Cadmium (Cd) is highly toxic element for plants. It is found in Pakistani soils and comes from industrial waste. Cd has become one of the major metal stresses which pose a serious threat to plants. Salicylic acid (SA) detoxifies the toxic effects of Cd in crop plants and improves the growth of plants. Therefore, the study was conducted to investigate the impact of Salicylic Acid on Wheat under Cadmium stress. The experiment was conducted at University of Sargodha, Lyallpur Campus Faisalabad, Pakistan during winter 2017-18. The experiment was consisted of 2 factors viz. cadmium and salicylic acid. There were two levels of cadmium viz. control and application of cadmium at concentration of 500 μM and three levels of salicylic acid viz. application of salicylic acid at concentration 0.1 mM, application of salicylic acid at concentration 0.5 mM and application of salicylic acid at concentration 0.9 mM. Wheat cultivar AARI-2011 was selected for the trial. Cadmium Sulphate (CdSO4) solution of concentration 500 μM, was applied for cadmium toxicity to the soil in the pots prior to sowing and sprayed at seedling stage (10 days after germination). Three concentrations of salicylic acid were used i.e. 0.1 mM, 0.5 mM and 0.9 mM as seed priming and as spray at seedling stage (10 days after seed germination). Replicated three times the experiment was laid out in Complete Randomized Design (CRD). Salicylic acid applied at concentration 0.5 mM under control was the most efficient in terms of seed germination. The morphological parameters were also significantly affected by the application of salicylic acid. Salicylic acid applied at concentration 0.5 mM under control and applied at concentration 0.9 mM under cadmium stress (with a difference of 4 %) were more efficient than other treatments in terms of seedling growth. Finally the yield parameters like number of spikelets, number of grains, 1000 grains weight and yield of wheat were also highly influenced by the application of salicylic acid under cadmium stress. Salicylic acid applied at concentration 0.5 mM under control and applied at concentration 0.9 mM under cadmium stress (with a difference of 0.9 %) were more efficient


In this current study, we observed Trichoderma viride strain FRP3 capability for biodegradation of glyphosate on contaminated land in Indonesia. There were two blank plots that have been involved as representatives of indigenous fungal, that prepared as control (non-contaminated soil) and P1 (GP-contaminated soil) while the treatments were represented by two plots.  Plot 2 (P2) was introduced with conidia suspension of Trichoderma viride strain FRP3 one time application, and plot 3 (P3) was introduced with conidia suspension of Trichoderma viride FRP3 two time applications. At the end of observation, the CFU of two times application was the highest with CFU of 15.97 x 10 6 gr -1 soil. The CFU of P3 was corresponding to 45% higher than P2 (8.83 x 10 6 gr -1 soil). The CFU of GP-contaminated soil without conidia suspension application had 0.66 x 10 6 gr -1 soils, only 0.7% and 0.4% corresponding to P2 and P3, respectively. Direct indicator of glyphosate degradation was determined using GC analysis. Within 7 days after Trichoderma viride FRP3 was introduced, glyphosate content of treated soil decreased. This fungal strain provided 48% (P2) and 70% (P3) of glyphosate degradation higher than indigenous soil microbial community (P1) within 28 days of application.


Dose reconstruction (DR) is a radiotherapy process in which the full three-dimensional dose actually delivered to a patient is computed. The calculation is performed on a CT of the patient in the actual treatment position using the actual energy fluence obtained from delivery verification (DV). This provides valuable information regarding the efficacy of a treatment. Specifically, this is the basis for fraction-by-fraction adaptive radiotherapy. However, dose reconstruction is only as accurate as the inputs to the computation, namely the verified fluence and the CT. Studies were conducted regarding the effects of positional errors and internal anatomy changes for a canine nasopharyngeal treatment and a prostate treatment on an abdominal phantom, respectively. It was found that energy fluence errors may or may not be detected in DV. However, even if an error was detected, the authors show that the potential effects on outcome could not possibly be addressed without a CT at the time of delivery.


as Mepitel ® , Mepilex Lite ® , and Hydrofilm ® , are effective in managing acute breast radiodermatitis. The other topical agent therapies did not show benefits in preventing and/or treating acute radiodermatitis or have limited evidence. ABSTRACT


During the transformation of state enterprises in China ,the aims and modes of transformation on small and medium sized state enterprises are voried .According to the developmental needs of productive forces,the socialist market economy and the actual conditions at the present time in China ,shares cooperation is the first selective form,merging is the important form,selling is the additional method.Only by selecting the best aim and mode of transformation will, it be going on smoothly in small and medium sized state enterprises.


The aim of this study is to investigate the day-of-the-week effect of calendar anomalies on the All Country World Index (ACWI), which represents the global capital index from Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Islamic indices. For this purpose, MSCI Islamic ACWI index was analyzed by EGARCH method developed by Nelson (1991), one of the conditional heteroscedasticity models. As a result of the study, the day-of-the-week effect in the MSCI Islamic ACWI index was found only on Monday. This result also shows that there is no effect of Friday, which is considered to be more important for Muslims. Thus, it can be considered that this market deviates from the theory of Efficient Markets Hypothesis (EMH), and it is possible to obtain an extraordinary return in this market with appropriate investment timing.


INTRODUCTION Water wave slamming can be considered as one of the most critical loads that marine structures experience. To prevent naval constructions from failing due to slamming impact, slamming loads should be carefully investigated. Besides analytical and numerical calculations, experimental data is of crucial importance. Experimentally, slamming loads can be measured by performing pressure measurements on the surface of the object during impact. Previous publications showed that precise and correct measurements are very difficult to perform, especially for slamming events with small deadrise angles. Large scatter mostly characterizes these measurements. This research focuses on improving the accuracy and reproducibility of the pressure measurements. Therefore, slamming drop tests were performed. In this paper, attention is focused on the water impact problem of a horizontal circular cylinder, since this object is characterized by a continuously changing deadrise angle along the circumference. The deadrise angle is the angle between the water surface and the tangent line drawn at the surface of the body at the point where the water surface and the impacting body are intersecting. This is clarified in Figure 1. Thus for a cylinder, the deadrise angle will increase as the penetration depth increases. At the bottom of the cylinder, the deadrise angle is 0°.


This is a first report on a survey of the H I distributions in a large sample of spiral galaxies, using the 21-cm spectral-line system at Arecibo Observatory. One hundred and thirty galaxies have been observed, and 101 have been detected and roughly mapped in H I. The data have been used to determine systemic velocity, H I content, gravitational mass, and an approximate measure of the diameter of the H I distribution. There is a very high detection rate for galaxies brighter than 13.6 mag, and/or later than Hubble type Sab. Evidence is presented to show that the velocity widths of weak profiles measured at Green Bank are often overestimated because of noise. Our primary result is that there is a large scatter in H I diameters within each Hubble type. We find a weak suggestion that Sc galaxies have smaller H I diameters, on the average, than Sb galaxies. In addition, many Sb galaxies exhibit a highly asymmetric H I distribution. There appears to be no correlation between optical luminosity and H I extent.


A biosensor based on a glass electrode was developed to determine free sulfur dioxide in wine. The biosensor consists of a microbial membrane of Thiobacillus thiooxidans JCM7814 and a flat glass electrode. A porous gas-permeable membrane was incorporated in the biosensor system to separate free sulfur dioxide from bound sulfur dioxide and to avoid the buffer action of the sample solution. This biosensor gave a linear relationship between the pH decrease and concentration of sulfur dioxide up to 50 mg/liter with a response time of 20 min. The limit of detection for sulfur dioxide was 5.0 mg/liter, and the life-time of the microbial membrane was ca.30 days at 4°C. The biosensor could specifically determine free sulfur dioxide in wine, and was not influenced by temperature or oxygen concentration. The relative standard deviations were 7.41 % for red wine and 5.00% for white wine.


Intensive care units (ICUs), the "epicentre of resistance to antimicrobials", are and likely will remain the subpecialty where the highest rates of health-care associated infections are recorded. This is obviously due to the combination of several factors, including the high utilization rate of invasive devices, the relative and transient immunosuppression associated with acute severe illness, and the increasing frequency in an aging population of associated comorbidities. Nevertheless, infection rates have been decreasing in ICUs and elsewhere, contrarily to the message all too often transmitted to the public by the lay press and media when highlighting episodes of infection. Clear and honest information of the public on questions related to healthcare associated infection is nowadays mandatory. This joint SRLF/SFAR task force document provides basic information on the pathophysiology, risk factors, measures of infection rates and their interpretation, and currently effective preventive measures. Intensivists have a long tradition of research on nosocomial infections, and have conducted a number of important studies in this field; positive results obtained in some areas such as antimicrobial resistance are encouraging. Markers of processes and results obtained proposed by the task force should provide ICUs with the means to demonstrate their commitment to prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections. © 2005 Société de réanimation de langue française. Publié par Elsevier SAS. Tous droits réservés. * Auteur correspondant. Adresse e-mail : email@example.com (C. Brun-Buisson). 1 Groupe de travail pour la SRLF : C. Brun-Buisson, G. Bonmarchand, J. Carlet, J. Chastre, A. Durocher, J.-Y. Fagon, P. Loirat, M.-C. Jars-Guincestre, B. Regnier, B. Souweine. Groupe de travail pour la SFAR : C. Martin, R. Gauzit, A. Lepape, Y. Malledant, D. Payen, T. Pettecher, B. Weber Réanimation 14 (2005) 463–471 http://france.elsevier.com/direct/REAURG/ 1624-0693/$ see front matter © 2005 Société de réanimation de langue française. Publié par Elsevier SAS. Tous droits réservés. doi:10.1016/j.reaurg.2005.09.003 Mots clés : Infections hospitalières ; Risques ; Incidence ; Prévention ; Réanimation


Tridecafluorooctylallylether was prepared by catalytic condensation,with tetrabutylammonium bromide as the phase transfer catalyst,tridecafluorooctanol and allyl chloride as the raw materials.Subsequently,the tridecafluorooctylallylether was allowed to react with methyldichlorosilane to give the tridecafluorooctyloxapropylmethyl dichlorosilane by hydrosilylation.The structures of the intermediates and target products were characterized by 1H NMR,IR and MS.The synthetic reaction conditions were optimized.The optimal process of the synthesis of tridecafluorooctyl allyl ether was as follows: the molar ratio of tridecafluorooctanol to allyl chloride was 1∶ 1.2,reacting at 42 ℃ for 24 hours;the optimal process of the synthesis of tridecafluorooctyloxapropylmethyldichlorosilane was using Karstedt's catalyst at tridecafluorooctyl allyl ether to dichloromethylsilane molar ratio of 1∶ 1.2 for 3 hours.As a result,the total yield of tridecafluorooctyloxapropylmethyldichlorosilane was up to 65.7%.


