Background PsA patients have higher CVD risk due to underlying inflammation.While achieving MDA was associated with articular benefits, its effect on CVD risk remained uncertain Objectives To investigate effect of achieving MDA on subclinical atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness Methods Subjects without CVD were recruited and received protocolised treatment aiming at MDA for 2 years. High-resolution ultrasound(for subclinical atherosclerosis) and arterial stiffness were assessed yearly. The primary objective was to investigate the effect of achieving MDA(MDA group)at 12 months on the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis(carotid intima-media thickness[IMT] and plaque)over 2 years. Secondary objectives were to compare1)changes in arterial stiffness(branchial-ankle pulse wave velocity[PWV] and augmentation index[AIX])over 2 years between MDA and non-MDA group;2)changes in vascular outcomes in patients who could or could not achieved sustained MDA(sMDA,defined as achievingMDA from month12 to24).Carotid plaque progression was defined as an increase in number/region harbouring plaque compared with baseline Results 90 patients [male:52(58%); age: 50±11] were included. At 24 months, 62 (69%)were on csDMARDs, 20 (22%)were on anti-TNF-α and 8 (9%)were on Secukinumab. Proportion of patient achieved MDA increased significantly(baseline:17%;12 months:64%;24 months:69%) after intensive treatment. Vascular outcomes were similar between MDA and non-MDA group (figure 1).41 (46%)patients achieved sMDA. At baseline, a higher prevalence of subjects in the non-sMDA group were smokers, treated with NSAIDS and csDMARDs;fewer subjects were on bDMARDs, and they had higher disease activity compared with the sMDA group. 34 (38%)of them had plaque progression and prevalence was numerically higher in the non-sMDA group[22 (45%)vs 12 (29%), p=0.13]. Using multivariate analysis, achieving sMDA had protective effect on plaque progression[OR=0.27, 95% CI: 0.09 to 0.84, p=0.03]after adjustment of baseline difference(table 1). Achieving sMDA was also related to less progression of total plaque area(TPA),mean and maxIMT,PWV and AIX(table 1) Conclusions Effective suppression of inflammation by achieving sustained MDA may prevent subclinical atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness progression in PsA patientsAbstract OP0127 – Table 1 Multivariate analysis on vascular outcomes Outcome Baseline covariates OR/β 95% CI p Plaque progression Age 1.07 1.01–1.13 0.02 VAS Physician Global 0.96 0.93–0.99 0.02 LDL-C 2.63 1.31–5.49 0.01 bDMARDs use 0.11 0.01–0.65 0.02 sMDA 0.27 0.09–0.85 0.02 TPA change BMI −0.43 −0.76,–0.10 0.01 LDL-C 2.83 0.72–4.93 0.01 sMDA −3.92 −7.18,–0.66 0.02 meanIMT change bDMARDs use −0.03 −0.07,–0.00 0.03 sMDA −0.04 −0.07,–0.01 0.01 maxIMT change Any plaque progression −0.07 −0.13,–0.01 0.02 sMDA −0.07 −0.13,–0.01 0.03 PWV change Age 4.95 0.92–8.99 0.02 PWV −0.48 −0.68,–0.29 <0.001 sMDA −71.4 −143.2, 0.23 0.05 AIX change Sex 3.32 0.11–6.56 0.04 sMDA −3.06 −6.07,–0.05 0.05 Acknowledgements Health and Medical Research Fund for funding support Disclosure of Interest None declared


The advent of online services, social networks, crowdsourcing, and serious Web games has promoted the emergence of a novel computation paradigm, where complex tasks are solved by exploiting the cap...


Phospholipids are receiving a burst of increasing interest in biological and medical sciences. The change in perspective toward these compounds is largely due to the better knowledge we now have on biological membranes and to the increased technical tools available.


Jingtaichuan electrical lifting irrigation project is a huge irrigation project.In this paper,through full investigation of status of irrigation water use,corresponding water-saving measures both engineering and management have been proposed.


Let b > 1 be a natural number and n ∈ N0. Then the numbers Fb,n := b 2 n +1 form the sequence of generalized Fermat numbers in base b. It is well-known that for any natural number N, the congruential sequence (Fb,n (mod N)) is ultimately periodic. We give criteria to determine the length of this Fermat period and show that for any natural number L and any b > 1 the number of primes having a period length L to base b is infinite. From this we derive an approach to find large non-Proth elite and anti-elite primes, as well as a theorem linking the shape of the prime factors of a given composite number to the length of the latter number's Fermat period.


Deficiency of the essential trace nutrient chromium has been implicated in disorders of carbohydrate metabolism in a number of human diseases (1-4). At present, the laboratory diagnosis of chromium deficiency in the living subject remains problematical. Chromium in adequately washed hair sampies appears to be endogenous in origin (5) and preliminary investigations (6, 7) suggest that hair analyses may provide a useful screening test for chromium nutritional status. In order to define the value of hair analyses for this purpose, it is necessary to determine the correlation between levels of chromium in the hair and that of other tissues and organs. However, isotope studies are especially difficult to interpret because inorganic trivalent chromium compounds do not behave in a similar way to the biologically active "glucose tolerance factor" chromium in vitro (8). Moreover, comparison of levels of stable chromium in hair with that in other tissues, for example, blood, is complicated by the fact that trace elements present in the hair shaft external to the skin of the scalp reflect uptake by the hair follicle at an earlier time. Chemical analyses of postmortem material (9, 10) have demonstrated that mean tissue chromium concentrations of human newborn are severalfold greater than those of the older child or adult. Therefore, if chromium levels in hair parallel those found in other tissues, it would be expected that mean newborn hair concentrations of this element should be significantly higher than at any subsequent age. The aim of this study was to compare newborn hair chromium levels with those of older children and adults and to determine


A process for the safe deactivation of a high-voltage network (3) of a motor vehicle (1) during a diagnostic and / or repair operation, wherein by a first control action of control elements of the motor vehicle (1) and / or with a bus system (20) of the motor vehicle (1) connected external test device (22) a first trigger signal on the bus system (20) of the motor vehicle (1) is given, wherein upon receipt of the trigger signal by at least one control device (14-19) of the motor vehicle (1) the high-voltage network (3) is deactivated in such a way that it can be activated again only by a second, generated by a defined second operating action trigger signal.


This paper describes the power series solution for modelling of the simply supported circular
diaphragm deflection under uniform load. The parameters such as touch point pressure and
touch radius are defined. Moreover, these parameters are also computed by the algorithm
proposed in the paper. Therefore, the power series solution can be applied for touch mode
operation.


Students have expressed overwhelming levels of support for the experience gained on study tours according to qualitative and quantitative information collected since their inception in 1999. Although the study tours have always been evaluated at a School level, a formal evaluation instrument, the Study Tour Experience Survey, was developed in 2006. Its development combined the expertise of academic staff involved in designing and delivering the courses, as well as members of the Business Portfolio's Academic Development Unit and RMIT University's Policy and Planning Department, and evaluates students' personal and cultural growth and the relevance of the course materials to professional capabilities. A focus was placed on evaluating the effectiveness of assessment tasks, relevance of course content to career aspirations and development of intercultural capabilities.


A young man was found to have 1,3-butanediol in his blood, much more after ethanol ingestion. This substance reacted in the enzyme procedure for measuring blood alcohol, giving falsely high values. The 1,3-butanediol was detected by gas chromatography.


We investigate the transverse mode effects on the frequency combs generated by a type-I optical parametric oscillator (OPO). Diffraction effects are fully considered in different cavity architectures. Furthermore, we show that an OPO pumped with structured light produces multiple frequency combs simultaneously, corresponding to different combinations of spatial modes in the downconverted fields. This result can be useful for the production of hybrid multipartite entanglement in the spatiotemporal modes of a single OPO.


Adults can do sexual bullying that leads to aspects of sexuality physically or non-physically and occurs repeatedly. This study aims to determine the level of sexual bullying behavior in early adult in Kupang, totaling 373 participants aged 18-25. The hypothesis is that early adult individuals tend to have high sexual bullying behavior. Collecting data using the Likert scale Sexual Bullying - ASBAE and distributed online, then analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques using SPSS 16.0 software and Microfost Excel 2010. The test results show sexual bullying has a Cronbach alpha value in the range of 0.960-0.966. The results showed that early adult individuals in the city of Kupang had sexual bullying behavior and dimensions of sexual bullying tended to be low because the empirical mean was smaller than the theoretical means. Finally, gender also influenced the level of sexual bullying behavior and the dimensions of sexual bullying for early adults.


The ability of delayed sensitivity specific for the azobenzenearsonate (ABA) group to function as a carrier cooperating in the production of antibody to another determinant has been demonstrated in guinea pigs. If guinea pigs are primed with bovine serum albumin (BSA) in alum, the cooperative effect produced by a boost with ABA-BSA leads only to γ1-anti-BSA antibody. If animals are primed with BSA in incomplete Freund's adjuvant, some γ2-antibody is produced as well as γ1-antibody. Priming with BSA in complete Freund's adjuvant leads to sufficient self-helper effects so that no increased antibody production is seen as a consequence of ABA helper effects.
 The ABA helper effect is seen only if animals have ABA-specific delayed sensitivity, not ABA-specific antibody. Best cooperation is achieved when ABA and BSA are covalently linked.


