Appropriate administration of nutrient substrates appears to be important for optimal wound healing and growth factor-induced tissue anabolism in animals and in man. Endogenously derived and dietary amino acids are utilized as key substrates for new protein and collagen synthesis. Energy sources (amino acids, carbohydrate, fat) support the wound healing process directly, and indirectly by providing fuel for neutrophils, macrophages, lymphocytes, and other cells. Generalized protein-energy malnutrition (marasmus-like), protein depletion (kwashiorkor-like), or specific micronutrient deficiency (e.g., zinc, vitamin C, and vitamin A) may delay or impair normal tissue regeneration and healing in vivo. Nutritional repletion in these settings often improves wound healing and tissue function and tissue repair. Recent work suggests that "pharmacologic" doses of specific amino acids or novel nutrient substrates (e.g., glutamine, arginine, ornithine-aketoglutarate) may enhance tissue restoration during catabolic states in humans. Endogenous peptide growth factors, including growth hormone (GR), insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), epidermal growth factor (EGF), keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), appear to mediate many of the key processes required for normal tissue growth and repair. In addition, several growth factors (e.g., insulin, GR, and IGF-I) promote tissue amino acid uptake, enhance protein synthesis, and/or decrease protein degradation, and thus facilitate anabolic processes by healing tissues. Exogenous administration of recombinant growth factors such as GR, IGF-I, and PDGF enhances wound healing and tissue repair in animal and human studies. Other studies have demonstrated marked whole body and tissue-specific anabolic effects of certain growth factors when combined with nutritional support. Many of these studies


The objective of this report is to give the reader a survey on state-of-the-art techniques and academic research in the field of artificial life where the simulation of complex and emergent behavior is the central point of investigation. Furthermore, games, artificial intelligence, and the concept of agents are focussed to give a classification and comparison of modern techniques used to simulate and/or animate creatures and other lifelike forms. This report is not meant to be fully complete since some topics might remain unconsidered. Since the invention of computers, man has always tried to form any kind of " intelligence " within them. The field of artificial intelligence (AI) has produced several very interesting techniques such as classification, learning, problem solving, controlling of physical movements, searching in huge information spaces, modeling, and planning. Artificial Life (ALife) is a very new field of research. It involves many different academic disciplines such as artificial intelligence, biology, genetics, sociology, and many more. It's goal is to recreate behavioral characteristics of living systems from observations of natural life. Many research results from AI are used within ALife. With today's computer graphics it is also possible to render nearly real-world looking scenes which gives the entertainment industry new possibilities to produce entertaining medias such as movies and games. The former is a non-interactive form where the needs on computation time are negligible but the movements and graphical requirements are considered as the main problem and should be as perfect as possible. The latter is an interactive form of entertainment where the player(s) decisions control the progress of the plot. Because of the interactivity, computation time is the major hurdle where one has to find a balance between realism and reactivity. With ALife and computer graphics together, it seems possible to create new types of agents, presented in a fashionable way using three dimensional computer graphics, which are autonomous and have intelligent characteristics. This process is very challenging because these agents should spawn characteristics not only in movement but also in cognition, reasoning, expression, emotion, motivation, learning, social behavior, and in many other areas.


The dynamics of a bubble in a dilute bubbly water-air mixture is investigated experimentally and the results compared with a simple homogeneous compressible fluid model in order to elucidate the requirements from a better advanced numerical solution. The experiments are conducted in view of providing input and validation for an advanced bubbly flow numerical model we are developing. Corrections for classical approaches where in the two-phase flow modeling the dynamics of individual bubble is based on spherical isolated bubble dynamics in the liquid or an equivalent homogeneous medium are sought. The main/primary bubble is produced by an underwater spark discharge from charged capacitors, while the bubbly medium is generated using electrolysis. The size of the main bubble is controlled by the discharge voltage, the capacitors size, and the ambient pressure in the container. The size and concentration of the fine bubbles is controlled by the electrolysis voltage, the length, diameter, arrangement, and type of the wires, and also by the pressure imposed in the container. This enables parametric study of the factors controlling the dynamics of the primary bubble and development of relationships between the primary bubble characteristic quantities such as achieved maximum bubble radius and bubble period and the characteristics of the surrounding two-phase medium: micro bubble sizes and void fraction. The dynamics of the main bubble and of the mixture is observed using high speed video photography. The void fraction of the bubbly mixture in the fluid domain is deduced from image analysis of the high speed movies and obtained as a function of time and space. The interaction between the primary bubble and the bubbly medium is analyzed using both field pressure measurements and high-speed videography. Parameters such as the primary bubble energy and the bubble mixture density (void fraction) are varied, and their effects studied. The experimental data is then compared to a simple compressible fluid medium model which accounts for the change in the medium properties in space and time. This helps illustrate where such simple models are valid and where they need improvements. This information is valuable for the parallel development of an Eulerian-Lagrangian code, which accounts for the dynamics of bubbles in the field and their interaction.


Each "Communication Corner" essay is self-contained; however, they build on each other. For best results, before reading this essay and doing the exercise, go to the first essay "How an Ugly Duckling Became a Swan," then read each succeeding essay. The purpose of expository (non-fiction) writing and speaking is usually to inform or instruct. To do either successfully, you must present your ideas more than once. Otherwise, people who read it or hear it, even if they completely understand it at the moment, over time (often a very short time) will either confuse it or forget it. Presenting information and ideas more than once is not simply a matter of saying the same things the same way two or three times. It is more subtle than that.


Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is the second visual threatening retinal disorders followed by diabetic retinopathy in the elderly. In the past decades, increasing knowledge of the natural history, aetiology and risk factors, medical management investigation, together with the support of high level evidence-based medical evidence and the results of real-world clinical trials play key roles in guiding the clinical practice. However, without understanding the pathogenesis and pathogeny of the disease, it is difficult to implement a comprehensive, precise and personalized treatment strategy for the RVO patients. It is of significance in the clinic to discuss the pathological process of RVO, analyze the etiological characteristics of the disease, reveal the clinical outcomes, which aim to facility the optimal treatment and follow-up procedure for the patients.

Key words:
Retinal vein occlusion/etiology; Retinal vein occlusion/pathology; Retinal vein occlusion/therapy; Editorial


Poor food quality is likely to be detrimental to the lifespan of Apis mellifera. The objective of this study was to evaluate comparatively the effects of a mainly carbohydrate substitute sugar patty, a pollen substitute (both Mann Lake Ltd. products), and bee bread produced by the bees on worker longevity. Sugar patty ensured the longest bee survival, similar to that with the addition of 5% bee bread, whereas adding 5% or higher pollen substitute increased bee mortality.


We find that hole injection can be enhanced simply by selecting a lower-resistivity p-Si anode to match an electron injection enhancement for organic light emitting diodes with ultrathin-SiO2-layer-passivated p-Si anode (Si-OLED). For a Si-OLED with ordinary AlQ electron transport layer, the optimized resistivity of the p-Si anode is 40Ωcm; for that with n-doped Bphen electron transport layer, it decreases to 5Ωcm. Correspondingly, the maximum power efficiency increases from 0.3to1.9lm∕W, even higher than that of an indium tin oxide control device (1.4lm∕W). This passivated p-type silicon is a hole injection tunable anode material for OLED.


Recent progress in information technologies has made microand nanolithography key processes in modern industry. Today these methods are among the most rapidly developing areas in both science and engineering. In the last two decades, wellknown and widespread methods of photoand electron-beam lithography have been complemented by a number of novel approaches that include direct writing processes, such as scanning probe lithography and dip-pen nanolithography, mask-based techniques including soft-lithography, nanoimprint, nanostencil and nanosphere lithography, and unconventional wet lithographies. Progress in the development of these methods has allowed high throughput to be attained at an ultimate resolution of less than 10 nm and enabled massproduction of microelectronic components. Further improvements in this method were introduced by the addition of chemical transformations, which can be applied through the integration of lithography with chemical or electrochemical processes. Electrochemical processing possesses a number of important advantages, including room-temperature synthesis (thereby avoiding thermal expansion problems), ability to control deposition rates, increased deposition density, and enhanced versatility. Moreover, electrochemical processes are easy to control through manipulation of charge values and current transient shapes. Several electrochemical lithography methods have been reported that achieve resolution down to 10 nm. However, all of these methods require contact lithography processing, as electrochemical photolithographic pattern-transfer techniques have yet to be developed. Nevertheless, numerous papers have been published on light-induced electrochemical effects, which have the potential to be further utilized for the development of non-contact electrochemical lithography techniques. One drawback to this approach however, is that the wavelengths of visible and UV light restrict the resolution level. A possible solution to this problem is the use of X-rays, which have long been known to trigger surface charging and radiolysis in matter. It could be expected that these effects would provide the conditions necessary for the electrochemical equilibrium shift required for electrochemical etching or deposition. Despite this, there have been only a few reports on X-rayassisted electrochemical processing. While some chemical X-ray lithography methods use X-rays for induced chemical transformations, they are restricted to reactions where radiolysis products are formed within the solution volume. Some work discusses reactions driven by photoelectrons ejected from the substrate surface, but do not complete the electrochemical circuit to control Helmholtz layer. Lastly, we also failed to find any studies concerning direct electrochemical lithography under X-ray irradiation. Thus in the present study we have focused our attention on the development of an electrochemical X-ray photolithography approach for direct pattern transfer to a liquid– solid interface by coherent X-ray irradiation. The concept is based upon variation in electrochemical deposition/etching rates provided by local photoionization effects. Local reduction of electrolyte components by photoelectrons generated on the working electrode surface under X-rays was chosen to test the concept. The electrochemical X-ray photolithography method was investigated by pattern transfer onto electrochemically deposited nickel, which plays a pivotal role in industry, particularly in microelectronics. The experiment is shown in Figure 1. A parallel X-ray beam collimated by slits was passed through a 4 mm pitch silicon grating and guided to the


An established model is presented, which includes relative slow write head protrusion, fast near-field transducer (NFT) only protrusion, and heat transient process for heat-assisted magnetic recording writing process. Based on this model, equations are derived to calculate the write head and NFT only protrusions as a function of writing duty cycle. Then, we demonstrate how to compensate for the protrusion-caused NFT-to-media spacing change by thermal fly-height control for three different writing conditions of duty cycle from low to high, namely, repeatable run-out field write, servo pattern write, and user data field write. Finally, we present how to compensate for the impacts caused by fast transient processes, which include NFT only protrusion and heat transient process, within each servo wedge or data sector. There are two methods presented, pole placement method and deconvolution method. Both the methods produce very similar input laser profiles, which will cause approximately step change at the output signal magnitude responses from the simulation.


