In recent years range management scientists and ecologists around the world have been producing a copious amount of rhetoric about "desertification" and its present and future dangers to mankind. It is said that desertification is a major world problem growing in magnitude, a malignancy undermining the food-producing capacity of Africa, Asia, and the Mid East and that populations, in effect, are outgrowing the limited biological systems that sustain their life-style. Further, say the reports, the deserts are not growing, but are being relentlessly pulled outward by man with former grasslands assuming the appearance of a lunar landscape on which the dry season flow of watercourses is reduced, while in the wet season the flow is enormously increased. As a consequence, we are told, there is a chain of ecological reactions that will permanently reduce the capacity of the land to support life: dust clouds grow throughout the denuded arid world; city slums grow as the means of survival on the land wanes. Finally, these men of science conclude that since man always seems to undermine his own livelihood by suicidal land use, the.deterioration of ecological systems continues to increase quietly and largely unnoticed for years, until one day the system falls assunder with lethal vengeance and we are confronted with emergency salvage operations. All of this and much more has been printed in publications that speak a scientific "dialect" and are circulated among scholars. While all of this is true, little is being said, in specific terms, about what can be done and how to do it. The task is formidable, but not impossible. Thanks, in large part, to new technology, much more can be done, now, than is generally recognized.


The article focuses on the main features of the expectations (trust) channel of the monetary transmission mechanism of Ukraine. Its assessment in the present conditions has been made. There has been considered the formation of the economic behaviour of the economic agent in the context of its inflation expectations taking into account currency exchange, inflation and interest rate risks as well as and risk of capital and profit loss. The thesis of crossing the channels of monetary transmission mechanism which greatly complicates financial architectonics and makes it impossible to apply one-dimensional instruments for inflation targeting. The dollarization indices have been calculated: IMF dollarization and assets replacement index. Their dynamics has been examined from 2005 to 2014 by year and from January 2014 to September 2015 by month.  The dollarization growing tendency has been determined. The model of expectations channel has been built up with neural networks. The impropriety of application the vector autoregression (VAR) method under current conditions of Ukraine for studying channel expectations as the loss by a large number of banks their solvency and suspension or delay in the payment on deposits distorts confidence of economic agents in the banking system.


This paper describes the design and fabrication of a normally closed, electrodynamic microvalve that can withstand gaseous pressures up to 1 MPa. Electromagnetic forces between magnetic materials in the valve cover and valve seat hold the valve closed. A combination of electrodynamic actuation and a restoring spring are used to open the valve. A detailed discussion of the design model including a device optimization strategy is included. Theoretical performance of the valve is provided, including a theoretical maximum pressure of 1 MPa. A four wafer fabrication process is described. Methods for testing, packaging and integration of the device are proposed for future work.


Arc self-adjustability will affect the recovery ability of the arc length after the disturbance happens,thus affect the welding processing performance.This paper studies on the arc control system of the CO2 short-circuiting arc welding,and establish the mathematical model.With the model,arc self-adjustability and its main influence factors are analyzed.The results show that dynamic properties of power supply have a decisive effect on the arc self-adjustability.The conclusion is proved through welding experiments.The asymmetric electronic inductor is developed and it improves the arc self-adjustability of the CO2 short-circuiting arc welding greatly.


OBJECTIVES
Health literacy is associated with health knowledge, behavior, and outcomes. Availability of valid measures of health literacy that require minimal time and resources to administer may provide a valuable resource for researchers and healthcare providers. We investigated the psychometric properties of brief, written tests of two components of health literacy--print literacy and numeracy--among American Indians and Alaska Natives.

DESIGN
Secondary analysis of baseline data from the Special Diabetes Program for Indians Healthy Heart Project.

SETTING
Thirty health care programs participate in the project. They span 13 states and include Indian Health Service hospitals/clinics/service units as well as tribal and urban Indian health care programs.

PARTICIPANTS
3,033 American Indian and Alaska Native adults with diabetes.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Internal consistency was investigated for the print literacy items. Construct validity analyses examined the expected association of print literacy and numeracy with demographic characteristics and four measures of disease knowledge.

RESULTS
The print literacy items demonstrated acceptable internal consistency. Print literacy and numeracy were more limited among older people and those with lower income and education. Both measures were strong predictors of disease knowledge.

CONCLUSIONS
Results support the value of the brief tests of print literacy and numeracy, and represent the first examination of the performance of health literacy measures in the American Indian and Alaska Native population.


Objective To evaluate the effect of ondansetron on subarachnoid block by intrathecal injection of ropivacaine.Methods Forty-four patients scheduled for surgical treatment of lower limb were randomly divided into ondansetron group and control group(n=22).Intravenous ondansetron(4mg)was given for ondansetron group 15 min before spinal anaesthesia.Then all patients received subarachnoid block by intrathecal injection of ropivacaine.The criteria of effective spinal anesthesia was defined as:1 a bilateral loss of pinprick sensation at least at T1220 min after block;2 adequate motor block for knee arthroscopy(modified Bromage's score≥2);3 without epidural requirement at least 60 min after intrathecal injection.The dose of injection was determined by up-and-down method and the value of median effective dose(ED50)was calculated.Results The ED50 was 11.42(95%CI=11.02-11.85)in the ondansetron group and 11.32(95%CI=10.92-11.80)in the control group.There was no significant difference in the ED50 between the two groups(P0.05).ConclusionOndansetron dose not influence subarachnoid block by intrathecal injection of ropivacaine.


Resource of fodder is always in great demand world over. The present investigation also paid attention on this line during ethnobotanical foray in the Shahada tehasil. The largest family of fodder species are viz, Fabaceae (08), Euphorbiaceae (07), Poaceae (05) Amaranthaceae (04), Verbenaceae (03), Convolvulaceae (03), Cucurbitaceae (03). The cultivated crops are regularly used as a feed for livestock, beside crop plant.


This article focuses on sex abuse and abuse of power in Catholic schools in the Philippines. I argue that these schools should ground policy design and decision-making on the relational safety model developed by Maria Carmen B. La Viña and her colleagues at the Catholic Safeguarding Institute, and on a holistic pastoral approach developed by Nila Bermisa. The latter offers a life-giving vision on what to aim for in dealing with abuse as Christians, namely renewal and a movement toward fullness of life. I show that failure to reference the work of these two women is connected to the commission of egregious mistakes such as promoting silence and secrecy that further harm victims, partiality toward abusers, perpetuating organisational structures that correlate with abuse, and failing to listen to women who point to a connection between abuse and patriarchal Catholic culture.


In our previous work, we proposed a niching genetic algorithm: attraction basin sphere estimating genetic algorithm (ABSEGA). It can detect and recognize attraction basin spheres on a fitness lands...


AbstractThe tarnishing of silver in bromine vapour in the temperature range 35°–70°c, at bromine pressures between 25·3–404 Nm−2 (0·19–3·03 mm Hg)followed a cubic rate law. This has not been reported so far for this system. The mechanism proposed by Mott to account for a cubic growth law seems to apply to the present work. This may be because of the relatively small thickness of the film (≶ 1600A) and the persistence of the electrical field throughout the layer. An activation energy of ∼37·6 kJ mole−1 in the above temperature range supports the hypothesis that the creation of positive holes at the outer interface is the rate-determining factor. The direct proportionality between the rate constant and the partial pressure of the bromine suggests that a steady state condition is not attained at the phase boundaries because of the thinness of the bromide film.


Classic forest management, aimed at maximum wood production, leads to the simplification of the forest. In forest ecosystems a higher diversity is related to a higher stability, mainly in regards to the system's capacity of reducing the spread of perturbations. Management based on renaturalisation can favour the repair of natural processes, i.e. the self-regulating and self-perpetuating mechanisms, and an increase in the ecosystem's resistance and resilience. The renaturalisation of simplified forest systems in Southern Italy concerns first of all forest plantations, but also those stands of natural origin that have been simplified in composition and structure by uniform silvicultural treatments. Above all renaturalisation leads to man's presence in the forest as part of the system. This is the best insurance for the forest against various destructive factors.


In allusion to the characteristics of complex fault-block reservoirs in Wenxi horst zone,based on the of seismic data,geologic log,logging,analytical data,well-testing and production data,the techniques of seismic coherence cube,three-dimensional visualization interpretation phace-controlling reservoir predication were used for fine reservoir contrast,integral reservoir evaluation and fine structural interpretation,study on oil and gas enrichment,so as to find local oil and gas-enrichment region and carry out deployment and implementation of reservoir evaluation.According to the research,new production capability construction regions are formed for effective development of beneficial area with matched production techniques.


This paper presents a simple analytical model of a longitudinal hollow cathode discharge used in metal vapour lasers. The model describes the principle relations between the voltage, current, plasma density and axial structure of the discharge. Contrary to standard dc discharges, this discharge does not require electron multiplication in the cathode fall (CF) to produce ions, but rather to satisfy the electron energy balance. A self-sustainment condition is obtained from the energy balance per electron–ion pair. From this, it follows that there is a maximum voltage at which the CF thickness tends to zero and the current density tends asymptotically to infinity. The discharge develops axial non-uniformity and an axial electric field in order to evacuate the created electrons to the anode, such that the characteristic time for transport losses is the same for electrons as for ions. The axial profiles of the current density, plasma density and potential are obtained from the electron continuity equation. It is shown that additional energy absorption from the axial field, similar to electron heating in dc positive columns, modifies the self-sustainment condition and thus leads to a shift in the voltage–current characteristic, depending on the cathode length.