The present article is devoted to the modern interpretation of Kant's teaching named transcendental's idealism, introduced as aprioristic mentality. Historically caused by effect of his apriorism concept is emphasized.


This paper examines a deep feedforward network for beam-forming with the single-snapshot sample covariance matrix (SCM). The conventional beamforming formulation, typically quadratic in the complex weight space, is reformulated as real and linear in the weight covariance and SCM. The reformulated SCMs are used as input to a deep feed-forward neural network (FNN) for two source localization. Simulations demonstrate the effect of source incoherence and performance in a noisy tracking example. The FNN beamformer is experimentally tested on the Swellex96 experiment S95 source tow with a loud interferer.


The Influenza Resistance Information Study (IRIS) was initiated in 2008 to study the emergence of neuraminidase inhibitor (NAI) resistance and the clinical course of influenza in immunocompetent treated and untreated patients.


Alkaline Phosphatase comprises a group of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of phosphate esters in an alkaline environment. This enzyme plays an important role in the bone metabolism. Alkaline Phosphatase acts as a byproduct and its serum level directly corresponds to the osteoblastic activity. The aim of the present study was to measure the serum and salivary alkaline phosphatase levels to detect the rate of bone resorption. In the present clinical study, serum and saliva samples were collected from the female patients between the age groups of 30-70 years and subjected for the biochemical analysis of alkaline phosphatase and calcium in semi-auto analyzer and were analyzed statistically. Serum and salivary alkaline phosphatase and calcium levels were decreased gradually with progressive age. By the present study, we concluded that levels of alkaline phosphatase and calcium will decrease with advancing age and saliva can be used as a diagnostic tool alternate to serum.


This work studies the online electricity cost minimization problem at a co-location data center, which serves multiple tenants who rent the physical infrastructure within the data center to run their respective cloud computing services. The co-location operator has no direct control over power consumption of its tenants, and an efficient mechanism is desired for eliciting desirable consumption patterns from the tenants. Electricity billing faced by a data center is nowadays based on both the total volume consumed and the peak consumption rate. This leads to an interesting new combinatorial optimization structure on the electricity cost optimization problem, which also exhibits an online nature due to the definition of peak consumption. We model and solve the problem through two approaches: the pricing approach and the auction approach, and design online algorithms with small competitive ratios.


Objective The goal discussion living speciemen partial lives transplant cut for the liver take the surgery to coordinate the method and the experience summarize.Method Transplants to my courtyard 19example living specimen partial livers cuts for the liver takes the surgery to coordinate to carry on the summary.From supplies the liver to cut takes,in the irrigation,the maintenance,the control infection,the technique aspects and so on coordination makes the discussion. Results 19 examples cut for the liver take the surgery to be smooth,is good for the liver quality,after the donor technique heals.Conclusion Cuts for the liver takes the surgery difficulty to be big,the technical content is high,the surgery nurse and doctor the close coordination is the important guarantee which the surgery carries on smoothly.High grade had guaranteed afer the liver the surgery success ratio and the surgery the liver function is normal.


We have used the recent γ‐ray observations of Mrk421 to place theoretically significant constraints on the intergalactic IR radiation field (IIRF). Our 2σ upper limits are ∼10−8 w m−2 sr−1 for the 1 to 5 μm range, consistent with normal galactic IR production. They rule out exotic mechanisms proposed to produce a larger IIRF.


This paper designs a small-scale experimental direct-expansion ground source heat pump system for space heating. It uses R22 as the refrigerant, consisting of four 20m-deep single U-tube copper ground heat exchangers in clay soils. Its preliminary operation performance and energy efficiency in the heating mode is tested. Results show that the design of the present DX-GSHP system is reliable and effective. During the heating period, when the heating capacity of the indoor coil fan is 6.41kW, the room temperature varies from 18 o C to 20 o C even if the door is opened or closed frequently. The average COP of the heat pump and the whole system are 3.12 and 2.88, respectively, and the average heat-transfer rate of GHEs per depth is 54.4W/m. The present results can provide guides for further improvement on the design of DX-GSHP systems in future.


AUTHOR Mason, Susan Gortner TITLE Using Links To Facilitate Access to Internet Resources: A Content Analysis of Ohio Public Library Web Sites. PUB DATE 1998-11-00 NOTE 37p.; Master's Research Paper, Kent State University. PUB TYPE Dissertations/Theses (040) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Access to Information; Classification; Content Analysis; *Hypermedia; Library Services; *Public Libraries; *Reference Services; State Surveys; *World Wide Web IDENTIFIERS Links (Indexing); Ohio; *Web Sites


Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) is precious spice used over the world in cuisine and medical treatment. Essential clove oil contains many bioactive molecules which have therapeutic interest. In this work we study interactions of DPP-4 enzyme (responsible of diabetes type 2) with main molecules contained in clove essential oil using molecular mechanic, molecular dynamics and molecular docking (method which predicts the preferred orientation of one molecule to a second when bound to each other to form a stable complex). Molecular Operating Environment software was used. The obtained results show that Acetyleugenol molecule is the best inhibitor of DPP-4 enzyme according to score energy. As a conclusion we can say that clove has a significant influence on diabetes treatment.


Despite being designed to accommodate only 300,000 passengers, Manila's Metro Rail Transit or MRT3 is currently serving more than 500,000 passengers daily. Œis over-utilization has resulted into worn down coaches and facilities, and most importantly, passenger delays. In this paper, we present an agent-based model for a Philippine mass rapid transit, particularly MRT3. Œe agent-based model uses passenger, train, and station agents, and allows the user to run di'erent operational scenarios. Multiple scenarios were simulated, each having di'erent parameters to di'erentiate their e'ects to the passenger congestion dynamics of MRT3. It was observed that passenger waiting time is at its minimum when the train speed and number of trains deployed is at their maximum values, 80kph and 20 trains, respectively. However, maintaining their default speed of 50kph and decreasing headway between trains to 1 minute will lead to a drastic increase in passenger waiting and journey times, negatively a'ecting passenger congestion at the platforms.


The sealing characteristics of an air-cooled gas turbine disk cavity have been studied using laser sheet flow visualization. Experiments were performed on a simplified half-scale model of an actual gas turbine disk cavity. This type of rotor-stator geometry with a double-toothed-rim (DTR) seal at the outer periphery and a labyrinth seal at the inner periphery of the cavity has been tested for its ability in preventing ingress of hot mainstream gases. The results show good agreement with previously estimated design data. Experiments were conducted for various labyrinth seal flow rates and rotational Reynolds numbers up to 1.52 [times] 10[sup 6]. The effects of rotor eccentricity on minimum purge flows have also been discussed.


Nowadays, great emphasis is placed on environmental aspects of production processes with focus to lower carbon footprint. Natural fibre-reinforced plastics (NFRP) show potential for application in many fields of industry due their specific properties. Machining of NFRP-based materials is meeting several problems arising from non-homogenous structure as well as plastic-based matrix. Machining of NFRP using conventional technologies meets limitations due to the properties and geometry of the tools. Abrasive water jet (AWJ) machining can solve some of the problems machining NFRP materials. The presented article focused on surface topography evaluation of one kind of NFRP composite material after cutting by AWJ. Optical profilometry and 3D microscopy were applied for measurement of surface roughness parameters of surfaces created by AWJ with variable cutting parameters. Maximal height of profile Rz was measured in 20 lines perpendicular to the jet direction form upper to lower cut line. Structure of cut surface was observed and evaluated for different technologic parameters. The obtained results show promising presuppositions for application of AWJ technology for cutting of NFRP based materials.


by establishing commanderies (we*) in Manchuria and appointing their chieftains as commandants. This book is a study of relations between the Chinese and the Jiircens during the Yung-lo period through the examination of the records concerning these commanderies. Lists of commanderies are to be found in the Ming-shih, Ta-ming hui-tien, Wu-fei-cMh, Huan-yu t'ung-chih, Ta-ming i-t'ung-chih, Liao-tung chih, and Man-chou yuan-liu-h'ao. (A further list, not referred to by the author, appears in the Huang-ming chih-fang ti-t'u, C.79b—a microfilm of this rare book is in the Cambridge University Library.) The number of commanderies established in the Yung-lo period amounts to 178. The identification of these commanderies is made very difficult by the fact that there are discrepancies in the readings of the names and that they are scarcely mentioned in sources apart from these lists. Professor Serruys proceeds to the question of the location and migration of the commanderies, further discussing the relations between the Ming Chinese, Jur6ens, and Koreans. It should be pointed out, however, that the Jiir6ens of this period have been more thoroughly studied by Professor S. Wada (ToasU kenkyu, Tokyo, 1955, pp. 223-248, 478-502, and especially 337-477). A full comparison with Professor Wada's results would shed more light on the identification of the commanderies in the alphabetical list given by Professor Serruys (pp. 75-92). It should also be remarked that some of the views of Professor H. Ikeuchi, to whom Professor Serruys is to some extent indebted, have been corrected by Professor Wada. It may be added that a collection of source material is now being made on this subject in the new Mindai mammo shiryo, being published by Kyoto University (extracts from the Ming shih-lu) and Tokyo University (extracts from the Yijo sillok).