We examine whether European stock markets are efficient in valuing corporate spinoffs. Using several different return methodologies to adjust for cross-sectional return dependence, we find that post-spinoff firms in Europe do not earn significant long-run abnormal returns in the three-year post-spinoff period. Further analyses demonstrate that the accounting performance of post-spinoff firms is in line with several industry-based benchmarks, which is consistent with the evidence of insignificant long-run stock returns. Our results support the efficient markets hypothesis that stock markets do not underreact to corporate spinoff announcements.


Abstract Shanty towns have been common to most major immigration cities around the world, including Paris, New York, São Paulo, Mexico City, Mumbai and Seoul. Yet, this crucial theme in global urban history remains poorly represented in city museums, with the focus generally being limited to urban poverty. This has contributed to neglect the fact that people living in shanty towns have played an important role in the development of urban economies. The present article describes recent efforts by the Barcelona City History Museum () to research and include in its narrative, as a city museum, previously omitted parts of the history of communities living on the periphery of Barcelona. The Turó de la Rovira project, a settlement that was active from the 1940s to the 1990s, allowed the inclusion of new heritage sites in the museum's exhibition spaces, in an effort to develop new understandings of Barcelona's twentieth century, as well as for the institution to create stronger links with local associations.


A NASTRAN model of a UH-1B tail boom that had been designed for another project was used to investigate the effect on structural integrity of simulated projectile damage. Elements representing skin, and sections of stringers, longerons and bulkheads were systematically deleted to represent projectile damage. The structure was loaded in a manner to represent the flight loads that would be imposed on the tail boom at a 130 knot cruise. The deflection of four points on the rear of the tail boom relative to the position of these points for the unloaded, undamaged condition of the tail boom was used as a measure of the loss of structural rigidity. The same procedure was then used with the material properties of the aluminum alloys replaced with the material properties of T300/5208 high strength graphite/epoxy fibrous composite material, (0, + or - 45, 90)s for the skin and (0, + or - 45)s for the longerons, stringers, and bulk heads.


The limit set of elementary cellular automaton is found through defining some kinds of particles and its regularity is proved.The result shows that the finite automaton can accept this limit set.


most skilled palpators at causing a tear. Most rectal tears occur cm cranial to the anus in the dorsal aspect of the rectum 10 and 12 o'clock positions The peritoneal cavity 15-20 cm cranial to the anus in most horses and can be contaminated by feces in the case of third and fourth degree tears (1). The tears usually occur in a cranio-caudal direction and fecal contamination may be temporarily contained by the mesorectum or mesocolon Third-degree rectal tears extend through the mucosa, submucosa, and muscular layers, whereas fourth degree tears involve disruption of all layers of the rectum allowing direct communication between the rectum and the peritoneal cavity Immediate surgical intervention is recom-mended for third and fourth degree tears


Water is the backbone of all life forms on earth. Water is an essentially important material on earth to both natural ecosystem and human development and for human use. Because of its clear importance, water is the most studied material on earth. Present study deals with physio-chemical analysis of industrial effluent collected from the Ahmedabad mega pipe line. Mega pipeline receives treated effluent of industrial cluster Vatva, Naroda, Odhav and Narol. Mega Pipeline from Naroda to Pirana has carrying capacity of 90 million litre per day (MLD). It is an outlet of Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP). Treated effluent is released into Sabarmati River. The study also documents total dissolved solids, calcium hardness, magnesium and Chemical Oxygen Demand exceeding permissible limits.


Objective: To investigate, in a rodent model, the influence of an obstructed kidney/ureter on the contralateral organ morphology. Methods: Thirty-six rats were randomly assigned into the following groups: untreated ureteral obstruction group (UO-U, n = 10), submitted to a ligature of the ureter at day 0; UO group (at day 0) followed by nephrectomy after 24 h (UO-N, n = 8); nephrectomy group (N, n = 9), submitted to nephrectomy at day 0; and sham group (S, n = 9), submitted to simulated surgery at day 0. All these procedures were performed on the left kidney/ureter. All animals were euthanized 30 days after surgery, and the right kidneys were collected for stereological analysis. Data were compared using a one-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni's post test, considering p < 0.05 as significant. Results: The kidney volume, weight, and cortical volume were augmented in groups UO-N and N, compared to group S. Kidneys from the UO-U group showed only a moderate augmentation in kidney weight, with a reduction in the cortical-medullar ratio, compared to the kidneys in group S. No differences in the glomerular volumetric density, volume-weighted glomerular volume, and number of glomeruli were observed among the right kidneys of the studied groups. Conclusion: An obstructed kidney/ureter is more prejudicial to the contralateral kidney morphology than an absent kidney.


The accompanying radiograph shows a rather unusual and interesting anomaly: The patient, Van S., was a white man, aged 40. In the course of the routine physical examination there was discovered a hard immovable mass in the left supraclavicular space. It could be traced to the back of the neck and felt like a cervical rib. When the left shoulder was raised the mass disappeared behind the clavicle, showing that there was no attachment. There was no palpable difference between the right and left sides of the upper part of the sternum, except that the left clavicle seemed to be slightly lower than the right. The pulsation of the subclavian artery could be felt in the supraclavicular space and a soft thrill was palpable. The left radial pulse was not affected. The swelling apparently never caused symptoms. No other physical anomalies were discovered. A similar case was reported by Dr.


To change the perception of education,to intensify the reform of education,and to strengthen and pay more attention to the scientific quality education on medical university students are the important responsibilities which the society has entrusted to medical universities today.In this article,the today's requisitions have been discussed to strengthen the scientific quality education on medical university students and the current situation and the reasons of the not-higher scientific quality education on medical university students have been analyzed.Moreover,the approaches and the means of strengthening the scientific quality education on medical university students have been shown in this article.


Si RFICs on standard, 2 /spl Omega/-cm Si wafers require novel transmission lines to reduce the loss caused by the resistive substrate. One such transmission line is commonly called thin film microstrip (TFMS), which is created by depositing a metallic ground plane, thin insulating layers, and the microstrip lines on the Si wafer. Thus, the electric fields are isolated from the Si wafer. In this paper, it is shown through experimental results that the ground plane of TFMS may be finite width and comparable to the strip width in size while still achieving low loss on 2 /spl Omega/-cm Si. Measured effective permittivity shows that the field interaction with the Si wafer is small.


Objective To analyze the different types of prosthesis production and to obtain information of the trend for clinical application of the prosthesis over time. Methods The production data of prosthesis in Beijing Stomatology Hospital from 2002 to 2012 were collected and 299,953 pieces of prostheses were included in the study. The major types of prosthesis,including crown and bridge fixed prostheses,implant fixed prostheses,removable partial dentures and complete denture,were numbered and analyzed for the tread of prosthesis production over the past eleven years. Results The constituent ratio of removable dentures declined and the fixed restorations became the main type of restoration year by year. Complete denture and wiring framework removable partial dentures showed slow decrease. All types of casting frame dentures exhibited a growth. Precious metal fixed partial dentures increased fast and implant fixed prostheses showed steady growth trend. All-ceramic fixed restorations also showed accelerated growth. The pecious metal crown prostheses became the main type of full crown restorations, while the cobalt-chromium crown restorations production continued to slow down. Conclusion Fixed restorations dominated and removable partial dentures reduced year by year. The precious metal,ceramic,dental implants demand growth was most obvious,predicting the future development of restoration.


STUDY QUESTION
Does the diagnosis of mosaicism affect ploidy rates across different providers offering preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A)?

