Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are considered as a promising next‐generation energy storage technology due to its high energy density over 2500 Wh kg−1 and low cost. Its development and application require to overcome several obstacles including the large volume change, the low electrical conductivity of S/Li2S, and the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LIPSs). In this work, the hollow N‐doped carbon spheres (NHCS) decorated with nanosized SnS2 (NHCS‐SnS2) are synthesized and investigated to host sulfur used as the cathode for Li–S batteries. Highly conductive NHCS offer a large specific surface area and robust confinement for active material S, while SnS2 nanoparticles provide efficient chemisorption of LIPSs and promote the deposition of solid Li2S. The NHCS‐SnS2/S cathode materials deliver a high discharge capacity 1344 mAh g−1 at 0.2 C and a low capacity decay over 200 cycles at 0.5 C. The outstanding cycling stability at 0.2 C with high sulfur loading of 3.0–3.1 mg cm−2 can also be readily attained. The excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to possible triple phase catalytic effect of NHCS‐SnS2 and electrolyte, and such structure permits the full utilization of active materials from S8 to Li2S.


We study the speed of extinction of continuous state branching processes in a L\'evy environment, where the associated L\'evy process oscillates. Assuming that the L\'evy process satisfies the Spitzer's condition and the existence of some exponential moments, we extend recent results where the associated branching mechanism was stable. Our study relies on the path analysis of the process together with its environment, when this latter is conditioned to have a non negative running infimum. This approach is inspired from the discrete setting with i.i.d. environment studied in (Afanasyev et al. 2005).


a warm linement made of oil of Lavender, the fat of the Mountain rat 'and the Queen of Hungary's water. If," happily an abscess forms," the bones should be restored into their cavity, and the joint fortified with man's grease applied hot: in the meantime the part being supported with' a good bandage, and surrounded with compresses and bolsters, tg command the bone and keep it fast in its place. Belloste concludes his book with following apologia-" Such as impart to the Publick their observations and experiences, which are the fruit of their diligence and care, have deserved well of mankind. Many surgeons there are, who have not the advantage of occasions to accomplish themselves in this fort; and of those that have, few are so charitable as to publish what they've seen and remarked extraordinary. When a man does not communicate his attainments, by writing, to the Publick, let his endowments and knowledge be never so great, they are for the most part, if not altogether buried with him. 'rhe good a man can, do lasts but for a time; but the excellent advice he leaves, in writing, to Posterity is useful for ever. We had still been in ignorance, had not the writing of the ancients come down to our hands. Wherefore, I felt myself bound in conscience, tho' at hazard of being condemned by the envious, to impart to the world my experiences, that, if possible, I might procure to poor wounded persons a more speedy assistance than can be afforded by the common method. If I shall have the happiness to succeed in my design, I shall feel myself sufficiently recompensed for all my toils, and will praise the Almighty Father of Lights, who by small means often brings mighty things to pass."


In their article "About the Chinese School of Comparative Literature" He Lin and Danqing Huang discuss the development of the Chinese school of comparative literature since the 1980s. Lin and Huang describe how based on traditions in Chinese literary history, comparatists constructed a system of theoretical frameworks and methods. They argue that the Chinese School should not be criticized as "Chinacentric" just for the fact that its practitioners perform Chinese-Western comparative studies within its own historical and cultural context. Further, they defend the Chinese School by examining the achievements it has made in comparative poetics and the study of reception of Chinese literature in English-language cultures. He Lin and Danqing Huang, "About the Chinese School of Comparative Literature" page 2 of 8 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 17.1 (2015): <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol17/iss1/3> Thematic Issue The Study of Chinese Literature in the Anglophone World. Ed. Shunqing Cao He LIN and Danqing HUANG About the Chinese School of Comparative Literature The notion of "Chinese comparative literature" was proposed initially by Tianhong Gu and Huihua Chen in their 1976 book 比较文学之垦拓在台湾 (Comparative Literature in Taiwan). The notion was adopted in Hong Kong by John Deeney in 1977 (see also Peng-hsiang Chen's 1992 From Thematics to the "Chinese School" of Comparative Literature). In the 1980s the notion began to be adopted by scholars in Mainland China and by the 1990s it has been established. However, there are scholars who do not endorse the notion. For example, in their 1984 book 比较文学导论 (Introduction to Comparative Literature), Kanghua Lu and Jingyao Sun introduce the term of "Chinese school," but claim that it is not yet the right time to establish such a school since there are no systematic theories and methodologies (331) and in 2004 Hyung-Jun Jeon criticizes the idea of a "Chinese school" suggesting that it is based on Sinocentrism. In 2005 Daiyun Yue took a hesitant attitude and suggested that a "Chinese school" embodies just one of the various theoretical claims in comparative literature. According to Yue, the term might trap Chinese comparatists in a narrow field because a school of thought is formed naturally in history and thus for example the French school or the US-American school of comparative literature evolved "naturally" (see also Yue and Cai). In 2006 in their article "Western Literary Theories in China" Dan Shen and Xiaoyi Zhou even warn that "The founding of a 'Chinese School' of literary criticism and theory may be nothing more than an inverted form of 'aphasia'" (149). And as recently as in 2013 Xiaoyi Zhou and Q.S. Tong wrote that "A careful examination of ... a Chinese school of comparative literature shows a lack of substance, as well as impracticality... What underscores this proposal is a politics of recognition that aims to establish Chinese comparative literature as an equal partner on the international stage of comparative literature" (279) and also in 2013 Xiaolu Wang and Yan Liu wrote that the "Chinese school" puts too much emphasis on "Chineseness" and hence it may hamper the pursuit of the study of literature in a general context: "Such so-called 'Chineseness' in comparative poetics makes no sense because, in our view, the importance and relevance of the humanities— and especially of comparative poetics—is to study and explore different cultures and literatures, thus maintaining and transferring knowledge" (248). We begin our argumentation for a Chinese school of comparative literature with a brief excursion about the notions of "school" and "discipline." In principle, while a school of thought can be across disciplines, a discipline is defined by a more or less closed environment whereby institutional administrative aspects are important. However, there can of course exist schools of thought within disciplines. Hence with regard to comparative literature it is a "discipline" and within it there are French, USAmerican, Russian, East European, etc., schools of comparative literature. While comparative literature as an approach within the study of literature started in European scholarship in the early nineteenth century, it was after World War II when comparative literature became a discipline. For example, in 1951 Marius-François Guyard claimed that the "French school" is not an issue of nationality and that comparative literature should not be viewed as something to do with one's "passport" because some US-American comparatists could be grouped into the "French school" and some French comparatists would, because of the approach they employ in their work, could be considered with the US-American school. And in 1960 Henry H.H. Remak used the term "French school" in an attempt to give a definition for comparative literature and gave the term currency. In fact, the two schools have more or less absorbed each other's principles and methods and the same is the case with other schools of comparative literature while at the same time each has distinct and specific characteristics. Thus, a school of thought is not derived from self-advocacy and self-assertion, but as a necessary part of the development of a discipline. With regard to a Chinese school of comparative literature, we submit that the same way as we posit above, it is not monolithic and hence we caution against the suggestion that it represents a "centric" composition and content ideologically or otherwise. From the first proposal by Taiwan scholars to its echoes in the Mainland and to the general recognition by Chinese comparatists in recent decades, the term has been experiencing changes. In 1976 Gu and Chen wrote that "We might as well declare that the methodology of studying Chinese literature by borrowing, testing, and revising Western literary theories and methodologies can be called 'the Chinese School of Comparative Literature'" (unless He Lin and Danqing Huang, "About the Chinese School of Comparative Literature" page 3 of 8 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 17.1 (2015): <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol17/iss1/3> Thematic Issue The Study of Chinese Literature in the Anglophone World. Ed. Shunqing Cao indicated otherwise, all translations are by Lin and Huan) ("我们不妨大胆宣言说,这援用西方文学理论与方 法并加以考验、调整以用之于中国文学的研究,是比较文学的中国派 [2]). In the 1970s Taiwan witnessed an upsurge of the idea of "returning to China" characterized by identification with traditional Chinese culture. It happened under such circumstances that the Taiwan Comparative Literature Association was founded in 1973. Since then Taiwan comparatists were known for their preference and promotion of Chinese literature (of note is that in Taiwan scholarship since the 1990s cultural studies appears to sideline comparative literature). At the same time, it is important to note that because Taiwan has been an ally of the West while Mainland China experienced the restrictions of the Cultural Revolution, Taiwan scholars were able to access scholarship in Western languages including and of course mainly such in English. One downside of this has been and remains the case is that in Taiwan comparative literature scholarship there is a strong reliance on Western comparative literature (and literary theory altogether) and less attention to Chinese thought on literature and its history including theory and methodology. Deeney admitted in his influential 1977 "manifesto" that "As a matter of fact, 'Chinese' school is still in the process of construction and has not yet produced much influence ... It is much more a manifestation of goal and strategy or an interim manifesto than a declaration formed through literary practices and verified by history" ("事实上, '中国'学派迄今仍在建立的过程中,没有一定的规模...与其说 是一份由经验凝成, 经历史验证的中宣言, 毋宁说是一种揭橥目标与方针, 属于意识形态的临时声明"[139]). Despite this, Deeney constructed a roadmap for the development of a "Chinese school" by which he meant to seek for "Chineseness" within national literature, to propel literary movements within a region (such as East Asia), to be the spokesperson for non-Western nations, to produce new theoretical thought so as to challenge Western frameworks and thus to arrive at a true cosmopolitan comparative literature. Unfortunately, the blueprint for such a notion of comparative literature has never been carried out satisfactorily. Similar to Taiwan comparatists, also early Mainland Chinese comparatists and practitioners adopted Western theoretical frameworks and methods and hence the early Chinese school was criticized for its overemphasis of the "universality" of Western theory. However, since 1980s comparative literature has been reinvigorated in Mainland Chinese scholarship. Interestingly, different from the Western practice where comparative literature—particularly so in the U.S.—is usually a separate institutional and administrative unit, in Mainland China comparative literature is located in Chinese and only in very few cases is the discipline located in foreign language departments. An important milestone was the founding of the Chinese Comparative Literature Association in 1985 and the first journal of comparative literature 中国比较文学 (Comparative Literature in China) was inaugurated in 1984. It is notable that from the 1980s Chinese comparatists expressed a strong awareness of the disciplinary frameworks of comparative literature in Chinese (hence the discipline's location in Chinese). The inaugural issue of the journal Comparative Literature in China, for instance, includes a number of studies on the Chinese school of comparative literature thus suggesting that Chinese comparative literature ought be based on a Chinese literary context instead of Western contexts thus enabling work against Eurocentrism (which remains the case with Western conceptions of comparative literature including US-American comparative literature [on this, see, e.g., Zhang, Yingjin <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol17/iss1/2>). As said above,


