One purpose of the present invention is to provide an electrode body which uses a hydrogel as a substrate and is capable of generating a high voltage. Another purpose of the present invention is to provide an electrode body which is free from disconnection of wiring even if the hydrogel is deformed.
The above-mentioned purposes can be achieved by a porous substrate electrode body which is obtained by bonding an electrode to a porous body by means of a conductive polymer adhesive layer, and which is characterized in that the electrode is selected from the group consisting of metal electrodes, stretchable electrodes and carbon electrodes.


Complex (I ) :M r = 540.85, monoclinic, P2 l/n, a = 1 4 . 4 3 5 ( 5 ) , b = 1 0 . 8 8 2 ( 3 ) , c = 1 5 . 1 4 1 ( 4 ) A , fl--104.62 (3) °, V = 2301.4 A 3, Z = 4, D x = 1.561 Mg m -a, 2 (CuKct )= 1.54178 A, g ( C u K a ) = 7.47 mm -1, F(000) = 1104, T = 290 (1) K, R = 0.070 for 1826 observed reflections. The Rh is coordinated to all five C atoms in the fulvene ring, with R h C distances varying between 2.180 (11) and 2.295 (12)/~, and to the four olefinic C atoms in the * Permanent address: Department of Biochemistry, Technical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland. t Present address: Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Liverpool Polytechnic, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, England. 0108-2701/85/060850-06501.50 1,5-cyclooctadiene, with R h C distances in the range 2.145 (14)-2.183 (14) A. Complex (II): M r = 1122.19, triclinic, P1, a = 11.537 (2), b = 12.276 (2), c = 2 0 . 1 3 5 ( 2 ) A , a = 7 5 . 8 3 ( 1 ) , f l = 7 6 . 7 2 ( 1 ) , ) ,= 65.44 (1) °, V = 2488.15 A 3, z = 2, D x = 1.498 Mg m -3, 2(Mo Ka) = 0.71069 A, g(Mo Kct) = 0 .620mm -1, F ( 0 0 0 ) = 1 1 4 4 , T = 2 9 0 ( 1 ) K, R = 0.031 for 9098 observed reflections. Again the Rh is coordinated to all five fulvene-ring C atoms, with R h C distances between 2.224 (2) and 2.412 (2)A. The Rh--P distances are 2.226 (1) and 2.203 (1) A. In each complex the exocyclic C atom in the fulvene ligand is bent away from the metal [by 4.4 and 8.8 o in (I) and (II)respectively]. © 1985 International Union of Crystallography Z. DAUTER, L. K. HANSEN, R. J. MAWBY, E. J. PROBITTS AND C. D. REYNOLDS 85


We discuss how to design the general input-screen with VC++ by utilizing the software reusing technolgy of object oriented (including instance reusing, inheritance reusing and polymorphism reusing). This way can enhance the maintainability and reusability of the system.


The variation in running velocity over a 100 m dash has been studied extensively in the last decade. Very few studies, however, have dealt with the changes in technique occurring between the second acceleration (from the normal sprinting position of run the maximal velocity until is reached), maximal velocity and deceleration phases. The purpose of this study was to quantify the touch-down (TO) and take-off (TO) angles in a 100 m sprint run, before, during and after the maximal velocity phase. Ten sprinters were filmed during these phases using a high-speed video camera operating at 250 Hz in a 100 m dash. The results of this study suggest that the Trunk Angle at TO influenced the TO angle. Furthermore, the horizontal distance between the centre of gravity and the Foot at TO, is an important technical characteristic influencing the stride length and the stride rate which provoke the running velocity variation.


and throughout the manuscript: Please make even clearer that the "wind-ice transfer coefficient" also includes the ocean drag! (see general comment above) L10-17: Please state the total time period (1979-2019, right?) for which your results have been obtained! L14-15: "The residual from the minimization procedure (i.e. the ocean currents)" -> To be precise, shouldn't the "i.e." be replaced by something like "interpreted as"? L38: "such as" -> which, apart from SIC and SIT? L66: "geostrophic wind" -> I suggest to write "surface geostropic wind" (to make clear it's the SLP-based geostrophic wind; after all, also the geostrophic wind varies with height). L73,74: Do you know why the small value of 1%, which relates rather to the stronger geostrophic winds (as you describe above), is used in combination with the weaker nearsurface winds? Was that simply a mistake (you also show that the PP estimates are lowspeed-biased)? However, see next point... L148-149: Here you state (seemingly contradicting the former?) that PP uses geostrophic winds, and a 20° turning angle (although the latter should be more applicable to actual winds?). L201: Why is U_w the geostrophic and not the actual surface current? L228-229: "Assuming that the component of ice motion that is not explained by the winds can be attributed to ice-ocean drag..." Wouldn't it be more precise to say: "Assuming that the component of ice motion that is not explained by the winds (AND ICE THICKNESS) can be attributed to THE MODIFICATION OF THE ice-ocean drag BY OCEAN SURFACE CURRENTS"...? Regarding the latter, I mean that the ice-ocean drag is in general already contained in the "wind-ice transfer coefficient", but in the baseline only for


To navigate successfully in a previously unexplored environment, a mobile robot must be able to estimate the spatial relationships of the objects of interest accurately. A Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) sys- tem employs its sensors to build incrementally a map of its surroundings and to localize itself in the map simultaneously. The aim of this research project is to develop a SLAM system suitable for self propelled household lawnmowers. The proposed bearing-only SLAM system requires only an omnidirec- tional camera and some inexpensive landmarks. The main advantage of an omnidirectional camera is the panoramic view of all the landmarks in the scene. Placing landmarks in a lawn field to define the working domain is much easier and more flexible than installing the perimeter wire required by existing autonomous lawnmowers. The common approach of existing bearing-only SLAM methods relies on a motion model for predicting the robot's pose and a sensor model for updating the pose. In the motion model, the error on the estimates of object positions is cumulated due mainly to the wheel slippage. Quantifying accu- rately the uncertainty of object positions is a fundamental requirement. In bearing-only SLAM, the Probability Density Function (PDF) of landmark position should be uniform along the observed bearing. Existing methods that approximate the PDF with a Gaussian estimation do not satisfy this uniformity requirement. This thesis introduces both geometric and proba- bilistic methods to address the above problems. The main novel contribu- tions of this thesis are: 1. A bearing-only SLAM method not requiring odometry. The proposed method relies solely on the sensor model (landmark bearings only) without relying on the motion model (odometry). The uncertainty of the estimated landmark positions depends on the vision error only, instead of the combination of both odometry and vision errors. 2. The transformation of the spatial uncertainty of objects. This thesis introduces a novel method for translating the spatial un- certainty of objects estimated from a moving frame attached to the robot into the global frame attached to the static landmarks in the environment. 3. The characterization of an improved PDF for representing landmark position in bearing-only SLAM. The proposed PDF is expressed in polar coordinates, and the marginal probability on range is constrained to be uniform. Compared to the PDF estimated from a mixture of Gaussians, the PDF developed here has far fewer parameters and can be easily adopted in a probabilistic framework, such as a particle filtering system. The main advantages of our proposed bearing-only SLAM system are its lower production cost and flexibility of use. The proposed system can be adopted in other domestic robots as well, such as vacuum cleaners or robotic toys when terrain is essentially 2D.


In a method for operating a plasma installation, an induction heating installation or a laser excitation installation in a pulsed power output operation, includes controlling at least one semiconductor switching element to produce a power loss in the at least one semiconductor switching element during a pulse pause time period in a pulse pause operation during which no power suitable for the ignition or the operation of the plasma process, the induction heating process, or the laser excitation process is produced at a power output of a power generator by the at least one semiconductor switching element of the power generator, and such that a reduction of a temperature of the at least one semiconductor switching element by more than a predetermined value is prevented.


A monolithic broadband low-noise amplifier (LNA) using MESFET technology has been demonstrated at U-band. This monolithic chip has demonstrated better than 7-dB gain with less than 1.5-dB ripple and a worst-case noise figure of 7.5 dB across the 40-60-GHz band. This chip has also demonstrated better than +8 dBm of output power across the U-band. Lower noise figure numbers are expected when such MMICs (monolithic microwave integrated circuits) are processed using optimized low-noise MESFET devices. These are state-of-the-art results for MESFETs and millimeter-wave amplifier technologies.<<ETX>>


This study investigated whether the Business Environment is effective in supporting the implementation of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) policies in Education in Tanzania. The study adopted the qualitative research technique whose data collection process included: documentary reviews and interviews. Three (3) semi-structured interviews were conducted involving five (5) officials from the Tanzania National Business Council (TBNC) and Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) officials. Findings indicated TNBC plays a leading Public-Private sector intermediary with the responsibility of coordinating and promoting the Public–Private Dialogue. Based on the TNBC experience, outstanding challenges were related to the negative mindsets on both sides of the Public-Private Dialogue (PPD), the uncoordinated approaches by the major players, and limited advocacy for PPP investment in education. It is therefore recommended that institutions like the TNBC need to increase their advocacy for the PPP policies in education in several ways including increasing the awareness of the PPP policies; increased training and capacity building for the various stakeholders before and after entering their respective PPP contractual obligations; establish information desks to serve as regular and sustainable contact points for the dissemination PPP policy guidelines and protocol.