SUMMARY ANSWER
Our analysis of 36 395 blastocyst biopsies across eight genetic testing laboratories revealed that euploidy rates were significantly higher in providers reporting low rates of mosaicism.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
Diagnoses consistent with chromosomal mosaicism have emerged as a third category of possible embryo ploidy outcomes following PGT-A. However, in the era of mosaicism, embryo selection has become increasingly complex. Biological, technical, analytical, and clinical complexities in interpreting such results have led to substantial variability in mosaicism rates across PGT-A providers and clinics. Critically, it remains unknown whether these differences impact the number of euploid embryos available for transfer. Ultimately, this may significantly affect clinical outcomes, with important implications for PGT-A patients.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
In this international, multicenter cohort study, we reviewed 36 395 consecutive PGT-A results, obtained from 10 035 patients across 11 867 treatment cycles, conducted between October 2015 and October 2021. A total of 17 IVF centers, across eight PGT-A providers, five countries and three continents participated in the study. All blastocysts were tested using trophectoderm biopsy and next-generation sequencing. Both autologous and donation cycles were assessed. Cycles using preimplantation genetic testing for structural rearrangements were excluded from the analysis.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
The PGT-A providers were randomly categorized (A to H). Providers B, C, D, E, F, G, and H all reported mosaicism, whereas Provider A reported embryos as either euploid or aneuploid. Ploidy rates were analyzed using multilevel mixed linear regression. Analyses were adjusted for maternal age, paternal age, oocyte source, number of embryos biopsied, day of biopsy, and PGT-A provider, as appropriate. We compared associations between genetic testing providers and PGT-A outcomes, including the number of chromosomally normal (euploid) embryos determined to be suitable for transfer.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
The mean maternal age (±SD) across all providers was 36.2 (±5.2). Our findings reveal a strong association between PGT-A provider and the diagnosis of euploidy and mosaicism. Amongst the seven providers that reported mosaicism, the rates varied from 3.1% to 25.0%. After adjusting for confounders, we observed a significant difference in the likelihood of diagnosing mosaicism across providers (P < 0.001), ranging from 6.5% (95% CI: 5.2-7.4%) for Provider B to 35.6% (95% CI: 32.6-38.7%) for Provider E. Notably, adjusted euploidy rates were highest for providers that reported the lowest rates of mosaicism (Provider B: euploidy, 55.7% (95% CI: 54.1-57.4%), mosaicism, 6.5% (95% CI: 5.2-7.4%); Provider H: euploidy, 44.5% (95% CI: 43.6-45.4%), mosaicism, 9.9% (95% CI: 9.2-10.6%)); and Provider D: euploidy, 43.8% (95% CI: 39.2-48.4%), mosaicism, 11.0% (95% CI: 7.5-14.5%)). Moreover, the overall chance of having at least one euploid blastocyst available for transfer was significantly higher when mosaicism was not reported, when we compared Provider A to all other providers (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.13-1.50). Differences in diagnosing and interpreting mosaic results across PGT-A laboratories raise further concerns regarding the accuracy and relevance of mosaicism predictions. While we confirmed equivalent clinical outcomes following the transfer of mosaic and euploid blastocysts, we found that a significant proportion of mosaic embryos are not used for IVF treatment.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
Due to the retrospective nature of the study, associations can be ascertained, however, causality cannot be established. Certain parameters such as blastocyst grade were not available in the dataset. Furthermore, certain platform-related and clinic-specific factors may not be readily quantifiable or explicitly captured in our dataset. As such, a full elucidation of all potential confounders accounting for variability may not be possible.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
Our findings highlight the strong need for standardization and quality assurance in the industry. The decision not to transfer mosaic embryos may ultimately reduce the chance of success of a PGT-A cycle by limiting the pool of available embryos. Until we can be certain that mosaic diagnoses accurately reflect biological variability, reporting mosaicism warrants utmost caution. A prudent approach is imperative, as it may determine the difference between success or failure for some patients.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
This work was supported by the Torres Quevedo Grant, awarded to M.P. (PTQ2019-010494) by the Spanish State Research Agency, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain. M.P., L.B., A.R.L., A.L.R.d.C.L., N.P.P., M.P., D.S., F.A., A.P., B.M., L.D., F.V.M., D.S., M.R., E.P.d.l.B., A.R., and R.V. have no competing interests to declare. B.L., R.M., and J.A.O. are full time employees of IB Biotech, the genetics company of the Instituto Bernabeu group, which performs preimplantation genetic testing. M.G. is a full time employee of Novagen, the genetics company of Cegyr, which performs preimplantation genetic testing.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
N/A.


The study addresses the competition between the course of purely pyrolytic processes and heterogeneous oxidation during oxidative pyrolysis of nonconventional fuels. This feature is one key, together with volatile matter flammability and effectiveness of oxygen transport to the particle, to establish whether flaming or glowing ignition of the fuel takes place. A selection of six nonconventional high volatile solid fuels is considered in the study, namely two plastics (polyethylene and poly(ethylene terephthalate)), two lignocellulosic materials (Robinia Pseudoacacia and waste wood), and two rubber-derived materials (scrap tires and ebonite). The analysis is based on the comparison of the behavior of fuels when heated in a thermogravimetric apparatus under inert and oxidizing atmospheres. Further analysis is directed to assess the heterogeneous combustion kinetics of chars obtained by pre-pyrolyzing in inert conditions samples of the fuels. The study is complementary to a companion paper (Senneca, O.; Chir...


Aims and background: Nowadays, multiple sclerosis disorder has been increased. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of six weeks of massage in water on walking speed, postural control, pain intensity, fatigue and quality of life in women with multiple sclerosis in Khomeini city. Materials and methods: In this study, a trial was performed in which 30 patients with multiple sclerosis (EDSS 2-5) were randomly selected and randomly assigned to two blind groups of 15 patients. The massage group was in water (mean age 39.60 ± 8.33, 160 ± 6.04 cm and body weight 26.59 ± 3.74 cm2 and control group 36 ± 6.56 years, Height 158.86±2.92 cm, and body mass 26.95 ± 2.33 kg/m2). The experimental group performed a massage therapy program in water for six weeks, three sessions per week and the duration of 20 minutes for lower extremities (thighs, knees, legs, wrists and feet), the control group performed the natural activities of daily living, before and after the training, speed of walking with rocket test, static and dynamic equilibrium Arranged by a modified stamina and Y test, pain intensity by visual acuity scale, Fatigue was assessed by MFIS questionnaire and quality of life by SF scale of 36 The data were refined using descriptive statistics. Measurement of the nature of the data was performed by Shapiro-Wilk test and data analysis was used to compare the independent t-test. Also, SPSS version 25 was used. The significance level was considered as (p<0.05). Finding: The results of the study showed that six weeks of massage in water had a significant effect on walking speed, postural control (static and dynamic balance), pain intensity, fatigue and quality of life in women with multiple sclerosis (p<0.05). Conclusion: Based on this study, it can be concluded that water massage could be effective for people with multiple sclerosis. Therefore, massage therapists are to be advised to use these rehab techniques to improve walking speed, postural control (static and dynamic balance), pain intensity, fatigue, and quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis.


This study explores the relationship between organisational culture and performance in health and social care organisations and poses the question that if performance is dependent upon organisational culture, can organisational culture be influenced to improve the performance of the organisation? Our review of the themes and ideas around organisational culture shows that organisational culture has been recognised and discussed extensively. We draw out what we believe to be the causal relationships between organisational strategy, organisational culture and organisational performance. Our methodology consists of four research instruments which were designed by us and applied to six organisations in the public sector. These instruments evaluated organisational culture and the level of consumer satisfaction with the services provided by the organisations within the study. The study highlights the conflicts between the various sub-cultures that exist between the categories of the organisations and it emphasises the critical importance of organisations' strategies in establishing and maintaining an organisational culture and that it is the management of strategies that, over time, alters the culture of organisations rather than any direct manipulation of the culture itself.


The present invention provides touch window glass for a smart phone mixed with curved surfaces and planar surfaces. A molding device of the present invention comprises: a bottom block (20) which is equipped with multiple contact units (24a, 24b) supporting the bottom surface of the touch window glass; a top block (40) which is equipped with multiple contact units (44a, 44b) supporting the top surface of the touch window glass; and a core (50) which is installed to be able to be moved up and down within a particular interval so that a dead load can be applied to at least one side of the touch window glass while the touch window glass is supported between the bottom block and the top block. Moreover, the contact units (24) of the bottom block are formed on the top end of a glass support which is molded to protrude to the top thereof from the bottom block, and a frame-shaped middle block (30) equipped with a penetrating unit (32) coupled with the outer surface of the glass support is also included. The touch window glass is deformed by means of an external force from the dead load of the core in a high temperature atmosphere in which thermal deformation is possible, so that at least a part thereof can be formed as a curved surface part.


It hasn't been a good year for media barons. Actually, it's not been a great century. In 2007 Baron Conrad Black was sent to jail in the US for embezzling his shareholders. Silvio Berlusconi's grip on the Italian media hasn't prevented a steady flow of allegations of sleaze and scandal since 2009, which have reduced him to a global laughing stock. And since July 2011, we have seen the dizzying fall of Rupert Murdoch and his son, James, from their positions of unquestioned (and unquestionable) authority at the helm of the world's most powerful media empire.


To determine a general correlation between structure and dynamic magnetic properties of porous materials, the frequencies of magnetic spin waves are studied by Brillouin light scattering from nickel inverse opals and backed up by micromagnetic simulations. Within the observed unit cell size regime between 400 and 800 nm, discrete thickness standing modes are found to change with unit cell size. By applying pair correlation functions of the inverse opal solid phase normal to the applied field to an equation for perpendicular standing modes, the directional and unit cell size‐dependent spectral intensities above the surface mode region can be traced. Thus, an accessible general approach for the prediction of standing spin waves in porous materials is obtained.


The Maoxian Tunnel in Sichuan, China has experienced significant deformation and supporting failure in the surrounding phyllite rock. To address this problem, on-site engineering geological investigation and testing methods were deployed in the present study to examine the characteristics and mechanism of deformation in the tunnel. Scanning electron microscopy, rock hydraulic tests, and uniaxial compressive tests were used to investigate the hydraulic and mechanical properties of the surrounding rock, and to examine the mechanisms underlying the significant deformation. The results suggest that the large deformation in Maoxian Tunnel is a result of shear expansion and progressive failure of the soft rock under high stress. To enhance the integrity and self-sustaining ability of the rock mass, it is necessary to promptly construct support structures and reinforce the surrounding rock.