The present study aims to investigate and identify the layers, components, andpainting techniques of a mural painting in Ain el-Lebekha Temple located inKharga Oasis, the capital of the New Valley Governorate, about 200 km to theNile valley and 232 km to the south of Asyut city, forming a depression of 160km long and 80 km wide. Archaeological and historical references pointed outthat Ain el-Lebekha dates back to the Roman period between the 2nd and 5thcenturies AD. Multi analytical and investigation studies were done to identify anddefine the compositions, techniques, and components, and state of the muralpainting layers in Ain el-Lebekha Temple. Moreover, the investigations and examinationswith the optical microscope, polarizing microscope, and scanningelectron microscope were used to show the state, number and technique of thesurfaces and painting layers. XRD, FTIR, and SEM-EDS analytical methods wereused to identify the compositions of the mural painting layers and ground layers.They illustrated that calcite and quartz were used in the ground layer, hematite inthe red pigment paint, and the Arabic gum as an organic medium in the paintingprocess. The obtained results will enrich our knowledge about mural paintingsand materials in an important archaeological site of the Greco-Roman art inEgypt to support the restoration plan.


This research aims to explain and analyze responses from the Gulf Cooperation Council towards the violation of human rights in Egypt post-military coup d'etat in 2013. Democracy comes with a high price in Egypt. However in 2012, a presidential election was held for the very first time in the history of the Egyptian state establishment where Mohamed Morsi was elected as a head of state. Mursi came from Freedom and Justice Party, a political party founded by Ikhwanul Muslimin. After the first year of his incumbent, Morsi was overthrown through a military coup led by General Abdul Fattah Al Sisi in 2013. This event caused a political crisis in Egypt, demonstrations emerged within the entire country and received repressive responses from the military regime. Thousands of people were killed, imprisoned and executed without a fair trial. The international community has condemned the human rights violation that was occurring however, the Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Uni Emirat Arab, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman tended to turn a blind eye towards this issue. In fact, supportive responses were shown towards the ruling regime with Qatar as the only country with an opposite response. As a result, Ikhwanul Muslimin was banned in almost the entire Middle Eastern region.


This study explored the rice value chain (RVC) in Nueva Ecija, value additions, found restrictions, and offered to upgrade solutions to improve the competitiveness of the rice industry and specific segments in the RVC using the value chain analysis (VCA) methodology. Farmers, paddy dealers, millers, wholesalers, wholesaler-retailers, and retailers in Nueva Ecija provided primary data. Workshops with stakeholders were also held to validate preliminary findings and identify upgrading strategies. The RVC begins with the provision of inputs for paddy production and concludes with the consumption of milled rice. The RVC is dominated by a traditional multi-layered supply chain with interconnected chain actors consisting of competing farmers, paddy traders, millers, and rice traders in each segment and, frequently, with the involvement of brokers in both paddy aggregation and rice distribution, thereby increasing marketing cost. The major constraints identified in the RVC included high production and marketing costs of paddy and rice due to low yield, high labor and material inputs, and a lack of critical infrastructure and market facilities (e.g., modern mills, dryers, cheap transport, and energy), resulting in high domestic paddy and rice prices and low competitiveness of the entire rice VC. To improve competitiveness, the rice industry should focus on developing and promoting yield-increasing, postharvest loss-reducing, and cost-cutting technologies, as well as those that improve overall RVC efficiency, such as investments in enabling infrastructure and facilities for transport, handling, storage, drying, and milling.


Continuous use of petroleum sourced fuels is now widely recognized as unsustainable because of depleting supplies and the contribution of these fuels to the accumulation of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the environment. Renewable, carbon neutral, transport fuels are necessary for environmental and economic sustainability. Here we will compare the blend of sole fuel with biodiesel extracted by double stage trans-esterification process from Jatropha seed oil to study the performance characteristics and emission of diesel engine. In this study, Jatropha seed oil is used to extract the bio-diesel. The extracted bio diesel is blended with sole fuel and B25%, B50%, B75% and B100% has been selected. The investigation was carried out in the single cylinder water cooled diesel engine with the sole fuel blended with Jatropha seed oil and the engine performance and emission characteristics will be analyzed. From the experimental investigation it is observed that the brake thermal efficiency decreased for B25% blend by 0.4% when compared to that of sole fuel. The CO, HC, NOx are found to decrease when compared to that of diesel fuel.


[Objective] The aim was to study control effect of 20% Nitenpyram AS against rice hopper. [Method]The control effect of 20% Nitenpyram AS against rice hopper was studied through two-year field efficacy trials and field demonstration test. [Result]20% Nitenpyram AS had obvious control effect against rice hopper and was safe to natural enemy. So it is suggested that 20% Nitenpyram AS could be used to control rice hopper from newly-hatched nymph peak period to low instar nymphs peak period; the dose of 20% Nitenpyram AS was 300-450 ml/hm2; the water consumption was 750 kg/hm2,furthermore the water layer should be kept for 3-5 cm and 5-7 d. [Conclusion]The research result provides reference for the control of rice hopper.


A new revolutionary patented additive for concrete was used in series of trials to check for its suitability to Ready-mix Concrete industry. Commercial production of Concrete was also taken up to check the fresh and hardened properties of additive incorporated concrete. The study showed that additive (commercially known as ICRETE) showed impressive results in concretes as it demonstrated comparable strengths even at reduced Cement contents. In addition the striking feature of the product is to improve the profits forReady-mix Concrete producer, without affecting the quality & durability.


Due to the emerging demands on shifting focus towards the development of more student-centered and engaging learning experiences, this systematic review elucidates the effectiveness of PeerWise introduction into the blended learning model in Physiology education based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Twenty electronic databases were utilized to access related studies between years 2010 to April 2020. A total of eight recent articles on PeerWise in physiology were analyzed. Three studies were conducted among medical students, and five studies were among other courses (i.e., Pharmacy, Biomedical Science, Optometry, and Human Physiology). Majority of the study designs were of cross-sectional quantitative and qualitative studies. Data extracted from the articles include (i) the pattern of PeerWise usage, (ii) the association between PeerWise and academic achievement, (iii) the level of student engagement, (iv) the quality of questions created and (v) students' perceptions. Four emerging themes were identified among students' perceptions; (i) learning competency, (ii) fun learning experience, (iii) engagement with peers, and (iv) motivation. Methodological quality and risk of biased were assessed; and research gaps, limitations and recommendations were addressed. The present review serves as a guide for new authors to refine their knowledge and improve future research in the topic area.


Background:To evaluate the serum levels of adiponectin in patients with both active and old pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB) and their possible relation with the severity of the disease, forty patients of both sexes suffering from pulmonary TB (20 cases active and 20 cases old) were matched with 20 healthy control volunteers in this study from February 2014 to June 2014. Body mass index (BMI) and serum levels of adiponectin were measured in all subjects. Results: Both BMI and serum levels of adiponectin were significantly different between active TB patients and control. Comparing old TB patients with controls also have the same results. No correlation between BMI and serum adiponectin level in old TB patients was found, while adiponectin levels in active TB patients show a significant negative correlation. Conclusion: Increased adiponectin in serum of TB patients may be a promising marker for severity of the disease independent of BMI.


Lack of honesty has been a serious obstacle on building harmony school.Based on the present situation,the way to solve the crisis has become an important program for our educators in the field of political education in universities,which also has a great meaning of building harmonious school and honesty society.


