In most manufacturing technology programs, CAD, CNC, CAM, and Manufacturing Processes courses are usually the main components of any NAIT or TAC-ABET accredited curriculum. Currently these courses are offered in separate sequential semesters and students have no opportunity to practice their separate learnings within a step-by-step, integrated, hands-on project environment. In this paper, authors will present their implementation practiced at the Tennessee Tech University. Tooling projects are decided between the faculty members and students first, and then the following steps are followed: • Set up the project objectives and student gaining first. • Select a project topic and investigate the alternative production methods, resources available and make a lifecycle and cycle time analysis. • Distribute the work in team and schedule the activities. • Design the part and required tooling using available CAD packages: 2D(AutoCAD), 3D(Mechanical Desktop and Pro/Engineer). • Generate the CNC machining code: molds or parts are virtually machined and simulated using CNCez or MasterCAM. P ge 820.1 "Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2003, American Society for Engineering Education" • Select or build the tooling and fixtures. • Machine, cast, or form the part. • Post process the part for extra trimming, polishing, and painting. • Present, discuss, and report the lifecycle analysis, problems faced, and troubleshooting. Since Internet is rapidly being adopted in technology education as a tool for enhancing the educational experience of students residing on campus as well as to expand the reach of unique programs beyond the local campus, this new design and manufacturing course has also been practiced and implemented via Internet tools; i.e. WebCT, Webmail, Web Companions, and Online tools (i.e.: material selection, tool selection, process parameters selection, and cutting data). This paper reports the milestones, assessment, and web-based control in these projects and newly developed course.


The paper introduces the pattern of management in Haier market chain and what human-orientation means in an enterprise.It further shows the ways in which Haier market chain stimulates all staff members to work actively and a conclusion is drawn accordingly:The idea of human-orientation is crucial in the construction and development of an enterprise.


Sources of harmonic distortions in the power system are nonlinear loads. Since advancement in properties of semiconductor devices, semiconductor devices are widely used. These devices are showing nonlinear property in the system and causes different power quality problems. Especially in three phase four wire system nonlinear loads or unbalanced load causes flow of zero sequence current through neutral wire. These zero sequence current components are the multiple of third order harmonics. To eliminate these harmonics various technologies has been used including passive filters, zigzag transformers, active filters etc. active filters can be used in different topologies such as series active power filter, shunt active filter etc.. In this work shunt active power filter has been used to eliminate the harmonics from the system. For three phase four wire system shunt active power filters compensates not only active and reactive power, but also compensates zero sequence power of the system. The PI controllers are generally used in shunt active filters as control elements. To obtain accurate output result, tuning of PI parameters (proportionality constant Kp, integral constant Ki) are required. While fractional order PI controller are used recently as this type of controller shows better result than conventional PI controller. In fractional PI controller one more constant called as fractional constant λ is also used for tuning.


The power grid company has initially established costing plan of the main network substation equipment recently. However, the distribution network operation and maintenance cost allocation standard is extensive and the cost expenditure is affected by multiple factors, so that we cannot be simply allocated the cost according to the length of the distribution line. Through system data of the power grid company and field research by selecting typical areas, we sort out the factors that may affect the equipment assets of distribution network Operation and maintenance cost from external factors and internal factors and construct a cost index system, which mainly include environment, market, policy, equipment scale, equipment type, equipment quality, asset benefit and operation inspection strategy. Then, researchers utilize the panel data model to start the modeling analysis of the key influencing factors and identify the key influencing factors. Finally, taking the actual cost of Hubei Province as an example, the proposed method is verified, and the key influencing factors of the operation and maintenance cost of the distribution network are identified.


This study is a quasi-experimental research that aims to examine whether there is an influence of Guided Discovery learning model on learning outcomes and students' self-efficacy with  pretest-posttest control group design. Data on learning outcomes were obtained through pre-test and post-test by giving a written test in the form of multiple choice questions with 30 questions, while self-efficacy data was also obtained through pre-test and post-test from filling out a self-efficacy questionnaire with 30 statements. The data analysis technique employed descriptive statistical analysis, N-Gain, and inferential with t test (independent sample test). The results of descriptive analysis show that (1) the learning outcomes of experimental class students are in moderate category. (2) for self-efficacy of experimental class students in moderate category. (3) the learning outcomes in the control class is in low category. (4) the students' self-efficacy in the control class is in low category (5) the results of inferential statistical analysis show that there is a significant influence of implementing Guided Discovery learning model on the improvement of learning outcomes and self-efficacy of grade VIII students at SMPN Gollek No. 34 Selayar Islands.


The concept of organizational learning and the role of institutions of higher education in enabling organizational strategies to emerge is the focus of this article which provides. A literature review of individual and organizational learning which it is argued are both elements of a 'learning organization'. A discussion of the literature on strategic management and the role which organizational learning has in enabling strategies to emerge. The outcomes of research with middle managers from a large international corporation and members of academic staff from a large UK business school. Findings which form the foundation of an argument which proposes that the role of formal education enables the acquisition of learning skills by managers and also the ability to enhance the capability of others to learn in the workplace. A conclusion which suggests that success in the adoption of this course of action will enable organizational strategies to emerge; these will be influential in providing strategic direction for an organization and thus enhancing its effectiveness. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This thesis details the use of chiral diamine derived catalysts in asymmetric addition reactions. Three separate projects are outlined within.
The first project involved the investigation of dibenz[c,e]azepinium salt 113 as a catalyst for the aldol reaction. The catalyst was synthesised in 4 steps from commercially available 1R,2R-diaminocyclohexane in 74% overall yield. It was found to be an efficient catalyst in the aldol reaction of cyclic ketones with a range of aromatic aldehydes, giving high yields, diastereo- and enantioselectivities. This catalyst was also found to be effective when acyclic ketones were used, in which case the major diastereoisomer produced was no longer an anti-aldol but a the syn-aldol. A catalytic cycle for these reactions is proposed, with the stereochemical outcome of these reactions being further investigated by computational calculations.
The second project investigated the use of chiral primary amine catalysts in the conjugate addition of N-heterocycles to α,β-unsaturated ketones. It was found that commercially available 1R,2R-diaminocyclohexane 114 was an efficient and enantioselective catalyst for the addition of pyrazoles to α,β-unsaturated ketones. Through comparison with the performance of related catalyst structures we propose a catalytic cycle in which 114 forms bonds with both the α,β-unsaturated ketone and the incoming pyrazole. Alternative chiral amines derived from camphor sulfonic acid were investigated as catalysts for the conjugate addition reaction; these proved to be relatively poor catalysts giving the product with a low enantiomeric excess.
Finally, an investigation into intramolecular N-conjugate additions was performed. We found that 9-epi-9-amino-9-deoxyquinine derived squaramide 355 was a highly enantioselective catalyst for the intramolecular cyclisation of sulfonamides to α,β-unsaturated ketones. Best results were seen with α,β-unsaturated ketones conjugated to an aryl group, however squaramide 355 also proved to be an enantioselective catalyst for the cyclisation of methyl ketone and ester conjugated alkenes. In the latter two cases higher temperatures and catalyst loadings were required. In conjunction with molecular modelling studies we propose a catalytic cycle that accounts for the observed stereochemistry.


Background: DHF is a persisting global health problem. As a developing country Indonesia is still
facing DHF outbreaks. In 1994 DHF cases occurred in all provinces of Indonesia. Jambi
Municipality was one of the biggest contributors of DHF cases out of 11 districts/municipalities at
the Province of Jambi. Even in 2011 Jambi Municipality had DHF outbreaks with as many as 1,110
cases and 25 of them died. Meanwhile from January to early March there were 253 cases and 12
people died.
Objective: The study aimed to identify association between number of containers, house sanitation
condition and the presence of larvae and the incidence of DHF at Jambi Municipality.
Method: This was an epidemiological study with case control design. Subject of the study were
case and control houses, comprising 130 cases and 130 controls at comparison 1:1. The
independent variables were number of containers, house sanitation condition and the presence of
larvae. The dependent variable was the incidence of DHF.
Results: Mc Nemar test results of the analysis there was a significant association between the
number of containers with dengue incidence with p value = 0.029 and OR .0,322 means a
container that is the respondent for more than two and less than two is a protective factor 0.322
has no risk of dengue There was a significant association between sanitary condition of the house
with the incidence of dengue with pvalue = 0.001 and OR 2,419 means that the sanitary condition
of the poor house at risk 2,419, times greater risk of DHF dibandinkan the sanitary conditions of a
good home. Statistical tests for the presence of larvae obtained value of p = 0.026 there is a
significant hubgungan between the presence of larvae in the incidence of dengue with OR = 1,802
means that the presence of larvae which have posif 1,802 times the risk of dengue incidence in
comparison with the existence of a negative larvae. Results of the multivariate analysis there are
two variables most related to the amount of container p =0,031 home and sanitary conditions
p=0.001 with the incidence of dengue
Conclusion: Of a multivariate test of the three variable number of containers, p = 0.038 Sanitary
Conditions Home p = 0,, 009 larvae and presence of 0.095, the final model contained two variables
mulitivariat related to the incidence of dengue is the number of containers p = 0.031 and p = home
sanitary condition 0.001. Of variables that are risk factors are the sanitary conditions on the
incidence of dengue fever home with OR 2.368.