OBJECTIVE To efficiently control and prevent the infection in SICU by analyzing the related factors which cause the infection in hospital.METHODS The 723 history cases of patients from Mar 2006 to Feb 2008 were retrospectively analyzed.RESULTS Total 88 cases were with hospital infection,the rate was 12.17%,remarkably higher than the regular rate.The risk factors were related to the invasive operations,the invalid use of antibacterial drugs,invalid operations,the patients′ immunity and the irrational layout of SICU.CONCLUSION Reducing the invalid operations,using antibacterial drugs validly,strengthening the isolation and disinfection and setting the SICU scientifically and normatively are the key measures to prevent hospital infection.


Although upper echelons scholars have drawn from the demographic faultlines concept to study top management team (TMT) subgroup dynamics, the effects of TMT faultlines on competitive behavior and performance outcomes have not been well documented. To gain greater insight, we develop a model that connects TMT faultlines, CEO-TMT power disparity, competitive behavior, and firm performance. We hypothesize that TMT faultlines and CEO-TMT power disparity jointly determine a firm's competitive aggressiveness and simplicity, and these two competitive behaviors influence firm performance. Using a sample of 295 U.S. firms in 146 industries from 2000 to 2013, our findings indicate that (a) TMTs with strong faultlines take fewer and simpler competitive actions, and CEO-TMT power disparity further worsens the negative effect on the volume of competitive actions, and (b) fewer and simpler competitive actions benefit short-term firm performance; however, they hurt the long-term firm performance trend. These findings contribute to the upper echelons and competitive dynamics research and suggest important managerial implications.


This paper surveys some recent work in the theoretical and econometric disequilibrium literature. The first .part of the paper gives an overview of some the main concepts used in the theory of non-Walrasian economics. These concepts give the theoretical background for a discussion of recent developments in the econometric disequilibrium literature. Particular emphasis is given to two recent developments. One is the virtual price approach of Lee (1986) and the other is the stochastic aggregation (smoothing by aggregation) approach used in Lambert (1988). *This paper forms part of my doctoral dissertation at the University of Oslo. I would like to thank my thesis advisor John K. Dagsvik for his support and advice and Erik Biørn for valuable comments. This research was supported by the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities.


a new heuristic algorithm was designed by combining with Johnson method, NEH method and characteristics of scheduling, and it was implemented on MATLAB. The efficiency of the new algorithm was tested through eight Car questions and two Hel questions of Benchmark problems, and the results revealed that the new heuristic algorithm was better than the other three heuristic algorithms. Further more; the application of this heuristic algorithm in the intelligent algorithm especially in the genetic algorithms (GA) was discussed. Two GAs were designed for Flow Shop question, and they had the same processes and the same parameters. The only difference is in the production of the initial population. One GA's initial population is optimized by the new heuristic algorithm, and the other whose initial population is randomly generated entirely. Finally, through the test of eight Car questions, it is demonstrated that the heuristic algorithm can indeed improve efficiency and quality of genetic algorithm because the heuristic algorithm can improve the initial population of GA.


The low-frequency electromagnetic radiation of high-power cable in cabin has become one of the main interference sources of underwater platform sensitive system.The characteristics and difficulties of cable electromagnetic radiation environment simulation have been analyzed and a simulation method of cable electromagnetic radiation environment in cabin has been proposed,based on transmission line(MTL)and moment method(MoM)in the paper.Also,the cabin and cable simulation model have been built,using system-level simulation software of EMC Studio.The effects of bulkhead,to the radiation electromagnetic environment distribution of cabin have been compared.The research methods and results of the paper can be used for cable interference analysis on sensitive system.


Abstract Plerixafor (P), an agent that selectively and reversibly binds to the chemokine receptor CXCR4, has been approved in combination with G-CSF (P + G-CSF) for stem cell (SC) mobilization in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). The goal of this study was to determine the SC collection success rate of P + G-CSF using a clinically relevant outcome defined as the ability to collect at least 5 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg to allow safely two transplants, and identify risk factors impacting SC mobilization. One hundred and thirty-eight patients were mobilized with P + G-CSF upfront following induction. The SC collection success rate was 92.8%. We identified exposure to lenalidomide alone (p = .038), WBC count <4 × 103/mcL prior to mobilization (p = .01) and non-African American race (p = .019), as risk factors for low efficiency by multivariate analysis. This study demonstrates that P + G-CSF is highly efficient in MM patients and provides strong support for its upfront use in SC collection for MM patients.


This paper deals with new technology in industrial heating processes – magnetic heating of billets. The aim of the paper is to explain the principle of this technology, construction of the industrial device and differences between classical induction heating and magnetic heating of billets. Further I want to describe the advantages of magnetic billet heating.


Excitement is building for the first launch of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a unique exploration asset for the agency's Artemis lunar program as well as for a new generation of science missions. SLS is designed for an array of missions beyond Earth's orbit. The flexible system, which can be configured for Orion, cargo or Orion with co-manifested payload missions, offers high escape velocities to send more mass to deep space destinations. When configured with an 8.4 m-diameter fairing, SLS offers unmatched payload volume for human exploration and science missions. The initial Block 1 variant will insert at least 26 metric tons (t) to translunar injection (TLI) and the more powerful Block 1B vehicle will launch 34–37 t to TLI using a new-development upper stage. Much of the initial SLS Block 1 vehicle is complete, including the upper stage and payload section, the core stage, engines and the solid rocket boosters. The first mission, Artemis I, launching from modernized and upgraded facilities at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), will be an uncrewed test flight of SLS, Orion and ground processing, with a primary objective of testing Orion's heat shield at lunar re-entry velocity. Artemis I will have accommodations for 13 6U CubeSat payloads. These CubeSat missions will be deployed along the upper stage disposal trajectory after Orion separates from the vehicle. A rare opportunity for CubeSats to be deployed beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), Artemis I CubeSat missions range from searching for hydrogen and other volatiles on the lunar South Pole to studying the acceleration mechanisms of solar and interplanetary particles from a heliocentric trajectory. With manufacturing of the initial vehicle complete, fabrication and procurement is progressing for the second flight of SLS and Orion, Artemis II. Also an SLS Block 1 and Orion flight launching from KSC, Artemis II will mark the return of American astronauts to deep space with a lunar flyby-free return trajectory mission. With the Artemis III flight, NASA has the goal to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon. Infrastructure beyond SLS will be required for this effort, including elements of the lunar Gateway as well as lunar rovers, landers and additional commercially supplied launch services. SLS, as the only vehicle with the capability to lift 26 t of mass to TLI in its initial Block 1 variant, will remain a key component of this new-era exploration program. Future variants - Block 1B and Block 2 - will lift 34–45 t to TLI. This paper will discuss the status of testing and integration for the Artemis I vehicle, manufacturing progress for the second vehicle and the manifest outlook for primary, co-manifested and secondary payloads in the current deep space exploration environment.


In my last column I noted that I was on my way to Dubai to share the QSL story with key customers, sugar producers, traders and buyers from around the world at the annual Kingsman Sugar Conference.


The distinguishing feature of shuangshengfu zi, or, the ancient Chinese characters with double sound symbols, is that the characters are composed of two parts with same or similar sounds. This type of characters can be divided into two categories as their components can be with or without certain meanings. There are three causes for the emergence of shuangshengfu zi. Firstly, it was decided by the relationship between characters and language. Secondly, there appeared more and more shuangshengfu zi under the trend that more importance was attached to the sounds of Chinese characters. Thirdly, there emerged much more chracters of this type in the Warring State Period under the influence of dialects. There were eight ways to construct shuangshengfu zi .


A high resolution Thomson scattering (simply called TVTS) system has been designed on EAST tokamak. New system will employ the Littrow type grating spectrometer and ICCD cameras equipped with intensifier III, which can make simultaneous measurements of the electron temperature and density in plasma at many positions along the laser chord. The spatial and temporal resolution can reach 10mm and several ms, respectively.


Auxiliary bearing is used to support the high-speed falling rotor in the active magnetic bearing. Its impact resistance directly affects the safety and reliability of the active magnetic bearing. In order to study the impact resistance of the auxiliary bearing in the vertical active magnetic bearing, full angular contact hybrid ceramic ball bearing was used as the auxiliary bearing, and ADAMS was used to simulate the impact force of the auxiliary bearing when the balanced rotor was fell on the auxiliary bearing. The influence of friction factor, axial protection clearance, rotor mass and rotor drop speed on the initial axial impact force of the vertical balanced rotor falling to the auxiliary bearing is analyzed. The results show that the initial axial impact force on the auxiliary bearing is the maximum axial impact force. The initial axial impact force on the protected bearing decreases with the increase of dynamic friction factor. It increases with the increase of axial protection clearance and rotor mass. Unchanged with the increase of falling speed. The influence of axial impact on the bearing can be reduced by increasing the friction factor, reducing the clearance of axial protection and the mass of rotor appropriately.


