Apathy, defined as decreased goal‐directed activity, has been observed in Parkinson's disease. A number of cognitive/psychiatric features have been documented in essential tremor, yet we are unaware of studies of apathy.


This paper attempts to show the great changes in natural and urban environment geo-visualization
that have taken place over recent decades. It emphasizes the role of 3D geo-visualization as applied
to every territorial and environmental discipline, where 3D displays and then the addition of the
temporal dimension (4D) have provided new windows for visualization, up to and including real
time products. Increasing overall digital geo-data production, access to the Digital Elevation Model
along with the contributions made by new sensors (remote sensing, Lidar, GPS, etc), the new
possibilities offered by 3D software (GIS, CAD, etc) and the way in which web-based 3D viewer has
become popular (virtual globes and cities), all these have offered new opportunities for the
technical trained as well as for scientists and even the citizen in the street, we are told. Further to
the afore-mentioned, the author sees easy access to multi-temporal geo-data (especially via OGC
interoperable services and NSDI), the worldwide installation of fi xed or satellite-based sensors for
geo-data monitoring, as well as the new data obtained from the citizens through internet (web 2.0)
as offering new opportunities and applications w2hen it comes to studying natural and urban
issues grounded upon multi-temporal and real time data.


Improving efficiency of city services and facilitating a more sustainable development of cities are the main drivers of the smart city concept. This paper describes a field trial that instantiates a novel architecture exploiting major concepts from the Future Internet (FI) paradigm. The trial has been executed in one of the parks of the city of Santander providing an autonomous public street lighting adaptation service. The trial takes advantage of both the critical communications infrastructures already in place and owned by the utility as well as of the Internet of Things infrastructure belonging to the city municipality to accelerate efficient provision of existing and new city services. The main contribution presented in the paper is, indeed, the assessment of the energy savings achieved during the field trials and the study of key performance indicators analyzed during the trial. The paper highlights how FI technologies create the necessary glue and logic that allows the integration of current vertical and isolated city services into a holistic solution, which enables a huge forward leap for the efficiency and sustainability of our cities. Finally, the trial is a showcase on how added-value services can be seamlessly created on top of the proposed architecture.


The prevailing truth-functional logic of the twentieth century, it is argued, is incapable of expressing the subtlety and richness of Aristotle's Principle of Excluded Middle, and hence cannot but misinterpret it. Furthermore, the manner in which truth-functional logic expresses its own Principle of Excluded Middle is less than satisfactory in its application to mathematics. Finally, there are glimpses of the "realism" which is the metaphysics demanded by twentieth century logic, with the remarkable consequent that Classical logic is a particularly inept instrument to analyze those philosophies which stand opposed to the "realism" it demands.


An Environmental Impact Assessment of offshore flares located in 'Sonda de Campeche', Mexico was performed to evaluate their effect on the regions adjoining offshore development. Air and water contamination besides solid wastes are considered to be the main pollutants. A comparative analysis of the laws pertaining to offshore industry in Mexico, Canada, and United States is addressed. As a result of this study, it was found that there was no significant impact from water pollutants or waste management residues during the installation or production phases of the flares, due to offshore development in the concerned areas. Moreover, for air pollution, four air contaminants (NO2, CO, CO2, and CH4) were found to comply with environmental laws (Mexican, and International). On the contrary, three other air pollutants (SO2, H2S, and PM10) do not comply with the standards. Therefore, three actions are recommended to be implemented in the following order. First, chemical absorption is suggested to remove NO X, SO2, and H2S. Following this, the height of flare is to be increased by 15 meters. Finally, a Floating Storage Re-gasification Unit is to be installed in a relatively isolated region. The last action ensures a drastic reduction of air pollution and provides a reservoir for natural gas. The natural gas can be purchased by a private company or can be utilized by the Mexican Industry


The Dnieper-Donets basin is one of the promising petroliferous provinces in the Ukraine, where over 140 oil and gas pools have been discovered. Most of the hydrocarbon pools have been reached by boreholes at depths of less than 4 km. New systematic forecasts and proper evaluation of petroleum prospects are required to increase the energy resources of the province, particularly for the older beds at large and very large depths. Previous work by the authors has identified a regular zoning with depth in the reservoirs and a genetic relationship of the petroleum to the nature of the granular reservoir rocks, and has also devised a model for predicting deep reservoirs, which indicates that promising economic reservoirs occur in the northwestern Dnieper-Donets basin down to depths of 5200 m, or to 6300 m in the central and southeastern parts. An analysis of the sedimentary and diagenetic history of the basin in terms of two major transgressive-regressive megacycles points to regional targets for deep drilling. 8 references.


This dissertation is a study of the influence of the women's movement on the marketing of beauty products between 1960 and 2000. The first and last chapters study feminist critiques of normative beauty standards and explore the challenges feminists faced when they tried to effect cultural change. While the dissertation is framed by analysis of feminist engagement with beauty culture, the bulk of the dissertation examines beauty industries, focusing on the ways that these industries reflect debates over woman's identity and status. Chapter two traces the marketing of perfume between 1960 and 2000 by chronicling changing advertising campaigns as marketers adapted to and participated in social change. The third chapter explores the direct sales strategies of Mary Kay Cosmetics, a company dependent on independent consultants, typically women, to market its products. Finally, chapter four details the genre of beauty advice books and articles, focusing on how the tone and content of this advice has been shaped by the social world of the advisor. By looking specifically at these beauty industries, these chapters demonstrate the ways that ordinary Americans engaged with feminism in their professional lives. These case studies illuminate late-twentieth-century debates over womanhood, sexuality, and femininity that took place within the business world and the culture at large. Ultimately, this dissertation offers a clearer picture of the interconnections between beauty marketing and feminism, highlighting the ways in which social movements affect the industries they critique.


In this article, a general form of optimal stopping problems in regime-switching models is studied under certain standard assumptions. An optimal stopping problem with an arbitrary value function in two-regime environment can be reduced to an optimal stopping problem without regime switching. A method of how to find optimal stopping rules is proposed using the techniques available for non-switching problems. In contrast to other methods, verification of optimality for the resulting value function is not necessary. In the end, we discuss a problem which may not be dealt with by the conventional methods, demonstrating the computational simplicity of our approach.


The invention discloses a cuttlefish liver powder, which comprises the following parts: 1-55% fresh cuttlefish, squid liver, 1-2% active accelerant A of autolytic enzyme, 1-5% active accelerant B of autolytic enzyme and forming agent. the preparing method of cuttlefish liver powder comprises the following steps: 1) killing putrefactive bacteria on the surface of fresh cuttlefish and squid liver; 2) adding active accelerant A of autolytic enzyme and active accelerant B of autolytic enzyme as well as tapping water as 0.8-1 times as material weight; keeping temperature for 24 h; 3) spraying the enzymolytic material on the forming agent; drying; transmitting the material in the semi-product reserving bin.


Currently, narrowband Power line communication (PLC) is considered an attractive communication system in smart grid environments for applications such as advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). In this paper, we will present a comprehensive comparison and analysis in time and frequency domain of noise measured in China and Italy. In addition, impulsive noise in these two countries are mainly analyzed and modeled using two probability based models, Middleton Class A (MCA) model and α stable distribution model. The results prove that noise measured in China is rich in impulsive noise, and can be modeled well by α stable distribution model, while noise measured in Italy has less impulsive noise, and can be better modeled by the MCA model.


The precision and purposes of the waste dispose control are affected by many factors in the combustion process,and they have the characteristics of nonlinearity,hysteresis and time-varying.This paper analyzed the technologic flow of waste dispose based on rotary kiln incinerator.From multiple aspects,such as the incinerator control,temperature control and water line control,the efficient and integrated control system were discussed emphatically,which could improve the capacity of the waste dispose plant automated system.We also introduced the way to accomplish it.


Based on the conversion of three observed data in recent three years, including seepape force, static loading, and different stage vane tests in situ, the reliability of data and the coordination of various parameters, such as the consolidation coefficient of foundation, the degree of consolidation, the final settling volume, and the increment of foundation intensity, were confirmed. In addition, by comparition the above-mentioned parameters with design data, it was verified that treating lower sea wall, just like Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, with civil engineering-synthetic materials has a lot of advantages. And the method is feasible.


In today's world data mining is becoming an important area in terms of all business applications especially in the banking sector. In developing countries like India, bankers should be vigilant to fraudsters because they will create more problems to the banking organization. Application of data mining techniques helps the banks to look for hidden patterns in a group and discover unknown relationship in the data. Feature selection is a method used in data mining to select the most appropriate attributes for defining a relationship in a data set. It is very effective to build models based on these data mining techniques. There are several types of classifiers in data mining that helps to classify the records into two major groups based on the list of attributes. The proposed work is a comparative study of different types classifiers and evaluating the accuracy of the classifiers before and after applying the feature selection. After evaluating the results of experiment, it is easy to predict that feature selection is an important and necessary step during the process of data mining. From the results we can see that the performance metrics we obtained in different classifiers after applying feature selection is equal or better than that of before applying feature selection.


—Recent advances in virtual reality technology increased interactivity and dropped prices, making it appealing for educators to consider an innovative teaching method of conducting classes in a virtual environment. Since educators aren't necessarily VR application developers and don't have programming skills, they will need a tool to rapidly create learning content or optimize an existing one. This paper proposes a method for developing a customizable, collaborative authoring tool for building virtual laboratory stands.


