This article was derived from the author's Postdoctoral Study, ' The War on Terror is a War on Women in Swat Valley: Women's Education under Terror and Displacement (2006-2011). Women's education was affected the most during periods of terrorism in Swat Valley. The main targets of the militants were women's educational institutes. The situation further worsened when the state government launched military operations in the name of the war on terror (counter-terrorism), which forced a huge number of local inhabitants to leave the valley and utterly blocked their educational accessibility for a long time. This study addresses how those women experienced or somehow challenged terrorism and counter-terrorism for their continuation or discontinuation of education. The study is based primarily on the qualitative data analysis of seven in-depth semi-structured interviews from the seven tehsils (sub-districts) of Swat. The study examines the actual role of women under conditions of patriarchal-peace, armed conflicts (terrorism and counter-terrorism), and displacement. This includes the local politics of Tanzeem-i-Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi (TNSM 2 ), and the influence of patriarchal culture on the country's politics are further analysed. While addressing the above issues, this study also highlights the need to embark on further in-depth research on Swat with special reference to women's education; such research can be used to support Swati women in their struggle for education, well-being, and empowerment.


In this paper, in order to evaluate the taobao's books credit, it analyses the current situation and loopholes in the current credit evaluation system of credit evaluation system, and points out the future development trend and innovation; finally, combining with the case, puts forward the countermeasures and suggestions of the development of credit system in china.


The purpose of this empirical research is to investigate the influence of work environment factors on employees' job satisfaction at Mahan Air Company in Iran and determine the most important work environment factors for Mahan air employees. Today all the managers know how important job satisfaction is for all the employees of the organizations. Several factors influence employees' job satisfaction such as external environment factors, technical environment factors and also work environment. This research focus on investigating the influence of work environment factors on employees' job satisfaction. This survey conducted in seven departments of Mahan Air Company. Findings of the research indicate that all the work environment factors have significant influence on employees' job satisfaction at Mahan Air but employee participation has the greatest influence on employees' job satisfaction and performance feedback has the least influence. In conclusion, the research helps the managers of Mahan Air Company to obtain a better comprehension of various components of the work environment and the influence of these factors on employees' job satisfaction.


In this paper, boron doped diamond (BDD) thin flms have been deposited on Ti-based substrates with or without a Ta intermediate layer by microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition (MWCVD). Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examinations demonstrate that the electrode has well-defined diamond features. XRD spectroscopy shows no TiC in the BDD film on the Ti substrate with Ta buffer layer. It is observed that both the BDD electrodes have similar overpotential 2.5V for water electrolysis prohibiting the evolution of oxygen in the cyclic voltammetry test. Further more,the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD) approaches to 100% in the electrochemical oxidation of wastewater containing phenol.


In this paper we discuss some spectrum sensing techniques for detection of DVB-T signals. Their performance is compared in terms of probability of detection and ROC curves. Some simulation results are presented for various scenarios.


In this paper we consider the stabilization of an underactuated system of linear first-order hyperbolic Partial Differential Equations consisting of one rightward-convecting transport PDE and two leftward-convecting equations. The system is underactuated in the sense that only one of the leftward-convecting equations is actuated at the boundary. This is a fundamental difference compared to existing results in the literature, as it is usually assumed that (at least) one of the boundaries of the system is fully actuated. The proposed approach combines a backstepping transformation and successive state transformations which allow the reformulation of the original system as a neutral system with distributed state delays and distributed input delays. Assuming that the actuator dynamics are asymptotically stable, the stabilization of the system reduced to that of a simpler neutral system with only distributed state delays and a delayed control. Designing a predictor, it becomes possible to stabilize this simpler system. The proposed feedback law is then combined with a low pass-filter to guarantee the existence of delay-robustness margins for the closed-loop system.


To improve the performance of spot welding process of zinc coated steel sheets, spot welding electrodes are brushed with metal Co on the surfaces of them. Spot welding experiments are carried out with the electrodes.The surface qualities of the electrodes before and after brushing are observed.The microstructures of the interface layer between the plating layer and the base of the electrodes are observed. At the same time, the distributions of elements in the surfaces of the electrodes and the welds are detected out. Experimental results show that Co brushed on the surfaces of electrodes can prevent from splashing,avoid electrodes sticking and improve the performance of spot welding process of zinc coated steel sheets. The reasons why it can improve the performance of spot welding are analyzed. In a word, the layer of metal Co can keep Cu and Zn from alloying and the joining strength can satisfy the requirement of the spot welding process of zinc coated steel sheets.


This thesis is an examination of the portrayals of the Ancient Greek mythological hero Heracles in two fifth century BCE tragic plays: The Trachiniae by Sophocles, and the Heracles by Euripides. Based on existing research that was examined, this thesis echoes the claim made by several sources that there is a conceptual link between both these plays in terms of how they treat Heracles as a character on stage. Fundamentally, this claim is that these two plays portray Heracles as a suffering, tragic figure in a way that other theatre portrayals of him up until the fifth century BCE had failed to do in such a notable manner. This thesis links this claim with a another point raised in modern scholarship: specifically, that Heracles" character and development as a mythical hero in the Ancient Greek world had given him a distinct position as a demi-god, and this in turn affected how he was approached as a character on stage. Heracles" potential as a suffering, tragic hero on stage was largely unacknowledged by Greek playwrights before and during the early fifth century BCE. The ultimate reason for this, as this thesis claims, is that Heracles" involvement in tragedy, unlike the other mythical heroes of Greece, would remain affected by his distinctive, complicated nature as a demi-god, until the time when The Trachiniae and the Heracles would be written. This thesis also demonstrates exactly why these two plays are so important for understanding the nuanced character of Heracles. Where this thesis expands upon these existing theories is to organise them in a cohesive, systemic order, where the links between these claims, and also the links between Greek heroes, Greek tragedy and Heracles, are firmly established. This thesis first examines in brief the origin and nature of Ancient Greek heroes as a whole. This is done in Chapter 2, following the Introduction. At this stage, a link is already established between Greek heroes and the tragic element. Heracles is then described, and the ways in which he differs from other heroes is explored, with specific focus placed on his demi-god status as being a defining element of him. An overview of how Heracles was conceived and placed within Greek society up until the fifth century BCE is also undertaken at this point. Chapter 3 proceeds to examine the world of the tragic theatre, the essential elements of tragedy, and Heracles" place on stage up until the time of The Trachiniae and the Heracles. Chapter 4 is an in-depth study of both of these plays, in order Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za


Objective The diagnosis of tuberculous peritonitis and cancerous peritonitis is still challenging and very important.Our aim is to investigate the value of MSCT in the differential diagnosis of tuberculous peritonitis and cancerous peritonitis.Methods A retrospective analysis of abdominal CT images was performed in 22 patients with tuberculous peritonitis and 16 patients with cancerous peritonitis,all cases were proven by surgery and clinical findings.Results Ascites,the abnormal patterns of peritoneum,omentum mesentery and intra-abdominal lymph nodes were present in all patients.Significant differences in the morphology of the peritoneum and omentum were found between tuberculous peritonitis and cancerous peritonitis(P 0.05).Significant differences in ascites and peritoneal lymph node enlargement were not observed between tuberculous peritonitis and cancerous peritonitis(P 0.05).Conclusion Most of tuberculous peritonitises and cancerous peritonitis have some specific imaging features,the features of tuberculous peritonitises were uniform and smooth thickening of peritoneum,dirt-like thickening of omentum.However,the features of most cancerous were nodular thickening of peritoneal omentum,moreover,the primary lesion can be found.


Authentication for inter-NEMO rooming is on important issue for achieving the seamless mobile networking. In this proposal, the technical challenge lies in the fact that a visited network does not initially have the authentication credentials of a roaming mobile router. This paper proposes an efficient approach for providing AAA service in NEMO environment. This approach uses localized authentication based on the roaming agreement between ISPs. A public key certificate structure is proposed, tailored to the business model of wireless internet Service Providers (ISPs). In this approach, the mutual authentication between a visited network and a roaming user can be performed locally without any control with user's home network. In conclusion, our protocol shown that communication delay can be reduced by overuse 45% overhead in communication delay than the previous AAA approach.


The main themes developed during the Conference are introduced, and the contributors, evoked. What motivated the holding of the Conference and the particular choice of contributors is the very poor economic climate in Europe occurring at a time when university enrollments are undergoing unprecedented expansion. University student counsellors, who are expected to serve as a kind of interface between the outside world and the university, have as their primary task that of helping students, who seek their services, to cope, to develop survival skills, to benefit from the academic side of their studies, all while preparing a niche for themselves on the outside. ∗ This version of the Final Report has been slightly edited by the CEPES editorial staff.


A ZnMgTe/ZnTe electro-optic (EO) waveguide has great potential to be utilized for practical applications. A low-dislocation ZnMgTe/ZnTe waveguide can be fabricated when the cladding layer thickness is below 20-fold the calculated critical layer thickness (CCLT × 20). To improve optical confinement, a waveguide with a thicker cladding layer or a higher Mg% should be considered. However, the device performance might be affected because of crystal quality deterioration since the lattice mismatch between MgTe and ZnTe was around 4.1%. In this study, optical confinement and propagation loss were examined by changing the dimensions of the ZnMgTe/ZnTe waveguide structure. The propagation loss, EO characteristics, and crystal quality of the fabricated waveguides were mainly studied. A waveguide with a cladding layer thickness of around 1.5-fold the 1/e penetration depth of the evanescent wave (dp1/e × 1.5, corresponding to CCLT × 100) showed better optical properties than other waveguides, although its interface defect density was reasonably high.