This work concerns FePt nanowires electrodeposited from electrolyte of E1 [ammonium hexachloroplatinate (25 mM L− 1), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (25 mM L− 1)], iron dichloride (315 mM L− 1) and glycol (50 mL) at 393 K. FePt nanowires and films were electrodeposited by controlling the electrodeposited time under suitable potential in E1. FePt nanowires were prepared at different times of 600, 800 and 1000 s when deposition potential was − 2·0 V versus Ag/AgCl. The SEM patterns proved that FePt nanowires were prepared at suitable deposition time (600–1000 s). The X-ray diffraction pattern indicated that the face centre tetragonal structure of FePt nanowires was obtained. Magnetic hysteresis loops showed that aggregation could decrease the coercivity, and some nanowires were larger than the mean diameter, which exhibited a comparatively large ferromagnetic behaviour.


Often the Protestant Reformation is conected only with the person of Martin Luther, who actually initiated the movement of the Reformation with the afixation of the 95 theses (1517). But, besides him, some other reformers influenced decisively the future development of Protestantism. One of these was Huldrych Zwingli (1484 - 1531), the reformer of Zurich in Switzerland, who developed his own religious concepts. Zwingli was not only the most important theological leader of Zurich, but he also was responsible for the spread of Reformation in the Swiss Confederation. Furthermore, he created the theological and intelectual basis, on which, a little later, Jean Calvin (1509 - 1564) could continue and develop his theological and political conception. - Unfortunately, the life and work of Zwingli, his theology as well as his political and social ideas are little known in Brazil. Therefore, this article will give a short biographical study of Zwingli's life as a basis for other researches in this field.


The problems of braking and positioning of hydraulic actuators are an integral part of output speed control in hydro-pneumatic actuators. This article is focused on a hydraulic braking of driven elements of machines and mechanisms which is carried out by devices known as brake valves (counterbalance, load control, over-centre valves). Brake valves are used to exclude overrunning speed under passing loads when the external load direction coincides with the direction of movement (rotation) of the hydraulic actuator. They provide a constant pressure in pressure line and prevent cavitation. In this article the design and operation of brake valves are analyzed. The need for brake valves in hydraulic machines with hydraulic actuators under a passing load is proved. As a result of theoretical research a mathematical model of dynamics of hydraulic actuator with a brake valve has been developed. This model unlike others takes into account the design of main and control spools of the brake valve. The problem of logging-running unit braking is solved by the use of the hydraulic brake valve as a part of hydraulic logging system.


What is the central question of this study? What are the ultrastructural changes of the caecal mucosa and the status of epithelial cellular apoptosis and oxidative reactions in lactating goats after prolonged feeding with a high‐concentrate diet? What is the main finding and its importance? High‐concentrate diet results in ultrastructural damage to the caprine caecal epithelium. Increased oxidative and decreased antioxidative reactions are involved in the process of activating epithelial apoptosis in the caecal epithelium of goats fed a high‐concentrate diet. Our results provide new insight into the relationship between abnormal fermentation in the hindgut and damage to the intestinal mucosal barrier.


The Mycobacterium tuberculosis lysAgene encodes the enzyme meso-diaminopimelate decarboxylase (DAPDC), a pyridoxal-5′-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme. The enzyme catalyzes the final step in the lysine biosynthetic pathway converting meso-diaminopimelic acid (DAP) tol-lysine. The lysA gene of M. tuberculosis H37Rv has been established as essential for bacterial survival in immunocompromised mice, demonstrating thatde novo biosynthesis of lysine is essential for in vivo viability. Drugs targeted against DAPDC could be efficient anti-tuberculosis drugs, and the three-dimensional structure of DAPDC from M. tuberculosis complexed with reaction product lysine and the ternary complex with PLP and lysine in the active site has been determined. The first structure of a DAPDC confirms its classification as a fold type III PLP-dependent enzyme. The structure shows a stable 2-fold dimer in head-to-tail arrangement of a triose-phosphate isomerase (TIM) barrel-like α/β domain and a C-terminal β sheet domain, similar to the ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) fold family. PLP is covalently bound via an internal aldimine, and residues from both domains and both subunits contribute to the binding pocket. Comparison of the structure with eukaryotic ODCs, in particular with a di-fluoromethyl ornithine (DMFO)-bound ODC fromTrypanosoma bruceii, indicates that corresponding DAP-analogues might be potential inhibitors for mycobacterial DAPDCs.


Abstract: The aim of this textual work is to represent the review on solar air heater with air purification system. The review highlights the domain of solar air heater technology. It shows the different types and innovations of the solar air heater in the course of time. It thoroughly discusses the key points of various papers by former authors. Along with this, it also discusses about the nature and purpose of the paper and the developments done in this field. Together with this, a brief content of experimental set up has been given which gives an over view of design and fabrication of solar air heater with air purification system. There are stripes of pipes inside the wooden box which have gaps in between them. The gaps are filled with Aluminum foil painted black in color. fins with different design and surface roughness are provided to increase the rate of heat transfer inside the setup. The Aluminum foil is there to compensate the heating errors due to leakage in stripes of pipe. There are many techniques have been used to enhance the characteristics performance of the solar air heater such as surface geometry and different kinds of materials at inlet of the duct fan.


This work reported a high Raw Bit Error Rate (RBER) phenomenon of 3-D NAND flash. In the mixed read and program operation, we found that when the block was not fully programmed, and the edge word-line leads to high RBER. We have presented an extensive experimental study for the conditions of this phenomenon. At the same time, we analyzed the threshold voltage offset when this phenomenon occurs. This study provides useful guidance for the access of 96-layer 3-D NAND Flash.


We investigated whether body mass index (BMI) is associated with circulating levels of carotenoids, vitamin E, and vitamin A in 9–12‐y‐old children (54 females, 65 males) in rural Philippines. Fasting serum concentrations of carotenoids, tocopherols, and retinol were analyzed simultaneously by gradient reversed‐phase HPLC using a C30 column and a photodiode array detector set to monitor absorbance at 450, 292, and 340 nm. There were no significant differences between females and males in mean BMI (15.3 vs 15.2 kg/m2) and median serum concentrations ([micro]mol/L) of [alpha]‐carotene (0.025 vs 0.023), [beta]‐carotene (0.20 vs 0.17), 13‐cis‐[beta]‐carotene (0.021 vs 0.019), lycopene (0.087 vs 0.084), lutein (0.18 vs 0.20), zeaxanthin (0.058 vs 0.067), [beta]‐cryptoxanthin (0.060 vs 0.049), [alpha]‐tocopherol (16.3 vs 16.5), [gamma]‐tocopherol (0.72 vs 0.71), and retinol (0.84 vs 0.88). Among females, but not males, BMI inversely correlated with serum [alpha]‐carotene ([rho]=−0.391, p=0.004), [beta]‐carotene ([rho]=−0.353, p=0.01), 13‐cis‐[beta]‐carotene ([rho]=−0.319, p=0.02), zeaxanthin ([rho]=−0.387, p=0.005), lutein ([rho]=−0.286, p=0.04), [alpha]‐tocopherol ([rho]=−0.325, p=0.02), and [gamma]‐tocopherol ([rho]=−0.254, p=0.06). BMI did not correlate with serum lycopene, [beta]‐cryptoxanthin, and retinol. In school‐aged children, the amount of adipose tissue in the body possibly influences the circulating concentrations of tocopherols and certain carotenoids, but not retinol.


was first described by Dixon and Grant (1964). Five of six patients developed rupture at the knee joint. Typically pain suddenly occurred behind the knee and radiated into the calf. The effusion lessened or disappeared and caused painful swelling of the calf mimicking deep vein thrombosis. One patient developed indurated tender oedema of the hand and forearm associated with disappearance of an extensor sheath effusion. Further reports have been confined to synovial rupture at the knee. Tait, Bach, and Dixon (1965) reported five cases, and showed the value of arthrography in confirming the diagnosis. Hall and Scott (1966) described four examples as well as three cases of chronic calf cysts, two of which formed after acute episodes. The diagnosis of synovial rupture is easily missed and occurs in joints other than the knee. This paper reports its occurrence at the elbow joint in six patients with rheumatoid arthritis.


