The reason of this study is to review the effect of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) owner-manager idiosyncrasy on the financing sources in Nigeria. The paper supported an adumbration apropos the appliance of the organizational capability proposition. In this way, the organizational capability theory is affirmed. This study outlined and expands the existing literature. The review will deepen the knowledge, understanding and so the perception of SME-owner manager. They can affect through the capacities of the firm owners-managers anticipate and adjust to the business environment in which they work and to help them in their decision process regarding their organization's capital structure in the midst of an interregnum when entrepreneur financing fuss are dynamically evoked in the Nigeria setting.


Object-based cinema formats present acoustical design challenges in the loudspeakers used in theaters, which require analytical study. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the acoustic delivery requirements in a typical theater utilizing these formats. Further, the paper proposes a metric for loudspeaker placement and selection to be used in theater design. This becomes particularly useful for surround loudspeaker specifications knowing that object-based theaters utilize venue-specific rendering engines. The metric provides a means to both improve performance and reduce system cost compared to current methods.


For spintronics applications, it is highly desirable to realize highly-spin-polarized two-dimensional (2D) electron systems in electrically-controllable epitaxial ultrathin films on semiconductor substrates. Through systematic first-principles investigation, we propose the TcO$_2$ unit-cell layer on rutile TiO$_2$ (001) substrate as a semiconductor heterostructure and use electric field to manipulate its electronic and magnetic properties. Our study shows that the heterostructure is a narrow-gap semiconductor with a nearly-antiferromagnetic (nAFM) ordering when the applied electric field is less than 0.026 V/\AA{}, and then it transits to a half-metallic ferrimagnet with 100\% spin polarization. Our further analysis indicates that the magnetization density and the electronic states near the Fermi level originate mainly from the Tc unit-cell layer, with the remaining minor part from the interfacial Ti-O$_2$ monolayers, and the bonds and bond angles quickly converge to the corresponding values of bulk TiO$_2$ when crossing the interface and entering the TiO$_2$ layer. Therefore, the heterostructure is actually a 2D electron system determined by the Tc uni-cell layer and the TiO$_2$ substrate. Because the half-metallic phase with 100\% spin polarization can be achieved at 0.026 V/\AA{}, this epitaxially obtainable system should be usable in spintronics applications.


Orthopoxvirus infections caused by pathogenic agents require therapeutic intervention. Animal models of orthopoxvirus disease are crucial for assessing the effectiveness of antiviral medications and determining the right dose and duration of treatment in the absence of disease-affected individuals. Antiviral drugs for the treatment of severe orthopoxvirus infections have been developed as a result of research on smallpox preparedness. Concerns for the public's health have been raised by the monkeypox virus, a new zoonotic orthopoxvirus that can infect humans and produce a serious, contagious illness. An infection with the monkeypox virus causes a systemic, febrile rash condition that resembles smallpox in many ways. Monkeypox virus is an emergent human pathogen. It can nonetheless result in severe morbidity and mortality in humans while being less deadly than smallpox. In this review, we have explored a new antiviral drug, Tecovirmat. This drug prevents the development of the extracellular enveloped virus required for cell-to-cell transmission. It acts by limiting the production of egress-competent enveloped virions, which are necessary for the virus's spread within the host, by decreasing the action of the orthopoxvirus VP37 envelope-wrapping protein. It was approved by US-FDA for the treatment of smallpox as per Animal Rule, which bases marketing approval on a product's effectiveness in pertinent animal models.


A Field experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Bhavanisagar during kharif 2009 to study the influence of mycorrhizal inoculation and fertilizer levels on root growth and grain yield of hybrid maize under irrigated condition. The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomized block design with four replications. Four fertilizer levels viz., 200:100:100, 150:100:100, 200:75:100 and 150:75:100 NPK kg ha -1 were the treatments under factor 'A'. Two mycorrhizal treatments viz., no inoculation of mycorrhiza (control) (M - ) and inoculation of mycorrhiza (M + ) were included under factor 'B'. The results revealed that the root parameters such as root length, root volume, root dry mass, root- shoot ratio and root colonization were higher under 200:100:100 NPK kg ha-1 and inoculation of mycorrhiza. Regarding the treatment combinations, application of 150:75:100 NPK kg ha -1 along with mycorrhizal inoculation recorded significantly better root parameters. With regard to the yield, 200:100:100 NPK kg ha -1 recorded the highest grain and stover yield (6,494 and 9,894 kg ha-1 , respectively). Among the mycorrhiza, mycorrhizal inoculated treatments recorded the highest grain and stover yield (6,736 and 10,041 kg ha -1 , respectively). Regarding the treatment combinations, application of 150:75:100 NPK kg ha -1 along with mycorrhizal inoculation recorded the highest grain and stover yield.


ABSTRACT Volatile organic compounds(VOCs) are regarded as a harmful cause substance not only causing air pollutions but also causing global warming phenomenon. For this reason, VOCs are managed politically to reduce emissions by each country. In particular, the vapor from the gas station contains VOCs which is harmful to the human body such as carcinogens benzene and pollute the atmosphere, the Ministry of Environment defined every gas station must install vapor recovery equipment to recover volatile organic compounds. Recently, there are many accidents caused by existing vapor treatment methods, the liquefaction recovery technology is getting the spotlight to cool the vapor at the field. However, because the liquefaction recovery technology have risks of fire or explosion in accordance with temperature, the real time monitoring is critical factor. In this paper, we implement an Android-based monitoring application for liquified vapor recovery device which attached sensor module for temperature and power to monitoring real time information.


Crosses were made between the two inbred lines, C57BL and BALB, and the effects of maternity and genotype on litter size, survival, 30- and 60-day weights, and their variances were assessed. The maternal effect of BALB reduced litter size by.78 to 1.91 when compared with reciprocal crosses of identical genotype. No maternal effect was found for C57; neither did the genotype of the young have any effect on the litter size borne by mothers of this strain. There was a significant increase (2.26 ±.67) in litter size when BALB females produced hybrid instead of inbred young. This was not the result of hybrid males being more prolific, because BALB males mated to non-BALB females produced the largest litters in this experiment. The cross F1 × F1 produced the largest mean litter size. A change in ration affected the litter size when BALB was the mother, but not when C57 was the mother. Fox chow plus linseed produced more young than any of the other three diets.There were no significant differences in the weights...


Why are stem cells so fascinating? Besides their capacity for unlimited lifespan, one feature that makes stem cells desirable to medicine is a unique ability to repopulate and potentially restore defective tissues and organs. Following injury, cells in the body migrate to replace and fill up the damaged area. Albeit the human body cannot regrow a lost arm or leg. Given that there are animals whose limbs can regrow, such capabilities have likely been lost during evolution. There are two main types of stem cells: embryonic and adult stem cells.


As a late-modern state,Russia is confronted with a choice of road.Russian reform is at the crossroad of either following market economy of western countries or choosing a new road.Stud ies show that those successful reform plans of non-western countries such as China,Brazil,India and Singapore are suitable to Russia's situation and these plans include mainly: a clear reform mo tive,long-term objective plan,a government which can carry out its administrative duty and the ac tive social participation.


This article describes the results of a study in which the Australasian Cryptococcal Surveillance Register (ACSR) was compared with the NSW AIDS Register (NSWAR) to determine whether linking these databases could improve AIDS surveillance.


and amorphous aluminum oxide. The optimal molar ratio of malonic acid to the nitrate anions present in the initial solution was found to be 0.30~0.35. The particles were composed of agglomerates of primary particles. The primary particles were 40 nm in size. This size was relatively constant regardless of the preparation temperature. However, the si ze of the agglomerated particles increased to 220 nm with increasing temperature.


A quick look around reveals that high levels of alcohol consumption is associated with lung cancer. However, we know to be suspicious because we're familiar with the interrelationships of alcohol and smoking and lung cancer and smoking. We appreciate that the apparent association between alcohol consumption and lung is spuriously non-null because of the effects of smoking are lurking in the background unaccounted.


The electron density in the ionospheric F region occasionally stops its decay and rises pronouncedly during night hours, which are termed ionospheric nighttime enhancements. In this case study, we analyzed the manually scaled ionogram records measured by a Lowell DPS‐4D ionosonde operated at Sanya (18.3°N, 109.6°E), China, to explore postmidnight enhancement events occurred in 2012, a year of moderate solar activities. Common features in these cases illustrate that, accompanying nighttime rises in peak electron density of F2 layer (NmF2), the height of F2 layer is depressed significantly, and the ionogram‐derived electron density height profiles become thinner. There are time shifts in the development of electron density enhancements in the F layer; that is, enhancement develops earlier and reaches peaks earlier at higher altitudes than at lower altitudes. Meanwhile, plasma drift is detected downward under such events, revealing the essential role of the westward electric field in forming the postmidnight enhancements in electron density of ionospheric F layer at such low latitudes.