Abstract: Wheat is milled before use and the milling process for wheat is described in detail, together with methods for assessing the quality of the flour produced at different stages of the process. The separation of starch and gluten is also described, and the various commercial processes are compared. Methods for the selection of grain of suitable quality for the various types of end products are discussed. Comparisons of different means of assessing quality are also presented.


In this paper, an efficient dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) algorithm based fuzzy logic for upstream Ethernet passive optical networks (EPON) is proposed. The algorithm provides the allotment of bandwidth for inter optical network unit (ONU) and intra ONU. We compared the performance of DBA algorithm based fuzzy logic and DBA algorithm without fuzzy logic in terms of bandwidth utilization and delay. The results shows that the usage of fuzzy logic improve the bandwidth utilization up to 20% and about 50% reduction on the system delay is achieved.


Turbulence studies were made in the wake of a rotating circular cylinder in a uniform free stream. The interest was to examine the turbulence properties at the suppression of periodicity in vortex formation process. An experimental study of the turbulent near wake of a rotating circular cylinder was made at a Reynolds number of 9000 for velocity ratios, λ between 0 and 2.7. Hot-wire anemometry and particle image velocimetry results indicate that the rotation of the cylinder causes significant changes in the vortical activities. The turbulence quantities are getting smaller as λ increases due to suppression of coherent vortex structures.


Over the course of 2018, 7 machine developments were conducted for dedicated crab cavity measurements with each measurement slot consisting of 10 hours of SPS machine time [1]. During this period, many different sets of measurements and studies were performed to improve the understanding of the interaction between protons and crab cavities. This note describes the main results relating to beam dynamics. Additionally, the considerations on crab cavity related instrumentation required for HL-LHC are presented.


This manuscript describes a comparison of different applications of the planar fit method for non-omnidirectional sonic anemometers. The application of the planar fit method for "undisturbed" sectors leads to increased friction velocities. This may be an improvement but as there is no reference measure available to state this reliably, an increase does not necessarily mean an improvement. Irregular values of momentum C3419


Modern day computing jobs are increasingly emphasizing on soft skills such as design, collaboration and communication skills in addition to programming skills. Having students participate in peer reviews is one possible way to develop such soft skills. However, we have observed that low student participation and low review quality can impede the educational value of the peer review process. To address this issue and improve student learning in computer programming courses, we propose to implement and evaluate social comparisons— a method suggested by socio-psychological research.


Epistylis sp. (Caliophora: Peritricha) is a facultative ectosymbiont of fresh-water fishes in streams and lakes throughout the southeastern U.S. In combination with the gram-negative bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila, epizootic outbreaks of Epistylis have been implicated in the death of many thousands of game fish, primarily striped bass and several species of Centrarchidae (sunfish), in several reservoirs in North Carolina. While these epizootics have been correlated with high levels of organic loading, recent studies suggest that thermal loading from a nuclear production facility may influence the level of infection by A. hydrophila and Epistylis sp. (A-E complex) on centrarchid sunfish in Par Pond, Savannah River Plant, Aiken, S.C. Utilizing electro-fishing techniques, in excess of 11,500 sunfish, representing six different species, were collected and examined for external lesions associated with the A-E complex. Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were most heavily infected, followed in incidence of infection by bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), warmouth (Lepomis gulosus) and redbreast sunfish (Lepomis auritus); lesions were not observed on the surface of black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus). The body conditions (or K-factor) of more than 2,000 largemouth bass were calculated; direct correlations were found between thermal loading, body condition, and incidence of infection. These data are discussed in terms ofmore » thermal effluent and the epizootiology of Epistylis sp. and Aeromonas hydrophila.« less


In order to solve the problem about the variety of resonance frequency during induction brazing,a PI control circuit is designed based on a normal inverter power,which uses SG3525A PWM control circuit.This new tracing circuit can trace the resonance frequency quickly and accurately.The operating principle,circuit design and experiment results are introduced in the paper.


In this paper,a new evaluation method for synthetic aperture radar(SAR) jamming is proposed.This method is mainly based on the concept of structure similarity index and it' s characteristic feature is consistent with perceptual property of human visual system(HVS).Firstly the jammed image and the primitive image are wavelets decomposed;secondly structure similarities are calculated for each sub-band in wavelet domain and each sub-bands' structure similarity is weighted by contrast sensitivity function;at last it comes to the final evaluation index by summing up all weighted structure similarities.Simulation results shows that this index can not only measure the amount of the disturbance between the jammed and the primitive SAR image,but also reflect how people' s subjective feelings to the image quality in a better way compared with ordinary evaluation index,and reflect the difference of information loss when the interfere energy distributes in different regions in the image.


Many a visitor to the west coast of Scotland has looked out longingly across the Sea of the Hebrides to the mountainous and usually cloud-capped island of Rum. Like Skye, its much larger (and higher) northern neighbour, Rum has a rugged cuillin, but its mountains are composed predominantly of ultramafic (ultrabasic) igneous rocks rather than gabbro. Their peridotiteand allivalite-layered summits are bare, except where manured by the famous mountain-top Manx Shearwater colonies, and form the most formidable outcrop of this metal-rich formation in the British Isles. Outside the ultramafics there are extensive acid rocks including granophyre and Torridonian sandstone. In the cool and very rainy climate, peat and peaty soils predominate in a mainly de-forested landscape, but there are well-drained soils on the coastal slopes and calcareous soils in small areas where shelly dune sand has blown inland. For many years Rum, or 'Rhum' as it was formerly rendered (reputedly to fend off alcoholic aspersions), was privately owned and off limits to botanists, but in recent times it has enjoyed national nature reserve status and has become more accessible to visitors. The Flora of Rum is an attractive and much-needed account of plant exploration and current knowledge of the island's vegetation. One of the strengths of this prettily illustrated work is that more than one-quarter of it is devoted to interpretation. Besides the more usual initial chapters dealing with the physical environment (topography, climate, geology, etc.), the vegetation and botanical exploration, there is a fascinating account of the chequered history of the island's management with botanical implications emphasised, and other chapters presenting an analysis of phytogeographic affinities and floristic changes observed since 1884. A brief but enlightening comparison is made with the rather more diverse flora of Skye which has significant exposures of limestone, natural woodland and coastal salt marshes. The curious tale of the dubious plant records of the late Professor J. W. Heslop Harrison is told with fairness. Rum is very approximately topor diamond-shaped and measures some 12–13 km along its greatest dimensions. This might appear to be a relatively small area for botanical exploration but, as any visitor will attest, roads are almost non-existent and any trek away from the small village of Kinloch in the east involves demanding vertical as well as horizontal exertion in exacting terrain. Some remote areas are rarely visited and effectively inaccessible. However, in the immediate run-up to production of the Flora, botanical meetings were held on the island by parties from the Botanical Society of the British Isles (in 2003) and the British Bryological Society (in 2004), both of which covered the area systematically. The botanical records in the Flora have been treated at the tetrad scale, yielding a maximum 41 'dots' on the distribution maps. Although one might have wished for a finer scale on these maps (e.g. 161 km), the scarcity of resident botanists and the difficulty of correctly locating records made in steep terrain before the age of satellite navigation presumably proved unachievable without introducing unacceptable error. The 'systematic list' covers stoneworts (Charophyta), liverworts (there are no hornworts), mosses and vascular plants, and gives equal coverage to native and introduced species. The individual species accounts follow the familiar flora format except that, for the less common taxa, and often where a map is not provided, all or a selection of records are listed in a second paragraph in a smaller fount and grouped according to 10-km square. This is particularly useful for later researchers as map-based floras sometimes give too few details of first and earlier records. The distribution maps use a simple outline of the coast; however, addition of the larger streams, or some shading to denote major altitudinal zones, might have made them more easily interpretable. An interesting observation is that, unusually, the number of native bryophyte taxa (469 spp) exceeds the native vascular plants (434 spp.). This is believed to reflect the strongly oceanic climate, the barren nature of much of the uplands and a dearth of species-rich lowland habitats for vascular plants, owing partly to a long history of over-grazing by sheep and deer. As elsewhere in the far west of Scotland, Arctic-montane bryophytes are not especially numerous but Anthelia julacea, A. juratzkana, Gymnomitrion concinnatum, Arctoa fulvella, Ditrichum zonatum and Hypnum hamulosum all occur on Rum. In contrast, hyperoceanic bryophytes are much more numerous, including Myurium hochstetteri and Campylopus shawii, both common upland species in the even more sea-girt and rainier Azores archipelago. The Oceanic Boreal bryophytes (e.g. Bazzania pearsonii, Herbertus spp., Plagiochila carringtonii, Pleurozia purpurea) are also well represented. Among the island's most characteristic species Journal of Bryology (2009) 31: 63–66


Superhydrophobic (SHO) surfaces have drawn great attention thanks to their theoretical significance and myriad applications in industry and everyday life. Current approaches to fabricate such surfaces require calcinating at high temperatures, tedious and time‐consuming treatments, toxic chemicals, and/or processing with intricate instruments. Long‐duration SHO surfaces are even more challenging due to material instability and easy contamination by organic pollutants in dry conditions. To overcome these difficulties we design a simple approach via self‐supplying of low surface tension chemicals to nanoparticles to fabricate multifunctional SHO heterostructures. The method herein features room temperature, rapid processing, with environment‐friendly raw materials. With multiple functions such as photocatalysis and transparency SHO surfaces further extend their lifetime and enable self‐sustaining environment maintenance.


Many downsizing efforts have been ineffective because companies have not properly used communication to bring about the needed change. This paper examines how communication can be used to develop shared mind sets, empower the personnel, and effectively manage the overall process. Particular attention is given to successful efforts of firms such as General Electric, AT&T Universal Card Services, Valley Hospital Medical Center, Zytec, and other quality award-winning companies.