This work proposes a scalable architecture of an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system, with predictive diagnosis capabilities, for safety critical applications. A Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) has identified the faults occurring in the energy storage unit, based on Valve Regulated Lead-Acid batteries, and in the 3-phase high power transformers, used in switching converters and for power isolation, as the main bottlenecks for power system reliability. To address these issues, a distributed network of measuring nodes is proposed, where vibration-based mechanical stress diagnosis is implemented together with electrical (voltage, current, impedance) and thermal degradation analysis. Power system degradation is tracked through multi-channel measuring nodes with integrated digital signal processing in the transformed frequency domain, from 0.1 Hz to 1 kHz. Experimental measurements on real power systems for safety-critical applications validate the diagnostic unit.


An artificial elastic finger skin for robot fingers was developed for controlling the grasp force when the weight and friction coefficient of the grasped object are unknown. The elastic finger skin has ridges at the surface to divide the stick/slip area. It also has a pair of tactile sensors embedded per one ridge similar to human fingertips. The surface of the whole finger is curved so that the reaction force can be distributed. A finite element (FE) model of the elastic finger skin was developed to perform a dynamic contact analysis using the FE method in order to design the elastic finger skin. The elastic finger skin was then constructed. It was confirmed by calculation and experiment that the incipient slippage of the ridge that occurs near the edge of contact area can be detected. This result is useful for controlling the grasping force when the weight and friction coefficient between the elastic finger skin and grasping object are unknown.


With the introduction of ultra-low-power machine learning (TinyML), IoT devices are becoming smarter as they are driven by Machine Learning (ML) models. However, any increase in the training data results in a linear increase in the space complexity of the ML models. It is highly challenging to deploy such ML models on IoT devices with limited memory (TinyML hardware). To alleviate such memory issues, in this paper, we present an SRAM-optimized classifier porting, stitching, and efficient deployment approach. The proposed method enables large classifiers to be comfortably executed on microcontroller unit (MCU) based IoT devices and perform ultra-fast classifications while consuming 0 bytes of SRAM. We tested our SRAM optimized approach by utilizing it to port and execute 7 dataset-trained classifiers on 7 popular MCU boards, and report their inference time and memory (Flash and SRAM) consumption. It is apparent from the experimental results that; (i) the classifiers ported using our proposed approach are of varied sizes but have constant SRAM consumption. Thus, the approach enabled the deployment of larger ML classifier models even on tiny Atmega328P MCU-based Arduino Nano, which has only 8 kB SRAM; (ii) even the resource-constrained 8-bit MCUs performed faster unit inference (in less than a millisecond) than a NVIDIA Jetson Nano GPU and Raspberry Pi 4 CPU; (iii) the majority of models produced 1-4x times faster inference results in comparison with the models ported by the sklearn-porter, m2cgen, and emlearn libraries.


Generative Learning Objects are reusable educational templates to be filled with learning content. Currently, they are used only in experimental environments and not on a large scale like multiple-choice questions. One reason for this drawback is the complexity of meta-models that teachers should imagine and write. In this sense, several example instances are provided and we selected the linked list concept taught in the context of Data Structures and Algorithms discipline. We outline several use cases of the linked lists and their corresponding models.


Methane and associated light hydrocarbons are present as dissolved gases in the water columns of three alkaline, permanently stratified (meromictic) lakes: Big Soda Lake (Nevada), Mono Lake (California), and Soap Lake (Washington). Methane originates in the bottom sediments, but higher gaseous hydrocarbons (that is, gaseous hydrocarbons of higher molecular weight) have either microbial or thermal sources in the different lakes. Stable isotopic composition, hydrocarbon indices, radiocarbon dating, abundance-versus-depth profiles, and biological experiments indicate that methane is formed in the sediments by microbial processes. Methanogenesis and sulfate-reduction have much higher activity in the shallow littoral sediments than in the colder, more saline pelagic sediments of all three lakes. Methane-rich gas seeps are common in Mono Lake and emanate from a natural-gas deposit underlying the current lakebed. Seeps do not occur in either Big Soda Lake or Soap Lake. Ethane and higher alkanes are present in Big Soda Lake and Mono Lake, but are not present in significant quantities in Soap Lake. It is not clear if the presence of these higher alkanes is a consequence of biological activity, a result of mixing with thermogenic gases, or a combination of both factors. These results indicate the potential complexity and diversity encountered inmore » studying light-hydrocarbon biogeochemistry in thermally and microbially active systems. Hence, in the case of methane, detailed multidisciplinary studies are often needed to determine its origin. For ethane and higher alkanes, there is currently a paucity of basic scientific information to allow for unequivocal identification of microbial and thermogenetic sources. 61 refs., 12 figs., 6 tabs.« less


We report on a novel technique for all-optical clock recovery from RZ OOK data based on phase-only filtering, significantly enhancing the recovered clock quality and energy-efficiency compared to the use of a Fabry-Perot filter.


A finite element (FE) method is used for modeling edge effects in composite laminates with different ply orientations. Two types of three-dimensional isoperimetric FE methods have been used. One in the interior region has standard linear shape functions, while the other in the exterior region has special shape functions for which an exponential variation is derived using the perturbation technique. The exponential shape functions are introduced to an originally written FE program which uses special mesh generation and numerical integration, as well as other subroutines. The proposed FE solution is found to be in good agreement with the solutions available in the literature. KEYWORDS: Finite-element modeling, Perturbation technique, Laminated composites, Edge effect, Delamination


We have investigated the durability of fuel cells with low platinum loading (<0.2 mg.cm) to identify the main mechanisms of performance degradation on automotive cycles. In this work, we compare the effect of voltage cycling on the degradation in performance of two cells that have different Pt loading on cathode (0.15 vs. 0.4 mg.cm) but are otherwise identical (0.05 mg-cm Pt loading on anode, 15 μm membrane thickness).


Introduction: Covid-19 has swept the globe and has disproportionately affected the United States with over 600,000 deaths in just over one year. The Centers for Disease Control recommendations for reducing the spread of Covid-19 have focused on physical distancing (PD), the practice of maintaining a distance greater than 6 feet from individuals not in the same household. When employed, this health behavior has been found to reduce the incidence of Covid-19. A review of the measurement literature evaluating PD indicates that PD has been measured at the community level via GPS, using proxy measures of the behavior, or as a construct. These methods can be useful in some situations; however, PD is an observable health behavior and can be reported as such. This study sought to address the issues in measuring PD by creating a new measure of self-reported PD that was: 1) appropriate for individual level measurement, 2) based on participant's self-report of the behavior of PD, and 3) presented a less ambiguous representation of the self-reported behavior. Method:


Presented are the conclusions drawn from experimental investigations of the Landau–Pomeranchuk–Migdal (LPM) effect in amorphous and crystalline targets as well as the preceding and ensuing theoretical activities. In amorphous targets the phenomenon is by now well studied both experimentally and theoretically and is at a mature stage where extrapolations to other energies or materials are well founded. In crystalline targets, the effect is not as well studied as it is harder to deconvolute from other effects like e.g. multiple photon emission. Even in this case, though, a seemingly consistent picture of the suppression mechanism that alters the effective radiation length emerges. Due to the increased scattering, crystals might be used to explore hitherto untested regimes of the LPM effect.


This paper studies the internal control as the internal supervision mechanism of the enterprise, discusses its influence on earnings management with accrual measure of fair value between listed corporations with internal control deficiencies and without internal control deficiencies. The author examines the impact of internal control quality on accrual measure and earnings management through unpaired samples consisted of 1208 observations with internal control deficiencies and 3092 with perfect internal control from 2014 to 2016, based on the internal control of the listed company. The results indicate that listed companies usually adopt fair value of accrual measure as earning management tool,and internal control deficiency has influence on fair value and earnings management. The listed companies without internal control deficiency generally use investment income and assets impairment as earnings management tool,and those with internal control deficiency usually use extraordinary income as earnings management tool.


Methods and systems for commencing a process based on a sound trigger are provided. First, a sound is received via a sound reception unit. When an intensity difference between the intensity of the sound at a specific time point and the intensity of the sound at a preceding time point is greater than a predefined value, a process in the electronic device is performed. In some embodiments, the sound is caused by tapping the electronic device.


A particle, which moves in a crystal, experiences weak interactions with electrons and nuclei alongside with electromagnetic interaction. Measuring the polarization vector and the angular distribution of charged and neutral particles scattered by axes (planes) of an unbent (straight) crystal enables to obtain restrictions for the EDM value and for {magnitudes} of constants describing T-odd (CP-odd) interactions Beyond the Standard Model. Spin rotation and polarization conversion from vector to tensor one and vice versa for a channelled in a crystal $\Omega^{\pm}$ hyperon enable measuring hyperon's quadrupole moment that is not possible to measure by use of laboratory available noncrystalline electric fields.


Abstract Background Sample size planning (SSP) is vital for efficient studies that yield reliable outcomes. Hence, guidelines, emphasize the importance of SSP. The present study investigates the practice of SSP in current trials for depression. Methods Seventy-eight randomized controlled trials published between 2013 and 2017 were examined. Impact of study design (e.g. number of randomized conditions) and study context (e.g. funding) on sample size was analyzed using multiple regression. Results Overall, sample size during pre-registration, during SSP, and in published articles was highly correlated (r's ≥ 0.887). Simultaneously, only 7–18% of explained variance related to study design (p = 0.055–0.155). This proportion increased to 30–42% by adding study context (p = 0.002–0.005). The median sample size was N = 106, with higher numbers for internet interventions (N = 181; p = 0.021) compared to face-to-face therapy. In total, 59% of studies included SSP, with 28% providing basic determinants and 8–10% providing information for comprehensible SSP. Expected effect sizes exhibited a sharp peak at d = 0.5. Depending on the definition, 10.2–20.4% implemented intense assessment to improve statistical power. Conclusions Findings suggest that investigators achieve their determined sample size and pre-registration rates are increasing. During study planning, however, study context appears more important than study design. Study context, therefore, needs to be emphasized in the present discussion, as it can help understand the relatively stable trial numbers of the past decades. Acknowledging this situation, indications exist that digital psychiatry (e.g. Internet interventions or intense assessment) can help to mitigate the challenge of underpowered studies. The article includes a short guide for efficient study planning.


