ABSTRACT Based on the five-factor model of personality traits and social exchange theory, this study examines the relationships of personality traits, organizational commitment, and two target-based factors of workplace deviance (organizational deviance and interpersonal deviance), using a sample of 113 South Korean employees. By the use of path-analysis, we first found that Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability were meaningfully related to organizational commitment. In addition, both the effect of Conscientiousness on organizational deviance and the effect of Agreeableness on interpersonal deviance were partially mediated by organizational commitment. In sum, results clearly show that the personality traits of Conscientiousness (impersonal) and Agreeableness (interpersonal) function differently in predicting workplace deviance.


This study assesses the impact of Beckett's work upon the early work of the Northern Irish poet Derek Mahon. Arguing that Mahon co-opts Beckett as an influence by misreading his work as that of a lyric poet manque, the essay examines Mahon's handling of Beckett as source, model and 'adopted' precursor in four poems: "Exit Molloy," "An Image from Beckett," "Tithonus" and "The Last of the Fire Kings."The pros outweigh the cons that glowfrom Beckett's bleak reductio -Mahon, "Beyond Howth Head"1. "Exit Molloy"In a 1984 essay on Samuel Beckett's poetry, Derek Mahon called him "a minor and idiosyncratic poet" (1996, 50). As editor of The Sphere Book of Modern Irish Poetry in 1972, Mahon had represented Beckett by two poems and a "lyrical passage" from Waiting for Godot (1972b, 111-14) - the famous exchange from act 2 of the play about "All the dead voices" (the title Mahon gives it), complete with its name prefixes and stage directions. The 1984 essay ends by quoting the same passage which, Mahon asserts, "achieves [...] the condition of music" (1996, 53). The anthologist's co-option of the passage is perhaps not surprising. In early Beckett criticism (of the 1950s and 60s) it was commonplace to insist on the musical or "poetic" nature of much of his dramatic writing. In 1963, for example, Louis MacNeice, Mahon's poetic forerunner, described Beckett's drama as "essentially lyrical," asking "the sort of question that used to be the prerogative of poets" (124). In a 2006 essay Mahon effects the merger from the opposite direction when he describes Beckett's best poems, examples of "the existential lyric" (1996, 56), as "dramatic pieces in their own right [...] continuous with the work for stage" (2006, 1). But Mahon's anthologization of the passage from Godot also hints at a significantly personal reading.To present the Godo /-passage as an honorary lyric is to emphasize its qualities as a momentary illumination, a still point of insight amidst the tedium and anxiety of waiting. In its dramatic context these qualities are heavily qualified: illumination is both made possible and clouded by the obligation to speak, to bale out the silence. While epiphany is not a sine qua non of the lyric, the luminous moment is nonetheless native to the genre. In the drama, however, even the lyrical drama of Beckett, any moment of revelation is always likely to be submerged or rendered ambiguous by the current of the action. But Mahon's tendency has always been to read Beckett as a lyric poet manque. "Much of the time it is even dull," he wrote of Beckett's prose in 1976. "One is tempted to skip. [...] But the good bits are very good indeed. Not inexpressive as their author might wish, but expressive of a rare vision, like the 'brief scattered lights' [1959, 207] in Malone Dies" (1996, 60). In a 1986 tribute, Mahon asserts that the novels of Beckett are "a matter of texture rather than incident," quoting from How It Is: "a few images on and off in the mud earth sky a few creatures in the light some still standing" (Beckett 1964, 8). This insistence on the luminous moment issues in a remarkable observation about "the last words of Lucky's 'think' in Waiting for Godot, where 'the skull in Connemara,' 'the tennis' and 'Cunard' combine to suggest a Proustian glimpse of childhood, a summer afternoon in the west of Ireland during long-ago school holidays" (1996, 58).Although there is no evidence for it (Mahon was writing in 1976, before the first generally available biographical information about Beckett), this last speculation is shrewd enough: comfortably-off Protestant Dubliners might very well have holidayed in the West in the 1910s. And the Proust connection is natural. After all, Beckett's first book was a critical study which asserts that Proust's "entire book is a monument to involuntary memory and the epic of its action" (Beckett 1965a, 34). Furthermore Beckett always claimed that the vital shift in his own writing life and creative output, the trigger for the post-war "frenzy of writing," which produced the three novellas, the trilogy of novels and Waiting for Godot, was the result of a "revelation" (Knowlson 351-53) in his mother's room in Foxrock. …


The anaerobic biodegradability of the components of cassava alcohol wastewater was investigated using conoid reactor.During a 37-day test,COD of cassava alcohol wastewater decreased from 10865 mg/L to 1060 mg/L and the total removal rate of COD reached 90.24%.Results also showed that the components of cassava alcohol wastewater were easily biodegraded by anaerobic treatment.The highest concentration of VFA(95.17mmol/L) reached on the ninth day,and then decreased with the increase of gas yield.When the equilibrium of the anaerobic reaction reached,the reaction system showed high buffer capacity with its pH being of 7.00-7.40.


Introduction: Intestinal parasites are a serious public health problem in Brazil and worldwide, affectingindividuals from several social classes. The fecal-oral route of transmission of these infectionsfacilitates their spread by food. This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of parasitic contaminationsamong restaurant food handlers in the city of Parnaiba, Piaui, also discussing their possible influenceson the transmission of enteroparasites. Methodology: Fecal samples from 251 individuals agedbetween 20 and 59 years were analyzed. Hoffman, Pons & Janer and Willis methods were performedon samples. Structured questionnaires about socio-economic and health aspects of individuals wereapplied. Fisher's exact and chi-square tests with significance level of 5% were used to identifyassociations between categorical variables. Results: Positive samples for parasites were found in 51%(129 samples). Cases of polyparasitism were also found. Protozoa detected were Entamoeba coli(38%), Endolimax nana (26%), Entamoeba histolytica / E. dispar (17%), Iodamoeba bustchlii (8%).Helminths detected were Ascaris lumbricoides (48%), ancylostomides (19%), Enterobius vermicularis(13%), Strongyloides stercoralis (10%), Hymenolepis nana (6%) and Taenia spp. (4%). Conclusion:A high prevalence (51%) of intestinal parasites was found in restaurant food handlers. Prevalence ofprotozoan infections (74%) was significantly (p<0.05) higher than helminth infections (26%).


We discuss the application of the augmented Lagrangian method to the convex optimization problem of instationary variational mean field games with diffusion. The problem is first discretized with space-time tensor product piecewise polynomial bases. This leads to a sequence of linear problems posed on the space-time cylinder that are second order in the temporal variable and fourth order in the spatial variable. To solve these large linear problems with the preconditioned conjugate gradients method, we propose a preconditioner that is based on a temporal transformation coupled with a spatial multigrid. This preconditioner is thus based on standard components and is particularly suitable for parallel computation. It is conditionally parameter-robust in the sense that the condition number of the preconditioned system is low for sufficiently fine temporal discretizations. Numerical examples illustrate the method.


Dimethyl isosorbide (DMI)—a well-known biobased high boiling green solvent—was used for the first time in the preparation of poly(vinylidene fluoride)- and poly(ether sulfone)-based membranes. Prel...


To develop a coupled rotor/flexible fuselage model for vibration reduction studies, the equation of coupled rotor-fuselage is set up based on the theory of multi-body dynamics, and the dynamic analysis model is established with the software MSC.ADMAS and MSC.NASTRAN. The frequencies and vibration acceleration responses of the system are calculated with the model of coupled rotor-fuselage, and the results are compared with those of uncoupled modeling method. Analysis results showed that compared with uncoupled model, the dynamic characteristic obtained by the model of coupled rotor-fuselage are some different. The intrinsic frequency of rotor is increased with the increase of rotational velocities. The results also show that the flying speed has obvious influence on the vibration acceleration responses of the fuselage. The vibration acceleration response in the vertical direction is much higher at the low speed and high speed flight conditions.


As circuit sizes increase, a means to improve the performance of simulations is constantly demanded, without sacrificing the accuracy of the results. To achieve this goal, a new parallel scheduler is presented exploiting binary link formulations that allows modern multi-core processors to achieve superior performance. These improvements are obtained without sacrificing accuracy or resorting to iterative techniques.


This article is a social and historical narrative of the hats and the hat makers in Brazil in the 19th century and presents aspects of the production, the use and the social representations connect to clothing and fashion. It talks about the labor world and the hat market world in a set of social transformations in the urban context of Rio de Janeiro. On one hand, a network of importers, auctioneers, milliners and hat makers provided distinctive models for consumption; on the other hand, workers and employees were responsible for conflicts due to the conditions which were imposed to this labor force, which included slaves and free wage workers. As a part of this scene, the article shows the existing connections between the cities of Braga and Rio de Janeiro through the lives of Portuguese immigrant hat makers who were the protagonists of the raising of an important hat factory in the central region of Rio de Janeiro and in Mangueira region in the republican period.


Despite the proliferation of e-commerce and the growing discussion of how to govern this sector, governance for e-consumer protection is an under-researched area. This study is the first of its kind to employ both quantitative (e-survey) and qualitative (interviews) research to examine e-consumer protection from the view of all three e-governance sectors: e-consumers, e-retailers, and other stakeholders (government, industry, and consumer associations). In particular, this study employed a governance perspective, rather than other perspectives, such as marketing. Focus was aimed toward the tri-sectors' perceptions of six roles of consumer organizations during the e-consumer protection e-governance process. Victoria, Australia was used as a working example. Results suggest that the governance process for e-commerce in Victoria may be compromised due to the lack of overall agreement among the three governance sectors about the role of consumer associations. The tri-sector e-governance model is more appropriate in explaining e-consumer protection than models that eschew the governance process.