One of Leo Moser's geometry problems is referred to as the Worm Problem (10): "What is the (convex) region of smallest area which will accommodate (or cover) every planar arc of length 1?" For example, it is easy to show that the circular disk with diameter 1 will cover every planar arc of length 1. The area of the disk is approximately 0.78539. Here we show that a solution to the Worm Problem of Moser is a region with area less than 0.27524.


The invention discloses a fabric dyeing method, comprising the following steps: s1, pretreating a fabric, and then drying; s2, dip-dyeing the dried fabric with nano water-based dyeing slurry; s3, predrying: drying the surface of the fabric for 10-120 seconds under the temperature of 80-150 DEG C; s4, performing color development under high temperature: treating the dyed fabric for 10-150 seconds under the temperature of 180-230 DEG C; s5, cooling to room temperature, so that after the molecular structure of a dye is condensed, the fixation of the dye in the fabric is realized. According to the fabric dyeing method, the novel environment-friendly dye is combined, after being cooled, the fabric does not fade, and therefore does not need washing, and no wastewater is generated.


Ground Penetrating Radar devices send pulses from a transmitter into the earth and reflected pulses are collected by a receiver. The data collected is used by geologists to obtain a view of terrain underground. This data is typically viewed using a desktop interface where the user usually interacts using a keyboard and mouse. Visualizing the data in a slice by slice 2D format can be difficult to interpret. Instead of performing the visualization and interaction this way, I designed a program for an immersive visualization environment that uses tracked input devices. The visualization is done using real-time, stereoscopic, perspective-corrected, slice-based volume rendering. To aid with the visualization the user can modify the display of the volume using integrated tools, such as transfer functions, lighting, and color maps. Users are also given data analysis tools that provide natural interactions. These tools allow users to take application-specific measurements such as dip, strike, other angles, and distances in 3D. Compared to typical desktop interface interactions, the 6-degree of freedom user interface provided by the immersive visualization environment makes it notably easier to perform the application-specific measurements.


Present investigation was performed with the aim of determine the distribution of production factors and to determine the efficiency of resource utilization and determine to take measures for raising of productivity by providing optimum resource utilization which were used in the fishery enterprises in Lake Durusu. Materials of the investigation was constituted on data provide from all fishery enterprises (23 piece) in the lake by questionnaire between 2006 and 2007. In the evaluation of the fishery enterprises Cobb-Douglas Production Function were used. According to the results of the multi regression analysis, increasing returns to scale in the fishery enterprises were determined. Marginal productivity of inputs were determined as 2.15 TL for labor, -1.62 TL in food, 1.81 TL in fuel, 1.16 TL in maintenance -repair, 2.73 TL in capital depreciation and 2.88 TL in other expense. Productivity values of enterprises was calculated by using real and estimated production values and average productivity were determined as 102.48. Profitability rate of the enterprises was calculated and average profitability determined as 1.50.


In the imaging field compression of images is very much needed for the efficient transmission of the image. 2D-DWT is widely used in achieving the compression of images. The objective of my project is to propose memory efficient high speed architecture for multilevel 2D – DWT using FPGA. The system is said to be high speed since it uses parallel and pipelined processing of the image. The proposed architecture is based on the Lifting based DWT scheme. This scheme effectively reduces the hardware complexity and memory accesses. The proposed structure offers significant saving of area and power due to the substantial reduction in usage of memory. The design is realised in VHDL language and optimized in terms of throughput and memory requirements. The implementations are completely parameterized with respect to the size of the input image and the number of decomposition levels. From the result obtained, the proposed architecture used less number of components from the available components with less memory usage of 198 KB


Background: Rotavirus (RV) is associated with diarrhea in children under 5 years old. It leads to severe dehydration. RV infection is the third cause of hospitalization and death in children under 5 years old. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the frequency of RV infection in hospitalized children under 5 years old with diarrhea during 2021-2022. Methods: In this cross-sectional observational study, a total of 190 stool samples from hospitalized children with diarrhea were collected in Mofid Children's Hospital in Tehran from December 2020 to March 2021. RV infection was detected by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Chi-square tests were performed to determine the difference in age and gender group, time, and symptoms. Results: The overall prevalence of RV infection was 28.5% and higher in boys (68.5%), children aged ≤ 12 months (44.4%), and children with mixed feeding (33.3%); it is more common in winter. Vomiting (79.6%), fever (87.03%), and non-exudative stool (88.8%) were observed in most children with RV, but there were no significant differences in children with and without RV. Conclusions: Due to the prevalence of RV among children under 5 years of age, establishing a national RV registration system and control programs, like vaccination, seems to be considered.


Hypertension disease in qing qiao,four dirty by the heart,liver,spleen and kidney caused by imbalance of Yin and Yang,the actual resource growth,should balance Yin and Yang,adjust Qi and blood,suchas liver,kidney,spleen,eliminating phlegm to give priority to.Common with liver-yang hyperactivity,liverfire flaming,randomized stagnation of phlegm,ecchymosis,deficiency of liver-yin and kidney-yin,deficiency of kidney-essence,deficiency of both qi and yin,asthenia of qi and blood,yin and yang deficiency have a close relationship with hypertension.Causes of emotional disorder,improper diet,Overwork and over-rest,insufficiency and physical factors,prevention should be the cause of,including:regulating emotion,reasonable diet,appropriate exercise and aftercare innate.Vertigo is the beginning of a stroke,stroke is the growing of vertigo,although dizziness is not complete for the development of stroke,but has been ill treated early,preventive treatment and prognosis is of great significance to vertigo.If already suffer from hypertension,should actively use the drug control,reasonable diet,control your emotions,and improve the way of life,reduce complications and improve the quality of life.


International business often relies on early access to a new technology in order to be competitive. When scientific institutions develop new technologies that have economic potential, the technology transfer is often left to an open competition among potential business adopters. Small-scale businesses, however, often do not have early knowledge of new technology and may lack the social and economic "risk capital" to successfully compete for it. This paper describes an exceptional case in which (1) a new technology with great economic market potential has been considered as a vehicle for developmental change, and (2) adoption by small-scale business has been a consideration in the final research and development (R&D) stages of the technology. This case illustrates how social and economic soundness analysis can increase the competitiveness of small-scale businesses that would otherwise be eclipsed by wealthier enterprises.


The OTC market is a base layer in the multi-level capital market system.However,as the same of national OTC market,the OTC market in Hunan province first develops the upper capital markets,which are motherboard in exchange market,and then a middle layer-small board and Growth Enterprise Market,which lead an inevitable problem of weak foundation,and these problems have constrained the development of the OTC market in Hunan province.Based on the major strategic initiatives of our multi-level capital market,this paper reviews its construction process and development ideas,and does an analysis in detail on problems of Hunan OTC market to propose strengthening the base layer of the OTC market's recommendations.


This paper focuses on the application of reinforcement learning to obstacle avoidance in dynamic environments. Behavior-based control architecture is more robust and better in real-time performance than conventional model based architecture in the control of mobile robot. An intelligent controller is proposed by integrating reinforcement learning with the behavior-based control architecture and applied to the obstacle avoidance. Neural network is used to approximate the Q-function to store the Q-value. By using the reinforcement learning, the mobile robot can learn to select proper behavior online without knowing the exact model of the system. In experiments, dynamic and static obstacles are placed in the environments separately. Experiment results show that the mobile robot can get to the target point without colliding with any obstacle after a period of learning.


During the epoch of knowledge-based economy and knowledge management, teachers must learn in order to improve professional development. The success of knowledge management initiatives depends on knowledge sharing. The sharing of teaching-related knowledge may help teachers solve a variety of problems that they face, and the appropriate use of online knowledge-sharing activities is expected to assist teachers' knowledge sharing. Since studies related to educational knowledge sharing are rare, knowledge sharing behavior may be different between organization types. In order to promote knowledge sharing among subject experts within educational groups in secondary school; this study was implemented electronic assessment system to evaluate a knowledge sharing among teachers, which is helpful school organization's to develop knowledge and cultures.


Engineered nanoparticles(ENPs) are designed and manufactured for a specific purpose, which are widely used in electronics, medicine, cosmetics and other fields. Following the production and use of products containing ENPs, ENPs will enter into the wastewater treatment plant. Thus, ENPs will be inevitably released into the environment via the discharge of wastewater and sewage sludge, which have been regarded as one kind of emerging contaminants and highly concerned. In this review, the distribution and transformation of ENPs during the different units of wastewater treatment plant were summarized. The previous studies indicated that ENPs were frequently found in wastewater and sewage sludge and the removal is related with their physical-chemical properties and water quality. Therefore, more studies are needed to examine their behavior and risk in the environment.


