In-doped tin (II) sulfide nanoparticles (NPs), synthesized by ultrasonication method and their optical and photovoltaic properties, have been investigated. FESEM images show NPs which have a flower-like morphology that sizes are <100 nm. Optical energy band gap estimation of tin sulfide NPs with the Tauc plot method had shown an increase with minimum of indium concentration and then decreases with higher concentration of indium. Photovoltaic experiment shows the highly photovoltaic efficiency of tin sulfide NPs with indium doping, can be obtained.


As part of the Information Revolution," the amount of raw information available to computer users has increased as never before. Unfortunately , there has been a corresponding jump in the amount of unrelated information users must search through in order find information of interest. Harnessing the power of multiple users to form a collaborative fillter provides a robust wayy of helping direct users to the information that will be most useful to them. To test this idea, we have designed a large scale collaborative filltering system tuned to help users extract information from Usenet Net News. In this thesis we demonstrate a system for collaborative filltering that can scale up to encompass the large distributed information sources of which Usenet Net News is an example. Our system provides varying levels of anonymity to protect the interests of the users, as w ell as means of minimizing the load placed on the existing information source. We believe the system will be especially good at three tasks: supporting users as they explore new areas of interest; providing users a way of keeping up to date on areas they already have familiarity with; and at providing extra information to other fillters.


The Internet of Things (IoT) requires a compact naming scheme, which can also bring significant advantages to service registration and discovery. We propose a novel approach, denoted as distributed naming service, which provides a new naming scheme as well as an efficient service discovery protocol for wireless sensor networks. It is based on three pillars: 1) Bloom filters, to create compact names from node descriptions; 2) message propagation strategies, to publish and discover information—not only names—within the network; and 3) distributed caches, to store names within the network. In this paper, we assume ContikiMAC at layer 2, IPv6 and Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) at layer 3, and we present two particular UDP-based message propagation strategies that take advantage of the RPL protocol at layer 3. We evaluate the performance of the proposed solutions through Contiki/Cooja simulations and on a real testbed, using the open and large scale FIT IoT-LAB.


Fleet has been an early adopter of new technology, starting with card reader equipment in the 1950s, use of mainframes in the 1960s, "dumb" terminals of the 1970s, PCs in the 1980s, and now a multitude of Web-enabled services.


Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist Richard Dawkins Hent PDF Forlaget skriver: A sparkling new collection of work from one of the world's greatest science writers, this anthology is introduced by the author and includes sections on the value of science: what it is, what it does and why it matters; evolution, Darwinism, natural selection: how they work and how they don't; the scientist as prophet: speculating with imagination and reason, relating present and past to future; religion its errors, its effects etc.; the glories and fascination of the living world, as epitomized by Galápagos; humour in Dawkins' own work and his keen appreciation of it in others. Richard Dawkins first catapulted to fame with his iconic work The Selfish Gene (1976) which he followed with a string of prestigious books, including The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, The God Delusion, a previous anthology, A Devil's Chaplain (2003), and two volumes of autobiography, An Appetite for Wonder (2013) and Brief Candle in the Dark (2015). He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Literature and the recipient of numerous honours and awards. He remains a fellow of New College, Oxford. In 2013, Dawkins was voted the world's top thinker in Prospect magazine's poll of 10,000 readers from over 100 countries.


A large proportion of endogenous soil P occurs in organic forms, of which derivatives of inositol phosphates constitute a major fraction (Richardson et al., 2005). The bioavailability of inositol phosphates depends on their mineralization by extracellular phytases (myo-inositol-hexakisphosphate phosphohydrolases; EC 220.127.116.11 and EC 184.108.40.206), which have many biological sources. However, we currently have a poor understanding of the interactions between phytases and inositol phosphates in soil. While availability of inositol phosphates is clearly a major issue, factors affecting the stability and efficacy of extracellular enzymes in soils are important. These include: (i) proteinase and microbially-mediated degradation, (ii) partial or total deactivation by adsorption onto soil particles and (iii) deactivation via interaction with polyvalent anions, metal ions and microbial metabolites (Quiquampoix and Mousain, 2005). These factors differentially affect phytase activity depending on both the characteristics of the soil environment and the source and biochemical properties of the discrete phytase. Adsorption of enzymes to soil solid constituents is frequently reported, and demonstrated to be a result of both enthalpic (intermolecular) and entropic (intramolecular) forces (Quiquampoix, 2000). Such adsorption tends to reduce enzyme affinity for substrates and thus reduce their effective activity, which in some cases may be complete and irreversible (Quiquampoix and Mousain, 2005). However, adsorption may be important for the long-term persistence of enzymes in soils, by protecting them against degradation. Generally, it is evident that heterogenous surfaces such as those found in soils, are less inhibitory to enzyme activity upon adsorption than pure clays or some organic materials (Rao et al., 1994). Moreover, inhibition upon adsorption of phytase has been shown to be soil specific, particularly in terms of soil texture and mineralology. For example, after being adsorbed for 28 days, more than 40% of added phytase remained active in a sandy soil compared to just 5% in a soil dominated by clay (George et al., 2005a). The inhibition of phytase upon adsorption also appears dependent on the evolved function of the phytase. For example, intracellular phytases have been shown to be completely adsorbed and inhibited by clay particles, while extracellular phytases retained significant catalytic activity in the presence of clay (Matumoto-Pintro and Quiquampoix, 1997). Species specific variability in the biochemical properties of the extracellular enzymes produced is also important. Phosphohydrolases of one ectomycorrhizal fungus (Pisolithus tinctorius) showed no adsorption on montomorilonite, while those of other strains (Cenococcum geophilum, Hebeloma cylindrosporum) were strongly adsorbed and inhibited (Quiquampoix and Mousain, 2005). Regardless of whether extracellular phytases are inhibited by adsorption, immobilisation to the solid phase will presumably limit their interaction with inositol phosphates in soil, particularly if these substrates are also immobilised through adsorption and precipitation reactions. With this in mind, we have observed an effect of the rhizosphere on phytase adsorption, in that greater activity was retained in rhizosphere soil solution compared to bulk soil (George et al., 2005a). This might be attributed to the


Recent research provides insight into the relationship of access spacing and safety, and on the operational influences of access connections. Attitude surveys show that, while there is substantial opposition to the change, closure/redesign of median openings and installation of a nontraversable median have been generally accepted. Recent findings relating roadway crash rates to the density of access connections and median type are presented.


Urban centres base their resilience on the ability to evolve and adapt as needed throughout their life. Although constantly developing, changing and subsuming nature for its needs, the current age of environmental awareness requires that cities progress in a more conscious and considered way. While they have become the dominant form of human habitation, there now exists a need to integrate 'green' solutions into urban centres to address social, physical and environmental wellbeing.
The means of implementing the vast array of possible solutions without negative impacts is not clear; cities are complex systems, layering meaning, history and cultural memory ‐ they are a manifestation of shared cultural values, and as such, they do not allow a tabula rasa approach of 'blanket' solutions.
All around us, cities are continuing to develop and change, and although their form is varied ‐ sprawling cities with density and sustainability problems; or collapsing cities with 'dead' centres and dilapidated districts – a common issue is the resilience of the local identity. The strength or resilience of cities lies in the elements which have become fixed points in the urban structure, giving character and identity to a shared urban experience. These elements need to be identified and either maintained or revitalised. Similarly, the identification of urban elements which can most viably be modified without compromising character and identity of place, will assist in making concrete contributions to increasing both the sustainability and experience of cities, making them more resilient.
Through an examination of case studies, this paper suggests a framework to inform urban renewal assessing the widespread elements which generate an urban identity, beyond the traditional approach of heritage conservation for cultural or tourist purposes. The rapid contemporary alteration of urban structures requires an innovative methodology which satisfies on one side the need of new sustainable performances and, on the other, the resilience of the local character.


Recent interest in the work of Historical Sociologists has concentrated on their renewed interest in the state. There is considerable regard for the historical account of state formation and development produced by writers such as Mann, Skocpol and Tilly. Surprisingly there has been less attention paid to another feature of their writings—the locating of states in an inter-state context. This article examines the international context envisioned by four historical sociologists. It argues that, although these writers have been successful at historicising state formations, this powerful account has not been matched with a historical account of international relations. If this project is to move forward, a complementary historical account of international contexts, or global structures, is required.


To this date, there has been an increasing number of children across the globe diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. There has been much literature that discussed the issues and obstacles common learners face in their English language learning journey. Yet, not much spotlight and acknowledgment were given to the learners with Autism in their voyage of English language learning. In conjunction to that, this paper intends to investigate the obstacles that the learners with Autism face in their English as secondary language learning. In addition to that, teachers are not to be forgotten as teachers are also believed to be playing a role in learners with Autism's English as a second language(ESL) learning process which is why this research also intends to investigate the challenges faced by the teachers who are in charge of teaching learners with Autism. A qualitative research with the observation and interview as the instruments represents this research. This research involved two Autism Centres located in an urban area in Malaysia. The observation and interviews were conducted with forty-five learners with Autism and fourteen teachers. The findings have gathered that the world of Autism Spectrum Disorder is indeed full of obstacles and challenges but none that could not be overcome. It is believed that this research will provide a better insight of the real world of ESL teaching and learning among learners with Autism. Discussions and recommendations are further explained in this research.


A simple technique for obtaining submicron gap patterns is described. The technique utilizes the redeposition effect in ion‐beam etching. Gap widths are controlled by the thickness of the sublayer deposited on the target layer. A 0.3 μm gap width is obtained from a 0.8 μm initial photoresist gap pattern using a 0.7 μm thick sublayer. This technique is applied to the fabrications of photomasks and permalloy patterns for bubble memory. It has been confirmed that a 0.5 μm gap structure is easily obtained by this technique using conventional photolithography with 1 μm minimum feature size.