Abstract : Our research group, under PI Thea Bechshft, has recently shown that it is possible to extract and measure cortisol in cetacean skin (Bechshoft et al. Submitted). The goal of the current project is to validate this novel method by measuring baseline cortisol levels in cetacean skin and demonstrating the correlation between an acute stress exposure and the ensuing skin cortisol response. At the conclusion of the project period, we expect to have provided a greater understanding of a) the relationship in cetaceans between blood cortisol levels and skin cortisol levels , b) the period of time it takes before an acute stress response is measurable in the cetacean skin matrix, and c) cetacean baseline cortisol levels in skin, as well as inter-and intra-individual fluctuations.


Abstract : Applying a recently described probe technique, the radial velocity distribution v(r) of a plasma-jet is measured. The influence of the Hall-term in generalized Ohm's law (j sub z X B) on the result is considered and the limits of applicability of the v X B-method is discussed. In order to determine the current density in z-direction (j sub z) outside of the nozzle, the distribution of the azimuthal magnetic field is measured by means of a Hall-probe. With aid of Maxwell's first equation j sub z is calculated from this. The influence of the thruster configuration outside of the nozzle on the velocity profiles is measured and discussed.


I use exchange traded funds to construct low cost benchmarks for actively managed mutual funds. The benchmarks can be identified in advance, require no leverage or shorting, and require only annual rebalancing. The average fund underperforms its benchmark by 1% per year after expenses, a difference in performance equivalent to a $25 billion per year opportunity cost for investors selecting active management. The fees charged by actively managed funds are the primary reason they underperform. Active management comes at a significant cost, but without any offsetting benefit.


In order to evaluate the effect of penile enhancement, we retrospectively reviewed the data of the patients operated with autologous dermal graft implantation combined with a modified penile degloving procedure. The patients with the complaints of small penis, asking for penile augmentation, and normal erectile function were psychologically screened and enrolled. Data of follow‐up visit including patient demographics, medical history, surgical procedure, patient‐reported outcomes were analysed. In all, 30 eligible persons were operated. After degloving of the penis, the suspensory ligament was incised and the tunica albuginea was fixed to the proximal tunica dartos at the penile base. Then, the dermis graft was implanted on the dorsal surface of the tunica albuginea. The file of follow‐up visit was available in 17 (57%) patients. The mean age was 23.7 years (19–35 years) and the mean follow‐up was 13 months (range, 4–24 months). During the follow‐up period, the average gain in the penis length was 2.7 cm in flaccid and 0.8 cm in erection, respectively. And the average gain in the penis circumference was 1.5 cm in flaccid and 1.2 cm in erection, respectively. Also, psychosexual sexual self‐esteem and confidence of the patients were significantly improved (p < 0.001). Overall, 13 (76%) patients reported satisfaction with the penile appearance. We believe that the surgery is both safe and effective in the enhancement of the penis, however, further clinical studies with a larger patient population are necessary.


An Ag-doped MoSe2 nanomaterial-based sensor was fabricated for ppb-level ethanol sensing at room temperature. The MoSe2 and Ag-modified MoSe2 nano-flowers were synthesized by a hydrothermal method, which exhibited high purity...


We study an invariant of dynamical systems called naive entropy, which is defined for both measurable and topological actions of any countable group. We focus on nonamenable groups, in which case the invariant is two-valued, with every system having naive entropy either zero or infinity. Bowen has conjectured that when the acting group is sofic, zero naive entropy implies sofic entropy at most zero for both types of systems. We prove the topological version of this conjecture by showing that for every action of a sofic group by homeomorphisms of a compact metric space, zero naive entropy implies sofic entropy at most zero. This result and the simple definition of naive entropy allow us to show that the generic action of a free group on the Cantor set has sofic entropy at most zero. We observe that a distal Γ-system has zero naive entropy in both senses, if Γ has an element of infinite order. We also show that the naive entropy of a topological system is greater than or equal to the naive measure entropy of the same system with respect to any invariant measure.


This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of storage time of olive fruits, extraction system (used in traditional mills in Morocco), and storage conditions such as packaging type, on the quality of olive oil. Olive oil was obtained from Moroccan Picholine variety olive fruits stored at different periods, and extracted in granite mill and wood mill. Olive oil was stored in PET and dark glass bottles. Acidity, peroxide index, K232 and K270 increased during storage. While, phenolic contents and antioxidant capacity decreased significantly. Glass container appears to be the most appropriate for protection of these oils. However, type of mills was not significant in their classification. Principle components analysis showed that variable with the highest level of impact was the acidity. Discriminate functions and cluster analysis indicated that storage time of olive fruits was the most important in the evaluation of samples, followed by oil storage time.


Abstract: A one-parameter highly chaotic attractor is presented and its application to a dual-channel, single-attractor, private communication system is demonstrated based on self-synchronization and chaotic masking techniques. Only a single attractor is required for a dual-channel transmitter or receiver, and can be either the well-known Lorenz attractor, the Lorenz-like attractor, or the one-parameter highly chaotic attractor developed in this paper. The latter is particularly well suited for an application to private communications due to the relatively high values of both the maximum Lyapunov exponent of 2.6148 and the maximum Kaplan-Yorke dimension of 2.1921. An advantage of the dual channel is the possibly twice increase in higher speed. Keywords: Highly chaotic attractor, self-synchronization, dual-channel single-attractor private communications. 1. Introduction Since the discovery of the eminent Lorenz chaotic attractor in 1963 [1], the study of chaotic behaviour in nonlinear systems has attracted great attention due to possible applications in various fields of science and technology. In particular, the pioneer work of Pecora and Carroll [2-4] based on chaos synchronization has attracted special interests in applications of chaos to various communications including private communication systems. A certain class of chaotic systems possesses a self-synchronization property [2-4], if it can be decomposed into at least two subsystems, i.e. a drive system (transmitter) and a stable response subsystem (receiver), that synchronize when coupled with a common drive signal. The ability of self-synchronization in the Lorenz systems and others for communications has been found experimentally to be highly robust to perturbations in the drive signal leading to the chaotic signal masking techniques [5,6]. Such techniques, however, have been applied mainly to a single channel of communication systems. Most existing chaotic attractors with five terms [7-10], six terms [e.g. 11] or seven terms [e.g. 1] in three first-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs) have been suffered from relatively low values of either the Lyapunov exponent (L), or the Kaplan-Yorke dimension (DKY). As the former (L) is a measure of chaoticity whilst the latter (DKY) is a measure of complexity (or


This paper describes the principal changes in signposting practice at railway level crossings which are proposed in a draft amendment to Part 7 of the Australian Standard Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, AS 1742.7 - Railway Crossings. As the paper indicates, substantial changes to the signs used both at, and in advance of, crossings are proposed. Also proposed is the introduction of minimum treatments at certain crossings, and a sight distance checking procedure for passive control crossings. A brief account of the production process and the use of Australian Standards generally, is given in introductory remarks.


OF THE THESIS CHANNEL AND NOISE VARIANCE ESTIMATION FOR FUTURE 5G CELLULAR NETWORKS by Jorge Iscar Vergara Florida International University, 2016 Miami, Florida Professor İsmail Güvenç, Major Professor Future fifth generation (5G) cellular networks have to cope with the expected tenfold increase in mobile data traffic between 2015 and 2021. To achieve this goal, new technologies are being considered, including massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems and millimeter-wave (mmWave) communications. Massive MIMO involves the use of large antenna array sizes at the base station, while mmWave communications employ frequencies between 30 and 300 GHz. In this thesis we study the impact of these technologies on the performance of channel estimators. Our results show that the characteristics of the propagation channel at mmWave frequencies improve the channel estimation performance in comparison with current, low frequency-based, cellular networks. Furthermore, we demonstrate the existence of an optimal angular spread of the multipath clusters, which can be used to maximize the capacity of mmWave networks. We also propose efficient noise variance estimators, which can be employed as an input to existing channel estimators.


A medical data mining algorithm is proposed based on data mining techniques and relevant intelligent methods such as granular computing, neural computing and soft computing. It could lead to increased understanding of the causes of various diseases leading to better diagnosis.


confidently affirmed that " the old dogma limiting the great thrust movements to a great depth stands no more ". Professor Goldschmidt parallels the Flysch with the " Heifjeldskvarts" formation. Just as the " Heifjeldskvarts " is Caledonian, so the Flysch is Alpine in age, being formed contemporaneously with the mountain building movements, though the petrographical similarity between the two formations is very small, one obtaining its material from forward-thrust eruptivesandthe other from forwardthrust Mesozoie sediments. In the discussion following the reading of the paper Professor Bregger expressed his approval of the original views set forth, and the further work of the Norwegian geologists in the light of the new theory will be followed with great interest.


The Kinta Valley Home Guard (KVHG) was established by the MCAcontrolled Perak Chinese Tin Mining Association (PCTMA), Ipoh, with the backing and support of General Templer soon after he arrived in Malaya in February 1952. It was an all-Chinese Home Guard, aside from a few senior European officers. Some 4,000 members were recruited and trained by the Government. According to General Templer's biographer John Cloake, it was what he himself described as his "biggest gamble". Many of his detractors thought it would be a disaster to supply arms to what was to be a large Chinese Home Guard dominated by the MCA for the defence of what were predominantly Chinese tin mines, and referred to what had happened to some of the weapons supplied by the British to the Communist Malayan Peoples Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) in World War II, many of which were secretly hoarded at the end of the war to be used later against the British in the Emergency. Nevertheless, General Templer gave his support to the KVHG, which was often described as a "Chinese private army" because of its close connections with the KMT which had been prescribed by the colonial government in Malaya on 9 May 1949, and he played an important role in its funding, organization, training, and deployment. By 1954, when Templer left Malaya, it was reported that there were 323 tin mines defended by the KVHG which remained operational until the end of the Malayan Emergency in July 1960. THE MALAYAN ECONOMY The tin and rubber industries then constituted the main sources of revenue for the Malayan Government. They were, in fact, by far the most important sources of U.S. dollars in the whole of the British colonial empire, and the Kinta Valley in Perak, covering some 1,035 square kilometres, was one of the richest tin mining areas in Malaya and accounted for the major part of Malaya's tin exports to the United States. Malaya's tin exports to the United States. Templer was concerned that the revenue earned from the export of both tin and rubber, mainly to the United States, was vital for Malaya's economy not only to build up the prosperity of the country but to continue to finance the ever-escalating costs of the counter-insurgency operations that were being carried out against the CPM.


