Aim:To investigate the effect of edaravone on cell apoptosis after spinal cord injury and explore its protective effect and action mechanism.Methods:120 SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: sham,control and edaravone-treating groups.There were 40 rats in each group.SD rat model of acute spinal cord injury were established by Allen's weight dropping.The change of nerve functions and hydroxy radical repressive activity were assessed.The expression of caspase-3 was tested with immunohistochemistry and the apoptosis was labeled by TUNEL method.The differences and effects of each group were compared. Results:The hydroxy radical repressive activity in the spinal cord tissue at day 1,day 7,and day 14 after acute spinal cord injury were significantly different between the sham-operated group and the control group (P0.05).The caspase-3 protein level was lower in the edaravone group than that in the control group. Tunel-positive cells were significantly decreased at day 7(P0.05).Conclusion:Edaravone can decrease hydroxy radical repressive activity and the expression of caspase-3,and inhibit neuron and glial cell apoptosis in the rats after spinal cord injury,which may play a significant neuroprotective role in the secondary spinal cord injury.


Normal placentation and placental development are critical for a successful pregnancy and mediate important steps such as implantation and delivery of nutrients to the fetus. Preeclampsia (PE) is characterized by an increase in placental apoptosis, however the mechanism is not conclusive. The X‐linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) protects against apoptosis. Our objective was to determine the level and localization of active XIAP protein in PE placenta compared to controls. Control and PE placental samples were collected shortly after delivery. Tissues were frozen in liquid Nitrogen for RNA and western blot studies. For immunohistochemical studies tissues were fixed and embedded in paraffin and stained for activated (phospho) XIAP. We observed: 1) a trend for a significant decrease in XIAP gene expression (60%) in the PE placenta as compared to controls; 2) No significant differences in XIAP protein expression; 3) a significant decreased in active (phospho) XIAP protein (30%; p<0.05) in the placentas of PE women; and 4) decreased in active (phopspho) XIAP immunostaining in the syncitiotrophoblast layer of the PE placenta. Our data confirms that XIAP protein is expressed by the syncytiotrophoblasts in the human placenta during PE. We conclude that the decrease in activation of this protein during PE could potentially account for the increased apoptosis observed in this tissue at term. This result gives insights into pathways associated with the increased placental apoptosis and could be useful in the understanding of potential mechanisms that lead to placental insufficiency associated with this disease.


Purpose Invasive mycoses are predisposed to pulmonary lesions in a systemic infection.Fungal nodules demonstrated on peripheral tissues of lung are easily misdiagnosed as lung cancer.In an attempt to avoid misdiagnosis,the aim of this paper was to provide evidences of clinical manifestation,imaging features and pathological changes of pulmonary fungal nodules which were easily misdiagnosed as cancer.Methods Twenty-four cases displayed peripheral nodules in the left or right lungs,which were preliminarily misdiagnosed as lung cancer,were retrospectively analyzed on the data of clinical manifestations,CT or X-ray images and pathological findings.Results All the 24 patients did not suffer from diabetes mellitus,autoimmune disorders,immune insufficiency and malignancies in other organs except for lungs in their preoperative examinations.The patients were subjected to segmentectomy or lobectomy of lung under the preliminary diagnoses of cancer.But they were confirmed as pulmonary mycoses by pathological examinations.Pathological findings showed 14 cases of pulmonary cryptococcosis,8 cases of aspergillosis,1 case of histoplasmosis and 1 case of porotrichosis.Conclusions Peripheral nodules of lungs,which are commonly found in the patients neither with fundamental diseases nor with immune insufficiency,should not been diagnosed as lung cancer only based on clinical images since some of them might be a fungal mass of invasive mycoses.Pulmonary cryptococcosis or aspergillosis may frequently display peripheral nodules that should be differentiated from cancer by preoperative biopsy.


Composites of 0–20 vol% Ti-coated cBN (cBN@Ti) particles dispersed in WC–Ni were densified by spark plasma sintering under 50 MPa at 1300 °C. The cBN particles were distributed homogeneously with a Ti-rich interfacial layer between the cBN particles and WC–Ni matrix. Increasing cBN@Ti to 20 vol% decreased the sample densification, but all the composites were still >97.5% dense. The Vickers hardness and flexural strength initially increased and then decreased, reaching the maximum values of 1820 HV_10 with 15 vol% cBN@Ti and 1500 MPa with 5 vol% cBN@Ti, respectively, whereas the fracture toughness K _IC gradually increased from 8 to 13 MPa m^1/2. For cutting rocks, the wear significantly decreased with 5–15 vol% cBN@Ti but increased with 20 vol% cBN@Ti because of cBN particles pull-out.


Muḥammad Ibn Ṭūlūn is today fairly well known as a historian of Damascus. Yet, his numerous writings cover many more areas of contemporaneous knowledge production and some of those might have been more impactful for his reputation as a scholar. One area that has so far not received much attention is the scrutiny Ibn Ṭūlūn put into the organisation of knowledge within his library, his corpus, and even individual manuscripts. This article attempts one step at closing this lacuna by addressing the contents statements with which Ibn Ṭūlūn prefaced all his autograph manuscripts. It also proposes a methodology for utilising them as sources for manuscript history. Based on four primary case studies, the chapter uses a triad of extraction, recompilation, and reconstruction of manuscripts to assess the current state of multiple-text manuscripts vis-a-vis their original compilations. All four manuscripts ended up in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin by the 1930s. The chapter makes use of a wide array of sources within and without these manuscripts to elucidate their historical trajectories from Ibn Ṭūlūn's endowed library until their acquisition by Chester Beatty. Specific attention will be paid to their peregrinations in the 19th and early-20th centuries. In particular, early 20th-century photographic reproductions of those manuscripts can shed light on the most recent recompilations and reconstructions of these manuscripts. No survey on the emergence of contents statements in the Arabic manuscript tradition has yet been made. A focus on one author's autograph corpus thus seems a more promising approach which generates verifiable results. Thus, it appears that Ibn Ṭūlūn's contents statements were already standardised and would even be expanded by at least one (near-)contemporary.


Elasto-plastic deformation and fracture strength of single lap joints were investigated experimentally and analytically. The joint adherends were carbon steel and aluminum alloy. The adhesive was epoxy resin. The stress and strain in the joints under tensile loading were analyzed by using elasto-plastic finite element method. The variation of plastic region in the joints was examined with increasing applied load. The stress and strain curves in the adherends were compared with the experimental results. The fracture strength of breaking the joints was examined based on the stress and strain conditions in the adhesive layer and adherends near the adhesive interfaces.


The study on the effect of three tenderizers Papain (Treatment II) Bromelain (Treatment III) and Ficin (Treatment IV) and control (Treatment I) on the tenderization of beef (oxtail) was investigated. The tenderizers efficacy was determined using enzymes individually from the plant vegetables on meat cut from cow oxtail (4 5 years of age) at the food science laboratory of Imo state university Owerri. Meat samples were subjected to sensory evaluation of 10 semi-trained panelists for acceptability and physiochemical analysis at the same laboratory in triplicate order. Results obtained from this study showed that all the tenderizing treatments were significant differences (p < 0.05) in all the meat samples. However, Papain (Treatment II) had the higher tenderizing effect while the control (Treatment I) showed the leash tenderizing effect. In the nutrient composition of tenderized meat, the control (Treatment I) showed the highest moisture content (69 58%) and crude protein (26 94%) whereas Bromelain (Treatment III) showed highest crude fat (6 7), ash content (1.12 %) and dry matter (38.35). Bromelain was significantly different (P < 0.05) among other tenderizers. Significant difference (P < 0.05) existed among on all the mineral contents of the meat tenderizers and control (Treatment 1). No significant difference (P < 0.05) was observed in the weight change and cost benefit of meat samples before and after cooking with tenderizers, including the control. Phytochemical analysis revealed that all the tenderizers showed positive result in saponin, they showed negative with cyanogenic glucoside except Ficin. The sensory evaluation result revealed that all the meat samples were accepted by consumers but consumers, preferred mostly, the Papain (Treatment II) meat samples as significant difference (P < 0.05) existed among other meat samples, while the control (Treatment I) was the least preferred. Hence, the three tenderizers had positive tenderizer effect on the cow oxtail meat. Therefore, meat from spent cow can be tenderized using these proteolytic enzymes (Papain, Bromelain and Ficin) rather than tenderizing with metals, potash, trona, carbonated beverages and salt which may be harmful to the human health.


Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein of crossbred Marino sheep of 1–2 years of age having EPG >1000 (strongyle spp.) and/or OPG >2000 (Eimeria spp.). Variations in the levels of glucose, total protein, albumin, globulin, A:G ratio, calcium, inorganic phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride were studied and compared with biochemical profile of healthy non parasitized sheep. Significant (p 0.05) between the infected and control groups of sheep.


Antoine Redier, 1817–1892 Antoine-Jean-Joseph Redier was born in Perpignan, in the southernmost region of France, in 1817 and as a boy he worked for his father who was a goldsmith. At the age of fifteen he moved to Paris and was one of the first pupils to be enrolled in the new school for watchmaking, established in 1832 under the celebrated maker Louis-Frédéric Perrelet. Of all Perrelet's pupils, Redier went on to become the most remarkable. Redier's talents had been recognised at an early age by the astronomer François Arago who was a friend of the family. Arago was instrumental in Redier's move to Paris, and in his application to join Perrelet's school where Redier gained first place in the tests for admission. On the completion of his training, Redier worked for the chronometer maker Henri Robert for three years and then, in 1842, he set up on his own by acquiring the business of Duchemin. Redier Timekeepers with conventional escapements have an intermittent action, albeit regular – their seconds hands advance in steps of one second, half a second, or some fraction of a second, with each release of the escapement. Because of this they cannot be synchronised exactly with one another, nor with a time signal or an event under observation, and some degree of judgement is required. To overcome this problem the nineteenth century French maker Antoine Redier devised his ingenious 'Comparateur Chronométrique' where the movement of the seconds hand can be advanced or retarded while the instrument is running, thus making exact synchronisations and comparisons possible and allowing differences to be determined.