Forest dwelling communities, and indigenous tribes, have for centuries depended on forest resources for their livelihoods. In recent times the establishment of protected areas has affected this dependence. Here we discuss the impacts of protected areas on local livelihoods. The core argument of the paper is that conservation policies have ignored the people dependent on forest resources for generations and this contributes to increased poverty. While there is no denying the fact that conserving biodiversity is a top priority for environmentalists, we might ask why doing so should be at the cost of driving forest dependent communities to poverty. Our paper while discussing conservation (protected area) induced displacement and it's impact on forest dwelling communities, draws upon Cernea's (2006) argument that 'restricted access' has the same effect as that of physical relocation. We argue that 'restricted access' to a community's resource streams negatively impacts their livelihoods, and drives them to poverty.Soligas, an indigenous tribe, have been residing in the forests of Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wild Life Sanctuary (BRT) in India for generations. Before the establishment of the protected area they subsisted through shifting agriculture and hunting-gathering. Using socio-economic data from studies in 1995 and 2006, we show that as a result of restrictions on access to forest resources and land use since the establishment of a protected area in 1974, not only is there a change in income pattern, but also, a decrease in household and per capita income. Between 1995 and 2006 there was a 21.2% reduction in income from Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFPs). During the same period the income from labour increased by 22.46%. Although the data suggests a marginal increase of 3.8% in income from agricultural sources, it is explained by the change in cropping pattern (from subsistence farming to cash cropping), than by increased agricultural activities. Overall, the decrease in per-capita income over the ten year period was 20.8%. This is a clear indication of an increase in poverty levels among the members of the community.We conclude by suggesting that proper implementation of progressive policies such as the Forests Rights Act 2006 (FRA) can prove to be beneficial for forest dwelling communities. FRA provides for the right to domicile and land use, and more importantly, the right to collect NTFPs. These provisions not only guarantee livelihoods for the forest dwelling communities, but also help in increasing their household income, and alleviate poverty.


1. Two mechanisms of metal deposition are involved when a Pd-Sn colloidal catalyst system is used to promote electroless metal plating. The first mechanism governs the metal growth on each catalytic site (island) until these islands merge and form a continuous metal film. The second mechanism is responsible exclusively for the metal growth from the continuous metal film. 2. It is found that 55 A of Ni appear to be a minimum thickness for a perfectly continuous film which is effective as a plasma barrier in the oxygen magnetron-enhanced reactive ion etching environment. 3. The experimental results are within reasonable agreement with the predicted values using a mathematical model; Both suggest that radii of active sites range from 5 to 17 A. 4. The system presented is viewed as a possible technique for reducing some of the difficulties which the IC industry currently experiences. Further feasibility study is required to fully test this system.


The method to design the liquid level PID control system simulation software of double-capacity water tank is introduced.The double-capacity water tank step response curve is obtained on the SUPCON CS4000 experiment device,and then the dynamic model is derived.By means of the computer simulation algorithm and VB language programming,the software can dynamically show the column liquid level,curve drawing of real-time liquid level,valve and set-point curve drawing of liquid level.In addition,the software can set the simulation time,simulation step,simulation speed and the change of automation and manual switch.Finally,the control curves of the simulation software and the simulation result of Simulink is compared,justifying the software.


A telemetric electroacoustic method is explained, enabling the discovery of irregularities in the machinery noise, by hearing, after the general noise level has been reduced to a low level, eliminating the masking effect of the original high noise intensity. In addition, an objective system is proposed, using transducers for vibration as well as for airborne sound. Continuous recording, the introduction of electric filters, and the comparative observation of standard vibration and noise curves with those produced by the machinery (applying double beam oscillographs, spectral line analysis, etc.) are also analyzed.


The report presents a survey of the reliability of squirrel cage motors on board drilling, production and other platforms offshore, together with cage motors in the petrochemical industry, gas terminals and refineries onshore. Most of the activity in this connection is related to the North Sea that offers a tough environment for motors. The collected data have been treated statistically, and the faults sorted according to supply and motor data, driving conditions, maintenance and so on. Comparisons between this survey and a survey from the IEEE have been carried out. The report also pays some attention to methods for monitoring of machinery and detection of faults.<<ETX>>


This report documents the presentations and discussions of the 3rd Dagstuhl seminar on Information-Centric Networks. This seminar was focused on the deployment and scalability of ICNs. An overview of various ICN projects was used as a starting point for discussions. Participants provided a set of starting questions to cover with the rest of the group. The seminar increased the awareness on the state of the art in ICN research. Various topics on deployment and scalability were discussed. The opinions and comments presented here came directly from the notes taken at the seminar.


The third generation (3G) wireless network is envisaged as the next generation wireless solution for meeting the demand of its users. It promises to provide wireless access to multimedia applications at rates up to 2Mbps. In contrast to wired links, wireless links are unreliable; they exhibit a varying bit error probability and temporary outage periods, during which the bit errors are strongly correlated. From the application point of view, error-prone channel conditions are recognized by a reduced throughput, higher loss rate, higher jitter and/or higher delay. Instead of attempting to tolerate the unstable service from the physical layer such as adaptive applications, we introduce a new mechanism that helps to stabilize the QoS in terms of throughput, loss rate, jitter and delay at the data link layer. We resorted to this mechanism within the data link layer, because in that way higher layer protocols do not have to be changed at all. Thus, the same protocols as for wired networks can be used. The problems of intermittent disconnection, high error rate in wireless networks can cause degradation of protocols and compromise the QoS (Quality-of-Service) guaranteed to the users. So, there is a need for adaptive protocols, which, on determining the current adverse wireless network conditions, adapt themselves in order to overcome these changes and reduce their effect. Our focus in this work has been to design adaptation techniques for media access control (MAC) protocol since their capability to adapt to the adverse effects of wireless conditions can make the high-level network protocols less susceptible to the changes in the wireless conditions. We have chosen SMPT (Simultaneous MAC Packet Transfer) technique for our study. Our results show that there is increase in throughput using the adaptive techniques mentioned in this report.


We simulate precision measurements of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (GMSB) parameters at a 500 GeV e+e- linear collider in the scenario where a neutralino is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle. Information on the supersymmetry breaking and the messenger sectors of the theory is extracted from the measured sparticle mass spectrum and neutralino lifetime.


A new laser heating system has been set up to minimize the sample temperature gradients both radially and axially in a diamond anvil cell. A multimode Nd:YAG laser with a relatively flat top of intensity profile allows us to reduce the radial temperature gradient; the axial temperature gradient is minimized by heating samples at both sides. Three dimensional uniform temperatures of 1200 4000 K are obtained at high pressures in samples with 20 50 μm (radial) diameter and 10 50 μm (axial) thickness. The radial and axial variations and temporal fluctuations of temperatures in specified volumes are of similar order and within 1-4%, depending on the temperature range with higher temperature in larger temperature variations. This technique provides a relatively large sample volume in a more homogenous temperature distribution relative to previous techniques. This is especially useful for in situ X-ray studies at simultaneous high pressures and high temperatures.


We prove the existence of exponentially localised and time-periodic solutions in general nonlinear Hamiltonian lattice systems. Like normal modes, these localised solutions are characterised by collective oscillations at the lattice sites with a uniform time-dependence. The proof of existence uses the comparison principle for differential equations to demonstrate that at each lattice site every half of the fundamental period of oscillations, contributing to localised solutions of the nonlinear lattice, is sandwiched between two oscillatory states of auxiliary linear equations. For soft (hard) on-site potentials the allowed frequencies of the in-phase (out-of-phase) localised periodic solutions lie below (above) the lower (upper) value of the linear spectrum of phonon frequencies. By varying a control parameter the exponential decay of the localised states can be tuned continuously.


The present invention relates to a device for separating liquid droplets to the gas scrubber or the like, having at least one droplet separator layer (3) and a direction of the airflow is arranged in front of the rectifying layer (2). Rectifying layer (2) of the rectifying element is V-shape or an inverted V-shape and disposed opposite to the inclined droplet separator profiles of the droplet separator layer. In this way, it is possible in the case where the droplet separator means to improve efficiency, to avoid contamination of the fast rectifying layer provided.


Abstract In this investigation the flame-retardant effect of 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO) on an epoxy resin (EP) was studied. The results showed that the peak of heat release rate (PHRR) and total heat release (THR) of EP/DOPO (FREP) with 5phr DOPO during cone calorimeter measurements were only 67.4% and 75.3% of those of pure EP, respectively. The thermal degradation behavior of FREP was analyzed by the Kissinger and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa methods, both of which indicated that the activation energy of the FREP thermal degradation was lower than that of pure EP. This was attributed to the addition of DOPO into the resin, which promoted the thermal degradation of the EP composite.


This Article focuses and argues in favor of on an important issue in administrative law regarding individuals who are adversely affected by agency action. The Administrative Procedure Act provides that adverse parties have the right to notice and a hearing when any agency acts against their interests. However, this Article argues that a further step is necessary, that of notifying them of their constitutional rights through the use of a codified bill of rights in the Administrative Procedure Act.


At first glance, John L. Lovell's Harvard class portraits appear to represent one man and one woman. But instead, these composite photographs personify the "average" appearance of the entire classes of 1887 at Harvard University and the "Annex," or Boston's Protestant Brahmin elite. Composite photographs such as these, which held scientific gravity as part of the Harvard-entrenched Positive Eugenics movement, were composed of an incomplete data set. Thus, they offer a revised view of Allan Sekula's ideas about composite photography's requisite statistical potency. In addition, the Harvard composites call for a more nuanced articulation of their indexical functions, within the context of late nineteenth-century trends in the production of visual statistics and knowledge.


The band structure of compensated n-i-p-i doping superlattices has been investigated for the first time by using the multistep-potential approach as the real potential form and by using numerical calculations. The dispersion of compensated n-i-p-i superlattices is shown to be stronger than that of compositional superlattices. The Srst three allowed conduction minibands and forbidden rninigaps as functions of period length L are presented. In recent years there has been great interest in both theoretical and experimental studies of doping superlattices. ' The n i p -i-d-oping superlattices are systems composed of a periodic sequence of ultrathin n and-@type doped layers with intrinsic layers in between. 3 In addition to the properties of the compositional superlattices, doping superlattices, however, show a number of novel properties related to the electrostatic origin of the superlattice potential. The lowest electron and the uppermost hole subband states are locally separated from each other. The efFective energy gap as well as the electron and hole concentration can be varied arbitrarily over a wide range in n-i-p-i superlattices either optically or by carrier injection into the bulk. These unique features open a new field for both basic research and device application.