In our note, we prove the result that the Hilbert's cube equipped with lp−metrics, p ≥ 1, cannot be isometrically embedded into c.


Rest of injured parts and of diseased bodies is probably the oldest and most valuable of all methods of treatment, with the possible exception of psychotherapy. Nevertheless we seem from time to time to forget that this therapeutic method—like all others—may lead to untoward results when utilized either injudiciously or excessively. Within the past three decades there has developed a tendency to regard prolonged rest in bed and complete abstinence from normal economic activity as the sine qua non of the proper management of the more serious forms of heart disease. My purpose in the present report is to review certain experimental and clinical observations which seem to indicate that this concept may be unsound. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, while the basic framework for our present understanding of heart disease was being fashioned, little emphasis was placed on the desirability of rest as it is now employed. Such


ABSTRACT This paper suggests that planetary urbanisation offers an antidote to the narrow-mindedness of our toxic times. It conceives planetary urbanisation as "an affair of perception," as a vision that begins vast, at the horizon, and sees particular parts (including your own particular part) comprising an interdependent totality. To envision the world through the lens of planetary urbanisation has certain distinct advantages. After all, it's a viewpoint expressive of commonality rather than difference, of a mutually shared planet in which people who look different, who talk different from one another, who don't know one another, who may even hate one another, have more in common than they might think.


The casque-headed frog Aparasphenodon brunoi is recorded for the first time in the municipalities of Ilheus and Igrapiuna, southern region of Bahia state, northeastern Brazil. The new record of A. brunoi in the municipality of Igrapiuna, represents an increase of its known geographic distribution of approximately 150 km north from its nearest locality (airline), in municipality of Una, state of Bahia, representing now the northernmost known record for this species.


Aim: This study compared the effect of yellow filters and corrective lenses on the academic performance of primary school children with abnormal contrast sensitivity. Study Design: The study employed quantitative study design involving the measurement of variables. Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out in Owerri North, Imo State, Nigeria, from February, 2019 to November, 2019. Methodology: The study included 34 children between 7-12 years old in private and public schools with abnormal contrast sensitivity comprising 7-9 year-olds (64.7%); 10-12 year-olds (35.3%); Males (52.9%) and Females (47.1%). Using basic optometric procedures and Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity chart, children with abnormal contrast sensitivity were identified for the study. Academic performance was assessed by comparing the previous midterm summative test result (pre-test) with the current midterm summative test result (post-test). Results: Paired sample t-Test showed no significant difference in academic performance of children using corrective lenses (p = .47), and those using corrective lenses with yellow filters (p = Original Research Article Samuel-Nwokeji et al.; OR, 13(1): 1-11, 2020; Article no.OR.57853 2 .94) respectively at 95% confidence interval. Also, children using corrective lenses compared with those using corrective lenses with yellow filters showed no significant difference (p =.57) in academic performance. Further, no significant age and gender variation in academic performance was identified (7-9 yrs: p =.38; 10-12 yrs: p =.79; Males: p=.38; Females: p =.79). Conclusion: Corrective lenses and Corrective lenses with yellow filters had no effect on academic performance of primary school children 7-12 years of age with abnormal contrast sensitivity.


I am pleased to introduce the special issue, "Under the Bisexual Umbrella: Diversity of Identity and Experience." Included in this issue is a series of articles detailing many complexities within the bisexual umbrella. These complexities range from different perspectives on defining and choosing identity labels, to exploration of personal sexualities, to exploring implications of what being under the umbrella might mean for nonbisexual identities. In this introduction, I first provide a description of the bisexual umbrella, discuss how community members and researchers use it, and then delve further into the intricacies of the concept as detailed by many of the authors.


A detailed study of methane conversion by repetitive nanosecond pulsed plasma was accomplished. In this study, a conversion rate of about 60% was obtained at an energy conversion efficiency of more than 75%. The conversion performance reached the optimum value at an electrode gap of about 5 mm. To raise the temperature, the reactor was thermally isolated. At moderate frequencies, a non-isolated reactor with a lower temperature demonstrated a better conversion performance. This was attributed to the dominance of the vibrational dissociation channel. It was also demonstrated that the conversion process considerably improved at a pulse-to-pulse time interval of less than 100 µs, which is the lifetime of ion molecules at atmospheric pressure. A mathematical model based on two temperatures is developed in order to explain the dissociation mechanism. The model reveals that the greatest molecular dissociation occurs when there is a high vibrational non-equilibrium state in the molecule. This non-equilibrium state lasts less than a microsecond at the post-plasma stage. It explains the high efficiencies obtained in the conversion process and is specific to the pulsed plasmas.


In a system for triggering a restraining device for protection from a side collision in a motor vehicle, a measured transverse acceleration signal (b(t)) is integrated in an evaluation device (2), weighted with a time-dependent (22) signal and, finally, compared with a threshold value (24). Thus, a side collision can be advantageously distinguished from a frontal collision with strong transverse acceleration components or from a hammer blow against the side of the vehicle.


Objective To investigate the value of endoscopy in the diagnosis of reflux esophagitis (RE).Methods 24 patients (Group A) with RE diagnosed by endoscopy and 20 asymptomatic healthy volunteers (Group B) underwent esophageal manometry and ambulatory 24 h esophageal pH metry.Results The average lower esophageal sphincter pressure (LESP) of Group A was lower than that of Group B (P0.01).So was the primary peristaltic amplitude of lower esophagus (P0.05) Various indices of 24 h pH metry of Group A were higher than that of Group B (P0.01).There were correlations between the severity of RE and LESP,the total fraction time of pH4, the standing fraction time of pH4,the lying fraction time of pH4 (P 0.01 ,respectively),the number of reflux episodes lasting for 5 min or longer (P0.001),and also the duration of the longest episode (P0.05).Conclusion Endoscopy has a high value in the diagnosis of RE.and the endoscopic diagnosis is worth recommending in the diagnosis of RE.


14 The article contributes to our understanding of how trade is politicized and how activists manage the tensions between 15 multiple collective action frames in a complex political context. When viewed alongside the Brexit referendum and 16 Trump's US Presidency, it is easy to see the 2013-2016 campaign against a European Union-US Transatlantic Trade and 17 Investment Partnership as a further example of an apparently growing populist 'nationalism'. Yet, in the European 18 context – where campaigning was most visible – there was in fact extensive reliance on, and re-iteration of, a 19 transnational 'European' frame, with antecedents in the 1999-2006 campaign against General Agreement on Trade in 20 Services negotiations. As the article argues, transnational campaigning operates within a nexus of multiple, and 21 sometimes conflicting, geographic frames. In both campaigns discussed here, activists typically engaged with the wider 22 public via the national context and, sometimes, with allusions to 'national autonomy'. However, their activism was 23 dependent upon a frame espousing 'transnational solidarity'. Developed over time, this structured their transnational 24 relations with other groups and more full-time activists. 25


Genetic algorithms have been used for solving the problem of scheduling the tasks represented by a task graph onto parallel computing architectures to minimize the schedule length of the task graph...


Evaluations of letter naming and letter sounding are commonly used to measure a young child's growing reading ability, since performance in them is well-correlated with future reading development. Assessing a child's oral reading skills requires teachers, as well as technologies that attempt to automate such assessment, to form an item-level accept/reject decision based on speech cues and prior knowledge of the child's literacy level and linguistic background. With data collected from 171 K-2 children, both learners and native speakers of American English, we designed and evaluated an automated letter naming assessment method using a simple word-loop HMM decoding for the word-level letter names. The automated accept/reject evaluation performance, 81.9%, approached the agreement of human raters, 83.2% (0.62 kappa). However, the task where children must produce the sound that the letter represents was more dicult: English orthography allows one-to many letter-to-sound mapping, teachers showed less agreement in their assessment (80.9%, 0.55 kappa), and the brief durations of some of the letter sounds made it dicult to distinguish them from each other and from background noises. Phone-level HMM based evaluation accuracy was 58.2%. Preprocessing the recordings into speech, silence, and noise improved these results, especially for plosive sounds. [Supported by NSF]


IntroductionCancer of the Oral cavity is one of the most common malignancies in developing countries due to Tobacco and Alcohol use. Oral cavity carcinoma (OCC) is primarily a surgical disease. Depending upon the post surgical histopathology report patient requires adjuvant Radiotherapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy. Amongst the available treatment modalities thebiggest advantage of VMAT technique is in its delivery efficiency. Several investigators have reported significant reductions in both treatment times and MUs over conventional IMRT. Role of VMAT increases in a busy government aided centre with resource constrained settings. This study was done to assess the clinical outcomeand toxicity profile of the post operated carcinoma oral cavity patients. Material and methodThe present prospective study was conducted in the Department of Radiotherapy,Pt. JNM Medical College and Regional Cancer Center (RCC) of Dr. BRAM Hospital Raipur(C.G.) India during the period of July 2017 –july2019. Total 60 post operated patients of oral cancer eligible for radiotherapy alone were taken in this study from july 2017 to july 2018 and followed up to july 2019.. Patients were simulated with appropriate immobilization and delineation of various volumes were dome with consensus guidelines then planned with VMAT technique .Treatment outcome in terms of locoregional control and Acute toxicities related to the surrounding organs at riskwere assessed according to RTOG and EORTC criteria. ResultIn our study there were 30% cases of carcinoma buccal mucosa and tongue each followed by alveolus 23% and gingivobuccal sulcus 13%.In our study 40% cases were stage III, 26.7% were stage II, 20% were stage IV and 13% were in stage I. In our study there was complete response in 78.4% of cases, progressive disease in 23% cases at the end of 12 month follow up .After the completion of RadiationSignificant number of patient had (80% ) grade I skin reaction, 76% cases of grade II salivary gland toxicity(xerostomia), 55% cases of grade 3 mucositis and 96% had low grade ( I & II) dysphagia. There were 60% cases of grade II radiation fibrosis and 24% cases of grade II xerostomia at 12'month of follow up. Conclusion-In the Treatment of post operated oral cavity cancer with adjuvant radiotherapy, treatment efficacy and toxicities profile with VMAT radiotherapy technique were within acceptable limit and were managed symptomatically. There is less time required with VMAT technique in comparison to IMRTcausing less intrafraction movement thus more precise dose delivery.. More number of patients can be recruited with a longer follow up to look for overall survival and other morbidities in post operated oral cavity cancer treated with VMAT technique. Keyword-Oral cavity carcinoma, Intensity-modulated radiation therapy, Volumetric-modulated arc therapy --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 11-04-2020 Date of Acceptance: 26-04-2020 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------''A Study To Evaluate The Efficacy And Safety Profileof Vmat(Rapid Arc) Technique For The .. DOI: 10.9790/0853-1904093136 www.iosrjournal 32 | Page


