linguistics. Advisor: Timothy Face. 1 computer file (PDF); xx, 266 pages.


Copyright © 2019 The Society of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation Objectives We are going to analyze patient's medical and Korean medicine use trends after lumbar surgery, and examine the percentage of use of Korean medicine after surgery and its relevance to the medical care outcome after lumbar surgery. Methods Using 3% patients' sample data of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, two groups were compared the treatment progress of the Korean Medicine treatment group and the untreated group after lumbar surgery by hierarchical logistic regression analysis. After hierarchical logistic regression analysis(including propensity scores), two groups were compared after lumbar surgery, the Korean Medicine treatment group within 50days and untreated group within 50days. Results Lumbar surgery was performed in 2750 patients in 2015. It was 3.72 that the risk(odds ratio) of finished treatment of patients treated without Korean Medicine, compared to patients with Korean Medicine. It was 0.12 that the risk of continuing treatment(odds ratio) of patients treated with Korean Medicine within 50 days, compared to patients treatment more than 50 days. Conclusions The ratio of Korean Medicine treatment after lumbar surgery was 14.8%. The group that did not have Korean Medicine showed a higher possibility of treatment termination than the group who did not. Among the groups treated with Korean Medicine, the early treatment group was more likely to end treatment than the late treatment group. Considering various situations in the medical environment, further studies such as prospective studies and long-term data analysis are considered to be necessary. (J Korean Med Rehabil 2019;29(4):89-100)


This article presents a method for determining serviceable action coefficient of JSCo "RZD" tele communication network as time function by using the elements of random pulse streams theory. Applying this approach and the results of emergency situations occurrence forecasting it is possible to determine the value of the corresponding coefficient in predeter mined time moment taking into account the prevailing communication situation and influencing factors. Via serviceable action coefficient it is possible to solve the problem of required time determining for JSCo "RZD" telecommunication network efficiency recov ery in specified conditions to develop reasonable or ganizational and technical solutions for JSCo "RZD" telecommunication network management effective ness improvement.


Pecan recommendations for Florida have been updated to include new information about cultivar performance. Check out this revised 13-page fact sheet to select the best cultivars for yield, performance, resistance to disease, and resistance to limb breakage. Written by Peter C. Andersen, and published by the UF Department of Horticultural Sciences, September 2011. (UF/IFAS Photo: Thomas Wright.)
HS106/HS106: Pecan Cultivars for North Florida (ufl.edu)


Background: Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is an optic neuropathy characterized by progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and their  axons, which results in characteristic excavation of the neuroretinal rim with corresponding visual field (VF) deficits. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a novel imaging modality that can detect vascular flow of the retina and choroid in great detail. The ability to segment OCT angiograms into the different vascular layers may improve understanding of disease pathogenesis. Objective: To evaluate the correlation between Ganglion Cell and Inner Plexiform Layers thickness using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and the macular microvasculature  density in different stages of primary open angle glaucoma using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Subjects and Methods: The study was performed on 80 eyes of 48 subjects including 20 eyes of 11 controls, and 60 eyes of 37 POAG cases which were divided into 3 groups according to Hodapp,Parish,Anderson (H-P-A) classification; Group1: mild glaucoma (20 eyes), Group 2: moderate glaucoma (20 eyes),Group 3: severe glaucoma (20 eyes). Results: In our study, we found that there was a significant reduction in Ganglion Cell - Inner Plexiform Layer (GCIPL) thickness and macular VD in patients with POAG which increased with increasing glaucoma severity, also we found that OCT and OCTA parametrs were significantly differentiate between normal and POAG cases and also between different stages of POAG. Also we found that an OCTA was an important diagnostic tool in diagnosing mild cases of POAG and to differentiate between mild and moderate cases of POAG,in contrast to OCT in which there was no significant differance between mild and moderate cases of POAG. OCTA seems to be a good candidate for diagnosis and follow-up of glaucoma, complementing the results provided by OCT and visual field testing. Conclusion: Significant differences between eyes with POAG and normal eyes in terms of the macular GCIPL thickness and microvasculature density (VD) suggest that the macular GCIPL thickness and the retinal capillary vessel area density may be reliable indicators of glaucoma severity.


The invention relates to a membrane separation and yeast reuse technique for matured mash of molasses alcohol. The technique is characterized by transporting the matured mash to a filter membrane (microfiltration or ultrafiltration) through a pump, separating under the sterile and seal conditions, reusing a yeast concentrated liquid for fermentation, and redistilling a penetrating fluid; and concentrating distillate, and then adding organic matters so as to form an organic fertilizer. In the technique, the pore size of a microfiltration membrane is 0.02-10mu m, the flow speed is controlled to 0.5-5m/s, the pressure is 0.01-0.2Mpa, and the temperature is 0-50 DEG C; and the pore size of the ultrafiltration membrane is 0.001-0.02 mu m, the flow speed is controlled to 0.1-0.5m/s, the pressure is 0.1-0.5Mpa, and the temperature is 0-50 DEG C. The technique has the advantages that the yeast concentrated liquid is reused so that cyclic utilization of resources is achieved, thus the technique is economic and environmentally-friendly; the filtrated penetrating fluid is redistilled, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate is larger than 50%, and the loss of the alcohol is less than 2.5%; and the distillate is concentrated so as to prepare the organic fertilizer, thereby achieving the zero emission of the waste liquid.