This article employs panel unit root and panel cointegration tests to determine the interactions between innovation, financial development, and economic growth in 49 European countries between 1961 and 2014. The results suggest a cointegrating relationship between the three series. A vector error-correction model is estimated, showing that financial development and innovation are both causative factors of economic growth in the long run. Thus, a policy focus on financial development and innovation is appropriate as an approach to boost the economic performance of these countries.


Big data represents a significant decision-making tool in educational processes, allowing for not only improvements in the quality of education, but also the formation of effective strategies, allowing users to effectively make decisions based on the results of predictive and prescriptive analytics. In addition, educational data are used to analyze and predict student behaviors and learning outcomes to ensure the high quality of educational programs.Nevertheless, even though educational data offer significant opportunities, there are a few challenges associated with their effective and timely application, such as compatibility, data processing and storage, security, confidentiality, and ethics. This article reports on a study that aimed to determine whether the effectiveness of learning management could be enhanced through the development of a more rigorous academic environment and a stimulation intervention designed for a particular graduate program at a particular university. The study used data from several study groups. It collected qualitative and quantitative data to examine the impact of the environment and the stimulation of 173 students, as well as benchmark group data from 22 students. The results showed that exposure to a more rigorous academic environment with minimized gamification, as well as the application of a stimulation intervention, was successful in improving scores for several metrics. This article indicates the importance of updating and using educational data to enhance learning management, as well as the need to increase knowledge in this area.


The study was a quasi-experimental research with the entire student population of class VIII Junior Surya Dharma2 Belfast school year 2011/2012 consisting of three classes. The samplesisclass VIII-A and class VIII-B are taken using random sampling techniques purporsive. Data retrieval techniques using test techniques. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of cooperative learning model to enhance the activity of type NHT. results showed that the type of cooperative learning NHT effectively applied to increase the activity and student learning outcomes. Keywords: Cooperative NHT, Activities, and Learning Outcomes


Study Design Using a sheep model, clinically practical posterolateral intertransverse process fusion was successfully achieved and biomechanically tested to determine the load-sharing environment provided by spinal instrumentation and posterolateral fusion mass following solid arthrodesis. Objectives To quantify the in vivo load-sharing capacity of spinal instrumentation on augmenting the posterolateral intertransverse fusion. The hypothesis was that transpedicular screw fixation maintains the biomechanical contribution to the posterolateral fusion stability even after successful arthrodesis because of its providing anterior and middle column support. Summary of Background Data Although many previous studies have documented the biological and biomechanical advantages of posterolateral fusion, it is known that posterolateral fusion without spinal instrumentation allowed significant remaining motion at the fused segment even after the solid arthrodesis. Whether spinal instrumentation, especially transpedicular screw fixation, augments in vivo posterolateral fusion stability after solid arthrodesis has not been previously investigated. Methods Radiographic, macroscopic, and biomechanical analyses of a posterolateral intertransverse process fusion model were performed on 18 sheep at 4 months postoperatively. The load-sharing contribution of the spinal instrumentation was calculated based on the stability with or without spinal instrumentation tested in five loading modalities. Histomorphometry of the vertebral body spanned by spinal instrumentation provided the information regarding the biological effect of the load-sharing capacity of spinal instrumentation on bone remodelling. Results All sheep who received posterolateral intertransverse process fusion demonstrated successful solid arthrodesis and high biomechanical quality of the posterolateral fusion mass when compared to previous posterolateral fusion models. The significant difference in stiffness between fixation and subsequent fixation removal was observed in flexion, despite maintaining high lateral bending stiffness equivalent to the fixation (with instrumentation) level. This significant load-sharing contribution of spinal instrumentation detected in flexion corresponded to 27% when compared to the fixation level. The qualitative and quantitative bone histology showed 64% of the volumetric density of bone in the fixation group when compared to that of the sham group as well as narrow trabeculae and reduced connection of trabeculae. Conclusions The continuance in support offered by transpedicular screw fixation was assured in vivo after the solid posterolateral intertransverse process fusion. This was clearly demonstrated under eccentric loads in a sagittal plane, suggesting that transpedicular screw fixation was able to provide anterior and middle column support and resist eccentric loads.


Virtual manufacture is the fact manufacture's essential implement in the computer, also the development of computer simulation technology and virtual fact manufacture in the field of manufacture. This article gives a brief introduction of virtual technology and its application in the process of traditional product design, states the applications of virtual technology-virtual design, virtual assembly、virtual processes and virtual simulation, and gives an introduction in the field of product design , product making, testing, advertising, features and developments of it.


The dynamic yield strength of commercially pure nickel (99.5% Ni), as determined by planar impact experiments, shows a fivefold decrease in the close (±50°C) vicinity of its Curie point. The effect is attributed to the enhanced adsorption of impurity atoms by stacking fault ribbons (Suzuki atmosphere) that takes place in a narrow temperature interval.


This article intends to be an approach to Art Therapies since although they have been developed for many years in other areas of the continent; they are relatively new in our country, as a discipline. We pretend to provide with a historical review, a definition and some theoretical basics sustaining this practice. Finally, we present our proposal in the formation of professionals through the Diploma Course this university has offered since some years ago.


The idea of targeted learning has its roots in the early days of econometrics, when Jacob Marschak (1953) made an insightful observation regarding policy questions and structural equation modeling (SEM). While most of his colleagues on the Cowles Commission were busy estimating each and every parameter in their economic models, some using maximum likelihood and some least squares regression, Marschak noted that the answers to many policy questions did not require such detailed knowledge – a combination of parameters is all that is necessary and, moreover, it is often possible to identify the desired combination without identifying the individual components. Heckman (2000) called this observation "Marschak's Maxim" and has stressed its importance in the current debate between experimentalists and structural economists (Heckman 2010). Today we know that Marschak's Maxim goes even further – the desired quantity can often be identified without ever specifying the functional or distributional forms of these economic models. Until quite recently, however, Marschak's idea has not attracted the attention it deserves. For statisticians, the very idea of defining a target quantity not as a property of a statistical model but by a policy question must have sounded mighty peculiar, if not heretical. Recall that policy questions, and in fact most questions of interest to empirical researchers, invoke causal vocabulary laden with notions such as "what if," "effect of," "why did," "control," "explain," "intervention," "confounding," and more. This vocabulary was purged from the grammar of statistics by Karl Pearson (1911), an act of painful consequences that has prevented most datadriven researchers from specifying mathematically the quantities they truly wish to


In order to reduce production cost and simplify programming, the miniature programmable logic controller is designed, which realized restructure of the master control module based on STM32, and completed the control for external actuators through digital input and output module. Upper PC machine is used to monitor the running status of the controller with exchanging data through serial communication module.


In the three-truss cable-stayed bridges,the slab supported by steel truss bears the vehicle loads directly.Shear lag of the plate will appear when the loads act on it.The paper analyses the shear lag effect of slab in three-truss cable-stayed bridges through the spatial finite element model.The calculational results indicate that there are shear lag obviously in the slab of plate-truss composite girder,especially in the cable anchor sections near the tower and middle bracing sections.Its uneven coefficient() of longitudinal stress is 2.54~3.07.Therefore these sections should be considered enough in designing.


Four new and two previously known tambjamine alkaloids have been isolated from the organic extracts of the bryozoan Bugula dentata. The structures of the metabolites were elucidated by interpretation of their spectral data.


A host of physical parameters and characteristics of catchments and channel reaches are normally needed in watershed planning and stormwater management studies. Some of these are also design variables, such as channel cross‐section size, shape, roughness, and (to a lesser extent) bed slope. Conventional channel routing techniques employ continuity and some form of the momentum equation to determine the downstream impacts of individual flood events. With the introduction of the concept of storage‐induced delay time, a probabilistic approach is developed wherein the role of a given channel reach on the frequency distribution of floods from the catchment upstream can be directly determined. The approach uses the same kinds of channel‐reach parameters as are typically used by many conventional flood routing algorithms. Its physically based nature makes it suitable for watershed planning and stormwater management studies wherein little or no flow data are available for parameter estimation or flow frequency analysis. The validity of this probabilistic approach is demonstrated by comparing its outcomes with the results of a suite of conventional continuous simulations using rainfall data from Halifax, Canada.


In this study, free vibration analysis of an edge cracked multilayered symmetric sandwich beams made of functionally graded materials are investigated. Modelling of the cracked structure is based on the linear elastic fracture mechanics theory. Material properties of the functionally graded beams change in the thickness direction according to the power and exponential laws. To represent functionally graded symmetric sandwich beams more realistic, fifty layered beam is considered. Composition of each layer is different although each layer is isotropic and homogeneous. The considered problem is carried out within the Timoshenko first order shear deformation beam theory by using finite element method. A MATLAB code developed to calculate natural frequencies for clamped and simply supported conditions. The obtained results are compared with published studies and excellent agreement is observed. In the study, the effects of crack location, depth of the crack, power law index and slenderness ratio on the natural frequencies are investigated.