This study was performed to investigate changes in growth performance, blood pictures, weights of internal organs and immune response to Newcastle disease vaccine (ND vaccine) of broilers fed different levels of Boron (75,150 and 250mg/kg) in feed from 5 weeks. 120 broiler chicks (one day old) were randomly divided into four equal groups (each group contain 30), as following: first group (G1) was received 75 mg/kg of Boron, second group (G2) was received 150 mg/ kg of Boron, third group (G3) was received 250 mg/ kg of Boron and fourth group (G4) was not received Boron in feed and consider as control, All groups were vaccinated with ND vaccine at 10 and 20 days old, Growth performance of the chicks (Body weight, weight gain and mortality rate) were weekly determined, at the end of experiment weights of internal organs (liver, kidney and bursa of fabricius) were determined and Blood samples were collected to measured Ab titer against ND vaccine by ELISA test and to determined blood pictures (RBCs, PCV, HB), The results of this study showed that body weight, weight gain, blood pictures and Ab titers were highly significant increase (p<0.01) in G2 as compared to control group followed by G3 and G1 respectively in all weeks. The mortality rate was significantly decrease (p<0.01) in G1, G2 and G3. Whereas the weights of internal organs (liver, kidney and bursa of fabricius) were significantly increase in G3, G2 and G1 respectively. In conclusion, the results indicated that all levels of Boron supplemented diet of broiler chicken caused improvement of growth performance, blood parameters, and without inhibition of the immunity response of chicken against Newcastle disease vaccine.


Abstract The use of a bis(diphenyl)phosphine functionalized β‐diketiminato ligand, [HC{(CH3)C}2{(ortho‐[P(C6H5)2]2C6H4)N}2]− (PNac), as a support for germanium(II) and tin(II) chloride and phosphaketene compounds, is described. The conformational flexibility and hemilability of this unique ligand provide a versatile coordination environment that can accommodate the electronic needs of the ligated elements. For example, chloride abstraction from [(PNac)ECl] (E=Ge, Sn) affords the cationic germyliumylidene and stannyliumylidene species [(PNac)E]+ in which the pendant phosphine arms associate more strongly with the Lewis acidic main group element centers, providing further electronic stabilization. In a similar fashion, chemical decarbonylation of the germanium phosphaketene [(PNac)Ge(PCO)] with tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane affords a "push–pull" stabilized phosphinidene in which one of the phosphine groups of the ligand backbone associates with the low valent phosphinidene center.


Compounds of rare earths and some other elements with arsenazo were investigated. Spectral characteristics of the solutions of these compounds were studied; molar extinction coefficients and equilibrium constants of the reactions of complex formation were found. It was established that the sensitivity of colorimetric reactions of rare earths with arsenazo, the stability of compounds formed, and their extinction spectra are interdependent. A method of preparing calibration curves for the determination of rare earths was suggested. The possibility of the quantitative colorimetric determination of the sum of rare earths in natural materials was established on the basis of the similarity of chemical and optical characteristics of the compounds of rare earths with arsenazo. A rapid method for the quantitative photocolorimetric determination of the sum of rare earths with arsenazo was suggested. (auth)


The income generation in the agricultural and cattle raising activities is intrinsically linked to the economic, social and environmental aspects. In this sense, seeking to understand the generation of income, we studied eight rural properties in the municipality of Nova Esperança do Sudoeste - PR, relating quantitative indicators of Gross Product (GP), Intermediate Consumption (IC) and Agricultural Income (AR). This analysis used the variables produced by the extension project and discipline Rural Property Planning which is practiced in academic and social environment in the agronomy course of the Federal Technological University of Parana, Dois Vizinhos Campus, whose methodology is divided into three main parts: diagnosis, rural planning and feedback to rural producers. In this context, it was used information about the production systems of the properties mostly focused on dairy production, agricultural area, PB/ha, CI/ha, RA/ha and two indexes calculated by contrasting the indicators (RA /CI (ha)(ha) ) and (RA / PB (ha)(ha) ). In this analysis, we noted different income generation strategies, differentiated by the degree of investment with inputs, where in general, the properties that invested more, obtained a better return, with exceptions in which the gross wealth produced was not consistent with the amount invested, generating economic inefficiency of the activity.


Quantitative measurements of increase in lightfastness of direct dyes on cellophane on after-treatment with different metallic salts, e.g. sulphates of copper, cobalt, nickel, chromium and (ferrous) iron have been carried out. Copper sulphate has been found to be the best of all these salts. About 2% copper sulphate is found to cause considerable increase in the lightfastness. Measurements of y/x ratios of dyed and after-treated cellophane and also slopes of CF curves have shown that the higher fastness is due to higher aggregation of the dye in the fibre on after-treatment with copper sulphate. Metal complex formation with dye structures of the type o-hydroxy-o′-methoxy (or o′-hydroxy or ethoxy) azo has been found to be more useful for copper after-treatment than complex formation with dyes with a salicylic acid residue.


Intraepithelial lymphocytes interspersed between intestinal epithelial cells form a large population of T cells, mainly CD8+, close to the intestinal lumen. Together with lamina propria T cells and plasma cells, they represent the effector limb of the gut-associated lymphoid system. Recent data highlighting their original properties and their interactions with epithelial cells are reviewed; their contributions to immune defenses and gastrointestinal diseases in humans are discussed. Current Opinion in Gastroenterology 1993, 9:953-961


A simplified model of the space charge in a magnetron is proposed, and the performance of the magnetron is calculated; the method differs from that of Welch in the space charge density assigned to the "spokes," and from that of Hull in using energy conservation instead of the principle of induction to identify the operating point. The method is tested by applying it to four known magnetrons, covering a wide range of frequencies, operating voltages and power levels. In all four cases the method predicts the output power correctly within ± 0.5 dB, and the voltage within ± 2 percent, at the nominal operating current and field. It also predicts the frequency pushing, and provides information on the relative phase of the spokes, and other parameters. The spoke phase is found to be always within the range -20° to -60°.


In the psychoanalytic l iterature on the treatment of homosexuality, one particular point of view, which I shall designate the directive-suggestive approach, has attained the greatest visibility and notoriety. A survey of the most widely cited writings on the psychoanalytic treatment of homosexuality over the past 20 years reveals a recurrent admonition to the analyst to depart from the traditional analytic position of nondirective neutrality by actively discouraging homosexual behav ior and encouraging heterosexual behavior. It is argued not only that the analyst should take an open stand against homosexual behavior, but that any meaningful treatment of such patients must entail such a stance. Despite the fact that this approach violates several fundamental principles of sound psychoanalytic practice, and despite the fact that it is therefore highly unlikely that this approach is representative of the broad practice of most psychoanalysts with patients who are homosexual, the directive-suggestive approach is often The Psychoanalytic Treatment of Homosexuality


One element of human capital that determines the prospects of national economic growth is population health. This is a multivariate concept and therefore, there can be distortions in estimating its level depending on the chosen metrics. The efficiency of the health care system as an indirect indicator of a nation's health is often measured through composite indicators of the medical service quality and accessibility. Nonetheless, in the conditions of limited resources such evaluation may not reflect the actual situation. The paper aims to discuss the problems related to the balance in the quality and accessibility of medical service in Russia. Methodologically, the research relies on classical macroeconomics. The method is the analysis of series of socioeconomic indicators collected from Russian statistics for 2012–2021. The findings point to the existence of a normative and positive approaches to measuring the efficiency of the health care system based on the composite evaluation of the two parameters: the medical service quality and accessibility. The authors prove that such methodological ideology is erroneous, and suggest evaluating relative indicators that illustrate the ratio between the two parameters. The case of one of such ratios – a relative evaluation of the number of physicians, hospital beds and diseases per group – allowed obtaining the assessment of the labour productivity. According to the conclusions, the accessibility of the medical service in Russia is decreasing, which however, does not lead to the improvement of its quality.


Objective: To determine the frequency of text neck syndrome in medical undergraduate students using smart phone, tablets or laptop.
Methods: It was a cross-sectional survey using non-probability convenient sampling technique at Combined Military Hospital(CMH) Lahore medical college and Institute of dentistry, Lahore from January 2019 to February 2019 in a period of one month. Our sample size was 500 undergraduate students from first year till final year MBBS and BDS. The inclusion criteria of the study were all medical undergraduates who were using smart phone, tablet and laptop for past six-month or more. We filled all questionnaire at the spot. The exclusion criteria of the study were all questionnaire which were filled with the help of colleague, going through internet, and left incomplete. Data was obtained using pre-tested self-administered questionnaire.
Results: Out of total 500 medical students, 292 (58.4%) were female and 208 (41.6%) were male. The mean age of our study subjects were 23 ±2 years. The frequency of text neck syndrome was documented in 218 (43.6%) students. There was no disability (0-4 scores) in 292(58.4%) students, mild disability(5-14 score) in 150(30%) students and moderate disability (15-24 scores) in 58 (11.6%) with p-value <0.004.
Conclusion: Text neck syndrome was common in medical students using smart phones. Females students were more prone to have text neck syndrome than male students.


BACKGROUND
Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair by pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) combined air tamponade has many advantages compared with PPV combined gas tamponade. However, there are controversial outcomes in RRD cases involving the lower quadrants.

OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PPV combined air tamponade in patients with RRD compared with PPV combined gas tamponade and whether it could be a safe alternative to PPV combined gas tamponade.

