The importance of fire safety design has been realised due to the ever increasing loss of properties and lives caused by structural failures during fires. In recognition of the importance of fire safety design, extensive research has been undertaken in the field of fire safety of buildings and structures especially over the last couple of decades. In the same period, the development of fire safety engineering principles has brought significant reduction to the cost of fire protection. However the past fire research on steel structures has been limited to heavier, hot-rolled structural steel members and thus the structural behaviour of light gauge cold-formed steel members under fire conditions is not well understood. Since cold-formed steel structures have been commonly used for numerous applications and their use has increased rapidly in the last decade, the fire safety of cold-formed steel structural members has become an important issue. The current design standards for steel structures have simply included a list of reduction factors for the yield strength and elasticity modulus of hot-rolled steels without any detailed design procedures. It is not known whether these reduction factors are applicable to the commonly used thin, high strength steels in Australia. Further, the local buckling effects dominate the structural behaviour of light gauge cold-formed steel members. Therefore an extensive research program was undertaken at the Queensland University of Technology to investigate the local buckling behaviour of light gauge cold-formed steel compression members under simulated fire conditions.

The first phase of this research program included 189 tensile coupon tests including three steel grades and six thicknesses to obtain the accurate yield strength and elasticity modulus values at elevated temperatures because the deterioration of the mechanical properties is the major parameter in the structural design under fire conditions. The results obtained from the tensile tests were used to predict the ultimate strength of cold-formed steel members. An appropriate stress-strain model was also developed by considering the inelastic mechanical characteristics.

The second phase of this research was based on a series of more than 120 laboratory experiments and corresponding numerical analyses on cold-formed steel compression members to investigate the local bucking behaviour of the unstiffened flange elements, stiffened web elements and stiffened web and flange elements at elevated temperatures up to 800°C. The conventional effective design rules were first simply modified considering the reduced mechanical properties obtained from the tensile coupon tests and their adequacy was studied using the experimental and numerical results. It was found that the simply modified effective width design rules were adequate for low strength steel members and yet was not adequate for high strength cold-formed steel members due to the severe reduction of the ultimate strength in the post buckling strength range and the severe reduction ratio of the elasticity modulus to the yield strength at elevated temperatures. Due to the inadequacy of the current design rules, the theoretical, semi-empirical and empirical effective width design rules were developed to accurately predict the ultimate strength of cold-formed steel compression members subject to local buckling effects at elevated temperatures. The accuracy of these new design methods was verified by comparing their predictions with a variety of experimental and numerical results.

This thesis presents the details of extensive experimental and numerical studies undertaken in this research program and the results including comparison with simply modified effective width design rules. It also describes the advanced finite element models of cold-formed steel compression members developed in this research including the appropriate mechanical properties, initial imperfections, residual stresses and other significant factors. Finally, it presents the details of the new design methods proposed for the cold-formed steel compression members subject to local buckling effects at elevated temperatures.


In high speed metal cutting,the irreversible dislocation motion and multiplication result in the plastic deformation of the metal,and its velocity are proportional to the drag force of the solid.Therefore,the effect of viscosity becomes more and more important in describing the material dynamic behavior.The damping mechanism of dislocation in high speed metal cutting is described from the fluid aspect;a model for high speed machining is established based on fluid mechanics.The velocity distribution,the pressure distribution and the strain rate distribution are calculated by solving the Navier-Stokes equation and energy equation,which provides a new method to study high speed machining.Analytical results show that approximating the behavior of metal cutting by a fluid model during high speed machining is not irrelevant.A speed stagnation point is located at some distance from the tool tip on the tool rake face on which the maximum value of the pressure occurs,with zero speed.Its location influences the life of the tool and the quality of the finished surface.The pressure decreases along the rake face and reaches zero at some point away from the tool tip,which is the point of separation of the chip from the tool.The value of the strain rate exhibits a rapid increase from the tool tip to the free surface corner,and then decreases outwards.


The results of the tests and research on the polypropylene fiber added grouting material have proved that, when the polypropylene fiber is admixed with the grouting material for prestressed anchorage, the anchoring capability of the grout can be much improved. With the polypropylene fiber admixture, the bond strength between the grout and the wall of the boreholes can be increased by more than 20%, and on the other hand, the service life of the anchor cables can be further prolonged with the improvement of the resistance of the polypropylene fiber added grouting material against tension cracks.


Suppose that $X$ is an integral scheme (quasi-)projective over a complete local ring of mixed characteristic. Using ideas of Takamatsu-Yoshikawa and Bhatt-Ma-et. al, we define a notion of a $+$-test ideal on $X$, including for divisors and linear series. We obtain global generation results in this setting that generalize the well known global generation results obtained via multiplier ideal sheaf techniques in characteristic $0$ and via test ideals in characteristic $p>0$. We also obtain applications to the order of vanishing of linear series and to the diminished base locus in mixed characteristic similar to results of Ein-Lazarsfeld-Mustata-Nakamaye-Popa, Nakayama, and Mustata in the equal characteristic case.


Background. Early diagnosis of destructive forms of acute pancreatitis (AP) enables to prevent the development of serious complications and reduce mortality rates. Methods. 194 patients took part aged 19-78 with AP took part in the study, including 164 patients with acute destructive pancreatitis and 30 patients with edematous form AP. Results. Leukocytal intoxication index was significantly higher in destructive pancreatitis. Diagnostic sensitivity of C-reactive protein with edematous pancreatitis was 86.4 %, and with destructive pancreatitis it was 87.5 %. In patients with destructive pancreatitis procalcitonin level was significantly higher than in patients with edematous form of AP: 1.24 and 0.34 ng/ml, respectively. The rest of the clinical and laboratory diagnostic tests showed wide variability. Conclusions. Most of the traditional clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques of AP does not allow reliably differentiate not only different forms of destructive lesions of the organ, but in some cases also of destructive and swelling forms AP. The most valuable diagnostic markers can serve as acute phase reactants, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and procalcitonin.


Social media, which provides instant textual and visual information exchange, plays a more important role in emergency response than ever before. Many researchers nowadays are focusing on disaster monitoring using crowd sourcing. Interpretation and retrieval of such information significantly influences the efficiency of these applications. This paper presents a method proposed by team EVUSikg for the MediaEval 2018 challenge on Multimedia Satellite Task. We only focused on the subtask "flood classification for social multimedia". A supervised learning method with an ensemble of 10 Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) was applied to classify the tweets in the benchmark.


Purpose This descriptive study aimed to explore nursing workplace spirituality, end-of-life care stress, and resilience as factors influencing compassion fatigue among nurses working in hospice and palliative care units. Methods Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire completed by 146 nurses at 14 hospice and palliative care institutions across South Korea who had worked in a hospice and palliative care institution for at least 6 months and had experience providing end-of-life care. Data were collected from February 25, 2019 to April 12, 2019, and analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 18.0. As appropriate, descriptive statistics, the t-test, analysis of variance, the Scheffé test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression were used. Results The survey results showed that factors influencing compassion fatigue were resilience, subjective health status, current satisfaction with the hospice ward, and end-of-life care stress. Higher levels of resilience, a subjective health status of "healthy", high levels of current satisfaction with the hospice ward, and lower levels of end-of-life care stress were associated with lower levels of compassion fatigue, explaining 42.9% of the total variance. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that resilience is an important factor mitigating compassion fatigue among nurses at hospice and palliative care institutions. Therefore, intervention programs should be developed to reduce compassion fatigue.


This study discusses the problem of community conflict related to inheritance disputes that occurred in Kanagarian Koto Nan Ampek, Payakumbuh City. The purpose of this study is to explain the background of the conflict in Kanagarian Koto Nan Ampek and the resolution given based on the conflict that has arisen. The theory used is Lewis A. Coser's theory of conflict. The method used is qualitative research with an ethnographic approach. Data collection techniques are field observations, interviews, and documentation. The findings of this study are the conflict over inheritance disputes that occurred in Kanagarian Koto Nan Ampek caused by several factors including the lack of knowledge of the heirs regarding the inheritance, the allotment of inheritance which is not known jointly, socially and economically. The impact of this is that there is a change in the character of the Koto Nan Ampek community towards inheritance, which previously guarded inheritance, changed to selling heirlooms. Then there are several solutions offered based on the factors causing the conflict, namely education by traditional institutions or people who know about inheritance, written agreements, and deliberations for consensus.


The paper discusses the issue how to establish milestones for major weapon equipment acquisition programs (MDAP) that arises in the practice of weapon equipment construction. Through an analysis on the law of the common program life-cycle and an investigation into the evolution of the U.S. weapon equipment acquisition management framework, the paper discovers "the best period " for the establishment of program milestones in the common program life-cycle, and draws to the conclusion that the milestones for the major weapon equipment acquisition programs should be established in "the best period" discovered here while taking the technology opportunity and user needs into consideration.


VP6 is a video coding standard developed by On2 Technologies. It is the preferred codec in the Flash 8/9 format used by many popular online video services and user generated content sites. The wide adoption of Flash video for video delivery on the Internet has made VP6 one of the most widely used video compression standards on the Internet. With the wide adoption of VP6 comes the need for transcoding other video formats to the VP6 format. This paper presents algorithms to transcode H.263 to the VP6 format. This transcoder has applications in media adaptation including converting older Flash video formats to Flash 8 format. The transcoding algorithms reuse the information from the H.263 decoding stage and accelerate the VP6 encoding stage. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithms are able to reduce the encoding complexity by up to 52% while reducing the PSNR by at most 0.42 dB in the worst case.


