Asia-Pacific countries have experienced a rapid rise in Internet usage in recent history. China, in particular, has seen 40% of its population (or 500M people) connect to the Internet in the past 10 years, and continues to experience an increase in its user base. This large user base, coupled with a rise in wealthy households and per capita spending, is driving a dramatic increase in e-Commerce retail, specifically in the luxury goods space. Consumption of luxury goods in China has reached $9.4B in 2010, second only to Japan in the world. As luxury purchase rates continue to increase in China, luxury fashion brands are investing many resources to understand the customer, develop the market, establish the supply chain, and deliver the products. Polo Ralph Lauren (PRL), in order to continue its growth in China, is expanding aggressively through license reacquisitions and retail store developments. Furthermore, to provide its existing customers with additional products and enhanced services, and to capture consumers who live in cities without access to PRL's brick and mortar stores, PRL has set its vision to develop an eCommerce business in China. This thesis provides a fundamental understanding of PRL's current business operations and of current e-Commerce fulfillment models for luxury apparel brands in China. An assessment of gaps was also conducted between current fulfillment operations of PRL and those of other luxury brands and 3PLs operating in China, specifically on delivery lead-time, last mile delivery options, end-to-end customer service, and return logistics. From this research, we recommend general methods for luxury brands to manage and provide best in class fulfillment service. For PRL, we specifically recommend the company maintain ownership of all customer-facing activities to ensure quality. We also advise PRL to integrate all customer information from retail to e-Commerce, further strengthening its service offering and brand image. Furthermore, we recommend PRL to locate and outsource its initial DC in Shanghai and partner with FedEx and EMS for fulfillment. Thesis Advisor: Dr. Donald B. Rosenfield Director: Leaders for Global Operations Program Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management Acknowledgements We would like to thank Jay Kimpton, our thesis sponsor, from whom we have learned a great deal about Polo Ralph Lauren and the luxury fashion industry. Without his efforts, insights, and many early morning international conference calls from Hong Kong, this project would not have been possible. We would also like to take this opportunity and thank Dr. Donald Rosenfield, our thesis advisor, for his guidance and invaluable insights on the project, and motivating us throughout the year. We are truly grateful for Dr. Neal Lerner's continual guidance on our writing and grammar, and for his diligence in helping us refine this thesis. Throughout the project, we have had the pleasure to work and learn from David Gleeson, Ping Chan, Austin Whyte, Jason Wong, Tracy But, Tim Spratt, Wendy Kwok, Fredrick Lim, Yvonne Yeo and Xavier Maisondieu, through their knowledge and experience laid the foundation for our research. We would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the people we interviewed for this research. While we cannot mention the companies or names here, we appreciate all the time each and every one of you took to provide us with industry data and practices. Finally, we would like to thank the people who made it possible for us to succeed at MIT. To our parents, fiances, siblings, friends and colleagues, with your support and encouragement, we made it! Last but not least, special thanks to Dr. Jarrod Goentzel, executive director of the SCM program, for giving us the opportunity to participate in this great learning experience and providing us worthy advice throughout the year. Table of


Analog Front-End Design Using the gm/ID Method for a Pulse-Based Plasma Impedance Probe System by Arun J Rao, Master of Science Utah State University, 2010 Major Professor: Dr. Edmund Spencer Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering The Plasma Impedance Probe (PIP) is an electronic instrument that measures the impedance of a dipole antenna immersed in a plasma environment. Measurements made by the PIP provide valuable information regarding the plasma environment. Knowledge of ionospheric plasma density and density disturbances is required to understand radio frequency communication with satellites. The impedance curve provides us with significant plasma characteristics such as the electron-neutral collision frequency and plasma electron density. The work proposed here is a transistor-level implementation of the analog front-end, the non-inverting amplifier that is used to drive the antenna. The antenna immersed in plasma is excited with a sinusoidal/pulse stimulus and the output from the non-inverting configuration is fed into the difference amplifier. In the difference amplifier the output signal from the noninverting amplifier is subtracted from the original stimulus and then fed into a high-speed pipeline data converter. The entire analog and mixed signal components are integrated on a single chip. The obvious advantages with this design are that it eliminates several sources of analog signal processing errors, thereby improving stability. A Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is then applied on the sampled input stimulus as well as the processed signal. The iv input voltage FFT is then divided by the current FFT to obtain the antenna impedance. The FFT method helps in reducing transient errors and improves noise immunity of the system. The antenna impedance span curves over the frequency range from 100 kHz to 20MHz. The approach for the tranistor-level design is implementing short-channel design techniques using the gm/ID method. This is the primary focus of the thesis where the emphasis has been on using a simple and intuitive method to design the front-end amplifier in the TSMC .35μm technology. The design specifications for this amplifier are derived from the system-level simulations. The transition from a Printed Circuit Board (PCB)-based design to System on Chip (SOC) implementation is explored. This makes the design components highly specific to the application. The following are the design approaches used for the analog front-end design. • A detailed study of the various factors affecting the PIP instrument measurement capabilities from the previous works. • System-level simulation of the the entire PIP system to completely characterize the analog front-end. • Exploration of the possible design topologies for the transistor-level implementation. • A novel method of analog amplifier design using the gm/ID methodology. Miniaturization of the instrument and using a pulse-based measurement scheme also offer an immediate benefit to sounding rocket missions. The reduction of power, mass, and volume will enable the instrument to be flown on many more sounding rockets than at present. The faster measurement is especially valuable since the ionospheric plasma changes in character most rapidly with altitude. (83 pages)


Fatigue resistance, particularly the endurance limit, is an important design consideration in engineering applications for TiZr-based alloys. The investigated Ti–20Zr–6Al–4 V (wt-%) alloy exhibited a high fatigue endurance limit of 775 MPa. Results showed that severe local stress concentration due to extensive dislocation pile-up at α/β interfaces was responsible for the crack initiation. A transition from a tensile mode to a shear mode crack was observed during crack propagation. Many striations as well as some micro-cracks which can improve the resistance to crack propagation exist in the stable crack-propagation region. A localised deviation between the crack-growth direction was also found, and this outcome combined with micro-cracks and tear ridge may be attributed to varied crystallographic orientations between different phases.


Annotation
Purpose. Summarize the regulatory and technological requirements for the production of organic (organo-mineral) fertilizers on the base of sewage sludge.
Methods. Analysis and generalization of the requirements of regulatory documents on the management of organic waste and their use as raw materials for the production of organic fertilizers and soil improvers.
Results. The current legislative, departmental and regulatory documentary base in Ukraine concerning the treatment of sediment resulting from biological sewage treatment at municipal wastewater treatment plants for its further use in agriculture as fertilizers is analysed. Indicators are identified and analysed to determine the possibility, feasibility, efficiency and scope of organic fertilizers produced using sewage sludge. The analysis of changes in the content of organic matter and total nitrogen in the sewage sludge during its storage at the sewage treatment plant sites is presented. The technological feasibility of using sludge of different shelf life in composting production has been determined.
Conclusions
1. The regulatory framework of Ukraine contains a sufficiently complete list of indicators that should be met by organic raw materials (sewage sludge) for further use as organic fertilizers. Some of these indicators – bio security and heavy metals content – can be improved in the composting process of fertilizers.
2. Fresh sediment, as well as sediment accumulated in the last late autumn and winter periods, is of main value for use as a raw material in the production of organic fertilizers.
3. The use in the production of compost sludge stored on sludge sites for a period of half a year or more requires special control of the process of decontamination. In this case, it is advisable to use additional means of wastewater decontamination.
Keywords: heavy metals, manure, humus, decontamination, composting, organic fertilizers, sewage sludge.


The following research focuses on one of the centers of the tourist attraction of Ecuador located in the canton Mejia, recognized by the Chagra culture named as intangible cultural heritage of the nation, in which year after receives national and foreign tourists. The canton has forest ecosystems which allows to carry out activities of ecotourism, mountaineering and adventure. This project focuses on a proposal to promote digital media for the Chiguac hostel located in the parish of Machachi, canton Mejia. In chapter one, the theoretical framework is presented in which general issues related to business digital marketing, promotion, business management will be developed so it can set the pace for the development of the following chapters. Chapter two covers the object of study characteristics, in which it is exposed in the internal and external scenario that allows defining the strategies in the FODA analysis. In this chapter, the use of methodological tools such as Pestel and Porter is used, as well as market competition guides where innovation, price, promotion of hotels in Machachi are studied. Likewise, the profile of the client who visits the Chiguac hostel was determined, in order to recognize the preferences and needs when choosing this destination. In Chapter three, the results of the tools used in the second chapter are analyzed to obtain actual results, generate new data and continue to the strategy promotion by digital media for the Chiguac hostel. Finally, the strategy proposal for the hostel is made through the use of guides where the strategic vision, type of strategy, actions and the personnel in charge of the execution is presented, as well as the long and medium term objectives, taking consideration for the addressing and promotion of the hostel.


Melt-spun ribbons and thin films of amorphous ${\mathrm{Zr}}_{60}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{40}$ have been studied. Disorder was varied by neutron irradiation, Xe ion irradiation, and condensation on substrates at different temperatures. A correlation was found between the data for the superconducting ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$, and the residual resistance ratio, described by one curve for all samples. Increased electronic disorder was found to be the cause for this correlated depression of ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$ and increasing residual resistance ratio. These results also give evidence for electronic disorder effects in the electrical resistivity of amorphous ${\mathrm{Zr}}_{60}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{40}$ up to room temperature.