North Texas 2006 Schedule Sept. 2 at Texas L 56-7 Sept. 9 SMU W 24-6 Sept. 16 at Tulsa L 28-3 Sept. 23 at Akron L 33-13 Sept. 30 Middle Tennessee* L 35-0 Oct. 7 Florida International* W 25-22 (7OT) Oct. 21 at Arkansas State* L 29-10 Oct. 28 at Troy* L 14-6 Nov. 4 Louisiana Tech L 34-31 Nov. 11 at Louisiana-Lafayette* W 16-7 Nov. 18 Florida Atlantic* L 17-16 Nov. 25 at Louisiana-Monroe* 6 p.m. *Sun Belt Conference Game All Times Central


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper contributes to literature on global leadership and women in the context of mid-size businesses where a paucity of literature exists. Undergraduate and graduate students were asked to rank order three candidates for a leadership position in either a domestic or global organization to determine whether a female applicant is more likely to be selected to lead a mid-size global company while a male applicant is more likely to be selected to lead a mid-size domestic company. Although some support was found for the study's hypotheses, results differed based on participant characteristics. Implications of the findings are discussed. Keywords: Globalization, Leadership, Global business, Gender discrimination, Leader selection, Women leaders INTRODUCTION The future of business will be increasingly more globalized and multinational. Regardless of the national emphasis of its business model (i.e., domestic or foreign), every enterprise will be affected by globalization either directly or indirectly. At the same time, increasing diversity among subordinates and followers is necessitating that all leaders consider perspectives of peoples with backgrounds unlike their own (Eagly & Chin, 2010). This evolution in the world of commerce calls for a deeper understanding and closer analysis of effective leadership. A few scholars have identified the greatest challenges facing today's leaders as cultural gaps, lack of trust in each other, failure to value each other's skills, and ineffective communication due to increased diversity in cultural, professional, and organizational background (e.g., see Goldsmith & Marshall, 2007). Tomorrow's global leaders will encounter an environment that is constantly changing, replete with uncertainty and ambiguity, and increasingly complex - with greater cultural diversity and technological advancements (Hoppe, 2007). While the dominance of white males in leadership positions is still unquestionable, the growing representation of women and racial and ethnic minorities at the upper levels of organizations cannot be disputed. Women now occupy 49.1 percent of employment in the United States (Rampell, 2009). Among those jobs, women hold approximately half of all managerial and professional positions (U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau, 2006, para. 12); however, only a handful of women make it to the topmost level, such as CEO. This phenomenon has posed great challenges for researchers trying to understand the barriers that face many women who pursue upper-level leadership positions. Most of these studies have had to rely on in-depth and qualitative interviews with the handful of successful women at the top of large business organizations (Cheung & Halpern, 2010). Moreover, a paucity of research exists in the context of leadership and gender for mid-size businesses in today's global environment; most leadership research focuses on either Fortune 500 companies (e.g., see the influential work performed by researchers at Catalyst, such as Soares, Carter, & Combopiano, 2009) or small entrepreneurial companies (e.g., see Langowitz & Minniti, 2007). This paper describes a study that uses experimental vignettes in an attempt to fill this gap. Specifically, it explores perceptions of students (future leaders of tomorrow) in selecting an appropriate leader from a pool of gender-diverse candidates for CEO positions of two mid-size businesses - one primarily domestic, one global. RESEARCH CONTEXT AND LITERATURE REVIEW Traditional and Global Leadership The skills needed for successful leadership in the future are fundamentally different from those traditionally thought of as necessary. As globalization becomes embedded at all levels of the economy and society in general, a number of studies have attempted to identify the competencies needed for successful global leadership (Rosener, 1990; Tubbs & Schulz, 2006; Lajtha & Carminati-Rabasse, 2008), which will require that we no longer think of the leader as an individual, but rather we think of leadership as a team process (Hoppe, 2007). …


We present a novel mid-infrared (mid-IR) source of ultrashort pulses applicable to a wide range of biological, spectroscopic, and strong-field physics investigations. The source produces 67 fs pulses at 3.2 microns, with energy of 3.8 μJ at 100 kHz repetition rate and a pulse-to-pulse RMS stability of 0.7%. The system is based on OPCPA, is scalable in energy and repetition rate, and provides a platform for a new generation of ultrashort mid-IR sources.


Controlled atmosphere (CA) storage is a beneficial tool for extending the postharvest life of fresh fruits and vege- tables, but specific tolerance levels to gas composition must be determined in order to apply this technique. Sweetcorn was stored for 14 days in air or 2% O 2 plus 0, 15, or 25% CO 2 at 5°C to determine the best atmosphere composition for maintaining quality. Sweetcorn was more sensitive to reduced O 2 plus ele- vated CO 2 than to either alone. Storage in 2% O 2 + 25% CO 2 sig- nificantly increased the respiration rate compared to air storage, indicating induction of fermentative metabolism, while there was no significant effect of 2% O 2 + 0% CO 2 or 2% O 2 + 15% CO 2 on respiration, and storage in either 15 or 25% CO 2 in air (17.7 or 15.6% O 2 , respectively) significantly reduced respiration. CA storage maintained higher levels of sugars, which is the main quality parameter for sweetcorn. Elevated CO 2 significantly reduced loss of greenness in the husks. CA also improved the silk and kernel appearance, but it had no ef- fect on kernel denting. The impact of CA on dimethyl sulfide (DMS), the main characteristic aroma component in sweet- corn, was also beneficial since CA maintained significantly higher DMS content compared with the air control. CA with 2% O 2 + 15% CO 2 gave the best results in terms of quality mainte- nance for 14 days storage since it preserved the highest sugar level and reduced deterioration in sweetcorn visual quality. Sweetcorn tolerated 2% O 2 or 25% CO 2 alone for 2 weeks, but may be damaged by the two gas levels in combination.


A successful method for the fabrication of coated conductors is winding the tape helically around a drum and rotating it in vacuum between a deposition zone and an oxidation zone. This is a batch process, however, so that the conductor length is limited by the size of the drum. Scaling up then means ever larger vacuum systems. This problem can be overcome by using a continuous process with co-rotating reels where the tape is shifted along the drum surface. This shift can be easily accomplished by inducing a stick-slip motion. As a byproduct, the uniformity is increased because the conductor is subjected to the same conditions over its entire length. Here, an experimental model is described that has reached tape speeds of 2 m/min, enough for production. The corresponding theory indicates that the parameters can be optimized even further.


BACKGROUND AND AIM
In cancer patients, Candida species can cause a variety of diseases particularly oropharyngeal candidiasis which is a common infection. In this study, an attempt has been made to determine susceptibility pattern of four antifungal agents against the Candida species isolated from cancer patients with oropharyngeal candidiasis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Samples were taken from 50 cancer patients with oropharyngeal candidiasis by the physician, and isolation and identification of Candida spp. was done based on standard procedures. Antifungal resistance pattern was carried out according to CLSI guidelines, and 18s ribosomal RNA among Candida spp. was identified using multiplex polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS
Of the 50 patients, 18 (36%) were females and 32 (64%) were males; mean age was 38.4 years. Leukemia and lymphoma were the most frequent cancer types in the studied group, accounting for 17 (34%) and 12 (24%), respectively. A total of 29 Candida spp. were isolated from 29 cancer patients, of which 17 were C. albicans and 12 were C. non-albicans. All the Candida spp. were confirmed having 18s ribosomal RNA. Among all the Candida spp., C. non-albicans showed higher resistance pattern to amphotericin B (MIC 07 μg/ml) and ketoconazole (MIC = 05 μg/ml).

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, oropharyngeal Candidiasis is a serious infection among cancer patients. The isolated Candida spp. were resistant to common antifungal agents, which may lead to longer hospital stay, more expensive/toxic drugs and higher mortality. Therefore, interval surveillance is necessary in developing institutional guidelines.


In this paper a hybrid formulation for the analysis of electromagnetic fields distribution in systems with conductors in motion is presented. Conductive bodies in relative motion are enclosed in a fictitious surface attached to the conductors. The equivalence theorem is applied to these surfaces and the continuity of tangential components of electric and magnetic fields, taking into account the motional effects, is imposed using the Method Of Moments (M.O.M.). The distribution of electromagnetic fields inside each surface is obtained by means of a Finite Elements Method (F.E.M.) analysis. No re-meshing is required inside and the motional effects are taken into account by means of the boundary conditions. A relevant characteristic of the proposed method is that only a part of the matrices, (namely those involved in the application of MOM), have to be recalculated at each step. The proposed formulation has been tested by comparison with other numerical results.


Experiments designed for the attainment of the hybrid advanced mode of operation in JET revealed the existence of a new form of reconnecting modes with toroidal number n = 1 and poloidal number m = 1, which have the same radial structure as sawtooth precursors but are characterized by small growth rate and low saturation amplitude. These modes develop in repetitive cycles with typical growth times of 100 ms. Temperature perturbations are not in the form of sawteeth; in fact, there is slow and mild erosion of the central temperature without any crash. Comparison with theory of m = 1 modes indicates that the slow growth observed in the hybrid regime is caused by low magnetic shear (a measure of the radial variation of field line inclination) and possibly by diamagnetic effects in the plasma core.


Gujjar and Bakarwal is the third largest community in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Gujjar and Bakarwal population is highest in the Jammu region followed by the valley of Kashmir. They are tribe who strictly follow old traditions and customs. Gujjar wear their traditional dresses men adorn turbans of their heads in Mughal style along with long and loses 'Kurta' or shirts with 'Salwar' women wears lose 'Kurta' having collars and cuffs along with 'Suthan' in Churidar style. Now a days, there has been a change in life style of Gujjars also like others tribe with the change of time.  The Gojri language is the language spoken by Gujjars. The Gojri language is primarily spoken in Poonch and Rajouri districts and is the third largest spoken language of Kashmiri and Dogri in the state. Some of the more cultural and harsh sound of Gojri and Bakarwali cannot replicate in the Urdu script. In order to correct this, the Gojri section of Jammu and Kashmir academy of art, culture and languages established in 1978 added some new symbol to the existing script to make the script suitable to Gojri and Bakarwali language.