This paper builds on policy implementation studies, which seek to explain how policies undergo some form of 'translation' from general policy guidelines to implementation in practice at the local level. The paper makes two contributions to the policy implementation literature. First, it draws on the concept of 'local universality' to suggest that the translation of policy by central actors is not simply transmitted but is iteratively transformed through multiple distributed agencies including local actors, infrastructure, data sets and organisational practices. Second, empirical findings show how structural policy design features influence implementation and (re)shape policy content by incorporating knowledge from practice.


Deciphering human genome has ushered modern bio-medical science towards a future hope of revitalizing current symptomatic or prophylactic treatment methods into personalized and predictive medicine depending upon an individual's genetic makeup. Genetic variations related to a person's response towards drugs, differential susceptibility to disease and reciprocity of phenotypic attributes related to environment, ethno-racial origin and diseases to genotypes have not been meticulously apprehended yet. Ayurveda, an age-old health science resonated unequivocally with ancient system of classifying a person on the basis of "Prakriti" or unchangeable constitution type might be an advantageous inclination towards personalized medicine, bearing testable molecular and genetic correlates. Several genomic and metabolomic studies augmented the possibilities of yet undisclosed molecular and genetic basis of Ayurveda, which could further be integrated or complemented to current medical diagnosis and treatment. Further deep dive into the extremes of utilizable science and technology of this holistic practice remained quintessential for better enlightenment of future bio-medical science to fight all fiends of ailments.


The structural stability and electrochemical performance of boron substituted fluorinated graphite as a Li ion batteries cathode material are studied by first principles calculations. The results show that boron substituted fluorinated graphite BC3F4 possesses excellent structural stability, good electrical and ionic conductivities. Unexpectedly, the average Li intercalation voltage of LiBC3F4 is up to 4.44 V, which is much larger than that of LiBCF2. The average voltage of LiBC3F4 is even larger than that of common commercial transition metal oxides cathodes, indicating that LiBC3F4 is a breakthrough of transition metal-free high voltage cathode materials. By comparing the Fermi level, we found the Fermi level of LiBC3F4 is 1.38 eV lower than that of LiBCF2, leading to the decrease of the electron filling energy for the Li intercalation and forming much higher voltage. Moreover, LiBC3F4 shows small volume expansion and high energy density. LiBC3F4 is a promising high voltage cathode material for Li ion batteries. Finally, by calculating the evolution of Li intercalation voltage and Fermi level during the discharging process, a linear correlation between the Fermi level and Li intercalation voltage has been found.


8051 Background: Control of acute chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (A-CINV) is a positive predictor of control of D-CINV. First-generation 5-HT3 receptor antagonists (RA) are highly effective in preventing A-CINV but less so in preventing D-CINV. PALO is a pharmacologically distinct 5-HT3 RA with a 30+ fold higher binding affinity, a 40 hr plasma half-life, and has greater efficacy than ondansetron (OND) and dolasetron (DOL) in preventing both A-CINV and D-CINV in patients receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (Aapro, ASCO '03, Rubenstein ASCO '03).

METHODS
Establishing whether this efficacy benefit in control of D-CINV is strictly a carryover effect from better control of A-CINV was analyzed using pooled data from 2 identically designed phase III trials where 754 patients received either a single IV dose of 0.25 mg PALO or 32 mg OND (study 1) or 100 mg DOL (study 2). Two methods for evaluating the carryover effect were conducted: evaluating control of D-CINV in all patients with or without A-CINV (Grunberg, ASCO '03) and hierarchical models evaluating treatment effects adjusting for risk factors over time.

RESULTS
Of the 500 pts across all groups with no A-CINV, 376 (75%) had no D-CINV. Of these pts controlled for A-CINV, more pts (218/272; 80%) receiving PALO had no D-CINV compared with those receiving OND or DOL (158/228; 69%) [P = 0.005]. A similar benefit was also seen among the 254 pts who did have A-CINV. 24/106 (23%) receiving PALO had no D-CINV while 18/148 (12%) receiving OND or DOL had no D-CINV [P = 0.027].

CONCLUSIONS
The same magnitude of improved prevention of D-CINV with PALO in patients with or without A-CINV provides evidence that this greater efficacy in preventing D-CINV is a true pharmacologic effect rather than carryover from better prevention of A-CINV. Complete results utilizing a hierarchical (random-effects) model accounting for risk factors and trial heterogeneity will also be presented. [Table: see text].


type="main"> We find that connections CEOs develop with top executives and directors through their appointment decisions increase the risk of corporate fraud. Appointment-based CEO connectedness in executive suites and boardrooms increases the likelihood of committing fraud and decreases the likelihood of detection. Additionally, it decreases the expected costs of fraud by helping conceal fraudulent activity, making CEO dismissal less likely upon discovery, and lowering the coordination costs of carrying out illegal activity. Connections based on network ties through past employment, education, or social organization memberships have insignificant effects on fraud. Appointment-based CEO connectedness warrants attention from regulators, investors, and corporate governance specialists.


At present, to achieve further reductions in CO2 emissions in the cement industry, it is essential to improve the efficiency of grinding processes and reduce the energy demand. This study examined the effects of various grinding parameters (addition of trass, ball to powder mass ratio (BPR), material of grinding bodies and jars, rotational speed, and mill type) to minimize the energy consumption of the mechanochemical activation of kaolinite. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and specific surface area measurements were used to examine the influence of grinding parameters. It was found that the addition of as little as 25% (mass percent) trass reduced the specific energy demand for the complete amorphization of kaolinite by 56%. The application of steel grinding bodies (instead of ZrO2 ones) had a slight influence on the amorphization kinetics of kaolinite, but it could mechanochemically activate 30% more samples at the same BPR and specific energy demand. The use of the four-pot milling instead of the one-pot could considerably decrease the specific energy demand of the complete and incomplete (α = 0.9) amorphization of kaolinite. Overall, a 94% reduction was achieved in specific energy demand with steel grinding material, 14:1 BPR, four-pot milling, and the incomplete amorphization of kaolinite.


Age Comes with Weaknesses and Wisdom: A Gerontological Alternative to a Transhumanist View on Life Extension

 Transhumanists claim that they will soon stop human aging. Although this form of human enhancement has not yet been realized, we must think about what it means for us as humans. Theologians have engaged in ethical reflection already, but usually from classical theological perspectives like creation, eschatology, and anthropology. This article argues, however, that these classical views are not appropriate to offer an adequate Christian ethical response to the transhumanism project of considerable life extension. Therefore, an alternative approach is suggested. Aging must not be seen solely as an evil which has to be defeated at any cost, but also as a phase in a complete life with its own beauty and wisdom.


PURPOSE: To provide a mill controller which is operated in both tilt and crown modes and, one the other hand, with which each saddle is independently adjustable by providing a computer control system which simultaneously drives multiple driving device. CONSTITUTION: A crown adjustment rack 1 is fixed on a screwed adjustment rod 3 by means of U-shaped clevis pins 2. The screwed adjustment rod 3 is engaged with an inner screw of a worm gear 4 driven by a hydraulic motor 6 via a spindle 7 and a worm 5. Hydraulic oil is supplied to the hydraulic motor 6 via a solenoid valve 8 and a flow rate control valve module 9. Two solenoids 10 and 12 of the solenoid valve 8 are actuated at necessary occasions by an electronic computer 17 with each signal supplied from a digital output board 14 to each of a solid relays 11 and 13. An extension bar 20 mounted on the adjustment rod 3 is mounted on the core of a linear variable differential transformer 15. COPYRIGHT: (C)1995,JPO


We are interested in the numerical solution of the complex large linear system, (σ2A+σB+C)x=f(σ), for many, possibly a few hundreds, values of the complex parameter σ in a wide range. We assume that A, B and C are large, sparse, symmetric matrices, as is the case in several application problems. In particular, we focus on the following structured right‐hand side, f(σ)=FΦ(σ), where F is a (tall) rectangular matrix whose entries are independent of σ. We propose to approximate the solution x=x(σ) by means of a projection onto a single vector subspace, and a subsequent solution of the reduced dimension problem, for all values of interest of the parameter σ. Numerical experiments report the effectiveness of our approach on real application problems. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Correspondence and other documents of several generations of the Barrows family of Fryeburg, Maine. Featured most prominently in the collection are letters, receipts, and essays of John Stuart Barrows from 1816 to 1848 and letters of George B. Barrows, 1833-1898. A few letters to other family members as well as a photograph of the Barrows house in Plymouth, Mass., are found in the collection. Preferred Citation Barrows Family Papers, SpC MS 1102, [Folder No.], Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Department, University of Maine, Orono, Maine ^ Return to Table of


Creative behavior of 20 normal, 20 educable, and 20 trainable mentally retarded adolescents of similar chronological ages was examined using a modified version of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking. Analyses of variance indicated that educable mentally retarded and normal subjects did not differ significantly on any of Torrance's four creativity measures. However, statistical significance was evident for the trainable and nonretarded subjects and for the trainable and educable retardates. Results were discussed in terms of level of intelligence and other contributing variables.


The Psychology Staff at Pittsburgh wanted to increase its credibility with the students and achieve the objectives of a liberal arts course.


In most industrialized countries, policy debates around stem cell science manifest in public discourse. Assuming that a functioning public sphere exists where matters of science policy can be discussed, examination of these discourses can help provide an understanding of how science policies evolve. The aim of this paper is to provide a preliminary analysis of how the public discourses around stem cell science have developed in Singapore. Using a theoretical model of "focused discourse," our analysis indicates that there have been five distinct phases, marked by discernible shifts that reflect important changes in how biomedical science is funded in Singapore. While our results are preliminary, we argue that public discourses around science policies do exist in Singapore but are limited by a lack of diversity that would be expected in a more heterogeneous public sphere.