The article shows the results of the research focused on the phenomena of bullying and cyberbullying among Polish and Spanish children and adolescents. The first part of this article describes the characteristics of the topic, including genesis and definitions of terms and descriptions of the nature of the phenomena, highlighting the negative consequences of this kind of violence. The second part of this article describes different studies focused on bullying and cyberbullying across the world and in Poland. Against this background, the author's own research results are described. The aim of this study is to compare the prevalence of bullying and cyberbullying among students attending Polish and Spanish schools. An additional aim is to discover developmental tendencies in Poland and Spain while taking into account the age and gender of the participants. This research was conducted with the use of international measurement


A typical species of fungi strain FD07 was isolated from clinical specimens including whole fish and its eggs of Odontobutis potamophilus by culture(inoculated upon PDA medium).The isolated strain was identified by its characteristic morphology,morphologic forms of colonies and ITS rDNA.The results showed that the optimum growth temperature of FD07 was 20 ℃ and it growed well on PDA medium.The main shape characteristic of FD07 was the colony short texture,the hypha growth was exuberant,thick,and the branching was few,soft which resembled the cotton textile fiber,assumes the whitish grey,lives the club shape in the hypha peak to hover the zoospore ascus,may produce the spore.Both fish and eggs could be easily infected by FD07,and the susceptibilities rate were 91.7% and 95% respectively in the seventh day.The amplified DNA was sequenced(the accession number on GenBank was EU441154) and aligned against sequences in GenBank.The BLAST result showed that FD07 had a high degree(99%) of squence identity with the respect sequence of Achlya bisexualis.The results indicated that isolate FD07 was identified as Achlya bisexualis.


SUMMARY A technique is described for producing a more vigorous culture of Mycoplasma gallisepticum strain 801, by serial transfer in broth medium containing 0.5% dextrose with incubation on the shaker. A culture of strain 801 thus derived grew faster and produced greater antigen yields than the original culture. These antigens were excellent for hemagglutination.


Aim. To compare the long-term outcomes and qualitive of life (QOL) of robot-assisted fundoplication (RAF) and laparoscopic fundoplication (LF) in patients with cardiofundal and subtotal hiatal hernias (HH). Materials and methods. The study included 62 patients with HH, who underwent antireflux surgery in the clinic of Faculty Surgery No. 1 of Sechenov University in the period from January 2015 to February 2021. The main group included 32 patients who underwent robot-assisted fundoplication (RAF) according to A. F. Chernousov, the comparison group included 30 patients who underwent laparoscopic fundoplication (LF). Complaints of the patient, X-ray, endoscopic studies, PH-impedance-metry in the long-term period were evaluated. To assess the quality of life, the questionnaires SF 36 (The Short Form-36) and GERD-HRQL (Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Gastroesophageal Reflex Disease) were used. Results. Periodic heartburn in the long-term period was noted by 2 (6%) patients of the RAF group and 4 (13%) in the LF group. Endoscopic signs of mild esophagitis were detected in 1 (3%) patient from each group. X-ray in 9 (28%) patients of the RAF group and 11 (37%) patients of the LF group showed migration of the esophageal-gastric junction above the diaphragm level with complete preservation of the antireflux function of the fundoplication cuff. The QOL indicators of the SF 36 questionnaire did not differ in both groups and were comparable to the population of "conditionally healthy" people. The indicators of the GERD-HRQL questionnaire were better in the RAF group, but the differences had no statistical significance (RAF - 2.53 ± 5.1 points versus LF - 5.23 ± 9.4 points, p-value = 0.321). Conclusion. RAF and LF in the modification of A. F. Chernousov are equally effective in the treatment of RE and GPOD in the long-term period and provide good indicators of quality of life that do not differ statistically from each other.


It is always assuming that θ0 in deducing the changing basis rule of the simplex method,so θ can take zero is easily ignored in the simplex method.That makes iterative process cannot continue.In this paper we deduce the changing basis rule in the condition of θ≥0,and give the condition that θ can take zero explicitly.


The investigation was conducted in Randomized block design in 3 replications at Experimental Farm during 2015-16, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, Punjab, India. The estimates of general combining ability revealed that the line CM 149 and BML15 and the tester BH19 are good general combiners for all the traits. The hybrids KMH 408710 × CM201, KMH408710 × BML15, KMH408710 × CM201, BH19 × BML7 and BH19 × CML440 showed best performance for all the characters under study based on specific combining ability. The high heritability (narrow sense) was observed for plant height (78.1555%), 100 grain weight (65.1828%). High value of genetic advance was observed to be highest for plant height (42.0433) followed by number of seeds per cob (32.256). The hybrids that exhibited heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis for the grain yield and its contributing characters like plant height, days to 50% tasselling, days to 50% silking, ear length, ear girth, number of rows per cob, number of kernals per row, number of cobs per plant, number of seeds per cob, grain yield per plant and 100 grain weight are BML15 × KMH408710, CML440 × BH19 and CM149 × BH19. Thus, these hybrids can be utilized further in crop improvement programmes.


The purpose of this study was to provide basic reference data for the development of slim-fit dress shirts pat- terns for a variety of body somatotypes. For this study, a survey was conducted on the actual product conditions of slim- fit dress shirts of domestic brands(Actual wearing and purchasing conditions, fit, design preferences). The survey was conducted on 135 men in their 20s~30s. PASW Statistics 18 was used for data analysis. The result of this study are as follows : Analysis of the actual wearing conditions of dress shirts indicates that consumers own an average of 1~2 classic- fit shirts and 1~4 slim-fit shirts. These are normally worn once or twice a week, and purchased mainly at department stores, agencies, direct sales markets or outlets. With respect to the purchasing factors, price and style were the main priorities. Surveyed consumers had the greatest preference for designs with a non-darted front and a darted back, a semi- wide collar and the color white. By classifying the surveyed by somatotype, Type B preferred designs darted on both front and back, Type A preferred designs with a non-darted front and a darted back, while Type Y preferred designs non-darted on both front and back. All somatotypes displayed a preference for semi-wide collars and the color white.


For laser ablation solid sampling, the quantity of material ablated (removed) influences the sensitivity of chemical analysis. The mass removal rate depends strongly on the laser power density, which is the main controllable parameter for a given material and wavelength parameter using laser solid sampling for inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). For a wide variety of materials, a decrease in the rate of change, or roll-off, in mass removed is observed with increasing incident laser power density. The roll-off results from a change in the efficiency of material removed by the laser beam, primarily due to shielding of the target from the incident laser energy by a laser-vapor plume interaction. Several analytical technologies were employed to study the quantity of mass removed versus laser power density. Data for mass ablation behavior versus laser power density are reported using ICP-AES, atomic emission from a laser-induced plasma near the sample surface, acoustic stress power in the target, and measurements of crater volumes. This research demonstrates that the change in ICP-AES intensity with laser power density is due to changes in the mass removal. The roll-off in mass ablation is not due to a change in particle size distribution of the ablated species, fractionation of the sample, or a change in transport efficiency to the ICP torch. Accurate tracking of the ICP-AES with the laser ablation process justifies the use of internal and external standardization.


We consider generalized gauge transformations for SU(2) Yang-Mills theory involving products of field operators at different space-time points. The infinitesimal gauge transformations are explicitly constructed to third order in the coupling constant. Also the case of an SU(2) doublet in interaction with the Yang-Mills fields is worked out to third order.


Taking the soft foundation on one railway as example,the author discusses that,in the railway project geological investigation process,the comparison analysis and application of providing rock level admissible loading force drilling test static result taking the Cone Penetration Test as basis,research results show that using the Cone Penetration Test method and providing the rock level penetration loading force satisfies the design requirement.


ObjectiveTo study the relationship between the level of hepatocyte growth factor(HGF) and interleukin-1 beta(IL-1β) in gingival crevicular fluid(GCF) and periodontitis.MethodsThe content of HGF and IL-1β in healthy periodontal sites and in periodontitis sites before and after periodontal treatment were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).ResultsThe level of HGF and IL-1β in periodontitis sites was significantly higher than in healthy sites.After scaling and root planing,the level of HGF and IL-1β in GCF decreased apparently.And there was a close correlation between the level of HGF and level of IL-1β in GCF.ConclusionThere is a close correlation between the level of HGF and IL-1β in GCF and the degree of periodontal inflammation.The level of HGF and IL-1β in GCF can be regarded as beneficial index that reflect the status of periodontitis.


The idea of planning of communication is getting lost in the context of media convergence, but a hope of improving the humanity of news through technology emerged because of the arrival of the era of intelligent communication. There are still a lot of shortcomings in the current algorithm used in news production, however, intelligent communication has become an irreversible trend, journalists need to change the planning idea as soon as possible. This paper discusses this problem from the following aspects such as driving technology with humanity, from catering to guiding, diversification of news forms, striding across from information attributes to intelligent attributes.


