Experience saved in the construction industry shows that the timber portal frames with semi-rigid connections at knee joint exhibit permanently increase displacements at the knee and apex point. Normally, timber portal frame with semi-rigid knee joint connection is made with mechanical fasteners located in double circles and cannot be designed without relevant rotation at connection during structures' exploitation time. The only way to increase connection rigidity is to rise distance from fasteners location at connection, but at the same time, the tension and shear stress become significant at the external section of members. The previous experience is obtained by a model testing showing that deformations at semi-rigid connections are non-linear. These were tests under short-term load and did not disclose creep effects, which can be significant. This study is aimed at the examination of increasing deformations with time under constant static load (creep effects) in semi-rigid dowelled connection. Experimental test models were made and set under long-term load in controlled environmental conditions (heated laboratory room). Results show a significant creep influence to decrease connection stiffness. Corresponding numerical test of orthotropic 3d model by Dlubal RFEM software tools was performed analyzing the value of expected deformations. Results of the numerical test showed that friction between timber elements and extra nuts on bolts can increase connection stiffness. Research results in this stage show that the creep can affect connection stiffness more than expected. Also, experimental test results showed lower deformation values comparing with the ones obtained by the numerical test.


Activity Based Costing (ABC) is an accounting methodology that assigns costs to activities based on their use of resources, rather than products or services. This enables resources and other associated costs to be more accurately attributed to the products and the services which they use. It doesn't change or eliminate any costs; it provides detailed information about how costs are consumed. According to research cited in this review of the theoretical and Activity-Based Costing Theory explains.


This paper discusses the optimal controller design for nonlinear processes using the Genetic Algorithm (GA). Almost all the chemical industries exhibit nonlinearity. Designing an optimum controller for a nonlinear process is important, as the nonlinearity poses many challenging problems. In this work, two nonlinear systems have been considered for implementing an optimal controller in realtime using ADAM's module. System identification of this nonlinear process has been done using the black box model, which is identified to be nonlinear and approximated to be a First Order Plus Dead Time (FOPDT) model. Then the controller tuning strategy has been applied using Skogestad's Proportional-Integral (PI) tuning technique. This technique has been compared with the soft computing techniques such as GA for the nonlinear processes. It is observed from the study that the controller designed using GA gives better performance than the conventional PI controller for servo and regulatory changes, as is evident from the Integral Squared Error (ISE) and Integral Absolute Error (IAE) values.


The Reconstruction era Fourteenth Amendment (1868) has long been the primary U.S. statutory source for corporate personhood. But for nearly fifty years the story of the rise of corporate personhood rights entwined with the fraught story of legal personhood for African Americans was effectively ignored. This chapter fills a gap in legal and cultural scholarship to begin to address this blind spot, first by analyzing the period's jurisprudence of the "corporation sole" (a corporation of one person) in contrast to that of African American persons. Drawing together case analysis, discussions of legal formalism, and interpretations of two major novels—George Schuyler's satirical Black No More (1931) and Ralph Ellison's acclaimed Invisible Man (1952)—this chapter depicts the legal and literary effects of a half-century's misconstruing of the Fourteenth Amendment, in which "any person" was defined not to mean any married woman, child, and/or African American person, but, rather, any corporate or white male person. To imagine a less racist world, Schuyler hypothesizes African American rights and freedoms secured by the abstract corporate form and a new scientific technology protected by the laws of intellectual property. Later, Ellison provides a powerful and very different critique of state-sanctioned personhood as irretrievably debased because it is abstract. Both authors expose and challenge through satire and fantasy the obscene, unmentionable inequality between reduced rights for African Americans and human rights for corporate persons.


This paper deals with REE geochemical characteristics for granite from the Shuangpengxi Au ore district with LREE enrichment distribution pattern characteristic of crust-derived ore material.


This paper considers the traditions, history and heritage behind the celebrations of Hogmanay, or New Year's Eve, and examines some of the rituals associated with the celebration. Further, the paper tracks the changes in the event from its pagan origins where it was celebrated with close family and community to the massive public themed celebrations that are seen around the world today. New Year's Eve celebrations now represent mass gatherings and bring associated difficulties with crowd control, alcohol misuse and petty disorder. The paper poses questions about the meanings of such mass gatherings to the individuals taking part, and muses on whether the traditional rituals are being lost.


A dynamic management of the process of the destage tasks in the storage controller, the system, and a computer program product. The A one or more processors, a method for facilitating the transfer of data from the write cache and NVS to a pool of storage devices via the device adapters, systems, and computer program product are provided that. The processor, based on the stage activities associated with the current occupancy and the storage device of the NVS for a particular storage device, thereby adaptively varying destage speed. Stage activity includes storage devices Stage Activity, device adapter stage activity, device adapter bandwidth usage, and one or more of the read / write speed of the storage device. These factors are, in general, associated with the read response time in case of a cache miss, usually, not associated with dynamic management of the de-stage speed. This combination, while maintaining the desired total occupancy of NVS, improving the response time performance. .The


PALEONTOLOGYA paleontologist from the National Geological Museum of China has unearthed the world's oldest complete mammal fossil, dating back at least 120 million years. In this week's issue of Nature , the researcher and his colleagues conclude that the fossil, a rat-sized chimera with mammalian front legs and splayed reptilian hindlegs, is a close relative to the common ancestor of all mammals alive today.


The New Literacy Studies, sometimes called NLS, refers to a body of work that started in the 1980s and applies to how technology and literacy impact our lives, identities and social affiliations. NLS developed from linguistics, history, anthropology, rhetoric and composition studies, cultural psychology, education, and other fields of study. In this paper, specific reference is made to technology use in a 1300-level English class for Language Learners in the Intensive Language Program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The paper also makes a few comments about the importance of technology in teaching English in contexts other than USA classroom.


Sealing off the console model garbage transfer station completely is cities and towns life garbage gathering and the preservation and transportation dedicated device.Proceed complete set of installation completely to seal off in the subterranean.Not only convenient garbage is gathered.But also is living over the surface of the earth does not affect going on foot of pedestrian.Two pollutions still averting in the preservation and transportation.Practice proof.That facility design is new and original.Performance is advantageous.It is safe and reliable.It is convenient to manipulate.It is the ideal produce of general sanitation installation.


Series Preface Introduction 1. Tourism, Development and the Environment: An Introduction 2. Tourism and Development: From Economic Growth to Sustainability 3. Sustainable Tourism Development: A Critique 4. Tourism, Globalisation and 'Post-development' 5. Tourism Environments 6. Tourism as Capitalism 7. Destination Capitals: An Alternative Framework for Tourism Development References Index


Introduction: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis affects 1–3% of children at risk from 10 to 18 years of age. The etiopathogenesis of this disorder remains unknown; it consists in the presentation of a structural curvature – lateral and rotatory – of the vertebral column that appears among healthy children around puberty. The diagnosis is based on exclusion, and it is made only when other causes of scoliosis have been ruled out, such as vertebral malformation, neuromuscular disorder and syndromic disorders (3).

Objective: To compare the clinical and surgical results between two instrumentation techniques, hybrid and pedicle screws.

Methods: Observational Retrospective Study, case-control type, on patients with a diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic scoliosis, with an age range of 10 and 19 years, with an anteroposterior simple radiography who met surgical criteria. Group 1 (56 cases) corresponds to patients included in a study made in the year 2009, treated surgically with hybrid instrumentation, and group 2 (20 cases) treated with thoracic and lumbar pedicle screws. The socio-demographic, clinical and radiological variables were analysed, as were the correction of thoracic and lumbar curvatures following surgical intervention, surgical time, and in the same manner the gain in postsurgical stature and the percentage of instrumented vertebrae.

Results: From the socio-demographic point of view, the study population in the two groups is homogeneous; results indicate that the stature gain, surgical time, sagittal balance and complications were similar, the percentage of correction of structured curvatures was greater for group 2 as opposed to group 1 (75,4% vs. 65,4%) in spite of a lower percentage of instrumented vertebrae (69,1% vs. 76,8%). The improvement of coronal balance was greater for group 2.

Conclusions: Similar results were found for the two techniques, regarding surgical time used, stature gain and associated complications. Results were better for the pedicle surgical technique on both regions in relation to coronal balance and correction of structured curves, primarily on main thoracic curvatures.


In Donglan County, the maternal mortality (503 per 100, 000) and the infant mortality (94 per 1, 000) were higher than the average levels of the province and the whole country. The paper analyzed the causes of the death and revealed that most of the death could be prevented if a simple service could be providid. The study also showed that the high maternal and infant mortality in Donglan resulted mainly from the factors such as the insufficiency of health workers engaging in maternal and child care, low qualification of MCH workers, and the weakening and the low coverage of the MCH programs. In order to reduce the maternal and infant mortality, it is suggested that the function and the village-township network of the maternal and child health care program should be perfected, skills and capacity of these health workers improved, management of the maternal and child care program strengthened.


The report includes a specific recommendation to categorically have a statutory provision imparting genuine independence to the CBI by declaring, for the first time, that it shall not be subject, on the merits of any investigation, to either the administrative Ministry or the Lokpal. Secondly, it separates, for the first time, investigation from prosecution, thereby strengthening each and making each more professional and objective, apart from initiating for the first time, the creation of a premier prosecution department under the Lokpal. Thirdly, the Selection Committee, for the first time, includes a joint nominee of the three major constitutional post holders. Fourthly, Lokayuktas and the Lokpal are, for the first time, sought to be subsumed under a common enactment. Fifthly, constitutional status is sought to be conferred, again for the first time, not only upon the Lokpal institution but also upon the proposed Grievances Redressal body. Sixthly, the Report recommends abolition of all sanctions, by whatever name called. Finally, the CVC is, for the first time , made responsible for the large chunk of class C employees, with a supra added reporting requirement to the Lokpal. [Report Rajya Sabha]. URL:[http://www.rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/48th_lokpal_report.pdf].