For the last 5500 years, men and women have been socialized in a patriarchal system that supports the ideas of power and hierarchy and privileges male supremacy, private property and slavery. This model has promoted confrontation between the sexes. But another kind of social organization is possible: the solidarity model, based on association. In Argentina, women's movements created on a non-hierarchical, collective basis have shown that it is possible to mobilize against a system of oppression and to promote change. Women family therapists may greatly contribute to a change in human relationships using their own socialization as a resource.


The utility model discloses a fixed type alternating current closed metal switch cabinet used for XGN2-12. The fixed type alternating current closed metal switch cabinet comprises a cabinet body, metal door plates and a metal baffle, wherein the metal door plates and the metal baffle are arranged in front of the cabinet body. The metal door plates and the metal baffle form an integral structure of the surface of the cabinet body, mechanical latches are arranged on one sides of the metal door plates and used for fixing switches with the metal baffle, and hinges are arranged on the other sides of the metal door plates and fixedly connected with the cabinet body. The metal door plates comprise the first metal door plate, the second metal door plate and the third metal door plate from top to bottom in sequence. A full assembly mode is adopted for the closed switch cabinet body, so that the production period is short, and besides the cabinet is convenient to adjust, the hinge is beautiful and elegant, the metal door plates are made of high-quality cold rolled steel plates and machined through a numerically-controlled machine tool, the protection level of the cabinet body reaches IPX3, requirements for using switch equipment are met, and in addition non-standard design can be performed according to actual needs.


The manuscript "Towards accurate methane point-source quantification from highresolution 2D plume imagery" by S. Jongaramrungruang et al. introduces a procedure to quantify the methane flux of a point source from a high resolution 2D imagery of the plume. Large Eddy Simulations are used to deduct the method. The flux inversion is described in detail and an error estimate for the method is given. The procedure is then applied to one case of a controlled release experiment, where it could reproduce the flux rate within the assumed error estimate.


Virtual reality technology utilizes computer to construct three dimensional dummy environment and users can act with it by the aid of special computer input/output devices. This paper introduces a novel computer input device based on the parallel mechanism technology. This computer input device provides six degree of freedoms (DoF) operation ability, as is more flexible than the conventional two dimensional mouse. All objects among the dummy environment can translate along any directions and rotate around any axis in three dimensional space when operator manipulates the computer input device. Three aspects, including operation principle, control system and application are analyzed. And method about how to establish the whole simulation system based on this six-DoFs computer input device is also given as an application example, which is very useful for the mechanism type synthesis, workspace analysis and kinematic characteristic investigation.


Caesarean section is commonly performed under regional anaesthesia because it enables the mother to be conscious of the birth of her baby and it avoids the risks of failed tracheal intubation and inhalation of gastric contents. The onset, duration, and quality of sensory blockade are determined by the intrinsic properties and dose of the local anaesthetic and the addition of epinephrine ornarcotics. To achieve solubility, local anaesthetics are prepared as salts in an acidic solution, in which most of the drug is ionized. After injection, tissue buffering increases the pH and a percentage of the drug associates into an nonionized form, which penetrates the axon membrane to reach the interior of the axon. Once inside, the cellular acidity causes the drug to reionize. It is this form which blocks the sodium channels, preventing the entry of sodium into the cell and the propagation of the action potential. Alkalinization increases the proportion of nonionized drug and enhances its diffusion across the axon membrane. Carbonation increases the proportion of the ionized form in the axon by lowering the intracellularpH. 1 In vitro studies on isolated nerve preparations have shown that potency is increased by either alkalinization or addition of carbon dioxide to a lidocaine solution.2 However, clinical Anita Kozyrskyj


Diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer (PCа) are associated with the serum level of prostate specific antigen (PSA). However, certain prostate diseases such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostatitis can also affect PSA levels. The low specificity and sensitivity of PSA leads to a "unnecessary" prostate biopsy, which certainly makes this diagnostic method a controversial screening test. As a result, the discovery of new non-invasive molecular biological markers are necessary for the diagnosis, treatment, surveillance and prognosis of patients with diseases of prostate. This review aims to evaluate the "benefit" of miRNAs as molecular biological markers of BPH and PCa differentiation.


The constraints on initial and boundary data for magnetic solenoidality are implemented for MHD computation of interplanetary disturbances. The domain of computation is the entire ecliptic plane outside the solar equator. It is a synoptic domain, without cuts as artificial boundaries. The radial co-ordinate is stretched so that grid points constitute equilateral meshes, to attain the same degree of accuracy in the finite difference approximations for spatial derivatives in orthogonal directions.


The contributions of different oceanic feedbacks to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phase‐locking are examined by deriving ENSO dynamics based on the recharge‐discharge framework. In observations, the significant winter preference of the ENSO peak is determined by a strong seasonal modulation of SST growth rate, which is controlled by the zonal advective and thermodynamic feedbacks. However, the majority of climate models fail to simulate ENSO phase‐locking because the contribution of zonal advective feedback to the seasonal modulation of the SST growth rate is much smaller compared to observations. The weak annual cycle of the SST‐current coupling coefficient and small annual mean of the negative climatological zonal SST gradient are two factors contributing to the weak‐biased seasonality of zonal advective feedback. Further analysis shows that the Niño3.4 SSTA has better phase‐locking performance than Niño3 SSTA in the climate models due to the better simulation of zonal advection feedback in the Niño3.4 region.


A dynamic power splitting (DPS) scheme for decode-and-forward (DF) relaying based simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) networks with a direct link (DL) is considered. The optimal DPS factor can maximise the received signal-to-noise ratio at the destination node. If the DPS factor is equal to zero, the proposed model will degenerate into a non-cooperative network which only utilises the DL to accomplish the transmission. The authors first derive the optimal DPS factor, and then derive analytical expressions for outage probability and ergodic capacity. Moreover, to obtain the diversity order, the asymptotic expression for outage probability is also derived. Numerical results show that the performance of the proposed scheme is the best compared to the other competitive schemes, especially in terms of the ergodic capacity.


In recent era, the efforts for harnessing electrical power from renewable sources increased significantly. Application of power electronics to harness electrical power from renewable energy sources are posing serious power quality issues in grid. When power from such generation units integrated in utility grid it's power quality, stability, and reliability is getting compromised due to nature of generation and it's dependency on various factors like irradiance, wind speed etc. The main objective of any electric power utility company shall be providing its end user reliable and quality of power at all time. Strict laws shall be made for power quality parameter compliances to avoid detrimental effects of power quality issues. This paper addresses control of current harmonics using shunt active power filter in utility grid generated by non-linear load. The solar PV energy penetration is used to mitigate harmonics distortion and bring it down to acceptable limits as per international standards. The harmonics mitigation using shunt active power filter with hysteresis current control is presented.


Large-scale deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) is deleterious for distribution system operations. Unplanned installation of EV charging station (EVCS) deteriorates the voltage stability, reliability, and power quality of the distribution system leading to customer discontentment. This article proposes a novel approach for the proper placement of EVCS in a distribution network maintaining the system performance. The design of a test station with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability is outlined in this work. The test station is developed with five charging columns taking into consideration the standards and guidelines outlined in the Government of India EV policy. The charging station is connected to the power grid by a dc bus to which numerous EVs are attached. EVCS placement in the IEEE-33 bus radial distribution system is performed by developing six test scenarios. The test case results substantiate the potency of the reliability-index based approach for allocating EVCS both slow and fast chargers in a distribution network. Further, the maximal threshold value for placing the EVCS in various buses in a distribution system is determined using a novel electric vehicle placement index (EVPI). The novelty of the approach lies in the fact that it can include all operational parameters influenced owing to EV deployment, thereby maintaining the overall system performance without any physical restructuring of the network. The efficacy of the approach and the severity level of EVCS placement are validated for a real-time distribution system in Kerala, India.


This work reports on a three-dimensional numerical analysis to assess the residual strength of single and double-strap repaired CFRP composite laminates, under tensile, compressive and bending loads. Interface finite elements including a triangular cohesive mixed-mode damage model are used in order to simulate damage onset and growth. The influences of several geometric changes on damage onset as well as growth and on the repair residual strength are addressed. The geometric changes include chamfering the outer and inner patch faces, filling the drilled hole with adhesive (plug filling), use of fillets of different shapes and dimensions at the outer edge of the overlap, chamfering the outer and inner parent laminate faces and combinations thereof. This work showed that with the correct repair geometry, a significant strength improvement could be achieved for all the loads considered and for both single and double-strap geometries. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2008


The advent of nuclear cardiology has resulted in computers playing an increasingly prominent role in nuclear medicine. Frequently, the requirements of nuclear cardiology - especially first pass and gated equilibrium studies - set the hardware and software requirements for the entire nuclear medicine computer system. As nuclear cardiology is a relatively new field (at least at the non-research level) many commercial computer systems with cardiac capabilities are being modified as feedback is obtained from the increasing number of users and studies. At the NIH we have performed over 1500 gated equilibrium nuclear cardiac studies, both at rest and during exercise, using software of our own design. During this time our computer system has evolved considerably. Although our current system is by no means an optimum one, the considerable experience we have had developing it has given us many insights into what we believe are the desirable features of a system for nuclear cardiology in a clinical setting. The purpose of this paper is to present what we believe to be the important features of such a system. We will begin by presenting the hardware and software features of our own (non-optimum) system. An examination of how these features meet (or fail to meet) the clinical need will hopefully point out the features (and their rationale) which should be present in a more optimum system. For the sake of brevity, we will concentrate primarily on gated equilibrium studies, although the system requirements of first transit and other techniques have also been considered in the system design.