The novelty consists of a new application to viewing boxes of a well-known system of interior lighting. Its distinctive principle is that of the parabolic reflector. All the viewing boxes I have seen have been spoiled in some way by the fact that the illumination has not been even over the whole surface.In this box there is a completely evenly illuminated surface measuring 17 in. by 14 in. I have incorporated also a dimming device which will dim without altering the quality of the light or the evenness of the distribution. It does not involve electrical resistance, thus doing away with the necessity of creating heat; moreover, when dimming is carried out with a resistance, the incandescent filament tends to glow red and alters the colour of the light.


Graphene oxides as substrate for paper spray ionization mass spectrometry employed to creatinine determination in urine samples showed to be an accurate and fast methodology. Details are presented in the Article Graphene Oxides Coated Paper as a Substrate to Paper Spray Ionization Mass Spectrometry for Creatinine Determination in Urine Samples by Aline R. Fernandes, Ricardo A. Bernardo, Thays C. de Carvalho, Boniek G. Vaz and Andréa R. Chaves on page 1074.


High Performance Computing might be described as the application of a level of resource that is well matched to the demands of the problem to be solved. This is particularly true when the problem is well above the ordinary challenge. ENIAC, one of the first electronic digital computers, developed at the Moore Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania could be classified as High Performance in its day. After all, it was able to compute the complete trajectory of a ballistic missile in less time than the actual flightcertainly high performance at the time and many, many times faster than the scores of "human" computers" previously assigned the task. Today, the most challenging problems find solution on a class of machinery that is reaching speeds of one petaflop or one thousand trillion (10) floating point operations/second. ENIAC operated at speeds of several operations to five thousand operations/second depending on the actual function or functions.


The objective of the study was to evaluate the seasonal growth of the white clover (Trifolium repens L.) to determine the optimal moment for harvesting. A growth analysis per season was carried out in a four-year pasture established in Montecillo, Estado de Mexico. The experimental plot was 9 m2, with eight treatments and three repetitions, under a completely random design. The treatments consisted in weekly cuts in a successive manner. The variables evaluated were: dry matter yield, botanical and morphological composition, leaf area index, growth rate, and intercepted radiation. The highest fodder yield was obtained in the eighth week for spring, fall and winter (2953, 1592 and 1790 kg DM ha-1) and in summer in the seventh with 1970 kg DM ha-1. The growth rate varied between seasons (p<0.05). The highest leaf area index was found on week five in summer (P<0.05). The leaf was the greatest component, except in the summer. The results indicate that the white clover should be harvested in the eighth week in spring, fall and winter, and in the seventh in summer.


The preparation is reported of 33 crystalline compounds of tetra-alkylammonium halides with carbon tetrahalides and with tetrabromo- and tetraiodo-ethylene. The Raman and i.r. spectra are discussed, in conjunction with X-ray data, in terms of the site symmetries of the halogenocarbon molecules in these molecular complexes, and lattice force constants and vibrational amplitudes are calculated. The halide ion–carbon tetrahalide distances are considerably less than the sum of the ionic and van der Waals' radii by an amount which increases in the same order, Cl– < Br– < l–, as the halide ion–CBr4 lattice force constant. This together with Raman intensities of the lattice vibrations strongly indicates that the compounds should be regarded as donor–acceptor complexes.


Abstract Therapeutic doll making can hold diverse functions for clients in therapy, particularly for those clients who are working through complex trauma histories. Recent literature pertaining to the treatment of complex trauma suggests that talking treatments have their limits; supplementary therapeutic approaches that focus on sensory, physical, somatic, and body-oriented processes may be necessary. These include art therapy and various expressive modalities such as doll making. This article describes a series of six dolls created by a woman diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder resulting from child sexual abuse and family violence. The case illustrates significant therapeutic benefits of doll making in healing from complex trauma.


Objective To investigate the effect of chronic alcohol intake on TNF-α and leptin mRNA expression in rat adipose tissue and to explore the possible mechanism of the effect of alcohol on insulin sensitivity.Methods 40 Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups:ethanol dose of 0(control group),0.8 (low dose group),1.6 (middle dose group)and 2.4 g/(kg BW) (high dose group)daily. Fasting levels of glucose,insulin,TNF-α and leptin were measured.HOMA-IR index was calculated.The expressions of TNF-α and leptin mRNA in adipose tissue were detected by RT-PCR.Results Compared with control group,the fasting plasma glucose of high dose group,fasting plasma insulin of low and middle dose group and HOMA-IR index of all alcohol-loading group were significantly increased (all P 0.05).The serum TNF-α and expression of TNF-α mRNA in adipose tissue were significantly increased in high dose group.There was no significant change of leptin in both serum and adipose tissue in all ethanolloading group.Conclusions The changes of TNF-α mRNA expression in rat adipose tissue are likely to be the molecular mechanisms for alcohol induced insulin resistance.


This initiative is promoting the use of a Web based tool for Quality Management in Diabetes Care in Germany and Austria (see article in PDF)


Mechanism about effecting of laser radiation with weak intensity in Sub-millimeter spectral region on living biological system is discussed according to Bose condensation theory for living biological system,which was developed by H.Fr o ¨hlich,and the relative experimental results have been introduced in this paper.


1. The authors developed an apparatus to measure the thermal conductivity of fabrics on the comparative method. Seven fabrics were investigated with various combinations of the number of fabric layers (A) and the distance between fabrics (B). 2. Seven regression formulae for apparent thermal conductivity (y) were calculated statistically and expressed as follows y=aA2+bA+cB+d, 3. From the regression formulae, it was found out that the thermal insulation characteristics of knitted fabrics were as follows in general : i) The more the distance between fabrics increases, the less apparent thermal conductivity of the specimen becomes. The decrease is nearly equal to apparent thermal conductivity of the layer of still air of the same thickness as the distance between fabrics. ii) The more the number of fabric layers increases, the less apparent thermal conductivity of the specimen becomes. This relation, however, is not linear, even when the fabrics are in close contact with each other. iii) The more thickness of the fabric increases, the less apparent thermal conductivity of the specimen becomes. This relation is linear, but the decreasing gradient is small, if the number of fabric layers increases.


L ithuania's population on the eve of the new millennium is still about onethird rural, and one out of five workers in the country's labour force is in the agricultural sector. For about a half-century after World War II, private enterprise and the family farm were abolished in favour of very large, inefficient collective farms which were assigned the simple role of receiving feedgrains and providing meat and dairy products to other USSR Republics. Within the last few years since independence, Lithuanian agriculture has been subjected to conflicting and disruptive policies. Some lands have been returned to prior owners, and collective farms have been replaced by new corporate and cooperative organizations. Market competition has been introduced without educating the producers about how an agricultural market system works. As a result, the large and inefficient collective farm of the Soviet period has been replaced by an even less efficient farm. Lithuanian agriculture not only has not fared well in the transition era, but it now faces the necessity to make further changes before entering the European Union. Lithuania's Accession to the European Union is a collection of ten papers delivered at a workshop on "agricultural and rural policy and integration strategies," sponsored by the Lithuanian ministry of Agriculture and the European Union's Phare Program. Of special note within the essays are the introductory chapter, "Programs in Lithuanian Agricultural Reform and Integration" by Natalija Kazlauskiene and William Meyers, which outlines the basic problems of Lithuanian agriculture in the current transition period, and the anticipated changes which will occur with entry into the EU; and the last chapter by Kazlauskiene, "Challenges and Priorities for Lithuanian Agriculture and Rural Policy," which is a short but excellent outline of what needs to be done to provide for integration into the EU. Marcelo Giugale's "Lithuanian Macroeconomic Issues and Prospects for a Transition Economy at the Crossroads" provides a framework for analysis of the overall macroeconomic policies in the post-Soviet period of economic and political change. The paper concludes with an optimistic evaluation of the nation's future: "[...] within ten years Lithuania could realistically expect to see long-term growth of about seven per cent per annum, annual inflation of about five per cent, single digit interest rates, almost twice as much credit, stable tax burdens, substantially more public investment, a currency that keeps its average international trading power, a much more efficient system of utilities, a better


Gas proportional counter arrays based on the micro-well are an example of a new generation of detectors that exploit narrow anode-cathode gaps, rather than fine anodes, to create gas gain. These are inherently imaging pixel detectors that can be made very large for reasonable costs. Because of their intrinsic gain and room-temperature operation, they can be instrumented at very low power per unit area, making them valuable for a variety of space-flight applications where large-area X-ray imaging or particle tracking is required. We discuss micro-well detectors as focal plane imager for Lobster-ISS, a proposed soft X-ray all-sky monitor, and as electron trackers for the Next Generation High-Energy Gamma Ray mission. We have developed a fabrication technique using a masked UV laser that allows us both to machine micro-wells in polymer substrates and to pattern metal electrodes. We have used this technique to fabricate detectors which image X-rays by simultaneously reading out orthogonal anode and cathode strips. We present imaging results from these detectors, as well as gain and energy resolution measurements that agree well with results from other groups.


This paper describes a theoretical model for examining teaching and learning in primary mathematics classrooms. The model in intended to be both analytical – to provide insights into classroom incidents – and heuristic – to inform planning and practice. This paper reports on the elements of the model, which are based on Vygotskian theory and encompass both the interpersonal and the intrapersonal. An example is provided illustrating how the model can be used to examine the meaning making processes of individual pupils.


For Romania to be able to cope of the Europe structures exigences, it is necessary to adapt the food production to current quality standards, which meet the requirements of the buyer of organic products. Fertile and productive soils, chemical processing and technologies of which have not yet reached the levels of industrialized countries, the use of clean technologies, the possibility to define ecological perimeters, clean, to apply organic farming practices, increasing demand for organic products, organic farming that can become a source of employment in rural areas, are just some of the favorable conditions to obtain organic products in our country.