Learning and evolution are two fundamental forms of adaptation. There has been a great interest in combining learning and evolution with neural networks in recent years. This paper presents a hybri...


Objective: Uveitis is a major cause for visual impairment, our previous studies have made significant advancements in depicting the genetic profile of complement genes in uveitis. This study aimed to further investigate whether the terminal pathway gene, Complement component 5 (C5), confers susceptibility to uveitis. Methods: Six tagging SNPs in C5 were genotyped in 592 unrelated study subjects: 141 anterior uveitis patients, 158 patients with non-infectious intermediate and posterior uveitis, and 293 controls. Multiple in-depth analyses have been conducted. Results: Among the six C5 SNPs, rs17611 was significantly associated with uveitis after adjusted for gender and SNP-gender interaction (P = 0.017). After stratification by gender, rs17611 G allele and GG homozygosity confers an increased risk for uveitis in males (P = 0.004, OR = 1.67 and P = 0.009, OR = 2.69, respectively) but not in females. Moreover, genotype-phenotype correlation analysis revealed an association between rs17611 and disease recurrence (P = 0.045). The haplotype GC, defined by rs17611 and rs2269066, was also found to be associated with total uveitis and specific intermediate and posterior uveitis subtype (P = 0.0055, OR = 1.51 and P = 0.0084, OR = 1.58, respectively). Other polymorphisms were not significantly associated with either investigated uveitis entities. Conclusions: This study shows a gender-specific association of C5-rs17611 with uveitis, indicating that C5 may have an epistatic effect with gender in the pathogenesis of uveitis. This study help us depict the disease profile and estimate the contribution of each complement activation pathway in ocular immunologic process. www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget/ Oncotarget, Advance Publications 2018


Hydrogen evolution and oxidation of iodide on photoirradiated Pt-loaded TiO2 powder were studied in the deaerated solutions containing iodide ions. These photocatalytic reactions have been considered to be difficult because the reaction is endothermic and reversible. However, we found that under some experimental conditions the reactions proceeded until the concentration of I3− ions reached a limiting level. The initial rate of the reactions and the limiting concentration of I3− ions in solution were enhanced as the pH of the solution decreased. In order to elucidate the pH dependence, the anodic current due to the oxidation of iodide ions on TiO2 film electrodes and the adsorptivity of iodide ions on TiO2 powder were measured. The results showed that the enhanced reactivity at low pH is due to the increased adsorptivity of iodide ions on TiO2. It was also found that the electric contact between platinum and TiO2 is important to make the reactions go forward.


The 2010 McDonald criteria for multiple sclerosis (MS) simplified the imaging criteria in adults who present with a typical demyelinating event (JW Neurol Jan 25 2011). The 2010 criteria maintained high sensitivity and specificity while reducing the required number of T2 lesions and permitting the MS diagnosis when there are "clinically silent," simultaneous gadolinium-enhancing and nonenhancing lesions.

Investigators have now tested the 2010 criteria in children younger than 16 who presented with an acute demyelinating event at …


Albert the Great establishes a tripartite division for philosophy, in which "real philosophy" is comprised of physics, mathematics and metaphysics, organized secundum ordinem doctrinae. Metaphysics constitutes the most sublime knowledge, and is called scientia divina. It articulates with theology in the manner of a grading of different levels of intelligibility, and which reveals the dialectic problem between faith and reason.


Science practical work has to be carried out with due regard to the availability of resources and has to facilitate student learning, but in accordance with the instructional goals. A practical work manual need to be supplemented with relevant visualization programs in order to improve students' understanding of practical work on health education topics. The objectives of the research were to identify practical topics that need visualization programs and to develop an example of a visualization program for the practical work. The results of the research were models of visualizing practical work procedures in biology on the topics of health education. The study carried out using the design of qualitative research method. The source of data and information consisted of five lecturers and sixteen students of the Biology Education Program. The instruments consisted of focus group discussion, interviews, document analyses, questionnaires, and test. The results indicated that practical works manual require programs to visualize practical instructions that students must undertake. The visualization programs are to provide a more detailed explanation of the components of the topic discussed, such as in the respiratory system, to provide a detailed description of the procedures that must be carried out, for example in practicums of measuring respiration rates, and to detail observations, for example in practicums of the sex determination of fruit flies. In addition, the results specified that in the development of programs that visualize practical instructions and biological concepts could use the Dick & Carey Systems Approach Model for Designing Instruction. The programs are to increase students' understanding of practical work and towards the content discussed. However, further researchs need to conduct in order to explore and analyze the level of student understanding.


US Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) outflows are examined with respect to the level of corruption – in the form of bribery – in 42 recipient countries over a five-year period. Analysis indicates that US firms are less likely to invest in countries where bribery, as measured by the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), is widespread. However, the size of the foreign market is found to be a more robust factor determining US outward investment, with larger economies attracting more investment. The level of bribery, while significant by itself, loses its importance when included with other economic and cultural variables. The findings are discussed in the context of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which makes it illegal for US firms to bribe foreign officials to obtain business advantages.


Background The development of appropriate community care requires knowledge of the characteristics of the severely mentally ill. Method All patients with a broad diagnosis of schizophrenia (n=528) were identified via key informants within an inner London health district; Feighner and DSM–III–R criteria for schizophrenia were applied. Clinical and social status, psychopathology (Manchester Scale) and problem behaviours (Social Behaviour Schedule) were assessed in a 4:5 representative sample. Results Fifty-seven per cent had experienced at least one compulsory admission. Forty-five per cent (excluding long-stay in-patients) had marked positive psychotic symptoms; social isolation and lack of daytime activity was more common than among comparable populations elsewhere. One hundred and eleven (25%) of the non-hospitalised patients were not in contact with specialist services. Conclusions Difficulties in establishing and maintaining a therapeutic alliance between patients and professionals present a challenge to services in inner London. Many social and occupational needs were not being met by existing community provision.


DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) is a managerial method that has been widely used for performance analysis in various public and private sectors. To deal with large-scale DEA problems, this research proposes the architecture of DEA network computing (LAN: Local Area Network) that is designed to coordinate a simultaneous use of multiple personal computers. An important feature of the proposed DEA computer architecture is that it is computationally structured in multi-stage parallel processes to enhance its algorithmic efficiency. The performance of the proposed network computing approach is tested and examined in a large simulation study.


This chapter studies various gravitational effects arising from the non-sphericity of celestial bodies. It first considers the quadrupole expansion of the potential, as well as the causes of the non-sphericity of the bodies. Finally, it turns to the figure of the Earth. To calculate the proper potential of the Earth, it attempts to determine its deformation due to a perturbing potential. Doing this accurately requires knowledge of the internal structure of the Earth and use of the techniques of the mechanics of continuous media. In this approach, the internal stress–strain relationships of a body are described by various phenomenological parameters and it becomes possible to study the response of the body (deformation, oscillations, etc.) to the field of an external force.


Provided is an inverse class-F amplification circuit for which parasitic compensation is implemented with respect to the parasitic component of an amplification element. This inverse class-F amplification circuit is equipped with: an amplification unit, which includes a parasitic circuit, and which amplifies an input signal having a prescribed basic frequency and outputs a first signal that includes a basic frequency component, which is a component of the basic frequency, and a high-frequency component, which is a high-frequency component of the basic frequency; a parasitic compensation unit, which resonates with the impedance of the parasitic circuit and thereby is open with respect to a secondary high-frequency component, inputting the first signal and outputting a second signal; and a high-frequency processing circuit, which is open with respect to the secondary high-frequency component, inputting the second signal and outputting a third signal.


A Task Committee has been established to study the problem of sediment movements in urban drainage systems and to make recommendations for new research and for design and modeling improvements. This paper is an initial part of this effort. Sediments can cause sewer blockage, surcharge early overflows and large pollutant discharges and their removal is costly. The review of the recent literature shows that most of the progress has been made in Europe and that fundamental and applied research and development in the United States is urgently needed. It is urged that the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency resume funding for further fundamental and applied research and development in this field.


Objective To compare the clinical efficacy of intramedullary pin versus plate fixation for displaced mid-shaft clavicle fractures.Methods The databases,PubMed,CENTAL and CBM,were searched according to the standards of the Cochrane Collaboration for all the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and clinical controlled trials (CCTs) comparing intramedullary pin with plate fixation for treatment of displaced mid-shaft clavicle fractures.In addition,hand search was also conducted in relevant journals.Time limit for search was from the beginning till December 2013.Trial quality was assessed using the modified Jadad scale and effective data were pooled for Meta analysis with software RevMan5.2.7,including wound infection,hospital stay,wound size,intraoperative blood loss,operation duration,implant irritation,implant problems,delayed union,malunion,nonunion,total complications and Constant scoring.Results Three RCTs and 7 CCTs with 697 patients were included in our study.The modified Jadad scoring showed fine quality of the 10 trials.Intramedullary fixation was significantly superior to plate fixation in wound size,intraoperative blood loss,operation duration,hospital stay,wound infection,and symptomatic hardware (P < 0.05),but led to a significantly higher rate of implant problems (P < 0.05).However,no significant differences were identified in total complication rate,delayed union,nonunion,malunion or Constant score (P > 0.05).Conclusions The superiority of intramedullary fixation for displaced mid-shaft clavicle fracture lies in its advantages of minimally invasion,such as limited incision,less intraoperative bleeding,shorter operation time and hospital stay,less wound infection and implant irritation.Ahhough intramedullary fixation may lead to a higher rate of implant problems,it shows no significant differences from plate fixation in bone healing and functional recovery.