Sometimes, the first principal component may come logically from the established knowledge and premises. For example, for the high school students' test scores of Korean, English, Mathematics, Social Study, and Science, it is natural to define the first principal component as the average of all subject scores. In such cases, we need to respect both the background knowledge and the data exploration. The aim of this study is to find the remaining components in principal component analysis of multivariate data when the first principal component is defined a priori by the researcher. Moreover, we study related matrix decomposition and their application to the graphical display.


Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic autoimmune disease of the connective tissue with unknown etiology, characterized by abnormal collagen deposition in the skin. The changes in patients result in the obliteration of microvessels and fibrosis, leading to damage to the skin, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, lungs, heart, and oral cavity. Brazil has insufficient data about the epidemiological and laboratory aspects of SSc. This study aimed to identify and characterize the patients in treatment for SSc in Cascavel/PR, a city in the south of Brazil. Data were collected from March 2019 to September 2020 from all health services of Cascavel that provide care in rheumatology: a university-affiliated hospital, two public outpatient clinics, and six private clinics. Data about age, sex, residence, time to diagnosis, the form of the disease, and the results of tests for antinuclear (ANA) and anti-extractable nuclear antigens (ENA) antibodies were obtained. The study identified 57 patients; 82.5% were female with a mean age of 50.4 years, and the predominant disease form was diffuse (52.6%). The ANA test was positive in 87.7% of the patients, of which 49.2% showed high titers and a predominance of the centromeric pattern. Anti-Scl-70, anti-centromere (ACA), and anti-RNA polymerase III antibodies were positive in 28.1%, 25%, and 5% of the patients. The characteristics of the patients diagnosed with SSc in Cascavel/PR are similar to those reported in the literature. This study contributed to the scarce Brazilian data about the disease.


In this paper, we propose a novel architecture called quaternion discrete Racah moments convolutional neural network (QRMCNN) for color face recognition to improve the recognition accuracy and to reduce the computational complexity. Quaternion Racah moments (QRM) can extract effective features from color images. The use of QRM as first layer aims to reduce the input matrix size of the proposed architecture in the earliest orders and hence enormously decrease the number of parameters and the computational time. Experiments are carried out on faces96 and FEI face datasets to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed architecture in the training process. The obtained results indicate clearly that the QRMCNN outperforms previous methods in terms of recognition rate and GPU elapsed time.


A facile method to recycle wasted expandable polystyrene (WEPS) into graphite polystyrene bead (GPS) is described in this paper. The recycled beads were characterizied by FTIR, SEM, TGA, GPC and XR...


By the way of relevant literature,data analysis,field survey and interviews between the people who travel between Beijing and Taipei,analysis and comparison between the traffic conditions of Beijing and Taipei are carried on.Comparison is divided into four parts: cities and population status,development of rail transport,development of public transport system,and the status of current road traffic.Both cities face the situation of rapid growth of private cars and road congestion saturated case,which result in a great quantity construction of public transport.The existing public transport has the ability to share at least 35% of the resident travel volume.It is expected that by 2015,urban public transport road network is much denser in Beijing and Taipei,and 50% of the resident travel volume could be effectively shared.


Stroke is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. In Sweden, about 30 000 strokes occur each year. The aim of this thesis was to analyse survival, functional outcome and self-reported depr ...


Studies on the mechanism of action of the neurotoxicant 1-methylPpheny1-1,2,3,6tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) during the past eight years have generated important inbrmation as well as new hypotheses on processes that may underlie neuronal degeneration.1-3 Although a number of questions concerning the selective neurotoxic effects of MM'P still remain to be addressed, a simple general conclusion may be drawn at the present time: MlTP represents an excellent example of how a seemingly concerted sequence of pharmacologic and biochemical events can culminate in a highly selective neurotoxic action. This sequence can be summarized as tbllows: 1. Because of its lipophilic structure, MlTP is able to cross the blood-brain barrier. Peripheral metabolism of MPTP may actually play a protective role by decreasing the amount of compound that reaches the CNS.4 2. In the brain, MPTP undergoes a process of metabolic activation: monoamine oxidase (MAO) type B converts MPrP to the l-methyl-4-phenyl-2,3dihydmpyridinium (MPDP+) ~pecies~.~; then, after further oxidation, MPDP+ generates the ultimate mediator of MPTP toxicity, that is, the 1-methyl4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) metabolite.7.8 MPP+ is also produced peripherally; this MPP+, however, is relatively "inert" from the neurotoxicologic point of view, being unable to cross the blood-brain barrier. 3. The MPP+ generated in the CNS can be taken up by dopaminergic neurons via the catecholamine uptake ~ y s t e m . ~ This active transport may play a role not only in the accumulation of MPP+, but also in "trapping" this toxic compound within target neurons. Indeed, as discussed later in this chapter, elimination of MPP+ from the cell would be counteracted by its reuptake. At least one other mechanism has been suggested to be involved in the retention of MPP+ within target neurons, namely, its binding to neuromelanin in the substantia nigra.10 4. The cytotoxic properties of MPP+ have been extensively documented by both in pina and in PiPo studies. It was originally proposed that the mechanism of toxicity of this MPTP metabolite may involve the generation of oxygen radicals, resulting in a condition of oxidative stress.11 However, since Nicklas and colleagues first reported


MY TITLE REFERS, FIRST, TO THAT FAMILIAR MOMENT IN a conversation when the interlocutors attempt to resume their exchange after an interruption necessitates a reestablishment of the communicative channel through an appeal to what Roman Jakobson, following Bronislaw Malinowski, called the phatic function—that is, the elements of the conversation whose purpose is to test the communication conduit. The title also alludes to that moment when one of the interlocutors, having drifted away absentmindedly, distracted by other concerns, tries to retake the thread of the conversation, which has continued for a while without his or her attention or contribution. We have all experienced these situations and know that a great deal of anxiety is associated with them. Aside from the embarrassment caused by our inattention, we always feel pressure to be the first one to identify the precise topic we were dealing with when communicative disaster struck, as if this small triumph would prove that we were paying attention all along. But the anxiety derives also from the unsettling possibility that we may not be able to pick up the thread where we left it, that in the intervening seconds of the interruption the world may have changed forever, that the original context we are trying desperately to recover may be lost for good, that the "where" in "where were we?" may have become a nonplace, and . . . "Who is this person in front of me, anyway?" On 12–14 April 2002, the Conference on the Relation between English and Foreign Languages in the Academy took place in New York, sponsored by the Modern Language Association and New York


UNLABELLED
Cavity lining with flowable composites has been suggested for better marginal adaptation and a reduction in interfacial stress and post-operative sensitivity. The following in vitro study compares the spreading of flowable composite that lines the inner wall of a test cavity using an explorer and a specially designed smooth, oscillating, off-center rotating bur spun at 300 to 600 rpm. Two commercial flowable materials were used in this study.

RESULTS
With use of the rotating bur, a more consistent, uniform cavity lining was achieved. This was not possible using the dental explorer.

CONCLUSION
The specially designed rotating bur provides an effective way for clinicians to form a uniform cavity lining.


Inventory control is a company policy in managing goods in order to optimize the number of orders and minimize inventory costs. The object of this research is PT XYZ in Gresik city which produces tempeh and tofu. Several raw materials are needed in the production process, one of which is soybeans. As the main raw material for making tempeh and tofu, soybeans are perishable goods. Previously, the company used a method based on past usage data in controlling its inventory, resulting in bloated inventory costs and a buildup of raw materials in the warehouse. Therefore, researchers need a method that is economical and takes into account the limitations of the company. The Lagrange EOQ method is a model that measures the order quantity by looking at one or more restrictions. The results of the Lagrange EOQ method get an order quantity of 20 sacks of soybeans with an order frequency of 27 times a year, a total inventory cost of Rp. 665,575, an ROP of 12 sacks and a safety stock of 10 sacks.


Active suspension systems have been using for improving ride quality and stability for vehicles. An active suspension system is composed of a hydraulic pump, pressure control valves, hydraulic dampers, vehicle body, tires and other components. In this study, the mathematical model for the active suspension system based on the quarter car concept is derived, and a program for analysing the dynamic behaviour of the suspension system is developed. The computed results by the developed program are compared with the experimental results for confirming the reliability and usefulness of the developed program.


Since the middle of the last century a number of authors have called attention to the frequent association of congenital anomalies of the genitalia and anomalies of the urinary tract. The numerous reports, however, of cases of genital malformation in which no urologic investigation has been carried out and of cases of congenital renal defect in which adequate study of the genital system has not been made are evidence of the need for reemphasis of the problem. It is my purpose to review the literature and to present 3 illustrative cases; the first is an instance of true uterus unicornis; the second, a case of uterus bicornis bicollis, and the third, an example of uterus bicornis unicollis. In each of these there was total agenesis of one kidney and ureter. True uterus unicornis is an unusual abnormality, and its combination with renal agenesis is a defect of considerable rarity. I


e14618 Background: The aim of this study was to identify factors that could predict TTP and OS for patients with uHCC treated by combination G and PLD chemotherapy. G was administered before PLD be...