The correctness of program verification systems is of great importance, as they are used to formally prove that safety- and security-critical programs follow their specification. This correctness needs to be checked and demonstrated to users and certification agencies. One of the contributing factors to the correctness of the whole verification system is the correctness of the background axiomatization, which captures the semantics of the target program language. We present an optimisation framework for the maximization of the proportion of the axiomatization that is used ("covered") during testing of the verification tool. We show how test cases for regression tests can be created based on existing ones, as the initial creation of test cases is a very time consuming process. Our study shows that the combination of different heuristics leads to a diverse set of test cases, which in turn increases the axiomatization coverage. This translates into a significant increase in trust in the program verification system.


Mobile game has become a big industry, whose success heavily depends on the game fairness. Recently, a new type of physical cheating instrument, the capacitance-based gamepad (CBG), has been wildly used in popular mobile games. CBG players can obtain an unfairly overwhelming control advantage (e.g., more sensitive clicking and sliding) over benign players. Moreover, as a physical peripheral, CBG is completely transparent to the game application and the underlying system. This makes it inherently immune to existing cheating detection techniques. In this study, by disassembling the CBG device, we find a leverageable physical limitation that the distributions of generated clicking and sliding are more concentrated around a limited area or a boundary respectively. Accordingly, a novel method is proposed to detect the CBG-based cheating. Specifically, to detect the CBG clicking, we employ the entropy to measure the uncertainty of the clicking coordinates; and to detect the CBG sliding, we introduce the convex hull identification algorithm to recognize the potential sliding boundary. We have applied our detection method to four popular mobile games. The evaluation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. We believe that the proposed method can be easily adopted by the manufacturers to fight against the CBG-based cheating and protect the game fairness.


"The study attempted to capture the changing scenario of maize production and its efficiency in Bihar agriculture using an unbalanced panel stochastic frontier model in a dataset of all three agro-climatic zones over a period of 15 years (2006-2020). The findings indicated that increasing crop area, machinery used, and irrigation all had a significant impact on maize productivity. A random effect of the Tobit model for panel data is employed to identify the factors that affect technical efficiency. The technical efficiency of maize production has an influence on the maximum temperature, increasing the maximum temperature limit that is detrimental to maize production. The technical score of the current maize production technology is 0.83 indicates that Bihar's maize production is 83% technically efficient when accounting for climatic factors like maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall. Technical efficiency scores for Zones 1 and 2, which are well known for being intensely maize-producing regions, are 0.84 and 0.88, respectively. Since crop leftover is distinct from maize production and may be utilized to increase technical efficiency, crop residue is strongly related to maize's technical efficiency. The highest levels of technical efficiency were seen in Bihar's maize production from 2006 to 2020, with an average technical efficiency of 0.88. Bihar's agricultural Zone 2 has a maximum technical efficiency of 0.97, making it the state's top producer of maize."


Abstract : The DS-70 aggregate is additional equipment for the D-709 soil-mixing installation and is intended for crushing weak (kaolinite) clays with moisture of up to 12%. The aggregate contains a bar screen, a mill, and a conveyor. When changing to different soils, the aggregate need not be removed from the D-709 installation.


We obtain versions of some classical results of Zygmund and Stein for functions belonging to the Hardy space $H^{\log} (\mathbb{R}^d)$ introduced by Bonami, Grellier, and Ky. We present further applications in the context of more general Orlicz spaces.


We propose the split-diffuse (SD) algorithm that takes the output of an existing dimension reduction algorithm, and distributes the data points uniformly across the visualization space. The result, called the topic grids, is a set of grids on various topics which are generated from the free-form text content of any domain of interest. The topic grids efficiently utilizes the visualization space to provide visual summaries for massive data. Topical analysis, comparison and interaction can be performed on the topic grids in a more perceivable way.


Eileen Hogan contributed to the catalogue for her exhibition "Edges and Enclosures". The catalogue is a critical overview of paintings and drawings by by Eileen Hogan between 2009 and 2015. The essay by Dr. Wendy Baron sets Hogan's work in an art historical context.


Abstract Objective: Previous studies have shown relationships between personality styles and markers of serotonergic functioning, but data on patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) are scarce. Methods: The personality styles and disorder inventory was administered to 47 acute patients with anorexia nervosa (acAN), 27 weight-recovered patients (recAN) and 72 healthy controls (HC) aged between 14 and 21 years. Platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO-B) activity was assayed with [14C]-β-phenylethylamine as substrate. Results: AcAN had significant elevated scores on 9 of the 14 personality style subscales when compared to HC, whereas recAN were largely normal. Platelet MAO-B activity and "ambitious/narcissistic" scores correlated negatively in acAN. In recAN we found positive correlations between MAO-B and personality subscores. Conclusions: The inverse relationship between a cluster B personality style and MAO-B activity in acAN is in accordance with studies in other patient populations. In contrast, positive associations between problematic personality styles and MAO-B activity in recAN combined with the overall decreased MAO-B activity in this group adds to the existing evidence suggesting a general dysfunction of the serotonergic system as a trait marker for AN.


In this empirical research we analyzed the psychosocial processes that reinforce the perception of discrimination, stereotypes and prejudice between the majority groups and those considered subordinated. From the theoretical point of view, a scarce psychosocial work in this field was in evidence in a country such as Brazil. For this reason, of special importance are the questions concerning group belongingness, cultural and linguistic practices, achievement of ethic identity, and the collective (CSE) and personal (PSE) self-esteem as predictive variables of well-being. From the methodological point of view, we used the survey technique through questionnaires and applied a correlational design, considered suitable for both data collection and processing. Through different statistical analyses it was possible to confront the perspectives of different ethnic groups and to respond to the subject in question. In the preliminary study the relationship between cultural values, prejudice and individualistic / collectivistic behavioural pattern in Brazil was investigated. On average, the prejudice among Afro-Brazilians was perceived as low and, thus, it was not confirmed that they perceive a greater bias. In turn, it was found that White Brazilians demonstrated, though slightly, a higher rejection of intimate contact. It confirms that individuals who score higher on egalitarian values or self-transcendence are less prejudiced. Finally, it should be noted that all groups attributed more natural traits to Afro-descendants than to Euro-descendants. However, the opposite was true in relation to cultural traits: either they were ascribed more to Afro-descendants or the difference between ethnic groups was minimal. The results of subsequent studies indicated that the relationship between discrimination and self-esteem was not stronger in Mestizo Argentineans as it was predicted. However, between Afro-descendant and Mestizo Brazilians the relation between discrimination and affectivity was found, probably due to the greater salience of racial discrimination issue in the first group. The correlational study showed that people with higher motivation for success have higher selfesteem. In this case, we found these relations only in Brazil and Portugal. With respect to ethnic identity, the dimension of group membership (CSEmembership) in both countries is positively related to personal selfesteem (PSE). In Poland, probably the country's ethnic homogeneity reflects the lack of relationship between personal self-esteem and the sense of belonging to an ethnic group. In consequence, it was confirmed that personal self-esteem is related to collective self-esteem, particularly in the dimension associated to the perception of social support received from the ingroup. Moreover, the relationship between personal (PSE) and private collective self-esteem (CSEprivate) was found in the case of white Brazilians and Poles. Finally, our research on ethnic identity (EI) and well-being, as much in Brazil as in the two European countries studied, confirmed a relationship between these variables. The higher is the conscience of the EI, the higher mental well-being, less problems concerning health-related quality of life, less depression, and greater happiness. In sum, the EI is a possible source of well-being. Overall, the results of studies showed that the perception of discrimination had become more subtle and discreet. In the same way, these results offer an understanding of one's own or group ethnic belongingness. Finally, the findings on self-esteem and well-being in different aspects and in different ethnic groups supported previous research. Insofar as the groups increase their inter-ethnic contacts, decreases the sensation and / or perception of the threat (intergroup anxiety) and augments the promotion of more positive feelings instead of hostility.


Through most of its history, the United States has not maintained large peacetime military establishments. This has created a pattern of quick and drastic reductions in military forces after wars end, and a lack of preparedness when new ones begin. These trends were evident after the conclusion of World War II. American forces deploying to Korea in 1950 were understrength and underequipped. American air forces in the Korean War were primarily using aircraft left over from the previous war. F-51 Mustangs went into combat displaying wing markings from the 1944 invasion of Normandy.1 Army divisions were short whole regiments and battalions, and armored units had to be equipped with tanks found abandoned on Pacific islands or taken from museum displays.2 The Korean War speeded the development of much new American military technology, such as certain jet aircraft, but it also caused lasting effects in international relations and American national security policies. It inspired President Dwight Eisenhower to pursue his "New Look" in defense, globalized the containment of Communism, delayed direct American involvement in combat in Vietnam, shook up the order of nations while releasing building pressures between superpowers, and left lingering suspicions of biological warfare. After the Korean War, the United States began maintaining strong peacetime military establishments to meet its new security concerns, not really executing significant reductions in force until after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ironically, the last vestige of the Cold War remains on the Korean peninsula, inspired by legacies and memories of a war that ended over a half century ago. Despite growing friction with the Soviet Union after the end of World War II, President Harry Truman hoped he could still maintain a small peacetime military es-


ABSTRACT. Azithromycin mass drug administration decreases child mortality but also selects for antibiotic resistance. Herein, we evaluate macrolide resistance of nasopharyngeal Streptococcus pneumoniae after azithromycin MDA. In a cluster-randomized trial, children 1–59 months received azithromycin or placebo biannually. Fifteen villages from each arm were randomly selected for antimicrobial resistance testing, and 10–15 randomly selected swabs from enrolled children at each village were processed for S. pneumoniae isolation and resistance testing. The primary prespecified outcome was macrolide resistance fraction for azithromycin versus placebo villages at 36 months. Secondary non-prespecified outcomes were comparisons of azithromycin and placebo for: 1) macrolide resistance at 12, 24, and 36 months; 2) nonmacrolide resistance at 36 months; and 3) suspected-erm mutation. At 36 months, 423 swabs were obtained and 322 grew S. pneumoniae, (azithromycin: 146/202, placebo: 176/221). Mean resistance prevalence was non-significantly higher in treatment than placebo (mixed-effects model: 14.6% vs. 8.9%; OR = 2.0, 95% CI: 0.99–3.97). However, when all time points were evaluated, macrolide resistance prevalence was significantly higher in the azithromycin group (β = 0.102, 95% CI: 0.04–0.167). For all nonmacrolides, resistance prevalence at 36 months was not different between the two groups. Azithromycin and placebo were not different for suspected-erm mutation prevalence. Macrolide resistance was higher in the azithromycin group over all time points, but not at 36 months. Although this suggests resistance may not continue to increase after biannual MDA, more studies are needed to clarify when MDA can safely decrease mortality and morbidity in lower- and middle-income countries.