METHODS
The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases published until September 2022 were comprehensively searched for studies that compared PPV combined with air tamponade and gas tamponade in patients with RRD. The rate of primary treatment success, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and postoperative complications were extracted from the final eligible studies. The mean difference (MD) and risk ratio (RR) were calculated for continuous and dichotomous variables, respectively, with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS
A total of 8 studies with 668 eyes in the air tamponade group and 944 in the gas tamponade group were included. There was no significant difference in the rate of primary treatment success between the air tamponade group and the gas tamponade group (RR = 1.00, P = 0.79). In addition, the subgroup analysis suggested that whether retinal breaks were located above or below, there was no significant difference in either rate of primary treatment success (RR = 0.99, P = 0.89; RR = 1.02, P = 0.45). There was no significant difference in mean BCVA 3 months after surgery (MD = -0.02, P = 0.50). For postoperative complications, mean postoperative IOP was lower in the air tamponade at one day (MD = -4.24, P < 0.001), and there was no significant difference between the two groups at 7 days (MD = -0.45, P = 0.71), one month (MD = -0.69, P = 0.33), and 3 months (MD = 0.69, P = 0.35) after surgery. The rate of epiretinal membrane (ERM) development was lower in the air tamponade group (RR = 0.48, P = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS
For patients with uncomplicated RRD, PPV combined air tamponade is a feasible and safe alternative to PPV combined gas tamponade, regardless of the position of retinal breaks, with a similar primary treatment success rate, postoperative BCVA, and fewer postoperative complications.


The effectiveness of anti-islanding methods for grid-connected PV systems depends strongly on the parameters (R, L, and C) of the local load. However, the normally-available P/sub load/ and Q/sub load/ data do not permit the calculation of L and C, and thus the real-world ranges of L and C are still not well characterized. If measurements are available at two frequencies, then L and C can be found. In this paper, we describe a procedure for doing this, and a preliminary study using this procedure. We present our results to date, and offer observations on the range of applicability of our findings.


Due to finite statistics, experimentally estimated density matrices are either not physical or biased, depending on the chosen reconstruction schemes; linear inversion of measurement results or Maximum-Likelihood estimations. We present in this work an alternative approach inspired by device-independent quantum information protocols. We embed a tomographic complete set of measurement operators within the framework of a Bell scenario such that statistical fluctuations are tamed by regularizing the corresponding input-output probability distributions. Numerical simulations based on entangled bipartite quantum states subjected to random noise show an improvement of the state estimation.


A 30-year-old woman, who had a weight of 60 kg and height of 160 cm (BMI 23), was on clozapine 225 mg for more than 2 years for treatment of schizophrenia. She was found to be pregnant after four months of amenorrhea while on clozapine 225 mg, haloperidol 2.5 mg, and multivitamin tablets (containing vitamin A 2500 IU, vitamin D3 200 IU, vitamin B1 2 mg, vitamin B2 2 mg, vitamin B6 0.5 mg, niacinamide 25 mg, calcium pantothenate 10 mg, vitamin C 50 mg and 0.2 mg of folic acid). She was symptomatic even on the regime.


In the two decades since the introduction of the X-ray scanner into radiology, medical imaging techniques have become widely established as essential tools in the diagnosis of disease. As a consequence of recent technological and mathematical advances, the non invasive, three-dimensional imaging of internal organs such as the brain and the heart is now possible, not only for anatomical investigations using X-rays but also for studies which explore the functional status of the body using positron-emitting radioisotopes. This report reviews the historical and physical basis of medical imaging techniques using positron-emitting radioisotopes. Mathematical methods which enable three-dimensional distributions of radioisotopes to be reconstructed from projection data (sinograms) acquired by detectors suitably positioned around the patient are discussed. The extension of conventional two-dimensional tomographic reconstruction algorithms to fully three-dimensional reconstruction is described in detail.


The clumpiness of dark matter on sub-kpc scales is highly sensitive to the tidal evolution and survival of subhaloes. In agreement with previous studies, we show that N-body realisations of cold dark matter subhaloes with centrally-divergent density cusps form artificial constant-density cores on the scale of the resolution limit of the simulation. These density cores drive the artificial tidal disruption of subhaloes. We run controlled simulations of the tidal evolution of a single subhalo where we repeatedly reconstruct the density cusp, preventing artificial disruption. This allows us to follow the evolution of the subhalo for arbitrarily large fractions of tidally stripped mass. Based on this numerical evidence in combination with simple dynamical arguments, we argue that cuspy dark matter subhaloes cannot be completely disrupted by smooth tidal fields. Modelling stars as collisionless tracers of the underlying potential, we furthermore study the tidal evolution of Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Using a model of the Tucana III dwarf as an example, we show that tides can strip dwarf galaxies down to sub-solar luminosities. The remnant micro-galaxies would appear as co-moving groups of metal-poor, low-mass stars of similar age, embedded in sub-kpc dark matter subhaloes.


We demonstrate a size sensing technique for nano-particles using optical differential phase measurement by a dual fiber interferometer through phase-generated carrier (PGC) demodulation. Nano-particle diameters are obtained from the differential phase shift as a result of adding an optical scattering perturbation into two-beam interference. Polystyrene nano-particles with diameters from 200 to 900 nm in a microfluidic channel are detected using this technique to acquire real-time particle diameters. Compared with amplitude sensing with over 10 mW of laser irradiance, particle sizing by PGC phase sensing can be achieved at a laser power as low as 1.18 mW. We further analyze major sources of noise in order to improve the limits of detection. This sensing technique may find a broad range of applications from the real-time selection of biological cell samples to rare cell detection in blood samples for early cancer screening.


The reactions of GeCl 4 with α-, β-, and γ-pyridinoyl-(o-R-benzoyl)hydrazones of salicylaldehyde in benzene give chelates, which are studied by chemical analysis, spectroscopy (IR, 1 H and 1 3 C NMR), electrical conductivity measurements, mass spectrometry, and thermogravimetry. The ligands are coordinated to germanium in the tridentate chelating mode through the azomethine nitrogen atoms and the oxy and oxyazine oxygen atoms. The crystal and molecular structure of [Ge(2-NH 2 -Bs) 2 ] . CH 3 OH is determined.


The paper examines the traditional Yoruba conceptions of illness, sound health and healthcare practices to show that they are not contrary to the Western orthodox medical practice and also establishes that the Yoruba healthcare practice offers a holistic approach. Thus, it highlights the Yoruba ontology, focusing on the impact of the Yoruba belief in various spiritual entities on both their traditional and modern medical practices. It also examines how the belief in spiritual agents persists in the minds of the modern Yoruba people and the implications of this on his/her health condition and the orthodox Western medical practice.


Using a twin-screw microextruder, fibers based on polylactide and vapor grown carbon nanofibers (VGCF) with orientational stretching by 4 and 6 times were obtained. It was shown that VGCF doesn't influence on thermal properties of composite fibers based on PLA. Also, evenly dispersion of VGCF in PLA matrix was observed using by SEM. The electrically conductive and deformation-strength properties of composite fibers were investigated depending on the concentration of the filler and the degree of orientational stretching of the polymer. It is shown that with the introduction of low concentrations of VGCF (about 1 wt%) and with the use of an additional high-temperature orientational stretching of the polymer by a factor of 4, it is possible to create composite polylactide fibers with improving mechanical strength and electro-scattering properties. Also, it was shown that fibers with orientation drawing in 6 times save their electro-scattering properties after cyclic load equal to 50% of breaking load during 24 hours in liquid medium.


With multi-billion dollar patent auctions and the IP-driven smartphone wars in the news, patents are fast becoming recognized as a strategic tool and patent valuation, an emerging industry. In this session, a diverse panel of attorney and corporate speakers will discuss approaches to patent valuation and the changing landscape for IP. The panel, co-hosted by Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC and inovia, will be moderated by inovia 's founder and patent attorney Justin Simpson. Speakers:


Objective To explore the relationship between ank le -branchial index (ABI) and severity of coronary heart disease. Methods 52 cases were divided into coronary heart disease (CHD) group (27 cases) and normal group (25 cases), according to the result of electronic coronary angi ography. According to the leaman coronary artery score 6 or ≤6, the patients in CHD group were divided into two subgroups. According to the number of coronar y atherosclerosis, patients in CHD group were also divided into simple and multi ple atherosclerosis subgroups. The ABI of patients between groups were compared. Results The ABI were significantly lower in CHD group(P0 .001), leaman coronary artery score 6 subgroup (P0.05) and multiple at herosclerosis subgroup (P0.001) than in normal group, leaman coronary art ery score≤6 subgroup and simple atherosclerosis subgroup. Leaman coronary arter y score was significantly negative correlation to ABI(r=-0.45,P0.05). Conclusions ABI is not only an important and independent predictiv e index of CHD, but also one of the predictive index as the extent of coronary a therosclerosis.


We report a method to produce a uniform mixture of uranium dioxide spherical particles in a tungsten matrix. This method involves mixing 0.5 weight percent of high density polyethylene binder with 60 volume percent uranium dioxide spheres and 40 volume percent tungsten powders. Initially, hafnium oxide spheres were used as a surrogate for uranium dioxide spheres. The HfO2/W/PE powders were thoroughly mixed in a Turbula, then mixed on a hot plate above the drop point of the binder. These powders were then densified using spark plasma sintering. Microstructure was evaluated using scanning electron microscopy, density was measured and hardness measurements were made. Initial carbon content of the powders were measured and carbon content of the sintered materials was measured. Subsequently, W/UO2/Binder powders were mixed using the same methodology to ensure the process could be used for this system. These powders were sintered using hot isostatic pressing and microstructures evaluated. The resultant microstructures contained uniform distribution of HfO2 and UO2 particles in the tungsten matrix with very low carbon content.