Since the 1930's, the metabolism of acetylcholine has stood in the foreground of researches into the chemistry of the nervous system. 1 It has been demonstrated by several authors 2-4 that the metabolism of acetylcholine has a different rate in different parts of the central system. The cortex, the ganglia of the brain stem, and the gray matter of the cerebellum hydrolyze acetylcholine and acetylbetamethylcholine at a rapid rate and do not, or hardly, affect butyrylcholine, so that, in this respect, they behave like cholinesterase, contained in the erythrocytes and the muscles. White matter, on the other hand, splits butyrylcholine at a rapid and acetylcholine at a slower rate, while it produces no, or hardly any, effect on actylbetamethylcholine, being in this respect similar to blood serum. The function of butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) in the white matter until now is not known. Our opinion is that the physiological role of BuChE


We have systematically investigated the elastic properties (ρ, VP, VS, K, μ and σ) of eight SiO2–TiO2 glasses, varying in composition from 1.3 to 14.7 wt% TiO2, as a function of pressure up to 0.5 GPa by the pulse superposition (PSP) ultrasonic technique, and two compositions (1.3 and 9.4 wt% TiO2) up to ~5.7 GPa by Brillouin scattering in a diamond anvil cell. The parameters were also measured after annealing to 1020 °C. Composition–elasticity relationships, except for K and σ, are more or less linear; the annealing simply makes the relationships more uniform (less scatter). There is excellent agreement between the ultrasonic and Brillouin measurements at ambient and high pressure. The pressure-induced anomalous elastic behavior (negative dVP/dP and dK/dP) becomes more negative (more compressible) with the increasing TiO2 content. Correspondingly, the acoustic Grüneisen parameters become more negative with increases in the TiO2 content, reaching a minimum near ~8–10 wt% TiO2. The comparison of the low- and high-pressure ultrasonic and Brillouin VP and VS in two glasses (1.3 and 9.4 wt% TiO2) shows excellent agreement, defining the reversible elastic behavior at low pressures and irreversible behavior at higher pressures (≥5.7 GPa) well. This result is consistent with our previous high-pressure Raman study showing an irreversible structural change in a similar pressure range.


Between 1945 and 1955, the official policy of the Francoist Administration was to deny publicly the accusations made against the regime, considered in the post-war period as a persistence of the defeated Fascism. We sustain in this paper that – as regards the UN – the external actions were beyond the denial of facts, i.e., violations of rights in Spain; they attempted to relegate them to invisibility and, thus, make such subject go into oblivion. From the critical review of the diplomatic correspondence and of United Nations' official documents, we reveal that the Francoist diplomacy resorted to two main paths of action: not to answer when asked to explain about violations of human rights in the Spanish territory; and obtain the silence of its closest allies in international forums about such issue.


A recent history of plant science, this compilation of lectures was initially presented at the 1991 Plant Science Lecture Series, sponsored by Iowa State University. The eight scholars featured are key contributors to plant science over the past 50 years.


The photocatalytic degradation of TCE using solar energy in POFR was studied. The use of solar energy was investigated in plastic optica fiber photocatalytic reactor (POFR). In POFR, the main parameters of photocatalytic degradation of TCE were lihgt intensity, thickness of -coated film on plastic fiber core, the same of total -coated surface area with changed length. We studied the apparent photonic efficiency and photocatalytic degradation rate of TCE in POFR. The apparent photonic efficiency of various light intensities was decreased by an incresed intensities. The photocatalytic activities of -coated optical fiber reactor system depended on the coating thickness, and total clad-stripped surface area of POF. Photocatalytic degradation of trichloroethylene (, TCE) in the gas-phase was elucidated by using -coated plastic optical fiber reactor. In TCE degradation, in-situ FTIR measurement resulted in mineralization into .


Today the political process, on the one hand, is very predictable that become a reason of low level of political participation, and, on the other hand, it's unpredictable that is reason of two processes strengthening the legitimacy of government and rising discontent and protests. It's interesting to know whether the "authority-obedience" relation in the modern political process. When we know how people perceive the power, we can define the main subjects of authority and the boundaries of authority; we can imagine the picture of "authority". Obedience is one of the mechanisms of knowledge of the authority. If the political development of the state is higher, then the possibility to use mechanisms of violence and compulsion is lower. The low level of political participation and the high level of legitimacy cause modern political perception which based on cognitive dissonance in politics. Today the political perception in Russia bases on rational knowledge of political process, but mass consciousness saves characteristics of political paternalism in socio-psychological and economic spheres. These findings show the high level of recognition of authority by Russian citizens. The citizens recognize the authority as necessary aspect of life. This Tendency is based on mental features (peculiarities) and political culture, as a result of feeling distrustful of authority citizens recognize the prevailing position of political power and all its positive and negative capabilities. We can conclude that Russian citizens perceive the authority such as united, strong state machine, which should be at a consensus with society and laws like a guarantor this consensus. The laws define the new behavioral practices and it establishes equality; the recognition the judicial system of state enshrines in it the legitimacy of power.


We suggest a synthetic strategy to accelerate charge collection narrowing (CCN) of a polymer photodiode so that a well-defined color selectivity can be realized even with a thin film thickness, which is the most important requirement for commercial application of polymer photodiodes. A new polymer semiconductor POFPhDT2FBT is synthesized by copolymerizing a difluorobenzothiadiazole acceptor with a difluorinated donor moiety. A polymer photodiode with a structure of indium tin oxide/ZnO/POFPhDT2FBT:PC70BM bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) (550 nm)/MoO3/Ag exhibits a high peak detectivity of ∼6 × 1012 jones at 650 nm with a narrow full width at half-maximum <80 nm as well as a low noise equivalent power (4.83 × 10–14 W Hz–0.5), implying that CCN is achieved. This result is valuable as usually a BHJ film with a thickness of 550 nm exhibits a detectivity spectrum similar in shape to the absorption spectrum. We attribute the origin of the thin-film CCN in the POFPhDT2FBT:PC70BM BHJ to a weakened intramolecular charge ...


SummaryRadiosensitivity of extramedullary haemopoiesis of tench (Tinca vulgaris, Fleming) was studied at 10° and at 18°c. The LD 50/30 was found to be 1200 rads at 18° and 55 000 rads at 10°c. About 1100 rads reduce red-cell values and 59Fe incorporation into erythrocytes to 50 per cent at 18°. At 10° these values are not influenced by doses up to 55 000 rads. At 18° leucocytes are depressed by about 100 rads to 50 per cent. At 10° about 16 000 rads are needed for the same effect.Radiation death in tench is thought to be caused partly by the effect on the white-blood cells.


To assemble the micro-parts includes many varieties of the operations. So, to realize easy assembling, the "Imaginary triangle plate" algorithm is proposed. The shape and size of micro-parts are simplified using a proposed plate. The vertices of an imaginary triangle plate are selected as the handling points using triple micro-arms; this collision avoidance control operation can be replaced with the motion control of proposed triangle plate. Also, this plate is operated with each arm simultaneously. Then, an assembling robot with triple micro-arms has been developed, in which these arms move simultaneously in a single working area. To reduce the inertia of the arm and motor, each arm is driven through the five-bar linkage mechanism. Also to generate a vertical motion, this linkage is attached on a swing motion mechanism. The proposed algorithm is verified using a prototype system. The testing micro rectangular parts can be operated in an arbitrary three-dimensional working area.


This article is the third and final part of a series about two-scale modelling of reactive powder concrete in the linear range. In the first part [1] a method of modelling RPC microstructure was presented, the boundary value problem of mechanics for a representative cell at the micro scale was formulated and solved. In the second part [2] a method for determining material parameters at the macro level was shown, a technique for enforcing boundary conditions upon an RVE was described, and the results of numerical simulations were presented. In this part we will present the results of laboratory tests of full-size beams made from two RPC mixtures, the results of numerical simulations of these beams and the validation of the proposed numerical model.


With an "inactive" individual (unemployed, beneficiary of social security...) the work of a clinician revolves around the field of exclusion: between the principle of renunciation and the sense of guilt, the dimension of the ill perceived, created by the ordeal ensuing the impossibility to achieve some kind of completion of social action, can come to light in the discourse on social policies and of professionals in the medical and social sector. This opens the path of a clinic malaise. Moreover, a singular posture looms where the individual enters the social arena. This posture either surfaces through a somatic complaint which is recognizable by the dimension of injustice as a moving process, or through the exposition of the real in an obscene way: from a mere explanation to a monstrous account of this reality -showing medical imaging , even body parts –the path to a trauma clinic seems to emerge as well. This work aspires to offer the reader a metapsychological elaboration of the dumbfounded individual, in other words, an individual who is unable to surmount the impossible, is submitted to the superego law and has to maneuver with what Lacan characterizes as the function of the painting. In order to appease the relationship with the Other authority whose power prohibits the individual of speech and knowledge, he sets up a desperate attempt through the method of "offered to view", in order to test the elision of scrutiny; it is a power capable of reducing the scope of the ferocious and voracious eye. At the crossroads between discomfort and trauma, this study focuses on presenting a clinic of Dompte-regard.


An existentialist approach is employed to interpret Beloved-one of the best novels of Toni Morrison. An existential research is made through an analysis of these characters' action under slavery and making choices out of freedom that challenged the absurdity of the world.


Zonisamide (ZNS) is a benzisoxazole derivate not structurally related to currently licensed antiepileptic drugs. It has multiple modes of action whose impact on the anticonvulsant effect is not yet fully understood: ZNS interrupts the synchronized neuronal firing through direct effects on voltage-dependent sodium and T-type calcium channels. Thus epileptiform propagation and activity are blocked. Furthermore ZNS has a modulating effect on the GABAergic inhibition, and may act on the dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission and on acetylcholine pathways. An inhibition of excitatory glutamatergic transmission by reduction of the presynaptic release of glutamate has been also described. These modes of action suggest a broad anticonvulsant efficacy.


The in vitro cell culture animals is an area of biotechnology that currently making strides due to its large field of action; medical research, drug research and environmental effects, tissue transplants and reconstructive surgeries in fusion techniques and genetic engineering, cell products and byproducts. And its great advantages and benefits comprising the use of this technique as: ease of recreating controlled conditions for cellular development, the potential for developing research that can work in small, medium and large scale in small and large scale, the alternative to use of animals, and cost reduction among others, from the first tests on living cells outside agencies, until the establishment of the first cell lines, and already today GM controlled cells, the development of media serum-free culture media and development of animal-free culture components that develop with aseptic working techniques and specific material. They allow provide a real solution to many diseases, injuries and disorders to which man is exposed, hence the importance of knowing their history and possible exploration.