The paper considers the issues of radiation protection of residential areas for the inhabited base on the satellite of Mars- Phobos, as well as methods for reducing the equivalent dose received by station workers during the base operation time. Two options for assessing the required thickness of the radiation protection of the inhabited base on the Phobos surface, which can be used at the stage of a technical proposal or preliminary design, are considered, and coordinated estimates of the thickness of the radiation protection that can be used in designing the base are obtained. A distinctive feature of this work is the inclusion of the partial screening effect of galactic cosmic rays by Mars when the base is located in that part of the Phobos surface that is constantly facing Mars.


Most patients presenting to the emergency department for treatment of severe migraine headache receive parenteral analgesics or vasoactive agents. These researchers evaluated the efficacy of oral rizatriptan, a serotonin (5-HT1B/1D) receptor agonist that, in wafer form, dissolves in the mouth, absorbs rapidly, and easily crosses the blood-brain barrier. In this prospective, unblinded, observational, manufacturer-supported study, patients were excluded for …


The riboflavin homolog 7-ethyl-8-methyl-10-(D-ribityl)isoalloxazine (7-ethyl-8-methyl-flavin; Fig. 1) 1 is able to serve as the sole flavin in the nutrition of the rat 2 . Females receiving only 7-ethyl-8-methyl-flavin, produce litters of the usual size consisting of normal appearing young, but the young die during the first 3 days after birth 3 . Kim and Lambooy 4 have shown that 7-ethyl-8-methyl-flavin causes a reduction of succinic acid dehydrogenase (SDH) activity in tissues of healthy rats. The evidence 4 suggested that the coenzyme form of the homolog is able to replace riboflavin in the enzyme at a rate which is reasonably consistent with the half-life of the mitochondrion. These phenomena led to observations that the half-life of decay of rat liver SDH is approximately 14 days while that of the kidney is of the order of 100 days. It might be argued that the large difference in the half-lives of SDH decay in the liver and kidney are not related to the reproductive cycle of the mitochondria in the tissues but rather that the homolog coenzyme forms a far more active holoenzyme with the apoenzyme of the kidney than with the apoenzyme of the liver. The relatively slow rate of cell division in the brain reduces the need for new mitochondria to very low levels and it has been stated 5 that brain mitochondria grow and divide very slowly and may be stable for the lifetime of the cell. If the decay of SDH activity in the tissue of a rat receiving only the homolog is related to the rate of production of mitochondria, then the administration of the homolog as the sole flavin to rats and the determination of the SDH activity of the brains from weanling age well into adulthood should show an extremely slow rate of decay of the enzyme.


SUMMARY

Most of the problems patients have with their contact lenses can be solved by teaching the patient how to care for his lenses hygienically.

The problem of bacterial and fungal contamination of lenses can be solved by the proper use of appropriately compounded storage solutions.

The proper use of wetting solution is the single greatest aid to patient comfort since it co-operates with the storage solution to maintain a clean lens for insertion into the eye and because it serves as a "buffer" between the edges of the lens and the surface of the eye.

The positive steps outlined in the relcommendations above will increase patient acceptance of contact lenses. These procedures are simple, effective and can be easily learned. They can also be easily forgotten. The indoctrination of the patient must bear down heavily on the reasons for the use of wetting solution and soaking solution and the reasons for hand cleanliness. The contact lens fitter must never tire of insisting that these recommendations be followed exactly as given. 895 Kifer Road, Sunnyvale, California.


Rigorous reprocessing of the degree sheet aero magnetic maps over peninsular India up to 17° N acquired from the Geological Survey of India was undertaken. These degree sheet maps include surveys that have been carried out by different agencies at different epochs and altitude and have not been corrected for the main field. The data grid spacing has a crucial effect on the nature of the map prepared. In order to utilise the aeromagnetic data for studying the deep crust, we have manually redigitised the degree sheet maps at 6' interval and corrected for the main field using IGRF (International Geomagnetic Reference Field) model corresponding to the epoch and altitude of the data collection. Within the Cuddapah region the aeromagnetic data were not available with us; we have therefore merged our ground magnetic data in this region. In a similar manner the published marine magnetic anomaly data were re-digitised. To be able to prepare a composite magnetic anomaly map the aeromagnetic data were downward continued to the mean sea level. The two data sets are handled independently, as the errors in the two are of different nature. We do not merge the data sets, but just place them adjacent to each other to study the trends of the anomalies. The colour shaded aero cum marine magnetic anomaly map over Peninsula India, thus prepared brings out several features that are presented. From the analysis of the aeromagnetic data, we find that the source rocks of the aeromagnetic anomalies are the host province of Charnokites in the Southern Granulite Terrain (SGT) and the intrusives/iron ore bodies in the Dharwar belt (Harikumar et al, 2000). The marine magnetic data is also analysed in a similar manner, to be able to locate the position of the magnetic sources. We find that the SGT continues to the offshore between Madras and south of Karaikal. North of Madras the trends change in the offshore region. Results of the combined aero and marine magnetic sources are presented.


There are no data on population‐based epidemiological changes in acute myocarditis in Europe. Our aim was to evaluate temporal trends in incidence, clinical features and outcomes of hospital treated acute myocarditis (AM) in Spain from 2003 to 2015.


To solve the problem of SVP (Sound velocity profiles) representative error caused by the difficulty of obtaining continuous time series SVP in deep-sea operations, an SVP timing prediction method combining EMD (Empirical mode decomposition) and NARX (Nonlinear autoregressive neural network with external input) is proposed. To begin with, the time-series SVP are stratified according to different depths, and the time-series variation curves of sound velocity at different depths are obtained; Furthermore, the EMD is used to decompose the time series variation curve of sound velocity into multiple IMF (Intrinsic mode function) components, each component contains local characteristic signals of different time scales of the original signal. The NARX is used to establish a prediction model for each IMF components, and the prediction values of the sound velocity at different depths are obtained. The EMD-NARX, NARX and polynomial fitting model are analyzed and verified by Argo buoys data in the South China Sea, and the results of the experiment show that EMD-NARX improves the time series prediction accuracy of sound velocity by 32.24% and 65.15% compared with NARX and polynomial fitting, respectively, so EMD-NARX has a good prediction effect on the time series SVP of the deep sea.


A rise in the usage of pesticides in agriculture has coincided with an increase in the number of people who have been poisoned by them. Herbicides greater part are incessant agrochemical poisons, trailed by organophosphates. Numerous horticultural toxins, such as ethyl parathion and defoliant, have been banned in recent years. To discourage illicit use, they are combined with a coloring agent such as indigo carmine. Additionally, parquet has a "stanching" ingredient. Organochlorines work through a completely different process. Whereas Organophosphates are anti-cholinesterase, while organochlorines are anti-cholinesterase. Meddling with the transmission of driving forces through nerve cells. Organochlorines give out a kerosene-like odor when people die. The presence of organochloride in the gut contents or offal is used to make the diagnosis. Organochlorines are resistant to putrefaction and can be identified long after a person has died. Suicidal, accidental, and homicidal poisonings have all been linked to paraquat. This poisoning is moderately caustic, and ulcers around the lips and mouth is frequent. The severe alterations in the lungs, especially after the sufferer has lived a few days, are the hallmark of paraquat poisoning. Algicides, aphicides, herbicide safeners, fertilisers, and other agrochemicals are less often seen. Most governments have enacted regulations to avoid unintentional poisonings from these substances. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) was passed by the US government in 1962, while the Indian sovereignty proceeded The Insecticides Act in 1968. These laws, in addition via other things compel pesticide producers to include signal phrases on their labels to alert the public to their toxicity and associated dangers.


We propose a fast and large-scale optical circuit-switch architecture for intra-datacenter applications. A 1,440×1,440 optical switch is designed and tested with 180-wavelength signals in the full C band; the worst switching time is 498 microseconds.


A method has been developed for the sample clean-up of organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) in mussels prior to gas chromatography analysis. The system applied uses a HPLC pump and a silicagel column A diode array detector is used to monitor, on line, the elution of the fat present in the mussel soft tissue that was extracted with acetonitrile :acetone and redissolved in hexane. Polar and moderately polar pesticides were fractionated and separated from fats using hexane :ethyl acetate 95/5, v/v as mobile phase. The most polar pesticides (chlorfenvinphos, phosmet and dimethoate) were eluted from the column using ethyl acetate. For the elution of non polar pesticides (chlorpyrifos, phorate and fonofos) in fat free fractions it was necessary to use hexane as mobile phase switching on to hexane:ethyl acetate 99/1 (v/v) (4 ml) after 4 min of elution. Quantitative measurement of fat content in collected fractions from LC system was carried out by colorimetry in order to know the efficiency of the clean-up and the amount of fat injected in the GC system. Fat free fractions containing pesticides obtained after LC clean-up can be injected directly, without further clean-up steps or solvent exchange, in the GC system. The limits of detection for the organophosphorus pesticides investigated varied between I and 40 ng/g using mass selective detector and between 0.1 and 2 ng/g using nitrogen-phosphorus selective detector. Recoveries of the overall procedure, including extraction and clean-up, were obtained at 400 and 4() ng/g levels and they varied between 89 ± 9% and 105 ± 4%.


