Blue Cross of California has successfully turned its company around by moving away from a centralized to a decentralized structure, setting and monitoring targets, and making each department accountable for its performance... forecasting played an important role in the planning process. A corporate turnaround effort poses one of the biggest challenges imaginable to business managers. Bringing a corporation from a vulnerable and defensive market position to a competitive one often requires immediate and extensive changes in the corporate structure. At Blue Cross of California, a corporate turnaround effort began in 1986 when the company lost over 60 million dollars, and was down to just 16 million dollars in reserves. A management restructuring of the organization, including a restructuring of the financial planning, reporting and forecasting process, has contributed largely to the success of the turnaround effort. Today, the company holds over 500 million dollars in reserves. In the initial stages, the company had to take a drastic action. Management made major cutbacks everywhere, and even had to spin off assets to generate cashflow for survival. It was during this time that management implemented three major strategies to improve the infrastructure and to help the company regain its competitive position in the market. The three major strategies employed in the turnaround process were (1) implementing accountability, (2) transitioning to managed care and (3) standardizing product lines. These strategies helped to lay the groundwork for developing the financial planning and forecasting systems that are now in place. IMPLEMENTING ACCOUNTABILITY Traditionally, the organizational Structure of Blue Cross of California was a functional structure, with one large data processing department, one large claims department, one large customer service department, and one large underwriting department. This system was conducive to inefficiencies, since no one was accountable for any function other than their own, and no adequate measures were available to assess performance or to control expenditures. To alleviate this problem, management moved the organization away from its functional structure by dividing it into several separate individually accountable units, which were formed to service specific target markets. This eliminated many inefficient departments, and replaced them with smaller, more manageable profit centers. Each unit became responsible for sales, expenditures and profit. In addition, management took an aggressive step by assigning each profit center the responsibility of developing its own forecast and preparing its own strategic plan. TRANSITION TO MANAGED CARE To regain a competitive position in the market, management made an effort to gradually move away from traditional indemnity insurance to managed care products, such as HMO and PPO plans. This was necessary, according to Deborah Lachman, Senior Vice-President of Strategic Planning, "because California's health insurance market has become extremely managed care oriented. If you opt for the traditional fee for service plans when all of your competitors are selling managed care products, you lose your ability to stay competitive in the market. Had we not moved toward managed care products, we would have been left behind like a dinosaur." The transition to managed care has also provided more predictability in claims payments and has enabled the actuarial department to more accurately forecast loss reserves and incurred but not reported (IBNR) losses. With more predictable loss ratios, the risk management process has become an aid to product design and development by providing input for benefit schedule revisions and competitive pricing strategies. PRODUCT STANDARDIZATION To further increase efficiency, management decided to undertake an effort to standardize the product lines by redesigning plans and eliminating some of the plans that were more difficult to process and administer. …


Depressive disorders are the second disease burden in the world, and first cause of years of life lost due to disability - YLDs. The screening for depressive disorders in Chiangdao district had not reached the target because of language and cultural barriers in many groups of Thai hill tribe people. The Sukontip K. face mood pictorial depression assessment tool was developed to solve these problems. The objective of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the tool in the screening for depression in Thai community. It was conducted in 100 randomly selected participants aged 18 and above attending out patient department of Suanprung Hospital from October through December 2011 (50 depressive and 50 non-depressive participants diagnosed by psychiatrists). Patients with schizophrenia and mental retardation were excluded. The participants were assessed for their depressive mood by the Sukontip K. face mood pictorial depression assessment tool and the Thai version of the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9). Confirmatory diagnosis (depression or no depression) was subsequently performed by psychiatrists. Data were collected and analyzed for sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios for positive and negative results, and area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI). It was found that the mean age of the participants was 45.47 years (SD = 13.06) and 53.00% of them were females. Depression was found in 50 subjects, and no depression in the other 50 subjects. The average assessment time by this screening took was approximately 10 seconds. The optimal cut-off point was picture No. 4 that showed a sensitivity of 78.00% (95%CI 64.76-87.25), specificity of 82.00 (95%CI= 69.20 - 90.23). The area under the curve (AUC) in this screening test was 0.83 (95%CI 0.75 - 0.92), positive predictive value = 81.25% (95 % CI 68.06 – 89.81), negative predictive value = 78.85% (95% CI 65.97 – 87.76), positive likelihood ratio = 4.33 (95%CI 2.36 - 7.97) and negative likelihood ratio = 0.27 (95%CI 0.16 - 0.46). The average time to complete the PHQ-9 was approximately 5 to 10 minutes. The accuracy of PHQ-9 showed a sensitivity of 76.00 (95%CI 62.59 - 85.70), specificity of 76.00 (95%CI 62.59 - 85.70), positive likelihood ratio of 3.17 (95%CI 1.88 – 5.31) and negative likelihood ratio of 0.32 (95%CI 0.19 – 0.53). The AUC of PHQ-9 was 0.86 (95%CI 0.79 - 0.94). Thus, the Sukontip K. face mood pictorial depression assessment tool was found to be a reliable depression screening tool. It took less time (compared to PHQ-9), was easy to use and had no language or cultural barrier. It could, therefore, replace PHQ-9, as there was no statistical significant difference in the accuracy. Key words: Sukontip K. face mood pictorial depression assessment tool, sensitivity, specificity, depression


Differences in the rainrates of various cells embedded within a mesoscale convective system on July 13, 1986 during the Cooperative Huntsville Meteorological experiment are examined. The NCAR CP2 S-band polarimetric radar deployed near Huntsville, Alabama, is used to characterize the rainfall field. Rainfall estimates are compared and contrasted using the single-parameter Marshall and Palmer (1948) method with the Illingworth and Caylor (1989) dual-polarization technique (ILC). The primary differences in the rainrate estimates are shown to be associated with the differences in the drop size distributions, derived from the ILC technique, that occur within the various storms.


This paper deals with the potential application of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data to detect subsurface fire (subsurface hotspots) by proposing an efficient contextual algorithm. Most of the solutions proposed to date are mainly focused on the problem of surface fires, and very few research works have been performed to develop techniques for the subsurface fire problem. Although few algorithms based on the fixed-thresholding approach have been proposed for subsurface hotspot detection, however, for each application, thresholds have to be specifically tuned to cope with unique environmental conditions. The main objective of this paper is to develop an instrument-independent adaptive method by which direct threshold or multithreshold can be avoided. The proposed contextual algorithm is very helpful to monitor subsurface hotspots with operational satellite data, such as the Jharia region of India, without making any region-specific guess in thresholding. Novelty of the proposed work lies in the fact that once the algorithmic model is developed for the particular region of interest after optimizing the model parameters, there is no need to optimize those parameters again for further satellite images. Hence, the developed model can be used for optimized automated detection and monitoring of subsurface hotspots for future images of the particular region of interest. The algorithm is adaptive in nature and uses vegetation index and different NOAA/AVHRR channel's statistics to detect hotspots in the region of interest. The performance of the algorithm is assessed in terms of sensitivity and specificity and compared with other well-known thresholding techniques such as Otsu's thresholding, entropy-based thresholding, and existing contextual algorithm proposed by Flasse and Ceccato. The proposed algorithm is found to give better hotspot detection accuracy with lesser false alarm rate.


Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are attracting a lot of attention from wireless network researchers. Node placement problems have been investigated for a long time in the optimization field due to numerous applications in location science. In our previous work, we evaluated WMN-SA and WMN-GA systems which are based respectively on Simulated Annealing (SA) and Genetic Algorithms (GAs) to find an optimal location assignment for mesh routers. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of optimal distribution of router nodes for two different algorithms. As evaluation metrics, we used packet delivery ratio, end-to-end delay, beacon received and packet dropped. For simulations, we used QualNet and Hybrid Wireless Mesh Protocol (HWMP). We compare the performance of the optimized network topologies for event site environment of mesh clients by sending multiple constant bit rate flows in the network. The simulation results show that for GA scenario, the average PDR is higher than the results of SA. Comparing the results of WMN-SA and WMN-GA scenario, the number of packets dropped due to retransmission of WMN-GA is smaller than WMN-SA.


To the Editor—Dr G. J. Chang wrote an editorial on the treatment of locally advanced rectal carcinoma and commented our article, "Tailored Treatment Strategy for Locally Advanced Rectal Carcinoma Based on the Tumor Response to Induction Chemotherapy: Preliminary Results of the French Phase II Multicenter GRECCAR4 Trial." We would like to provide further insight. As he said, the design of the trial is complex: 1 standard arm and 1 experimental arm for either good responders or bad responders after induction chemotherapy. We agree on some inaccuracies, namely, the cutoff for the tumoral response, the necessity to exclude ultralow rectal, and the level of evidence of a phase II study. However, GRECCAR4 has demonstrated the power of chemotherapy to individualize prognostic subgroups according to the early tumoral response and the ability to propose a tailored strategy. The National Cancer Institute phase II study (NCT02921256) will give information on the veliparib combination with chemotherapy. The PROSPECT phase III trial (NCT01515787) will clarify the place of selective use of radiotherapy depending on response to FOLFOX. While awaiting the results of the study, we have proposed in France a new trial, Greccar 14, which should avoid our former drawbacks. It is shown in Figure 1. It will be a phase III study that will first randomize the standard arm (chemoradiotherapy: Cap50 [50 Gy irradiation and 1600 mg/m oral capecitabine daily] + surgery) to the experimental arm (6 cycles of intensive chemotherapy: FOLFIRINOX ×6). Volumetric evaluation will be done by MRI and PET CT. Then, a second randomization will be performed between classical chemoradiotherapy (Cap50) and the experimental arm for which details are as follows: very favorable response: surgery / favorable response: Cap 50 + surgery / unfavorable response: Cap60 [60 Gy irradiation] + surgery (Figure 1). Cutoff of the very favorable response will be 60% of tumoral volume decreasing, a favorable response will be 40% to 60% of tumoral volume decreasing, and an unfavorable response will be less than 40% of tumoral volume decreasing. Five hundred sixty patients are ex-


Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in human subjects often require multiple scanning sessions/visits. Changes in a subject's head position across sessions result in different alignment between brain tissues and the magnetic field which leads to changes in magnetic susceptibility. These changes can have considerable impacts on acquired signals. Therefore, we developed the Head Alignment Optimization (HALO) tool. HALO provides real-time visual feedback of a subject's current head position relative to the position in a previous session. We verified that HALO enabled subjects to actively align their head positions to the desired position of their initial sessions. Our pilot sample of healthy subjects were able to improve their head alignment significantly using HALO and achieved good alignment with their first session meeting stringent criteria similar to that used for within-run head motion (less than 2mm translation or 2 degrees rotation in any direction from the desired position). Utilization of HALO in longitudinal studies will reduce the noise across sessions related to changes in magnetic susceptibility. HALO has been made publicly available.