The Spanish government imposed embargoes in order to stop the flow of goods and bullion to the Dutch Republic, which traditionally had a positive trade balance with Iberia. Prosopographical information derived from a combination of Dutch and French notarial records, genealogical studies and a multinational variety of local histories confirms that the relationship between members of the Jewish diaspora and early Dutch multinational mercantile families enabled a successful, albeit incomplete, circumvention of the economic and political obstacles created by the embargoes. Odette Vlessing's detailed study of Amsterdam's Sephardic community has shown that the early Dutch regulations governing the commercial activities of the 'Portuguese' in the United Provinces reflect the acute awareness of the States General of the group's economic value. The Jewish merchants had to work within the Dutch legal framework and, even more significantly, all trade had to be channeled via the northern Netherlands.Keywords: Amsterdam's Sephardic community; Dutch Republic; French notarial record; Iberia; Jewish merchants; northern Netherlands; Portuguese; Spanish government


Euphemism is a kind of way for communication,which is for avoiding embarrassment and taboos.From the angle of cognitive linguistics,based on the conceptual integration theory and combined with the examples,this paper uses the four kinds of networks which are single framing network,frame network one-side network and two-side network to analyze the different types of euphemisms,which is fully proved that the conceptual integration theory is of strong illustration power for the euphemisms.This is not only the supplementary illustration for the conceptual integration concept,but also the future promotion for the study of cognitive linguistics.


Purpose
The purpose of this perspective paper is to draw attention to how the tourism industry can take action to contribute to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 by nudging tourists to behave in more environmentally sustainable ways. Many of the available practical approaches are easy and cheap to implement and therefore can be deployed easily by small and medium-sized tourism businesses.

Design/methodology/approach
This perspective paper reviews past contributions to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 and calls for more future research that develops and empirically test effective behavioural change interventions.

Findings
Future research must focus on two directions: the development and empirical testing in the field of new behavioural change interventions that entice tourists to behave in more environmentally sustainable ways, and the development and large-scale deployment of affordable instrumentation to automatically and continuously measure the environmental performance of tourism businesses.

Originality/value
This perspective paper synthesizes literature and point to important new future research directions. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first synthesis of past tourism research that has developed and empirically tested tangible approaches the tourism industry can deploy to contribute to SGD 12.


A comparative analysis of actuator technologies for robotics " , At low frequencies, performance is quite good The small downward spike corresponds to the lowest impedance that could be generated on the test rig without large-motion saturation. At resonance, performance at low impedances degrades, while at larger impedances performance is still good. Above resonance, it can clearly be seen that the actuator only performs well when its output impedance has a negative real part, which corresponds to positive spring-like behavior.


A mechanical attachment adapter was designed, constructed, and tested. The adapter was was included in a simulation program that investigated techniques for assembling erectable structures under simulated zero-g conditions by pressure-suited subjects in a simulated EVA mode. The adapter was utilized as an interface attachment between a simulated equipment module and one node point of a tetrahedral structural cell. The mating performance of the adapter, a self-energized mechanism, was easily and quickly demonstrated and required little effort on the part of the test subjects.


PostIRDA Indian life insurance sector has become highly competitive and innovative. Every life insurer is trying to find out those demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the potential customers responsible for influencing their decisions to buy a life insurance policy. This study has discussed numerous variables associated with the customers such as: age, gender, marital status, occupation, education, family size and annual income and their impact on their buying behaviours. It also included residing locality, selling company and annual premium amount (price) along with these variables. The study was conducted in rural Odisha with a sample of more than 400 life insurance policy holders. To find out significant variations and relationships among these different categories, one-way ANOVA test and correlation analysis was applied. Further, factor analysis (EFA and CFA) and linear multiple regression were used to find out significance. This study is going to help the life insurers understand the various factors involved in influencing the prospective customers to choose a policy.


....................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Need for the Study .............................................................................................. 1 1.3 Background......................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Hypotheses.......................................................................................................... 7 1.5 Delimitations and Limitations ............................................................................ 8 1.6 Definitions of Terms ........................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 2 : REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE................................................. 13 2.1 Hearing Loss ..................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Conduction and Properties of Sound ................................................................ 16 2.3 Theories of Hearing .......................................................................................... 19 2.4 Perception of Prosody....................................................................................... 21 2.5 Perception of Tones in Mandarin Chinese ........................................................ 22 2.6 Speech and Language Development of Mandarin Chinese Speakers with Hearing Impairment................................................................................................................ 25 2.7 Cochlear Implants ............................................................................................. 28 2.8 Listening Levels and Hearing Development .................................................... 29 2.9 Musical Perception in Children with Hearing Impairments ............................. 31 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .................................................................................... 36


The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) has requested an ad hoc briefing paper to provide its Members with information and advice regarding the proposed General Data Protection Regulation (2012/0011(COD)). This document presents a rapid assessment of the innovation and competitiveness impacts of the measures affecting: automated processing; control of data processing; and data transfers. It considers a variety of perspectives: profiling; big data; cloud computing; and privacy-friendly technologies and identifies a variety of impacts, and areas for improvement.


Methods of fabricating and controlling organic light emitting diode (OLED) or photovoltaic layers effectively are paramount for achieving a functional and durable device. The deposited film needs to be uniform and homogeneous to avoid non-uniform luminescence in the OLED. Although methods of depositing the ultra-thin sub 100 nm layers within OLED are effective, they are relatively slow and expensive. This paper therefore demonstrates flexography as an alternative method for depositing the semiconductor layer for OLED onto glass substrate. In this case a proprietary semiconducting polyflourine dispersed in xylene was used. This material functions as the hole injecting layer. The low polymer concentration and requirement for aromatic solvent presented challenges for the process; conventional photopolymer printing plates degraded rapidly on contact with xylene and rubber printing plates were found to be sufficiently resilient. Through optimisation of printing parameters and surface modification of both the printing plate and substrate with UV/ozone exposure, a consistent sub-100 nm film was achieved. Flexographic printing will enable a substantial reduction in layer fabrication time, as well as allowing roll to roll mass production at lower cost. The research indicated within this paper will aid the progression of flexography as a viable cost effective method for OLED or display technology application through continuous printing of ultra-thin layers.


The present article describes the synthesis of novel series of substituted phenyl hydrazono pyrazolylederivatives 4, 5, 6,7, 8, 9 and 10. All the newly synthesized target compounds Were characterized by spectral techniques like IR, NMR and Elimentalanlysis and also screened for their in antibacterial and anti fungal activity .All the tested compounds shown significant activity against gram-positive, gram-negative and fungus organisms.


An consensus problem of multiagent systems is studied by introducing disturbances into the systems. Based on control theory and consensus theory, a condition is derived to guarantee the systems both reach consensus and have a certain property. Finally, an example is worked out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.


For the first time, the formation of paramagnetic defect centers in AlPO4 molecular sieves has been monitored by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. Results from ESR measurements demonstrate that the structural defects in hydrated AlPO4-5 and VPI-5 molecular sieves change into paramagnetic defect centers when the molecular sieves are dehydroxylated under a high vacuum (∼10-5 Torr) at 773 K. Adsorption of O2 or NO on dehydroxylated molecular sieves causes an immediate loss of the ESR signals from paramagnetic defects. This suggests that the defect centers formed are F-type centers, which can serve as electron donors for electron-withdrawing adsorbates.


Approximate analytic solutions are useful when exact analytic solutions are too difficultor impossible to obtain or when the numerical solution of the problem can not be justified. Furthermore, an analytic solution provides a better insight to the physical significanceof various parameters effecting a given problem than a purely nuxnerical solution. Therefore, various approximate methods of analysis have been developed to solve heat-conduction problems, such as the integral method, the Ritz method, the Galerkin method, and so on.However, high accurate approximate solution in large scale is hardly obtained. In this paper a new approximate analytic method for transient heat--conduction problems in an infiniteplane wall was preseoted on the. basis of matrix theory and spline interpolation theory. Casesunder different boundary and initial conditions or heat generation can be conveniently dealtwith in a uniform way with this method. Compared with the exact solutions, this methodcan warrant high accuracy.


Object of the present invention to provide a probe car (10) dead space (14) of the target (12) a method and apparatus, thereby requiring a short measurement time and shorten the dead time of a collision can occur (14) of the target (12) the response time of the driver alarm. By adjusting the signal frequency measurement signal and / or signal width according to the prior automobiles (10) and the target distance (d) between (12), according to the present invention, the sampling frequency with the car (10) and a target (12 distance (d) between a) is reduced in proportion to the increase. Thereby achieving a more rapid detection of the nearest target, that target may cause collisions and thereby generate sufficient collision warning early as possible. The signal frequency of the measurement signal is preferably adjusted to the distance between the vehicle (10) and a target (12) obtained in (d) is inversely proportional to the change.


In the European Union context existing legislation on non-discrimination (Equality Directives of 2000 and various directives on equality of men and women) oblige Member States to eliminate inequalities of treatment on grounds of gender, age, race and ethnic origin, religion, disability and sexual orientation. While there is an increasing awareness and knowledge of how single equality grounds impact on (in-) equality in different societal domains, the intersection of different grounds remains little understood, particularly in the area of health care. This research brief provides the results of research conducted between 2009 and 2011 on multiple discrimination and inequalities in access to health in Austria. Disclaimer This document was commissioned as background material for the comparative report on 'Inequalities and multiple discrimination in access to and quality of healthcare' published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the views or the official position of the FRA. The document is made publicly available for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or legal opinion. Research background and sources of information The research for this project was carried out between December 2009 and November 2011. The Austrian case study for this project on which this research summary is based was implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) in cooperation with the Research Institute of the Red Cross. This document was last edited in February 2012 and released in March 2014. All information contained in this research brief has been collected in the context of this project. The empirical observations derive from qualitative fieldwork with health users, health professionals and other experts conducted in the framework of this project. All legal, policy and statistical information on health outcomes and access to health derive from a background report compiled for this project, published as Albert Kraler (ed.), Julia Edthofer, Edith Enzenhofer & Bernhard Perchinig (2014): Inequalities and Multiple Discrimination in Access to Health. National Background Report on Austria. Vienna: ICMPD. For further information and links to other project related publications consult http://research.icmpd.org/1489.html.