Purpose. To assess whether state-sponsored agricultural marketing programs had a positive influence on adult consumers' fruit and vegetable consumption. Design. Differences in fruit and vegetable consumption between 2000 and 2005 in states that initiated marketing campaigns during this period and those that did not were examined. Subjects. A representative sample (n = 237,320) of adults aged 18 and older from states with and without marketing programs was used. The study used data from the 2000 and 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Measures. The number of fruit and vegetable servings per week and the percentage of respondents consuming five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day were examined. Analysis. Between-subjects analysis of variance and logistic regression. Results. In the absence of a marketing campaign, there was a significant decrease in fruit and vegetable consumption between 2000 and 2005. In states with campaigns, consumption remained stable or increased. Marketing effects were stronger for women than for men. Conclusions. State-sponsored agricultural marketing programs had favorable effects on consumers' consumption of fruits and vegetables.


A variety of N
 α-blocked pentapeptide esters, each containing four helicogenic, achiral α-aminoisobutyric acid residues and one chiral L-valine or C
 α-methyl-L-valine residue in the N-terminal, internal or C-terminal position of the sequence, have been synthesized by solution methods and fully characterized. The results of a solution conformational analysis, performed by using FTIR absorption and 1H NMR techniques, favour the conclusion that all of the pentapeptides examined fold into a 310-helical structure. In addition, a CD study of the N
 α-para-bromobenzoylated peptides strongly supports the view that the prevailing screw sense of the 310-helical structure that is formed is strongly dependent upon the position in the sequence of the single chiral C
 α-tri- or C
 α-tetrasubstituted α-amino acid.


The idea of 'smart' materials and structures evolved in the United States in early 1980's as the potentially viable solution to the problem posed by the next generation of -particularly military- aircraft. At the same time, the concept of 'intelligent' and even 'wise' materials was pioneered in Japan with the purpose of establishing a new area in materials science which would take into account the relationship between materials, the natural environment, and society new requirements -in the general frame of the sustainable development-. This concept has been at first proposed in a really 'biomimetic' frame in which a material would possess as a living system 'nerves' simulated by a network of sensors, 'muscles' or active parts and a 'brain' in order to coordinate the whole. This ambitious concept leads naturally to the multifunctionality for the structural materials and to the most difficult of the challenges: the self healing behaviour! So, the ''smartness'' or 'intelligence' can be defined at three levels, each of them defining a field of research, technology development and potential applications:


PURPOSE: To restrain dust from being generated in a reaction chamber and a flow of reaction gas from being disturbed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate. CONSTITUTION: An infrared lamp house 18 is installed over a reaction chamber 11, infrared lamps 14 are built in it, and a rotary shaft 17 and a rotary mechanism 26 are provided upside of the infrared lamp house 18. The underside of the infrared lamp house 18 and the upside of the reaction chamber 11 are covered with a quartz window 13 respectively and the surface of a semiconductor substrate 15 placed inside the reaction chamber 11 is radiated by infrared rays emitted from the infrared lamps 14. A susceptor 24 is installed inside the reaction chamber 11, and the semiconductor substrate 15 is mounted on the upside of the susceptor 24. By this setup, dust is hardly generated while the infrared lamp house 18 is rotated, a vapor growth thin film is formed without contamination, moreover a flow of reactive gas is hardly disturbed as the semiconductor substrate 15 is not, rotated, so that a vapor growth thin film can be formed uniform in thickness. COPYRIGHT: (C)1993,JPO&Japio


Abstract : Commercially available package wastewater treatment plants are cataloged and evaluated in the report for possible use by the U. S. Air Force in limited war and fixed base installations, and in the Bare Base Mobility Program. Graphs are presented relating capital cost, power requirements, shipping volume and weight and erection time to flow capacity. Tables of performance data are also presented. A listing of the manufacturers of these plants is included. (Author)


For a class of cell division processes, generating tessellations of the Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^d$, spatial consistency is investigated. This addresses the problem whether the distribution of these tessellations, restricted to a bounded set $V$, depends on the choice of a larger region $W\supset V$ where the construction of the cell division process is performed. This can also be understood as the problem of boundary effects in the cell division procedure. In Nagel and Wei\ss\ (2005) it was shown that the STIT tessellations are spatially consistent There were hints that the STIT tessellation process might be the only translation-invariant cell division process that has such a consistency property. In the present paper it is shown that, within a reasonable wide class of cell division processes, the STIT tessellations are the only ones that are consistent.


This paper attempts to remove the 'quackness' or dross in the Nigerian Accounting Lecturer/Teacher and make him the most important type of teacher that students will never forget. It brings to limelight the relevance /significance of commitment and due process in him, the factors affecting the making of a natural or an effective teacher and gives extensive/comprehensive tips employable for a worthwhile, rewarding, and successful classroom management in the lecturing/teaching profession.


This paper considers the question of the speculative nature of Schopenhauer's philosophy. In order to illuminate this issue, aspects of his conception of the aims and methods of philosophy will be investigated, with a particular focus upon the extent to which his system lies within the philosophical esoteric tradition. It will be argued that Schopenhauer's works recognisably stand in the tradition of pedagogical esotericism, involving engagement in reflection that at least touches upon the mystical and speculative.


[Objective] The research aimed to study the relationship between the diversity index and other ecological indies of arthropod community in tea garden of Qianshan area.[Method] The relationship between the diversity index and other ecological indies of arthropod community in tea garden of Qianshan area were analyzed by path analysis.[Result]Pielou index of arthropod community had a direct effect on diversity index of 0.813 0.The dominant concentration had a negative correlation with the diversity index of-0.361 4.These two indexes had obvious effects on diversity index.[Conclusion] The research was favorable for illuminating the relationship between the diversity and other components of arthropod community.


The main p urpose of this paper is to achieve the control of upper-limb prosthesis by neu-ral-electricity. Amplification of neural signals based on neural electrodes was investigated and discussed. To send the neural signal detected by the electrode to outer-body wirelessly, we take advantage of the property that the output power of class E power amplifier varies with the change of the load, and make use of the time-sharing technique. Thus Transcutaneous multichannel neural signal transmission and identification were realized. Amplifier and transcutaneous signal emission circuit implanted in the body procured power by the implanted coil, which induced the radio field that was sent by the class E amplifier. Using this circuit, a multi-DOF upper-limb prosthesis is controlled by simulated neural signal and the process of amplification, transmission and identification were verified.


Subject. Under the current circumstances, the State and commercial banks invent how to support agricultural producers due to the high priority of agriculture for the national security and the high standards of living of people. Soft financing is a mechanism the State uses to support agricultural enterprises, thus stimulating the agricultural production through debt finance.
Objectives. I identify distinctions and determine positive and negative aspects of soft financing granted for agricultural producers.
Methods. I referred to official data of the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, Russian Agricultural Bank. I applied methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, the systems approach.
Results. I analyzed typical traits of soft financing to agricultural enterprises. The article indicates the role of authorized banks as systemically important credit institutions in Russia as part of the soft financing mechanism. I conducted the comparative analysis of commercial lending and soft financing to businesses, pointed out key differences between their mechanisms. The article spotlights the shortage of working funds, which results from distinctions of the agricultural sector. I investigated the impact of the sectoral and intrasectoral specifics of agriculture on the lending process. Referring to the key differences of commercial lending and soft financing to agricultural producers in the Russian Federation, I figured out positive and negative aspects of soft lending.
Conclusions and Relevance. Agricultural producers operate, being exposed to high risk. Therefore, commercial banks take risks into account when setting up the cost of loans. High rates on loans are unaffordable for the majority of small and medium-sized agricultural businesses, thus complicating the finance of agricultural producers' operations. Agricultural enterprises demonstrate a rather low profitability, thus impeding the performance of lending principles, such as repayment, timeliness, serviceability.


Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu was a writer who left his mark in the Turkish Literature of the Republican Period, and a prolihc artist who produced works virtually in every field of literature. He gave his support to the War of Independence through his writings, and worked as a member of parliament and a diplomat for a long time. Bom into an aristocratic family, Yakup Kadri spent his childhood in a palace in Egypt. His being a nobleman, his educational background, and his having good knowledge, particularly, of the westem culture make itself apparent in his works. As is known, Yakup Kadri in his novel Yaban (The Stranger) has a pessimistic view of the village life and the peasants. This study examines how Yakup Kadri views the village, the peasants and the general public in his other works. The study also deals with the* Doc.Dr. Kastamonu Universitesi, Egitim Fakultesi, Ilkogretim Bolumu, Kastamonu,e-mail.: eakman @ kastamonu. edu. trT urkiy e


In consideration of the factors influencing the stability of the compound landslide, including the structural surface of main rock faults, concrete anti-slide piles, seepage, nonlinearity of material structure, and earthquake-induced inertial force, the stability and safety of three typical surfaces of the landslide with or without reinforcement by anti-slide piles, on which slip-induced cracks might occur, are calculated under three kinds of load combination by use of the finite element calculation model and the limit equilibrium method for rigid body analysis. The results show that the landslide is in the steady state, but the daily safety monitoring of the landslide should still be emphasized.


Executive Summary: NANOMICRO project proposes a new process, able to deliver a layer wise manufacturing approach using highly focalised powder/heat fluxes with dimensions in the microns range. This new solution allows to control the spatial resolution within the same limit and building up parts with such extreme precise control of the (fully dense) bulk material build up with control of shape (guaranteed also by proper on-line monitoring systems). The precise deposition system is integrated with a new and breakthrough high productivity concept as result of the investigation of two alternative technical approaches: b) A single "high deposition speed" laser sintering + microwave preheating head through an innovative "close gun-target" a) A "multi-parallelized" sintering head concept.