Constructivism stems from the cognitive processing theory,it is thought that the study is an active process.Under the guidance of this theory,the teacher can't enforce the students to study the beforehand prepared knowledge.The students should receive the knowledge and construct them only by themselves.So this kind of talents will be able to adapt the development of the times with more creative spirit.All in all,it is necessary for us to break the original teaching mode,exert students' subjective initiative and let them establish the dominant learning position gradually.


ABS TRACT Ob jec ti ve: Esc he ric hi a co li stra ins are the most com mon pat ho gens of uri nary tract in fec ti ons (UTI) and are ca pab le of pro du cing "ex ten ded spec trum be ta-lac ta ma se s" (ESBL). Sin ce high cip rof lo xa cin re sis tan ce has be en emer ging re cently among E.co li stra ins, this study is ai med to in ves ti ga te ESBL pro duc ti on and an ti bi o tic re sis tan ce pat tern inc lu ding cip rof lo xa cin, in 615 E.co li stra ins iso la ted from comp li ca ted and un comp li ca ted UTIs and dif fe ren ces bet we en two gro ups. Ma te ri al and Met hods: The an ti mic ro bi al sus cep ti bi lity tes ting for cip rof lo xa cin, tri met hop rim-sul fa met ho xa zo le, amo xi cil li ne-cla vu la na te, ami ka cin, pi pe ra cil li ne-ta zo bac tam and imi pe nem/me ro pe nem was per for med using Kirby-Ba u er disc dif fu si on met hod ac cor ding to Cli ni cal and La bo ra tory Stan dards Ins ti tu te (CLSI) rules. ESBL pre sen ce was in ves ti ga ted with do ub le disc dif fu si on met hod. An ti bi o tic sus cep ti bi li ti es of comp li ca ted and un comp li ca ted gro up with UTI we re com pa red sta tis ti cally using Fis her's chi squ a re test. Re sults: E.co li stra ins we re iso la ted from 333 of 2458 pa ti ents with un comp li ca ted UTI and 282 of 2098 pa ti ents with comp li ca ted UTI. ESBL pre sen ce was in 13% and 20%, and cip rof lo xa cin re sis tan ce was 38% and 46% in un comp li ca ted and comp li ca ted gro ups, res pec ti vely. ESBL pre s en ce in cip rof lo xa cin re sis tan ce stra ins was 25% in un comp li ca ted gro up and 40% in comp li ca ted gro up. ESBL ra ti o in cip rof lo xa cin-sus cep tib le stra ins was 4% in both gro ups. Sta tis ti cally, ESBL pro duc ti on in cip rof lo xa cin re sis tan ce stra ins was hig her in the comp li ca ted gro up (p< 0.05). Conc lu si on: An ti bi o tic re sis tan ce in pat ho gens which are res pon sib le from UTIs is emer ging worl dwi de. We fo und that ESBL pro duc ti on in cip rof lo xa cin re sis tant E.co li stra ins was sig ni fi cantly hig her in the comp li ca ted gro up. This may re sult from mi su se and in ju di ci o us use of an ti mic ro bi als, es pe ci ally cip rof lo xa cin. No wa days, ESBL pro du cing mul tid rug re sis tant E.co li stra ins are in com mu nity as a new chal len ge emer ged for cli ni ci ans to over co me.


PURPOSE: A simulation device of a battery system is provided to test a battery system using simulation data, thereby enabling stable systems operation. CONSTITUTION: A simulation device(500) includes a simulation data output part(510), a simulation data verification part(520), and a storage part(530). The simulation data output part outputs a virtual simulation voltage replacing a cell and a rack to a battery system(20). The simulation data verification part receives control result data, generated from a tray BMS(Battery Management System)(22) and a rack BMS(24) in accordance with the simulation voltage, from a system BMS(25) and verifies the data. The storage part stores the virtual simulation voltage replacing the cell and the rack. [Reference numerals] (22) Tray BMS; (24) Rack BMS; (25) System BMS; (510) Simulation data output part; (520) Simulation data verification part; (530) Data storage part; (AA) Simulation result data(communication mode : CAN, MODBUS, TCP/IP, etc.); (BB) Virtual simulation voltage c channel; (CC) Cell voltage a channel; (DD) Temperature b channel


Studies aiming at the optimization of experimental variables are generally carried out by procedures that evaluate the effect of just one variable on time. However, this approach does not allow the establishment of true optimal values, mainly due to close connections that may exist among the studied variables. In this paper some practical applications based upon factorial design systems are used to demonstrate the convenience of multivariate procedures. The three examples described here entail the optimization of degradation processes related to the experimental design as well as interpretation of results.


Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of catgut embedment in acupoints and Chinese medicine for the treatment of polycystic ovarian syndrome( PCOS). Methods Ninety cases with PCOS were randomized into treatment group and control group,with 45 cases in each group. Control group was treated with"Bushen Jianpi Huatan Formula",and treatment group was added with catgut embedment in acupoints,with the course of 3 menstrual cycles. The clinical efficacy,related indicators in the serum( FPG,FINS,HOMA-IR and LP),body mass index( BMI) and waist-hip ratio( WHR) were detected and compared.Results 1 Eighty-four cases finished the trial,with 41 cases in the treatment group and 43 cases in the control group. 2 The total effective rate was 80. 49% in the treatment group and 65. 15% in the control group,with a difference between the two groups( P 0. 05). 3 In both groups,there were significant differences in the levels of HOMA-IR,LP and WHR between before and after treatment( P 0. 05); after treatment,there were significant differences in the levels HOMAIR,LP and WHR between the two groups( P 0. 05). Conclusion Combined catgut embedment in acupoints and Chinese medicine has positive effects on PCOS,and its mechanism may be association with lowering the serum leptin levels and reducing insulin resistance.


A new subspecies of the previously monotypic Hylonycteris underwoodi is described from Mexico. As currently understood, the new race is distributed from Jalisco to southern Oaxaca, whereas the nominate subspecies occurs from Veracruz and northern Oaxaca southeastward to western Panama.


IN THIS ISSUE OF SLEEP, OLDS AND COLLEAGUES1 PROVIDE VALUABLE DATA REGARDING SELF-REPORTED SLEEP DURATION IN CROSS-SECTIONS OF Australian children between ages 10 and 18 years. The authors demonstrate the steady decline in sleep duration with age and document differences in sleep duration by day of the week, season, region, and sex. This study adds to the growing body of literature documenting patterns of self-reported sleep duration across populations, as well as changes with age during childhood.2,3 Studies such as these are useful to track changes in sleep duration within populations over time, to identify inter-group differences in sleep duration, and to generate hypotheses about ideal sleep durations and influences on sleep duration. These types of studies provide support for the impression that sleep duration within some pediatric populations is declining,2 and therefore provide an impetus for public health interventions that target improving sleep. These types of studies also, however, highlight a number of important gaps in our current knowledge that frame a research agenda in the coming years.


Advancement of information and communication technology changes recent paradigm of online education from desktop PC-based e-learning to u-learning. Being the state-of-the-art education environments where the interaction between educators and learners overcomes the limitations of time and space, u-learning can be the very effective way for Korean education. Especially, in addition to the offline learning, u-learning characterized by mobility, immanence, and instantaneousness provides optimal environments that maximize the learning effects of discussion learning. This paper proposes a model of discussion learning on the basis of u-learning for grammar education. A process of discussion learning is divided into three steps: introduction (design-preparation), development(performance), and evaluation (conclusion-presentationevaluation). A unit titled 'language and thought' in grammar textbook of high school is taken as an example. Given a of theme "There is no thought without language (Language affects thought)", the effectivity of discussion model is verified through suggesting the activities of educators and learners step by step.


To systematically explore the differences in acoustic changes and healing outcomes of tympanic membranes (TMs) with pars flaccida perforation (PFP) and pars tensa perforation (PTP).


Preface I. Gatsby Lives 1. Why Gatsby Matters II. The Faustian Bargain: Creating The Great Gatsby 2. A Literary Star Roaring through the Twenties 3. Breaking Bad: Fitzgerald's Demise, 1925-1940 III. Gatsby in the American Century 4. Gatsby Reborn, 1941-1963 5. A Grand Illusion, 1964-1980 6. All That Glitters, 1981-2000 7. Gatsby Today, 2001-present IV. Gatsby and the Shifting America Dream 8. The American Dream 9. Wealth and Power 10. Celebrity...An Obsession V. The Enduring Legacy of the Great American Novel 11. Is Romance Timeless? 12. A Hope for Reading and the Quest for the Great American Novel 13. Boom, Bust, Repeat: Power, Greed, and Recklessness in Contemporary America 14. The Great Gatsby (2013): The Film Conclusion: Gatsby is America


To overcome limitations in the morphological identification of Bursaphelenchus species, a molecular approach was used. The internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) region was amplified and sequenced. A pairwise comparison of this sequence data revealed that the differences in the ITS1 region (approximately 308 bp) between four B. xylophilus isolates were slight (only 1 bp), but there are marked differences (up to 7 bp) in this region between the B. mucronatus isolates from China (Guangdong) and France. The data also revealed that the differences in the ITS1 region between the two Bursaphelenchus species range from 32 39 bp. Based on these data, the method of extracting the genomic DNA of the individual pinewood nematode and PCR SSCP (single strand conformation polymorphism) analysis were employed for the unequivocal differentiation of the Bursaphelenchus variant from B. xylophilus and B. mucronatus. These methods should provide a valuable tool for sensitive and accurate identification of individual worm of B. xylophilus.


ABSTRACT: Performance differences between elected and appointed public officials are a popular area of research, but such studies have limited policy value because they do not consider factor costs. The present study contributes to the discussion of public sector performance by estimating cost-efficiency differentials between elected and appointed assessors, using a pooled cross-section of 124 assessing jurisdictions in Virginia from 2008 to 2011. The results reveal that assessments administered by an elected assessor are more cost-efficient than those administered by an appointed one. The study also illustrates that performance measures that only measure output may be poor indicators of whether public resources are being employed efficiently.