Objective To explore the feasibility of a future trial to investigate whether encouraging use of the free NHS smartphone app Active10 increases brisk walking and reduces blood pressure (BP) in postnatal mothers who had hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). Design 3-month feasibility study. Setting London maternity unit. Population 21 women with HDP. Methods At recruitment we recorded initial (booking) clinic BP and asked participants to complete a questionnaire. Two months after delivery all participants were sent (by post/email/WhatsApp) a "Just Walk It" leaflet encouraging them to download the Active10 app and walk briskly for at least 10 minutes/day. This was backed by a telephone call after 2-weeks. Assessments were repeated 3-months later, and included telephone interviews about the acceptability and use of Active10. Main outcome measures Were recruitment rate, follow-up rate and acceptability/use of Active10. Results Of 28 women approached, 21 (75%, 95% CI 55.1–89.3%) agreed to participate. Age range was 21–46 years and five (24%) self-identified as black ethnicity. One woman dropped out of the study, and one became ill. The remaining participants (90%, 19/21, 95% CI 69.6–98.8%) were followed up after 3-months. Ninety-five percent (18/19) downloaded the Active10 app and 74% (14/19) continued using it at 3-months, averaging 27-minutes brisk walking/day according to Active10 weekly screenshots. Comments included: "Brilliant app", "Really motivates me". Mean BP was 130/81mmHg at booking and 124/80mmHg at 3-months follow-up. Conclusions The Active10 app was acceptable to postnatal women after HDP and may have increased minutes of brisk walking. A future trial could explore whether this simple, low-cost intervention could reduce long-term BP in this vulnerable group.


This study specifically looked at the sanitary and hygiene conditions of the slaughterhouse and its effect on the health of residents in the community. The sanitary and hygiene conditions of Slaughterhouses are  of important due to the fact most of it are located within the community, which can have effect on the health of the residents. A descriptive survey design was used for this study.  The target population were staff of the slaughterhouse and residents of the community (Amasaman), irrespective of position, age or gender. The sample size consisted of 150 respondents, comprising; twenty (20) workers of the slaughterhouse, and hundred thirty (130) residents from the community. Questionnaires, consisting of opened and closed ended questions, and interview guide, were the main data collection instruments used to carry out the study. The collected data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages, charts and tables. The study revealed that the operations of the slaughterhouse do have effect on the health of the residents of the community because wastewater was disposed off into the streams and rivers which serve a source of drinking water. The workers of the slaughterhouse also attested to it. 74.2% of the residents representing majority answered no when they were asked if the operations of the slaughterhouse were inspected. This was expected because most (70%) the residents indicated in a follow up question that they have never seen an inspector before. The study recommends that government must compel the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), to stop the operators of slaughterhouses and abattoir from construction at unauthorized places. Keywords: Slaughterhouse, Wastewater, Hygiene


Turbine components have a difficult time in China's Yellow river, where the bed load is not only high, but composed of very abrasive particles. A new joint venture with Sulzer Hydro will allow the local utility to repair and improve its turbines. Janet Wood reports.


The ubiquitous, diverse and growing impact of digital living creates a massive amount of short text a search query, a twit or a caption. Short text frequently presents itself as an arbitrary combination of semantically unconnected words. Using machine learning to classify the corpora of such texts is a challenging task. A large body of research exists in this area, but in this paper we will focus on Background Knowledge (BK) and its role in machine learning for shorttext and non-topical classification. More specifically, we present an effort to create a short text classification framework based on Background Knowledge. We propose novel Information Retrieval techniques to construct BK and demonstrate the advantages of Automatic Query Expansion (AQE) vs. basic search. We discuss other results of this research and its implications on the advancement of short text classification.


We studied the comparative effects of β-adrenergic blockade with propranolol (PROP) and bucindolol (BUC), a β-adrenergic agonist having both otadrenergic blocking properties and intrinsic sympathomimetic activity (ISA) on airway and cardiovascular responses, in 38 mongrel dogs in situ. Intravenous infusion of 0.6 μg/kg + 6 μg/kg/min BUC and 2.0 mg/kg + 20 μg/kg/min PROP caused identical shifts in the isoproterenol (ISO) EC50 for chronotropic and hypotensive arterial blood pressure responses. After PROP administration, resting heart rate (HR) decreased from 188 ± 15 to 142 ± 12 beats/min (p < 0.02); BUC caused no decrease in HR. In contrast, the effects of BUC and PROP on mean arterial blood pressure response to ISO were similar. No change in bronchomotor tone was observed after bolus injection of either BUC or PROP. β-Adrenergic relaxation to ISO and α-adrenergic contraction to norepinephrine (NE) were studied simultaneously in tracheal and bronchial airways using chronotropically equivalent β-adrenoceptor blocking doses of PROP and BUC. Comparable inhibition of ISO-induced airway relaxation after contraction with 120 μg/kg/min i.v. serotonin was demonstrated in both PROP (n = 5) and BUC (n = 5) groups (p < 0.01 for doses >5 × 10−11 mol/kg). Similarly, both BUC (n = 5) and PROP (n = 5) blocked β-adrenergic relaxation and caused identical α-adrenergic airway contraction to intravenous NE. We conclude that the ISA of the β-adrenergic blocking drug BUC can be demonstrated on the spontaneous rate of the heart but not on the activity of branchial smooth muscle. BUC neither augments ISO-induced relaxation nor inhibits NE-induced contraction of airways after effective chronotropic blockade.


We find non-localities, violation of local realism, in the many-body ground states of spin-1 XXZ chain with on-site anisotropy. In order to identify the non-localities in higher spin systems, we exploit the generalized version of multipartite Bell-type inequalities which characterize symmetric entangled states under the most general settings via combination of high-order correlations. For a given set of unbiased measurements, we obtain a sharp violation of the multipartite Bell-type inequality at the vicinity of the quantum criticality, a type of the first-order, in the regime of large exchanges and strong on-site anisotropies. It signifies that impossibility of local realistic picture is manifested when a system is subjected to quantum phase transition between weekly entangled states via GHZ-like state. Our results provide the first extendible picture on the relationship between the impossibility of local realistic model and many-body quantum phases in higher-spin system as the observable identifies measurable quantities to detect the non-locality on a particular many-body quantum state.


We use an analytical forward model based on perturbation theory to predict the neutral hydrogen (HI) overdensity maps at low redshifts. We investigate its performance by comparing it directly at the field level to the simulated HI from the IllustrisTNG simulation TNG300-1 ($L=205\ h^{-1}$ Mpc), in both real and redshift space. We demonstrate that HI is a biased tracer of the underlying matter field and find that the cubic bias model describes the simulated HI power spectrum to within 1% up to $k=0.4 \;(0.3) \,h\,{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$ in real (redshift) space at redshifts $z=0,1$. Looking at counts in cells, we find an excellent agreement between the theory and simulations for cells as small as 5 $h^{-1}$ Mpc. These results are in line with expectations from perturbation theory and they imply that a perturbative description of the HI field is sufficiently accurate given the characteristics of upcoming 21cm intensity mapping surveys. Additionally, we study the statistical properties of the model error - the difference between the truth and the model. We show that on large scales this error is nearly Gaussian and that it has a flat power spectrum, with amplitude significantly lower than the standard noise inferred from the HI power spectrum. We explain the origin of this discrepancy, discuss its implications for the HI power spectrum Fisher matrix forecasts and argue that it motivates the HI field-level cosmological inference. On small scales in redshift space we use the difference between the model and the truth as a proxy for the Fingers-of-God effect. This allows us to estimate the nonlinear velocity dispersion of HI and show that it is smaller than for the typical spectroscopic galaxy samples at the same redshift. Finally, we provide a simple prescription based on the perturbative forward model which can be used to efficiently generate accurate HI mock data, in real and redshift space.


This volume covers the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Mexico; Canada's policy towards South Africa; growing peacekeeping efforts around the world; and common international problems such as immigration, drug trafficking, and the impact of trade, aid and human rights on foreign policy. Speeches are by political personalities such as Pierre Trudeau, Joe Clark, Barbara McDougall, MacDonald and Brian Mulroney.


Cross-cultural comparisons of categorization often confound cultural factors with expertise. This paper reports four experiments on the conceptual behavior of Native American and majority-culture fish experts. The two groups live in the same general area and engage in essentially the same set of fishing-related behaviors. Nonetheless, cultural differences were consistently observed. Majority-culture fish experts tended to sort fish into taxonomic and goal-related categories. They also showed an influence of goals on probes of ecological relations, tending to answer in terms of relations involving adult fish. Native American fish experts, in contrast, were more likely to sort ecologically. They were also more likely to see positive and reciprocal ecological relations, tending to answer in terms of relations involving the full life cycle of fish. Further experiments support the view that the cultural differences do not reflect different knowledge bases but rather differences in the organization and accessibility of knowledge. At a minimum the results suggest that similar activities within a well-structured domain do not necessarily lead to common conceptualizations. the question of whether cultural variables play any role beyond that reflected by characteristic practices and activities? The participants for the present studies were (non-professional) experts in freshwater fish and fishing in north central Wisconsin. The experts were drawn from two populations, a Native American group (Menominee Indians) and a nearby majority-culture (European– Americans) group. Members of both groups engage in similar fishing activities, including fishing in both rivers and lakes in all seasons and using live bait, flies (that they frequently tie themselves) and other artificial lures to do so. In the following paragraphs, we describe these populations in some detail, noting their similarities and differences. We then provide further information concerning the comparability of goals and activities.


This thesis describes an innovative application of leading-edge bioinformatics and sequencing technology to analyse strain diversity, dynamics, and evolution in Baculoviruses under selection in vivo and in vitro. It provides evidence for the first time that these double-stranded DNA viruses are quasispecies. It develops and demonstrates a novel application of high-throughput sequencing and new computational techniques to analyse strain variants in non-model organisms, with potential applications in health, biosecurity and microbial ecology.


