PID control has been the most widely spread form of feedback in industry for at least five or six decades. It has very old roots, but prior to the 1930s the development was driven by instrument companies, plant designers and plant operators. Today the interest among academics is large and increasing. When new controller types and new tuning rules are presented, they have to show their superiority over already accepted types and rules in one respect or another. A correct comparison requires an evaluation method that can guarantee that an improvement of one property has not been paid by a too bad deterioration of another. Such a method is presented in this thesis. It is based on four well defined criteria, related to vital performance and robustness system characteristics. According to the proposed evaluation method optimal PI and PID controllers have been investigated for a large number of plant models. Common features have been observed, resulting in almost optimal tuning rules for stable plants, including those with an oscillating mode, and for plants with integral action. Derivative action in the controller is recommended, since in most cases a PID controller increases the output performance significantly compared to a PI controller. This improvement is reached, with moderate enlargement of the control activity and the sensor noise sensitivity and without deterioration of the stability margin, only by including the low-pass filter on the derivative part in the design. An alternative to the traditional parameterization of the PID controller is introduced, which makes the same parameters well suited for formulation of all kinds of low order controllers. Furthermore, almost optimal zeros for the PID controller (specified by two of the new parameters) can well be found by help of a simple step response. The two remaining PID parameters, the high-frequency gain (or alternatively the filter factor) related to control activity and the integral gain related to performance, can then be manipulated sequentially by the user to tune the important trade-off between output performance, stability margins and sensitivity to sensor noise as well as high-frequency robustness. To further improve the high-frequency properties it is also shown how additional low-pass filtering can easily be added to the classical PID controller.


This thesis proposed to apply the concepts of allostasis and self-regulation to redefining the difficulties encountered by children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in processing sensory stimulations. This thesis consisted of two phases of study. Phase 1 of the study validated the two major forms (Home and Main Classroom) of the Sensory Processing Measure–Hong Kong Chinese version (SPM– HKC) in 542 and in 325 Chinese, typically developing (TD) children, respectively. The internal consistency of the SPM–HKC was good. Four out of nine Home scales and eight out of nine Main Classroom scales had Cronbach's alpha values greater than or equal to .80. In addition, three Home scale and one Main Classroom scale had Cronbach's alpha values of between .70 and .80. The test–retest reliability of the SPM–HKC was good to excellent. The intraclass correlation coefficients of the Home and Main Classroom Forms scales ranged from .70 to .95 and .82 to .98, respectively. The discriminant validity of the SPM–HKC was excellent. For both the Home Form and the Main Classroom Form, the ASD group had significantly higher (more undesirable) scores (all p < .001) than their non-ASD peers. However, the correlation of behavior of the Hong Kong Chinese children toward sensory events across settings was found to be low or not statistically significant, demonstrating an


This paper deals with number and distribution o  Mute Swans during four consecutive autumn-winter seasons (October-March 1985-1989) in south-eastern Poland The number of wintering Mute Swans is still increasing. In 1989, 2,497swans were recorded, about 13% of all Mute Swans wintering in Poland. Two important winter haunts are described which contain about 80% of all swans. They differ in the pattern of arrival and percentage of young birds. The urban winter sites have more young birds than the rural ones. The duration of stay at the urban winter site is also much shorter. The percentage o f young birds in south-eastern Poland is similar to that in Great Britain and Sweden but it is distinctly lower than values reported in USA and southern USSR. Most swans come to these winter haunts from other parts of Poland but birdsfrom East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Denmark were also noted. Percentage of Polish morph is very low (1-3%), similar to the rest of Poland. .


It is an article of made quantitative educative investigation with a sample of infirmary students who attended the subject of Methodology of the Investigation, contemplates the competitions that are developed when making an investigation project and to present/display the report of that investigation. The competitions in investigation are considered like cognitivos bridges that allow the student to acquire a significant learning. When advancing and finishing to the course and the students they were from its previous knowledge of a noncompetent figure to a figure of competent to very competent reflected this by a qualification average for the sample of 9.


Objective To investigate the effects of small interference RNA targeting Cdx2 gene (Cdx2-siRNA) on proliferation and apoptosis of human gastric cancer MGC-803 cells.Methods Cdx2-siRNA or negative control siRNA was constructed and transfected into MGC-803 cells by using LipofectamineTM 2000.Gastric cancer MGC-803 cells were divided into three groups:normal control group,negative control group and Cdx2-siRNA group.Cdx2 mRNA and protein were detected by using semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting respectively at 24 h.The viability of cells was examined by using methyl thiazol tetrazolium (MTT) assay at 24,36,48,60 and 72 h.The proliferation of cells was determined by colony formation assay at 7th day.The cell cycle progression and apoptosis were assessed by using flow cytometry at 24 h.Results Cdx2-siRNA and negative control siRNA were transfected into gastric cancer MGC-803 cells successfully.Cdx2 mRNA and protein in Cdx2-siRNA group were (0.07 ±0.01 ) and (0.15 ±0.02),which were lower than in negative control group and normal control group.The viability of cells was (0.125 ± 0.003 ),(0.193 ± 0.005 ),(0.223 ± 0.005 ),(0.267 ±0.003) and (0.315 ±0.006) at 24,36,48,60 and 72 h and the clones of cells were (51.4 ±3.2) in Cdx2-siRNA group,which were significantly lower than those in negative control group and normal control group.The apoptosis rate and the proportion of cells in G0/G1 phase in Cdx2-siRNA group were ( 12.5 ±0.6)% and (73.1 ±7.8)% respectively,which were higher than in negative control group and normal control group.However,no significant difference was found between negative control group and normal control group.Conclusion Cdx2-siRNA can inhibit viability and proliferation of human gastric cancer cells by apoptosis-induced effect and cell cycle arrest.

Key words:
Gastric carcinoma;  RNA interference;  Cdx2;  Proliferation;  Apoptosis


Under the background of 'One belt, one road' policy in China, the rapid development of going-out enterprises has drawn people's more and more attention. Using existing cooperative theory evaluation indexes, this paper creates a Cooperation Stability Evaluation model among Chinese, overseas Chinese and going-out enterprises based on Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation Model. By applying the theory to the practice, the paper carries out a simulation analysis and finds out the shortages, which could offer guides to enterprises' future development.


Portfolio Management requires a process that engages the expertise of the various stake holders in the organization and a system to provide the analytical support for the process. A well-thought-out process tailored for the organization takes care of the people issues and ensures buy-in for the selected portfolio strategy. Most of the existing portfolios are not developed to handle a portfolio of assets /securities when considering risks and opportunities. This is due to the fact that the expertise required developing portfolio of assets /securities are not processed by individual. When using these single portfolio processes, it is up to the experience of the organization and foremost project managers to find links between assets/securities in portfolio. The scope of a single security investment seems insufficient, and a more holistic. Therefore, existing risk management processes are considered insufficient due to the focus on a single asset/security risk management. In this study it is tried to conclude different levels of risks and opportunities within a portfolio of assets/Securities that can be managed by identifying positive or negative relation between each other. Keywords : Portfolio, Risk, Risk Management, Stock Prices


Presents the operational maintenance of500kV transimission lines under Harbin Electric Power bureau,analyses the test of insulators for low and zero value,test for salt tightness,check for interline spacing.fly-over and replacement of transmission lines,and points out key maintenance tasks.


Studied were the territorial peculiarities of mortality of the population, its dynamics in order to identify the basic patterns of development. Established was the fact that the mortality indices significantly differ in certain geographical groups and have an expressed tendency related to socio-economic transformations in society.


Variations in the cost for the same diagnosis among different hospital providers is a great concern to the public at large. With huge amounts of data being availed every second, utilising the data for the benefit of the society is commendable. In this research a neuro-fuzzy approach is proposed for Medicare payments data. Machine learning clustering algorithms on neuro-fuzzy results are compared to understand the variations in price for same treatment and diagnosis among different healthcare providers. Cluster analysis has been applied in various domains to help reveal hidden structures. Cluster analysis has not been well exploited in healthcare claims datasets, the reason being that healthcare expenditure data is highly skewed which make analysis complicated. The Inpatient charges is a large dataset that has 163065 and 12 attributes describing amounts paid by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to different healthcare providers using different Diagnostic Related Group (DRGs).


This aim of this study was to examine the effects of vineyard management and spatial heterogeneity of soil on chemical and microbial variables in comparison with an adjacent forest fragment. In 2000, two field experiments with Vitis labrusca (L.) were set up on an Oxisol of North Parana, Brazil. In 2004, soil samples were taken to evaluate the following factors: (i) conventional (CONV) and organic (ORG) vineyard management and (ii) spatial heterogeneity of soil, row or inter-rows cultivation and at different sampling depths (0-10 cm and 10-20 cm), in a split-plot arrangement fitted to a randomized complete block with six replicates. The forest adjacent fragment was considered as undisturbed agricultural (or control) area. Chemical attributes of the soil in the ORG vineyard were improved in comparison to the soil in the forest, at a depth of 0-10 cm, with the exception of total carbon. To microbial carbon (Cmic) values the both factors (vineyard management and special soil heterogeneity) contributed to changes in the contents this microbiological soil attributes in the areas evaluated. While, the spatial heterogeneity of the soil was the main factor to changes in soil microbial basal respiration, with higher values in the CONV rows. Regardless of the depth, the lowest qCO2 values were observed in the soil from the ORG vineyard and the forest. The cluster analysis showed that, represented on the Axis-X, the CONV vineyards, ORG vineyards and forest clustered from the negative to the positive, progressively, indicating greater similarity between ORG and forest. Moreover, when the spatial heterogeneity of the soil was plotted on the Axis-Y, the 0-10 cm layer appeared in the positive portion, and the 10-20 cm layer appeared in the negative portion. In the short term, it appears that different vineyard management methods affected microbial variables and some similarity between ORG and forest soil.