The objective of this paper is to verify the relation between the loss of inflection and grammatical change in English and the influence of structural conservation on the change. There were various occurrences of grammatical changes in English as its rich inflection gradually declined; Nouns with the dative case began to appear in the subject position of the passives in late OE period, and preteritive-present verbs obtained the feature of modal auxiliary. These phenomena arose from the loss of inflection. After morphological difference between dative and accusative disappeared, (S) (V) DO IO construction became unworkable. As a result, the preposition to came into use in front of IO. Choi(2003) claims that infinitives with to could maintain its original usage as noun. In the same way the preposition to in front of IO seems to have been taken up to keep using (S) (V) DO IO construction. Consequently, the loss of inflection triggered grammatical change and caused word order change ultimately, but on the other hand, the tendency to conserve the structure or meaning of previous stages performed its part in the process of the change.


The classical Cantor function is included in a continuous one-parameter family. Each function in this family takes Lebesgue measure to a measure supported on the set of dyadic rationals on (0, 1). Analytic properties of the Fourier and Mellin transforms of these measures in dependence on the parameter value are studied. Introduction Usually, seeking primitives of elementary functions is a rather dull job (however, this rule has some exceptions: see, e.g., [1]). Often the primitive is not an elementary function or, even if it is, it either occurs in all ABC books or can be obtained by integration by parts from primitives known universally. It is more interesting (and useful) to evaluate integrals that depend on a parameter, and complex analysis methods introduce much loveliness in this task. However, in some situations one deals with the integrals of classical but nonelementary functions, and complex analysis methods seem to be irrelevant. As is clear from the title, we are going to consider such a setting. It should be noted that, still, a central role in what follows will be played by the invocation of holomorphic functions. For some accidental reasons, one of the authors arrived at the idea to evaluate the integral of the square of the classical Cantor monotone function (staircase) over the interval [0, 1]. By the way, afterwards, a "poll" showed that nobody was surprised by the mere possibility of a precise evaluation, but none of the respondents could say what the resulting number would be (it is 3/10). Everything discussed in the sequel is dictated by intrinsic logic: first, it becomes interesting to evaluate the integrals of other natural powers, then the question arises about the asymptotics as n→∞, and this leads spontaneously to the integrals of complex powers and to incorporation of the Cantor function into a certain one-parameter family. We note that the integrals of all natural powers of the classical Cantor function are rationals; the list of them begins with 1 2 , 3 10 , 1 5 , 33 230 , 5 46 , 75 874 , 611 8740 , 97653 1673710 . As has already been said, we incorporate the Cantor monotone function into a oneparameter family {Cq}, q ∈ (2,∞). The classical Cantor function corresponds to q = 3. We study the behavior of the integrals


This volume, however, is by Dutch authors and focused on the historiography of the liturgy in the Netherlands during the twentieth century. Its larger intent is to invite readers to consider how liturgical studies have evolved. The editors are from the faculties of Tillburg and Utrecht, and are both Protestant and Catholic, and the book has a balanced ecumenical perspective based on the country's religious heritage. The book has four unequal parts. Part 1 is an introductory chapter (by Gerard Rouwhorst and Louis van Tongeren) introducing the reader to an overview of the religious history of the Netherlands in the twentieth century; much of what comes later can be understood only from the vantage point of the original separation and "silo" mentality of the Netherlands that changed palpably in the latter part of the century.


Abstract This essay unites current philosophical thinking on imagination with a burgeoning debate in the philosophy of memory over whether episodic remembering is simply a kind of imagining. So far, this debate has been hampered by a lack of clarity in the notion of imagining at issue. Several options are considered and constructive imagining is identified as the relevant kind. Next, a functionalist account of episodic remembering is defended as a means to establishing two key points: first, one need not defend a factive (or causalist) view of remembering in order to hold that causal connections to past experiences are essential to how rememberings are typed; and, second, current theories that equate remembering with imagining are in fact consistent with a functionalist theory that includes causal connections in its account of what it is to remember. This suggests that remembering is not a kind of imagining and clarifies what it would take to establish the contrary.


Arachidonic acid (AA) is liberated from platelet membrane phospholipids during stimulation and promotes cellular aggregation through the synthesis of thromboxane A2. Two pathways; phospholipase A2 (PLA2) or phospholipase C (PLC) followed by the action of acylglycerolipases, are thought to be activated during platelet stimulation and supply the necessary AA. We have reported that mono (2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (MEHP), a physiological metabolite of the plasticizer di(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP), commonly used in a variety of medical devices and storage containers, inhibits PLA2, but not PLC in platelet lysates. The effects of MEHP on intact platelets were studied. PLA2 activity in intact platelets or lysates was assayed by incubating them with 2-14C-arachidonyl-phosphatidylcholine and measuring formation of free 14C-arachidonic acid in 10 min. Platelet lysates hydrolyzed 10% of the substrate while 2.6% was hydrolyzed by intact platelets. The amount of MEHP needed to inhibit 14C-AA liberation was 0.35 mM for platelet lysates and 0.7 mM for intact platelets. Platelet aggregation induced by collagen was inhibited by MEHP (1 mM), although responses to adenosine diphosphate, AA and ionophore were unaffected. Identical effects on platelet aggregation were found when indomethacin (0.1 mM) was added. Higher concentrations of MEHP blocked platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate or AA but not ionophore or synergistic pairs of these stimuli, indicating a more generalized membrane disruption at higher MEHP concentrations. These results suggest that MEHP acts in a similar manner to indomethacin to block PLA2-mediated liberation of arachidonate during platelet aggregation (supported by MRC and NHRDP, Canada)


The genus Piper belongs to the family Piperaceae and has more than 2000 species. These plants are found almost all over the world. Some of these species are also found in India. In India these plants are mostly available in Northern part & North-Eastern part such as Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Khasi and Jayantia hills of Meghalaya, Assam, Manipur. Piper is mostly known for its commercial, economical and medicinal importance. These plants contain many chemical constituents such as pipereidine, chavicin, starch, protein, cineole, p-cymene, lignin, sesquiterpenes, piperlotine, benzoic acid derivatives, schimiditin and carvone; even volatile oils such as terpenes, phellandrene, caryophyllene, piperonaldihydrocarbeol and caryophyllene oxide are found to be very rich in these plants. Various activities such as antifeeding, antibacterial, antifungal, antiinflammatory, antiamoebic, antiplatelets, insecticidal, antioxidant, cytotoxic, antiplasmodial, DNA damaging activities etc. are manifested by these plants. These plants are being utilized by many traditional medicinal system like Traditional Chinese Medicine, Indian Ayurvedic system and folklore medicine of Latin America. Some of these species are very much useful in preparation of spices like Piper nigrum which is known as the King of Spices and also enhance the bioavailability of food and drugs as a carminative. The fruits of Piper are used for the treatment of various diseases of respiratory tract viz. cough, bronchitis, asthma.


Abstract. In order to keep stable in reinforcement learning process, a novel robust reinforcement learning decoupling control (RRLDC) based on integral quadratic constraints(IQC)is presented in this paper. It composes of a linear model to approximate the nonlinear plant, a state feedback K controller to generate the basic control law, and an adaptive critic unit to evaluate decoupling performance, which tunes an actor unit to compensate decoupling action and model uncertainty as well as system nonlinearity. By replacing nonlinear and time-varying aspects of a neural network and model uncertainty with IQC, the stability of the control loop is analyzed. As a result, the range of the adjusted parameters is found within which the stability is guaranteed, the control system performance is improved through learning and the algorithm convergence speed is accelerated. The proposed RRLDC is applied to gas collector pressure control of coke ovens. The simulation results show the proposed control strategy can not only obtain the good performance, but also avoid unstable behavior in learning process. It is an effective multivariable decoupling control method for a class of strong coupling systems such as the gas collector pressure control of coke ovens.the effectiveness of proposed control strategy for the collector gas pressure of coke ovens


Objective To explore the clinical curative effect of Naoxintong on secondary prevention of myocardial infarction.Methods The 494 cases of patients with acute myocardial infarction(the disease course of 28 days~5 years) were randomly divided into treatment group and control group.The treatment group and control group were individually treated by the usual treatment + Naoxintong or conventional treatments + aspirin,and were followed up for 1.5 years.Results Statistical differences in comprehensive effect,incidence of end events and adverse reaction were also found between tow groups(P0.05).Conclusion Aspirin is an internationally recognized coronary secondary preventive medication.This clinical study found that Naoxintong is better than aspirin in many aspects,such as post-infarction angina,improving electrocardiogram,shortening the diastolic trail,decreasing end events and so on,Naoxintong can be used as secondary prevention drug of myocardial infarction,which is worth of spreading.


Abstract : The requirements for leadership of complex organizations, present and future, are described. The changing performance demanded of military organizations, and the implications for developing leaders who will have the necessary capabilities are discussed. Since the performances required of military organizations are becoming more adaptive, the distinctive quality of future leadership will lie in ability to develop and guide responsive systems of decision and action. Developing of future leaders will require recognizing the organizational role of leadership and designing training programs specifically attuned to that role.


In the fields of finance, insurance, system reliability, etc., it is often of interest to measure the dependence among variables by modeling a multivariate distribution using a copula. The copula models with parametric assumptions are easy to estimate but can be highly biased when such assumptions are false, while the empirical copulas are nonsmooth and often not genuine copulas, making the inference about dependence challenging in practice. As a compromise, the empirical Bernstein copula provides a smooth estimator, but the estimation of tuning parameters remains elusive. The proposed empirical checkerboard copula within a hierarchical empirical Bayes model alleviates the aforementioned issues and provides a smooth estimator based on multivariate Bernstein polynomials that itself is shown to be a genuine copula. Additionally, the proposed copula estimator is shown to provide a more accurate estimate of several multivariate dependence measures. Both theoretical asymptotic properties and finite-sample performances of the proposed estimator based on simulated data are presented and compared with some nonparametric estimators. An application to portfolio risk management is included based on stock prices data.


