The Municipality of Bač is a true treasure trove of authentic tourist attractions due to its turbulent centuries-old past with preserved heritage. That is why the topic of this paper is the cultural and historical factors important for tourism development in the Municipality of Bač. The paper aims to point out the current situation, but it also wants to identify the development potentials of the Municipality of Bač. The process of valuing the heritage of the Bač Fortress, the Bodjani Monastery, the Franciscan Monastery, and the Turkish Bath is based on scientific, cultural, educational, and touristic values. For the purposes of work from August 23 to September 30, 2022, a survey was conducted on a sample of 115 respondents from Bač - the seat of the municipality of the same name, as well as in other settlements of this municipality. The total cultural and touristic value of the authentic heritage exceeds the other average values at the location, while the scientific value is the lowest compared to all the other. Due to the devastation of the Turkish bath, the overall educational function is not satisfactory.


Abstract DNA is chemically degraded to a mixture of pure oligonucleotides. From the resulting partial hydrolyzate, defined oligonucleotides with two to six monomer units and defined mixtures of sequence-isomeric purine oligonucleotides are isolated in preparative amounts. The partial hydrolyzate is fractionated by a chromatographic separation route which uses anion-exchange chromatography on DEAE- and QAE-Sephadex at different pH values, paper chromatography, and reversed-phase HPLC. The sequence of the isolated oligonucleotides and the composition of the mixtures of sequence-isomers were determined from chromatographic data, absorption characteristics, enzymatic degradation, and "fingerprints."


This chapter gives a summary of techniques used in the investigations of minerals, particularly the fine-grained minerals in the Suizhou meteorite. For the various techniques summarized by Edward C.T. Chao and Xiande Xie in their two publications (Chao and Xie 1989, 1990), here we try to describe techniques needed and suitable for the investigation of shock-induced fine structures within minerals, as well as for identification and characterization of tiny new high-pressure polymorphs produced by shock, including optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS), electron microprobe (EPMA), Raman microprobe analysis (RMA), synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction (SRXD), X-ray micro-diffraction (XRMD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to provide examples of optimal use of the various techniques and how they complement each other.


The nitroheterocyclic compound 2-amino-5-nitrothiazole (ANT) was evaluated as a hypoxic radiosensitizer. Experiments with bacteria showed that this agent was similar to misonidazole in radiosensitizing activity, but was less cytotoxic and less mutagenic than misonidazole. Experiments with EMT6 tumor cells in culture showed ANT to be an effective hypoxic radiosensitizer, although slightly less active than misonidazole, and to be less cytotoxic than misonidazole. ANT was more toxic to mice than misonidazole and produced a spectrum of symptoms, including hyperactivity and agitation, different from those of misonidazole. The toxicities of ANT and misonidazole were additive. The maximum levels of ANT achievable in the tumors after ip injection of nontoxic doses of drug were low (<3 X 10-4 M) and the radiosensitization obtainable with the drug in vivo was inferior to that obtainable with misonidazole. These findings suggest that nitrothiazoles might be an interesting class of nitroheterocyclic radiosensitizers, but that molecules with increased solubility and improved pharmacokinetics would be necessary for efficacy in vivo.


The process of making a new constitution often begins in conditions that are not optimal for careful consideration of the process of constitution making and its objectives. Emphasizing the need for a process that maximizes chances for a democratic outcome, this book makes a case for processes that are inclusive, deliberative, and oriented toward achieving consensus rather than merely negotiated outcomes. The book focuses attention on politicians who participate in creating new constitutions. It discusses methods for selecting them, modes of organizing the deliberating and drafting bodies, their standards of decision making, their ways of connecting to the public, and their use of outside advice—all with a view to enhancing the commitment of the participants after the process concludes. Beginning with an enumeration of unpropitious conditions and ways of mitigating them, the chapters provide illustrations of processes that have been relatively successful and others that have gone astray, drawing on an array of country-focused accounts. The volume also identifies characteristic problems, tradeoffs, and pitfalls that can arise in the course of constitution making. The book aims to provide arguments, evidence, and descriptions that will appeal to a wide audience, ranging from curious non-specialist readers to students, experts, and constitution makers and advisors alike.


An ultra-reliable navigation receiver is an absolute necessity for the standardisation of modern cars, including the emerging driverless control. The receivers require an uncompromised level of integrity. The internal consistency of available signals from GNSS, pseudolites, beacons, radars, lidars, sonars, gyros, odometers, INS units, as well as all supporting data, is evaluated in a collective fashion. The Fast Kalman Filtering (FKF) method extends the Helmert-Wolf blocking (HWb) from Geodesy to precision navigation and solves in real-time the trickiest problem of calculating the Minimum Norm Quadratic Unbiased Estimates (MINQUE) of signal errors for the needs of safe driving. This patented FKF method makes full advantage of all possible combinations of the different signals, even in a numerically exploitable manner. Fully automated driving can then be made safe by using all available signals at reasonably restricted cruising speeds. This reported intelligent determination of the true precision of navigation makes room for smooth transport.


The purpose of this research is to produce an e-module product that is feasible and valid as an alternative teaching material for students. This study uses the 4D development method which consists of 4 stages, namely define, design, develop, and dessiminate. The findings of this study are succeeded in developing an e-module on material system regulation for class XI SMA. Based on the results of the validation questionnaire that has been carried out with Lecturers and Teachers, the average score is 90.1% with very valid criteria. Thus, the developed e-module is said to be valid for use by students.


Pharmacokinetics of tiapri- de in 3 males together with its relative bioavaiiability in 6 males were studied. After a single dose either tiapride 200 mg per person given intravenously or 150 mg taken by mouth, drug concentrations in plasma and urine were determined by high-performance liquid chromatogra-phy. pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated according to linear one-corn-partment and two-compartment models respectively. Results revealed that the half-lifes during the disposition phase ranged from 2.52 to 3.17 h with mean 2.83 h; the absorpt'on rate constants wore 0.634 to 2.48 h-1; the climination rate constants were 0.22 to 0.28 h-1 the
total clearance 0.46 to 0.68 h-1kg-1;while the distribution volumes 1.86 to 2.47 l.kg-1. These results illustrated that the rate of absorpton, distribution, and elimination were all quite rapid. Tiapride was mianly eliminated in un-metabolized form through the urine (81. 3%). Its relative bioavaiiability was 95.95%. All of these figures obtanedare well coincided with those of litera ture .


Abstract Introduction Pediatric burn injury remains one of the most common traumatic injuries in childhood. Fortunately, up to 90% of pediatric burns may be treated safely in the outpatient setting after appropriate burn triage. Patients face significant geographic disparities in access to expert burn care due to the regionalization of burn care. To aid patients and their families during acute burn recovery, a smartphone app was developed to improve patient outcomes, increase access to care, and streamline communication. The purpose of this study is to evaluate patient-derived feedback to optimize this burn app prior to subsequent efficacy testing. Methods The burn app was evaluated using a mixed-method approach consisting of qualitative semi-structured interviews and quantitative usability data gathered from caregivers of pediatric burn patients who utilized the app during the treatment phase of their child's burn injury. Usability data were collected using a psychometrically validated mHealth App Usability Questionnaire (MAUQ). To analyze the interview transcriptions, we followed the Braun and Clark (2006) framework of thematic analysis. The research questions focused on caregiver perceptions of smartphone-enhanced pediatric burn care and potential app improvements, including acceptability, usability, technical preferences, and emotional perceptions. Results 14 caregivers (93% women; M age = 36) completed the study. Overall MAUQ scores (M = 6.46; SD = .62) indicated high app usability. Ease of Use & Satisfaction (M = 6.66; SD = .42), System Information Arrangement (M = 5.93; SD = 1.07), and Usefulness (M = 6.69; SD = .61) subscales indicated an average degree of agreement above "somewhat agree" with usability statements. Furthermore, 13/14 (93%) caregivers reported a positive overall experience and agreed that the app was an acceptable method to monitor burn care. 12/14 (86%) caregivers reported that the app captured important clinical information. 53% preferred app-based burn care, 31% preferred both face-to-face and app-based care, and 15% preferred in-person only. Only 1 person preferred synchronous video-based care to asynchronous text-messaging. All study participants suggested improvements, with the most common being: (1) keeping user logged in, (2) time-stamping photos and messages, (3) consolidating text-messages and pictures, (4) adding push notifications and appointment reminders, and (5) tracking pain level. Conclusions Mobile health technology may be leveraged to improve outpatient burn care. The results from this study (1) demonstrate caregiver experiences using a novel mHealth platform for outpatient pediatric burn care which showed high acceptability and usability and (2) provide systematic data for app optimization.


The aim of this experiment was to determine the desinfestation dose of gamma radiation in Averrhoa carambola infested with larvae of Anastrepha obliqua. Fruits were collected in the field, each having about 11 larvae in the last instar. Fruits were irradiated with the following gamma radiation doses: 0 (control), 50, 150, 300, 600 and 900 Gy. Each treatment consisted of 9 fruits (3 replications) giving the amount of 99 larvae for each treatment. After irradiation the fruits were kept in a climatic chamber with the temperature adjusted to 25 ± 5°C and relative humidity of 70 ± 5%, until larvae left the fruit and became transformed into pupae and adults. The lethal dose (LD100) of gamma radiation for larvae in the fruits was 600 Gy and the dose of 50 Gy inhibited completely the total emergency of adults.


This paper analyses the dynamical characteristic of A/D converter based on Σ-Δ(sigma-delta),proposes of a testing and analytical system based on Σ-Δ ADC 1271 and DSP 6713,which implements multi-channels dynamical testing and analytical performances with 24bits data width,8 channels,real time zoom-FFT,spectral analysis and data transmittion in the form of USB2.0 with computer.It can be used in vibration and noise testing and analytical system with requirement of high precision and real-time monitor.It can replace newly foreign one.


Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is an annual or perennial climbing plant with edible underground tuber. It includes 600 species of which 50 to 60 are cultivated, or at least gathered, for food or pharmaceutical purposes. There are however only 10 species for human consumption and economically significant. In Bhutan, yam plays an integral part in socio-economic and cultural aspects. However, there is limited information on yam diversity in Bhutan. Therefore, this study aimed to assess domestic and wild yam species diversity, its socio-cultural importance to the communities and its contribution towards food security. The study was carried out in Nangkor gewog under Zhemgang dzongkhag. A total of 75 households were randomly selected from 308 households. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaire, which comprised of both closed and open ended questions and were analyzed using descriptive statistical analyses in SPSS version 16.1 The survey found five species, which are water yam (Dioscorea alata L.), lesser yam (Dioscorea esculenta), white yam (Dioscorea rotundata), arerial potato yam (Dioscorea bulbifera) and yellow yam (Dioscorea cayenensis) in the gewog. D. esculanta and D.alata are the most commonly prefered species by the * College of Natural Resources, Lobesa, Punakha firstname.lastname@example.com ** College of Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, Lobesa, Punakha -email@example.com. Our immense gratitude goes to College of Natural Resources (CNR), Lobesa for continued academic and logistic support and National Biodiversity Center (NBC), Thimphu for making resources and fund available to accomplish this study. Journal of Bhutan Studies, Vol.33, Winter 2015 56 communities in terms of taste and nutritional value.The study found that yam has vital roles in the socio-cultural events and are indispensable during Prechula (Offering to local deity), Lochoe (annual ritual) and Losar (new events of year). It was found that some of the respondents face 2-3 months of food shortage and one measure to cope with it is through collection of wild yams and tubers. Yams and tubers contribute 19% to food security although there is a gradual decline in utilization of this crop with the pace of socio-economic development. The availability trends in the wild are perceived to be decreasing by the respondents. The main causes perceived by 42% of the respondents is due to unsustainable harvesting practices, 38% due to increasing wild boar population and 20% with increase in human population leading encroachment of forest for development activities. Thus, it is necessary to have appropriate conservation strategies to maintain the species diversity in order to derive long term benefit. Background Yam belongs to the family Dioscoreaceae and the genus Dioscorea. It is an annual or perennial climbing plant with edible underground tuber. It is native to warmer regions of both southern and northern hemispheres. This genus includes about 600 species of which 50 to 60 are cultivated, or at least gathered, for food or pharmaceutical purposes (Norman, Pearson and Searle 1995). According to Nascimento et al. (2013) there are however only 10 species for human consumption and economically significant. Among those useful edible species, white yam (Dioscorea rotundata), yellow yam (Dioscorea cayenensis) and water yam (Dioscorea alata) are most economically important species in yam growing regions of Africa and in most part of the world (Vernier 1998). Further, amongst those economically important species, water yam (Dioscorea alata) is most widely distributed species globally (Mignouna and Dansi 2003). Yams are widely distributed and found in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of the world. It is the second important tuber crop in many parts of the world, especially Africa, after Assessment of Yam Diversity 57 cassava, and is extremely important to food security in regions of Southeast Asia and Pacific, as well as the tropical Americas (Okigbo and Ogbonnaya 2006). Yam is nutritious, comprising of 15-23% starch, 1-2.5% protein, 0.05-0.2% fat and other essential nutrients. In Africa and many tropical countries, the yams are staple food and major sources of income and have vital socio-cultural and culinary roles (Chukwu and Ikwelle 2000). The trends of consumer demand for yam are generally very high in this sub-region and yam cultivation is very profitable despite high production costs. Worldwide yam production in 2011 amounted to 55 million tons grown on about 5 million hectares of land in about 47 countries in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, of which Africa is the leading world producer with 94% of global production (FAO 2012). As per IITA (2009), the most of the world's production comes from West Africa representing 94%, with Nigeria alone producing 71%, equaling more than 37 million tons. Although yam cultivation is rising especially in Africa, but yield per unit area are declining due to increased land pressure associated with declining soil fertility and an increase in pest and disease levels (Tchabi et al. 2010). The planet's biodiversity is important to human beings in many ways. Human beings are wholly reliant on the biodiversity for its potential resources for food, medicine, energy, industrial materials, building materials, vital services such as renewing the earth's atmosphere, absorbing pollutants and maintaining soil fertility (Okojie 1997). Similarly, traditional communities across the globe practice intense yam cultivation and consumption; this system provides a favorable environment for the generation and maintenance of genetic diversity of this crop (Nascimento et al. 2013). However, on other hand the socio-economic pressures faced by farmers or growers over the years have caused the loss of plant genetic resources, specifically yam crop (Dioscorea spp), and biodiversity losses can be severe and irreversible. Further, in most part of the world including African countries, where yam is currently grown, many potentially important varieties only exist in fields and there is a risk that diversity in species will disappear, destroyed Journal of Bhutan Studies, Vol.33, Winter 2015 58 by conflicts of pressure on natural resources or natural disaster (Ezebuiro et al. 2012). To tackle this challenge, farmers and crop scientists worldwide are engaged in a new effort to add 3,000 yam samples to international gene banks in IITA in Nigeria with the aim of saving the crop diversity that is consumed by 300 million people according to an announcement from the Global Crop Diversity Trust. Other international efforts include, United Nations Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (UNFBMGF) in supporting the global initiative to preserve yam biodiversity. Bhutan has rich agro-biological diversity that has regional and global importance in the diverse ecosystems and ecological zones. Agro-biodiversity component includes agricultural and horticultural plants, such as cereal crops, vegetables, fruits and nuts that are native to Bhutan or introduced to Bhutan long time ago that they have developed unique genetic, morphological and ecological characteristics (NBC 2008). Among the availability of rich diversity of high value agricultural and horticultural plants, diverse species of yams which has varied ecological and socio-economic importance exist across the country both in wild and domestic. Predominantly wild yam are used mostly for both household needs and sale in small quantities for additional source of household income, but some valuable species are also domesticated for subsistence and commercial use at household level. From time immemorial, yam is considered as the important means of supplementing food shortages and sources of nutrition for major remote populace. Such observations was further reported by Turkelboom et al. (2001), which states that the subsistence agriculture is often not sufficient to satisfy the food needs of the households. As the forest resources are in abundance and easily accessible, many farmers go to collect forest foods, such as wild yams, ferns, mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Recently, Dorji (2012) reported that the communities are indigenous user of wild foods such as yams and rely on it as supplementary food for 4-5 months from May-June to September when other staple food grains are deprived in most of the eastern part of Bhutan. Assessment of Yam Diversity 59 Yam crop plays an important socio-cultural and religious value in different parts of country, especially in southern and east central region. Also in Bhutan the study conducted by (Ngawang n.d) reported that wild yam species such as Dioscorea bulbifera and Dioscorea deltoids that has medicinal values are domesticated and cultivated in small scale in southern part of Bhutan. In view of above, the objective of the study is to assess the diversity of yams at local level and to evaluate socio-cultural and economic importance towards the community. This will enable to have baseline data for development of conservation strategies programs in assuring diversity of crop's future and to carry out further research studies. The study site was identified at Nangkor gewog under Zhemgang dzongkhag, in the view of the gewog having favourable diverse agro-ecological features for the existence of diverse species of yam. It was also reported that yam has a vital role in terms of both socio-economic and cultural life of the communities in the gewog. Objectives • To assess the domestic and wild yam species diversity in the gewog and their agro-ecological distribution. • Evaluate the contribution towards food security and socio-cultural importance to the communities. Research questions In order to fulfill the above objectives, following questions was considered as the guidelines for the research study. • Which species of yams (both cultivated and wild) are found within the locality and their trends of availability? • What are the contributions


For rape harvester of cutting table for determining the loss of key and difficult problems,the paper comparatives analysis of the current loss rate of several cut sets determination,and points the limitations and shortcomings.It makes the connection loss rate cut sets determination of sample slot,and provides a method of making special tools.The corresponding formulas are given and applications.Then the advantages for determination of sample slot and applications notes are explained,and it cites examples.


Based on analyzing the development status and constraints of the forestry tourism in Mohe County,the paper proposes some measures and suggestions for its development.


PCK is acronym of M=Mathematical,P= Pedagogical,C= Content and K= Knowledge.There are some lacks of mathematics student teachers in university.Through MPCK,we pose five-steps in mathematics student teachers' professional development: first,building up self-confidence;second,training basic teaching actions;third,renovating mathematics education views;fourth,developing MK,PK,CK,TK;fifth,developing MPCK.


BackgroundDelay in receiving timely care after road traffic accidents (RTAs) result in higher morbidity and mortality, suggesting need of educational interventions for improving provision of first aid. Based on the theory of planned behaviour (TBP), the present study aims to develop and validate the scale to Measure of Intention to Help Road Accident Victim (MIHRAV) of young adults in a fast urbanizing Indian city.MethodsA cross sectional survey was conducted among the college students of Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The initial MIHRAV questionnaire developed for study comprised of 26 self-reported items encompassing four main constructs: intention to help; social norms; attitude and self-efficacy. The validation process included face validity, content validity, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and reliability analysis. ResultsSix hundred ninety-five college students participated in this study. EFA extracted four factor structure containing 20 items. The CFA yielded good model fit with 19 items, and explained 79% of variance (chi square = 413.359, df = 140, χ2/df = 2.95, CFI = 0.93 and TLI = 0.92 and RMSEA = 0.05). The Cronbach's alpha indicated satisfactory internal consistency for questionnaire (α = .88), and for subscales (social norms - α = .62, attitude - α = .65, perceived confidence- α = .74, and intention α = .86).Conclusions The final MIHRAV instrument is aligned with constructs of TPB. It included 19 items measuring intention to help (9 items); perceived confidence (4 items); attitude (3 items) and social norm (3 items). MIHRAV was found to be reliable and valid tool to assess young adult's intention to help road accident victims. Assessing and building this aspect has the potential to positively impact young adult's likelihood to intervene as first responders at RTAs.


The article examines how fear, desire and disgust are mapped onto the liminal body of the vampire in the Southern Vampire Mysteries and True Blood. Of particular relevance are Sara Ahmed's argument ...