The invention R (1) to R (7) is directed to compounds of formula I having the meanings claimed in the claims. The compounds act on the Kv1.5 potassium channel and inhibit a potassium flow in human atrium is designated as active Ultrarapid Delayed Rectifier. Thus, the compound, in particular atrial arrhythmias, for example, is particularly suitable for use as a novel antiarrhythmic active ingredients in atrial fibrillation (AF) or the treatment and prevention of atrial flutter. Heterocyclic aryl anthranilic acid amides having a sulfonyl side chains, Kv1.5 potassium channel, atrial and potassium flow, atrial arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation (AF), atrial flutter, antiarrhythmic active ingredients


Objective To evaluate the correlation of FibroScan(FS) with MELD score in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis(LC).Methods One hundred and seventy patients with LC were included in this study.Clinical data and laboratory tests including liver function,renal function,INR,FS value were collected and analyzed.Results One hundred and forty-one patients were diagnosed as compensated LC(LC-C).Twenty-nine patients were diagnosed as decompensate LC(LC-D).FS values and MELD score between two groups have showed significant difference respectively(P0.001).Spearman correlation analysis showed that the coefficient correlation between FS value and MELD score was 0.458(P0.001).The patients were divided into two groups according to FS cut-off value(FS 15 kPa group and FS ≥15 kPa group).MELD score between two groups had showed significant difference(P0.001),and if FS≥15 kPa was used for diagnosis of LC-D,the sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 86.2%,41.8%,23.4%,93.7% respectively.Conclusion FS value correlates with MELD score in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis,which is valuable to judge severity of cirrhosis.Patients with FS values under 15 kPa have a small chance to develop decompensate cirrhosis.


A quadrupole ion trap (also known as Paul trap) is a device that confines charged particles using dynamic electric fields produced by four voltage-varying electrodes. The aim of this project is to simulate numerically the movement of such ions and therefore design the optimal ion trap. In order to do so, a number of simulations were made from different approaches: by direct discretization of the differential equations with the finite element method (FEM), and also by discretizing the integral equation using the method of moments (MoM), both in 2D and 3D. The voltage applied to the electrodes presents a harmonic variation, which takes place at a frequency that is low enough to consider a quasi-static problem, fact that simplifies the resolution.


Abstract : This paper proposes different methods for finding the global minimum of concave function subject to quadratic separable constraints. THe first method is of the branch and bound type, and is based on rectangular partitions to obtain upper and lower bounds. Convergence of the proposed algorithm is also proved. For computational purposes, different procedures that accelerate the convergence of the proposed algorithm are analysed. The second method is based on piecewise linear approximations of the constraint functions. When the constraints are convex the problem is reduced to global concave minimization subject to linear constraints. In the case of non-convex constraints we use zero-one integer variables to linearize the constraints. The number of integer variables depends only on the concave parts of the constraint functions.


ABSTRACT Monolithic chromatographic columns for HPLC based on divinylbenzene-styrene both with 1-vinylimidazole and with 4-vinylpyridine are prepared. The monoliths were synthesized in glass tubes with the inner diameter of 2 mm. Texture, hydrodynamic and chromatographic properties of the prepared columns were studied. Linear solvation energy relationships model was applied for the characterization of columns selectivity It is shown that changing the on 1-vinylimidazole or 4-vinylpyridine content in the initial solution allows to change the selectivity of the columns. An examples of small molecules and some proteins separations are presented. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Implementation of a batch control system is a complicated and difficult task due to the inherent nature of the batch process. This article defines a step-wise approach to batch instrumentation. The three steps include defining measurement and control parameters, the interlocks needed for process operation and the safety instrumentation and interlocks. The likely options for each of the steps are examined and the parameters, to be critically reviewed for, identified.


Over the last three decades the program transformation meth odology has been proved to be a powerful technique for deriving programs from specifications, verif ying program properties, specializing programs w.r.t. their context of use, and deriving more efficien t program versions from less efficient ones. The transformation methodology has been first proposed in th e area of functional programming by R. M. Burstall and J. Darlington in their seminal paper "A Tra nsformation System for Developing Recursive Programs" [1]. Then H. Tamaki and T. Sato applied the tra nsformation methodology also to the area of logic programming [4] and since then, many other papers an d research efforts have been devoted to the development of a variety of approaches to program transform ation in functional and logic programming and in other programming paradigms as well. For a survey whic h illustrates the basic ideas of program transformation and covers the early work in the area, the rea der may refer to [3]. More recently, people have been considering the applicatio n of transformation techniques to the case of "programming in the large". Developments in this directi on may be found in the companion Special Issue of Science of Computer Programming [2] edited by Ralf L ̈ mmel. That Special Issue is more oriented towards the applications of the program transform ation methodology in software engineering.


This study aims to see the effect of family economic conditions during the covid 19 pandemic on student achievement at SDN 3 Rantau Tijang Tanggamus. The population used in this study was SDN 3 Rantau Tijang Tanggamus students with the number of samples determined by the Slovin formula and simple random sampling technique obtained. 100 students as the research sample. Data collection techniques using questionnaires and documentation. Test the validity of the instrument and test the reliability using the alpha coefficient formula. Data prerequisite test was carried out with normality test, multicollinearity test and heteroscedasticity test. The data analysis technique used simple regression analysis. The results of the study based on the t-test showed that family economic conditions had a significant effect on student achievement at SDN 3 Rantau Tijang Tanggamus.


Within music education, graduate education is realized through post graduate and doctorate levels. The first step of this education is post graduate and scientific and artistic studies are run together and students' being able to do research with the appropriate methods and techniques and deliver solution by identifying the problems regarding the field with their inquisitive identities are among the primary targets of the process. In this context, it is considered that the course "Scientific Research Techniques and Science Ethics" involved in post graduate syllabi has great importance. Based on this consideration, the motivations of the students studying at music education department in the post-graduate level towards the course "Scientific Research Techniques and Science Ethics" have been aimed to be identified and in this context, the opinions of the students who are in the course stage in the music education department programme in 2016 – 2017 academic year have been taken.In consequence of the research, it has been identified that the motivations of the students towards doing research and their awareness about being able to direct their studies with their acquisition in this course are high, they feel themselves insufficient in doing research, the duration of the course is insufficient and the studies towards the practice in the course are necessary to be increased. Keywords: Graduate education, music education, scientific research


Objective To explore the genetic susceptibility of bipolar disorder. Methods Seven multiplex bipolar disorder pedigrees were collected. Thirty microsatellite markers in 4p,4q, 12q, 13q,21q,22q were evaluated initially and 12 additional markers were genotyped for fine scan between a domain of about 20 cM in 21q22, which had got a suggestive linkage in step one. Linkage analyses were carried out by GENEHUNTER 2. 1 software. Results Evidence for linkage was found at D21S263, D21S1252 and D22S423 with NPL score of 1.64, 1.41 and 1.40. By fine scan and linkage analyses, we got NPL scores of 1.44, 1.52, 1.54 and 1.89 with score pairs and score all at D21S262 and D21S1920 respectively. Conclusions Loci in 21q22.11-13 and 22q13.1 may contribute to bipolar disorder susceptibility in this sample.

Key words:
Bipolar disorder;  Genome;  Linkage (Genetics)


We examine the leading order semiclassical gradient corrections to the non-interacting kinetic energy density functional of a two dimensional Fermi gas by applying the extended Thomas-Fermi theory at finite


Compared with"May 4th" and "New Period" literatures,"Seventeen Years"literature is unique and complicated.Females are widely recognized for their social participation and behaviour,and the gender of female is paid more attention to. This phenomenon shows the contradiction between new ethics on females and the historical heritage.


The elastic-plastic delamination fracture in layered beams was studied theoretically. Two Four Point Bend (FPB) beam configurations (the Double
Leg Four Point Bend (DLFPB) and the Single Leg Four Point Bend (SLFPB))
were analyzed. An elastic-plastic constitutive model with power law hardening was used in the analysis. Fracture behavior was studied by applying the J-integral approach. The analytical solutions of the J-integral were obtained at characteristic levels of the external load. The solutions obtained were verified by analyzing the strain energy release rate with taking into account the material non-linearity. The variation of J-integral value in a function of crack location along the beam dept was investigated. The effect of material non-linearity on the fracture was evaluated. The analysis revealed that the J-integral value decreased with increasing the lower crack arm thickness. It was also found that the material non-linearity has to be taken into account in fracture mechanics based safety design of structural members and components made of layered materials. The analytical solutions obtained are very useful for non-linear investigations, since the simple formulae
derived capture the essentials of non-linear fracture in the layered beams under consideration.