Introduction: Sensitizing dyes are one of the most important components of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) being photon harvester. Quantitative photon harvesting by potential sensitizers of state-of-art DSSCs developed so far in visible wavelength region and photoconversion efficiency (PCE) >12 % offers a logical hope for the development of novel NIR dyes aiming towards further improvement in the efficiency. An optimal sensitizer must fulfil certain criteria like, presence of a suitable anchoring group, energy band matching as well as good electronic coupling between photoexcited dye molecules and wide gap semiconductor. Nature of the anchoring group not controls the electron injection but also responsible for providing stability to DSSCs, In order to accelerate the development novel sensitizers and save the precious time synthetic chemists, quantum chemical (QC) calculations have emerged as one of the potential tools in the recent past. In this work, efforts have been directed towards the design of novel NIR dyes bearing different anchoring groups and predict their suitability as sensitizers in terms of their energetics and spectral behavior.


ABSTRACT : THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEVELS OF KNOWLEDGE AND LEVELS OF ANXIETY TOWARD COVID-19 AMONG ADOLESCENTS AT BALIKPAPAN ADVENTIST HIGH SCHOOL Introduction: coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) that appear in Indonesia since the beginning of March 2020 has become a serious condition  to all age groups, including teenager. Teenager is called  age of transition, when biological and psychological development occurs. Covid-19 can affect the psychological development of adolescents, causing anxiety that can not be controlled. One of the factors that influence anxiety is knowledge. Purpose: the purpose of this  paper was to know the relationship between knowledge levels with anxiety levels in adolescents on the Covid-19 pandemic. Method: the study utilized a descriptive analytic with total sampling design . R espondents in this paper were all students of XII class in Balikpapan Adventist Senior High School totaling 60 people. Data collection using knowledge questionnaire adopted from the WHO surveyand  Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) questionnaire. Result: there were 9 respondents (15%) with standard knowledge felt mild anxiety, 33 respondents (55%) with good knowledge felt mild anxiety, 4 respondents (6.6%) with standard knowledge felt moderate anxiety, 9 respondents (15%) with good knowledge felt moderate anxiety, 1 respondent (1.7%) with standard knowledge felt severe anxiety, 4 respondents (6.7%) with good knowledge felt severe anxiety. The results of the chi-square test obtained p-value of 0.135 α (0,05). Kesimpulan: tidak terdapat hubungan antara tingkat pengetahuan dengan tingkat kecemasan yang dialami pada remaja, khususnya remaja kelas XII SMA Advent Balikpapan. Kata kunci : covid-19; kecemasan; pengetahuan; remaja


The dimension changes of wood-plastic composites were studied in this paper by soaking in three types of water -room temperature water, 60?℃ water and boiling water. And the quantum changes of different directions were compared. The phenomenon was analyzed by observing macro characters and microstructures. The results shows the rule of the soaking swell rate at different directions was: widththicknesslength. During about the equivalency time, the mean ratio value of different directions at the three various disposal conditions was: width/ length=2.31, thickness/ length=1.87, width/ thickness=1.34.


Nanocrystalline multiferroic codoped bismuth ferrite (BFO) has been synthesized by using a sol-gel route. TEM analysis reveals that all the samples are pure and nanocrystalline in nature. We observed that electrical activation energy decreases for all the doped samples. Optical band gap also decreases for the doped samples which can be attributed to the creation of mid gap states.


To estimate the propagation delay between two noisy sinusoidal signals with known same frequency but different amplitudes, a time delay estimation algorithm based on DTFT is extended in the paper. By using sliding window recursive discrete time Fourier transform (SWRDTFT), the DTFT-based algorithm is able to be used for tracking time delay of sinusoidal signal. This algorithm does not require initial value, which is rather different from traditional adaptive tracking algorithms. By choosing the window size N, the time delay in center of the window is determined. Theoretical derivation shows that this algorithm can achieve approximately Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for complex sinusoidal signal and asymptotically achieve CRLB for real sinusoidal signal in the sense of N size window under slowly linear time-varying scenario. Simulations results confirm the efficiency and superior performance of the DTFT-based algorithm as compared to the existing filter-based approaches.


It is demonstrated that the low-frequency noise due to vortex motion in high-temperature superconducting quantum interference devices ~SQUIDs! in ambient magnetic fields can strongly be reduced by a simple arrangement of antidots patterned into the SQUID. Sputter-deposited YBa2Cu3O72d radio-frequency SQUIDs~rf-SQUIDs! with step edge junctions are characterized before and after patterning of antidots in the vicinity of the Josephson junction. No deterioration of the rf-SQUIDs due to the introduction of the antidots can be detected. In contrary, the onset of the increase of the low-frequency noise in an applied magnetic field is shifted from 10 T for the bare SQUID to 40~field cooled! and 18mT ~zero-field cooled ! for the rf-SQUIDs with antidots. The reduction of low-frequency noise in ambient field is explained by trapping of vortices by the antidots. The comparison of zero-field and field-cooled experiments demonstrates that flux penetrating the washer does not affect the low-frequency noise as long as the vortices are homogeneously distributed and the flux is properly pinned in the vicinity of the junction. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. @S0003-6951 ~00!04022-5#


This chapter offers both theoretical and pragmatic contextualization as activist narrators describe the diverse ways they conceive of and negotiate narrative frames and strategies toward the goal of immigration reform. The chapter chronicles the public work of undocumented immigrants who use their own stories as persuasive evidence that immigrants deserve a path to citizenship, and the narrators discuss the power and limitations of different immigrant rights strategies. I illuminate the strategies the narrators describe by way of textual analysis of some exemplars of each, demonstrate the ways members of the movement have lobbied for necessary shifts in the framing of their messages, and explore how these negotiations are promoted and implemented in grassroots activism. The resulting work reveals the power of storytelling in public media and the centrality of strategic communication to social movements.


Recently, a measurement technique called the S-para meter method using a standard vector network analyzer has been proposed, whereby the inp ut im edance of a balanced fed antenna can be found. In this paper, the open-short-correction met hod is adopted to compensate for the influence of the jig used in the S-parameter method.


The CC-chemokine receptor (CCR)-5 is thought to be the main co-receptor used by macrophage-tropic HIV-1 strains for cell entry. The presence of a 32 base-pair deletion in both CCR-5 alleles (CCR-5 32/CCR-5 32) in exposed uninfected individuals confers resistance against macrophage-tropic isolates usually involved in HIV-1 transmission although recent findings suggest that such homozygosity fails to confer total resistance against HIV-1 infection. 64 blood donors and 328 children born to HIV-1-infected mothers attending the Hospital de Pediatria "J.P. Garrahan" in Buenos Aires between July 1994 and March 1997 participated in a study conducted to determine the frequency and role of CCR-5 32 allele in the perinatal transmission of HIV-1 in Argentina. 138 of the children were infected with HIV-1 while 190 were uninfected. The presence of the 32 allele was determined through polymerase chain reaction amplification of CCR-5 sequences. 3 (4.7%) of the 64 blood donors were heterozygous CCR-5/CCR-5 32 while the remaining subjects were homozygous for the wild-type allele. The allele frequencies were 0.976 and 0.024 for the wild-type and mutant alleles respectively. 21 children were heterozygous and 1 was homozygous for CCR-5 32 for a CCR-5 32 allelic frequency of 0.035. No difference in CCR-5 genotype distribution was found between blood donors and children at risk. 8 of the HIV-1-infected and 13 of the uninfected children were heterozygous while 1 uninfected child was homozygous for the CCR-5 32 allele. The genotype distribution did not differ significantly between HIV-1-infected and uninfected populations and were in equilibrium according to the Hardy-Weinberg equation.


ABSTRACT The W. K. Kellogg Agricultural Safety and Health (ASH) initiative represented a major effort by a philanthropic organization to address the continuing high prevalence of injuries and illnesses within the agricultural sector. A major emphasis within the initiative was an overall evaluation of the entire group. This overall evaluation discovered eighteen general "lessons learned" which represented common patterns and characteristics seen across all projects. The projects sought to further this evaluation process by offering specific research hypotheses, based upon the "lessons learned,'' as those lessons applied to their individual projects. These specific research hypotheses illustrated opportunities available for cooperative endeavors. This paper used experiences of the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service project as an example.


These jottings are prompted by the implementation, in the Polytechnic of North London's Library Service, of the BLCMP online circulation system CIRCO. The Polytechnic joined the BLCMP co‐operative in 1976 and began to take the batch cataloguing system. Some years later the online system BOSS became available, and since then the vast majority of our cataloguing has been undertaken online at the system centre in Birmingham.