The optical transfer function (OTF) is widely used to investigate the focusing and imaging properties of an optical system, including image modeling, comparison of relative imaging performance, and image reconstruction. An optical system can form a 3D image of a 3D object, and the 3D OTF is a useful approach to investigating the behavior. The 3D transfer function is particularly useful for study of image formation in confocal and interference microscopes. As the OTF represents the power spectral density it is also useful for studying beam propagation and scattering. The connection with the ambiguity function is also described.


Study objective: This study explored which body size–adjusted skeletal muscle indices (SMI) has a better correlation with mobility and cardiometabolic health. Additionally, the roles of low muscle mass and obesity in the mobility and cardiometabolic health of individuals were identified. We hypothesized that body mass index (BMI)-or body weight (Wt)-adjusted SMI had a better correlation with mobility in middle-aged and older adults with obesity than did body height (Ht)-adjusted SMI. Methods: 427 community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults (age: 66.0±9.0 years) underwent assessments of body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and waist circumference [WC]), grip strength, and mobility (timed up-and-go test and chair stand test). WC was used as a surrogate for obesity. Chi-square test and one-way analysis of variance were used to compare grip strength, mobility, and cardiometabolic health among individuals with normal body composition (N), only low muscle mass (S), only obesity (O), and low muscle mass plus obesity (SO). Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to examine the correlation between muscle strength/mobility and different body size–adjusted SMI. Regression models were used to examine the factors independently associated with muscle strength, mobility, and cardiometabolic health. The significance level was set at α<0.05. Results: The O group, but not the S group, had poorer mobility than the N group, regardless of the SMI used to define low muscle mass. The O and SO groups had a higher prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases. The relationship between muscle mass and mobility existed in individuals with obesity, but not in individuals without obesity. After adjusting for age, sex, and WC, ASM/BMI was the only SMI that was correlated with grip strength. Similarly, only ASM/BMI was positively correlated with performance on the timed up-and-go test in the population with obesity (p<0.05). When age and sex were controlled, WC, but not SMI (regardless of adjusting for Ht, Wt, or BMI), was associated with mobility and cardiometabolic health. Conclusion: BMI-adjusted SMI had a better correlation with mobility in middle-aged and older adults with obesity than did Ht- and Wt-adjusted SMI. Obesity plays a more independent role in mobility and cardiometabolic health than low muscle mass in middle-aged and older adults. This study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.


Objective:To investigate the effect of intrathecal protein kinase C inhibitor on N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors(NMDAR) and calcitonin gene-related peptide(CGRP) in the spinal dorsal horn in rats with neuropathic pain.Methods: 36 healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats(220~280g) were randomly divided into four groups(n=9): control group(group C),sham group(group Sham),spared sciatic nerve injury group(group SNI) and protein kinase C inhibitor group(group P).Both group SNI and group P were received a lesion to two of the three terminal branches of the sciatic nerve(tibial and common peroneal nerves) leaving the remaining sural nerve intact(spared nerve injury model,SNI).The rats in group P were intrathecally injected 11 μg protein kinase C inhibitor(Chelerythrine Chloride 11 μg) followed by 10μl normal saline once a day during 14 days post-surgery,respectively.Rats in group C,group Sham and group SNI were intrathecally injected 20μl normal saline in uniform interval.Mechanical pain threshold and thermal withdrawal latency were measured on day 1 pre-surgery(baseline) and every day during 14 days post-surgery after intrathecally injection.On day 2,7,14 post-surgery the rats were killed in batch(3 rats/batch) after intrathecal injection,and the expression of NMDAR and CGRP in the spinal dorsal horn of L5 segment were determined using immunohistochemistry.Results: Compared with group C and group Sham,mechanical pain threshold in group SNI was decreased,and the expression of NMDAR and CGRP immunoreactive soma in the superficial laminae of the L5 spinal dorsal horn was significantly increased(P0.01),with no significant difference in thermal withdrawal latency(P0.05).Compared with group SNI,mechanical pain threshold was elevated and thermal withdrawal latency was prolonged in group P and the expression of NMDAR and CGRP immunoreactive soma in the superficial laminae of the L5 spinal dorsal horn was decreased(P0.01).Conclusions: Intrathecal administration of protein kinase C inhibitor can provide significant antinociception effect in rats with neuropathic pain,and the inhibition of NMDAR and CGRP is involved in the antinociception mechanism.


This paper introduces an accurate frequency regulation method based on a constant on-time (COT) buck regulator designed for point-of-load (POL) regulation with a fast load transient requirement and wide load range. Traditional COT regulators suffer from frequency shift due to load variations. The proposed frequency adjustment circuit helps the COT control engine to reach its target frequency of operation by adjusting the on-time pulse under varying conditions. This circuit includes a phase detector and a voltage-to-current converter block. The phase error between the target clock signal and the PWM is directly used to adjust the width of the on-time pulse. This will fine-tune the bandwidth of the frequency regulation loop, which can help to improve the transient performance of the COT as well. The fabricated chip has been tested under 20A/ $\mu \text{s}$ load transient speed with a 10A load step condition. The measured silicon performance shows that the error of the switching frequency is less than 0.16% in the 400kHz to 1MHz range during steady-state operation.


A general and holistic framework of mode decomposition and harmonic analysis is developed for vector valued fields in curved spacetimes.


Infection with Helicobacter pylori is common in patients with peptic ulceration. A short course of standard ulcer treatment usually heals ulceration but about 85 % of patients relapse within a year. In patients with duodenal ulceration, if H. pylori is eradicated the relapse rate falls to 0–20%. In this article we review the clinical relevance of H. pylori infection and the drugs used for its eradication.


Because of the data acquisition system is more and more wide application range, involved the signal source and the type of more and more of the requirement of measurement, more and more is also high, the domestic now has quite a few data collection system and measurement, but many systems are simple function, and acquisition channel, the sampling rate is low, less complex operation, and higher requirements for test environment. People need a wide application range, high performance/price ratio of data acquisition system. In this paper, the main content is the use of ARM9 processor C2440A primarily controller series 3, design an embedded data acquisition system. Using ARM9 chip do microprocessor design remote data acquisition system, through the embedded Linux system video data collection USB cameras, the JPEG compression coding, ARM9 chip control data acquisition by most industrial environmental restrictions for collection system that has a large capacity of the storage and wireless forwarding function. This paper to S3C2440A as the core, with A piece of FPGA and A piece of Ethernet CS8900A controller for auxiliary to realize the digital parts of the system hardware, analog part two way by the A/D acquisition, variable gain amplifier and basic amplifying circuit component. The system also realize the SD card memory function and various interface such as serial ports and JTAG mouth. In the software of realized in development platform on Linux system of transplantation, separately from the Bootloader transplantation, Linux kernel transplantation and root file system, the establishment of the three are expounded. And completion of the A/D converter, SD card and CS8900A in the drive design under Linux, and finally the data acquisition, storage design and forwarding program.


The paper gives a brief description about the current main forest fire danger rating systems in the world,which include Forest Fire Danger Rating system used in Canada,USA,Australia,and other countries.And it compares the compositions,structure and development of the main fire Danger rating systems.The limitations of those systems are also discussed.Through the comparisons of the three main forest fire danger rating systems,the paper describes their differences on development,fuel complex descriptions,inputs and outputs,and their applications and finds that the technologies of Canadian forest fire danger rating system can be adopted for China to develop a national forest fire danger rating system.Two steps are needed to develop China's own national forest fire danger rating system.Firstly,we can apply the CFFDRS directly.Then some researches should be done to calibrate the FDRS to local weather and fuel characteristics.


To indentify root of paeony and tree paeony bark,experments were made between tree paeony bark and paeony bark by character indentification,micro-identification,and physical and chemical identification etc.The result indicated that the methods above could be used to identify the paeony bark′s character,physical and chemical identification correctly.Paeony bark could not be used for medicine.There are many differences between them.


The applications of sandwich structures in industry are numerous. The optimization of such structures with high strength and light weight have been the topic of interest for many researchers. There have also been a few studies on the vibration and sound transmission across these structures. This dissertation presents the structural and acoustic studies of sandwich structures for transport aircraft applications. The analysis of fully coupled structural-acoustic systems is presented in this paper. A method for the analysis of such coupled systems is developed using a particular solution approach. A simple two-dimensional rectangular cavity is used as an example to illustrate the solution approach in detail. Extensive numerical simulations have been done to investigate the effect of structural-acoustic coupling on the resonant frequencies and mode shapes of the system. The Galerkin and the Rayleigh-Ritz methods are used to obtain the coupled modal equations for the system which are solved using a state space formulation, which would provide the reference to the coupled structural-acoustic systems optimization.