The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays is unclear but the observation that many are seen to arrive from high Galactic latitudes supports the idea of Extragalactic sources. The characteristic features to be explained by any origin model are: the flattening of the energy spectrum above 1019 eV and the apparent presence of a directional anisotropy which increases systematically with energy.


As information on the World Wide Web continues to proliferate at an astounding rate, the Extensible Markup Language (XML) has been emerging as a standard format for data representation on the Web. In many applications, specific document type definitions (DTDs) are designed to enforce a semantically agreed-upon structure of the XML documents for management. However, both the data and the structure of XML documents tend to change over time for a multitude of reasons, including to correct design errors in the DTD, to allow expansion of the application scope over time, or to account for the merging of several businesses into one. However most of the current software tools that enable the use of XML do not provide explicit support for such data or schema changes. In this vein, we put forth the first solution framework, called XML Evolution Manager (XEM) to manage the evolution of XML. XEM provides a minimal yet complete taxonomy of basic change primitives. These primitives, classified as either data changes or schema changes, are consistency-preserving, i.e., for a data change, they ensure that the modified XML document conforms to its DTD both in structure and constraints; and for a schema change, they ensure that the new DTD is a valid DTD and all existing XML documents are transformed also to conform to the modified DTD. We prove the completeness of the taxonomy in terms of DTD transformation. To verify the feasibility of our XEM approach we have implemented a working prototype system using PSE Pro as our backend storage system.


PURPOSE: A method for displaying multi PIG(Picture In Guide) information and an apparatus therefor are provided to offer visual broadcasting program information to a user by providing a moving picture and text information to a current channel and providing a still image and text information to the other channels. CONSTITUTION: A multi-tuner unit(210) plurally tunes each channel-classified broadcasting signal inputted as a transport stream type. A demultiplexer unit(220) divides the transport stream tuned in the multi-tuner unit into a video, an audio and EPG(Electronic Program Guide) information. An image processing unit(230) processes images of the broadcasting signal divided through the demultiplexer unit. An EPG generating unit(270) forms a main picture, a multi PIG picture including a plurality of sub-pictures and a program information picture with a table type using EPG information. A display unit(290) displays image signals outputted from the image processing unit and the EPG generating unit. If an EPG mode signal is received, a control unit(250) inputs an image signal of a selected channel to the main PIG picture of the EPG generating unit, and inputs still images of the other channels to the sub-PIG pictures of the EPG generating unit. The control unit updates the display of the main PIG according to the channel selection of EPG information displayed on the display unit.


The object of this study is fuzzy cognitive modeling as a means of studying semistructured socio-economic systems. The features of constructing cognitive maps, providing the ability to choose management decisions in complex semistructured socio-economic systems, are described. It is shown that further improvement of technologies necessary for developing decision support systems and their practical use is still relevant. This work aimed to improve the accuracy of cognitive modeling of semistructured systems based on a fuzzy cognitive map of structuring nonformalized situations (MSNS) with the evaluation of root-mean-square error (RMSE) and mean average squared error (MASE) coefficients. In order to achieve the goal, the following main methods were used: systems analysis methods, fuzzy logic and fuzzy sets theory postulates, theory of integral wavelet transform, correlation and autocorrelation analyses. As a result, a new methodology for constructing MSNS was proposed—a map of structuring nonformalized situations that combines the positive properties of previous fuzzy cognitive maps. The solution of modeling problems based on this methodology should increase the reliability and quality of analysis and modeling of semistructured systems and processes under uncertainty. The analysis using open datasets proved that compared to the classical ARIMA, SVR, MLP, and Fuzzy time series models, our proposed model provides better performance in terms of MASE and RMSE metrics, which confirms its advantage. Thus, it is advisable to use our proposed algorithm in the future as a mathematical basis for developing software tools for the analysis and modeling of problems in semistructured systems and processes. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2022-06-02-012 Full Text: PDF


Increasingly, teaching a future lawyer in a child advocacy clinic without a social worker is like teaching a future horticulturist without live plants or a future architect without blueprints. In the context of three waves of legal education, this article addresses the benefits of offering a child advocacy clinic staffed by a lawyer and a social work in order to promote three values: interdisciplinary legal education, creative problem solving and therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) principles. It makes a case-based rationale rather than arguing from a macrosystem perspective. A hypothetical Bonnie's case is used to describe, first, how the traditional law school curriculum would address her case and then how traditional clinical legal education might address her case. The article explores how a jointly taught clinic could enhance these traditional methods by substantially improve outcomes for Bonnie through marrying interdisciplinarity, creative problem solving and TJ.


Within the context of digital automation and profiling in the public sector, the rule of law and its inherent principle of legal certainty are highly debated concepts in relation to the desirable values and norms of equal treatment, transparency, and impartiality. However, scholars and policymakers disagree over whether automated decision-making (ADM) is beneficial for legal certainty. This debate highlights the ambiguity embedded in the substantive meaning of legal certainty. This article aims to analyze how the principle of legal certainty is interpreted and defined during the practical application of ADM in welfare services and to discuss the theoretical prerequisites for these definitions to be realized in ADM processes. The empirical case is the Swedish Public Employment Service, which makes extensive use of a statistical ADM tool for decision-making about whether or not to provide support to jobseekers. While the implementation of ADM by welfare institutions has been encouraged due to the assumption that it strengthens public and democratic principles, the study shows that, in practice, ADM processes are perceived as non-transparent and generate a relatively large proportion of incorrect decisions. This may be specifically disadvantageous for vulnerable individuals, who run the risk of being incorrectly denied the right kind of support while at the same time having a greater need for welfare support. The widespread future use of ADM in welfare services may affect how welfare rights and obligations and public principles are met in a new technological era.


Learning paradigm had been shifted to "student centered in which teacher or instructor role is more as facilitators who help students develop optimal potential. In order to be effective teacher needs to better understand all potentials of students. One form of the potential is multiple intelligences. To determine the learning achievement, the assessment should cover multiple intelligence-based learning outcomes which are performance tests. Variety of performance tests can be used to assess the actual performance or learning outcomes achieved by students.


Productive and reproductive performances in terms of body weight, age at first egg, egg production, egg weight, fertility, hatchability and mortality of Vanaraja, Rainbow Rooster, Kamruapa and Desi chicken of Assam were studied under traditional backyard system of rearing. The Vanaraja, Rainbow Rooster and Kamruapa birds were given to rear under the frontline demonstration programmes of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dhemaji to the women farmers of the district during 2020-21. The data on bird weights at different ages, egg weights, fertility, hatchability as well as mortality were collected and recorded and compared among the varieties. The data recorded from the study were analyzed as per standard statistical methods. The overall mean body weights were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in all the improved varieties than Desi chicken at different ages. There is also significant (P < 0.05) difference of age at first egg among Vanaraja (182.05±5.52 days), Rainbow Rooster (175.08±6.13 days), Kamruapa (163.06±5.52 days) and Desi chicken (203.31±3.31 days). The mean egg production values up to 32, 40, 52 and 72 weeks of age in the demonstrated varieties were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the corresponding values of Desi birds. The mean egg weights of Vanaraja, Rainbow Rooster, Kamruapa at 32, 40 and 52 weeks of age were also significantly (P < 0.05) higher than Desi birds. However, no significant difference was observed in mortality rates among the four groups at different ages. There was also no significant (P < 0.05) difference in fertility and hatchability percent among the four genetic groups. It is concluded that Vanaraja, Rainbow Rooster and Kamruapa birds are adapted well under traditional backyard rearing system in agro-climatic conditions of Dhemaji district of Assam with adequate economic advantages over the Indigenous birds.


The significance of the studies of cultural heritage and the need for a university to establish relevant programs are briefly discussed.Culture is characteristic of the human race and has a long tradition."Cultural heritage",though relatively narrow in its scope,is important in terms of its preservation and utilization and has great potential for economic development.China has abundant historical and cultural heritage which will inevitably become a major industry.


Set in the tourism/hospitality context, this study explores consumer perceptions of technology-enabled services (TESs) and their relationship to technology readiness (TR). Data were collected through a web-based survey from air travelers and hotel patrons. The results suggest that customers generally separate TESs into three categories: peripheral, standard, and network access related, with standard TESs being most important. The perceived importance of TESs is found to be positively associated with consumers' technology readiness, and the strength of this association is stronger in the airline case, suggesting a moderation effect of service category on the relationship between perceived importance of TESs and TR. The findings of this study should help organizations make technology-related decisions and develop the right technological infrastructure for achieving competitiveness and customer satisfaction.


Local wall stiffness affects endothelial responsiveness but how global measures affect responsiveness is unanswered. We assessed this by comparing reactive hyperaemic responses of brachial diameter (RHRBD) with central (heart-to-brachial artery pulse wave velocity (PWV); large (C1)) and peripheral (C2) arterial stiffness. Twelve healthy subjects were investigated. RHRBD was induced via an upper- or forearm occluding cuff. Arterial diameter changes were measured using echo ultrasound. Arterial stiffness and RHRBD were compared using a Pearson correlation coefficient (r) and Bland–Altman analysis of Z-scores (indicated as 95% confidence intervals (CI) and expressed in units of standard deviation (SD) from the mean). Weak relations were found between upper-arm RHRBD responses and C2 (r = 0.56, P = 0.06; 95% CI ± 1.84 SDs) and C1 (r = 0.55, P = 0.06; 95% CI ± 1.86 SDs). An inverse relation was found between upper-arm RHRBD responses and PWV (r = −0.55, P = 0.06), but Bland–Altman plots revealed no agreement between these parameters (P > 0.05; 95% CI ± 3.46 SDs). Forearm RHRBD were not related to PWV, C1 or C2 (P > 0.05; 95% CI > 2 SDs). The weak relation between upper-arm endothelial responses and C2 and C1 seems to suggest that C2, and also C1, is not a good and reliable method for assessments of endothelial health. Furthermore, if anything, upper-arm mediated RHRBD responses are more affected by arterial stiffness than forearm responses.