According to the characteristics and contents of the course 'sensor technology and application',based on the current theoretical and experimental teaching,the teaching method of designing experiments on sensor circuits was proposed to strengthen the understanding of the use and design of sensors for undergraduates.The sensor circuit experimental platform was developed accordingly.The structure diagram is also presented.The course construction is illustrated from the aspects of the experimental subject,teaching content,progress management examination mode and teaching analysis.The course makes undergraduates as the center and teachers as the assistant,emphasizes sensor application and gives prominence to the practice.In association with the theoretical teaching,the course can stimulate undergraduates to perform the scientific practice by applying sensor technology.


Purpose: Despite the spread of SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic and the volume of clinical trials launched, no specific therapeutic drug approaches improving outcomes have been so far approved. In COVID-19 patients, aldosterone via ACE2 deregulation may be responsible for systemic and pulmonary vasoconstriction, inflammation and oxidative organ damage.Aim: To verify retrospectively the impact of the mineral corticoid receptor antagonist canrerone i.v. on the need of invasive ventilatory support and/or all-cause in-hospital mortality.Study design: In this retrospective study (CARDIOVID-19, ID-107162), COVID-19 patients hospitalized for severe respiratory failure were taken care by pneumologists or cardiologists and received two different therapeutic approaches according to personal skill of referral medical team on pharmacological management. Group 1 (n=39) were given vasodilator agents or RAAS-inhibitors and group 2 (n=30) were given canrenone i.v.Results: Among 69 consecutive COVID-19 patients, enrolled in COVID-19 NETWORK registry, the group given canrenone (200 mg/q.d. for a median of 14±11) showed a free event rate of 83% with a survival percentage of 90%. In group 1, not receiving canrenone, free event rate was 51% and survival 64%. Kaplan-Meier analysis for composite outcomes showed a Log Rank of 0.0004 and for mortality, Log Rank was 0.005.Conclusions: The novelty of our observation relies on the independent positive impact of the canrenone, a mineral corticoid receptor antagonist, on all-cause mortality and clinical improvement in COVID-19 patients.


The water quality index (WQI) is a significant indicator for evaluating the quality of drinking water for end-users. The present work is aimed to assess the groundwater quality of the Krishna Godavari delta region in Andhra Pradesh State, for knowing its suitability for domestic, irrigation, and drinking purposes by calculating the WQI parameters and comparing it with WHO and Indian Standards. A total of 105 groundwater samples each for both Pre-monsoon and Post-monsoon periods have been collected during June 2017 and January 2018. The following 11 parameters were taken into account when calculating the WQI: pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Hardness (TH), Calcium (Ca2+), Magnesium (mg2+), Bicarbonate, Chloride(Cl-), Nitrate (Na+), Sulphate, Potassium (K+), and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). Based on the WQI result, the samples were divided into five categories: Excellent, Good, Poor, Very Poor, and unfit for drinking purposes. In Pre-monsoon and Post monsoon season, the water quality index is 9%, 25%, 30%, 22%, 15% respectively 16%, 41%, 31%, 7%, and 5%. It can be concluded that during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon season 67% and 43% of water is not suitable for drinking purposes respectively and hence they require treatment before usage.


The unity of Qur'an and Sunnah is a requisite both religiously and mentally, and it is a reality. To claim that the acts of a prophet, who was send to humankind as an example, is arbitrary means to put the Prophet Hz. Muhammed (p.b.u.h) at the level of a postman to say the least. In this article we will define the unity of Qur'an and sunnah and give the shar'i arguments. Besides we will also give brief information about the representatives of the people who denies the sunna and the historical background of their views


The placement and routing processes are key parts of the physical design of Integrated Circuits (IC). They directly impact the circuit's performance, area, power consumption, and reliability. During the physical design flow, placement and routing problems are usually tackled using a divide-and-conquer approach to reduce the complexity and size of modern circuits. The increase in complexity and size of circuits means that small inefficiencies in the placement solution can be amplified during routing and severely impact the quality and convergence of the design. In this work, we propose an Integer Linear Programming (ILP)-based Global Routing with Cell Movement (ILP-GRC) that simultaneously performs cell movements and routes nets. The proposed method enables the designer to relocate cells that can lead to routing issues at an early stage and without compromising the quality with respect to wirelength and the number of vias. The proposed model is evaluated using ISPD2018 contest benchmarks. Results show that ILP-GRC is able to reduce wirelength on average by 16% and 7% following academic and commercial global routers, respectively, while moving only 2% of cells on average.


Abstract. A direct and an indirect version of a platelet radioactive anti‐immunoglobulin test (PRAT) has been developed. It is shown that this assay is sensitive, reproducible and quantitative for the demonstration of HLA as well as incomplete P1A1 antibodies. Furthermore, platelet autoantibodies were searched for in sera of 105 thrombocytopenic patients. Positive results were obtained in 15 out of 45 patients with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), in 1 of 17 cases with acute ITP and in 3 of 4 patients with ITP‐like syndrome of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The platelet autoantibodies mostly had low titers, reacted with autologous platelets and did not show any specificity. An elevated concentration of IgG on autologous platelets was detected by the direct PRAT in 11 of 18 patients with ITP and in 4 of 5 patients with thrombocytopenia and suspected SLE. 4 of the 7 negative ITP cases were in clinical remission or had platelet counts of over 50,000/μl. There appeared to be an inverse correlation between the concentration of surface‐bound IgG and the platelet number in patients with ITP and SLE. It is concluded that the PRAT is a new and valuable tool for the detection of various types of platelet antibodies and therefore a true alternative to existing serological techniques in platelet immunology.


This small-scale, qualitative study explores the nature of sex and relationship education (SRE) in two primary schools in England. It investigates the similarities and differences in relation to the pedagogical approach and curriculum content of the SRE programmes from the perspectives of teachers and pupils. An illuminative evaluation methodology was used to investigate the cultural, social, historical and political contexts of those participating in the programme within the two schools. The main findings indicate that there were indeed similarities and differences in the provision of SRE: whilst the pupils involved showed an understanding of sex within a loving relationship, further findings suggest that some teachers were concerned about parental views of SRE content and this affected the scope of provision. A key concept of 'bravery' was identified as a highly compelling factor for teachers to create a context of and conditions for creativity in their approach to SRE with a view to capitalising on the inquisitive behaviour of the children. This highlights that effective SRE requires a bold pedagogical approach to curriculum design and content.


The invention provides a capillary barrier roadbed structure capable of effectively preventing and treating roadbed humidification diseases. The capillary barrier roadbed structure comprises a drainage ditch, a roadbed and a side slope. The roadbed and the side slope are connected with each other and arranged on foundations. The roadbed comprises a road surface, a superficial roadbed soil layer, a geotechnical cloth or coarse grained soil layer and a deep roadbed soil layer which are sequentially arranged from top to bottom. The side slope comprises a fill side slope layer, the geotechnical cloth or coarse grained soil layer and the deep roadbed soil layer which are sequentially arranged from top to bottom. The superficial roadbed soil layer and the geotechnical cloth or coarse grained soil layer form a first capillary barrier layer. The fill side slope layer and the geotechnical cloth or coarse grained soil layer form a second capillary barrier layer. The first capillary barrier layer and the second capillary barrier layer are connected in sequence. The drainage ditch is arranged at the bottom of the fill side slope layer and connected with the second capillary barrier layer. The roadbed structure is low in construction cost, the humidification diseases caused by cracks on the road surface and dried cracks at a fill side slope and a deep layer thereof can be effectively controlled, uneven settlement of the roadbed due to humidification is reduced, and shearing strength of roadbed soil is maintained.


State-of-the-art personality prediction with text data mostly relies on bottom up, automated feature generation as part of the deep learning process. More traditional models rely on hand-crafted, theory-based text-feature categories. We propose a novel deep learning-based model which integrates traditional psycholinguistic features with language model embeddings to predict personality from the Essays dataset for Big-Five and Kaggle dataset for MBTI. With this approach we achieve state-of-the-art model performance. Additionally, we use interpretable machine learning to visualize and quantify the impact of various language features in the respective personality prediction models. We conclude with a discussion on the potential this work has for computational modeling and psychological science alike.11Code: https://github.com/yashsmehta/personality-prediction


Abstract This study reports the safety benefits associated with the installation of Variable Speed Limit System (VSLS) on provincial highways in British Columbia (BC), Canada. A VSLS is an intelligent transportation system (ITS) that aims at increasing the safety level on highways by varying the speed limit according to downstream operational condition and/or weather conditions. The analysis made use of police-attended serious crashes (i.e. fatal + injury) that took place during winter seasons. Three winter seasons were available as a before-implementation period, and three winter seasons were available as an after-implementation period. The results of a simple-before-and-after showed overall reductions of 35.8% and 36.8% in winter serious collision (WSC) frequency and rate, respectively, were found for the evaluation corridors. An Empirical Bayes (EB) before-and-after safety evaluation was also carried out to ensure that the results are reliable. The EB analysis showed an overall reduction of 34.4% in WSC. An economic assessment of the system was undertaken and the results showed that the benefits of implementing a VSLS exceeded the system cost with an overall benefit-cost (B/C) ratio of 4.3 and a Net Present Value (NPV) of C$34.41 million. The results of this study may motivate stakeholders who are interested in pursuing similar systems for mitigating weather-related safety challenges.


Buchsbaum and Eisenbud showed that every Gorenstein ideal of grade 3 is generated by the submaximal order pfaffians of an alternat- ing matrix. In this paper, we describe a method for constructing a class of type 3, grade 3, perfect ideals which are not Gorenstein. We also prove that they are algebraically linked to an even type grade 3 almost complete intersection.