Problem area Recently we compared safety analyses for a runway incursion scenario based on an event sequence analysis, as a key exponent of a traditional risk assessment technique, versus one based on an multi-agent dynamic risk model (DRM), as an exponent of new techniques based on system complexity and variability-based accident models. We found that lower accident risk levels were assessed in the event sequence analysis and we compared various factors contributing to these differences. As the reasons of these differences were not completely understood, this paper sets forth additional analyses towards a better understanding of the relations between conflict recognition and resolution events that may occur in the runway incursion scenario and their relation to accident risk.


In modeling survival data with a cure fraction, flexible modeling of covariate effects on the probability of cure has important medical implications, which aids investigators in identifying better treatments to cure. This paper studies a semiparametric form of the Yakovlev promotion time cure model that allows for nonlinear effects of a continuous covariate. We adopt the local polynomial approach and use the local likelihood criterion to derive nonlinear estimates of covariate effects on cure rates, assuming that the baseline distribution function follows a parametric form. This way we adopt a flexible method to estimate the cure rate locally, the important part in cure models, and a convenient way to estimate the baseline function globally. An algorithm is proposed to implement estimation at both the local and global scales. Asymptotic properties of local polynomial estimates, the nonparametric part, are investigated in the presence of both censored and cured data, and the parametric part is shown to be root-n consistent. The proposed methods are illustrated by simulated and real data.


Background. Patients with a long term tracheotomy (longer than 4 weeks) are quite frequent patients in the
Neurorehabilitation Wards. These are especially patients after serious traumatic brain injuries, ischemic or
hemorrhagic strokes, ischemic brain injuries and others. A correct multidisciplinary treatment requires a very
close cooperation of: physiotherapists, neurologists, laryngologists and speech therapists.
The aim of our study was to analyze factors that may influence positive decanulation in patients with
tracheotomy performed because of the traumatic brain injury, stroke or cardiac arrest.
 Methods. Our material includes 127 patients hospitalized in our Department of Rehabilitation between
2002 and 2005. All of them had tracheotomy performed after the brain injury. We analyzed factors like: age,
sex, cause of tracheotomy, GCS scale, duration of tracheotomy, concomitant diseases, microbiology examination
of the bronchial secretion and the influence of these factors on decanulation.
 Results. We confirmed that young age (less than 40), traumatic brain injury and short time of tracheotomy
are the positive decannulation factors.


The author's experience of ethical review over six years as an academic member and chairperson of a university human ethics committee has been largely positive and educative. The account brings together archival records and personal experience to create a 'transactive' account of the practical experience of doing ethical review in one university setting. The first part briefly considers the limitations in some common criticisms made of human ethics committees; the second gives a brief personal biography of committee membership; the third uses trend data to exemplify the range of activity in one institutional human ethics committee; and the fourth part uses selected incidents to illustrate discursive tensions of ethical principle, discipline, relationship and risk specific to educational research. The conclusion tentatively suggests some utilitarian steps toward a more informed view of the work of institutional human ethics committees in the review of educational research.


We realize an extended version of the trigonometric Cherednik algebra as affine Dunkl operators involving Heaviside functions. We use the quadratic Casimir element of the extended trigonometric Cherednik algebra to define an explicit nonstationary Schrodinger equation with delta-potential. We use coordinate Bethe ansatz methods to construct solutions of the nonstationary Schrodinger equation in terms of generalized Bethe wave functions. It is shown that the generalized Bethe wave functions satisfy affine difference Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations as functions of the momenta. The relation to the vector valued root system analogs of the quantum Bose gas on the circle with delta-function interactions is indicated.


Treatment of the title compounds (3), (7), and (8) with potassium t-butoxide afforded the unusual rearrangement products (5), (9), and (10).


perfect match has been a traditional society,people choose a spouse,a measure of the conclusion of marriage rules,is to improve the quality of marriage and an important mechanism for maintaining social stability.China is in transition from traditional society to modern society,the rapid advance of,and the traditional social difference,and suitable content has undergone a drastic change,which abandoned the old feudal elements behind the times,into a new era of progress in a rational component,based on a good match Mate the height of the concept of identity,social exchange theory can the City "left women " reasonable explanation for the phenomenon.


Problem statement. This paper wants to be, if possible, to help all professionals working in the field and beyond. We hope our findings to create an overall picture, even on action game under consideration, unless the game entirely at youth level. The aim of research. Processing and interpretation of official data collected on site during the five days of competition allows us to have a personal view on the level of technical and tactical training of teams and individual players coordinators participating in the tournament for youth. Methods of research. As a working method I used:  information recording method;  interpretation of statistical and mathematical method;  graphical representation method; Results. As can be seen in this chart presents the highest efficiency made lifting to Zone 3, followed closely by lifting the two, these being the areas towards which frequently taking. The area with the lowest efficiency is zone 5, an uncomfortable area for this process, perhaps because those running setting here tend to send up to zone 4, considering that usually found in the two linkage, which owns best technique for attack. Conclusions. Desire and requirement to obtain a positive result and ranked as best lead to a situation where some coaches go over their primary objective: to develop and promote the game of volleyball players for high level. This creates a game based teams practice only on getting the point and not using a complex tactical and technical baggage that can lead to spectacular games default to the objectives stated above.


To the Editor: In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the disease commonly becomes refractory to antirheumatic drugs, and subsequently immunosuppressive agents such as azathioprine or methotrexate (MTX) may be required. Those patients in whom such therapy must be discontinued because of its toxicity or inefficacy have a limited range of potential subsequent therapies. Cyclosporin A (I) and experimental treatments such as total lymphoid irradiation and plasmapheresis are associated with substantial toxicity (2). Immunotherapy with gamma-interferon (3) is not yet established as a routine practice. Cyclophosphamide, in oral dosages of at least 1.5 mg/kg/day, is an effective agent that may inhibit the development of erosions in RA (4); However, the potential for the induction of neoplasia (5,6) and myelosuppression makes it unsuitable for prolonged daily oral use. Since pulse cyclophosphamide has been reported to be effective in the treatment of rheumatoid vasculitis (7) and lupus nephritis (8), we conducted a prospective open pilot study to assess the efficacy of intermittent intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide therapy in 5 patients with active refractory RA that had not responded to conventional drug treatment with multiple agents including immunosuppressives. Two men and 3 women with classic erosive RA, according to the criteria of the American Rheumatism Association (9), were studied. Four patients had nodules, but 933


AbstractThe effects of aqueous light bleaching of a naturally aged, 100% cotton rag, gelatin-sized paper on the subsequent aging of that paper have been investigated. Effects of exposure to various control conditions were compared with those due to aqueous light bleaching. Physical properties of all papers were monitored by measurement of surface pH, optical properties, stress-strain tensile behavior, and presence of sizing. Measurements were made before and after treatments and after artificial aging at 90°C and 50% RH for 20 days. An unsized filter paper, made from 100% cotton fibers, was exposed to identical conditions, and the same properties were measured. For the gelatin-sized paper, aqueous light bleaching resulted in less color reversion after artificial aging than did exposure to any of the control conditions. However, the sized paper specimens exhibited significant change in tensile properties. Similar responses were also observed in controls that were immersed in the dark. The changes noted are...


Programming is one of the most important areas in computer science. Based on many researches, it was found that the programming subject has the highest failure rate in universities. Hence, several studies had emphasized the importance of introducing programming from the early years of education. A game-based approach is used in this study by focusing on primary school students. A literature survey and an exploratory case study were executed by implementing several learning activities using games. Questionnaires were later distributed to these students after the activities were completed. The findings of this research listed some common game-based approach in introductory computer programming and learners' preferences towards games for upper primary school students. The results of this study can be used as the basis for the development of appropriate games that are suitable to the students' age and level.


Power dissipation between electrical and optical interconnects for high-speed inter-chip communication is compared. A power minimization strategy for optical interconnects is developed and its scaling trends are shown. Optical interconnect when compared with the state-of-the-art electrical interconnect yields lower power beyond a critical length (43cm at 6Gb/s and 100nm technology node). The critical length is fully characterized as a function of system requirements (bit rate and bit-error rate) and interconnect's end-device parameters (detector capacitance, receiver sensitivity and offset). Higher bit rates yield lower critical lengths making optical interconnects more favorable in the future.


The asynchronous performance of a synchronous motor, at a given slip, may be estimated from the 2-axis operational-admittance frequency functions Yd(jsω0), Yq(jsω0). The functions are commonly depicted as frequency-response loci. The frequency-response loci of a laminated-pole motor are shown to be analogous to the traditional induction-motor circle diagram. An accurate theoretical method is given to determine the asynchronous performance from the 2-axis loci, allowing for the effect of armature resistance. In addition, an approximate graphical method is given for the simplified condition when armature resistance is neglected.New equivalent circuits for the solid-pole motor are derived. The new circuits allow for the distribution of flux entering the rotor surface, and for the possibility of complete pole-tip saturation. Impedances, representing the parts of the magnetic circuit containing solid iron, are based on the rectangular magnetisation characteristic, and therefore have a magnitude, determined by the voltage across them, and a constant angle of 26.6°. The impedances are inserted into the equivalent circuits and the operational admittances are calculated by an iterative method. It is shown that the angle of the single effective 'solid iron' rotor impedance is found to lie between 26.6° and 45°, depending on the rotor frequency and flux. The method is also applicable to machines in which adjacent pole shoes are connected by end rings.Comparisons are shown between calculated and measured operational-admittance loci and between calculated and measured starting-performance characteristics for the solid-salient-pole micromachine at Imperial College, London, and for ten large solid-salient-pole machines of widely different dimensions and numbers of poles.A method of measuring, without attenuation, the component of oscillating starting torque of a synchronous motor, by measuring the total instantaneous input power, is demonstrated.