There are several types of disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and droughts. Disasters are generally violent or unexpected occurrences, often accompanied by considerable loss of life. They also cause a society suffering and distress, temporary disruption of normal life, substantial material damage and difficulties for the functioning of society. Volcanic disasters often occur in Iceland, Japan, Indonesia and other countries, and their damage to crops, houses, corporate production, logistics, infrastructure and communication failures focus on economic loss. There is no proactive research to estimate the social cost needed to prevent and repair damage caused by volcanic ash. Volcanologists and geologists in Korea predict that the possibility of volcanic eruption of Mt. Baekdu is large. A large amount of ash has a significant impact on agriculture, manufacture, logistics and tourism industry, and causes the social cost throughout society. Based on the foreign studies for the economic impact of volcanic disaster, it is possible to analyze quantitatively economic loss caused by volcanic eruption of Mt. Baekdu. This paper proposes the appropriate model and estimation method by comparing and examining the social cost models needed to measure how much people are willing to pay the social cost to prevent and repair the damage caused by volcanic eruption of Mt. Baekdu. It also presents the case studies applied for natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes through a review of existing studies on the social cost model.


o de Octubre ISSSTE. SUMMARY Aneurysmal bone cyst is a non-neoplastic benign expansive lytic lesion characterized by multiple blood-filled cavities partitioned by connective tissue septa. The location in cervical spine is rare occurring in approximately 2% of all cases, with a predilec- tion to develop in pediatric population, 80% of cases occur un patients under 20 years. We present the treatment for a 15 year old patient, with a history of decreased strength, hy- poesthesia in dermatomes C5 to T1 of the right upper limb. Diagnosed by imaging studies as an aneurysmal bone cyst in the body and posterior elements of C5. The lesion was treated with curettage, and 360 o instrumentation by a dual approach in one surgical stage with mesh placement, cervical plate, facet screws and posterior bone graft. At a follow-up of one year the patient remains asymptomatic with no signs of recurrence. Ac- curate diagnosis, early identification of complications and early treatment of this pathology is one of the goals for treatment. Complete resection of the lesion is associated with an excellent prognosis for healing. Due to the high rate of instability, fusion is indicated in most cases. Evidence level: IV


We revisit the minimal supersymmetric left–right model with B −L = 2 triplet Higgs fields and show that a self–consistent picture emerges with automatic R–parity conservation even in the absence of higher dimensional operators. By computing the effective potential for the Higgs system including heavy Majorana neutrino Yukawa couplings we show that the global minimum of the model can lie in the charge and R–parity conserving domain. The model provides natural solutions to the SUSY phase problem and the strong CP problem and makes several interesting predictions. Quark mixing angles arise only after radiative corrections from the lepton sector are taken into account. A pair of doubly charged Higgs fields remain light below TeV with one field acquiring its mass entirely via renormalization group corrections. We find this mass to be not much above the Bino mass. In the supergravity framework for SUSY breaking, we also find similar upper limits on the stau masses. Natural solutions to the μ problem and the SUSY CP problem entails light SU(2)L triplet Higgs fields, leading to rich collider phenomenology.


We consider a one-dimensional partial differential equation system modeling heat flow around a ring. The system includes a Klein-Gordon wave equation for a field satisfying spatial periodic boundary conditions, as well as Ornstein-Uhlenbeck stochastic differential equations with finite rank dissipation and stochastic driving terms modeling heat baths. There is an energy flow around the ring. In the case of a linear field with different (fixed) bath temperatures, the energy flow can persist even when the interaction with the baths is turned off. A simple example is given.


In the United States, civil common carrier telecommunications are provided by private companies, not by any agency of the government. Regulation of these services and spectrum management oversight is provided by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an agency of the government. Government telecommunications are operated by individual agencies, e.g. the Department of Defense, under the overall regulation of the Office of Spectrum Management of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a government body separate from the FCC. In bands shared by the civil and government sectors, liaison and coordination is effected between the FCC and the NTIA.


X-ray computed tomography (CT) plays a very important role in daily biomedical practice for diagnosis and therapy, and in materials science for accurate data analysis and quality control. Besides accurate and robust image reconstruction, there is a growing interest in methods for limited angle tomography. The idea is to reduce the X-ray dose delivered to patients or to cope with physical angle limitations in materials science via a significant subsampling of projection data. Many of such transmission imaging system are based on the Radon transform as the underlying imaging operator. Reconstruction methods can suffer from severe artefacts if the underlying noise, the experimental design, e.g. sparseor limited-angle sampling, or prior information on measurements or reconstructions are not taken into account sufficiently. The goal of this work is to study a novel variational method for joint image reconstruction and directional Total Generalized Variation (TGV) based sinogram inpainting to address the problem of limited angle tomography. Besides the use of higherorder derivatives and anisotropy for inpainting, our main novelty lies in the study of joint sinogram inpainting and reconstruction in one framework, where various numerical results support our findings.


Objective:  We assessed the prevalence of perceived stigma among persons with mental disorders and chronic physical conditions in an international study.


A novel multi-carrier modulation scheme for broadband power line communication (PLC) is presented. The novel architecture is based on the Filtered Multitone (FMT) modulation concept. However, the novel modulation scheme uses the circular convolution instead of the linear convolution in the filtering operations. We refer to this new architecture as Cyclic Block Filtered Multitone Modulation (CB-FMT). CB-FMT can benefit from the high sub-channel frequency confinement and the design of an orthogonal prototype pulse is simplified w.r.t. conventional FMT. A simple frequency domain equalizer can be deployed in frequency selective channels. Furthermore, CB-FMT can offer high frequency notching capability which is an important requirement in PLC to fulfill EMC norms. Numerical results show that CB-FMT has higher achievable rate than OFDM for the same number of data sub-channels.


Interchain exchange reactions with the formation of "hybrid" polymers take place in mixed solutions of two polymers or in solutions of polymers dissolved in "foreign" monomers, in the presence of free radical initiators. A number of methods, namely, turbidimetric titration, ultraviolet spectroscopy, refractometry, and pycnometry were used to identify and analyze the hybride polymers. A qualitative method for determining the "hybridity" of polymers was developed. This consisted in determining the optical and mechanical (relaxation) properties of polymer films obtained from various solvents (poor solvents for one and good solvents for the other type of block or branch of the hybrid polymer). For the quantitative investigation of systems containing the hybrid polymers a new method employing an ultracentrifuge has been developed. This is a modification of Meselson's method (equilibrium centrifugation in a concentration gradient) and consists in centrifuging a mixture of two homopolymers and their hybrid polymer in a mixture of two solvents of which the density has been so chosen that the homopolymers give the Boltzmann distribution at the bottom and at the meniscus of the cell. The hybrid polymer accumulates in a band in the central part. Theoretically the method allows one to determine simultaneously the molecular weight distribution of all three polymers and the composition of the "hybrid" polymer. The present experiments are important in throwing light on the secondary reactions taking place in radical homopolymerization and leading to unusual multimodal or "tailed" molecular weight distributions.


The efficiency and maintainability of fault tolerance mechanisms in a computer system has typically not been a major topic of concern, mostly because fault tolerance is a non-functional system requirement. This paper proposes a Holistic Fault Tolerance architecture, based on a centralised fault tolerance management, with related functionality distributed across the entire system. The most suitable error detection and error recovery strategies for a given application are chosen by a special crosscutting controller depending on error rates, system performance and resource utilisation requirements. We discuss the motivation for introducing this holistic fault tolerance architecture and reason about its benefits from the point of view of optimal system operation and improved maintainability. The advantages and possible implementation challenges of the proposed approach are demonstrated by a real-world application.


In many instances refurbishment plans require the implementation of more advanced control techniques in order to realise to the full the potential advantages. This applies where the use of turbine following boiler modes lead to a more economic use of fuel or where improved steam admission procedures for the turbine can reduce the overall start-up time. Such improvements almost invariably require the implementation of overall plant control concepts which can only be effected by the adoption of hierarchical, distributed digital control systems. The author discusses the developments and design of electrohydraulic governing systems for turbines including the functions available, operator interfaces, and installations in the UK, Australia, and Canada. >


GTOPO30 is a global DEM regularly spaced at 30-arc seconds (approximately 1 kilometer) covering the full extent of latitude from 90 degrees south to 90 degrees north, and the full extent of longitude from 180 degrees west to 180 degrees east. However, 1kilometer spatial resolution is not enough for many projects. In this case, real alternative for the important projects is the DEMs from SRTM mission, which was flown as 11 days mission in 2000. This mission provides a global DEM using two interferometric SAR (InSAR) systems operating simultaneously in X and C band for areas within the geographic latitudes of 60°N and 58°S. The C-band 3-arc second (90 m) data set is being processed by JPL for the archives of NIMA and the NASA. The X-band 1-arc second (30 m) data set is processed and distributed by DLR, Germany. In this study, geometric accuracy and morphological analyses of the GTOPO30 and interferometric DEMs derived from the C and X band -SAR systems have been carried out over the Istanbul testfield with undulating terrain and moderate height range using the reference DEM digitized from the topographic maps of 1:25000 scale. For both interferometric DEMs produced almost similar accuracy results with the range of 6.5 m to 7.5 m. The obtained accuracy for the GTOPO30 was in the range of 15.9 m to 16.8 m for open and forest area. Accuracy of SRTM X and C-band DEMs were also checked against the GCPs measured by GPS campaigns and rmse-Z values were found to be about 5.6 m and 9.6 m for Xand Cband respectively under the estimation of 10 % mean slope value.


Teaching management is the core of management in institutions of higher education,and the teaching secretary is a primary manager of teaching management,who takes on the work to inform and transmit as well as contact with other departments,is the bridge between teaching affairs administration department and actual teaching units,and is the bond between teachers and undergraduates.The work quality of teaching secretary will impact directly the teaching quality of institutions of higher education.Therefore,takes measures from the important function and takes the work characteristics of teaching secretary as starting point,puts forward the basic qualities that teaching secretary should have.