This paper examines some of the methodological difficulties that must be confronted in an attempt to measure the distribution of economic status in an area where households keep no records and where the members of individual households engage in more than one income earning activity. The paper also presents selected measures of the distribution of economic status derived from a survey carried out in Mbere Division in Eastern Kenya in 1973/ 74. Some possible explanations of the variation in economic ststus. between households are also considered,, METHQDOLOG-IGAL ISSUES AMD SELECTED PINDIJiGS PIT M M A U S I S OF THE DISTHI3UTION OE WEALTH ASP INCOME IN MBERE DIVISION, EASTERN KENYAThere axe two types of economic inequality: inequality of economic opportunity, and inequality in the distribution of wealth and income, which we will call economic status. The latter inequality normally generates the former but it need not necessarily do so. In a society where education and health care are provided freely by the state, where the state accepts the responsibility for ensuring minimal acceptable housing standards., income levels and also nutriti.on. standards for children (e.g. through, subsidised school meals), and where access to jobs is based on an assessment of merit there could be equality of economic opportunity coexistant with inequality in the distribution of income and wealth. In practice, however, we find that the economic pressures on poor families are such that their children do not face equality of economic opportunity with those of wealthier families. This is true in so-called advanced economies, and Is. no less true in Kenya. Economic inequality is a fact of life which it seems impossible to escape. Such inequality exists between nations, within nations, and within regions of nations. Nuic-jpe in 1953 calculated that the high income countries with 18 per cent of the world's population, received 67 per cent of world income; while the poor countries with 67 per cent of the world's population received-15 per-cent of the world's income, (see Table 1). E©ade calculated that in 1959 in U.K. the top one per cent of the population received 47 per cent of all personal income from property and 6 per cent of all earned income. The top 5 per cent received 66 per cent and 17 per cent respectively, (see Table 2). In Kenya it has been estimated that 1970 approximately 1.3 per cent of households received incomes of K # £1,000 and over while 14.1 per cent of households received incomes of K"£20 or less (see Table 3.)» That these inequalities in the distribution of income are associated with inequalities in the distribution of rights over and access to productive assets is well known. Probably no society past or present, with perhaps the exception of the hunters and gatherers and the small groups referred to below has experienced complete and sustained equality of economic apportunity. No society with the exception of a few small and.carefully bounded communities (e.g. certain monasteries, communes) has experienced sustained equality of


Efficient diagnosis of faults in digital circuits requires high quality diagnostic test sets that are generated by effective algorithm. In this work, novel optimization algorithms for diagnostic test generation are proposed that require significantly less time than previous methods. The diagnostic test generation is performed using particle swarm optimization (PSO) or improved PSO, and fault simulator. Experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of the approach. STPG based on improved PSO is generally superior to both GA-based STPG and PSO-based STPG in terms of achieved fault coverage and required CPU time


TPS7127 Background: PI3Kδ is critical for the activation, proliferation and survival of B cells and plays a role in homing and retention of B cells in lymphoid tissues. PI3K signaling is hyperactive in many B-cell malignancies. Idelalisib is a first-in-class, selective, oral inhibitor of PI3Kδ that reduces proliferation, enhances apoptosis, and alters trafficking of malignant B cells in lymphoid tissues (Lannutti, 2011). Phase 1 trials demonstrated that idelalisib is highly active in heavily pretreated pts with CLL as a single agent or in combination with rituximab (R), bendamustine (B), or BR: pts experienced reductions in disease-associated chemokines, profound and rapid reductions in lymphadenopathy, and durable clinical benefit with an acceptable safety profile (Sharman et al, 2011; Coutre et al, 2012; Furman et al, 2014). Methods: Study will enroll 390 pts with previously treated CLL who have measurable lymphadenopathy, have received prior therapy containing a purine analog or B and an anti-CD20 mono...


This paper reports a patient with salt-losing nephropathy, phosphaturia, glucosuπa, hypercalcmria and bicarbonaturia, i.e. urinary abnormalities due to proximal tubular defects. Oral indomethacin caused a complete normalization of urinary alterations. These results show that indomethacin is effective in the treatment of proximal tubular defects and suggest that this therapeutic effect is due to an overall increase in proximal tubular reabsorption.


A newly developed nonionic amphiphile (GPGS-1500), a diester composed of a Guerbet alcohol (2-octyldodecan-1-ol), poly(ethylene glycol) 1500 (PEG 1500), and succinic acid esters, has been prepared as an effective nanomicelle-forming species for the synthesis of tetrazoles in water at room temperature.


Abstract Until recently, supply chain (SC) configuration has been carried out solely on the basis of financial criteria. Nonetheless, social and environmental criteria are increasingly seen as important. Such strong constraints are characteristic of pharmaceutical downstream logistics. In the first time we identify the most important criteria and how to measure their impact. Then, we study their effect on decision making (centralized or not) and physical structure (centralized or not). Our results show that the combination of centralized decision making with a decentralized structure leads to the best global performance.


Heidegger and Foucault consider the problem of modern technology from the viewpoints of reflexive modernity. Neither the quest for the nature of machinery technology by Heidegger, nor the genealogical analysis of technology of self by Foucault deny simply modern technology. On the contrary, they want to disclose its duality of disclosure and investment. They tell us that, facing up the extreme expansion of technical reason, philosophy should maintain a conservative position, and restore the statue of experience in a renewable sense.


The creeping wood sorrel (Oxalis corniculata L.) in Central Europe occurs mainly in anthropogenic areas, where it grows in parks and landfill sites or in protected cultivation sites like greenhouses and nurseries.In Hungary O. corniculata has been spreading since the 19th century. In glass- and greenhouses it is the only weed species that was able to settle and flourish on hydroponic rock-wool and coconut fibre growing media.Among virus pathogens of forced tomato (LYPES) and paprika crops (CPSAN) in Hungary the Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) has become an important one, severely affecting the plants and on occasions causing 100% yield losses. The spread of the virus was largely assisted by its effective vector the Western Flower Thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande). Initially the control of the disease was based on the control of the thrips, later, virus-resistant varieties were introduced. This however proved insufficient to fight the disease as it was discovered, quite recently, that in certain white pepper (CPSAN) varieties the virus was able to break up the resistance. According to data of the year 2012, those varieties that were considered resistant, showed up to 50% virus infection.Considering the wide spread of O. corniculata and increasing occurrence of the resistance-breaking TSWV isolates, surveys in greenhouses were conducted to examine whether the weed could serve as reservoir for TSWV. Samples were collected of the virus infected crop plants and O. corniculata growing in the same coconut fibre cubes. The samples were examined using test-plants, serological and RT-PCR methods. In result it was found that the symptoms were indeed caused by resistance-breaking TSWV isolates. However, no virus was found in the suspected O. corniculata samples. Therefore it was concluded that in this particular case the O. corniculata cannot be considered reservoir for the virus, in the hydroponic culture.Keywords: Frankliniella occidentalis, Hungary, invasive weed, pepper, TAS-ELISA, RT-PCRHorn-Sauerklee (Oxalis corniculata L.) als Reservoir des Resistenz-uberwindenden Stammes der Tomatenbronzefleckenkrankeit (TSWV-RB) in Steinwolle-basierendem Gemusebau in UngarnZusammenfassungDer Horn-Sauerklee (Oxalis corniculata L.) kommt in Zentraleuropa vor allem in urbanen Habitaten vor, wie zum Beispiel in und um Gewachshauser, in Parks oder auf Schuttflachen.In Ungarn breitet sich O. corniculata seit dem 19. Jahrhundert aus. In Gewachshausern ist der O. corniculata das einzige Unkraut, das sich auf Steinwolle- und Kokos-Substraten etabliert hat, und dort auch bluht. Bei Tomaten (LYPES) und Paprika (CPSAN) ist die Tomatenbronzefleckenkrankeit (Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, TSWV) in Ungarn am problematischsten und kann zu 100 % Ertragsausfall fuhren. Die Virus-Ubertragung erfolgt vor allem durch den Kalifornischen Blutenthrips (Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande). Deshalb wurde TSWV ursprunglich vor allem durch die Kontrolle der Thripse verhindert. Spater wurden TSWV-resistente Sorten von Paprika (CPSAN) eingefuhrt. Kurzlich wurde jedoch ein Resistenz-uberwindender Stamm des TSWV gefunden. Daten von 2012 aus Ungarn zeigen, dass die normalerweise resistenten Sorten nun bis zu 50 % befallen werden.Deshalb wurden Erhebungen in ungarischen Gewachshausern durchgefuhrt, um zu klaren, in wieweit O. corniculata als TSMV-Reservoir dienen konnte. Paprikapflanzen mit Schadsymptomen wurden eingesammelt, als auch Horn-Sauerklee-Pflanzen wenn sie in dem gleichen Kokos-Substratblock wuchsen. Die Proben wurden serologisch und mit RT-PCR auf TSWV getestet. Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die Schadmuster auf den Paprikapflanzen tatsachlich vom TSWV herruhrten. Auf den entsprechenden Horn-Sauerklee Proben wurde jedoch erstaunlicherweise kein TSWV gefunden. Darum kann der O. corniculata in diesem speziellen Fall als TSWV-Reservoir ausgeschlossen werden.Stichworter: Frankliniella occidentalis, invasives Unkraut, Paprika, RT-PCR, Ungarn, TAS-ELISA


Magnetic and electric field observations from the ESA Swarm mission are used to report the direction of electromagnetic energy flux associated with equatorial plasma depletions (EPDs). Contrary to expectations, the observations suggest a general interhemispheric Poynting flux rather than concurrent flows at both hemispheres towards or away from the equator. Of high interest is a particular behavior noticed over the region with the largest variation in the magnetic declination. This is, a Poynting flux flowing mainly into the southern magnetic hemisphere about between 60∘W and 30∘E, and into the northern magnetic hemisphere between 110∘W and 60∘W. The abrupt change in the flow direction at 60∘W is suggested to be caused by an asymmetry between the hemispheres on the ionospheric conductivity, likely due to the influence of thermospheric winds and the presence of the South Atlantic Anomaly.