The psychometric properties and multigroup measurement invariance of scores across subgroups, items, and persons on the Reading for Meaning items from the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) were assessed in a sample of 778 seventh-grade students. Specifically, we sought to determine the extent to which score-based inferences on a high stakes state assessment hold across several subgroups within the population of students. To that end, both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Rasch (1980) models were used to assess measurement invariance. Results revealed a unidimensional construct with factorial-level measurement invariance across disability status (students with and without specific learning disabilities), but not across test accommodations (resource guide, read-aloud, and standard administrations). Item-level analysis using the Rasch Model also revealed minimal differential item functioning across disability status, but not accommodation status.


In the last years an increasing attention has been paid to distributed energy production from small wind turbines (i.e. < 200 kWp). The market, especially in Italy, has grown up very rapidly in the last years (basically not existing since 3-4 years ago, now it counts approximately 8 MWp). The main purpose of the paper is therefore to provide a reliable cost analysis reference to design, plan and control a project, which also includes a correct estimation of the financial risk incurred by both EPC contractors and investors. For the firsts, it also represents a cash flow analysis tool useful for financial planning, while for the seconds it's useful for financial control.


John is a professor of applied swine nutrition in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University, a position he has held since September 2008. With degrees from the University of Guelph and Cornell University, his career included early stints in extension and in the feed industry. He joined theUniversity of Saskatchewan in 1987 and was appointed President and CEO of the Prairie Swine Centre in 1991, when it re-organized as a non-profit corporation. In addition to his administrative role, he remained active in research, teaching and technology transfer. He has contributed to our understanding of diet and acid-base balance, water quality impacts on pigs, sulphate transport and amino acid metabolism. At Iowa State University, John's research includes three themes: energy metabolism, ingredient evaluation, and feeding and management. In his extension role, he works closely with individual producers and large integrators in the United States and Canada to help them identify and implement technologies to improve net income. He has given more than 275 talks at academic and industry conferences in North and South America, Europe and Asia. John previously received the CSAS Award for Excellence in Nutrition or Meat Science and the American Society of Animal Science AFIA Award in Non-Ruminant Nutrition Research. He has been a member of CSAS since 1975 and served as its president in 1993/1994, and has also served on the editorial board of the Canadian Journal of Animal Science. John has three children: Emily in Mississauga, Matthew in Buenos Aires andMichael in Toronto. John's proudest ''accomplishment'' is one that took no effort on his part he became a grandfather to Megean and Kaleb, twins born to Emily and Andrew just over one year ago.


An exchange of larvae between overwintered (O) and diapausing (D) colonies was performed. Four experimental sets were used: (s-1) O workers with O larvae; (s-2) O workers with D larvae; (s-3) D workers with O larvae; (s-4) D workers with D larvae. In s-1, the majority of larvae (90.4-98.3% of survived larvae) pupated, as it usually occurs in natural ant colonies in spring. In s-4, less than 2% of larvae pupated, demonstrating stability of the diapause at fall. In s-2, workers provoked pupation only in an insignificant part of D larvae (3.6 to 40.1% of survived larvae) while the majority of larvae (59.9 to 94.6%) remained in a diapause. A significantly larger number of small larvae (average 32.1%) pupated in comparison with the larger ones (average 13.4%), testifying to more stable diapause of the latter. In s-3, no workers could prevent rapid growing and development of O larvae; practi- cally most of them (90.7-100% of survived larvae) pupated. Moreover, O larvae provoked termination of the dia- pause in queens which began to lay eggs and, probably, in workers which were able not only to rear these larvae, but also part of the rapid breed. Thus, L. acervorum workers possess rather limited abilities to control the begin- ning and termination of larval diapause in comparison with other ant species studied. A colony of ants (and other evolutionarily advanced social insects) is an organized group of individuals which are able to influence the behavior, development,


The article presents data from the scientific literaturedescribing the influence of microclimate parameters on thebody of sows and their offspring. The key factors of thenormal course of physiological processes in the body of sowsand piglets are the optimal temperature, light, air velocity andhumidity. Sensitivity of sows to climatic factors increasessignificantly during pregnancy and lactation. At elevatedoutdoor temperatures, heat stress develops, which negativelyaffects well-being and productivity of sows and significantlyharms the offspring due to intrauterine temperature load. Itis established that there are differences in genetic tolerance to high temperature between different breeds of sows.Changes in physiological and behavioral parameters can beobserved at different stages of the reproductive cycle of sows.Pregnant sows respond to heat stress by increasing rectal andskin temperature, respiration rate and reducing their overallactivity. Elevated ambient temperature during late pregnancyincreases the catabolism of lipids and proteins in the bodyof sows, the concentration of adrenocorticotropic hormone,cortisol in the blood increases. Heat-exposed sows also havea shorter gestation period and a lower nest weight of pigletsat birth. During lactation, there are changes in general andfeed behavior, reduced feed intake and as a result, the processof milk production is disrupted. In particular, it was foundthat with increasing temperature from 20.0 to 29.0 °C milkproduction in sows decreases from 10.43 to 7.35 kg/day(p <0.05). The content of immunoglobulins, vitamins andmicroelements in milk decreases. This leads to a violation ofimportant physiological functions of the body of piglets andhas a negative impact on their growth and development. Themost critical periods for sows are the end of summer and thebeginning of autumn, when anestrus is observed, the rates offertilization, farrowing, fertility and weight gain of piglets arereduced. This is due to an imbalance in the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal system and high levels of melatonin in theblood. The use of physiological and behavioral indicatorsis necessary to prevent climatic stress and increase animalproductivity.
Key words: physiology, pigs, stress factors, thermoregulation, behavior, reproductive system, pregnancy, lactation.


Contents of eight biogenic amines (putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine, spermine, histamine, tyramine, tryptamine and phenylethylamine) were determined in vacuum-packed fillets of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Fish flesh was treated using a solution of chitosan (2%, w/v) or monoacylglycerols (monocaprylin C8, monocaprin C10, 5%, w/v). The control and treated packs were stored at 3.5 °C for up to 25 days. Samples of good quality did not contain more than 30 mg kg–1 of either putrescine or cadaverine. Exceeding this limit was usually followed by a worsening of the sensory properties of samples. Chitosan was found to be the most potent additive, prolonging the storage time of fillets by approximately four times, compared to control samples. Histamine was not found in any sample treated with chitosan. of the monoacylglycerols, C8 was more efficient compared to C10. All additives are easily applicable to the surface of fish flesh.


Self-concepts of men and women in treatment in a therapeutic community were tested using the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS). Testing occurred at four points, the first between three and six months after entering treatment, and again at approximately four month intervals. The 127 males and 42 females were part of the Daytop Miniversity project, in which the effect of enrollment as matriculated college students on self-concept was one area which was tested. Changes in the selfconcepts of men and women as measured by five empirically derived factors, plus the scales of the TSCS, are traced. Particularly striking are the negative selfconcepts of females preparing to leave treatment in the areas of acceptance by family, self, and peers. An awareness of these problem areas may suggest different treatment strategies for women as they near the end of treatment.


The invention relates to a sterilization compound with synergistic effect; the effective active components of the compound contain imazalil and prochloraz, wherein the weight ratio of the imazalil to the prochloraz is 50 to 1:5 to 80; and after being added with additive and excipient, the effective active components can be prapred into wettable powder, water dispersible granule, suspending agent, aqueous emulsion and microemulsion, and are mainly used for preventing the powdery mildew, the anthracnosis, the ring spot and the leaf spot of vegetables and fruit trees.


The Green and Yampa River Canyon country within the boundaries of Dinosaur National Monument represents the deeply dissected eastern end of an east-west anticlinal fold, the Uinta Mountains, and its accompanying smaller flank folds. Oldest formation exposed in this area is the Uinta Mountain group (Algonkian) and the youngest, Browns Park formation (Pliocene). Along the crest of the main arch, in the deeper canyons, and at some places along the upthrown sides of faults are exposed massive dark red blocky-weathering quartzitic sandstone, shale, and conglomerate beds of the Uinta Mountain group, and the shale and quartzitic sandstone beds of the Lodore formation (Cambrian). In much of the area, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Permian rocks form long dip-slopes toward the outh. Typical of Uinta Mountain structure and representative of the smaller folds that flank the main arch of the Uinta Mountains is the Split Mountain-Yampa Plateau area. Formations along the crest of this anticlinorium have low attitudes in contrast to the sharply flexed, steeply dipping, younger flanking formations. These strata with their well developed flat-iron and race-track patterns of exposure exhibit a striking, colorful geological cross section ranging in age from Lower Pennsylvanian (Morgan) to Upper Cretaceous (Mancos). Lower Pennsylvanian and Lower Mississippian are exposed in the deeper part of Split Mountain Canyon. High-angle normal faults occur in the Monument area. The Split Mountain-Yampa Plateau section is traversed by the Yampa fault which seems to die out in the western part of the fold. Split Mountain Canyon has been carved by the Green River along the western end of this zone. Stream piracy and deep entrenching of the meandering stream courses during Pleistocene have produced a spectacular scenic area.


In recent years, there have been considerable research advances on the antileukemic mechanisms of the antidiabetic drug metformin. Our current studies have shown that metformin suppresses cell viability, induces apoptosis, and downregulates the mTORC1 signaling pathway both in the Ph+ALL cell line and primary blasts from Ph+ ALL patients, as well as the CML cell lines K562 (imatinib-sensitive) and K562R (imatinib-resistance). We have also shown that metformin activates the ERK pathway in Ph+ALL cells, SUP-B15, a side effect that can be overcome by U0126 (MEK1/2 inhibitor) or imatinib. Moreover, this activation of ERK signaling in SUP-B15 induces autophagy. Inhibition of the autophagic process by 3-MA, promoting the death of these cells, suggests that autophagy may be a cytoprotective factor in cell survival after metformin treatment. Finally, metformin is shown to potentiate the anticancer efficacy of imatinib in Ph+ALL and CML cells, resensitizing the CML imatinib-resistance cells to imatinib. Overall, our data suggest that metformin represents a promising and attractive agent for Ph+ALL or CML therapy.