The alignment of information from images and questions is of great significance in the visual question answering task. Whether an object in image is related to the question or not is the basic judgement relied on the feature alignment. Many previous works have proposed different alignment methods to build better cross modality interaction. The attention mechanism is the most used method in making alignment. The classical bottom up and top down model builds a top down attention distribution by concatenating question features to each image features and calculates the attention weights between question and image. However, the bottom up and top down model didn't consider the positional information in image and question. In this paper, we revisit the attention distribution from a position perspective which aligns question to object's positional information. We first embed the positional information of each object in image and calculate a position attention distribution to indicate the relevance between objects' positions in context of the current question. Through the attention distribution model can select the related position in image to answer the given question. The position attention distribution is concatenated to the feature attention distribution to get the final distribution. We evaluate our method on visual question answering (VQA2.0) dataset, and show that our method is effective in multimodal alignment.


Highlight Research

Mariculture is one of the activities that can pressure the aquatic environment.
Mariculture activities are carried out by considering the sustainability aspects of environmentally friendly implementation.
The suitability of the location for mariculture activities refers to the geographical and hydro–oceanographic conditions seen from the waters' physical, chemical, and biological parameters.
The suitability index produced using multiple approaches (GIS-based AHP) can be used to determine the potential locations for mariculture development.

Abstract
Potential mariculture activities in the Dampier Strait Conservation Area, which are indicated by the availability of water space and local commodities, can have a multiplier effect on socio-ecological aspects. Therefore, reasonable development steps are needed to carry out environmentally friendly aquaculture. This study aims to determine the potential use of water space for the development of mariculture activities based on the level of suitability using multiple approaches. Suitability analysis was carried out with Geographic Information System (GIS) based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) by considering the area's characteristics using several aspects seen from the geographical conditions and water quality (physical, chemical, and biological). Based on the suitability analysis results, the potential water space that can be used for mariculture development activities, namely seaweed and pearl oyster cultivation was 1,130.45 ha (0.49% of the overall space allocation 232,588.59 ha). A justification was then carried out to determine a suitable location in terms of its accessibility and environmental friendliness. The analysis has shown promising results in determining potential locations for developing mariculture activities for seaweed and pearl oyster commodities based on sustainable and environmentally friendly cultivation.


For this study, TiO2 thin film was fabricated using the sol-gel spin coating method. The fabricated film was then applied as a sensing membrane in an extended gate field effect transistor (EGFET) pH sensor system. The pH sensing performance of the sol-gel spin-coated TiO2 was evaluated in terms of sensitivity, linearity, and hysteresis where the value obtained was 58.70 mV/pH, 0.9922, and 86.17 mV respectively. The drift rate of the sample when being measured for 12 consecutive hours was also determined where measurement in pH 4, pH 7, and pH 10 yield drift rate of 1.72 mV/h, 4.14 mV/h, and 6.05 mV/h respectively.  Besides that, the TiO2 was characterized for its thickness (24.32 nm) and surface roughness (5.129 nm). From the results obtained, it was found that sol-gel spin-coated TiO2 thin film with thickness between 20 - 29 nm will have high pH sensitivity (more than 50 mV/pH).


The paper analyzes the tail rope failure and fault reasons, the design thoughts using double spinner, steel rope core rubber belt, rubber bushed steel rope and pipe bundle steel rope are put forward.


With the deep development of the basic course reform,the change of teacher's role becomes a problem which people pay more and more attention to.Classroom teaching is a important way of completely carrying out quality education,and teachers play the most important part in classroom teaching. In this essay,whose main point is the changing role of teachers,I summarize several basic changing form of the teacher's role,which is fit for the new educational idea.Teachers should change their roles as following:from"actor"to"director";from"authority"to"friend"sometimes even;form "teacher" to "student".


This chapter explores the revitalization of the Corsican confraternities (Roman Catholic lay brotherhoods) in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. I focus in particular on the polyphonic song repertories that the brotherhoods have preserved through the centuries and that remain central to their identity today. I begin with a brief history of the confraternities in Corsica, with particular reference to changes in their status in relation to the church authorities, their musical practices, and their broader social and political function. I then examine the reasons behind their recent revival and, with the aid of a selection of short case studies, describe the processes involved in reintroducing the confraternities into the life of both church and community and reacquiring semi-forgotten musical repertories. The confraternities have always preserved a degree of autonomy vis-�-vis the ecclesiastical authorities and in the 1990s and early 2000s this was exercised most keenly in contests over musical style. I examine the dynamics of the various oppositions?aesthetic, ideological, linguistic, and gender-related?that the confraternities have had to engage with as they have sought to redefine their position in the soundscape of the contemporary church.


This thesis deals with school clasification at first stage in elementary school. Theoretical part is divided in four basic parts. First part deals with classification. Second part give us more information about the term of school classification, its types, stages, functions and forms. Third part deals with two concepts of clasification ? clasification itself and rating of words. Fourth part is covering the participants ? pedagogue, student and parents. Practical part aims on research. I have identify bearings of parents and pedagogues to the specific forms of clasification ? using independent questionary.


In recent years, with the increasing awareness of environmental protection, electric vehicles have appeared in front of the public, and there is a trend to replace fuel vehicles. However, the reason why fuel vehicles have not been completely replaced until now is that there are many problems in the batteries of electric vehicles, such as low speed of charging, low capacity, and so on. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the electric vehicle battery. In this paper, by summarizing nanomaterials and their applications in batteries, the optimization direction of batteries and the problems to be avoided are clarified. By reviewing the types, properties, advantages, disadvantages, and applications of common nanomaterials, as well as summarizing the application of nanomaterials in batteries, it is concluded that nanomaterials have many obvious advantages in the field of batteries, which can improve the reaction rate, energy, capacity, etc. However, at the same time, it inevitably brings disadvantages. The future work will be to take advantage of nanomaterials while avoiding or reducing the impact of disadvantages. This paper can provide researchers with a macro perspective on the application of nanomaterials in batteries, so that stakeholders can more accurately design ideal battery electrode materials, thereby promoting the development of electric vehicles and further improving the trend of global warming.


The aim was to reveal the trend and the pattern of registration of soybean cultivars in Brazil in recent decades and to contrast with future perspectives. This is a study carried out in 2019 at the Regional University of Northwestern Rio Grande do Sul - UNIJUÍ, where data were collected from 1998 to 2018. The online databases of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) were used, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAOSTAT) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), for data collection, the criterion used was that the cultivar was properly registered on the National Register of Cultivars (NRC) platform. In general, the aspects according to each year of launch of the cultivars are in favor of the best performance of the crop. They are correlated in the following modifications: plant architecture, resistance, seed size, indeterminate growth habit, flower colors, pods, hilums, presence of anthocyanin, peroxidase, seed brightness, densities and registered genotypes. With neural networks it was possible to classify 1818 soybean genotypes, divided into 18 profiles, also based on the search for 68 characters presenting 19 trends. With the work it was concluded that the year of launch of the cultivar is associated with: the intrinsic characteristics of the maintainer of the cultivar, the biotechnological event, the characteristics of the growth habit and the colorations of the flower, of the seed pod and of the hypocotyl. As the forecast is that in the coming decades new cultivars will be launched in Brazil, a correct positioning of specific genotypes for different environments is needed.


In this chapter, adjunctions and monads in 2-/bicategories are defined and discussed, along with their basic properties and examples. This includes the internal theory of mates, adjoint equivalences, and monads in bicategories, along with 2-monads on 2-categories and various concepts of algebras for a 2-monad. A section is devoted to several examples of duality in algebra as adjunctions in the bicategory of bimodules over rings.


This article proposes mathematical methods to quantify states of market participants in the foreign exchange market (FX market) and conduct comprehensive analysis on behavior of market participants by means of high-frequency financial data. Based on econophysics tools and perspectives we study similarity measures for both rate movements and quotation activities among various currency pairs. We perform also clustering analysis on market states for observation days, and find scaling relationship between mean values of quotation activities and their standard deviations. Using these mathematical methods we can visualize states of the FX market comprehensively. Finally we conclude that states of market participants temporally vary due to both external and internal factors.


This is a note describing results on eecient algorithms to calculate the discrete Fourier transform (DFT). The purpose is to report work done at Rice University, but other contributions used by the DSP research group at Rice are also cited. Perhaps the most interesting is the discovery that the Cooley-Tukey FFT was described by Gauss in 1805 1]. That gives some indication of the age of research on the topic, and the fact that a recently compiled bibliography 2] on eecient algorithms contains over 3400 entries indicates its volume. Three IEEE Press reprint books contain papers on the FFT 3, 4, 5]. An excellent general purpose FFT program has been described in 6, 7] and is available over the internet. that give a good modern theoretical background for this work, one book 17] that gives the basic theory plus both FORTRAN and TMS 320 assembly language programs, and other books 18, 19, 20] that contains a chapter on advanced FFT topics. The history of the FFT is outlined in 21, 1] and excellent survey articles can be found in 22, 23]. The foundation of much of the modern work on eecient algorithms was done by S. Winograd. This can be found in 24, 25, 26]. An outline and discussion of his theorems can be found in 18] as well as 8, 9, 10, 11]. EEcient FFT algorithms for length-2 M were described by Gauss and discovered in modern times by Cooley and Tukey 27]. These have been highly developed and good examples of FORTRAN programs can be found in 17]. Several new algorithms have been published that require the least known amount of total seems to have the best structure for programming, and an eecient program has been written 35] to implement it. A mixture of decimation-in-time and decimation-in-frequency with very good eeciency is given in 36]. Theoretical bounds on the number of multiplications required for the FFT based on Winograd's theories are given in 11, 37]. Schemes for calculating an in-place, in-order radix-2 FFT are A discussion of the relation of the computer architecture, algorithm and compiler can be found in 50, 51]. The \other" FFT is the prime factor algorithm (PFA) which uses an index map originally developed by Thomas and by Good. The theory of the PFA was derived in 52] and further developed and an eecient in-order and in-place program given in 53, 17]. More results …


We propose the method of calculation of the cross section of diffraction deuteron-nucleus scattering at intermediate energies in the quasi-classic approximation. The deuteron wave function was chosen as a Hulten one, the Coulomb interaction and nuclear surface diffuseness of targets were taken into account. The calculated cross sections of elastic scattering of 700 MeV deuterons by 4 0 Ca and 5 8 Ni satisfactorily fit the experimental data.