This paper describes an experience developed in the initial level (five years), at a school in the city of General Roca, Rio Negro Province, Argentina. Shows progress in learning to children around the theme "Human Body". For the analysis of information were used pictures and discursive interaction of seven activities in natural science classes. The results show that children are able to advance the process of conceptualization, complexity it his ideas about human body parts, how it is formed, the function of bone.


with the development of computer hardware and software performance improvement, digital multimedia technology has been applied to various fields, the effect of image visional transmission are mainly affected by the brightness, texture and color, and different image effects will produce different visual transmission effect. This paper starts from the brightness of the image, using the mathematical model of digital multimedia brightness change, and combined with MATLAB numerical simulation software, the digital multimedia visual effect design interface is developed. In order to verify the reliability of the design of digital multimedia solutions, image has been brightness correction in the digital multimedia visual effect interface, and then by changing the environment light, diffuse reflection and specular reflection light, we can change the effect of image digital communication. Finally, we will obtain better visual communication effect, to provide a theoretical reference for the development of digital multimedia technology.


Nowadays, imagining modern buildings without glass is difficult, and glass walls can be found almost everywhere around us. Glass has been one of the most valued materials owing to its transparency. Glass walls' transparency in modern architecture involves two contradictory characteristics: visual continuity and spatial discontinuity. Even though we can see everything through a glass wall, we can hardly hear the sound and cannot touch anything on the opposite side of the wall. Although a glass wall facilitates interpersonal communications beyond a partition, it simultaneously blocks deeper interactions. Can the glass wall be made into an even richer communication medium?


Dear Editor, A novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19 which started with a few cases of viral pneumonia in China has become a global pandemic. As this disease has reached virtually every corner of the world, countries are resorting to rigorous measures like national lockdowns, travel restrictions, and social distancing. Quarantine separates people from each other and lack of human interaction could worsen depression and anxiety. Worldwide non-emergency medical specialties like dermatology have curtailed routine consultations. In the current scenario, there are reports of increase in incidence of many dermatological diseases. Increased mental or emotional stress can hinder response to treatment of skin disorders. The scientific basis of how the brain modifies immune responses in skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and urticaria have been studied previously. This understanding prompts the introduction of non-pharmacologic measures such as music to support disease remission in dermatological disorders. Management of pruritus is predominantly based on tackling the etiology, but in many cases a definitive reason for itching is not identifiable and symptomatic relief is essential. Similarities between itch and pain pathways imply that music may be beneficial in the treatment of chronic pruritus. In a study of 50 patients, the effect of music intervention on pruritus on common skin diseases like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and contact eczema showed a reduced intensity of pruritus by 2.3 on a scale of 10, and increased patient satisfaction. Among patients who received music intervention, 64% reported feeling an improvement. In another study,114 patients on hemodialysis who received 30 min of live saxophone music reported a statistically significant decrease in pruritus intensity by 75.7%. The effect of music on pruritus is multi-factorial, with one rationale being diverting attention and achieving relaxation thereby resulting in a reduction in pruritic sensations. It is assumed that music could work by activating inhibitory neural circuits as loss of descending inhibition is a hallmark of chronic pruritus. Music therapy can make an independent contribution in reducing itching in patients of atopic dermatitis. The emotional harmony and a corresponding reduction of pruritus in patients of neurodermatitis and psoriasis treated with Medical Resonance Therapy Music (MRT-Music) has been investigated. This study revealed a positive influence of MRTMusic with better results in patients with psoriasis than with neurodermatitis. Low concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) are found to aggravate skin diseases. In a study on 27 female patients an increase in DHEA-S levels was noted after listening to classical music in morning and afternoon. Obsessive compulsive traits leading to cutaneous manifestations like trichotillomania and onychotillomania are expected to increase during global pandemics. Redirection techniques like listening to music, aimed at stimulus control may provide successful treatment outcomes in combination with pharmacologic therapy. Mechanical Ventilation (MV) is a lifesaving intervention in respiratory failure caused due to COVID-19. Almost 20% of ventilated patients experience severe difficulty during extubation. Music intervention has been studied to decrease anxiety, treatment costs, biomarkers of stress including serum cortisol and prolactin levels along with respiratory rate, and blood pressure among patients who are mechanically ventilated. In addition, music therapy increases patient satisfaction and chances of efficient weaning from ventilators. A systematic review of five studies also showed that providing intraoperative music therapy during general anesthesia resulted in significantly decreased pain scores in patients. The use of music interventions in dermatological diseases has to be further evaluated in future studies. During these uncertain times of medical, mental, and financial stress, music can cause no harm, and yet be useful in bringing symptomatic relief from itching, burning and pain for patients. To conclude, in a global crisis such as COVID-19, with dermatologists being unavailable for routine consultations, listening to music is a simple and evidence based alternative therapy for patients with chronic dermatological diseases.


Background: A recent approach to increasing physical activity levels, managing weight and improving health has been via technological advances, such as the Web 2.0 technologies, wearable activity trackers and smartphones. These approaches might be effective due to reduced cost, userfriendly environment and real-time feedback provided. Many of these monitors and smartphone applications are marketed to provide personal information on the level of physical activity, however little or no information is available regarding their validity.


In this paper, the challenging difficulties encountered in solving non-polynomial variable coefficients differential equations by the use ofChebyshev expansion method is resolved. In such problems, where f(x) is non-polynomial, there exists the need to express products like f(x)


During 1998, internationally designated as the year of the ocean, perhaps more people are paying heed to the deep seas now than ever before.

Transfixed to the big screen by this year's movie blockbuster, they anticipate when the Titanic will scrape into the iceberg and break apart, shiver when household-name heartthrobs Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet float on the freezing waters, and hum along to the theme sung by Celine Dion.


Based on the national forestry industry standard ″LY / T 1721—2008 forest ecosystem services assessment specification″and the survey data of two kinds of forest resources in Sanming city in 2006,Shannon-Wiener index was calculated using in the evaluation of forest biological diversity in Sanming. The results show that forest biodiversity conservation value is 39. 68 billion yuan in Sanming,the unit area of forest biodiversity conservation value is 22800 yuan·hm- 2,accounted for 20. 58% of forest biodiversity conservation value in Fujian Province,the unit area biodiversity conservation value is slightly higher than Fujian Province( 21100yuan·hm- 2),higher than the national average( 14000 yuan·hm- 2).


Tungsten was selected as a potential plasma facing material for the new experimental nuclear fusion reactor. This metal will be exposed to severe plasma conditions and in particular, particles bombardment. High fluxes of light ions (He, D, T) on tungsten surface generate defects in the crystal. Those are vacancies, implanted ions or even larger defects as gas bubbles or vacancy clusters. These damages can lead to a deterioration of the mechanical properties of tungsten and impact the yield and safety of the reactor. The objective of this study is to realize the insertion of Helium ions in a tungsten surface by plasma process at low energy and low ion flux in order to observe the first steps of the formation of defects without any sputtering of the substrate. For this study an ICP-RF plasma source was developed at the GREMI laboratory in Orleans, France. Langmuir probe and energy flux diagnostic are used to determine the Helium plasma parameters and the global energy transfer from the plasma to the surface. Then tungsten samples, at temperature ranging from 80 to 875K, are immersed in the plasma ignited in 3He gas. Ion fluxes varying from 1011 to 1015 at.cm-2.s-1 can be obtained by the ICP-RF source. From measurements of plasma parameters (as plasma and floating potentials, electron temperature and density etc.), the mean free path of the helium ions was evaluated. Implantation conditions were chosen to ensure that the sheath is non-collisional. The kinetic energy of the ions is thus mainly determined by the substrate bias voltage and can be varied between 50 eV and 500 eV. At low substrate bias (below -100V), it appears that the main part of the global energy flux is delivered to the surface by He+ ions. This shows that the incident He+ ions are the major interacting species. No heating of the ICP source, that would induce emission of IR radiations, was evidenced. Nuclear reaction analysis measurements showed low He retention rates (below 1021 at/m2), similar to the ones presented by P.E. Lhuillier in a previous study [1]. From Scanning Electron Microscopy observations the evolution of the material surface characteristics after implantation and annealing was followed. Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy and Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy will be used to characterize respectively the vacancy defects induced in the tungsten surface and determine amount of helium released after annealing. References [1] P.E. Lhuillier et al, J. Nuc. Mater 433 (2013) 305-313


We analyzed phonological and visual information processes of four Japanese dyslexic children between 7-10 years of age. None of them had disability in word retrieval and/or auditory memory. Two of them manifested lower score in phonological awareness tests while the others showed normal score. All children showed subnormal score in a visual cognitive test, a visuo-spacial constructional test, and a visual long-term memory test. 90 % of their errors were formal ones. As results, these four Japanese dyslexic children are thought to have disabilities in visual information processes and are thought to be of a different type from those reported as phonological dyslexia.


Methods for obtaining the spin labels (nitroxyl macroradicals) in the tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer were developed. The radicals are formed by thermal or photochemical free-radical reactions of the products of the interaction of alkyl and peroxide macroradicals with nitrogen oxide. Two types of spin labels, containing the paramagnetic fragment in the middle or at the end of the macromolecule, are obtained: R' F -CF 2 -NO . -CF 2 -R F and R' F -CF 2 -NO . -CF 3 . The range of their thermal stability and parameters of their EPR spectra are determined.


Background Surgical guiding templates provided a reliable way to transfer the simulation to the actual operation. However, there was no template designed for anterior segmental osteotomy so far. The study aimed to introduce and evaluate a set of 3D rapid prototyping surgical templates used in anterior segmental osteotomy. Material and Methods From August 2015 to August 2017, 17 patients with bimaxillary protrusions were recruited and occlusal-based multi-sectional templates were applied in the surgeries. The cephalometric analysis and 3D superimposition were performed to evaluate the differences between the simulations and actual post-operative outcomes. The patients were followed-up for 12 months to evaluate the incidence rate of complications and relapse. Results Bimaxillary protrusion was corrected in all patients with no complication. In radiographic evaluations, there was no statistically significant difference between the actual operations and the computer-aided 3D simulations (p >0.05, the mean linear and angular differences were less than 1.32mm and 1.72° consequently, and 3D superimposition difference was less than 1.4mm). The Pearson intraclass correlation coefficient reliabilities were high (0.897), and the correlations were highly significant (P< 0.001). Conclusions The 3D printed surgical template designed in this study can safely and accurately transfer the computer-aided 3D simulation into real practice. Key words:CAD/CAM; anterior segmental osteotomy; surgical guiding templates; bimaxillary protrusion; virtual surgery simulation.