One of the nicest things about being president of this organization is permission to talk about any subject in the presidential address. Previous presidential addresses have ranged widely from nuclear disarmament, courageously given by George Kraft, to a discourse on the history of one9s own family, equally courageously delivered by Austin Sumner. Some have been scientific, such as Mark Hallett's last year on a disordered melody. I knew my time was coming, but what to talk about? I forget who said the single greatest usefulness of electromyography is that it produces electromyographers, those physicians who become expert in diagnosing lesions of the peripheral nervous system. To be able to perform EMG means, of necessity, that one understand the arrangement of nerves and muscles, better than perhaps any other physician. Armed with this knowledge, the electromyographer is prepared to study and explore experiments in nature disguised as patients who walk into the laboratory. Today, I want to recount for you such an adventure in discovery. In the mid 1970s, in collaboration with John Gross and Robert Leshner, I studied the first of three patients with cervical nerve root lesions who had rather perplexing spontaneous contractions of arm muscles. These abnormal contractions involved only portions of a muscle, occurred about 20 times per minute and did not appear to be under the patients' direct control. Recording these contracting areas of muscle revealed motor units that discharged in bursts, then became silent only to burst again. On looking directly at the arm there appeared to be contraction of the muscle under the skin, with each contraction disappearing in less than one second. Surely this electric activity did not resemble fasciculation, complex repetitive discharges or myokymia. The first patient, aged 49, had a complicated birth resulting in a typical Erb's palsy. The electromyographically recorded units looked like motor units, but the patient could not voluntarily activate any of them. He could voluntarily activate other motor units in that particular muscle. I was sitting at the bedside scratching my head, listening to the amplifier and wondering what else to do. I became aware that the units fired only when the patient was breathing, or to be more precise, only during inspiration. When I asked the patient to breathe faster, the bursts increased in frequency. When I asked the patient to stop breathing, the units also stopped. The other thing I noted was that the units were neuropathic. They were irregular, of large amplitude, and contained many late components. Let me illustrate some of these findings. First, the relationship to inspiration (Figure 1). To confirm this, I recorded the abnormal units on one channel and the external intercostal muscle on another channel. As you know, the diaphragm contracts during quiet and deep breathing, and the external intercostals fire during deep inspiration.


The contribution deals with sensitivity analysis of a mechatronic system with flexibility and its control using the tool for scientific computation - Matlab. There are different methods of a mechatronic system control design used in this article. The system sensitivity is analysed on the basis of absolute differential (parametric) and relative differential sensitivity. Also, the influence of variability in selected parameters on the shape of step response and frequency-response characteristic is studied.


Includes descriptive metadata provided by producer in MP4 video file: "Religion - Videos - Holocaust Lecture Series: American Holocaust: The Destruction of America's Native Peoples." By Vanderbilt University.


Using the high-energy Operator Product Expansion of the T-product of two electromagnetic currents, we calculate the Photon Impact Factor for Deep Inelastic Scattering at small value of the Bjorken variable xB at the next-to-leading order (NLO) accuracy in αs. We provide for the first time an analytic expression in coordinate space and in Mellin space of the NLO impact factor for the forward unpolarized structure functions.


Preface Introduction 1. Subject-predicate form 2. Mill's theory of names 3. Platonism 4. Denotation and connotation 5. Meinongianism 6. Kinds of assertion and predication 7. Semantic paradoxes List of references Index.


For quantum search of unsorted real databases, it has been shown that exponential speed-up can actually be attained rather than only quadratic one, as usually expected. The appropriate algorithm is defined in terms of a short series of Grover's operations applied to a properly defined implicitly digitized real database. ∗Electronic address: email@example.com; URL: http://merlin.phys.uni.lodz.pl/BBroda


Phthalimidonitrene adds to the 4,5-rather than the 2,3-double bond of trophone in accord with addition via the syn-arrangement (6) stabilised by two secondary interactions; thermal and photochemical rearrangement of the 8-azabicyclo[5.1.0]octadienone derivative (2; X = NR) at 80 °C proceeds by apparent C–C bond cleavage, to give (3).


An analytical workflow involving high resolution mass analysis, collision-induced dissociation and ion mobility was implemented to structurally characterize polymeric by-products detected in lieu of intact species when performing matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) of polystyrenes with fragile end groups. Studied samples were prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization, reversible addition-fragmentation transfer polymerization and nitroxide-mediated polymerization. Spectral resolution enabled by orthogonal injection of MALDI ions into a reflectron time-of-flight mass analyzer allowed a thorough inventory of species, including some with the same nominal m/z value but different elemental composition. Individual end-group mass determination was achieved in MS/MS experiments, implementing an additional separative dimension based on ion mobility prior to CID to assist precursor ion selection in case of interferences. Besides validating commonly reported polystyrene chains terminated with either endo- or exo-double bond, this multidimensional approach permitted to show that initiating moiety could also be affected by the MALDI process. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016, 54, 3388-3397


The 10th International Congress of Coptic Studies (ICCS) was held in September 2012 in Italy. However, when the Gnosticism and Manichaeism section was commenced, the congress atmosphere was rapidly changed by Karen King's paper. It was originally assumed that the topic would be an attempt on the Tchacos Codex, but the Harvard scholar announced a new Coptic fragment in relation to the marital status of Jesus with Mariam. The new Coptic fragment was introduced as a rough rectangular shape, torn on all four corners. The amazing outbreak of the new Coptic papyrus took the attention of scholars and global faith communities in uncertainty and suspicion. Then, what is the new text about? Why is the Coptic teaching so controversial? What is the present tendency of the controversy? What is the truth? This paper will not only demonstrate the situation of the critical debate but also argue a new hypothesis that the new controversial manuscript is not an imperfect forgery but another notorious gnostic fragment unconfirmed.


Gynoid lipodystrophy, also known as cellulite, is a very common skin alteration representing mainly a cosmetic problem rather than a real disease. An effective treatment of cellulite has not been well established. The initial phase of cellulite is characterized by subdermal tissue edema with interstitial fluids retention. A new hypertonic topical product with draining action (HTC) containing NaCl 13%, escine, caffeine, and beta‐sitosterol has been recently developed. A 28‐day double‐blind placebo‐controlled study has shown that this cream is able to reduce thigh circumference and the thickness of adipose tissue. No data so far are available regarding an objective evaluation of skin appearance for a longer application period.


We suggest that the emergence of a large deformation in the magnesium, Mg, nuclides, especially at the Z = 12, N = 12, should be associated with an octahedral deformed shape. Within the framework of molecular geometrical symmetry, we find a possibility that the Z = 12, N = 12 system would form an octahedral structure consisting of six points of alpha(4He) particles, yielding the ground collectivity. With this point of view, we draw the following serial molecular structures; the Z = 10, N = 10, 20Ne, corresponds to a hexahedral, the Z = 8, N = 8, 16O, does to a tetrahedral, and the Z = 6, N = 6, 12C, does to a trigonal symmetry. Moreover, the Z = 2, N = 2, 4He(alpha), fits into a tetrahedral symmetry with four points of nucleons; two protons and two neutrons. The enhanced deformation at Z = 12 with N > 20 would be explained by a deformed shape related to an Ethene(Ethylene)-like skeleton with six alpha particles. The deformation at Z = 10, with N = 10 and 12, can be interpreted as being attributed to a hexahedral shape combined by five alpha particles as well. By noticing that the Z = 4, N = 4 system is unstable to the ground state under two-body system with two alpha particles, we conclude that alpha particles, rather than the eight-protons-neutrons nucleon, govern the 8Be stability. Accordingly, the alpha particle should be a third nucleon, like a proton or a neutron, in a nucleus. We name it the 'Alpharon'. With this picture, we are able to open a new gate toward understanding of nuclear many-body systems; nucleon-nucleon interaction, shell structures, nucleon-synthesis, and nuclear matters. We argue that nature favors three-body systems; three quarks for a nucleon, three nucleons for a nucleus.


The research aimed ay knowing compability between tebuiconazole 25% fungicide and Thricoderma harzianum and it's effectiveness alone or combibation in controlling three importan fungal desease on transplanted rice. Split plot design with three replications was used with main plot without and with T.harzinum applied .  Penulis adalah Fakultas Pertanian Unsoed Purwokerto


‶The ponderous column of the Bass,″ as Hugh Miller described it, has attracted the attention of many geologists, and it may be of some interest to summarize the results of their observations. To James Hutton (1795,1 p. 283) it afforded an illustration of a deep-seated igneous rock exposed by the denudation of the surrounding and overlying strata. This deduction of Hutton's would nowadays receive general acceptance, but curiously enough the reasoning that led to it was in part fallacious. For Hutton based his conclusion partly on the erroneous idea that the presence of calcareous spar implied that the rock had been under sufficient pressure to keep the calcite molten without the loss of its carbonic acid. Hugh Miller (1863, p. 293) first suggested that the Bass was the site of an ancient volcano. He spoke of it as indicating ‶the place of a great crater,″ and it is clear from the context that he regarded the rock as a ‶neck.″ Sir Archibald Geikie (1879, p. 447) described the Bass Rock as probably an old volcanic orifice, and later (1897, p. 433) he concluded that it was the neck of a volcano which supplied some of the lavas of the Garleton Plateau. The conception of the Bass as the wreck of an ancient volcano was very fully elaborated by Goodchild (1904), who further utilized the phenomena seen at the Bass and the adjacent shore as a starting-point for expounding his ideas concerning vulcanicity and the origin of magmas. George Barrow (1910


142 children from third and fourth grade participated in the present study.Through a game of sandbag carry,we examined the effect of cooperation or competition and success or failure on the sense of self-worth.Results demonstrated that the sense of self-worth was affected by individual based but not group based success or failure,in which interpersonal relationship played as a partial mediator.When faced with individual based failure,participants with high sensitivity of their ability still showed high sense of self-worth.Cooperation or competition in the game did not reveal a significant effect on the sense of self-worth.


A hearing aid is a small electronic device that one wears in or behind his/her ear who have hearing loss. A hearing aid can help to the people to hear more in both quiet and noisy situations. It makes sounds louder so that a person with hearing loss can listen, communicate, and participate better in daily activities. In this paper, we implemented a digital filter which is used for hearing aid application. The implemented filter is based on the multirate approach in which high sampling rate signal is decimated to low sampling rate signal respectively. This proposed decimated filter is designed and implemented using the Xilinx System Generator and Matlab Simulink.