Web 2.0: A Vehicle for Transforming Education includes practical and accessible overviews of some of the most commonly used and most useful technologies. The article serves as an idea generator, especially for teachers looking for ways to update their courses or to explore new concepts in learning. Technologies once only imagined are now opportunities to be implemented in the classroom. Audio and video conferencing, blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, social bookmarking, and wikispaces are popular means of communicating in today's society. However, Web technology is developing at such an exponential rate that even the newest of these technologies, like Web 2.0, may one day soon be a footnote in computer history. Once these newer technologies are better understood and appreciated, educators can evolve their teaching strategies to help their students remain competitive in the global society.


The research aimed at systematically identifying and examining the available scientific evidence on the management of water resources in the basins of our planet, available in the EBSCO, Scopus, Science Direct, SciELO, ProQuest and Redalyc databases in English, Portuguese and Spanish for the last 5 years. Method: The databases were entered, searching for the term "water resources management", discarding articles that were not refereed and academic and had been published before 2016. As a result, it was evidenced that there is an urgent need of new paradigms to improve the management of water resources and for this, a decentralized authority on water must be consolidated. The research concludes that, the three pillars; economic, social and environmental must be articulated to achieve the consolidation of the Management of Water Resources, in addition; It can be affirmed that there are different sectors that supervise the management of water resources with shared regulations and overlapping responsibilities, even in conflict; which consolidates the state's water bureaucracy.


The present invention relates to a process for regenerating corrosive liquid for printed circuit boards, and the device used to this effect. In order to regenerate corrosive liquid for printed circuit boards, U.V. light and ozone gas are used.


THE graduate student or school administrator undertaking his first research will find a number of books dealing with the general principles of methodology. With these as a background, rich fare is provided by the excellent research reports in which the educational periodicals abound, by published theses, and by reports of professional organizations and of state and city research divisions. From these the thorough student will garner many ideas for the formulation of his own problem and for planning his procedure. It will be purely by accident, however, if he encounters in his reading the few words of caution about the details of mechanics which might save labor and anguish in the advanced stages of his work. The omission does not reflect on those who report research. In the first place, the purpose of research reports is not to train the novice but rather to communicate procedures and findings to others interested in the problems. Second, mature workers have learned to take such simple precautions as a matter of course. Third, writers who are themselves still relatively inexperienced are not inclined to report their missteps. Books on research method do sometimes touch on the mechanical phases, but their touch is light and is more likely than not to be confined to discussion of the construction and use of


Identifying uncertain parameters in large-scale numerical flow models can be done using the variational method. However, for implementing the variational method the adjoint model have to be available, which requires highly complex computer code and maintenance and thus hampers its applications. To ease this problem, this thesis has explored several methods for efficiently identifying uncertain parameters in a large-scale tidal model of the entire European continental shelf which does not require the implementation of these complex adjoint code. In this study, as a first step an estimation method based on model reduction is developed and investigated for the estimation of diffusion coefficient in a simple 2D-advection diffusion model. Two projection based model reduction methods were considered, namely proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and Balanced proper orthogonal decomposition (BPOD). In the POD based estimation method an ensemble of forward model simulations is used to determine an approximation of the covariance matrix of the model variability and a small number of the leading eigenvectors of this matrix is used to define a model subspace. By projecting the original model onto this subspace an approximate linear reduced model is obtained. Once the reduced model is available its adjoint can be implemented easily and the minimization problem is solved completely in reduced space with very low computational cost. BPOD is also a model reduction method which considers both inputs and outputs of the system while determining the reduce subspace. The estimation method has been extended by including BPOD procedure into the estimation procedure. Numerical results from a simple pollution model demonstrate that the POD based estimation approach successfully estimate the diffusion coefficient for both advection dominated problems as for diffusion dominated problems. Another important message in this study, although lots of effort had been made in constructing a reduced order model by the BPOD method, the minimization results demonstrated that both the POD and the BPOD methods performed similarly. Preliminary results showed the validity of the POD based model reduction methods for parameter estimation. As a next step, the POD based estimation method is used to calibrate numerical tidal models. Results from (twin) numerical experiments showed that the POD based calibration method performed very efficiently to estimate depth values in the selected regions of the model domain. The computational costs of the POD based calibration method are dominated by the generation of an ensemble of forward model simulations where the simulation period of the ensemble is equivalent to the timescale of the original model. It has also been found in the study that it is not needed to use a full simulations of the original model for the generation of the ensemble. The POD based calibration method has also been implemented for the estimation of the water depth and space varying bottom friction coefficient values in a very large-scale DCSM model. The recently designed large-scale spherical grid based water level model for the northwest European continental shelf (around 1000000 computational grid points) has been used for this purpose. This has been the first application of the POD based calibration method to a very large-scale model and with real data. Results from numerical experiments showed that the calibration method performs very efficiently. An overall improvement of more than 50\% was observed after the calibration in comparison with the initial model. The results also demonstrated that the POD based calibration method offered a very efficient minimization technique compared to the classical adjoint method without the burden of implementation of the adjoint. As a concluding step, to estimate depth values in the model DCSM, a Simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA) method has been used. The method uses stochastic simultaneous perturbation of all model parameters to generate a search at each iteration. SPSA is based on a highly efficient and easily implemented simultaneous perturbation approximation to the gradient. This gradient approximation for the central difference method uses only two objective function evaluations independent of the number of parameters being optimized. The results from experiments showed that SPSA has a lower convergence rate than POD based calibration method, however the computational cost in each iteration of the SPSA method is usually far less then the POD based calibration method. The results also demonstrated that the SPSA algorithm proved to be a promising optimization algorithm for model calibration for cases where adjoint code is not available for computing the gradient of the objective function.