Clay minerals of calcareous sedimentary rocks of south (Fars and Kuhgiluyeh Boyerahmad Provinces) and western Iran (Kurdestan Province) as a part of the old Tethys area were investigated in order to compare their origin and distribution in the different geological formations and different areas, and to reconstruct the paleoclimate of the area. Chemical analysis, XRD, TEM, SEM, and thin section studies were performed on the twenty major sedimentary rocks. The studied samples represent a complete succession of the Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic sediments.


Objective: To evaluate the comparative method of two sample means of normal distribution offers some information for statistical analysis in practice. Methods: Simulation experiments were made by SAS software,using the type Ⅰ error,type Ⅱ error,test power and test efficiency of five tests as the index of evaluation at equal variance or unequal variance situation,when sample size are equal or unequal,when large variance to large sample size or large variance to small sample size. Results: The t-test is appropriate to equal variance. The u-test is used to two large sample sizes. Satterthwaite procedure and Cochran-cox procedure is not sensitive to unequal variance. When two sample size is large enough,five tests are all recommended. Conclusions: According to different situation to select different statistical analysis methods in order to interpret data reasonably in practice. Because not requesting the type of population distribution,sometimes Wilcoxon rank sum test is selected.


not merely escaping or solving problems. As children we constructed an experience more completely and seamlessly in our lives as we read the book. As Lawrence Yep points out in the Foreword, fantasy literature in his childhood helped him see that "it was possible to find a place for myself . . . ," even as he had to "build a place for myself" in the real world (vii–viii). Few studies are available on how children construct meaning from books, and most of those involve small numbers of children. Powerful Magic is also a detailed study of a few children, but its focus on fantasy reading as well as on younger readers helps to bridge some gaps in our knowledge of children and reading processes. The background in reader response theory given in the book is perhaps too sketchy for an undergraduate's first exposure, but the methodology and narratives of children at work in their reading create fruitful discussion for those seeking to understand why and how to support young readers, as well as those conducting field work or action research in their classrooms.


Usages of Renewable Energy resources is increasing in different sections of energy consumption in the world. An unfortunate forecast for use of fossil-fuel sources has provide huge amount of uncertainty and concerns about the future of energy consumption and future resources for feeding the systems and hence it has been resulted in increase in use of replacement sources of energy most importantly the renewable sector including wind and solar systems. These sources are important due to not only non-dependence of them on fossil sources, but also due to significant reduction they can achieve in generation of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.


This study was carried out during 2018 and 2019 seasons to investigate the effects of spraying jasmonic oil (3 cm/L or 6 cm/L), coffeic acid (30 ppm or 60 ppm) and their mixture at pre-bloom (1 application time) and at 6 mm size of berry (the 2 time) on yield and fruit quality of "Ruby Seedless" grape cultivar. The grapevines were grown at a vineyard of Pomology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University. The vines were pruned as bilateral cordon leaving 36 buds per vine, 18 fruiting spurs, 2 buds each. The experiments were setted up as split-plot arrangement in acomplete randomized block design, 4 replicates, one vine each. According to the obtained results, it was found that all the treatments with jasmonic oil or coffeic acid and their mixture induced significant increase in yield components and physical and chemical characteristics, with the exception of titratable acidity % (TA%) in berry juice was increased in response to the treatment. Generally, it was found that spraying a mixture of jasmonic oil plus coffeic acid was more effective on improving the yield or fruit quality of Ruby Seedless grape cultivar, comparing with untreated vines during the two studied seasons. Therefore, it could be recommended that to with spraying a mixture of jasmonic oil plus coffeic acid to improve the yield and fruit quality under the condition of this study. This study is considered first research carried out to investigate the effect of coffeic acid and a mixture of it with jasmonic oil on yield and fruit quality of grapevine. Therefore, we need more studies to concern the obtained of this result.


The objective of this research is to know the household strategy in order to fulfill the household the basic need. The research is done in South Sumatra Province with on settlement unit sample there are taken purposively based on the up land and low land, the new (maximum for seven years) and old settlement (more then seven years). The samples of households are taken randomly from each unit at about 15% from the population. The method of analysis are using regression OLS, and using coefficient variation. Permanent consumption is on the primary food level while temporary consumption consist of clothes, education, furniture, er cetera. In old settlement, permanent income in up land comes from the farm and off farm, while in low land comes only from the farm. The short-term strategy is that because of the limitation (Oransmigran's income, they postpone or sacrifice the other necessities. The longterm strategy will change due to the growing age of the settlement from only specializing on food crop to cash crop. However, the age of settlement studied is not enough to grow perennial cash crop.


The robustness of a longitudinal missile autopilot to uncertain aerodynamics is determined using the real multiloop stability margin. This method determines control system stability robustness to simultaneous real- parameter variations without conservatism. This paper presents an overview of the theory and a computer program developed to evaluate control system robustness to real-paramete r uncertainties. The program imple- ments a signal flow graph decomposition method to compute the robustness analysis model. A polynomial-time convex-hull algorithm is presented. MISSILE flight control system must guarantee stability and performance in the face of large aerodynamic uncer- tainties and disturbances. This requires the feedback controller to maintain system stability and loop performance for all pos- sible variations in the plant behavior. Determination of the degree of robustness to these aerodynamic uncertainties is the focus of this paper. A recent publication by deGaston and Safonov1 outlines an algorithm that will exactly compute the stability margin km of diagonally perturbed multivariable sys- tems without conservatism. This paper presents an overview of that theory and describes software used to analyze a bank-to- turn missile autopilot. In the early 1980s, several papers described how multivari- able feedback systems can be analyzed in the frequency do- main.2'3 Doyle4 developed several robustness theorems that were fundamental in developing the analysis techniques used to analyze model uncertainties. These methods utilize singular- value theory as a means of measuring the size of multi-input multi-output frequency-dependent matrices. These tests mod- eled control system uncertainties using a full single-block ma- trix structure. If the uncertainties were truly structured in this form, then these tests are not conservative. If the uncertainties did enter the system in a structured way, these tests produced conservative estimates of stability robustness. Doyle5'6 later developed a method of incorporating the structure of the uncertainty into the uncertainty analysis. This capability reduced the conservatism of the previous singular- value techniques by utilizing a multiple-block diagonal struc- tural model of the uncertainties. This test is called the struc- tured singular-value (SSV) ^ test. Morton7'8 applied the \L test to the analysis of real-parameter variations. The SSV /* software generally models the real- parameter variation as a complex variation and produces a slightly conservative bound. Jones9 and Fan and Tits10 have worked on reducing this conservatism, but reliable software implementing the real SSV is not readily available. In contrast to the foregoing SSV-based tests, robustness to uncertainties is also being analyzed using polynomial methods. A myriad of papers have recently been published that utilize Kharitonov's theorem11 and variants of it. Kharitonov's theo- rem analyzes the robustness question by examining the Hur- witz (stability) properties of a family of polynomials whose coefficients are based on the system's characteristic equation and uncertainties. Barmish and DeMarco12 present an excellent review of the literature on these polynomial methods.


Case Report A 22-year-old gardener presented in June, 1964, with symptoms of angina of effort and was found to have aortic incompetence. He had had retrosternal pain on effort for one month and shortness of breath for several months. He also complained of long-standing frequency of micturition, up to every half-hour, and he had had nocturnal enuresis for as long as he could remember. There was no past history of rheumatic fever. His parents were both alive. He had three sisters: one twin, one younger, and one older. Examination revealed a slightly built man weighing 7 st. 11 lb. There were some minor stigmata of congenital syphilis: his upper incisors were slightly wedge-shaped and there was an increased carrying angle at the elbow. The pulse was collapsing in character and the early diastolic murmur of aortic incompetence was present; BP was 140/60. Neurological examination revealed normal pupils, but absent knee, ankle, and supinator jerks. He was admitted for further investigation and the following results were obtained: WR positive, titre 1:128. RPCF positive. TPI positive. Urine: no albumin or sugar. Centrifuged deposit normal. Cerebrospinal fluid: WR and RPCF positive. Cell count: 4 polymorphs, 24 lymphocytes per c.mm. Protein: 51 mg. per 100 ml. Lange gold curve: 2344421000. ECG: left ventricular "strain". X rays of chest and tibiae normal. Audiogram: normal. Ophthalmological examination showed absence of corneal or retinal abnormality. Cystoscopy showed a normal bladder with no prostatic projection. A mic-


The nature of the relation between the art and art teaching is dialectical. Art teaching is unthinkable and unrealizable without art substances, and a work of art can't achieve its full sense without educated person capable of experience. Starting from that fact came the idea to explore the perception of the art works at the children in the early school age, in this case at the children in the first and the second grade of the primary school, their preferences and the attitude towards the works of art. It was tried to figure out how much children of the lower school age like to view the works of art and the preferences of the pupils of the lower school age (first and second grades of primary schools) according to work of arts of traditional or modern artistic expression (controlling the influence of the variable – gender), drawings or paintings, figurative or abstract presentation. Children of early school age in a higher percentage choose paintings in relation to drawings (81% of the pupils of the first grade and 79% of the second grade). Most of the children of the lower school age (69% of the pupils of the first grade and 76% of the second grade) prefer figurative in relation to abstract expression. Most of the children of the lower school age like to view art work.


A novel dichloromethylenation of oxazolidinones and their conversion to allyl amines 3a-e, key precursors for potential HIV protease inhibitors is described.