Abstract Paid caregivers (e.g. home health aides, personal care attendants) are formally tasked with helping older adults with functional impairment meet their basic needs at home. This study used semi-structured interviews (n=30) with dyads of patients or their proxies and their paid caregivers in New York City to 1) understand the range of health-related tasks paid caregivers perform in the home and 2) determine if these tasks are taught in the New York State government's Department of Health curricula. We found that patients, proxies, and paid caregivers all described that paid caregivers performed a wide range of health-related tasks that were often not a part of their formal training. Creating clear competencies for paid caregivers that reflect the full breadth of health-related tasks they may perform at home will help maximize the potentially positive impact of the paid caregiver workforce on the lives of patients living at home with functional impairment.


The construction of cultural villages of nationalities is one of the important measures to develop local tourism,which has obviously obtained good result.However,during the process of the construction of cultural villages of nationalities,there exist some problems due to different reasons.The construction of cultural villages of nationalities should give prominence to the connotation of national culture,and strengthen the protection and exploitation of national culture.


The recent economic and social transformations due to the new coronavirus pandemic have enforced organizations to change business processes. Moreover, the lockdown regulations aiming at preventing the spread of the virus have induced accelerated digitalization. Businesses and employees have to adapt quickly and overcome difficulties with innovative strategies that can be derived from creative, motivated, satisfied, and happy employees. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) not only creates a better brand image for a company and contributes to organizational values and culture, but also positively affects employees' job satisfaction. The paper discusses the implication of CSR practice on employee satisfaction and examines the influence of CSR on employee wellbeing during the crisis. The presented paper is based on previous research aiming at analyzing the implications of the pandemic on CSR in Georgian companies. KEYWORDS: Employee, Wellbeing, Pandemic, CSR, Georgia.


It is clear that, in relation to sexual issues, the costs of adolescents remaining in a state of information poverty may be immense. What is rather less clear, however, is how this deficit should be redressed ‐ how and by whom information about sex should be provided and what information is regarded as necessary by the adolescent consumers of that information. These considerations are the focus of a study currently being conducted at Loughborough University in the Department of Information and Library Studies. This paper explores issues surrounding sex information for adolescents within the existing literature. It describes the role of sex information within the context of the growing consumer interest in general health information. Secondly, it identifies the issues commonly included in sex information and outlines both 'official'1 sources of information about sex, eg. school sex education courses, and 'unofficial' sources of information, eg. via peer groups. Finally, those sexual issues which are rarely...


Anthropogenic carbon is responsible for both global warming and ocean acidification. Efforts are under way to understand the role of the ocean in a high CO 2 world on a global context. Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2) concentration has continued to increase and is now almost 100 ppm above its pre-industrial level. Combining our reconstruction with the known histor y of the anthropogenic emissions gives us a more precise and detailed view of the terrestrial biosphere sink. The term 'Green house Effect' refers to the way certain gases trap heat in the atmosphere, much as the glass in a greenhouse prevents rising warm air from escaping. The greenhouse effect is a process where energy from the sun readi ly penetrates into the lower atmosphere and onto th e surface of Earth and is converted to heat, but then cannot freely leave the planet. Due to the presence of certain greenhouse gases that trap heat, like carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour, and CFCs, the atmos phere retains the suns radiation and warms up the p lanet. By increasing the abundance of these gases in the atmosphere, humanki nd is increasing the overall warming of the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere, a process called "global warming. CO 2 is a greenhouse gas and as the IPCC report shows, its radiative effect is greater than that of all the other anthropogenic GHG gases. Our efforts have been to try and understand the imp act of doubling the concentration of CO 2 and thereby, understand the impacts of this increase on important physical processes of na ture like evaporation, precipitation, snow cover, s urface runoff, snow depth, etc. The ecosystem is surviving due to the balance maint ained within all the components. Drastic increase i n any component of this balance can prove to be quite destructive. Since th e existence of biological cosmos is dependent upon such processes, we had attempted to understand the relationship between th ese components based upon the feedback generated.


Mr. Bracey applies hard data to recent rhetoric about the condition of public education and finds himself repeating last year's exercise: the debunking of myths and hoaxes. The Past year was a relatively quiet one in terms of the emergence of new data. Alas, rhetoric rushed in to fill the vacuum created by the absence of facts. I began the last report in this series by debunking myths and hoaxes. This one continues the tradition. Rhetoric Versus Data Let me briefly recap a situation before offering an update. In the summer of 1993, when conservatives nationwide were laboring ardently on behalf of Proposition 174, a California school voucher referendum, George Will penned a column in which he claimed that "nationally, about half of urban public school teachers with school-age children send their children to private schools." A few days later, on the TV show "This Week with David Brinkley," Will hurled the statistic at Keith Geiger, president of the National Education Association, who unfortunately bobbled the ball and said it was "only" about 40%. "What do teachers know that we ought to?" Will wondered. On seeing Will's column and the TV program, I called Will, who referred me to Clint Bolick at the Institute for Justice, who referred me to David Boaz at the Cato Institute, who referred me to Denis Doyle at the Hudson Institute. Doyle, along wit Terry Hartle, had actually written a paper on the subject in 1986, when both reside at the American Enterprise Institute. He sent me a copy. That paper led me to publish my own, "George Will's Urban Legend," in Education Week (29 September 1983), because Doyle's numbers showed that the figure was nowhere near half. In response, Will sent me the segment of the TV transcript where Geiger uttered his apparently immortal but erroneous statistic. For his part, Doyle fired off a letter to the editor and also cited Geiger's gaffe. I had also sent a copy of "George Will's Urban Legend" to the Wall Street Journal and received a reply from Daniel Henninger, editorial page editor, thanking me for "debunking Will's statistic." I was thus surprised when, on 25 October 1993, the Journal ran a long editorial, "Teacher Knows Best," that began by citing the TV transcript. (A more detailed account of the chronicle up to this point appeared in the Fourth Bracey Report in the October 1994 Kappan.) Meanwhile, in his latest analysis of where teachers send their children to school, Doyle continues to cite the Will-Geiger figure as if it were true. The title of Doyle's new work - which bears a May 1995 date and the imprimatur of the Center for Education Reform - certainly makes it sound like public school teachers are up to no public good when it comes to their children's education: "Where Connoisseurs Send Their Children to School: An Analysis of 1990 Census Data to Determine Where School Teachers Send Their Children to School." Ominous-sounding comments pervade the text. "Not to make too fine a point, teachers, public and private, white and black, Hispanic and non-Hispanic, low income, middle income, and high income, know how to address the nation's education crisis: they vote with their feet and their pocket-books. They choose private schools for their children when they think it serves their interest best" (p. 7). "If private schools are good enough for public school teachers, why aren't they good enough for poor children? Why indeed" (p. 28). "With teachers choosing private schools, the truth is self-evident: while they work in public schools they choose private schools for their own children because they believe they are better. They are connoisseurs. And no one in our society is better qualified to make that judgment than teachers" (p. 29). These comments are not taken out of context, as those who seek out Doyle's paper will discover. The conflict between rhetoric and data, noted in the heading of this section, can be seen in the clash between Doyle's statements and Doyle's own numbers. …


Pollution control invariably involves a complex relationship between acceptable costs and acceptable levels of environmental impact. This paper presents abatement costs and environmental impacts for various processes for the treatment of sulphur dioxide gases from metallurgical smelters in Australia. This information is then presented in 'costenvironmental impact index plots' developed by the authors as a means of presenting economic and environmental impacts together, using a flexible system boundary. In this case the system boundary has been extended to include the utilization of desulphurization products and downstream fertilizer production. The cost-environmental impact index plot can be used in project evaluation to assist the choice of the best processing strategy and to examine the effects of different variables. The plot is also shown to be useful for examining process variations in a base case technology, by identifying the cost-effectiveness of incremental improvement in environmental quality.


Folding wheel frames of an electric folding vehicle. A pedal (1) is provided with a threaded round pipe track (2). The track (2) rotates toward openings at either end with the midpoint as a starting point. Left wheel frame (3) and right wheel frame (4) respectively are provided with lugs (5 and 6). The lugs (5 and 6) slide in the track (2). The wheel frames (3 and 4) and the pedal (2) can be folded against each other, the wheel frames (3 and 4) are turned over at the bottom of the pedal (2) when folded, and two rear wheels (11 and 12) respectively are arranged at either side of a front wheel (13) to constitute a stable plane, thus allowing the vehicle to stand vertically on the ground, greatly reducing the folded size of the vehicle, reducing footprint, and facilitating transfer and storage.


The association between hearing loss and acquired disorders of the thyroid gland have been an interesting topic for a long time in Medicine. Several researches were based on audiological studies of hypothyroid patients but few authors conducted studies of the sub clinical form of the disease using auditory brainstem response (ABR). AIM: To evaluate whether there are or are not changes on the ABR study of normal hearing adult females with sub clinical hypothyroidism without treatment compared to a group of women without endocrine disease. STUDY DESIGN: Clinical prospective. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A group of 16 patients was analyzed with ABR test and its results were co-related to age- and sex-matches control group. RESULTS: There was a significative difference (p<0,05) between absolute latencies averages of the waves III(p=0,039) and V(p=0,006) and interpeak latencies I-III(p=0,017), III-V(p=0,044) and I-V(p=0,002) on both groups, showing that measures of these latency periods were significantly larger on the hypothyroid patients. CONCLUSION: In sub clinical hypothyroidism conditions, even before presentation abnormalities in subjective pure-tone threshold, we can have nervous conduction involvement on the brainstem auditory pathways as given evidences by assessment of ABR.