A plastic mold decapsuling apparatus for decapsuling a plastic mold by feeding an etchant to the plastic mold comprises an etchant bottle; an etchant tank; a decapsuling plastic mold holder; an etchant feeding pump; and, in particular, a bell-shaped cover cap for shielding a plastic mold to be decapsuled on the mold holder from outside air to maintain pressure of the etchant fed by the etchant feeding pump. Since the plastic mold is shielded, even if the plastic mold is decapsuled, it is possible to maintain the etchant feeding pressure at a constant level without introducing outside air into the etchant recirculating passage, thus permitting a stable decapsuling treatment.


Customers are the assets of any organization. So identifying their behaviour is very important in achieving the goals and objectives and of any organization. Customers act as blood of any organizations. Without customers organizations cannot survive and satisfying their needs and wants are the key preferences of the organizations. Quality, price is the primary concerns of customers and the element which influence them to buy a product are advertisement. Brand image also influence the buying behaviour of customers. So, customer satisfaction is very important. When the customers need and wants are satisfied organizations can earn a reasonable profit. And ultimately the organizations goals are achieved. Operational department has a very vital role in satisfying the consumers demand related to cost or price. Quality has also the key preferences of the customers' needs .marketing department has also very effective role in the promotional activities like advertisement, personnel selling, public relations etc. and also establishing the brand image of the product. Consumers have different towards the different class of products.


Ranking health of the counties and states is popular. Such rankings often make the news in local papers, radio, and television news broadcasts. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute 2014) rankings are done on two components, Health Outcomes and Health Factors. Health Outcomes refer to rates of such things as premature deaths, poor health days, and low birthweight. Health Factors include smoking, obesity, and teen births, as well as other social and economic factors. According to the 2014 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute 2014), the county where I live in Iowa ( Johnson) has an overall Health Outcomes ranking of 13 out of 99 counties and a Health Factors ranking of 2. However, if I lived a little southeast in Muscatine County, approximately 32 miles by car, things would appear to be quite a bit different. Muscatine County has a Health Outcomes rank of 62 out of 99 and a Health Factors rank of 82. What are we to do with this information? These ranks can "mobilize" communities to action aimed at addressing the deficiencies. At another level, decision makers might divert programming and funding to shore up the problem areas. The implication is that a low rank suggests there may be a problem with the community's health that could be made better. Just how meaningful are these ranks and the differences in the ranks? Previous work has investigated the reliability of rankings in a number of venues (Goldstein and Spiegelhalter 1996; Marshall et al. 1998; Parry et al. 1998; Adab et al. 2002; van Dishoeck et al. 2011; Zhang et al. 2014) and health rankings in particular (Arndt et al. 2011, 2013). Reliability here refers to the degree of instability of the ranks due to random noise. These are just a ©Health Research and Educational Trust DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.12350 EDITORIAL


The decays of the πd 3 / 2 ground states of 156 Ta and 160 Re have been studied in detail using the GREAT spectrometer. More than 7000 160 Re nuclei were produced in reactions of 290-and 300-MeV 58 Ni ions with an isotopically enriched 106 Cd target and separated in flight using the RITU separator. The proton and α decays of the πd 3 / 2 level were confirmed and the half-life and branching ratios of this state were determined with improved precision to be t 1 / 2 = 611 ± 7 µ s and b p = 89 ± 1% and b α = 11 ± 1%, respectively. The α -decay branch populated the ground state of 156 Ta, allowing improved values for the proton-decay energy and half-life to be obtained ( E p = 1011 ± 5 keV; t 1 / 2 = 106 ± 4 ms). The β decay of this level was identified for the first time and a branching ratio of b β = 29 ± 3% was deduced. The spectroscopic factors deduced from these measurements are compared with predictions.


Determination of runways in use at an airport with multiple runways is a combinatorial problem with many constraints. The problem should be solved in real time, which results in additional difficulties. This, paper presents a prototype of a model for the determination of runways in use based on expert knowledge and fuzzy logic,by means of which the usability of runway capacity is maximized and noise level minimized. The models is designed for Zurich airport but its logic and structure could easily be applied to any other airport.


Coniothyrium minitans is a destructive parasite of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum that kills hyphae and sclerotia. Hyphal tips of the parasite penetrate cell walls of the host without the formation of specialized structures. Host cytoplasm disintegrates and cell walls collapse as a result of infection. Microconidia and intrahyphal hyphae were produced by S. sclerotiorum in infected colonies.


The main purpose of this work is to find an analog of the Regge‐Newton equation for the problem of finding tensor and spin‐orbit potentials, acting among particles of spin ½, from the knowledge of the S‐matrix as a function of angular momentum at a fixed energy. We first find a transformation which makes the Schrodinger equation containing a central, a spin‐orbit, and a tensor potential the matrix analog of the Schrodinger equation for spin‐½ particle in a central and a spin‐orbit potential. Next, guided by the work of Sabatier for the case of central and spin‐orbit potentials, we are able to find the desired integral equation. The necessary existence and uniqueness of the solution to this integral equation is studied, and it is shown that indeed the wavefunctions for tensor and spin‐orbit potentials can be represented in terms of the solution of this integral equation. A series representation of the wavefunctions, which are necessary for finding the potentials from the S matrix, is found, but the actual construction of the potentials from the S matrix is not considered in this work.


The trading of shares of the same firm in multiple markets has become common over the last thirty years, but there is little empirical evidence on the extent to which investors actively exploit multimarket environments. We introduce a volume-based measure of multimarket trading to address this question. Analyzing a large set of cross-listed firms, we find higher multimarket trading among markets with similar designs and strong enforcement of insider trading laws and for firms with higher institutional ownership. These findings are important for firms evaluating the benefits of cross-listing and for markets competing for order flow.


A new mode of therapy has recently been advocated for the treatment of left ventricular failure (L VF) due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This therapy involves the use of vasodilator drugs., Current literature places little emphasis on the clinical findings of the effects of vasodilators., This is especially true of nursing literatureo Registered nurses (RN) i.n coronary care units (CCU) throughout the country are responsible for the monitoring and administration of vasodilator therapy., The majority of RNs use hemodynamic measurements as their only data to administer vasodilators. It is a well-known fact that electronic equipment utilized to obtain hemodynamic measurements can produce inaccurate data., Several medical studies exist which document the relationships between clinical findings and hemodynamic measurements during L VF due to AML Providing adequate care requires the RN to acquire appropriate skills and be capable of correlating these skills with all available data" The investigator theorized that a properly prepared RN could assess, diagnose and place patients, with LVF due to AMI, into clinical and hemodynamic subsets for purposes of management., A continuous measurement experimental design as described by Drew (1976) was utilized., The subject population consisted of 30 patients with AMI. The investigator utilized multiple assessments on each subject while providing a continuous measurement of the subjects' clinical progress throughout medical therapy 0 The majority of subjects (23) did not require hemodynamic monitoring. Correlation of clinical and hemodynamic subsets for those subjects who were monitored is not consistenL A significant percentage (26.6%) of the subject population were less than 50 years of age 0 Therapeutic regimes could not be compared because of the physicians' reluctance to record appropriate data. Appropriately prepared RNs are capable of performing cardiovascular assessments while obtaining a sound clinical data base upon which to arrive at a nursing diagnosis. Utilizing the subset classification system, the RN could begin management of patients with LVF due to AMI on a regular basis. This may reduce the number of fatalities due to L VF c


The nasalization of oral sounds in the speech of a Shona child with hypernasality is investigated in this article. Hypernasality is a resonance disorder that is caused by a dysfunction of the velopharyngeal mechanism (Riski, 2009). Individuals with hypernasality produce oral sounds with a nasal resonance because of the existence of a cleft palate. This phenomenon has been considered from a number of perspectives, but this article is a description of a phonemic inventory of oral speech sounds produced as nasal sounds by the child under study. Observations and unstructured interviews were used for data collection. The findings of this investigation show that the child produced simple and complex oral consonants with a nasal resonance. It was established that, although the child had difficulties in producing oral consonants, she could produce nasal sounds found in Shona correctly. It was concluded that the child's speech is hypernasal since it has more nasal sounds than oral ones. The observations of this research are compiled in the hope that they will contribute to the cleft speech database and more specifically towards a cross-linguistic investigation of resonance disorders of speakers of Bantu languages.


We study the use of derivatives in the Spanish mutual fund indus- try. The picture that emerges from our analysis is rather negative. In general, the use of derivatives does not improve the performance of the funds. In only one out of eight categories we find some (very weak and not robust) evidence of superior performance. In most of the cases users significantly underperform non users. Furthermore, users do not seem to exhibit superior timing or se- lectivity skills either, but rather the contrary. This bad performance is only partially explained by the larger fees funds using derivatives charge. Moreover, we do not find evidence of derivatives being used for hedging purposes. We do find evidence of derivatives being used for speculation. But users in only one category exhibit skills as speculators. Finally, we find evidence of derivatives being used to manage the funds' cash inflows and outflows more e! ciently.