Bifurcations of heterodimensional cycles connecting two saddles in R~4 are studied using local active coordinates.Under some generic conditions,the authors obtain the persistence of the heterodimensional cycle,existence of one homoclinic loop and one periodic orbit,coexistence(resp.noncoexistence) of the persistent heterodimensional cycle with the bifurcated periodic orbit.


In liposuction several factors contribute significantly to a good result. Besides the selection of good candidates for the surgery, the author has found that strict organization, tumescent tightening, and keeping the skin on significant stretch are crucial to achieving an extremely good result. The author therefore presents a methodical block technique that utilizes these concepts for accomplishing more uniform fat removal and better results, even for patients with poor skin quality.


This paper studies the effects of local public policy on the distribution of pre-tax income from employment in the Swedish municipalities by estimating an income shares model. Three categories of local public spending are recognized; social expenditures, primary and secondary education expenditures and recreational expenditures. It is found that social expenditures affect the within-municipality distribution of income, whereas no effects can be found for education and recreation. For social expenditures, the effect is to concentrate a larger portion of total income among the middle income groups, and to decrease the portion of total income from high income earners and low income earners. This evidence is consistent with the view that local public expenditures may affect the composition of the local population.


The manufacturing accuracy of turbine blades is judged by the difference between designed and produced location of each point around the airfoils. This paper shows that the design-point and off-design-point aerodynamic and heat transfer performance of turbine cascades is affected significantly by the distribution of curvature along the suction and pressure surfaces, and less significantly by the exact location of each one point. The performance of turbine blades designed with continuous slope of curvature distribution, and with slight discontinuities in the slope of curvature, are examined using a computer program for various design and off-design flow conditions. The accuracy of the computations is checked by comparison of computational results with cascade solutions of known experimental output. It is concluded that the accuracy in local curvature is just as important as the design-location-by-manufactured-location accuracy of each point on the blade.Copyright © 1992 by ASME


A solitary pulmonary mass is a common presentation of lung cancer. However, other inflammatory or infectious diseases, such as pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), also present similar imaging characteristics and may coexist with lung cancer. This makes the diagnosis and identifying the correct tumor stage difficult for physicians. Herein we present the case of a patient with coexisting lung squamous cell carcinoma and active pulmonary TB infection, which presented a solitary pulmonary mass. Tissue biopsy was performed twice via different approaches. However, imaging studies could not confirm the diagnosis and tumor stage, which were finally established after surgical intervention.


The epoxy compositions with ionic liquids (ILs) differing in the alkyl chain length of imidazolium cation (butyl or decyl), anion type [N(CN)2¯, BF4¯, Cl¯], as well as ILs concentration (1, 3, and 9 phr) have been prepared, and their curing characteristics at ambient and elevated temperatures have been investigated. Rheometric, differential scanning calorimetry, and Fourier transform infrared measurements revealed substantial differences in the curing characteristics dependent mainly on the IL anion type and its concentration. TGA results showed that thermal decomposition of IL influenced the onset temperature of epoxy resins cross-linking reactions during heat treatment. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis measurements showed that the type of IL anion had an effect on Tg and tan δ values as well. For materials cross-linked with ILs containing dicyanamide anion the highest Tg (ca. 170 °C) and the lowest tan δ (0.26) values have been found. On the basis of the obtained results and literature data the mecha...


s A141 patients. Adherent patients had lower rate of depression (4.7% vs. 9.5%, P = 0.019), higher rate of previous DMD use (49.1% vs. 40.0%, P = 0.032), and higher baseline MS-related costs ($4757 vs. $4037, P < 0.001). After adjusting for differences in baseline characteristics, DMD adherent patients had lower occurrence of severe relapses (12.4% vs. 19.9%, P = 0.013) and lower total (direct and indirect) costs ($14,095 vs. $16,638, P = 0.048). CONCLUSIONS: Over the two-year study period, DMD adherence was associated with significantly fewer severe relapses and lower total medical costs. PND20 PERCEIVED CAREGIVER BURDEN AND HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN ALZHEIMER'S CAREGIVERS Langley PC, Wagner JS, DiBonaventura MD University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, KantarHealth, Princeton, NJ, USA, KantarHealth, New York, NY, USA OBJECTIVES: To assess the contribution of the Zarit score, a measure of perceived caregiver burden in Alzheimer's disease, to health related quality of life as measured by the physical and mental component scores of the SF-12 instrument and SF-6D health utilities. METHODS: A survey of Alzheimer caregivers was undertaken in the US in 2009 (n = 1,079). This survey captured both the characteristics of caregivers and the characteristics of the patient to whom the caregiver gave most attention. At the same time, caregivers were asked to complete the Zarit burden of care questionnaire and the SF-12 HRQoL instrument. To assess the impact of Zarit scores on HRQoL, linear regression (ordinary least squares) models were specified and estimated for the physical and mental component summary scores of the SF-12 and the health utility scores from the SF-6D. Independent variables included: caregiver and patient characteristics. RESULTS: Average PCS and MCS scores were 47.7 (STD 11.17) and 42.5 (STD 11.93) respectively; utility score was 0.68 (STD 0.13). Zarit scores were distributed with 20.4% of respondents reporting a minimal or no burden, 37.7% a mild to moderate burden, 33.1% moderate to severe burden and 8.8% a severe burden. Overall16.3% were judged to have mild AD, 53.7% moderate and 30.0% severe. Zarit scores played the key role with their greatest impact on the MCS rather than the PCS dimensions of the SF-12. In the severe AD category the PCS deficit is −5.65 (t = −4.23) compared to a deficit of −17.94 (t = −14.09) for MCS. The corresponding health utility deficit is −0.19 (t = −13.15). Other key variables are caregiver age and gender, patient age and gender and living situation. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived caregiver burden is associated primarily with deficits on the mental component scores of the SF-12 and on SF-6D health utilities. PND21 INTERIM ANALYSIS OF A LARGE ONGOING PHASE IV PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL COHORT STUDY (MDS ON BOTOX® UTILITYMOBILITY) OF BOTULINUM TOXIN TYPE A ON HEALTH UTILITY IN PATIENTS RECEIVING TREATMENT FOR APPROVED THERAPEUTIC INDICATIONS IN CANADA Simonyi S, Jog M, Beauchamp R, Miller R, Bhogal M, Wein T Allergan Inc., Markham, ON, Canada, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada, Children's & Women's Health Centre of B.C, Vancouver, ON, Canada, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada OBJECTIVES: Botulinum Toxin Type-A (BoNTA) is approved for many therapeutic indications in Canada, including blepharospasm, 7th cranial nerve disorders, cervical dystonia, focal spasticity, cerebral palsy, and hyperhidrosis. Unfortunately, little is known about the impact of treatment on health utility. The objective of the ongoing national MOBILITY study is to measure the impact of BoNTA on health utility. METHODS: Phase IV prospective observational cohort study in patients receiving BoNTA for approved therapeutic indications in Canada. Physical component scores (PCS), and mental component scores (MCS) are derived from self-reported SF-12v2 at baseline, week 4 and subsequent clinic visits. Health utility is then measured using the SF-6D scoring programme. In this interim analysis continuous data were analyzed by student's t-test and dichotomous data by Chi-square test. RESULTS: To date 917 patients have been enrolled at 40 clinical sites with a 94.5% retention rate. 69.7% of patients returned the week 4 survey and data from 608 individuals were included in the analysis (526 were receiving ongoing BOTOX® treatment at baseline; 82 were BoNTA-naïve). Significant differences were detected in self-reported SF-6D scores between baseline and week 4 in the analysis of continuous (p = 0.05) and dichotomized data (p = 0.0001), and between baseline and week 4 in the analysis of continuous MCS data (p = 0.03). Among BoNTA-naïve patients, there was a statistically significant difference in SF-6D scores between baseline and week 4 (p = 0.03 for continuous data; p = 0.018 for dichotomized data). There were no statistical significant changes in the SF-6D scores for patients receiving on-going treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This interim analysis from a large ongoing national study shows that significant improvements in health utility are obtained in patients receiving BoNTA for therapeutic indications. Health utility benefit was most pronounced in BoNTA-naive patients as evidenced by week 4 MCS scores (the expected peak effect window). Further recruitment and long term follow-up and analyses are ongoing. PND22 MAPPING FROM DISEASE-SPECIFIC MEASURES TO HEALTH-STATE UTILITY VALUES IN CHRONIC MIGRAINEURS Gillard PJ, Devine B, Varon SF, Maglinte GA, Sullivan S University of Washington, Department of Pharmacy, Seattle, WA, USA, Allergan, Inc,


A Social Business solution is composed of integrated components that functions differently but have one objective. In this view, this paper proposed a Mobile Component Integration Agent for Social Business Application as a software development methodology to simply integrate the different technology building blocks into one web-based solution. Agents are specialized kinds of components that offer great flexibility than traditional components. This paper proposed a mobile component integration agent for social business networking application as a software development methodology to simply integrate the different technology building blocks into one web-based solution. This study is focus in developing a software agent that could be used to assemble different type of components which were written and built by different developers of different platforms. We propose a systematic development process for software agent using component and UML. We first developed the agent components specification and modeled it. Based on this, we developed a mobile application for social business application as a case study. We integrate the developed software framework as a module in Drupal content management System.