The container for packing food is suitable for heating in a microwave oven and can be used for live shellfish in conjunction with vegetables and/or herbs and one or more sauces. The contents of the container are packed in an atmosphere which counteracts deterioration. This atmosphere comprises more than 50 per cent oxygen and less than approximately 50 per cent carbon dioxide. The residual constituents comprise nitrogen and natural substances arising in air, other than oxygen and carbon dioxide. The container is provided with at least one valve, providing a restriction in the formation of excess pressure.


This article describes the work in the development of the speech understanding and dialog system EVAR. The relevant knowledge bases containing the raw linguistic knowledge and the preprocessors converting this to the specialized form needed by the processing algorithms are treated. Processing so far covers the level of the speech signal up to the level of pragmatic analysis. Some topics of ongoing and future work are mentioned briefly.


Energy service companies (ESCOs) offer many benefits for upscale energy efficiency and potentially contributing to energy savings in the government and private sectors. In Bahrain, ESCO is relatively a new concept in the business market, and there is minimal experience in implementing ESCOs projects. Energy saving and energy efficiency motivate all United Nation members to follow sustainability development goals. The purpose of the paper is to promote the importance of ESCOs projects in Bahrain and to increase awareness and spread the culture of energy efficiency projects through ESCOs, while considering the University of Bahrain as a role model for such projects toward sustainability Development.


Magicicada spp. of 17–yr cicadas laid 20–27 eggs/nest in twigs of 11 genera of deciduous trees in northern Ohio in 1965 and 1968. Less than 16 eggs/nest were found in grape, peach, poison ivy, and sour cherry.


In this article, we investigate the wave equation in spiral geometry and study the modes of vibrations of a one-dimensional (1-D) string in spiral shape. Here we show that the problem of wave propagation along a spiral can be reduced to Bessel differential equation and hence, very closely related to the problem of radial waves of two-dimensional (2-D) vibrating membrane in circular geometry.


Harper and Dorn (1957) obtained experimental evidence for a new mechanism of low-stress, high temperature creep in pure aluminum. Their results were recently questioned by Burton (1972) who argued from data on the creep of fine-grained aluminum foils. The present communication summarizes recent data confirming the existence of Harper-Dorn creep in aluminum and points out that the bulk of Burton's results are consistent with the expected transition from Harper-Dorn to Nabarro-Herring creep as sample grain size is made small.


Objective To investigate the clinical effect of Liuweiwuling tablets on chronic hepatic fibrosis.Methods Total of 128 cases with CHB were randomly divided into two groups.Both groups were treated on the basis of antiviral drugs.The treatment group(76 cases) were treated with Liuweiwuling tablets(1.5 g three times a day) besides the antiviral drugs.The course of the treatment was 24 weeks.The clinical symptoms,liver function and liver fibrosis indexes were observed.Results The clinical symptoms,liver function and liver fibrosis indexes of both groups were improved which were improved better in the treatment group than the control group(P 0.01).Conclusions Liuweiwuling tablets can protect hepatic cell,inhibit formation of inflammatory mediator as well as prevent and treat hepatic fibrosis.


This article is a plenary address presented at the twentieth anniversary conference, titled 'Women, Gender and the Cultural Production of Knowledge', of the International Federation for Research in Women's History (IFRWH), Sofia, Bulgaria, 8–12 August 2007. It places the IFRWH within a broad comparative historical context, namely that of the growth of civil society and of women's international associations, networks and publications.


People generate counterfactual alternatives to reality when they think about how things might have happened differently, 'if only...'. There are considerable regularities in the sorts of past events that people mentally undo, for example, they tend to mentally undo the most recent event in an independent sequence. Consider a game in which two contestants will win £1000 if they both pick cards from the same color suite. The first player picks black and the second red and they lose. Most people spontaneously undo the outcome by thinking, if only the second player had picked black. We describe a computational model that simulates our theory of the mental representations and cognitive processes underlying this temporal order effect. The computer model is corroborated by tests of the novel predictions of our theory: it should be possible to reverse the temporal order effect by manipulating the way in which the winning conditions are described. Counterfactual Thinking When people reflect on past events, they tend to think not only about the events that actually happened but also about how those events might have happened differently. This tendency to construct imaginary alternatives to reality is called counterfactual thinking (e.g., Kahneman & Tversky, 1982). For example, if your car breaks down and you are late, you might think that you would have been on time if you had had the car serviced or if you had taken the train. Counterfactuals have been studied in philosophy (e.g., Lewis, 1973; Stalnaker, 1968), psychology (e.g., Kahneman & Miller, 1986) and artificial intelligence (e.g., Costello & McCarthy, 1999; Ginsberg, 1986). Counterfactual thinking has been implicated in many aspects of cognition and emotion. It may play a role in formulating counterexamples in reasoning (JohnsonLaird & Byrne, 1991) and in formulating sub-goals in problem-solving (Ginsberg, 1986). Counterfactuals may allow us to learn (e.g., Roese, 1994). The sorts of counterfactuals that are useful to people may also be useful to learning algorithms in artificial intelligence systems (Costello & McCarthy, 1999). Counterfactual thinking has also been linked to a range of emotions and social judgements, including blame and regret, both in the laboratory and in real-life settings. Yet little is known about the mental representations and cognitive processes that underlie the generation of counterfactuals. Our goal in this paper is to describe a computational model that simulates a theory of the processes underlying counterfactual thinking and some experimental results that corroborate this theory. Psychological studies of the sorts of counterfactuals that people generate indicate considerable regularities, despite the infinite number of ways that past events could have happened differently (e.g., Kahneman & Miller, 1986). People are more likely to undo exceptional than routine events (e.g., Kahneman & Tversky, 1982), actions than inactions (e.g., Byrne & McEleney, 2000), controllable than uncontrollable events (e.g., Girotto, Legrenzi & Rizzo, 1991; McCloy & Byrne, 2000) and the first event in a causal chain (e.g., Wells, Taylor & Turtle, 1987). In this paper we will focus on one important factor that influences the mutability of an event, that is, its temporal order in relation to other events, to which we now turn. The Temporal Order Effect Research has shown that when a series of events are independent of each other, people tend to mutate the most recent event (Byrne, Segura, Culhane, Tasso & Berrocal, 2000; Miller & Gunasegaram, 1990; Spellman, 1997). Consider a game in which two individuals are given a shuffled deck of cards, and each one picks a card from their own deck. If the two cards they pick are of the same color (i.e., both red or both black), each individual wins £1,000. Otherwise, neither individual wins anything. John goes first and picks a red card from his deck; Michael goes next and picks a black card from his deck. Thus the outcome is that neither individual wins anything (from Byrne et al, 2000). Participants tend to undo the second event, e.g., if only Michael had picked red too, when they are asked to imagine that one of the card selections came out differently so that the players won, and this finding has been termed the temporal order effect. In addition, the second player, Michael, is usually expected to experience more guilt and to be blamed more by John. This effect has also been demonstrated in a number of practical situations, such as in judgements of fairness in an exam context (Miller and Gunasegaram, 1990) and in ranking team performance in a league (Sherman & McConnell, 1986 One possible explanation is that causality is assigned by the relative change in probability before and after an event (Spellman, 1997) although this account cannot explain the shift in focus which arises when an explicit alternative to the first event is provided (Byrne et al, 2000). An alternative explanation is that the first event in an independent sequence may be relatively immutable because it is presupposed (Miller & Gunasegaram, 1990), acting as a background against which later events are perceived (Sherman & McConnell, 1996), and playing an important contextualising role in constructing a mental representation of a factual situation (Byrne et al., 2000). Our aim is to explain why the first event is presupposed or perceived as immutable, and to do so, we will focus on the mental representation not only of the facts, but also of the counterfactual alternatives to the facts. People may understand the card scenario by constructing a set of mental models (Johnson-Laird & Byrne, 1991), that is, mental representations that correspond to the structure of the world, and their models may represent certain aspects of the factual situation explicitly: John red Michael black Lose where 'John red' represents 'John picked a red card', 'Michael black' represents 'Michael picked a black card', and 'Lose' represents the outcome (Byrne et al., 2000). They may generate their counterfactual models by mutating aspects of the factual model. The fully explicit set of models is as follows: Factual: John red Michael black Lose Counterfactual: John red Michael red Win John black Michael black Win John black Michael red Lose where separate possibilities are represented on separate lines of the diagram, and the models may be annotated to keep track of their epistemic status (Byrne & Tasso, 1999; Johnson-Laird & Byrne, 1991). The temporal order effect indicates that people construct just a subset of the possible counterfactual models: Factual: John red Michael black Lose Counterfactual: John red Michael red Win . . . where the three dots represents an implicit model which may be fleshed out to be more explicit if need be. Our aim is to explain why people construct this counterfactual model more than others. TempCounterFacts: A Computational Model of the Temporal Order Effect We will describe a computational model, called TempCounterFacts, which simulates the primary tenets of our theory of the mental representation and cognitive processes underlying the temporal order effect in counterfactual thinking (see Walsh & Byrne, 2001, for details). The program is written in LISP and it takes as input a set of facts about the card selection game (e.g., John picked red and Michael picked black) and a description of the winning conditions (e.g., if they both pick red or both pick black they win) and it generates a counterfactual alternative about how the outcome could have turned out differently (e.g., they would have won if Michael had picked red). We suggest that the counterfactual context, that is, the representation of the conditions leading to a counterfactual outcome, such as the conditions under which a contestant would have won or lost a card game, can in themselves provide an explicit alternative to a factual event. This possibility has not been explored systematically before. Our suggestion is that people imagine a counterfactual scenario by changing their model of the facts to fit with their model of the winning conditions. They may select the first element of the factual model, e.g., John picks red, and find a match for it in the winning models. They may consider only this model as a possible counterfactual and conclude that if Michael had picked red they would have won. We suggest that the generation of a counterfactual alternative is driven not only by the 'bottom-up' facts of the actual situation but also by 'top-down' expectations derived from the counterfactual context. The program consists of three suites of functions. 1: Representing Facts and Counterfactual Context The program begins by constructing a representation of the facts in a FactModel: Factual: John Red Michael Black Outcome Lose It also takes as input a set of winning conditions and it constructs the Counterfactmodels or set of models of the winning conditions: John Red Michael Red Outcome Win John Black Michael Black Outcome Win These initial models represent the conditions under which the protagonists can win. Because of working memory constraints people may represent as little information as possible (Johnson-Laird & Byrne, 1991). For example, they may not explicitly represent the conditions under which the protagonists can lose (Byrne, 1997). The program constructs models for different conditions which may be specific events, e.g., 'John picks a red card' or not, e.g., 'both players pick a red card'. It accepts four connectives: and, or (unspecified disjunction), ori (inclusive disjunction) and ore (exclusive disjunction). 2: Matching Facts and Counterfactual Context The program attempts to match the FactModel to the set of CounterfactModels. It selects the first fact, e.g., John picked a red card, and it attempts to find a match for this event in the CounterfactModels. If an explicit match is found then it selects this model. If not, then it looks for a model which contains the negation of t