Elastography assesses the strain of soft tissues and is used to enhance diagnostic accuracy in evaluating breast tumors, but minimal data exist on its ability to accurately assess tumor size. This study was performed to assess the preoperative accuracy of measuring the size of biopsyproven breast cancer lesions with elastography and conventional B‐mode sonography compared with the reference standard size measured by histopathologic examination.


The Cipriani et al. study in the Lancet, of '21 anti-depressants' is critically appraised and the likelihood that it will be applied inappropriately in clinical practice, and without due regard for the extensive caveats which were expressed by the authors and must be observed, is discussed. RCTs, and the resulting proliferation of meta-analyses they generate, do not deserve to be regarded as having the elevated evidential status that they presently receive. They do not have the superior epistemic validity, or reliability, or extrapolability, that appears to be assigned to them, even if they are carried out to exacting and ideal designs. Most are significantly flawed methodologically, and ghost writing, deceit, and bias are inadequately accounted for by many commentators. This is especially important in relation to the small overall degree of improvement that these drugs engender. It is problematic to justify assigning to most of these drugs the epithet of 'anti-depressants', since in most cases the small 'standardized mean difference' of 0.3 indicates a modest reduction of symptoms, but not wellness or a normalisation of function. The predominance, of meta-analysis in the landscape of clinical decisionmaking is such that there is a methodological monoculture. Other methodologies and clinical experience have been mistakenly relegated to inferior status. The pronouncements resulting from M-A may be simplistically interpreted and may assume a dictatorial attire and be mis-used by non-medical decision-makers. They foster a blinkered and inflexible approach to therapeutics which stifles innovation.


Molecular analysis of the high sugar and low sugar offsprings from the selfed progeny of a clone 91-60, derived from Saccharum spp. hybrid Co 7201 X E. arundinaceus (100)-self, was done along with the parents. RAPD markers obtained from high sugar and low sugar inter-generic hybrids could be classified into seven categories based on the presence/absence of bands in parents and offsprings. Some markers present in either male or female parent were absent in progeny while some new markers were present in progeny. Moreover, markers in progeny when subjected to similarity analysis, revealed more similarity with the female parent. RAPD thus proved a powerful tool to detect different molecular markers in this case and are of potential value for application in parentage analysis of other intergeneric hybrid progeny clones.


We give strong numerical evidence that a self-interacting probe scalar field in AdS, with only a few modes turned on initially, will undergo fast thermalization only if it is above a certain energetic threshold. Below the threshold the energy stays close to constant in a few modes for a very long time instead of cascading quickly. This indicates the existence of a Strong Stochasticity Threshold (SST) in holography. The idea of SST is familiar from certain statistical mechanical systems, and we suggest that it exists also in AdS gravity. This would naturally reconcile the generic nonlinear instability of AdS observed by Bizon and Rostworowski, with the Fermi–Pasta–Ulam–Tsingou-like quasiperiodicity noticed recently for some classes of initial conditions. We show that our simple setup captures many of the relevant features of the full gravity-scalar system.


The question as to whether abdominal obesity has an adverse effect on hip fracture remains unanswered. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations of waist circumference, hip circumference, waist‐hip ratio, and body mass index with incident hip fracture.


Progress in the field of biotechnology has accelerated the development of a broad range of novel vaccines, and the composition of vaccine products has evolved from attenuated or inactivated whole-cell organisms, to protein polysaccharide conjugates, peptides, recombinant proteins, DNA vaccines and viral vectors. More recently, there has been a generation of a wide range of complex vaccine products and vaccine technologies (Buckland, 2005) that are often combined with novel adjuvants (Kovarik & Siegrist, 2001; Litvinov, 2009), administered in new delivery systems, and by new routes of inoculation. In this context, DNA immunization has arisen as a promising strategy for the development of successful vaccines against infectious agents. In fact, some DNA vaccines have been already registered for application in animals (horses, fishes and dogs) against infection with West Nile virus, Infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus or treating melanoma (Liu, 2011). Moreover, thousands of people have already received DNA vaccine candidates in clinical trials without major adverse events (Alvarez-Lajonchere & Duenas-Carrera, 2009). DNA vaccination involves the administration of DNA, generally but not always a plasmid, to a host in order to induce a desired immune response. Once into the host, the DNA is taken up by cells, including antigen presenting cells, and the protein(s) expected to be the target of the immune system is/are expressed, processed and presented to specialized cells for induction of immune response. For this purpose, the DNA vaccine must comprise an eukaryotic expression unit, encompassing an enhancer/promoter region, intron, signal sequence, vaccine gene and a transcriptional terminator (poly A), for driving protein synthesis in the host (Glenting & Wessels, 2005). Frequently, DNA vaccines also include immune stimulatory sequences (ISS) for adding adjuvanticity (Glenting & Wessels, 2005). In addition, a unit for the previous propagation of the DNA in the microbial host, in order to obtain the required amounts for vaccination, is normally present, although some compact variants of DNA vaccines are designed for lacking this unit in the final product (Liu, 2011). DNA immunization has many possible advantages. No dangerous infectious agents are involved, while the expression of the antigen of interest, in its native form, is possible. DNA vaccines can induce innate and adaptive, both humoral and cell mediated, immune


Abstract A theory is presented for time-dependent currents induced by a variable wind stress and wave field in deep water away from coastal boundaries. It is based on a second-order perturbation expansion of a version of the Navier-Stokes equations in Lagrangian coordinates. The Coriolis effect and the effect of a depth-dependent eddy viscosity are included. (The eddy viscosity is taken to depend on the Lagrangian vertical coordinate ĉ.) Partial differential equations are derived for the vertical and time variation of the mass transport velocity, together with boundary conditions at the sea surface. The vertical variation of the eddy viscosity causes an extra source term to appear in the equation for the evolution of the current profile. This additional source of momentum within the water column is exactly balanced by an extra term in the surface boundary condition, which in turn represents the contribution to wave dissipation caused by the eddy viscosity within the water column being different from its s...


We conducted investigation of filament spatial interactions in a weakly focused filament bundle under various types of regularization by introducing amplitude and phase modulations into the laser beam. We revealed more than 1 order of magnitude energy deposition increase in the amplitude regu- larized 4-filament bundle and conservation of the multifilament transverse pattern in the phase regularized regime.


In a globalised world characterised by increasingly quick transactions between many different actors across the globe, the ability to work across cultures has become essential to all areas of human endeavour. Professionals in the field of human services are no exception. This paper argues that cultural dynamics play a key role in all aspects of working with children, starting from the assessment of risk of harm, to the development, implementation and evaluation of appropriate interventions. Further the paper explores the proposition that that the building of cultural competence, both at the individual and the institutional level, is crucial to ongoing work in the field.; ;


The creep-fatigue life results for five different heats of Type 304 stainless steel at 593 degrees C (1100 degrees F), generated under push-pull conditions in the axial strain-control mode, are presented. The life predictions for the various heats based on the linear-damage rule, strain-range partitioning method, and damage-rate approach are discussed. The appropriate material properties required for computation of fatigue life are also included.


Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) has been widely used due to its advantages over plain concrete such as high energy absorption, post cracking behaviour, flexural and impact strength and arresting shrinkage cracks. But there is a weak zone between fibers and paste in fiber reinforced concretes and this weak zone is full of porosity, especially in hybrid fiber reinforced concretes. So it is necessary to apply a material that reduces porosity and consolidates this transition zone. In this research first, the flexural and impact resistance tests were carried out on hybrid fiber reinforced concretes to choose the optimum percentage of steel and polypropylene fibers based on flexural toughness, modulus of rupture and impact resistance. Finally, compressive strength tests were conducted on selected hybrid fiber reinforced concretes containing pumice and metakaolin to choose the better pozzolan and replacement level based on compressive strength test. Results showed that, metakaolin with 15% substitution for cement had a significant role in increasing compressive strength. However, pumice did not act on the same basis.


A review of the Catholic Church's theology and tradition explains the Church's stance on the sharing of the Eucharist with non-Catholics. The positions taken by the Apostolic See over the centuries articulates a Tradition that offers a context in which the Church's stand can be understood in official theology and law during contemporary times.


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 This paper argues that Catullus 53 deserves a place among the other programmatic statements in the poet's work. By reconsidering a reference to this poem in Seneca's Controversiae and the way in which the word salaputium is applied to Catullus's close friend, C. Licinius Calvus, the article aims to show that the poem can be read as a re-fashioning of an old literary topos into a terse and truly witty neoteric statement. That statement has interesting ramifications both for the connections between neoteric poetics and Atticist rhetoric and for the interpretation of other poems in the Catullan oeuvre.