Brain chemoreceptors play a vital role in regulating blood gas homeostasis in response to acute changes in CO2 and/or pH. Serotonergic (5‐HT) neurons, which also produce and release other neuromodulatory peptides, have properties consistent with being central respiratory chemoreceptors. In addition, recent in vitro studies have highlighted important contributions of G‐protein‐coupled 5‐HT receptors (5‐HT2 and/or 5‐HT7 receptors) to the chemosensitivity of additional putative central respiratory chemoreceptors within the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) marked by the expression of Phox2b. However, the importance of raphe‐derived neuromodulation of the RTN on eupneic breathing as well as hypoxic and hypercapnic ventilatory chemoreflexes in vivo is unclear. Here we hypothesized that unilateral ablation of serotonergic terminals within the RTN cause a time‐dependent attenuation of ventilatory chemoreflexes in vivo. To test this hypothesis, 8‐week‐old Sprague‐Dawley rats received unilateral stereotaxic injections of the 5‐HT pre‐synaptic terminal toxin 5,7‐Dihydroxytryptamine (5,7‐DHT; 2 mg/ml, 2 µl vol.) with or without fluorescent microbeads (for injection site localization) targeted to the RTN after pretreatment with desipramine (30mg/kg; IP) to limit off‐target effects on other aminergic neurons/terminals. A control group received an equal volume injection of vehicle in the RTN. Breathing was measured via whole body plethysmography while exposed to room air, hypercapnia (7% CO2 challenge), or hypoxia (12% O2 challenge) 2‐3 days (d) before and 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14d post‐injection. Preliminary data showed that RTN‐targeted injections reduced ventilatory chemoreflexes 3, 5, and 7d post‐injection with slightly greater effects in the 5,7‐DHT injected group. Ventilatory chemoreflexes returned to control levels by 14d post‐injection. To confirm the lesion site within the RTN and determine the extent of 5‐HT‐specific lesioning, we have also begun to quantify 5‐HT using immunofluorescent staining. However, additional preliminary data showed no differences in 5‐HT when comparing 5,7‐DHT and control groups. Although these studies are ongoing, our data suggest that unilateral RTN‐targeted 5‐HT terminal lesions reduce ventilatory chemoreflexes.


Polarised neutron diffraction has been used to determine the neutron magnetic form factors of a Ni0.959V0.041 random alloy at 4.2, 290 and 378 K. From the analysis of the form factors it is concluded that within experimental accuracy the spatial distribution of the spin density remains unaltered up to 0.9 Tc for this alloy.


The dominance of Internet protocol and the expected further evolution of network architecture and technologies have necessitated the vital data communication and network technology for main line railays described in this article. The emphasis is on networks for the vital signaling and control systems of large railway operators with a railway specific focus on safety and security based to the required 'safety integration levels'. This cellular radio network technology is also used to control moving trains via the radio block centers.


Open biomass burning (OBB) has large potential in triggering local and regional severe haze with elevated fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations and could thus deteriorate ambient air quality and threaten human health. Open crop straw burning (OCSB), as a critical part of OBB, emits abundant gaseous and particulate pollutants, especially in fields with intensive agriculture, such as central and eastern China (CEC).  However, uncertainties in current OCSB and other types of OBB emissions in chemical transport models (CTMs) lead to inaccuracies in evaluating their impacts on haze formations. Satellite retrievals provide an alternative that can be used to simultaneously quantify emissions of OCSB and other types of OBB, such as the Fire INventory from NCAR version 1.5 (FINNv1.5), which, nevertheless, generally underestimate their magnitudes due to unresolved small fires. In this study, we selected June in 2014 as our study period, which exhibited a complete evolution process of OBB (from June 1 to 19) over CEC. During this period, OBB was dominated by OCSB in terms of the number of fire hotspot and associated emissions, most of which were located at Henan and Anhui with intensive enhancements from June 5 to 14. OCSB generally exhibits spatiotemporal correlation with regional haze over the central part of CEC (Henan, Anhui, Hubei, and Hunan), while other types of OBB emissions had influences on Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian. Based on these analyses, we establish a constraining method that integrates ground-level PM2.5 measurements with a state-of-art fully coupled regional meteorological and chemical transport model (the two-way coupled WRF-CMAQ) in order to derive optimal OBB emissions based on FINNv1.5. It is demonstrated that these emissions allow the model to reproduce meteorological and chemical fields over CEC during the study period, whereas the original FINNv1.5 underestimated OBB emissions by 2 ~ 7 times, depending on specific spatiotemporal scales. The results show that OBB had substantial impacts on surface PM2.5 concentrations over CEC. Most of the OBB contributions were dominated by OCSB, especially in Henan, Anhui, Hubei, and Hunan, while other types of OBB emissions also exerted influence in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian. With the concentration-weighted trajectory (CWT) method, potential OCSB sources leading to severe haze in Henan, Anhui, Hubei, and Hunan were pinpointed. The results show that the OCSB emissions in Henan and Anhui can cause haze not only locally but also regionally through regional transport. Combining with meteorological analyses, we can find that surface weather patterns played a cardinal role in reshaping spatial and temporal characteristics of PM2.5 concentrations. Stationary high-pressure systems over CEC enhanced local PM2.5 concentrations in Henan and Anhui. Then, with the evolution of meteorological patterns, Hubei and Hunan in the low-pressure system were impacted by areas enveloped in the high-pressure system. These results suggest that policymakers should strictly undertake interprovincial joint enforcement actions to prohibit irregular OBB, especially OCSB over CEC. Constrained OBB emissions can, to a large extent, supplement estimations derived from satellite retrievals as well as reduce overestimates of bottom-up methods.


We often refer to space when we talk about time. To support this, studies show that we tend to associate the past with the left and the future with the right, space. However, there is little research that compares the spatial mapping of individual time units within the same methodological framework. Here, we used the same line-bisection paradigm to study horizontal spatial biases in various individual time units (i.e., hours, days, and months). Fifty-four adults processed temporal words and indicated their location on a horizontal line representing a time interval via a mouse click. Each word corresponded to one of the three conditions: left, right, or central position on the line. Our results show a reaction-time facilitation effect for hour and day units in congruent conditions (e.g., left semantic bias + left position on the line). Also, processing hour units shifted the response coordinates in the direction of the presumed spatial bias. Finally, the congruent combination of visual and semantic biases led to a shift in manual responses in the corresponding direction for all time units. We conclude that while left-to-right mapping of time concepts is relatively universal, the horizontal mapping is stronger for hours as compared with days and months.


AbstractCosts of surveying and / or mapping projects are escalating and it is imperative that everyone who is responsible for carrying out such projects should look at ways and means of cutting their costs. This applies equally to those employed in a highly competitive private industry as it does to civil servants who are spending taxpayers' money.


This paper reviews some of the recent advances in the development of algorithms for wireless sensor networks. We focus on sensor deployment and coverage, routing, and sensor fusion.


This paper presents a discussion on the formation, depositional filling and oil and gas distribution in the faulted trough within the eastern Liaohe basin. Researches show that the formation of the faulted trough is related to the extension and slipping of dominant faults, and the fillings in the faulted trough are characterized by channel sandstones of lateral and radial fan deltas along the trough slope and axis, which constitute the favorable locations for oil and gas reservoirs. A lot of fractures and pores within volcanic rocks on the highland of the trough were formed by fault slipping, giving birth to volcanic oil reservoirs. Exploration indicates that the No.3 member of Shahejie Formation in the faulted trough is rich in oil and gas resources.


Based on the deep analysis on the coal face mining technical conditions and the main technical indexes,in combined with the practical experiences of the domestic heavy equipment,the belt conveyors of the main transportation system,fully mechanized hydraulic powered supports,coal shearers,scraper conveyors equipped in Changhangou Mine,Jinfeng Coal Branch are all domestic equipment.The full sets of the mining,excavation and transportation equipments in the mine are made in China with good technical and economic results,a month production of 0.84 million ton of coal and the annual production over 6 million ton of coal.The mine indicated the new breakthrough of the domestic equipment for "one mine,one shaft and one face" completed set equipment.


This paper proposed a design method for force-limited vibration testing conditions based on the complex two degrees of freedom system (TDFS) model. This method adopted the dynamic sub-structure theory to calculate the modal effective mass and the residual mass of the test article structure and the supporting structure, determined the specific parameters of the complex TDFS model in different bands depending on their distributions. The force spectrum and the acceleration spectrum of the contact surface between test article and supporting structure were defined with the excitation conditions of supporting structure. On the basis of the envelope, the force limited vibration test profile was obtained. Simulation results showed that the force-limited vibration testing conditions given by this method reflect the vibration environment of the test article much more realistically compared to the conservative testing conditions of the traditional acceleration-controlled vibration test.


The Kurdish people live in a region that straddles the international boundaries of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria without national sovereignty or nation-state recognition. The Kurdish aspiration for an independent Kurdistan is the source of protracted insurgency throughout the Kurdish-populated region but in particular eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, and western Iran. Kurdish extremism will remain a source of regional instability but it is unlikely the separatists will pursue WMD and bioterrorism as a means to achieve its political ends.