Key words:
Clavicle;  Fracture fixation, internal;  Bone nails;  Bone plates;  Meta-analysis


With an introduction of steel-fiber features,combining with its application conditions in domestic highway,the paper explores the construction points of steel-fiber concrete,discusses the factors of restraining the steel-fiber development of concrete pavement,and points out corresponding steel-fiber construction technology in highway pavement construction process,with a view to guarantee the pavement construction quality.


In 2013, the 4-year high school graduation rate in the USA reached an all-time high of 81% (DePaoli et al., 2015; Yettick & Lloyd, 2015). Despite an overall upward trend, graduation rates for AfricanAmericans and Latinos remain below the national level, with only 71% of African-American students and 75% of Latino students graduating on time. At the same time, research on the dropout crisis highlights the plight of large urban school systems. Almost one-fifth of non-graduates in the class of 2013 were expected to come from 25 districts dubbed 'dropout epicentres' (Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center, 2013). Topping that list since 2011 have been New York City, Los Angeles, Clark County (i.e. Las Vegas), Miami-Dade, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit (EPE Research Center, 2013; Swanson, 2011). Researchers are also monitoring 1146 'dropout factories', high schools with graduation rates below 60%, which consistently serve low-income students and students of colour (DePaoli et al., 2015). In 2013, 19% of African-American dropouts and 12% of Latino dropouts came from dropout factories, half of which were located in urban centres that tend to be primarily non-White (DePaoli et al., 2015; National Research Council, 2004). For example, in 2010, of the 3 million students attending school in the metropolitan areas surrounding New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Houston (the five largest US metro areas), 65% were students of colour (including 39% Latino and 17% Black) (Orfield, Kucsera, & Siegel-Hawley, 2012). Given these statistics, the low graduation rates for students of colour and the high urban dropout rates are two sides of the same problem – a problem with serious implications for non-graduates, who face high likelihood of unemployment, low wages, incarceration, poor health and life in poverty (Rumberger, 2011; Stark & Noel, 2015). The US's failure to graduate higher proportions of urban students of colour has not gone unnoticed or ignored. Numerous summits and symposia over the last 15 years have spurred action and attention to the need to reform America's urban high schools. Popular reform strategies have included creating small schools, promoting dropout recovery, hiring 'graduation coaches', expanding alternative and career education, tracking early warning indicators for 'at risk' students, implementing behavioural interventions and providing extra academic support or services such as 'double doses' of reading and math classes (Chappell, O'Connor, Withington, & Stegelin, 2015; Garland, 2010; Maxwell, 2010; Mezzacappa, 2010). While research has begun to show positive impacts of some strategies when implemented under particular conditions (Chappell et al., 2015; Hammond, Linton, Smink, & Drew, 2007), decision-makers in school systems need more timely and localized information. Under pressure to improve academic outcomes, high school and district leaders follow trends – e.g. create dropout prevention programmes, start advisories and hire graduation coaches – with the hope that these moves will improve outcomes among their student populations. On the ground, many leaders look for short-term gains in academic or behavioural indicators as evidence of the effectiveness of their efforts. At the heart of this outcomes-oriented approach to measuring effectiveness is the national push for data-driven decision-making – causing school leaders to steep themselves in numbers such as


Abstract The article is based on the evaluations of three different projects working with young homeless people. The evaluations are all based on the young people's views and opinions of the projects. The paper set outs what is it the young people value about their contact with the projects. The factors include emotional and practical support, opportunity to meet with others in similar situations, the fact that the workers in the projects promoted their independence and helped young people sort things out for themselves. It concludes by drawing these strands together and making a comparison with statutory social work


Elliptic curve cryptography plays a crucial role in networking and communication security. ECC have evolved in the recent past as an important alternative to established systems like RSA. This paper describes the implementation of an elliptic curve coprocessor based on the FPGA , which can provide a significant speedup for these cryptosystems. The FPGA configuration file is synthesized from VHDL code applying different hardware synthesis products. The implementation of ECC lies in three levels: scalar multiplication, point addition/doubling and finite field modular arithmetic. In this paper, we present a novel fast architecture for the point addition/doubling level in the projective coordinate. The proposed Architecture is based on Binary Field. The Design performs multiplication using Polynomial Basis. Analysis shows that, with reasonable hardware overhead, our architecture can achieve a high speedup for the point addition operation and point Doubling operation.Furthermore, the architecture is parameterized for different data widths to evaluate the optimal resource utilization.


This research work determines the importance of constant audits in order to reduce risks on the roads of our country, the three main elements that contribute, either individually or together to the occurrence of a traffic accident are the human, vehicle and road factors.
These factors are usually involved together as a string of accidents. It was observed that several accidents happened on the road at different parts, they might have several causes such as the topography of the road, building design, signage and traffic education of drivers and pedestrians.
A road safety audit is a formal analysis which seeks to ensure that an existing or future optimal road meets some safety criteria; it is carried out by a team of professionals whose members are independent of the road project. The aim of this paper is to present the procedures that must be developed, as well as the benefits and problems that have been found. The application of these procedures is also illustrated to a specific case. Emphasis on the audit of roads in operation is done, this is the type which has the most application and development.
Bearing in mind all these aspects, it can be said that the road under consideration is the one that links Riobamba with the Penipe canton; it was found that it is 53% unsafe and the action to take consists in attacking critical points and provide road maintenance to road safety devices.
Once the research finished, the results obtained through analysis checklists of the road security audit (RSA), it was determined that there are still conflict points which must be treated immediately in order to provide solutions, such as the right signaling installation, drainage, slopes, lighting, sight distance at intersections.


As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continue to emerge. Immunogenicity evaluation of vaccines and identification of correlates of protection for vaccine effectiveness is critical to aid the development of vaccines against emerging variants. Anti-recombinant spike (rS) protein immunoglobulin G (IgG) quantitation in the systemic circulation (serum/plasma) is shown to correlate with vaccine efficacy. Thus, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based binding assay to detect SARS-CoV-2 (ancestral and variant strains) anti-rS IgG in human serum samples was developed and validated. This assay successfully met acceptance criteria for inter/intra-assay precision, specificity, selectivity, linearity, lower/upper limits of quantitation, matrix effects, and assay robustness. The analyte in serum was stable for up to 8 freeze/thaw cycles and 2 years in −80 °C storage. Similar results were observed for the Beta, Delta, and Omicron BA.1/BA.5/XBB.1.5 variant-adapted assays. Anti-rS IgG assay results correlated significantly with neutralization and receptor binding inhibition assays. In addition, usage of international reference standards allows data extrapolation to WHO international units (BAU/mL), facilitating comparison of results with other IgG assays. This anti-rS IgG assay is a robust, high-throughput method to evaluate binding IgG responses to S protein in serum, enabling rapid development of effective vaccines against emerging COVID-19 variants.


Simultaneous monotic masking of a 5‐ or 10‐msec, 1000‐cps signal by bursts of wide‐band noise of 30–1000 msec duration (70 dB SPL) changes and is dependent upon delay of the tone (Δt) relative to masker onset. The elevated masking of the tone at short Δt's (overshoot) is independent of masker duration, while minimum masking occurs at delay times of 200 or 300 msec. A 500‐msec‐long, 400‐cps noise band centered at 2550 cps produces little overshoot for 10‐msec tonal signals with frequencies located within the band but considerable overshoot for frequencies just outside it. This occurs also for a 200‐cps band centered at 1270 cps but not for a 100‐cps band at 250 cps. These effects were observed for dichotic masking also. For 500‐msec bursts of wide‐band masking noise, greater overshoot occurs at higher signal frequencies than at lower. Several different psychophysical procedures produced similar results.


Calligraphy is not only a symbol of Chinese culture,but also one of cultural landscape symbols in constructing national identity with its long history,diverse forms,abundant connotation and close relationship with human life.For its considerable aesthetic,historical and cultural value,calligraphy plays an important role in modern tourism industry.Calligraphic landscape,as one of important cultural landscapes,which provides much information for tourists,has a major impact on the perception and behavior of visitors.The proposition of the concept of calligraphic landscape makes it possible that the research of calligraphic geography has material carrier and definite object from geographic perspective.Since 1970s,tourism image research has developed rapidly including two research directions: conceptual research and application research,but there is almost no research about the impact of landscape elements on overall destination tourism image.In this paper,we take Xi'an Beilin Museum for an example to study the relationship between tourism image and calligraphic landscape.Firstly,based on the brief summary of calligraphic landscape,combining the method of factor analysis,calligraphy landscape is divided into three dimensions from the function point of view: the dimension of aesthetic experience function,the dimension of local identity function,and the dimension of behavior oriented function.Secondly,by establishing a structural equation model,the role of calligraphic landscape in constructing tourism image has been researched,hoping to help in the future development of tourism and in tourism planning.The result shows that calligraphic landscape has a positive role on tourism image development.However,different dimensions of calligraphic landscape features have different ways in their functions and also different strength.The dimension of calligraphic landscape`s local identity function`s role to emotion image is significant,however,the effect on perception/ cognitive image is not very significant.