The present paper reports the continuation of dielectric measurements on glasses of binary chalcogenide systems directed to finding whether chemically ordered phases can form in these materials and what their composition is. A study of the phase diagram of the system Ge /SUB x/ S /SUB 1-x/ led to the conclusion that two congruently melting compounds GeS/sub 2/ and GeS can form. A study of the phase diagram of the system Ge /SUB x/ Se /SUB 1-x/ established that a congruently melted compound GeSe/sub 2/ is formed and an incongruently melting compound GeSe, which interact one with another in a eutectic way. It is confirmed that in glasses of the Ge /SUB x/ X /SUB 1-x/ systems, ordered phases of compositions with x = 0.20, 0.33, and 0.40 are formed.


The invention provides a reaction chamber positioning structure and a reaction chamber. The reaction chamber positioning structure facilitates positioning and installation of an upper cover of the reaction chamber and a reaction cavity and comprises a positioning pin and a spring, wherein a first positioning hole is formed in the reaction cavity, a second positioning hole is formed in the upper cover, the positioning pin is provided with a shaft shoulder for limiting the spring, the spring is arranged on the outer side of one end of the positioning pin in a sleeving mode and installed in the first positioning hole formed in the reaction cavity, the spring is compressed after the second positioning hole formed in the upper cover is aligned to the other end of the positioning pin, and the other end of the positioning pin is inserted into the second positioning hole for positioning. The reaction chamber comprises the reaction chamber positioning structure. The reaction chamber positioning structure and the reaction chamber are simple and reasonable in structural design, the height of the positioning pin is increased through matching of the spring and the positioning pin, and the upper cover and reaction chamber assembling accuracy and efficiency are improved.


The paper applied GIS and evaluation models to the meteorological service benefit evaluation of Huaihe River Basin,took the meteorological disasters of Huaihe River Basin and meteorological service benefit evaluation models as the key study objects,intuitively demonstrated the distributed situation of the basin rivers,facilities,humanities and so on by using vector graphics,forming the visual assessment interfaces,and introduced the spatial analysis,thematic map design,simulation analysis and other functions to the system so as to enhance the information level and aided decision-making capability of meteorological service benefit evaluation.


Strong-motion accelerograms are used to examine the response of a multiple-span highway bridge to earthquake loading. Estimates of modal frequencies and damping values for the first two horizontal modes of the bridge are obtained from the recorded structural responses using a technique of system identification. These values are compared with the results of a finite element dynamic analysis of the bridge. Throughout the study, it has been desirable to extract from the data set as much information as possible, because of the limited earthquake response data available from such structures.


Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a deadly disease that is intractable to currently available treatment modalities (Vincent et al. 2011). Failure of standard chemo-, radioand neoadjuvant single pathway targeted therapies indicate that before newer treatment regimens are designed, one has to re-visit the basic understanding of the origins and complexity of PDAC. As such, PDAC is now appreciated to have not only a highly heterogeneous pathology but is also a disease characterized by dysregulation of multiple pathways governing fundamental cell processes (Kim and Simeone 2011). Such complexity has been suggested to be governed by molecular networks that execute metabolic or cytoskeletal processes, or their regulation by complex signal transduction originating from diverse genetic mutations (Figure 1). A major challenge, therefore, is to understand how to develop actionable modulation of this multivariate dysregulation, with respect to both how it arises from diverse genetic mutations and to how it may be ameliorated by prospective treatments in PDAC. Lack of understanding in both these areas is certainly a major underlying reason for failure of most of the available and clinically used drugs (Stathis and Moore 2010). The pharmaceutical industry handpicked drugs have been generally based on their specificity towards a particular protein and the subsequent targeted pathway (K-Ras, PI3K, MEK, EGFR, p53 etc) without considering the effect of modulating secondary and interacting pathways (Almhanna and Philip 2011; Philip 2011). However, as results from integrated network modeling and systems biology studies indicate, targeting one protein is not straightforward as each protein in a cellular system works in a complex interacting network comprised of a myriad interconnected pathways (Wist et al. 2009a). Silencing one protein/pathway can have multiple effects on different secondary pathways leading to secondary effects. For example, activation of salvage pathways (commonly observed in PDAC) can result in diminished drug response or in some cases acquired resistance. Therefore, in order to decode this complexity and to understand both the PDAC disease and identify drug targets, it requires a departure from a protein-centric to a more advanced network-centric view. This chapter deals with recent advancements on deciphering PDAC disease networks and drug response networks based on integrated systems and network biology-driven science. It is believed that such integrated and holistic approach will help in not only delineating the mechanism of resistance of this complex disease, it will also aid in the future design of targeted drug combinations that will improve the dismal cure rate.


The digital library can't cause the disappearance of the library, a cultural facility, quite the contrary, as combination of the digital library and the traditional library,the modern library will have more and stronger functions, and will meet the needs of the clients more perfectly.


The organized crime is a new type of crime. There are many differences between the thinking methods on the investigation of organized crimes and those of normal crimes. This article aims at the characteristics of the organized crime as well as its anti-investigation measures and puts forward some new thinking methods.


This letter studies the attack detection problem in a data-driven and model-free setting, for deterministic systems with linear and time-invariant dynamics. Differently from existing studies that leverage knowledge of the system dynamics to derive security bounds and monitoring schemes, we treat the cases where the system dynamics, as well as the attack strategy and attack location, are unknown. We derive fundamental security limitations as a function of only the observed data and without estimating the system dynamics (in fact, no assumption is made on the identifiability of the system). In particular, (i) we derive detection limitations as a function of the informativity and length of the observation window, (ii) provide a data-driven characterization of undetectable attacks, and (iii) construct a data-driven detection monitor. Surprisingly, our results show that while data-driven monitoring requires a larger observation window to attain attack detection capability, once attained it shares the same limitations as model-based monitoring.


Epilachna beetle (Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata Fabr.), in Terai region was found active from April to middle of October llnd highest population waS recorded (8.14 beetle/plant) during middle of September. Population of epilachna beelle showed significant positive correlation with averuge temperature, relative humidity and weekly rainfall. Duration of life cycle was shortest (26.71 days) in June-July and longest (33.52 days) in September-October, but heighest fecundity (272.32 eggs) was recorded during March-April. Life cycle was significantly and negatively correlated with temperature and relative humidity but fecundity was positively correlated with temperature and relative humidity. High temperature and humidity during July to September lowered down the duration of life cycle and increased fecundity leading into rapid multiplication of pest resulting higher population level and thereby crop loss during the period.


A new approach in applying the theory of cognition is presented, where the concepts of artificial neural networks are combined with conventional robot control theory to produce a massively-parallel adaptive controller. The contribution given herein is two folds. First, a parallel structure of a semi-symbolic representation of the equations is presented, where the computational burden is cut down. Second, certain concepts of the theory of cognition are employed in the design of a multi-layered neural network, in which adaptation for any changes in the robot model or the environment can be accommodated for via the back-propagation of errors throughout the network. To illustrate the validity of the presented algorithm, simulation results are reported for the Unimation PUMA 560 manipulator with 6 degrees-of-freedom. >


In an editorial entitled 'Living Room' for the journal Urban Geography (Vol. 25, 2004) Susan Smith made reference to the 'tired state of housing studies'. Smith argued that the 'post-social turn' in sociology and cultural geography has largely gone unnoticed by housing researchers and because of this, the radical implications of its epistemology have yet to be explicitly addressed. This post-social turn, elsewhere referred to as Science and Technology Studies, Actor Network theory, feminist technoscience and post-humanism, calls on researchers to decentre the human as the nucleus of social life and in turn recognize the significance of non-human actors (e.g. animals, technology and material artefacts) within social analysis. While in recent years housing scholars have begun to embrace post-structuralist accounts of social life, including discursive and constructionist theories, there has only been limited engagement with post-social assumptions and concepts. In view of this gap, this paper reviews recent developments in post-social theory with a specific focus on the implications of this approach for housing studies.


The HITE Activity is designed to further the study of paleorecords and other ecological archives in documenting and understanding the interactions between human activities and terrestrial ecosystems through time, thereby ensuring the security and services of terrestrial ecosystems for the future. Three working groups cover: New Case-Studies, Regional Syntheses and Land Cover Syntheses (linking closely with POLLANCAL). Activity 3: LIMPACS – Human-Climate Interactions with Lake Ecosystems LIMPACS is concerned with understanding how and why lake ecosystems have changed, are changing and might change in the future, particularly on decadal timescales. There are seven working groups: Acidity, Nutrients, Light and Dissolved Organic Carbon, Salinity, Toxic Pollution, Sediment infi lling, and eff ects of Climate


Globalization, regionalisation and extensive levels of division of labour and value chains shape the context of international economic law. lnternational trade today is mainly trade in components. The paper describes the evolution from border measures in trade, to non-tariff barriers and matters today which traditionally pertained to domestic law and legslation. Such structural changes do not remain without major impact. Firstly, the paper argues that bilateralism is not suitable to address complex regulatory affairs and plurilateral or multilateral avenues are needed except for major powers. Efforts ro resume TTIP negotiations engaging transatlantic regulatory cooperarion between rhe US, NAFTA, EU and EFTA should be made in order to address contemporary challenges, such as climate change or Big Data. They prepare the ground to take such matters up in the WTO. Secondly, the paper argues that domestic modes of decision-making need to be revised in order secure democratic legitimacy. Front-loading trade policy implies that fundamental decisions are taken at the outset, rather than at the end of negotiating processes. The paper submits the idea to create a new Swiss trade act which comprises both principles and procedures, informing subsequent negotiations.


Accurate data in the form of technical drawings of built assets are an essential requirement for the successful operation and reconstruction of the built environment. When the consistency between t...