The isobar-doorway model is used to parametrize the pion-nucleus optical potential so as to take into account the interaction of the D with other nucleons as well as coupling to inelastic and reaction channels. The parameters of the model are determined by fitting elastic scattering angular distributions. It is found that the nonlocality associated with the isobar propagation is important in the resonance energy region. This may indicate that the use of impulse approximation in obtaining the pion optical potential may be doubtful even if we introduce a complex shift in the energy at which the pion-nucleon scattering amplitude is evaluated to get a first-order optical potential.


In this paper, a solution is proposed for the design of reliable, high-performance current-steering DACs in modern sub-micron technologies. In addition to the technology-trend of decreasing dimensions, an integration trend of mixed-signal cores (ADCs and DACs) with digital systems on a single chip can be observed. While the digital parts benefit from new technologies (lower power consumption and smaller chip area), the design of accurate, reliable and technology-portable analog circuits becomes more and more complicated. Moreover, the analog cores will be responsible for most of the yield and test problems of the mixed-signal systems-on-chip (MSSoC). The proposed solution is to use a smart approach A. van Roermund et al., (2005), taking full advantage of on-chip available digital processing power, in order to solve the aforementioned problems.


The present invention is directed to their use as inhibitors of 4-methyl-pyridopyrimidinone compounds and salts of the new formula (I), these synthesis and phosphoinositide 3-kinase alpha (PI3-K [alpha) . [Formula 1]


【Objective】To investigate the clinical efficacy of enteral nutrition in patients with severe acute pancreatitis.【Methods】Thirty seven patients were randomly divided into 2 groups,EN group and TPN group.【Results】There were no statistical differences in clinical data.The patients' weight and ALB of two groups had significantly changed on 3th week postoperatively compared with those of the preoperative standard.And there were statistical differences in two groups.The score of APACHEⅡin EN group was obviously less than that of PN group(P0.05).No undesired side effects occurred in two groups.Nausea,vomiting and abdominal pain didn't occur by slowing the administration rate or regulating the temperature of multi-fibre utrison.No complication was found.【Conclusion】 Using enteral nutrition is safe and effective in severe acute pancreatitis.It is beneficial for improving the patients' nutrition status.


Generally, when designing a symmetrical half-bridge converter, the rectifier on the secondary side is composed of a full-bridge rectifier or a center-tap rectifier to take advantage of the full-wave rectifier (FWR). However, when driving with asymmetrical PWM, the benefit of full-wave rectification due to symmetric operation is lost, so a half-wave rectifier (HWR) can be introduced to cope with low-voltage and high-current applications. Furthermore, if an HWR is used with an asymmetrical half-bridge converter (AHBC), the soft switching characteristics of the AHBC can be improved while maintaining appropriate conduction loss. It is because the transformer current has a negative average with the reduced duty cycle loss due to the operation characteristics of HWR. Accordingly, this study examines the superiority of an AHBC with HWR in an efficiency aspect compared to the case of using FWR through the operation characteristic analysis. The validity of the analysis is verified through experiments with a 360-W prototype.


Though XML-annotated text collections are commonplace in humanities computing, the value of the annotation is often underestimated, as interesting applications can be realised by ignoring the content and considering the annotation exclusively. At the same time, the distribution of text collections (e. g., linguistic resources) is often restricted by rigid licence agreements. Usually, a corpus consists of a source text collection (STC) acquired from third parties such as web sites or publishers, and annotation layers that refer to, for example, structural or linguistic properties. In practically all cases the STC is a copyrighted property, so that it is up to the copyright holder to decide if, and under which conditions, the corpus a crucial part of which is the STC can be made available to the public or to the research community.


This paper highlights the significance of innovation and ICT, in other words, the tendency is to provide proper perception of the importance of ICT regarding innovations condition as one of the key elements for developing Macedonian economy by efficient analysis of the existing data in the Republic of Macedonia and in worldwide. Innovation analysis is not an aim perse, but a powerful tool for understanding the real condition and a basis for suggesting measures for its development. The significance and role of ICT and innovation is great both on company's and economy's level. Innovations generally are human activity, and innovation support is the principal task of the management and key responsibility of the companies' managers. The fast development of technology has created new requests in companies in search of new technological improvements by applying new ICT. ICT and innovations are of great importance for the economical development and prosperity in the Republic of Macedonia, which is the main hypothesis, "ICT plays an important role in promoting innovations and innovation activities". Analysis results demonstrated that the developed countries have greater contribution in promoting ICT and innovations. While the results from the empirical research implied to accepting certain hypothesis, which led to accepting the main hypothesis that ICT play important role in promoting innovations and innovation activities in the Republic of Macedonia.


Computers hold the potential to draw legislative districts in a neutral way. Existing approaches to automated redistricting may introduce bias and encounter difficulties when drawing districts of large and even medium-sized jurisdictions. We present a new algorithm that can neutrally generate legislative districts without indications of bias that are contiguous, balanced and relatively compact. The algorithm does not show the kinds of bias found in prior algorithms and is an advance over previously published algorithms for redistricting because it is computationally more efficient. We use the new algorithm to draw 10,000 maps of congressional districts in Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas. We find that it is unlikely that the number of majority-minority districts we observe in the Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas congressional maps of these states would happen through a neutral redistricting process.


Proposals for the reduction of military budgets, based on the conviction that such measures would facilitate the disarmament process and help release resources for economic and social development, were made in the General Assembly during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1973, a proposal submitted by the Soviet Union led to the adoption of resolution 3093 A (XXVIII), by which the Assembly called upon the permanent members of the Security Council to reduce their military budgets by 10 per cent and to designate a portion of the funds thus saved for the provision of development assistance to developing countries. The other permanent members of the Security Council opposed the proposal for various reasons.


With transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) expanding into intermediate risk patients, and ongoing trials for low risk patients, the next frontier for TAVI is to prove longevity compared to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). The 5-year results of PARTNER 1 trial did not show an increased mortality risk with TAVI compared to SAVR [1]. TAVI and SAVR mortality after 5 years are similar in the US selfexpanding Core Valve Pivotal trial [2]. Yet outcomes may be different in clinical practice without the stringent inclusion/exclusion criteria of randomized trials. Thus, Takagi et al. perform a meta-analysis of propensity matched observational studies with at least 3-year follow-up comparing TAVI with SAVR [3]. Higher mortality is observed for TAVI patients compared to SAVR (Hazard Ratio51.54 [95% CI:1.31,1.81]). This translates into approximately 13% higher absolute mortality rate with TAVI than SAVR at 3 years given the average mortality of the included observational studies. Potential mechanistic explanations for increased long-term mortality with TAVI compared to SAVR might include more frequent perivalvular leak (PVL), TAVI prosthesis failure, need for pacing, and new left bundle branch block (LBBB). The presence of PVL does ascribe a significantly higher mortality risk. A 54% higher hazard would imply a large proportion of patients with moderate/severe PVL. This seems unlikely with <10% incidence of moderate/severe PVL. Even with the first-generation Edwards Sapien valve, 5-year echocardiographic data does not suggest any incremental TAVI degeneration compared to surgical bioprosthetic valves [1]. As the authors have pointed out, LBBB or pacemaker implant have not been associated with increased mortality. Despite the underlying observational studies best efforts, patient co-morbidites often leading to TAVI instead of SAVR such as frailty and dementia were incompletely or not matched in some of the included studies. The logistic EuroSCORE, often the basis for the propensity matching, is insufficiently granular with broad discrete categories such as renal function, ejection fraction, pulmonary disease, and pulmonary hypertension to assure similarity of risk. Included studies also compare trans-apical TAVI (TA-TAVI) to SAVR. TA-TAVI is a rare occurrence in current clinical practice due to widely reported worse outcomes. Another consideration is the underlying studies span from the very earliest TAVI reports with pioneer and relatively inexperienced operators to truly contemporary data. Mortality at 30-days after TAVI in the PARTNER trials has sharply decreased from 5.2% to 2.2% in the high-risk cohort and to 1.1% in the intermediate risk group [4]. These factors and residual confounding from intangible differences in patients not captured in propensity scores could plausibly explain the observed higher mortality with TAVI than SAVR. Despite all these caveats, this meta-analysis of Takagi et al. is among the best systematic data available for estimating the expected outcomes in TAVI and SAVR patients not in trials. The findings provide a cautionary reality check: SAVR should be assumed to have superiority or at least equipoise with TAVI for three-year mortality unless and until longer term data from PARTNER 2, S3 and SURTAVI studies prove otherwise. Further, detailed individual long-term outcome prediction models will help guide