Globalization is a multidimensional phenomenon. It relates to the lives of people in virtually all spheres - politics, culture, economy and communications. This paper therefore appraises retrospectively, the scope and different dimensions of globalization and its impact on the African State. It also highlights the need of an engaged civil action to check the negative consequences of globalization in post colonial Africa. Hence, the work examines the responsibilities of the various segments of the civil society as categorical imperatives in moderating the consequences of a globalized world in post colonial Africa. The civil society framework is engaged in x-raying the phenomenon of globalization and the attendant consequences on both the African State and her people. The paper further explores how a well engaged civil society organizations in contemporary African States can mitigate the adverse effects of globalization on the continent by ensuring good governance and active citizenry participation. The paper concludes by resonating the obstacles against the evolution of a healthy and vibrant civil society in Africa, maintaining that it is an effective tool in countering the delirious effects of globalization in contemporary African State.


ABSTRACT This note provides an outline which will aid the planning of a most rewarding field trip for small private parties, at reasonable cost, to the Bahama Banks and Florida Keys. References, approximate current costs, and addresses are provided. The presence of an experienced guide is not necessary to ensure the success of the field trip.


The Lamja Sandstone conformably overlies the Numanha Shale. The exposures of the formation occur on the eastern and southern fringes of the Tertiary Lunguda Basalt Plateau. The Lamja Sandstone consists of shale, coal, siltstone, sandstone, sandy limsestone and carbonaceous sandstone. The dominant sedimentary structures are parallel lamination, cross bedding, cross lamination, cross stratification, planar bedding and bedding planes. Petrographic studies show that the sandstone is poorly-moderately sorted, very fine-fine grained and sub-angular-sub-rounded. Granolumetric data show a graphic mean size of 2.82o (fine grained sandstone), mean standard deviation of 1.62 (poorly sorted) while the skewness values are positively fine skewed, and kurtosis; showing an average value of 0.860 (mesokurtic). Bivariate plots standard deviation versus skewness, standard deviation versus mean; and standard deviation versus first percentile for sample studied cluster within the river environment. The cumulative probability curves plotted, showed that most of the samples are characteristics of fluvial.


In order to mitigate the adverse effects of global warming due to anthropogenic CO2 emission into the atmosphere, geological sequestration of CO2 into subsurface formations has been investigated by many studies over the last decade. However, selection of formations and sites for any field application is still open to debate. The most important properties of a formation suitable for carbon sequestration are those which impact the fluid flow processes. The injection or extraction of gas can change the pore pressure within the reservoir, which in turn results in redistribution of the stress field. These events may cause considerably leakage of the fluid into the surrounding geological formations or ground surface. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the potential of Yort-e-Shah aquifer for CO2 storage, through a series of analyses with a simplified numerical model. The numerical results suggest that the optimum injection pressure in Yort-e-Shah aquifer is about 15.51 MPa with a safety factor of about 1.7. The results of the fluid pressure and gas plume expansion are presented. Also, an analysis was carried out for a case with leak through cap rock. When there is no leak, the pressure within the aquifer is stable, while on the other hand, the pressure in case of leakage is slightly smaller. In case of leakage, the pressure is lowest in the middle of the reservoir, mainly because the nodes at the middle of the aquifer are influenced by all the leakage points, while around the wellbore or near the end of gas plume, are affected less due to their longer distance to leakage points.


The synchronization problem is concerned for a complex network with inner-coupling faults. Firstly, the model of this kind of complex network is established where the inner-coupling faults are presented by a sequence of fault factors. Then the synchronization criteria are derived based on the Lyapunov stability theory and master stability equation method in the form of linear matrix inequalities. Finally, a numerical simulation example is carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed fault-tolerant synchronization criterion.


Travel restrictions have often been used as a measure to combat the spread of disease -- in particular, they have been extensively applied in 2020 against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). How to best restrict travel, however, is unclear. Most studies and policies simply constrain the distance r individuals may travel from their home or neighbourhood. However, the epidemic risk is related not only to distance travelled, but also to frequency of contacts, which is proxied by the frequency f with which individuals revisit locations over a given reference period. Inspired by recent literature that uncovers a clear universality pattern on how r and f interact in routine human mobility, this paper addresses the following question: does this universal relation between r and f carry over to epidemic spreading, so that the risk associated with human movement can be modeled by a single, unifying variable r * f? To answer this question, we use two large-scale datasets of individual human mobility to simulate disease spread. Results show that a universal relation between r and f indeed exists in the context of epidemic spread: in both of the datasets, the final size and the spatial distribution of the infected population depends on the product r * f more directly than on the individual values of r and f. The important implication here is that restricting r (where you can go), but not f (how frequently), could be unproductive: high frequency trips to nearby locations can be as dangerous for disease spread as low frequency trips to distant locations. This counter-intuitive discovery could explain the modest effectiveness of distance-based travel restrictions and could inform future policies on COVID-19 and other epidemics.


The problem in this study is the low speed of the crescent kick of PPLP Dispora Riau Pencak Silat athletes caused by lack of repetitions. Crescent kick velocity can be increased through repetition training method. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Repetition method significantly affects Crescent Kick Speed PPLP Dispora Riau Pencak Silat Athletes. This research belongs to an experiment design. This study uses two times the research design, the initial test (test Pree) are denoted O_1 and final test (post-test) are marked with O_2. Population and sample in this study is Pencak Silat athletes PPLP Dispora Riau province, amounting to 8 people. Statistical analysis of t test formula was used to process the data from pretest and posttest. After the statistical computation process, the observed value was compared to the critical value. Based that computation, the observed value is higher than the critical value. It means that there are significant differences between the results of the initial test and final test. The data analysis also gives the conclusion that an increase in 15.13% of the comparison results of the initial test and final test. Based on the above results, it can be concluded that the proposed hypothesis is proven that there is a significant influence of the Repetition Exercise Method in improving Crescent Kick Speed of PPLP Dispora Riau Pencak Silat athletes.


Noted for Its wide-area view and its unique ability to measure radiation outside the visible range, the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) is gathering data that have a growing number of applications in the geosciences, for example, in the fields of pedology, geology, and geomorphology. Landsat TM imagery has been collected since 1982. The data are available in both photographic and digital form in a variety of products to meet the needs and expand the vision of geoscientists.


The invention discloses a time difference on arrival (TDOA) locating method based on circumferentially distributed monitoring nodes, which is mainly used for solving the traditional problem of a bigger error of a target node coordinate obtained by locating by utilizing a Chan algorithm aiming at the circumferentially distributed monitoring nodes and a target node which is located in the range of a radius distant from 0.2 times of a circle center. The method is implemented as follows: carrying out calculation for multiple times to obtain coordinates of a plurality of target nodes by utilizing the Chan algorithm according to a known TDOA measured value and a monitoring node position coordinate; carrying out statistical average on locating coordinates in a threshold which is 0.2 times of a circumferential radius; and taking the coordinate obtained through the statistical average as an initial value of a Taylor algorithm, then calculating the coordinate of the target node, and carrying out statistical average on the obtained locating coordinate to obtain a final coordinate value of the target node. The invention has the advantages of small error and exact locating coordinate, and can be used for realizing precise locating of the target node.


Sir, Plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) in Enterobacteriaceae of human origin is an emerging problem in Europe. A variety of qnrA, qnrB and qnrS genes are commonly isolated from Enterobacteriaceae of human origin, and qnr genes have been detected in several Salmonella enterica serotypes in Europe, the USA, Africa, Australia and Asia. However, few reports describe the occurrence of PMQR among bacteria from food-producing animals. – 5 The presence of these genetic traits in bacteria isolated from food-producing animals may constitute a public health concern, since the transfer of resistant bacteria or mobile resistance determinants between animals and humans via the food chain or by direct contact has been suggested. Recently, we reported a Salmonella Bredeney strain 137.25 of animal origin, with reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolones encoded by a plasmid-mediated qnrB2 gene. This strain was the only qnr-positive strain from animal sources identified among the collection of the Central Veterinary Institute in Lelystad, the Netherlands, which included 15011 Salmonella isolates collected from humans, poultry, pigs, cattle and other sources between 1999 and 2006. This isolate originated from a Dutch broiler chicken, and showed a ciprofloxacin MIC of 0.25 mg/L and a nalidixic acid MIC of 16 mg/L. Since little information is available on strains of animal origin carrying qnr genes, we investigated the genetic environment surrounding the qnrB2 gene in the IncN p137.25 plasmid. PCR assays were initially performed, as previously described, and amplicons of 600, 3000, 2500 and 5700 bp were obtained with the 50CS-30CS, ORF513FW-qnrB2FW, 50CS-ORF513RV and 50CS-qnrB2FW primers and partially sequenced. A class 1 integron carrying the trimethoprim resistance gene dfrA25 as the unique gene cassette was identified and the qnrB2 gene was located adjacent to the 30CS of the integron, within an ISCR1 element. Two PstI fragments of 2200 and 2900 bp containing the qnrB2 gene and the region flanking the ISCR1 were cloned from plasmid p137.25 into the PstI-pZErO-2 kanamycinresistant vector (Invitrogen, Milan, Italy) and fully sequenced (Figure 1; EMBL accession number FJ844401). DNA sequence comparison showed that ISCR1 carried the sapA-like, orf2, qnrB2 and pspF open reading frames, followed by a second copy of the qacED-sul1 30CS (Figure 1). The same structure was previously described for five plasmids of human origin: pSE936/ 05 from Salmonella Enteritidis from Taiwan; pKP1334/05-1 from Klebsiella pneumoniae from Taiwan; a plasmid of Salmonella Keurmassar from France; pJIBE401 from K. pneumoniae from Australia; and pEC-IMPQ from Enterobacter cloacae from Taiwan. – 11 Part of this structure was also identified in pB1004 from Salmonella Bredeney from Spain. Plasmid p137.25 shows a novel genetic environment, which is, however, closely related to that of Salmonella pSE936/05 from Taiwan, since both contain the same class 1 integron carrying the dfrA25 gene (Figure 1). Two open reading frames encoding hypothetical proteins (ORF5 and ORF6) and the insertion element IS6100 were located after the second 30CS of the ISCR1 element. This region has been previously described at the 30-end of several ISCR1 elements, including that located on another IncN plasmid, pKP96, identified in K. pneumoniae isolated in China in 2002 (Figure 1). Plasmid pKP96 differed from p137.25, being positive for qnrA1 instead of qnrB2 and also carrying the aac(60)-Ib-cr gene as the integron-borne gene cassette (EU195449). The genetic environments of the other qnrB2 plasmids were different: pJIBE401 showed the insertion of IS4321-orf97-orf98 and the deletion of orf6; and a second ISCR1 was identified in the plasmid from Salmonella Keurmassar and in pEC-IMPQ (the DNA sequence of this region was not determined for pSE936/05 and pKP1334/05-1 plasmids). In the pEC-IMPQ plasmid, the acquisition of the qnrB2 gene occurred by integration of the ISCR1 rolling circular intermediate of replication, carrying the qnrB2-qacED1-sul1 resistance genes, into the pEC-IMP highly related plasmid. The qnrB2 gene was identified on an IncFII plasmid carrying the blaCTX-M-15 extended-spectrum b-lactamase gene in Escherichia coli isolated from a dog in Portugal. Plasmids carrying blaCTX-M-15 and belonging to the IncFII group have been reported worldwide in E. coli of human origin, but none of these plasmids carried the qnrB2 gene. This evidence suggests that the acquisition of this resistance determinant might have occurred in Enterobacteriaceae originating from an animal host. The presence of the qnrB2 gene in animal isolates and zoonotic pathogens opens the possibility that genetic exchange and plasmid acquisition of the qnrB2 gene could occur in the faecal flora of the animals. Interestingly, p137.25 belongs to the IncN plasmid family that is able to replicate in different enterobacterial strains, but also seems prevalent in faecal flora from animals. In fact, a study performed on a large collection of E. coli from the USA demonstrated that the prevalence of IncN plasmids is high in avian E. coli (10%–16%) but negative in E. coli from faeces of healthy humans. This evidence supports the hypothesis that the Salmonella 137.25 strain acquired the qnrB2 gene on an IncN plasmid circulating in avian bacterial flora. This strain could cause infections in humans through the food chain Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy doi:10.1093/jac/dkp356