Cantor set is an important set in real functions theory.The author studies it in the definition,properties and applications.The aim of this paper is to help the beginners to have a general understanding in it.


The uterine response of intact, immature rats given 6 levels of estrone and maintained at 36 C during a 6-hr test was significantly reduced compared to the response noted in rats receiving estrone but maintained at 21 C. The same high temperature treatment, however, did not significantly reduce the uterine response in rats given 6 levels of 17β-estradiol. The effect of high temperature on the uterine response to estrone was also observed in rats adrenalectomized 12 hr prior to the assay. Adrenalectomized rats maintained at either temperature tended to give a greater response to estrone than was observed in intact rats. The data suggest that: 1) estrone and 17β-estradiol do not act in an identical manner on the uterus of the immature rat, and 2) a 36 C environment may alter the in vivo effectiveness of estrone, possibly by altering the conversion of estrone to 17β-estradiol. (Endocrinology 79: 466, 1966)


Highly regulated EU agricultural sector via Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) creates conditions for encouraging the competitiveness of farmers not only within the European single market. Farmers in the Czech Republic face not only the challenges of globalization, nevertheless the problem of aging the farmers' population. Under provided major assumptions, there is therefore necessary to implement such instruments of the CAP to ensure sustainable competitiveness of Czech agricultural enterprises and specifically family farms by government authorities, which are considered to be the economically smallest agricultural business entities. There is introduced a specific approach to a more efficient CAP in the current EU programming period till year 2020 through efforts to increase the competitiveness of European farmers as well in the term of the sustainable development within rural areas. The objective of the article is to identify usable financial and nonfinancial instruments to increase the competitiveness of domestic family farms in the context of EU CAP 2020 not only in terms of the Czech agrarian sector, but within the EU single market. Complementarily, there is provided evidence to economic performance of the smallest farmers in comparison with other size categories of agricultural businesses in the EU member countries.


As a new model organism, Zebrafish has been widely used in many aspects of life science research for its unique advantages in growth and development and the convenience of transgenic manipulation. Endemic disease is serious in China. Currently, on one hand, the pathogenesis of endemic fluorosis, endemic arsenism and iodine deficiency disorders is unclear, on the other hand, the cause of Keshan disease and Kashin-Beck disease is still unknown. This poses great difficulties in the prevention and control of endemic diseases. At present, there are some shortcomings and deficiencies in the animal models used to study the etiology and mechanism of endemic diseases. However, the advantages of Zebrafish as a new model organism just can make up for these deficiencies. Therefore, this paper reviews the application prospects of a new model organism, Zebrafish, in the field of endemic diseases.

Key words:
Zebrafish; Endemic fluorosis; Endemic arsenicosis; Iodine deficiency disorders


The developmental growth of home-improving devices and equipment has ceaselessly progressed from the Industrial Revolution until the present day. From heating systems to lighting equipment and air conditioning, we have now reached the Smart house age. However, in order to be efficient, such a kind of home demands a new city: A Smart City, with devices, networks, and infrastructures that would be fundamental requisites for its functioning. That is why the ancient cities, on the way to becoming an inconvenience for the development of the brand-new ones, are going to find their place in a desert, in a "tabula rasa" devoid of relics, ruins, and debris of their history. This contribution investigates the challenges that architects must put forth in trying to overcome such a condition of exclusion from the process of building a new human landscape.


The process of hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexane is introduced.The recent progress of catalysts in the hydrogenation is reviewed,and future research of catalysts is presented.


The article describes the approaches to the choice of support options people with disabilities from the perspective of European practice. Attention is accented to the urgency of the tasks of the European Strategy on Disability for 2010-2020 in Ukraine. Highlights the practical measures of state support disabled and proposed priorities for funding their socialization based on the application proven experience in the EU.


Abstract The 1:1 and 1:2 phases (TTM -TTF)Br3 and (TTM -TTF)(Br3)2, TTM -TTF = tetra(methylthio)tetrathiafulvalene, C10H12S8, have been crystallized by diffusion of bromine vapour into solutions of the donor. The 1:1 salt is monoclinic, P 21/n, a = 7.587(2), b = 11.424(3), c = 23.145(8) Å , β = 95.80(3)°, V = 1997 Å3, Z = 4, Mr = 628.45, dc = 2.09 g cm-3, final Rw = 0.028 for 912 reflections. The 1:2 salt is monoclinic, C2/m, a = 11.510(3), b = 17.039(4), c = 9.770(3), β = 141.62(1)°, V = 1190 Å3, Z = 2, Mr = 868.16, dc = 2.42 g cm-3, final Rw = 0.029 for 899 reflections. Diadic stacks of the monopositive donor cations are found in the 1:1 salt, whereas the dipositive cations in the 1:2 salt form sheets via short intermolecular S···S contacts. A relation between bond lengths and charge is indicated.


As a new approach for efficient multi-MW sub-40 fs pulse generation at highrepetition rate, we present an all-PM-fiber ytterbium-doped self-starting Mamyshev oscillator integrated with a gain-managed nonlinear amplifier enabled by fiber Bragg gratings.


Metglas 2826 MB having a nominal composition of Fe40Ni38Mo4B18 is an excellent soft magnetic material and finds application in sensors and memory heads. However, the thin-film forms of Fe40Ni38Mo4B18 are seldom studied, although they are important in micro-electro-mechanical systems/nano-electro-mechanical systems devices. The stoichiometry of the film plays a vital role in determining the structural and magnetic properties of Fe40Ni38Mo4B18 thin films: retaining the composition in thin films is a challenge. Thin films of 52 nm thickness were fabricated by RF sputtering technique on silicon substrate from a target of nominal composition of Fe40Ni38Mo4B18. The films were annealed at temperatures of 400 °C and 600 °C. The micro-structural studies of films using glancing x-ray diffractometer (GXRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) revealed that pristine films are crystalline with (FeNiMo)23B6 phase. Atomic force microscope (AFM) images were subjected to power spectral density analysis to understand the probable surface evolution mechanism during sputtering and annealing. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was employed to determine the film composition. The sluggish growth of crystallites with annealing is attributed to the presence of molybdenum in the thin film. The observed changes in magnetic properties were correlated with annealing induced structural, compositional and morphological changes.


Raman phonon spectroscopy in the 10–170 cm−1 range has been used to study phase transition in 4-cyanopyridine crystal. At 77 K, ten distinct phonon modes and an internal mode are observed whereas at 300 K the spectrum shows only six phonon bands and an internal mode. The temperature dependence of spectral pattern and phonon band width suggest that the crystal goes through a phase transition around 120 K. Experimental result suggests that the phase transition is discontinuous with a small structural change.


The purpose of this master thesis is to develop an algorithm that efficiently combines multiple-Doppler Lidar wind farm wake measurements into a twodimensional wind field. Useful data sets have to be selected to be used for
the characterization of wakes with this algorithm. An error analysis will be performed to assess the quality and accuracy of the developed methods. Validation of the algorithm is based on Lidar simulations in a large eddy
simulated wind field containing a wind turbine wake. Algorithm results are compared with existing engineering wake models. Recommendations are given for the limitations of the algorithm and under which conditions it can or
cannot be applied with sufficient accuracy of the result.


Non-invasive baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) by the classical transfer function (TF) method very often cannot be assessed in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients, due to a lack of coherence between the heart period and the systolic pressure. On the grounds of a previous investigation, we devised a new BRS index based on the whole-band average (WBA) of the TF in the whole low-frequency band (WBA-BRS), which does not require a coherence check. In this study, we assessed the clinical relevance of this index by testing its prognostic value in a population of 149 CHF patients. During a 20/spl plusmn/ 2 months follow-up, 28 patients died or were urgently transplanted. The univariate relation of the WBA-BRS index with mortality was assessed by the Cox proportional hazards model, and survival functions were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. We also investigated the independent effect of WBA-BRS, adjusting for the NYHA (New York Heart Association) class, LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction), peak V/sub O2/ and Na/sup +/. WBA-BRS showed a significant univariate association with the risk of cardiac events. When its predictive value was assessed in multivariate analysis, WBA-BRS displayed independent prognostic information (risk ratio=3.0, 95% confidence interval: 1.1-7.9, p=0.03). These preliminary data suggest that BRS assessed by a modified version of the classical TF method is a potential prognostic marker in CHF patients.


Database design using relational approaches consists of the following stages: describing business processes, identifying and tapping entities, completing entities with attributes, creating relationship diagrams between entities equipped with cardinality, carrying out normalization processes, making structure language queries (SQL) and translation into programming languages. Managing student data manually, for various information needs at different management lines both horizontally and vertically, will cause several problems. These problems are related to accuracy and response time. This is because each identified file is independent so that when the search for records or data is made difficult, and the accuracy of the data is not maintained due to data redundancy. This research aims to design databases, thereby increasing accuracy and response time by eliminating data redundancies. Based on the condition above, in this study, a database of student data management will be conducted using the relational approach. From the simulation shown, it can be concluded that the database design of student data management using the relational approach has been able to accommodate data and information needs that are relevant to business processes that occur within the student data management system.


The main purpose of this paper is to explain and demonstrate the complex structure that links each variable within carbon emission and tourist travel to Karimunjawa, Indonesia through the causal loop diagram (CLD). Three CLDs, which belong to three sub-systems were used. The first CLD belongs to the number of tourists travel to the Karimunjawa sub-system. The second sub-system belongs to the cost of tourist travel to Karimunjawa sub-system, and the third sub-system belongs to the switching behavior of tourists travel to Karimunjawa and the CO2 emission sub-system. At least one important driver in each sub-system. The findings in this paper put forward some important issues that require to run the full simulation of some proposed scenarios.