(57) Abstract A modified carbon product is described that includes a carbon to which at least one organic group is attached. The organic group may be a) at least one aromatic or C 1 -C 12 alkyl group, and b) at least one ionic group, at least one ionizable group, or an ionic group and an ionizable group. Including mixtures of various groups. The aromatic or C 1 -C 12 alkyl group of the organic group is directly attached to the carbon, and the organic group uses from about 0.1 to about 2.7 micromol / m 2 based on the CTAB or t-area of the carbon. It is present in a carbon content or in such an amount that the modified carbon product has a residual value greater than about 5 wt%. Aqueous inks and coatings and non-aqueous inks and coatings containing the modified carbon products are also described. Also described is a method of increasing the flow of ink measured by glass plate flow by incorporating a modified carbon product as part of the ink. Finally, a modified carbon product comprising carbon to which at least one organic group is attached, the organic group comprising: a) at least one aromatic or C 1 -C 12 alkyl group, and b A) a modified form comprising at least one ionic group, at least one ionizable group, or a mixture of ionic and ionizable groups, wherein the organic group is present in any amount; Non-aqueous inks and coating formulations containing carbon products and suitable solvents are described.


Objective To detect the effect of SATB1 on cell proliferation of hepatoma cell HepG2. Methods The HepG2 cells were over-expessed SATB1 by being transfected with plasmids encoding for whole length of SATB1 gene,the mRNA and protein levels were measured by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot analysis.The cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay,cell cycle distribution was detected by flow cytometry. Results After SATB1 over-expressing,compared with the blank and control groups,SATB1mRNA and protein were increased significantly in HepG2,and cell growth was promoted,cell number in G0/G1 phase was decreased and that in S and G2/M phase was increased. Conclusion The results showed that SATB1 over-expression promoted cell proliferation in HepG2 cell lines,and the mechanism of which may be associated with promoting DNA replication and transcription in cell phase.


The aim of this research was to analyze the earning quality and corporate bankruptcy prediction by using Altman Z-Score  method, and analyze the influence of the earnings quality against the bankruptcy prediction results. The sample data are 45 companies listed in the index of LQ-45 for the period February 2013 until August 2017 with purposive sampling method. The test results showed that earning quality has a greater relationship influence on a the prediction of corporate bankruptcy for bankrupt categories 37.66% than in the prediction of corporate bankruptcy for non bankrupt categories (health) only  8.61%.


Summary A method for isolation of mammary gland cell nuclei was described. DNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity in isolated mammary gland nuclei was measured in rats fed a single dose of DMBA. In female rats, there was a significant inhibition of Mn2+-(NH4)2SO4-activated RNA polymerase activity within 24 hr after the feeding of DMBA. Inhibition continued for 2 days, but thereafter, the enzyme activity rose significantly above the control value. In contrast, RNA polymerase activity was not depressed in male rats treated with DMBA.


The functional characteristics of the Skylab are considered together with general information concerning the spacecraft and its equipment. The Skylab solar instruments are examined, giving attention to two H-alpha telescopes, a white light coronograph, X-ray spectrographic telescopes, a UV scanning polychromator/spectroheliometer, a dual X-ray telescope, an XUV spectrograph/spectroheliograph, and instruments of X-ray/UV solar photography. The Skylab solar observing programs are discussed along with aspects of astronaut training and details regarding the control and display devices of the spacecraft.


An NMR double‐rotation probe providing for reorientation of a sample around two axes is described, and the key design features for low‐friction motion are discussed. By means of double rotation, second‐order broadening is averaged away, thus enhancing the resolution of spectra for quadrupole nuclei in solid‐state NMR.


Following our previous research, we argue that weak societal institutions allow human agency factors to influence human behaviour strongly and, in particular, to affect how people coped with the collapse of Soviet institutions and responded to new opportunities that arose in the transition from communism. We chose Estonia as our study site because it had a "bottom‐up" transition that encouraged individual initiative and mass participation. Further, its state rapidly developed efficient, democratic institutions and legalized private ownership, which reorganized economic activity. Human agency factors include pre‐conditions (e.g., skills, education, goals), processes (e.g., making choices and factors affecting choices, such as self‐efficacy and locus of control), and previous agentic actions. We examined the impacts of adolescent abilities and goals, completed education, and economic activities in the first stage of the transition on economic success in the second stage using longitudinal data from the Path...


SIR. A 62-year-old woman presented with tender, erythematous skin lesions, arranged in a linear, unilateral fashion, over the right side of the trunk, with multiple grouped pseudovesicular papules and polycyclic bordered erosions partially covered by haemorrhagic crusts (Fig. 1}. She had first noted the changes several weeks before, but had not visited a general practitioner until 2 weeks previously. Because of the zosterlike appearance, she had been given oral acyclovir. 8(){)mg five times daily for 14 days, without improvement. She had had an adenocarcinoma of the cervix 8 years previously. treated by hysterectomy and irradiation, and 6 months before this presentation, had had a second course of radiotherapy for paravertebral lymph node metastases from the cervical carcinoma. Material for cytology, obtained from an eroded area, yielded numerous clusters of atypical malignant cells (Fig. 2). Mammography. followed by cytology of a fine-needle aspiration from the right breast, confirmed a diagnosis of metastatic breast carcinoma.


The red top-emitting organic light-emitting device was fabricated by employing the 4,4′,4″-tris(3-methyl-phenylphenylamino)-tri-phenylamine(m-MTDATA)as hole injection layer,N,N′-diphenyl-N,N′-bis(1-naphthyl)-(1,1′-biphenyl)-4,4′-diamine(NPB)as hole transporting layer,4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-t-butyl-6-(1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidyl9-enyl)-4H-pyran(DCJTB)as doping emitting layer,tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)(ALq3)as electronic transporting layer,UV-ozone surface modified Ag as anode and LiF/Al/Ag thin film as cathode,respectively.The effect of out-coupling layer on the emission properties of the TEOLED is discussed in detail through optical simulation.The results illustrate that the spectrum characteristics are improved obviously without sacrificing the efficiency by employing 60nm thick Alq3as out-coupling layer.


PURPOSE: A medium storage box and a financial device are provided to increase spatial utilization inside by preventing a medium from coming into a space of a medium storage box used inside of a financial device. CONSTITUTION: Withdrawal checks are arranged between a first support part(161) and a second support part(162) and deposit checks are arranged in the upper side of a first support part. A blocking member(180) is equipped in the lower side of a second support part in order to limit excessive insertion of checks and prevents the checks from being inserted into a space between a second support part and the inner surface of a casing in a check storage part. A pressurizing part(172) is equipped in order to press a blocking member when closing a door(170) and controls the state of a blocking member according to an opening or closing state.


The thermal dissociation of cyanogen into cyanide radicals around 1200°C has been studied. Determining the variation of CN concentration with temperature by the intensity of absorption bands, the heat of dissociation 77±4 kg cal. has been obtained. With this quantity the heat of dissociation of hydrogen cyanide into hydrogen atoms and cyanide radicals is calculated as 94.5±4 kg cal. By the use of existing thermochemical data these quantities are shown to be the most probable values for the energies of the C–C and C–H bonds, respectively. The heat of sublimation of carbon is calculated as 154±3 kg cal.


Despite the considerable importance of the Florida fishery for Spiny Lobsters, Panulirus argus, comparatively little is known of the manner by which populations are replenished. The larvae are thought to drift up from the Caribbean before metamorphosing into transparent postlarvae. The latter swim or are transported to nursery grounds, suspected to exist primarily in nearshore shallows, where they enter benthic juvenile lobster populations. Management of the fishery resource requires more information than presently available on times and places of recruitment, factors influencing the process, and relationships between recruitment success and subsequent fishery productivity.


Because somatostatin has been shown to decrease portal blood flow, it has been used in the emergency treatment of bleeding esophageal varices. Two


Here, as elsewhere, the question is posed as to how much more credible these initiatives may prove to be compared to the schemes pursued earlier, and what may be done to help make them more viable and durable. EIPA has indeed been entrusted by the European Commission and the countries of the Rio Group (Mexico and the ten Iberian states of South America) with the design and implementation of a multi-annual training programme (to be carried out through a Training Centre for Regional Integration (CEFIR) which has been established in Montevideo, in collaboration with other institutions in Latin America) intended precisely to support the development of Latin American capacities for the management of regional integration.