We examine the secrecy performance of the receive antenna selection scheme in interference-limited underlay cognitive radio network (CRN) where the antenna that results in the highest signal-to-interference ratio at the secondary receiver is chosen to improve the secrecy performance of the secondary transmission. Exact and asymptotic expressions for the secrecy outage probability and intercept probability are derived for an interference-limited scenario over a general fading scenario with the assumption that the channel state information (CSI) on the secondary transmitter (ST)- primary receiver (PR) channel is perfect. However, CSI on the ST-PR channel may be outdated due to the time-varying properties or feedback latency from the PU. If the ST allocates transmission power using this outdated CSI, PR's interference constraint will not be satisfied. Therefore, we investigate the impact of outdated CSI on the secrecy performance of an interference-limited CRN when interference from the primary transmitter to SU exits under peak interference power constraint.


Abstract : Laboratory research is reported on retention of continuous (tracking) and of discrete (procedural) tasks as a function of rehearsal conditions (simplified versus "operational" rehearsal tasks). All rehearsal conditions led to superior retention of the tracking task compared to a no-rehearsal condition, and certain of the procedural task scores indicated the same result. However, little evidence was found to indicate reliable differences among the several rehearsal conditions. It was concluded that sufficient original training will eliminate any potential differences among rehearsal conditions.


The CMOS technology has tremendously affected the development of the semi-conductor industry. However, as the technology node is scaled down, the CMOS technology faces significant challenges set by the leakage power and the short channel effects. To cope with this problem, researchers pay their attention to the spintronics in recent years, considering its possibilities to allow smaller size fabrication and lower power operations. The magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) is one of the most important spintronic devices which can store binary data based on Tunnel MagnetoResistance (TMR) effect. Except for the non-volatile memory, MTJ can be also used to combine with or replace the CMOS circuits to implement a hybrid circuit, for the potential to achieve low power consumption and high speed performance. However, the problem of frequent spin-charge conversion in a hybrid circuit may cause large power consumption, which diminishes the advantage of the hybrid circuits. Therefore, the ASL concept which uses a pure spin current to transport the information is proposed for fewer charge-spin conversions, thus for less power consumption. The design of ASL device-based circuits leads to numerous challenges related to the heterogeneity they introduce and the large design space to explore. Hence, this thesis focus on filling the gap between application requirements at the system level and the device fabrication at the device level. In device level, we developed a compact model integrating the STT, the TMR, the spin injection/accumulation effects, the channel breakdown current and the spin diffusion delay. Validated by comparing with experimental results, this model allows exploring fabrication-related device parameters such as channel lengths and MTJ sizes and help designers to prevent from device damages. Moreover, programmed with Verilog-A on Cadence and divided into several blocks: injector, detector, channel and contact devices, this model allows the independent design and cross-layer optimization of ASL-based circuits, that eases the design of hierarchical, complex circuits. Furthermore, the spin injection/accumulation expressions for the used ASL device are derived, enabling to discuss the experimental phenomena of the ASL device. In circuit level, we developed a circuit/system design methodology, taking into account the channel distribution, the gate interconnection and the different injection current ratios caused by the spin diffusion. With circuit/system specifications and constraints, the boolean functions of a circuit are synthesized based on the developed synthesis method and fabrication-level parameters: channel lengths, MTJ sizes are specified. Based on this developed methodology, basic combinational circuits that form a circuit library are designed and evaluated by using the developed compact model. In system level, a DCT circuit, a convolution circuit and an Intel i7 system are evaluated exploring the interconnection issues: interconnection distribution between gates and inserted buffer count. With theoretical parameters, results show that ASL-based circuit/system can outperform CMOS-based circuit/system. Moreover, the pipelining schema of the ASL-based circuit is discussed with MTJ as latches inserted between stages. The reconfigurability caused by the injection current polarities/values and the control terminal states of ASL-based circuits are also discussed with the reconfigurable exploration of basic logic circuits.


[Extract] This essay is a modified version of a paper delivered at a recent conference held in the United Kingdom to mark the centenary of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Strait. The paper, 'Delight and Frustration: Some Yam Island people's responses to the products of the Cambridge Expedition 1898-1899', was not solely on the artworks and artefacts collected during this period, but rather on a whole range of materials acquired and subsequently produced by the expedition members. It explored contemporary responses of one group of Torres Strait Island people to the 'products' of this nineteenth century expedition. Rather than characterising Torres Strait Islanders as holding unified, undifferentiated opinions on artefacts and photographs for instance, it pointed out that the sometimes divergent responses by Islanders towards increasing knowledge of Torres Strait collections held in museums and increasing Torres Strait Islander access to these collections require consideration by curators of Torres Strait cultural materials.


Henry Fairfield Osborn, vertebrate paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History, did virtually all of his fieldwork by proxy. Working mostly from his New York office, he detailed a score of fieldworkers to locate and claim fossil localities in advance of collectors from rival museums. This history of a long-forgotten Jurassic dinosaur reconnaissance in the San Juan Basin, which was materially unsuccessful, explores how Osborn found and evaluated potential new field localities. He was relentless in pursuit of fossils, especially in the face of worthy competition. He received his first unsolicited tip about fossils along the Colorado-Utah border in 1893. A collector sent to scout the locality found Jurassic dinosaurs in poor condition and left them behind. Following a second tip about fossils in the same region in 1899—at the height of the second Jurassic dinosaur rush—Osborn sent two more expeditions to search the area. Both of these parties returned empty-handed also. Reliable locality data re...


OST patients with cardiac tamponade M are treated outside of the operating room with needle aspiration.' Occasionally tamponade can be effectively treated only by open drainage, or repair and/or resection of the pericardium or its contents and anesthetic support is needed."-l General anesthesia in these patients, however, is frequently associated with severe hypotension and cardiac arrest."."-D All general anesthetics are myocardial depressants1"-12 and most are peripheral vasodilators.13-18 Since cardiac tamponade is characterized by impaired cardiac filling and a reduced cardiac output , hemodynamic decom pensa t ion should not be unexpected with general anesthesia in these patients. To avoid this, we now use local infiltration anesthesia for all patients coming to the operating room for decompression of pericardial effusions. The following two cases document the speed, ease, and safety of using local anesthesia for these procedures. REPORT OF CASES


We reveal here the unique reactivity of α-(alkylideneamino)nitriles toward molecular oxygen. Thus, α-(alkylideneamino)nitriles can serve as the imide building block for the efficient synthesis of imides in the absence of transition metals under extremely mild conditions.


See Article on Page 16-22

Due to the significant improvement in minimal invasive surgery, a large group of surgeons has focused on cosmetic results and minimization of the number and the size of the ports. In addition, a single-incision laparoscopic colectomy was recently introduced to reduce patient's trauma related with conventional multiport approaches. In a single-incision laparoscopic colectomy, all trocars are inserted through one umbilical incision. However, published studies are limited, for the most part, to the right colon [1] and the sigmoid colon [2], and single-incision laparoscopic surgery in the field of rectal surgery is very rare [3] because of the difficulties in many cases in securing the surgeon's operative field [4]. One study reported that the rectum was vertically lifted by using a suspension bar to obtain the operative field [4]. Transecting the lower rectum via an umbilical port and securing a sufficient distal margin is very challenging because of the technical limitation that the tip of the laparoscopic stapler can be bent only 45 degrees. Numerous studies of single-incision laparoscopic rectal surgery in which multiple staplers were used for making an incision have reported that the chance of anastomotic leakage was decreased when the number of linear stapler used in lower rectum transection was reduced [5, 6]. Pelvic drainage after rectal surgery is required for the early detection of anastomotic leakage and to avoid reoperation. A single incision site after the rectal incision can be used as an incision for drainage in reduced port laparoscopic rectal surgery.

In this study, the authors performed reduced port laparoscopic surgery on 20 colorectal cancer patients by using an umbilical port and an additional port in the right lower quadrant. The operation time (231 minutes), blood loss (100 mL), number of staplers, days to first soft diet, length of hospital stay, number of lymph nodes harvested, circumferential resection margin involvement, complications, and the rates of local recurrence and distant metastasis were comparable to those reported in other studies. However, the authors stated that further studies were needed to confirm the benefits of the procedure [7].

A reduced port procedure allows surgeons to secure a distal resection margin and is an easier surgical procedure for treating patients with low rectal cancer than procedures using only an umbilical port. Furthermore, that the incision can be utilized for pelvic drainage for a safer operation is worth mentioning. For the validation of the advantages of such procedures, further multicenter and comparative studies are demanded.