Keywords:

Abdullah Ocalan;
Biological Weapons;
Mustard Gas;
Sarin;
Tabun;
VX;
Kurds;
Kurdistan;
Kurdistan Workers Party;
PKK


In this paper, a general data and acknowledgement dissemination mechanism is proposed in mobile social networks (MSNs). Most existing dissemination schemes in MSNs only consider data transmission. However, receiving acknowledgement has many potential applications in MSNs (e.g., mobile trade and incentive mechanism). Challenging problems thus arise due to this type of mixed messages (i.e., data and acknowledgement) dissemination problem. The buffer constraint and time constraint for data and acknowledgement make this problem even harder to handle in a practical scenario. In order to maximize the research objective (e.g., low delay and high delivery ratio), we have to identify the priority of each message in the network. We propose a general priority-based compare-split routing scheme to solve the above buffer exchange problem. During each contact opportunity, first, nodes compare their abilities to send data and acknowledgements based on two types of criteria. They are the contact probability and the social status, which estimate the nodes' direct and indirect relationship with destinations respectively. Nodes then decide which message to exchange, and thus maximize the combined probability. Second, an adaptive priority-based exchange scheme is proposed within each type of message, and so is the relative priority between two types of messages, as to decide the order of exchange. The message with a high priority will be forwarded first, and thus maximize the research objectives. The effectiveness of our scheme is verified through the extensive simulations in synthetic and real traces.


The measurement of radiation noises from an underwater structure body and identification and location of noise sources were carried out by using a sound intensity measurement system . The experiment results include false three_dimensional diagrams and contour distribution of sound intensity,and prove the method proposed and the system used are useful for measuring underwater sound intensity.


A reduction of jerks in torsion, wherein the transmission of torque between first and second wheel members (3, 4) is effected with interposition of a damping device (13, 14 ) having energy accumulators and located inside a chamber (30, 51), essentially sealed, partially filled with a pasty agent and inside which there is provided an intermediate flange ( 41) comprising, for torque transmission to one of the flywheels to each other, rotating links with both of the steering elements with the interposition of an energy accumulator that rely in a circumferential direction in recesses of the flange and against the other flywheel element.


The resonant nuclear reactions, 27Al( p,α) and 27Al( p,γ), were used to determine the Al distribution in GaAlAs samples. By varying the incident proton energy, the Al concentrations at different depths were measured. The results agree with concentrations measured with other methods. The present techniques serve as nondestructive, accurate methods of profiling Al in various materials.


The release of Lauryn Hill's 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was a watershed moment in the history of hip-hop and the intersection between music and race. On this album, Hill created a narrative that embraced Black love, attempted to educate audiences, and drew on Black musical heritage, elevating Black womanhood and nuancing perceptions of Blackness in American culture. Through musical and lyrical analysis, this paper explores the importance of Miseducation's narrative within the cultural milieu of the late 1990s and its continuing impact on hip-hop and Black American culture.


Aiming at the effect of disturbance of driving and stoping on driving lag time and wall rock, we study the control of driving roadway along goaf and stoping over the stability of wall rock. The results show that the optimum time of excavation and selection of reasonable pillar width is the key for wall rock control during excavation and mining. Through reinforcing the entity side of gateway driven along goaf can delay the instability destruction of the small structure of wall rock. It is important to reasonable chose reinforced supporting structure of pillars to improve the bearing capacity of pillar and maintain its stability. Engineering practice has proved that side and top wall rock deformation is obviously different during excavation and mining of gateway driven along goaf. Reinforcing laneway side can effectively control wall rock of gateway driven along goaf.


Introduction: The screening of cervical smears by a cytotechnician and a pathologist is a good way of avoiding false negatives. However, even in such cases, many cases may be missed. Rescreening helps in picking up the missed cases and improve the quality of reporting. Rescreening that is usually done is a rapid one and on 10% random cases. With this background the present study aims to rescreen consecutive cervical smears which were already screened and reported, to assess the role of rescreening as a quality control measure and to evaluate the intra observer variation during rescreening. Material and Methods: 1000 consecutive cervical smears which were already screened by a cyto-technician and reported by a pathologist were rescreened by the same cyto-pathologist. Reporting format used was The Bethesda System 2001 (TBS 2001). Quality of reporting, that is, the number of new cases identified, was assessed and intra observer variation was calculated using k value. Results: Total number of positive cases, including atypical epithelial cells, reported initially was 20. Rescreening helped in picking up 6 new cases. The intra observer agreement was 99.4% and k value was 0.87. Conclusion: Rescreening indeed help bettering the quality of cervical smear reporting using TBS 2001. There was good intra observer concordance.


This work evaluated the agonistic behavior among workers of different nests of the Argentine-ant Linepithema humile, the period of sexual production, the sexual proportion, the variation of intranest population in the summer and in the winter, and. tThe growth rate of little colonies of 25 nests in Limeira, SP., were determined by Tthe intranest population were determined by counting the individuals of ten nests, and the growth rate to dissemination with 10, 50, 100, 150, 200, and 500 workers. The Limeira population presented unicolonial social structure with no agonistic  behavior among different nests. The sexual production was in the summer, with female-biased sexual investment (2.4 : 1). The size of the disseminated had a positive influence on the production of total offspring, but it was negative regarding the per capita production.


This paper investigates relatively integral stability in terms of two measures for two differential systems with "maxima" by employing Lyapunov functions, Razumikhin method, and comparison principle. An example is given to illustrate our result.


This paper is a part of the project "Leading Cadres and Enterprise Talents' Quality Evaluation Mechanism Research and System Development" (2005401012) funded by the Department of Science & Technology of Liaoning.AbstractEntrepreneur is the engine of an enterprise's sustainable development. To strengthen the construction of entrepreneur team is a must for the construction and perfection of modern enterprise system, and the realization of stable and fast economic development. By defining the connotation of entrepreneur, this paper analyzes the present construction of entrepreneur team in China, puts forward the problems in the construction, and advances relevant countermeasures.


This article reports on ethnographic research into processes of cultural continuity and change amongst a group of second-generation Pakistani Scots in Edinburgh. Using the metaphor of remix music, the authors explore constructions of identity in the context of new global and local transformations. Field observations and interviews with young people provide a foundation for analysing the negotiation of tradition, and key themes include the gendered dynamics of lived experience, shifting attitudes to marriage and the consumption of mediated symbolic goods. The authors conclude by conceptualizing the field of study, following Avtar Brah, as a specific diaspora space.


The Covid-19 spreads in every country in the world. Philippines had increased the cases of COVID-19 since it started. The data gathered in the official website of the department of health COVID-19 tracker in the Philippines and the age of the patients and days of recoveries from January to April 2020 with 5454 cases and 243 recoveries. The treatment used in the data is Pearson r, a two-tailed t-test and it was measured in excel 2016. The result in COVID-19 patient's age and Recovery rate has no significant correlation because the average of the significance level is greater than on the alpha level of 0.5 but it has moderate positive strength in correlation


We investigate the effect of CFO gender on the timeliness of loan loss provision (LLP) reporting using a large sample of US banks from 2007 to 2016. Our findings show that women CFOs are associated with timelier forward-looking provisioning than men counterparts, suggesting that they follow a more transparent approach to financial reporting policies. Our results hold under different model specifications, including the use of bank and CEO fixed effects. We further address endogeneity concerns by showing that the timeliness of LLP reporting improves significantly for banks experiencing a man-followed-by-woman CFO transition. Overall, our study supports the notion that women CFOs are associated with higher financial reporting transparency and provides further insights into how CFO gender affects risk-aversion and ethics in banks, with wider implications about the importance of women's representation in the finance-based industry.


The work presents a multi response optimization approach to determine the optimal process parameters in wire electrical discharge machining process. Experiments have been conducted using six process parameters such as discharge current, pulse duration, pulse frequency, wire speed, wire tension and dielectric flow rate each at three levels for obtaining the responses like material removal rate, roughness value of the worked surface (a measure of surface finish), and kerf. Taguchi L27 orthogonal array is used to gather information regarding the process with less number of experimental runs. Traditional Taguchi approach is insufficient to solve a multi response optimization problem. In order to overcome this limitation, a multi criteria decision making method, techniques for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is applied in the present study. In order to consider experimental uncertainty, the responses are expressed in linguistic terms rather than crisp values. The weight for each criterion (response) is obtained by analytical hierarchy process instead of using intuition and judgement of the decision maker. Key words— WEDM, Multi-response optimization, Analytic hierarchy process (AHP), TOPSIS


A substantial portion of commercially produced cymbidiums is sold as cut flowers that often require shipment to distant markets. Like many other species, ethylene released following harvest causes short flower longevity. The loss of flowers might be minimized by genetically transforming plants for reduced sensitivity to ethylene. A Cymbidium hybrid that produces large, dark pink-reddish flowers was selected for transformation. Shoot tips were excised and cultured in vitro, and protocorms were bombarded with a plasmid construct containing the boers gene, a mutant of the ethylene receptor gene, ERS, isolated from Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L. The mutant confers reduced sensitivity to ethylene. The ubiquitin promoter together with the hygromycin resistance gene was included in the construct. Bombardment was performed with the BioRad Biolistic PDS-1000/He gun. After 80 days of culture on hygromycin containing medium, putative transformants were isolated as regenerating protocorms. Protocorms also gave rise to plant differentiation subsequently in hygromycin containing culture medium. Transformants were preliminarily confirmed by PCR and RT-PCR for HPH and boers genes, and ultimately verified by genomic Southern hybridization. GC analysis of volatiles collected from leaves of transformed and nontransformed plantlets showed different rates of ethylene evolution. However, exposure of the leaves to exogenous ethylene caused rapid browning of leaves of nontransformed plants, but not of those from transformed plants. At this writing, the transgenic cymbidium plants are continuing to grow vigorously in the greenhouse, but have not yet matured for studying the ethylene sensitivity of their excised or intact flowers.