This article examines the distinctive federal imaginary. An imaginary associated with a concept refers to the worldview that makes it possible and, in turn, to the worldview that it makes possible. It is the repertory of possible actions and thoughts that make sense, that are plausible, that are readily accessible from within the worldview that the artefact concept in question frames. The hermeneutic task at hand in providing an account of the imaginary associated with an institutional framework like federalism can be meaningfully limited to the distinctive assumptions upon which it is based, and the distinctive worldview it contributes in producing. We will thus examine what might be conceived as the distinctive internal point of view of federalism. While analytical jurisprudence tends to stop at looking at the basic structure of the paradigmatic cases of the concepts that it examines, we will push the inquiry further to flesh out what kind of background assumptions make the practice of federalism possible.This article will first explore how political authority is conceived and how we attempt to make sense of its legitimacy in a world that we imagine made of relatively equal individuals who are members of multiple collective agents (I.). In light of the fact that political authorities' legitimacy in our contemporary world relies on instrumental and existential justifications, we will examine how subjects may react when confronted with authoritative demands that do not appear to satisfy one or another of such justifications (II.). This will highlight the need for distinguishing between institutions meant to embody collective identities – "existential communities" – from institutions perceived as mere "functional regimes". Indeed, the nature of the standards used to evaluate the actions and powers of each will differ accordingly (III.). In particular, the perception that subjects will have of an institution (i.e. as either incarnating an existential community or as putting in place a functional regime) will determine the acceptability of treating such institution as a mere delegate of a superior political authority (IV.). The distinctive imagined nature of both the central entity and the federated states in a Federation prohibits conceiving either one of them as mere delegation of the other level of government (V.). A Federation is thus a political form that does not rely on the idea of sovereignty (VI.), nor on a somewhat contractual theory associated with confederations. Rather, Federations are political forms built around ideas such as loyalty and solidarity between intertwined, nested, political communities (VII.).


To the Editor: The variables used to select medical school applicants should be robust and provide practical information. They should be valid, reliable, transferable from one context to another, and demonstrate candidates' effectiveness in decision-making processes. As medical school applicants progressed from high school through college, they demonstrated the ability to learn new material (ie, aptitude). Their undergraduate grade-point averages (GPAs) and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores confirm that they have learned a substantial body of knowledge (ie, achievement). Since 2000, JAOA—The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association has published 12 articles examining various relationships between academic achievement and performance on the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEXUSA).1–12 The most analyzed variables have been MCAT scores,1,4,6–9,12 undergraduate GPAs,1,4,7,12 individual course grades in osteopathic medical school,1,4,5,7,10 and osteopathic medical school GPAs.1,2,4–12 A number of conclusions are evident from these findings. First, the grades osteopathic medical students receive in individual medical school courses and their medical school GPAs are much better predictors of COMLEX-USA performance than are MCAT scores and undergraduate GPAs.1,2,4–12 The former variables explain up to 72% of the variance in COMLEX-USA scores, while the latter only explain up to 20%.1,2,4–12 The corollary of this statement is that COMLEXUSA performance is at least 80% dependent upon factors that seem unrelated to undergraduate GPAs and MCAT scores. We are left to wonder what these unnamed variables comprising 80% of students' potential success—as measured by COMLEX-USA—might be. The affective domain includes patterns of behavior that signify one's response to emotions. These characteristics may hold the answer for osteopathic medical schools that are seeking to screen and evaluate applicants for the personal traits that will help them become successful as medical students. In a 2002 book titled Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Golman et al13 describe emotional competence as a capability, based on "emotional intelligence,"14 that is related to success at work. Emotional competence is the product of varying degrees of personal competence (selfawareness, self-regulation, and motivation) and social competence (empathy and social skills). Goleman14 reports that emotional intelligence is a better predictor of career success than cognitive ability as measured through standard intelligence quotient tests. One study analyzed employees from 40 companies and demonstrated that emotional intelligence could differentiate the star performers (upper 10%) from average performers.15 In fact, emotional intelligence was twice as important as the results of standard intelligence tests in identifying the most successful employees.15 Presently, the selection of successful candidates appears to be more a matter As the premier scholarly publication of the osteopathic medical profession, JAOA—The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association encourages osteopathic physicians, faculty members and students at osteopathic medical colleges, and others within the healthcare professions to submit comments related to articles published in JAOA and the mission of the osteopathic medical profession. The JAOA's editors are particularly interested in letters that discuss recently published original research. Letters to the editor are considered for publication in JAOA with the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere and that they are not simultaneously under consideration by any other publication. All accepted letters to the editor are subject to copyediting. Letter writers may be asked to provide JAOA staff with photocopies of referenced material so that the references themselves and statements cited may be verified. Readers are encouraged to prepare letters electronically in Microsoft Word (.doc) or in plain (.txt) or rich text (.rtf) format. The JAOA prefers that letters be e-mailed to email@example.com. Mailed letters should also be sent electronically, in one of the aforementioned electronic formats on an IBM-compatible CD or a 3 1 ⁄2-inch disk, and addressed to Gilbert E. D'Alonzo, Jr, DO, Editor in Chief, American Osteopathic Association, 142 E Ontario St, Chicago, IL 60611-2864. Letter writers must include their full professional titles and affiliations, complete preferred mailing addresses, day and evening telephone numbers, fax numbers, and preferred e-mail addresses. Authors are responsible for disclosing financial associations and other conflicts of interest. Although JAOA cannot acknowledge the receipt of letters, a JAOA staff member will notify writers whose letters have been accepted for publication. Mailed submissions and supporting materials will not be returned unless authors provide self-addressed, stamped envelopes with their submissions. All osteopathic physicians who have letters published in JAOA receive continuing medical education (CME) credit for their contributions. Writers of original letters receive 5 hours of AOA Category 1-B CME credit. Authors of published articles who respond to letters about their research receive 3 hours of Category 1-B CME credit for their responses. Although JAOA welcomes letters to the editor, readers should be aware that these contributions have a lower publication priority than other submissions. As a consequence, letters are published only when space allows.


In this paper, we are concerned with the behavior of shock waves in a 2 × 2 balance law with discontinuous source terms. We obtain the existence of a local shock wave solution of this problem and deduce that the discontinuous source terms create a weak discontinuity in this solution. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A slab-wick heat pipe was fabricated and tested for applications where the condenser temperature in the range of 80 to 120 ℃. The pipe material was 9.53 ㎜ o.d. copper tube and the working fluids were ethanol and distilled water. The total length of the heat pipe was 1.5 m in which evaporator section was 1300 ㎜ and the condenser was 0.15 m. The slab was a composite wick structure fabricated with stainless steel wire screens. The temperature of coolant and inclination angle were varied with applied thermal load. The maximum thermal load was 120 W in and 200 W the case of ethanol and water, respectively. The thermal performance of the slab-wick heat pipe is analysed and discussed in terms of temperature characteristics and thermal resistance against thermal load and inclination angle.


Today, no one will doubt that nature is the teacher of human beings. Nature is now being used as a source of inspiration or metaphor for the development of new techniques for solving complex problems in various domains, from engineering to biology; and new material and means with which to compute are currently being investigated. We have developed many kinds of technologies, theories, and methods inspired by nature. And then we use them to change the world and become more adapt to it. In one word, not only have we got sources and food from nature, but also ideas and thought. Natural computing (NC) or nature inspired computing (NIC) is such a kind of technology. Of course, there are series of theories and methods relating to it. As we know, NC was developed with artificial intelligence, because genetic algorithm, artificial neural network, fuzzy theories, which are classical methods of NC, were developed with AI. Now they are called biologically inspired computing (BIC), which is an important type of NC. The other kinds of NC are social inspired NC, physical inspired computing and chemical inspired computing. Most methods of NC belong to BIC. Besides the classical ones, there are so many kinds of BIC developed today, such as DNA System (AIS), which is also one of the main topics of this book. So, here we can see that AIS is also a part of NC. That is why we can discuss NC and AIS in one book. Artificial immune systems are adaptive systems inspired by theoretical immunology and observed immune functions, principles, and models, which are applied to complex problem domains; they are relatively recent examples of using the real world as computational inspiration. Immune system, particularly a human being's immune system, is a very complex system, so it has many special characteristics and physiology processes which the other biology systems do not own, such as recognizing virus by pattern, keeping memory by immune cells, learning by responding to invaders, clone selection, negative selection, and so on. In the past ten years, researchers from different fields have investigated immune system from different angles for different aims. In the field of computer science, we mainly focus on the computational ability of it. In addition to obvious security metaphor, many other application areas of AIS have been developed, including anomaly detection, optimization, fault tolerance, machine learning, data mining, automation control, Internet, and so …


Summary : 'The Life Of A Racehorse' is the title of a booklet, published 1865 in London by John Mills. In 21 chapters on 112 pages, it embraces the fate of the fictitious racehorse Sheet Anchor. His recollection of a life fraught with sorrowful changes starts with the basic education and training, where a horse should not be blamed and punished for his natural sensitiveness. He nevertheless underwent these pre- parations without problems and developed into a successful two-year-old and the winner of the Derby. His success kindled the interest of the betting community and Sheet Anchors' fate turned. He became the victim of safe methods for the increase of betting returns by laying against him. He suffered defeats caused by ruthless tactics, broke down, was drugged and nobbled, was sold several times and ended after a raffle as the property of a cabman. At this stage he wondered whether leaving back in his birthplace would have been a fare more pleasing scene. Although the story of Sheet Anchor is presented as a novel, the gloomy pictures reflect the situation of racing in the first half of the 19th century reliably. At these times, racing in Great Britain is reported to have been at the lowest moral ebb of its history. The described methods of the education and training also are criticized elsewhere and even may still be encountered in our days. Deplorably, the same can be said in regard to some medical treatments of the racehorse. In the history of racing, betting obviously was a main reason for grievances, and these risks (or human frailties) also still have to be dealt with in our society. Fortunately, in regard to welfare-issues in the context with the retirement of racehorses, meanwhile true progress happened in different places. Today, there is a generally accepted understanding that the commitment to the care and well-being of a horse must come along with the thrill of owning it. In accordance with this, the promotion of welfare is considered a key requirement for the future viability of the racing industry.