Ion-molecule reactions of the metal-containing ions LM + (L = (acac) 2 , acac, C 6 H 6 , C 5 H 5 ; M = In, Ga, Co, Fe, Ni, Cr, Mn, Pd, Rh, Tl, La, Pr, Yb, Nd) with crown ethers in the gas phase were studied. Two major reactions were observed: adduct formation and substitution of a metal atom ligand by a crown ether. The relative abundances of the two reactions depends on the ease with which the metal atom may be reduced. Ligand substitution can involve hydrogen rearrangements with loss of acetylacetone or cyclopentadiene for crown ethers having mobile H atom(s). The use of ion-molecule reactions in the structural characterization of crown ethers and transition metal-containing ions is discussed


Electrically polarized ceramics are classified as electrets, when ions are displaced or dipole moments are aligned in a direction for a considerable period due to an external electric force. An electret can independent irradiate an electrostatic force to the surrounding constituents. As briefly mentioned above, polarization takes place due to the off-centered displacement of cations and anions in the structure of a solid. The centers of these ions are generally difficult to be moved even in a strong dc field because of rigid chemical bonding. Actually, it is true that most ceramics are unsuitable for polarization. The ionic center of a very few materials, however, is liable to off-centered by a dc field and we have experimentally proved that the biocompatible hydroxyapatite (Ca5(P04)3OH; HA) is polarizable material. The polarized HA is an excellent electret which has desirable biological effects upon surrounding alive and non-alive components in vivo as well as in vitro: Using HA electrets, we have observed that crystal growth from a simulated body fluid can be accelerated or decelerated, and microorganism can be manipulated on the surfaces of HA, depending upon the electric signs. Hence we consider that one of the most promising approaches to the innovation in medical technology is use of biomedical electrets. This paper introduces the important electrical properties of HA ceramics.


Reddy , M.V., Ra ju , T .N. , Sha rma , S.B., N e n e , Y . L , a n d McDona ld , D. 1993. Handbook of p igeonpea d i s e a s e s . (In En . S u m m a r i e s in En . , Fr.) Informat ion Bul let in no. 4 2 . Pa tanche ru , A .P . 5 0 2 324 , India: International C rops Resea rch Institute for t he Semi-Ar id Trop ics . 64 pp . ISBN 9 2 9 0 6 6 2 7 7 8 . Order code IBE 0 4 2 . P igeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) is one of t h e most important gra in l egume componen ts o f subs is tence fa rm ing systems in t h e semi-ar id t rop ics. Many fungi , v i ruses, n e m a t o d e s , bacter ia, a n d mycoplasmal ike organ isms attack p igeonpea, but only a few of these are important constraints to p igeonpea product ion. Th is bulletin provides informat ion on the causa l agents, distr ibut ion, economic impor tance, symp toms , ep idemiology, and managemen t of major d iseases of p igeonpea . The text is supplemented wi th color photographs of d isease symptoms and a diagnost ic key is inc luded to facil i tate ident i f icat ion. Information is prov ided on control measures that inc lude the use of resistant var iet ies, cultural pract ices, a n d chemica ls . Suppor t ing literature on the major d iseases is l isted. Cover: Col lar rot (Sclerot ium rolfsii) ki l ls seed l ings at t he pr imary leaf s tage. Handbook of Pigeonpea Diseases M.V. Reddy, T.N. Raju, S.B. Sharma, Y.L. Nene, and D. McDonald ICRISAT Information Bulletin no. 42 International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh 502 324, India 1993 Copyr igh t© 1993 by t h e Internat ional C r o p s Resea rch Inst i tute for the Semi -A r id T rop i cs (ICRISAT). All r ights rese rved . Excep t for quota t ions of shor t p a s s a g e s for t he pu rpose of cr i t ic ism a n d rev iew, no par t o f th is pub l ica t ion m a y be rep roduced , s to red in retr ieval sys tems , or t ransmi t ted in any form or by any m e a n s , e lect ron ic , m e c h a n i c a l , pho to copy ing , record ing , or o the rw ise , w i thou t pr ior permiss ion f rom ICRISAT. T h e Inst i tute d o e s not requ i re p a y m e n t for the noncommerc ia l u s e o f i ts p u b l i s h e d w o r k s , a n d h o p e s tha t th is Copyr ight dec lara t ion wi l l not d im in i sh t he b o n a f ide use of its research f ind ings in agr icu l tura l r esea rch a n d deve lopmen t . T h e des igna t ions e m p l o y e d a n d t h e p resenta t ion o f t he mater ial in th is pub l ica t ion do not imp ly t h e express ion of any opin ion whatsoever on t h e par t o f ICRISAT c o n c e r n i n g the legal status o f a n y coun t ry , terr i tory, c i ty , o r a r e a , or c o n cern ing the de l imi ta t ion of its f ront iers or bounda r i es . W h e r e t rade names are u s e d , th is d o e s not const i tu te endo rsemen t o f o r d iscr iminat ion aga ins t a n y produc t by t he Inst i tute.


Abstract : A simplified model is developed to describe the effects of boundary roughness on drag reduction achieved by polymer additives. The model is suitable for both uniform and nonuniform roughness. Predictions of friction coefficients by means of the model are in reasonable agreement with experimental results. (Author)


There are 16 families,48 species of broadleaved evergreen plants introduced in Henan.Analyses are made on the origin area,introduced region,ornamental characteristics and uses in garden.Finally,proposals for the direction in introduction and domestication are put forward.


1 The binding of [3H]‐(+)‐quinuclidinyl benzilate ([3H]‐(±)‐QNB) to muscarinic sites in rat brain slice and homogenate preparations was compared. 2 Evidence is presented in support of the view that only the (—)‐enantiomer of QNB binds with high affinity to muscarinic sites. 3 The Kd value for [3H]‐(—)‐QNB binding in slices was eight times higher than that measured in homogenates. 4 Similarly, the potencies of various muscarinic ligands as inhibitors of [3H]‐(—)‐QNB binding were consistently lower in slices than in homogenates. 5 It is proposed that the results may reflect differences in the binding properties of muscarinic receptors in intact tissue slice and homogenate preparations.


A pot experiment was conducted, in which lettuce was grown in vegetable soils with different pH values. Lettuce was shown to be most adaptable to acid vegetable soil, followed in sequence by neutral soil and slightly acid soil. As compared with the treatment of application of N alone, the combined application of NPK increased lettuce yield by 20.5% and 125.0%, respectively, on acid and neutral soils, and nitrate content decreased by 3.0% and 22.8% in the stem and by 10.0% and 28.9% in the leaves, thus greatly improving the nutritional quality of the crop. On the slightly acid soil, application of NPK+DCD+Mo enhanced lettuce yield by 21.4% and improved its quality, decreasing nitrate content by 27.3%.


Abstract The development of a new technique for the measurement of organometallic species is presented. It combines the resolution of high performance liquid chromatography with sensitive electrochemical detection used in a reductive mode. Past difficulties with this detection system have been overcome including the choice of a suitable working electrode and purification of the solvent. The redox behavior of the organometals in the chromatographic solvent was studied by cyclic voltammetry in order to optimize the detector cell potential. A separation of organomercurials and a multielement organometal mixture demonstrate the applicability of the system. Linear calibration curves can be obtained over a wide concentration range the detection limit for trimethyllead cation is about 0.1 ng.


Competitive intelligence is regarded as a significant focal point because it emphasises on understanding and measuring an organisation's external competitive environment and also the unstructured information that influence an organisation's strategic decision making. In fact, it also assists in creation of ideas and innovation. Yet, research on competitive intelligence practice among entrepreneurs is quite scanty. There is a need to investigate whether the impact of entrepreneurial competencies among the entrepreneurs on innovative performance will be influenced by the competitive intelligence. Thus, the intention of this study is to review the literature on entrepreneurial competencies, and innovative performance and to investigate whether competitive intelligence is a missing link in this proposed conceptual model within the Malaysian SME context.


This qualitative study investigates high-poverty urban high school students' views of and plans regarding higher education, using Bourdieu's theory of reproduction in education as theoretical framework. Interview data from 76 students from six high-poverty urban schools in a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States were analyzed using grounded theory. Findings suggest that students (a) viewed higher education as rewarding in many ways, (b) perceived attending college to involve multiple risks, and (c) devised risk-minimizing strategies to facilitate their intended pursuit of higher education.