Theoretical arguments suggest that if quarks and leptons are composite objects, the heavy species have relatively large anomalous magnetic moments. We analyze some possible experiments in which anomalous magnetic moments of heavy quarks and leptons could be measured; the angular distribution of heavy-fermion pair production in electron-positron annihilation turns out to be sensitive to the existence of anomalous moments. According to a crude analysis, nonvanishing anomalous magnetic moments of heavy quarks and leptons are compatible with the presently available data from SLAC and DESY.


We present a microscopic driving algorithm that prescribes the acceleration using three parameters: the distance to the leading vehicle, to the next traffic light and to the nearest stopping point when the next traffic light is in the red phase. We apply this algorithm to construct decision trees that enable two driving behaviors: aggressive and careful. The focus of this study is to analyze the amount of aggressive drivers that are needed in order to generate a traffic gridlock in a portion of a city with signalized intersections. At rush hour, aggressive drivers will enter the intersection regardless if they have enough time or space to clear it. When their traffic light changes they block other drivers, thus providing the conditions for a gridlock to develop. We find that gridlocks emerge even with very few aggressive drivers present. These results support the idea of promoting good driving behavior to avoid heavy congestion during rush hours.


The paper considers standard methods for determining the corrosion and mechanical characteristics of pipes and their welded joints, steel shell structures for water supply to consumers. It was found that sharp fluctuations in the values of microhardness in the zone of thermal influence of the welded joint exceed the baseline values in the middle part of the weld and the base metal of the pipe. The obtained results can be used to test the performance of carbon steel steels designed for the construction of water towers of long service life in corrosive environments. Under the action of the temperature gradient on the outer surfaces of the walls of the water tank tensile stresses occur, and on the inner surfaces-compressive, which is a favorable factor that reduces the risk of corrosion. Temperature stresses that occur in the case of temperature inhomogeneity along the contour of the cylindrical tank are unfavorable. Stresses from the weight load are small and do not have a significant effect on the destruction of the steel tank, because they are compressive. The value of technological final stresses was determined experimentally by mechanical strain gauge according to the classical method, as well as with the help of electric strain gauges and ultrasonic method according to the method of E. O. Paton Electric Welding Institute (PWI). It has been experimentally established that the most dangerous final welding stresses in assembly seams, the value of which for the longitudinal stress component is close to or exceeds the yield strength , and for the transverse – close to the yield strength , while on steel plates VSt3 of the same thickness . It is likely that welding during installation in conditions of rigid compression of the metal causes an increased level of final stresses. The magnitude and sign of the final stresses  significantly depends on the method of installation. Even during block installation, when the water tower is mounted from several pre-annealed blocks, the connection between the mounting ring seams in some areas of the base metal near these seams during fitting creates significant stresses (up to 17.6 kgf / mm2), in some areas – up to 6 kgf / mm2. When sheet assembly stresses can reach a level close to the yield strength.


Forced border changes and population transfers have affected many nation-states. However, memories of these events are usually described as part of a "unique" national memory of cartographic violence, "lost" territories, and victimhood. In popular representations, often reinforced by the personal memories of the wartime resettled, the territories ceded from Poland (Kresy) and Finland (Karelia) to the Soviet Union after World War II are remembered and imagined as "timeless" places which preserve and encapsulate "Polishness" and "Finnishness." "Territorial phantom pains" is a central framing idea for us. We understand phantom pains as a social emotion related to memories and postmemories that tells members of a community that the body of their nation is not complete without the detached territories. Phantom pains are nostalgic, romanticizing, but also exclusive keeping memories of the territorial loss as not (only) memories of personal loss of home and heimat, but of a national loss.


Soil, pasture and grazing dairy cattle with calves were monitored at two locations on the North Coast of New South Wales for insecticide residues from 1972-1 975, after soil incorporation of dieldrin and heptachlor at the recommended rate of 1.1 kg/ha before sowing to control pasture weevil pests. The soil and pasture types were: Wollongbar clay loam sown with tropical legumes and grass at Wollongbar (dieldrin), and black alluvial sown with temperate legumes and grass, at Duck Creek substation, near Ballina (dieldrin and heptachlor). After the treatments, persistent residues were found in soil and pasture, and grazing stock, although residues declined over the trial period. Stock residues in many cases exceeded the 0.15 and 0.2 ¦g/g maximum residue limits recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council for the fat of milk and meat, and similar residues were found in additional cattle introduced after fifteen months. In view of the long-term risks for grazing stock, the pre-sowing soil treatment with dieldrin and heptachlor for the control of pasture pests is no longer recommended by the New South Wales Department of Agriculture.


Necrosis of the upper extremity occurs rarely in type 2 diabetic patients compared to lower extremity necrosis. We report a 69-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes mellitus who presented with necrosis of the left 5 th finger tip. The patient had primary biliary cirrhosis accompanied by necrosis of the fingertip due to severe Raynaud's phenomenon. Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a typical autoimmune disease, which can in rare cases be accompanied by autoimmune symptoms including sicca symptom and Raynaud's phenomenon. Furthermore, autoimmune diseases, such as systemic sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) can be associated. Although every type of vascular etiology should be considered as a cause of digital necrosis, Raynaud's phenomenon is usually not considered in diabetes. We report this case of finger tip necrosis due to severe Raynaud's phenomenon accompanied by PBC and UCTD in a diabetic patient.


An ultra-wideband (UWB) phased array is presented operating from UHF to C-bands (0.14 to 5.85 GHz). This new design employs an integrated, compact tapered spline balun in conjunction with a triple-layer semi-resistive frequency selective surface (FSS) network. Notably, the integration of the meandered balun within a dual-polarized tightly-coupled dipole array (TCDA) allowed for a contiguous bandwidth of 40:1 with VSWR < 2.5 at broadside. Moreover, the use of the semi-resistive FSS superstrate enabled scanning down to ±60° with a VSWR < 3.5 in the E-, H-, and D-planes. The overall array thickness is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _{Low} / 17.93$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _{Low}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is the wavelength at the lowest frequency of operation, 140 MHz), and the array's radiation efficiency is 75% on average across the operational bandwidth. That is, compared to previous UWB TCDAs with contiguous operational bandwidths of 40:1 or greater, the proposed array is 30% thinner and has equally good or better efficiency. This paper presents the analysis and design of the dipole array, with emphasis on the spline balun. An <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$8\times8$ </tex-math></inline-formula> prototype (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$12\times12$ </tex-math></inline-formula> element FSS network footprint) was fabricated and measured to validate the performance of a finite array.


Orbital's Cygnus cargo carrier is transported October 16 from the NASA fueling facility on Wallops Island to the Horizontal Integration Facility where it will be mated to the Antares rocket.


In this work we study by visible emission spectroscopy, energy resolved ion mass spectrometry and electric probes, H2 plasmas generated in low pressure hollow cathode glow discharges. The study allows the determination of the energy distributions of the different plasma constituents (ions, electrons and neutrals), which span five orders of magnitude. The rotational H2 temperature, assumed to be close to the translational one, scarcely exceeds the room temperature (0.03 eV); free electrons, responsible of primary ionizations and dissociations, display mean kinetic energies of 3-6 eV; whereas ions (H, H2, H3) and a part of H atoms reach the highest energies (300 eV).


Potato crop is one of the most economically important crops, and is considered as the fourth main food crop in the world. One of the most important serious diseases of potato is bacterial soft rot disease. In our study, soil samples were collected from potato rhizosphere from a potato cultivated field in Giza, Egypt. Two bacteriophages were isolated on Kosakonia sacchari as a host, causing potato soft rot disease. Based on the genome characterization and electron microscopy, the two phages were named as vB_KsaM-C1 belonging to Myoviridae and vB_KsaO-C2 belonging to Microviridae. Both phages sustained their activity more than 20 months with a remarkable decrease in phage titre. In addition both recorded the same TIP at 65°C and showed the optimum activity at pH 7. The DEP of vB_KsaM-C1 was 10-7, while that of phage vB_KsaO-C2 was 10-9. A small scale application of the two isolated bacteriophages on infected potato tubers discs, in the lab, successfully inhibited bacterial soft rot caused by Kosakonia sacchari.


The utility model discloses an electronic product for water automatic heating and temperature adjustment. The electronic product comprises a shell, a heating device, a temperature controller and a temperature sensor. The heating device is a silicon carbide tube far infrared radiation heater. The temperature controller is arranged on the inner side of the shell. The temperature controller is connected with the temperature sensor. Through the above method, the electronic product for water automatic heating and temperature adjustment of the utility model can be used to perform heating to increase the temperature to a set value through manual temperature setting and automatic heating and output a temperature signal through the sensor to complete the automatic heating and heat preservation operation of the whole heating device, so the product is suitable for the automatic heating and automatic temperature adjustment of water.