Abstract. Asmelash F, Bekele T, Belay Z, Kebede F. 2021. Cordia africana but not Juniperus procera and Podocarpus falcatus respond positively to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi at the early stages of seedling development. Biodiversitas 22: 2971-2980. AMF (Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) inoculation could be an important technology to improve the growth and field survival of trees. Hence, we evaluated the mycorrhizal responsiveness of Cordia africana Lam., Juniperus procera (Hoechst. ex Endl.), and Podocarpus falcatus (Thumb.) Mirb. seedlings. Seedlings germinated on sterile sand were transplanted to 1-liter plastic pots filled with sterile and non-sterile degraded bulk soil. Rhizospheric soil from adult C. africana and J. procera were used as whole-soil AMF inocula. Cordia africana and J. procera received conspecific whole-soil AMF inocula while P. falcatus received J. procera inoculum. Hence, in the two-by-two factorial experiment, we also evaluated the growth effects of AMF inoculation, soil type, and their interaction. On the sterile potting soil, MRi (mycorrhizal responsiveness due to AMF inoculation) of C. africana was positive and significantly (p<0.05) greater than the MRi of J. procera and P. falcatus. However, on the non-sterile potting soil, it was significantly greater than the MRi of P. falcatus only. MRs (MR due to the existing potting soil inocula) and considering all growth variables were mostly positive for C. africana but negative for J. procera and P. falcatus. AMF inoculation significantly increased most growth variables of C. africana seedlings and no significant "inoculation" x "soil type" interaction effects were detected. Hence, AMF inoculation of C. africana seedlings could be merited and under wide range of field conditions. In the case of J. procera and P. falcatus, after-planting care could be more appropriate


FIELD: electricity. SUBSTANCE: electric gear motor comprises an electric motor, a speed decelerating reducer which transfers a driving force of the electric motor, a housing which contains the reducer and the electric motor, and a yoke fixed to external part of the housing. The housing has a concave part, a holding hole and a positioning chamber. The connecting unit is moved along the first direction and is mounted to the housing concave part. The brush holder is moved along the second direction and is mounted to the holding hole. The reducer is moved along the first direction and inserted into the positioning chamber. The yoke is moved along the second direction and fixed to the housing. EFFECT: assembly simplification, torque increase. 6 cl, 23 dwg


This paper mainly introduces the AT89S52 microcontroller as control core,through the acquisition of HC-SR501,the human body infrared sensor,HC-SR04 sensor,DS18B20 temperature sensor,sensor data,and then through the CPU for data processing and analysis of data,the final control relay output device to achieve realistic home furnishing intelligent control purposes.


Chief Justice Neil Wittmann has concluded that there is an operational conflict between the abandonment and reclamation provisions of the province's Oil and Gas Conservation Act, RSA 2000, c O-6 (OGCA) and Pipeline Act, RSA 2000, c P-15 and the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, RSC 1985, c B-3 (BIA). Thus, a trustee in bankruptcy is free to pick and choose from amongst the assets in the estate of the bankrupt by disclaiming unproductive oil and gas assets even where (and especially so) those assets are subject to abandonment orders from Alberta's oil and gas energy regulator, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER). As a result, the value of the bankrupt's productive assets is preserved for the benefit of secured creditors. AER abandonment orders do not bind a trustee with respect to the disclaimed properties and do not constitute costs of administration of the bankrupt's estate. Since the trustee has no responsibility for disclaimed assets, the trustee should be in a position to transfer non-disclaimed producing assets to a third party purchaser without objection from the AER on the basis of any deterioration in the liability rating associated with the unsold non-producing assets. If either the AER or the Orphan Well Association (OWA) carries out the abandonment of the disclaimed assets such costs may constitute a provable claim in bankruptcy but, as a general creditor, the AER/OWA would likely only recover cents on the dollar.


This paper focuses on optimal design of an interval type-2 fuzzy logic system (IT-2FLS) to cope with uncertainty issue of training set and noisy data. Content of the solution is depicted based on the proposed algorithm to optimally design an IT-2FLS from a dataset, named OD-T2FLS. The major concept of the OD-T2FLS is a combination of a useful method of clustering data space to establish a type-1 fuzzy logic system (T-1FLS) and an appropriate way to transform the T-1FLS into an IT-2FLS as well as to optimally adjust parameters of the IT-2FLS. Firstly, an improved algorithm to establish an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), named IM-ENFS, is presented. Based on the given dataset, clustering in the join input–output data space is realized to establish a cluster-data space. Using the IM-ENFS for this cluster-data space, together with the cluster-data space optimized, an ANFIS having a role as an optimal T1-FLS is also established. Parameters of the optimized T-1FLS are then used to build the initial structure of IT-2FLS. Subsequently, this IT-2FLS is optimally adjusted based on the well-known genetic algorithm. Finally, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed OD-T2FLS, experiments including magnetorheological fluid damper are realized based on two different statuses of data sources, with and without noise.


This study examines the role of different types of 'fit' in consumers' evaluations of Composite Brand Extensions (CBEs). Building on accessibility-diagnosticity theory, we report the results of an experiment that distinguished between product fit (between the parent brands and the CBE) and brand fit (between the parent brands), as well as the interactions between these types of fit. We find that the accessibility and diagnosticity of brand fit makes it a central construct in explaining the CBE evaluation process, both in terms of its main effect and as a driver of the interaction between product fit with both parent brands.


Barta, James A., M A T. December, 1999 Mathematics Relation Between SIMMS Integrated Mathematics Curriculum and Enrollment of Females, American Indians in Montana Secondary Schools Director: Dr. Johnny Lott Measuring the effectiveness of a curriculum at encouraging students to continue to enroll in mathematics classes has not been done often because of the difficulty of conducting such a survey. This study was an attempt to find the relationship between the Systemic Initiative for Montana Mathematics and Science Integrated Mathematics {SIMMS IM) curriculum and enrollment levels among Montana secondary students, particularly females and American Indians. A survey instrument was sent to all secondary school mathematics teachers in Montana in the spring of 1995, 1996, and 1998. Teachers returned their mathematics class names with enrollment numbers of boys, girls, and American Indians by year-level of students. By counting the students who took mathematics classes designed for their grade-level, SIMMS IM enrollments as percentages of the class populations were compared to nonSIMMS IM enrollment percentages. Over 80,000 students were counted overall, with over 10% counted in SIMMS IM classes. Even with large numbers of recorded students, the short span of years surveyed allowed only one class to be followed for more than two years of school. No strong relationship could be determined from the data for female or American Indian enrollment. Individual schools had contradictory patterns, perhaps indicating the prevalence of other more significant factors affecting student enrollment.


Rapid growth of traffic leads to bottlenecks on inter-domain links, and the residual bandwidth on such links exhibits temporal and spatial variations. There may not be sufficient bandwidth for end-to-end cross domain transmission upon the arrival of bulk data requests. Storage can be introduced into the forwarding path so that the delay tolerant data can be temporarily stored and forwarded when network links become less congested. In this paper, we study the Store-and-Forward (SnF) problem in a multi-domain environment. We present a routing scheme based on a framework named TS-MLG (time-shifted multilayer graph) to perform inter-domain bulk data transfer by taking both spatial and temporal aspects into consideration. With this scheme, the cross-domain routing path, as well as the storage points and the time of transmission, can be determined through conventional routing computations. An updating strategy is proposed to realize temporal bandwidth information exchange between physical and logical layers. Numerical simulations reveal that SnF can improve the inter-domain bandwidth utilization and optimize the network performance at the practical cost of network states maintenance overhead and computational complexity. Since the multi-domain routing is sensitive to the burden of the control plane, we also studied factors that affect computational complexity.


Abstract A cohomology theory associated to a holomorphic Poisson structure is the hypercohomology of a bicomplex where one of the two operators is the classical მ̄-operator, while the other operator is the adjoint action of the Poisson bivector with respect to the Schouten-Nijenhuis bracket. The first page of the associated spectral sequence is the Dolbeault cohomology with coefficients in the sheaf of germs of holomorphic polyvector fields. In this note, the authors investigate the conditions for which this spectral sequence degenerates on the first page when the underlying complex manifolds are nilmanifolds with an abelian complex structure. For a particular class of holomorphic Poisson structures, this result leads to a Hodge-type decomposition of the holomorphic Poisson cohomology. We provide examples when the nilmanifolds are 2-step.


Summary The role of circulating microparticles (MP) of different origin and tissue factor (TF)-bearing in overweight and obese patients with and without metabolic syndrome is still a matter of debate. In a case-control study, the presence of hypercoagulability was evaluated in overweight and obese patients by measuring MP, thrombin generation (TG) and FVIIa-AT complexes. Twenty overweight patients (body mass index [BMI] range 25–29.9 kg/m2), 20 with I degree (30–34.9 kg/m2), 20 with II degree (35–39.9 kg/m2) and 20 with III degree obesity (≥ 40 kg/m2) were enrolled and compared to 40 age and gender-matched normal weight individuals. A significant increase in median levels of all MP subtypes was observed in the three degrees of obese patients compared to controls. Overweight patients had higher levels of annexin V-MP (AMP), endothelial-derived, leukocyte-derived and TF-bearing MP than controls. Obese patients had a significantly shorter median lag time (p< 0.05), higher median peak thrombin (p< 0.01) and increased median endogenous thrombin potential [ETP] (p< 0.001) compared to controls. Overweight subjects had significantly increased ETP compared to controls (p< 0.05). Both AMP levels and ETP were found to positively correlate with BMI, waist circumference, and inflammatory parameters. No significant increase in FVIIa-AT complex was seen in cases compared to controls. We conclude that obesity is associated with overproduction of procoagulant MP and increase TG. Interestingly, hypercoagulability is found in overweight patients free of metabolic syndrome and increases with the severity of obesity. Assessment of MP and TG may be helpful in the early characterisation of the prothrombotic state in obese patients.