A depth-averaged two-dimensional hydrodynamics model and a two-dimensional water quality model, bases on the alternating direction implicit (ADI) method, is developed to study the distribution characteristics of total phosphorus (TP) in Taihu Lake. Wind stress, the pollution source from the inflow rivers, releasing rate of TP from the bottom sediment and water diversion from Yangtze River are the effecting factors of TP distribution. By using the model proposed in this paper, the concentration field of the total phosphorus was simulated, which leads to the conclusion that the flow field has a great influence on the spatial and temporal distribution of TP in the Taihu Lake.


Aberrations of the eye and other image-forming systems are often analyzed by expanding the wavefront aberration function for a given pupil in Zernike polynomials. In previous articles explicit analytical formulae to transform Zernike coefficients of up to seventh order corresponding to wavefront aberrations for an original pupil into those related to a contracted transversally displaced new pupil are obtained. In the present paper, selection rules for the direct and inverse coefficients' transformation are given and missing modes associated with certain displacement directions are analyzed. Taking these rules into account, a graphical method to qualitatively identify which are the elements of the transformation matrix and their characteristic dependence on pupil parameters is presented. This method is applied to fictitious systems having only one non-zero original coefficient and, for completeness, the new coefficient values are also analytically evaluated.


The high frequency of postoperative complications (POС) in the anorectal zone remains an urgent problem of pediatric surgery.Satisfactory results after a single intervention are 50-80%. After the correction of anorectal postoperative malformation (APM),functional disorders of the sphincter apparatus of the rectum are observed in 30-60% of patients, which further leads to fecal incontinence (FI) and chronic constipation (CC). We retrospectively analyzed the causes of the most common recurrent pathological conditions in the anorectal zone in children as well as tactical approaches, methods of software correction, and considered ways to prevent them.The aim. The goal is to improve the results of surgical correction of postoperative complications (POC) in the anorectalzone in children.Material and methods. 78 patients with POC in the anorectal zone after primary and repeated correction of anorectalmalformations (ARM) were examined. 197 reconstructive operations were performed. The diagnostic algorithm consisted ofclinical, X-ray, laboratory examination, MRI and endoscopic examination methods.The study has been carried out in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. The research protocol wasapproved by the Local Ethics Committee (LEK) of all participating institutions. The informed consent of the children's parentswas obtained for the research. The authors declare that there is no confl ict of interest.Statistical processing of the study results was carried out using standard methods with the calculation of the absolute numberof observations (n) and the percentage ratio (%).Results and discussion. The analysis of long-term results after the primary and repeated correction of the ARM showedthat unreliable primary diagnosis, inadequate preoperative preparation, and the choice of the operation method led to thedevelopment of postoperative anal sphincter insuffi ciency (PASI), which required a large number of repeated operations. Thecauses of complications were studied, errors were analyzed, indications, timing, accesses, volume and methods of repeatedsurgery were optimized. The optimization of tactical approaches, methods of surgical and rehabilitation treatment led to theimprovement in the results of treatment of PASI up to 85.3%.Conclusions: 1. Indications and the choice of method for repeated correction of pathological conditions in the anorectal zone inchildren are determined taking into account the degree of PNAS. 2. Analysis of the causes of errors, optimization of diagnostics, tactics of intraoperative surgical correction and postoperative preventive measures contribute to improving the results of treatment of children.3. Optimization of tactical approaches, methods of surgical and rehabilitation treatment led to an improvement in the resultsof treatment of PNAS up to 85.4%.


The trend toward earlier patient discharges from hospitals has provided new incentives for hospitals and public health nurses to work together to ensure that patients receive uninterrupted quality care after discharge. This study investigated perceptions of the discharge process using a structured telephone interview to survey a sample of 30 adult patients who had been hospitalized for at least 24 hours in a small, rural community, hospital in the upper Midwest. The county public health nursing agency contracted with the hospital to provide discharge planning services. Patients identified discharge needs in 15 different areas, with a mean of 5.8 needs per patient. Twenty-seven percent of the patients received referrals for the services of a public health nurse, homemaker, or both before discharge. One week after discharge 37 percent of the patients continued to need assistance appropriate for referral back to the professionals or agencies with whom they had had initial contact. Elderly patients with chronic illnesses were more likely to have received referrals at the time of discharge than younger patients with acute illnesses. Family and friends were heavily involved in providing support services in the postdischarge period.


This article describes the analysis of capital investment project organization. Investment and innovation distinctions are examined. The criteria of investment decision-making are advanced. In this article the algorithm of investment project working-out and evaluation is suggested. The investment project development is illustrated by an example of investment planning of building unit (slab "Verto") producing and selling concern. The description of work during the successive steps of investment project realization is included. Project basic data, organizational structure of slab "Verto" producing concern, project implementation schedule, and working scheme are determined. Primary results of financial and economic index calculation are presented. The presence of indeterminateness of decision-taking in project various steps algorithm of realization is proved. Multistage model for investment problems solving is suggested. Problem solving model application allows diminishing indeterminateness due to experts' knowledge of investment project organization taking into account. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2p354


The use of Lagrangian platforms and of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) in oceanography has increased rapidly over the last decade along with the development of improved biological and chemical sensors. These vehicles provide new spatial and temporal scales for observational studies of the ocean. They offer a broad range of deployment and recovery capabilities that reduce the need of large research vessels. This is especially true for ice-covered Arctic ocean where surface navigation is only possible during the summer period. Moreover, safe underwater navigation in icy waters requires the capability of detecting sea ice on the surface (ice sheets). AUVs navigating in such conditions risk collisions, RF communication shadowing, and being trapped by ice keels. In this paper, an underwater sea-ice detection apparatus is described. The source is a polarized continuous wave (CW) diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSS) module operating at 532 nm. The detector is composed of a polarizing beam splitter, which separates light of S and P polarization states and two photodetectors, one for each polarized component. Since sea-ice is a strong depolarizer, the ratio P/S is an indicator of the presence or absence of sea-ice. The system is capable of detecting sea-ice at a distance of 12m. This apparatus is designed to be used by free drifting profiling floats (e.g., Argo floats), buoyancy driven vehicles (e.g., sea gliders) and propeller-driven robots (e.g., Hugin class AUV).


The basic outline of a pupil plane WaveFront Sensor is reviewed taking into account that the source to be sensed could be different from an unresolved source, i.e. it is extended, and that it could deploy also in a 3D fashion, enough to exceed the field's depth of the observing telescope. Under these conditions it is pointed out that the features of the reference are not invariant for different position on the pupil and it is shown that the INGOT WFS is the equivalent of the Pyramid for a Laser Guide Star. Under these conditions one can imagine to use a Dark WFS approach to improve the SNR of such a WFS, or to use a corrected upward beam in order to achieve a better use of the LGS photons with respect to an ideal Shack-Hartmann WFS.


N owadays, medical plastic gloves are sorted into the left and the right hands manually with low efficiency during productive process. In this paper, an automated way is proposed to improve this situation through establishing a convolutional neural network model for image recognition. The back propagation process of learning and training is analyzed in order to optimize the weight by adopting the combination of different activation layers and different loss functions. For the same learning times, there are two evaluation indexes. One is the result of recognition accuracy in the training set, the other is the convergence curve and oscillation amplitude of the loss function. Finally, the adaptability of the combinations is discussed, which plays an important role in improving the recognition accuracy of the left and the right hand.


In this paper the thermal history of the Ordos basin has been analysed with the method of apatite fission track analysis.the data of apatite fission track in different structural units show that the palaeotemperature gradient(3.3-4.1℃/100m)and heat flow(81-95mW/m2)in the late Mesozoic is higher than present gradient(2.80℃/100m)and heat flow(63mW/m2).This thermal event was favourable for gas generation and migration and for giant gas field formation.Apatite fission track data show that there was a cooling event which occurred 20-23Ma ago.