Foliar blight is an important disease of onion that is caused by at least sis different pathogens viz., Alternatia alternata, A. porri, A. tenuissima, Stemphylium vesicarium, Cladosporium allii-cepae and Colletotrichum circinans. Fluorescent pseudomonads were isolated from solarised and unsolarised soil and onion seed and evaluated against different foliar blight pathogens. Out of one hundred and fifty isolates of Pseudomonas fluorescence isolated, only twenty-two were found effective against various foliar blight pathogens of onion, though having specific effectiveness against each pathogen. None of the pseudomonads was effective against all the pathogens leading to the conclusion that genetic engineering has to be employed to develop a strain that is effective against most of the foliar blight pathogens.


The efficacy of prostate cancer gene therapy is limited by the inefficiency of prostate‐specific promoters as compared to ubiquitous viral promoters. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the specificity and efficacy of a lentiviral vector driven by a PSCA promoter.


Here an efficient displacement potential formulation based finite difference technique is used to solve the elastic field of a simply supported beam of orthotropic composite materials. A simply supported beam made of orthotropic composite material under uniformly distributed loading is considered and its elastic behaviors under such loading conditions are analyzed considering plane stress condition. The solutions of the problem satisfy the force equilibrium conditions as well as boundary conditions. For understanding the elastic behavior of a simply supported beam, the displacement and stress components of some important sections of the beam are shown graphically. Effects of different orthotropic composite materials on the solutions are also analyzed. Besides, at a particular section of the beam, the comparative analysis of the elastic field is carried out by using the FDM and FEM methods.


Background: The epidemiology of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) in humans is reported with older individuals presenting increased body weight. As in humans, non-human primates have obesity-associated insulin resistance that is initially met with compensatory insulin secretion. Methods: A group of adult Rhesus females (Macaca mulatta), among a colony of 70 captive-bred Rhesus monkeys, were identified with spontaneous obesity. Measurements of body weights, crown-rump lengths, and abdominal circumferences were recorded from (n=9) obese animals and also from (n=9) lean females, to serve as a control. To test insulin resistance, both groups were subjected to an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT). Results: Both groups indicated a similar glucose uptake but with significantly higher levels of insulin in the obese group. Conclusion: The higher insulin and the fact that glucose levels were normal in the two groups after IVGGT, is a reflection of compensatory hyperinsulinemia among the obese group. We propose this group of Rhesus monkeys to be the ideal model to study obesity and other chronic diseases associated with T2D.


s of some of the recent theses donated to the COT Ubrary are published as part of a focus on current research in occupational therapy. The theses are available on loan, on payment of a £7 postage and handling fee. Fordham SE. Has the introduction of care management changed the practice of occupational therapists in Devon Social Services Department? University of Exeter, 1996. MSc Occupational Therapy. This study examined the changes that had taken place in the practice of occupational therapists employed by Devon Social Services following the introduction of care management. The subjects were two groups of occupational therapists working in Adult Service Teams. A questionnaire containing quantitative and qualitative questions to investigate appropriateness and complexity of caseloads, use of core skills, positive and negative aspects of care management, waiting lists and job satisfaction was completed by 46 respondents. A diary to monitor British Journal of Occupational Therapy, January 1999, 62(1) psychiatric setting. Journal of the New Zealand Association of Occupational Therapists, 37, 10-13. Malcolm M (1975) Art as a projective technique. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 38, 147-48. Messner A (1951) Artistic self-expression of psychotic patients. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 5, 235-40. Naumburg M (1966) Dynamically oriented art therapy: its principles and practices. New York: Grune and Stratton. Oster G, Gould P (1987) Using drawings in assessment and therapy. New York: Brunner/Mazel. Patrick J, Winship G (1994) Creative therapy and the question of disposal: what happens to created pieces following the session? British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57, 20-22. Polatajko H, Kaiserman E (1986) House-Tree-Person projective technique: a validation of its use in occupational therapy. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 53, 197-207. Queensland Health (1994) Queensland mental health plan. Brisbane: Queensland Health. Rabin A (1981) Projective methods: a historical introduction. In: A Rabin, ed. Assessment with projective techniques. New York: Springer, 1-22. Sheffer M, Harlock S (1980) Tell us what your drawings say. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 1, 21-37. Shoemyen C (1970) A study of procedure and media occupational therapy orientation and evaluation. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 24, 276-79. Temple S (1988) Erickson's model of personality development related to clinical material. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 51, 399-402. Tiffany E (1978) Psychiatry and mental health. In: H Hopkins, H Smith, eds. Willard and Spackman's occupational therapy. 5th ed. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott, 269-334. Vogel R, Hanke C, Miller H, Smith I (1950) Finger painting techniques at Ypsilanti state hospital. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 4, 100-10i. Weinroth L (1955) Dynamic occupational therapy. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 9, 243-45. Willson M (1983) Occupational therapy in long-term psychiatry. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. Wittkower E, Johnston A (1958) New developments in and perspectives of psychiatric occupational therapy. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 25, 5-11. Yalom I (1983) Inpatient group psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books. Zwerling I (1979) The creative arts therapies as 'real therapies'. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 30, 841-44. the utilisation of time in the tasks of care management, use of traditional core skillS, and administration, together with direct versus indirect client contact time was returned by a further eight participants. The quantitative information received was analysed using Minitab and represented in bar charts, figures and tables. The qualitative material was studied for content and described thematically in tables and verbatim responses. The statistical results from the task and time analysis were calculated and presented in figures and tables. The data strongly suggest that care management is largely an administrative and organisational process which has resulted in a substantial decrease in client contact time. The recommendations include better administrative and financial support to field workers and a reduction in the bureaucratic procedures of care management. Additionally, it is suggested that improved professional supervision, and the allocation of clients with complex or multiple disabilities to occupational therapists for care management, would raise the profile of occupational therapy. The development and use of alternative agencies employing occupational therapists in the community for the provision of speCific disability services together with more effective use of community care workers could increase client contact time and improve job satisfaction by facilitating improved service delivery and reduced waiting lists.


We report onK-band interferometric observations of the bright, rapidly rotatingstar Regulus (type B7 V) madewith theCHARAArrayonMountWilson,California.Throughacombinationofinterferometricandspectroscopicmeasurements,wehavedeterminedfor Regulustheequatorialandpolardiametersandtemperatures,therotationalvelocityand period, the inclination and position angle of the spin axis, and the gravity darkening coefficient. These first results from the CHARA Array providethefirst interferometric measurement ofgravity darkening inarapidly rotatingstarand represent the first detection of gravity darkening in a star that is not a member of an eclipsing binary system.


The construction industry is a business with an intense flow of both material and information that require well-functioning logistics in order to not suffer from unnecessarily high costs. Suppliers ...


in order to underline its authority as the only rule and norm in establishing articles of faith and settling controversies in the Church. Again he marshals a number of disputed texts, particularly those of polemical value for the Roman Catholics in establishing papal authority, and explains how they are to be understood in an evangelical manner. Finally, in chapters xxiii–xxvii, Gerhard demonstrates that all people are, strictly speaking, the object of Scripture, and therefore it is necessary and prudent to render the Scriptures in the vernacular in order to facilitate its reading by the laity. Gerhard offers a detailed history, as he understands it, of the major translations of the Old and New Testament in such languages as Chaldaic, Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Latin and German. In this section, Gerhard devotes considerable attention to the Vulgate and Luther's German translation, noting the many problematic and disputed passages between the Lutherans and Roman Catholics in these versions. The first volume ends with a brief reflection on the interpretation of Scripture and a short comment on how the volume should be used in theological study. The thoroughness and detail of Gerhard's discussion in this first volume is impressive. Moreover, Gerhard assembles a remarkable diversity of sources throughout and approaches them in both a constructive and critical manner. He demonstrates considerable knowledge of Jewish, Roman Catholic and Reformed scholars and makes felicitous use of them when they are found to support his theological commitments. He also continues the tradition, well-established in Lutheran circles, of showing the continuity of evangelical theology, particularly its commitment to the authority of Scripture, with the early Church Fathers. There are a few editorial shortcomings in the volume itself. First, the reader is given no assistance in identifying the many sources used by Gerhard. The only citation offered is a Latin abbreviation of the work followed by book and chapter number; which is to say nothing more than what is provided by Gerhard in the original manuscript. Although the scholar may fare better at tracking down these sources, pastors and students will likely be at a loss. Second, the volume has no index. Although the publisher presumably plans to include an index volume after the entire sixteen-volume work has been published, a brief Scripture or subject index at the end of the volume would have been tremendously valuable. Finally, the publisher could have greatly assisted the reader by providing a detailed table of contents. These shortcomings seriously restrict the usability of the volume. Despite these problems, the translation of JohannGerhard'sTheological commonplaces is a remarkable achievement and welcome addition to any library. Students and scholars interested in the history of Christian thought, particularly its seventeenthcentury expression, will want to purchase this volume and invest in the whole series.


A system operable over a computer network for decreasing the time a customer waits to receive rebate funds where the rebate funds are used to improve the customer's credit rating, the system comprising a third-party fulfillment center responsible for providing rebate funds at an expedited rate to the customer, a financial acquisition network system for communicating between the fulfillment center an a financial provider institution to secure financial support with acceptable financial terms, a customer access system accessible by the third-party fulfillment center to allow the customer establish an account and manage the account including a fraud detection system, a financial account management system to allow the third-party fulfillment center to manage payments between the financial provider an the fulfillment center, a system for exchanging electronic versions of documents, and a communication system to allow the fulfillment center to communicate the customer and/or the financial provider.