This study has been done to determine the prevalence of malocclusion and orthodontic treatment need among 12 to 16 years old school going adolescents using the dental health component (DHC) of the index of orthodontic treatment need (IOTN). A crosssectional survey was conducted among 1876 school going adolescents of 12 to 16 years age group. Data collection using random selection of sample has been obtained from different schools situated in rural and urban areas of different districts of eastern UP India. The data were recorded in assessment forms to calculate the prevalence of malocclusion and estimate of DHC of the IOTN index. Out of 1876 subjects, most common occlusions in order of prevalence were Angle's Class I (85.2%), Angle's Class II (11.6%),Angle's Class III (3.3%), crowding (26.5%), excessive overjet (> 2 mm-37.8%), excessive overbite (> 2 mm-52.9%), edge to edge bite (4.1%), anterior crossbite (2.2%). The most common facial profiles determined in the sagittal plane were the straight facial profile (61.2%).The prevalence of Grade 1 and 2 DHC was 57.6%, Grade 3 was 22.4%, Grade 4 and 5 was 20%.


Research on the extraction and characterization of pectin from lemon lime peel waste (Citrus amblycarpa) has been done. The purposes of this research were to process lime waste into raw material of pectin source, to know pectin quality of extract obtained, and to characterized pectin using FTIR spectrum analysis. The research was conducted via several stages such as pectin extraction, pectin precipitation, pectin washing, pectin drying and continued with the characterization of pectin including determination of moisture content, ash content, equivalent weight, methoxyl content, galacturonate level, esterification degree and FTIR spectrum analysis. The results showed that the % yield was 11.72%, the water content was 11.40%, the ash content was 1.34%, the weight of the equivalent was 871.5, the metoxyl content was 5.66, the galactonate level was 64.48 %, degree of esterification equal to 49.84%, and FTIR analysis result which have conformity with standard pectin group that contained OH, CH aliphatic, C = O, CH3 and CO groups (secondary alcohol, carboxylic, ester, ether).


Introduction Laser‐based inspection systems originated in the late 1960s to automate the inspection task. Applied primarily to defect detection in flat, homogeneous products, these systems gained widespread use in the 1970s and through the 1980s. The bright, coherent light source provided the means to capture a range of defect optical effects including absorption, reflectivity, transmissivity, distortion and scattering. Unfortunately, early laser systems employed extremely inefficient light collection techniques. Much of the defects' optical information was lost. Fifteen to 20 years on, almost all commercial laser systems continue to employ this technology.


Snarling is a persistent problem in textile manufacturing processes such as warping, winding, knitting and weft insertion. In such processes, the tendency of yarn to snarl is considered to be a negative feature leading to the yarn breakage, reduced fabric quality and low production efficiency. On the other hand, the tendency of a yarn to snarl is employed to advantage in fancy yarn manufacture. This series of papers is devoted to the study of snarling both as an undesirable and a desirable feature of yarns. This paper deals with the critical parameters that cause snarling. An experimental study of yarn behaviour during twisting and snarling has been carried out. Theoretical snarling criteria are considered and applied to the prediction of the critical parameters of snarling. A good comparison between the theoretical behaviour of yarns and the experimental results is achieved when the non-linear behaviour of yarns during twisting is taken into account. Recommendations for avoiding snarling during yarn production and handling are given.


The article analyzes the narrative created in the government periodical, Gaceta de la Habana, during the cholera epidemic of 1850 in Havana; in the course of this article three main subjects were considered – the dynamics of media coverage, steps against the cholera epidemic and actions of help to the lower class.


Software testing is an important part of the development process. Itis essential for producing software of high quality. However, testing is seen asa cumbersome and costly task and even with testing many software developmentprojects fail. In a joint project with local companies we analyzed thestatus quo of software testing. Semi-structured expert-interviews were conducted.We suggest that understanding how software is tested in companieswill help to improve testing and to cut down costs. In this work we describethe project's background and sketch our research method. We then presentthe detailed results of the qualitative analysis along with nota-ble commentsfrom the participants. Results are generalized and discussed in order to inducegeneral findings.


The effect of different factors on chlorination of glycerol was investigated in a packed reactor.The result showed that the optimal conditions for the chlorination of glycerol:the reaction temperature was 100~110 ℃,the catalyst was anhydrous acetic acid,the catalyst loading was 7%,the flow velocity of glycerol was 0.6 mL/min.The yield of the dichloropropanol had reached to 85.5 % under the optimal conditions.


The vast majority of Canadian workers were satisfied with their jobs in 2002, but approximately 1 in 12—that's 1.3 million—were not. According to data from the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS): Mental Health and Wellbeing, just over 6% of workers were "not too satisfied" and 2% were "not at all satisfied." Understanding what is behind these negative views would be helpful to both employees and their employers, given that many people spend a large share of their waking hours on the job.


Accurate 3D object detection in all weather conditions remains a key challenge to enable the widespread deployment of autonomous vehicles, as most work to date has been performed on clear weather data. In order to generalize to adverse weather conditions, supervised methods perform best if trained from scratch on all weather data instead of finetuning a model pretrained on clear weather data. Training from scratch on all data will eventually become computationally infeasible and expensive as datasets continue to grow and encompass the full extent of possible weather conditions. On the other hand, naive finetuning on data from a different weather domain can result in catastrophic forgetting of the previously learned domain. Inspired by the success of replay-based continual learning methods, we propose Gradient-based Maximally Interfered Retrieval (GMIR), a gradient based sampling strategy for replay. During finetuning, GMIR periodically retrieves samples from the previous domain dataset whose gradient vectors show maximal interference with the gradient vector of the current update. Our 3D object detection experiments on the SeeingThroughFog (STF) dataset [1] show that GMIR not only overcomes forgetting but also offers competitive performance compared to scratch training on all data with a 46.25% reduction in total training time.


This paper focused on the problems existing in MODIS L1B data, such as reflection/radiation data calibration, solar zenith angle rectification, stripe noise removal of bands, BOWTIE effect removal, geometric correction and atmospheric correction. The cause and resolving algorithm were presented based on the former relative research. Especially against for the problem that the leaving-water radiation of the second-class inshore water can't be calculated by standard atmospheric correction algorithms, this paper explored and improved the atmospheric correction algorithm, and calculated Lw radiation of the most coastal waters.


In this paper we built a class of domain functionals in Euclidian space and proved Brunn Minkowski type inequality applied to the mentioned class. The resulting inequality generalizes corresponding inequality for moments of inertia in relation to the center of mass and hyperplanes proven by H. Hadwiger. Let Ω be a bounded domain in R𝑛. Define the functional 𝐼(𝑘;𝑚; Ω) = w Ω ( 1|𝑥1 𝑠1|𝑘 + · · · + 𝑛|𝑥𝑛 𝑠𝑛|𝑘)𝑚 𝑑𝑥, where ∈ (0, 1] at ∈ (0, 1) ∪ (1,+∞) and ∈ (0,+∞) at = 1; 𝑗(𝑗 = = 1, 𝑛) ∈ (0,+∞) arbitrary real numbers, 𝑠1, 𝑠2,..., coordinates of the minimum point of the function 𝐼(𝑦) = w Ω ( 1|𝑥1 𝑦1|𝑘 + 2|𝑥2 𝑦2|𝑘 + · · · +· · · + 𝑛|𝑥𝑛 𝑦𝑛|𝑘)𝑚 𝑑𝑥, = 𝑑𝑥1𝑑𝑥2 · · · of the variables = (𝑦1, 𝑦2,..., 𝑦𝑛) ∈ R𝑛, where 𝑥1, 𝑥2,..., Cartesian coordinates of the point ∈ Ω. The main result of this paper is the following Theorem. Let Ω0,Ω1 be a bounded domains in R𝑛, that can be represented as the the union of a finite number of convex domains. Then the functional 𝐼(𝑘;𝑚; Ω)1/(𝑘𝑚+𝑛) concave: 𝐼(𝑘;𝑚;Ω𝑡)1/(𝑘𝑚+𝑛) ≥ (1 𝑡)𝐼(𝑘;𝑚;Ω0)1/(𝑘𝑚+𝑛) + 𝑡𝐼(𝑘;𝑚;Ω1)1/(𝑘𝑚+𝑛), where Ω𝑡 = {(1 𝑡)𝑧0 + 𝑡𝑧1 | 𝑧0 ∈ Ω0, 𝑧1 ∈ Ω


Summary The formation of splenic antibody-forming cells was determined by the Jerne agar-plaque technique in normal rats and in rats deficient in thiamin, riboflavin, biotin or folic acid immunized with sheep erythrocytes. The number of antibody-forming cells was reduced in all deficiency states with thiamin deficiency having the least effect. This decreased cellular immune response in biotin and folic acid deficiencies was partially restored to normal by administration of biotin or folic acid, respectively, shortly before immunization.