Skillful prediction of Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) one season in advance remains a "grand challenge" for the climate science community even though such forecasts have tremendous socio-economic implications over the region. Continued poor skill of the ocean-atmosphere coupled models in predicting ISMR is an enigma in the backdrop when these models have high skill in predicting seasonal mean rainfall over the rest of the Tropics. Here, I provide an overview of the fundamental processes responsible for limited skill of climate models and outline a framework for achieving the limit on potential predictability within a reasonable time frame. I also show that monsoon intra-seasonal oscillations (MISO) act as building blocks of the Asian monsoon and provide a bridge between the two problems, the potential predictability limit and the simulation of seasonal mean climate. The correlation between observed ISMR and ensemble mean of predicted ISMR (R) can still be used as a metric for forecast verification. Estimate of potential limit of predictability of Asian monsoon indicates that the highest achievable R is about 0.75. Improvements in climate models and data assimilation over the past one decade has slowly improved R from near zero a decade ago to about 0.4 currently. The race for achieving useful prediction can be won, if we can push this skill up to about 0.7. It requires focused research in improving simulations of MISO, monsoon seasonal cycle and ENSO-monsoon relationship by the climate models. In order to achieve this goal by 2015-16 timeframe, IITM is leading a Program called Monsoon Mission supported by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India (MoES). As improvement in skill of forecasts can come only if R & D is carried out on an operational modeling system, the Climate Forecast System of National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) of NOAA, U.S.A has been selected as our base system. The Mission envisages building partnership between operational forecasting agency and National and International R & D Organizations to work on improving modeling system. MoES has provided substantial funding to the Mission to fund proposals from International R & D Organizations to work with Indian Organizations in this Mission to achieve this goal. The conceptual framework and the roadmap for the Mission will be highlighted.


Objective
To analyze Th1/Th2subsets and their regulatory cytokines and cytokine r eceptors in recent onset SLE patients to determi ne the cause of immunological imbala nce in SLE.

Methods
Th1/Th2 cells were detected quantitatively by flow cytometry in patients with recent-onset SLE(n=35)and the controls(n=10).At the same time,IL-12,IL-12Rβ2 and IL-18,IL-18R mRNA expression we re tested by ABI7700 real time PCR in SLE patients(n=38/42)and the controls(n=28).

Results
No difference was found in Th1/Th2 ratio between SLE patients and the controls(P>0.05).However,Th1was decreased significantly in S LE patients than that in the normal controls(P<0.05).The cytokines including IL-12P35,IL-12P40、IL-18and their respective receptors IL-12Rβ2,IL-18R and IL-12P35/IL-10、IL-18/IL-10 were all significantly decreased in SLE group than those in the controls(P<0.05all).SLE patients with facial erythema presented significantly lower Th1/Th2 ratio and lower IL-12P35 mRNA exp ression than the controls did.Signi ficantly high IL-12P40 expression a s well as low IL-12P35 expression were found in SLE patients with positive RNP.

Conclusion
SLE is a disease with Th2 predominance due to low Th1 subset and decreased expressions of IL-12 and IL-12Rβ2,IL-18 and IL-18R mRNA.SLE patients with facial erythema and positive RNP may be the special subtype of SLE,for they have different Th distribution and the particular imbalance in cytokines expression.

Key words:
Lupus erythematosus,systemic; Th1cells; Th2cells; Interleukine 12; I nterlukine 18; receptors,interleukine


Quandles were introduced to Knot Theory in the 1980s as an almost complete algebraic invariant for knots and links. Like their more basic siblings, groups, they are difficult to distinguish so a major challenge is to devise means for determining when two quandles having different presentations are really different. This thesis addresses this point by studying algebraic aspects of quandles. Following what is mainly a recapitulation of existing work on quandles, we firstly investigate how a link quandle is related to the quandles of the individual components of the link. Next we investigate coset quandles. These are motivated by the transitive action of the operator, associated and automorphism group actions on a given quandle, allowing techniques of permutation group theory to be used. We will show that the class of all coset quandles includes the class of all Alexander quandles; indeed all group quandles. Coset quandles are used in two ways: to give representations of connected quandles, which include knot quandles; and to provide target quandles for homomorphism invariants which may be useful in enabling one to distinguish quandles by counting homomorphisms onto target quandles. Following an investigation of the information loss in going from the fundamental quandle of a link to the fundamental group, we apply our techniques to calculations for the figure eight knot and braid index two knots and involving lower triangular matrix groups. The thesis is rounded out by two appendices, one giving a short table of knot quandles for knots up to six crossings and the other a computer program for computing the homomorphism invariants.