Precisely engineered magnesium alloys featuring a desired and use-oriented microstructure offer an immense optimization potential for mechanical and corrosion properties. The tailoring of alloys and processes for new extended applications poses, however, a challenging issue. It requires apart from an improved understanding of the microstructure evolution a validated numerical technique which allows a systematic investigation of the influence of individual alloying elements and processing parameters. Moreover, reliable thermodynamic databases have to be generated to enable quantitative microstructure prediction. These are the targets of our ongoing joint research project, which combines thermodynamic constitution, cast experiments and phase-field simulations [1]. This part of our study addresses microstructure formation under directional solidification conditions. As a fundamental issue, growth and orientation selection for the hcp lattice symmetry are studied. The correct treatment of the magnesium-specific anisotropy represents an essential prerequisite for quantitative microstructure prediction, since it affects dendrite spacings, texture, microsegregation and precipitation of secondary phases. Bridgman experiments were carried out to study directional solidification of the alloy AZ31 (Mg-3%Al-1%Zn) under well-defined process conditions. Based on newly assessed Calphad data, phase-field simulations were performed in 2D for ternary AZ31 and in 3D for binary Mg-6%Al. In a first approximation, an anisotropy function was formulated using MD data for pure Mg. A comparison between simulation and experimental results reveals that this anisotropy reproduces the dominant growth directions within the basal plane but still neglects additional off-basal plane arm directions. An extended anisotropy function is proposed, which reproduces all experimentally observed arm directions.


into a series of primarily locally operated feeders to the main lines of its former rival. Only a short stretch between Hawleyville, Connecticut, and Hopewell Junction, New York, now plays an important part in the interchange of products between New England and the west and south, and no part is of real importance in the carriage of traffic between Boston and New York City. This sketchy history of this road shows an attempt to build a trunk line railroad out of New England, the fruition of that hope, the almost frantic attempts to fatten up the ailing main line by means of branches to the main cities of southern New England and the final absorption of the system into the New Haven system, because of its dependence upon that system and upon the weak Erie Railroad for the traffic necessary to keep it going. It was perhaps unfortunate that, while this line was so unusual in New England history in the scope of the plan which brought it into existence, it should have been cursed with such poor management. It is hard to think of another instance in New England where a through line was built up of small lines all having been built with such a unity of purpose. In the Boston & Albany as well as the Fitchburg Railroad system, the first links out of Boston were in each case conceived as local roads, and their managements long fought all attempts to make them parts of trunk lines between New England and the West. GEORGE P. BAKER, JR . Harvard University


© 2016 The Authors. Business Strategy and the Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd This paper examines two social enterprises and 25+ informal economy micro-entrepreneurs in Kenya who utilize waste materials to generate income, considered through the conceptual lens of bricolage. Waste materials can all be considered as sources of free or discounted materials that in resource-constrained and poor communities might be leveraged to generate income in the absence of employment. This paper explores three key themes that emerge from the research findings, namely the various strategic dimensions of the cases, the networks and social capital they leverage and how these livelihood models relate to various dimensions of bricolage such as improvisation, making do and the process of 'fiddling' or recombining resources. The findings also suggest that differing waste livelihoods have different rates of return, or profitability, and differing input requirements of capital, skills and knowledge. The paper also stresses the role of boundary spanning organizations such as NGOs and hybrid/social enterprises. © 2016 The Authors. Business Strategy and the Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.


Based on the erosion of three test plots with planted hedgerows and two control plots in three rainfall conditions,we build a CA-Markov model with input factors of the precipitation,gradient,slope length,vegetation cover type,and soil erodibility K value to simulate and forecast the erosion of the five plots and analyze the results as well as the causes of errors. The results show that hedgerows can significantly reduce the amount of slope soil loss,and the effect of vetiver,which is better in 10° text plot than that in 15° text plot,is better than that of new leucaena.


Post-maturity and Prematurity. SOME twenty years ago one of the present writers (Ka1lantyne)l contributed ;o this JOUKNAL an article entitled " The Problem of the l'ost-mature Infant." H e had previously dealt else\\ here with " The Problem of the PremaLure Infant " ; and he endeavoured to shorn tiou different thc t>, o problems were. The post-mature infant, on account o f its prolonged sojourn in the uterus, has in most cases grown so large and has become so ossified in head and shoulders as t o make birth alire and uninjured a difficult matter ; the problem is to c o m p a s safe delivery, and the solution is to induce labour a t term and s(o prevent post-maturity, or , failing this, to perform Cresarean section when there is reason to believe that the f e t a l head and shoulders cannot traverse the mother's pelvis without serious damage. The premature infant, on the other hand, is commonly born alive, its small size and ossification making delivery easy ; its organs and tissurs, howwcr, are not anatomically and physiologically capable of meeting the stress of the post-natal environment, and it is apt to perish soon after birth; the problem in its case is to maintain life in exacting surroundings, and the solution again is to carr! on ante-natal life for a few weeks longer, or, failing this, to imitate so far as possible intra-uterine conditions outside the mother's hodr by providing c o u ~ ~ u s e accommodation,


Treatment of hexakis(2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl)tetragermabuta-1,3-diene (2) with selenium in the presence of Et 3 P furnishes a selenatetragermacyclopentene derivative with an endocyclic Ge-Ge double bond. With small amounts of water 2 reacts to afford an oxatetragermacyclopentane, analogous to THF. The reaction of 2 with Et 3 PTe proceeds by cleavage of all Ge-Ge bonds to yield a 1,2,4,5-tetratellura-3,6-digermacyclohexane derivative together with small amounts of the "double-decker" compound R 4 Ge 4 Te 6 , R = 2,4,6-iPr 3 C 6 H 2 , and a telluradigermirane. In the reaction of 2 with 2-methoxyphenyl isocyanide one Ge-Ge double bond is cleaved to give the 4(1H)-trigermatimine ring system with an endocyclic Ge-Ge double bond and the known tetrakis(2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl)digermene (10). All new compounds were characterized by X-ray crystallography. Redetermination of the structure of 10 revealed two independent molecules with Ge=Ge bond lengths of 2.2894(6) and 2.2635-(14) A, respectively.


The Wronskian technique is further studied for constructing new Wronskian determinant solutions of nonlinear soliton equations.First,the bilinear form of a generalized Boussinesq equation is given.The linear partial differential equations are obtained with Wronskian technique.Then the Wronskian determinant solutions of the generalized Boussinesq equation are gained by solving the linear partial differential conditions.Based on these,complexiton solutions of the generalized Boussinesq equation are constructed.


This article examines the growing body of commemorative feminist work on intersectionality – the myriad journals and books that have marked intersectionality's twentieth anniversary and celebrated the analytic's field-defining status and cross-disciplinary circulation. I argue that this commemorative scholarship is marked by its own genre conventions, including the emergence of originalism, an investment in returning to the 'inaugural' intersectional texts – namely Crenshaw's two articles (1989, 1991) – and assessing later feminist work on intersectionality by its fidelity to those texts. The article reveals that intersectional originalism is its own practice of re-reading and re-interpretation that has its own complex temporal and racial politics, and which is animated by a desire to rescue intersectionality from critique in a moment in which identity politics are increasingly suspect.


The growth rate of the filamentation instability triggered when a diluted cold electron beam passes through a cold plasma is evaluated using the quantum hydrodynamic equations. Compared with a cold fluid model, quantum effects reduce both the unstable wave vector domain and the maximum growth rate. Stabilization of large wave vector modes is always achieved, but significant reduction of the maximum growth rate depends on a dimensionless parameter that is provided. Although calculations are extended to the relativistic regime, they are mostly relevant to the non-relativistic one.


Under a NIOSH research grant, the Geotechnical Center of Excellence (GCE) evaluated the capability and limitations of thermal cameras to detect rockfall events and the conditions that can lead to rockfall.  This two-year study tested four different thermal imaging cameras in controlled rockfall experiments and long-term surveillance tests in various mines and conditions.  The cameras can detect rockfall events at less than their resolution as rockfall creates larger craters, impacts, and dust trails visible in the thermal IR. The surveillance test determined that the cameras work in both day and night conditions under a wide range of conditions. However, fog, heavy precipitation (rain, snow, hail), and dust limited visibility in the thermal IR. Four thermal infrared cameras were acquired for the project. The cameras were installed on a mobile mine monitoring platform. The project tested thermal imaging cameras' effectiveness to detect and record rockfall events and rockfall hazards in surface mining operations as a method to protect mine workers from the risks of rockfalls. One of the primary findings of the project is that off-the-shelf cameras can be used to increase situational awareness at the mines in low-light conditions. This presentation will document camera selection, resolution, and results from the project.


The focus of this study was to investigate the long-range stability of the defense style of intellectualization (assessed by ratings of Rorschach protocols), and its relation to an analytic field-independent cognitive style (assessed by scores on the Rod and Frame, RFT, test). The 28 male Ss had been administered the Rorschach and the RFT at age 14, 17, and 24 (4 of the sample was also tested at age 10) and the Wechsler-Bellevue at age 17, as part of a broader longitudinal study. The results indicate that individual differences in Rorschach ratings of intellectualization tend to remain stable from childhood to young adulthood. Intellectualization ratings were also positively related to field independence and IQ.