Objective To examine the utilization of HIV prevention services among MSM in Anhui,China.Methods From the national database of MSM survey in 61 cities,Anhui data were analyzed.The national MSM survey was conducted in 61 cities for 3 times during 2008-2009 with 6 months in between.Hefei and Wuhu in Anhui were selected for the survey.Results There were 490 MSMs in the first round survey,443 in the second round and 708 in the third round in Anhui.Most of the participants took part in the surveys for HIV testing,with the proportion of 72.4%,71.8% and 74.7% in the 3 rounds respectively.The top 3 sources for MSMs receiving HIV/AIDS information were Internet,television and IEC materials,and the bottom 3 sources were school education,radio and poster.About 50% of the participants received condoms,IEC materials and lubricants,but only 26.8% received STI services in the past year.The number and percentage of utilizing HIV testing were 149(30.4%),195(44.1%) and 383(54.1%) respectively(χ2=68.57,P0.001).Among the tested participants,the number and proportion of knowing testing result were 133(86.4%),169(84.9%) and 353(91.2%) respectively(χ2=6.00,P=0.050).Conclusions Among MSM in Anhui,the source of HIV/AIDS information was multiple with internet,television and IEC material as the most common sources;the utilization of HIV preventive services and testing services was low


Meloxicam is non steroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) of the enolic acid class which is widely used in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Its adverse effects of oral route, which are nausea dan diarrhea could be evaded by using transdermal patch. Meloxicam is practically insoluble in water, therefore it should be made into solid dispersion.The aims of this research was to determine the effect of combination of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) K-4M and carbopol 940 on the in-vitro drug release and moisture content (MC) and to obtain the optimum formula of those polymers using design experts software. Meloxicam patches were prepared into three formulas based on simplex lattice design with the ratio of HPMC K-4M : carbopol 940 that were 1: 0 ; 0.5 : 0.5 and 0 : 1. The results of this research showed that the patch with HMPC K-4M : carbopol 940 of 0:1 gave the best in-vitro drug release and MC. The optimum formula was HPMC K-4M and carbopol 940 with the ratio of 0 : 1 Keywords : meloxicam, solid disper s ion, patch, HPMC, carbopol.


Over the last three decades, many advanced economies have experienced significant changes in their productive structures, with a decline in the share of workers in manufacture and a transition towards the service sector. This structural change can be considered as one of the main causes behind the poor performance of aggregate labour productivity. Moreover, these changes have been associated with a process of reforms in the labour market - i.e. an increase in labour flexibility and a reduction in employees' protections - and a compression of the wage share. Our hypothesis is that these institutional and economic processes can also be harmful to labour productivity. We submit our hypotheses to empirical scrutiny. The results are as follows: the share of employment in manufacture is positively related to labour productivity. On the other hand, the share of employment in several service industries and labour flexibility negatively affect it.


To assess the rate of success in treating acute myocardial infarction(AMI)with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty(PTCA).Methods:Forty-three branchs infarct related artery(IRA)of 42 AMI patients were directly treated by PTCA within 12 hours.Results:Among branchs 43 IRA,39 branch acquired coronary artery repatency with TIMI 3 degree flow(90. 7%).The residual stenosis in repatency coronary arteries was from 0 to 20%.The clinic symptom of 5 cases with left ventricular dysfunction(Killip Ⅱ~Ⅲ)and 2 of the 3 cases with car- diogenic shock were obviously improved,one case(2. 5%)with cardiogenic shock was dead in hospital.During the fol- low-up period(about 6 months)6 cases(15. 0%)had repeated PTCA because of angina after exertion.Conclusion: Direct PTCA in AMI patients is effective and safe.


The Norwegian bare plural may help clarify the distinction between subjects of generic and true kind predicates since it may be used as the former, but not as the latter. Its interpretational and distributional properties are furthermore outnumbered by the truly bare Norwegian N which may be subject of both kinds and generics in addition to functioning as a nominal predicate. I cement the fact that the Norwegian bare plural is inherently indefinite, and propose that the properties of the truly bare N may be given a unified account if analysed as marked for general number rather than as an indefinite singular.


Aluminium Schottky contacts on n‐Si were subjected to Ar+ ion bombardment, followed by a thermal anneal at 350 °C. This resulted in a marked improvement in the diode character of the implanted contacts. α‐particle channeling analysis showed that very little damage remained after annealing, while AES showed only slight mixing of the Al and Si.


The word finance often fills the farmer with dread: he is well aware that figures are required to measure the financial health of his enterprise, but figures, and even worse, understanding those figures, is a complex undertaking. That part of the business belongs to the accountant, that strange person who is rarely seen and often used as an excuse when figures of any type are required.


Submitted for the DFD09 Meeting of The American Physical Society Drop Impact of Viscous Suspensions on Solid Surfaces DANIEL BOLLEDDULA, ALBERTO ALISEDA, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington — Droplet impact is a well studied subject with over a century of progress. Most studies are motivated by applications such as inkjet printing, agriculture spraying, or printed circuit boards. Pharmaceutically relevant fluids provide an experimental set that has received little attention. Medicinal tablets are coated by the impaction of micron sized droplets of aqueous suspensions and subsequently dried for various purposes such as brand recognition, mask unpleasant taste, or functionality. We will present a systematic study of micron sized drop impact of Newtonian and Non-Newtonian fluids used in pharmaceutical coating processes. In our experiments we extend the range of Ohnesorge numbers, O(1), of previous studies on surfaces of varying wettability and roughness. Daniel Bolleddula University of Washington Date submitted: 07 Aug 2009 Electronic form version 1.4


This paper summarizes the author's recent book, The Symmetry of God. It proposes that the concepts of God in the Christian tradition and of the Unconscious in Freudian theory have much in common. In particular, the mystics may be seen as explorers of the Unconscious and religious narrative as revelation of the Unconscious into Consciousness. Matte Blanco's theory about the logic of the Unconscious is used to support this. Theology has often turned to philosophy for 'models' of God and using the Unconscious as such opens discussion between spiritual and psychological understandings of humanity. While the traditional Christian language is retained, it is given a less objective feel than is customary, and religious truth is sharply distinguished from factual or empirical truth. This may make the language of faith more accessible to those who find literal interpretations incredible.


Abstract The addition of monomer molecules to the growing polymer chain during the polymerization of dienes may take place in several ways. In the polymerization of butadiene, the addition takes place in the 1,2- and 1,4-positions. In the latter case polymer chains are obtained with structural variations, e.g., the position of CH2 groups at the double bonds is cis or trans. The resulting polymer chains vary in configuration. It is of interest to determine how the configuration is affected by different conditions of polymerization. Several papers related to the subject are to be found in the literature. In this work, we studied with an infrared spectrometer the compositions of butadiene-styrene copolymers prepared at different temperatures. Also determined was the content of the various configurations of butadiene links in the polymer chains. The samples were prepared by polymerizing emulsions by the dilatometric method in the absence of oxygen. A satisfactory emulsion was obtained with a magnetic stirrer ...


Professor Zhang Linqi treatment of chronic kidney disease must be identification according to the etiology,syndrome differentiation and treatment,flexible prescription. Pathogenesis of the disease is complicated,the disease is widespread,cold-heat deficiencyexcess mixed,deficiency in origin and excess in superficiality. On the one hand,supporting the healthy energy and lest attacking excessively,always remembering invigorating spleen and kidney,first thinking strengthening healthy Qi; on the other hand,for external evil,dampness,phlegm turbidity and blood stasis,toxin,etc.,not only driving out evil,but also don't hurt the healthy Qi,clever use of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis,removing dampness and turbidity drugs for good effect.


Meredith and Wes Armer had their lives all planned out. Wes was a rising star in the US Air Force. Meredith embraced her role as a military wife and mother to their three young girls. Moving from base to base as Wes climbed the career ladder was a small price to pay for a growing salary, secure benefits, and what the couple imagined would be an early retirement spent on a farm somewhere in North Carolina. However, that was still several years off, and Wes faced the very real possibility of multiple deployments in the meantime....


—MagnetoMyoGraphy (MMG) with superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) enabled the measurement of very weak magnetic fields (femto to pico Tesla) generated from the human skeletal muscles during contraction. However, SQUIDs are bulky, costly and require working in a temperature-controlled environment, limiting wide-spread clinical use. We introduce a low-profile magnetoelectric (ME) sensor with analog frontend circuitry that has sensitivity to measure pico-Tesla MMG signals at room temperature. It comprises magnetostrictive and piezoelectric materials, FeCoSiB/AlN. Accurate device modelling and simulation are presented to predict device fabrication process comprehensively using the finite element method (FEM) in COMSOL Multiphysics ® . The fabricated ME chip with its readout circuit was characterized under a dynamic geomagnetic field cancellation technique. The ME sensor experiment validate a very linear response with high sensitivities of up to 378 V/T driven at a resonance frequency of f res = 7.76 kHz. Measurements show the sensor limit of detections of down to 175 pT/√Hz at resonance, which is in the range of MMG signals. Such a small-scale sensor has the potential to monitor chronic movement disorders and improve the end-user acceptance of human-machine interfaces. spectral density could reach limit of detection (LOD) of hundreds of fT/√Hz, which depends on muscle to sensor distance and appeared in the typical frequency range from 10 Hz and 100 Hz. The magnitude of the MMG signal varies with the third power of the distance between the


The epoxy resin(EP) antistatic adhesives were prepared with conductive carbon black and silver powder as conductive filler,and the influences of kinds and content of conductive filler were studied on conduc-tive and mechanical performance of adhesive.The research results showed that the influence of conductive filler kinds on conductive and mechanical performance of adhesive was obvious different.With conductive carbon black as conductive filler,the EP adhesives achieved initial antistatic capability when mass fraction of conductive carbon black was 5.0 %,the volume resistivity of adhesive have trend of saltation fall when mass fraction of conduc-tive carbon black was about 7.1%.Otherwise,with silver powder as conductive filler,EP adhesive cannot achieve antistatic capability when mass fraction of silver powder was between 0 and 38%.The tensile strength and shear strength of EP adhesives had trend of linear decrease with the increase of conductive carbon black content and trend of linear increase with the increase of silver powder content.