In the micro-scale modelling for wind resource, details of elevation contour map, roughness of the site and its surroundings, obstacles near the measurement site is used for WAsP software to increase accuracy in the output. The micro-scale modelling is crucial for the understanding the wind potential of the area, options available for the planning and development of wind energy plants and installation of wind turbines at the place of maximum power density to generate electricity from wind. The purpose of this paper is to provide generalized wind climate (GWC) or wind atlas, power density, wind climate prediction of wind turbines and resource grid with power density and mean wind speed for RGPV Hill Top based on the data measured from an anemometer mast at RGPV Energy Park, Bhopal (India) using WAsP wind software for micro-scale modelling. Index Terms — Generalized wind climate, micro-scale modelling, wind power density, resource grid, WAsP.


Heavy metal toxicity in the soil causes harmful effects on plants as well as on human health. They are introduced into the soil by different means like smelting, burning of coal, and excess use of fertilizers, sewage sludge, and pesticides. Among different heavy metals Copper and arsenic are very important but their higher concentrations cause several morphological and biochemical in plants. They become part of the food chain when fruits and vegetables are grown in contaminated soil and can cause serious health issues to consumers. On the other hand, ornamental plants are used for aesthetic beautification and could be explored for the phytoremediation of soil heavy metals. A recent study was conducted to observe the phytoremediation potential of Gladiolus (Gladiolus grandifloras) and chrysanthemum against different levels of Copper (80 and100µg/kg of soil) and arsenic (80 and 100 µg/kg) in the soil under completely randomized design. Data of accumulated quantity of heavy metals were noted after the flowering stage of both plants by dividing into four parts including roots, stem, leaves, and flowers. Both Gladiolus and chrysanthemum accumulated significant amounts of Cu and As in roots, stem, leaves, and flower. Gladiolus and chrysanthemum accumulated 367, 456, 796 and 1278ppm Co and 356, 571, 832 and 1478ppm As respectively. Chrysanthemums took up significant amounts of Cu in the stem and easily translocated from stem flowers. The translocation ability of chrysanthemum was higher for both metals compared to Gladiolus. The data were analyzed by mini tab statistics 8.1.


The aetiology of bipolar disorder remains unclear and investigation to date has focussed largely on bipolar patients. Whilst ultimately of huge value, such studies may also be confounded by current mood or experience of repeated illness episodes or current or past medication; using at-risk samples may bypass some of these problems. The current research therefore assessed the efficacy of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) as a screening tool for vulnerability to bipolar disorder. The MDQ was used with two sets of criteria to identify two sub-groups of medication-naive young bipolar phenotype subjects who were at risk for bipolar disorder by virtue of experience of mood elevation. Analysis of data from the Student Stress Survey was carried out to characterise the bipolar phenotype. Compared to a control group with no experience of mood elevation, the two bipolar phenotype sub-groups showed a gradient of prevalence of bipolar diagnosis and associated co-morbidity. Behavioural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques were employed to investigate emotional processing, decision-making, and sleep and circadian rhythmicity in bipolar phenotype students. Analyses revealed that positive emotional processing biases, disrupted decision-making, and increased activity during sleep were associated with the bipolar phenotype and, therefore, may represent vulnerability markers for bipolar disorder. Finally, a psychopharmacological investigation of quetiapine, which stabilises mood, was carried out in healthy volunteers. One-week quetiapine administration resulted in biases away from both positive and negative emotional stimuli (i.e. a mood-stabilising effect), reduced discrimination between different magnitudes of gains and losses during risky decision-making (consistent with an antidepressant effect), and increased sleep duration. In sum, this research has developed our understanding of vulnerability markers associated with the bipolar phenotype and provided a first step towards uncovering the psychological mechanisms through which quetiapine's clinical effects may be mediated.


To ensure the success of online business, it is important for the retailers to understand their targeted customers. The aim of this study examines the significance of attitude toward online shopping. The objectives of the study are two fold. The first section seeks to determine relationship between attitude towards online shopping with shopping orientations and perceived benefits scales. The second section investigates factors that influence peoples' attitudes towards online shopping. A five-level Likert scale was used to determine students' attitudes towards online shopping. A self-administered questionnaire, based on prior literature, was developed and a total of 370 post graduate students were selected by random sampling. The regression analysis demonstrated the determinants of consumers' attitudes towards online shopping. Additionally, utilitarian orientations, convenience, price, wider selection influenced consumers' attitudes towards online shopping.

 Key words: Electronic commerce, internet, shopping, consumer attitude.


ABSTRACT:In June 2019, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted Convention 190, a landmark global treaty addressing workplace sexual harassment. This study provides a baseline assessment of all 193 United Nations (UN) member states' workplace sexual harassment laws. A systematic comparison of national legislation reveals that nearly two-thirds of UN member states have legislated prohibitions of sexual harassment in the workplace. However, one-third still fail to prohibit workplace sexual harassment, and important gaps exist in the countries with legislative protections. Tracking countries' enactment of workplace sexual harassment laws over time will provide an important tool for monitoring the Convention's impact.