Transfer of FAP-reactive T cells into mice bearing a variety of subcutaneous tumors mediated limited antitumor effects and induced significant cachexia and lethal bone toxicities


This research is to examine the factors influencing Hanoians' intention of using solar energy household appliances through the application of the OLS model, t-test, and ANOVA. Based on the survey of 256 Hanoians, the regression analysis results show tthe factors of "perception of accessibility" has the strongest impact on the intention of using such appliances and is followed by "perception of price," "support, promotion," "perception of usefulness," and "perception of use ease." The "reference group" and "perception of risk" have the least effect on Hanoians' intention. The t-test and ANOVA results indicate that the group with an income of less than 10 million VND per month and the group with a college education background or less have a higher intention than the others. The paper, therefore, proposes some suggestions to promote the production and use of these appliances in the coming time.


Retaining of gauzes and surgical sponges in the abdomen is one of the most frequent medical errors usually manifesting as abscess or abdominocutaneus fistulas with no definite symptoms during lifetime. Here, we introduce a 35 year old woman with symptoms and signs of partial bowel obstruction and enterocutaneous fistulas caused by migration of retained gauze from abdominal cavity to terminal ileum, 9 months after cesarean section. This is called "Textiloma". There are several reports of gossypiboma worldwide but migration of retained gauze into intestine causing an enterocutaneous fistula is rare.


approved Cf (Major Professor) Diets containing cyclopropenoid fatty acids (CPFA) were fed to rainbow trout. At a level of 223 ppm (from Sterculia foetida oil), these CPFA in six weeks reduced weight gain by as much as 50 percent over the control fish on the same diet without CPFA. Compounds containing the intact cyclopropene ring were recovered from the tissue lipids of the trout at approximately two-thirds of the level fed. These acids seemed to concentrate in the egg lipids of the adult female fish. At 223 and 2233 ppm (from S. foetida oil) and 50 ppm (from food grade cottonseed flour) the CPFA were demonstrated to alter lipid metabolism. In general, the CPFA fed fish had higher stearic and palmitic acid levels and lower oleic and palmitoleic acid levels in their tissue lipids than did the controls. On diets containing corn oil or corn oil plus salmon oil, fish fed CPFA tended to deposit more long chain unsaturated fatty acids than did their controls. When provided with tristearin as the sole dietary lipid, the CPFA fed fish reduced the level of unsaturation of their tissue lipids. SOME EFFECTS OF CYCLOPROPENOID FATTY ACIDS ON LIPID METABOLISM IN RAINBOW TROUT (SALMO GAIRDNERII)


The work entailed thermomechanical and fluid-flow modeling in both the development of such models and in their application to a preconceptual repository design and the Near-Surface Test Facility. The present numerical models available at University of Minnesota and Dames and Moore are summarized. Areas in which further code development are required have been identified as discontinuum models, the discrete element method, and fluid-flow models. The applicability of the various numerical models are also described and their areas of application delineated. Analyses of the preconceptual repository layout and the Near-Surface Test Facility test program are presented.


Two new species (Neuropteris terminiscus and N. kneuperi) are described from the Bolsovian ('Westphalian C') of Saarland. N. terminiscus had previously been misidentified as Paripteris pseudograndinioides, but the pinnae are clearly imparipinnate and thus cannot belong to that morphogenus. N. kneuperi had previously been misidentified as Neuropteris obliqua and N. heterophylla, both which appear to be absent from Saar-Lorraine. This is considered further evidence of the distinctive nature of the Westphalian vegetation of the Saar-Lorraine Basin, especially among the seed-plants. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002, 139, 193–205.


1. Soil Biodiversity and its Assessment The soil biota constitutes a major fraction of global terrestrial biodiversity. The majority of the terrestrial phyla of invertebrates, protists, fungi and bacteria are represented in the soil community. Within each of these groups the species diversity may also be extremely high. The different groups require different methods for their extraction from soil, identification and quantification. The necessity for using a variety of methods, many of which are destructive of the soil habitat, means that there is no single case where a full inventory of the soil diversity has been achieved. For some groups the methods have significant limitations and the percentage of species identified often well below the number exisiting. This is particularly so for the microorganisms. Traditional methods relied on the use of agar growth media to isolate fungi and bacteria but it is recognised that this is highly selective and results in only a small fraction of the diversity being recognised – perhaps less than 5% in the case of fungi (Hawksworth and Kalin-Arroyo in UNEP 1995). Molecular methods have given further insights to this issue. Torsvik et al (1996) demonstrated the existence of 13,000 genetically distinct bacterial types in a small sample of soil compared with only 66 isolated by the conventional plating techniques.


Abstract : The Lamb dip, a phenomenon associated with the nonlinear absorption of a standing wave in an inhomogeneously broadened medium, has been usedas the basis of a new type of high resolution spectroscopy and as a sharp reference for stabilizing the frequency of a laser. The effect has been applied in a high resolution study of the absorption properties of the SF6 molecule at a wavelength of 10.6 microns. The dip has also been used to stabilize the frequency of a CO2 laser to the same line centers that were studied. In addition, a theoretical analysis has been made of the dependence of the Lamb dip on absorption length and intensity which agrees favorably with experimental results. An examination of the limitations of this technique for spectroscopy and frequency stabilization is presented. Suggestions for improvements in the experimental techniques and for refinements of the existing apparatus are included. (Author)


Pisetsky et al recently reported substantial variability between two antinuclear antibodies (ANA) indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) assays as well as one solid-phase assay (SPA) from different manufacturers in a study of a cross-sectional cohort of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.1 This publication triggered several responses related to the performance of IIF for ANA detection.2–6 Bizzaro questioned whether ANA testing by IIF can be replaced by SPAs for the diagnosis of ANA-associated rheumatic disorders (AARD).7 On the basis of his experience and a literature review, he concluded that (1) overall screening by SPAs yields results that are at least comparable to the sensitivity of ANA-IIF results, (2) the performance of the assays depends on the disease being investigated and (3) the best diagnostic strategy seems to be the concomitant use of the two methods,7 which is in accord with previous suggestions.8

We hereby further illustrate that combining SPA with IIF adds value based on the data from a recently published study of 480 patients with AARD [SLE (n=119), primary Sjogren's syndrome (SjS, n=65), systemic sclerosis (SSc, n=220), idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM, n=50) and mixed connective tissue disease (n=56)] and 767 diseased controls.9 ANA detection was performed by automated IIF (NOVA View, Inova Diagnostics, San Diego, CA, …


The field of identity and, more specifically, identity work continues to blossom, encompassing contributions from different traditions of scholarship. Through an analysis of contributions in the areas of identity work and struggles, and space/place, this chapter suggests the field's expansion in four respects: conceptual, theoretical, thematic, and methodological. The authors' subsequent discussion draws on Barthes' (1990 [1974]) distinction between readerly and writerly texts to examine critically the writing practices through which contributions are established, and through which dialogue between different traditions and perspectives is both delimited and opened up. They conclude by offering reflections on the challenges of publishing the type of complex, plural work they are advocating, and make suggestions regarding the possibilities for ensuring identity remains a generative means of exploring the dynamics of organization.


The gene structure and function of Myostatin were reviewed.The mechanisms of Myostatin gene affecting the skeletal muscle development and regulation were summarized in the article.


After the fail of the communist model in the east European countries a powerful movement toward a new system of allocating resources did appear, based on the market instruments and the respect for the property right. We are analyzing here the main stages in rebuilding the property right and promoting privatization between 1989-1998; in a future study we will try to analyze the last evolutions of this phenomenon.


Background. Cardiac stem cells expressing the tyrosine kinase receptor c-kit have been recently used in in vivo and in vitro cardiac regenerative studies. However, it remains to be clarified whether the c-kit receptor itself plays a critical role in the process of cardiac regeneration. In order to clarify this point, we will explore whether c-Kit receptor affects cardiac stem cells proliferation, survival, migration and differentiation after heart injury. Methods and Results. We have generated transgenic mice in which an activatory point mutation (c-KitD814Y mice) has been introduced in the kinase domain of the c-kit gene. Initially, we have analyzed c-kit expression in tissues and organs at different stages of embryonal and post-natal development through immunohystochemical and biochemical analyses. We have found that in two transgenic lines the receptor is highly expressed and activated in heart, testis and cerebellum, compared to wild type mice. In order to follow the fate of the c-Kit transgenic stem cells we crossed c-KitD814Y mice with mice expressing GFP under c-Kit regulative sequences control. By cytofluorimetric and fluorescence microscopy analyses, we observed a 2 fold of increase in the number of c-kit positive cells on heart samples from double transgenic mice at different ages. To verify the c-kit role in cardiac regeneration we performed a necrotic heart damage in vivo and monitored cardiac repair in transgenic mice versus wild-type mice. After 9 days the wounded hearts of transgenic mice presented a larger connectival tissue area compared to wild-type mice. On the contrary, after 45 days a consistent reduction of fibrotic area was observed in transgenic mice. These preliminary results suggest a faster repair of damaged heart area that contain stem cells with an activated c-kit receptor. Further in vitro and in vivo experiments will be performed to assess whether transgenic c-kit cells directly transdifferentiate into cardiomyocytes or whether they act in a paracrine manner. In summary, the generation of transgenic mice carrying a constitutively activated c-kit in cardiac stem cells, will allow to investigate the role of the receptor and to highlight the molecular mechanism underlying heart regeneration.