The goal of this project is to usePRM (probabilistic roadmap) methodsto studyprotein folding. Given a goal (native fold) configuration, we are able to constructa roadmapand derive a setof possibl e pathsfor the protein to follow. To do so, we modelproteinsas multi-link treelike robots with manydegreesof freedom.Our work concentr ateson improving our techniques for studyingthe potential landscapeof folding pathways. We proposeto focusour energy on developingmethodsthat find natural groupings of paths. 1This researchsuppor ted in part by NSF CAREER Award CCR-9624315, NSF Grants IIS-9619850, ACI9872126,EIA-9975018,EIA-9805823, andEIA-9810937, DOEASCI ASAPLevel 2 GrantB347886, andaHewlettPackardEquipment Grant. SusanLin suppor ted by the NSFthrough theCRA-W DMP program.


The invention relates to nimodipine lyophilization dry emulsion for injection. Before freeze-dried or reconstituted, according to percentage concentration per 1000 ml of fat emulsion, the lyophilization dry emulsion contains 0.001 percent to 0.2 percent of nimodipine, 0.5 percent to 30 percent of oiliness solvent, 0.1 percent to 5 percent of emulsifier, 5 percent to 40 percent of the freeze-drying protective agent and 0.1 percent to 10 percent of isotonic regulator. The invention also relates to a preparation method of nimodipine lyophilization dry emulsion. The invention has the advantages that ethanol is avoided to decrease irritation; the product can be mixed with any proportion of water for injection, sodium chloride solution, glucose solution, blank fat emulsion or other aqueous solution without phenomena of precipitation or crystallization; in addition, compared with the fat emulsion, the lyophilization dry emulsion is more helpful to improve the stability of nimodipine and excipient of the nimodipine, thereby lowering the requirements of production, transportation and storage conditions and prolonging the period of validity.


A novel wideband and high‐gain waveguide‐amplifier structure, which consists of a folded geometry erbium‐ytterbium co‐doped phosphate glass waveguide integrated with a cascaded multilayer medium thin‐film filter (CMMTFF), is proposed. This CMMTFF consists of some different filter‐unit cells with different central wavelengths and bandwidths, and each of them can suppress a certain gain peak at a specific wavelength. The gain characteristics of this new optical amplifiers is obtained. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 42: 64–66, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.20208


Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata (QCA) is one of several proposed computational nanotechnology paradigms that are being investigated as alternatives to CMOS at the nano-scale. QCA has been reported to offer relatively low power consumption, and very high device density. In recent years, several researchers have started investigating relatively complex circuit architectures using QCA. Such design efforts have highlighted the crosstalk problem in QCA and the lack of research in this area. This paper explores the nature of crosstalk in QCA. We show how crosstalk can be amplified due to several parameters including wire length and the distance between adjacent cells. We develop a model and method that allows us to test for crosstalk using a set of test vectors. We also propose a set of cell placement guidelines and design geometries that help to minimize QCA crosstalk in large circuits.


Research on Hepatitis B can be divided into three parts, i.e., etiology, mechanism of infection, prevention and clinical treatment, which contains many different subjects, such as epidemiology, biochemistry, pathology, molecular biology, etc. With the rapid development of science and technology, hepatitis B was systematically studied in the past decades. This paper reviewed the research history of hepatitis B. Correct methods and scientific thinking play an important role in elucidating the mechanism of hepatitis B and controlling the infection of hepatitis B virus. Dialectically analysis of interior of single human body and environment, population and laboratory research, basic and clinical research, combination of traditional and modem technology, microcosmic study and macroscopic study, etc., could not be overemphasized as key sectors in guidance of hepatitis B research.


Background: The optimal algorithm for evaluating patients with anterior abdominal stab wounds (AASW) is not clear and has been a long standing controversy. Currently, the workup and management of penetrating anterior abdominal wall trauma may involve the decision to proceed immediately to surgery based on the presentation of the patient, or the work up may involve local wound exploration (LWE), focused abdominal sonography for trauma (FAST) exam, CT scan, or serial abdominal exams. Here we discuss an observational sign utilizing the Veress needle intra-abdominal insufflation test that can be used in conjunction with the current AASW algorithm, to rule in peritoneal violation.
 Methods: Eight patients admitted to our level 1 trauma center with penetrating AASW were evaluated using LWE, FAST, or CT scan followed by Veress needle insufflation and DL for suspected intra-abdominal injuries. These cases were retrospectively evaluated for the efficacy of Veress needle insufflation as an observational test for peritoneal violation.
 Results: Eight hemodynamically stable patients from December 2013 to June 2014 presented to our level one trauma center after sustaining penetrating AASW. All eight patients went to the operating room for Veress needle insufflation and DL. Upon intra-abdominal insufflation using a Veress needle to a target pressure of 15 mmHg, all patients with peritoneal violations [5] were found to have CO2 escape from their wounds. The remaining three patients with no violation to the peritoneum did not have any appreciable CO 2 escape.
 Conclusions: Utilizing our technique of intra-abdominal insufflation combined with monitoring for CO 2 escape, we were able to successfully identify all patients with peritoneal violation and rule out violation in those without peritoneal injuries. With further research, our technique can be used to safely, accurately and in a timely manner stratify patients for the need of further diagnostic and interventional procedures.


Energy saving in building is one of the key issues in the sustainable energy development since in terms of primary energy consumption, buildings represent for more than %14 in most countries. Energy storage system is considered as an effective energy utilization method for buildings. In this paper, the phase change materials (PCMs) and their application in buildings have been introduced as a promising latent heat thermal energy storage method. The extensive melting temperature range in PCMs (from -0111C to 0111C and more) causes a strong inclination toward utilizing it for various applications. Using PCMs as a thermal energy storage system reduce the thermal energy demand of the building due to the time shifting in heat transfer phenomena from the heating and cooling energy source to the building. The PCMs can be usually used in form of microcapsule or flexible and rigid panels through the building envelope or double glazing windows. Based on the obtained results, the flexible and rigid panels are more cost effective than microcapsule PCMs. by selecting a proper PCM based on the corresponding thermal energy storage configuration, up to 31% energy saving can be achieved on the thermal energy utilization in the building.


When the marginal utility of money is positive even at very high levels of the asset (Yoshiyasu Ono's, 1994, assumption), the relationship between inflation and the public deficit at full employment may result in a unique perverse equilibrium where higher deficits reduce inflation. If there are two equilibria, the low inflation equilibrium is one where the perverse effect between inflation and the public deficit prevails; while in the high inflation equilibrium higher public deficits increase inflation. These results contrast sharply with traditional results found in the literature.


Caridean shrimps did not display any selective feeding regimes. However, the shrimp belongs the genus Hymenocera (Caridea: Hymenoceridae) exclusively feeds on starfish, causes potential crisis to the hobbyists those wish to accommodate them in reef aquaria. The present observation deals with the documentation about the feeding behavior of Harlequin Shrimp Hymenocera picta Dana feeds on its favorite prey Blue Star Linckia laevigata (Ophidiasteridae) in captivity. The upliftment continues for 30-60 minutes and feeding was initiated by removing the ambulacral feet and gonadal tissues of the Starfish.


Virtual Simulation Education is an Important Breakthrough in Deepening the Reform of Vocational Education Concept, Content, Method, Method and Mode. the Establishment of Virtual Simulation Education System is an Important Support of Virtual Simulation Education. through the Creation of Virtual Simulation Professional Environment and the Whole Process of Product Design and Production, the Establishment of Virtual Simulation Course Experiment Resources is Helpful for Students to Develop Professional Quality and Improve Professional Ability. This Paper Starts with the Construction of Virtual Simulation System Which Meets the Requirements of Professional Team, and Takes the Design of Professional Products with Guangxi Characteristics as an Example. in the Whole Process of the Design and Production of Xingxing Ceramics, Based on the Resources of the Virtual Simulation Experiment Site, This Paper Puts Forward Specific Methods for the Innovative Personnel Training of the Design Profession in Three Aspects of the Learning Process of the Virtual Simulation Course.


OBJECTIVE To prepare the paclitaxel nano-liposomes gels, detect the particle size, particle diameter, the entrapment efficiency, the release and transdermal diffusion characteristics in vitro. METHODS Paclitaxel nano-liposomes were prepared using thin film evaporation high pressure microfluidization, added carbomer to prepare the paclitaxel nano-liposomes gels, and the optimal method was determined by the orthogonal test. The particle size, particle diameter of the modified liposomes was detected by nanoparticle size analyzer. The entrapment efficiency was determined by low-speed combination method with HPLC. The release study adopting membrane diffusion method. Using Franz diffusion cell and rats skin to investigate transdermal diffusion characteristics of the modified nano-liposomes gels in vitro. RESULTS The optimal formulation and preparing conditions were as the following: the content of lecithin was 2%, drug lecithin=1 30, lecithin cholesterin=10 1. The particle size of the liposome prepared was 81.8 nm. The particle size distribution coefficient was 0.180. The average entrapment efficiency of the liposomes was up to 73.2%. The release amount of nano-liposomes gels was 79.04% at 72 h and the cumulative penetration amount per unit area was 429.68 μg·cm −2 at 48 h. CONCLUSION This preparation is prepared with simple technology and the entrapment efficiency of the paclitaxel is high. The particle sizes are small and uniform. Nano-liposomes gels feature a sustained release in vitro, the nano-liposomes can increase diffusion rate of paclitaxel through the skin of rats.


Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) provides an immersive virtual environment for 3D city planning. However, the user in the cave has to wear wearable markers for the interaction with the 3D models. To develop a natural interaction, depth camera like Kinect has to be considered. In this paper, we propose a new skeleton joint representation called Bag of Angles (BoA) for human gesture recognition. We evaluated our proposed BoA representation on two dataset UTD-MHAD and UTD-MHAD-KinectV2. The evaluation results demonstrated that the proposed BoA representation can achieve a higher recognition accuracy compared to the other existing representation methods.