Objective To explore the attitudes of psychiatric undergraduates toward psychiatry. Methods A total of 434 psychiatric undergraduates in Chongqing medical university were investigated with a questionnaire. Results Although in general, psychiatric undergraduates showed a positive attitude towards psychiatry, opinions about certain aspects like the reputation of psychiatry and the income were not positive. Conclusion: There are still some misunderstandings for psychiatry even among psychiatric undergraduates, some of which are based on false beliefs that should be actively targeted for remediation.


Jeffrey S. Blair, MBA

Mr. Blair is recognized for his work with the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics and service as chair of the workgroup on Computer-based Patient Records and as Vice-chair of the subcommittee on Standards and Security.

Christopher G. Chute, MD, DrPH

Dr. Chute is acknowledged for his leadership and contributions over …


With the development of social economy, the development of people's consumption concept and the acceleration of the pace of life, some international fast fashion brands in China have developed rapidly, which has greatly impacted local brands. Fast fashion brands, such as ZARA and Uniqlo, occupy a large market share in China due to their marketing strategies. Therefore, this paper analyzes the transnational operation situation of domestic fast fashion clothing enterprises and ZARA's transnational operation strategy, and puts forward suggestions on how to implement transnational operation strategy of Chinese fast fashion clothing enterprises.


The article analyzes the important role of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (hereinafter referred to as the UOC-KP) in consolidating Ukrainian society. The Christian religion, filled with Ukrainian content and spirit, is an important part of the Ukrainian ethno-cultural space. For many centuries Ukrainian Orthodoxy has actively promoted Ukrainian ethnic, state-building, nation-building and ethnocultural processes and consolidated Ukrainians. However, since the resubordination of the Kyiv Metropolitanate in 1686 to the Moscow Patriarchate, it has become an instrument of assimilation of Ukrainianity and the destruction of Ukrainian identity. For three centuries these destructive and assimilation processes concerning Ukrainian Orthodoxy continued. Since the beginning of the disintegration of the USSR, Ukrainians began a long struggle for the elimination of totalitarian-imperial and spiritualcolonial fetters. The process of restoration of the UOC was headed by Metropolitan Filaret (Denisenko). With the active assistance of Metropolitan Filaret, on June 25, 1992, the UOC-KP was created, and on October 22, 1995, he was elected its primate. At the turn of the millennium, the UOC-KP became one of the catalysts of the consolidation processes in post-colonial Ukraine.  The UOC-KP systematically and purposefully implemented the Ukrainian language, the state outlook, the national-patriotic education among the clergy and its congregation, thereby bringing together Ukrainians and forming from the post-Soviet population conscious citizens of the Ukrainian state. The UOC-KP consistently consolidated Ukrainian society, united Ukrainian politicians with a state vision and, eventually, achieved its first victory. On October 11, 2018, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate adopted a fateful decision to grant Ukrainian Orthodoxy the autocephaly.


Published estimates of cloud liquid water path (LWP) from satellite-measured microwave radiation show little agreement, even about the relative magnitudes of LWP in the tropics and midlatitudes. To understand these differences and to obtain more reliable estimate, optical and microwave LWP retrieval methods are compared using the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) and special sensor microwave/imager (SSM/I) data. Errors in microwave LWP retrieval associated with uncertainties in surface, atmosphere, and cloud properties are assessed. Sea surface temperature may not produce great LWP errors, if accurate contemporaneous measurements are used in the retrieval. An uncertainty of estimated near-surface wind speed as high as 2 m/s produces uncertainty in LWP of about 5 mg/sq cm. Cloud liquid water temperature has only a small effect on LWP retrievals (rms errors less than 2 mg/sq cm), if errors in the temperature are less than 5 C; however, such errors can produce spurious variations of LWP with latitude and season. Errors in atmospheric column water vapor (CWV) are strongly coupled with errors in LWP (for some retrieval methods) causing errors as large as 30 mg/sq cm. Because microwave radiation is much less sensitive to clouds with small LWP (less than 7 mg/sq cm) than visible wavelength radiation, the microwave results are very sensitive to the process used to separate clear and cloudy conditions. Different cloud detection sensitivities in different microwave retrieval methods bias estimated LWP values. Comparing ISCCP and SSM/I LWPs, we find that the two estimated values are consistent in global, zonal, and regional means for warm, nonprecipitating clouds, which have average LWP values of about 5 mg/sq cm and occur much more frequently than precipitating clouds. Ice water path (IWP) can be roughly estimated from the differences between ISCCP total water path and SSM/I LWP for cold, nonprecipitating clouds. IWP in the winter hemisphere is about 3 times the LWP but only half the LWP in the summer hemisphere. Precipitating clouds contribute significantly to monthly, zonal mean LWP values determined from microwave, especially in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), because they have almost 10 times the liquid water (cloud plus precipitation) of nonprecipitating clouds on average. There are significant differences among microwave LWP estimates associated with the treatment of precipitating clouds.


Hui people date back to Yuan Dynasty and scatter gradually in different regions throughout China.They have made a great contribution and left behind a great treasure in political,economical,thinking,scientific and technoˉlogical aspects in its history.