Despite Commissioner Forgione's attempt to put the best face on it, the final-year TIMSS study does not permit a comparison of achievement across nations, Mr. Bracey avers. When people make such comparisons, they are engaging in a political exercise, not an intellectual one. Commissioner Pascal Forgione's article in the June 1998 Kappan, "Responses to Frequently Asked Questions About 12th-Grade TIMSS," answers some questions, but it leaves others dangling and finesses some with sophistry. Indeed, the title of his article perpetuates a myth that is among the worst distortions of the whole matter: that this study is about "12th grade." In many countries, it is about grade 13 or grade 14 or about students in their third year of study of a subject or about students enrolled in a curriculum concentrated on math and science and little else. Commissioner Forgione attempts to deal with the 12th-grade issue when he says, "The purpose of this component of TIMSS was not to compare students of the same age or years of schooling, but rather to compare students at a similar point in the education system: the end of secondary school." If that be true, the release of the TIMSS data could perhaps be considered the worst public relations debacle in the history of the U.S. Department of Education. Here is the view of TIMSS that most people could deduce from the TIMSS press releases: Around the world, a school is a school is a school. In these schools, our 12th-graders went up against their 12th-graders and got trounced, and even our best 12th-graders went up against their best 12th-graders and got trounced. Comments from the media and from educators clearly demonstrate that this interpretation is the one that holds sway: American high school seniors have scored far below their peers from many other countries on a rigorous new international exam in math and science.(1) (Emphasis added.) American high school seniors - even the best and brightest among them - score well below the average for their peers in other countries.(2) (Emphasis added.) [TIMSS] presents findings concerning the standing of U.S. 12th-graders compared to their peers participating in TIMSS.(3) (Emphasis added.) The conclusion is unmistakable: The longer students stay in American schools, the farther they fall behind their age-mates in most industrialized nations of the world.(4)(Emphasis added.) Some of our science and math folks have been saying for years that our best kids are the best in the world. Well, they're not.(5) American 12th-graders scored near the bottom of the industrialized world.(6) American 12th-graders [scored] at the very bottom of the rankings.(7) If our students are so bad, why is the economy so good?(8) Hey, we're No. 19!(9) I have done my share to blast the media for distorting reports on the condition of American education, but I find it inconceivable that so many reporters, pundits, and educators could have misinterpreted the data in precisely the same way. It's about students, they wrote, not systems. Indeed, while the official TIMSS report Mathematics and Science Achievement in the Final Year of Secondary School makes it clear that the study is about systems and that the systems differ greatly,(10) Pursuing Excellence, the report from the U.S. Department of Education, focuses on students and emphasizes the similarities across nations: As is discussed in more detail in chapter 4, the most recent data indicate that in most countries participating in TIMSS secondary school enrollment rates are similar to that of the United States. Not only do the TIMSS countries have most of their secondary school-age population enrolled in school, the strict quality controls discussed earlier ensured that the sample of students taking the mathematics and science general knowledge assessments were representative of the entire population at the end of secondary school. …


While many studies analysed the impact of capital regulations on lending, not much attention has been devoted to the role of other regulatory aspects in shaping credit expansion. The present study endeavours to fill this void by analysing the relation between a broad array of banking regulations and lending over two periods: 2005-2014 and the crisis period 2007-2010. The study covers 886 commercial banks from 27 EU countries. A further contribution of the study is an intertemporal approach to regulations. This method is applied to account for the fact that the substantial pre-crisis changes of the regulatory frameworks in the EU countries may have created an external shock to the banking system which affected lending. Also, the study endeavours to capture the effect of regulations on the quality of loans by analysing the dynamics of nonperforming loans (NPL). Finally, the paper aims at assessing the post crisis regulatory changes in the EU in terms of their potential effect on bank lending. The results indicate that several aspects of banking regulation impacted the level and quality of bank lending significantly, as well during the whole sample period, as during the crisis. The results have implications for the ongoing banking regulatory reform in the EU.


Objective To analyze of the recent trend of etiology and risk factor in elderly hypertension patients.To analyze the trend of etiology and risk factors of hypertension in elderly patients of recent years.Methods Retrospective study etiology and risk factors of patients with hypertension in department of hypertension was used.Retrospective research was carried out to analyze the case history of relative patients between January 2000 and September 2006,and to evaluate the risk factors such us overweight and obesity,the metabolic index,the damage of target organs.Results 1) EH was the main etiology of elderly hypertension patients.Essential hypertension(EH) was the main cause of hypertension in elderly patients.2) Blood pressure(BP) classification showed that BP level was high but the risk was even higher.3) The complications of metabolic disorder in the elderly patients were frequently seen and serious.4)Enlargement of left atria,reduction of glomerular filtration rate(GFR),and lacunar infarction were the most common types of target organ damage in elderly patients.Conclusion The main etiology of elderly HBP was essential hypertension.Essential hypertension(EH) is the main cause of hypertension in elderly patients More attention should be paid to the treatment of metabolic disorder and to protection of target organs,as well as the control of BP level.


This paper is a brief review of what has been carried out on the epidemiology of coetaneous Leishmaniasis in Mashad Research Station during the period 1964 through 1967. According to these studies; nine different foci of the disease exist in the province of Khorassan. The disease is of urban type in the city of Mashad and of rural type in Sarakhs and Lotfabad areas. The epidemiological type of the disease is not yet known in other foci. In the urban focus of Mashad, the main reservoir of the disease is dog and its vector Ph. Sergenti. Average duration of disease is about one year. The prevalence is about the same all the year round. The incidence in highly infected areas reaches 138 per thousand per year. In the rural foci, the main reservoirs of the disease are gerbils (Rhombomys oplmus and Meriones libycus erythrbumus its vectors are Ph. papatasi and sand-flies of the coucasious group. Average duration of the disease is about. 6 months. The prevalence differs according to the season, being maximum in December and almost zero In May. The incidence of the disease had been 86 per thousand per year during the study period. There exist 18 species of Phlebotomus and 11 species of Sergentomyia in the province of Khorassan. In Mashad and Lotfabad sandflies all active from late May through early October and they are susceptible to DDT and Dieldrin.


SUMMARY Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) was prepared from human liver tissue and used in an immunoelectro-osmophoresis screening test to detect antibody to HBcAg (anti-HBc) in patients with evidence of liver disease and in blood donors. With the exception of two immunosuppressed HBsAg carriers, anti-HBc was found in all cases of hepatitis B infection even when HBsAg was detectable only by radioimmunoassay. Non-specific reactions were observed in 'non-B' hepatitis but, in spite of this problem, anti-HBc screening was considered a useful addition to routine tests in the clinical hepatitis laboratory. The appearance of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) during acute hepatitis B infection has been clearly documented in both man (Hoof-nagle et al., 1973) and the chimpanzee (Markenson et al., 1975). It has also been found that antibody is regularly present in the sera of established carriers (Hoofnagle et al., 1973). It therefore seems that determination of anti-HBc might provide a sensitive indication of active or recent hepatitis B infection, but so far its application in routine laboratories has been very limited. Several methods for detecting anti-HBc have been described, including fluorescent antibody (Brzosko et al., 1973), complement fixation (Hoofnagle et al., 1973), immunoelectro-osmophoresis (Budkowska et al., 1974), and radio-immune precipitation (Moritsugu et al., 1975). Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) for the tests has been obtained from either human or chimpanzee liver or, more rarely, from serum rich in Dane particles. This paper describes a simple method of extracting HBcAg from human liver and the application of an immunoelectro-osmophoresis (IEOP) technique for testing clinical specimens for anti-HBc. A 10 % extract of postmortem liver tissue from an immunosuppressed HBsAg carrier was prepared by grinding with sand and distilled water in a mortar. thawed three times, and clarified by low-speed centrifugation (1500 g for 30 minutes). The super-nate was then centrifuged at 200 000 g for two hours. The resulting pellet was resuspended in distilled water and the cycle of low-and high-speed centri-fugations was repeated. The final high-speed pellet was resuspended in 1/10th of the original volume of distilled water and was used as the 'partially purified' HBcAg. Further purification was attained by CsCI density gradient centrifugation. SEROLOGICAL TESTS FOR ANTI-HBC IEOP was performed by the technique developed for HBsAg detection (Pesendorfer et al., 1970). Screening tests for anti-HBc were carried out using both the 'partially purified' HBcAg (used at two to four times its IEOP titre) and 'normal' …


Acetobacter xylinum strains are known as efficient producers of cellulose. A. xylinum is an obligate aerobic bacterium that has an oxygen-based metabolism. The dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in a rotary discs reactor (RDR) is one of the most important factors that need to be observed during the cellulose synthesis by these bacteria. In this study, the effects of different discs rotation speed (5, 7, 9 and 12 rpm) and fermentation period (3, 4, 5 and 6 days) on the DO concentration and production of bacterial cellulose in a 10-L RDR were examined. The highest yield was obtained at 7 rpm with a total dried weight of 28.3 g for 4 days fermentation. The results showed that the DO concentration in the 10-L RDR increased in the range of 13 to 17% with increasing of discs rotation speed from 7 to 12 rpm. However, fermentation with high discs rotation speed at 12 rpm reduced the bacterial cellulose production. Analysis of data using Statistica 8.0 showed a high coefficient of determination value (R2 = 0.92). In conclusion, discs rotation speed gave more significant effect on the DO concentration and production of bacterial cellulose in 10-L RDR compared to fermentation period. This was further combined with synergistic effect from sufficient consumption of oxygen for the enhanced production of bacterial cellulose and providing the controlled environment for encouraging bacterial growth throughout the fermentation process.


This study examines the similarity of socialization goals of a group of mothers with different cultural backgrounds and their children's respective preschool teachers in Germany. Additionally, the researchers were interested in the relationship between the degree of mother-teacher similarity and maternal satisfaction with child care. Questionnaire data of nonmigrant (n = 464), Turkish migrant (n = 83), and Former Soviet Union (FSU) migrant (n = 112) mothers and their respective preschool teachers (n = 244) were analyzed. Significant cross-cultural differences between mothers and teachers were evident in the lower correlation of socialization goal evaluations between migrant mothers and teachers, and higher absolute difference scores for migrant mothers. However, maternal satisfaction with institutional child care was not related to similarity of socialization goals and was generally high across all groups. Results point to the importance of cross-cultural differences in child-rearing ideas in terms of the interaction between parents and child care professionals.


The paper introduces and sums up foreign studies on layoff victims,focusing on immediate responses of layoff vic-tims to layoff,coping strategies taken,subsequent process of finding new jobs and performance after reemployment. In theend,the paper presents an overall model for layoff victims study,puts forward the directions for future research,and it alsoprovides some implications to the growing domestic layoffs,based on the results from previous studies.