Abstract Cape Espenberg is on the farthest southwestern extent of Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, just above the Arctic Circle, and is a peninsula composed of a series of dune-covered beach ridges. As part of a larger research initiative, extensive mapping to record all cultural features and characterize the topography of approximately 1 km2 on the southeastern terminus of the cape was undertaken in 2007 and 2010. The primary purpose of this mapping was to explore the use of the cape for the past 1,200 years using one of the unique aspects of beach-ridge archaeology: horizontal stratigraphy. There were 11 intervals of beach ridge/dune development, and with the exception of one truncated ridge and the modern ridge, Thule-Iñupiaq people built semi-subterranean winter houses on each ridge. A total of 117 house depressions along with related cache pits, artifact scatters, whale bone, and hearths were identified; distribution of house forms indicate that Cape Espenberg has had an unbroken stream of cultural continuity. However, in terms of house architecture and community patterning, it appears that there has been a reduction of certain architectural components over time. Houses also occur more frequently in isolated contexts. Both aspects are coincident with the onset of the Little Ice Age.


Africa faces three simultaneous problems that must be addressed; economic development, disease, and peace. Drawing on the work of Jeffrey Sachs and others, this article explains the nature of each of these problems and possible solutions. A comprehensive program of action is advocated with sustained commitment to support those nations that are truly using that support to free themselves from the vicious cycles of war, disease, and poverty that currently plague much of Africa. I think I should start with a "Tikulandilani ndi manja abili!" ("welcome with our both hands"), as the locals would say in the frame of the traditional Zambian hospitality. I'm pleased to be in the heart of Africa, for this 20th International Colloquium on the Brain and Aggression (CICA). This year's theme, "socio-economic responses to structural adjustment programmes in Zambia," within the frame of the UN International Year of the micro-credits, is a continuation of the ethos of ICUS (International Conferences on Unity of Sciences)1 and of Pugwash2 Conferences on Science and World Affairs in favor of a peaceful enjoyment of life. In keeping with the Pugwash tradition, we will grapple with issues relevant to the topic by using science to offer non-partisan, yet global solutions to local problems that best our erstwhile world today.


With the rapid development of the programmable logic architectures and with the system performance increasingly dominated by the interconnect delay, the early work on logic synthesis for field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) targeted at a simple array of homogeneous LUTs can no longer effectively support the rapidly evolving high-density and high-performance FPGAs.
Contributions of this dissertation include the following four related aspects for FPGA synthesis: (i) technology mapping for FPGAs with embedded memory blocks (EMBs), (ii) technology mapping for heterogeneous FPGAs, (iii) timing-driven logic resynthesis, and (iv) layout-driven logic synthesis.
For technology mapping for FPGAs with EMBs, we explore the possibility of using EMBs to implement logic functions when they are not used as on-chip memory.
For technology mapping for heterogeneous FPGAs, we formulate and solve the following two problems: (1) The mapping problem for heterogeneous FPGAs without bounded resources. We present the first polynomial-time delay optimal mapping algorithm that takes different delays of heterogeneous LUTs into consideration. (2) The mapping problem for heterogeneous FPGAs with bounded resources. We show that this problem is NP-hard for general networks, in contrast to the delay minimization mapping problem for heterogeneous FPGAs without bounded resources, but can be solved optimally in pseudo-polynomial time for trees.
For timing-driven logic resynthesis, we propose a general methodology for iterative refinement based approaches for delay minimization.
For layout-driven logic synthesis, we formulate and study the following three synthesis problems that take certain degree of layout information into consideration: (1) The mapping problem for FPGAs with nonuniform pin delays. We propose an algorithm to simultaneously perform the delay optimal LUT pin assignment and the delay optimal mapping for FPGAs with K -LUT of nonuniform pin delays in polynomial time. (2) The mapping problem for FPGAs with fast interconnections. We first show that this problem can be solved optimally in polynomial time for trees. (3) The layout-driven timing optimization problem. Targeting FPGAs with hierarchical interconnection structures, we propose a layout-driven synthesis flow to consider the effect of technology mapping and performance-driven clustering during timing-driven logic optimization. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


* The Changing Agenda for Social Science Research on Latin America Peter H. Smith. Analytical Strategies * Contending Paradigms for Cross-Regional Comparison: Development Strategies and Commodity Chains in East Asia and Latin America Gary Gereffi. * Purposes and Methods of Intraregional Comparison Amparo Menndez-Carrin and Fernando Bustamante. * Uses and Limitations of Rational Choice Barbara Geddes. Conceptual Issues * Rewriting the Scripts: Gender in the Comparative Study of Latin American Politics Jane S. Jaquette. * Trajectory of a Concept: Corporatism in the Study of Latin American Politics David Collier. * Assessments of State Strength Evelyne Huber. * Reassessing Political Culture Frederick C. Turner. Political Roles Of Social Science * Polls, Political Discourse, and the Public Sphere: The Spin on Perus Fuji-golpe Catherine M. Conaghan. * Public Opinion Research in Mexico Miguel Basez. * Public Opinion Research in Russia and Eastern Europe Elena Bashkirova.


Globally, the training and production of the man power required for the attained of national objectives are always based on quality and quantity of teachers. Teacher education is an aspect of general education which is concerned with the whole processes involved in the act or art of acquiring knowledge and skills in teaching profession.  Teacher education involves the provision of professional education and specialized training within a specific period for preparation of individuals who intend to develop and nurture young ones into responsible and productive citizens. Teaching profession is only for people who are seriously minded and not for lazy and lousy people. This paper therefore discussed the need for quality in teacher education in a globalized world with particular reference to Nigeria. The meaning and objectives of teacher education and the development of teacher education in Nigeria was highlighted. Other concepts highlighted include, quality in teacher education, reasons for poor quality teacher education in Nigeria. To enhance teacher education in a globalized world, the following challenges must be properly addressed; adequate funding, improving teaching methods, regular monitoring, evaluation and accreditation, scholarship award, bursaries and loans, human resources, staff motivation and development, continuous training and re-training of teachers for effective and efficient performance, library and periodicals should be expanded. In conclusion, quality is important in anything one does. Teacher education therefore needs to be qualitative in order to achieve goals and objectives set before it.     Keywords: Teacher Education, Professional Education, Specialized Training, Globalized World


Measurements of lengths are strongly demanded for not only science purposes but also industry requirements. Because of the great potential for a technological revolution in high precision distance measurement and related areas, femtosecond mode-locked optical frequency combs (FOFCs) have attracted many attentions from researchers and engineers. Due to theirs the improved frequencystability and the very broad frequency-band, the FOFCs have led to new applications in several precision metrology areas such as high precision optical frequency metrology, spectroscopy, and distance measurements. The interferometric measurement using the FOFC is in progress at present. We had analyzed the temporal coherence function of the FOFC since it is the fundamental description of interference phenomenon. As a result, it has been understood that the coherence peak exists during the time which is equal to the repetitions interval in the travelling direction of the FOFC. In order to make the best use of the temporal coherence characteristic, we proposed a high precision length measurement method by the multi-interaction between different pulse train beams. As one demonstration, the concept of the use of a femtosecond optical frequency comb for high precision length measurement based on phase controlled pulse trains' constructive interference is proposed in this paper. The theoretical derivation shows that the present technique offers a significantly different approach to high precision length measurement. Preliminary experimental results of the constructive interference with different pairs of pulse trains show many applications possibility of the proposal method.


Introduction: Stroke mortality is doubled in people of Black African descent compared with Whites, but factors responsible for this excess are unclear. We wished to compare infarct like lesions (IL...


a plasma expander, but in the treatment of thrombophlebitis and arterial insufhciency. We would like to report our experience of 7 cases of anaphylaxis in 40 patients treated with dextran; molecular weight 75,000 ± 15,000.1 Three of these reactions were related to dextran supplied by one drug company and the others connected with dextran from another company. We have found in reviewing the literature that this incidence of 17 per cent is much higher than ever previously reported after administration of dextran. 2-10 Several extensive studies of the clinical use of this polysaccharide have revealed a very low incidence of any type of allergic reactions. Although dextran, a polysaccharide product of the fermentation of sucrose by the organism Leuconostoc mesenteroides, has long been known to be aller-


"Tao" is the ontology of universe defined by philosophy of Laozi and the core of his theory. It can be an objective entity called "nil", but not a self-fictionalization; Tao gives rise to everything and everything goes back to it and the process is natural and not vain. This does not mean circulation or relativism; the cognition and mastery of Tao means "being Tao" which does not repel "learning". The establishment of Tao lays a foundation for Chinese rational thinking.