(57) Abstract: the detection of the subunit component of the cyclin complexes, diagnostic and kits for diagnosing transformation of a cell is disclosed. In particular, the present invention is cyclin, PCNA, relates CDKs and p21, p19 and low molecular weight polypeptides, such as p16. The present invention further relates to inhibitors of cellular proliferation.


The effect of nozzle shape, angle and length on the propulsive performance of continuously rotating detonation engine is numerically investigated in a three-dimensional annular chamber with the one-step chemical kinetics of a hydrogen and air mixture. The thrust and specific impulse of the rotating detonation engine with four different nozzles are evaluated to find out the best performance nozzle shape. This chosen nozzle shape is used as a baseline nozzle. In addition to the description of a detailed flowfield structure in the chamber with the baseline nozzle, the changes in flowfield properties at the chamber inlet and nozzle exit due to nozzle shapes are also investigated. With the baseline nozzle, the evaluation on the effect of nozzle angle and length is performed. The best engine performance and less total pressure loss are achieved in the divergent nozzle with the nozzle angle of 10 ◦ and the nozzle length of 0.04 m. However, the rotating detonation engine has the negligible nozzle effect on the propulsive performance, compared with that for pulse detonation engine.


Georges Sorel's assiduousness in the classes on law and the institutions of primitive societies, that Jacques Flach tought at the College de France between 1892 and 1912, meets the interest of socialist thinkers in the latter – an interest initiated by Engels himself. The purpose was to interrogate the concepts of property and family without sticking to patterns of production. Every one of them, including Sorel, had in mind to broaden the theoretical frame of historical materialism.


The rules governing states' conduct in times of war have always been the topic of heated discussion during, or in the wake of, major international conflicts. Such was the case, for example, following the increasingly "modern" and destructive wars of the late nineteenth century (which were followed by the adoption of the Hague Conventions) and after World War II (which led to the Geneva Conventions). In the midst of the current "war on terror" - which is characterized by the emergence of non-state entities as key protagonists - calls are heard, yet again, to reconsider the rules governing warfare.


To a hummingbird, clusters of flowers on inflorescences represent patches and provide an ideal situation to test prediction of optimal patch-use. The basic question is what decision rule should a hummingbird use to decide whether or not to leave an inflorescence? The hypothesis is that hummingbirds will adopt the decision rule that maximizes their net rate of energy gain while foraging. This hypothesis leads to an analogue of Charnov's marginal value theorem which determines an optimal decision rule. The optimal decision ruleis then used to predict aspects of the hummingbirds' foraging, and these predictions are compared with field data

The optimal decision rule is a function of how much information is used by the hummingbirds. Data indicate that a decision to leave an inflorescence is a function of the number of flowers visited, the number of flowers available on the inflorescence, and the amount of nectar obtained at the last flower. The optimal decision rule was calculated assuming no additional information is used.


zation., or their leaders, are merely interested in a postponement of consideration of the problem of "universal military training," and they are sincere. But it is difficult to see any good reason fo~ postponing consideration of the problem of military training. It looks as if adoption of the statement recommending postpone. ment is in reality the forerunner of oppooition to military training, or of advocacy of the establish. ment of a glorified CCC program as a substitute for military training. ... It is significant that the American Legion has gone on record in favor of a program of military training. Men who have personally known the horrors of war are the last to take a position that leads to more war. They are the first to give tlleir efforts to the prevention of war. Many men of the Army and Navy lost their lives because of our lack of preparation. Many a crew of American ships lost their lives in the first year of the war because of our lack of naval strength to de. fend them even in the watcrs off our own coasts. ...


2524 Background: Eribulin mesylate (E7389) is a non-taxane microtubule dynamics inhibitor with a novel mechanism of action. A study was conducted to evaluate efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of eribulin at a dose of 1.4 mg/m2 for locally advanced or MBC in patients previously treated with an anthracycline, a taxane, and capecitabine.

METHODS
Eribulin was administered intravenously over 2-5 minutes at a dose of 1.4 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 of a 21- day cycle to 291 patients. Four plasma samples were collected between 5 min and 120 hours after the first dose. Plasma eribulin concentrations were determined by LC/MS/MS. A total of 774 samples, from 209 patients with complete dose and sampling information were included in the PPK analysis, which was conducted using nonlinear mixed effects modeling (NONMEM).

RESULTS
Eribulin PKs were best described by a three-compartment model, with elimination from the central compartment. Distribution was rapid and elimination slow. For a typical patient with AST<ULN and CLCR=101mL/min (Cockroft-Gault), clearance (CL) was 2.98 L/h and central volume of distribution 3.72 L (V1). Volumes and inter-compartmental clearances for the two peripheral compartments were 3.60 L (V2), 126 L (V3), 2.7 L/h (Q2) and 5.6 L/h (Q3). Inter-patient variability on CL was 57%, and ranged from 26- 98% for other parameters. Residual error was 21% (proportional). CL was on average 38% lower in patients with AST>ULN and positively correlated with renal function. The covariate effects only explained a minor fraction of inter-patient variability in this single study dataset.

CONCLUSIONS
Eribulin PKs were described by a three-compartment model with rapid distribution and slow elimination. Appreciable interpatient PK variability exists, a minor fraction of which was explained by measures of liver and renal function. [Table: see text].


This chapter discusses the preliminary stages of a research project investigating implicit and explicit barriers leading to women's underrepresentation in the architecture profession in Australia, especially in leadership roles. When gender balance in the student population in architecture has been near parity for more than three decades, why do such a small proportion of trained women formally register as architects, or join the peak representative body? More importantly for this chapter, and despite demonstrated skill, talent and competence, why do so few women proceed to the highest and most influential roles in the profession, and hence to lead the creation of the built environment that the rest of the population uses every day? Using ethnographic research methods to make a close examination of three case study workplaces, the project will attempt a clearer picture of how women fare in the architecture profession, why they leave, and what the implications in one profession might mean for women and leadership more broadly.


We show the following: (1) The nth symmetric prod uct of a continuum is countable closed aposyndetic. (2) If X is a chainable continuum such that its second symmetric product is mutually aposyndetic then X is homeomorphic to [0,1]. (3) A chainable continuum X is indecomposable if and only if its second symmetric product is strictly nonmutually aposyndetic. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary, 54B20. J(eywords and phrases: Continuum, chainable continuum, hyperspace, symmetric product.


The work describes SMARTMUSEUM ICT solution of personalized cultural heritage content access for mobile users. Addressed aspects include unifying user preferences, context information and respective annotation of content. Implemented real solution is described briefly.


A block-repair device comprising: a plurality of cell blocks; repair fuse block; block isolation control unit; and a block selector repair. The block repair fuse output signals of said plurality of cell blocks repair. The block isolation control unit in response to said repair block signal output control signal to activate a plurality of cell blocks, or blocks of the defective cell is electrically isolated from the plurality of unit block. Said block selector in response to the repair block address signals outputted cell repair block selection signal to replace the defective cell block with another cell block.


We analyzed the dc SQUID with voltage feedback circuit (VFC) and a low-noise room-temperature preamplifier to evaluate the feasibility of a low-noise SQUID direct-coupled readout scheme (DRS), possibly eliminating the need for a two-stage scheme employing a SQUID preamplifier. The passive VFC, connected in parallel to the SQUID, consists of a resistor Rs in series with an inductor L s. This inductor is coupled to the SQUID by a mutual inductance Ms. The purpose of the VFC is to increase the SQUID's flux-to-voltage transfer coefficient ∂V/∂Φ, thus reducing the preamplifier noise contribution δΦpreamp. However, at the same time, VFC introduces the thermal noise of Rs, δΦR, which may not be negligible. Generally, the noise of the readout scheme, δΦreadout, may thus include both δΦpreamp and δΦR, i.e., δΦreadout2 = δΦpreamp2 + δΦR2. To characterize the SQUID operation with VFC we introduced two dimensionless parameters, r = Rs/Rd and Δ = (M s/Mdyn) − (Rs/R d), where Rd and Mdyn = 1/(∂i/∂Φ) are dynamic properties of the SQUID itself. For assumed intrinsic SQUID parameters, we then numerically analyzed the dependence of δΦreadout noise components on r and Δ to determine their suitable ranges and the minimum of δΦreadout. To verify our analysis, we experimentally characterized, in liquid helium, three niobium SQUIDs with VFC, having suitably chosen r and Δ. The measured SQUID system flux noise was on the order of 1 μΦ0/√Hz, comparable to the intrinsic noise of the SQUID itself. The deduced equivalent voltage noise was comparable to that of a SQUID preamplifier in the two-stage readout. Simple single-stage ultra-low-noise SQUID DRS readout was thus demonstrated.


Volunteer programs have been used to alter attitudes, provide long-term knowledge towards mental illness and increase the quality of life of consumers receiving volunteer services. Sixteen volunteers completed an 18-hour training program and in pairs worked with 11 consumers over 4 months. Sixteen volunteers completed training measures of knowledge and attitudes scales. Pre and post program quality of life and behavioural functioning measures were taken on 5 consumers. Volunteers maintained their knowledge of mental illness over 6 months and had significant increases in their comfort in interactions with people who have mental illness. Case managers, consumers and volunteers all reported high levels of satisfaction with the program but there were no significant changes in behavioural functioning or quality of life for consumers over 4 months of receiving volunteer support. High levels of client disability and the need for longer term follow-up were identified as factors needing to be addressed in future studies.