We demonstrate a fully conjugated donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) triblock copolymer, PBDTT–PNDIBT–PBDTT, which contains PBDTT as the donor block and PNDIBT as the acceptor block. The polymer was synthesized by end-capping each block with a reactive unit, followed by condensation copolymerization between the two blocks. The physical, optical, and electrochemical properties of the polymer were investigated by comparing those of donor- and acceptor-homopolymers (i.e., PBDTT and PNDIBT), which are the oligomeric monomers, and their blends. On using the newly synthesized block copolymer, ambipolar charge transport behavior was observed in the corresponding thin-film transistor, and the behavior was compared to that of blend film of donor- and acceptor-homopolymers. Owing to the presence of donor and acceptor blocks in a single polymer chain, it was found that the triblock copolymer can store two-level information; the ability to store this information is one of the most intriguing challenges in memory applications. In this study, we confirmed the potential of the triblock copolymer in achieving distinct two-stage data storage by utilizing the ambipolar charge trapping phenomenon, which is expected in donor and acceptor containing random and block copolymers in a thin-film transistor. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 3223–3235


A new selenidoarsenate [Co(en)3]2As2Se5 1 (en = ethylenediamine) was synthesi- zed by a reaction of AsCl3, CoCl2(6H2O and Se in en under mild solvothermal conditions, and the structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. 1 crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, space group Pbca with a = 15.5092(12), b = 11.5756(9), c = 17.8138(14) , V = 3198.1(4) 3, Mr = 1023.12, Z = 4, Dc = 2.125 g/cm3, ( = 8.807 mm-1, F(000) = 1976, S = 1.171, the final R = 0.0591 and wR = 0.1067 for 3170 observed reflections with I 2((I). 1 consists of isolated dimeric [As2Se5]4- anion constructed by two corner-sharing AsSe3 trigonal pyramids and transition metal [Co(en)3]2+ cations. The optical absorption property and thermal stability of 1 are reported.


A stochastic population model with the mixed harvesting strategy is formulated and studied in this paper. Sufficient and necessary conditions for survival of the species are derived firstly. Then, based on the ergodic stationary distribution, the optimal strategy is identified. Results show that the linear harvesting effort threatens to the survival of the species; the quadratic harvesting strategy occupies an absolute advantage in the harvesting and excludes the linear part out of the optimal harvesting strategy. It's interest to see all these occur only in the random environments. Computer simulations are carried out to support the obtained results.


This semester we are introducing Student Data Profiles which will be sent home with each child soon. These profiles are designed to give parents extra information about how their child is travelling academically and where they are in relation to our school and regional benchmarks. The data provided will give parents information about your child's attendance, as well as what reading level they are currently at, and the results from this year's diagnostic testing. If you have trouble interpreting the data profiles please ensure that you talk to your child's teacher so that you can fully understand where your child is at in relation to their peers.


The first morning of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) annual conference—which was held entirely online this fall because...


An images compression becomes a need to ensure their archiving and facilitate their transmission. The very paper comprises a proposal of an image compression approach using the human visual system (HVS). Actually, if the classical methods of image compression use quantization to reduce high frequencies, our brainchild consists in integrating the perception and modeling of the human vision to improve an image compression approach by using the discrete wavelet transform and quantization through the neural networks. In the new technique, a preprocessing phase can be added which is a compromise between the two laws: Weber-Fechner law considers which the sensitivity of the human eye to luminance is regarded as a logarithmic function and the A-law which is used in the field of telephony. The results of comparative experiments between our new approach, which use the human visual system, and the classical approach shows a significant improvement of the image quality notably for high compression ratios.


This paper aims at estimating the AgeSpecific Morbidity Rate (ASMR) and the Total Morbidity Rate (TMR) of the married women in the age group 15-59 years residing in the slum pockets of Guwahati city using Two Stage Sampling Technique. The paper also highlights a comparative analysis of the ASMRs and TMR obtained by Simple Random Sampling, and the ones obtained under two stage sampling technique. In our study, the first stage units (fsu) i.e., the slums are selected by Simple Random Sampling (SRS) Technique and the second stage units (ssu) i.e., the households or rather the individuals (married women in the age group 15-59) have been selected using Linear Systematic Sampling Technique. As regards the number of subunits to be selected from each fsu, recourse has been taken to Probability Proportional to Size. The study reveals that the MSEs are higher in case of SRS technique, implying that the sampling error involved in this method is more as compared to two stage sampling technique. It has been thus observed that two stage sampling method as a better technique for estimating TMR.


MAX8790 is a high-efficiency driver for white light-emitting diodes.It is designed specially for large liquid crystal displays(LCDs) that employ an array of LEDs as the light source.The pin description,operation principle and operating circuit of MAX8790 are introduced in this paper.


Purpose To evaluate the effect of 23-gauge core ppV with consecutive intravitreal injection of rtPA, gas and bevacizumab for the displacement of SRH in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods The retrospective, non-randomized case study included 15 eyes of 15 patients aged 74 to 89 with SRH resulting from exsudative AMD. Each patient was treated with 23-gauge ppV and injection of 0.05 ml rtPA (50 μg), 0.3 ml of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) gas and 0.05 ml bevacizumab (1.25 mg). Visual acuity (VA), lesion size measured by fluorescein angiography (FA) and retinal thickness as determined by optical coherence tomography (OCT) were evaluated pretreatment as well as 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively.

Results The mean visual acuity pretreatment was 20/400. The figure remained constant until month 3 postoperatively. At 6 months, the mean VA had improved to 20/200. No patient had reading ability before treatment. 1 month postoperatively reading VA was achieved in 6 %, rising to 27% at 6 months. There was a reduction in retinal thickness in 8 patients measured by OCT. FA showed a reduction of lesion size in 10 out of 15 patients.

Conclusion The combined application of rtPA, gas and bevacizumab via 23-gauge PPV for the treatment of SRH secondary to exudative AMD appears to be a safe and effective method. In our study, the combined treatment including the injection of bevacizumab enabled 27 % of patients to achieve reading ability at 6 months postoperatively.


The Keck Array (SPUD) is a set of microwave polarimeters that observes from the South Pole at degree angular scales in search of a signature of Inflation imprinted as B-mode polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The first three Keck Array receivers were deployed during the 2010-2011 Austral summer, followed by two new receivers in the 2011-2012 summer season, completing the full five-receiver array. All five receivers are currently observing at 150 GHz. The Keck Array employs the field-proven BICEP/ BICEP2 strategy of using small, cold, on-axis refractive optics, providing excellent control of systematics while maintaining a large field of view. This design allows for full characterization of far-field optical performance using microwave sources on the ground. We describe our efforts to characterize the main beam shape and beam shape mismatch between co-located orthogonally-polarized detector pairs, and discuss the implications of measured differential beam parameters on temperature to polarization leakage in CMB analysis.


According to the power definition in frequency-domain, reactive power measurement needs to realize 90° phase shift of voltage or current signal . This paper designs a new-style and high precision 90° digital phase-shift network in wide frequency scope. The network has superior response of frequency. The error of phase-shift can reach 0.01° and error of extent can be 2×10-8 in the range of 45~3000Hz. The parameter of network can be adjusted to fit for the fact according to different require. This method can be used to design reactive power measurement equipment for power computation and attemperment automatization in electric power system.


The authors propose a novel control method based on two observers to suppress the vibration of a flexible joint, even under fast motion. One observer is a disturbance observer and is used for the realization of an acceleration controller of the motor axis. The other observer estimates the link velocity and is effective for the suppression of torsional vibration. The disturbance observer estimates the total sum of the disturbance torques which are imposed on the motor axis. Feedback compensation by this estimated disturbance torque increases the servo stiffness and the robustness of the motor portion. The feedback of the estimated link velocity totally suppresses the torsional vibration of the flexible joint even under fast motion. The proposed control was implemented in a 16-b microprocessor with a digital signal processor for a laboratory test.<<ETX>>


SUMMARYThe effect of gamma rays, ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) and N-nitroso-N-methyl urea (NMU) was studied on chiasma frequency in two cultivars of Lycopersicon esculetitum Mill., namely, CO.2 and Pusa Ruby. In all mutagenic treatments, the chiasma frequency was reduced as compared to their respective controls. Especially in CO. 2, gamma rays caused a greater reduction in frequency of chiasmata than NMU and EMS. Alkylating agents induced somewhat more reduction in Pusa Ruby than in CO.2.


The dissertation expounds the suitable range,the mechanism,the method of operation and the experiences of cold compress.Cold treatment can be used in sports injuries,acute soft tissue contusion,burn,heat stroke and some diseases onset.It can be used flexible to save oneself depending on injury and field conditions.