【Flurbiprofen, one of potent nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, has several systemic side effects due to dose dumping effect following oral administration of its conventional solid dosage forms. To reduce these side effects and to sustain therapeutic concentration of the drug, matrix tablets of flurbiprofen were prepared and evaluated for sustained release from the tablets. The matrix tablets of flurbiprofen were prepared with Eudragit, Pluronic, (anhydrous) lactose and colloidal silicon dioxide employing two different preparation methods, wet granulation and direct compression. The dissolution rates of the tablets were evaluated using KP 2 method. Formulation factors that affected dissolution rates of flurbiprofen were the type and content of Eudragit, the type and content of Pluronic, and the tablet preparation method. Several formulations of the matrix tablets showed dissolution patterns close to the simulated profile using pharmacokinetic parameters of flurbiprofen.】


Abstract In the furan resin moulding technique sulphur in P-toluenesulphonic acid (PTSA), usually used as the hardener, has been identified as an important factor causing graphite degeneration at the metal/mould interface, especially at lower graphite nodularity levels. The greatest surface layer thickness and the lowest graphite nodularity, and shape factors, were obtained with irons solidified in moulds coated with an S bearing material. Uncoated moulds provided better results, but employing a MgO type coating effectively neutralised the sulphur migrating from the mould. In the present solidification conditions, the application of an active mould coating also influenced the graphite phase characteristics in the entire section of the casting, up to its centre. Negative effects were observed using an S bearing coating and positive effects from an MgO based coating.


grazing for corn residzles forfoz~r years. Spring grazing of corn stalks sho~t,ed a signiji-cant decrease in 1t.ater injiltration rates in trackedareaCIrfollowinggrazing coin-paredto zlngruzed areas. Residz~e cover ~t,a,r redzlced ~t,hile soil bzllk densitj.


Purpose – This paper sets out to discuss the results of a specific part of a Europe‐wide Delphi study that considers issues of absorptive capacity in European manufacturing. Owing to the importance to competitiveness of increasing innovative capabilities in manufacturing it is highly relevant to explore how a wide community of manufacturing experts experience the phenomenon of absorptive capacity and sense future developments.Design/methodology/approach – A two round Delphi method was designed in which more than 3,000 experts from 22 European countries assessed 101 statements. This paper discusses eight statements focused on the issue of absorptive capacity.Findings – The results show a general consensus about the influence of different inter‐firm relationships in acquiring external knowledge and a diversified knowledge structure for assimilating the acquired knowledge. The study also indicates some potential challenges and contradictions in managing inter‐firm relationships and knowledge diversity as wel...


The invention provides a method to determine an antibody against a drug antibody in a sample using a capture (capture) the drug antibody and a tracer (tracer) double antigen bridging immunoassay comprising a drug antibody (double antigen bridging immunoassay) immunologically, the a capture drug antibody is a mixture of the drug antibody conjugated to the solid phase in at least two different antibody sites, provides a method which is characterized in that the tracer drug antibody is a mixture of the drug antibody conjugated to a detectable label in the at least two different antibody sites do.


The present study examined the linkage between energy consumption and economic growth in India uses the annual time series data covering the period from 1970-71 to 2011-12. The study used Gross Domestic Product as a proxy for economic growth and energy consumption (oil equivalent per capital). The empirical findings of the study suggest that there is both the short run and the long run relationship exist between energy consumption and economic growth. The Granger causality result confirms that there is unidirectional causality running from economic growth to energy consumption. That means the study support the conservation hypothesis. The impulse response result of the study suggests that India requires an alternative source of energy for faster economic growth. The variance decomposition of the study concluded that the rapid growth of the economy depends on the heavy energy consumption. From the policy recommendation point of view, the energy policy of India should give more importance to find out the alternative source of energy supply in order to meet the growing demand for energy. Moreover, to achieve sustainable energy conservation and macroeconomics stable India should follow the energy efficiency and self-sufficiency in energy production for faster economic growth.


This research is concerned with the studying of the cracks behaviors under the multi-axial stresses. Structural elements carrying multi-axial loading may have some cracks within the fields of effects of the multi-axial loading. These types of cracks will need special analytical study to investigate and predict the cracking effects on the safety of the structural elements. This research is concerned with studying of brittle and quasi-brittle structures. The mechanism of these types of cracks is more complicated. Multi-axial loading may produce a loading field composed of bi-axial tension-tension loading or tension - compression loading or tri-axial loading. Such loading fields may produce any of several cracking modes with pure single modes such as opening mode, sliding mode or tearing mode or may produce mixed mode in tension or compression. In this study, a new modeling method is introduced through the application of the new theory called (MN-r p - σ θ )-theory. The study considered all possible cases of cracks under loading combinations, specially the basic problems in biaxial fields since it is the most common and the case of tri-axial can be derived from it.


Voluntary activity is an essential sign of a society where people are concerned for each other. The Government recognises the worth of every type of volunteerism and voluntary activity and does not believe that it should seek to regulate or be involved with every type of activity. The specific purpose of this White Paper is to deal with the formal interaction between the State and Community and Voluntary sector.


The study analyses the susceptibility of kinds of possible influencing factors to the components of the overlong frame structure under seasonal decreasing of temperature,and comparing the result computed by finitevolume method to plane design.The result of analysis and calculation in this paper could be a reference for the design and study of the overlong frame structure.


Introduction Many new acquisition techniques and coil systems are being developed to take advantage of the increased power and accuracy available when imaging at high fields. BOLD specificity and contrast to noise is enhanced at high fields allowing the delineation of neuronal activity in the human cortex at a finer scale than previously possible (1-3), and this is highly valuable when imaging anatomically complex structures with small nuclei and/or complex cytoarchitechtonics such as the cerebellum (Cb) (4).Common challenges, including RF-tissue interaction, local inhomogeneities from susceptibility transitions, such as the ear canal, physical location with respect to receivers and anatomical complexity (i.e. small microvasculature and deep nuclei) must be considered in order to reduce signal dropout particularly for Cb. This study was undertaken to prove efficacy of combinatorial methods which overcome these challenges while simultaneously leaving enough space within the transmit coil to monitor the eyes. The end goal was to successfully image Cb in order to further investigate the involvement of this structure in oculomotor processes using eye tracking. This research benefits investigations on the role of the Cb in motor and cognitive systems under both normal and adaptive situations.


1. Generalists are assumed to play a key role in structuring and stabilising animal–plant mutualistic networks. Until now, analyses on the effects of generalists have been based on empirical field data or simulations. The present natural field experiment manipulated the abundance of a generalist and abundant stingless bee [Melipona (Eomelipona) marginata] to determine the effects on the mutualistic network.


PURPOSE: A screen shifting method and a device in changing a TV channel are provided to generate various screen shifting effects for a short period before a screen of another channel is displayed in channel change by a user. CONSTITUTION: First, it is decided whether a user requests that a current viewing channel be changed into another channel. Then, if requested, various screen shifting effects are generated for a predetermined period shifted from a screen of the current channel to a screen of another channel. Next, it is decided whether corresponding images are transmitted by the tuning of the requested another channel, the screen of the changed channel is displayed if transmitted, or it is returned to the previous step if not transmitted.


During the operation of a nuclear power plant, a significant amount of liquid radioactive waste (LRW) is formed and accumulated, its recycling has one of the first priorities. One of the sources of liquid radioactive waste is drain water, which consists of surface-active substances (SA) and organic compounds (OC) of various natures. With this waste composition, the operation of the evaporator is significantly complicated. Thus, recycling of LRW will be simplified after purification from SA and OC. The paper discusses the theoretical aspects of oxidative-cavitation and electrohydrodischarge water purification from organic matter. A schematic circuit of experimental stands of combined cleaning methods was developed and presented. Studies were performed on model solutions of sodium lauryl sulfate (LS) (NaC12H25SO4) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) (C10H16N2O8). LS is chosen because it is the most common SA, which is present in the composition of various detergent and decontamination mixtures. The use of EDTA is due to its application in technological processes at nuclear power plants and the presence of liquid radioactive waste in the composition. The destruction of the OS occurs as a result of ozone oxidation, which is constantly splashing through the solution, and amplifies under the action of electrical impulses or ultrasonic (US) cavitation. The work identifies the patterns of reducing concentrations of model solutions, depending on the method of processing, pH-environment and duration of the process. It was found that the destruction of SA and OC occurred better when ozone was combined with US cavitation or electrical discharge, at high pH. The highest performance purification of solutions is as follows: use of electro-discharge and ozone (рН = 6.2) leads to about 71 % collapses, (рН = 10) ~ 61 % OC collapses; use of US cavitation and ozone (рН = 10) ~ 83.3 % SA collapses.


Linking stimuli with delayed reinforcement requires neural circuits that can bridge extended temporal gaps. Auditory cortex (ACx) circuits reorganize to support auditory fear learning, but only when afferent sensory inputs temporally overlap with cholinergic reinforcement signals. Here we show that mouse ACx neurons rapidly reorganize to support learning, even when sensory and reinforcement cues are separated by a long gap. We found that cholinergic basal forebrain neurons bypass the temporal delay through multiplexed, short-latency encoding of sensory and reinforcement cues. At the initiation of learning, cholinergic neurons in Nucleus Basalis increase responses to conditioned sound frequencies and increase functional connectivity with ACx. By rapidly scaling up responses to sounds that predict reinforcement, cholinergic inputs jump the gap to align with bottom-up sensory traces and support associative cortical plasticity.


answers directly many of the questions most of us are too polite to ask. How do drugs get into prisons? What about the scams and the violence? Is the dispersal system out of the control of staff? What about sex? One of the more amusing dilemmas to perplex Tom concerns a prisoner's attempts to seduce him with tasty foodstuffs. Can Tom avoid sex yet keep getting the eclairs? In his artless fashion, Tom provides insightful analyses of the prisoner culture, racial dynamics between prisoners, the impact of drugs and HIV. With considerable self


Nonlinear interaction due to Kerr effect between two linearly polarized modes in a single mode optical fiber and its various manifestations have been investigated very intensively (see e.g. [1]), solely using the classical treatment. To describe nonclassical effects it is necessary to use the methods of quantum optics.


The alcoholism in Galicia is an endemic illness, reason why the patients aren't considered marginalized. The two films that we commented, try to call the attention and to make the society aware of the atypical nature of this problem.


e20544Background: Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a hematologic malignancy with an estimated 5-year survival rate of just over 50%. Evolving paradigms arising from numerous FDA approvals continue to shape...