Six of three-component donor−acceptor random copolymers P1−P6, symbolized as (thiophene donor)m−(thiophene acceptor)n, were rationally designed and successfully synthesized by the palladium-catalyzed Stille coupling. The 4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene (CPDT) unit serves as the donor for P1−P4, while the benzothiadiazole (BT), quinoxaline (QU), dithienoquinoxaline, and thienopyrazine (TP) units are used as the acceptor for P1, P2, P3, and P4, respectively. P5 and P6 are structurally analogous to P1 and P2 except for using the dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]silole (DTS) unit as the donor. Because the band gap lowering ability of the acceptor units in the polymer is in the order TP > BT > QU presumably due to the quinoid form population in the polymers, the optical band gaps can be well adjusted to be 1.2, 1.6, and 1.8 eV for P4, P1, and P2, respectively. It is found that the two bridged bithiophene units, CPDT and DTS, have similar steric and electronic effects on the P1 and P5 as well as P2 and P6, respect...


The competitiveness of enterprises depends not only on the efficient use of economic resources, promotion of the product brand, but also on meeting the needs of consumers for quality products. Therefore, economic entities should pay attention to the production of goods without deviations from standards and norms and without rejects, which will allow them to win in the market competition. This justifies the relevance of the subject matter of the article and its timeliness. The purpose of the article is to generalize the theoretical concepts of the product quality management process and to develop recommendations on the example of an industrial enterprise of the flow type of production to reduce product defects. The object is the process of managing product quality and reducing rejects. The article's subject is the theoretical provisions, methods, methodological and practical recommendations for managing the quality of products of industrial enterprises aimed at reducing the percentage of defective products. The main methods used in the article are general scientific methods of cognition: analysis and synthesis, theoretical generalization, monographic, structural-logical and system analyses, special research methods: statistical analysis, expert survey, Pareto rule, Ishikawa method, and graphical method. The main results presented in the article are as follows. Based on the generalization of scientific literature, the author proposes a definition of the concept of quality. Quality should be understood as ensuring the quality of each type of economic resource, which allows for a high-quality course of business processes and production of goods which satisfy the needs of consumers and are provided with their effective demand. In other words, products that are defective in terms of their technical or quality characteristics do not meet their standard and are unable to provide their intended functions. Products can be recognized as defective at any stage of production and operations of the production cycle. On the example of the industrial enterprise under study, the article considers the statistics of nonconformity and defective products in the most important production unit, the work of which is characterized by a significant percentage of rejects, according to operational and output control. Using the Pareto rule, the main causes of rejects are identified and Ishikawa diagrams are constructed for the most significant two causes. Further, in accordance with the Ishikawa diagrams, measures to prevent nonconformities and defects in products are proposed for two main reasons and five sections: equipment; control system; staff; raw materials; and working conditions. A unified standardized sequence for determining the causes of deviations and rejects in 16 stages has been developed. The use of training methods for staff of an industrial enterprise to improve product quality and reduce rejects is proposed.


Recently I read an account on the CNN website of a statement made at the Kumbh Mela at Allahabad in India, where about eighty million devotees of Hinduism were joined in their worship of the grace of the Goddess River Ganga by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, informal head of Tibetan Buddhists and formal head of the Tibetan government in exile. His Holiness also joined the leaders of Hinduism, various Shankaracharyas and others, in a formal statement in which they requested with the followers of other world religions not to persist in the practice of aggressive conversion of the followers of other religions. The statement addressed a special plea to Christians and Muslims, who may currently be the most intense in their worldwide missionary activities.


The K-slump tester was used to measure the consistency and workability of fresh concrete made with and without superplasticizer. It was found that the tester was capable of measuring both properties in a satisfactory manner.


NSW Health Policy Directives and Other Policy Documents , This Policy Directive requires NSW Health Organisations to develop and manage Policy Documents in accordance with the principles set out in this Directive and with the standards contained in the attached 'NSW Health Policy Directives and Other Policy Documents- Standards'.


Scales were developed to assess both the custodial and humanistic aspects of student control ideology. Research based on the responses of about 500 Hong Kong teacher education students showed responses to these scales were of adequate internal consistency, and confirmatory factor analysis supported two independent scales rather than a continuum from custodialism to humanism as assumed in the Pupil Control Ideology form (Willower et al., 1967), the instrument most widely used in this area of research. Further support for the differential validity of these scales came from evidence that self-perceived professional self-esteem as a teacher, teaching abilities, and classroom management skills were much more closely associated with the humanistic rather than custodial view of student control, but it was the latter view that was most affected by teaching practice in Hong Kong. (Contains 62 references.) (Author/SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Assessing Pupil Control Ideology in the Context of Hong Kong Teacher Education Ka Wah Yeung' The Hong Kong Institute of Education


PURPOSE: A positioning system is provided to enable a positioning terminal to perform high density positioning during a short positioning time by informing an accurate time to the positioning terminal by a base station signal. CONSTITUTION: A reference station(8) obtains calendar or ephemeris data required for positioning by receiving a signal of a GPS satellite. A position of the reference station(8) is a base, and the reference station(8) generates positioning correction data by comparing its position and the positioning result obtained from the GPS signal. The obtained data is accumulated in an SAS(Stand Alone Serving mobile location center)(7). A mobile terminal a(3) roughly knows a position or time from a previously positioned position or exists in a range in which the mobile terminal a(3) can successfully receive sufficient number of satellites required for positioning. An RNC(6) performs resource management or sequential controlling required for positioning with a function of an SMLC(Serving Location Center). A mobile terminal b(4) is a target terminal for positioning. GPS satellites(1a-1d) are adjusted for their time with precision of an atomic clock at a reference time called a GPS time and generate a signal in synchronization with the GPS time. When positioning is performed by using the GPS, the GPS time can be detected besides a position.


Cardiovascular disease is a serious medical condition associated with high cases of death throughout the world. It is ranked the second most dangerous disease after COVID‐19 followed by AIDS. Understanding the causes of heart related diseases and progression mechanisms would therefore be important for this study. This study was reviewed and approved by the respective Institutional IRB committees prior to its conduct.


A 32P isotope kinetic approach was used to describe the chemical status and bioavailability of phosphorusin 32 acidic soils from subtropical China. By determining the residual radioactivity rt, in soil solution atdifferent time, t, after introduction of the isotope in an amount of R into the steady soiLwater system, awell-defined isotope kinetic model was established, and upon this model the decrease rate, n, of log(Tt/R)with respect to logt, the mean sojourn time of phosphate ions in solution, the mean exchange rate and themean flux of phosphate ions between soil solid and solution phases were calculated. Other parameters, suchas the exchangeable P within the first minute of isotope exchange (E1), and P in various compartments thatcould be exchanged with solution phosphate ions at different periods of time, were also obtained. For theseacidic soils, the r1/R had a significant correlation with the contents of clay and free Al203 where r1 is theradioactivity in solution 1 minute after introduction of the isotope into the system. Parameter n also hada significant correlation with clay content and a negative correlation with soil pH. E1 values and Cp, theP concentration in soil solution, also significantly correlated with clay and sesquioxide contents of the soils.These indicated that these isotope kinetic parameters were largely infiuenced by P-fixing components of thesoils. For the soils with strong P-fixing ability the E1 values overestimated labile P pools and hence theircorrelations with A values and plant P uptake were not significant. The other isotope kinetic parameters alsohad no significant correlation with plant P uptake. On the other hand, the conventional chemical-extractedP correlated better with plant P uptake. It was concluded that the isotope kinetic method could assess theP chemical status yet it would be inappropriate in predicting plant available P for soils with a high P-fixingability as the problem of an overestimation of soil labile P in these soils was inevitable.


Abstract Rājānaka Kuntaka is a tenth century Sanskrit literary theoretician who is famous for his seminal work Vakroktijīvita (Deviant Utterance as the Vital Force of Literature). This paper argues that Kuntaka's concept of vakrokti, conceptualized in Vakroktijīvita, is a mechanism to enrich both the author's and reader's range of aesthetic experience by pushing them out of their familiar structures of performance and perception. As far as Kuntaka is concerned, svabhāvokti or "the act of reproducing ideas and entities in the way they are popularly conceived" is not the job of a poet (kavi). The central problem underpinning svabhāvokti is that it results in ontological certitude – the act of reducing the essence or identity of an entity to a set of fixed assumptions about it. Svabhāvokti and the resultant ontological certitude thus limit our performance and perception thereby minimizing the range of our experience to the familiar and the known. As resistance to this limited range of perception and performance resulting from ontological certitude, Kuntaka's philosophy of literature sees kāvya as a way to experiment with the existing structures so as to explore the hitherto unknown facets of the world around. This paper is organized into four sections. The first section offers a brief account of the idea of vakrokti before and after Kuntaka's Vakroktijīvita. Such a historical overview shows the importance of Kuntaka's treatment of vakrokti in the intellectual history of Sanskrit literary theory, and also justifies my detailed exploration of this single text. The second and third sections, which constitute the crux of this paper, examine how the idea of vakrokti challenges our adherence to habitual equations of perception and performance, and how it becomes a liberating experience for the author and the entities that are portrayed. In the light of these observations in the second and third sections, the fourth section problematizes the concept of vakrokti vis-à-vis the figure of the reader who reads a vakrokti-kāvya.