Abstract High-performance co-bonded joints are nowadays indispensable to join subcomponents of tails, wings and fuselage in aerospace assemblages. The current study examined the effect of incorporating multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNTs) on mechanical and free vibrational behaviour, such as natural frequency and resultant damping factor of co-bonded single-lap composite joints. The experimental results indicated 0.25 wt.% MWCNT reinforcement into the epoxy adhesive considerably improved the joint strength of the co-bonded single-lap composite joints by 34.52%. However, the higher loading of MWCNTs reduced the shear strength of co-bonded single-lap composite joints due to agglomeration. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) affirmed that lower wt.% MWCNT reinforcement improved the interfacial bonding, developed rougher surfaces, shear bands, and deviated crack growth path in the bond-line to an elongated path. Moreover, the comparison of failure surfaces of neat and CNT reinforced specimens confirmed that the effective presence of MWCNTs changed the failure mode failure of co-bonded lap joint from adhesive to cohesive failure mode. The experimental free vibrational analysis affirmed that 0.25 wt.% MWCNT reinforced co-bonded joint has the highest fundamental natural frequency. Results also depicted that higher wt.% MWCNT loading exhibited better damping owing to particle accumulation and higher interaction between adhesive and laminate.


The dynamic residual deformation property of rock-fill materials of an earth-rock dam was investigated through large-scale dynamic triaxial test.The applicability of Shen Zhujiang's residual deformation model was also discussed.The test results indicate that sometimes conspicuous deviation exists between the results of Shen Zhujiang's model and the actual data,which suggests that Shen Zhujiang's model sometimes cannot describe the entire process curve of dynamic residual deformation accurately under high dynamic stress.The influence of cyclic number and dynamic stress ratio on residual deformation was considered to modify the model proposed by Shen Zhujiang,in the purpose that the relationship between residual deformation and cyclic number could be more consistent with practice.The comparison between measured value and calculated value of residual deformation of rock-fill materials under different dynamic stresses and confining pressures shows that the modified model could accurately fit the residual volumetric strain and residual shear strain.


The article gives the profound analysis of colour-naming compounds chosen from Charles Dickens's novel 'Oliver Twist'. The productive types of colour-naming compounds have been defined, their semantic and structural peculiarities have been revealed as well as their functioning in the literary discourse. The translation techniques used by the Ukrainian translators in order to render the meanings of colour-naming compounds into the target language have been analyzed. The analysis has shown that the Ukrainian translators in the process of revealing colour-naming compounds used the following translation strategies: paraphrasing, word to word translation, literal translation and omission. The semantic analysis of English colour-naming compounds has proved that they are mostly used in order to give either positive or negative evaluation of a person, to describe the appearance of a person or to display his/her psycho-emotional state. Color-naming compounds perform a descriptive rather than an evaluative function and are perceived as an integral unity rather than individual meanings of their components. The black-and-white palette of colors predominates in the work to depict the joyless childhood of orphans, the hardships of life, the attitude of society to orphanages. The author uses brighter color scheme to depict a happy ending, embodying his desire for the triumph of justice. In Ukrainian translations, readers have the opportunity to feel and experience together with the main characters all the sufferings that they come across in their lives, as Ukrainian translators tried to reproduce the meaning of color-naming compounds as fully as possible in the target language. Compounds that contain color-naming are mostly twoor three-membered constructions that consist of a noun and one or two adjectives to denote a color, its hue or saturation. Кey words: source text, target language, colour-naming compound, structure, semantics, translation technique.


Abstract THE suitability of distillers' by-products as supplements in poultry rations would be determined by their ability to correct or prevent nutritional deficiencies, their physiological effect, and their cost as compared to other supplements which might be used for the specific nutrients which are present in the distillers' by-products. Considerable variety is possible in the classification known as distillers' dried grains and several different by-products may be separated from the spent mashes. As defined by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (1940), corn distillers' dried grains is "the dried residue obtained in the manufacture of alcohol and distilled liquors from corn or a grain mixture in which corn predominates"; rye distillers' dried grains is "the dried residue obtained in the manufacture of alcohol and distilled liquors from rye or a grain mixture in which rye predominates"; distillers' corn solubles is "a by-product from the manufacture of alcohol from corn solids . . .


Nanocomposites of LiFePO 4 and TiO 2 coated with carbon were prepared by different methods. They exist in the forms of olive and rutile, respectively. Results from cyclic voltammetry show that the carbon coating markedly enhances the reversibility and kinetics of lithium intercalation into and deintercalation from the active materials. Both kinds of carbon coated nanocomposites exhibited better electrochemical performance than their pure counterparts due to the favorable carbon coatings, which provide passages for lithium ions, promote charge transfer, and prevent phase changes.


The regulation abilities of load generation and the balance in the electrical power system are the main objectives: many Directives have been adopted in the European Union to reach the scope of reliable and safe energy generation, transmission and distribution. The aim of the paper is the creation of the model of effective load regulation and distribution, using the abilities to shave load from peak zones. The management of the load depends from the ability to accumulate electrical energy in distribution network in hours when power generation from RES is high, but consumption is low and using this energy during hours of peak loads. To understand if selected energy storage device is profitable or not, pre-feasibility study should be performed, which includes NPV multidimensional model.


This paper will describe and summarize a two-year project using hands-on activities to introduce K-12 students to Electrical Engineering and Electrical Engineering Technology and inspire and foster an interest in engineering, mathematics, and science. Two specific projects included in this initiative were: S developing new summer hands-on workshops for students entering grades 5 through 10 through the 'Young Scholars' summer on-campus program, and S deployments of the Mobile Electronics Manufacturing Line (MEML) to schools in the area, exposing additional students to electrical engineering / electrical technology with hands-on experiments. These deployments were coordinated with the help of K-12 teachers. We were able to reach 111 students through our summer workshops as part of the Young Scholars program at IUPUI, and just over 800 students through deployments of the MEML. The paper will summarize the efforts within the project, address funding, discuss results and emphasize lessons learned when approaching a large scale K-12 project. Many roadblocks were encountered over the two year period, and these lessons should prove valuable to anyone proposing such a project.


Today's traffic is one of the main concerns of urban managers. One of the solutions that have been proposed to reduce traffic is encourage people to use public transport instead of personal vehicles, so the quality of public transport should be increased. One way promoting public transport systems quality is creating urban traveler guidance system. In other hand, public transportation network is large and complex, also urban transportation data often is distributed and heterogeneous. In addition to, the travel route choice criteria are imprecise and uncertain. So having such characteristics, cause modeling, design and implementation of systems that can help travelers to choose their appropriate route are going to be more and more complex and difficult. We designed and implemented a travel information system for city of Tehran and named it as "TIPS".
So in this article, we illustrate the overall process of design and implementation of TIPS. The designed system will be able to acquire and combine heterogeneous data sources that are located in different places (bus, taxi and metro Inc and ...). The gathered data will be imported in a web processing service using the OGC WFS standard. Designed WPS will be able to model the multimodal network using graph theory and it also will be able to consider available uncertainty or defects in urban traveler information such as routes, stations, and travel information. In this WPS, the modeling of uncertainty are performed using fuzzy set theory. The final outputs of designed system are several ranked optimal paths between user's selected origin and destination. The result of these study shows that the designed system in comparison with other similar designed systems is a more optimal performance and results provided by it are closer to reality.


To what extent does the black hole information paradox lead to violations of quantum mechanics? I explain how black hole complementarity provides a framework to articulate how quantum characterizations of black holes can remain consistent despite the information paradox. I point out that there are two ways to cash out the notion of consistency in play here: an operational notion and a descriptive notion. These two ways of thinking about consistency lead to (at least) two principles of black hole complementarity: an operational principle and a descriptive principle. Our background philosophy of science regarding realism/instrumentalism might initially lead us to prefer one principle over the other. However, the recent physics literature, which applies tools from quantum information theory and quantum computational complexity theory to various thought experiments involving quantum systems in or around black holes, implies that the operational principle is successful where the descriptive principle is not. This then lets us see that for operationalists the black hole information paradox might no longer be pressing.


Software design is the hardest part of creating intelligent agents. Therefore agent architectures should be optimized as design tools. This paper presents an architectural synthesis between the three-layer architectures which dominate autonomous robotics and virtual reality, and a more agent-oriented approach to viewing behavior modules. We provide an approach, Behavior Oriented Design (BOD), for rapid, maintainable development. We demonstrate our approach by modeling primate learning.


Ever since the 1980s, the political enthusiasm of college students has been an issue of considerable significance in moral education in higher learning institutions. Through various means, however, no fundamental cause has been found for the existence of such political enthusiasm. The current paper is an attempt for uncovering some of the hidden causes.