Financing a combination of SMEs' capital may comprise personal savings, equity shares and debt. SMEs employ one type of capital or a combination of the capital sources. The optimum capital structure strikes a balance between risk and return. It is the best combination of equity and debt a firm should employ. Data was gathered from documentary evidence and questionnaire with simple frequency and percentage analysis. The SMEs access to the Nigerian Capital Market to source for funds is minimal and underutilized. In spite of the reduced registration conditions, most SMEs have not taken have not taken up financing opportunities in the Second-Tier Securities Market (SSM). This paper identified such limiting factors like small scale operations, rigidity of company incorporation and share quotations, fear of dilution of control and fear of loss of ownership, unawareness of the potentials of the capital market, inadequacies in SSM listing requirement and divergent government SME financing policies. The Nigerian Stock Exchange has to create awareness, further relax registration conditions as it relates to the minimum number of shareholders, as well as increasing the limits of amounts that can be raised in view of high cost of technology SMEs. The SMIEIS be reinvigorated through the SSM and the financing policies should be harmonized with existing best practice in other countries.


nd , 2012; revised December 27 th , 2012; accepted January 10 th , 2013 This paper describes the process of developing a research proposal for submission to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in collaboration with an urban public health agency. Two university-based researchers from different social science disciplines, each with previous experience in substance abuse research, invested significant time learning about the key questions and concerns of participants in several community-based programs, including clients, administrators and professionals from the county drug court, law enforcement, and substance abuse treatment and recovery services. They then developed a proposal which integrated their own academic interests with the questions and concerns that they uncovered in their preliminary research. After the proposal was written, the researchers presented it to an audience of community partners. Following the successful funding of the study, negotiations with various partners continued throughout the data collection process. The paper concludes with some suggestions for other researchers who may wish to engage in this type of applied, collaborative, interdisciplinary research.


For random variables produced through the inverse transform method, approximate random variables are introduced, which are produced using approximations to a distribution's inverse cumulative distribution function. These approximations are designed to be computationally inexpensive and much cheaper than library functions, which are exact to within machine precision and, thus, highly suitable for use in Monte Carlo simulations. The approximation errors they introduce can then be eliminated through use of the multilevel Monte Carlo method. Two approximations are presented for the Gaussian distribution: a piecewise constant on equally spaced intervals and a piecewise linear using geometrically decaying intervals. The errors of the approximations are bounded and the convergence demonstrated, and the computational savings are measured for C and C++ implementations. Implementations tailored for Intel and Arm hardware are inspected alongside hardware agnostic implementations built using OpenMP. The savings are incorporated into a nested multilevel Monte Carlo framework with the Euler-Maruyama scheme to exploit the speedups without losing accuracy, offering speed ups by a factor of 5–7. These ideas are empirically extended to the Milstein scheme and the non-central χ2 distribution for the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross process, offering speedups of a factor of 250 or more.


Climate change is one of the most pressing environmental, economic, and societal issues of the twenty-first century. Addressing climate change issues is difficult partly due to the disconnect between the scientific community and the public's understanding and perception of climate change issues. A number of studies have examined the views of the public and suggest that basic knowledge about climate change is limited and that many believe there is still no agreement in the scientific community about the possible causes and impacts (Hamilton, 2011; Whitmarsh, 2009). Fewer studies have looked at the broad scientific community, but those that have report that climate scientists who understand the climate process generally accept that anthropogenic climate change exists and agree that human activity has had a profound impact on Earth's climate (Doran, 2009; Oreskes, 2004). However, in order for vital information to be passed on to policy makers and voters, the scientists must put forth the effort to inform. Included in that effort is the need to communicate the agreement scientists share on climate change factors. Studies indicate that only 47% of the American public believes that there is scientific consensus on climate change (Doran, 2009); this belief needs to be addressed if scientists' views are to be accepted by the public. Here we look at the perceptions of Geological Society of America (GSA) scientists on climate change to understand (1) what are their biggest concerns; (2) what regions of the USA will be most impacted; and (3) how we bridge the gap between scientists and the public. Surveys were collected in the exhibit halls of the GSA Annual Meetings in 2009 and 2011. GSA has more than 20,000 members, and each annual meeting attracts nearly 6,000 geoscientists (www .geosociety.org). We collected 181 surveys. Forty-nine percent of participants were female, and ages ranged from 19 to 70 years. The brief two-page survey varied slightly between the two years but both asked participants to indicate on a map where they believe climate change will have the most impact. They were then asked to answer questions (Table 1) about the region they indicated. The most common response to the open-ended question about the impact of climate change was sea-level rise (32%), followed by more severe weather (22%) and water resource issues (20%). These responses make sense because people generally show the most concern for "salient, palatable" risks (Seacrest et al., 2000).


The diaphragm is one of the least accepted methods of birth control by adolescents. It consists of a cup made of latex with a metallic ring at its base, its diameter ranges from 50 to 105 mm, and in its concave part a spermatocide can be placed to immobilize and destroy spermatozoa. It acts as a physical barrier to sperm at the cervical canal. By maintaining vaginal acidity and by making it difficult for cervical mucus to neutralize the vaginal ph, a hostile environment is created for spermatozoa. Its failure rate is 24-29 pregnancies per 100 women years. The right size has to be fitted to allow for the 3-5 cm increase in the depth of the vagina during sexual excitation in nullipara. It can be inserted 4-6 hours prior to intercourse in order not to interfere with sexual spontaneity, and removal should not occur until 8 hours later. Indication is for adolescents with infrequent sexual activity, those who stopped using the pill, or whose IUD had been removed. It is contraindicated for various medical conditions and infections. Toxic shock syndrome can occur, it it stays in too long. It offers some protection against sexually-transmitted diseases and cervical neoplasm due to the lack contact with the seminal fluid. Allergic reactions to spermatocides can occur in addition to various side effects due to ill-fitting diaphragms. The low acceptability by teenagers is attributable to its lower rate of effectiveness than the pill and little motivation for its use, although it should be recommended for those who are afraid of the side effects of the pill and IUD.


To construct the lunar base is an important target of the "Human Returning to moon" program.And a lunar base will require large amounts of construction materials.Some scholars have made various experiments on H-T sintering real lunar soil samples and lunar simulants to analyze different methods of producing the construction materials by utilizing lunar soil mineral resources.But the properties of these sintering products are hard to meet the practice demand due to the complicated composition of lunar soil.In addition,the microwave sintering technique possesses many advantages which can not be compared by those of the traditional sintering techniques.So it is suitable for the lunar resource utilization.Considering the ilmenite content in lunar soil and through the thermodynamics analysis,we put forward a preliminary design of producing construction materials for the lunar base – that is microwave sintering ilmenite of lunar soil.


The author considers France Telecom's strategy for the development of NUMERIS, the integrated services digital network (ISDN) in France. France Telecom's strategy for the development of NUMERIS is based on four main aspects: a fast national coverage, the definition of attractive tariffs, the development of international interconnections, and the development of applications. The author briefly considers the results of this policy. Based on this strategy France Telecom estimates the number of NUMERIS accesses in 1995 to be 500000.<<ETX>>


A method that improving the resolution of PWM(Pulse-Width Modulation) mode DAC(Digital-To-Analog Converter) by interpolator was proposed for the problem that PWM mode DAC in embedded applications and how to choose DAC chip.The PWM signal spectrum was analyzed.The design principle and method of analog filter was proposed.The design of High-Resolution DAC using MCU's(Micro Control Unit) PWM proved that this method is stable and reliable by analysis of experiments.


PUkalI., R. DvoUk, J. Franz, J. St!panek: Rapid Identification oj BOfJine RotafJirus by Electrophoresis in Agarose Gel. Acta vet. Smo, 60, 1991: 253-261., Horizontal electrophoresis of the rotavirus genome in aprose (EPA), indirect immunoenzymatic analysis (ELISA) and,counter-immunoelectroosJnOphoresis (CIEOP) were compared for the identification of .rotavirus in 94 feces .samples collected from scouring calves in 6 rearing premises. Positive results by all three methods were obtained in 48 animals (51 %), most effective being ELISA and EPA (both 43) and least effective CIEOP (29); The sensitivity of the rotavirus ge nome demonstration by EPA was equal to that of indirect ELISA (88 %), which demonstrates the group-specific. rotavirus antigen. The sensitivities of . EPA and BLISA were higher by 31 % than that of CIBOP. Identical results of BLlSAand EPA, CIBOP and EPA, and BLISA and CIBOP were. obtained in 89.3, 82.9 and 80.8 %, respectively. Compared with BLISA and CIBOP, EPA iSR straightforward procedure involving neither a complicated processing of samples, nor the prepa ration of a specific hyperimmune serum. The time required for BP.A equals to one half and one fifth of the time necessary for BLISA and CIBOP,respectively. BOfJine rotafJinu, diagnosis, electrophoresis -. EPA, ELISA, CIEOP


Objective To investigate whether serum inhibin A and B concentrations would be altered in women with preeclampsia.Methods Serum samples of 20 women with preeclampsia and 20 normal pregnant women were assayed for inhibin A and B by specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Results Both serum inhibin A and B concentrations in preeclampsia group were significantly higher than those of control group(P0.01).Conclusion Serum inhibin A amd B concentration increases significantly in women with preeclmpsia.It can be a significant factor for predicting development of preeclmpsia.


This study explores how NGOs participate in the policy process with the case of Citizens Action Network(CAN). The growth of civil society has expanded the NGOs participatory activities in the policy process. One of major activities in Citizens Action Network is budget monitoring. Budget monitoring activities as a taxpayers movement have played an important role at all the stages of policy process. First of all, CAN's taxpayers movement contributed to enhance the taxpayers right, making policy makers and civil servants decrease the budget waste. At the stage of policy agenda setting CAN played an important role in some policy areas. CAN played a triggering role in transforming public agenda into policy agenda in introducing accrual accounting system to government. CAN participated in the introduction of taxpayers suit system and influenced the content of policy. At the stage of policy making and implementation CAN influenced to cancel and revise the policies which were already made. At the stage of policy evaluation CAN made the index of budget transparency and evaluated the budget transparency of local governments in terms of the index. The sharing system of information and experiences among NGOs should be constructed to reinforce NGO's role in the policy process.