In this study, Li2BPO5 doped with Cu and that co-doped with Mg are synthesized by the wet chemical technique and exposed to γ rays of 60Co to determine their thermoluminescence (TL) properties. The X-ray diffraction technique shows the crystalline nature of the prepared material. The photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra of Li2BPO5:Cu phosphor show the strong prominent peak at 368 nm in the violet region of the visible spectrum due to the transition of 3d94s1 ↔ 3d10 of monovalent copper ion. The PL emission of Li2BPO5:Cu is enhanced by the addition of Mg. The TL glow curves of γ-irradiated Li2BPO5:Cu sample show one glow peak at 143°C, indicating that only one set of traps is being activated within the particular temperature range each with its own value of activation energy (E) and frequency factor (s). The trapping parameters associated with the prominent glow peak of Li2BPO5:Cu are calculated using the glow curve shape (Chen's) method. The release of hole/electron from defect centers at the characteristic trap site initiates the luminescence process in these materials. A linear TL response is observed in Li2BPO5:Cu in a long span of exposures. The sensitivity of Li2BPO5:Cu sample is observed to be 7.8 times that of (TLD-100) LiF:Mg, Ti.


This paper evaluates a fixed-tilted and a single-axis sun tracking photovoltaic (PV) test setups located within a harsh desert environment. We compare multiple parameters, including energy yields, temperature losses, and soiling losses. Four monocrystalline (sc-Si) PV modules and one thin-film (TF) module are considered in this study during the period January-December 2019. The improvement in the energy yield from the east-west sun tracking system compared to the fixed-tilted system at 25° was found to be 16% and 24% on average for the sc-Si and TF PV technologies, respectively. The single-axis tracking modules showed higher month-to-month variability in energy yields, where the highest yields occurred in summer months. The differences in temperature losses between the two test setups were found to be negligible; however, the losses due to soiling were significantly lower for the single-axis tracker as characterized by an average daily soiling rate of −0.156%/day compared to −0.366%/day for the fixed-tilted modules.


A practical, economical and green approach for the homo-coupling of terminal alkynes under solvent and base free conditions is developed.


Many articles and reports issued by educational institutions and research centers discussed the basic requirements that should be implemented by universities, schools, vocational schools, training centers and other categories of educational institutions to assure they can provide quality of education. Although these references have been widely used to achieve quality in education, still differences in requirements may exist. Hence the importance of shedding lights on the International standards ISO 21001 published in 2018 by the International Organization for Standardization. In this article, the author highlighted on the implementation of 11 principles of quality education stipulated in this Standard. In this context, he touched upon the social responsibility principle and the related 7 core subjects (building a governance system, the rights of learners, practicing in a fair operating way, students issues, the development of community, protecting the environment, administrative and academic staff practices) (ISO 26000: Guidance on social responsibility, 2010) that distinguish the ISO 21001 from other international standards and made it a tool that could be applied by educational institutions to create their shared value strategies. In this context, the authors heard the voices of instructors and analyze their views concerning the implementation of the twenty-three requirements mentioned in the ISO 21001, through diffusing surveys to instructors working in educational organizations in Lebanon. The results indicated that 19 of the requirements are being applied effectively.


Abstract : Currently, no standard methodology exists that enables cockpit display engineers to evaluate software tools used in the development of graphical cockpit displays. Furthermore, little research has been accomplished in comparing current software development tools with traditional hand-coded methods, This research effort discusses a framework for analyzing cockpit display software development tools and follows through with a detailed analysis comparing today's hand-coding standard, OpenGL, with two of today's cockpit display software development suites, Virtual Application Prototyping System (VAPS) and Display Editor. The comparison exploits the analysis framework establishing the advantages and disadvantages of the three software development suites. The analysis framework is comprised of several detailed questionnaires that enable the cockpit engineer to quantify important subjective criteria such as learning curve, user interface, readability, portability, extensibility, and maintenance. The questionnaires developed for each subjective criterion contain questions with weighted answers that enable the cockpit engineer to evaluate graphical software development tools, The questions were adapted from multiple sources including personal experience, display experts, pilots, navigators, case tool, and text sources. In addition, the comparative analysis evaluates several objective criteria with respect to development tools and the displays generated with them such as update rate, development time, executable size, and CPU/Memory usage level.


Abstract Comets generally stay long in the sky and can be seen from many places on the surface of the Earth. We are interested in historical comets which were observed at plural sites. We have shown in a previous work (Tanikawa & Sôma, 2008) that in the seventh century, five comets were observed independently in China and Japan. From this fact and other data, we deduced that Japanese observational astronomy started in the seventh century. We know that, other than China and Japan, Korea and Vietnam had observational astronomy before the 9th century. We look for historical comets observed at plural sites by surveying the existing literature of respective countries. Examining the independence of the records, we provide a list of comets observed independently at plural sites. This strengthens the reliability of the records of comets. The list can be used for other purposes.


An intelligent transportation system facilitates smart services and applications that can revolutionize the traffic and travel experience. Driver assistance system is a crucial part of such a system that helps to improve the safety and security of passengers by mitigating on-road collisions and potential hazards. The precise sensing (localization) and spotting of scene texts and traffic signs are important for achieving higher performance in real-time. It is however affected by motion blur and camera shake noise, which makes the process of spotting complex. In this paper, we propose a robust text spotter, denoted by Blurred TextSpotter, for efficient and cost-effective spotting in blurry scene images. We address different noises, like a motion blur, Gaussian blur, camera shake noise, and inter-class interference. We apply a multi-scale contextual information enriched encoder-decoder based backbone network followed by a spatial and channel-wise attentions. We predict text masks and accurately classify words using a hardware-efficient recognition module. The experimental results on five publicly available benchmark datasets show the efficiency of the proposed text spotter in terms of detection, recognition, and spotting of curve text instances in scene images.


This book contains over 50 selections. Some of the titles are: Investigation of Selective Iloprost Binding Sites on Human Platelet Membranes; Effect of Irradiation on Thromboxane and Platelet Sensitivity In Vivo in patients with Cervical Cancer; Platelets, Eicosanoids, and Coronary Vasopasm; Experimental Variables Affecting Thromboxane B/sub 2/ Formation in Human Whole Blood; and Beneficial Effects of Thromboxane Receptor Antagonists in Acute Cardiovascular Crises.


Excerpt To the editor: Horne and colleagues (1) have reported a case of clinically apparent methemoglobinemia in a patient who was partially (NADH)-methemoglobin reductase deficient after inhaling ...


Soil Science is a discipline concerned with a material that has unique features and behaviours (Churchman, 2010). Thus, teachers of Soil Science need to be experienced with Soil Science practices and must appreciate the complexities and relationships inherent within the discipline (Field et al, 2011). But when soil science had to be taught not by specialists, for instance in the introductory courses of earth and environmental sciences Degrees or in Secondary School, adequate material cannot be found. For this reason, multimedia and interactive programmes have been developed and showed here. EDAFOS is an e-learning resource that provides a comprehensive review of the fundamental concepts on soil science and reveals it as the living skin of planet Earth (European Commission, 2006). This programme is available via website (www.cienciadelsuelo.es) both in Spanish and, more recently, also in English. Edafos is a programme with different modules, which after outlining the study of soil components goes on to examine the main factors and processes of soil genesis explaining the mechanisms of soil processes. By the use of animations, the vital functions of soil are explained. The program ends with a section of multiple-choice exercises with self-assessment. To complement this program, virtual visits to the field are showed in the program iARASOL (www.suelosdearagon.es), in a time when field trips are gradually diminishing due to insufficiency in time and budget, as well as safety concerns (Çaliskan, 2011). In this case, the objective of iARASOL is to set out that soil vary from place to place not randomly, but in a systematic way, according to landscape units; therefore, graduates can classify the soils using the WRB system (IUSS, 2007). It presents diverse types of data and images instantly, from a variety of viewpoints, at many different scales and display non-visual information in the field. Both programs provide an additional source of information to supplement lectures, real field visits and other learning activities on soil sciences. The development of these programmes has been sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología, FECYT) and it has won the "Félix de Azara" Award (2011).


This short note investigates convergence of adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms, i.e. algorithms which modify the Markov chain update probabilities on the fly. We focus on the containment condition introduced Roberts and Rosenthal (2007). We show that if the containment condition is not satisfied, then the algorithm will perform very poorly. Specifically, with positive probability, the adaptive algorithm will be asymptotically less efficient then any nonadaptive ergodic MCMC algorithm. We call such algorithms AdapFail, and conclude that they should not be used.