It is well established that the 1935 Italian invasion of Ethiopia was primarily aimed to take a revenge of the humiliation she experienced during the battle of Adowa, and a number of studies have chronicled the barbaric cruelty inflected by well-armed Italian army on ill equipped and untrained Ethiopian fighters. In spite of that, most research reports fail to reflect the historical facts regarding the attitude and the position of Pope Pius XI and the Vatican towards the Italo-Ethiopian conflict and the subsequent massacres. The present study seeks to examine real position and attitude of the Pope towarthe Italian invasion and massacre of its people for five years. To that end, many archives and historical documents have been used to collect data. A closer examination of archives reveal that Pope Pius XI has directly and indirectly supported Italian invasion of Ethiopia and her atrocities, and he never spoke out against what was clearly an unjust war. On June15, 1935, Pope Pius XI granted an audience to 7,000 veterans and celebrated a mass in their presence in an encouragement to the soldiers for massacre and an ideological support to Fascist Italy. On August 27, 1935 Pope Pius XI also granted an audience to an international congress of Catholic nurses at Castel Grandolfo and addressed them making special reference to the Italo-Ethiopian war as a distinct tribute of sympathy for Italy's desire of colonization. In his expression "it is said in Italy that the war would be a just war because of the expansion of a population" the Pope clearly reflected Mussolini's point of view and argument for his war against Ethiopia, and he seems to have believed that the war was just and, therefore, entreated only for "limits and moderation." The Pope publicly expressed his joy at the victory of the Italian army over Ethiopia and described it as a "happy triumph."Encouraged by the  Pop's position, most of the Catholic Bishops, Clergies and the Press strongly condemned the League of Nations for imposing sanctions against Italy and labeled the move as immoral. Members of the Italian hierarchy and the clergy apparently took a clear position in favor of the Italian war against Ethiopia and gave every possible support moral and material, to the Fascist leaders and army in their adventure of invading


If the probe current of a coaxial-line standing-wave detector is passed through a pair of rectifiers, a simple relation may be obtained between the mean current through either of the rectifiers, the capacitance of the probe to the inner conductor, and the frequency and peak amplitude of the voltage on the line. At a frequency of 600 Mc/s, errors are introduced into voltage measurements made with this circuit, owing mainly to the shunting of the rectifiers by stray capacitance. These errors may be reduced to 5?10% by using low-resistance silicon crystal rectifiers at their maximum current rating, and the magnitude of the errors can be deduced from a simple test made at low frequency. The shunting effects of stray capacitance across the rectifiers may be compensated, for to a large extent by a variable inductive stub, tuned to resonate with the stray capacitance at the operating frequency. The compensation is not perfect, however, and the use of a stub is a disadvantage with large rectifier currents. Measurements of 600-Mc/s pulsed voltages made with this probe circuit were found to agree, within the limits of experimental error (±3%), with the corresponding values deduced from measurements of the power dissipated in a calorimeter which terminated the coaxial line.


In this paper, we adopt supreme-utilities among fuzzy level (decision) vectors to propose a power allocation rule, its efficient extension and normalization in the framework of multicriteria fuzzy transferable-utility (TU) games. We also provide several axiomatic results to present the rationality for these rules. Based on different viewpoints, we introduce different formulations and dynamic results for the efficient extension and the normalization by applying the reduced game and the excess function respectively.


The need for a robust method that protects owner rights against unintended or malicious stealing, which has arisen because of the rapid increase of Internet data exchange and multimedia use, in addition to international electronic commercial services and the multimedia that it contains, has become a substantial constraint to the research in this domain. This paper proposes a novel method for image watermarking based on embedding multiple identical watermarks in different domains of the image representation: i.e. spatial and DCT domains, without any distortion of the watermarked image. In the spatial domain, the processing method uses a non-linear neural network segmentation to output the different zones of watermark embedding with respect to the image characteristics. Basing on this study, we compute the appropriate variable embedding gain factors chosen within the limit of the perceptibility threshold. However, in the DCT domain, different DCT blocks coefficients are selected with respect to the JPEG table quantization values in the middle frequency band in order to decrease the image distortions and increase the watermark robustness. Fifteen watermarks are created and embedded in these two domains in order to take advantage of both spatial domain robustness (i.e. against different asynchronous attacks), and DCT domain robustness (i.e. against jpeg compression and some other distortions). After different STIRMARK attacks, experimental results show that the proposed method is robust against several synchronous and asynchronous image attacks such as filtering, lossy compression, rotations, etc. The well-chosen locations of the different recurring embedded watermarks with variable gain factors in addition to the studied selection of the used DCT coefficients where the watermarks are coded proved that all or some watermarks


The success of Taiwan in controlling the spread of COVID-19 is due to critical, timely, and coordinated general and psychological preventive strategies and measures In the commentary, we describe these crucial experiences and successful interventions relevant in the geriatric population, particularly in people with dementia (PWD) Taiwan has successfully prevented the outbreak of COVID-19 by taking a series of effective measures to control the spread of coronavirus There are several important factors: (1) learning from the past SARS experiences, (2) having a well-functioning national healthcare system and NHCC in preparation for any major outbreak, (3) responding quickly and effectively, with advanced technology and consistent actions from central to local government, (4) transparency in communications and policies (including resource allocation), (5) efficient general and psychological strategies and measures, including regulations on face mask-wearing and punishment of those who break the rule of home isolation/ quarantine (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)


Objective To evaluate the stability of enoxacin gluconate(Eno)injection combined with ornidazole(Orn)and sodium chloride injection.Methods Eno injection was compatible with Orn and sodium chloride injection and the solution,the solution stored at room temperature for 6 h,the absorbance of it was determined by UV-vis.The UV absorption spectra were recorded.The appearance and pH value were observed.Results No significant change in appearance,pH value and UV absorption spectra was found during 6 h.Conclusion The compatible solution of Eno injection with Orn and sodium chloride injection is stable,and it can be applied in combination.


It is now common practice, image data, such as video sequences to be stored on servers and this demand by a client that is connected to the server to load over a network and display on the client. To this end, a video system 1 for displaying image data with a server 2, the server 2 has a code device 5, which is operable as an active mode of operation in several modes, wherein the code means 5 for encoding video data V in accordance with the active mode and outputting encoded transmission data is formed in a U, with a client 3, wherein the client 3 is connectable to the server 2 via a network 4, and wherein the client 3 in a session request, for processing and displaying the coded transmission data U of the code device 5 formed , said code device 5 is operable as an active mode in addition to the playback mode in the operating mode or stop, still image, and fast-forward / fast-rewind, wherein the client 3 determines the active mode of the code means. 5


A Manchester walk-in-centre has adapted NICE guidance on suspected cancer. The team has implemented a standardised process of referral for registered and non-registered patients.


We have tested several models and their molecular orbital indexes of the rate-determining step of antioxidization by substituted phenols. Some molecular complex models have been found to be rational, though the problem of which of them is actually the true mechanism of the chain-breaking inhibition of autooxidation cannot yet be settled. Another possibility, that the earlier stage of the hydrogen abstraction reaction may be the rate-determining step, cannot yet be abandoned. The numerical calculations have been carried out on the KDC-I digital computer of Kyoto University.


This paper studies the stable currents of a class of quality functional in a compact n-dimensional submanifold of Euclidean space.It is proved that there does not exist stable currents in M when its sectional curvature KM and the length of mean curvature ‖H‖ satisfy one of the following condtions:(1) KM;(2) M is a 14-pinched submanifold with ‖H‖.We partialy answer the L-S conjecture.


Although early directory standards, such as X.500, offer some cross-platform functionality, none has the flexibility of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol or is as widespread. In LDAP Directories Explained, Brian Arkills, an experienced engineer, shares his knowledge of LDAP in theory and practice. The book has two main parts. Part I discusses, in a vendor-neutral tone, all the basic LDAP topics, including The namespace concept and design The importance of using schema, including object classes, attributes, syntaxes, and matching rules


Based on clinical and experimental work two new types of volumetric overload shocks are reported: volumetric overload shock type one and type two depending on the type of fluid causing their induction. Volumetric overload shock type one is induced by sodium-free fluids such as glycine, glucose, mannitol and sorbitol and is characterized with acute dilutional hyponatraemia. Volumetric overload shock type 2 is induced with sodium-based fluids normal saline and plasma substitutes used for resuscitation of the critically ill and has no serological marker. It presents with the multiple vital organs dysfunction or failure syndrome or the adult respiratory distress syndrome. Hypertonic sodium is an effective treatment when given early adequately. The underlying pathophysiology is discussed. An alternative to Starling's law for the capillary interstitial fluid transfer is given. Hydrodynamic of a porous orifice tube akin to capillary with a surrounding Chamber akin to the interstitial fluid space demonstrated a rapid dynamic magnetic field-like fluid circulation between the surrounding chamber and the lumen of the G tube that represent an adequate replacement for Starling's law.


Seed security is central to crop production for smallholder farmers in developing countries, but it remains understudied in relation to long-term seed sector development. Here, we compare seed systems in two districts of Central Ethiopia characterized by subsistence-oriented teff cultivation and commercially oriented wheat production and relate this to the country's pluralistic seed system development strategy (PSSDS). Our analysis is based on quantitative and qualitative information from a household survey and focus group discussions with farmers, as well as document review and key informant interviews with actors that make up the seed sector in the study sites. Farmers in both districts used a range of seed sources but primarily obtained their seeds from informal sources. Evidence of seed insecurity was found in both districts, as apparent from discrepancies between what the seed farmers say they prefer and those they actually use, limited availability of improved varieties and especially certified seeds of these, challenges with seed quality from some sources, and differentiated access to preferred seed and information according to sex, age and wealth. We find that the interventions prioritized in the PSSDS address most of the seed security challenges and seed system dysfunctions identified, but implementation lags, particularly for the informal seed system, which is largely neglected by government programs. The intermediate system shows promise, but while some improvements have been made in the formal system, vested political, organizational, and economic interests within key institutions represent major obstacles that must be overcome to achieve truly integrative and inclusive seed sector development.