A white cube. A black bird with bright yellow stripes around the eyes sits in a chrome cage. It rocks gently on its perch. Silence. Occasional scrabbling sounds as the bird readjusts its footing. Time passes. Nothing happens. Suddenly, the caged bird speaks. 'All systems go' it squawks. And again, 'All systems go.' A pause. 'All systems go. All systems go.' Repetition to inanition. 'All systems go.'


A BSTRACT . In this paper, we prove a generalized Minkowski inequality holds for any smooth, ( k − 1) -convex, starshaped domain Ω . Our proof relies on the solvability of the degenerate k -Hessian equation on the exterior domain R n \ Ω .


The brain is capable of simultaneously performing a large number of diverse tasks ranging from processing of multimodal sensory Information to control of behavior and emotion. The brain consists of a highly interconnected network of neurons. Smaller regional networks are specialized for certain functions, e. g. processing of visual information. Understanding the behavior of groups of specialized cells as well as the specific functions of distinct brain regions is essential for the diagnosis and treatment of pathological conditions such as epilepsy, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's Disease. Although many brain regions have specialized functions, certain concepts regarding mechanisms of information processing apply rather generally across many brain regions in many species. These "fundamental" concepts of biological neuronal network behaviors provide links which help to unify neuronal network theory and enhance our understanding of brain function. Accordingly, this review is focused on fundamental concepts of information processing in biological neuronal networks; measurement techniques will be discussed and examples of biological network properties will be given.


The dynamics of intramolecular vibrational relaxation (IVR) for ArCl2 are examined for a wide range of vibrational and rotational excitation. In order to describe the IVR more efficiently, and characterize it more quantitatively, we propose a refinement of the traditional Bixon-Jortner description in which the active states are prediagonalized to simplify the coupling scheme that must be considered. This allows for an explicit determination of the average density of states and average coupling strength for each initial excitation. We find that the IVR dynamics proceed from the sparse regime for v=11, for which the first open dissociation channel corresponds to the loss of two Cl2 quanta, to the intermediate-dense regime for v=25 which dissociates by the loss of 4 quanta. We find that over this range the increase in the density of states is less important than the increase in the coupling strength. For v = 18 we examine the effect of rotation in considerable detail. Initial states that couple via a manifol...


This pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of combined micronutrient application(T1; control, T2; Fe, T3; Fe+Mn, T4; Fe+Mn+Cu, T5; Fe+Mn+Cu+Zn, T6; Fe+Mn+Cu+Zn+Mo, T7; Fe+Mn+ Cu+Zn+Mo+B) on forage performance of pure and mixed cultures of orchardgrass and white clover. The third part was concerned with the changes in the contents and yields of N-compounds (crude/pure protein and soluble N-compounds) in forages. The results obtained are summarized as follows: 1. The contents of N-compounds(crude/pure protein and soluble N-compounds) were generally different according to the forage species, whether it was a pure or mixed culture, and additional fertilization, especially N. In orchardgrass, these contents were relatively low at the T3 and T6 in both pure and mixed cultures. In white clover, these contents were relatively decreased by the T1, T3, and T6 in mixed culture. 2. The treatments influenced relatively more on the yields of crude/pure protein than on the dry matter yields of forages, and this tendency was more significant in white clover than in orchardgrass. 3. In white clover, the great differences in the yields of crude protein by the treatments occurred especially in mixed culture and at 5th cut without no additional fertilization. In white clover, the positive effects of optimum treatments on the yields of crude protein seemed to be decreased by the additional fertilization, especially N. In mixed culture, the favorable growth of white clover by the optimum treatments tended to be positively related to the favorable contents and yields of N-compounds. The changes in the yields of pure protein were similar to the tendency of crude protein.


With respect to the cylindrical living tissues, a new noninvasive measurement method was proposed to simultaneously determine the thermal parameters according to the temperature variations of three measuring points on the surface of the living tissue. Based on Pennes' bioheat transfer equation, the mathematic model was established to describe the heat transfer process of the three-point measure system, and was solved to obtain the temperature variations. On the basis of the results of the numerical calculation and the sensitivity analysis, the computer simulations of thermal parameter estimation for the concerned living tissue were conducted by using the improved Gauss Algorithm. The results show that the three-point method is effective and feasible to simultaneously measure the thermal conductivity, the blood perfusion and the volumetric heat capacity of cylindrical living tissues.


Differences in life expectancy among the five largest cities in Poland are analyzed for the period 1950-1983. A decline in life expectancy among older men is noted. (SUMMARY IN ENG AND RUS) (ANNOTATION)


Off-line calibration method of a smart antenna base station according to the present invention, the process comprises treating the off-line calibration process off-line correction processing uplink channel and a downlink channel, the calibration process off-line process in any of the downlink channel is a channel in the channel array for the reference , the reference channel to maintain constant weight, the weight change of the other channels, with the inner synthetic reference channel and each channel other minimum power, referred to the weight at this time, the phase of the result plus or minus 180 °, i.e., the correction weight is set for the channel. The method of the present invention is provided with downlink correction weights band power value of a smart antenna base station wideband transceiver instead of using the pilot power point, an uplink steering vectors correction value calculating weights using the received wideband signal, and therefore more accurate measurement.


The present study was undertaken to examine the achievement motivation of adolescent boys and girls as a function of perceived maternal protection. In a quasi-experimental study, twenty five adolescents who perceive themselves as highly protected by their mothers were compared with another group of 25 adolescents who do not perceive themselves as highly protected, in terms of their achievement motivation. A sample of 100 students (N=100) studying in grades VIII, IX, and X were administered the Parent-Child Relationship Scale (Rao, 1989). On the basis of their scores on this scale, the top 25 and bottom 25 students comprised the high and low maternal protection groups respectively. Both the groups were administered the Rao's Achievement Motivation Test (D. Gopal Rao). In order to compare the two groups in terms of their achievement motivation scores an independent samples t-test was conducted. Results revealed a significant difference between the high and low maternal protection groups favouring the former with regard to achievement motivation. Results are discussed within the context of the present Indian Society.


Inclusive education, apart from integrative and special (segregated) education, is one of the forms of educating students with special educational needs (SEN) in Poland. It involves the education of students with various characteristics, e.g. with disabilities, in mainstream schools. In the educational and therapeutic process of this group of students, their parents play an important role, therefore the cooperation of the school with the student's family is essential. This article addresses the issue of primary school cooperation with the family of a pupil with SEN, especially with the parents of pupils with a certificate of the need for special education, which may be issued in Poland due to some types of developmental dysfunctions. The submitted studies concerned satisfaction with the process of cooperation between the primary school and the family of the student with the decision about the need for special education. The research results indicate a disproportion between the perception of this process by the parents and the teaching staff.


Due to uncontrolled growth of antimicrobial resistance, in the near future humanity may return to the «pre-antibiotic era» with no reliable antimicrobial therapy even for previously easily treatable infectious diseases. One of possible solutions is improved delivery of antibiotics to antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains by conjugating them with siderophores (small molecules secreted by microorganisms to absorb essential Fe(III)). The siderophore-modified antibiotic (sideromycin), like a Trojan horse, permeates the bacterial cell as a complex with Fe(III), allowing the antibiotic to reach its biological target. In this review, we describe the structural diversity of siderophore-antibiotic conjugates with the focus on the structure of sideromycin as well as on the relationship between the structure of sideromycin and its antibacterial activity. We analyze main representatives of various classes of siderophores; the structural diversity of sideromycins and their antibacterial activity discussed in detail.


The present invention relates to the use of cationic azacyanine dyes of the formula (Ia) or (Ib) for coloring keratin fibers, and relates to a hair coloring method for various degree of damage. [Formula 1]


Gynogenetic diploids were induced in flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus, by applying cold shocks to the eggs after insemination with sperms which genetically inactivated by ultraviolet rays. Sperms were obtained from black sea bream, and also used flounder and mud loach as controls. Embryos inseminated with sperm, irradiated with dose varing from 3000 to 4500 erg/mm2, showed the highest incidence of haploid syndromes. Fertilized eggs were treated with cold shock(0~4。C) for 45min for blocking the second polar body. Optimum temperature for the highest incidence of gynogenetic diploid was revealed at 2。C. in the cytogenetic studies, there was no difference of karyotype or number of chromosome between the induced gynogenetic diploids and normal diploid controls. All gynogenetic individuals had 48 acrocentric chromosomes and nucleus volume of erythrocyte was 13.36μm3, Gynogenetic diploids showed slightly higher rates of survival and growth than the normal diploids for 7 month rearing period. The gonad of seven-month-old gynogenetic diploids had the normal external morphology and active meiosis occurred normally in their ovaries.


Carol Frost has quietly established a reputation as one of the foremost lyric poets of her generation. Although her poems are typically characterized by an exquisite expression of ideas and images, her sense of phrasing extends beyond the instinct for choosing the right word or the right combination of words. In the same way that Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee could invest a rather ordinary lyric with an immediacy or a nuance that transformed it into an affecting sentiment, Frost has a sense of how to locate or break a phrase on the page in order to keep the reader engaged on many levels at once, from the visceral to the reflective. Although many of Frost's poems vividly render natural settings or subjects, those settings and subjects are typically commonplace rather than spectacular. Still, Frost does not observe nature in the usual ways. Unlike a poet such as Robinson Jeffers, Frost is not especially concerned with describing the workings of nature or in conveying the power of natural forces. Unlike a poet such as Gary Snyder, she is not primarily interested in exploring the intimations of spiritual truths available in nature. And, unlike a poet such as Wallace Stevens, she is not preoccupied by investigating the aesthetic possibilities in images drawn from nature. Instead, almost without exception in her poems about nature, Frost explores the ways in which the speaker's external world and interior state come into a balance that permits the transformation of an observation into an insight. The natural world may be external to the poet, but it is not something apart from the poet—or at least those aspects of nature that Frost depicts in her poems do not stand apart from her sensibility. On the other hand, although her poems offer a communion with nature, it is not a communion in the usual sense. At the center of these poems is a transcendental interest in entering a moment of physical, emotional, and artistic equipoise in which the natural and the spiritual not so much merge as simply do not contend. This state of poetic completion, of quiet ecstasy, is grounded in a poignant but entirely unsentimental recognition of how delicate and transitory a state it inevitably is.