This contribution is made to the OSGiTM Alliance as MEMBER LICENSED MATERIALS pursuant to the terms of the OSGiTM Member Agreement and specifically the license rights and warranty disclaimers as set forth in Sections 3.2 and 12.1, respectively. All company, brand and product names contained within this document may be trademarks that are the sole property of the respective owners. The above notice must be included on all copies of this document that are made. RFP 126 OSGi ME: An OSGi Profile for Embedded Devices


Abstract Salvia splendens 'Red Pillar' were grown outdoors under varying fertility levels induced by slow release fertilizers. Soil and foliar nutrient levels and measurements of plant quality were recorded every 4 weeks for each treatment. Canonical correlation analysis was used to determine overall relationships between soil and foliar analysis, soil analysis and plant quality, and foliar analysis and plant quality variables. Analysis showed a high degree of relatedness between these sets of variables, with a very high degree of overlap between foliar analysis and plant quality variables. Correlations among individual variables in these groups pointed out the presence of a number of soil‐foliar nutrient interactions. This technique was also useful in pointing out possible limiting factors in the growth of field‐grown plants.


For centuries there has been a movement to reform the spelling of Spanish, Italian and every other alphabetically written languages. It seeks to change the spelling so that it is more consistent, matches pronunciation better, and follows the alphabetic principle. It is natural that pronunciations gradually change and the alphabetic principle that lies behind each language become corrupted. So if we wish to keep the spelling regular, then spelling needs to be amended to account for the changes. Furthermore it would be very hopeful if we can create or adjust a more advanced and common spelling system between the family languages. For this reason this study aims to suppose a new and common alphabet system in Spanish and in Italian, which contains more advanced one sound-to-one spelling correspondence.


With the development of information technology, big data technology, and mobile Internet technology, people can quickly obtain and process a large amount of information. However, a significant quantity of detailed information makes it difficult for people to get the information they need efficiently. The emergence of recommendation systems solves this problem very well. It can actively push the information that users are interested in. Knowledge graph-based recommendation technology is mainly used to solve problems, such as the interpretability and cold start encountered by recommendation systems in analysing large data volumes. This paper introduces four aspects of recommendation technology based on knowledge graphs: recommendation algorithm, evaluation metrics, datasets, and models.


The president and chief executive officer describes the various initiatives the organization is taking, and how they are resulting in big payoffs.


There are many complications of central venous catheter insertion. Iatrogenic injury of the vertebral artery is a rare complication that can result in severe morbidity and mortality. The case presented describes the complication of an acute ischaemic stroke after cannulation of the vertebral artery. There are various techniques when obtaining central access, however the best practice as described by the evidence based guidelines produced by the American Society of Anesthesiologists utilises real-time ultrasound guidance to minimise adverse events.


The Indonesian state is very prone to triggering conflicts and divisions because Indonesia is actually a pluralistic and heterogeneous country. The discourse on multicultural education is predicted to be able to anticipate ethnic, social and cultural conflicts that often arise in the midst of a plural-faced society, especially the implementation of multicultural education in tertiary institutions. The understanding created from multicultural education is not just a theory that is used as mere memorization, but can be developed into application in a multicultural-based learning process. One example of its application is through traditional games which require cultural values. Traditional games have even become a symbol of the region where each region uses traditional games as regional identities so that traditional games are a form of conservation value, namely preserving the cultural heritage of the local area. The research objectives: 1) Describe traditional games that contain conservation values in the multicultural education course for PGSD UNNES students; 2) Analyzing the conservation value contained in traditional games in multicultural education for PGSD UNNES students; 3) Analyze the achievement of internalization of conservation values in multicultural education courses for PGSD UNNES students. This study uses a qualitative research method which will be analyzed descriptively. Each traditional game imparts different conservation values depending on the play pattern. Traditional games that have been born for thousands of years are the result of ancient human cultural processes that are still thick with local wisdom values. In essence, conservation means maintaining and protecting something regularly to prevent damage and destruction by means of preservation. So that playing traditional games is a form of conservation value, namely preserving the cultural heritage of the local area.


Abstract The configuration of a CYANEX 272 solvent-extraction plant can vary significantly depending on the composition of the pregnant leach solution. Parameters such as the organic-to-aqueous flowrate ratio, the extractant concentration, the pH profile, and the number of stages must be optimized for the given feed conditions. MINCHEM is a modeling program that was specifically designed by Cytec Industries Inc. to allow a rapid assessment of these parameters. The software was used in the present study to determine the optimum pH profile and stage requirements for the extraction and scrubbing circuits of a hypothetical cobalt/nickel plant using CYANEX 272 extractant. The simulations were completed to maximize cobalt recovery from the feed and minimize both impurity transfer in the loaded organic phase and the need for cobalt reprocessing from the scrub stage.


Effects of Temperature and Dissolved LIC104 on the Viscoelastic and Dynamic Properties of Poiy(ethylene Oxide), (PEO) Melts by Radoslav B. Bogoslovov Dr. James Selser, Examination Committee Chair Professor o f Physics University of Nevada, Las Vegas Poly(ethylene oxide)/lithium perchlorate (PEO/LiC104) complexes are widely studied as a prototype solid polymer electrolyte in rechargeable lithium-polymer batteries. Characterizing the structure and dynamics of the system in its molten state is important for understanding the role of the polymer environment in lithium ion transport and conductivity. A fiber-optic coupled Fabry-Perot interferometer is employed in the investigation of the electrolyte viscoelastic and dynamic properties, which are both related to the intrachain local mobility and therefore to ion diffusion. The properties o f the system are studied as a function of composition, temperature, and fi-equency. Structural relaxation processes are observed both in the neat polymer melt and in the salt containing electrolytes. For the neat PEO-IK melt the relaxation is identified as Maxwell-Debye single-exponential relaxation (>0 = 1). The relaxation time follows Arrhenius temperature dependence with activation energy of the order of 10-11 kJ/mol.


Scholarly narratives and local museums often focus on distinguishing geographical origins and interpretations of culture, racialized identities, resistance, and/or religion for behaviors designated as "voodoo." When are such practices in everyday New Orleanian life referred to, accepted, and rejected within such interpretations? Museum Studies students in a class taught by the author visited local museum displays about "voodoo" and wrote term papers that comment on these practices within the contexts of their quotidian social groups. The Historic New Orleans Voodoo Museum describes the Mardi Gras character Baby Doll as a "voodoo" practice, and the author reflects upon her long term participation and expression as such a Baby Doll and in Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs. Baby Dolls are united in dance performance, and function as a social group that provides support among emotionally marginalized women. Descriptions of phenomena through external form are contrasted with the meanings attributed by participants.


ABSTRACTWe tested a strategy for beyond-alias interpolation of seismic data using Cadzow reconstruction. The strategy enables Cadzow reconstruction to be used for interpolation of regularly sampled seismic records. First, in the frequency-space (f-x) domain, we generated a Hankel matrix from the spatial samples of the low frequencies. To perform interpolation at a given frequency, the spatial samples were interlaced with zero samples and another Hankel matrix was generated from the zero-interlaced data. Next, the rank-reduced eigen-decomposition of the Hankel matrix at low frequencies was used for beyond-alias preconditioning of the Hankel matrix at a given frequency. Finally, antidiagonal averaging of the conditioned Hankel matrix produced the final interpolated data. In addition, the multidimensional extension of the proposed algorithm was explained. The proposed method provides a unifying thread between reduced-rank Cadzow reconstruction and beyond alias f-x prediction error interpolation. Synthetic an...


The Pacific HVDC Intertie (PDCI) is the most complicated HVDC Scheme in the world. Decisions about changing the PDCI are further complicated by a complex ownership arrangement. The Intertie has the a capacity of 3100 MW and runs from the Celilo Converter Station in The Dalles, Oregon to the Sylmar Converter Station in Sylmar, California. After an earthquake damaged the Sylmar station a decision was made to rebuild it with consequences for the Celilo station. The biggest change that will take place at Celilo is to make a one-for-one replacement of the mercury arc valves. The replacement light triggered thyristor valves will be constructed on rolling platforms like the mercury arc valves to permit quick installation. Installation of the thyristor valves is also being used to replace the maintenance-intensive wet surface coolers for all of the valves in the station.


A method is described for the purification of two phenazine compounds from cultures of a strain of Pseudomonas aureofaciens. The chemical properties of the compounds are described and the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared absorption spectra are shown. One compound is identified as phenazine-1-carboxylic acid and the other is probably 2-hydroxyphenazine-1-carboxylic acid.


During the course of Grant ER13775 we have constructed an infrared stopped-flow spectrophotometer and initiated a study of the mechanisms of reactions that involve a change in the oxidation state of organometallic complexes. The spectrometer combined conventional stopped-flow techniques with an infrared optical system comprised of a carbon monoxide laser, an IRTRAN flow-through cell and a mercury-cadium-telluride detector. In this summary we will highlight our results on reactions: (1) that formally involve exchange of a charged species between two metal carbonyl anions, (2) that involve additional of an electron to, or removal of an electron from organometallic complexes that contain a metal-metal bond, and (3) between coordination complexes and metal carbonyl anions. 12 refs.


Enterprise architecture (EA) is essential for both public and private organisations as it provides a holistic approach to align information technology with business objectives. EA implementation is a multidisciplinary, complicated, and endless process. Therefore, successful EA implementation calls for highly-skilled personnel possessing diverse competencies. During the last years a few attempts have been made to identify these competencies. Current works however, provide heterogeneous and fragmented views of the domain, do not distinguish between private and public sector employees and are not interoperable with other generic competence frameworks. This paper aims at proposing an EA competence framework (EA-CF) that provides a holistic view of EA competencies and overcomes existing limitations. We anticipate that EA-CF will assist in obtaining an in depth understanding of EA competencies, will assist in the efficient training of future enterprise architects, and will facilitate the incorporation of EA competencies in more generic competence frameworks.