Modern High Energy Physics experiments (HEP) explore the fundamental nature
of matter in more depth than ever before and thereby benefit greatly from the
advances in the field of communication technology. The huge data volumes
generated by the increasingly precise detector setups pose severe problems for
the Data Acquisition Systems (DAQ), which are used to process and store this
information. In addition, detector setups and their read-out electronics need
to be synchronized precisely to allow a later correlation of experiment events
accurately in time. Moreover, the substantial presence of charged particles from
accelerator-generated beams results in strong ionizing radiation levels, which has
a severe impact on the electronic systems.
This thesis recommends an architecture for unified network protocol IP cores
with custom developed physical interfaces for the use of reliable data acquisition
systems in strong radiation environments. Special configured serial bidirectional
point-to-point interconnects are proposed to realize high speed data transmission,
slow control access, synchronization and global clock distribution on unified links
to reduce costs and to gain compact and efficient read-out setups. Special features
are the developed radiation hardened functional units against single and multiple
bit upsets, and the common interface for statistical error and diagnosis information,
which integrates well into the protocol capabilities and eases the error handling in
large experiment setups. Many innovative designs for several custom FPGA and
ASIC platforms have been implemented and are described in detail. Special focus
is placed on the physical layers and network interface elements from high-speed
serial LVDS interconnects up to 20 Gb/s SSTL links in state-of-the-art process
technology.
The developed IP cores are fully tested by an adapted verification environment for
electronic design automation tools and also by live application. They are available
in a global repository allowing a broad usage within further HEP experiments.


This paper studies the effects of the trend to increase profits and stock prices by downsizing corporations. The effects on corporations, employees surviving the downsizing, and employees terminated from their employment due to downsizing will be discussed. The trend to increase corporate profit and stock price by reducing corporate head count appears positioned to continue in the foreseeable future. The future effects the corporate changes taking place today will have on the lives of Americans are not yet understood. As with past cultural and social upheavals, only time will allow for an appreciation of the changes. INTRODUCTION Corporations continue to bow to pressure from Wall Street to increase profits and stock prices by reducing the number of employees working for the company. The relationship between the company and its workers continues to evolve. While executives expect this reduction in employee expense to solve many of the corporation's problems, experience shows that most corporations do not find the needed answers. Survivors of downsizing experience a myriad of feelings just before, during, and after the downsizing process. Grief and the loss of security are the most commonly described feelings. It takes two to three years for most workers to process all of the emotional effects. The employees terminated because of downsizing show the greatest effects from the process. While some former employees recover quickly, most suffer emotionally and financially. The emotional recovery takes two to three years, but the financial loss and common reduction in income in succeeding jobs last many years. THE NEED FOR CHANGE Capitalistic businesses have always operated within the confines of cycles. Economic cycles cause businesses to add workers as the economy expands, then reduce the number of workers as it contracts. Companies add new workers in the product cycle as the demand for new products drives increased production, then release or reassign the workers as the products mature. Seasonal workers are added for a part of a year to be released after the season ends. Society looks for ways to reduce the effects of cycles but accepts that cycles will always exist. The lower paid workers are more severely affected during most business cycles. While some white-collar workers lose their jobs during an economic downturn, production and line workers are the first to be terminated. The government reacts to this effect of cycles by maintaining funds for unemployment insurance to provide for the basic needs of the laid off workers. Historically, most workers believed that once the cycle completed, their jobs would again be available. In the current economy, workers have abandoned this belief. While businesses continually terminate and rehire employees, the trend labeled "downsizing" is different from previous cycles. For the first time in the 1990s, white-collar management and staff workers felt the effects. According to the American Management Association, 66% of all workers


Study Objectives. The study was conducted to analyze and compare different types of surgical access in the treatment of patients with metastatic vertebral lesions to improve the outcome of surgery.
Materials and Methods. The study included 108 patients with vertebral metastases who were operated on at the Romodanov Neurosurgery Institute of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine in 2015–2019.
Results. The choice of surgical access depended on a few factors such as tumor location relative to the dura mater, bones, and nerve structures and was as follows: posterior access was used to resect tumors located posteriorly and posterolaterally to the brain; lateral access was used for tumors located laterally to the brain; anterior access was used to resect tumors located in front of the spinal cord.
In Group I (73 patients), posterior access was used in 49 cases (67%), anterior access – in 19 cases (26%), and lateral access – in 5 cases (7%). In Group II (35 patients), only posterior access was used.
Discussion. Selection of adequate surgical access for vertebral tumor resection in order to minimize nerve structure injury significantly improved the results of surgical treatment. Anterior and lateral access for ventral and ventrolateral tumors operation made it possible to completely resect the tumor, reduce the traction of nerve structures, and obtain sufficient visual control of the operating field during the surgery, which in turn had a positive effect on regression of pain and conduction disorders.
Conclusions. A differential approach to the choice of surgical access reduces the neurological deficit in the postoperative period and allows radical resection of the tumor, which in turn helps to significantly reduce the number of tumor recurrences in the long-term period.


ADRENALECTOMIZED RATS and mice have been used by Hemmingsen, Nielsen and Nielsen (I) for the assay of small quantities of insulin. The criterion chosen by these authors, the occurrence of hypoglycemic convulsions, did not permit them to assay insulin very accurately because of marked individual differ-ences in the convulsive threshold of various animals. By using the hypoglycemic ef-feet as an index, minute quantities of insulin could be detected in the blood of adrenalectomized rats which had been subjected to anoxia or metrazol (2). In the present investigation hypophysectomized, adreno-demedullated, and hypo-physectomised-adreno-demedullated rats have been used systematically for the assay of insulin both by itself and in the presence of blood. Rats weighing from 100–130 gm. were used. In one group the adrenals were demedullated and the rats were allowed to drink 2% NaCl. Another group was hypo-physectomized by the pharyngeal approach and in the third group the adrenal medul-lae were removed 8 days aft...


Intangible assets, especially knowledge and culture management, have been traditionally considered by various companies as valuable resources that can be used to generate a competitive advantage. However, it is unclear how these assets work hand-in-hand ? and which type of culture is the most appropriate for the development of knowledge. This study aims to analyze whether or not both flexible and rigid cultures can be implemented by companies in order to promote the development and transfer of knowledge within an organization. A sample of 167 companies from Mexico and Bolivia was obtained, applying a quantitative and correlational investigation. Using Pearson correlation and stepwise regression, it was found that these variables are positive and significant, and that there is a moderate effect of the rigid organizational culture in the relationship between flexible culture and knowledge management. From a holistic perspective, both cultures ? flexible and rigid ? are necessary as a means to improve the development and transfer of knowledge among employees within an organization.


As the scale of photovoltaic (PV) access continues to expand, both transmission and distribution grids are experiencing systemic consumption problems, with rural distribution grids being particularly prominent. An accurate assessment of distributed power consumption capacity is crucial to the improvement of distributed power consumption capacity. Firstly, taking into account the uncertainty of the output of the distributed power supply and comprehensive consideration of power quality, reliability of the electricity supply and operational influences, A comprehensive index evaluation system has been established to assess the ability of distributed power sources to consume; secondly, hierarchical analysis and improved gray correlation analysis are used to assign weights to the indexes; finally, a Monte Carlo model is used to identify the consumption capacity of rural power grids. This method can provide a comprehensive and accurate assessment of the consumption capacity of large-scale distributed power sources in new rural power grids, and also provide data support for solving the problem of new energy consumption in power grids.


Challenges which modern Russia faced became real threat for its national, territorial and state integrity, having put it before need of deep transformations, modernizations of all spheres of public life. Authoritative scientists in the researches come to a conclusion that breakthrough strategy of development is necessary for Russia. But realization of this strategy requires identification and understanding of operating tendencies of social development excluding which it is possible to lead to deepening of the crisis phenomena in the country. It has no doubt that ways of Russia's exit from system crisis captured it are inseparably linked with the solution of overcoming of all civilization crisis, reorganization and improvement of existing public institutes, formation of the new global principles of public interaction and coexistence of people.


There has recently been much interest in Little Red Spots (LRSs) on Jupiter.1−3 These are a small minority of the anticyclonic ovals on the planet, and attract attention due to their colour and sometimes other exceptional features. Therefore we undertook this study to establish the history of the LRSs that are often recorded in the NNTZ, which have not been studied in detail. This entailed a full survey of the anticyclonic ovals at 40−42°N, the latitudes of the NNTZ. Light ovals in these latitudes have commonly been recorded on high resolution images since 1973 (Figures 1 & S1).4 The Voyager spacecraft recorded two such white ovals in 1979, at 41°N, ~5000km in diameter, plus one or two smaller ones.4 From 1993 onwards, coverage has been much improved by hi-res amateur imaging5−14 as well as occasional spacecraft imaging.15−16 Usually there have been two to four well-defined ovals in this latitude range, and often at least one has been reddish. Methane band images, e.g. at 0.89μm wavelength, record reflective high-altitude hazes, and certain anticyclonic ovals are always bright in methane-band images due to their elevated cloud caps: notably the Great Red Spot (GRS) and the great S. Temperate white ovals, and also at least some NNTZ ovals (Figures 1 & S1).17 Since 1993, with regular methane-band imaging by amateur and professional observatories, there has always been at least one methane-bright spot in the NNTZ, and sometimes two. As we reported for 1997,7 and have confirmed repeatedly since, in this and other anticyclonic domains, all reddish ovals (LRSs) and some anticyclonic white ovals (AWOs) are methane-bright; some AWOs are not (at least, not at the resolution of amateur images). Cyclonic ovals are never methane-bright. However the long-term history of these ovals has not been evident, because they show a great range of drift rates subject to rapid changes which make long-term tracking awkward. Sometimes they move with the normal slow current for this domain, the NNTC, with drift rates in System II longitude (DL2) ~0 to −5°/month.4 But sometimes they move faster, DL2 ~ −10 to −16°/mth.4 These faster speeds are typical of the next slow current to the north, the N3TC, and have Jupiter's high-latitude storms: A Little Red Spot tracked through a jovian year


Codes over $F_{qm}$ that form vector spaces over $F_q$ are called $F_q$-linear codes over $F_{qm}$. Among these we consider only cyclic codes and call them $F_q$-linear cyclic codes ($F_q$LC codes) over $F_{qm}$. This class of codes includes as special cases (i) group cyclic codes over elementary abelian groups (q = p, a prime), (ii) subspace subcodes of Reed-Solomon codes and (iii) linear cyclic codes over $F_q$ (m=1). Transform domain characterization of $F_q$LC codes is obtained using Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) over an extension field of $F_{qm}$. We showho wone can use this transform domain structures to estimate a minimum distance bound for the corresponding quasicyclic code by BCH-like argument.