A global heat flux model based on a fractional derivative of plasma pressure is proposed for the heat transport in fusion plasmas. The degree of the fractional derivative of the heat flux, $\alpha$, is defined through the power balance analysis of the steady state. The model was used to obtain the experimental values of $\alpha$ for a large database of the JET Carbon-wall as well as ITER Like-wall plasmas. The findings show that the average fractional degree of the heat flux over the database for electrons is $\alpha \sim 0.8$, suggesting a global scaling between the net heating and the pressure profile in the JET plasmas. The model is expected to provide an accurate and a simple description of heat transport that can be used in transport studies of fusion plasmas.


The use of fatwa to delegitimize the constitutional rights of citizens to compete in a healthy manner in filling in public positions as occurred in the 2017 DKI Jakarta Pilkada is a form of injustice and manipulation. The fatwa which is actually not binding is then forced through the discourse strategy until the emphasis and mass action. In this paper, the phenomenon is examined with a critical discourse analysis tool in order to analyze the practice of acting that reflects social problems, relativize the practice of ideological mystification in fatwas, ignite public awareness of injustice and marginalization in the use of fatwas, and finally find solutions to overcome them. This paper shows that there has been a politicization of religion in the use of fatwas in the 2017 DKI Jakarta Pilkada. The politicization of religion through fatwas is a political practice that must be avoided, various solutions to overcome it, as contained in this paper, need to be further elaborated and executed.


The displacement of oxygen from Fe(TPP)(base)(O2) is a dissociative process in which the axial base exerts a trans effect with the lability of the co-ordinated oxygen decreasing in the order pyridine > piperidine >> 1-methylimidazole.


A general theory for the elastic-gravitational oscillation of the earth is developed. It is found that a linear vector operator that governs the oscillation is not Hermitian. In this regard the perturbation theory developed by Dahlen is found to be incorrect. However, when the density of the earth is a function of only the radial distance from the center of the earth, the operator becomes Hermitian even if other elastic parameters are asymmetrically distributed.An adjoint operator that complements the original one is obtained. The two operators enable us to obtain formal solutions for deformations excited by body forces and dislocations. These solutions agree, as they should, with solutions so far obtained for an isotropic, laterally homogeneous earth. Perturbation schemes which allow the first order calculation of eigenfrequencies of any earth model in termsof the solutions of a non-rotating, spherically symmetric earth model are also developed.


freedom from biochemical failure are 85.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 82.5%87.6%), 95.1% (95% CI, 94.0%-96.2%), and 65.8% (95% CI, 62.8%-68.0%), respectively. The PSA failure-free rates 5 and 7 years after treatment for patients presenting with a PSA of less than 10 ng/mL were 77.8% (95% CI, 74.5%-81.3%), and 72.9% (95% CI, 67.9%-78.2%). Recursive partitioning analysis of initial PSA level, palpation stage, and the Gleason score groupings yielded 4 separate prognostic groups: group 1, included patients with a PSA level of less than 9.2 ng/mL; group 2, PSA level of at least 9.2 but less than 19.7 ng/mL; group 3, PSA level at least 19.7 ng/mL and a Gleason score of 2 to 6; and group 4, PSA level of at least 19.7 ng/mL and a Gleason score of 7 to 10. The estimated rates of survival free of biochemical failure at 5 years are 81% for group 1, 69% for group 2, 47% for group 3, and 29% for group 4. Of the 302 patients followed up beyond 5 years who were free of biochemical disease, 5.0% relapsed from the fifth to the eighth year. Conclusions Estimated PSA control rates in this pooled analysis are similar to those of single institutions. These rates indicate the probability of success for subsets of patients with tumors of several prognostic category groupings. These results represent a multi-institutional benchmark for evidence-based counseling of prostate cancer patients about radiation treatment.


According to the invention, the semiconductor crystal is a base contact region 16 and emitter region 14 comprises an inhibiting recombination of the second conductivity type semiconductor layer 17 that is arranged near the surface between, a recombination-inhibiting semiconductor layer is from the portion that primarily conducts the positive hole electric current and electronic electric current, thereby separating the semiconductor surface to surface states are present a number. As a result, the recombination is suppressed and improve the current gain on-the lower the voltage.


Human trafficking is a serious and growing global concern, and Southeast Asia has emerged as a particular trafficking hub. Many actors, both internationally and on a state level, have responded to this concern with securitization: in other words, they have presented human trafficking as an existential threat which should be responded to with extraordinary measures. However, successful rhetorical securitization does not always translate to policy effectiveness, and Southeast Asia's notorious problems with human trafficking remain pressing and relatively unattended to. The clear disjuncture between rhetorical and effective securitization in the region challenges the traditional assumption within the Copenhagen School that speech acts are sufficient to securitize a given issue. Furthermore, the School's western orientation and inattention to local contexts is problematic when applying it outside of a western context. A revised model that accepts a differentiation between rhetorical and effective securitization and distances itself from a Euro-American conception of the state is far more useful in understanding the securitization of human trafficking in the region. To demonstrate my arguments, I will investigate the cases of Thailand and Cambodia, primarily relying on archival evidence, internet sources, and official documents.


In 1962 the association-induction hypothesis, a theory of the living state, was published.' It offered explanations for asymmetrical solute distribution, selective permeability, electrical potentials, osmotic properties, and a variety of other phenomena conventionally dealt with in a course on cell physiology. In these aspects the hypothesis was presented as an alternative to the membrane theory.** 3 However, the central theme of the association-induction hypothesis deals with the fundamental molecular mechanisms on which a living cell and its components depend in order to function in a coherent and reversible manner. The membrane theory did not concern itself with this subject until 1962. To provide functional cohcrence for the living cell, a mechanism was postulated based (1) on the fact that protein molecules represent linear chains of adsorption sites, and (2) on the assumption that electric polarization or depolarization (i.e., induction or F-effects) of one such adsorption site created by interaction with a specific adsorbent, may produce a change in the electronic state of a nearest neighboring site (i.e., the c-value, c'-value, and their analogs). Such nearest-neighbor interaction between adjacent sites in turn provides the protein-water-ion system (or protoplasm) with what, in statistical mechanical terms, is referred to as cooperative behavior. This cooperative behavior, in turn, provides a molecular basis for the control of many sites by a small number of molecules called cardinal adsorbents-hormones, drugs, and important metabolic products such as ATP. One year after the publication of the association-induction hypothesis (in which the control of enzyme activities by interaction at a distant site was discussed) (see Reference 1, Chapter 14), Monod and associates published an article on the same subject, enzymes control at a distanke, and coined the term "allosteric control." In 1964 Yang and Ling, using the one-dimensional Ising method, derived a cooperative adsorption isotherm, thereby providing a more rigorous statement of a basic theme of the association-induction hypothesi~.~ A year later, Monod and coworkers presented another cooperative adsorption isotherm. They too interpreted allosteric control in terms of cooperative phenomena.G In 1966, Koshland and collaborators presented still another adsorption isotherm.i These latter two isotherms, in contrast to that given by Yang and Ling, are formal


Galls and tumor-like growths can be found on numerous marine macroalgae. These growths are characterized by cell hyperplasia and hypertrophy producing an abnormal unorganized cell proliferation. Host tissues involved are typically differentiated and are induced to become meristematic after infection. These growths are associated with bacteria, algae, fungi, various animals, and other agents.


Biogas was produced from sheep manure and two types of submerged aquatic plant (Vallisneria spiralis and Egeria densa). The gas cleaning was carried out by a water scrubber, where a significant part of CO2 and H2S can be separated from the gas. A part of water from the scrubber was circulated through an aquatic plant growth tank and the growth of used plants was examined. Addition of E. densa to sheep manure increased gas yield by 8% and the mixing of sheep manure and V. spiralis resulted in 21% increase in gas yield. With the used scrubber, 70-80 vol% methane content can be reached in the cleaned biogas, and the water from the scrubber (which contained dissolved CO2 and H2S) resulted in 56-87% increase in size as opposed to 12-44% increase in the control group.


A new mini-fiber-spectrometer was developed with micro-silicon-slit instead of traditional mechanical slit.By calculating the impact of nonlinearity MEMS-based slit on the resolution of the mini-fiber-spectrometer and measuring the resolution of the system,it finds that using micro-silicon slit is efficient.Meantime,a theory for wavelength-pixel calibrating was brought forward after analyzing the resolution of pixel and FWHM,which was validated by analyzing data of the experiments of measuring the mercury-arc and fine calculating through the tool of MATLAB system.The results show that the new minifiber-spectrometer with micro-silicon-slit is worked out,its FWHM is(0.85 nm), the precision of the wavelength calibration is less than 0.2 nm and the volume is 50 mm×46 mm×14 mm.


Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized as left ventricular hypertrophy unexplained by abnormal loading conditions. Approximately 30% of patients with HCM will develop left ventricular outflow obstruction under resting conditions. In the 5–10% of patients with drug-refractory symptoms, surgical septal myectomy has been shown to reduce outflow obstruction and relieve symptoms; however, some patients may be at increased risk for surgery. Since 1994, when alcohol septal ablation was introduced, an increasing number of patients have opted for the percutaneous approach, which aims to mimic the anatomic and hemodynamic effects of surgical septal myectomy. The less-invasive version of septal reduction therapy comes at a price: a larger number of pacemaker implantations and, sometimes, depending on the individual's coronary anatomy, a higher residual gradient. Despite these shortcomings and the absence of randomized trials, alcohol septal ablation has established itself as a viable option for patients with obstructive HCM.