A process for extracting edible fibres from kelp includes such steps as washing, drying and pulverizing raw kelp, enzymolyzing, treating with hydrochloric acid, extracting by sodium carbonate, filter, neutralizing the filtrate, adding calcium chloride to obtain gel, treating the dregs with sodium hydroxide and hdyrochloric acid, mixing the said gel with the treated dregs, bleaching with sodium hypochlorite, activating, dewatering, baking and pulverizing.


Trilingualism and multilingualism is common in Europe and in many other parts of the world. It is the result of historical, social, and political factors and can involve combinations of di¤erent types of languages (Cenoz and Jessner 2000). Some of these languages are o‰cial national languages in European states such as French, English, Spanish, or German, which are spoken by millions of people as a first language. Others are minority languages or lesser-used languages, which in some cases are only spoken by a few thousand. Minority languages in Europe are usually divided into two main groups: established or regional minorities on the one hand and immigrant minorities on the other (see Turell 2000; Extra and Gorter 2001). This special issue of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language refers to the former and focuses on the use of different languages in education in European regions in which an autochthonous minority language is spoken. In these regions, speakers of the minority languages are usually proficient in the majority national language and learn additional languages at school. In many cases speakers of the majority languages also learn the minority language. The spread of English as a language of international communication and its increasing use as the European lingua franca has created the need to learn this language for those speakers of minority languages who do not live in the United Kingdom or Ireland. Nowadays, English is the most common foreign language in Continental Europe, and in the case of regions with minority languages it is not the second but the third or fourth language. Therefore, schools in these regions have the need to go beyond bilingualism and to promote trilingualism and multilingualism as one of the most important aims in education. Multilingualism in European regions in which a minority language is spoken presents great diversity. Important di¤erences can be found regarding the demography and status of the languages. The number of speakers can range from almost seven million in the case of Catalan to a few hundreds or thousands in cases such as Cornish, North Frisian,


Objective: To describe clinical, electrophysiological, and histopathological profile of vasculitic neuropathy in elderly subjects aged 65 years or more. Design: Retrospective chart review. Setting: Departments of Neurology and Neuropathology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Patients and Methods: Elderly subjects, diagnosed vasculitic neuropathy by nerve biopsy over one decade, were studied. Results: The cohort consisted of 46 subjects. Symptom duration was 21.54 ± 33.53 months. Onset was chronic in majority (82.6%). Key features included paresthesias (89%), weakness (80%), sensory loss (70%), wasting (63%), and relapsing-remitting course (6.5%). Most Common clinico-electrophysiological patterns were distal symmetrical sensorimotor polyneuropathy - 19, mononeuritis multiplex - 9, and asymmetric sensorimotor neuropathy - 10. Diagnosis of vasculitis was not suspected before biopsy in 31 (67.3%). Nerve biopsy revealed definite vasculitis - 12, probable - 10, and possible - 24. Treatment included immunomodulatory agents (41), symptomatic medications only (9), and antiretroviral therapy (1). Twenty-four patients were followed up for mean period of 6.5 months. Outcome at last follow-up was improved (13), unchanged (8), and worsened (3). Conclusion: Vasculitis is an important, treatable cause of neuropathy in elderly. Nerve biopsy should be used judiciously for early diagnosis and appropriate treatment.


CO2 emissions from the forest (ecosystem respiration, Re) come from both aboveground respiration (plant respiration, Ra) and belowground respiration (soil respiration, Rs). The ratio between Re and Rs varies in time and space. It is not well understood especially in the tropical forests that how these two components play the roles in controlling the amount of CO2 emissions, and how they respond to the changes in environmental factors such as precipitation, soil moisture and temperature. Understanding the responses to such environmental factors is fundamental to an accurate prediction of the impacts of climate on carbon cycling processes, i.e. on sources or sink capacity and climate feedbacks. The objectives of the present study are to quantify the contribution of Rs to Re, and to investigate the relationship between soil properties and CO2 release in a dry dipterocarp forest in western Thailand. It was found that the averaged soil respiration (Rs) in 2009 and 2010 were 459.10±162.67 and 404.28±133.31 mgCO2mhr, respectively. The averaged ecosystem respiration rates during these same years were 497.30±336.12 and 686.32±416.04 mgCO2mhr, respectively. Annual estimates of soil and ecosystem respiration indicate that the annual Rs/Re ratio ranged from 0.24-1.20, with a mean of 0.57. Rs/Re ratio was relatively high in dry season [0.91, during November to April] when compared with during wet season [0.55, during May to October].The relatively high contribution of Rs to Re is quite unique for this dry dipterocarp forest. Comparing the amount of CO2 respired during wet and dry seasons, 80% was released during the wet season (April-November) when the monthly average of soil moisture content was above 8% WFPS. High contribution of Rs to Re during dry season was due to the low aboveground respiration associated with leaf fall in the periods. Analyzing the relationship between soil respiration and ecosystem respiration with soil property factors indicates that unlike in temperate forest, tropical dry dipterocarp forest shows decreasing respiration when soil temperature increases. However, positive correlation between soil respiration and soil moisture was found in both wet and dry seasons. __________________ 1) Graduate Student 2) Professor


An electric poling method has been used to prepare microstructured LiTaO3 crystals with periodically inverted-ferroelectric domains. By using these crystals as acoustic superlattices, both an "in-line" scheme and a "cross-field" scheme for acoustic excitation have been realized. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis. It is expected that these results may be applied to a bulk-acoustic device operating at a frequency high above 450 MHz.


The Chilean party system has been a legacy of three fundamental social and political watersheds in the 19 th and 20 th cen-turies. At each watershed, two-sided cleavages generated a tripartite configuration of parties. Thus, two poles emerged representing antagonistic positions with respect to a fundamental axis of cleavage, and a politically significant center occupied the space between them. In a comparative Latin American framework, this political configuration is distinctive, re-sembling more closely patterns in some Western European party systems.


This paper focus on the survey of Ad Hoc network its protocols and different types of networks in detail, as we know this is an emerging field which places lot of contribution in networking. The concept of dynamic mobility is also introduced in Ad Hoc network because nodes are moving from one place to another place, within this network any node can join the any network and can leave the network at any time. Nodes can be the form of systems and devices i.e. mobile phone, laptop, MP3 player and personal computer that are participating in the network and are mobile. At similar time these nodes can act as host/router or both. The WiFi IEEE 802.11 and WiMAX IEEE 802.16 wireless standard supports different data rates at the first physical layer. Security and immediate reply of different types of nodes (intermediate nodes and wireless antenna) is the main concern in AD HOC networks.


The deformation behavior of kaolinitic clay green bodies, Kuyama kibushi clay, Georgia kaolin and Kentucky Tennessee clay, was investigated by the uniaxial compression test to determine the formability for the wet-forming process. In accordance with a plastic deformation theory, linear relationships and yield points were observed on stress-diameter/height curves. Below the yield points, the slopes of the stress-strain curves at the initiation of compression were obtained by differentiating the approximation formulas of the curves. Because the slopes were not influenced by the yield points, the deformation behavior of the green bodies below the yield points was considered to be viscoelastic. Since the yield point is related to load during forming and the slope of the stress-strain curve at the initiation of compression is related to form retentivity, the formability of kaolinitic clay green bodies for wet-forming can be determined from the relationship between the yield point and the slope of the stress-strain curve at the initial stage.


Complex networks provide an invaluable framework for the study of interlinked dynamical systems. In many cases, such networks are constructed from observed time series by first estimating the interdependencies between pairs of datasets. However, most of the classic and state-of-the-art interdependence estimation techniques require sufficiently long time series for their successful application. In this study, we present a modification of the inner composition alignment approach (IOTA), correspondingly termed mIOTA, and review its advantages. Using two coupled auto-regressive stochastic processes, we demonstrate the discriminating power of mIOTA and show that it outperforms standard interdependence measures. We then use mIOTA to derive econo-climatic networks of interdependencies between economic indicators and climatic variability for Sub-Saharan Africa (AFR) and South Asia including India (SAS). Our analysis uncovers that crop production in AFR is strongly interdependent with the regional rainfall. While the gross domestic product (GDP) as an economic indicator in AFR is independent of climatic factors, we find that precipitation in the SAS influences the regional GDP, likely reflecting the influence of the summer monsoons. The differences in the interdependence structures between AFR and SAS reflect an underlying structural difference in their overall economies, as well as their agricultural sectors.


In this paper, we propose a MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) transmission scheme using Pre-Rake filters, as well as Post-Rake filters. The Pre-Rake filter can achieve Rake diversity effect without increasing the complexity of the receiver. The reception performance of the proposed MIMO transmission scheme is evaluated. As the result, it was confirmed that the MMSEC (Minimum Mean Squared Error Combining) scheme was effective as the scheme of path combining under MIMO transmission that transmits several different symbols at the same time. In addition, it was shown that the 2 × 2 MIMO transmission system that uses 4×4 Pre/Post-Rake filters had the good performance because not only diversity effect by multiple reception antennas but also diversity effect by Pre/Post-Rake processing were achieved.


A new evaporator is flexibly designed, according to the crystallization dynamics principle.The stimulation experiments of fluid dynamics have been conducted, in which carbon steel tube is Φ25mm×2.5mm×1820mm and the saturated crystal fouling is generated from Na2SO4 or KClO3 solution.The experimental technique to prevent or remove the fouling uses solution flow energy to drive the plasticspiral. The results show that the new technique can meet the self-cleaning demand of common evaporators.They are able to operate continuously. The equipment cost is low. The new evaporator has remarkableadvantages of economy and technology and can be widely used in industry.