Populations of the arboreal termite, Nasutitermes corniger, discovered in Dania Beach, Florida in 2001 were surveyed and treated for eradication, beginning in 2003. Most N. corniger nest locations were cryptic and some nests contained over 1 million termites. Field efficacy of fipronil (Termidor® SC) and imidacloprid (Premise® 2) were compared in initial treatments, and fipronil was selected for termite-active sites through 2010. In 2006, expanded survey work was discontinued. By 2010 all sites within the original survey area were termite-free. In 2011, a new population of N. corniger was discovered beyond the original 2003 infested tracts. A new (2011–2012) survey revealed a total of four areas outside the original tracts that were infested with N. corniger. No tract treated with fipronil between 2003 and 2010 showed evidence of renewed termite activity in 2011–2012. New application procedures using nest-only and fipronil dust treatments were instituted in May 2012. Live termites were still found within the 2011–2012 treatment area as of November 2013. Very slow but continued spread of N. corniger in tropical urban Florida will have economic consequences as a result of nuisance and structural damage.


are attributed to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action of the polyphenolic fraction of cocoa, which is comprised mainly of flavanols like the monomeric catechin and epicatechin, or oligomeric procyanidins (from dimers to decamers) (17). Since cocoa shells contain appreciable amounts of polyphenolic compounds, some of these beneficial effects could also be retained in this by-product. The aim of the work reported here was to characterize a new fibre-rich cocoa product (FRCP) obtained by a Spanish cocoa industry, assessing some physiological effects derived from the consumption of this product by hypercholesterolaemic rats.


BACKGROUND:Urticaria is one of the most common dermatoses and affects 1525% of the population; chronic spontaneous urticaria occur in 1.8% of adults and in 0.13% of children. Second generation antihistamines are effective only in 4577% of patients. The next steps of treatment include increase antihistamines dose and their combination with omalizumab.
AIM:To analyze own clinical experience and assess effectiveness of omalizumab in severe chronic spontaneous urticaria.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:Effectiveness of biological treatment with omalizumab was analyzed in 14 patients with severe chronic spontaneous urticaria.
RESULTS:The prescription of omalizumab in the basic therapy of patients with severe chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) allowed to reduce significantly the severity of clinical symptoms in 78.6% of patients, to abandon the use of systemicglucocorticosteroids and to achieve partial or complete control of the disease. It should be noted, that 28.5% of patients during the immunobiological therapy stopped taking second-generation antihistamines and the dosage was reduced to therapeutic in 35.7% of patients.
CONCLUSION:Omalizumab is a highly effective in patients with severe chronic spontaneous urticaria.


The success of connectomics research in mapping the neural interconnections, as needed for understanding brain functions, largely depends on advances in microscopy and image analysis. Miniature features in brain rule its functions. Yet, large regions of interest (ROIs) must be scouted, for a proper understating of neural network system. This requires obtaining high-resolution tomographies of relatively large brain samples [1]. Regardless of what tomography technique is used, a critical step is the segmentation of the produced images to identify the boundaries of the constituent objects within the brain sample of interest. For that, each pixel (voxel) in the 2D (3D) image is assigned a label that is shared among all the pixels (voxels) of the same object, resulting in a 2D (3D) image that is partitioned into several groups of connected pixels (voxels) [2]. Doing so is necessary for follow-up interpretation steps but it faces significant challenges. Conventionally, the segmentation process is conducted manually, where trained individuals spend months to segment volumes in the order of cubic millimeters [1]. Aside from extensive labor and cost involved, such manual process entails human error. Double-checking and triplechecking practices to eliminate such error would add to the required time and effort for conducting the manual segmentation. Existing attempts to crowdsource the manual segmentation task using volunteers face the challenge of volunteer's lack of motivation [3]. On top of these, a major drawback of the stateof-the-art software packages that enable manual segmentation is that the user, at each point in time, has only a 2D perception of the brain sample, which acts as a prohibitive factor on the way of conducting a realistic segmentation. Automated segmentation techniques tend to address these issues but they come short of providing a reliable solution [4]. Conventional computer-vision-based segmentation methods, such as thresholding are often only useful for aiding the manual segmentation and the machine-learningbased segmentation algorithms [5] suffer from shortage of ground truth data, especially because the required data for supervised training of these algorithms must be produced manually.


Our recent study demonstrated that manganese exposure corrected neurobehavioral problems resulting from iron deficiency in young rats, suggesting a beneficial role of metal loading in brain function in growing children. To characterize the effect of dietary iron supplementation on behavioral performance, weanling rats were fed iron‐loading diet (10,000 mg iron/kg diet) or iron‐adequate control diet (50 mg/kg) for 4 weeks and a battery of behavioral tests (elevated plus maze, novel object recognition, rotarod) was conducted. Iron‐supplemented (IS) rats displayed higher non‐heme iron levels in serum (1.8‐fold) and liver (10.6‐fold) compared with controls, reflecting iron loading condition. Although iron loading did not affect anxiety determined by elevated plus maze, IS rats exhibited a better short‐term memory function (2‐hour) as assessed by an increased novel object recognition index (IS 22% change vs. control 12%; P=0.047; n=11/group). Iron loading did not alter overall activity (open field) or motor performance (rotarod test), indicating that increased memory functions are not due to altered mobile activity. Our investigation suggests that iron supplementation improves memory performance during developmental and rapidly growing periods of life. Supported by NIH ES017781.


Conclusion 1. The claims of anti-vitamin-D-toxication action by an extract of a fungus, Kombucha, have been investigated in albino rats. 2. When administrated orally to rats, dosage of 100,000 units of vitamin D per kilo per day was definitely toxic to all animals. 3. Kombucha, administered as above, was practically without effect over a period of 4 weeks. 4. Kombucha did not protect rats against vitamin D toxication in any dosage when administered isochronously. 5. So far as may be judged from this type of experiment, the claim of antagonism of Kombucha to the toxic action of vitamin D was not supported.


Abstract Objective To report the results of a pilot in-training progress test, the Family Medicine Mandatory Assessment of Progress, taken by first- and second-year postgraduate family medicine trainees. Design Assessment of resident performance on a key-features approach multiple-choice progress test. Test questions were developed by competency content area experts. Setting University of Toronto in Ontario. Participants First- and second-year family medicine residents. Main outcome measures Construct validity was assessed based on performance on the test by first- and second-year residents, Canadian and international medical graduates, and residents with more or less than 1 month of relevant clinical experience. Results Pilot progress testing of family medicine residents (N = 255) at the University of Toronto revealed a significant 1.6% difference ( P Conclusion Competency-based progress testing using the key-features model is a valid means of assessing the progress of family medicine residents.


(57) Abstract: iron ore 4 is a massive and / or pellet-like metal ores, from a variety of input material containing a selective flux 5, a liquid pig iron 16 or liquid steel pre-products and in particular sponge iron a method for producing a sponge metal that is, the sludge obtained when cleaning the top gas from the first reduction zone 2 are charged into the melter-gasifier 15 while being dehydrated, and a second each sludge obtained when cleaning the transport gas for the reducing region 27, characterized in that it is supplied to the first direct reduction region 2 while being dehydrated.


Mycobacterium ar/ium ssp. Paratuberculosis (Map) is the causative agent of johne's disease in animals. A PPE (Proline Proline Glutamic acid rich) antigen encoding 34.9 kDa hypothetical protein of M avium subsp. ParatuberclIlosiswas cloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis revealed that no other published sequences having significant homology with that PPE gene.which elucidated that the PPE 34.9 kDa could be used as diagnostic antigen.


The ATLAS experiment at the LHC will face the challenge of selecting interesting candidate events in proton-proton collisions at 14 TeV center of mass energy, while rejecting the enormous number of background events. The trigger system architecture is organized in three levels. From a bunch crossing rate of 40 MHz the First level trigger, hardware implemented, will reduce this rate to around ~75 kHz. Then the software based high level trigger (HLT), composed by the second level trigger and the event filter reduces the rate to ~ 200 Hz. HLT is implemented on commercial CPUs using a framework built on the common ATLAS object oriented software architecture. Inclusive trigger selections are used to collect events for the ATLAS physics program; final states with muons are crucial for electroweak precision measurements as well as Higgs and SUSY searches. In this paper we will present the implementation of the muon slice, signal efficiencies, background rejection rates and system performances (execution time,...) for online muon selection based on Monte Carlo simulations and results obtained on real events collected during cosmic data taking runs.


The highly contaminated and deformed coarse crystalline Archaean limestone along with cement grade limestone is being utilized by nearly 14 major cement plants with an installed capacity of 17.36 million tonnes per annum in India, distributed mainly in the states of Rajasthan, Orissa, Jharkhand, Andhra pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kerala etc. National Council for Cement and Builing Materials (NCB). India has undertaken studies on the mineral beneficiation potentialities for upgradation of the above limestone exclusively on dry basis, based on
the physico-mechanical properties of limestone sample collected from a working mine of an existing cement plant, is subjected to crushing, grinding with variable time period and its classification through sieving and air classifier. The results are highly encouraging in enhancing CaO content and reducting SiO2 content in limestone and thus to make it suitable for cement manufacture. The ultimate impact of such studies is that extended life of cement raw material resources, better environment and viability of old cement plants


Sentence-completion items employing personal- and other-reference stems were administered to 40 Ss. Results indicated that personal-reference stems more effectively elicited negative responses and also increased the number of neutral, evasive and ambivalent expressions among Ss.


Abstract According to the dogmatist, knowing p makes it rational to disregard future evidence against p. The standard response to the dogmatist holds that knowledge is defeasible: acquiring evidence against something you know undermines your knowledge. However, this response leaves a residual puzzle, according to which knowledge makes it rational to intend to disregard future counterevidence. I argue that we can resolve this residual puzzle by turning to an unlikely source—Kavka's toxin puzzle. One lesson of the toxin puzzle is that it is irrational to intend to do that which you know will be irrational. This yields a simple reply to the dogmatist: it is irrational to intend to disregard future evidence, because you can know in advance that it will be irrational to do so.