Smartphone market in Pakistan is a dynamic market that is rapidly moving toward the advancement. Five factors are used in the survey to seek out the D G Khan smart phone market potential. Reason of conducting research in D G Khan to realizing smart phone marketers that they can capture a big market in D G Khan because this city connect all four provinces of Pakistan and regional hub of lot of business. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the purchase intention of mobile phone devices in D G Khan business hub. In order to accomplish the objectives of the study, consumers were taken by using simple random sampling technique. Primary data was collected moreover, four important factors i.e. Brand perception,  Brand preference, Brand loyalty, and Brand image were selected and analyzed through the correlation and multiple regressions analysis with respect to the purchase intention. These variables were never analyzed together in previous studies. From the analysis, it was clear that above mention Brand equity drivers play vital role in the mobile phone market of D G Khan and it also acted as a motivational force that influences them to go for a mobile phone purchase decision. The study suggested that the mobile phone sellers should consider the above mentioned factors to equate the opportunity.


The problem of successively reenable scalar quantizer design is considered. The weighted average of the expected distortion at each level of reenement is used as a quantizer gure of merit. Quantizers designed using this criterion can nd application in many practical situations. Algorithms are presented for the design of both xed and variable rate quantizers and for quantizers subject to a complexity (uniformity) constraint and for quantizers subject to no such constraint. Performance of quantizers designed using these algorithms is presented and appropriate comparisons are rendered.


In this paper we introduce a content-based recommendation approach for assisting buyers of high involvement products with their purchasing choice. The approach incorporates a group-based, fuzzy multi-criteria method and provides personalized recommendation to end-users of e-Furniture. E-Furniture is an agent-based system that offers decision making and process networking solutions to furniture manufacturing SMEs. Two are the main characteristics of the proposed approach: (i) it handles vagueness in customer preferences and seller evaluations on furniture products by utilizing the 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic information processing model and ii) it follows a similarity degree-based aggregation technique to derive an objective assessment for furniture bundles and individual furniture products that can match the customer preferences. A numerical example is given as a proof of concept, to demonstrate the applicability of the approach for providing recommendations to customers.


Orthodontic management of a lingually blocked‑out lower premolar requires a substantial amount of bodily movement which is difficult to perform because of its position of crown and root. Uprighting of premolar using lingual arches as source of anchorage unit and piggy back wire create discomfort to patient and increased work load of orthodontist as well as the cost of the treatment. So it was necessary to design a new mechanics to solve all the problems and make treatment easy, efficient as well as quick.

Keywords: Lingual premolar, Uprighting, Cost effective


: Managing and analyzing data have always offered the best benefits and the best challenges for relationship of all sizes and overall business Industries. Associations have since truly a while back struggled with finding an even minded philosophy to getting information about their customers, things, and organizations. Some data is sorted out and set away in an ordinary social database, while other data, including reports, customer organization records, and even pictures and gimmicks, is unstructured., it is hard to ponder data organization in standard ways. Therefore, you have to consider administering data in an unforeseen way. This unstructured data, what we say Big Data is basic in light of the way that it engages relationship to gather, store, regulate, and control vast totals data at the right speed, at the right time, to expansion the right bits of learning. Tremendous data obliges a versatile database, normally with momentous request instruments that work consistently with genuine data. This research paper gives a couple of existing techniques with adaptable framework for scalable design of data management systems for Big Data, whose goal is to store and retrieve data in a gainful course especially in cluster environment.


Katokkon chili is one type of chili grown mainly in the Tana Toraja district, and the people use this plant as a typical spice with variations colors from green, orange, and red. It is assumed that the plant is rich in vitamins and minerals. This study aims to determine the levels of vitamin C and copper metals in katokkon chili based on their level of maturity. Vitamin C and copper levels were determined by spectrophotometry. The results showed that the highest level of vitamin C was 23.52 and 5.12 mg/kg in both wet and dry orange chilies, while the highest copper level was found in green chili was 12.25 mg/kg


Real-value based negative selection algorithm (NSA) is an important detector generation algorithm of Artificial Immune System. Traditional real-value based negative selection algorithm generates immune detectors randomly and does not consider the sample distribution, therefore too many candidate detectors overlap in the feature space resulting in excessive redundancy. This leads to a low efficiency of detector generation and decreases the performance of NSA. To aim at this problem, the paper proposes a novel real-value negative selection algorithm based on Delaunay triangulation (dnyNSA). Firstly, dnyNSA uses Delaunay triangulation method to analyze the topological structure of training dataset and produces a set of simplicial cells (triangle in 2-dimensional space and tetrahedron in 3-dimensional space, etc.). Then, based on the simplicial cell circum-circle(-sphere) property, dnyNSA generates detectors in more reasonable position and size. Therefore, it only needs a small number of detectors to cover the same feature space, avoiding the generation of redundant detectors in traditional random mode, which greatly improves the efficiency of NSA. Theoretical analysis showed the time complexity of dnyNSA is in logarithmic level. The experimental results showed that, compared with the RNSA and V-Detector, dnyNSA can raise the detector generation efficiency over ten times while maintain similar detection performance.


This is the second of two articles that assess the available evidence concerning the impact of the AIDS epidemic on teachers and the schooling of orphans and other directly affected children in sub-Saharan Africa. The two main conclusions of this article are, firstly, that current and future projections of orphan country populations are likely to be serious overestimates. And secondly, while the impact of losing one or both parents on educational attainment is often much less than has been suggested, Ministries of Education need to act decisively in order to mitigate the impact of the epidemic on the schooling of these children.


Transmission loss (TL) of an elliptical cylindrical chamber muffler having a single side/end inlet and multiple side/end outlet is analyzed by means of the 3-D semi-analytical formulation based upon the modal expansion (in terms of the angular and radial Mathieu functions) and the Green's function. The acoustic pressure response obtained in terms of Green's function is integrated over surface area of the side/end ports (modeled as rigid pistons) and upon subsequent division by the port area, yields the acoustic pressure response or impedance Z] matrix parameters due to the uniform piston-driven model. The 3-D semi-analytical results are found to be in excellent agreement with the results obtained by means of 3-D FEA (SYSNOISE) simulations, thereby validating the semi-analytical procedure suggested in this work. Parametric studies such as the effect of chamber length (L), angular and axial locations of the ports, interchanging the locations of inlet and outlet ports as well as the addition of an outlet port for double outlet mufflers on the TL performance are reported, thereby leading to the formulation of design guidelines for obtaining muffler configurations exhibiting a broad-band TL spectrum. One such configuration is an axially long chamber having side-inlet and side-outlet ports such that one of the side ports is located at half the axial length on themajor/minor axis and the other side port is located at three-quarters (or one-quarter) of the axial length on the minor/major axis. (C) 2012 Institute of Noise Control Engineering.


The objectives of this research were to study the way to make high calcium soybean milk using red kakap fish bone flour as calcium source. The processing was divided into two main stages, which as protein and fat extraction. The two stages aimed to minimize content protein andfat content on red kakap fish bone flour. Protein extraction was done by boiling with aquades, while the fat exstraction was conducted by using hexane destiller. The addition of red kakap fish bone flour was done on level 0 g (control), 0,92 g, 1,38 g and 1,84 per 240 ml of soybean milk. The addition of calcium on soybean milk made undifferent influence on the acceptance colour, smell, taste, viscosity, and appereance of soybean milk. Nutrition content of soybean milk tended to increase as the greater of red kakap fish bone flour, except for water content. The addition of fish bone fluor influenced significantly on fat, ash, and calcium content, and didn t influenced significantly on water dan protein content. Soybean milk with the addition level of fish bone fluor 1,84 g/240 ml was chosen as the best soybean milk. Soybean milk had acceptance colour, smell, taste, viscosity and appeareance which didn't different with other soybean milk. Meanwhile, soybean milk had relatively high of nutrition content. Soybean milk with calcium availability as 400 mg/240 ml could met about 50%-80% of calcium RDA for vary ages.


This paper presents an approach towards a categorization of existing multidimensional graphical output devices within the built environment as framework for future studies. As the near future will witness that every single part of a building be get digitally connected, the buildings themselves can be novel media for communication. The novel kind of spatial typology is seen as the main quality of this architectural element. This is because the architectural element is going beyond pure graphical content. Buildings and cities are about to become gigantic 'displays' without frames. Architects should be able to deal with this novel 'material'. The discipline of CAAD can fill gaps as CAAD is merging technical and conceptual knowledge from traditional architecture and contemporary media technology.


Numerous plant products, derived from a common five carbon isoprene unit and having some of the general properties of lipids have been grouped as isoprenoids. They are key regulator of plant growth and development. Their biosynthesis, though conserved in the early steps, show explicit complexity in terms of differential expression and localisation of the various gene products involved in the final steps of their synthesis, resulting in an apparently diverse compounds like sterols, carotenoids, oils and polyisoprenoids and various other polyisoprenoids like natural rubber. Recent studies have shown the potential use of Hevea brasiliensis L. (rubber tree) as a model system to study the biosynthesis of one of the largest isoprenoids, natural rubber, and to understand differential gene expression and regulation in tissue/organ specific manner


Background: The frequency of chromosomal breaks and deletions is higher in cases of primary amenorrhea of gonadal dysgenesis (46, XX) followed by Turners. Karyotype studies may be performed in blood or gonadal tissue or peripheral blood.

Objective: To analyze the radiosensitivity of the chromosomes from patients with primary amenorrhea and compare them to their respective control.