Local distortions of the sphalerite crystal structure of Zn1-xCox S, Zn1-xCox Se (x =0.01) semiconductor crystals were studied for the first time using thermal neutron diffraction at 300 and 78 K. The diffraction patterns of the crystals were revealed to contain diffuse scattering regions concentrated in the vicinity of the strong Bragg reflections. It was detected for both crystals that the intensity of the neutron diffuse scattering essentially decreases with cooling. Some arguments are given to explain the revealed properties of the diffuse scattering for these crystals in terms of a formation of the vibronic effect leading to the emergence of local nanosized distorted regions. (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


I got the second edition of the book 5 years ago when I was a cytopathology fellow. I fell in love with the book immediately after I finished the first chapter. Rarely, a cytology book can be both concise and comprehensive. This one certainly exceeds everyone's expectation. The new edition examines the latest diagnostic techniques for the interpretation of a complete range of cytologic specimens. Although the new edition has many similarities to the previous edition, there are some significant changes: (1) The size of the book (8'' 11'') is bigger than the previous edition; (2) Includes the ThinPrep imaging system and the new (2006) American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology management guideline in the gynecologic cytology chapter; (3) Incorporates the Bethesda system for reporting thyroid FNA interpretations in the thyroid chapter for the first time; (4) Discusses the implementation of proficiency testing and changes in laboratory inspection and accreditation in the laboratory management chapter; (5) Features anytime, anywhere online access to the complete text of the book, fully searchable—as well as all of the images for your personal use— at www.expertconsult.com. The new edition inherits the format of the 2nd edition, which includes 17 chapters covering every type of cytology—organized mainly by organ systems. It provides an indepth analysis of common diagnostic pitfalls and samples of signing out reports. It uses capsular summaries and easy to read colored, shaded, and bulleted text to provide a quick review of cytomorphologic features, diagnostic pitfalls, and differential diagnoses. It offers extensive review of special techniques such as immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and molecular pathology in helping the interpretation of difficult cytologic cases. The 3rd edition also includes over 700 full-color illustrations. Although the majority of them are Pap-stained pictures, they are in excellent quality and provide a real-life perspective of a full range of cytologic findings. Last but not least, the new edition again emphasizes pertinent clinical correlation and patient management issues to reflect the title of the book. As the authors quote in the preface to this edition ''good cytologists are those who understand the clinical implications of their interpretations.'' In summary, this is an excellent, easy to read, and very practical cytology book. It is on the top of my wanted list and I highly recommend it to practicing cytopathologists, cytology fellows, and pathology residents.


With the aim of gathering information for an article (recently published in Brazil) about Sleeping Giants' fight against the political economy of disinformation, Brazilian researchers Juliano Borges and Arthur Coelho Bezerra interviewed the co-creator of the SG movement in the United States, Nandini Jammi, on October 2020. In this interview, Jammi addresses programmatic advertising, discusses the tactic found by Sleeping Giants to demonetize uninformative sites and takes a position on the responsibility of platforms to contain hate speech and disinformation on the internet. She explains how the initiative begins by targeting the disinformation site Breitbart News, and evolves into a digital civic movement that now relies on the collaborative work of unknown volunteers, including spontaneous cell creation in countries like Canada, France and Brazil.


The two viral diseases of cassava dominant in coastal Kenya are cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD). A survey to document farmers' knowledge on virus diseases of cassava was conducted in Lamu, Malindi, Kilifi and Kwale districts of coastal Kenya in March 2005. Kibandameno was the most popular variety among the farmers (93%). Most of the farmers (66%) used their own planting materials, 59% obtained from neighbours while only 2 % sourced cuttings from the Ministry of Agriculture. Disease diagnosis among the farmers was poor, only 32% of the farmers could differentiate between CMD and CBSD. Majority of the farmers (71%) attributed the disease to drought and 23% to insects. Selection of clean planting materials for disease control was practiced by 41% of the farmers, 30% carried out roguing while 48% were aware of varying levels of resistance among varieties. There is need to enhance farmers' knowledge on diagnosis and management of cassava virus diseases.


Based on a review of the literature, this paper draws the concepts, theoretical and applied problems surrounding human resource evaluation in organization. This paper deals with the scientific position of human resource evaluation and the ways in which it helps the organization meet its goals. The purpose of the paper is to develop the methodical approach of human resources evaluation. To achieve this aim the method of experts` evaluations is used. The research considers existing approaches of human resource evaluation; summarizes conceptual position of human resources evaluation; illustrates the relationship between organizational purpose and systematic measures of human resources formation and development; identifies human resources indicators (qualification, professionalism, physical state, labor discipline, work results, personal development, creative activity, morality, involvement in organizational culture, adaptive factors, work thoroughness, synergistic factors, professional mobility, stimulating factor). JEL Codes: M5 0, M 54.


The impulse approximation is modified so that the Galilean invariance will not be violated. A method is suggested how to take the nuclear motion very accurately into accout. As an example, characteristics of 4He pionic atom are calculated.


Proto-oncogene Wnt-1 (370 aa, ~41 kDa) is encoded by the human WNT1 gene. This protein plays a role in the stimulation of Wnt signaling pathways.


The principle and method of the determination of calibration parameters(scale,bias and drifting) of GRACE accelerometer using reference gravity field model based on the energy balance approach are discussed in detail.One month GRACE acceleration data are calibrated using the different reference gravity field model.The analysis and comparison of the numerical results show the validation of calibration of accelerometer using the reference gravity field model.


Russian policy towards the other countries of the former Soviet Union, among them the central Asian states, is in a state of flux. In the last few years the trend has been from isolationism (1991-2) through reluctant involvement (1992-4) towards reintegration. The paper analyzes the main strands of thinking and the principal players and interest groups shaping Russian policy towards central Asia and seeks to establish likely future directions.


One of the founding members of the famous Papunya desert artists, Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, was announced the winner of the prestigious Red Ochre Award at the presentation ceremony of Australia's major arts awards at Parliament House, Canberra on the 17th of October 1994.


Objective
To investigate the incidence of hyperbilirubinemia in late preterm newborns and their perinatal management.

Methods
From October 2013 to March 2015, a total of 35 cases of late preterm newborns who were diagnosed as hyperbilirubinemia were selected from 276 inpatient of late preterm newborns in Department of Neonatology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University were included in study group, and another 35 patients who had not been diagnosed as hyperbilirubinemia were selected randomly from the other 241 inpatient cases and were included in control group by isometric sampling method. Retrospective analysis method was used to collect the clinical data of two groups and to analyze the following items. ①To compare the constituent ratios of gender, gestational age at birth, day age at the time of admission, admission ways, appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants, small for gestational age (SGA) infants, large for gestational age (LGA) infants, delivery modes, and the incidences of premature rupture of membrane, intrauterine or postnatal asphyxia, cephalohematoma, pregnancy diseases in pregnant women between study group and control group by chi-square method or Fisher exact probability method. ②Incidence of hyperbilirubinemia among 276 cases of late preterm newborns in the study, and the relationship with the gender were analyzed. ③The constituent ratios of gender, day age at the time of admission, admission ways, gestational age at birth, AGA or LGA infants, delivery modes, birth institutions, and the incidences of severe and extremely severe highperbilirubinemia, concomitant diseases or causes of disease, bilirubin encephalopathy and readmission etc. in study group were analyzed.

Results
①There were significant differences between two groups among the constituent ratios of gestational age at birth, day age at the time of admission, admission ways, premature types, delivery modes, and the incidences of premature rupture of membranes and intrauterine or postnatal asphyxia (χ2=12.011, P=0.002; χ2=16.931, P 0.05), respectively. ②Among the 276 cases of late preterm newborns included in the study, hyperbilirubinemia incidence was 12.7% (35/276). Gender ratio of male and female was 1.9∶1 in 35 cases of late preterm newborns diagnosed as hyperbilirubinemia. ③Among the 35 hyperbilirubinemia of late preterm newborns in study group, the gestational age at birth was 34+ 0-36+ 6 weeks, severe and extremely severe hyperbilirubinemia both were 15 cases, which accounting for 85.7% (30/35), there was none of dangerous hyperbilirubinemia neonates. And hyperbilirubinemia of late preterm newborns whose age≤7 d was more than that of age>7 d at the time of admission, and the proportion of late preterm newborns of age≤7 d was 60.0% (21/35), after discharge from rooming-in periods, they rehospitalized from outpatient and emergency department into neonatal department, and their rehospitalized rate was 94.3% (33/35). Level of birth medical institutions of late preterm newborns in study group between grade second and grade third was 45.7% (16/35) and 48.6% (17/35), respectively. Among the accompanied diseases or causes of 35 hyperbilirubinemia of late preterm newborns in study group, infection, ABO blood group incompatible hemolytic disease, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, cephalohematoma and multiple causes of diseases accounted for 17.1% (6/35), 11.4% (4/35), 5.7% (2/35), 2.9% (1/35), 5.7%(2/35), respectively; but there was the other 57.1% (20/35) still could not found a clear cause of hyperbilirubinemia. The incidence of bilirubin encephalopathy of late preterm newborns in study group was as high as 40% (14/35), and blood exchange rate was also as high as 62.9% (22/35).

Conclusions
In late preterm newborns with hyperbilirubinemia, the rate of severe and extremely severe hyperbilirubinemia, and incidence of bilirubin encephalopathy are high. And the rates of males, age≤7 d at the time of admission, 35+ 0-35+ 6 gestational weeks at birth, AGA infants, natural birth, complications were also high. Therefore, it is important to emphasize the training of health care workers for normative management of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, and strengthening neonatal icterus monitoring perinatal management and other measures, so as to reduce disability and improve the life quality of late preterm newborns with hyperbilirubinemia.