Apocrine hydrocystoma (AH) typically presents a translucent, skin-colored to bluish dome shaped cyst on the face, although it occurs in other sites [1]. It is not uncommon and occurs in adult life with no predilection for particular age group. Males and females are equally affected [2]. AH mimics basal cell carcinoma (BCC), blue nevus, amelanotic melanoma requiring histopathological confirmation [3].


Background : The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term clinical outcome, rebleeding rate, and recurrence rate of endoscopic variceal ligation injection sclerotherapy (EVLIS) for gastric varices. Methods : 302 cases were chosen from patients treated with EVLIS for gastric varices from September 1992 to August 2002. The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 12 months with average being 35 months. Results : The number of patients with gastric varices F1, F2, F3 were 105 (43.8%), 127 (42%), 70 (23.2%) and Lg-c, Lg-f, Lg-cf were 82 (26.9%), 67 (22.2%), 153 (50.9%). The average sessions of therapy needed for the initial hemostasis was 2.34 times. Initial hemostasis in 117 patients who needed emergency treatment was successfully done in all cases. Early rebleeding was observed in 36 (12%) patients in whom most of the bleeding occurred from the secondary ulcer. Late rebleeding was observed in 37 (12.2%) patients in whom secondary ulcer and gastric variceal bleeding accounted for rebleeding in 14 (4.6%) patients and 23 (7.6%) patients respectively. Within the follow-up period, recurrence of gastric varices was observed in 104 (34.3%) patients with the average time to recurrence being 18.816 months. Conclusion : Since our method shows similar results with that of long-studied esophageal variceal therapy, it is thought of as an excellent treatment modality for gastric varices.


High Speed Railway (HSR) systems are playing an important role in modern transportation infrastructures all over the world. Resonant vibrations induced in railway bridges by light HSR trains may be more demanding than the effects of heavy freight trains at low speed. The dynamic allowances prescribed by design standards for railway bridges subjected to low-speed traffic do not cover resonance. Design of HSR bridges combines dynamic analysis of peak resonant accelerations for checks of track stability and strength checks for the dynamic allowance resulting from analysis.


: A mesoporous Al 2 O 3 sorbent was synthesized using sol-gel technology. The sorbent's phase composition was analyzed via X-ray diffractometry (XRD), while its surface morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy methods. Textural characteristics were also investigated through the adsorption of toluene vapors on the sorbents with the help of Mak-Ben-Bakra's sensitive quartz spiral device. The specific surface area (SBET) of sorbents obtained at different temperatures was found to be 684,6 ± 10 m 2 /g, with a volume of pores (Vs) of 0,56 to 0,82 cm 3 /g and an average pore diameter of 12,4 ± 0,05 nm. X-ray microanalysis of the sorbents confirmed that their chemical composition corresponds to 𝛾 - Al 2 O 3 .


The 1996 federal and provincial budgets continue along the 1990s trend of fewer annual tax changes. This is good news for Canada's mining industry. The capital intensive nature and the inherent risks of the industry, and the long lead-times that precede pay-back, cry out for stability of a country's tax regime. Canada is well on the road to being able to boast of fiscal stability. Following the turbulent decades of the sixties, the seventies, and the eighties, the 1990s are bringing a refreshing change to Canada's mining tax regime. The earlier decades experienced wide and bizarre swings in the regime, which added an unwanted level of uncertainty to investment decisions. The 1990s, on the other hand, have seen the federal and provincial governments pull back on the volume and significance of tax changes. The budgets that have been tabled so far this spring reflect a continuation of this trend.


We prove two theorems on the derived categories of toric varieties, the existence of an exceptional collection consisting of sheaves for a divisorial extraction and the finiteness of Fourier-Mukai partners.


Thinking of internationalization of Chinese elements was caused by a lecture.Through the analysis of the Chinese elements in design of the status quo,and development trend of international design according to the design, cultural inheritance,the universal law of China can' t achieve rapid design for manufacturing powers to design from the western powers,also can' t show our traditional culture by copy of Chinese traditional elements.Use our wisdom,with "and different" thought to properly handle the good design of internationalization and the relationship between ethnic diversity.


This paper summarizes the results obtained from the application oftwo investigation techniques, namely radar and endoscopy, in the masonry ofthe Katholikon ofDafui Monastery (Attica). The two techniques were applied with the aim to investigate the type of construction of the perimeter masonry of the monument. The application ofthe two techniques proved to be very efficient, since their results offered reliable information regarding the thickness of stones, hence, the thickness of the internai filling material in the three-leaf stone masonry of the monument.


The invention belongs to the technical field of pharmaceuticals and provides a pharmaceutical composition, preparation and application thereof. The pharmaceutical composition contains total amino acids and trichosanthes kirilowii maxim ester alkali; the pharmaceutical composition has the advantages of clear components and controllable quality; the pharmaceutical composition disclosed by the invention can be used for preparing injection or freeze-dried powder injection administration preparation; and the pharmaceutical composition disclosed by the invention takes good treatment effect on treating the disease of cardiovascular system and the like and can be widely used in clinic.


The behaviour of fractional-order systems with two agents is considered. In the paper, interactions between agents are defined like in Cucker-Smale models, where equations related to the position are the ordinary differential equations and velocities of agents are described by fractional differential equations. It allows us to take into account the memory that is included by taking the fractional-order, what seems to significantly improve the classical model. The conditions for achieving the consensus for the considered models are formulated based on the stability analysis of the appropriate linear systems. Finally, the behaviours of systems are illustrated by examples.


Intelligent structures that can actively change their geometric configura tions, as well as their mechanical properties, are developed to meet various space mission requirements. In this paper, optimal shapes of an intelligent truss structure under a variety of external loading conditions are investigated. The intelligent truss to be considered is a type of statically determinate truss structure that changes its configuration by lengthening or shortening some active member's lengths. For this intelligent truss structure, an op timization problem is defined: when the load is applied in a specified direction, an attempt is made to find an optimal shape of adaptation to attain its maximum structural strength. With the geometric design variables corresponding to the lengths of the active members adopted, the optimization is carried out by using a Multiplier Method. The numerical results indicate that the intelligent truss structure can provide much higher structural strength than a fixed truss structure by taking the optimal adaptive shape.


Protein 3-D structures are more functionally conserved than sequence and this
claims the need of developing a computational tool for accurate protein structure
comparison at the global and local levels. We have developed a novel geometry-based
method for protein 3-D structure comparison using the concept of Triangular Spatial
Relationship (TSR).


The spatial resolution effect of elastic cover material for tactile sensor using the finite-element method is analyzed, and some criterions of cover material are given.


The invention discloses a weaving-based class diagram model synthesis method. The weaving-based class diagram model synthesis method comprises the following steps of: inputting file paths of a plurality of source models, wherein each source model comprises multiple classes; and each class comprises attributes and behaviours; traversing the source models, judging whether the source models can be merged or not according to a synthesis rule defined by a weaving model, and if so, merging and executing the next step; performing class merging of the source models; performing relationship merging of the source models; and inputting the file path of a target model so as to generate the target model. The invention further provides a system for executing the method.


Performance coefficients are widely used in seismic design codes to achieve performance objectives. The values of these coefficients have significant importance in achieving pre-specified performance goals. Studies have shown that near-fault earthquakes decrease the ductility and increase the risk of failure in the structures; however, the current codes use the same performance coefficients to design structures against near- and far-fault records. In the present study, 1-, 5-, 10- and 15-story special concentrically braced frame (SCBF) structures designed in the region with high seismic hazard have been evaluated. Non-linear static, linear dynamic, and incremental non-linear dynamic analyses under the influence of two sets of near- and far-fault records extracted from FEMA-P695 have been used to calculate the performance coefficients. Furthermore, the fragility curves are calculated for three performance levels (IO, LS, CP) using a probabilistic assessment of the results derived from incremental dynamic analysis to investigate the relationship between obtained factors with the probability of exceedance from a specified level. According to the mean results of all records, the behavior factor for the steel special concentrically braced frame is 5.92. The mean behavior factor obtained for the near-fault records is 35% less than the far-fault records. Differences in the obtained behavior factor for structures under excitation of two types of earthquake records (near- and far-fault) are observed in the fragility curves related to the probability of exceedance from CP level. However, there is no significant correlation between the resulted behavior factors and the probability of exceeding IO and LS levels.


By incorporating an additional recovery compartment in the SLBS model, a new model, known as the SLBRS model, is proposed in this paper. The qualitative properties of this model are investigated. The result shows that the dynamic behavior of the model is determined by a threshold . Specially, virus-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable if , whereas the viral equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable if . Next, the sensitivity analysis of to four system parameters is also analyzed. On this basis, a collection of strategies are advised for eradicating viruses spreading across the Internet effectively.


We have prepared CoFe2O4 nanoparticles in micellar medium by wet chemical technique and obtained very high coercivity value of 4.4 kOe at room temperature for particle size ∼16 nm. A large coercivity (∼20 kOe) is observed on cooling down to 2.5 K. We annealed the sample at different temperatures to check the role of micelles and particles size in the change in coercivity value. Here we observed micelles as capping agent playing an important role to enhance the coercivity, as after removal of micelles for the same particle size the coercivity drops from 4.4 kOe to small value ∼350 Oe. But the coercivity again increases due to the increase in particle size with increase in annealing temperature from 873 K and above. To obtain structural information and size of particles, we have taken x-ray diffraction spectra from the samples before and after annealing at different temperatures which confirm the spinel phase only.


The main purpose of the paper is to discuss Asset & Liability Management, the control of value creation and risks in a bank. The paper is innovative in two ways. First, unlike the usual practice of restricting ALM to the control of interest rate and liquidity risks, we proppose a framework to analyse both value creation and the control of risks. Second, rather than discuss the ALM issues one by one in an independent manner, we provide a microeconomic-based valuation model of a bank.


Cooperative diversity is based on mutual cooperation between mobile stations. The mobile users share each other's antennas for multiple data transmission. Numerous research studies claim that cooperative diversity shows a remarkable performance in wireless communication systems through a reduction in error rates and outage probability. This paper presents a comprehensive study on the performance of cooperative diversity in wireless communication systems.