Materials and Methods: The patients studied were classified into 3 groups consisting of 12 patients with 45, X complement (Turner's syndrome), patients with 46, XX karyotype (gonadal dysgenesis) and a control group of 10 age matched healthy female individuals with proven fertility and with normal karyotype.

Results: The relative radio sensitivity of the individual chromosomes was expressed as the ratio between the patients and the control. When the ratios for any specific chromosome is 1.5 or greater are considered as sensitive chromosomes for radiation. Among primary amenorrhea, radiosensitivity of the chromosomes is significantly higher in patients of gonadal dysgenesis when compared (0.95 ± 0.08) with the control (0.58 ± 0.0646). Chromosome 7 and X showed a significantly high number of breaks at 7q22 and Xq22 respectively. Out of a total number of 167 breaks on No.7 and 178 breaks on X, 67 breaks were on 7q22 and 59 were on Xq22 respectively.

Conclusion: Thus, it may be concluded that both the chromosomal variants of Turner syndrome, namely, 45,X and 46,XX gonadal dysgenesis patients are significantly more radiosensitive than the normal controls. This study shows that radiation can be used as a tool to diagnose genetic disorders in man.


We consider the estimation of the Brain Electrical Sources (BES) matrix from noisy EEG measurements, commonly named as the EEG inverse problem. We propose a new method based on the factorization of the BES as a product of a sparse coding matrix and a dense latent source matrix. This structure is enforced by minimizing a regularized functional that includes the ℓ21-norm of the coding matrix and the squared Frobenius norm of the latent source matrix. We develop an alternating optimization algorithm to solve the resulting nonsmooth-nonconvex minimization problem. We have evaluated our approach under a simulated scenario consisting on estimating a synthetic BES matrix with 5124 sources. We compare the performance of our method respect to the Lasso, Group Lasso, Sparse Group Lasso and Trace norm regularizers.


The development objective of the Maritime Investment in Climate Resilient Operations Project for Tuvalu is to improve the climate resilience of Nanumaga harbor and Funafuti port, and in the event of an eligible crisis or emergency, to provide an immediate response to the eligible crisis or emergency. Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) undertake due diligence to ensure that suppliers and products meet the regulatory standards of Tuvalu; (2) projects should ensure that adequate handwashing facilities with soap (liquid), water, and paper towels for hand drying, plus closed waste bin for paper towels are available to avoid contamination; (3) alcohol-based hand sanitizers are not considered as effective as hand washing with soap and water and should therefore only be used in locations where full hand washing facilities cannot be provided; (4) the project health facilities should establish and apply procedures for healthcare waste management in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for safe management of waste from health-care activities and national guidelines for infection prevention and control healthcare facilities; (5) spill response plan will be developed to ensure that all fuels and lubricants used in machinery, equipment, generators, and also on marine vessels are contained, collected, treated, and disposed of; and (6) undertake community education and develop messaging to reduce anxiety or concern around toxic material handling, use, and disposal.


Practice and engineering ability training is very important for university students who major in computer science and technology. We proposed a practice and engineering training mechanism for computer major students. Firstly, the teaching mode which emphasizes both theory and practice for the professional foundation curriculum system was reformed. The programming, data structure, discrete mathematics and object-oriented programming are taught in the laboratory and evaluated through our online judging system. Secondly, the training subjects of core curriculum system were well designed and an engineering practice ability training mechanism based on enterprise training and open laboratories training was also presented. To cultivate the engineering practice ability, the open lab in university provides lots of projects for students and the cooperative enterprise also gives enough chances in their senior year. At last, a professional competence-driven innovation ability training mechanism was introduced. To further excite the innovation ability and practical ability, we choose some excellent students to participate in subject competitions, such as ACM International College Student Programming Competition (ACM-ICPC) and Chinese College Student Programming Competition (CCPC) and so on.


Two new 1-D Cd(II) complexes, {[Cd(imb)(μ2-Cl)Cl]·CH3OH}n (1) and {[Cd(imb)(μ2- Cl)Cl]·DMF}n (2), have been synthesized by the reactions of the unsymmetrical ligand 2-(1Himidazol- 1-yl-methyl)-1H-benzimidazole (imb) with CdCl2·2.5H2O in methanol or methanol=DMF solution at room temperature, and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 displays a ladder-shaped chain in which [Cd2Cl4] units are linked to each other through two bridging imb ligands. Complex 2 features an infinite looped chain structure composed of two kinds of rings, the smaller [Cd2Cl2] ring and the larger [Cd2imb2] ring, connected alternately via their Cd(II) ions. The different architectures of complexes 1 and 2 can be generated by solvent exchange. The IR spectra and fluorescence properties of the complexes have been also investigated. Graphical Abstract Syntheses, Structures and Properties of Two Cd(II) Complexes Based on the 2-(1H-Imidazol-1-yl-methyl)-1H-benzimidazole Ligand


Conventional Prolog implementions support dynamic update of the data base using assert and retract. Changes to the data base allow global information to be shared throughout various parts of a program. The advantage is quick access to information which would otherwise be exchanged using shared Prolog variables.


This paper investigates the effect of uncertainty on the volatility of the Mexican peso U.S. dollar exchange rate for the period 1999 - 2018. The empirical analysis consists on estimating a model by OLS and System GMM that includes measures of economic, political, and financial uncertainty, both domestic and international, as explicative variables. The main results show that greater uncertainty leads to higher exchange rate volatility; measures of international uncertainty are found to dominate domestic uncertainty measures, although the domestic uncertainty has also an important effect on the exchange rate volatility; and there is evidence of an amplifying effect of domestic economic uncertainty on exchange rate volatility, especially during periods of recession. These results are shown to be robust to different exchange rate volatility measures, different specifications, and different economic policy uncertainty indices.


Serious problems have emerged in primary school instruction in connection with the transition to universal compulsory eight-year education. The primary grades now constitute only a link in the integral process of instruction within the organizationally unified eight-year school. This marks a real change in the social function of the primary school, which has ceased to exist as an independent unit oriented toward the direct preparation of pupils for life.


This paper describes the implementation of a high speed inspection system for the wood processing industry. This was realized by a major European manufacturer of wood processing equipment, who is a customer of Loughborough Sound Images plc for the DSP based image processing hardware. The system provides quality inspection and control for planks of wood which have been cut from larger logs, and aims to measure the following factors: (1) Knots in the planks caused by branches in the original tree. (2) Cracks in the cut planks. (3) 'Graining' in the cut planks, where the grain pattern is very deep and has affected the surface smoothness of the wood. The range of factors to be measured requires that a combination of novel algorithms be used, and an overview of these is given in the paper. A major part of the implementation is the overall system architecture and design, and this also is described. Special consideration is given to how the algorithms were implemented on the equipment chosen and how the considerable technical problems in this particular high speed implementation were solved.


The main feature that keeps states and structures stable can be seen in living organisms. This adjusting and adaptive feature is called homeostasis. This integrated adaptive feature is achieved by the cooperation of organs in living organisms. Living organisms in nature act dynamically due to this feature. Highly adaptive behavior caused by this feature is also observed in simple living organisms that have no neural circuits such as amoebas. In amoeba case, each cell acts as an oscillator and such behavior is explicable as synchronization phenomena of oscillators. Based on these facts, a method of control to generate homeostasis in robotic systems is proposed by assuming a robot system is an aggregation of oscillators in this paper. When a robot system is assumed as an aggregation of oscillators, a robot system tries to keep the value of the specific function that indicate its uncomfortable level small the whole time. To keep such function value small, a robot system stabilize the relationship between oscillators when its value is small and reconstruct the relationship between oscillators when its value is large. This behavior is also explicable as synchronization phenomena of oscillators. Wheeled robot with camera is applied this control method in this paper to confirm the effect of the method. Adaptive behavior is observed in the robot through the task to find the better position between the object.


The resurgence of malaria, largely through emergence of drug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, has in recent times substantially increased public and private focus on the development of new treatments for the disease. However, in the absence of any vaccine, major reliance continues to be placed on chemotherapy involving both traditional, largely quinoline-based, antimalarial drugs and the newer class of antimalarial drug based on artemisinin, the remarkable peroxidic sesquiterpene isolated by the Chinese in 1972. Derivatives of this compound, artesunate and artemether, are now used in routine therapy in conjunction with a longer half-life quinoline or related antimalarial. However, problems of instability and neurotoxicity associated with the current artemisinin derivatives has resulted in a vigorous search for new, more stable derivatives with better pharmacological profiles. The Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique patent describes a class of relatively readily accessible new artemisinin derivatives, which in incorporating the trifluoromethyl group, appear to be more stable than the current derivatives.


The present study describes the acoustic structure and associated behavioural contexts of vocalizations of Asian elephant calves. Three hundred twenty-seven vocalizations of six calves aged between 6 and 27 months were recorded at the Emmen and the Cologne zoo. Based on temporal and structural characteristics including nonlinear phenomena, we structurally distinguished four call types, the rumble, the roar, the chirp and the trumpet. Most vocalizations were uttered during all forms of play behaviour, with chirps and trumpets dominating here. Rumbles were mainly recorded in combination with roars; the latter were highly chaotic in structure and associated with higher arousal contexts (e.g., being separated from the mother). These first insights into the vocal behaviour of Asian elephant calves reveal that calf vocalizations clearly differ in acoustic structure and application from those of adults and older juveniles. This highlights the importance of investigating the vocal ontogeny of elephants as well as other species having a long adolescence and developmental period.