The article is devoted to management of Kazakhstani University in order to find the opportunities for further deepening of digitalization by introducing general, change and project management practice. Study showed inconsistency of bureaucratic style and disparity of existed concepts with practice. Types of changes, main management problems, quality management system and digitalization processes at the university were analyzed. The basic gap in existed organizational structure of university as a barrier in meeting requirements of new reality of society and new system of relationship inside of university was identified. Issue of the current educational automation associated with digitalization, the shortcomings exposed by the pandemic were figured out. Based on investigation of domestic, foreign and original research, proposals to implement the project management methodology and creation of a change management department in IITU were made. These proposals become the conditions for integration of invaluable methodological experience accumulated by teachers and for implementation of university's mission in digital age. The novelty of the research lies in the development of proposals for the transformation of the Kazakh University in the direction of meeting the requirements of the technological revolution based on the use of project management methodology and principles of change management. As a result, the proposed structure of university based on project management methodology and the creation of a change management department were justified.


In the modern era, development of electrochemical energy devices such as batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors gain attention due to the deficiency of renewable energy resources. More specifically, proton conducting materials create prime interest in the development of electrochemical devices. In this regards, a novel proton conducting biopolymer electrolyte based on Tamarind Seed Polysaccharide (TSP) was synthesized with different concentration of ammonium formate (NH4HCO2). The amorphous nature of the polymer electrolytes has been identified by XRD technique. The observed ionic conductivity values reveal that the biopolymer containing 1 g TSP: 0.4 g NH4HCO2 has highest ionic conductivity 1.23×10−3 S cm-1.In the modern era, development of electrochemical energy devices such as batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors gain attention due to the deficiency of renewable energy resources. More specifically, proton conducting materials create prime interest in the development of electrochemical devices. In this regards, a novel proton conducting biopolymer electrolyte based on Tamarind Seed Polysaccharide (TSP) was synthesized with different concentration of ammonium formate (NH4HCO2). The amorphous nature of the polymer electrolytes has been identified by XRD technique. The observed ionic conductivity values reveal that the biopolymer containing 1 g TSP: 0.4 g NH4HCO2 has highest ionic conductivity 1.23×10−3 S cm-1.


Purpose – This article aims to lend insight into the consumption situation wherein consumers are unmotivated to try new products or behaviors that they perceive as too difficult to adopt as a result of low self-efficacy. Design/methodology/approach – Two experiments were introduced to test hypotheses. In Studies 1 and 2, we demonstrated that enhancing specific self-efficacy (SSE) by repositioning the self, through marketing messages, increased participants' behavioral intentions toward difficult to adopt (DTA) products. Findings – In this research, an important issue is elucidated in consumer behavior: a phenomenon wherein consumers lack the motivation, as a result of low self-efficacy (i.e. assessing the disparity between their current situation and some desired goals as too wide to bridge over), to try a product that would benefit them. Thus, the marketer's role in this case is to convince the consumers that they are able to achieve these goals. Research limitations/implications – This study focuses on ...


Burgeoning trend of digital advertising have led websites to embody massive irrelevant content such as page navigation, ads, distractions, promotional videos etc‥. on their pages. In contrast to desktop, limited screen space of mobile carrying variety of ineffectual content magnifies the visual complexity of webpage by disrupting focus of user to read useful content. To solve this issue, Reader mode functionality renders a clutter-free version of web page by stripping out all insignificant elements and letting user to read the content they are actually interested in. Existing implementation in our browser involves 2 modules - Article Detection module that runs heuristics to detect whether a web page is article or not, proceeded by Article Extraction module that extracts the main content of the web page by removing all unwanted elements. Our paper focusses on improving the accuracy of article detection logic by proposing a machine-learning based solution that significantly surpasses the present heuristic-based model in terms of accuracy. In order to get rid of false positives on webpages with meaningless content like product descriptions, we extended our previous solution [1] by incorporating backward-elimination heuristics for web page title and extracting strong Boolean predictors. Our approach also solves the problem of detecting reader mode on Google's AMP HTML web pages where main-content is rendered in an iframe. With this model, we were able to achieve a precision of 0.99 and a recall of 0.94, which outperforms the state-of-the-art techniques which are being used by the major Android based web browsers in the market today.


Objective To investigate the phenotype, genotype and molecular mechanisms in four Chinese pedigrees with venous thrombosis caused by hereditary PC deficiency. Methods The plasma activity of PC: A, TPS: A and FPS: A of the probands and their family members were detected with chromogenic and coagulation assay. The antigen of PC and FPS were identified with ELISA. Thrombin generation tests were applied to indicate the coagulation status. All of the nine exons and intron-exon boundaries of PC gene and PS gene were amplified by PCR and directly sequenced for mutaiton investigation. Results Compound heterozygous mutations of L-34P, K150del and A209V with 36% of PC: A and 57% of PC: Ag were identified in proband 1. PC: A was 46% , PC: Ag was 64. 4% while TPS: A, FPS: A and FPS: Ag were 36% , 19.5% and 20.9% respectively in proband 2. Two independent heterozygous mutations of R147W in PC gene inherited from his mother and T519stop in PS gene inherited from his father were identified. The anticoagulant activity of Proband 2 and his parents were declined in thrombin generation assay. In proband with PS defeciency and his father, the inhibition of thrombin generation capacity was decreased with exogenous APC, while his mother did not have significant difference. In Proband 3, PC: A was 32% while PC: Ag was 48.42% . Two independent mutations of R147W and R178W in Exon 7 were detected. Compound heterozygous mutations of R178W and D255H,with 21% of PC : A and 18. 36% of PC: Ag were identified in the Proband 4. Conclusions Hereditary PC deficiency or combined PC and PS deficiency result in venous thrombosis in four Chinese families. Mutants of L-34P, A209V, R178W, R147W and D255H might be the molecular mechanisms of PC deficiency.

Key words:
Protein C deficiency; Protein C; Protein S; Pedigree; Mutation; Venous thromboembolism


In this study, three types of oil palm biomass (OPB) namely, oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF), oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and oil palm frond (OPF), were studied and compared as the alternative fillers in the biocomposite reinforced polypropylene (PP). The fibers were treated using the optimal condition of superheated steam treatment obtained from previous study. The OPB/PP biocomposites at weight ratio of 30:70 were fabricated by melt blending technique and hot pressed moulding. Results showed that the tensile and flexural properties of optimized-SHS-treated OPB/PP biocomposites were improved by 9 – 30% and 9 – 12%, respectively compared to the untreated OPB/PP biocomposites. The same observation was recorded for thermal stability. Improved surface morphology as shown by the tensile fracture surface indicates better interfacial adhesion between SHS-treated OPB fibers with PP matrix during blending. Overall results showed that OPF/ PP biocomposites had better properties compared to biocomposites prepared from OPMF and OPEFB, suggesting that OPF is a better OPB fiber choice as a filler in PP reinforced biocomposite.


Received 7 July 2004 Revised 17 August 2004 Accepted 16 September 2004 During early stationary phase, Bacillus subtilis NAFM5 produces capsular poly(c-glutamic acid) (cPGA, 2610 Da), which contains Dand L-glutamate, and then degrades it during late stationary phase. The c-glutamyltransferase (EC 126.96.36.199; GGT) of this strain successively hydrolysed cPGA from the amino-terminal end, to yield both Dand L-glutamate. This enzyme was specifically synthesized during the stationary phase through transcriptional activation of the corresponding ggt gene by the ComQXPA quorum-sensing system. A ggt knockout mutant degraded cPGA into 1610 Da fragments, but not any further, indicating that the capsule cPGA is first internally degraded by an endo-type of cPGA hydrolase into 1610 Da intermediates, then externally into glutamates via GGT. Due to its inability to generate the glutamates from the capsule, the ggt mutant sporulated more frequently than the wild-type strain. The results show that B. subtilis GGT has a powerful exo-c-glutamyl hydrolase activity that participates in capsule cPGA degradation to supply stationary-phase cells with constituent glutamates.


The output of a solar panel depends on various factors and one of them is the tilt angle of the panel. Though small changes in the tilt angle might not cause great difference in the output of a panel but when we talk about huge solar photovoltaic plants, even a small difference in solar tilt may result in loss of hundreds of kilowatt. This paper focuses on optimizing the tilt angle for fixed support panels at VIT University (Vellore, India). The paper lays more focus on weighted average calculation of tilt angle rather than calculation of simple average. The graphical and analytical calculations as well as Simulink analysis gives an accurate tilt angle of 19.5640 o instead of 17.7093 o which is found by simple averaging method in MATLAB. Though this 2 degrees difference would not matter for small plants but for plants with more than 5 MW capacity, this optimization of 2 degrees can help save a lot of energy.


In many space network architectures, such as those intended for the military, there will be numerous types of air, ground and sea terminals communicating with each other over a complex system consisting of both geostationary earth orbit (GEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. These architectures would require highspeed communication links to be established between GEO satellite pairs, and even a GEO and a LEO satellite. With relative speeds approaching or exceeding 8 km/sec, Doppler effects can play a significant role in SONET timing and synchronization, especially when one takes into account satellite repositioning, inclinations, and other perturbations and anomalies.


The tritium gas emission in the thermal neutron induced ternary fission of 249 Cf has been determined for the first time in a measurement at the intense neutron beam PF1B of the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble (France). A 249 Cf sample was mounted in the centre of a vacuum chamber, at a short distance of a ∆E-E telescope which permitted the identification of the ternary particles. The binary fission fragments were detected in a separate run, using only the E detector. From these measurements, the energy distributions and the emission probabilities of the ternary 3 H particles emitted in the thermal neutron induced ternary fission of 249 Cf could be determined. Based on this result and on measurements published by us recently, we could enlarge the database related to 3 H emission probabilities (denoted t/B) and their energy distributions in particular for the Cm and Cf isotopes. The impact of the excitation energy of the fissioning nucleus on the ternary particle emission probability is discussed, comparing for a given compound nucleus, the t/B data obtained from thermal neutron induced fission (excitation energy of the fissioning nucleus = the neutron binding energy) and from spontaneous fission (excitation energy = zero). In addition, semi-empirical relations between t/B data and characteristics of the binary fission process are proposed.