Key words:
Hyperbilirubinemia; Severe and extremely severe hyperbilirubinemia; Kernicterus; Perinatal management; Late preterm newborns


The invention relates to a method for measuring a dental situation (1) comprising a plurality of implants (2, 3, 4, 5) and / or preparations for insertion of dental restorations. Using a first measurement method, a first region (13) of the dental situation (1) is first detected, said first measurement data are generated. The first region (13) is selected such that it comprises at least two implants (2, 3, 4, 5) and / or includes preparations. Subsequently, object regions (17, 18, 19, 20) around the implants (2, 3, 4, 5) is set and / or the preparations in which detects the specified object regions (17, 18, 19, 20) using a second measurement method be and second measurement data is generated. The second measurement method is more precise than the first measurement method.


2-Iodoxybenzenesulfonic acid (in a cyclic tautomeric form of 1-hydroxy-1H-1,2,3-benziodoxathiole 1,3,3-trioxide), a thia-analog of 2-iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX) and a potentially important oxidizing reagent, was prepared by two different pathways: direct oxidation of 2-iodobenzenesulfonic acid and hydrolysis of the methyl ester of 2-iodylbenzenesulfonic acid. The resulting l-hydroxy-1H-1,2,3-benziodoxathiole 1,3,3-trioxide was found to be thermally unstable and highly reactive towards organic solvents. The structure of its reductive decomposition product, l-hydroxy-1H-1,2,3-benziodoxathiole 3,3-dioxide (the cyclic tautomeric form of 2-iodosylbenzenesulfonic acid), was established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.(© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2006)


577Background: Evidence from randomized controlled trials does not support routine use of AC for patients with stage II CC. Clinical guidelines recommend discussion of AC in patients with high-risk disease. In our study, we analyzed NCDB data to determine factors favoring the use of AC in this setting. Methods: NCDB data was extracted on a total of 45,098 patients from 2004 to 2009 with stage II CC. Descriptive characteristics were analyzed using Chi-square test and odds ratios were calculated using multiple logistic regression. Results: Frequency of AC was significantly different among patients belonging to different age groups, tumor laterality, grade, pathologic tumor status (pT), and clinical nodal status (cN) (Chi-square test; p < 0.0001). Age distribution analysis revealed higher frequency of AC administration among patients of 18-64 years compared to those of 65-74 years and older, irrespective of single-agent or multi-agent regimens (p < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis was performed using multiple ...


The nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) has had variable success in reducing nitrate ( NO3− ) leaching and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soils receiving nitrogen (N) fertilizers. Factors such as soil type, temperature and moisture have been linked to the variable efficacy of DCD. As DCD is water soluble, it can be leached from the rooting zone where it is intended to inhibit nitrification. Intact soil columns (15 cm diameter by 35 cm long) were taken from luvic gleysol and haplic cambisol grassland sites and placed in growth chambers. DCD was applied at 15 or 30 kg DCD/ha, with high or low precipitation. Leaching of DCD, mineral N and the residual soil DCD concentrations were determined over 8 weeks high precipitation increased DCD in leachate and decreased recovery in soil. A soil × DCD rate interaction was detected for the DCD unaccounted (proxy for degraded DCD). In the cambisol, degradation of DCD was high (circa 81%) and unaffected by DCD rate. In contrast, DCD degradation in the gleysol was lower and differentially affected by rate, 67 and 46% for the 15 and 30 kg/ha treatments, respectively. Variation in DCD degradation rates between soils may be related to differences in organic matter content and associated microbiological activity. Variable degradation rates of DCD in soil, unrelated to temperature or moisture, may contribute to changing DCD efficacy. Soil properties should be considered when tailoring DCD strategies for improving nitrogen use efficiency and crop yields, through the reduction of reactive nitrogen loss.


The Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP), ISO 10303, is a developing International Standard for the exchange of product information between many different engineering and manufacturing applications. This paper describes an architecture and methodology, using STEP, that integrates a heterogeneous environment of CAD and Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) systems. The prototype software discussed in this paper demonstrates the use of STEP to provide CAD product data to a SFF system. The architecture described in this paper also addresses the role of the STEP standards in an environment where STL and other SFF part data formats must also be supported.


Cancer‐related fatigue can be measured as both a unidimensional and a multidimensional construct. Unidimensional fatigue and its symptom correlates have undergone some previous investigation; however, minimal research has considered the differential effect of correlates on individual dimensions of fatigue. The objective of the current study was to investigate cancer‐related fatigue in a radiotherapy sample using a multidimensional conceptualization to determine whether correlates of fatigue are consistent across all dimensions or whether each fatigue dimension has its own unique pattern of correlates.


To investigate the applicability of the Butler stripping theory, the angular correlations were measured between the protons and rays from the reactions Be/sup 9/(d,p )Be/sup 10*/ (3.37 Mev) and Ca/sup 40/(d,p )Ca/sup 41*/ (1.95 Mev)s using 7.78Mev deuterons. Both correlations in the (d,p) plane are of the form 1 + A/sub 2/P/sub 2/(cos Mo content, co ), where Mo content, co is the angle between the ray and the recoil nucleus, as predicted by theory. For Be/sup 9/ the coefficient A/sub 2/ = -0.33 sintering time 0.04, in reasonable agreement with the previously reported value of -0.40 sintering time 0.05 for a deuteron energy of 4 Mev, and hence confirming the theoretically expected energy independence. This value of A/sub 2/ is close to that of -0.40 predicted on the assumption of L-S coupling with the assignment of a /sup 3/P/sub 2/ state for the first excited level of Be/sup 10/. For Ca/sup 40/ A/sub 2/ = +0.17 sintering time 0.04, in satisfactory agreement with the predicted value of 0.143 obtained by using the reasonable assumption of j-j coupling with less than 10/sup -3%/ M3 in the predominantly E2/ transition. Both transitions showed less than 6% effect in the correlation inmore » the plane perpendicular to the recoil axis, in agreement with the isotropy expected from the simplified stripping theory. (auth)« less


Network is the product of the development of the times. Developing civil servant network training can effectively expand the research field of civil servant training theory in the network era, and it is also an innovative measure to alleviate the contradiction between work and study and satisfy the individual needs. The network training of civil servants shows the characteristics of the times, such as the unity of virtuality and reality, the unity of subjectivity and dominance, the unity of diachronic and synchronic. To realize its value, we should set up people-centered training values, strengthen the construction of curriculum resources, build a high-quality and convenient online learning platform, and carry out scientific and reasonable quality assessment.


One of the major issues involved in establishing new trading relationships is the lack of an a priori trust relationship between the parties. Without a solution of this trust problem it is virtually impossible to establish new trade relationships. This is an old and well-known problem in international trade. One way to create the necessary trust is by using trade procedures that involve exchanges of documents between the trading partners to verify, that the counterparty has fulfilled his part of the agreement. Up till now these documents were paper documents. In electronic commerce these paper documents are replaced by information exchanges. One crucial question, however, is whether these documents provide the same trustworthiness as the paper documents. For example, uniqueness of ownership documents is simple to guarantee in the case of a signed paper document. Uniqueness of electronic messages is much harder to achieve. Another problem is that in some countries an electronic contract does not have the same legal status as its paper version. Electronic commerce can only be proven beyond reasonable doubt. We present the formal specification of the audit daemons method that was developed for checking automatically the trustworthiness of electronic procedures, and applied to inter-organized trade procedures. It appears that the basic principles of internal auditing within a company can be adapted for this auditing method. This auditing method has already been implemented in INTERPROCS, which is a Prolog-based tool for representation and analysis of procedures. In the formal specification given in this paper we give more abstract specification of the auditing method, which gives more structured semantics for the key concepts of the auditing method and can also be used to verify the INTERPROCS implementation of the auditing method. Our formal specification is based on a combination of deontic, dynamic and illocutionary modal logics.


The aim of this study is to establish a relationship between target strength (TS) and total body length of the gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata), in order to monitor its growth in sea cages. Five classes of commercial size gilthead sea bream are characterized, comprising lengths from 20 to 25 cm, corresponding to weights between 160 and 270 g. A few specimens were introduced into a sea cage of 3 m in diameter and a height of 2.7 m. We measure TS directly using a Simrad EK60 echosounder with a 7^{\circ} split-beam transducer working at 200 kHz. The transducer was located in the center of the cage during measurements, at the bottom facing upwards for ventral recordings and on the surface facing downwards to perform dorsal recordings. Two analyses based on single echo detection were performed: the first one obtains compensated transducer directivity TS values from intensity and angular echosounder data; while the second one omit phase information, affording uncompensated TS values (TSu). Two algorithms have been applied to analyze single-beam-like data, that differ in the order in which threshold and echo length criteria are applied to detect single echoes. TS distributions obtained from the split-beam analysis are unimodal for both ventral and dorsal measurements, like TSu distributions obtained when the threshold criterion is applied first. A lineal relationship was found between mean TS for the ventral aspect and logarithm of total body length of fish, showing good correlations for both TS and TSu, even having a few detections. Note that the relationship between TSu and total body length allows monitoring the growth of gilthead sea bream using low cost equipment like single beam echosounders.