An improved wide-band analysis which combines the hybrid method of moments-physical optics (MoM-PO) formula with impedance matrix interpolation technique for antennas around large platforms is presented. The algorithm proposed in this paper interpolated the mutual impedance matrix between MoM and PO regions rather than the MoM self-matrix. This practice can result in more accurate frequency response than the conventional approach. Sample numerical results demonstrate the capability of the algorithm.


The actuation of a single hydrogel nanofibre is measured for the first time by AFM. The actuation stress generated was comparable to that produced by skeletal muscle and the actuation rate was significantly increased by the nanoscale dimensions of the fibre.


This is a crosssectional descriptive research aimed to study drug management and the effected motivation and organizational supports ot drug management of health personnel at sub-district health promoting hospitals in Khon Kaen province. A total number of 141 health personnel (n=141) were randomly selected by systematic sampling of the total 248 health personnel. The data were collected by the developed questionnaire which was verified by three experts. Its validity was tested and gained coefficient cronbach's alpha = 0.97. The data were additionally collected by group discussion of 10 subjects. Data collection was carried out from January 7, 2013 to January 28, 2013.The collected data were then analyzed by a computer program package and disseminated by statistical value, percentage, mean, standard deviation, median, minimum, maximum, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis. The finding revealed that the motivation and organizational supports had moderate level of positive with drug management of health personnel at sub-district health promoting hospitals in Khon Kaen province relation at statistical significance of 0.01. and The factor influenced the performance of drug management of health personnel at sub-district health promoting hospitals in Khon Kaen province were policy and administration, information technology, interpersonal relationship, work Itself. These four factors could together predict the performance of drug management of health personnel at sub-district health promoting hospitals in Khon Kaen province, at a level of 57.8% . Problem and obstacles arising from the study were drug procurement process as 38.1% and Administrators should develop effective plans which well prepared for both nomal and emergency conditions. They should improve inventory drugs system to meet the requirements or standards. ค�าส�าคัญ : การบริหารเวชภัณฑ์ ปัจจัยด้านแรงจูงใจ การสนับสนุนจากองค์การ


This research aims to describe the characteristics of biology test items in the test instrument of USBN (National Standard School Examination) through test items analysis to check of reliability estimation, difficulty level, and item discrimination, as well as to identify items that have a high level of difficulty, and to analyze the factors that cause the items these questions are difficult for students. Data collection technique was done through documentation. The collected data were in the form of a set of Biology National Standard School Examination key answers, and students' response of senior high school in Banjarbaru City, South Kalimantan Indonesia. Quantitative data analysis was conducted by using the approaches of Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT). Qualitative data analysis was carried out to describe students' difficulty in answering test items with difficult category. The results show that reliability estimation is quite reliable. Based on the analysis result of CTT and IRT, the mean of difficulty level is categorized as medium, and the mean of distinguishing ability is categorized good. In qualitative analysis, it is obtained that one item becomes difficult to answer due to the low concept comprehension, unfinished learning materials, and learning difficulties during the class.


A uniform nickel coating on the substrate of low carbon steel was prepared by electrodeposition.The residual stress in the electrodeposited nickel coating was measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The residual stress in the original electrodeposited nickel coating without any treatment was tensile. The mechanism of residual stress in nickel coating is discussed based on free energy. Laser beam thermal shock was used to modify the mechanical properties of the nickel coating. Laser beam thermal shock could redistribute the residual stress in the nickel coating. The residual stress could be converted from tensile to compressive. The mechanism of residual stress' redistribution induced by laser beam thermal shock is discussed and it was due to the residual thermal plastic deformation in the coating.


Based on energy consumption and economic growth data of Chinese industries in 1994-2010, this paper puts forward a theoretical model to analyze decoupling relationship between carbon emission and industrial economic growth, and adopts LMDI method to decompose the driving factors of carbon emission. The authors find that the decoupling relationship between carbon emission and industrial economic growth is in a stably weak decoupling condition after 2000. In the two decoupling factors, the energy-consumption decoupling factor has a positive influence on the decoupling between carbon emission and industrial economic growth. Compared to the energy-consumption decoupling factor, the influence of emission decoupling factor is very weak. This paper also finds that the decrease of energy consumption intensity is mainly due to carbon emission-abate as a whole, while the structural bonus has not yet appeared in China. According to the results, the authors suggest a reasonable economic explanation and presents relevant policy to develop Chinese low-carbon economy.


Abstract : A project was conducted as the first phase of a multi-phase program to develop and demonstrate an automated management control system for public marine terminals. The objectives of the Phase I effort were as follows: Identify the requirements for control of containerized cargo in various categories of public marine terminals; Define a family of concepts for an automated management control system that would satisfy the identified requirements; Develop and apply a methodology for assessing the impact of various automation concepts on terminal financial performance and operational effectiveness; Explore the potential extension of the automation concept beyond the terminal boundaries to permit (1) additional information users, and (2) shared resources, and to Develop a detailed plan for implementing Phase II of the overall program.


. . . has become so fashionable that today there is no rank in the state, from dukes to lackeys and the populace, that is not infected with it. Commissaire Foucault, recently deceased, was responsible for this matter and showed his friends a thick book in which the names of all the pederasts known to the police were recorded. He claimed that there were almost as many of them as of prostitutes in Paris, that is to say, around forty thousand.1


Instructional design models that are used by many higher education institutions to guide course design are insufficient for the unique opportunities of blended learning. Many established models are not practical tools for college faculty to use independently in the design of courses. Models like A.D.D.I.E., use a linear approach that can translate more easily into practical stages of course design, yet are historically rooted in the rapid prototyping of educational technologies or for designing military training and are inadequate for the complex demands of higher education, where learning outcomes are geared toward higher order thinking, scientific/clinical reasoning, and a syntheses of ideas into new knowledge. Presented here is an instructional design model that strategically incorporates the nuances of higher education, yet is practically framed to assist faculty with design challenges.


Following methods were used: clinical (a standard set of clinical examinations to establish a preliminary diagnosis), laboratory (bacterial seeding of ejaculate for the presence of pathogenic microflora, extended spermogram); serological (evaluations of serum testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels instrumental (sonographic examination of the prostate gland in order exclude prostatic inflammation); statistical.


The personal qualities and circumstances which enabled Florence Nightingale to do so much towards improving hospital conditions and raising the quality of nursing during the nineteenth century are described in this article


We introduce a new navigation framework for mobile robots that combines Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and deep reinforcement learning (DRL) techniques. While SLAM algorithms are effective at mapping and navigating through the environment, they struggle to avoid dynamic obstacles and can be computationally intensive. In contrast, DRL algorithms can manage dynamic situations but may result in sub-optimal performance when used alone. Our framework addresses this issue by using SLAM to generate a static path plan using the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm. In dynamic environments, the robot follows the global path plan generated by SLAM and moves between way-points using a DRL-based local path planning algorithm. We evaluate the performance of three DRL-based navigation algorithms - Deep Q-Learning Network (DQN), Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic policy gradient (TD3), and Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) - and compare them with existing navigation methods for mobile robots. Our approach overcomes the traditional reliance on static global and local maps, making it well-suited for dynamic environments. The proposed framework provides a promising alternative to current navigation methods for mobile robots, improving accuracy and efficiency while maintaining scalability and safety.


The company was also ordered to pay the city council's costs of £1280, along with a victim of crime surcharge of £120.


This article chiefly deals with the general train of thought,guiding ideology and basic model of operation of the internal management system of colleges universities,summarizes the course of establishment implement of the system funder which the cadres at all levels at BUPT shall be appointed through inviting applications first and then open competition among applicants,and at last expounds the effects of the reform of the personnel system upon the development of colleges universities.


An inverse-taper coupler between a fiber and a SiNxwaveguide overclad with silicon oxide was fabricated. 1.0 dB loss was measured for a 750 μm-long device with a low-index multimode waveguide designed to match a 4.0 μm fiber.


The use of logic in identifying and analyzing inconsistency in requirements from multiple stakeholders has been found to be effective in a number of studies. Nonmonotonic logic is a theoretically well-founded formalism that is especially suited for supporting the evolution of requirements. However, direct use of logic for expressing requirements and discussing them with stakeholders poses serious usability problems, since in most cases stakeholders cannot be expected to be fluent with formal logic. In this article, we explore the integration of natural language parsing techniques with default reasoning to overcome these difficulties. We also propose a method for automatically discovering inconsistencies in the requirements from multiple stakeholders, using both theorem-proving and model-checking techniques, and show how to deal with them in a formal manner. These techniques were implemented and tested in a prototype tool called CARL. The effectiveness of the techniques and of the tool are illustrated by a classic example involving conflicting requirements from multiple stakeholders.