The active Eurasia–Nubia plate boundary runs across the Alboran Sea in the Western Mediterranean Sea, where the connection between the Atlantic and Mediterranean water masses occurs. Earthquakes above magnitude M w > 6 may favour the occurrence of landslides within contouritic drifts in the Alboran Sea. A compilation of recent multibeam data reveals for the first time the distribution of slope failures along the Xauen–Tofi˜no banks, in the southern Alboran Sea. Here, we provide a detailed mapping and description of the morphology of eight Holocene landslides, including volume estimations of the failed mass and the related mass transport deposits (MTDs). The most voluminous landslide mobilized ∼ 0.5 km 3 of sediment at the initial stage of slope failure, and formed a ∼ 2.2–5.6 km 3 MTD. A finite-difference numerical model, assimilating the landslide to a granular flow, simulates tsunami generation and propagation for a slide similar to the most voluminous one. Simulations show that the coastline of Al Hoceima may be impacted by a ∼ 0.5-m-high tsunami wave, whereas the coastline of Al Jebha may be impacted by a ∼ 1-m-high tsunami wave, only ∼ 13 min after sediment failure. The 0.2-m-high tsunami waves may impact the southern Spanish coast of the Iberian Peninsula ∼ 20 min after slide initiation. Although the elevations of the modeled tsunami waves are modest, landslides from the Xauen–Tofi˜no banks may represent a more dangerous source of tsunami in some parts of the Moroccan coast than earthquakes.


Small angle x‐ray scattering (SAXS) has been measured in the wavevector range 0.01<Q<1 A−1 for supercooled yttria‐alumina melts using a laser‐heated aerodynamic furnace. SAXS intensity rises gradually with temperature reflecting density fluctuations deriving from isothermal compressibility. With decreasing Q a minimum is located close to 0.1 A−1 at the foot of the inter‐atomic structure factor, below which SAXS rises, suggesting scatter from longer range fluctuating volumes.


Many pre-K teachers across the nation are expected to earn a bachelor's degree, similar to their peers teaching older children. Yet salaries and benefits remain consistently lower for pre-K teachers than for elementary school teachers. Increasingly, compensation parity is perceived as an achievable policy goal rather than a lofty ideal, yet there is confusion across the field about what parity means. This brief develops a framework for understanding compensation parity in contrast to other forms of compensation improvement. Applying this framework to current state efforts to move toward compensation parity reveals a great deal of variability across states. While some states approach compensation parity, at least for some pre-K teachers, and several states have pursued parity in salaries only, the majority of states do not have any explicit policies intended to move toward parity for pre-K teachers.


lobe, and no abnormal lesions are evident in the limbic system (A). MRI DWI (1.5 T; TR 3,500 ms, TE 96 ms) (B) and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) imaging (1.5 T; TR 10,000 ms, TE 125 ms) (C) on the 5 th day reveal that the high-signal-intensity lesions have spread to the postcentral gyrus and the bilateral insular cortex, appearing as low signal intensity lesions on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map (1.5 T; TR 3,500 ms, TE, 96 ms) (


Abstract Background Adolescence is an age of heightened vulnerability to develop psychiatric disorders that involve alterations in prefrontal cortex circuitry and cognitive dysfunction. The maturation of prefrontal cortex function is linked to the establishment of dopamine connectivity in this region. Development of mesocortical dopamine is a gradual process that continues until early adulthood. Because of its extended maturational course, this system is particularly susceptible to environmental influences. Yet there is a significant gap in our knowledge about the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying adolescent prefrontal cortex dopamine development and how they are influenced by experience. Methods We examined the role of the Netrin-1 guidance cue receptor, DCC, and its microRNA repressor, miR-218, on adolescent mouse prefrontal cortex development. We used axon-initiated recombination and cell-specific knock-down techniques to characterize the spatiotemporal growth of mesocortical dopamine axons and the role that DCC and miR-218 play in this process. Next, we assessed whether stimulant drugs in adolescence alter miR-218/DCC signaling, thereby disrupting mesocortical dopamine axon growth. Finally, we determined whether altered dopamine axon growth influences prefrontal cortex development by quantifying pyramidal neuron morphology and cognitive performance in adulthood. Results Here we show, for the first time, that dopamine axons continue to grow from the nucleus accumbens to the prefrontal cortex during adolescence. We discovered that DCC receptors control the extent of this protracted growth by determining where and when dopamine axons recognize their innervation target. Exposure to stimulant drugs or to stress leads to disruption of DCC-dependent adolescent targeting events, causing dopamine axons that should innervate the nucleus accumbens, to grow ectopically to the prefrontal cortex. This effect profoundly changes prefrontal cortex structural and functional development, producing alterations in cognitive processes known to be impaired across psychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia. Importantly, miR-218 controls DCC receptor expression in dopamine neurons across postnatal development and acts as a molecular mediator of the effects of stimulant drugs on prefrontal cortex development. Discussion The prolonged growth of dopamine axons during adolescence represents an extraordinary period for experience to influence their growth and predispose to or protect against psychopathology. MicroRNA control of DCC receptor in dopamine neurons is a molecular link where genetic and environmental factors seem to interact in adolescence to influence the development and function of the prefrontal cortex.