Objective To explore the measurement of(1,3)-β-D-glucan bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF) for the diagnosis of pulmonary fungal infections. Methods A total of 135 patients in the General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University from February 2010 to February 2011 were


The visualization and detailed description of viruses represent one of the most remarkable contributions of electron microscopy to knowledge in biology. This was the first time that such prowess (the sizes of viruses are between 20 and 360 nm) could be accomplished and several laboratories in France played a major role. At the outset a few general remarks are timely. First, one can never overemphasize the importance of electron microscopy in this domain since nothing was known then about the morphology of individual viruses. These could only be seen when they formed a large enough collection and appeared in the light microscope as 'inclusion bodies'. It is interesting in this respect to recall that in 1949 still, one of the eminent virologists at the Institut Pasteur could write: " a majority of scientists consider at present that ultraviruses (with the exception perhaps of the larger among them such as the cowpox viruses) consist in nucleoprotein macromolecules totally devoid of internal structure" (Levaditi). Indeed there was no internal structure discernable in the viruses reported on at the first International Electron Microscopy Congress held in Pads in 1950. Electron microscopy brought forth another major information: it confirmed that oncogenic viruses did exist by showing them. Only those who lived throughout that period can imagine the magnitude of the controversy on the subject and realize what tremendous asset electron microscopy brought to biologists in their efforts to demonstrate viral implication in cancer. The discovery was made at the same time that, except for one group of characteristic morphology (which was to be later designated as retroviruses and shown to contain RNA), the other oncogenic viruses belonged morphologically to varied families. Thus the Luck6 tumor of the frog or Burkitt lymphoma in man belonged to the herpes group, that of the papillomas, benign or malignant, were members of the so-called Papova family and these viruses bore a DNA genome. As for the retroviruses, the electro n microscope revealed their detailed structure, their unique mode of formation, their expulsion by budding at the cell plasma membrane and later their extraordinary internal architecture. All these findings seemed like fantastic wonders out of the Arabian nights. In retracing the history of what was a 'heroic' period we have to state first that, with viruses and this goes for all other subjects, it is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to bring out the part played by each country. Science, fortunately, does not progress as a function of nationalities. In the domain of electron microscopy of oncogenic viruses however, and retroviruses in particular, France did play a leading role even if historically the very first descriptions were almost concomitant in the US. We will briefly recall here the major landmarks along the way that lead to the discovery of retroviruses first, of the other oncogenic viruses next and we will end with lytic viruses. This order, perhaps unusual, reflects the impact of the discovery of cancer viruses.


Abstract In this note, we study the mean length of the longest increasing subsequence of a uniformly sampled involution that avoids the pattern 3412 and another pattern.


A large drinking water plant in north China has applied ACTIFLO~ settler successfully for more than 4 years.During the pre-oxidation upgrading,a series of pilot tests based on the existing ACTIFLO~ settler were carried out to provide guidance for production operation.The study results show that the pre-ozonation can cause the increasing of turbidity at the outlet of settler,and the operation periods of the downstream filters are shortened.The influence of potassium permanganate(KMnO4) and sodium hypochlorite(NaClO) on coagulation sedimentation was also studied.It is found that the excessive dosage has a negative impact on coagulation sedimentation,with a higher turbidity at the outlet of settler and shorter operation periods of filters.The comparison of the results shows that each kind of oxidant has different impact on the treated water turbidity.Based on the raw water quality,the dosage of oxidant shall be optimized and the residue concentration shall be controlled at very low level.In this way,a better operation result of ACTIFLO~ settler can be achieved.


Several problems in health care come from the complex network of intermediaries. Currently, medical health data is fragmented and isolated, there are communication delays and workflow tools are different due to lack of interoperability, which negatively affects research and health services. For these reasons, health entities and their patients need to securely protect their data. However, for the privacy of patients, the danger of having such information on the network and due to the vulnerability of traditional authentication systems, a reference model is proposed to manage the health data security based on Blockchain. Blockchain allows access to complete medical records that are stored in fragmented systems anonymously and securely. Our reference model uses the concepts of an information security management system such as: policies, risks and controls. This allow private or public entities in the health sector to implement Blockchain. On the other hand, our reference model was developed by researching and comparing existing Blockchain platforms in the health sector, with the purpose of guiding qualified information security personnel when they decide to implement Blockchain in a health sector organization.


Objective To study the significance and methods of measuring volume of vertebral canal in spinal injury,and the relative relationship of the decline of vertebral canal volume and the decline of cross section area with the Spiral CT.Methods 17 patients suffered from burst fracture between T 12 to L 3 were included in this study.There were 13 males and 4 females,aged from 16 to 59 years old,average 43 years.1 patient was classified as Frankel grade A,1 patient as grade B,6 patients as grade C,2 patients as grade D,and 7 patients as grade E.All patients received the Spiral CT scan at the fracture location.All data were transferred to the Easy Vision Workstation for three-dimensional reconstruction.The decline rate of the cross section area and the vertebral canal volume were calculated.We showed vertebral canal narrow with AVH.A(area)-the decline rate of cross section area;V(volume)-the decline rate of vertebral canal volume;H(height)-the height of vertebral canal narrow.Results The decline rate of cross section area ranged from 50% to 91.3%,with an average of 63%;The decline rate of vertebral canal volume ranged from 28.2% to 79.5%,with an average of 49%;The height of vertebral canal narrow ranged from 8mm to 15mm,with an average of 12.4mm.There were marked relative relationship between the decline rate of vertebral canal volume and of cross section area (P0.01).Conclusion This study indicate that measurement of vertebral canal volume are significant as following:1) It is advantageous to analyse harmful influence of spinal cord wound by vertebral canal volume decline.2)Quentitative analysis of vertebral canal volume decline rate were provided.3)More reasonable treatment methods may be selected by doctors.


The library community understands the value of controlled vocabularies in enhancing resource discovery. There is however ongoing tension between that value and the cost of maintaining and applying specialist vocabularies. This paper presents the outcomes of a 2014-15 trial of automated subject indexing at the Australian Council for Educational Research. The integration of a machine learning classification tool has resulted in streamlined workflows and increased use of machine-readable data. Insights were gained into the decisions human indexers make in using a controlled vocabulary, and into the importance of quality abstracts and metadata.


The invention relates to a method for making available traffic telematics information relating to the route (10) of a vehicle (1) which is moving on a road system (11) with multiple roads (12 to 21), wherein the roads (12 to 21) are connected to one another between road junctions (22 to 25), and wherein the method comprises at least the steps of determining a probability of the vehicle (1) approaching a respective road junction (22 to 25) and assigning said probability to the road junction (22 to 25), and of transmitting the road junctions (22 to 25) for which there is an increased probability of them being travelled along. Furthermore, the invention relates to a traffic telematics unit (2) for making available traffic telematics information relating to the route (10) of a vehicle (1) in order to carry out the method.


The GPRS data accessing system of UPS device based on configuration software is intro- duced.It is illustrated how to develop the GPRS data accessing and monitoring system by the forcecon- trol configuration software,GPRS and IO drivers toolkit.At the same time,the GPRS technology and the forcecontrol configuration software are simply clarified.


Statistical distribution of mineral nutrition factor of large sample group's leaf and soil in the high-yield orchards of two main early season pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) cultivars, Cuiguan and Mixueli, and the correlation of yield grade and mineral elements were studied. The sample number of Cuiguan leaf was 115, of Mixueli leaf was 62, and that of soil was 277. Base on the results studied, 10 optimum indexes for leaf mineral nutrition and 13 optimum indexes for soil available nutrition for these 2 pear cultivars were built under the subtropical monsoon red soil area and grated with rootstock of Pyrus calleriana conditions. Significance of difference for appropriate foliar nutrition parameters was tested, and being grafted on higher location of rootstock was analyzed and tested .The results showed that the optimal nutrition range of N and K content for Cuiguan leaf was bigger than that in Mixueli cultivar. In addition, due to different grafted location on the rootstock the optimum nutrition might be changed significantly. The established soil diagnostic criterion in this paper could be applied in the pear producing regions with similar climatic and rootstock used arrears.