Electrolytic conductivities of dilute solutions of chloroacetic acid in binary mixtures of methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, N,N-dimethylformamide, acetone, and acetonitrile with water have been measured at 298.15 K. The results were fitted to the Lee-Wheaton conductance equation for the derivation of thermodynamic dissociation constants and limiting molar conductivities. The results are compared with literature values pertaining to this acid in analogous media with mainly derived potentiometric measurements


Name resolution system is an important infrastructure in Information Centric Networking (ICN) network architecture of identifier–locator separation mode. In the Local Name Resolution System (LNMRS), a hierarchical name resolution system for latency-sensitive scenarios; higher-level resolution nodes serve more users and suffer more storage pressure, which causes the problem of unbalanced storage load between layers, and requires inter-layer collaborative storage under the constraint of deterministic service latency characteristics. In this paper, we use the constraints required for inter-layer collaborative resolution to construct an index neighbor structure and perform collaborative storage based on this structure. This method relieves storage pressure on high-level resolution nodes. Experimental results show that the increase of total storage load brought by the proposed method is 57.1% of that by MGreedy algorithm, 8.1% of that by Greedy algorithm, and 0.8% of that by the K-Mediod algorithm when relieving the same storage load for high-level resolution nodes. Meanwhile, deterministic service latency feature is still sustained when our proposed method is used for collaborative resolution.


In this paper we derive a quality measure for analysing the performance of algorithms which seek to find boundaries and boundary models between regions of differing mean grey-level value. The measure can be used to compare different approaches and, more importantly, it can also be used as a first step to building self-optimising vision systems that can automatically optimise important parameters at each level of the system.


The interior permanent-magnet (IPM) synchronous motor is characterized by a high rotor anisotropy. Such an anisotropy is the cause of a high harmonic content of the air-gap flux density distribution, almost independent of the main flux. As a consequence, there are fluctuations of the flux density in the stator iron and, consequently, eddy-current iron losses. This aspect is prominently evident during flux-weakening operations, when the armature current weakens the permanent magnet flux and the motor runs above the base speed. This paper presents a complete study of such a phenomenon, including an analytical model and a finite element validation, as well as an experimental confirmation of the predicted stator tooth flux waveforms. Finally, some suggestions are given in order to design an IPM motor exhibiting reduced iron losses during all operating conditions.


The total asymmetric syntheses of (−)-isolariciresinol dimethyl ether (6) and (−)-deoxysikkimotoxin (7) have been carried out, in an attempt to exploit a synthetic strategy recently developed for the synthesis of (−)-deoxypodophyllotoxin (1, R1 = -CH2−, Ar = 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl). In so doing, a generalized method for the synthesis of aryltetralin lignans has been developed that should be applicable to a variety of substitution patterns and stereochemistries. A one-pot, 100% regio-selective reduction–lactonization procedure has been developed for the conversion of the ester 18b to (−)-deoxysikkimotoxin, which gave 93% isolated yield in that step. Key words: ortho-quinodimethanes, lignans, Diels–Alder, asymmetric, mandelate.


The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) and its Fellows are relative latecomers to research compared to longer established specialties and colleges. We are now at a crossroads; we can either follow the beaten path travelled by other Colleges and researchers, or we can learn from their experiences and plot an innovative path that will ensure that our research promptly and successfully delivers a positive impact for our patients. Covey, in his famous 1989 book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, describes the first two habits as: (i) be proactive; and (ii) begin with the end in mind. In our case, the first step was achieved from a combination of individual effort, extra funding from bodies like the Queensland Emergency Medicine Research Foundation and an inaugural College Foundation Research Forum held in Melbourne on 20 February 2015. I am confident that for the second step, there will be a consensus that our end-goal is to improve the care of patients being treated in EDs in Australasia. I will add that we should also be more interested in the safety and wellbeing of our own staff than we currently are. By instituting an innovative approach to these issues at a College level, Emergency Medicine can equal and even surpass the achievements of more established Colleges and research bodies in a relatively short period. An extreme view is that the world will be better off if we stopped all research until the known information is translated into clinical practice. The problem is that the best way to do this is unclear. It is my opinion that Translational Research, despite being a popular buzz phrase among researchers, funders and politicians, is in practice, a misnomer. Most of what is currently referred to under this name is research that is expected to be more readily adopted by clinicians rather than the research on how to facilitate the adoption of research findings. One issue I see is that the research that potentially helps us translate the beneficial outcomes of research into clinical practice often involves research techniques and methodologies that are looked at with thinly disguised disdain both by many researchers and reviewers of funding applications and scientific publications. These techniques include pure qualitative research methodologies (as distinct from mixed methods), including but not limited to participant observation, interviews, focus groups, ethnography, autoethnography and phenomenology. Translation research will also need to involve collaboration with disciplines, such as psychology, genealogy, anthropology and sociology, and the use of clinical audit. The importance of clinical audit in changing clinical practice was emphasised by David Sackett, a pioneer of evidence-based medicine. A landmark 1962 book, Diffusion of Innovation by Dr Everett Rogers, used an s-shaped curve to explain how new innovation is adopted. He wrote that it takes 15 years to reach the 'tipping point' when 16% of the target population have adopted the innovation. From here, further uptake occurs more quickly. Interestingly, Rogers had a PhD in sociology and statistics. I want to propose that our College acknowledges the importance of clinical audit and combines clinical audit in all its initiatives to establish and support the growth of research in our discipline and its translation into clinical practice. Clinical audit should be developed in two areas. First, it should be used by researchers to see how well research findings from one department can be implemented in departments of all sizes and geographical locations across the country. Second, it should be used by the department Director to measure how quickly and thoroughly the new findings are adopted. For example, hospital X does research that finds that glue is the best and most cost-effective way to secure i.v. lines. Clinical audit will establish whether or not the technique can be easily adopted and produce the same Correspondence: Dr Michael Sinnott, Emergency Department, Princess Alexandra Hospital, 199 Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia. Email: Michael.Sinnott@ health.qld.gov.au


Public funds are the revenues and expenditures that public sector organizations collect and spend on behalf of the public. In a democratic society every citizen has the right to know how public funds are spent. In the United Kingdom this concept of informing the public about how public sector organizations manage and spend public money has taken the form of published performance indicators. These indicators are now an important means of assessing the worth of activities provided by public sector organizations. Although some public sector organizations have provided information such as unit costs (for example, per tramway mile and per pupil) since the last century, a dramatic increase in the amount of information published by the public sector has occurred beginning in the 1980s, when the providers and governors of public sector services started giving assurances about the validity of their expenditures. This has been achieved through the use of statistics and cost comparisons and through value-for-money audits being a part of the public auditor role. The government of the United Kingdom has more recently emphasized the concept of performance indicators as a way of displaying accountability within the public sector. It has become fashionable to refer to public sector organizations as needing to be accountable and providing value for money. Performance indicators and predetermined targets are used to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of organizations in meeting their objectives. These targets can be set by a variety of sources. For example in the case of government agencies, the targets are set by the relevant minister and government officials, while other organizations may have their targets related to criteria set by "standards of best practice." Performance is measured against specific output targets, financial targets and activity levels that must be met during the financial year. Inputs, outputs and impacts are subject to performance measurement. The users of performance indicators can vary a great deal to the activity. It is not just the providers of the service who review these indicators to prove their worth or to justify the level of expenditure. As these performance indicators are published in the annual financial statements and in the national press, they often form a platform for pressure groups to compare services. Benchmarking and charter marks are used as guidelines for setting targets These are based on the best performance achieved by similar organizations, which then establishes goals to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Organizations tend to use these to prove their worth to the public. Local Authorities are now only as good as last year's performance, and this may or may not be as good as the neighboring authority.1 Performance indicators crop up everywhere in the public, from the number of "A" level passes at the local comprehensive school to the number of patients treated for hip replacements in the community hospital. The question that begs to be asked is: what makes a good indicator of performance? The criteria of accountability and the provision of a worthwhile service represent the basic requirements of any public sector organization. A way of assessing this accountability is through the use of performance indicators. This involves looking at actual performance that is quantified and compared to benchmarks, estimated calculations, predetermined goals and targets. This becomes an exercise that results in an evaluation of the worth of a service. The questions that need to be asked are: What exactly does an indicator or achievement of a predetermined target tell the reader about the service? Can meeting a goal or target in itself be regarded as adequate proof of the provision of a worthwhile service? When assessing what makes a good indicator, issues that need to be kept in mind are: how were the targets and indicators set? …


Platinum catalysts supported on carbon nanowalls (Pt/CNW) were prepared by a solution-reduction method. It is shown that Pt nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 3.5 nm are well dispersed along domain boundaries in each CNW. In addition, it is shown that the Pt/CNW has high electrochemical active surface area and utilization, comparable to those for commercially available T–Pt/CB with good performance. Such high electrocatalytic activity could be attributed to the high electric conductivity of CNW and the improvement of electronic properties of Pt nanoparticles on the domain boundaries, in addition to the high dispersion of Pt particles.


Intraneural Ganglion Cysts [IGC] are a set of medical conditions that result in denervation of the muscles innervated by the cystic nerve leading to pain and loss of function. Current treatment approaches only temporarily alleviate pain and denervation which, however, does not prevent cyst recurrence. Hence, a mechanistic understanding of the pathogenesis of IGC can help clinicians understand them better and therefore device more effective treatment options. In this study, a preliminary analysis methodology is established to investigate the pathogenesis of IGC.Copyright © 2009 by ASME