Desalinization of soils, by flooding the surface completely and leaching salts through subsurface drains, removes salts rapidly above the drains but only slowly midway between the drains. More uniform leaching using less water can be obtained by constraining the seepage area with the use of bunds, initially flooding only the region midway between the drains and then progressively increasing the flooded area towards the drains until the whole area is flooded. The improvement in the efficiency of desalinization using this procedure was shown by obtaining an analytical solution of the flow regime for the seepage from a ponded surface strip to a 2D pipe-drain system using conformal transformations and then estimating the leaching of salts from the soil below the surface by assuming that salts were transported only by convection. The analysis shows that the progressive leaching procedure requires <16% of the water needed using the conventional method in which the soil surface is completely flooded the entire time and that it can be attained in <24% of the time.


The Weighing Panel, within the Institute of Measurement and Control, produces a 'Guide to the Specification of Industrial Process Weighing Systems'. It is intended to be an authoritative document, which can be comfortably used in industry by system specifiers such as plant managers and also that can be recognised and translated into realistic specifications by the system providers such as the system integrators and manufacturers. Because such a Guide has not previously been available to industry, major weighing system users have devised their own customised specification forms. These forms, due to the nature of their content and use, tend to be treated as confidential documents and vary significantly between the specifiers. In summary, this Guide strives to achieve the following objectives: • To prompt users to identify, and where possible, quantify all the relevant influence factors at the early stages of the project. • To generate two-way communications between the user and the provider since it is likely that not all the influence factors will be clearly identified at the initial stages of the project. • To lead to a better understanding of the requirements. • To improve the communication between the user and the provider due to the clear description and the extent of the influence factors and other considerations given in the Guide. • To eventually result in a higher specification end product. • To save cost due to better and clearer specification and improved communication.


In the discipline of image retargeting, the structure of shadows in the image is required to be preserved since it gives structural information about the objects. Many traditional image retargeting techniques do not pay attention to preserve the shadow objects present in the image. In this paper a shadow-preservation framework is proposed in which the saliency map is derived using segmentation-based gPb-owt-ucm approach to emphasize the salient regions. To assess the quality of saliency map a fixation prediction analysis is conducted on each section of the image using the eye tracker technology. Second, to pay more attention on the shadow objects a shadow map is developed after executing image pre-processing, shadow detection, region growing, and region filling operations. To rectify the issue of misclassification of shadow pixels erosion and dilation operations are performed. To obtain an efficient importance map, a gradient map is prepared using canny operator which is further combined with the saliency map and shadow map. The obtained importance map is supplied to the seam diversion based image retargeting (SDIR) technique to resize the image in horizontal and vertical directions. To justify the efficiency of the proposed framework's the obtained results are compared with the existing state-of-the-art. By preserving shadows, the proposed framework enhances the overall visual quality and maintains the integrity of objects in the retargeted images. The framework's effectiveness is validated through quantitative evaluations and visual comparisons with existing methods. The results demonstrate its potential for improving content-aware image retargeting applications, paving the way for more realistic and visually appealing image resizing techniques in various domains.


The Dawning-1000 is a message passing based massively parallel processing system (MPP). In the paper, the design goals of the system software of Dawning-1000 are introduced. The important design principles, such as micro-ker-nel, user-level server, client/server model, and standard user interface, are expressed. The organization and structure of the system software are also mentioned.The design of system diagnosis and monitor, system management, parallel programming environment and tools, and parallel debugger is described in detail. Finally, the existing issues of the system software of the MPP system are analyzed.


The Caribbean Region has been one the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic due to vaccine inequity, human resource constraints, and pre-existing infrastructural constraints, which led to countries taking viral mitigation and prevention measures for instance border lockdown and states of emergency. While at that phase, treating COVID-19 patients has been the number one priority, several other health services have been neglected, threatening public health. During that period there was significant disruption of healthcare delivery to patients with Chronic non-communicable Diseases in the region which deteriorated capacity issues in the health system, for example Human Resource Deficiencies, Financing of the Health Sector, Governance, and a lack of Health Information Systems. This paper provides an overview of how pandemic insurance claims and big data analytics tools can assist in gaining insights into the current state of the population's health. Big data and analytical approaches provide a variety of solutions, including the detection of current COVID-19 cases and the forecasting of future outbreaks which can aid in obtaining some insight into the present state of the health of the population.


Objective:To investingate the efficacy of mirtazapine therapy combined with psychotherapy on the patients with post-stroke depression(PSD).Methods:Ninety-six patients with PSD were divided into group control(A),mirtazapine(B),and psychotherapy with mirtazapine(C).All the patients were given routine therapy,and A group was gire VitB1,B group was given mirtazapine,C group was given mirtazpine and psychotherapy.These groups were graded with the ZSDS according to the degree of their depression and with the SSS for their neurological function deficit before and after treatment.Results: Both B and C group significantly decreased depression and neurological deficit after stroke,while C group showed more efficient than B group.Conclusion: Psychotherapy combined with mirtazapine can promote the rehabilitaion of nerve function after stroke.


Recent studies show the possibility of more frequent extreme events as a result of the changing climate. These weather extremes, such as excessive rainfall, result to debris flow, river overflow and urban flooding, which post a substantial threat to the community. Therefore, an effective flood model is a crucial tool in flood disaster mitigation. In recent years, a number of flood models has been established; however, the major challenge in developing effective and accurate inundation models is the inconvenience of running multiple models for separate conditions. Among the solutions in recent researches is the development of the combined 1D-2D flood modeling. The coupled 1D-2D river flood modeling allows channel flows to be represented in 1D and the overbank flow to be modeled over two-dimension. To test the efficiency of this approach, this research aims to assess the capability of HEC-RAS model's implementation of the combined 1D-2D hydraulic simulation of river overflow inundation, and compare with the results of GERIS and FLUMENS 2D flood model. Results show similar output to the flood models that had used different methods. This proves the applicability of the HEC-RAS 1D-2D coupling method as a powerful tool in simulating accurate inundation for flood events.


The discoveries of twentieth century physics have played a decisive influence in the thinking of modern man. With the exploration of the atom has come a staggering vision of the complexity of the physical world. At the same time, the pursuit of such still puzzling factors as the elusive electron, the mysterious muon, and the strange multiplicity of baryons has given us but a hint of how much is yet to be known. In the concluding volume of his celebrated UNDERSTANDING PHYSICS, Isaac Asimov brilliantly conveys this vast new knowledge and awesome sense of challenge. Treating the most advanced ideas with superb clarity, his book is the perfect supplement to the student's formal textbook, as well as offering invaluable illumination to the general reader. Chapter 1 The Atom In the first two volumes of this book I dealt with those aspects of physics in which the fine structure of matter could be ignored. I discussed gravitation, for instance since any sphere possessing the mass of the earth would exhibit the gravitational effect of the earth regardless of the type of matter of which it was composed. Furthermore, the question of the ultimate structure of the finest particles of matter need not be considered in working out the laws governing the gravitational interaction of bodies. The same is true of the laws of motion. A brick moves as a unit and we need not be concerned with the composition of the brick studying its motion. We can study many phases of the electric charge of a pith ball or the magnetic field of a magnet and derive useful laws governing electromagnetic effects without probing into the sub-microscopic structures of


Background: High tunnel placement is common in single- and double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions. Similar nonanatomic tunnel placement may also occur in ACL augmentation surgery. Purpose: In this study, in situ forces and knee kinematics were compared between nonanatomic high anteromedial (AM) and anatomic AM augmentation in a knee with isolated AM bundle injury. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Seven fresh-frozen cadaver knees were used (age, 48 ± 12.5 years). First, intact knee kinematics was tested with a robotic–universal force sensor testing system under 2 loading conditions. An 89-N anterior load was applied, and an anterior tibial translation was measured at knee flexion angles of 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90°. Then, combined rotatory loads of 7-N·m valgus and 5-N·m internal tibial rotation were applied at 15° and 30° of knee flexion angles, which mimic the pivot shift. Afterward, only the AM bundle of the ACL was cut arthroscopically, keeping the posterolateral bundle intact. The knee was again tested using the intact knee kinematics to measure the in situ force of the AM bundle. Then, arthroscopic anatomic AM bundle reconstruction was performed with an allograft, and the knee was tested to give the in situ force of the reconstructed AM bundle. Knee kinematics under the 3 conditions (intact, anatomic AM augmentation, and nonanatomic high AM augmentation) and the in situ force were compared and analyzed. Result: The high AM graft had significantly lower in situ force than the intact and anatomic reconstructed AM bundle at 0° of knee flexion (P < .05) and the intact AM bundle at 30° of knee flexion under anterior tibial loading. There were no differences between anatomic graft and intact AM bundle. The high AM graft also had a significantly lower in situ force than the intact and anatomic reconstructed AM with simulated pivot-shift loading at 15° and 30° of flexion (P < .05). Under anterior tibial and rotatory loading, there was a difference in tibial displacement between anatomic and high AM reconstructions and between the high AM graft and intact ACL under rotational loading with the knee at 15° of flexion. Clinical Relevance: Anatomic AM augmentation can lead to biomechanical advantages at time zero when compared with the nonanatomic (high AM) augmentation. Anatomic AM augmentation better restores the knee kinematics to the intact ACL state.


This paper presents a robot developed for reconnaissance at a nuclear power plant that had an accident. When an accident occurs, such as the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster, rubble is scattered on the premises, increasing the radiation dose. Consequently, it is nearly impossible for humans to enter the plant and assess the situation. Therefore, a robot that performs reconnaissance is required. In this study, we designed and fabricated a reconnaissance robot to be used in a nuclear power plant that has undergone an accident. The inaccessibility of the scattered on-site rubble and high radiation dose can be addressed by employing an airship-type design that does not use electronic devices.