6. Some contentious issues in theory and policy in memory of Mark Blaug 31 Richard G. Lipsey 7. Mark Blaug on the quantity theory: a skirmish on the border between science and ideology in the history of economic thought 63 David Laidler 8. Dr Blaug's diagnosis: is economics sick? 78 Geoffrey M. Hodgson 9. Competition as an evolutionary process: Mark Blaug and evolutionary economics 98 Jack Vromen 10. A 2 × 2 = 4 hobby horse: Mark Blaug on rational and historical reconstructions 125 Harro Maas


The principal is the highest leader in the school. His leadership will be very influential in determining the progress of the school. The purpose of this research is: (1) describe leadership strategies applied to principal in improving the quality of educators and educational power, (2) describe the process of the implementation of the leadership strategies conducted the principal in improving the quality of educators and educational personnel, and (3) describe the factor endowments and a barrier faced by principals in improving the quality of educators and educational personnel. This research used the qualitative approach with a descriptive method. Data collection is done by observation, interviews, documentation. Were analyzed through three stages, namely the reduction of the data, the presentation of the data and the withdrawal of the conclusion. The results showed that: (1) the principal's leadership Strategy in improving the quality of produce educators: educators and enhancement of work teachers, development of cooperation with other institutions, an increase in the grant awards on teachers who Excel and give welfare beyond the base salary, (2) the process of the implementation of the strategy is the principal leadership in improving the quality of produce educators and educators: bringing in a team of experts to conduct coaching, monitoring the development of teachers, treat teachers as partners, 3) factor endowments and a barrier that in dealing with the principal in improving the quality of educators and educational personnel: 1) factor endowments: creating learning planning, using the method varied learning and paying attention to the condition of the learners, embody a conducive classroom climate, an inhibitor of factor 2): still the presence of low teacher quality improvement would be his teacher, still less competent teachers and still the lack of the number of teachers according to needs.


The ObjectRelation Hypermedia Data Model (ORHDM) requires efficient organization and management of multimedia data. Therefore, the ObjectNode Model and ObjectLink Model were developed to improve the organizational strategy of ORHDM based on the objectoriginal technique and relational database theory. The layered nodeobject model was designed as the storage structure for ORHDM. The storage structure format for the media or node of ORHDM is defined in the model. Finally, a specific example of an ORHDM application is given using the Hainan Provincial Multimedia Touring Information System which shows the effectiveness of ORHDM.


Background: livestock is mainly reared under a crop livestock integrated farming system and mineral supplementation is not common practice. Out of all nutrients, minerals and vitamins play a crucial role in metabolism, lactation, reproduction and even for microbial fermentation in rumen. Considering the mineral deficiencies in particular zones, the area specific mineral mixtures (ASMM) were formulated for various zones and also found various limiting nutrients in different zones of MP. The current study was planned to find out the effect of mineral mixture supplementation on body weight, body condition score and haemato-biochemical profile of non-descript anoestrus cows. Methods: A total-forty-eight animal were selected out of the surveyed animals and divided into four groups (n=12) viz. T1 (Normal cyclic animals), T2 (Anoestrus Control), T3 (True anoestrus) and T4 (Sub-oestrus). The experiments were carried out in two seasons (summer and winter). All physiological and hemato-biochemical parameters were recorded and analyzed as per standard mentioned protocol. Result: According to the findings of this experiment weight gain the animals of the true anoestrus and sub-oestrus group's recorded highly significant increases in the winter and summer seasons. The haemoglobin concentration was within the normal range and it was non-significant in all groups except normal cyclic animal (T1) in winter and true anoestrous (T3) in summer after the mineral supplementation. There was no significant difference in the WBC count of all groups except in sub-oestrous control (T2S) and T1 in the winter season. RBC concentration was non-significant in almost all groups. Erythrocytic indices were the normal limits and did not differ significantly in the majority of groups except significant difference showed are MCHC in T3, MCH in T2S, MCV in T1 of winter seasons and were within normal range in all supplemented groups in both. The serum cholesterol concentration showed significantly higher value in the winter and summer season of T3 group. However, in sub-estrous (T4 group) animals, the values in the winter season were significantly higher. We observed significantly higher values of triglycerides in T3 and T4 groups in winter and T3, T4 and T1 groups in summer seasons. The above results indicate the beneficial effects of mineral mixtures in supplement groups. Studies conclude that the supplementation of mineral mixtures can improve reproductive efficiency in non-descript anoestrus cows.


Restrictive eligibility criteria for clinical trials may limit the generalizability of treatment 25 effectiveness and safety to real-world patients. In this paper, we propose a machine learning 26 approach to derive patient subgroups from real-world data (RWD), such that the patients within 27 the same subgroup share similar clinical characteristics and safety outcomes. The effectiveness 28 of our approach was validated on two existing clinical trials with the electronic health records 29 (EHRs) from a large clinical research network. One is the donepezil trial for Alzheimer's disease 30 (AD), and the other is the Bevacizumab trial on colon cancer (CRC). The results show that our 31 proposed algorithm can identify patient subgroups with coherent clinical manifestations and 32 similar risk levels of encountering severe adverse events (SAEs). We further exemplify that 33 potential rules for describing the patient subgroups with less SAEs can be derived to inform the 34 design of clinical trial eligibility criteria.


The present study intends to investigate the effect of shyness on Iranian EFL learners' language learning motivation and willingness to communicate. In western countries shyness has been considered as an undesirable personality trait that may interfere with one's interpersonal interactions and affect life satisfaction. However, shyness is viewed differently in Iranian cultures. In Iranian society, people are encouraged to control their personal desires. Among the variables that influence L2 learning, shyness and language learning motivation are two critical predictors, whereas willingness to communicate also often influences learners' performance in L2 communication. This study was conducted with 60 EFL learners who were taking English courses at a private English institute in Shiraz. They were asked to fill out self-report questionnaires about their shyness, motivations in their English studies, and their willingness to communicate. Results indicated that intrinsic motivation to accomplish appears to be the most important predictor among all motivation regulations for all students. Results also indicated that shyness and language learning motivations were positively correlated.


Faunistic and distributional data for 33 species of the subfamilies Pimplinae and Tryphoninae from Turkey are given. Of these, 10 species are new records for Turkey. The host for three species are established. For each species zoogeographical characterization is proposed.


The Paper discusses how to build network security experimental environment by using virtual machine.It introduces the principle of virtual machine and the network setup of virtual machine.Experiments show that the virtual environment established achieves the identical reality effect with the real network environment.


Chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA), a mucocutaneous side effect of cancer therapy, is often considered by patients to be the most psychologically distressing aspect of treatment. CIA conspicuously announces the illness state, and it decreases quality of life for individuals who are already coping with the physical and psychosocial repercussions of cancer. Currently, CIA is one of the greatest unmet challenges in cancer management, as preventative therapeutic options are lacking. Various treatments have shown differing levels of success in humans and in animal models. The aim of this review is to illustrate the current knowledge on CIA.


This paper presents a non‐isolated high step‐up buck–boost with a coupled inductor DC–DC converter relevant for distributed photovoltaic (PV) generation systems. The proposed topology can reach high voltage gain through the combination of a buck–boost converter with a coupled inductor. The configuration of the proposed converter allows to achieve a natural voltage clamp circuit for the switch, recovering the energy stored in the leakage inductance of the coupled inductor. Moreover, the converter allows soft‐switching conditions, that is, Zero Current Switching (ZCS) for the diodes and nearly ZCS for the active switch. Also, the proposed converter presents a low component count and common ground connection of the input and output. The proposed converter is evaluated theoretically by the principle of operation in continuous‐conduction mode (CCM) and discontinuous‐conduction mode (DCM), voltage gain derivation, external characteristics, semiconductor voltage stress, current stress, and design guidelines. Finally, a 650‐W, 36/380‐V, 50‐kHz prototype was built in the laboratory to experimentally evaluate the proposed converter, which reached a maximum efficiency rate of 96.58%.


An experimental study compared celebrity evaluations of a treatment group exposed to a celebrity endorsed prosocial message and a control group shown a picture of the celebrity. Subjects, 88 young adults (younger than 25 years) enrolled in an introductory communications class at a mid-size university in the northeastern United States, were randomly assigned to one of the groups. Both quantiteive and qualitative data were collected in response to the celebrity endorser, Madonna, appearing in an AIDS-awareness video. Concept mapping, a multi-dimensional scaling procedure, was used to examine relationships between celebrity attributes and celebrity-message congruence. Results indicated no differences in celebrity evaluations between the two groups when traditional source-credibility scaled measures were used. However, qualitative data comparisons and concept analyses revealed variations in perceptions. Findings suggest that the concept mapping procedure demonstrates promise in assessing associations among receivers' perceptions. (Four tables and three figures of data are included. The text of the video message and the content analysis categories are attached. Contains 38 references.) (Author/RS) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** Using Concept Mapping to Go Beyond the Source Credibility Model in Assessing Celebrity-Message Congruence


This paper describes the establishment of the Australian asphalt industry research and development program, which was commenced in late 1988 and has resulted in a significant multiplier effect on the amount of asphalt research in Australia. The program has been established and managed in a co-operative approach with road and airfield agencies and ARRB to ensure the programs are co- ordinated and complementary to make best use of resources and that the results are acceptable to all asphalt users. The present program is nearing completion and the paper indicates the various developments and outcomes. These include agreed standard test equipment and procedures for sample preparation, stiffness and creep, and some interim procedures for fatigue. A draft specification is given which provides a set of guidelines for the ranking of asphalt mixes in relation to different levels of traffic and climatic conditions. Developments proposed to obtain improved asphalt mix design procedures, which are due for finalisation in 1992/93, are outlined. (A) For the covering entry of this conference, see IRRD abstract no. 843369.


Objective
To investigate the efficacy of pranoprofen drops on dry eye of patients with Sjogren's syndrome (SS).

Methods
This is a prospective study. Sixty-eight inpatients with dry eye in our hospital were randomly divided into the experimental and control groups. Right eyes were taken for the trial, with 34 cases in each group. The experimental group was given pranoprofen eye drops combined with polyethylene glycol eye drops. Eyes of the control group were given polyethylene glycol drops only. Corneal fluorescein staining (FL), tear film breakup time (BUT) and Schirmer test (SIT) were tested before treatment and 1, 2, 4 weeks after treatment by the same care giver. The levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in tears were detected by ELISA. Analysis of varianceof repeated data and t test were used for statistical analysis.