New results are presented for Ps(1s) scattering by H(1s), He(1S) and Li(2s). Calculations have been performed in a coupled state framework, usually employing pseudostates, and allowing for excitation of both the Ps and the atom. In the Ps(1s)H(1s) calculations the H− formation channel has also been included using a highly accurate H− wave function. Resonances resulting from unstable states in which the positron orbits H− have been calculated and analysed. The new Ps(1s)-He(1S) calculations still fail to resolve existing discrepancies between theory and experiment at very low energies. The possible importance of the Ps− formation channel in all three collision systems is discussed.


IT is expected that extensive application of bundled conductors will be made to extra high voltage lines of the future when considered in terms of the successful operation of present lines which are so equipped. In particular, lines equipped with bundled conductors have been found to perform very favorably with regard to the production of corona and radio interference. Hence, an analysis of the radio interference characteristics of bundled conductors should be of considerable interest to those concerned with the design of the transmission lines of the future.


The purpose of this study is to disclose accident-related indices and investigate the extent to which the road accidents impact on the economic performance of Sri Lanka during the period from 1977 to 2016. Annual time-series data are used to evaluate the accident indices for econometric analysis. Augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) unit root analysis and Johansen's maximum likelihood estimator of the parameters of a cointegrating vector error correction model (VECM) are employed to test the stationary properties of the time series and to examine the long-run relationship between the variables, respectively. The results derived from the analysis confirm the existence of long-run relationship between the accident-related indices and macroeconomic indicators. The long-run elasticity values imply the signs and magnitude of impact of the accident indices on macroeconomic indicators. JEL: R41, H510, I310, I32


When a hydrogen-oxygen flame was kept in contact with an aqueous formic acid solution of unsaturated amines, carboxylation onto a double bond took place. This reaction revealed to be initiated by addition of a hydrogen atom to the double bond followed by coupling of the resulted substrate radical with a carboxyl radical.


In this paper, we propose an analysis framework for the performance of heterogeneous cognitive radio networks with multiple different secondary users (SU) coexisting and competing for spectrum access. In order to model the operation of different SUs in a feasible manner, we use a bank of Markov models, where each SU is modeled by a separate Markov model. The individual Markov models are connected implicitly in their transitional probabilities. Expressions for the transitional probabilities are derived by analyzing the mutual interference among the SUs. The throughput of each SU and the overall CRN can thus be calculated. In addition, to set up a comparison basis for evaluating the optimality of the CRN throughput, we optimize the SU channel access by solving a sum-of-ratios linear fractional programming. Simulations are conducted to verify the proposed techniques and to compare the throughput of the CRN under random channel access over the throughput under the optimized channel access.


The study of this paper is immersed in effective clustering and mining approach with help of side information. Number of text mining applications, having side-information with them. This information may be of various forms, such as provenance information of the documents, the links in the document, web logs which contains user-access behaviour, or other text document which are embedded into the non-textual attributes. These attributes may contain a lot of information for clustering purposes. However, the concerned importance of this side-information may be hard to count, especially when some of the information is noisy. In such cases, it can be hazardous to merge side-information into the mining process, because it can either enhance the quality of the representation or can add noise in the system. Therefore, Discussion suggests way to design efficient algorithm which combines classical partitioning algorithm with probabilistic model for effective clustering approach, so as to maximize the benefits from using side information. Keywords—Side information, data mining, data clustering, text classification.


The herbal formulation, EFPTT/09, elicits hypoglycemic or anti-diabetic effects in both normal and experimentally induced hyperglycemic (alloxan induced) rats. The EFPTT/09 also elicited a significant antioxidant effects in alloxan diabetic rats as reflected by its ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation and to elevate the enzymatic antioxidants in pancreatic tissue. The histopathological studies during the long term treatment have shown to ameliorate the alloxan induced histological damage of islets of langerhans. The inhibitory effects on biochemical and histological parameters induced by herbal formulation at a dose of 500 mg kg were almost comparable (p<0.01) to that of standard drug, Glibenclamide (5mg/Kg). It is possible that the herbal formulation may act through both, pancreatic and extra-pancreatic mechanism(s).The present study demonstrates that herbal formulation exhibits promising anti-diabetic activity and helps to maintain good glycemic and metabolic control.


The diffracted beams from a polycrystalline sample form a series of cones corresponding to each set of lattice planes. Introducing a stress into the sample distorts the diffraction cone shape. An area detector can be considered as a plane intersecting the diffraction cones. The authors of this paper have previously developed a new theory in which a direct relation between the stress tensor and the diffraction cone distortion is given. In this paper, the advantages of using 2D detectors for residual stress measurement based on both the conventional "sin2 w" theory and the new 2D theory are summarized. Some application examples are also discussed based on the experimental results with a 'Bruker Hi-Star area detector. The experiments have shown that there are many advantages to use 2D detector for stress measurement, including high measurement speed, high accuracy, and virtual oscillation for large crystals and textured samples.


: The aim of this article is to indicate selected possibilities of analysing the construct of proactivity. This goal was achieved by referring to selected definitions and the concepts of proactivity and by discussing a research project aimed at recognizing the proactivity of students towards their professional career. To measure the level of proactivity, the Scale of Proactive Behavior in Career was used, which includes four types of proactivity: general, cognitive, in building a support network and in building psychological comfort. The independent variables in the research were: taking on professional activity during studies, using services offered by a Career Office and a career counsellor. 271 students from four Polish universities took part in the study. The highest mean score was on the general proactivity scale, followed by the proactivity scale in building a support network, the scale of proactivity in building psychological comfort, and the lowest on the scale of cognitive proactiv-ity. These means differ statistically. The conducted analysis also proved that the level of proactivity is statistically significantly differentiated depending on whether the respondents used the Career Office or a career counsellor. The conclusions from the analysis were discussed in two perspectives – diagnostic and methodical.


Abstract Baked coatings have three primary uses in the oil, chemical and processing industries: (1) To combat corrosion (2) To protect finished products from iron contamination (3) To eliminate growth of solids such as synthetic polymers, scale, salt and paraffin. Case histories are given to show how baked coatings have been used in industry to accomplish these tasks. 5.4.5


Existing line clipping algorithms are all offered based on a rectangular window or a convex polygonal window. No algorithm for line clipping against a generalized polygon (or concave polygon) is available in the literatures. It is quite valuable to develop such algorithms, because they are of practical use just like the hidden line problem. In this paper, a line clipping algorithm against a generalized polygon is presented. First a reference point is chosen on the line. Then the slope from each vertex of the polygon to the reference point is calculated. Now if the slope of the line is between the slopes from two adjacent vertexes of the polygon to the reference point, the line intersects the edge between the two vertexes. So for each edge, only one division and one subtraction as well as four comparisons are needed.


[Objective]To analyze the situation of the T lymphocyte subsets among HIV infectors in order to select treatment scheme and the patients were treated promptly.[Methods]The cell counts of CD4、CD8 and CD4/CD8 ratio from 658 blood speciments of HIV infectors were detected by FCS respectively during April 2005.[Results]The mean vale of CD4、CD8 and CD4/CD8 ratio were(318.03±196.39) cells/μl,(966.51±437.50) cells/μl,(0.38±0.28)83.59% of them had CD4T cell counts lower than 500 cells/μl,and 29.94% had a figure lower than 200 cells/μl.There were no statistical differences in CD4,CD8 vale and CD4/CD8 ratio on persons with HIV infection between different gender and age groups.[Conclusion]The cell immune function of HIV infectors were impaired at different extent in the rural area.Most of them had been seen in a metaphase or later stage of AIDS.


Abstract Introduction The middle meningeal artery (MMA) is an important artery in neurosurgery. As the largest branch of the maxillary artery, it provides nutrition to the meninges and to the frontal and parietal regions. Diseases, including dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF), pseudoaneurysm, true aneurysm, traumatic arteriovenous fistula (TAVF), Moya-Moya disease (MMD), recurrent chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH), migraine, and meningioma, may be related to the MMA. The aim of the present study is to describe the anatomy of the MMA and to correlate it with brain diseases. Methods A literature review was performed using the PubMed, Scielo, Scientific Direct, Ebsco, LILACS, TripDataBase and Cochrane databases, with the following descriptors: neurosurgery, neuroanatomy, meninges and blood supply. Discussion The MMA is embedded in a cranial groove, and traumatic or iatrogenic factors can result in MMA-associated pseudoaneurysms or arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs). In hemodynamic stress, true aneurysms can develop. Arteriovenous fistulas, pseudoaneurysms, and true aneurysms can be effectively treated by endovascular or surgical removal. In MMD, the MMA plays a role in the development and in the improvement of collateral circulation. Finally, in cases of CSDH, when standard surgery and drainage fail, MMA embolization can constitute a great alternative. Conclusion The MMA is a relevant structure for the understanding of neurosurgical diseases. In conclusion, every neurosurgeon must know the anatomy of the MMA sufficiently to correlate it with the diagnosed pathology, thus obtaining treatment effectiveness and preventing brain lesion.