It has recently been shown that the third law of thermodynamics is violated by an entire class of classical Hamiltonians in one dimension, over a finite volume of coupling-constant space, assuming only that certain elementary symmetries are exact, and that the interactions are finite-ranged. However, until now, only the existence of such Hamiltonians was known, while almost nothing was known of the nature of the couplings. Here we show how to define the subvolume of these Hamiltonians---a `wedge' W in a d-dimensional space---in terms of simple properties of a directed graph. We then give a simple expression for a specific Hamiltonian H* in this wedge, and show that H* is a physically reasonable Hamiltonian, in the sense that its coupling constants lie within an envelope which decreases smoothly, as a function of the range l, to zero at l=r+1, where r is the range of the interaction.


Objective To investigate the clinical manifestation and treatment of herpes zoster ophthalmicus. Methods In 294 cases with herpes zoster ophthalmicus, the eye lesion and treatment were studied. Results The average age of patients was 55.7 years, the patients over 50 being 67.3%. The manifestations of eye lesion appeared as eyelid lesion(93.5%), conjunctivitis(88.8%), keratitis(26.5%), uveitis(6.5%), secondary glaucoma(1. 0%) and panophthalmitis. Conclusion The eye lesions of herpes zoster ophthalmicus were various,and the treatment was important in its early stage of the disease.


METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey of English-speaking patients presenting for a midtrimester fetal anatomy scan at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Patients were recruited prior to their US and if consent was obtained they completed a pre-US survey. The survey obtained demographic information and assessed knowledge of US detectable anatomic abnormalities by seven questions. Comparison between groups was performed by Wilcoxon rank sum test, Spearman rank correlation, and bivariate linear regression as appropriate.


This paper investigates a control strategy of active front wheel steering based on quantitative feedback theory (QFT). By incorporating feedback from yaw rate sensor into active steering system, the control system improves the dynamic responses of the vehicle. A multi degree-of-freedom nonlinear model is co-simulated by MATLAB Simulink and ADAMS/CAR. The performance of the control system is evaluated under various emergency maneuvers and road conditions shows that the designed robust control system has good control performance and can efficiently improve the handing qualities and stability characteristics.


This study aimed to analyze the implementation of bioinformatics learning in senior high school from research articles. A systematic review was conducted in this study and showed the findings of relevant studies about the implementation of bioinformatics learning in senior high school. Three journals used for a systematic review: PLOS Computational Biology, Briefing Bioinformatics, and CBE-Life Science Education. A total of nine papers were included in the systematic review from 166 articles screened by criteria; bioinformatics learning or bioinformatics education at the senior high school level, published from 2010 to 2019. The result of this study is the trend of learning outcomes of bioinformatics learning at senior high school is to increase cognitive or knowledge in the Biology field, especially molecular biology (67%). The trend for the type of assessment in bioinformatics learning at senior high school is the observation to assess the learning outcome (44%). The trend of contents in bioinformatics learning used Biology, computer science, and information technologies (100%). The trend of bioinformatics tools in bioinformatics learning at senior high school is BLAST (44%). The trend of teaching strategy to implement bioinformatics learning at senior high school is inquiry and problem-based learning (each teaching strategy is 22%). The last is the trend of the period in implementing bioinformatics learning at senior high school is three periods in each topic (33%). For further study, the trend of implementation of bioinformatics learning can be integrated to design the new framework for implementing bioinformatics learning at senior high school. These findings recommended that science teachers or science educators promote bioinformatics learning at senior high schools.


In present study, solid propellant grain of the pryostarter is designed for liquid rocket engines. To prevent the turbopump RPM overshoot, regressive mass flow rate profile is required. Sudden decrease of the mass flow rate at the end of the propellant burning is reflected to the design requirements as well. The performance of the designed pyrostarter is predicted to satisfy the design requirements from the internal ballistics analysis. Firing test results are similar to the design requirements of the mass flow rate except the initial period with high peak pressure. Ignition pressure will be reduced by the variation study of the ignition materials.


&NA; The Black‐Scholes (BS) option pricing model has been a cornerstone of modern financial theories since its introduction by Black and Scholes (1973) and its subsequent refinement by Merton (1973). The model has realized widespread adoption for a number of purposes. Inherent in the model are a number of assumptions. An important and potentially restrictive assumption is that the underlying asset price is log‐normally distributed. Among the many diverse uses of the BS model, the model and underlying theory are used to derive measurements of the variance of expected (harvest‐time) prices for use in rating revenue coverage in the federal crop insurance program. Revenue coverage currently accounts for about 80% of the total liability insured in the program. This liability frequently exceeds $100 billion and thus the accuracy of revenue premium rates is of vital importance. The use of the BS model by the Risk Management Agency (RMA) of the USDA has been the focus of recent criticisms of the program. Critics have argued in favor of retrospective measures of price variability that are based on historical price movements or have recommended other approaches to measuring price risk. This article reports on a contracted review of revenue insurance rating methodology commissioned by RMA. We evaluate a number of alternative approaches to measuring expected price variability, including several approaches recommended by critics of the federal program. Our results suggest that the BS model is preferred to recommended alternatives on the basis of numerous criteria.


I argue that, if doxastic involuntarism is true, then we should reconceive what are traditionally called reasons for belief. The truth of doxastic involuntarism would rule out a certain understanding of reasons for belief according to which they are reasons to form, alter, or relinquish beliefs. Thus, reconceiving reasons for belief would require reconceiving doxastic obligations. I argue that, in fact, a reconception of reasons for belief warrants abandoning the notion of doxastic obligations, understood as obligations to perform acts of belief formation, alteration, or relinquishment. Instead, the only sorts of obligations we would have that concern our doxastic states would be aretaic or practical.


The aim of the study was to investigate types of corrective feedback the teacher provided in dialogue journal. A total of 20 learners taking Writing 2 Course were classified by English proficiency level into two groups. They were Elementary and Intermediate. The qualitative method was largely employed to understand the phenomenon, and some quantification of data was also used to describe the numbers and percentages of the learners' errors and the provided corrective feedback. The findings showed that the teacher applied explicit, elicitation, metalinguistic, and clarification corrective feedback (CF) to help the learners correct their errors in dialogue journal writings. Explicit and metalinguistic CF was the most frequently used CF subsequently, but explicit was a corrective feedback type that led to the most amount of learners' uptake. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that explicit CF was effective and successful to generate learners' uptake. However, this result contradicts several studies which reported that explicit CF was rather ineffective in generating learners' uptake.


This article explores some of the images and words that service users choose to capture and represent their unique spirituality. It was written using material that service users produced as part of two projects focusing on spirituality and hope. The first project involved a group where service users were given a camera to capture something that represented their spirituality. The second project involved producing material for an art exhibition entitled Growing Hope, that was showcased in Sheffield as part of World Mental Health Day 2009.The article is written by Hazel Bryce, an occupational therapist working in an assertive outreach team (SORT) in Sheffield, and Lorraine, a service user who worked on the two projects and who has an interest in spirituality. They reflect together on the process of being involved in the projects and the meaning of this piece of work. The article was written together to try to capture a range of perspectives.


Many scenarios of new physics can lead to deviations of the observables (cross sections, asymmetries) from the Standard Model predictions in e+e- collision. The possibility of uniquely identifying the indirect effects of s-channel sneutrino exchange, as predicted by supersymmetric theories with R-parity violation, against other new physics scenarios in high-energy electron-positron annihilation into tau pairs at the International Linear Collider has been studied.


It goes back for 25 years in 1972, low pressure reverse osmosis (RO) membrane was developed in USA. Since that time, this low pressure RO membrane has been made rapid progress in producing of semiconductor-grade water in Japan. On the other hand, in USA and Europe, the low pressure RO membrane has been greatly developed for desalination of brackish water and refinement or condensation in food processing.Later we will explain the latest information of the low pressure composite RO membranes, especially in respect of the forefront of the ultra low pressure RO membrane which was developed for saving the energy and in respect of the module for food processing or vessel structure.


Ti-based bulk metallic glass was irradiated by a 20 MeV Cl4+ ion beam under liquid-nitrogen cooling, which produced remarkable surface smoothing and roughening that respectively correspond to normal and off-normal incidence angles of irradiation. Atomic force microscopy confirms two types of periodic ripples distributed evenly over the rough glass surface. In terms of mechanism, irradiation-induced vis-


While many Americans dream about starting their own business and have the motivation to do so, lack of business expertise and access to credit often prevent them from realizing their dreams. Project GATE (Growing America Through Entrepreneurship) was implemented to help emerging entrepreneurs create, sustain, and/or expand their existing small business. In seven demonstration sites in Minnesota, Maine, and Pennsylvania, approximately 4,000 individuals applied for services between fall 2003 and summer 2005. Findings from a random assignment evaluation show that Project GATE increased the proportion of business ownership. However, earnings were not significantly higher among Project GATE participants compared to their control group counterparts.