In Estonia, traditional chemical monitoring of surface water and effluents is performed but bioassays are not used as monitoring tools. Furthermore, the expediency of application of toxicity tests to surface water monitoring is questionable. The main aim of this study was to test the feasibility of using microbiotests in the biomonitoring of surface water and effluents. The sensitivity of five test species was also evaluated during the study. Water samples from rivers and wastewater treatment plants were collected over a period of 3 years and tested using bioassays with Selenastrum capricornutum, Thamnocephalus platyurus, Daphnia magna, Tetrahymena thermophila, and Lemna minor. The species used in the battery of tests showed different sensitivities for a specific sample. This confirms the need for a battery of bioassays for the assessment of possible ecological consequences of wastewater discharge. The studied test species are sensitive enough to indicate negative changes in surface water quality, which can affect the aquatic biota. The battery of bioassays consisting of T. platyurus, L. minor,S. capricornutum and D. magna can be recommended for control of waste water quality and assessment of a potential risk for aquatic biota. The results of tests with plant species may give additional important information on the possible effect of effluent on the eutrophication process in receiving waters. From the results obtained during the present study it can be recommended that toxicity tests be included in the effluent and surface water monitoring program in Estonia. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Environ Toxicol 15: 385–389, 2000


The role of satellite cells (muscle stem cells) during hypertrophic growth remains to be fully elucidated. Previous findings are limited due to the mode of mechanical overload and a relatively narrow analysis of downstream effectors influenced by satellite cell depletion. The current study was designed to determine how the absence of satellite cells influences the transcriptome‐wide response and phenotypic adaptation to short‐ and long‐term periods of muscle growth in the oxidative soleus and the glycolytic/oxidative plantaris. We administered vehicle (SC+) or tamoxifen (SC−) to adult (6 months old) female Pax7‐DTA mice for 5 consecutive days to effectively deplete satellite cells. Following a 2‐week washout period, mice were subjected to progressive weighted wheel running (PoWeR) for 4 or 8 weeks or served as sedentary (locked running wheel) controls. After 4 and 8 weeks of PoWeR satellite cell and myonuclear density were significantly increased only in the muscles of SC+ mice. While muscle fiber size increased in both groups, growth was blunted at 4 and 8 weeks in the soleus and at 8 weeks in the plantaris of SC− mice. Further, measures of collagen demonstrate impaired extracellular matrix remodeling during muscle adaptation at both time points in the absence of satellite cells. RNA‐sequencing of the soleus and plantaris revealed muscle‐specific differences in the response to PoWeR as well as a dysregulated transcriptional profile during growth in the absence of satellite cells. These findings indicate satellite cells are required for optimal muscle growth and likely play a role in coordinating an efficacious transcriptional response for adaptations to exercise. We plan to further interrogate these findings at the myonuclear level via single‐nuclear sequencing, enabling a more targeted and fiber type‐specific analysis of signaling cascades dysregulated in the absence of satellite cell participation.


The contribution deals with a rather narrow topic related to cohabitation – namely with the access of cohabitants to assisted reproduction (ART). The focus is being put primarily on the Czech legal regulation of this issue. Then there is a broader European context added in the contribution. Some European countries are analysed in greater detail, especially if their approach to ART is specific or interesting. In the end, there is reflection of the Czech approach, taking into consideration the differences between the Czech Republic and other European countries.


The «directiveness» scak of Ray (1976) is one of the rnethods desiRned to measure authoritarianum. In this papes the relationship of the method to dogma:1m, political orienta/ion, age and ser, and variables ofinterest in the field of socio-political attitudes is studied. The obtainelresults allow us to conclude that the «directiveness» scale is inadequate for Mese purposes. Also, it needs to be emphasked that the need for a more stringent theoretical debate concerning political authoritarianrim is necessaty.


During the ethnohistoric period, the Kucadɨkadɨ (Mono Lake Paiute) regularly made journeys from the Mono Basin to Yosemite Valley to collect acorns. Archaeological evidence indicates that this practice pre-dates the time of Euro-American contact. It is unclear, however, whether these journeys were undertaken primarily for social or economic reasons. We evaluate the hypothesis that long-distance acorn transport was a viable subsistence strategy in the Mono Basin by comparing it to competing subsistence strategies. We do this by introducing a new model for examining resource transport. Using data gleaned from the ethnographic and experimental literature, we employ a Monte Carlo simulation to approximate the probability distribution of the return rates of transporting basket loads of various resources to a hypothetical winter camp in the Mono Basin. Our analysis indicates that long-distance acorn transport is a viable subsistence strategy that produces better mean return rates than collecting small seeds within the Mono Basin. Though pinyon pine nuts and Pandora moth caterpillars produce the highest return rates, these resources are not available every year and cannot be collected in enormous quantities. Acorns may have buffered against subsistence shortfall during the winter and allowed the Kucadɨkadɨ to permanently settle in the Mono Basin.


The invention discloses a production method of low-carbon ferromanganese. The method comprises: smelting manganese-rich slag in a blast furnace, producing the low-carbon ferromanganese in a refining electric furnace, carrying out external shaking ladle dilution processing on refining slag. The production method is characterized in that three production methods of smelting the manganese-rich slag in the blast furnace, producing the low-carbon ferromanganese in the refining electric furnace and carrying out extenal shaking ladle dilution processing on the refining slag are organically connectedand are in linkage operation; and the smelting pilot process (liquid manganese-rich slag->refining electric furnace and liquid low-carbon ferromanganese->refining electric furnace and refined slag->external shaking ladle) is performed with hot charging and hot adding to produce the low-carbon ferromanganese conforming to the national standard (GB/T3795-1996). The invention successfully solves theproblems of shortage of raw material resources used for production, high cost, high comprehensive energy consumption of products and high product production cost in the existing low-carbon ferromanganese production process.


This study estimates the extent to which students' learning orientations are shaped independently and jointly by their academic and nonacademic experiences. Findings indicate not only that students' academic and out-of-class experiences make statistically significant and unique contributions to gains in intellectual orientation after controlling for precollege characteristics, but also that the two domains exert a modest joint effect.


Native and exotic rosaceous fruits were sampled to determine hosts of apple curculio, Anthonomus quadrigibbus Say, plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst), and quince curculio, C. crataegi Walsh, larvae. One or more species of these univoltine weevils infested 22 of 24 (91.7%) rosaceous species, including 13 native ones. Weevil infestations tended to be greater in exotic fruits than native fruits. The plum curculio had the broadest host range (19 species), followed by the apple curculio (9 species), and the quince curculio (6 species). Principal apple curculio hosts were native Amelanchier spp., Crataegus spp., and Prunus serotina Ehrhart. The apple curculio did not attack apple, Malus domestica Borkhausen, or most other exotic fruits in areas sampled. Ten native fruits, mainly Amelanchier spp. and Prunus spp., and nine exotic orchard fruits were infested by the plum curculio. The quince curculio developed in fruits of two native Crataegus spp. and four exotic orchard species. Selective removal of wild rosaceous reservoirs of these curculios may reduce fruit damage in commercial orchards.


Continuing the review of the most interesting scientific events in the field of quinquevalent organophosphorus chemistry this chapter covers the literature concerning the area published in 2012. The review is not comprehensive but shows some of the most important achievements in the area contained in leading journals. It describes compounds containing three P–O bonds (phosphates), two P–O and one P–C bonds (phosphonates) as well as one P–O and two P–C bonds (phosphinates) in addition to the phosphoryl group PO. Each of the main sections has been divided in the same way, covering synthesis, reactions and biological aspects.


The density of the H2–CO2–CH4–CO–H2O system in the supercritical region of water is significant for analyzing the gasification process of organic substances in the supercritical water. We report density measurements of the quinary system by the isochoric method at 722–930 K and 15.4–30.3 MPa. The upper limit of the expanded uncertainty at 95% confidence for temperature is 0.2 K. The upper limits of the expanded relative uncertainties at 95% confidence for pressure and density are 0.0006 and 0.0125, respectively. The density data were compared with those predicted using the GERG-2008 equation of state. The absolute relative deviations between the calculated and experimental densities are not more than 1.79%. Furthermore, the excess volume of the quinary system decreases monotonically with the increase of temperature in the isochoric process at 722–930 K. The thermal expansion coefficients of the quinary system were also determined.


Objectives: Lipid limitation, that is, ⩽1 g · kg−1 · day−1 of soy oil lipid emulsion (SOLE), has been suggested as a method to reduce the risk of intestinal failure (IF)–associated liver disease (IFALD). There are limited data as to the effects of this strategy on growth and essential fatty acid (EFA) status. The aim of the study was to assess growth, prevalence of cholestasis, and EFA deficiency in patients with IF who were provided daily SOLE at a dose ⩽1 g · kg−1 · day−1. Methods: Medical records were retrospectively reviewed from 9 patients age 16 months to 8 years who had IF requiring parenteral nutrition support for >12 months. Parenteral nutrition supplied a mean of 53% of total energy (range 24%–86%). Results: Mean SOLE dose was 0.61 g · kg−1 · day−1 (range 0.4–0.81 g · kg−1 · day−1). After 1 month of lipid limitation between 2011 and 2014, no patient developed IFALD as defined by a direct bilirubin >2 mg/dL. The median direct bilirubin was 0.1 mg/dL (range 0.075–0.85 mg/dL). No patient developed EFA deficiency as defined by a triene-to-tetraene ratio >0.2 (median 0.026, range 0.017–0.076). Height z scores increased from mean of −2.568 (range −10.8 to 0.878) to −0.484 (range −3.546 to 0.822). Weight z scores increased from mean of −1.412 (range −5.871 to 0.906) to −0.595 (range −2.178 to 0.926). Conclusions: In this case series, lipid limitation allowed normal growth while preventing the development of cholestasis and EFA deficiency.


The influence of counterflow on the mixing and acoustic characteristics of a Mach 1.4 rectangular jet operated at on- and off-design conditions were studied experimentally for different levels of counterflow. The results show that counterflow significantly enhances shear-layer mixing and reduces the jet potential core length under all operating conditions. Significant changes in both shock-cell spacing and strength were ohserved when counterflow was applied to nonideally expanded jets. Consequently, screech tones were either reduced or totally eliminated, and broadband shock-associated noise was shifted to higher frequencies. In the underexpanded mode, a Mach disk was formed at certain levels of counterflow, which substantially weakened the subsequent periodic shock-cell structure and reduced the broadband shock-associated noise and the overall sound pressure level (OASPL) by as much as 3 dB. Interestingly, it was also discovered that a jet operating at overexpanded conditions could be decelerated nearly isentropically by applying the proper amount of counterflow. This modification led to a 4 dB reduction in OASPL. Based on the present study, it is suggested that counterflow warrants further investigation as a potential noise reduction technique.