Full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, which began on February 24, 2022, caused an unprecedented number of refugees, which in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could increase the number of patients. The recent pandemic dynamics in Ukraine, Poland, Germany and in the whole world was compared with the previous epidemic waves simulated with the use of the generalized SIR-model and corresponding parameter identification procedure. Since before the war the estimation of the number of infectious persons per capita in Ukraine 3.6 times exceeded the global figure, the increase of the number the new cases and the pandemic duration is expected. From the beginning of March 2022 the increase of the averaged number of new cases in Germany and worldwide is visible.


The key hoisting technology for DG3110/26.15-Ⅱ1 once-through boiler of 2×1 000 MW units in the third stage extension project of Qinbei Power Plant is introduced in this paper. According to the boiler parameters, arrangement mode, and considering own mechanical resource of hoisting and process, safety, quality and cost in construction, a reasonable hoisting scheme is suggested, including the steel frame and heating surface components, which has been proved with beneficial effect. The experience also has referencial significance to the same type boiler hoisting.


The Tongling ore district is one of the most economically important ore areas in the Middle–Lower Yangtze River Metallogenic Belt, eastern China. It contains hundreds of polymetallic copper–gold deposits and occurrences. Those deposits are mainly clustered (from west to east) within the Tongguanshan, Shizishan, Xinqiao, Fenghuangshan, and Shatanjiao orefields. Until recently, the majority of these deposits were thought to be skarn‐ or porphyry–skarn‐type deposits; however there have been recent discoveries of numerous vein‐type Au, Ag, and Pb‐Zn deposits that do not fall into either of these categories. This indicates that there is some uncertainty over this classification. Here, we present the results of several systematic geological studies of representative deposits in the Tongling ore district. From investigation of the ore‐controlling structures, lithology of the host rock, mineral assemblages, and the characteristics of the mineralization and alteration within these deposits, three genetic types of deposits (skarn‐, porphyry‐, and vein‐type deposits) have been identified. The spatial and temporal relationships between the orebodies and Yanshanian intrusions combined with the sources of the ore‐forming fluids and metals, as well as the geodynamic setting of this ore district, indicate that all three deposit types are genetically related each other and constitute a magmatic–hydrothermal system. This study outlines a model that relates the polymetallic copper–gold porphyry‐, skarn‐, and vein‐type deposits within the Tongling ore district. This model provides a theoretical basis to guide exploration for deep‐seated and concealed porphyry‐type Cu (–Mo, –Au) deposits as well as shallow vein‐type Au, Ag, and Pb–Zn deposits in this area and elsewhere.


This article presents a preliminary analysis of the Quebec scholarly literature on humanities and social sciences instruction in elementary school published since the 1964 Report of the Royal Commission on Learning. To this end, 83 documents published over roughly the past fifty years were reviewed using a mixed thematic content analysis based on the questions and the conceptual framework underlying the author's previous research. The analysis highlights the trends, perspectives, tensions and breaks characterizing the foundations and conceptual framework of didactics in elementary school social sciences and humanities within the province. Influenced at times by "personalist" and "technological" theories, and at others by constructivist (or even socio-constructivist) ones, this field's evolution bears witness to a diversity of conceptions and viewpoints directly connected to the conceptual basis of those who have collectively and historically shaped it.


The following article is Chorin's first paper. It presents d p t 1 = · u 5 0, (1b9) work that was part of his Ph.D. thesis at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. This is one of the earliest papers on a finite difference where p 5 r/d, r is an ''artificial density,'' and d ''is an approximation to the incompressible Navier–Stokes equaartificial compressibility.'' The artificial compressibility d tions in primitive variables is regarded as a computational parameter, which is related to an artificial sound speed c by


We report the results of three experimental tests of the "hot cognition" hypothesis, which posits that all sociopolitical concepts that have been evaluated in the past are affectively charged and that this affective charge is automatically activated within milliseconds on mere exposure to the concept, appreciably faster than conscious appraisal of the object.

We find support for the automaticity of affect toward political leaders, groups, and issues; specifically:

• Most Ss show significantly faster reaction times to affectively congruent political concepts and significantly slower response times to affectively incongruent concepts;
• These facilitation and inhibition effects, which hold for a cross-section of political leaders, groups, and issues, are strongest for those with the strongest prior attitudes, with sophisticates showing the strongest effect on "harder" political issues.
• Even semantically unrelated affective concepts (e.g., "sunshine,""cancer") have a strong effect on the evaluation of political leaders, groups, and issues.

We conclude with a discussion of the "so what?" question—the conceptual, substantive, and normative implications of hot cognition for political judgments, evaluations, and choice. One clear expectation, given that affect appears to be activated automatically on mere exposure to sociopolitical concepts, is that most citizens, but especially those sophisticates with strong political attitudes, will be biased information processors.


This paper describes the NUIG-UNLP sys-tem submitted to SemEval-2016, Task 13. We implement a semi-supervised method that extracts hypernym candidates for the terms provided in the test list. The main assumption of our system is that hypernyms may be induced by adding a vector offset to the corresponding hyponym word embedding. The vector off-set is obtained as the average offset between 200 pairs of hyponym-hypernym in the same vector space. Our approach ranked second on connectivity (c.c.) and categorisation (i.i.) for the English taxonomy construction, and fifth on the overall ranking. Despite of these modest results, our system achieved comparable evaluations scores with the other participants.


Introduction:
 Social media (SoMe) platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are increasingly popular tools for dissemination of information. Currently, there is little research into SoMe and its utility in medical education (MedEd) at various training levels.

 Hypothesis:
 We hypothesize that residents will be more likely than medical students to use SoMe for MedEd and professional networking; that Twitter will be the dominant platform used by trainees for MedEd; that time constraints will be the primary barrier preventing trainees from using SoMe for MedEd; and that trainees who do use SoMe academically do so to network and collaborate.

 Methods:
 A survey based study was conducted at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Surveys were sent to medical students and Internal Medicine residents and their responses recorded. Responses were anonymous. A Pearson Chi-Square analysis was used to analyze the categorical data.

 Results:
 Total of 294 responses were collected, 61 residents and 215 students. 51% (148) of responses were women. 50% (11/22) of medical students using Twitter use it for MedEd, vs 100% (9/9) of residents using Twitter use it for MedEd (p-value = 0.008). Only 22% (18/82, 7/31) of both residents and medical students using Instagram use it for MedEd. For residents and students alike, SoMe for MedEd was primarily used for up-to-date clinical guidelines rather than professional networking on both Twitter and Instagram (88% (14/16) and 67% (16/24) respectively). Among Instagram users, 71% (15/21) of trainees chose time constraint as the primary barrier to MedEd use. For Twitter, 100% (5/5) of trainees chose not knowing where to start as the primary barrier.

 Conclusion:
 Our study demonstrates that SoMe is a valid, but underutilized, education tool. Trainees most often utilized SoMe to keep up to date with clinical guidelines with Twitter being the most prominent platform for MedEd overall and engaging more residents than students. Targeted educational initiatives on these platforms may be a powerful platform to recruit trainees into the field of cardiology.


Purpose
What information do members of Congress (politicians) use when they trade stocks? The purpose of this paper is to attempt to answer this question by investigating the relationship between an aggregate measure of trading by members of Congress (aggregate congressional trading) and future stock market returns.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors follow the empirical framework used in academic work on corporate insiders. In particular, they aggregate 61,998 common stock transactions by politicians over the 2004–2010 period and estimate time series regressions at a monthly frequency with heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation robust t-statistics.

Findings
The authors find that aggregate congressional trading predicts future stock market returns, suggesting that politicians use economy-wide (i.e. macroeconomic) information in their stock trades. The authors also present evidence that aggregate congressional trading is related to the growth rate of industrial production, suggesting that industrial production serves as a potential channel through which aggregate congressional trading predicts future stock market returns.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to document a relationship between aggregate congressional trading and stock market returns. The media and scholarly attention on politicians' trades have mostly focused on the question of whether politicians have superior information on individual firms. The results from this study suggest that politicians' informational advantage may go beyond individual firms such that they potentially have superior information on the overall trajectory of the economy as well.


In the summer of 2005, about 200 people who spent time on or near beaches in a stretch of the northwest Italian coast around the city of Genova, sought medical treatment for


As the degree of industrialization is getting higher and higher, the requirements for the accuracy of materials are getting higher and higher. Among them, the detection of round holes in materials is particularly important. Round hole inspection is one of the important methods for material forming and precision inspection. This paper studies the round hole detection method of composite chemical materials and aims at using deep learning image technology to provide an efficient and convenient detection method for round hole detection. This paper proposes a fast circular hole detection algorithm based on contour extraction and validity judgment. The algorithm can extract the circular holes on the material sufficiently and quickly, and the image recognition technology based on deep learning can effectively improve the accuracy and efficiency of circular hole detection. Whether it is in circular contour extraction, validity analysis, or parameter calculation, the improved algorithm has shown good results. The experimental results show that the improved algorithm is significantly better than the canny algorithm for the extraction of circular hole contours. In terms of effectiveness, the calculation time of the improved algorithm is lower than the original algorithm in different data sets, and the highest is 1.14 seconds lower than the original algorithm. The error in parameter calculation is also the lowest, and the error of a set of data is as low as 0.1%.


Social scientists increasingly claim that work structures based on the mass production or "Fordist" paradigm have grown obsolete, giving way to a more flexible, "post-Fordist" structure of work. These claims have been much disputed, however, giving rise to a sharply polarized debate over the outcome of workplace restructuring. I seek to reorient the debate by subjecting the post-Fordist approach to theoretical and empirical critique. Several theoretical weaknesses internal to the post-Fordist approach are identified, including its uncertain handling of "power" and "efficiency" as factors that shape work organizations; its failure to acknowledge multiple responses to the crisis of Fordism, several of which seem at odds with the post-Fordist paradigm; and its tendency to neglect the resurgence of economic dualism and disparity within organizations and industries. Review of the empirical literature suggests that, despite scattered support for the post-Fordist approach, important anomalies exist (such as the growing authority of "mental" over manual labor) that post-Fordism seems powerless to explain. In spite of its ample contributions, post-Fordist theory provides a seriously distorted guide to the nature of workplace change in the United States. Two alternative perspectives toward the restructuring of work organizations are sketched— neoinstitutionalist and "flexible accumulation" models—which seem likely to inspire more fruitful lines of research on the disparate patterns currently unfolding within American work organizations.