Aim: Little is known regarding mentoring and supportive resources to assist, retain, and support nurse administrators at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The purpose of this paper is to discuss and describe the analysis of nurse leaders expressed journey to leadership, and a provide a guide for nursing leadership development. Methods: Thematic analysis of nurse leaders expressed challenges and terms and concepts of nursing leadership that prepared them for their role as a successful nurse leader. Results: Themes were derived from the analysis of past distinguished nurse leaders and provided a foundation for the development of mentoring guide for African American nurse leaders. Conclusions: Mentoring and supportive resources are essential in retaining nurse leaders in higher education. A guide on how to retain and support nurse administrators at HBCUs. This guide serves as a foundation for colleges and universities in their recruitment, orientation, and retention of nurse administrators in higher education.


According to the educational ecology,the Studying ecological environment of College students(SEECS)means the Studying ecological environment is regarded as an organic and complex ecosystem.The Connotation of SEECS is broad or narrow,the narrow one is divided into physical environment and cultural environment which have different and distinct characteristics.In addition,the SEECS has much important function:Protection,criterion,edification,guidance,cohesion and adjustment.


A success project depends on several vital factors especially completion of project holds an important place. However, delay in construction became a general phenomenon in worldwide construction industry and this problem still not resolved until today. Delays in construction were considered as time fall behind in completion of activities from its specified time that stipulated in contract. Parties involved in construction often neglect about it and did not seem to have taken the necessary measures to avoid this situation. Previous researchers overlooked the differences between government project and private project in terms of causes and effects. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to investigate the differences between government and private project in relation to the causes and effects of delay. In order to breach the overlooked gap, 100 sets of questionnaires were distributed to Consultant Quantity Surveyor within vicinity of Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur for data collection. Partial Least Square (PLS) was used to analyse the collected data because it is the most suitable method for structure-activity correlation. Descriptive analysis and factor analysis were also used to analyse the data. Through the findings, the significance causes and effects of Construction project within vicinity of Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur were different with previous researches as it may be due to several factors, for instance, country, profession and so on. In conclusion, findings revealed that the "type of project" had no moderating effect on the cause-effect relationship. Whether it was a government or private project, there was no statistical difference on the relationship of causes and effects of delay in construction project. This finding could contribute to Employer of construction projects because they may get benefit from it, for instance, the possibility of getting the final product as scheduled is higher.


We report results of 48 semi-structured interviews about online behavioral advertising (OBA). We investigated non-technical users' attitudes about and understanding of OBA, using participants' expectations and beliefs to explain their attitudes. Participants found OBA to be simultaneously useful and privacy invasive. They were surprised to learn that browsing history is currently used to tailor advertisements, yet they were aware of contextual targeting.
 Our results identify mismatches between participants' mental models and current approaches for providing users with notice and choice about OBA. Participants misinterpreted icons intended to notify them about behavioral targeting and expected that they could turn to their browser or antivirus software to control OBA. Participants had strong concerns about data collection, and the majority of participants believed that advertisers collect personally identifiable information. They also misunderstood the role of advertising networks, basing their opinions of an advertising network on that company's non-advertising activities. Participants' attitudes towards OBA were complex and context-dependent. While many participants felt tailored advertising could benefit them, existing notice and choice mechanisms are not effectively reaching users.


The present invention by contacting the rotating roll to the end of the panel as to form a bend which is a predetermined angle of inclination keeping on the hemming of the vehicle panel device capable of preventing electric coating defects, the characteristic configuration of the outer panel 10 a support plate to be such that the bent piece 11 is held a predetermined angle formed in the end portion is molded into a fixing roll 31 having a diameter of the multi-stage and a shape corresponding to the fixing roll 31 is moved by the pressing cylinder 34 ( forming part made of a pressure roll 32 connected to the 33) parameters; And made of a hemming jig 41 and hemming cylinder 40 for moving the hemming jig 41 for pressing the end portion of the outer panel 10 such that the ends are bent in the molding complete the outer panel 10 in the molding section the hayeoseo will include a hemming. Vehicle, Hemming, bending piece, rollers, electrodeposition


This paper will present examples of vibration isolation incorporated into world-class performance spaces in North America and oversees, including acoustical and vibration measurements demonstrating the effectiveness of the vibration isolation to reduce groundborne/structureborne noise.This paper will present examples of vibration isolation incorporated into world-class performance spaces in North America and oversees, including acoustical and vibration measurements demonstrating the effectiveness of the vibration isolation to reduce groundborne/structureborne noise.


To consider the dynamic nature of digital control systems with redundancies, we need to use dynamic modeling methods such as the Markov chain. In this paper, the various methods for calculating the expected failure frequency of a system with redundancies are summarized as four procedures, and the necessary software modules for the four procedures are identified. After the development of the necessary software modules, we applied three of the four procedures to an example system to show the feasibility of the summarized procedures. It is concluded that the Markov chain models and the four procedures summarized in this paper can produce mathematically proven solutions for calculating the expected failure frequency of digital control systems with redundancies while considering a somewhat complex dynamic behavior of a combination of the success and failure states of digital control systems. (authors)


Scientific hypothesis-testing is the core of scientific problem-solving.Using balance task which has two-dimension variables nesting in spaces as its real-life problem situation,the study examines scientific hypothesis-testing of children in grade 6 from a primary school and in grade 2 from a secondary school.The results show that heuristic strategy is important in scientific hypothesis-testing,real-life situation and characteristics of the task influence students' responses,and to some extent children in grade 2 of secondary schools are able to solve real scientific problems using hypothesis-testing.


We have studied the growth mechanism of (InP)2/(GaP)2 short-period superlattices (SPS) and In0.5Ga0.5P quantum wells grown on tilted substrates using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy (SSMBE). Both the (InP)2/(GaP)2 SPS and In0.5Ga0.5P quantum wells show blue shifts of photoluminescence (PL) wavelengths when the substrate's tilting angle is increased. The blue shift is more prominent in the SPS structure than in the In0.5Ga0.5P quantum wells. By comparing PL, polarized PL spectra and transmission electron micrographs, we confirm that the ordering effect exists in both the (InP)2/(GaP)2 SPS and In0.5Ga0.5P quantum wells when the substrate tilt angle is small, and can be greatly reduced when the substrate tilt angle is increased. We believed that the height and density of steps on substrates with larger tilt angles repress the segregation of group III adatoms.


In 2010, we launched the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD; http://www.givd.info), an internet-based resource offering metadata of existing electronic vegetation databases. On 11 May 2012, 182 databases containing more than 2.8 million non-overlapping vegetation plots had been registered in GIVD. The majority of these plots were from European databases (123 databases, 1.87 million plots). The oldest plot record dated from 1864, but the vast majority of the plots had been collected since 1970. Most of the plots had areas between 1 and 1,000 m2. A total of 68 databases also stored time series and/or nested-plot data. The vegetation-plot data registered in GIVD constitute a major resource for biodiversity research, not only through the large number of species occurrence records, but especially due to the storage of species co-occurrence information, complemented with site-specific structural data and plot-based environmental data. The increased ease of discovering and accessing such datasets, owing to their registration in GIVD, offers significant opportunities for large-scale studies in areas such as community ecology, macroecology, and global-change research. The results from such studies could be very important for nature conservation practice and policy.


This study was conducted from 1st of June to 31st of July 2022.  sample of 125 farmers selected on convenience from 5 villages of Khambhaliya taluka of Devbhoomi Dwarka districts of Gujarat. Primary data were collected with the help of semi-structured schedules, and appropriate tools    were used to analyse data. Market potential of CARBOXIN 37.5% + THIRAM 37.5% WS, THIAMETHOXAM 30% FS, AZOXYSTROBIN 8.3% + MANCOZEB 66.7% WG and NPK 11:11:8 FORTIFIED ZINC & BORON product is around 25.25 lakh, 19.64 lakh, 74.82 lakh and 94.70 lakh respectively. The major problems faced by farmers in groundnut crop are high cost of inputs, insect attacks, wilting, and rust & tikka disease. In the study it is observed that farmer that does not use seed treatment in their field faces a problem of wilting and uneven/less germination and farmers that do not use micronutrient products in the crop faces a problem of yellowing. The most effective tools responsible for purchase decision of a product are retailers' suggestion, farmers' meetings, and demonstration of the product.


abstract "moisture curable two-component system" are provided by moisture curable compositions including silylated polymers and methods for their production. a two-component system curable silylated moisture to produce a crosslinked polymer crosslinked or cured with improved properties of compression permanent deformation is provided. The two-component system comprising a first formulation and a second formulation. the first formulation comprises a silylated polymer, water and cargo and the second formulation comprises the silylated polymer, a curing catalyst comprising at least one Bronsted acid, and a moisture scavenger. the final cured formulation may have a permanent compression set as determined by ASTM D395 or ISO 815-1, less than 100%, and in some instances, less than 50% and, in some instances, less than 15%. It confirmed that improvement of the permanent compression set not only allows the silylated polymers are used in applications where duty cycles are employed, but also improves the durability of the product. 1/1