This thesis discussed the theory of "shan-shui city" at first by famous scientist Qian Xuesen in letters,introduced some different views about this theory by experts,and then examined the relationship of the "shan-shui city" theory and the art of Chinese gardens. Lastly this thesis clarifies the meaning of the theory of "shan-shui city" that it includes Chinese shan-shui poetry and shan-shui painting and Chinese gardens which make it full of poetic and picturesque conception,landscape beauty and architecture significance.


In this article, a robust kernel-based model reference adaptive control is proposed for an unstable nonlinear aircraft. The heart of the proposed kernel-based model reference adaptive control scheme comprises an offline neural identifier and an online neural controller. In the offline neural identifier, the kernel-based unified extreme learning machine algorithm is used to identify the aircraft model with the available input–output data in a finite time interval. The finite time interval is selected to avoid the response of the unstable aircraft growing unbounded. In the kernel-based unified extreme learning machine, the hidden layer feature mapping is determined by the kernel matrix. However, the unified extreme learning machine is a batch learning algorithm and is not suitable for the online control learning. To solve the problem, a recursive version of the unified extreme learning machine is developed in this study. Based on a given reference model and the identified model, the recursive version of the unified extreme learning machine algorithm is applied to construct the online control law to compensate for the changes in the aircraft dynamics or characteristics. The performance of the proposed kernel-based model reference adaptive control scheme is validated through the simulation studies of a locally nonlinear longitudinal high-performance aircraft. Simulation studies are also compared with a model reference adaptive control based on the back-propagation algorithm and a model reference adaptive control based on the basic extreme learning machine algorithm in terms of the identification and tracking abilities. The results show that the proposed kernel-based model reference adaptive control can achieve better identification and tracking performance.


Objective
To observe the application efficacy of intravitreal balanced salt injection before scleral buckling for choroidal detachment with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

Methods
The data of 65 eyes of 65 cases of choroidal detachment with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in this hospital from Feb. 2016 to Dec. 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. All cases were divided into two groups randomly. Group A, 31 eyes of 31 cases, underwent scleral buckling after intravitreal balanced salt injection; and group B, 34 eyes of 34 cases, underwent vitrectomy. The follow-up time was for 6-12 months after operation.

Results
The retina were reattached after first operation in 28 eyes (90.2%) in group A and 30 eyes (88.3%) in group B. The postoperative visual acuity (logMAR) was 0.53±0.44 in group A and 1.00±0.33 in group B. The difference in success rate of the first operation was not statistically significant between the two groups (χ2=0.00, P=1.00). The difference of the final visual acuity was statistically significant between the two groups (t=3.87, P=0.00).

Conclusion
Intravitreal balanced salt injection before scleral buckling can achieved long-term visual function.

Key words:
Retinal detachment, choroidal detachment; Intravitreal injection, balanced salt; Buckling, scleral


A growing number of socio-economic studies of cultural heritage sites have been undertaken in recent years, normally focusing on specific impact dimensions. This paper offers a holistic framework for analysing socio-economic impact of heritage sites. It presents impract as a dynamic concept and provides a typological basis for analysing impacts. Such a holistic approach will provide a useful basis from which heritage managers can conceptualise socio-economic impact.


Information on the qualifications of migrant workers going abroad and returning to the country of origin is important for the development of the regular migration programmes. Moldova and Ukraine are significant sources of migrant workers, and data on the demand for qualifications in the domestic labour markets helps ensure proper recruitment of workers and to prevent the waste of qualified ones.


Three -dimensional ordered macroporous carbon materials (3D0CM) have a potential application feature in many fields such as photonic crystals,catalysts supports,biosensors and electrode materials etc. Colloidal crystal templating method is an effective method to prepare these 3D0CM materials. The method mainly involves three steps including fabrication of template from monodisperse SiO2 particles,deposition of desired precursor inside the template and removal of the template. In this paper,a briefly review about the synthesis and application of such 3DOCM materials is provided according to correlative document.


Nicaragua is the only country in the world with three Catholic priests occupying ministerial posts. Ernesto Cardenal, the poet, is Minister of Culture; his brother, Fernando, is Education Minister; and Miguel D'Escoto is Foreign Minister. The fact that they are participating in the Sandinista government, which in November 1984 won over 65% of the vote in the first election since the revolution of 1979, has brought the three into conflict with the Catholic Church hierarchy in both Nicaragua and the Vatican. The conflict came to a head at the end of 1984, when the priests were called upon to choose between what the Church authorities defined as their religious vocation, or continuing to work in the Nicaraguan government. This was justified under a new Canon Law No. 285 adopted in November 1983, which explicitly stated that priests could not carry out: 'Public posts that entail the exercise of civil authority'. The three ministers all chose to remain in their ministerial posts, and were expelled or suspended from their orders. In his Letter to My Friends, an abbreviated version of which follows, Fernando Cardenal, who has been Education Minister since July 1984; explains why he considers his expulsion from the Jesuit order to be inspired more by political than religious concerns, and justifies his wish to continue working in the government. The issue raised within the Catholic Church goes beyond the fate of these three priests, however, and should be seen in the context of Pope John Paul II's attempts to control the 'theology of liberation' movement which has made such an impact in Latin America. (See Peter Hebblethwaite, 'Liberation and John Paul II', Index on Censorship, 5/83). The Pope seems determined to return the Church to a conservative interpretation of its duties towards the poor, staying away from any identification with them in any particular historical situation, whereas Father Cardenal feels that the Church must engage in the struggle on behalf of the poor whenever and wherever it can. As Leonardo Boff, another 'liberation theorist', put it: 'A Church for the poor is not enough; it is imperative that it be a Church with the poor, until it becomes the Church of the poor'.


Labov (2001) showed that vowels that are being pronounced the same from one generation to the next exhibit normal (i.e. bell curve) frequency distributions in their pronunciations, while vowels that are changing diachronically exhibit skewed (i.e. lopsided) frequency distributions. The present paper reports on a production experiment that examines whether the continuation of long-term patterns of vowel behaviour (change over time or stability over time) is partly due to differential learning of the frequency distributions associated with each long-term pattern. The experiment specifically asks whether learners exposed to a skewed distribution of pitches, as opposed to those exposed to a normal distribution of pitches, will learn a target pitch that is different than the mean pitch of the distribution they heard. In weak support of this hypothesis, results indicate that participants exposed to skewed input distributions produced pitches that were further from the input mean pitch than those exposed to normal input distributions, but the difference between groups was not significant. In addition, both groups produced output pitches that tended to be higher than the mean pitch of the input, and both groups' output was strongly influenced by the final note they had heard.


The P5CS from the leaves of J.curcas was cloned by RACE and named JcPSCS.The full-length cDNA of JcP5CS is 2675 bp,containing a 2148 bp open reading frame,a 117 bp 5'-untranslated region and a 410 bp 3'-untranslated region.The ORF encoded a 716 amino acid polypeptide with the molecular weight of 77.54 kD and the pI value of 6.11.Multiple sequence alignments showed that JcP5CS shared high homology in amino acid sequence with P5CS of other higher plants.The conserved Glu-5-ki-nase, glutamic-γ-semialdehyde dehydrogenase(GSA-DH) domains,conserved leu zipper and the putative ATP and NAD(P) H-binding sites was also been found.The JcP5CS protein was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli.The molecular weight of the expressed protein in E.coli was identified with the deduced protein.The result of enzyme activity assay indicated that we obtained the functional JcP5CS enzyme.


Former police officer sustained a psychiatric injury as a result of his experiences at the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident.


More than three years after its Congressionally mandated deadline, the Environmental Protection Agency has finally issued the first federal standards for municipal solid-waste landfills. The standards cover location, design, operation, and closure requirements, and mandate cleanup of existing contamination. Groundwater monitoring will be required at all municipal landfills. The main object of the guidelines is groundwater protection. The rules list 45 organic chemicals and 15 metals that must be monitored at all landfills. Only about one fourth of existing landfills monitor groundwater, and EPA does not know how many detect contamination. Some exemptions from monitoring are available for very small landfills meeting specific conditions. The rules, first proposed in 1988 and delayed because of Office of Management & Budget objections to their cost, affect nearly 6000 landfills. EPA estimates an annual compliance expense of $330 million, most of it for closing old landfills and constructing new ones. The ru...


Optical tagging methods have the advantage that they cannot be detected by a suspicious criminal or terrorist using a radio frequency (RF) sensitive device to scan his vehicle for the presence of an RF emitting tag. We will describe two optical tagging methods in which the presence of the tagging marks can be visually discovered only by very close observation. On the other hand, the tags can be readily recognized by a surveillance team through the use of infrared imagers, either in the longwave infrared (LWIR) or in the near infrared (NIR). The first approach uses a clear coating that has a higher thermal emissivity than the glass window to which it is applied. This coating can be viewed with a thermal imager that operates in the LWIR, with the tags appearing as bright marks on a dark background. The second method uses an NIR laser illuminator and also quarter-wave thick layers applied to the license plate of a vehicle. When viewed with a polarization-sensitive imager that operates in the NIR, these quarter-wave tags appear as bright marks on a dark background. We will show sample images of both of these optical tags, as viewed in the LWIR and NIR regions, respectively.