In their well-known analysis of fiscal stabilization policies [1], Blinder and Solow clarify the meaning of the government budget constraint. However, the transitional, dynamic process by which government expenditures are transmitted is not explicitly considered. The purpose of this paper is to explore implications of the adjustment process of income in the analysis of a bond-financed increase in government expenditures. In the IS-LM framework, income is instantaneously determined at the intersection of the IS and the LM curves, while stock variables such as bond balances, money balances, and physical capital are assumed to be constant. As the result of public expenditures, income increases instantaneously. If the impact government spending multiplier, 1/(1-marginal propensity to spend) is sufficiently large, the instantaneous increase in tax revenues will create the government budget surplus at the initial moment. The government budget constraint implies that the surplus is turned to the redemption of bonds. Since we are concerned with the effect of bond-financed budget deficits on income, the case in which government spending leads to a budget surplus at the initial moment is neither interesting nor relevant. Blinder and Solow assume away this troublesome case by omitting income from the investment function in order to lower the marginal propensity to spend. we shall present a more generalized framework and consider the case where induced investment is allowed. We shall explicitly introduce an adjustment process in the commodity market, so that fiscal expenditures increase tax revenues only with delay. In this way we can avoid the complications noted above, and at the same time explicitly consider the time development of the system. Contrary to the conclusion by Blinder and Solow that the additional changes in bonds have a positive net effect on income if the system is stable, we shall show in our generalized framework that the subsequent effects may be contractionary even if the system is stable. Thus, Blinder and Solow's conclusion holds on narrower grounds than they seem to claim; that is, only when the parameter of policy is government purchases of goods and services


The "3-Circles" eco-productive paradigm for combating desertification is an optimized and reconstructed new structure for arid ecosystems.The structure,process/dynamic and function of the system are comprehensively based on a brand-new viewpoint of systematology.This paper studies the control,creation and feedback of the "3-Circles" paradigm for combating desertification using Chaos theory.We discusses the causes of desertification and the process of chaos.The geographical sphere structure(geographical zonality) is the natural background of the "3-Circles" ecological paradigm;the driving force of the "3-Circles" paradigm is the process of chaos.In the modern material world,the ecosystem and environment are all dominated by Chaos theory. The chaos movement exists in the complex degradation and rehabilitation processes of arid ecosystems,i.e.the "order comes from the chaos".The structure of the eco-productive paradigm is divided;the big "3-Circles" mainly controls expansion of desertification and extension of large scale sandstorms;the small "3-Circles" mainly controls regional desertification and the damage produced by sandstorms while the small "3-Circles" are formed in accordance with the concrete patterns of the natural geography and social economic conditions of different types of landscape,including the oases.Chaos theory provides us with the "organic,antibacklash and flowing world": a new holistic concept,combating desertification requires complicated multi-functional systems.In China′s northern arid areas and the areas affected by desertification,the big "3-Circles" and the small "3-Circles" are the organically combined network which forms a strict protection system with mutual protective functions from circle to circle and defense from belt to belt.So that large scale effects of wind-drift sand movement are effectively controlled,the local climate and microclimate are improved and the quality of people′s lives is promoted so as to build up Northwest China.Consequently,the concept and structure of the "3-Circles" system is based on natural geographical zonality and provides a rationally designed ecological solution for the interaction between the human and natural environments and the patterns of ecosystems.It represents science towards the "realm of freedom",in which the paradigm for restoration of the environment in arid regions and for sustainable development is defined humans.


AIM: To investigate the neuroprotective effect of tubuloside B,one of the phenylethanoids isolated from the stems of Cistanche salsa,on H2O2-induced injury in PC12 cells.METHODS: PC12 cells were exposed to various doses of tubuloside B for 12 h,then treated with H2O2 at concentration of 100 μmol/L for 24 h.The cell viability was observed with MTT assay.Reactive oxygen species and the mitochondrial membrane potential were measured with laser scanning confocal microscopy(LSCM).The DNA content and percentage of apoptosis were assayed by DNA agarose gel electrophoresis and flow cytometry.The activation of caspase-3 was detected with the caspase-3 activity assay kit.RESULTS: Following treatment with H2O2 for 24 h,H2O2 induced a significant decrease in cell viability;DNA ladder was observed and apoptosis percentage was as high as 48.0%.Accumulation of intracellular ROS,increase in caspase-3 activity and the decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential as indicated with the decrease of red/green ratios(from 5.97 to 0.41) were detected.However,pretreatment with tubuloside B(1,10 or 100 mg·L-1) for 12 h exhibited cytoprotective effects in a dose-dependent manner.Tubuloside B obviously enhanced the cell viability,reduced formation of the DNA ladder,and significantly reduced the number of cells labeled with Annexin-V.The percentage of apoptosis/necrosis neurons was significantly decreased to 30.9%,18.3% and 6.2%,respectively.LSCM showed that the tubuloside B attenuated the accumulation of ROS and the H2O2-induced collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential in PC12 cells.The significant decrease in caspase-3 activity was detected,compared to the H2O2-treated cells at the same time point.CONCLUSION: Tubuloside B has the neuroprotective capacity to antagonize H2O2-induced apoptosis and injury in PC12 cells,indicating it may be useful for treating some neurodegenerative diseases.


Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have shown a great success within the field of face recognition. In this paper, we propose a robust face recognition method, which is based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and CNN. In our method, PCA is employed to reduce the size of data. Afterwards, we use a CNN as a classifier for face recognition. We relatively decrease the number of layers used in the CNN architecture, utilizing the dropout regulation technique. Most importantly, we implement the classification step on the GPU component. Several experiments have been implemented using available well-known databases. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of our approach, which keeps good recognition accuracy. Thus, it expands an important acceleration of the classification face compared to the standard CNN implementation without data reduction. It achieves also lower memory consumption due to the smaller amounts of data processing used through the PCA method. Moreover, our model is intentionally designed such that both its running time and memory requirements are decreased.


Whether the electronic instruments in fishing could operate normally and properly can directly affect the safety of fishing-boats and the production process, and plays an important role in the development of those fishery businesses abroad. This paper describes the status of the electronic instruments and the problems faced by our fishing-boats in the Mauritania seas and discusses the methods to solve them.


This project focussed on improving marine finfish aquaculture production in the Asia-Pacific region by focussing on key constraints: improving hatchery technology to improve the availability of seedstock; evaluating the nutritional needs of groupers to support the development of compounded pellet diets; and improving communication and coordination of marine finfish aquaculture research and development activities in the Asia-Pacific region.


In this paper an attempt is made to analyze
various techniques that can be used for using power line as a channel in a Integrated Home Automation Controller
(IHAC). The power line is used for the purpose of
transferring information of a home automation controller to
various devices and also getting the sensor signals. This study is a part of the Integrated Home automation Controller
which can be used for device controlling, security
management and energy management


The hydraulic chainsaw for coal mine is a hydraulic driven cutting tool for accessorial construction.Introduced hydraulic chainsaw working principle and structural design,and then compared with performance between actual slotting by using hydraulic chainsaw and by hand in coal and rock.It is verified that It offer high safety,high efficiency,large cutting depth,elegant shape,excellent general service seal of slot and low cost.So,it can be widely used in many engineering and mine fields,especially slotting in coal tunnel and rock tunnel when building fire seal at coal mine underground.


We thank the reviewers for his constructive comments. We have addressed each and every one of them and modified the paper accordingly. Our detailed answers follow. Please note that reviewers' comments are in italics while our answers are not. Additions to the original manuscript are indicated in blue. There are three parts in this file: Answers to reviewer 1, answers to reviewer 2 and attachment README.md. Please read the README.md-file at the end this file for all the updates.


In this paper,we use the symmetrical theory in the quantum mechanics to analyze how the system's symmetry affects the energy-level degeneracy in axial symmetry deformed potential and non-axial symmetry deformed potential in the nuclear shell model.According to the theory in the quantum mechanics,the symmetry of the quantum system's Hamiltonian does matter to the particle's energy-level degeneracy.Along with the change of the system's symmetry brought by potential's change,the particle's energy-level degeneracy has been increased or broken,even eliminated.By analyzing,we have learned that the theoretical foundation which may change the system's energy-level degeneracy is the breaking of symmetry.


This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 1 rophages and can affect disease development such as IBD. Although there is a prior study using trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis and focusing on succinate receptor 1 (SUCNR1) and fibrosis, it is not yet clear whether succinate directly affects macrophage activity in colitis. Wang et al. showed macrophages from peritoneal cavity cells (PCCs) affect experimental colitis. Hence, to identify the direct effect of succinate on macrophages, we performed a transfer experiment to find out the effects of succinate on macrophages in a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) (MP Biomedicals, Solon, OH, USA)-induced colitis model (Fig. 1A). All experiments using animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Yonsei University Severance Hospital (IACUC No: 2018-0227), and all methods were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Eight-weekold male C57BL/6 mice were maintained in 12 hours light/12 hours dark cycle at 22°C under specific pathogen‐free conditions and used as donors of peritoneal macrophages. The following groups of mice were used as donors: injected vehicle (Veh) (n = 4); injected succinate (Suc) (n = 4). F4/80 peritoneal macrophages were isolated using BD FACS Aria II (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA, USA) from the collected peritoneal cells of mice which were then intraperitoneally injected with 40 mM succinate or not for 3 days (Fig. 1B and C). Isolated F4/80 cells of 2 × 10 were intraperitoneally injected to recipient mice in 200 μL Hanks' balanced salt solution (HBSS; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Waltham, MA, USA) (day 0) and the mice were sacrificed after 2% (wt/vol) DSS in drinking water until day 6 followed by normal water administrated for 2 days. Recipient pISSN 1598-9100 • eISSN 2288-1956 https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2020.00075 Intest Res, Published online November 2, 2020


Male fertility is a very important but often neglected area in medical practice. Compared to what is available on female subfertility, there is a dearth in research on male fertility. Fertility in male depends on the normally functioning hypothalamopituitary gonadal axis, normal testis and the environment necessary for viable, motile sperm production. The production of healthy germ cells require a temperature which is slightly below the core body temperature and there are several temperature regulatory mechanisms in humans that ensure the maintenance of the scrotal temperature several degrees lower. The aim of the present review is to synthesise and summarise the literature available on scrotal temperature regulation in the healthy male and to recapitulate the disease conditions, environmental, occupational and lifestyle factors that affects scrotal temperature and thus male fertility. has been presented on the factors that contribute to male fertility. What we do know, is that male fertility depends on a normally functioning hypothalamopituitary-gonadal hormonal axis and normal sperm production. Spermatogenesis (sperm production) in turn requires structurally and functionally normal testes and the maintenance of the testicles cooler than the


This article summarises current AIDS and HIV infection epidemiology, population risk behaviour factors, local public health and governmental responses to AIDS and cooperative strategic plans for a Pacific "War on AIDS" among the United States Public Health Service and the Pacific jurisdiction public health agencies. The Pacific Island Health Officers Association is comprised of the Republic of Palau, the Government of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, American Samoa and the State of Hawaii.