We are following the debate about the administration and the preferred dosage of linezolid in the treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB with great interest. Linezolid is a high potent drug against M. tuberculosis, but its widespread use is limited due to severe side-effects in long-term treatment, which often occurs after the usage of 600 mg twice a day in bacterial disease for >28 days and mainly includes severe haematotoxic effects (i.e. myelosuppression, anaemia, thrombocytopaenia) or polyneuropathy [1]. However, the current standards in MDR- and XDR-TB require several months of treatment. In addition, the administration of 1200 mg linezolid per day leads to high treatment costs, which limits the usage, especially in low-income countries [1, 2]. Lowering the dosage of linezolid could, therefore, be an effective step towards reducing costs and severe side-effects. Reducing linezolid dose in the treatment of MDR-/XDR-TB to a 300 mg OD could reduce severe side-effects and cost http://ow.ly/AtU7F


We describe three cases of vasa previa and review the English‐language literature for all cases reported since 1980. Antenatal diagnosis was significantly associated with decreased fetal mortality (p = 0.033). A low‐lying placenta is a risk factor for vasa previa, as it occurred in 81% of patients. Copyright © 1998 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology


Chiefdom is a social category, continuous with non-stratified social groups and states. The defining process of chiefdoms is an emergent political economy that mobilized resources used to finance institutions of rule and social stratification. Chiefdoms are highly variable, but they are all about power. This article reviews concepts of chiefs, chiefdoms and chiefly confederacies, and illustrates how Polynesian chiefdoms operated prior to state formation. The chief is a political actor seeking to control rather opportunistically the elemental powers of economy, warrior might, and ideology. The history of Kamehameha, first King of the Hawaiian Islands, illustrates how a chief fashioned a state superstructure. Following the formation of states, chiefs continue to operate as substate actors controlling interstitial spaces (illegal operations, rural areas, and the like) in competition and collaboration with an overarching state. This personal essay summarizes my understanding of chiefdoms and their related concepts in evolutionary perspective. Since the 1970s, I have built on ideas developed and long abandoned by Marshall Sahlins (1958 vs. 1976). Those interested in social evolution know what I have written, and I will not repeat that long history (Earle 1987, 1997, 2002a). This is what I believe after forty years of research on chiefdoms. They should be considered tied to particular political processes by which power becomes centralized. Typological exercises in evolutionary studies are arbitrary divisions of human organizations, and the focus should shift toward


Discussed the action and design of electric starting system for 1.5ZF gasoline generating set,and analyzed the reliability of 1.5ZF gasoline generating set.


Abstract The family–school relationship develops largely during face-to-face interactions between parents and teachers. Research shows that reciprocal and informal communication reinforces collaboration, especially between schools and families from minority groups. Yet, teacher practices regularly express a reluctance to implement reciprocal communication. In this article, we seek to get a better understanding of the reasons why practices in the field tend to differ from those recommended by research. Based on an ethnographic study conducted in one Swiss school in which we analyse within a context of cultural diversity how teachers and parents negotiate their roles while building their relationship, we investigate how they approach initiative-taking in informal routine interactions throughout the child's first school year. The results of our qualitative inductive analysis show a general paradox with negative implications for the building of the family–school relationship. While teachers adopt a "no news is good news" communication principle and attribute the responsibility of initiating interactions to parents, in our study parents not only expect teachers to take the initiative with interactions, but also face different structural and socio-psychological obstacles that prevent them from initiating interactions. Teachers' lack of awareness of those barriers reinforces their deficit-orientated view of parents from minority groups, in which the absence of initiative is considered evidence of lack of interest in their child's schooling. From an equity perspective, we conclude that schools and teachers need to rethink their role in routine communication, by working on removing the barriers to parental initiative which particularly disadvantage parents from minority groups.


Continuing studies on 2-to-1 maps onto indecomposable continua having only arcs as proper non-degenerate subcontinua—called here arc-continua—we drop the hypothesis of tree-likeness, and we get some conditions on the arc-continuum image that force any 2-to-1 map to be a local homeomorphism. We show that any 2-to-1 map from a continuum onto a local Cantor bundle Y is either a local homeomorphism or a retraction if Y is orientable, and that it is a local homeomorphism if Y is not orientable. Define X to be an arc-continuum if X is a (metric) continuum and each proper non-degenerate subcontinuum of X is an arc. In an earlier paper [5] we showed that there is no exactly 2-to-1 continuous map from any continuum onto a tree-like arc-continuum (to partially answer a question raised by Sam Nadler, Jr. and L. E. Ward, Jr. [14]) by first showing that any such map must be a local homeomorphism (i.e. a 2-fold covering map). In this paper we continue our study of exactly 2-to-1 maps from continua onto arc-continua, without the hypothesis of tree-likeness, and we have found some simple conditions on the arc-continuum image (different for orientable and non-orientable cases) that force any 2-to-1 map to be a local homeomorphism. In the case of an indecomposable arc-continuum Y that is a local Cantor bundle, we show that any 2-to-1 map from a continuum onto Y is either a local homeomorphism or a retraction if Y is orientable (both situations can be realized), and any 2-to-1 map from a continuum onto Y is a local homeomorphism if Y is not orientable. Thus more is now known about what kinds of 2-to-1 maps are possible onto these types of spaces, including all solenoids. A decomposable arc-continuum is the union of two arcs, thus an arc or a simple closed curve. Harrold showed in 1940 [8] that the arc is not the 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 54F15. During the preparation of the paper the first and the third authors were supported by Polish Scientific Grant No. 2 1061 91 10.


Terminology policy and terminology planning are new area in the terminology research. As the two terms involve multi-disciplines and domains, the making of the terminology policy and the concept of the terminology planning are becoming more complicated. To enable the Chinese terminologists to gain a deeper insight into the advantages as well as the problems of the terminology policy and planning, the paper discusses the issues of understanding the terminology policy and planning from four aspects, hoping that it can clarify some people's fuzzy ideas about the problem.


Feeding experiments were carried out to examine the supplemental effect of crystalline amino acids to casein diets on the growth of cherry salmon Oncorhynchus masou and amago salmon O. rhodurs fry. The essential amino acid patterns of eyed egg and whole body protein of cherry salmon were used as references. The following four diets were given to both groups for six weeks; a casein diet without crystalline amino acid (Diet 1), a casein diet supplemented with crystalline amino acids to simulate the essential amino acid ratio (A/E ratio) of the eyed egg protein (Diet 2), a casein diet supplemented with crystalline amino acids to simulate the A/E ratio of the whole body protein (Diet 3), and a white fish meal diet (Diet 4). Both species showed essentially the same responses to the dietary treatments and their growth responses were as follows Diet 3>Diet 2>Diet 1>Diet 4. The groups fed on Diet 3 showed significantly higher daily growth rates than those fed on Diet 1, whereas daily growth rates between Diet 2 group and Diet 1 group were not significantly different. The highest feed effciency and protein effciency ratio were obtained in the groups fed on Diet 3. Fishes fed on Diet 4 showed the highest daily feed consumption rates, but the daily growth rates and the feed effciencies were the poorest compared to all the other dietary groups.


Although, on the face of it, one might have expected Joycean Legacies to be a cartography or record of the reaches of Joyce's influence on subsequent generations of writers, the collection of essays put together by Martha C. Carpentier also turns out to be a very reflective book about the complexities of relating to a predominant literary figure, the negotiation of some vital space for creative expression under the shadow of that overbearing precedent, and the strategies – parasitic or revisi...


To the Editor.— The following is a commentary on Dr. Douglas Torre's review of Cryosurgery of Skin Cancer by Sterag A. Zacarian, MD (Springfield, Ill: Charles C Thomas Publishers, 1969). This review appeared in the August 1969 issue of theArchives( 100 :261, 1969). Several reviews thus far have endorsed and recommended by monograph and one, in particular, singled out that the basic chapters and the chapter on cancer cryosurgery of the skin could well serve as a text. I was, therefore, quite surprised to read Dr. Douglas Torre's review. He is, of course, entitled to his opinion, but in the interest of the medical audience, it should be pointed out that he has not only misinterpreted the subject but more seriously, rearranged my sentence structures and misquoted me out of context. Time and space does not allow an extensive rebuttal but to comment on a few germane remarks will


The ROSAT HRI was used to image fields around nine Galactic globular clusters that have central densities in the range of 10(exp 4) - 10(exp 5) solar mass pc(exp -3) and that had not previously been observed with the Einstein Observatory. We detected X-ray sources associated with Pal 2 and NGC 6304 with luminosities of 1.1 x 10(exp 34) ergs/s and 1.2 x 10(exp 33) ergs/s, respectively. No X-ray emission was detected from the source in Ter 6, thus confirming its transient nature. In all, there were 23 serendipitous sources found in the nine fields; none was apparently associated with any of the other seven clusters. The results are discussed in the context of low-luminosity cluster X-ray sources, in general.