Abstract Alkyl-substituted ferrocenes are typical burning-rate catalysts in composite solid propellants, but their high migration tendency and volatility has impeded their extensive applications. By introducing the concept of ionic energetic compounds, eight new ionic binuclear ferrocenyl compounds, [FcCH2N(CH3)2(CH2)nN(CH3)2CH2Fc]2+ (X–2) (Fc = ferrocenyl; X– = 1,1,3,3-tetracyano propenide; n = 3–10; the compounds being numbered consecutively 1–8), were prepared and characterized. The molecular structures of 1, 2, and 4 were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and their cations were studied by density functional theory calculations (DFT). Compounds 1–5 show high thermal stability but 6–8 are slightly volatile. The results of cyclic voltammetry studies suggest that each salt exhibits a quasireversible redox system. Catalytic effects of the new salts on thermal degradation of ammonium perchlorate (AP), 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triaza-cyclo-hexane (RDX), and 1,2,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraazacyclooctane (HMX), have been investigated by DSC and/or TG methods. The results show that the new compounds can bring the peak temperatures of both AP and RDX down significantly and enhance their heat release dramatically, indicating that the ferrocenyl salts possess high catalytic efficiency for the thermal decomposition of AP and RDX. Their catalytic activities are nearly equal to or higher than that of the corresponding nitrates and picrates, as well as their mononuclear counterparts. Compound 6 also efficiently catalyzes the thermal decomposition of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) and 1:1 mixtures of HTPB and AP.


An infant with congenital gingival epulis which spontaneously regressed over the first year of life is reported. A policy of conservative management should be adopted in this condition unless there are feeding problems in the newborn period or reasons to doubt the diagnosis.


The new flash x-ray machine (FXR) at LLNL is scheduled for completion in late 1981. This is a 54 module, linear induction accelerator, designed to deliver 500 Roentgen at 1 m as bremsstrahlung from a 20 MeV, 4 kA, 60 ns pulsed electron beam. The 1.5 MV, cold cathode injector makes use of six accelerator modules as voltage sources. High voltage testing of the accelerator modules and their associated pulse forming lines and Marx banks has been completed, and beam tests of the complete injector assembly are in progress. Design information and preliminary test results are presented.


This paper introduces a powerful technique that uses a hybrid PSO for the design optimization of aperiodic linear arrays of tightly packed miniature stochastic dipole elements. The self impedance of the stochastic dipole elements can be widely varied by changing their shape. A hybrid PSO is used to determine the optimal shape of each stochastic dipole array element as well as to perturb the spacing between these elements in order to control the mutual coupling. This method is capable of evolving compact array configurations with stochastic dipole elements that have well-behaved driving point impedances and low side lobe levels over a prescribed scan range. Orthogonal design with quantization (OD/Q) is used for this real-valued optimization problem to generate relatively fit particles at the initialization stage


Wetlands are important natural resources,and it is closely related to human survival,reproduction,development.Plants are an important component of wetlands,which is an important component to maintain the normal function of wetlands.Due to the presence of plants,the original flow structure and sediment transport and other laws were changed.Therefore,plant flow problems was drawn increasing attentions.Based on the available information,the main results in the research field of the effects of plants on the flow structure at home and abroad were summarized.The typical research methods and conclusions were introduced in detail.Finally,the further research problems were proposed.


Imidazopyridine compounds having an amine functionality substituted at the 1-position are useful as immune response modulators. The compounds and compositions of the present invention are useful in treating a variety of symptoms, including can induce the biosynthesis of various cytokines, viral diseases and neoplastic diseases.


Using ultra-broadband terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS), we report on the first observation of Non-drude equilibrium charge carrier dynamics in a large-area graphene film grown by chemical vapour deposition on copper foil. Sheet conductance spectra for CVD graphene films grown under 2 different sets of growth conditions are obtained by ultra-broadband THz-TDS based on terahertz air wave photonics as well as conventional THz-TDS based on photoconductive antennas, spanning the entire frequency range from 0.1 to 15 THz associated with intraband optical conductance. In the case of CVD graphene grown under optimized conditions, a Drude intraband conductance spectrum is observed, while a conductance spectrum showing distinct non-Drude characteristics are observed in the case of less optimized CVD graphene growth. The observations are interpreted in the framework of the Drude-Smith model[1] for restricted nanoscopic carrier movement caused by preferential carrier backscattering on extended electronic barriers. The sheet conductance is extracted from an analysis of the Fresnel coefficients of reflection and transmission for the sample geometry. For the pulse transmitted directly through the sample and the 1st roundtrip echo, the sheet conductance is given as


The invention discloses an ultrasonic washing machine. A filtering barrel is located on one side of a spraying device, the spraying device is connected with the filtering barrel, a moisture discharge port is located in one side of the spraying device, an ultrasonic oscillator is located at the upper portion of a chain, the chain is located below the ultrasonic oscillator, and a rotating device is connected with the chain. By means of the ultrasonic washing machine, a traditional concept of an existing rotating disc stirring type washing machine is broken through, clothes are prevented from not being cleaned thoroughly and prevented from being damaged when washed through the new method. High-frequency oscillatory waves are produced according to the ultrasonic principle, a large number of miniature bubbles are produced between water flow and the clothes, dirt and the clothes are thoroughly separated through air pressure shock waves produced when the bubbles break, and therefore washing is automatically completed, no detergent or less detergents are used, the environmental pollution is reduced, the water resource is saved, and the washing effect is quite good.


A possible technique to determine EMC safety distance of electro-initiated devices (EID) is the use of fiber-optic temperature sensors which are thermocoupled to the EID bridgewire [1]. Despite of excellent measurement properties, e.g. temperature range (typ. −100°C – 300°C) and temperature resolution (typ. 0.1°C) [2] theirs basic disadvantage is the limited speed of about 1 ms measurement rate. Therefore, this technique is an ideal candidate for EMC immunity tests in a continuous wave (CW) environment where only steady-state temperature measurements are required but not in a pulsed environment where the measurement rate needs to be much shorter than the thermal time constant of the EID in order to capture maximum EMC generated bridgewire temperature. To overcome the limited measurement rate, radiative temperature measurement techniques seem most promising [3]. This paper investigates the application of an infrared mercury-cadmium-telluride (MCT) based radiation thermometer within a pulsed high-power electromagnetic (HPEM) environment in order to measure induced EID energy and to determine EID safety distance.


Venous aneurysms in the mediastinum are very rare and may present with pressure symptoms or may be incidentally detected. Only few reports of
thoracic venous aneurysms are reported in the literature. We describe an unusual case of an asymptomatic mediastinal venous aneurysm of the left
innominate vein. Our patient is a 30 years old female presented to the medicine department with anemia and constitutional symptoms. A
mediastinal mass was detected on the initial chest radiograph. CT thorax with contrast showed a left innominate vein aneurysm with partial
thrombus in the wall of the aneurysm in the anterior mediastinum for which the patient was operated. We would like to emphasize that vascular
lesions including aneurysms and malformations should be kept as differentials of the anterior mediastinal mass and contrast enhanced CT chest
must be performed before contemplating image guided biopsies, as this may lead to catastrophic consequences otherwise.


Normally when one considers the intensity in the far field and how it scales with wavelength, a very quick and superficially simple answer is reached. Namely, the answer is that far field intensity scales inversely as wavelength squared, i.e., I(λ1)/I(λ2) = (λ2/λ1)2. Unfortunately, this relationship is only true for what is called the "on-axis intensity" of the central diffraction lobe. In most cases the interest is not to deliver a central intensity to the far field, but to deliver a maximum amount of power within a defined spot size in the far field. This spot size is normally defined to be within the first zero of the Airy pattern, or the exp (-2) point on a Gaussian intensity distribution. The purpose of this article is to examine how the far field average irradiance rather than on-axis intensity scales with wavelength, and how simple aberrations affect such average irradiance.


Growth in minimal salts medium meant that a microorganism has the full repertoire of biosynthetic machinery for surviving in habitats lacking in vitamins and growth factors. This significantly expands the types of habitats suitable for colonization by the microbe. Such evolutionary selected and endowed survival advantage provided a critical growth advantage and colonization potential to particular microbes. Pseudomonas protegens Pf-5 (ATCC BAA-477) potential for growth in minimal salts medium was evaluated by aerobic growth experiments at 25 and 30 oC in M9 medium. Experiment results revealed that the bacterium could grow in M9 medium without nutrient and yeast extract supplementation, but with a long lag phase of 18 hours and a small optical density of 0.7 and 1.0 at 25 and 30 oC, respectively after 45 hours of incubation. Variation in pH, on the other hand, revealed similar pH profiles of net secretion of acidic metabolites during growth in M9 medium, that stabilized prior to attainment of maximal optical density in the cultures at the two temperatures. Supplementation of M9 medium with 1 g/L yeast extract at 25 oC resulted in a shorter lag phase of 3 hours in P. protegens Pf-5 and a maximal optical density of 3.1, which indicated the importance of vitamins and growth factors in yeast extract in supplying necessary building blocks for biomass formation. Similarly, net secretion of acidic metabolites was observed in pH profile prior to exponential phase growth in P. protegens Pf-5, which was followed by a gradual rise in culture broth's pH. Collectively, P. protegens Pf-5 could grow in minimal salts medium without supplementation of vitamins and growth factors at 25 and 30 oC; thereby, pointing to a significant competitive advantage in survival and colonization of new habitats in the face of nutritional and environmental stressors.