Results
The difference of FL, BUT, SIT and content IL-6 and TNF-α in tears in the experimental group patients before treatment and 1, 2, 4 weeks after treatment were signifcant (F=4.65, 7.53, 6.43, 9.96, 10.87; P 0.05), those of the 2 weeks after treatment were statistically significantly different [BUT of theexperimental group was (11.1±2.5) s, BUT of the control group was (9.7±1.9) s, t=2.594 8, P 0.05). At week 1, 2, 4 after treatment, the differences between the two groups were statistically significant (tFL=4.173 9, 3.190 7, 4.072 6; tIL-6=2.131 5, 2.316 4, 5.310 1; tTNF-α=2.216 4, 4.871 9, 8.175 0; P<0.05). No significant discomfort and side effects were observed in the two groups.

Conclusion
Pranoprofen drops can significantly improve symptoms of dry eye in patients with pSS, in particular, the repair of the cornea, may be related to the inhibition of the expression of ocular inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α, and thus reduce the ocular surface inflammatory reaction.

Key words:
Sjogren's syndrome; Interleukin-6; Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; Dry eye


Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) evades the host immune system via several mechanisms. In HNSCC patients, 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 (vitamin D3) promotes differentiation of CD34+ progenitor cells into antigen-presenting cells. However, the downstream immune effects of vitamin D3 have not been well-characterized. This is particularly true with respect to systemic versus intra-tumoral effects. The objective of this study is to evaluate the role vitamin D3 in modulating tumor-associated immunosuppression. To compare the peripheral and local immune status of vitamin D3 treatment, we analyzed immune mediator levels in plasma and tissue samples from normal controls, HNSCC patients, and HNSCC patients treated with vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 treatment results in a systemic increase in Th2-associated cytokines, IL-6 (p-value = 0.005), IL-8 (p-value = 0.01), and IL-10 (p-value = 0.005) as compared to untreated HNSCC patients. However, this trend is reversed in tumor homogenates, suggesting systemic markers may not accurately reflect the immunologic status of the tumor environment. Furthermore, inflammatory systemic cytokines IL-2 (p-value = 0.04) and IFN-γ (p-value = 0.05) are increased compared to tumor controls, with a concomitant increase in the pro-tumor mediators GM-CSF (p-value = 0.02 ) and VEGF (p-value = 0.02). These findings are surprising, as treatment with vitamin D3 fails to induce a systemic Th1 response thought to be responsible for anti-tumor activity.


Mn–Co spinel/carbon electrocatalyst performance exhibits a volcano-type shape which results from a trade-off between electrical conductivity and the amount of oxygen groups.


1) Understand the meaning of the term "music therapy" and the training that is required to become a board-certified music therapist. 2) Understand the primary functions of music therapy in adult oncology. 3) Be able to list at least three populations in which music therapy is used. 4) Be able to list at least three evidence-based benefits of participating in group music therapy.


This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Minnesota based on an inventory conducted by the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Estimates are based on field data collected from 2013–2017 with comparisons made to field data collected in 2008–2012. The 2013–2017 sample data was collected from 6,290 field measured plots on forest land, with 20 percent collected per year. Data used in this publication were accessed from the FIA database in March 2017; data collection and analysis are described in Bechtoldand Patterson (2005) and O'Connell et al. (2016). Forest land refers to land with minimum 10 percent crown cover for live trees of any size, while timber land refers to lands that could support commercial forestry operations and not withdrawn from utilization by statute or regulation.


Electronic current-time and thermal defences of contact wire were considered and their comparative analysis was conducted. Perspectivity of the multiple parameter defence consisting of integral defence with statistical setpoints and dilatometric thermorelay was shown.


U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear facilities are categorized by the level of hazard they pose to workers, the general public, and the environment. This paper applies the methodology outlined in DOE-STD-1027-92 and interpreted in recent DOE guidance to a nuclear material storage facility at the Savannah River Site to reduce the category of the facility to below HC-3.


Device for garage or the like guided door drive in its movement by guide means comprising a motor (4) and a mechanical connection between the motor and the door. The mechanical connection comprises an extendable arm (5) preferably consists of superimposed profiled elements (8) sliding into each other and stackable within a magazine (9). These elements are provided laterally with a rack (12), the alignment of the racks being provided by the interlocking elements in a proper position.


ABSTRACT Introduction: Identifying and measuring the concentration of Triamcinolone (TA) in biological fluids is essential, especially for patients receiving intensive antibiotic medication. Objective: Make a sensor for electrochemical detection of Triamcinolone (TA) as an anabolic steroid in sports using copper oxide nanomaterials-reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles (CuNPs/rGO). Method: After preparing rGO nanoparticles on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) using the modified Hummers technique, Cu NPs were deposited on rGO/GCE. The applicability of Cu NPs/rGO/GCE was investigated to determine the TA concentration in a real sample that had been prepared. Results: The deposited irregular Cu NPs evidenced a diameter of about 80 nm, in agreement with SEM morphological investigations. Amperometric studies revealed that the linear range, detection limits, and sensitivity of CuNPs/rGO/GCE as a TA sensor were 10 to 80 µM, 10nM, and 0.06584 µA/µM, respectively. Conclusion: The results revealed that the RSD and recovery values were valid, providing adequate quality and reliability for practical analysis of real samples using Cu NPS/rGO/GCE. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.


This study investigated the Kinaesthetic Fusion Effect (KFE) that was first described by Craske and Kenny in 1981. It was reported that when, without vision, participants pressed a button that resulted in a probe simultaneously touching the contralateral limb at a displaced location, they perceived an apparent change in limb length.
The current study did not fully replicate these earlier findings. Participants did not perceive any reduction in the sagittal separation of the button and probe following
repeated exposure to the tactile stimuli that was present on both arms. However, a localised and partial medio-lateral fusion was observed, with the touched positions
seeming closer together. In addition, tactile acuity was found to decrease progressively for distal positions of the upper limb and a foreshortening effect was found which may result from a line-of-sight judgment and represent a feature of the reporting method used.
A number of years have elapsed since the description of the original KFE. Although frequently cited in the literature, there has been no further investigation into the
mechanisms of action. The results of the current study are considered in light of more recent literature concerning intersensory integration. Future research should focus on
further clarification for the specific conditions that must be present for a fusion effect to occur. Finally, this thesis will benefit future studies that require participants to report the perceived locations of the unseen limbs.


Objective To explore the drug-resistance mechanism of Helicobacter pylori to metronidazole.Methods The metronidazole resistant Helicobacter pylori strain was induced in vitro.RdxA gene was mutated by PCR amplification.The total proteins of sensitive strains and drug-resistant strains were separated with two-dimensional electrophoresis respectively to find the differentially expressed proteins.Results The metronidazole resistant Helicobacter pylori strain was established by double dilution test,and the minimum inhibitory concentration was 64 times of sensitive strain's.After the protein expression maps were scanned and analyzed,55 differentially expressed protein spots were obtained.Conclusion The differentially expressed proteins of metronidazole resistant Helicobacter pylori strain compared to sensitive Helicobacter pylori strain are found with two-dimensional electrophoresis technology,which provides help to study the drug-resistance mechanism of Helicobacter pylori to metronidazole from protein level.


This article is devoted to research of ethic grounds of Soviet epoch. The grounds are represented in character of Soviet man. Dignity of man of Soviet epoch is an actual and sickly theme for home historical science. An author aimed to show antinomianism inherent to the anthropologic type of Soviet man. Attitude toward the human type of soviet society now in great deal determines the ways of our future development.


In order to accelerate energy growth, President Joko Widodo has launched a 35000 MW power plants program. It is feared that the construction of the 35,000 MW power plant will have a negative impact on the PLN Company if the energy purchase contract is using the Take or Pay method for 25,000 MW power plants which is controlled by the private sector or known as an independent power producer (IPP).
Now day PLN has done an aggressive marketing program to increase energy sells of electricity and hopes that all energy can be sold 100%. In the aggressive marketing program PLN provides discounts on new consumer and added power, but unfortunately the information program is not widely known by Indonesian residents.
Although the promo program carried out by PLN is not yet widely known to the public, but until the second quarter of 2019 PLN energy sales increased by 4.31% at the same time from the previous year. Optimism for increased sales will emerge and even exceed the RUPTL target, if the packaging of an aggressive marketing program is modified and the information dissemination of the program is extended to newspaper, radio and television.


The design of a 60-storey tall residential tower with a two-level basement in east London has had to take account of two London Underground tunnels which pass beneath the centre of the site, result...


We have recently showed that when exploding hydrocarbon fuels in highly oxygen-enriched air, the pressure-time history may display unexpected and anomalous behaviour in that oscillating signals and pressure peaks much higher than the adiabatic values (up to about 300 bar) were recorded. We addressed this anomalous behaviour, named combustion-induced Rapid Phase Transition, cRPT, to the occurrence of cycles of condensation/evaporation of water vapour on the walls of the vessel, followed by superheating of the liquid film due to radiation heat transfer from the flame, culminating in the water rapid phase transition. In this work we analyse this phenomenon by means of theoretical calculations of the characteristic times for the occurrence and intensity of such phenomenon.


Abstract.  1. Outbreaks of insect pest populations are common and can have devastating effects on natural communities and on agriculture. Little is known about the causes of these outbreaks or the causes of en masse migrations during outbreaks.