This paper reports on the results of a survey conducted among 70 hospital administrators to determine whether any barriers exist to their acceptance of clinical engineers in their hospital. The survey obtains administrators' views regarding clinical engineering within the framework of their present understanding of the field. The survey shows that clinical engineering is not yet a well-established, separate professional discipline in the minds of the administrators. It also shows a disagreement between the administrators and the engineering profession regarding the need for clinical engineering personnel to hold advanced degrees. Finally, the study indicates a need for clinical engineers to make a conscious effort to increase the accessibility of information about clinical engineering to the hospital administration profession.


By designing well-defined, single-site asymmetric organometallic complexes anchored to a concave siliceous support (see picture) high ee values may be obtained in heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenations. O red, Si orange, Rh yellow, C grey, N blue, F green, B pink, H white.


This paper proposes an eddy-current non- destructive weld testing solution that uses a sensing probe including an excitation coil and a giant magneto-resistance sensor. The testing system control and the acquisition tasks are performed using a PXI system that includes a sinusoidal signal generator, a data acquisition module and a XY scanning stage control interface. For different positions of the sensing probe on the aluminum weld plane the eddy currents are detected and the acquired signals are processed. The signal processing is based on the LabVIEW tone measurement function in order to obtain an image representing the detected voltages as a function of the xy coordinates. An image processing block was designed and implemented in order to detect the weld zone anomalies. This block includes normalization, grayscale image filtering and image segmentation algorithms. Results on weld zone characterization for different tested specimens are included in the paper.


This study discusses the Chinese state's use of soft power in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the policy paper China's Peaceful Development. The theory of soft power is mainly about how to make a state to want the same outcomes or goals rather by attracting this state to do so, than using force or economic sanctions. My aim was to understand how China attracts collaborations in Africa, by using my own combined template as the thesis' methodology to search for expressions of soft power in the statements. My analysis of the Chinese government's speeches and policy paper showed that the state articulates all three kinds of soft power which are values, culture and foreign policy. Through including these resources of soft power in their statements, the Chinese state intends to attract the African countries to collaboration that enhances their mutual development. My research concludes that the Chinese culture is the weakest resource and needs to be exposed more to Africa in order to have real impact on China's soft power. China needs to prove the credibility of the partnership with Africa; hence the massive effort put on the foreign policy which is based on shared values, good intentions and gaining legitimacy through challenging other power's attraction. China have some resources for a successful soft power, however China needs to settle problems that might harm the image of China, and such sensitive issues are human rights problems and also the overall situation in China which face international criticism.


Created as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is entitled to substantial credit for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, among many other achievements in advancing civil rights. In its heyday, its commissioners were distinguished Americans, former governors, cabinet members and university presidents, and though it had no power other than the ability to issue subpoenas and publish reports, its prestige and investigative authority gave it a unique ability to document social conditions in a variety of areas over time. This three volume anthology collects the hearing transcripts and reports of the Commission dealing with law enforcement, a topic it has studied for five decades. The anthology begins with the hearings held in Jackson, Mississippi leading to the report Law Enforcement: A Report on Equal Protection in the South also published in 1965, and ends with reports in 2000, Police Practices and Civil Rights in New York City, and Revisiting Who is Guarding the Guardians? A Report on Police Practices and Civil Rights in America. The downloadable document is the table of contents and introduction.


The present invention provides more efficient, cost effective coke drum isolation valve devices and system as well as more efficient, cost effective methods for isolating the flow of matter from location to another in the delayed coker unit operation where the valve comprises a first seat; a second seat aligned with said first seat; a blind; a main body having an orifice dimensioned to align with an orifice in said line; wherein said main body is coupled to said line; an upper and lower bonnet coupled to said main body, wherein said bonnets may be removed in order to replace valve parts without separating the main body from the line; and a plate located inside a bonnet, wherein the plate comprises a planar surface that contacts a surface of the blind.


implementing educational change. What process facilitates reform and what factors block the institutionalization of change efforts are universal questions that need answers. By taking a closer look at reform in international contexts, policymakers and educational leaders can develop insights into the process of change that transcend national borders. The purpose of this article is to examine a nationwide effort of educational reform in Peru. Specifically, we take a close look at the nation's efforts to change secondary education through the implementation of a 2-year postsecondary learning opportunity called the bachillerato. First, we briefly present the contextual complexities in which the bachillerato was designed and piloted. Second, we explore the process of change undertaken by the Ministry of Education when introducing the bachillerato to the Peruvian citizens in 1997 and then compare the process with the change theory of Harvard researcher John Kotter. In his 1996 publication Leading Change, Kotter identifies eight critical steps that leaders must follow if major change efforts are to succeed. By juxtaposing Kotter's popular change theory with the real-life process of implementing the bachillerato, we speculate about what actions facilitated and hindered the process of secondary educational reform in Peru. This comprehensive reflection on the change process and related challenges offers educational leaders and policymakers across the globe rare insights into the critical factors needed to support and sustain large-scale reform.


Abstract Background: As a modular inventory, the Heidelberger Drogenbogen (HDB) assesses substance-specific knowledge regarding the illicit psychoactive substances cocaine, amphetamines, cannabis, ecstasy, and hallucinogens. This diagnostic tool allows for assessing the level of substance-specific knowledge in most frameworks of prevention. Objectives: This study outlines basic psychometric parameters of the HDB. Different groups of drug users (clinical versus non-clinical, users versus non-users) are compared concerning their knowledge about psychoactive substances. Methods: A community sample (recruited at schools, universities and in subcultural contexts [n = 4212]) was compared to a clinical sample (recruited in in- and out-patient drug abuse treatment departments [n = 582]). Results: Cronbach's α coefficients (0.61 ≤ α ≤ 0.87) and test–retest correlations (0.81 ≤ rp ≤ 0.87) indicate that the scales are reliable measures of substance-specific knowledge about drugs. Drug users generally have a higher level of knowledge than non-users. Within the group of users, clinical users display a significantly lower level of knowledge than non-clinical users. This confirms the construct validity of the HDB knowledge modules, thus helping to redefine prevention strategies targeting abstinence as well as less harmful consumption patterns.


Shannon's 1948 paper on the mathematical theory of information provides the foundation for understanding and engineering communication links, and for that reason alone should be seen as a classic work of the information age. Arguments have raged, however, as to whether and in what way it has significance beyond engineering. This chapter supports a wider relevance of Shannon's work by bringing together the insights of layered architectures as used by communications engineers and the concept of 'meaning' from semiotics to suggest that the 'selective information' of Shannon and 'semantic information' are of the same nature.


Abstract 3574 Intensification of therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has improved long-term survival but is associated with considerable treatment-related toxicity (TRT). While obesity has been shown to affect event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) in ALL, little information exists as to the effect of extremes of weight (underweight or obese) on morbidity due to TRT. To this end, we conducted a secondary analysis of 1,902 children treated on the Children9s Oncology Group study CCG-1961 to determine whether weight extremes influence development of TRT and EFS/OS in children with higher risk ALL. CCG-1961 was a randomized study for patients 1–21 years old with National Cancer Institute High-Risk ALL (HR-ALL) that evaluated marrow response at day 7 of Induction and compared regimens of differing intensity and/or duration (for Rapid Early Responders, RER) or anthracycline used in Delayed Intensification (for Slow Early Responders, SER). Weight category was determined using the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Z-scores for body mass index (BMI) by age (age ≥ 2 yrs) and weight by length (age 95th percentile). At diagnosis, 107 patients (5.6%) were underweight and 264 were obese (13.9%). Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses controlled for age, gender, race/ethnicity, payer type (as a surrogate for socioeconomic status), initial white blood cell count, presence of central nervous system disease, RER/SER status, and phase of treatment independent of regimen. All of the preceding predictors were independently significantly associated with development of grade 3/4 non-hematological toxicity in multivariate analysis (p Our results demonstrate statistically significant increases in toxicity for both extremes of weight. Weight category at start of each phase was predictive of developing grade 3/4 non-hematological toxicity during that phase (p Our data indicate that for children with HR-ALL, extremes of weight are associated with significantly increased risk for TRT that is more infectious/hematopoietic in underweight patients and more hepatic/pancreatic in obese patients. With a median follow-up of 7.1 years, EFS was lower at both weight extremes versus healthy/overweight children, but in this analysis did not reach statistical significance. These findings provide insights into the nutritional status of children and adolescents with ALL that could lead to interventions designed to mitigate the impact of weight extremes upon their tolerance of therapy, quality of life and survival. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Human vein and perivascular adipose tissue will be a precious source of MSCs for regenerative therapy, however problems in tissue culture remain as for foreign proteins, recombinant stimulants, and the resources for MSCs. Perivenous live "adipose" tissue explants obtained by surgery (82 varices) were cultured in a media including human sera, platelet lysate, limulus lysate et al in a 5 % CO2 at 37 °C and obtained confluent monolayer of MSCs in 35 mm dish. On the other hand, the adipose and vein explants, which were frozen in a 10 % dimethylsulfoxide (Me2SO) in Iscove's modified Dulbecco's Medium (IMDM) or in 15 % glycerol in TC 199 in cryovials at -85 °C or in a plastic bag at -196 °C for days~33 years, induced confluent MSCs too after thawing and culture, that is adipocyte-mesenchymal transition (AMT). Those confluent MSCs were gently scraped by trypsin-IMDM or PBS to be proliferated to form passaged MSCs by RFTIVISCM, which was originated from repetitive frozen autologous bone marrow transplantation (FABMT) used to rescue ablated marrow function. RFTIVIVSCM will be an essential technique in regenerative therapy to cryopreserve the MSCs induced from every internal tissue for a long term.