Shrinking polar ice caps, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, increasingly hefty tropical thunderstorms, desertification – these are topics we hear about in the news almost every day. But, seen from the comfort of our houses and offices, who is really affected by this? In fact, we are probably more involved in all these effects than the people and creatures affected. The growing trend in industrialized countries toward industrialization, increasing traffic, rising energy consumption, and the expectation to be able to obtain anything from anywhere in the world all year round – they all contribute to Global Warming, which is caused by the rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, produced by combustion processes worldwide. However there is no obvious global solution to the problem of Global Warming. The number and diversity of contributors is so confusingly large that there is no single knob we can turn in order to roll back Global Warming. Shutting down parts of this infrastructure seems difficult if not impossible. Thus new solutions are required. These solutions must be general enough to cover global effects over a large time scale. In the context of the issue at hand, we certainly cannot provide an all-encompassing solution to Earth's climate problems. However, we would like to shed a light on different facets of those global and local effects mentioned above. From supply chain management and just-in-time production over life-cycle analyses, local parcel deliveries and methods to optimize driving behavior with regard to energy efficiency, to more energy-efficient operation of data centers we all rely on in our daily use of the Internet, optimization opportunities can be exploited in order to make a contribution to fighting Global Warming. All of these case studies have in common that their energy consumption can be reduced by optimization processes that require support from IT systems. In this way, the use of IT does not, as usually seen, contribute to the increase of green house gas emission, but rather plays an active role in reducing emission in ways humans could not achieve. The four papers included in this issue view the problem of energy efficiency from different angles. In the paper by Nienhüser et al. (Forschungszentrum Informatik (FZI) in Karlsruhe), the authors demonstrate how additional driver assistance can help drivers to reduce the energy consumption of cars. In cars equipped with such smart assistance systems, future driving situations can be planned. For example, cars approaching red traffic lights can compute an optimized strategy for slowing down the car. This type of intelligent car could be enabled by an impressive amount of computer science techniques. The paper demonstrates very nicely, that the different areas of computer science and contributions from other sciences cannot be considered in isolation, but must be used in combination to achieve the desired effect. The paper by Andreas Bieswanger, Hendrik F. Hamann, and Hans-Dieter Wehle (IBM) describes techniques for improving the energy efficiency of data centers. The authors present a technique which – if compared to standard methods – provides much more precise information about the thermal situation in a data center. This technique is based on thermal models of the data center which may be adjusted during their operation, due to the presence of on-line sensors. Using the precise information about the thermal behavior, appropriate decisions can be taken. For example, jobs can be moved into cooler areas of the data center. Energy can also be saved in logistics. In their paper, authors Kathrin Hesse and Uwe Clausen (Fraunhofer IML, Dortmund) describe the application of life cycle analysis (LCA) according to DIN EN ISO 14040 to planning in logistics. Their paper details how the general norm has to be adapted to logistics. The resulting potential for energy savings is demonstrated through case studies. Areas with savings between 5% and 30% are reported. Just-in time (JIT) production can also be improved such that the required energy consumption is reduced. Authors Bernd Bamberg, Peter Waldow, and Arnold Jo-


Information systems have an important role in government departments, especially infinancial management related to financial reporting. Accounting Information Systems (AIS)to provide facilities for the management accountants to produce financial information thatis accurate, relevant, and timely, so it will be more effective and efficient in makingdecisions. This study uses quantitative analysis techniques where the Likert scale is ameasuring instrument. Research results that the effectiveness of AIS at the Department ofIndustry and Trade of the Province of Bali belong to the effective criteria which whenviewed from each of the variables that variable data security, time, accuracy, relevance,variety reports, comfort physical, information quality, and information technology mostrespondents expressed very effective. Keywords : Effectiveness, Information Systems, Accounting


Background: The value of endoscopy for acute lower GI bleeding (ALGIB) remains unclear, given few large cohort studies. We aim to provide detailed clinical data for ALGIB management and to identify patients at risk for adverse outcomes based on endoscopic diagnosis. Methods: We conducted a multicenter, retrospective cohort study, named CODE BLUE J-Study, in 49 hospitals throughout Japan and studied 10,342 cases admitted for outpatient-onset of acute hematochezia. Results: Cases were mostly elderly, with 29.5% hemodynamic instability and 60.1% comorbidity. 69.1% and 87.7 % of cases underwent CT and colonoscopy, respectively. Diagnostic yield of colonoscopy reached 94.9%, revealing 48 etiologies, most frequently diverticular bleeding. During hospitalization, the endoscopic therapy rate was 32.7%, mostly using clipping and band ligation. IVR and surgery were infrequently performed, for 2.1% and 1.4%. In-hospital rebleeding and death occurred in 15.2% and 0.9%. Diverticular bleeding cases had higher rates of hemodynamic instability, rebleeding, endoscopic therapy, IVR, and transfusion, but lower rates of death and surgery than other etiologies. Small bowel bleeding cases had significantly higher rates of surgery, IVR, and transfusion than other etiologies. Malignancy or upper GIB cases had significantly higher rates of thromboembolism and death than other etiologies. Etiologies that have favorable outcomes were ischemic colitis, infectious colitis, and post-endoscopy bleeding. Conclusions: Large-scale data of patients with acute hematochezia revealed high proportions of colonoscopy and CT, resulting in high endoscopic therapy rates. We highlight the importance of colonoscopy in detecting accurate bleeding etiologies that stratify patients at high or low risk of adverse outcomes.


We report on a magnetic levitation device with electro‐optical feedback which allows for precise stabilization of the vertical position of the levitated piece (LP) within 1 μm. The vertical position of the LP is monitored through the reflection of a laser beam on a mirror placed in the upper part of the LP. The reflected beam goes to a position sensitive photodiode and suitable electronics transforms the fluctuations in the vertical position of the LP to an electrical signal. This signal is fed into a PID controller that drives an electromagnet. The output of the detection stage yields high‐precision measurements of the fluctuations in the vertical position of the device and the current fed to the electromagnet provides a precise reading of the vertical force felt by the levitating part. We have also developed a model that explains most of the dynamical behavior observed. We have formulated the dynamical equations of the system and, by means of a linear perturbation technique, we have obtained the stabili...


An efficient method for range tracking in a stepped-frequency outdoor radar cross section (RCS) measurement system is presented. The target's coarse resolution range profile was used to determine the delay time between the transmitted pulse and the range gate. Since the target's profile can be obtained by doing inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) to the samples of the target's echo, the range gate is able to track the target automatically and there's no need of additional complex hardware for range tracking. A novel solution on velocity compensation is discussed. Considerations on the related parameters are also involved and studied


The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical success between preventive resin restoration, and pit and fissure sealant in terms of retention and caries prevention on first permanent molar. Data were collected from the patients' case records in Pediatric Dentistry clinic. Records of children who had done their sealants and preventive resin in their first permanent molar were reviewed. 61 patients had preventive resin restoration and 56 pit and fissure sealant done in permanent first molar 2 years ago were included and called for clinical review. Participants were between 6-10 years. Visual and tactile assessment was done to detect the integrity of preventive resin restoration and pit and fissure sealants under 4 categories whether the sealant or PRR is total lost, partial lost, completely present, carious. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. At the end of 2 years, sealants showed 64.3 % total retention, 21.4% partial retention and 10.7% complete loss when compared to PRR which showed 62.2% total retention, 14% partial retention and 4.9% complete loss. Preventive resin restoration have more tendency to have caries, while teeth with pit and fissure sealants does not (18% vs. 3.6%). As a conclusion, pit and fissure sealants have marginally higher retention compared to preventive resin restoration on permanent molars. Pit and fissure sealant is better in terms of caries prevention compared to preventive resin restoration.


We introduce MechSense, 3D-printed rotary encoders that can be fabricated in one pass alongside rotational mechanisms, and report on their angular position, direction of rotation, and speed. MechSense encoders utilize capacitive sensing by integrating a floating capacitor into the rotating element and three capacitive sensor patches in the stationary part of the mechanism. Unlike existing rotary encoders, MechSense does not require manual assembly but can be seamlessly integrated during design and fabrication. Our MechSense editor allows users to integrate the encoder with a rotating mechanism and exports files for 3D-printing. We contribute a sensor topology and a computational model that can compensate for print deviations. Our technical evaluation shows that MechSense can detect the angular position (mean error: 1.4°) across multiple prints and rotations, different spacing between sensor patches, and different sizes of sensors. We demonstrate MechSense through three application examples on 3D-printed tools, tangible UIs, and gearboxes.


With the proliferation of transistor count in VLSI design, more and more design groups try to figure out a way to efficiently combine their designs. The Internet features distributed computing and resource sharing. Consequently, a hierarchical floorplan design can be adequately solved in the Internet environment. In this paper, we address the problem of area minimization floorplan design in the Internet environment. We propose a novel algorithm, RMG algorithm. Taking advantage of the Internet, the RMG algorithm reduces the computing time by shortening the critical path in the floorplan tree. With creating floorplan design in the Internet environment, it can be seen that the Internet has advantages for electronic design automation.


We perform first-principles calculations to study the geometric, electronic, and magnetic properties in SnO2 nanosheet (NS) with intrinsic oxygen (VO) or tin (VSn) defects. VO defect preserves the semiconducting behavior of pure SnO2NS, while VSn-induced magnetic state is relatively complex. The induced states mainly come from the unpaired electrons on oxygen atoms surrounding the tin vacancy. Depending on different initial spin distributions, we find three spin configurations with half-metallic state (S = 1), low spin semi-conductive state (S = 0) and high spin metallic state (S = 2). More importantly, there exists the long-range FM order between two 100% spin-polarized states, attributed to the hole-mediated double exchange through the strong p–d interaction between neighboring oxygen atoms. Our predicted diverse and intriguing magnetic properties induced by VSn defects provided an insight into the origin of ferromagnetism for designing new spintronics devices based on SnO2NS.