The availability of a small fleet of aircraft in a flying-base, repair-depot combination is modeled and studied. First, a deterministic flow model relates parameters of interest and represents the state-of-the art in the planning of such systems. Second, a cyclic queue model shows the effect of the principal uncertainties in operation and repair and shows the consequent decrease in the availability of aircraft at the flying-base. Several options such as increasing fleet size, investments in additional repair facilities, or building reliability and maintainability into the individual aircraft during its life-cycle are open for increasing the availability. A life-cycle cost criterion brings out some of these features. Numerical results confirm Rose's prediction that there exists a minimal cost combination of end products and repair-depot capability to achieve a prescribed operational availability.


The amount of accessible raw data is ever-increasing in spite of difficulty of obtainingnumerous labeled information, making semi-supervised learning a topic of practical importance.This paper proposes a novel regularization algorithm of an autoencoding deep neural network for semi-supervised learning. Given an input data, the deep neural network outputs the estimated label as well as the remaining information called style. On the basis of the framework of generative adversarial network, the proposed algorithm regularizes the label and the style according to a prior distribution, dividing the label explicitly from the style. As a result, the deep neural network is trained to estimate correct labels by using a limitedly labeled dataset. The proposed algorithm achieved accuracy comparable to or superior to the existing state-of-the-art semi-supervised algorithms for the benchmark tasks: the MNIST database and the SVHN dataset.


This anthology looks at the genre of women's humour and illuminates the ways in which women's humour differs from men's. It aims to destroy the assumption that humour is universal and shows it instead as marked by subjectivity and bound by gender. The book contains essays, short stories, dramas, and poems, on a range of subjects, from a variety of women including Anita Loos, Mae West, Moms Mabley, Erma Bombeck, Lily Tomlin, Elayne Boosler, Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson, Louisa May Alcott and Dorothy Parker.


Grid computing is becoming a mainstream technology for sharing large-scale resources, accomplishing collaborative tasks and integrating distributed systems. Information service plays a very important role in grid computing environment. Through information service grid applications are able to exploit the knowledge about current grid status and configuration to adapt themselves to changes in heterogeneous, dynamic environments. We propose a framework of information service based on the testbed ShanghaiGrid. In GT3, the index service in MDS can not provide a reliable indexing, while in our framework, using the notification method to contact grid services to index service to provide a reliable indexing. The information that information service should provide according with the ShanghaiGrid is discussed in detail.


Executive Council. This $33 billion, 58,000-person business unit is a provider of integrated solutions to meet the enduring needs of defense, government, space, intelligence and security customers in the United States and around the world. Headquartered in St. Louis, the organization has concentrated operations in St. Louis; Southern California; Seattle; San Antonio; Houston; Philadelphia; Mesa, Ariz.; Huntsville, Ala.; the Space Coast of Florida; Washington, D.C.; Australia; Saudi Arabia; the United Kingdom and Korea.


Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn Dycki (born 1964) belongs to the group of poets whose work has been awarded many times in prestigious literary competitions; the poet received, among others, The Nike Literary Award (2009), the Gdynia Literary Award (twice: in 2006 and 2009) and the SilesiusWrocław Poetry Award (twice: in 2012 and 2020). His poetry has been systematically elaborated on the themes of madness, disease and the obsession with death. When writing about death Dycki refers to the baroque tradition. Therefore, the aim of this article is an attempt to interpret the works of Tkaczyszyn-Dycki in the context of questions about the Baroque tradition and its various continuationsin contemporary Polish poetry. Dycki certainly refers to the Baroque (or more broadly the Old Polish tradition), but this Baroque undergoes a far-reaching metamorphosis. It is an obscure, non-obvious Baroque, functioning rather as a specter haunting the language, through which Dyckifights for his own speech, still watching death.


ABSTRACT: Intrapulmonary distribution of a peptice-phospholipid (KJ,4) surfactant administered through an adapter permitting maintenance of positive end-expiratory pressure was compared with distribution by instillation with disconnection from mechanical ventilation in 10 surfactant-deficient Macaca mullata preterm infants. Animals received KL4 surfactant (200 mg/kg) when the arterial to alveolar (oxygen ratio) (a/Ao2) was ≤0.22 (approximately 50 min after birth) on mechanical ventilation. Six rhesus infants received bolus instillation of two half doses of KL4 surfactant through an cndotrachcal tube adapter over 10–15 s while maintaining positive end-expiratory pressure (0.4 kPa) accompanied by turning to the right and left lateral positions for 60 s. In four rhesus premature infants KL4 surfactant was injected as two half-dose boluses through the endotracheal tube with disconnection from mechanical ventilation while positioning the infant rhesus monkey in the right and left lateral positions for 30 s of mechanical ventilation between instillation. Acute effects on oxygen saturation were monitored, and physiologic measures of a/Ao2, mean airway pressure, and the ventilatory efficiency index were monitored over the 12-h study. Intrapulmonary distribution of KL4 surfactant was determined using dye-labeled microspheres or [3H]dipalmitoyiphosphatidylcholinc-labeled KL4 surfactant, measured by colorimetry or by scintillation counting. Lungs of cach monkey were processed into 50 ± 5 pieces to determine distribution of radiolabel or microspheres and for scanning electron microscopy. The drop in oxygen saturation was greater among monkey infants discoanected from the ventilator for surfactant instillation. Surfactant distribution in lung pieces inside a distribution interval 0.6–1.4 of the mean was greater among infants having instillation accompanied by positive end-expiratory pressure (p < 0.04). whereas the proportion of lung pieces receiving ≤ 10% of the normalized mean number of microspheres/mg of lung tissue was significantly greater in the group removed from the ventilator for surfactant instillation. The a/Ao2, lung compliance, and mean airway pressures improved in both treatment groups; however, the ventilatory efficiency index increased more above pretreatment values among infants treated using the endotracheal adapter with positive end-expiratory pressure (p < 0.04). More homogeneous distribution of KL4 surfactant results when this surfactant is administered while maintaining positive end-expiratory pressures during surfactant instillation.


Abstract 12,14-Diamino-13-phenoxy-13-thioxo-6-oxa-12,14-diaza-13λ5-phospha-5,7-disiladisiladispiro[188.8.131.52]-tetradecane 1 b and 3-Phenoxy-3-thioxo-l,2,4,5-tetra aza-3λ5-phospha-6-silaspiro[5.5]undecane 2 a are pre pared from thiophosphoryldihydrazide and cyclic dichlorosilanes or the corresponding dichlorodisiloxanes. Constitutions of the new spirocyclic systems are confirmed by MS, NMR, elemental analysis and for 1 b by x-ray structure analysis (monoclinic, P21/c, a = 16.091(3), b = 6.024(1), c = 20.969(3) A, β = 104.46(2)°, Z = 4). The inorganic ring in 1 b is essentially planar.


175Background: Genome and transcriptome aberrations associated with primary resistance to abiraterone acetate/prednisone (AA/P) in mCRPC are not known. In a prospective trial (NCT#01953640) we assessed whole-exome and RNA-seq based aberrations in metastases of CRPC stage patients (pts) for identifying markers associated with primary resistance to AA/P. Methods: Whole-exome and RNA-seq of biopsies from metastases was performed followed by analyses for association between genomic aberrations & primary resistance. Primary resistance was defined by progression on AA/P after 12-weeks of therapy(non-responders) using PSA, RECIST, bone scan and symptom criteria (per PCWG2). Gene network analysis was performed in genes mutated more frequently in non-responders, and also in genes that were differentially expressed between non-responders and responders and a "risk ratio" (RR) was calculated thereof. Results: Between 6/2013 & 8/2015, 92 pts were enrolled of which 82 had complete whole-exome, RNA-seq and 12-week outc...


Summary. An enumeration of the Euphorbiaceae of Central Malesia is offered. Because collections from most of this area are rather scanty, no keys are offered, as in previous parts of this 'series'*. A list of new taxa is given on page 36. The account of Euphorbia has been provided by Mr Radcliffe-Smith, as in previous parts of the series. The following pages present a skeleton enumeration of the Euphorbiaceae of the Indonesian islands lying between Borneo, the Philippines, Java and New Guinea. Because these islands have been relatively so little botanized and their flora is still so poorly known no attempt has been made to construct keys for identification, but it is hoped that a listing of recorded taxa may prove useful to workers with phytogeographic interests. It has not been possible to check the numerous records in Koorders' 'Flora of NE Celebes' in Meded.'s Lands Plantent. 19 (1898), nor to attempt to identify the alleged new taxa proposed in that work, many of which were quite inadequately described. References have been given throughout to Merrill's 'Reliquiae Robinsonianae', in Philipp. Journ. Sci. 11, Bot.: 281-5 (1917), and to his Interpretation of Rumphius's Herbarium Amboinense (1917), as also to my own Euphorbiaceae of Borneo (1975) and of New Guinea (1980), in which a more complete selection of literature citations, etc., than that given here, will generally be found. Comprehensive sources of information on the flora of central and eastern Malesia are few. Apart from the pre-Linnean Herbarium Amboinense (1741-50) and Auctuarium (1755) of Rumphius, together with Merrill's detailed and valuable Interpretation (1917), no major works are available except Koorders, 'Verslag eener Botanische Dienstreis door de Minahasa tevens eerste overzicht der Flora van N.O. Celebes' (Mededeelingen van 's Lands Plantentuin 19: 1-716 (1898)-a book regrettably full of nomina nuda and unreliable determinations, which I have felt obliged largely to ignore-and Holthuis & Lam, 'A first contribution to our knowledge of the flora of the Talaud Islands and Morotai' (Blumea 5 (1): 93-256 (Euphorbiaceae 199-203) (1942)), a careful and comprehensive work which I have cited throughout. In the citation of localities, the islands and island groups are cited from West to East and North to South: Celebes, Sangihe & Talaud Is.. Moluccas (north to south); Lesser Sunda Is. (west to east) (Bali to Tanimbar & Kai Is.).-General distribution.