The sorts of silane coupling agents and their coupling mechanisms are described in this paper. The application of silane coupling agents to the modification of the nanometer particles and to the functional improvement of the coatings are discussed in detail. Corrosion resistance and adhesive force to the coating of the works could be increased sharply by seal treatment in the solution of the silane coupling agent. The development tendency of coupling agents is also discussed.


A satisfied workforce is an asset to any organizations. Nowadays, organizations are considering workforce as the source of competitive advantage which creates both tangible and intangible benefits for the organization and as such they are concerned with employees' satisfaction and well-being. The present study examines factors influencing job satisfaction of employees in private banking sector. Sample includes 103 employees drawn from 9 private sector banks in Vijayawada (India) using simple random sampling method. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire and were analyzed using mean and chi-square test. These factors were classified in three categories such as Organizational Factors, Job Related Factors, and Personal Factors. Then, the importance of all factors was determined in a sequence. Further, among demographic information of respondents, the results revealed that there is a significant relationship between socio-economic and demographic variables of the respondents Such as Designation, Gender, Age, Marital Status, Experience, Work Status, Nature of Family, Income, Number of Dependants and job satisfaction; whereas, there is no significant relationship between Qualification, Nature of the Job and job satisfaction.


Hebei province belongs to the serious resource-based water shortage,especially the Black dragon port in the south system of Hai River and Yundong area is the most serious water shortage area.Since the 1990 s,the region has carried out many times water transfer that across the Yellow River basin to alleviate the water shortage of industrial and agricultural,city life and ecological in Tianjin,Hebei province Black dragon port and Yundong area.Analyzing the main factors that influence the water stage and flow of water supply from the Yellow River and the hydrological characteristics of water propagation characteristic and sediment movement characteristics,it provides important technical reference to reasonable allocation of water resources and the project planning and construction.


Feeding activity of migrating wild Atlantic salmon smolts was investigated in different types of tributaries of the River Teno, northernmost Finland. General feeding activity and the amount of surface prey in the stomachs were correlated inversely with proportion of habitats with high water velocity in the tributaries.


The Gambling Passion Scale (GPS) is a recently developed research instrument for assessing individuals' passion for gambling. Because the psychometric properties of the GPS have only previously been examined in French Canadians, the aim of this study was to replicate previous psychometric findings in an English-speaking university sample. Participants (female: n = 58; male: n = 89) were drawn from a university campus based on self-reported experience with gambling indexed by scores on the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). The two-factor structure reported by Rousseau et al. (Journal of Gambling Studies, 18(1), pp. 45–66, 2002) was largely replicated in this sample, as were relationships between 'obsessive passion' and negative consequences stemming from gambling. These results support the validity of the GPS as a measure of gambling passion in English-speaking university gamblers and its potential to contribute to understanding problem gambling.


An understanding of the lepton masses within the framework of SUSY is presented. A family symmetry is introduced. Sneutrino VEV breaks this symmetry. The tau mass is due to the Higgs VEV, and muon mass purely from the sneutrino VEV. A viable model is constructed, which predicts (1-10) MeV tau-neutrino.


Four bridges of different types have been tested to failure and the results have been compared to the load-carrying capacity calculated using standard code models and advanced numerical methods. Th ...


The Harbour Island People Mover is an elevated system which links the mainland of downtown Tampa with Harbour Island, a billion dollar commercial development. The People Mover is actually an automated vehicle which transports pedestrians to and from the development. The focus of this article is on the analysis and design of the precast segmental portion of the project. It was this part that proved to be the most interesting and challenging part with regard to LEAP's involvement in the project. The basic layout of the entire system is discussed including some of the reasons for selecting a segmental design. The highlights of the analysis and design techniques include the loads considered, the analysis tools used, and the actual design methodology. Some unique aspects involved in the production of the precast prestressed components and a few of the special problems encountered during construction, to which interesting solutions were found, are presented.


This paper presents efficient algorithm for iris recognition using Two dimensional (2D) Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and illustrate how increased iris region improves performance. Phase components present in 2D DFTs of given images are used to determine similarity between two images. Algorithm is evaluated with CASIA iris image databases (version 1.0) and it clearly demonstrates that the use of phase components of iris images help to achieve highly accurate iris recognition. By experimentation, it is observed that instead of considering only lower half part of iris, in addition if we consider the portion present in upper half part of iris then it decreases False Match Rate (FMR) significantly as effective region available for iris comparison is increased. Decrease in FMR results in decrease in error rate (EER). General Terms Pattern Recognition, Security.


The Siren Vase, an Attic red-figure stamnos by the Siren painter (PL. xvra), was made between 490 and 480 BC, and is now in the British Museum. Odysseus is shown bound by his own order to the mast of his ship, the only man to hear the Sirens' irresistible song and to survive it. Their ears stopped with beeswax, his crew row stolidly on.


Abstract A pulse compression and pedestal suppression method for high-order solitons is presented in this paper. With the existing analytic solutions, the second- and third-order solitons are compressed, and the optimum lengths for them are obtained. Without the soliton broadening, the pedestals of the solitons from different outputs can be suppressed with the choices of corresponding parameters. Unlike other pedestal suppression methods, the energy of the pedestal is transferred to the peak of the soliton, and the output intensity of the high-order compressed solitons increases during the pedestal suppression. As the soliton order increases, results show that the optimum length for the pedestal suppression increases, and the pulse width decreases.


Shippers choose ports for export or import of goods based on a number of variables, including location, preferences for particular shipping line services, and facilities offered. This paper models the port and shipping line choice behavior of shippers in China, using a shipper-level database obtained from a 1998 survey of containerized cargo shippers. The paper incorporates the shipping line choice behavior through model specifications by nesting the choices in a hierarchical fashion where shippers choose from Chinese and non-Chinese shipping lines and then from ports or vice versa. The results indicate that the distance of the shipper from the port, the efficiency of the port infrastructure, and the number of routes offered at the port strongly influence decisions to use a port.


With a large number of desktop software appears, in particular, P2P software, it brings chal-lenges for traffic management: the traditional port-based IP traffic management lack of flexi-bility, a lot of bandwidth has be occupied by non-core business. Proposes an application-oriented traffic analysis and control system based on ports and characteristic string. Experi-ments show that the system has a good detection efficiency and control performance.


Results: 78,834 students were surveyed and 74,698 (94.8%) students responded the survey. 35,232 (47.2%) of respondents were male students and 39,466 (52.8%) of respondents were female students. 38,820 (52.0%) of respondents were middle school students, 25,051 (33.5%) of respondents were high school students and 10,827 (14.5%) of respondents were technical high school students. 5.2% of respondents experienced sexual intercourse. The average age of the first sexual intercourse was 14.2 years old. 1.0% of respondents had a sexual intercourse before they enter the middle school. The pregnancy rate was 0.3%. Among respondents who experienced sexual intercourse, the rate of the use of contraceptive methods was 38.2%. The rate of using inappropriate contraceptive methods was 21.6%. The average age of a first wet dream for boys was 13.2 years old. The average age of menarche for girls was 12.4 year old. The rate of respondents who had a sex education was 72.2%. Conclusion: The average age of the first wet dream and menarche had been decreased. The average age of the first sex experience among adolescents had been decreased. The rate of adolescents who experienced a sexual intercourse was increased. However, the rate of using reliable contraceptive methods was very low. Therefore, adequate sex educations including effective contraceptive methods needs to be conducted to prevent unwanted pregnancy of adolescents.


We present the role of Pd ensembles in the selective direct synthesis of H2O2 from H2 and O2 on a PdAu alloy surface based on periodic density functional theory calculations. Our calculations demonstrate that H2O2 formation is strongly affected by the spatial arrangement of Pd and Au surface atoms. In particular, Pd monomers surrounded by less active Au atoms that suppress O−O bond scission are primarily responsible for the significantly enhanced selectivity toward H2O2 formation on PdAu alloys compared to that on the monometallic Pd and Au counterparts.


Objective:To study the suitable condition to culture autologous mesangial cellsfrom renal biopsy specimens for gene delivery. To constitute the cell strain stably express TIPM1 gene.Methods:Mesangial cells of 5 specimens renal biopsy were cultured with selectiveDMEM culture liquid. TMIP 1 eDNA was amplified for c onstructing the plasmid pcDNA3-TMIP 1,which was transfected into MsC. G418 scann ing and RT-PCR were used to identify the positivecell clone.Results:Method of mesangial cells cultured in vitro was established. These cells wer e identified for human MC with microscopical observations and immunohistochemica l method. Onepositive clone expressing TMIP1 gene stably was obtained .C onclusions:The success culture ofautologous mesangial cells can provide gene vector and the TIMP1 positive clone is valuable for providing experimental bases of the nephropathy genetic therapy.