Uremic toxins, poor removed by conventional hemodialysis (HD), represent independent risk factors for mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD).
 Middle uremic toxin molecules were associated to pathological features of uremia, such as immune dysfunction and inflammation. These two entities are not mutually exclusive, but they could represent two sides of the same coin. ESRD-associated inflammation is closely related to the activation of innate immune system. Free light chain (FLC) may be a specific assessment of inflammation, representing a direct function of adaptive immunity through B-cell lineage production rather than a general marker of inflammation.
 While several studies have assessed the relation between FLCs and mortality risk in chronic kidney disease (CKD), FLCs, as uremic toxins in non-multiple myeloma dialyzed patients, were marginally analyzed.
 The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the clinical impact of FLCs levels in HD patients, during a 2-years follow-up analysing the relations with biomarkers of inflammation, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT), main lymphocytes subsets, such as CD4+ and CD8+ T cell count and high mobility group box (HMGB) -1 levels, as expression of the innate immune system. The potential link between FLCs levels and mortality risk was assessed.

 190 patients on chronic hemodialysis at the Nephrology and Dialysis Unit of Papardo Hospital in Messina, Italy, were enrolled and followed for 2 years. Inclusion criteria were: age >18 years, absence or <200 ml/die residual diuresis, κ/λ ratio within the renal reference range (0.37–3.1).
 Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was performed to estimate the cut-off points of HMGB-1 and cFLC. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional multivariate hazards model were used for clinical outcome.

 HD patients were characterized by high FLC levels. κFLC values were 182.3 (IQR: 140.2 – 216.1) mg/L, whereas λFLC levels were 108.2 (IQR: 72.7 – 143.2) mg/L. The median combined (c) FLC concentration was 182.9 mg/L (IQR = 207.8 – 330.2), which was extremely greater than the median reported in the general population (normal range = 9.3 – 43.3 mg/L) and in CKD patients [68.9 mg/L (IQR = 49.4 – 100.9)].
 No differences in cFLC levels were revealed according to dialysis techniques.
 HD patients showed significant reduction of CD4+ and CD4+/CD8+ ratio. High HMGB1 levels were detected in HD patients (161.3 ± 39.7 ng/ml) and positively related to PCT and cFLC (r = - 0.38; p < 0.001), with an inverse relation to CD4+/CD8+ ratio.
 cFLC positively correlated with β2 microglobulin, hemoglobin, and HMGB1. Conversely, an inverse correlation was revealed with surrogate markers of inflammation, such as CRP, procalcitonin, neutrophil counts.
 There were 49 deaths during the follow-up. The majority (23/49) of deaths were attributed to cardiovascular disease, the remainder to infection and malignancy.
 cFLCs and sHMGB-1 levels in this group were significantly elevated. By ROC analysis, HMGB-1 levels > 100.9 ng/mL and cFLC > 223.4 mg/l were associated with a significantly lower survival rate (p < 0.02 by log-rank test) than for patients with lower levels when using Kaplan-Meier analysis. After adjusting for confounding factors, by Cox proportional hazards method, the difference remained statistically significant (p = 0.02)

 Our study demonstrated an independent relation between high cFLC levels and mortality in HD patients. cFLCs represent a potential biomarker of "inflammunity", a physiopathological process playing a pivotal role in ESRD, based on a vicious circle between inflammation and immune dysfunction.
 Further in-depth examinations should be verify our findings, determining whether therapeutic measures targeting cFLC balance, such as hemodiafiltration and expanded dialysis, would be helpful to reduce the "inflammunity" process, characterizing dialyzed patients.


Pre-college students investigated various aspects of acceleration due to gravity using bagels, video cameras, and a lot of imagination. Using very simple equipment, they were able to explore many issues related to designing an experiment and taking measurements, as well as having a lot of fun.


Introduction: Seizure is a common problem evaluated in pediatric emergency department. The different causes of seizures are febrile seizures, CNS infections, metabolic, developmental defects, traumatic brain injury, vascular accidents, brain tumors and idiopathic or epilepsy. Current research aimed to study the etiology of convulsions in children between 1 month to 5 years of age admitted in pediatric ward, Government General Hospital, Guntur. To assess the common incidence of convulsions in children of age 1 to 5 years admitted to pediatric ward, Department of Pediatrics, Government General Hospital, Guntur. Material and methods: Our study was retrospective, descriptive study. 100 cases admitted to pediatric ward, Government General Hospital, Guntur with convulsions in the age group of 1 month to 5 years during the period of July 2018 and April 2019. Study was done by detailed history, through physical examination and relevant investigations including complete blood counts, serum electrolytes, serum glucose, serum calcium, CSF analysis, EEG and neuroimaging (CT/ MRI brain) studies. Variables recorded were demographics, clinical presentation, laboratory investigations, EEG and neuroimaging. Results: The most common cause of seizures in our study was febrile seizures (32%). About 24% cases were due to epilepsy (idiopathic or unprovoked) and 33% cases were symptomatic seizures of various causes like CNS infection, metabolic, traumatic, vascular etc.Remaining 11% were due to other miscellaneous causes. Conclusion: This was the hospital based retrospective, descriptive study to know the etiology of convulsions in children between 1 month to 5 years. Convulsions in children can be due to various underlying pathology. In our study most common cause of convulsions was febrile seizures, followed by epilepsy and symptomatic seizures of infective etiology of CNS, viral encephalitis being the most common.


How has the mass media changed our experience of Election Day? This chronological account of Election Day in Philadelphia begins in the colonial era and traces the evolution of the democratic process through to the present day. Using a variety of sources, the book documents how Philadelphians have dramatically changed the ways in which they perform and discuss Election Day, and examines the significance of these changes, using them as a lens through which to understand differing conceptions of democratic life. Particular attention is paid to the day's status as a mass-mediated ritual, and the various forms of media -- among them broadsides, newspapers, television, and the Internet -- that have dominated public portrayals of the occasion. Well-researched and written, Celebrating Democracy is as much about the history of Election Day as it is about the history of American journalism and mass media.


Ideological liberation is a trump in the development of socialism with Chinese peculiarities.The achievements of Baoshan in the past few years owed greatly to the practices based on ideological libration and the renewal of ideas. It is thus imperative to proceed from the actual situation,to carry forward ideological libration around the solution to the problems that have hindered Baoshan's reform and development,and to accelerate economic and social development based on the tremendous ideological liberation.


Objective
To explore the positive expressions of P16 and Ki-67 proteins in cervical biopsy lesions of patients with high-risk HPV infection and abnormal detection of liquid-based thin-layer cytology test(TCT), and the clinical value in predicting occurrence of early cervical cancer.

Methods
A total of 120 patients with high-risk HPV infection(16 and 18 subtypes positive) and abnormal TCT in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Linhai from January 2016 to July 2017 were enrolled in the study.The colposcopy was used to get cervical biopsy lesions for pathological diagnosis, immunohistochemical staining was used to detect P16 and Ki-67 proteins.

Results
There were up to 66 patients with HPV-16 positive, 34 cases with HPV-18 positive, other 20 cases with 16 and 18 positive; 6 cases of atypical squamous epithelial cells(ASC), 46 cases of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), 60 cases of high-grade SIL(HSIL), other 8 cases of cervical squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) were diagnosed by TCT; 5 cases of inflammation, 105 cases of CIN and 10 cases of SCC by pathologically diagnosis.The positive rates of P16 and Ki-67 proteins were gradually increased in patients with inflammation, CIN and SCC[0(0/5), 36.2%(38/105), 70.0%(7/10), χ2=4.382, P=0.036; 0(0/5), 40.0%(42/105), 80.0%(8/10), χ2=5.945, P=0.015]. The patients with CIN were followed up for 21~36 months, median time 29.5 months.Twenty-six patients progressed to SCC, at the end of follow-up, the positive rates of P16 and Ki-67 proteins in patients with SCC were significantly higher than those in the CIN patients without progress[61.5%(16/26) vs.39.2%(31/79), χ2=3.934, P=0.047; 69.2%(18/26) vs.41.8%(33/79), χ2=5.905, P=0.015].

Conclusion
The positive expression rates of P16 and Ki-67 proteins in cervical biopsy tissues are significantly higher in patients with high-risk HPV infection and abnormal TCT, which in patients with pathologically diagnosis of SCC are higher than CIN patients, the same results in CIN patients with SCC progression than non-progressing patients, suggesting that P16 and Ki-67 proteins are of great value in predicting occurrence of early cervical cancer.

Key words:
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Biopsy, needle; Human papillomavirus 6; Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; Cervix mucus; Genes, p16; Ki-67 antigen; Colposcopy


This paper details an international research project that examined over 50 architecture centres in 23 countries including four case study subjects: • Kent Architecture Centre, England • Chicago Architecture Foundation • Museum of Finnish Architecture • Netherlands Architecture Institute The paper analyses the projects' main findings including issues of definition, reasons for foundation, cultural policy impact and the main goals of architecture centres. It summarizes recommendations for centres as they attempt to reach their aims.


We employ the Adomian decomposition method to solve a high order linear fuzzy initial value problem involving ordinary differential equations. The Adomian decomposition method can be used for solving 4th order fuzzy differential equations directly without reduction to first order system. We illustrate the method in numerical experiment and compare the result with linear k-step methods.