The properties of Ogi derived from malted corn using wet and dry milling processes were studied. Residual protein content of malted Ogi was slightly higher than those of Ogi. Malted dry milled Ogi retained a higher protein level. Malted Ogis gave lower amylograph maximum viscosities than nonmalted Ogis. Other pasting characteristics (starch stability, index of gelatinization and ease of cooking) were not adversely affected by malting in wet milled Ogis. Dry milled malted Ogi had lower stability and index of gelatinization values. Color, texture and flavor of malted and nonmalted Ogi porridges differed (P < 0.05). Ogi porridge and paste derived from malted grains using wet milling were acceptable (P < 0.05).


QUESTIONS: Do the assemblages of pollination modes in restored (tree plantings) and secondary (naturally regenerated) forests change in comparison to primary forests, and how do these assemblages relate to species turnover at regional scale? LOCATION: Southeast region of Brazil. METHODS: We classified tree species found in a total of 40 forest sites (18 primary, 11 restored, 11 secondary) according to pollination mode, based on the literature. We calculated and compared functional dissimilarity distances, amounts of species and accumulated abundance of pollination modes, and functional indices of richness and evenness between forest types. RESULTS: Functional dissimilarity distances were much smaller than species dissimilarity distances within forest types (mean 80%, respectively), indicating a small variation in pollination modes between sites. Functional indices of richness and evenness did not differ between forest types. However, significant changes were found in the species and abundance proportions of several pollination modes. Primary forests were characterized by the predominance of generalized insect‐pollinated species, followed by secondary proportions of bee, wind and moth pollination; other pollination modes were underrepresented. In restored forests, reductions were found in generalized insect, moth, wind, fly, pollen‐consuming insect and very‐small insect pollination, whereas the species pollinated by bees and bats more than doubled. Smaller changes were found among secondary forests, including reductions in moth, fly and fig‐wasp pollination, whereas there were incremental changes in bee, beetle, big animal and small insect pollination. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate a rather stable assemblage of pollination modes and also high ecological redundancy among trees regardless of the species replacement at the regional scale. Major changes among restored forests are probably in response to larger disturbance effects and/or restoration practices conducted in these sites. In contrast, smaller changes among secondary forests could be in response to smaller disturbance effects and natural selection processes, and also seem to suggest that highly resilient degraded areas are more likely to recuperate their functional diversity through natural regeneration alone. In both cases, however, efforts to recover such patterns should be encouraged to avoid possible negative effects in plant–pollinator interactions.


Consumer protection laws play a crucial role in safeguarding the rights and interests of consumers in any country. This research paper presents a comparative analysis of consumer laws in Pakistan and India, aiming to explore the similarities, differences, strengths, and weaknesses of the respective legal frameworks. The study examines the historical development, legal provisions, enforcement mechanisms, remedies and compensation, consumer rights and responsibilities, consumer awareness, and education initiatives, as well as the challenges and gaps in consumer protection laws. The research methodology involves a comprehensive review of primary and secondary sources, including legislation, case law, scholarly articles, and reports. The paper begins with an introduction that provides the background and significance of consumer laws in Pakistan and India. It outlines the research objectives and scope, as well as the methodology employed in the study. The historical overview section traces the evolution of consumer protection in both countries, highlighting key milestones and legislative frameworks that have shaped the present legal landscape. Moreover, it identifies challenges and gaps in the implementation of consumer laws in Pakistan and India. It discusses issues related to consumer redressal, access to justice, and enforcement mechanisms.


Azithromycin (AZM) injection tends to increase injection site pain when administered in excess of 2 mg / ml. As AZM is frequently used in combination therapies, it is expected to be administered at a high concentration in clinical use due to uid restrictions. Therefore, in this study, the relation between AZM concentration and injection site pain was examined. From January 2012 to July 2017, we retrospectively investigated the medical records of patients who were administered AZM by injection at Showa University Fujigaoka Hospital. Vascular pain was related to intensive care unit (ICU) administration (P=0.003) compared with that in general wards and a long duration of administration (P=0.002). The number of days of AZM injection should be kept as short as possible. Given that the risk of injection site pain is increased in the ICU, we recommend switching to oral administration. Further collection of safety data in patients on uid restriction is necessary, and high concentration AZM administration should be considered.


In this paper, complete Riemann solver of Osher-Solomon and the HLLEM Riemann solver for unified first order hyperbolic formulation of continuum mechanics, which describes both of fluid and solid dynamics, are presented. This is the first time that these types of Riemann solvers are applied to such a complex system of governing equations as the GPR model of continuum mechanics. The first order hyperbolic formulation of continuum mechanics recently proposed by Godunov S. K., Peshkov I. M. and Romenski E. I., further denoted as GPR model includes a hyperbolic formulation of heat conduction and an overdetermined system of PDE. Path-conservative schemes are essential in order to give a sense to the non-conservative terms in the weak solution framework since governing PDE system contains non-conservative products, too. New Riemann solvers are implemented and tested successfully, which means it certainly acts better than standard local Lax-Friedrichs-type or Rusanov-type Riemann solvers. Two simple computational examples are presented, but the obtained computational results clearly show that the complete Riemann solvers are less dissipative than the simple Rusanov method that was employed in previous work on the GPR model.


A study was conducted to determine the effects of early weaning and preconditioning to feedlot on calf gain and the effects of early weaning on cow weight and reproductive performance. A total of 390 cow-calf pairs in 1982 and 460 in 1983, representing four breed, three age-of-dam groups and two-sex-of-calf groups, were randomly assigned to either an early weaned (EW) or a late weaned (LW) group. In the fall of each year, EW calves were weaned 1 mo before LW calves and fed grain (up to 4.8 kg head−1 d−1) and hay during this period. EW calves gained approximately 0.5 kg d−1 less over the 1 mo fall test period than LW calves in 1982 (0.16 vs. 0.75 kg d−1) and 1983 (0.05 vs. 0.58 kg d−1). EW cows gained 0.32 kg d−1 more during this same period than LW cows in 1982 (0.86 vs. 0.54 kg d−1) and lost 0.21 kg d−1 less in 1983 (−0.10 vs. −0.31 kg d−1). These differences in gain did not result in significant weight differences between EW and LW cows entering the winter feeding period in either year. EW and LW cows l...


This article explores the conditions of successful electoral system change. It develops four hypotheses on the conditions of the successful implementation of proposals to modify electoral laws. The first hypothesis reflects partisan self-interest and assumes that larger parties are better able to impose their preferred electoral institutions. The second and third hypotheses presume that electoral system design is motivated by instrumental considerations that can either reflect consensual or majoritarian visions of democracy. A fourth hypothesis draws on the timing of reforms and states that successful reform is possible only in relative temporal proximity to extraordinary historical circumstances. A macro, quantitative comparative analysis shows that both the control of larger seat shares and high levels of fragmentation in conjunction explain the successful implementation of electoral laws in 11 new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. This result is corroborated by four case studies.


Energy audits are key to increase investments in energy efficiency, as they allow to overcome the 'information gap'- one of the biggest obstacles to this type of investment. However, on average only 30% of SMEs said to have carried out an energy audit between 2015 and 2018. This paper assesses the effectiveness of policy interventions in promoting energy audits by relying on evidence from a unique online experiment, as part of the European Investment Bank's annual Investment Survey. 1,178 EU firms were asked about their willingness to invest in an energy audit, given different scenarios of randomly drawn policy interventions. These are a level of support, whether it comes in the form of a grant or a tax credit, and whether the audit is conditional on investing in an energy efficiency project after. Findings allow us to quantify by how much the probability that firms invest in energy audits increases, as the combinations of policy interventions vary.


Abstract We report the first observation of a linear electrooptic effect and of two different resonant hydrodynamic modes in the Lα phase of the Dipalmitoyl Phosphatidyl Choline-water system, i.e. the first and second sound. The damping of the resonances, provides some hints concerning the non conventional l/ω behavior of the viscosities predicted by Mazenko, Ramaswamy and Toner.


The study presents the research conducted and the solutions adopted to integrate Extended Reality applications in situ and online to enhance visitors' experience of the Tomato Industrial Museum "D. Nomikos" with emphasis on the needs of people with hearing impairments. This paper outlines the methodological, technological, and museological approaches undertaken to integrate XR in ways that will foster the engagement with the narratives of people who worked at the premises and describe the production process. Storytelling and narration are key elements of the museums' museological design (Sylaiou and Dafiotis, 2020) and therefore including visitors with hearing impairments through XR technologies that allow users to perceive audio tours and verbal accounts through real-time visualization of spoken language by an especially adapted speech to text functionality. Moreover, the paper explores the challenges faced throughout the effort to engage audiences and help them relate with the industrial heritage through exploring the exhibition by generating interest through multimodal resources accessible to all. To engage viewers, we developed interactive applications so that visitors will undertake to fulfill workers' tasks as in role-playing. The result of our approach is a balance between coming to close contact through digital narratives with the people of the time, ensuring inclusion of people with hearing impairments, while offering interactive visualizations of the exhibited machinery functions.


This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the substitution of fish oil with palm oil in the diet of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings over a 49 day period. Four diets were prepared with fish oil substituted with palm oil at 0% (control Diet 1), 25% (Diet 2), 50% (Diet 3) and 100% (Diet-4), using a completely randomised block design. Mortality was observed in all the treatments, while fish fed with 100% palm oil were most sluggish in accepting their feeds. Average weight gained, specific growth rate and feed conversion efficiency were not significantly affected by diet. It was concluded that palm oil can be substituted for fish oil in the diet of C. gariepinus.