An equipotential optical fibre unit for a high-voltage photoelectric composite cable. The equipotential optical fibre unit for the high-voltage photoelectric composite cable is sequentially composed of an optical fibre (1), a water blocking factice (2) specially used for filling the optical fibre unit, a metal protective tube (3), a semiconductive plastic enhancement layer (4), a metal wire armoured layer (5) and a semiconductive plastic outer protection layer (6) from inside to outside. Various protection layers are electrically connected by means of the protection of metal and non-metal materials, and the various protective layers are equipotential. Under the action of an electric field of a power cable, a potential difference will not be generated between metal and non-metal material protection layers; the entirety of an optical fibre unit and other structures of a photoelectric composite cable also form an equipotential body; therefore, a potential difference does not exist between the optical fibre unit and other structures of the cable, so that the optical fibre unit itself will not be broken through due to the fact that an induced voltage is too high, in addition, the space between the optical fibre unit and a high voltage cable core will not be broken through, thereby ensuring the security of the optical fibre unit and the cable body, and improving the service life of the cable.


In this paper, we proposed a new method of deploying and building an organized architecture of gateway nodes in a Wireless Sensors Network (WSN) formed also by randomly deployed sensors arranged in clusters. This method, based on the Khalimsky theory, reduces the energy consumption and the flooding rates of the conventional flooding algorithm. Our solution allowed to build a hierarchical topology reduces the number of communication links between nodes while maintaining the adjacency list to minimize the data redundancy. It allows calculating an optimal set of forwarding gateway nodes to route data packets between a source and a destination. This set includes all optimal paths using the less number of nodes. Our simulation study shows that the Khalimsky theory reduces considerably the flooding rates and the energy consumption. Our solution can be applied in the fields needing prefixed gateway nodes and randomly deployed sensors which use urgent data with real-time aspect such as the security and the monitoring of industrial zones and home building. Normal 0 21 false false false FR X-NONE AR-SA /* Style Definitions */
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The authors consider the forms and ways of soviet security bodies' control of political banditry, the problems of state border defense within the Far East in the second half of the 1920s 1930s, and generalize Far Eastern security officers' experience acquired in the region specific conditions during armed groups' liquidation.


Most reports on uterine leiomyosarcoma state that the lesion is radioresistant (1, 2, 4, 5, 7–10), although significant palliation by radiotherapy to metastatic deposits or to local recurrences following surgical extirpation of uterus, tubes, and ovaries has been described (6). The authors will here summarize pertinent clinical facts about this lesion and detail 4 cases treated at Jefferson Medical College Hospital (Philadelphia), in each of which irradiation appears to have given worthwhile palliation. Incidence In reported series of uterine sarcomas, the leiomyosarcomas make up from 50 to 90 per cent of the total (1–4). Table I lists comparative numbers from three authors. Important also is the question of incidence of sarcomatous degeneration in the benign leiomyomas. Figures vary from 0.13 per cent reported by Corscaden (1) to 0.76 per cent by Kimbrough (12). Vogt reports an incidence of 0.41 per cent in 72,000 cases of myoma (13). No author claims more than 1 per cent, and several factors would appea...


This thesis explores the development of religion among the group of genetically engineered humanoid species in the MaddAddam trilogy by Margaret Atwood. The first part describes an author, her literary focus and there are two basic terms defined - dystopia and religion, on which this thesis is based. Furthermore this work analyse the origin and development of religion among the humanoid species called the Crakers. The main features of this religion are described there and compared with features of well known religions developing in the ancient and also contemporary societies. This comparison should reveal whether the religion of the Crakers has religious features and can be considered to be an equal to these religions.


Combination of spray drying and templating method has been reported as one of the best method to produce porous pharmaceutical particles. However, current development reports have shown successful formation of porous particles with improper information on what mechanism occurs during the synthesis process and what process parameters involve the creation of particles with controllable pore structures and morphologies. In this report, influences of spray-drying parameters (i.e., size and amount of colloidal template, and droplet diameter) on porous particle fabrication were investigated. Hyaluronic acid (as a model of pharmaceutical drug host component) and polystyrene spheres (as a model of template) were used. The experimental results showed that the spray-drying parameters strongly influenced the external morphology (i.e., spherical and doughnut-shaped), particle outer diameter (from 300 to 2000 nm), and porous configuration (i.e., number of hole cavities and pore sizes (from 100 to 300 nm)) of particles. To qualitatively explain our synthesis strategies to get porous structure, the proposal of the particle formation mechanism was added.


We propose a trick which enables one to incorporate the Gribov horizon into the Schwinger-Dyson equation in Landau and Coulomb gauge Yang-Mills theory, using the Gribov-Zwanziger framework with the horizon term. We find a family of solutions parameterized by one-parameter $w_R(0)$ which was overlooked so far by assuming to be zero implicitly. The family includes both the scaling and decoupling solutions, and specification of the parameter discriminates between them. In the Landau gauge we discuss a possible decoupling solution satisfying the Kugo-Ojima criterion for color confinement.


Abstract Coetzee's scholarly interest in Beckett, and his aesthetic interest in the same (which carries a strong measure of readily acknowledged influence), diverge in the case Coetzee presents in a recent mini-biography cum autobiography, "Samuel Beckett in Cape Town--an imaginary history" (Coetzee, 2006:74-77), where both he and Beckett are imagined as having experienced alternative pasts in South Africa. Considering this acknowledged influence, which Coetzee (1992b) mentions in an interview with David Attwell in "Doubling the point", one might assume that it followed an initial scholarly interest in Beckett (Coetzee's Ph.D. was on Beckett, and was completed years before he himself became a creative writer). However, in the case at hand this causal sequence is broken, because the doubled Coetzee, though under the spell of Beckett's prose, does not wish to do scholarly work on the doubled Beckett. What is it about Coetzee's imagined Beckett that has this effect on him? And why is it that Coetzee engages in such metafictional blurred doubling when if comes to himself and Beckett? This article attempts to shed light on the problems that surround Coetzee's crafted interaction between authors who are also (in this rather odd context) characters. Opsomming Coetzee se vakkundige belangstelling in Beckett en sy estetiese belangstelling in horn (wat geredelik erken word as 'n sterk invloed), loop uiteen in Coetzee se onlangse kort biografie-cum-outobiografie "Samuel Beckett in Cape Town--an imaginary history" (Coetzee, 2006:74-77). Daarin word vir sowel Coetzee as Beckett verbeelde alternatiewe verledes in Suid-Afrika geponeer. Aangesien Beckett 'n selferkende invloed vir Coetzee (1992b) se skeppende werk is, soos blyk uit 'n onderhoud met David Atwell in "Doubling the point", sou 'n mens kon vermoed dat dit die uitvloeisel was van 'n aanvanklike vakkundige belangstelling. (Coetzee se Ph.D. het oor Beckett gegaan en is voltooi lank voordat hy self kreatief begin skryf het.) Hierdie moontlike oorsaaklike verband word egter in die teks hier ter oorweging weerspreek, want Coetzee se dubbelganger, hoewel onder die invloed van Beckett se prosa, het geen behoefte om vakkundige werk oor die Beckett-dubbelganger te doen nie. Wat is dit omtrent Coetzee se fiktiewe Beckett wat hierdie effek op hom het? Hoekom bemoei Coetzee hom met so 'n verdoeselde metafiksionele verdubbeling van homself en Beckett? Hierdie artikel probeer lig werp op die problematiese aard van Coetzee se verbeelde interaksie tussen skrywers, wat (in hierdie redelik vreemde konteks) terselfdertyd ook karakters is. 1. Introduction J.M. Coetzee (2006:74), in Samuel Beckett in Cape Town: an imaginary history, makes reference to Beckett's following letter, in which the Irish writer applies for a lectureship in Italian at the University of Cape Town. (1) As in Summertime, Coetzee (2009) draws on "a matter of public record" in order to provide an objective point of reference for associated creative "fictioneering" (Kermode, 2009:10; Coetzee, 2009:225): July 29th 1937 Dear Sir I beg to apply for the post of lecturer in Italian in the University of Cape Town. I enclose copies of testimonials and a brief curriculum vitae. The following will act as referees: [Three names are given, those of a solicitor, an army chaplain, and a doctor.] Yours faithfully Samuel Beckett [signature] (Samuel Beckett, MA., T.C.D.) (2) Had Beckett been accepted and had he accepted his acceptance, his life, speculates Coetzee, would have entered an alternative plane, and would have influenced an alternative Coetzee's intellectual life. As a professor twenty years later, and had he agreed to lend a hand with the Wednesday afternoon creative writing class, Beckett would have met a young undergraduate, John Maxwell Coetzee. His play, Waiting for Godot, its language inspired by the rough-neck slang of the Cape Flats, would have been known to the young Coetzee, who might even have seen a performance. …