Based on the full investigation,it had a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the basic situation of dairy industry,and it analyzed the existed problems and proposed suggestions form the aspects of founding a new cooperation organization based on the accelerating the standardized scale farming,strengthening the rule of law and market regulation.


http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0000019-016 APA Handbook of Trauma Psychology: Vol. 1. Foundations in Knowledge, S. N. Gold (Editor-in-Chief) Copyright © 2017 by the American Psychological Association. All rights reserved. This chapter reviews how memory develops through the lifetime, and how understanding these normal processes illuminates the effects of trauma on memory. It addresses controversies in memory research as well as how memory interacts with other neurological and interpersonal systems. This chapter identifies foundational concepts and important past research and also emphasizes new and updated studies on the cutting edge of this area of research.


nent cardiac pacing became the norm between 1965 and 1967. Early leads were bulky (side-byside anisotropic bipolar) but mechanical failures were uncommon. However, infections, exit block, and other problems were observed with nonfunctioning and failed leads usually removable by simple traction, defined as pulling on the lead with varying degrees of force until the elements separate from vascular and endocardial adhesions. Infection provided the impetus for early extraction attempts and is still the commonest indication in most series. Because of large, strong lead bodies and comparatively short implant durations, success rate was high. Removal of abandoned or failed foreign materials seemed logical and in keeping with surgical practice at the time, and lead extraction was not considered a notable or special practice. However, as implant durations extended, simple traction was not always effective and some patients came back to the ward (intensive care units [ICUs] and coronary care units [CCUs] had not been invented) with protruding wire segments, attached with ropes or wires to pulley and weight systems. While inelegant (some said barbaric) this approach was remarkably effective in detaching leads from internal adhesions as weight was gradually increased over the next day or two. Even when an attached vegetative myocardial mass occluded the superior vena cava, complete removal was possible with a small anterior thoracotomy and inflow occlusion, much less invasive than the open cardiac procedure otherwise required. As transvenous leads remained implanted for longer and longer periods, and became smaller in diameter and more fragile, traction became less effective while the risk of internal tears, bleeding, and disintegration of the lead increased. When the indication for removal was infection or vein obstruction, leaving sections of foreign material behind was completely unsatisfactory. Infection cannot be reliably eliminated without removal of all contiguous foreign material, that is, pulse generator and leads. However, abandoned bland leads may not be as inconsequential as once thought. For example, a recent study reported a 20% complication rate. Yet, even apparently modest force that freed an intact lead with only some valvular tissue attached could, on occasion, be followed by sudden death. Postmortem in one case demonstrated unrecognized transseptal placement and a missing segment of anterior mitral leaflet where chordal attachments had been weakened by infection. Closed-chest extraction procedures, thus, earned grudging respect and many patients with infected chronic transvenous leads were subjected to open heart surgery, often after they had become septic, and with considerable mortality. The search for less invasive solutions was accelerated by lead designs with high failure rates and/or major risks to patients if not explanted, late blood-borne or postpulse generator replacement infections, loss of endocardial access for replacement leads due to abandoned leads at multiple sites, infection at multiple sites, innominate or superior vena caval (SVC) occlusion, and patients beginning to appear with four or more leads stacked in the SVC. Additional indications in our experience have included venous occlusion with upstream symptoms, lymphoedema, tricuspid regurgitation, neuropathies, misplaced and abandoned leads in young patients, and failed leads in patients requiring defibrillators. Physicians and companies responded by developing special instruments, and closed (endovascular) lead extraction began to emerge as a subspecialty interest. While not marketed as such, this was one of the earliest forms of minimally invasive surgery. Initially, a variety of basket and loop snares were used to grasp segments freed by traction, but a more elegant and generally applicaGUEST EDITORIAL


The analysis contained in this report is the product of a number of on going research projects at the Ralph and Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies that help assess and evaluate the impact of welfare reform on the ability of recipients to transition from welfare towards self-sufficiency. In particular, this report presents the results of our collaborative research on the role that transportation resources play on the ability of recipients to leave welfare and find employment. This report, though, does not translate findings into planning and policy recommendations.


The invention discloses a compound organic fertilizer and a preparation method thereof. The compound organic fertilizer is prepared from the following components in parts by weight: 15-20 parts of potassium sulfate, 10-25 parts of ammonium sulfate, 5-10 parts of high-calcium clay, 10-15 parts of diammonium phosphate, 2-5 parts of fulvic acid, 1-4 parts of soluble chitosan, 50-60 parts of organic waste, 4-7 parts of microelement, 1-3 parts of dexon and 2-4 parts of chlorothalonil. By reasonably combining various fertilizers with perlite and vermiculite, the compound fertilizer disclosed by the invention has the advantages of scientific and reasonable formula, wide application range, strong and enduring fertilizer efficiency and high in-season utilization ratio, and the perlite and the vermiculite in the formula have obvious effect on improving soil texture, thereby implementing high quality and stable yield of various plants.


CdS thin films have continued to receive scientific and technological attention due to their potential applications in efficient solar energy conversion and utilization in device fabrication. In this research, CdS thin films were deposited on indium doped tin oxide (ITO) substrates of dimension 2.3 by 2.4 cm2. Three different aqueous bath solutions of CdS were formed by increasing the concentration of cadmium acetate as a source of cadmium while the concentration of ammonium chloride and thiourea as a source of sulfur remained constant in the reaction bath as against the usual convention to ascertain the strength of the constituents in the reaction. The energy band gap of the films decreases with increase in the concentration of cadmium as a constituent of the bath while the films optical transmittance was found to increase with increase in concentration. This indicates that the energy band gap of the films can be predetermined by the choice of the constituent of the concentration in the chemical bath deposition technique (CBD). The increase in the transmittance for both as deposited and annealed CdS confirms the suitability of the films as window layer device, solar cell and optoelectronic applications.


Mediastinal paragangliomas are rare neural-crest derived tumors arising from para-aortic sympathetic chain ganglia in the middle mediastinum and paravertebral ganglia in the posterior mediastinum.1 They are extremely rare tumors, accounting for 1 to 2 per cent of all paragangliomas and <0.3 per cent of mediastinal neoplasms2; they are usually classified into two types: aortopulmonary paraganglioma, arising in the anterior or middle mediastinum and aorto-sympathetic paraganglioma, occurring in the posterior mediastinum.3 Here, we report a case of nonsecreting aortopulmonary mediastinal paraganglioma in a 40-year-old male patient, successfully treated by surgical resection without the need of cardiopulmonary bypass. A 40-year-old male patient was admitted to our department because of a large mediastinal mass, arising between the pulmonary trunk and the aortic arch, with a previous diagnosis of paraganglioma by left thoracoscopic biopsy and then thoracotomy for massive intraoperative bleeding, performed at another hospital. CT (Fig. 1) revealed a 10 · 8 · 9 centimeters mass of the middle mediastinum, arising from the aortic arch—in the aorto-pulmonary window—without clear aortic wall infiltration as confirmed by MRI. Ga positron emission tomography showed an intense lesion uptake without any further pathologic findings. The lesionwas approached through amedian sternotomy and was radically resected without the need of cardiopulmonary bypass, although a cardiac arrest occurred during manipulations, successfully treated by intraoperative defibrillation; postoperative coursewas uneventful and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 8. Paragangliomas have a nonepithelial origin, arising from chromaffin cells of the autonomic nervous system but can be difficult to differentiate from neuroendocrine tumors (Fig. 2); secreting paragangliomas predominantly produce norepinephrine and normetanephrine and may result in symptoms of sustained hypertension, headaches, and diaphoresis.4 Malignant changes are present in 10 per cent of catecholamine-secreting tumors and 15 to 20 per cent are familial; mutations in the succinate dehydrogenase subunit genes are associated with most cases of familial paraganglioma and malignant predisposition is increased with the succinate dehydrogenase mutation. Paragangliomas are usually low-grade indolent neoplasms but they can metastasize depending on the type of tumor; metastasis is the most common negative predictor for long-term survival and the most common areas of metastasis include lung, lymph nodes, and bone, suggesting both a lymphatic and hematogenous route of transmission.1 Aortopulmonary paragangliomas are characteristically found in one of five locations within the thorax: between the ascending aorta and pulmonary trunk; between the ductus arteriosus and the pulmonary artery; between the right subclavian and right common carotid arteries; between the left subclavian and left common carotid arteries; or caudal to the left subclavian artery adjacent to the aortic arch.2 Complete surgical resection of these lesions provides the best long-term outcome but it is often difficult because of invasion of the great vessels and


A laser melting technique was used to obtain bulb microlens tipped optical fibers. These fibers, along with flat polished optical fibers, were characterized by photometric methods. The effect on arterial tissue produced by the use of these fibers was evaluated in air.


Bay-Friendly Landscaping integrates Low Impact Design (LID), into a holistic, sustainable, watershed approach to landscaping that addresses current environmental, economic, health, and safety issues, including stormwater management and protection of San Francisco Bay water quality. More than 30 new landscapes, including libraries, community centers, fire stations, community colleges, multifamily housing and streetscapes, have been designed and constructed to meet the Bay-Friendly Landscape standards, with many of these projects also meeting both LID and LEED T M goals. Project goals and features, including those to manage stormwater, are described for two Bay-Friendly Rated landscapes in the East Bay. Ohlone College's new campus in Newark, CA, for the Center of Health Sciences and Technology, designed to achieve the LEED T M Platinum and the Bay-Friendly Ratings, includes weather-based irrigation controllers, planting with low level water requirements, an integrated pest management policy, a Bay-Friendly maintenance program, and multiple strategies to collect and filter stormwater. Sara Conner Court is a community of 57 affordable rental homes in Hayward, CA. The site directs all stormwater runoff toward lawns, planting beds and bioswales, moderates building temperatures and reduces heat island effect with effectively placed trees. Parking areas without curbs and grass-porous pavement in courtyards increase the infiltration and filtration of stormwater.