Video data comes in the form of the unstructured and the complex structure. As the importance of efficient management and retrieval for video data increases, studies on the video parsing based on the visual features contained in the video contents are researched to reconstruct video data as the meaningful structure. The early studies on video parsing are focused on splitting video data into shots, but detecting the shot boundary defined with the physical boundary does not cosider the semantic association of video data. Recently, studies on structuralizing video shots having the semantic association to the video scene defined with the semantic boundary by utilizing clustering methods are actively progressed. Previous studies on detecting the video scene try to detect video scenes by utilizing clustering algorithms based on the similarity measure between video shots mainly depended on color features. However, the correct identification of a video shot or scene and the detection of the gradual transitions such as dissolve, fade and wipe are difficult because color features of video data contain a noise and are abruptly changed due to the intervention of an unexpected object. In this paper, to solve these problems, we propose the Scene Detector by using Color histogram, corner Edge and Object color histogram (SDCEO) that clusters similar shots organizing same event based on visual features including the color histogram, the corner edge and the object color histogram to detect video scenes. The SDCEO is worthy of notice in a sense that it uses the edge feature with the color feature, and as a result, it effectively detects the gradual transitions as well as the abrupt transitions. The SDCEO consists of the Shot Bound Identifier and the Video Scene Detector. The Shot Bound Identifier is comprised of the Color Histogram Analysis step and the Corner Edge Analysis step. In the Color Histogram Analysis step, SDCEO uses the color histogram feature to organizing shot boundaries. The color histogram, recording the percentage of each quantized color among all pixels in a frame, are chosen for their good performance, as also reported in other work of content-based image and video analysis. To organize shot boundaries, SDCEO joins associated sequential frames into shot boundaries by measuring the similarity of the color histogram between frames. In the Corner Edge Analysis step, SDCEO identifies the final shot boundaries by using the corner edge feature. SDCEO detect associated shot boundaries comparing the corner edge feature between the last frame of previous shot boundary and the first frame of next shot boundary. In the Key-frame Extraction step, SDCEO compares each frame with all frames and measures the similarity by using histogram euclidean distance, and then select the frame the most similar with all frames contained in same shot boundary as the key-frame. Video Scene Detector clusters associated shots organizing same event by utilizing the hierarchical agglomerative clustering method based on the visual features including the color histogram and the object color histogram. After detecting video scenes, SDCEO organizes final video scene by repetitive clustering until the simiarity distance between shot boundaries less than the threshold h. In this paper, we construct the prototype of SDCEO and experiments are carried out with the baseline data that are manually constructed, and the experimental results that the precision of shot boundary detection is 93.3% and the precision of video scene detection is 83.3% are satisfactory.


ABSTRACT:The Oedipus at Colonus presents us with a difficult choice if we are to understand its original staging: the play must either use four actors or at least one role must be shared between more than one actor. Based on comparable experimentalism seen in other late plays of Sophocles, I argue that the character of Theseus should be divided among the three actors. This role-splitting creates two dramatic benefits. One, it enables Sophocles to enhance the dramatic subtext of particular scenes when the Theseus actor changes. Two, it allows Sophocles to make Theseus and his actions a reflection of Athenian democratic values.


Objective: To observe the effects of LiangYiTang on the latency period of asthma and the levels of TNF-α and interleukine-4(IL-4) in guinea pig,and explore the mechanism of preventing asthma.Method: Acute asthmatic models were established with the mixture of 2% acetylcholine chloride and 0.1% histamine phosphate to observe the influence of physiological saline(Group A),LiangYiTang(Group B) and aminophylline(Group C) on the incubation period of asthma;chronic asthmatic models were built with ovalbumin challenge method.Expressions of TNF-α and IL-4 in the groups of physiological saline(D),LiangYiTang(E) and dexamethasone(F) were detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Result: Compared with the group of physiological saline,LiangYiTang could prolong the latency period of asthma in guinea pig significantly(P0.01),comparisons between LiangYiTang group and aminophylline group had no significant difference(P0.05);LiangYiTang could lower serum TNF-α of asthmatic guinea pig significantly(P0.05) and level of IL-4(P0.01).Conclusion: LiangYiTang could delay the latency period of asthma in asthmatic guinea pig,the function of inhibition to the inflammation of respiratory tract might be related to down regulation the expression of TNF-α and IL-4.


Presented is a lateral DMOS transistor (10) having a first portion (12) of a first conductivity type, a second conductivity type is surrounded laterally by a second area (14), wherein a boundary line (16) between the two regions (12, 14) opposing straight portions (16.1) as well as the straight portions (16.1) linking curved sections (16.2), and with a serving as a field area of the first dielectric structure (20) that is embedded in the first region (12) and a portion (22 ) of the first region surrounds. The transistor (10) is characterized in that a first distance (d1) between the first dielectric structure (20) and the border line (16) along the straight portions (16.1) is greater than along the curved sections (16.2).


Preface. Error Control in Digital Communications and Storages. Brief Introduction to Abstract Algebra. Binary Block Codes. Reed-Solomon Codes. Convolutional Codes. Modern Codes. Index.


This volume is a collection of published and unpublished essays authored by the eminent scholar Deepak Nayyar. The essays written over a period of two decades, focus on liberalization and development of underdeveloped and developing countries. The themes explored range from macroeconomics through industrialization to development with reference to the changed context shaped by liberalization. The essays are grouped in four thematic clusters. The first part is on economic theory, contextualized in developing countries. It relates macroeconomic theory and policy to the institutional setting and explores alternative perspectives. The second part is on development, in a world that has been transformed by markets and globalization. It also explores the consequences for public policies and for employment. The third part is on industrialization. It begins with the international context to consider the debate on industrialization in India which is relevant for other late-industrializers. The last part is on liberalization. It evaluates the Indian experience with stabilization, adjustment, and reform. The volume situates economic liberalization in India in its wider political and historical context. In a world where much of development economics is concerned with micro-theoretic analysis, these essays provide a macroeconomic analysis of development. The book provides a rich blend of theory and policy from a heterodox perspective.


Compared to single-link failures, SRLG failures will leave much more connections vulnerable to next failures. We investigate benefits of backup reprovisioning after SRLG failures and evaluate different policies for backup reprovisioning.


Abstract : Viral infections are the most common cause of human disease and are responsible for at least 60% of the illnesses that cause physician visits. These organisms are difficult to detect as complex tests either take days to generate accurate results or lack sensitivity, specificity, and quantitative capability. AndCare reports the demonstration of a new electrochemical approach to nucleic acid based detection that can rapidly detect, identify and quantify viruses in crude (unpurified) samples. This same system can be used as a simple, quantitative detector for systems such as reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that amplify viral nucleic acid sequences. Proof of principle was obtained by modifying AndCare's disposable colloidal gold electrodes to generate a current when a hybrid is formed between a gene probe and the specific RNA sequence of a target virus. We have shown direct detection of PT-PCR product of polio virus at levels as low as 5 plaque forming units (pfu) of virus taken from a tissue culture sample containing 5 x 10(exp 4) pfu/mL. This is a breakthrough in viral research, since our methodology can speed viral detection, identification and quantification, and thereby has the potential to revolutionize health care related to viral disease.


The experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of EC and pH of nutrient solution on the growth and quality of the single-stemmed rose grown in a rose factory installed with hydroponic system. The growth and quality of the single-stemmed rose were not significantly different from each other with the EC of the nutrient solutions 1.0~3.5 dSㆍm¹, which resulted in concluding high concentration of the nutrient solution was not necessary. The optimum range of the EC for single-stemmed rose was 1.5~2.0 dSㆍm¹ considering plant growth, photosynthetic and transpiration rates. The optimum range of the pH for good plant growth without any visible physiological disorder was 4.0~6.0. Therefore, to keep the pH of the nutrient solution for rose low compared to other plants was beneficial for plant growth and uptake of the mineral ions.


The SCWO process is a promising technology for the treatment of industrial wastewaters and sludges. The commercial or industrial development of this technology mainly goes through engineering considerations, such as reactor design, solids separation and equipment corrosion. In this paper, state of the art of these topics and the flow sheets and energy and mass balances for diluted wastewater and sludge treatment are presented. This plant simulation has been done using the software ASPEN PLUS and it shows that the SCWO process is an interesting alternative from the energetic point of view. The energy integration of a SCWO plant for 2 m3/h sludges with a heating value of 23000 kJ/kg can produce 420 kW as mechanical work and 2522 kg/h of process steam (0.3 MPa). For diluted wastewater the process is autothermal for feeds with an enthalpic content of 900 kJ/kg.


We generalize Nielsen's majorization criterion for the convertibility of bipartite pure states [Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 436 (1999)] to a special class of multipartite pure states with generalized Schmidt decompositions.


ABSTRACT Two aspects of the larval biology of the rove beetle Sepedophilus testaceus (Staphylinidae: Tachyporinae) were investigated, namely the morphology of the posterior abdomen (abdominal apex) and the predatory behaviour of the larvae towards elusive springtails. The larvae move their urogomphi via a single urogomphal muscle. Its presumed antagonist is a cuticular, possibly elastic process that lies below the urogomphus. Additional features of the posterior abdomen include (i) a reduced but well-developed musculature, (ii) segmental exocrine glands of unknown function, and (iii) five rectal diverticula that are externally visible as eversible lobes and that presumably serve as adhesive organs. Segments IX and X deviate from the more anterior abdominal segments in both their external and internal organisation including their equipment with muscles. Comparisons with previous studies suggest that the segmental glands and rectal diverticula are groundplan features of Staphylinidae and Staphyliniformia, respectively. However, the structure and biological relevance of these traits have as yet received little attention. Laboratory-based highspeed videography observations have confirmed that the investigated L3 larvae are predaceous and highly capable of capturing even elusive prey such as springtails with a relatively high success rate of 40%. The larvae attack their prey immediately after accidental contact and detect and localise their exact position via the hair-like sensilla on their antennae and other body parts. Contact with the prey is below threshold, i.e. occurs without releasing the prey's escape response, and is followed by a rapid grasping movement of about 40 milliseconds on average that is executed by the falciform mandibles of the larva. This is well within the range of the escape response of the springtail.