STRATIGRAPHY OF THE DUKLA FOLDS IN THE KOMAŃCZA-WISŁOK WIELIKI REGION (CARPATHIANS) The discussed area is built of three folds: the marginal fold of Cergowa Chryszczata, the Komancza fold, and the Pasieka fold. All these folds, of a north-northwest to south-southeast trend, disclose reduced northeastern flanks. The stratigraphy of this area is as follws: I n o c e r a m i a n b e d s (Upper Cretaceous, Palaeocene). They consist of, usually, limy sandstones, medium- and thickbedded, as a rule of medium grain. Their colour is grey or bluish. Usually their shale intercalations are argillaceous grey or black. L o w e r H i e r o g l y p h i c b e d s (Lower Eocene). They form a series, several hundred meters thick, of light-coloured sandstones, medium- or thinbedded, limeless, interbedded with green argillaceous shales. In the top beds of this series there appear intercalations of grey Fucoid marls. P r z y b y s z o w s a n d s t o n e s. They are a series of thickbedded conglomeratic sandstones, with graded bedding; these rocks appear exclusively in the marginal fold.  U p p e r H i e r o g l y p h i c b e d s (Middle Eocene). These are developed in a similar manner as the Lower beds; however, but in their lower . part there appear red shales too, besides the green ones.  G l o b i g e r i n a m a r l s: they appear as series of several meters thickness, built of marly shales. M s z a n k a s a n d s t o n e s. They ate thickbedded, coarsegrained sandstones, developed in the shape of lenses.  M e n i l i t i c b e d s. In their lower part they represent a series of brown siliceous marls, with lense-like intergrowths of brown hornstones. On top of them appears a series, of several hundred meters thickness, of thick-bedded, finegrained limy sandstones; these are the so-called C e r g o w a s a n d s t o n e s. Southwards they gradually disappear. The Menilitic shales covering these sandstones might be divided into two parts; these are separated by a horizon with a bank of sandstones with Bryozoans, appearing as a continuous horizon upon the entire discussed area. K r o s n o b e d s. Between these and· the Menilitic beds there developed a thick series showing features of both of. them, whereas the Krosno beds themselves are built here in the form of grey shelly sandstones, thin-and mediumbedded, limy, intercalated with grey, limy shales. About 700 m. above the Menilite beds there .appears a horizon of Jaslo shales.


Summary The quadruple-tank process has been widely used in control literature to illustrate many concepts in multivariable control, particularly, performance limitations due to multivariable right half-plane zeros. The main feature of the quadruple-tank process is the flexibility in positioning one of its multivariable zeros on either half of the 's' plane. The objective of the current study is to design a Decentralized fuzzy controller for a multivariable laboratory four-tank process. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control methodology


Positive criteria found in almost all reported cases include (1) nodules or plaque lesions, (2) systemic symptoms such as fever and malaise, (3) histologic evidence of a subcutaneous lobular neutrophilic infiltrate, (4) association with myelodysplasia, and (5) sensitivity to systemic corticosteroids.2,3 Although SSS is distinct from classic Sweet syndrome, patients may present with a mix of both classic and subcutaneous lesions, and it is likely that these exist along a spectrum. Classic Sweet syndrome can appear prior to or concurrent with development of hematologic malignancy and often responds to dapsone (neutrophilinhibiting agent) and anti–tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agents.1 This patient's disease relapsed at doses of oral prednisone below 20 mg/d and did not respond to dapsone. To our knowledge, we have described the first case of SSS treated with adalimumab, an agent with proposed and documented benefit in autoimmune dermatologic diseases refractory to traditional agents.4,5 The patient demonstrated lasting disease remission with adalimumab monotherapy, providing evidence for use of this agent in treating SSS. Although case studies have suggested a potentially increased incidence of lymphoma in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with adalimumab, large cohort studies have not reproduced this finding.6 Interestingly, while anti-TNF agents have proven helpful in a variety of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, rarely, treatment with these agents can lead to paradoxical development of autoimmune phenomena, though it was well tolerated in this patient. Adalimumab offers a new approach for patients with debilitating disease refractory to lower-dose corticosteroid therapy or traditional steroid-sparing agents.


There have been a number of tribunal decisions on the admissibility of discrimination claims concerning 'belief' as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. Some have favoured the claimant, establishing, inter alia, that opposition to fox hunting and hare-coursing, a belief in the 'higher purpose' of public service broadcasting and a commitment to vegetarianism constitute 'philosophical beliefs' for the purposes of the Equality Act. Others do not, such that a belief in wearing a poppy or, in contrast with an earlier decision, a commitment to vegetarianism do not qualify. The admissibility of these claims tended to turn on the extent to which the belief in question was considered cogent or was sufficiently weighty and substantial. In Forstater v CGD Europe & Anor, whether or not a belief fell into the protected category focused on the rather different issue of whether or not it was worthy of respect because of its compatibility (or otherwise) with the dignity and rights of others.


Primary care providers in developing countries are ill equipped to deal with chronic conditions, a new report from the World Health Organization says.

Defined as health problems that persist over time and require some degree of healthcare management, these conditions will be the leading cause of disability worldwide by 2020, it adds. Examples include diabetes, heart disease, depression and AIDS. These pose public health and economic threats to rich and poor countries alike, the report says.

The prevalence of chronic conditions is rising because of increased longevity, urbanisation, unhealthy lifestyles, and the spread of smoking. Yet healthcare systems throughout …


Within the transport system consisting of a network, vehicles and an organisation, changes in the organisation can be made easily and at a low cost. Between high-capacity vehicles for public transport, private cars and taxis, there is room for operation of small vehicles collectively organized. Possibilities of introducing new organized forms of transport by shuttle services and car pooling are discussed. These modes are already developed in many countries and partly in Yugoslavia. A wider use of these modes of transport would save transport costs considerably compared to private cars and taxis, and it would also provide better transport facilities without significant investment in these systems. The possibilities and effects of introducing new systems are observed with the aim of promoting these forms of transport. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 273856.


A simple Ka-band Y-circulator is presented, fabricated according to integrated waveguide technology (INWATE). The performance is as follows: 20 dB isolation bandwidth of 20%, and return loss and insertion loss about 20 dB and 0.5 dB, respectively. This type of circulator seems to be well suited to form part of future INWATE circuits.


People tend to avoid exposed disagreement in conversation. This is normally attributed to politeness strategies that mitigate the potential face-threat created by direct disagreement with a conversational partner. In reported speech the pressure for mitigation of negative responses is removed, leading to the prediction that reported speech should contain more exposed disagreement. However, concerns about self-presentation may lead people to present their prior behaviour in such a way that demonstrates their understanding that disagreement is a sensitive matter; thus, differences in self-reported and other-reported disagreement would be anticipated. Finally, we predict that reported speech is used to highlight substantive differences in stance, and contains more explicit markers of stance to highlight newsworthiness. To test these ideas we compare the distribution of markers of agreement, disagreement and stance in four samples of conversation from the BNC: direct speech, self-reported speech (I said), other-reported speech (he / she said) and local dialogue context. Contrary to the prediction the results show that both direct and indirect markers of agreement and disagreement are more common in direct speech than reported speech. However, markers of contrast and emphasis including negations, swearwords and contrastive conjuncts are both more common in reported speech than direct speech and in self-reported speech than other-reported speech.


This report provides cross-cultural evidence suggesting that tightly bonded juveniles are less likely to act in delinquent behvaiour irrespective of socioeconomic status. Using multiple regression on four dependent variables matched to selected independent and control variables, the findings of this study suggest that stronger and secure attachments of social bonding mitigate the negative effects of delinquency. Thus, strong regulatory presence of the collective conscience exemplified in social bonding with social institutions hinged around strong parental and extended family attachments, religious values, etc. by far reduces misconduct and criminality. The implication from this underscores the need to ask why people do not commit crimes or engage in misconduct rather than why people commit crime. These findings also have implications for theory on delinquency, namely, the overarching mediating influence of stronger social bonding and secure attachments in minimizing the occurrence of delinquent behaviors.


Microbial communities, which are affected by soil types and climate factors, contribute to maintain the function of terrestrial ecosystems. Recent studies have shown that interdomain relationships in below–aboveground communities may contribute greatly to ecosystem functioning. However, the responses of interactions among plant, soil fungal, and bacterial communities to the change of woodland use and their effects on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) remain poorly understood. In this study, the plant–microbe and fungi–bacteria interdomain ecology network (IDEN) based on SparCC pairwise associations were constructed by simultaneous aboveground plant surveys and belowground microbial analyses among four different woodland use intensities (WUI) along different seasons. The effects of different seasons on these relationships were surveyed to probe into the links to EMF. With the increase of woodland use intensity, the plant–microbe network complexity decreased, while the fungus–bacteria network complexity increased. In both dry and wet seasons, ecosystem multifunctionality decreased with the increase of woodland use intensity. Some tree species are the network hubs and may play a pivotal role in the community structure stability of the forest ecosystem. During the dry season, WUI could indirectly affect EMF through plant–microbial network complexity. During the wet season, WUI had a direct effect on EMF. WUI also indirectly affected EMF through plant–microbial network complexity and fungus–bacterial network complexity. Air temperature is the main climatic factor for EMF in the dry season, while soil moisture content is the climatic factor for EMF in the wet season. Our study revealed the important role of the relationship between plants and their associated soil microbial communities (IDENs) in maintaining ecosystem processes and function. Investigating the recovery dynamics of inter-domain ecological networks after extreme disturbances is important for understanding the overall development of ecosystems.


Quantum dots are increasingly used in displays to achieve high color gamut at high efficiency. This paper describes the impact of quantum dot lifetime on long-term display performance and the methods used for predicting in-device lifetime from accelerated aging results. Test methods are described which give confidence in aging predictions.


The progressive enhancements in solar-to-electrical conversion within the past decade have allowed organic-inorganic lead halide perovskite-based solar cell (PSC) technology to become a competitive candidate for creating affordable and sustainable...