The invention provides a calibrating method of structural parameters of a binocular visual sensing system. The calibrating method comprises the steps of: establishing epipolar geometric relationship by utilizing any point of optical centers of a left camera and a right camera, a left image and a right image of the left camera and the right camera, and a target object; utilizing the epipolar geometric relationship to obtain a fundamental matrix which comprises camera internal parameters and structural parameters; obtaining a left pole and a right pole of the left camera and the right camera by decomposing the fundamental matrix; utilizing the information of the left pole and the right pole to calculate a left rotation matrix and a right rotation matrix respectively; rotating and calibrating the left camera and the right camera by virtue of the respective optical centers and the left rotation matrix and the right rotation matrix respectively so as to cause optic axis of the left camera and the right camera to be parallel, and simultaneously rotating the left image of the left camera and the right image of the right camera by virtue of the left rotation matrix and the right rotation matrix respectively so as to cause polar lines on the left image and the right image to be parallel, thus leading to the result that a spatial target point is only different on the X-axis and identical on the Y-axis and the Z-axis in the coordinate of the left image and the right image; and the length of a connecting line between the optical centers of the left camera and the right camera is reversely calculated according to a calibration board in a rotated coordinate system so as to finish the calibration.


It is shown that, when only two turning points are important, the generalised Bohr-Sommerfeld condition for Regge-pole positions can be derived from the behaviour of the semiclassical wavefunctions in a region far from the turning points. The analysis proves that the poles can be accurately determined from the Bohr-Sommerfeld formula also when the turning points lie close together. The implications of the present analysis as to certain asymptotic properties of the semiclassical pole positions and the corresponding pole residues are discussed.


I develop a dynamic model of corporate investment with taxes, costly equity and debt financing, agency conflicts between shareholders and managers, and a parameterized time-varying pricing kernel. The framework allows me to explore both the cross section of returns and firms' financing choices. In the model, managers seek private benefits proportional to the sizes of the firms, leading to empire-building behaviors. Corporate governance is modeled explicitly as a mechanism for shareholders to discipline managers. The predictions of the model are consistent with the recent empirical findings: (1) firms with stronger governance outperform firms with weaker governance in booms and underperform these firms in recessions; (2) firms with weaker governance enjoy lower costs of debt financing and rely less on equity financing than firms with stronger governance do. I also empirically test the predictions of the model on expected stock returns.


Pollution is one of the major serious problem that is faced globally. Hydrocarbon contaminated sites possess a major threat to the environment. Release of hydrocarbon into the environment whether accidentally or due to human activities is the main cause of water and soil pollution. Biosurfactant are used in bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated sites and this could be a promising approach. With this view, isolation, screening and production of biosurfactant producing bacteria was investigated. In the present study primary screening was carried out using Mineral Salt agar plate containing 2% used engine oil as a substrate and a total of 12 morphologically distinct bacterial strains were isolated from different samples: Oil contaminated soil, Mangrove sediment and Marine water. Out of these 3 were Gram positive and 9 were Gram negative. S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6 isolates were obtained from oil contaminated soil, M1, M2 isolates from mangrove sediment and W1, W2, W3, W4 isolates were obtained from marine water. All of these isolates were then subjected for secondary screening: BATH assay, Drop collapse test, Oil displacement assay, Emulsification index and Phenol-sulfuric acid method. On the basis of all these test results best isolate from each type of sample was selected for the biosurfactant production. Then biosurfactant was extracted using acid-precipitation method and dry extracted biosurfactant was obtained.


Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of extraperitoneal laparoscopic lymphadenectomies. The rate of peri- and postoperative complications with these procedures is below 15%. One of the most common postoperative complications, lymphocele, occurs in 3.8% to 21 % of patients, and can be symptomatic or nonsymptomatic. Nonsymptomatic lymphoceles require no treatment. Although the incidence of symptomatic lymphocele has decreased with the use of systematic preventive marsupialization, this procedure does not seal the lymphatic vessels and thus does not prevent lymphatic leakage during lymph nodes dissection. A device employing ultrasonic energy, the ultrasonically activated shears (the harmonic scalpel) has been investigated for management of symptomatic lymphoceles after pelvic lymphadenectomy in patients with gynecological malignancies. This device achieves both coagulation and cutting without instrument exchanges. In a small number of studies, use of the ultrasonic shears has reduced the occurrence of lymphoceles and accomplished sealing, thereby reducing lymphatic leakage. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the ultrasonic shears in reducing the occurrence of symptomatic lymphoceles in patients who had undergone para-aortic laparoscopic lymphadenectomies (PALLs) in a prospective setting. The postoperative complications of PALLs were also investigated. A total of 98 patients who had received PALLS were divided into 2 groups. The ultrasonic group was comprised of 36 patients receiving PALLs that were performed with the activated shears. Outcomes in the study group were compared with a historical control group comprised of 62 patients receiving PALLs performed with the standard coagulation procedure. There were no statistically significant differences in the following perioperative and postoperative parameters between the ultrasonic group and control group: Operating time (129.9 ± 38.1 vs. 109.8 ± 38.1 minute, P = 0.22), hospital stay (5.1 ± 2.7 vs. 4.48 ± 3.6 days, P = 0.34), lymph nodes removed (19.8 ± 9.7 vs. 21.1 ± 8.8, P = 0.50) and positive lymph nodes (1.03 ± 2.9 vs. 0.89 ± 2.0, P = 0.78). In addition, no difference in blood loss occurred. No patients in the study group, but 7 patients in the control group experienced symptomatic lymphoceles that required medical treatment (P = 0.03). Four control patients had radiologic drainage and 1 received surgical drainage. The rate of peri/postoperative complications was 9%, which is comparable with rates of PALL reported in major studies. These findings are consistent with those of a number of major studies showing that the ultrasonically activated shears are effective for the performance of PALL. These and previous data suggest to the investigators that combined use of the shears together with systematic preventive marsupialization may significantly lower the frequency of postoperative symptomatic lymphoceles and other complications.


Background: Hands are the principal route of nosocomial infections or hospital acquired infections or health associated infections. Hand hygiene is effective in reducing infection rates. Hand hygiene among the health care professionals play a pivotal role in preventing the transmission of hospital acquired infections. The aim of the study was to assess the attitude regarding hand hygiene among students of healthcare professions.Methods: Quantitative research approach and descriptive survey design were used for the study. The purposive sampling technique was adopted to select 100 samples, 25 each from MBBS, BDS, B.Sc. Nursing and BPT. A structured attitude scale was used to collect the data. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: The study results showed that majorities (55%) of sample were in the age of 22 years, majorities (90%) were females, and majority (98%) of sample had previous information regarding hand hygiene. The entire study sample had favorable attitudes towards hand hygiene. The study showed a significant association between attitude scores and receiving previous information on hand hygiene.Conclusions: The study concluded that health professional students have favorable attitude towards hand hygiene.


The characteristics of nonpolar a-plane () GaN (a-GaN) grown using single and double nanopillar SiO2 masks were investigated. The two nanopillar SiO2 masks were directly fabricated on an r-plane sapphire substrate and a-GaN by the epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG) technique. Through the use of the single and double nanopillar SiO2 masks, the crystalline quality and optical properties of a-GaN were markedly improved because of the nanoscale ELOG effect and a number of voids in the single and double nanopillar SiO2 mask areas in comparison with the planar sample. The submicron pit densities of the planar, single, and double nanopillar mask samples were ∼2 × 109, ∼7 × 108, and ∼4 × 108 cm−2, respectively. The internal quantum efficiency (IQE) values at room temperature of three-period InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown using the planar, single, and double nanopillar masks were 45, 60, and 68% at a carrier concentration of 1.0 × 1018 cm−3, respectively.


An annual loss is essentially a necessary condition for dividend reductions in firms with established earnings and dividend records: 50.9 percent of 167 NYSE firms with losses during 1980-85 reduced dividends, versus 1.0 percent of 440 firms without losses. As hypothesized by Merton H. Miller and Franco Modigliani, dividend reductions depend on whether earnings include unusual items that are likely to temporarily depress income. Dividend reductions are more likely given greater current losses, less negative unusual items, and more persistent earnings difficulties. Dividend policy has information content in that knowledge that a firm has reduced dividends improves the ability of current earnings to predict future earnings. Copyright 1992 by American Finance Association.


Over the last several years there has been considerable interest in the properties of atomic resonance fluorescence in an optical cavity with a primary dimension comparable to the relevant transition wavelength.1 In particular, there has been great interest in the realization of strong atom-cavity coupling2 and the suppression of spontaneous emission into "free-space" modes. However, an important but poorly understood issue relevant to low- or zero-threshold condensed phase optical devices is the nonradiative coupling of the emitting species to a thermal bath. Unlike experiments involving dilute atomic beams where the transition is well defined and broadening is negligible, coupling to a thermal bath induces spectral broadening which is usually much larger than the cavity resonance width and may often exceed the cavity mode spacing. Interesting examples of such systems are solvated dyes whose condensed phase dynamics are well known and characterized. To date, several studies have been made on fluorescence properties of solvated dyes in microcavities,3,4,5 however additional complexities such as spatial and orientational averaging have obscured to some extent the connection between radiative and nonradiative processes in such systems. We discuss the observation of spontaneous emission rate modification (both enhancement and apparent suppression) for molecular species in a microcavity where both the molecular position and transition moment orientation are well defined.6 These experiments serve as an interesting test case of molecule-cavity systems in which the emitting species is nonradiatively coupled to a thermal bath.