The effects of 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 1-hexanol, and 1-octanol on the micellization parameters of sodium lauryl sulfate (NaLS) in heavy water (D 2 O) and in aqueous urea solutions, solvent systems with stronger and weaker hydrogen-bonded skeletal structures, respectively, than in ordinary water, have been determined at 25°C. We have also determined the transfer free energy of an alcohol from H 2 O to D 2 O and also to urea solutions by head space gas chromatography


Rhizospheric soil sample was collected from different regions of Nanded district. Total ten species i.e. two species from each region were selected for the further studies. Species were identified as fluorescent pseudomonas based on morphological and biochemical activities such as grams nature, oxidase, fluorescent pigment, arginine hydrolysis. These species were studied for their plant growth promoting activities like IAA production, phosphate solubilization, cellulase production, protease production. All the isolates were positive for protease production and phosphate solubilization. Nine isolates were positive for IAA production. Five isolates were positive for cellulase production. All the isolates were able to inhibit the growth of plant pathogenic fungi such as Aspergillus, Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria. The study of whole cell protein profile was done for showing relationship among the isolated strains by UPGMA cluster analysis. Similarly index suggested the isolates were distinguished into four clusters representing different area or region. Citation: More, S.M., Kumar, B. and Baig, M.M.V. Genetic diversity of fluorescent Pseudomonas associated with Plant Growth Promoting Activities [Abstract]. In: Abstracts of the NGBT conference; Oct 02-04, 2017; Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India: Can J biotech, Volume 1, Special Issue (Supplement), Page 276. https://doi.org/10.24870/cjb.2017-a260


In the foothills of Shiwalik Himalaya, torrents are the prominent seasonal land features and characterized by high sediment ladder flash flow during monsoon period. These torrents have low banks and thus the flow frequently over tops the banks and causes floods in foot hill region to agricultural plain area.  In present study, morphological, water and soil characteristics were studied with special references to torrential behavior and flow mechanics of torrent at Sabhawala watershed in Doon Valley of Garhwal Himalaya. The torrent gradient had varied from 1-75 to 2-62 % with flow velocity was 0.30 - 0.95 ms-1, occurred in Sabhawala watershed. Different forms of soil texture of torrent were observed and pH slightly alkaline consisting organic matter (%) as 0.24-0.95 in different zones of torrent The present study will provide  resource based data for remedial measurement of torrent in other watersheds of Himalayan region.


Electrolyte measurements predominantly use ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) for sodium, potassium, and chloride. In contrast to the reliability of the sodium and potassium electrodes, erroneous chloride ISE values have occasionally been reported (1)(2)(3). We recently observed an increasing number of falsely high chloride concentrations in patient plasma samples. These results appeared at unpredictable intervals after replacement of the electrode on a Cobas Integra analyzer (Roche Diagnostics). Repeat analyses with a coulometric method yielded significantly lower results.

The falsely high values appeared not to have been caused by a general low selectivity of the chloride electrode, which responds to other ions such as iodide, thiocyanate, nitrate, and bromide (1)(2)(3). More likely was a time-dependent deterioration of the chloride electrode, for which the manufacturer claims a lifetime …


In order to improve the mechanical properties of 8YSZ ceramic,the 8YSZ bimodal particle sizes powders were dry pressed and pressureless sintered.The molding process parameters including the molding pressure,pressure holding time and dosage of binder were optimized.The sintering scheme based on orthogonal test was designed.The influence of the sintering process parameters including sintering temperature,heating rate,holding time,sintering method on the sintering properties and mechanical properties of 8YSZ was discussed and their optimization value were obtained.The results show that the green ceramic with the relative density of 54.9%can be obtained by adopting the optimized molding process parameters with the dosage of PVA of 10%(mass fraction),the forming pressure of 10 MPa,the pressure holding time of 30 s.The 8YSZ ceramic with the relative density of98.3% and the bending strength of 100.3MPa can be prepared by adopting the optimized sintering process parameters with the sintering temperature of 1500℃,holding time of 4h,heating rate of 5℃/min,sintering methods of naked burning.


A search for neutrinoless double beta decay of "Ca is being carried out in a coal mine near Beijing. Large scintillation crystals of natural CaF2 are used as both the detector and the beta source. Results obtained after the first 1700 houts data taking give 3. 6 X 1021 years as the lower limit of the half-life of the neutrinoless double beta decay of "Ca. The upper limit of effevtive neutrino mass calculated according to the theoretical half-life by Qing Chengrui et al is less than 13. 7 eV. The experiment is still in progressing.


Highly conductive TiO2 films with different Nb doping levels (up to 5 at%) were prepared by reactive DC magnetron sputtering under precise control of the oxygen partial pressure. They were deposited on unheated substrates, covered with a protective Si3N4 layer, and subsequently annealed at 300 °C. The doping efficiency of Nb is greater than 90%. Conductivity is a maximum for a partly oxidized target in the transition range. The best films exhibit a resistivity of 630 µΩ cm and a mobility of 7.6 cm2/Vs combined with a high transparency above 70%. Comparing the behavior of undoped and Nb-containing films, intrinsic limits of the conductivity in the TiO2−x:Nb system could be observed, and a consistent model explaining these findings is presented. The conductivity is limited—by decreasing electron density due to Nb oxidation—by increasing incorporation formation of Nb2O5 clusters as scattering centers with increasing oxygen partial pressure and Nb concentration, by a transition from the crystalline to the amorphous state of the films below a critical oxygen partial pressure.