To identify the mechanical strength of conventional glass ionomer cements when added powder in their composition compared to each other, and with high viscosity glass ionomer cement for ART. Method: Experimental study with 50 test specimens (2.5 mm in height and 5.0 mm in diameter), five groups with n = 10 each, G1 (Maxxion R-MR) and G2 (Vidrion R-VR) and G3 Vitro molar (VM-control) according to manufacturer powder / liquid (1: 1), G4 (MR) and G5 (VR) plus powder (2: 1). The specimens were stored in an oven at 37 ± 1 ° C for 1 day. Diametral Tensile Test was performed by the Instron model 4444. One-way analysis of variance and Tukey's test were used, and the test T averages (α = 5%) were used. Results: Significant differences were found in the means of mechanical resistance when MR 1: 1 and 2: 1 (p = 0.039) and RV 1: 1 and 2: 1 (p = 0.029) were found. When comparing MR 2: 1 with VM 1: 1 and VR 2: 1 and VM 1: 1, VR 2: 1 presented a superior average when compared to VM 1: 1 (p = 0.0336). For analysis of variance of VICs 2: 1 and VM 1: 1 no statistical differences were found. Conclusion: A significant increase in the mean mechanical resistance for the modification of the powder increment was observed between the conventional IVC, as well as when comparing VR 2: 1 and VM 1.


The orthodontic proclination of lower incisors is very important in some cases. However, some investigations have shown that gingival recession could occur after this type of orthodontic movement, but other authors couldn't prove this. The aim of this study was to analyze the literature finds about the relationship of lower incisors proclination and gingival recession. There are few studies about it, especially with adults and the results' disagreement is possibly due to the different methods applied. Considering that association of many external and local anatomic factors represent the etiology of gingival recession, the most important factors detected in this literature review were: final inclination and the thickness of the free gingival margin of the lower incisors.


An edible coloring powder for the thermosetting electrostatic print on food and medicine contains at least one edible thermoplastic substance or mixture and at least one shielding substance proportionally.


Antithrombotics reduce the risk of stroke in individuals with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, optimal prescribing of antithrombotics in older people remains a challenge. The objective of this study was to assess the risk of stroke for aged care home residents with AF and to examine the pharmacist‐led medication reviews on the utilization of antithrombotic therapy.


Asthma is a disease affecting the airways that carry air to and from lungs. Exposure to various irritants and substances that trigger allergies (allergens) can trigger signs and symptoms of asthma. The prevalence of asthma varies widely in different regions of the world due to distinct genetic, environmental and occupational risk factors. In this research investigation, we study the pharmacokinetic, drug-likeness, bioactivity profile and toxicity profile of some selected anti-asthmatic agents by computational methods. The study provides the information about the pharmacokinetic and toxicity of existing drugs that can be used for design and development of new anti-asthmatic agents with more potency and lesser toxicity.


This paper discusses how to use object-oriented integrated\|technology to develop a certain project of AutoCAD ARX. Primarily, the design theory and design thought of integrating AutoCAD software will be discussed in details, based on new ARX technology of AutoCAD development, as well as characteristic database model.


This article is devoted to computer materials science of electrical construction composite materials for obtaining materials with specified properties. The idea, principles and distinctive features of computer materials science are given. An approach to solving a number of problems is described, which makes it possible to fully take into account the presence of random elements that are present in the process of forming composite materials. Implementation of algorithms is implemented, in which results obtained in previous stages affect progress of algorithms execution in subsequent stages. The radar absorbing material is considered in detail using the example of radar absorbing concrete. It has been proved that with multi-factor dependence, it is possible to optimize the composition only using an automated computer system that calculates the composition of the concrete mixture. One possible computer material science problem has shown that in order to increase absorption efficiency, it is necessary to substantially increase the effective absorption volume, which can be achieved by increasing the non-conductive layers in order to reduce the through conductivity of the radar absorbent concrete, i.e., as if to break the material into a large number of small electromagnetic screens. In this case, the volume of interaction of the material with the electromagnetic field extends deep into the material and is made commensurate with the size of the sample. In conclusion, a possible list of tasks and directions for the development of computer materials science is presented.


Computer-implemented systems and methods for digital content protection and security in multi-computer networks are provided. In one embodiment, a system for cryptographic digital content protection and security is disclosed. The system may include at least one processor, and a storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, configure the at least one processor to determine specifications of a computer terminal, determine a status of the computer terminal as a public terminal or a private terminal, identify sensitive information in a data transmission, generate output instructions associated with the sensitive information, and provide the data transmission and the output instructions to the computer terminal over a network.


Abstract Objective: To evaluate the body image and nutritional status (NS) of older adults aged 80 and over and its relation with quality of life (QoL). Method: A cross-sectional, quantitative study, with no intervention, using non-probabilistic sampling, was conducted from October 2016 to September 2017 with 103 older individuals aged ≥80 years old from the state of São Paulo. NS was evaluated according to OPAS/SABE; body image was evaluated by the Kakeshita fifteen silhouette scale, and the WHOQoL-bref and WHOQoL-old were used to measure QoL. The Chi-square test was used to verify the association between the studied variables and sex. To compare QoL with nutritional status and body image, the ANOVA Factor test was used. The level of significance was 5% (p<0.05). Results: The majority of the interviewees were female (69.2%) and the average age was 82.75 (±2.98). When comparing the perception of QoL with NS, there was a significant difference (p=0.027) in the self-evaluation of QoL of obese older adults only. The QoL related to body image of both sexes presented a significant difference (p=0.020) in the environmental domain of the WHOQoL-bref in the evaluation of body satisfaction. Conclusion: The body image distortion identified by these older adults did not interfere with their perception of QoL. However, when NS was considered, overweight older adults had a higher perception of QoL.


Abstract:This article highlights some paradoxical aspects of Voltaire's admiration for Racine. He paid little attention to Racine's plays as dramatic entities, followed received opinions, and made many unfavourable judgements, especially concerning Racine's mix of tragedy and galanterie. What he idolized was Racine's use of language and his poetic skill. He thus removed Racine's tragedies from the contingencies of the theatre, and transformed them into an eighteenth-century linguistic and cultural ideal that he used for polemical purposes in a war against Shakespeare and encroaching barbarism, leading the Romantics subsequently to reject the 'Racine' he had been so influential in creating.


T INTR he intensification of corporate-driven globalization and liberalization of trade in the agro-food system is creating an environment in which viable alternatives for marginalized producers in the South are becoming ever more important. In an effort to counter a "race to the bottom" in which corporations with the lowest social and environmental costs appear to fare best, Fair Trade is being adopted for a number of commodities such as coffee, tea, cacao, and bananas. Proposed as an alternative system of trade, Fair Trade initiatives seek to create positive social change by altering what happens at each end of the commodity chain while shortening the social distance between producers and consumers. For small-scale banana producers, the Fair Trade market represents a critical export outlet for their product, and perhaps the last hope for their future as independent banana producers. ODUCTION


Investigation purpose To study if psychomotricity is a stimulating mechanism influence in the socialization, language, self-assistance, congnition and motor development areas in the treatment of a group of two years old children with anarthritic language retard. Material and methods Four patients with anarthritic language retard were prospectively estudied from March to August, 2002. They were divided into two groups, group A (exposed to psychomotricity), and group B (not exposed to psychomotricity). Each group was formed by two patients that agreed to accomplish the therapy sessions, a weekly hour of specific language therapy, during six months for both groups, using the same methodology; and a weekly hour of psychomotricity during six month, exclusively for group A. All patients were evaluated with the Portage Guidelines (1) to determine the development level in socialization, language, self-assistance, cognition and motor development areas at the beginning and end of the investigation.


In the field of electrical engineering, polymer nano-composites have been alluring owing to their excellent dielectric properties. At contrasting loading concentration, they are embodied with nano-fillers for boosting their dielectric properties. This paper aims to investigate the dielectric properties, thermal properties, surface hydrophobicity, surface leakage current and optical properties of polypropylene (PP) when reinforced with Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nano-fillers to find its suitability as a dielectric material. With the introduction of ZnO fillers in PP, improvements of dielectric properties have been observed. Thermal stability is observed to be more or less the same in terms of decomposition temperature, temperature corresponding to maximum rate of decomposition, endothermic and exothermic peak. Better surface hydrophobicity and leakage current of lower magnitude are observed even with ZnO filler loading. UV absorption has been found to have increased after ZnO nano-filler loading.


A more reasonable computational fluid dynamics(CFD) analysis is carried out for the external aerodynamic characteristics of the high-speed car in this paper.The realizable k-eturbulence two equations model of RNS methods based on the FVM(finite volume method) combined with the enhanced wall treatment method is apllied to simulate the external flow field of a car model with tires,side mirrors and antenna and other protruding parts under vehicle's different speed conditions.The results show that the difference of the vehicle surface pressure along the x-direction leads to the car's aerodynamic drag;with the increased vehicle's speed,the car's aerodynamic drag grows faster than the aerodynamic lift.


We show that a general process of decision making involves un- certainty about two dierent sets: the domain of the acts and another set, which we call the set of models for the decision maker. We study the eect of dierent information structures on the set of models, and prove the existence of a dichotomy: either the decision maker's ranking of the acts obeys Subjec- tive Expected Utility theory or there are many events to which probabilities cannot be assigned. We use this result to formalize the idea of Knightian Uncertainty. The relevance of information structures associated to Knightian Uncertainty is shown by means of examples, one of which is a version of Ells- berg's experiments. Our …ndings show that a decision maker faces, generally speaking, uncertainties of two dierent types -"uncertainty about which state obtains" and "uncertainty about how the world works" - and that Savage's theory considers only uncertainty of the …rst type. Finally, in situations of Knightian Uncertainty, we identify the class of events to which probabilities can be assigned, and study the relation with the class of unambiguous events in the sense of (13) and (25).