Abstract
In previous research (Abou-Zeid et al., 2008), we postulated that people report different levels of travel happiness under routine and nonroutine conditions and supported this hypothesis through an experiment requiring habitual car drivers to switch temporarily to public transportation. This chapter develops a general modeling framework that extends random utility models by using happiness measures as indicators of utility in addition to the standard choice indicators, and applies the framework to modeling happiness and travel mode switching using the data collected in the experiment. The model consists of structural equations for pretreatment (remembered) and posttreatment (decision) utilities and explicitly represents their correlations, and measurement equations expressing the choice and the pretreatment and posttreatment happiness measures as a function of the corresponding utilities. The results of the empirical model are preliminary but support the premise that the extended modeling framework, which includes happiness, will potentially enhance behavioral models based on random utility theory by making them more efficient.


A robotic agent experiences a world of continuous multivariate sensations and chooses its actions from a continuous action space. Therefore, hand-coding knowledge suÆcient for successful planning in uncertain, dynamic environments is a diÆcult task. We present a method whereby an unsupervised robotic agent learns to discriminate discrete actions out of its continuous action parameters. These actions are discriminated because they lead to qualitatively distinct outcomes in the robot's sensor space. Once found, these actions can be used by the robot as primitives for planning and further exploration of its world. We present results gathered using a Pioneer 1 mobile robot.


Due to the increasing number of IEEE 802.11 networks, the presence of interference is becoming an important problem to solve. In a single multicell network, the harmful effect of interference is minimized thanks to network planning; but if there are different wireless networks coexisting, which besides, belong to different owners, the presence of a distributed resource management mechanism becomes the best choice. A distributed management system involves communication among all participant devices. In the present paper two mechanisms are proposed: channel allocation algorithm and load balancing through cell breathing. The questions raised by these new communication needs are analyzed and also, different solutions are proposed based on a common idea: use of Access Points (APs) with two radio interfaces adopting ad-hoc networking mechanisms for inter-AP signaling purposes.


In this paper, we introduce a class of piecewise multilinear models for Mamdani fuzzy system and investigate their approximation capabilities to integrable functions with Lp-norm. Specially, by extending fuzzy system to stochastic one, the approximation capability of the stochastic Mamdani system to a class of random processes is analyzed. A result on the approximation of regular function is given showing that fuzzy system may keep their semantic structure while approximating to any degree of accuracy not only sufficiently regular functions, but also their derivatives.


In visual tracking, unreliable samples always exist because of occlusion, illumination variation, motion blur, etc. Existing studies have effectively improved the performance of trackers by enhancing the quality of online samples. However, an underappreciated view is that not all samples are equally essential to model training. In this paper, we propose a Sample-Aware Adaptive Updating (SAAU) strategy which can actively adjust the update formula by sensing the reliability of samples. Specifically, the Sample-Reliability Awareness (SRA) module can quantify sample reliability by calculating three specific indicators, where the Residual Peak-to-Correlation Energy (RPCE) is designed to cooperate with the other two introduced indicators to obtain credit scores on each sample. Besides, the Self-Guided Update (SGU) module provides a tracker with an unfixed learning rate that matches with the reliability label during updating, where our label annotator generates the label. Extensive experiments on several public benchmarks demonstrate the outstanding compatibility of SAAU and the superiority of our tracker (SAAU-CF) over state-of-the-art approaches.


For Walter Benjamin, the trip to Moscow in the winter of 1926-1927 was a disappointment not only for his love aspirations, but also in terms of his belief in a socialist future. Consequently, on this occasion he ignored signs of modernity, such as avant-garde art or constructivist architecture. Instead he was fascinated, even obsessed, with folk art. He spent hours in the Toy museum; his Moscow Diary is full of descriptions of the colourful range of lacquered caskets, stacked eggs, paper flow...


SUMMARY AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity of ethanolic extract of the leaves of Polygonum glabrum in carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4) induced hepatotoxicity in rats. METHODS: Rats were pretreated orally for 8 days with the ethanolic leaf extract of P. glabrum (200 and 400 mg/kg) and curcumin (100 mg/kg) as the standard prior to CCl 4 (1ml/kg body weight, intraperitonial) intoxication. Hepatoprotective action was assessed based on the decrease in the levels of hepatic serum markers such as serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin (TB), direct bilirubin (DB) and increased total protein levels. Further, liver tissue was subjected to histopathological studies and also assessed for oxidative parameters such as malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) levels. RESULTS: Pretreatment with curcumin and ethanolic leaf extract of P. glabrum significantly inhibited CCl 4 induced increase of SGPT, SGOT, ALP, TB and DB levels in serum and decrease in total protein levels. Significant and dose dependent increase in the hepatic SOD, CAT, GSH activities along with decrease in MDA levels were observed in the curcumin and P. glabrum extract pretreated animals. The liver histological examination also showed lowered damage in the extract pretreated animals. CONCLUSION: The ethanolic leaf extract of P. glabrum exhibited significant hepatoprotective effect which could be attributed to its


Three commercially available pyrethroid cattle ear tags (8% Ectrin, 10% Permectrin and 10% Atroban) plus the Ectiban tape containing 1.2g (AI) permethrin per tape were evaluated for their comparitive effectiveness in controlling face flies and horn flies on pastured beef cattle in two tests. Test 1 consisted of six mixed breed cow-calf herds, and one herd of steers, located in Mercer County, KY. The number of animals per herd ranged from 16-68. Cattle were treated in May and June. Herds in Test 2 were located in Clark County and were comprised of mixed breed steers ranging from 75 to 100 animals and were treated in May. All ear tags were evaluated at 1 tag/hd and 2 tags/hd and the Ectiban ear tag tapes were tested at the recommended rate of 1 tape/hd wrapped around an existing identification ear tag. Two similar cow-calf herds within the area were used as untreated check herds for Test 1 and an untreated steer herd was used as a check herd for Test 2. Fly counts were made on 10 animals in each herd by counting the number of face flies on the face of each animal and estimating the number of horn flies on one side of the same animals. Calves were not included in these counts.


Within the first few microseconds from after the Big Bang, the hot dense matter was in the form of the Quark Gluon Plasm (QGP) consisting of free quarks and gluons. By colliding heavy nuclei at RHIC and LHC at a velocity close to the speed of light, we were able to create the primordial matter and observe the matter after expansion and cooling. In this report we present the thermodynamics and transport coefficients obtained in the framework of clustering of color sources in both hadron-hadron and nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. Multiparticle production at high energies can be described in terms of color strings stretched between the projectile and target. At high string density single strings overlap and form color sources. This addition belongs to the non-perturbative domain of Quantum Chromo Dynamics (QGP) and manifests its most fundamental features. The Schwinger Q E D 2 mechanism produces color neutral q q ¯ pairs when color source strings break. Subsequent hardonization produces the observed hadrons. With growing energy and atomic number of the colliding nuclei the density of strings grows and more color sources form clusters in the transverse plane. At a certain critical density a macroscopic cluster appears, which marks the percolation phase transition. This is the Color String Percolation Model (CSPM). The critical density is identified as the deconfinement transition and happens at the hadronization temperature. The stochastic thermalization in p p and A-A is a consequence of the quantum tunneling through the event horizon introduced by the confining color fields, the Hawking-Unruh effect. The percolation approach within CSPM is successfully used to describe the crossover phase transition in the soft collision region. The same phenomenology when applied to both hadron-hadron and nucleus-nucleus collisions emphasizes the importance of color string density, creating a macroscopic cluster which identifies the connectivity required for a finite droplet of the QGP.


BACKGROUND Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is one of the most common and important pathologic features of human traumatic brain injury, accounting for high mortality and the development of persistent posttraumatic neurologic sequelae. Secondary damage resulting, e.g., from mass compressive effects through edema or inflammation can exacerbate morphologic changes in injured axons. METHODS In this study, DAI was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by subjecting the animals to a midline closed-skull strike. Experimental rats and control animals subjected to sham operation were killed at 0 hour, 1 hour, 3 hour, 6 hour, 12 hour, 24 hour, 72 hour, 5 days, or 7 days later. Brains were harvested and paraffin-embedded sections of brain tissue (5 &mgr;m thick) were processed for hematoxylin and eosin staining, Bielschowsky silver staining, cresyl violet staining of Nissl bodies, Weil staining of myelin sheaths, or TUNEL assay to verify neuronal changes. Immunocytochemistry was used to examine the expression of &bgr;-amyloid precursor protein, CD11b, and interleukin (IL)-6. RESULTS CD11b/IL-6 expression was higher at 6 hour and peaked at 12 hour after injury. Pathologic changes in neurons were greater at 24 and 48 hour after injury. The results indicate that DAI can induce activation of microglia to express IL-6 in the early stages after injury. CONCLUSIONS This suggests that microglia play an important role in secondary pathologic changes in brain tissue that are mediated, at least in part, by IL-6.


Financial ratio analysis is an analysis of a company's financial statements, and it is vital for identifying negative and positive trends of a business over time. This article sets out to provide a detailed analysis of the financial performance of J Sainsbury plc and compare it with the performance of Tesco and Morrisons. From the data analysis, it can be shown that from 2015, the financial performance of J Sainsbury plc is improving with an increasing trend in its sales revenue and gross margin, while there is a decreasing trend in its return on assets (ROA), operating profit, pretax profit margin, finance cost and net profit. Compared to the other two companies in the same industry like Tesco and Morrisons, the performance of J Sainsbury plc is somewhat satisfactory. Finally, some recommendations on financial aspects, business environment and strategies are offered to enhance J Sainsbury plc's performance and promote its sustainable development.