A lattice-gas Monte Carlo method is used to simulate metallic fcc clusters at finite temperatures. A tight-binding model including s and p electrons has been derived for reproducing the free-electron-like energy band for the bulk metal and this model is used for calculating the electronic structures of the fcc cluster. The resulting level-spacing distribution at the Fermi energy is a Wigner distribution. The width of the distribution in small clusters is smaller than that calculated from the bulk density of states. In the lattice gas clusters the energy gaps related to the electronic magic numbers do not show up at the Fermi level. The energy between the last occupied and the first unoccupied levels is, on average, larger than other level spacings near the Fermi level.


Curiosity (from the Latin curiosus "careful, diligent, curious," akin to cura "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human and many animal species. The term can also be used to denote the behavior itself, being caused by the emotion of curiosity. As this emotion represents a thirst for knowledge, curiosity constitutes a major driving force behind scientific research and other disciplines of human study. Dolf Seilacher (Fig. 1A) personified this definition, and his extraordinary life stands a testament to all of us on how science should be undertaken. Although we are concentrating on Dolf's ichnological contributions, his research dealt with many other aspects of paleontology. Dolf's ichnological contributions included work in constructional morphodynamics, the study of exceptionally preserved fossil deposits (Lagerst€atten), and Ediacaran assemblages, where he is known for proposing the innovative hypothesis of the Vendobionta. In each of these fields, Dolf's creative work stimulated further research, which led to fundamental discoveries and imaginative interpretations. His research is really based on first principles and the power of observation. It is rare when a discipline can chart its inception to a single practitioner, but ichnology owes its modern foundation to Adolf "Dolf" Seilacher and a series of papers that he published from 1953 to 1964. In these papers, Dolf gave life to the field of ichnology—until then, a somewhat anecdotal science that was considered by most paleontologists as a quaint field inhabited by the flotsam of paleontology. Dolf really showed us the beauty of the science and the significance of understanding animal-sediment inter-relationships. Building on the work of earlier geologists such as the German palaeontologist Rudolf Richter, founder of the Senckenberg Laboratory in Wilhelmshaven, and the Austrian paleontologist Othenio Abel, Dolf was able to put order into the fledging science. Since the inception of the Senckenberg Laboratory (Pemberton, 2003; Cad ee and Goldring, 2007), Germany had become the center of innovation in animal-sediment relations, taphonomy, and Aktuo-pal€aontologie (Actualistic Paleontology). One of us (SGP) first became aware of Dolf in 1971, while doing his BSc thesis at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, on the Ordovician Gull River Limestone. This unit contained trace fossils, and SGP started reading about them. He found Dolf's seminal papers, but they were written in German, and so it took him sometime to translate them all. The more SGP read, the more he was hooked, and he decided that ichnology was what he wanted to do. He first met Dolf at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, in 1976, where he was doing his PhD. Dolf had been invited to give a series of talks by McMaster paleontologist Gerd Westermann (a classmate of Dolf's at the University of T€ ubingen). The talks were eagerly anticipated, but the senior author was mystified that Dolf did not even mention trace fossils; the talks centered on cephalopod suture strength. He soon learned that the hallmark of Dolf's science was to never expect the obvious!


Includes sixty research papers in separate sections on taxonomy, forests and forestry, phytogeography, ecology, and the conservation and sustainable use of African plants.


Four species of the genus Exaeretia Stainton are recorded from China. Exaeretia liupanshana sp. nov. from Mt. Liupan, Ningxia Huizu Autonomous Region is described as new. Exaeretia lechriosema (Meyrick), E. indubitatella (Hannemann) and E. ciniflonella (Lienig & Zeller) are newly recorded for China. Photographs of the adults and genital structures are provided.


Large openly available neuroimaging datasets, although highly valuable, do not typically provide the community with subject-level whole-brain connectivity matrices that are ready to be used brain connectivity analysis. In the pursuit of open science, we have made available fully processed and parcellated connectomes and timeseries for the Human Connectome Project - Young Adult (HCP-YA) dataset to the neuroimaging and computational neuroscience community. We have processed and parcellated the 8 fMRI conditions for the 1200 from subjects part of the HCP-YA dataset into to the Schaefer parcellations, which are further subdivisions of the resting state functional networks. We also provide a detailed fingerprinting analysis of these parcellated connectomes and timeseries data using the differential identifiability framework on three different cohorts: Unrelated subjects, monozygotic twins, and dizygotic twins. Overall, results indicate that combining fine-grained parcellations with the differential identifiability framework uncovers fingerprints for all cohorts and fMRI conditions evaluated.


We propose a micro-dew condensation sensor equipped with a quartz tuning fork (QTF) coated with a polystyrene sphere self-assembled monolayer (PSSAM) for dew condensation prevention. Polystyrene spheres with diameters of 202 and 356 nm were used. A micro-dew condensation sensing experiment was performed at 25°C and 45% relative humidity. The inflection point of the frequency shift curve for the QTF sensor coated with a PSSAM shifted to a higher temperature than that of a bare QTF. This suggests that the modified sensor can serve as a sensor used to prevent dew condensation.


[Rh(P(t)Bu(i)Bu(2))(2)][BAr(F)(4)], formed by removal of H(2) from [RhH(2)(P(t)Bu(i)Bu(2))(2)][BAr(F)(4)], is in rapid equilibrium between C-H activated Rh(III) isomers, but reacts as a masked 12-electron [Rh(P(t)Bu(i)Bu(2))(2)](+) Rh(I) cation.


We have estimated the 10-year absolute (AR) and relative (RR) cardiovascular risk in 30 patients (12 men and 18 women, mean age 55,5±7,2 years with essential hypertension, mild to severe (WHO/ISH, 1999) with the usage of a computer program dealing with the contribution of various risk factors in the Framingham study. The AR calculated from SBP/DBP, equaled 15.4/17.8%, decreasing to 9.8/10.9% after 6 months of Nebivolol treatment (p<0,001), whereas the standard AR for the same age and sex made 5.4/6.7%. The RR, calculated from SBP/DBP ОР, equaled 249/208%, decreasing to 98/65% after 6 months of treatment (p<0,001) with the target level recommended for hypertensive patients (<20%) achieved in 23,3/53,3%. Decreases in AR and RR was not just due to a BP decrease but also the influence of treatment on LVH, absent dynamics of blood lipid and carbohydrate levels, and in smokers – the effect of quitting.


Purpose – This research excursion through shipping companies in Vietnam sought to investigate whether organizational culture, ethics, and emotional intelligence influence knowledge sharing, which in turn enhances competitive intelligence scanning. This paper aims to discuss the above issue. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 401 responses returned from self-administered structured questionnaires relayed to 635 middle level managers were processed through structural equation modeling approach to test hypotheses. Findings – Knowledge sharing was proved to positively relate to clan, market, or adhocracy culture, ethics of care, and high level of emotional intelligence. Knowledge sharing also shows a positive effect on competitive intelligence scanning. Originality/value – For competitive intelligence scanning to be effective, knowledge should be shared among organizational members, which necessitates the three building blocks: supportive knowledge sharing culture (clan, market, or adhocracy culture), et...


This paper studies equilibrium selection based on a class of perfect foresight dynamics and relates it to the notion of p-dominance. A continuum of rational players are repeatedly and randomly matched to play a symmetric n n game. There are frictions: opportunities to revise actions follow independent Poisson processes. The dynamics has stationary states, each of which corresponds to a Nash equilibrium of the static game. A strict Nash equilibrium is linearly stable under the perfect foresight dynamics if, independently of the current action distribution, there exists a consistent belief that any player necessarily plays the Nash equilibrium action at every revision opportunity. It is shown that a strict Nash equilibrium is linearly stable under the perfect foresight dynamics with a small degree of friction if and only if it is the p-dominant equilibrium with p < 1=2. It is also shown that if a strict Nash equilibrium is the p-dominant equilibrium with p < 1=2, then it is uniquely absorbing (and globally accessible) for a small friction (but not vice versa). Set-valued stability concepts are introduced and their existence is shown. Journal of Economic Literature Classication Numbers: C72, C73.


The purpose of this study is to compare the diagnostic accuracy of histogram analysis–derived parameters from intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) for staging of liver fibrosis (LF). The correlations between different histopathologic stages and histogram parameters were determined. The results showed that the histogram metrics of DKI maps demonstrate significant correlation with fibrosis stage, while there was no correlation between histogram metrics of IVIM and fibrosis stage. In conclusion, histogram analysis of DKI may serve as a valuable and robust tool for the staging of LF.


Data on the modern history of the wild reindeer Taimyr population (Rangifer tarandus tarandus L.) are presented. The current stage was conventionally termed the "stage of population destruction". Data from aerial surveys have recorded a sharp decline in the population size from 1 million reindeer in 2000 to 400,000–420,000 in 2017. The natural and anthropogenic factors influencing the population size were analyzed. The main factors responsible for the catastrophic decline in numbers are large-scale poaching and predation by wolves coupled with low productivity of the population. The results of simulations confirmed the validity of biologists' concerns about the fate of the Taimyr population and the risk of its extirpation in the next 7–10 years. A set of measures to regain control over the population and preserve it, including reconstruction of the monitoring system based on modern technical means and modification of the hunting control system, with a transfer of some functions to the indigenous population represented by the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Taimyr, is presented.


Isoniazid (INH) poisoning is a known cause of metabolic acidosis and seizures. The following case report describes a 14-year-old boy with an INH overdose who suffered profound metabolic acidosis (pH of 6.69) and who completely recovered with no obvious sequelae.