Mudskipper is a species of fish that mostly found in the estuaries and coastal areas with mud substrates. This fish can adapt to wet conditions and change temperatures by hiding in the holes around the mangrove. The purpose of this study was to identify the diversity of mudskipper fish according to the environmental conditions of estuarine in Merauke district. The study was conducted in April-June 2018, with two observation stations. These stations were based on the characteristic differences in the estuary waters of Merauke district. This study used purposive sampling method. Data analysis used an ecological index (diversity index, uniformity, and dominance). The results showed that the diversity index was a moderate category (1.5858-1.5845). The distribution of species and individuals were spread evenly in each community while the environmental parameters were temperature (23-300C), salinity (20-30 ppt), pH (7, 1-8,1), Do (1.55-2.16), BOD (0.42-0.89), BOT (11.14-29.39. The clay (muddy) substrates strongly supported mudskipper live in the estuary.


This paper describes the present practical use of computers in two large beginning physics courses at the University of California, Irvine; discusses the versatility and desirability of computers in the field of education; and projects the possible future directions of computer-based learning. The advantages and disadvantages of educational networking (including regional computer centers for education) and the stand-alone, one-on-one computer are . discussed. One stand-alone system now being developed for a home-based videodisc system which attaches to a television set is described. It is suggested that computers will occupy a more important role in the educational process in the future than they do at present. (MCC) LEARNING WITH COMPUTERS TODAY AND TOMORROW


This article describes the design and evaluation of a formal writing assessment program within a technical writing course. Our purpose in this base-line study was to evaluate student writing at the conclusion of the course. In implementing this evaluation, we addressed fundamental issues of sound assessment: reliability and validity. Our program may encourage others seeking to assess educational outcomes in technical writing courses.


To discuss investigate for improvement of IMRT plan dose verification. Methods: The dose of IM- RT plans ( NOMOS Peacock system) was compare with dose measurement and the relative error was obtained. Results: Average error of 91.3% verification plans is in range of 1.63%, which accorded with the results of dose measurement. Discussion: In verification of plans, location of ionization chambers, phantom and volume of chamber all need more study and improvement.


Introduction: Despite being recognized only as a primary headache, some studies in the literature suggest the existence of nummular headache secondary to structural lesions and other diseases. The aim of this literature review is to compile the cases of probable secondary nummular headache reported in the literature. Methods: The terms "nummular headache" and "coin-shaped headache" were searched in five databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, SciELO, LILACS and Cochrane Library). Only articles that described cases of patients diagnosed with nummular headache were included. The cases were considered as secondary when a cause for the headache was suggested by the authors. Results: After excluding reviews and non-related or duplicated studies, 50 articles were included. A total of 343 cases of nummular headache were, at least, mentioned by these studies, and 30 of them were considered as secondary. Conclusion: there are few reports of secondary nummular headache in the literature; still, they represent a considerable percentage of the reported cases of nummular headache. They support that structural lesions and other diseases should be considered in the differential diagnosis of primary nummular headache.


The X-linked hypomaturation type of amelogenesis imperfecta was first described by Witkop [1-3] in two kindreds during a survey of 96,471 school children for defects of enamel and dentin. Witkop [4] added another kindred to the former and demonstrated the partial expression of the trait in presumed heterozygous females which was compatable with the Lyon [5] hypothesis. Presumed hemizygous affected males had an enamel of normal thickness but which was slightly softer than normal enamel with a mottled, opaque, ground-glass appearance (fig. la). The color varied from an opaque milky white in the primary dentition to a mottled yellow brown color in the permanent dentition. All the teeth in both primary and secondary dentitions were reported to be affected. heterozygous


ABSTRACT Poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) silicones, as a common intraocular lenses material, often lead to the happen of posterior capsule opacification due to the adhesion and reproduction of residual human lens epithelial cells (HLECs) on the posterior capsule after surgery. Bacterial infection is a potentially catastrophic complication of cataract surgery, which occurs within several days after implantation of the lens. A novel poly (methacrylisobutyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-co-2-(dimethylamino)-ethyl methacrylate) (p (MA POSS-co-DMAEMA)) brush was synthesized by reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization. After being quaternized treatment by 1-bromo-heptane, p (MA POSS-co-DMAEMA+) brushes with bactericidal function were obtained. The optical transmission of the brushes functionalized PDMS was better than p (DMAEMA+) coating modified PDMS, which may be due to the similar chemical composition of MA POSS and PDMS. Measurements of water contact angle, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and atomic force microscope were used to characterize hydrophilicity, thickness, and morphology of the brushes. Results revealed that brushes rendered PDMS surface more hydrophilicity and higher roughness. Adherences of bovine serum albumin and HLECs on the p (MA POSS-co-DMAEMA+) brushes were significantly reduced due to the hydrophilic property and cytotoxicity of the brushes. Bactericidal activity of the brushes, measured by shake-flask culture and LIVE/DEAD bacterial viability kit staining methods, was remarkably effective against S. aureus owing to the component of p (DMAEMA+). GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


The linear complexity of a sequence is the size of the shortest feedback drift register, which generates the sequence. A method of estimating this complexity consists in successive processing of the sequence and obtaining a monotone increasing sequence of estimators (linear complexity profile), of which the limit is the linear complexity. The results presented here have applications in cryptography; more exactly, they can be used to find the linear equivalent complexity of a cipher algorithm and this to estimate the cryptographic resistance. In this paper, we present some efficient methods of estimating and evaluating the linear equivalent complexity of a cipher algorithm. Some interesting and new results are presented with regard to the complexity of the combinations of linear feedback shift registers. These combinations can be described in terms of Boolean function theory using logical operators like sum and product. The notion of splitting (a generalization of the classical term of decimation) and the inverse operator called interleave are also introduced. The proofs of the theorems are also given. This work can be easily generalized to quadratic complexity of high order complexity.


The people-smuggling network prospers. Organized crime of this type runs from Western Europe through Central Europe into even the smallest village in the Middle East. Much of this clandestine migration ends up in northern France. The Sangatte reception centre near Calais is the final stop before the migration journey to England, the Eldorado that has attracted them throughout the months or even years that they have been travelling. Once in Sangatte, migrants must again contact the smugglers in order to reach their final destination.


A case of a large supra-clinoideal aneurysm of the left internal carotid artery involving from the second up to twelveth cranial nerves is reported. The patient, a 55-years-old white female, died 4 days after the angiographic study. The necropsy showed a giant aneurysm originated of the supraclinoideal left internal carotid artery, and an aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery.


This paper examines the use of costs and cost functions to model lot-sizing decisions in batch manufacturing. The cost functions used to model a wide variety of manufacturing systems are typically derived from average cost models of unconstrained inventory problems. The use of setups and average inventories as the basis for modeling the economics of a typical batch manufacturing cell is shown to be inadequate. An alternative physical model that focuses on lead times provides a model that more closely represents the underlying value of such a cell.


A new capacitance model for LDMOS (Lateral Double Diffused MOS Transistor) is proposed. The effect of lateral non-uniform channel doping on capacitance characteristics is included. Overlap region capacitance modeling is properly handled and the two stages in Cgg curve ar e well modeled. The distributed RC network has substantial effect on LDMOS capacitance characterization due to the nonsymmetric structure of LDMOS and its implication on modeling is discussed. The new capacitance model is validated with measurement data.


The paper is devoted to the main problems, directions and prospects of the study of Ukrainian emigration literature of the 20th century. In particular it studies the history of its research as a separate scientific problem, analyzes the main directions of its research, and marks the most important scientific achievements in its development. Based on the analysis of the works of Ukrainian literary scholars and critics – both emigration and mainland – devoted to the problem of studying emigration literature (historical-literature, theoretical, methodological), some comments are made about the peculiarities of its development, difference from others – diaspora, expatriate, as well as the relationship of these closely related but not identical concepts. The article analyzes features that internally unite emigration and mainland literary processes, as well as their differences and moments of interactions, it emphasizes the complexity and inconsistency of this interaction. An opinion is expressed on the opportunity to consider the relation between mainland and emigration literatures as a metropolis and the periphery and, at the same time, peculiar cultural monopolies. One aspect of the study concerns the issue of the discontinuity and functioning of emigration literature as developing not because of the change of generation, as mainland literature, but through "waves" that influence its external contours and internal movement. The article notes the significance of historical, cultural, moral and aesthetic experience, which Ukrainian emigration literature brought to history and the canon of national literature, expanding them ideologically, genre and thematically. The paper substantiates the importance of the theoretical and historical-literature conceptualization of Ukrainian emigration literature of the 20th century, the need for an integral scientific approach, which would become the theoretical basis for future research.


The annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery was held in New Orleans, La, from September 15 through 20, 1995. This report discusses the plenary session, which was held on September 19, 1995, and the program designed to provide the general otolaryngologist an update on pediatric otolaryngology, which was held on September 20, 1995. Plenary Session: Pediatric Otolaryngology. Avishay Golz, MD , Haifa, Israel, and his collaborators retrospectively reviewed over 1200 records looking for evidence that a particular prophylactic treatment succeeded in decreasing the otorrhea rate after placement of ventilation tubes for chronic serous otitis media. The investigators found that the combination product of amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium (Augmentin) administered in three perioperative doses or in a single perioperative dose reduced postoperative otorrhea by 2.5% and 2.6%, respectively. Amoxicillin administered for 10 days postoperatively reduced otorrhea by 5.8%. These results were significant in comparison with no prophylaxis