Frequent occurrence of grassland fire causes a decrease of grassland resources which threatens the development of stockbreeding and environment in China.Analytic hierarchy process(AHP),fuzzy comprehensive evaluation(FCE) and GIS theories of disaster occurrence were used to model and grade loss assessment of grassland fire disaster in Northern China into four grades.The Inner Mongolia Municipality,Xinjiang Municipality(including Xinjiang Corps),Heilongjiang Province,and Gansu Province belong to the area of super grassland fire disaster that needs to be managed nationally.Jilin Province belongs to the area of serious grassland fire disaster that also needs to be managed nationally.Shanxi Province and Shaanxi Province belong to the area of common grassland fire disaster that can mainly be managed by the province but assisted nationally.Hebei Province,Qinghai Province,Sichuan Province,Ningxia Municipality and Liaoning Province belong to the area of grassland fire alarm that should be mainly managed by the city(county) and assisted by the province.This study provides an objective basis for assessing loss from grassland fire disasters and indemnifying for the loss and also provides a theoretical basis for taking comprehensive and active measurements and planning to fight grassland fires in China.


Background Emergence agitation (EA) in children is one of the most common complications following anaesthesia. We aimed to compare the effect of ketamine, ketamine-midazolam and ketamine-propofol on EA after tonsillectomy. Methods This study was a randomised, double-blind clinical trial conducted on 162 children undergoing adenotonsillectomy surgery. The participants were randomly divided into three groups of receiving ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) (N = 54), ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) + propofol (1 mg/kg) (N = 54) and ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) + midazolam (0.01 mg/kg) (N = 54) 10 min before the end of the operation. At the time of the patients' entry into the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) and at intervals of 5 min, 10 min and 20 min after that, consciousness, mobility, breathing, circulation and SpO2 were recorded. Modified Aldrete recovery score (MARS), the objective pain score (OPS) and Richmond agitation-sedation scale (RASS) were also evaluated. Results At the time of entrance to the PACU and 5 min later, the ketamine-midazolam and ketamine-propofol groups had lower RASS scores than the ketamine group (P < 0.001); after 10 min and 20 min, the ketamine-propofol group showed the lowest RASS score (P < 0.001). Ketamine-propofol group had a significantly lower MARS score at all-time points (P < 0.001). Recovery time was the longest for the ketamine-propofol group (P = 0.008). Conclusion The ketamine-midazolam group had lower RASS, greater haemodynamic stability and MARS values without delayed awakening.


Scatter search is a population-based method that has recently been shown to yield promising outcomes for solving combinatorial and nonlinear optimization problems. Based on formulations originally proposed in the 1960s for combining decision rules and problem constraints, such as the surrogate constraint method, scatter search uses strategies for combining solution vectors that have proved effective in a variety of problem settings.

We present a scatter-search implementation designed to find high-quality solutions for the 3D image-registration problem, which has many practical applications. This problem arises in computer vision applications when finding a correspondence or transformation between two computer images obtained under different conditions. Our implementation goes beyond a simple exercise on applying scatter search, by incorporating innovative mechanisms to combine and improve solutions and to create a balance between intensification and diversification in the reference set. Furthermore, heuristic information taken from a preprocessing of the images is incorporated into the algorithm to improve its performance. Our computational experimentation tackling two different medical registration applications establishes the effectiveness of scatter search in relation to different approaches usually applied to solving the problem. We have considered both simulated magnetic resonance images and real-world computerized tomography images as data sets. To measure the robustness of our proposal, the image data sets are intentionally selected for addressing registration environments with the presence of noise, anatomical lesions, and occlusions between images.


A pole-count analysis of the infrared 2-Micron All-Sky (2MASS) survey is presented, in order to identify faint stream-like great-circle structures within the halo of the Milky Way. Selecting stars with colours consistent with M-giant stars, we find a strong overdensity of sources on a stream with a pole (l=95°, b=13°), which corresponds to the pole of the orbit of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. This great-circle feature of width ∼12° contains ∼5 per cent of the late M-giants in the halo. No other stream-like structures are detected in M-giants in the 2MASS Second Incremental Data Release (2IDR), and in particular, we find no evidence for a stellar component to the Magellanic Stream. This suggests that the present accretion rate of low-mass satellites with a luminous component is very low, and the formation of the luminous component of the halo must have been essentially complete before the accretion of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy, more than 3 Gyr ago. We also search for great-circle streams using almost all high-latitude (|b|>30°) sources in the 2IDR data set. No narrow great-circle streams of width 0.5°–2° were found, though we were only sensitive to relatively nearby (<17-kpc) remnants of massive (106-M⊙) globular clusters. If the Galactic potential is close to being spherical, as some recent observations suggest, the lack of observed great-circle streams is consistent with the presence of dark matter substructures in the halo. Although alternative explanations cannot be ruled out from our analysis of the 2IDR data set, future experiments with better statistics have the potential to reveal the heating effect of dark matter substructure on stellar streams.


Structural features, configurational stability, and chiroptical properties of the nonplanar amide group in α-lactams were investigated by means of ab initio (6-31 + G*) molecular orbital calculations on (1R)-aziridinone 1, (1R)-1-methylaziridinone 2, (1R,3R)-3-methylaziridinone 3, (1R,3R)-1,3-dimethylaziridinone 4a, its cis diastereomer (1S,3R)-1,3-dimethylaziridinone 4b, and (1R,3R)-3-tert-butyl-1-methylaziridinone 5, and by experimental CD spectra of 1-tert-butyl- and 1-(1′-adamantyl)-substituted 3(R)-3-tert-butylaziridinones 6 and 7. The nitrogen inversion barriers of 4a and 4b are 2.8 and 1.6 kcal mol−1, respectively. The lowest excited singlet state of all of the aziridinones is a valence state (the nO–πCO* transition); the second is a Rydberg state (the nN–3s transition). The signs of the first and second Cotton effects in the CD spectra of the compounds 6 and 7 coincide with the calculated ones for 1 and 2 and the trans isomers 3, 4a, and 5. According to the calculated and experimental data for azi...


The investigation of archaic apocryphal folk prayers in a crucial part of the researches on the veneration of Virgin Mary. The author has collected folk texts from 62 villages and their surrounding farmsteads in Csongrad county. These folk prayers consist of some shorter and stale texts. Considering the names given, the images of or references to Blessed Mary, logically the so called genealogical texts sholul lead the spectrum of folk prayers. Prayers with a genesis motive are considered iconographically as Mettertia: Saint Ann -Blessed Mary -Jesus. It is noteworthy, that this list is female-centered. May this be a determinative feature of the age or a way ofstressing the importancw of motherhood? The following prayertells the nightrest and morning awakening ofVirgin Mary. The prayer starting "The cooks are crowing / Calling Mary / Wake up, Mary, wake up / Wour son is being captured" does not only recites the fata bufferings ofthe Holy Week, but it evokesthe enormous pain which Christ's capturingmeans for the believer. Among the collected texts there are some which presents the tragedy in dialogue from. Such prayers were redorded only few times. These dramatical dialogues once must have formed a complete whole. They were likely to be a mystery-play with several characters. The image of Virgin Mary reflected in these prayers is based on the memory of oral tradition, while it is an expterience of iconographic description and drama passages at the same time.


Polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS) is commonly seen in femalein puberty and is characterized by hyperinsulinemia and hyperandrogenism.Adolescents with PCOS are at an inscresed risk of developing health problems in her later life such as type 2 diabetes,cardiovascular disease,and infertility. Furthermore,the physical symptoms of adokscent with PCOS can be detrimental to a teenage girl's self-image.Early diagnosis of PCOS is very important,in order to raise early diagnosis rate,the screening for PCOS in teenagers is necessary and important.In the article,we introduced screening for PCOS in teenagers.


Background on Distribution Segment in the GHGI The natural gas distribution segment includes pipelines that take high-pressure gas from the transmission system at "city gate" stations, reduce the pressure, and distribute the gas through primarily underground mains and service lines to individual end users. Distribution system emissions, which in the 2015 GHGI account for approximately 20 percent of methane (CH4) emissions from natural gas systems and less than 1 percent of non-combustion carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, result mainly from fugitive emissions from gate stations and pipelines. An increased use of plastic piping, which has lower emissions per unit length than other pipe materials, has reduced both CH4 and CO2 emissions from this segment over time.


Recent works have shown promising results applied to real-time semantic segmentation tasks. To maintain fast inference speed, most of the existing networks make use of light decoders, or they simply do not use them at all. This strategy helps to maintain a fast inference speed; however, their accuracy performance is significantly lower in comparison to non-real-time semantic segmentation networks. In this paper, we introduce two key modules aimed to design a high-performance decoder for real-time semantic segmentation for reducing the accuracy gap between real-time and non-real-time segmentation networks. Our first module, Dilated Asymmetric Pyramidal Fusion (DAPF), is designed to substantially increase the receptive field on the top of the last stage of the encoder, obtaining richer contextual features. Our second module, Multi-resolution Dilated Asymmetric (MDA) module, fuses and refines detail and contextual information from multi-scale feature maps coming from early and deeper stages of the network. Both modules exploit contextual information without excessively increasing the computational complexity by using asymmetric convolutions. Our proposed network entitled "FASSD-Net" reaches 78.8 % of mIoU accuracy on the Cityscapes validation dataset at 41.1 FPS on full resolution images (1024 x 2048). Besides, with a light version of our network, we reach 74.1 % of mIoU at 133.1 FPS (full resolution) on a single NVIDIA GTX 1080Ti card with no additional acceleration techniques. The source code and pre-trained models are available at github.com/GibranBenitez/FASSD- Net.


Drawing on the resource-based view, this paper seeks to examine the influence of employee competencies on organizational performance using a sample of 325 managerial and non-managerial employees working in Indian public and private sector banks. The study employed a cross-sectional research design, and the data were collected through a structured questionnaire using convenience sampling. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to check the reliability and validity of the dimensions, and the proposed hypotheses were tested by using structural equation modelling. The results indicated a positive and significant impact of selected employee competencies on organizational performance except for self-competence, which showed an insignificant and negative effect. The study is of immense potential to help policy and decision-makers of the Indian banking industry to develop and implement strategies for improving employee competencies, which, in turn, are instrumental in enhancing organizational performance. This study is a unique attempt to examine the impact of various employee competence dimensions on organizational performance, particularly in the Indian banking industry.