The rapid growth in motor vehicles activity in India and other rapidly industrializing low-income countries is contributing to high levels of urban air pollution, among other adverse socioeconomic, environmental, health, and welfare impacts. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relation between air quality and traffic with respect to Pune city from Jan 2008 to Dec 2011. Vehicle count and air quality was analyzed. Analytical and statistical method was applied. It was found that the strong correlation of increasing vehicles with nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and suspended particulate matters (SPM). Study shows that there is tremendous growth in vehicles from 2008 to 2011. Particulate matter (PM10), NOx concentrations levels were exceeding standards. Study found that there is increase in SO2 concentration levels. Air quality correlation also analyzed with the fuel types and it was observed that petrol vehicles contribute more pollution than diesel.


Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of global CO2 emissions – one quarter of these being Embodied Carbon, which is front loaded to the construction period (months) in comparison to operational carbon emissions which usually occur over decades. Emerging concern about this issue is noted to have driven recent guidance publications and a few countries are preparing legislation to address the issue. The opportunities with most impact lie at the planning and design stage and require a committed client to ensure that early decisions are carried through to completion. This paper analyses the whole life carbon emissions for four façade options in a case study. Three further case studies are analysed for the impact of material choice on embodied and operational carbon emissions. All case studies show potential carbon savings depending on material choice. Even with minor carbon savings for one unit, there is potential for increased saving across multiple units (e.g. hotels and dwellings). Finally, opportunities to utilize waste products are considered, not only reducing carbon emissions, but meeting the Circular Economy principle of "keep products and materials in use".


IN A 1968 ARTICLE, Weil, Segall, and Green (hereafter WSG) suggest that the riskprotection feature of convertible bonds (CB's) may not contribute to the determination of market values for conversion privileges.' In their paper WSG define the premium on a CB as the excess of its market value above the market value of the stock into which it is convertible. A more general definition, however, would identify the premium as the difference between the CB market price and the greater of either the underlying conversion price, as above, or the underlying bond price. This bond, or "theoretical," value is defined as the price of an ordinary bond (OB) which has all features of the CB (amount, timing, and risk of interest and principal payments) except the conversion feature. Previous literature on this topic had predicted that a CB would sell at a premium because a CB holder could share in potential common stock appreciation, while at the same time retaining a bond value "floor" on his investment value. Other possible reasons for CB's selling at a premium are carefully discussed in the WSG paper. This note, however, will address only their argument related to the floor or "insurance" explanation for CB premiums. This argument observes that the holder of stock in the CB-issuing company can place a floor under his asset value by executing a stop-sell ("stop-loss") order when he purchases the stock. The availability of this alternative insurance against market decline leads the authors to conclude that, "since a stop order is cheap, the floor should play little role in determining the premium" (p. 461). An initial problem lies in the asymmetry of the stop-sell order. The holder of a CB has a floor which not only protects against stock price declines but also allows the CB holder to participate in subsequent stock price resurgences, while the stop-sell floor does not allow this subsequent market participation. (The theoretical value as a bond serves as a reflecting barrier to price movements, whereas a stop-sell order is an absorbing barrier.) The stop-sell strategy can only be made symmetrical by following its execution with an immediate decision to buy at the same floor price. This amendment is necessary if the stop-sell technique is to replicate the position of the CB holder. We may now consider an example of the stop-sell strategy. Assume that Company X's CB is convertible into 20 shares of X common, and that X common is presently selling at $50. Also assume that the value of a similar non-convertible bond is $1,000, so both the current conversion value and bond value of the XCB are equal, $1,000. A possible pattern of behavior of X stock prices from the present until the last date at which the conversion privilege can be exercised is illustrated in Figure 1. These price data are superimposed on the expected bond value of the XCB, which is, in turn, the price of an equivalent OB. For simplicity, the bond value is assumed constant over time.2


Abstract : The steady two-dimensional flow is considered under gravity of water from one reservoir to another reservoir through a porous rectangular isotropic homogeneous dam with impervious bottom. Using the maximum principle, a proof of the convexity of the free boundary is given.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the efficacy and safety of continuously released prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) suppository-propess used for induction of term pregnancy.

METHODS
A multicenter, prospective, case control clinical study was carried out, propess was used in 100 cases as study group, the suppository without PGE(2) was used in 49 cases as control group. The cervical maturity (by Bishop scoring), the time to labor starting, membrane rupture and delivery, the application of oxytocin, ceserean section rate, fetal and neonatal condition were compared between 2 groups after inserting of the suppository. At the same time, side effects caused by propess were investigated.

RESULTS
Bishop score was increased >or= 2 points in 93% cases, >or= 3 points in 87% cases in study group, whereas only 4% cases whose Bishop score increased >or= 2 points in control group. The time to labor starting, membrane rupture, and delivery was shortened obviously in study group than that in control group after inserting suppository. The application of oxytocin was much less in study group, cesarean section rate was reduced in study group (32% vs 61%). There was no significant difference between 2 groups in fetal and neonatal conditions. The overstimulation of uterine contraction and mild gastrointestinal tract reaction occurred in 3 cases and 2 cases respectively in study groups.

CONCLUSION
Propess can be used for induction of term pregnancy effectively and safely.


This study examines the relationship between road investments and local economic development. More specifically, it incorporates the best available theory on this relationship into a workable approach for those faced with making road investment decisions. To provide a sense of the types of projects state-level highway administrators must evaluate and to apply the approach developed, a specific state program is used as a case study. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 presents a discussion of the economic development process. In Chapter 3 highway investment is related to local and regional economic development. Chapter 4 provides a review of previous research on the connection between highway investment and economic growth and development, and reports the results of a survey conducted of all 50 state departments of transportation. Also discussed in Chapter 4 are the features of special economic development highway programs found in 24 states. Their ability to promote efficient investments is examined. Chapter 5 examines Iowa's RISE (Revitalize Iowa's Sound Economy) program. The details of the program are explained and its funding experience to date is summarized. The 18 projects approved more than three years prior to this evaluation are then examined. Performance measures used by the Iowa DOT -- cost per job assisted and capital investment ratio -- are applied to compare projected and reported results. These two performance measures are critiqued as bases for making investment decisions. In the final chapter, Chapter 6, the framework presented in Chapters 2 and 3 are applied to assess the economic development impacts of the 18 case study RISE projects. A series of questions or screens are used in the evaluation of each RISE project. These screens constitute a sequential series of considerations for a state evaluating a proposed road improvement if the objective is local economic development.


CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program that has gained popularity since its inception approximately 15 years ago. However, little is currently known about the level of injury risk associated with this form of training. The aim of this study was to evaluate the injury incidence rate associated with CrossFit training and to point out the site most affected by the injuries. The search of articles in the databases resulted in 93 files in Portuguese and 476 in English, but only 62 files were selected for analysis, since the others did not address the topic of interest. Of the 62 studies included, 15 articles were performed with samples collected from both sexes. Among 6,169 participants, 2,063 injuries were recorded. Articles were published between 2015 and 2019. Injury prevalence ranged from 12.8% to 92.5% between studies. According to the meta-analysis of 15 studies, the prevalence of injuries was 33.4% (95% CI 32.2% -34.6%). The I2 value of 26.3 revealed low heterogeneity between studies. The prevalence of injuries among male crossfit practitioners was 58.5%. The prevalence of shoulder injury was predominant in studies with an average equal to 35.2%. It is important to identify the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries in the Crossfit modality in order to adopt effective preventive measures, since musculoskeletal injuries are among the most common complaints in orthopedic care, which occurs in both athletes and non-athletes. The incidence rate of injuries associated with CrossFit training was low and comparable to other forms of recreational activities. The incidence rate of injuries associated with CrossFit training was low and comparable to other forms of recreational activities. The shoulder was the main joint affected by injuries due to CrossFit training.


During its more than fifty years of existence, the didactics of interpretation has been dominated by structural-functionalist approaches. This results in syllabus based on decontextualized objectives, centralization in cognitive aspects, and suppression of the person. In this article we set out the reasons that have led to design an Interpretation syllabus approached from the perspective of complex thought (Morin 1977, 1990) and constructivism (Piaget 1973; Von Glasersfeld 2011). This project was conceived for undergraduate and master students in the speciality of Interpreting at the universities of Salamanca, Heidelberg and Mainz. This article develops the conceptualization phase on which the theoretical bases were established for the skills to be acquired, as well as situation specific actions and exogenous and endogenous resources required during the learning process.


Taking sophomore male students as the research subjects,through methods of delaminating students,delaminating goals,delaminated teaching,evaluation of delaminated practice and delaminated summary,this study tends to implement teaching in accordance with students' aptitude and with asynchronous teaching and to enable the students to improve step by step from their original foundation so as to realize the final goal of delaminating and make everyone progress.The delaminating teaching method can not only arouse students' study interests,improve the teaching quality with a much better teaching effect than the traditional teaching method,but also enable students to develop students' individuality and reach the goal of teaching according to their varied aptitudes.


Abstract Media studies emphasise the increasing use of security frames in migration reporting around the world, but they rarely engage in systematic analysis of risk language. Studying the use of risk language in media discourse could advance our understanding of how migration has come to be perceived, staged and handled as a risk by discursively constructing links to possible future harm for the security of individuals and societies. Using a dictionary-based approach, this study examines how the word 'risk' and other close terms, such as 'danger' and 'threat', are used in the press coverage of migration in Germany and Italy in 2015–16. The findings show that different risk words not only coexist but often compete with each other to convey specific interpretations of the issue. By associating migration to specific topics of debate the media emphasise harmful consequences for the host societies and trigger an understanding of migration as a threat to security. These findings draw attention to the interaction between the construction and the control of risk, and to the performative power of language in mobilizing symbolic and material resources to address social issues. The study also confirms that systematic analysis of media texts can offer a more informed understanding of the relation between analytical and lay concepts of risk, even if variations across languages suggest some caution when using a comparative approach to study risk discourse.