Glaciers fulfil several important roles in the earth system, including being clear indicators of climate change and providing essential freshwater storage and downstream runoff to 22% of the global population. In addition, they are the main contributors to sea level rise and are expected to remain so throughout the 21st Century. In order to monitor glacier development, observing and predicting glacier mass balance on different spatial and temporal scales is essential. The current study aims to improve the understanding of glacier mass balance prediction on the decadal scale (5-15 years), a rarely studied time scale in the context of glaciers, but if reliable, highly applicable for glacier related water resource management and sea level rise predictions. This is achieved through the use of CMIP5 decadal climate prediction multi-model ensembles (reforecasts) to force the mass balance component of the Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM). This method is applied to 254 reference glaciers, distributed throughout 17 of the 19 Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) regions. The reforecasts are initialized in 1960 and 1980 and bias corrected to the glacier scale. The following statistical analysis then gives a good indication of the skill of climate reforecasts in mass balance modelling on this glacier atypical time scale.


Objective To study the successional vein dialysis on acute renal injury with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.Methods The APACHEII score and renal function of 45 patients with renal injury with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome treated with successional vein dialysis were analyzed.Results The fatality rate was 24.4%,which was related to the age,APACHEII score,urea nitrogen and serum creatinine.Conclusion Renal injury with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome has high fatality rate,whose key of treatment is complex therapy with early successional vein dialysis.


Flow separation and dynamic stall occurring at a high angle of attack will lead to difficulty in control and maneuverability for morphing aircraft. This study proposes a novel active flow control technology using a synthetic jet actuator for the roll motion of morphing aircraft. With the help of the computational fluid dynamics method and vortex lattice method, the roll control model of morphing aircraft undergoing large shape change at a high angle of attack is established. In this model, both the array of the actuator with an optimized cavity shape and morphing span, which are subject to the input saturation constraint, are used to mimic the conventional control surface. Integrated flight control based on the sliding mode control method is designed to ensure the desired closed-loop asymptotic stability, wherein the radial basis function neural network is employed to provide the compensation induced by the input saturation constraint. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the control scheme, various control strategies for different combinations of input are proposed to maintain the roll motion. The numerical results show that the designed control law could track the target signal well, which suggests that the virtual control surface is an effective tool for maintaining the high flight performance of morphing aircraft.


The question of dualistic value of a photographic document (art or chronicle of time) exists from the very beginning of this media. Within the active artistic pursuit that has lasted for more than 40 years, Branimir Karanovic's opus contains series of photographs titled Pacvork (Patch Work) and Tumac fotografije ( Too Much of Photography ). Both cycles pose the question of ontological interpretation of the photographic records and it's correlation to the artistic evaluation of the piece itself. These serials, conceptually formed art pieces, for sure, present photography as a pictogram with dualistic meaning: documentary (witness of time) and conceptually-artistic one. Similarly to the Hockey's principle, collages and assemblages of the individual photographs construct a new visual area that imposes itself both as extremely attractive composition and as a content that demands the viewer's analysis and, in this manner, emphasizes the fact that a photographic document does not have to be media-centralized and popular. Recording of ready-mades on the margins of everyday life turns to be valid visual evidence – a document of time and space that, shaped by the author's conception, becomes esteemed art piece.


© 2003 Human Kinetics • ATT 8(5), pp. 25-31 Evidence-based sports medicine is becoming a reality for allied health educators, as well as practitioners. For health-care professionals, examining current literature related to pathology, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of sport-related injuries is essential. What works, why does it work, and how does it work are questions that must always be considered. Clinicians need to know whether a particular strategy is effective, whether a special test is valuable in making a diagnosis, or whether a specific treatment improves the outcome of care. An important point to remember is that just because something might seem commonplace in sports medicine, that does not mean that it is actually effective. For example, the McMurray test for meniscal damage is of little value, especially in this age of diagnostic imaging (C. R. Denegar and M. A. Fraser, unpublished data, 2003). One area of sports medicine that needs to be examined further is the efficacy of diagnostic or special tests at the shoulder. In order to determine whether a test is accurate in identifying a pathology, the test must be compared to a gold standard that has already been determined to be accurate.1,2 For example, when performing a shoulder examination for labral pathology, how does a special test compare to the gold standard of arthroscopy? The purpose of this article is to examine the diagnostic usefulness of the clinical assessment of glenoid labral pathology, or SLAP (superior labrum anterior– posterior) lesions, in the shoulder. The most common clinical symptoms of labral pathology are pain, clicking, or popping deep in the glenohumeral joint.3 Special tests at the shoulder to assess labral pathology should therefore try to reproduce these symptoms. The compression-rotation test; anterior-slide test; active-compression, or O'Brien, test; crank test; pain-provocation test; and diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have all been proposed to assist in diagnosis of labral tears. This article focuses on the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios associated with these tests.


Epoxy composites incorporated with three kinds of hybrid aluminum (Al) particles with binary size distribution, that is, [1 μm/45 μm], [1 μm/18 μm], and [18 μm/45 μm], respectively, were prepared, and the mechanical and dielectric properties of the hybrid Al/epoxy composites were investigated as a function of relative weight fraction of smaller-size Al (Ws) of hybrid Al particles at a total filler content of 50 wt%. The mechanical and electrical properties of the hybrid Al/epoxy composites are found to mainly depend on the type of hybrid filler and the Ws and can be tuned by changing the Ws. The maximum tensile strength and elongation at break of the composites appear at an optimal Ws. Furthermore, the dielectric permittivity, dielectric breakdown strength, and volume resistivity of the hybrid Al/epoxy composites also exhibit the similar variations as the mechanical properties with the Ws. The obvious enhancements in the physical properties can be ascribed to the synergistic effect of hybrid particles in the matrix at the optimal Ws, which endows the composites with better mechanical and dielectric properties. So, the results give a facile strategy to enhance the dielectric and mechanical properties of the composites by choosing a proper Ws at a fixed total filler loading.


"He Deng" and "He" were two interrogative pronouns used most frequently in the Buddhist sutra of the Eastern Han Dynasty.During the 60 years of Buddhist sutra translation from An Shigao to Kang Mengxiang,the frequency of the use of "He Deng" in the special interrogative sentences dropped while that of "He" rose steadily.The reason for that was firstly "He Deng" was concentrating on the uses of interrogative sentences about things and while as the subject,the collocation forms with the predicate were very monotonous;As to "He",it was often used in the interrogative sentences of things and causes and the collocation forms with the predicate were rich and full of changes,thus it got a steady position.


The determined value of the weight of each index in the comprehensive evaluation index system of power quality of low-voltage distribution network may produce different results due to the subjective opinions of different experts. In this paper, a comprehensive evaluation method for power quality of low-voltage distribution network based on the best and worst (BW) method is proposed. Firstly, the steady-state power quality comprehensive evaluation system is established according to the national standard of China. Secondly, the traditional BW method is improved by using triangular fuzzy number to determine the interval weight of each steady-state power quality index. Next, the priority performance index (PPI) of daily power quality monitoring value is calculated by the interval weight combined with interval VIKOR method. Finally, according to PPI, the power quality classification of monitoring points is determined, and the steady-state power quality is evaluated.


In 1968, Melzack and Wall put forward their 'gate control theory' proposing that the spinal cord was a potential target site for modulation of pain signals. This changed our concepts about nociceptive transmission and laid the foundation for further research into dorsal horn opioid pharmacology. This led to the discovery of opioid receptors by Pert and Snyder in 1973 and the subsequent identification of dorsal horn opioid receptors by radioligand techniques in 1977. Yaksh went on to demonstrate that opioids modulate nociceptive stimuli via a direct action on the spinal cord in 1976. Wang was the first to describe the intrathecal administration of morphine in a group of eight patients with genitourinary malignancies in 1979. Since that time, the use of intrathecal opioids has become a widely accepted technique for providing effective postoperative pain relief. The changing health economy has driven the need for greater patient throughput, rapid turnover and shorter hospital stays whilst retaining high quality medical care. The combination of intrathecal analgesia with minimally invasive surgery has led to the development of accelerated surgical care pathways. This review will focus on the use of intrathecal opioids in the acute postoperative pain setting.


The possibility of controlled deflection of an electromagnetic THz beam of a free-electron laser by acousto-optic (AO) methods has been demonstrated for the first time. The material of the AO deflector was chosen to be single-crystal germanium, which has a fairly large refractive index and a relatively low absorption coefficient for electromagnetic waves. The absorption coefficient in germanium is at a wavelength . The diffracted beam intensity is shown to be maximum at an effective AO interaction length . A diffraction efficiency of 0.05 % at a travelling acoustic wave power of is experimentally obtained. It is established that a change in the ultrasonic frequency from 25 to leads to variation in the external Bragg angle in the range from to . At a fixed Bragg angle the frequency band of diffraction is and the angular range of laser beam scanning reaches . The results obtained indicate that AO interaction can be used for controlled deflection of electromagnetic THz beams.


The classification of vocalic data by automatic means is under study. The techniques of dispersion analysis are used to determine the set of principal components from data and then to investigate the distribution of spectral data on the principal components. The results given by the analysis are given linguistic interpretations, and a simple method is proposed to construct a decision‐tree structure for classifying vowel spectra. The sequence of decisions is described and the results are compared linguistic descriptions involving Jakobsonian distinctive features. The spectral data under study are the rectified outputs of 35 bandpass filters covering the range 250 Hz to 10 kHz, and sampled 60 times/sec. The speech samples were all contributed by one talker. Approximately 1500 time samples were selected from the quasistationary portions of 10 common vowels of American English; each vowel occurred in 23 different utterances, and the phonetic context differed in each utterance. [This work was supported in part...