This paper addresses the general area of computer architectures for safety-critical real time applications. The maximum acceptable probability of failure for these applications ranges from about 10/sup /spl minus/4/ to 10/sup /spl minus/10/ per hour depending on whether it is a military or civil application. Typical examples include commercial and military aircraft fly-by-wire, full authority engine control, satellite and launch vehicle control, ground transport vehicles, etc. Realtime response requirements for these applications are also very demanding, with correct control inputs required every 10 to 100 ms, depending on the application. These dual goals of ultrahigh reliability and real-time response necessitate computer systems that are quite different from other dependable systems in their architecture, design and development methodology, validation and verification, and operational philosophy. This paper highlights these differences by describing each of these aspects of safety-critical systems. Architectural principles and techniques to address these unique requirements are described. >


In the experiment of thermistor's temperature characteristic,the data processing is very complex for the index relation between the resistance and temperature.This article provide a general program by Matlab for the data processing of the temperature characteristics experiment which can avoid the malpractice in additional ways and the experiment result can be reflected intuitively with the visual function of the Matlab.


erroneous picture of the American judicial system. The focus of the book is on the minor state judiciary-the magistrate and police courts. In 1931, the Wickersham Report concluded that the best solution would be to abolish these courts altogether; in January 1967, before this book was published, the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice (commonly referred to as the President's Crime


The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of earnings per share, firm size, and sales growth on the dividend payout ratio. The population used is the food and beverage sector manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2014-2018 as many as 26 and the sample in this study were 7 companies determined through purposive sampling. This study uses simple regression analysis techniques and multiple regression and uses SPSS 25 program analysis tools. The results of the t test (partial) show that earning per share variable has a negative and not significant effect on dividend payout ratio. Firm size variable has a positive and significant effect on dividend payout ratio. Sales growth variable has positive and significant effect on dividend payot ratio. The F (simultaneous) test results show that the earnings per share, firm size, and sales growth variables simultaneously have a significant effect on the dividend payout ratio.


RDF/XML does not layer RDF on top of XML ina useful way. We use a simple direct representation of the RDF abstract syntax in XML. We add the ability to name graphs, noting that in practice this is already widely used. We use XSLT as a general syntactic extensibility mechanism to provide human friendly macros for our syntax. This provides a simple serialization solving a persistent problem in the Semantic Web.


Technology readiness assessment(TRA) has been the important content in the U.S.defense acquisition.TRA can provide better references for decision making of defense acquisition and can reduce the development risk effectively.This paper researches the method of TRA,studies the TRA method on scientific research management of air missile.The study is important to our technology readiness assessment development.


As it is well known, shrink fits exhibit a stress concentration at the hub edges that can cause the failure of such mechanical components. A method for reducing such a stress concentration is placing a contact ring between the hub and the shaft. To achieve the desired effect, the Young Modulus of the material used for the contact ring must be lower than the one used in the hub and the shaft. Unfortunately, there are no design methods for estimating the optimal dimensions or materials of the contact ring. To fill this gap, in this study, diverse numerical simulations by the finite elements method (FEM) were carried out considering different geometries and materials in order to obtain recommendations that allow mechanical designers to significantly reduce the stress concentrations in these components. According to the obtained results, a contact ring of 25% of the hub thickness allows to significantly reduce up to 40% of the stress concentration. In addition, a linear influence of the stress reduction with the Young modulus was found thereby, and the most recommendable material for the contact ring is the one with the lowest Young modulus. On the other hand, according to the obtained results, the influence of the Poisson coefficient can be considered negligible.


Negative ion Morse potential energy curves for cytosine (C) and thymine (T) consolidate electron affinity, gas-phase acidity, bond dissociation energy, photoelectron spectrum, electron impact, transmission, and transfer data. We have previously published experimental adiabatic electron affinities for guanine, 1.51 ± 0.05; adenine, 0.95 ± 0.05; C, 0.56 ± 0.05; uracil, 0.80 ± 0.05; and T, 0.79 ± 0.05 (all in eV). These values were obtained from half-wave reduction potentials in aprotic solvents and verified by AM1 semiempirical multiconfiguration configuration interaction (AM1-MCCI) calculations. We present a computer simulation of thermal charge-transfer experiments to support these values. Unpublished negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry data support our gas-phase acidities:  for A, G, and T, 14.1; for U, 14.2; and for C, 14.3 (all in eV). We use dipole-bound and valence-state electron affinities previously obtained from photoelectron spectra (Schiedt, J.; Weinkauf, R.; Neumark, D. M.; Schlag, E...


Electrolyzed water is a novel disinfecting agent and may also be applied for reducing airborne bacteria in laying hen houses. In this study, the effects of using slightly acidic electrolyzed water spray (SAEW) on air temperature, relative humidity and reducing and airborne bacterial concentrations in a laying hen house were investigated by comparing to a commercial disinfectant. Spray disinfection during production could cause about 1 degreesC air temperature reduction and 3% relative humidity increase in 15 minutes. SAEW was confirmed to be a high-effective disinfectant with good potential for spray disinfection during production in laying hen houses. The effects of spraying SAEW and Didecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide solution (DDABS) on reducing total airborne bacteria increased with increasing active compound concentrations and showed significant differences (p<0.05) with the spray rates 24 mL m and 32 mL m.


The etiology of the ALI/ARDS involves in a vast range of diseases including infectious and non-infectious diseases. Viral infection, bacterial pneumonia, and sepsis are the major infectious causes. More than 70% of the ALI/ARDS cases are reported to be the patients with infectious pulmonary diseases. Most of the bacterial strain isolated from those patients is multi-drug resistant. Opportunistic bacterial Pseudomonas aeruginosa is responsible for 30% of death in nosocomial infectious patients. Interestingly, the etiologic noninfectious causes of ALI/ARDS comprise trauma, aspiration, pancreatitis, and other non-infectious diseases.


The main performance and characteristic of party's idea of appointing talents and way innovation are as follows:the scientific outlook on development and correct conception on achievements become the dominant ideology of selection and appointment. Expansion democracy become a major orientation of the work of cadres. Carrying forward the fine traditions and setting up modern idea of appointing talents organic unification. Pay more attention to cadres' ideological style, life style and social image. The ways of democracy, openness, competition and selection of the best are unceasingly standard and perfect. The significant transformations set the new demand to cadre's quality accomplish: first, establish the fundamental ideological orientation of people first, scientific development and ensuring the effectiveness. Second,establish good, balanced relations with superiors, peers, subordinates and society.Third, train and exercise overall coordination quality and learning ability advancing with time.Fouth, form the thinking mode of pioneering innovation with manifesting the spirit of science, the government by law spirit organic unification. Fifth, maintain clean, honest conducts.Sixth, handle the relationship with the media and maintain a good social image.


Charge generation, injection and recombination in quantum dot-sensitized ZnO nanowires was probed using time resolved terahertz spectroscopy. The mobility spectrum at different representative pump-probe delays showed similar behavior during the injection time indicating free charges on the nanowire structures.


The growing multiculturality of our society is a challenge to the usually universalistic talk of transmission of culture in educational theory. Rather than go to the other extreme of relativism, we might consider taking a pluralistic attitude towards cultural differences, implying the necessity of continuous discourse between cultural groups and learning from each other. This, however, is not only a philosophical and ethical issue; it implies a political stance. But what are the conditions for such a discourse within professionnal educational practices, and of what use can this theory be to them? In this issue, the AA. conceptualize problems of multicultural practice in specific educational institutions: health centres, mental welfare, preschool education, and formal education. They point out that within these institution, it is difficult to get a dialogue going. The last A. reacts to these findings by suggesting specifications for the pluralistic framework


The effective moments of inertia of pre-actinide nuclei with 73< or =Z< or =85 are calculated in the droplet model. In contrast to studies carried out previously, the influence of the diffuseness of the nuclear surface and the nonuniformity of the distribution of nucleon density was taken into account both in calculation of the saddle-point configurations and directly in calculation of the effective moments of inertia of the fissioning nuclei. The results are compared with the moments of inertia calculated in the liquid-drop model and with experimental data.


The author has attempted to experimentally verify the findings of Milne (1959) in connection with the risk involved in treating centric systematic sample as a random sample. His findings support the conclusions of Milne that there is no risk in treating centric systematic sample as a random sample. The general applicability of these findings is not dealt with in the paper as the same has been done in great details by Milne.


. The mobile network telecommunications sector is rapidly growing in South Africa but research focusing on customer service and customer satisfaction lags behind. Customer satisfaction is critical for brand protection, market share growth and customer loyalty. Research is needed to identify the key aspects which contribute to customer satisfaction. The study investigates whether service quality dimensions (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and assurance), predict customer satisfaction after controlling for customer characteristics namely, sex, age, and education level. A sample of 1451 mobile network users was used. To collect primary data, self-administered questionnaires were used. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed and the results reveal that age and education level had no unique contribution but customers' sex had a statistically significant negative unique contribution to the model. Further, after controlling for sex, age and education level, service quality dimensions, that is, assurance, tangibility, reliability, and empathy had major unique contributions, while responsiveness had a unique minor contribution towards enhancing customer satisfaction experience. The findings are critical to market segmentation practices of mobile network operators as this research indicates that demographic factors play a significant role in ensuring that customer service efforts yield the intended results.


The purpose of this paper is to model the main hemodynamic variables and parameters using the MATLAB environment. The SIMULINK simulation schema is based on the analogy between the blood flow dynamics end the defining elements of the electric circuits. The adopted nonlinear, lumped parameter model comprises: a four-element modified windkessel model to represent the systemic circulation; a time-varying capacitor used to represent the left ventricle; a single constant capacitance to represent the pulmonary circulation and left atrium; two diodes in series with resistors to model the heart valves.
The proximal aortic pressure represents the input signal of the model. The simulation was made after dividing the cardiac cycle in four time intervals; each of them has a linear subsystem representation of the blood flow. Successive coupling of these models covered the entire cardiac dynamics.
The simulated variables were compared to physiological counterpart in order to validate the model. Finally it was made a brief analysis concerning the utility of the model for the identification purpose


In recent decades, the rates of urbanization, motorization, population growth, and population density have increased. Congestion has detrimental effects on the efficiency of transportation, as well as on travel times, air pollution levels, and fuel consumption. Kabul is the most crowded city in Afghanistan. Unrestrained urbanization and motorization often lead to a socially, economically, and ecologically unsustainable urban land use and transportation system. In developing nations, urban mobility systems are quite diverse, taking into consideration their components in terms of transport modes and the development path associated with urban expansion. As a case study, this article examines Kabul, the most populated and economically significant city in Afghanistan. This study starts by doing a literature review on sustainable transportation systems to help the reader comprehend the link between sustainable development and transportation. The article then assesses the present transportation and infrastructure system, national transportation regulations, and urban transportation initiatives to see whether the current paradigm is shifting toward or away from sustainable mobility. Furthermore, the principles for sustainable urban transportation are designed to determine the importance that national transportation policies have given to urban transportation from the standpoint of sustainable transportation. Finally, I proposed several public transportation alternatives and strategies for Kabul city, the implementation of which may result in a more sustainable urban development and transportation system in the future.