Dahi is one of the most popular options of all ours global liked by all age groups. It has resoled health problem and also provides enough nutrition at a low cost to a large population. An experimentation planned to monitor the durability of certain dairy products was store temperatures (-4°C) within their shelf life and nutritive value. The culture added into MPP dahi sample and incubated to 38°C temperature. The Samples of fortified MPP dahi tested during 22 days. During experimentation stages, depending on the product, pH, and acidity value of the product, in addition to sensory analysis (taste, colour and body texture), along with microbiological safety, was investigated. The results be in view the products stored at 2°C appeared considerable acidity (decreases pH value), changed sensory evaluation properties, and had higher no. of aerobic bacteria, after 22 days, resulted in larger amount of whey separated, decrease viscosity, and decrease acidity. The physico-chemical and microbial attribute of moringa Dahi prepared by moringa pod powder and flavour A and B is showed in current study. It was prepared from standardized milk. Moringa pod powder added at different level 0.5%, 1.00%, 1.5% of milk. Various analysis parameters were analyzed by one way ANOVA to obtained optimum result prepared moringa Dahi was subjected to chemical and microbial analysis to evaluate the suitability of Dahi were sample carbohydrate (8.98%), protein (4.62%), fat (4.45%), TS (14.58), acidity (0.67%), pH (4.6) based on the result it was indicated that beneficial component of high protein is Dahi. Moringa powder made them more favorable choice for dairy technologist to develop Dahi especially for healthy food.


Field experiments were conducted during rainy (kharif) season of 2006 and 2007 in Vertisols of semi-arid tropics, Hyderabad to evaluate the performance of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) for different weed control treatments. Pre-emergence application of pendimethalin (1.0 kg) in combination with interculturing at 21 days after sowing, followed by hand weeding was found as good as that of weed-free treatment in reducing weed growth and recorded higher seed yield and higher nutrient uptake of sunflower in Vertisols. On an average, weeds removed 39 kg N/ha, 8 kg P/ha and 53 kg K/ha in unweeded control. The activity of soil enzymes (urease, dehydrogenase and phosphatase) were enhanced/ maintained with application of pendimethalin at lower doses followed by intercultivation.


Objective Given the presence of a pathological immune response in sporadic vestibular schwannoma (sVS), this study aims to explore the roles of aspirin in minimizing sVS growth in vivo. Study Design Retrospective case review. Setting Tertiary care hospital. Patients People diagnosed with sVS and followed at a tertiary referral center by serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for at least 4 months within the period of January 1980 through April 2012. Main Outcome Measures Patient use of aspirin and sVS growth rate measured by changes in the largest tumor dimension as noted on serial MRIs Results Within a set of 689 cases, 347 were followed by serial MRI scans (50.3%); of the latter, 81 took aspirin, of which, 33 demonstrated sVS growth, and 48 did not. Of the 266 nonaspirin users, 154 demonstrated sVS growth, and 112 did not. A significant inverse association was found among aspirin users and sVS growth (odds ratio [OR]: 0.50, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.29–0.85), which was not confounded by age or sex. Conclusion Our results suggest a potential therapeutic role of aspirin in inhibiting sVS growth.


The regional government of the Basque Country has established a double objective for social housing buildings: to supply free heating in the new constructions and to achieve a cost-optimal refurbishment solution for the existing buildings. It is analyzed the improvement of the energy performance of social housing buildings during the last decade. The analysis includes new buildings and renovations of existing residential buildings. The initial stage of new buildings implemented some renewable energy systems, such as Combined Heat and Power units, solar thermal panels. The second stage reduced the heating demand by demand controlled ventilation and combined conventional systems with Ground Source Heat Pumps or Trombe walls. The present stage has achieved a Zero Energy Building and expects to improve the minimum comfort levels for tenants. It is explained how has been achieved the optimal system operation and the contribution of each system to the final zero energy balance. The renovation of existing residential buildings is analyzed by the results of the main grant programs that have been applied in the last 3 years to more than 1000 dwellings. These grants demanded a reduction of at least 50% of heating consumption and a verification through 3 years monitoring. To conclude, several improvement possibilities will be demonstrated and some additional ideas will be suggested for future social housing projects.


The need to automate various industrial tasks has led to the development of mobile robots which are capable of providing cognitive behavioral responses. Developed in the mid 1950s, the mobile robots have been widely used in a number of fields. These range from exploratory, surveillance, inspection and also planetary roving. Currently, mobile robots are widely used in artificial intelligence and other cognitive areas in order to carry out various tasks in industrial environments. Mobile robots are mostly used in areas which are hostile to human beings, such as underwater, planetary roving and also toxic environments. The visual, auditory and cognitive behavioral features that are installed in the mobile robots can make them make appropriate decisions in situations which demand complexity of alternatives.


Using internet research to study the current market of programs related to image management, we searched for the best software solutions for the description, dissemination and promotion of a photographic archive. With the experience obtained from using and configuring these programs and with an evaluation using previously established requirements, a list of the most adaptable and versatile software having the added value of being capable of expansion has been elaborated. In addition, we have been able to contribute to establishing the criteria and recommendations to determine which of them are better for each type of archive, for a public or private institution, an agency, or a personal archive.


Controversy exists as to the relationship between NLD and Asperger's disorder. Some believe that at a minimum, children with Asperger's disorder have NLD but that few children with NLD have Asperger's disorder. An additional confound to diagnostic clarity is introduced by the concept of autistic spectrum disorder (ASDs). This disorder, along with diagnoses of pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and PDD-NOS (not otherwise specified), blur the distinction between individuals with autism and those with higher-functioning autism, Asperger's Disorder, or NLD. Furthermore, in a critical review of the construct of Asperger's disorder Klin and Volkmar (2003) found that, in their research, investigators' have either modified the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria by treating Asperger's disorder and high functioning autism interchangeably or used altogether different criteria for their definition of the condition. They conclude the Anosologic status of AS [Asperger's disorder] is, therefore, extremely problematic, given that studies cannot be necessarily compared because of the adoption of different diagnostic definitions, and there has been no comparison across different diagnostic schemes with regard to the relative usefulness of each of the schemes (p. 8). Finally, confusion exists because the term Asperger's disorder rather that Asperger's disorder is used in many publications (e.g., Klin, 1994; 2004; Volkmar & Klin, 1998, 2000), the terms appear to be interchangeable. In this work, I use the term Asperger's disorder in conformity with the DSMIV designation (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) except when I refer to investigators who use the term Asperger's syndrome instead.


In view of the construction and management of laboratories in colleges and universities,the laboratories in Zhejiang AF University were adjusted,incorporated and regulated according to the practical demand of undergraduate teaching,scientific research and social service.With the construction of the comprehensive experimental center,the scientific research service platform,the disciplinary research laboratory,the information management platform,the management system and operational mechanism,as well as the toll system,the utilization rate of educational resources and the administration level were improved,and the optimum competition and the rapid development of the laboratory were assured.


THE presence of triiodothyronine in the serum of man was first demonstrated by Gross and Pitt-Rivers (1). In a previous report we described various radioiodinated amino acids, including triiodothyronine, which appeared in the sera of patients treated with radioactive iodine (2). Because labeled triiodothyronine was present in some of the samples of serum taken twenty-four hours after the administration of the I131, the occurrence of iodinated compounds in the serum was explored further by the method of chromatographic fractionation. The following were investigated: 1) the frequency of occurrence of triiodothyronine in both Graves' disease and hyperfunctioning adenomatous goiter, 2) whether triiodothyronine is present in patients with normal functioning thyroid tissue, 3) the earliest time at which the compounds, especially triiodothyronine, are demonstrable in the serum, 4) whether radiation effect could explain the presence of the compounds by the time they first became detectable, and 5) the relationshi...


The Unitarian benefits of online utility have been considered to some extent. The approach to this study has been to commence a fully comprehended evaluation that demarcates all the aspects regarding the online consumption's utilitarian motivation. The foremost important step that has been undertaken in this article is the literature review, to motion an aprioristic mean framework of ten dimensions of utilitarian motivations. Second, quantitative analyses (exploratory, descriptive statics and some factor analyses procedures) are practiced depending on questionnaire executed on a sample size of 150 Internet users. Last but not the least, 9 utilitarian motivations is entrenched, following names were assigned to them: assort-mint, economy, and convenience, availability of information, adaptability/customization, and desire for control, payment services, anonymity, and absence of social interaction. The parallel gravity of the entire model is claimable as second-order factor model has been used. It was concluded by conferring some implications for practitioners.


I F a speculator makes profits consistently this implies that he possesses the ability to forecast prices or price changes with a fair degree of success. Whether he thereby stabilizes price is another matter. That is the central problem of this article. The proposed theory relating speculators' profits and the stability of prices is intended to be applicable to those commodities traded on organized exchanges by two kinds of people, "cspeculators" and "non-speculators." What distinguishes speculators from other traders in the market is that their profits depend only on the price or price change of the commodity they trade. Non-speculators' profits are determined not only by the price of the commodity traded on the organized exchange but also by the prices of other related commodities. If the non-speculators are hedgers, they can make their profits almost independent of the price level itself. What enters the excess demand curve of the non-speculators is some weighted sum of the prices of the commodities they handle. How-ever, I shall single out only the price of the commodity traded on the organized exchange when I come to discuss their excess demand. Some examples may make my distinction between speculators and non-speculators clearer. In the cotton market a non-speculator may be a textile manufacturer whose profit is a function of the price of raw cotton, cotton textiles, and other inputs besides raw cotton. By hedging or other means he can avoid taking a price risk and can specialize in producing cotton textiles to maximize his profits. In the foreign exchange market, one kind of non-speculator is an importer whose profit depends not only on the exchange rate, but also on shipping costs, the price of the commodity in the two countries, and the like. He too by hedging can avoid bearing the risk of a change in the exchange rate and can specialize in providing a merchandizing service. However, the stock market is not one for which the theory to be described seems applicable, because no reasonable distinction between speculators and other traders can be made. Perhaps the only non-speculators in that market are those corporations engaged in a new stock issue. In what follows I show that for a fairly general model positive speculators' profits imply that they have stabilized the price. My conclusion is the opposite of that reached by Professor Baumol. In a brilliant article recently published, Baumol gives a counter-example to disprove the proposition that if speculators make profits they necessarily stabilize the price.' After presenting my own model I show why Professor Baumol's results are unsatisfactory.