Natural radioactivity of 238U, 232Th series and 40K of black sand samples collected along El-Fanar and El-Nargess Beaches in Baltim area, north of the Nile Delta in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, were measured using a gamma-ray spectrometer with a high purity germanium (HPGe) detector. Results showed that the average activity concentrations of 238U and 232Th in El-Fanar Beach was significantly higher (73.22±5.1 and 70.8 ± 4.9 Bq kg-1) than El-Nargess Beach (31.91±2.2 and 25.95 ±1.8 Bq kg-1) respectively. The average activity concentrations of 40K in El-Fanar Beach was lower (67.47±4.7 Bq kg-1) than that in El-Nargess Beach (80.75±5.6 Bq kg-1). The hazard indices due to these radionuclides have been calculated. The obtained results from this study indicate that the average activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th and40K at El-Nargess Beach are within world median ranges while average activities of 238U and232Th in El-Fanar Beach are higher than the world mean (33and45) Bq kg-1 respectively. This study aimed to establish a baseline map of radioactivity background levels in the aforementioned region to assess any change in the radiological background levels due to any artificial effects attributed to any radiation activities.


The photometric and spectral studies of the pre-main sequence stars are very important for understanding of the early stages of stellar evolution. Depending of the initial mass the young stars pass through different periods of stellar activity. The most prominent manifestations of this activity are changes in the star brightness with different periods and amplitudes.A short review on photometric variability of young stellar objects is presented in the paper. The physical mechanisms raising the photometric variability were summarized according to the main types of pre-main sequence stars. The importance of photometric and spectral observations of young variable stars with small telescopes is discussed.


Autonomous sailing robots have attracted much attention, but challenges arise due to the sailing tests require an environment with both aerodynamic and hydrodynamic fields and a sufficient number of sailing robots in readiness. A remotely accessible platform with the advantages of low cost, easy operation and high efficiency is the preferred method to solve this dilemma. Consistent with this goal is the design of Sailboat Test Arena (STAr), a remotely accessible platform for sailing robot design verification, autonomous algorithms validation and sailing control practices. All three parts require extensive testing in real water environments. Hereby, for testers around the world, STAr can be accessed without time difference. A variety of local and remote tests have been conducted in the STAr platform at various location around the world. The results show that STAr is a remotely accessible and effective tool in data collection and skill transfer. With continuous adoption and optimization, STAr will continue to serve as a tool to further promote low-cost, high-efficiency and diverse sailing research, and provide opportunities for more people to experience sailing.


Insulation resistance (IR) degradation in Ni-BaTiO3 multilayer ceramic capacitors has been characterized by the measurement of both time to failure (TTF) and direct current leakage as a function of stress time under highly accelerated life test conditions. The measured leakage currenttime dependence data fit well to an exponential form, and a characteristic growth time τSD can be determined. A greater value of τSD represents a slower IR degradation process. Oxygen vacancy migration and localization at the grain boundary region results in the reduction of the Schottky barrier height and has been found to be the main reason for IR degradation in Ni-BaTiO3 capacitors. The reduction of barrier height as a function of time follows an exponential relation of φ(t) = φ(0)e-2Kt, where the degradation rate constant K = K0e(-Ek/kT) is inversely proportional to the mean TTF (MTTF) and can be determined using an Arrhenius plot. For oxygen vacancy electromigration, a lower barrier height φ(0) will favor a slow IR degradation process, but a lower φ(0) will also promote electronic carrier conduction across the barrier and decrease the IR. As a result, a moderate barrier height φ(0) (and therefore a moderate IR value) with a longer MTTF (smaller degradation rate constant K) will result in a minimized IR degradation process and the most improved reliability in Ni-BaTiO3 multilayer ceramic capacitors.


Objective: To explore the clinical application of percutaneous biopsy and interventional therapy under CT guidance. Methods: In 56 cases CT were performed for diagnostic purpose, 32 cases for interventional therapeutic purpose, and in 21 cases for both diagnosis and therapeutic purposes. The site of aspiration were: head and neck 7 cases, chest 48 cases, abdomen 47 cases, trunk and extremities 7 cases, altogether 109 cases, 112 foci. Result: In the 112 foci there were altogether 114 aspiration times. The successful rate was 100%, accurate diagnostic rate was 96.1%. Therapeutic curative rate was 86.8% with 10.1% of complication. Conclusion: Percutaneous biopsy and interventional therapy under CT guidance are minimal traumatic technique. It is safe, reliable, effective with high successful rate and low complication rate, moreover it is easy to manipulate. It plays an important role in diagnosis and differential diagnosis, as well as promoting therapeutic effect.


The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) instrument is on board NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover. REMS has been measuring surface pressure, air, and ground brightness temperature, relative humidity, and ultraviolet (UV) irradiance since MSL's landing in 2012. In Mars Year (MY) 34 (2018) a global dust storm reached Gale Crater at Ls ~ 190°. REMS offers a unique opportunity to better understand the impact of a global dust storm on local environmental conditions, which complements previous observations by the Viking landers and Mars Exploration Rovers. All atmospheric variables measured by REMS are strongly affected albeit at different times. During the onset phase, the daily maximum UV radiation decreased by 90% between sols 2075 (opacity ~1) and 2085 (opacity ~8.5). The diurnal range in ground and air temperatures decreased by 35 and 56 K, respectively, with also a diurnal‐average decrease of ~2 and 4 K respectively. The maximum relative humidity, which occurs right before sunrise, decreased to below 5%, compared with prestorm values of up to 29%, due to the warmer air temperatures at night, while the inferred water vapor abundance suggests an increase during the storm. Between sols 2085 and 2130, the typical nighttime stable inversion layer was absent near the surface as ground temperatures remained warmer than near‐surface air temperatures. Finally, the frequency domain behavior of the diurnal pressure cycle shows a strong increase in the strength of the semidiurnal and terdiurnal modes peaking after the local opacity maximum, also suggesting differences in the dust abundance inside and outside Gale.


Engineering and Technology Group of Main Roads recently purchased a Leica ScanStation. This survey-accurate terrestrial scanner will be used to provide 3D models of roads and bridges. It is possible to acquire survey information in highly traffi cked areas while ensuring the safety of the surveyors.


On the basis of the existing standardized test methods of concrete aggregates alkali activity, the alkali activity of the granite aggregates is studied by extending the observation time. The results showed that the alkali reaction expansion ratio of the fresh granite broke through the 0.1% criterion limit after a decade of time. The reactant microstructure characteristic is similar to the structure of the alkali-silica reaction, the thickness of reaction layer is about 2~4 µm. Controlling the total alkali content of the dam concrete and replacing cement by mixing a certain proportion of fly ash can effectively prevent the occurrence of the AAR in the Three Gorges Project.


This study investigated correlates that might explain variance in beginning sight-singing achievement, including tonal discrimination, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and academic ability. Both curriculum-based and standardized tests were used, including the Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation, Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, and Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. Sight-singing ability of second-grade students (N = 170) was individually assessed for pitch accuracy only using four-note tonal patterns following a 16-week instructional period and again 8 weeks later following a period of no practice. A factor analysis explained 62% of the variance across 13 variables, revealing correlated factors of Music Ability, Reading Ability, and Academic Ability. Regression analyses with individual variables as predictors indicated that significant variance in sight-singing achievement beyond that explained by pitch matching ability could be explained by reading comprehension ability. Similar results were found with both sight-singing tests. Findings are discussed in relation to Patel's shared syntactic integration resource hypothesis and the need to advocate for music education programs.


Complexity thinking is relatively new to education research and has rarely been used to examine complex issues in physics and engineering education. Issues in higher education such as student retention have been approached from a multiplicity of perspectives and are recognized as complex. The complex system of student retention modelling in higher education was examined to provide an illustrative account of the application of complexity thinking in educational research. Exemplar data was collected from undergraduate physics and related engineering students studying at a Swedish university. The analysis shows how complexity thinking may open up new ways of viewing and analysing complex educational issues in higher education in terms of nested, interdependent and interconnected systems. Whilst not intended to present new findings, the article does illustrate a possible representation of the system of items related to student retention and how to identify such influential items.


The consensus speed of the leader-following multi-agent system (LFMAS) is considered in this paper. An improved algorithm is given to make the LFMAS achieve a faster maximum consensus speed (maximum convergence speed) than existing algorithms with undirected topology, and some conditions to achieve this objective are discussed. Furthermore, the conditions of the LFMAS achieving maximum consensus speed with directed topology which has no directed loop are presented. Simulation shows the effectiveness and the correctness of the proposed results.


At several AIEE Section meetings, various questions on whether AIEE should expand its activities into nontechnological fields have been asked of President Fairman. Here he discusses those questions and criticisms of major interest or importance to AIEE members.


The map is a scientific,visual arts and media,it will be translated into concrete things meaningful to identify the abstract graphic symbol system,embodies the art and science of organic combination of the wealth of information is a collection of Visual Communication system.Papers from the map design on the accuracy of the principle of the beginning,the design must first map a clear theme and audience,and outline map of the specific design features,and finally listed the map in the development process resulting from a variety of derivatives.


This cross-sectional study investigated the association between work-time control (WTC), independently and in combination with hours worked (HW), and four mental health outcomes among 2,318 participants of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) who worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. WTC was assessed by the WTC Scale, and mental health outcomes included depression, anxiety, stress (measured by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, DASS-21), and self-rated mental health. Logistic regression models were used to determine odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Among women, long HW were associated with stress (OR = 1.56; 95% CI = 1.11–2.20) and poor self-rated mental health (OR = 1.64; 95% CI = 1.13–2.38), whereas they were protective against anxiety among men (OR = 0.59; 95% CI = 0.37–0.93). In both sexes, weak WTC was associated with all mental health outcomes. Among women, the long HW/weak WTC combination was associated with all mental health outcomes, and short HW/weak WTC was associated with anxiety and stress. Among men, long HW/strong WTC was protective against depression and stress, while short HW/strong WTC and short HW/weak WTC was associated with all mental health outcomes. In both sexes, weak WTC, independently and in combination with HW, was associated with all mental health outcomes. WTC can improve working conditions, protect against mental distress, and fosterwork-life balance for those who work from home.