This paper focuses on thermal inertia estimation of Delhi and its surrounding areas during summer season based on the diurnal temperature variations and albedo information of the region retrieved from satellite data. The study involves mapping of day and night time surface temperatures and the blue sky albedo (actual albedo on ground) over the study region using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) datasets. The study reveals that Delhi is cooler than its surrounding regions during the day time, showing the formation of cool island. On the contrary, temperature inside the city is much higher than its surrounding rural regions during the night time, thus confirming the formation of nocturnal heat island. The day and night time temperature maps are then used to obtain the diurnal temperature range and together with albedo maps of the study region, are used to estimate the thermal inertia over the region. The study reveals that the dense built-up urban area of Delhi has higher thermal inertia than that of the surrounding rural areas during the summer season. The spatial variation of thermal inertia over the region is found to explain the occurrence of day-time cool island reasonably well.


The Latin word patronus may denote a legal advocate, a former master of a freedman, or a protector or defender of individuals or collectivities ranging from voluntary associations, neighborhoods (vici), or cities, to entire provinces.

Keywords:

classical civilization;
Roman history


This paper presents a method of segmented linearization to solve the inverse problem of elastica in the design of flexible-walled wind tunnels The flexible wall whose configuration is controlled by some actuating cylinders is subjected to air pressure,gravity and several forces,and simplified to be a beam which is fixed at one end and can slide freely over a hinge at the other end The configurations of the flexible wall under certain Mach numbers, the air pressure and gravity,as well as the position of the controlled points are given,while the values of the forces are to be determined.Through the amendment of simple beam theory,the segmented linearization method is suggested.Then a group of equations about deformation are established,and the approximate results are obtained.Furthermore,several deformation curves are obtained by an accurate nonlinear method,and then compared with the design curves.


Objectives : The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anticonvulsant potential of extract and fractions of Pinus roxburgii Sarg . against Pentylenetetrazole and maximal electroshock (MES) induced seizures in albino rats. Materials and Methods : The ethanol extract (300 and 600 mg/kg dose) and Chloroform, n-Hexane, n-Butanol and Ethylacetate fraction (250 and 500 mg/kg dose) of Pinus roxburgii Sarg . were tested at two doses (minimum and maximum) for its anticonvulsant activity using pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced and maximal electroshock (MES) induced seizures in albino rats. Results: There was significant (P<0.05) reduction in the duration of Tonic hind limb extension (THLE), tonic limb flexion (TLF) and clonic phase observed with extract and fractions but maximum reduction was observed with chloroform and n-Hexane fractions. Against Pentylenetetrazole(PTZ) induced seizure there was significant (P<0.05) reduction in the duration of myoclonic jerks, duration of clonic phase seen in all treated groups but maximum change was observed with 500 mg/kg Chloroform, 500 mg/kg n-Hexane and 600 mg/kg Extract treated group. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that extract and fraction of Pinus roxburgii Sarg. poses anticonvulsant potential against Pentylenetetrazole induced seizure and maximal electroshock (MES) induced seizures.


The aim is to optimize the isolation of biologically active birch and poplar complexes based on woodworking industry waste to study their biological activity to create cosmeceutical compositions that have cosmetic and pharmaceutical effects.
Materials and methods. The object of research is the vegetative organs of birch (buds and shoots) and poplar (buds). In the process of work, experimental studies were carried out on the extraction and separation of natural compounds, development of biological complexes of vegetative organs of birch and poplar, study of the chemical composition and standardization of biologically active complexes of birch and preparations based on them.
Results. The optimal methods for extracting natural complexes were determined. Created as a semi-industrial installation for producing biologically active complexes by barothermal method, combining two processes - high pressure and hydrodistillation. The optimal operating cycle and plant parameters were determined. The optimal solvents for the extraction of biologically active complexes from the vegetative organs of birch and poplar have been determined. Petroleum ether (33.60 %) extracted the most compounds from birch buds, in birch shoots - ethanol (8.34 %). Qualitative and quantitative indicators of biologically active complexes are determined, and projects for examining the obtained biologically active complexes are proposed. We determined the yield of essential oil depending on the time of collection of raw materials and determined that the largest amount of essential oil is contained in spring buds (0.21 % of dry raw materials) and shoots (0.08 %).
Conclusions. Biological complexes created from timber processing waste with high activity are the basis for the creation of cosmetic products. The created semi-industrial plant will provide the basis for creating new original products in industrial volumes.


Corrosion is one of the main causes of deterioration in steel structures. Loss of thickness in flanges and web of corroded steel beams leads to reduction in section properties which can reduce the lateral torsional buckling capacity of the member. In this paper, thickness loss data were compiled from four samples of corrosion damaged I-beams removed from a petro-chemical plant. Visual examination of the four corroded beams showed that they were corroded uniformly. To improve the accuracy of the results, a large number of measurements for surface roughness were taken for each beam, totally 770 values to obtain the average thickness of flanges and web of each beam. The data was used to develop a corrosion decay model in order to calculate the percentage remaining lateral torsional buckling capacity of long and short span beams which are laterally unrestrained. To estimate the percentage of remaining lateral torsional buckling capacity in the corroded damaged I-beams, the readily available minimum curves for different types of universal beams in conjunction with information on the thickness loss were used. The results can be used by practicing engineers for better estimation on the service life of deteriorated steel structures.


In this paper we propose a new methodology called Multi-Objective System for Traffic Optimization (MOSTRO). This methodology was applied to a case study of two urban intersections which are developed using tools such as SUMO and TraCI4Matlab. The application of MOSTRO seeks to increase the availability of the road network and reduce congestion in a traffic system, by calculating the optimal times of the green traffic light signal. In addition, in order to quantitatively evaluate the performance of the network using the proposed methodology, an analysis of the length of vehicles in queue with respect to the fixed time indicator is carried out demonstrating that the MOSTRO methodology represents a better performance in the network compared to the fixed time. For this specific case study, MOSTRO represents a reduction of 19.45% of vehicles waiting in queues compared to fixed time.


We present lasing in optically pumped high-Q micropillar cavity lasers with low thresholds and high β factors. The micropillar cavities with diameters between 1.0 and 4.0μm contain a single layer of low density In0.3Ga0.7As quantum dots as active region. Cavity Q factors of up to 23.000 for 4.0μm micropillar cavities and lasing based on less than 70 quantum dots is demonstrated.


On-line shopping mall has become a powerful marketing tool recently. On-line shopping malls provide information for consumers about goods and influence the decision-making process of purchasers. Therefore many local government made on-line shopping malls for advertising agricultural production in the region. However, in the face of problems related with effectiveness on shopping mall management, most of on-line shopping malls has been managing by private sector actually. This study aims to propose the plans for development of the on-line shopping malls. For this purpose, this study investigated current management status of the shopping malls and conducted case study on-line shopping malls.


This paper examines the use of the Ordinary Kriging method to interpolate the residual zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) within a regional area GPS network in an attempt to improve the positioning accuracy. The ZTD solutions from 129 EUREF Permanent Network (EPN) stations across Europe for over 3 months were collected for this study. The results and analysis demonstrate that with the interpolating procedure applied to residual ZTDs, the overall standard deviations of zenith tropospheric corrections are improved from 3-4 cm, achievable with the Saastamoinen model (using standard meteorological data) and the Global Tropospheric Navigation (GTN) model, down to 1-2 cm, while the overall bias of the Saastamoinen model is also dramatically reduced from 14 mm to nearly zero. The results demonstrate that interpolating residual zenith tropospheric delays is an efficient way to improve regional area differential GPS positioning.


Helen Whittle is an award-winning Australian photographer specializing in child portraiture, based in the small country town of Orange, about 160 miles west of Sydney. But she is also a Royal Veterinary College graduate whose fellow students from the Class of 2002 will remember her as Helen Bradwell. She told Companion how she developed her twin career in the studio and consult room.


A proof-of-concept demonstrator of a cooperative integrity monitoring concept, called "local integrity" and tailored to terrestrial applications, is presented in this paper. The idea is to take advantage of a collaborative Vehicular Ad-hoc NETwork (VANET) architecture in order to perform a spatial/temporal characterization of possible local degradations of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals in an urban context. Such characterization enables the computation of the so-called "Local Protection Levels". Starting from the theoretical concepts, this paper describes the experimental validation, the implementation of the algorithm on a vehicular prototype for real-time demonstration purposes, and the obtained results from a measurement campaign. The effectiveness and the performance of the proposed approach are demonstrated in a real scenario.


In High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Ratedistortion optimization (RDO) process aims to select the optimal coding parameters according to a certain strategy in order to achieve the optimal coding performance, and therefore leads to an increase of computation complexity. For this, single probability model approaches have been taken in previous studies due to their simplicity but are not popular in HEVC because of the quadtree-based coding structure. Mixture probability models have better accuracy but they also result in computation complexity. So this paper proposed a new rate-distortion cost estimation model based on Cauchy distribution with a constantly revised parameter which has low complexity and proved to have high accuracy.