Objective To summarize the clinical experiment of PPH on treatment of severe hemorrhoids.Methods PPH was used in the therapy of 510 cases of severe hemorrhoids from May.2001 to Dec.2004 and clinical data was retrospectively analysised.Results Operation time of all cases was 12 min for average;The clinical effects of 508 cases were fine;2 cases were not good for the hemorrhoids;The complications after operation were anus pain(30 cases),anus bleated(100 cases),hematochezia(90 cases),temporary incontinence of stool(5 cases),stoma granulomatous(1 case).Conclusion PPH is a safe and effective treatment for severe hemorrhoids with the advantages of less complications and quicker recovery.


size, or what is referred to as a sump, one of which has a raised rim preserved; the others (from the photographs) appear to have their upper portions broken away. Two rooms only partially preserved appear to have contained olive presses. Although finds are mentioned generally here, specialists reports are forthcoming. An earlier phase (XIVA) dated fourth to early second century BC is represented by several walls and features at a lower level, but no plan of that period is clear. The later Phase XlVb appears to have come to an end sometime in the late second century BC. The detailed description of the structures which constitutes the greater part of the text is quite useful, but there are problems with the interpretation of the site. Although the author states that these structures 'do not give the appearance of having been of domestic use' (36), he does not explain why Mycenae should be different than other ancient Greek towns where domestic tasks and industrial activities frequently shared the same structure. Certainly the textile equipment is consonant with domestic use as is the pottery. Instead, he suggests that these structures were a dye-works based on the association between the weaving equipment (176 loomweights, 48 spindle whorls, and 29 spools) and the rooms with basins or sumps. There are several weaknesses in Bowkett's argument for a dye-works. First, he fails to explain how particular archaeological remains located in different parts of the area are especially suited for the production of dye, the dyeing of skeins of yarn (as is the usual practice), or fulling of cloth. His discussion of the activities associated with the production of cloth is vague (44, 45); crucial details are not well illustrated; there is a lack of precision and consistency in the use of terms like sump/soak away, pit/cistern, and basin/bath, and there are numerous contradictions in his description. Thus a bathtub in Room YY becomes an immersion vat and the seat a 'ledge on which to squeeze out excess liquid'. He would have the two presses (Room L, LL) not used for olives, but for the production of dye stuffs and pressing out excess dye (44, 45) because of the absence of crushing apparatus and separating basins, and because pressing probably occurred in only rural areas for a few months every two years (as L. Foxhall, 'Oil extraction and processing equipment in classical Greece', La production du vin et de I'huile en Mediterranee, ed. M.C. Amouretti and J.-P. Brun, BCH Suppl. 26 (1993) 183-200). Neither room is completely preserved; however, Room L appears to have separation vats in both phases. And, the elements of a press that are most likely to survive are the built-in floors and vats because they cannot be moved or re-used elsewhere. Yet B. goes on to suggest, 'Thus it seems that most of the machines found in Classical and Hellenistic towns which have traditionally been identified by their excavators as olivepresses were probably not such, or at least not exclusively such'! The dye works identification depends on a comparison with an installation at Isthmia, and other remains at Halieis and Lousoi. 'The similarity in the organization of the dye-works at Hermione/Halieis, Corinth/Isthmia and Argos/Mycenae is remarkable' (49). Yet the comparisons made are really very superficial. New excavations and study at Isthmia have failed to substantiate the loosely developed dye-works hypothesis proposed a few years ago (C. Kardara, 'Dyeing and weaving works at Isthmia', AJA 65 (1961) 261-66) and instead have provided good evidence that cement-lined working floors and vats were olive presses (V. Anderson-Stojanovic, 'Excavations in the Rachi settlement at Isthmia, 1989', Hesperia 65 (1996) 57-90). The basic elements match the published features of the presses at Halieis (now see B.A. Ault, 'Koprones and oil presses: domestic installations related to agricultural productivity and processing at classical Halieis', Structures rurales et societes antiques, (ed. P.N. Doukellis and L.G. Mendoni (Paris 1994)). The interpretation of structures and features at Lousoi is still in very preliminary stages, but seems to suggest a combination of living and working areas devoted to wine pressing, and perhaps washing. Despite the fact that results of new research at Halieis and Isthmia were not available to the author, in a final publication one expects original, critical analysis and evaluation of the evidence rather than the quotations from preliminary reports presented by this author. There is no comparative study of the architecture nor are ethnographic parallels adduced for the aspects of textile manufacture discussed here. Thus we are presented with the architecture and chronology of Hellenistic building complexes at Mycenae along with a brief discussion of the distribution of weaving equipment. Primary evidence of this kind is always welcome in print. It will be up to others to analyze the organization of space and the role of the women that B. has placed in these buildings.


•  Introduction •  Importins and exportins •  NLS and NES •  Cargo molecules •  Importins and exportins In cellular differentiation ‐  HL‐60 cell differentiation ‐  Importin expression ‐  Exportèn expression ‐  Monocyte differentiation ‐  Terminal erythroìd differentiation ‐  Neural differentiation ‐  Cardiac differentiation ‐  Keratìnocyte differentiation ‐  Germ cell maturation ‐  Muscle cell differentiation •  Concluding remarks


In this paper the interprocessor communication interface intended for realization of multi-microcomputer (MMC) system is described. The MMC system is implemented as a Fully-Connected-n-side-Pyramid (FCnP). The base of the pyramid consists of n processors and it acts as an accelerator to the host computer that is placed at the top of the pyramid. Communication between any two processor takes place through Shared-Memory-Module (SMM) independently accessed by both processors involved in current data transfer. The SMMs are realized with two-side accessible memory chips of FIFO RAM type. For the processors we use standard Single-Board-Computers (SBC) extended with a communication hardware referred to as the Communication-Module (CM). The main task of the CM is to provide efficient DMA data transfer between the SBC's local memory and SMMs. Attaching the CM to the SBC requires only some minor modification of the SBC's hardware. In order to connect one SBC with several SMMs a special bus named Shared-Memory-Bus (SMB), is provided. Higher FCnP's performances, in comparison with the common bus based MMC systems, are obtained mainly due to: increased communication bandwidth, possibility to use heterogeneous processors, and configuration flexibility of system topology. This paper deals with hardware structure of constituent parts of the communication interface (CM, SMM, and SMB), and system operation concerning the message transfer. Further on, performance evaluation for the proposed communication interface related to system efficiency, communication throughput, and message latency are carried out. Simulation analysis is also included.


In this paper, embedded system besed quantum encryption and deccryption using polarization is proposed. The information data and encryption code is fed into quantum encryption where the data has been encrypted and then passed to LED polarized in that the data is converted as photons and passed to the transmitter. At the receiver end, LDR will be used as a detector for reproduction of electrical signal from light energy. LDR output has to be decrypted using quantum decrypting code and got the original message receiver side. In proposed system, the polarization state of a photon carries quantum encryption key (private key of user). In proposed system, property of photons is used to error detection.


In recent years,rapid economic development has been achieved and the industrial structure has been optimized in Longyan.However,there still exist some problems.This paper tries to analyze the characteristics of industrial structure,the process of the industrial restructuring,so as to reveal the major problems in the industrial adjustment in Longyan.The paper has also proposed some industrial policy options for improving the industrial competitiveness in Longyan.


Palladium-catalyzed alpha-arylation and vinylation of dioxolane (S,S)-I, easily obtained from (S)-mandelic acid, proceeds with high yields and excellent diastereoselectivity at room temperature employing commercially available P(t-Bu)(3).HBF(4) and Pd(OAc)(2) as a catalytic precursor system. This method displays general utility for a large variety of aryl, heteroaryl, and vinyl bromides.


Urinary catheterization during surgery frequently leads to unfavorable signs and symptoms (ie urgency, discomfort, frequency) during recovery. These signs and symptoms are collectively called catheter‐related bladder discomfort (CRBD). We hypothesized that preemptive IV ketamine administration prior to intra‐operative catheterization would reduce the incidence of CRBD in the postoperative period when compared to placebo.


Hybrid receptors composed of an insulin a b- h e m ireceptor and a type 1 IGF a b-hemireceptor are formed in tissues expressing both molecules. We recently reported an increased hybrid receptor expression in skeletal muscle of type 2 diabetic patients that is inversely correlated with in vivo insulin sensitivity. It is unclear whether these changes were due to primary abnormalities or to secondary derangements acting in vivo, such as hyperglycemia. To address this, we determined abundance of hybrids in skeletal muscle from three groups of rats: controls, diabetic (90% pancreatectomy), and diabetic treated with phlorizin to normalize plasma glucose levels. We found that the abundance of hybrid receptors was higher in diabetic rats compared with control and phlorizin-treated diabetic rats (percentage of 1 2 5 I-insulin bound versus total added radioactivity [B/T] = 1.8 ± 0.11, 0.4 ± 0.01, and 0.32 ± 0.04, respectively; P < 0.0001). Fasting plasma glucose levels were positively correlated with hybrids abundance (r = 0.77, P < 0.002). Hybrid receptor protein content, assessed by immunoblotting, was 2.4-fold higher in diabetic rats as compared with control and phlorizin-treated diabetic rats. Because it has been shown that some of the regulatory effects of glucose may be mediated by the glucosamine pathway, we subsequently determined the effect of an in vivo glucosamine infusion on hybrid receptor formation. We found that abundance of hybrids was significantly higher in muscle from glucosamine-treated rats compared with control rats (B/T = 0.17 ± 0.02 and 0.11 ± 0.01, respectively; P < 0.009). Quantitation of hybrid content by immunoblotting revealed that their abundance was 1.9-fold higher in glucosamine-treated rats. The results demonstrate that 1) elevated glucose levels in diabetic rats are associated with increased expression of hybrid receptors in muscle, 2) correction of hyperglycemia with phlorizin completely reverses increased expression of hybrids, and 3) glucosamine infused into control rats mimics the effects of hyperglycemia on hybrid receptor formation. Thus, the results support the hypothesis that glucose acting, at least in part, through the glucosamine pathway may play an important role in regulating hybrid receptor assembly in vivo. D i a b e t e s 4 8 :2 2 7 7‐2285, 1999


Abstract In the October 1939 issue of Rubber Chemistry and Technology, on pages 655–664, is an article of the above title by Edgar Rhodes. Since the time of its original publication in the India-Rubber Journal, in January 1939, the work has been revised and published in the Journal of the Rubber Research Institute of Malaya, Vol. 9, pages 171–188 (Communication no. 241), December 1939. The attention of Rubber Chemistry and Technology has been called by Mr. H. J. Page, Director of The Rubber Research Institute of Malaya, to the importance of certain revisions in Part I of the work. Mr. Page points out, for example, that "the authors have evaluated separate relationships for ammoniated field latex and for centrifugal concentrates, thereby revising the estimates of the average viscosity of latex of varying dry rubber content at 30° C." These new data are given in Tables I and II. The discussion on pages 657 and 661–663 of the same issue of Rubber Chemistry and Technology has been altered considerably, and th...