Objective To study the effects of small doses of thyroxine on cardiac function in the elderly patients with congestive heart failure and low levels of thyroxine in serum.Methods The serum content of thyroxine in the elderly with CHF was measured.Forty-two cases who accorded with the normal sick euthyroid syndrome were chosen.They were randomly divided into Group A (n=20) and B (n=22). Group A was treated with routine anti-heart failure treatment and small doses of thyroxine, while group B was treated with routine anti-heart failure treatment. LVEF?LVDd and E/A of the two groups were compared when they were hospitalized and after 6 months.6-minute walk test was performed.The number of times of rehospitalization because of heart failure, the cases of death, the levels of T_3,T_4,FT_3 and FT_4 in serum and the average changes of their heart rates were compared.Results After treatment, in both Group A and group B LVEF, E/A and the 6-minute walk test were improved, but LVDd decreased;T_3,T_4,FT_3 and FT_4 were corrected obviously and were close to normal(P0.05),especially in group A(P0.01). There were obvious differences between group A and group B in LVEF, LVDd, E/A, 6-minute walk test,and T_3,T_4,FT_3 and FT_4 (P0.05).The heart rate of the two groups remarkably dropped(P0.01), yet there were no marked differences between the two groups.Both the rate of hospitalization and the death rate in group A were lower than those in group B( P0.01).Conclusion Small doses of thyroxine are safe and effective and can improve cardiac function and decrease the rate of rehospitalization and the death rate for congestive heart failure in the elderly patients with congestive heart failure,and do not increase heart rate.


. The presently available multidimensional dusty gasdynamic cometary atmo sphere models are reviewed. This paper examines the simplifying assumptions and their potential consequences. Special attention is paid to the question of potential nightside dust accumulation presently predicted by Korosmezey and Gombosi (1989).


We obtain absorption probabilities and expected time until absorption for different stopping strategies in gambler's ruin problem using the concept of multiple function barriers


Radical changes in educational policy require the enhancing of educational systems quality and aiming at humanistic values. In this context, problems related to the forming of creative, competitive, existentially free and at the same time responsible citizens of Ukraine, capable of cultural identification and having respect for the "Other's" culture, get highly actualized. The article addresses the problem of improving the quality of training of specialists in the field of art in higher education, as a derivative of culture, in the context of a humanistic-oriented artistic paradigm. The introduction of the humanistic-oriented paradigm in art education has a dramatically innovative character, focusing future music teachers on the mobility and variability in the selection of forms and methods of artistic communication, and focuses on the subjective position of participants in the interaction with art. The accordance with international educational standards necessitates a holistic approach to the artistic and educational process need to prepare a competitive specialist. The article suggests the methods of theoretical analysis and generalization, which made it possible to formulate the investigated definition, which should be noted that a personality's culture is characterized not only by the ability for direct dialogue with art but also by "communication on the point of works of art". The phenomenology of communication in the artistic and educational projection is highlighted and the basic methodological guidelines for the formation are outlined. Particular attention is given on the outlining substantiating of an existential-reflective strategy of artistic and pedagogical communication of subjects of interaction with art in the context of a humanistic-oriented artistic paradigm.


Biochemical and microbial processes benefit from mathematical models. Often microbial kinetics are described as a function of environmental conditions in models exploited in predictive microbiology. Based on the organism different model structures are available. However, the aim is to determine the model that describes the system best. This work deals with secondary models describing microbial kinetics in the suboptimal temperature range and their possibility to be discriminated. The used models are the cardinal temperature model with inflection and its adapted version. The method of Optimal Experiment Design for Model Discrimination is used to investigate the practical (in)feasibility of model discrimination given different noise and sampling frequency values. Results point out the required steps and the possibilities of the method for model discrimination. It has been observed that discrimination is possible at various noise and sampling frequency levels. Moreover, also the corresponding increase in required experimental effort has been obtained.


The chemical enrichment of oxidative roasting products, sintering of metal niobium with sodium carbonate investigated by means of rational planning of the experiment. Possibility of niobium concentration in the solid phase by transferring the solution accompanying elements (Al, Fe, Cr, Si) is considered. Multivariate mathematical models of sulfuric acid leaching are built. Kinetic parameters of the process are specified. Conditions for obtaining chemical niobium concentrate suitable for smelting crude metal are optimized on the basis of the data obtained model.


Objective To analyze the effect of stenting and medical treatment on symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis and its intermediate and long-term effect follow-up.Methods Clinical data about 86 patients with digital angiography-confirmed intracranial arterial stenosis 50% were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were divided into stenting group(n=34) and medical treatment group(n=52).Their clinical and imaging findings were recorded during the 30-day,6-month,12-month,24-month,and over 24-month follow-up periods.Results The success stenting rate was 94.74% in stenting group.The stenosis decreased from 87.15%±7.43% before stenting to 11.32%±17.72% after stenting(P0.01).The incidence of homolateral ischemic stroke and total vascular events was significantly different between the two groups after a follow-up period ≥12 months(P0.05).Conclusion Stenting is a safe and effective procedure for intracranial arterial stenosis and its effect is better than that of simple medical treatment in preventing homolateral ischemic stroke and vascular events.


Rural industrial structure's adjustment need more supporting,credit is most important one of them If we can make up one coordinated operation mechanism of rural industrial structure and credit structure's adjustment,if will push on the industrial step,but we must definitude responsibility of government,increase technology development,adjust financing and supporting way for agriculture


We show that Cantor minimal $\mathbb{Z}\rtimes\mathbb{Z}_2$-systems and essentially free amenable odometers are almost finite. We also compute the homology groups of Cantor minimal $\mathbb{Z}\rtimes\mathbb{Z}_2$-systems and show that the associated transformation groupoids satisfy the HK conjecture if and only if the action is free.


Biological invasions are considered a significant challenge both from an ecological and economical perspective. Compared to the native range, environmental conditions in the invasive range often favor more competitive genotypes. Little attention, however, has so far been paid to the possibility that these invasive and competitive genotypes might also be back-introduced into a species' native range, where they could trigger a problematic increase in abundance or expansion. The frequency with which this occurs in the species´ native range might be an underestimated aspect in nature conservation. We transplanted native and invasive individuals of the biennial model species Jacobaea vulgaris into field sites of naturally occurring populations within the species' native range. The aim was to test whether back-introduced invasive origins show decreased performance, e.g., because of the reunion with specialized herbivores or plant-soil-feedbacks or whether they have the potential to trigger problematic population dynamics in the species' native range. We ran an additional greenhouse experiment to specifically address soil-borne effects in the species' native habitats. We found that invasive individuals generally outperformed the native transplants if compared in the field sites. By contrast, there were no origin-dependent differences in the greenhouse experiment. Our findings clearly indicate that testing for origin effects exclusively under controlled conditions might underestimate the potential of invasive genotypes to trigger invasion processes in habitats of the species' native range. Although differences in performance mediated by soil-borne effects were not associated with plant origin, field site susceptibility to J. vulgaris colonization varied largely. Identifying the exact factors driving these differences, offers another focal point to minimize the risk of a detrimental increase in the abundance or expansion of this highly invasive species in its home range.


Many universities have embarked on organised group study tours which, while sometimes contentious, are widely successful in their support from students and staff involved. Queensland University of Technology's business study tour units for China and India were instigated by the school of Marketing and International Business in 1999 and have attracted strong interest from students, achieving maximum enrolments. The literature on this important and growing approach to business study predominantly concentrates on organisational aspects, with less attention to curriculum and assessment and little detail on how specific learning activities are integrated into the program. This paper examines common elements of a number of study tour programs and briefly describes the QUT China Study Tour program. The paper then focuses on how the learning experience and outcomes for a study tour can be further enriched and the assessment base expanded. To this end, two questions are posed: * How can extra-curricula and immersion activities undertaken on the study tour program contribute more effectively to the learning objectives and outcomes? * How can these experiences and outcomes be more effectively harnessed for post-tour classroom discussion and activities? A simple but structured research activity built around students' extra-curricula activities in a mix of retail environments is proposed as an exercise to address these questions. The paper outlines the trial implementation of the activity with a group of 60 students visiting Suzhou in February 2003 and further demonstrates how the data generated could be used as one example of the possible outcomes of the activity.


This article focuses on the low efficiency of a production process in a manufacturing company. The study aims to integrate and model different tools with greater efficiency to avoid high maintenance costs of production equipment and high implementation costs. Thus, this article presents a waste reduction model intended to reduce setup time and develop an efficient maintenance management system to increase overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). We validated the model in a Peruvian tire manufacturing company and achieved positive outcomes such as a 13% increase in the OEE score and a 22.5% setup time reduction. All this entailed an increase in the component changeover capacity, the outsourcing of 37 activities, and an 80% increase in the knowledge index of the operators involved in the proposal.