Pose estimation is an important topic in the field of computer vision, which may find a lot of applications in practice and various algorithms in the literature. This paper gives a comprehensive treatment of the so-called Perspective-N-Point (PNP) problem.<<ETX>>


The present study was conducted to investigate the helminth parasites of fish. During this study a new species of genus Camallanus Railliet and Henry, 1915 (Nematoda: Camallanidae) is described from specimens found in the swim bladder of Channa orientalis Bloch and Schneider, 1801 collected from River Gwarko in Panjgur (Balochistan). This new species Camallanus boomkeri n. sp. differs from other reported forms of the genus on the basis of number of longitudinal ridges, body measurements and the caudal end of both sexes. It may also be differed in tridents nature, length of spicules and anal papillae number in males, and by the inflation of vulva lips in females and excretory pore position.


The high and rising cost of building materials is one of the major factors affecting housing delivery in Nigeria. Therefore, there is the need to reduce the cost of building construction either through effective construction management or usage of alternative available local materials. Concrete is one of the most important building materials in Nigeria presently, however, one of its major disadvantage, is its high selfweight compared to other construction materials. Hence research focused towards producing a lightweight concrete from locally available material, which will reduce the total self-weight of the structure, with corresponding reduction in cost is of national interest. This work investigated the effect of pit sand on the mechanical properties of concrete produced using coconuts hells as a replacement for coarse aggregate. Two batches of concrete mix were produced using coconuts hells as aggregate, with mix ratios 1:2:4. One of the batches was produced using unwashed sand from borrowed pit, while the second batch was produced using washed sand respectively. From each batch of concrete mix, 20 concrete cubes of size 150 mm x 150 mm x 150mm were produced and cured by immersion in water in curing tanks. Cubes produced using unwashed sand were named specimen A, while that produced from washed sand were named specimen B. The research shows that there is increase in the compressive strength of concrete produced from washed sand over that produced using unwashed sand. Also, concrete produced by 25% partial replacement of crushed granite by coconut shell using unwashed sand and 25% to 75% partial replacement for washed sand, can be used for structural purposes.


In text-independent speaker verification, unsupervised mode can improve system performance. In traditional systems, the speaker model is updated when a test speech has a score higher than a particular threshold; we call this unsupervised model training. In this paper, an unsupervised score normalization is proposed. A target speaker score Gauss and an impostor score Gauss are set up as a prior; the parameters of the impostor score model are updated using the test score. Then the test score is normalized by the new impostor score model. When the unsupervised score normalization, unsupervised model training and factor analysis are adopted in the NIST 2006 SRE core test, the EER of the system is 4.29%.


Abstract Objective: To evaluate the cognitive effects of fesoterodine 4 and 8 mg versus placebo in healthy older adults. Methods: This was an active– and placebo–controlled, double–blind, double–dummy crossover study conducted using healthy volunteers (aged 65–85 years) with baseline Mini–Mental State Examination score ≥ 26. The study comprised 4 treatment periods: fesoterodine 4 mg for 6 days; fesoterodine 4 mg for 3 days followed by fesoterodine 8 mg for 3 days; placebo for 6 days; and placebo for 6 days with alprazolam 1 mg on day 6. The treatment sequence was randomized, with a 3– to 6–day washout between periods. Subjects completed computer–based cognitive assessments and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test on day 1 (before dosing) and day 6 (after dosing) of each period. The primary endpoint was the Detection task; secondary endpoints were the Identification task, 1–card learning task, Continuous Paired Associate Learning task, Groton Maze Learning Task, and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Results: Among 18 subjects in the per protocol set, changes from baseline to day 6 with fesoterodine 4 and 8 mg were not significantly different from placebo for any endpoint (P < 0.05); alprazolam produced significant impairment in all endpoints versus placebo (P < 0.05). No serious adverse events were reported; the most common adverse events were dry mouth for fesoterodine and sedation for alprazolam. No sedation was reported with fesoterodine. Conclusion: In healthy older adults, fesoterodine 4 and 8 mg once daily had no statistically significant effects versus placebo on any cognitive function assessed, including memory; alprazolam 1 mg produced statistically significant deterioration.


e15071 Background: Current treatment modalities for RCC CNS metastases include resection, GK and whole-brain radiotherapy. Existing series describing treatment outcomes include a mix of tumor types, and thus provide little insight into CNS metastasis response by tumor type. Although RCC has historically been considered radioresistant, GK is increasingly being applied to RCC CNS metastases.

METHODS
RCC pts with brain metastases treated with GK between 1996 and 2010 were retrospectively identified. Pt, GK and systemic therapy characteristics were recorded. Pts were followed radiographically at 30 days post GK and every 3-6 months thereafter with MRI scans. Local failure was defined as treated tumor progression after GK and distant failure was defined as new CNS metastases not in the GK field.

RESULTS
One hundred sixty-six patients were identified: 75% male, median age 60, 55% performance status 0, 21% received systemic therapy within 30 days of GK and 97% clear cell histology. Two hundred thirty-three GK procedures were performed on a total of 487 CNS lesions, most commonly in the frontal lobe (32%), parietal lobe (17%), cerebellum (12%), occipital lobe (11%) and temporal lobe (9%). The median interval from diagnosis of RCC to first GK was 20 months (range, 0.1-310). The majority of pts (65%) received a GK dose of 24 Gy with a mean of 1.8 targets per GK procedure. 76% of pts received 1 GK and 24% received multiple GK procedures. Considering all GK procedures, local control was 87%, with an additional 38% of patients having distant CNS failure. The median time to local or distant failure was 9.9 months (range, 5.9-12.9). Local control and failure-free interval of a second GK procedure was not different from the first GK procedure (p=.31, sign test). Potential predictors of CNS failure were examined, and only age >60 (p=.07) and number of targets > 2 (p=.09) approached significance. Prognostic variables, GK treatment characteristics or systemic targeted therapy within 30 days of GK did not predict for subsequent CNS relapse.

CONCLUSIONS
GK is a common treatment modality for RCC CNS metastases, providing excellent local control and freedom from CNS relapse for several months.


Several endemic multidrug-resistant S. epidermidis strains predominate across healthcare systems globally. Increases in the rate and breadth of resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents among these strains is a concerning trend that may limit treatment options for indwelling and prosthetic device infections that are already difficult to treat. Although there are a number of alternative antimicrobial agents that are active against staphylococci, clinical experience with these antimicrobial agents is still limited. Consequently, the precise significance for the therapeutic outcome in patients who have foreign devices (e.g. central vascular catheters, orthopaedic prosthetic devices and cerebrospinal fluid shunts) and surgical site infections of evolving resistance mechanisms that have been recently described in S. epidermidis is not yet fully characterised.


Drought tolerance and toxicity variation of grass pea (Lathyrus Sativus L.) were studied in the presence and absence of earth element Eu 3+ under the pot-culture condition. The addition of exogenous Eu 3+ increases the survival days (SD) and lowered the stomatal sensitivity of grass pea seedlings un...


The whitefly Bemisia tabaci has been a serious pest in protected tomato crops since 1995 in the south of Portugal (Algarve), causing severe losses mainly resulting from Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), first reported in the autumn/winter season. In order to manage and control the B. tabaci/TYLCV complex, experimental field trials were carried out between 1997 and 2000. Several control methods were tested, such as the application of white screen nets to windows and doors, chemical treatments against B. tabaci and the use of cucumber as a trap crop. The results show that the percentage of plants with TYLCV symptoms mainly reflects B. tabaci infestation level in the first 6 weeks. Screen net protection was the control method that clearly provided a low incidence of plants with TYLCV symptoms in the autumn/winter season. Additionally, insecticide treatments, made weekly in the first 6 weeks, may give improved protection. In the winter/spring season, the B. tabaci/TYLCV complex is a minor problem because of the low populations of B. tabaci and the climatic conditions. Information about the work in progress and results was given to growers through visits to the experimental fields and oral presentations.


In a joint project of the University of Amsterdam (Institute of Phonetic Sciences), the University of Nijmegen (Speechand Language Pathology), and the Netherlands Cancer Institute/Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital (Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery), alaryngeal speech is investigated. All patients in this study use tracheoesophageal (TE) speech. To obtain TE speech, a fistula is created between the trachea and the oesophagus; this opening allows insertion of a voice prosthesis. The prosthesis acts as a one-way valve through which pulmonary air can be directed into the oesophagus, by means of which the pharyngoesophageal (PE) segment starts vibrating. The patient has to close his stoma to be able to speak. The goal of the project is to obtain insight in the acoustical, perceptual, and clinical aspects of alaryngeal voice quality, and intelligibility. In the present paper, first surgical and anatomical aspects of total laryngectomy, and methods of voice restoration are described. Then the speaker groups participating in the project are discussed, and the type of data that will be gathered from these speakers are described. In order to decide what recordings have to be made to measure intelligibility, the project started with a study of the literature on intelligibility. Conclusions are drawn for the design of the project.