The conductivity enhancement observed in the two glass systems A (40Li2O–(60–x)P2O5–xGeO2) and B (40Li2O–10B2O3–(50–x)P2O5–xGeO2) as the germanate content is increased from 0 to 25 mol % confirms the positive mixed glass-former effect (MGFE) in these systems. In this study, we further employ state-of-the-art NMR techniques along with Raman spectroscopy to probe the local network structures. We use the MIGRATION concept to model the experimental conductivity and permittivity spectra obtained from impedance spectroscopy to understand the scaling features of the spectra and to calculate the value of the spatial extent of the localized diffusion of the lithium ion. As x increases from 0 to 25 mol %, for system A, a continuous increase of the POGe cross-linkages as well as a continuous and strong modification of the phosphate network is observed. In system B, deeper analysis of the 31P magic-angle spinning NMR experiments done using 2D 11B/11B homonuclear and 11B/31P heteronuclear NMR is used to determine the ...


The analytical method validation is a complex and demanding process by which laboratory studies are performed to demonstrate that the method generates consistent results with high accuracy and precision for the intended use.1,2,3 Validation studies must be executed following a protocol with a description of each validation characteristic and predetermined acceptance criteria. This will ensure compliance with the appropriate regulations and guidelines and assure that the method remains appropriate for testing of the drug products.


Abstract : The swerve response of fin- and spin-stabilized projectiles to control mechanism input is sometimes not intuitive and often surprises smart weapon designers. This report seeks to explain the basic parameters that govern swerve of projectiles excited by control input. By modeling the overall effect of any control mechanism as a non-rolling reference frame force or moment applied to the projectile, we obtain general expressions for swerve in terms of basic vehicle parameters. These compact expressions are used to show that maximum swerve response for a fin-stabilized projectile is achieved when the force is applied near the nose of the projectile, while maximum swerve response for a spin-stabilized projectile is achieved when the force is applied near the base of the projectile.


PURPOSE: To obtain a method and a device for simultaneously displaying graphical information, together with related audio information in a multimedia computer system. CONSTITUTION: A compact disc(CD) reader 140 reads graphical information (CD+G) and audio information, and a digital signal processor 106 decodes them. The graphical information is stored temporarily in a cache buffer 114 in the reader 140. While the reader 140 reproduces audio, the graphical information is transferred from the buffer 114 to a host computer 150 and shown in a multimedia system. COPYRIGHT: (C)1994,JPO


BACKGROUND: The analysis of sleep patterns in patients with chronic disorders of consciousness is attracting increasing attention in terms of diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of severe brain damage. The study describes a software package based on an artificial intelligence (AI) expert system designed to classify the phases and stages of sleep, taking into account the characteristics of impaired cortical rhythm in such patients.
AIM: To develop a specialized AI-based software package focused on patients with chronic impairment of consciousness for automatic classification of sleep phases and stages, with an emphasis on identifying sleep spindles and non-rapid eye movement (REM) and REM sleep phases.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: To ensure the correct operation of the software package, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were analyzed considering the binary classification of slow sleep, REM sleep, and wakefulness.
RESULTS: The average sensitivity and specificity of the algorithm were 87.9 and 70.1, respectively. The average area under the ROC curve was 0.790. The algorithm for determining the REM phase demonstrates low specificity with high sensitivity, and its graph was similar to that of wakefulness, as well as the irregularity of the presence of REMs in the REM sleep phase in patients with CNS and the frequent presence of nystagmus in the waking state. Information about the presence of nystagmus, entered at the start of the program, allowed us to slightly increase the efficiency of the algorithm; however, this aspect probably needs further improvement.
CONCLUSION: A software package that takes into account the features of electroencephalography of patients with chronic disorders of consciousness and analyzes sleep and wakefulness automatically is not only useful as a diagnostic tool for neurologists and somnologists but also contributes to a wider dissemination of this technique in clinical practice.


In this study, stratospheric gravity waves induced by typhoon Ewiniar were examined using numerical model and observations. In the simulations, waves propagate eastward and northeastward with horizontal wavelengths of 300-800 ㎞. In comparison of numerical simulation, AIRS observation, and ECMWF data, wave amplitudes are somewhat different among data. This difference is likely due to different typhoon intensity and distribution of convective forcing in each dataset.


Fresh water is a renewable resource, but it is also finite. Around the world, there are now numerous signs that human water use exceeds sustainable levels. Groundwater depletion, low or nonexistent river flows, and worsening pollution levels are among the more obvious indicators of water stress. In many areas, extracting more water for human uses jeopardizes the health of vital aquatic ecosystems. Satisfying the increased demands for food, water, and material goods of a growing global population while at the same time protecting the ecological services provided by natural water ecosystems requires new ap- proaches to using and managing fresh water. In this article, I propose a global effort (1) to ensure that freshwater ecosystems receive the quantity, quality, and timing of flows needed for them to perform their ecological functions and (2) to work toward a goal of doubling water productivity. Meeting these challenges will require policies that promote rather than discourage water efficiency, as well as new partnerships that cross disciplinary and professional boundaries.


Detecting water bodies in nearly real time over the whole Africa is a challenge addressed by the Geoland-2 project (GMES). This information was found critical by end-users for natural resource management as well as for environmental monitoring. Non-permanent water bodies dynamic is also expected to be affected by climate change and requires appropriate system development for operational monitoring. In the framework of Geoland-2 project, a water bodies detection algorithm has been developed in two version. The Version1 (1km of spatial resolution) is the result of combination of three existing products in order to have the best information available. The Version2 (250m of spatial resolution) is the detection result of a method based on a standardized multispectral transformation (developed by Pekel et al., 2010), the new algorithm is suited to detect the water occurrence in various ecological conditions and appears to be more generic than classification approaches. Implementation of this algorithm allowed processing multi-year 250 m surface reflectance time series acquired by the MODIS instruments. Both versions are designed to be operational in nearly real time and to be externally validaded.


The sellar barrier concept reflects the association between the components of the roof of the pituitary fossa and the risk of intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak in the surgery of pituitary adenomas. We based our concept in previous reports on the microsurgical anatomy of the pituitary fossa's superior wall. However, proof of the usefulness of this concept in endoscopic approaches is yet missing. The aim of this study was to describe the endoscopic anatomy of the sellar barrier and its subtypes in a laboratory setting and to provide evidence of its clinical usefulness.


Zebrafish is a model species with a high variability of feeding regimes among fish 16 facilities. The use of live feeds for early life stages is a common practice and few 17 studies have focused early weaning into microdiets. The lack of standardized feeding 18 protocols amongst research facilities promotes discrepancies in biological performances 19 and few studies relate dietary regimes to zebrafish development. The objective of this 20 work was to assess the effect of an early transition into microdiets in zebrafish 21 development by evaluating growth, survival, reproductive performance and skeletal 22 anomalies. These parameters were assessed in one group exclusively fed on Artemia 23 nauplii and two groups fed on microdiets (commercial and experimental). Results 24 showed that an early weaning with the two microdiets significantly improved zebrafish 25 growth and reproductive performance, while a decrease in incidence of vertebral 26 column anomalies was observed. A high survival was also maintained in fish fed 27 microdiets at an early developmental stage when comparing to exclusive Artemia 28 nauplii feeding. In conclusion, early weaning with high quality microdiets is beneficial 29 for zebrafish growth, reproductive performance and skeletal development, contributing 30 to the standardization of zebrafish husbandry practices. 31 Results as means ± standard deviation (SD). Data normality was tested using a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Mean differences between treatments for fish growth and length were analyzed using a Kruskal-Wallis test followed by a Mann-Whitney U 201 Test ( p < 0.05). Statistical differences between treatments for skeletal anomalies were 202 evaluated with Person´s Chi-squared test ( p < 0.05). Significant differences between 203 treatments for the number of eggs and the number of eggs per female was evaluated 204 using a Student´s t -test ( p < 0.05). IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0 software was used for data 205 and statistical analysis.


To the Editor, I read with great interest the article by Inamadar and Palit describing a very nice method to explain proportional growth of congenital nevi. This method will likely facilitate our discussion with parents of children with congenital nevi. In some countries where vitiligo is associated with major stigmatizing effect, parents often worry that congenital nevi (such as nevus depigmentosus) are in fact vitiligo. This concern is exacerbated further when they notice "enlargement" of the patch with time. Using this technique to explain the phenomenon of proportional lesion growth will hopefully solve the problem. After reading the article, I thought of a slight modification that might be more convenient. Using an examination glove that is available in all dermatology clinics would potentially help deliver the same concept (Figure 1).