This paper presents a classroom experiment, the simulations, and a research which familiarize the students with the Benford's Law. This law is widely used in a tax fraud detecting procedures. This paper shows that: i) the Benford's Law can be useful in extending the simple perception of the probability which is presented at the lectures concerning the risk, ii) can be an excellent example of using data processing for the classroom tasks, iii) by the experience of the fraud detecting technique the students might change their attitude to cheating. The experiment and the prepared R codes can be used in the numerous courses, such as accounting, applied microeconomics, and quantitative methods.


Two ideas appear to dominate the work of Johannes Climacus and, perhaps to a lesser extent, that of Johannes de silentio. The first is that Christianity is a Paradoks or, in Fear and Trembling, that the object of faith is the Absurde. The second is that Christianity can and must be believed as such. This brief comment deals with the question whether these two claims, taken together, amount to a self-contradiction. Paradoks, like our English paradox, is ordinarily thought to involve some kind of logical contradiction. Granted this interpretation, the difficulty is quite obvious. Kierkegaard appears to be saying that we can believe something while at the same time finding it logically contradictory. Or, rather, he seems to be saying that we must so believe it. But what could be meant by believing a contradiction? Can I believe both that God became man and that this is logically impossible? Or that two plus two equals and, at the same time, does not equal four? In fact, such belief seems to be both logically and psychologically impossible. We cannot really believe what we find logically contradictory. Or, perhaps better, if we find something logically contradictory, we do not as yet really believe it. What, then, could Kierkegaard possibly mean by insisting that we should believe Christianity as a Paradoks? Indeed, what would it mean to believe the Paradoks? It may help to illuminate this difficulty if we draw a distinction which Kierkegaard, at least in the person of his pseudonyms, sometimes fails to make. At least so far as the logical contradiction sense of Paradoks is concerned, it is one thing to believe X and quite another and different thing to believe X regarded as a Paradoks. For example, it is one thing to believe that God and man were once perfectly united in the person of Jesus Christ, but it is clearly quite a different matter to believe this while at the same time holding conceptions of God and man in the light of which this is logically impossible. This is an important distinc-


Language is the most developed mental tool which is used for making relation between humans and human societies. Transmission of complicated mental concepts is only possible through written and oral language in the simplest and the most complete way. The main objective of this project is finding a model and approach for improving and increasing the university students' success in English language. The performed researches determine that in present research, for the first time in Iran, Data Mining is used to fulfill this objective. To do so 100 informational forms was prepared from students of Mechanics Engineering and Agricultural Engineering of Islamic Azad University, Takestan Branch. 70% of data was used for analysis and 30% for model testing. In this article, Classification algorithm and Clustering are used for analyzing data by Data Mining. In clustering algorithm, data are placed in their appropriate clusters considering the similarities of data. The quality of these clusters is not clear in advance. The obtained results in this method are based on clusters' analysis. In classification algorithm the quality of groups is clear in advance. Data are placed in their appropriate group and groups are studied.


A method is presented which enables infaunal juvenile bivalves to be separated from associated sediment with a combination of elutriation and flotation techniques. Simple elutriation is used to remove less dense organic detritus and a relatively new, nontoxic compound (sodium polytungstate) is used to create a heavy liquid that sorts the bivalves from sediment by relative density. The technique was applicable to 12 species of molluscs of various sizes and was 98–100% effective in separating juvenile Mya arenaria, ranging from 0.5 to 24 mm in shell length, from surrounding sediment.


The main focus of this study was to implement and evaluate the level of satisfaction of undergraduate business students towards an instructional model known as the Blended Socratic Method of Teaching (BSMT) developed to enhance their critical thinking skills. The model refers to a set of inter-related components arranged in sequential order which provides guidelines to teachers to achieve RED – recognizing assumptions, evaluating arguments, and drawing conclusions). The specific purposes of this research were 1) to implement and determine the effectiveness of the instructional model, and 2) to evaluate the level of satisfaction of undergraduate business students towards the instructional model.  The research methodology comprised two phases corresponding to two research objectives: 1) implementation of the developed instructional model with 40 undergraduate business students majoring in Human Resource Management at Naresuan University International College (NUIC) and the determination of the effectiveness of the model and 2) evaluation of the satisfaction of the undergraduate business students towards the instructional model.  The results were as follows:  1. During the implementation of the model, the findings revealed that the developed model is an effective instructional model to enhance the critical thinking skills of the undergraduate business students, as shown in the students' pre-test ( =13.20) and post-test score ( =25.17) in the critical thinking appraisal, which is significantly different at 0.01 level of significance.  2. The undergraduate business students were "highly satisfied" with the Blended Socratic Method of Teaching (BSMT) Model as they evaluated the model "strongly satisfied" in all aspects—objectives, syntax, content, support system, principles of reaction, the social system, measurement and evaluation, and impact on students and students self-rated accomplishments. The undergraduate business students were in complete agreement that the model enhanced their critical thinking as well as other 21 st century skills, communication and collaboration, problem solving, and decision making.