The paper reviews the development of the first Australian standard for child restraining devices in passenger cars, AS.E46-1970, and the success of the standard in ensuring that satisfactory restraints were available on the market for children of different age groups. A major revision of AS.E46 was completed in 1975 and a new standard AS 1754 "child restraints for passenger cars and derivatives" published. The revision broadened the range of devices available for approval and introduced dynamic tests for forward, sideways and rearward impacts. Criteria for restraints for babies were revised to overcome difficulties experienced by manufacturers in meeting the more exacting requirements included in AS.E46. The development of criteria for the current standard was based throughout on extensive research work carried out mainly at the NSW Traffic Accident Research Unit. The standard is more comprehensive than those adopted in UK, USA and New Zealand and that recommended by the international organisation for standardisation. (A)


Machine learning algorithm acts an important part in our life. It is the subset of Artificial intelligence. In the medical theme, Machine learning is used for the recognition and classification of diseases. It can classify breast cancer, diabetes or other diseases more perfectly from datasets. No medicines are invented to prevent diabetes and breast cancer fully. Breast cancer is increasing very promptly between women. The cost of breast cancer medicine is very extreme. Further researches are running on diabetes and breast cancer. Future our model to predict the diseases more perfectly rather than the previous models. Data place an essential act in predicting the diseases using some classification algorithms in provisions to the classifier occurrence for breast cancer and diabetes forecast.


This paper presents the design and production of 3D animation based on computer graphics. The main work includes the animated scene design, role design and the post production using computer software. Design software tools are Autodesk Maya and Adobe EffectsCS4. Scene design and role design are very important parts of the animation form. The good scene and role design can improve the animation level and effect; make the animation and rendering a fuller picture. In addition, rich post production can promote the additional value of animation works, has a great influence on the final result of the whole works of taste and art.


Bacillus strains capable of producing fibrinolytic enzyme were isolated from traditional fermented Korean soybean paste and Japanese fermented soybean (Natto). Among the 16 strains, a selected Bacillus sp. was identified as Bacillus firmus, with 80.7% homology, by API kit analysis. Seed starter of B. firmus NA-1 was prepared with 5% soymilk prepared from micronized soybean powder. To produce fibrinolytic enzyme by B. firmus NA-1 the liquid culture was performed with NB broth (pH 7.0) fortified with 1% galactose, 0.1% tryptone, and 0.5% K₂HPO₄, by shaking with 180 rpm at 37℃. Fibrinolytic enzyme activity reached the highest value at 7.8 unit/mL (plasmin unit) after fermentation for 72 hr. The crude fibrinolytic enzyme showed higher relative activity in the range of pH 7.0~9.0. The activity of crude fibrinolytic enzyme was well maintained even after concentration by the vacuum evaporation at 50℃ for 1 hr.


The present invention provides a laser system for detecting biomechanical properties of the cornea, comprising a laser, beam delivery module, and filter module collecting spectroscopic analysis unit, a laser for emitting a pulsed laser beam; beam transmission means for transmitting said laser beam, and the laser beam is focused to the cornea, laser-induced plasma on a surface of the optical signal of the cornea; collection module collects filtered and filtering the optical signal of the laser induced plasma; spectroscopic analysis unit of the laser-induced plasma body optical signal spectral analysis to determine the biomechanical properties of the cornea. The present invention also provides a method of determining the above-described laser system biomechanical properties of the cornea. The present invention utilizes the same laser system, real-time, accurate measurement of the biomechanical properties of the cornea and improve work efficiency.


Density functional theory and ab initio methods are employed to investigate decomposition pathways of 1,3,3-trinitroazetidine initiated by unimolecular loss of NO2 or HONO. Geometry optimizations are performed using M06/cc-pVTZ and coupled-cluster (CC) theory with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations, CCSD(T), is used to calculate accurate single-point energies for those geometries. The CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ energies for NO2 elimination by N–N and C–N bond fission are, including zero-point energy (ZPE) corrections, 43.21 kcal/mol and 50.46 kcal/mol, respectively. The decomposition initiated by trans-HONO elimination can occur by a concerted H-atom and nitramine NO2 group elimination or by a concerted H-atom and nitroalkyl NO2 group elimination via barriers (at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ level with ZPE corrections) of 47.00 kcal/mol and 48.27 kcal/mol, respectively. Thus, at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ level, the ordering of these four decomposition steps from energetically most favored to least favored is: NO2 ...


It is pointed out that a photon beam, if its intensity exceeds a certain threshold value, can cause spin wave instability in rutile-type antiferromagnets through one photon-two magnon process. Magnons on the boundary of the Brillouin zone are nonthermally excited. Absorption due to two magnon excitation abruptly increases at the threshold. An order estimation of the threshold value is given.


The dynamic scattering characteristic of a room‐temperature nematic liquid crystal is described. This electro‐optic effect has been observed in many high‐temperature nematic liquid crystals. The material described here has a mesomorphic phase from 11 to 41 °C. A contrast ratio of 30 to 1 is observed with a field of 3.7×104V/cm.


Longitudinal data on religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviors (RSBB) are essential for understanding both how religion shapes our lives and the factors determining religiosity. Despite this importance, there are few longitudinal studies with detailed and repeated RSBB data. Using data spanning nearly 30 years from the parental generation of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) based in the Southwest of England, we describe individual-level changes in various aspects of self-reported RSBB (religious belief, a ffi liation, and attendance, among others) measured on four occasions (pregnancy, plus 5, 9, and 28 years post-partum; approx. 3600 mothers and 1200 partners have data at all four time-points). Although RSBBs were generally consistent over time, a shift towards non-religiosity was observed; exceptions included Roman Catholic a ffi liation, which was remarkably stable over three decades, and religious attendance, which increased from pregnancy to 5 years, before declining at 28 years. Most changes in RSBB were minor, e.g., between " yes " and " not sure " regarding religious belief, rather than between " yes " and " no. " We also provide a simple illustrative example of how these longitudinal data can be analyzed. In addition to describing these longitudinal patterns, this paper will help inform future research using ALSPAC ' s longitudinal RSBB data.


Casimir's celebrated result that the conducting plates of an unpowered rectangular cavity attract each other with a pressure inversely proportional to the fourth power of their separation entails an unphysical unbounded pressure as the plate separation goes to zero. An unphysical result isn't surprising in light of Casimir's unphysical assumption of perfectly conducting plates that zero out electric fields regardless of their frequency, which he sought to counteract via a physically foundationless discarding of the pressure between the cavity plates when they are sufficiently widely separated. Casimir himself, however, emphasized that real metal plates are transparent to sufficiently high electromagnetic frequencies, which makes removal of the frequency cutoff that he inserted unjustifiable at any stage of his calculation. Therefore his physically groundless discarding of the large-separation pressure isn't even needed, and when it is left out a constant attractive pressure between cavity plates exists when their separation is substantially larger than the cutoff wavelength. The intact cutoff furthermore implies zero pressure between cavity plates when their separation is zero, and also that Casimir's pressure is merely the subsidiary lowest-order correction term to the constant attractive pressure between cavity plates that is dominant when their separation substantially exceeds the cutoff wavelength.


UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA A T B E R K E L E Y Department of Economics Berkeley, California Working Paper No. 91-177 Restructuring Centrally-Planned Economies: The Case of China in the Long Term John M . Letiche University of California at Berkeley September 1991 Key words: privatization, economic fluctuations in China, market reform JEL Classification: 124 To be published in the Journal of Asian Economics 2, no. 2 (Winter 1991).


Straight line segment detection in digital documents has been studied extensively for the past few decades. One of the challenges is to detect line segments without priori information about document images and render good results without much parameter calibration. In this paper, we introduce a novel algorithm that is simple but effective in detecting straight line segments in scanned documents. Our Connected Component Decomposition (CCD) approach first decomposes the connected components based on the gradient direction of the edge contours, and then uses Chebyshev's inequality to statistically distinguish lines from characters, followed by a simple post processing step to examine straightness of remain segments. This CCD approach is simple to follow and fast in its implementation, and its high accuracy and usability are demonstrated empirically on a practical data set with large varieties.


We present a novel analysis technique for automated characterization of particles and cells using dielectrophoresis (DEP). We combine an automated experimental system to measure DEP particle trapping via fluorescence intensity with physically informed computational methods and sophisticated particle models to make robust measurements of DEP force magnitude. The system uses a LabVIEW-controlled function generator to apply potentials across a frequency spectrum to interdigitated array electrodes that attract and trap flowing particles via DEP. We have modeled, tested, and refined this system using fluorescently labeled polystyrene particles and Escherichia coli, and have performed novel DEP characterization of Mycobacterium species for potential applications in tuberculosis research.


Popular literature and art are closely connected with the development and change of the Chinese nation. In the strict sense, popular literature and art are the production of the agricultural civilization,and develop along with those rustic views and villages. Compared with the arts of the upper class,popular literature and art are"folk"culture,noted for their comprehensiveness and popularity.


This paper proposed smart charging management for electric vehicles (EVs). According to the battery state-of-charge (SOC), charging period and transformer loading, a smart charging method was designed by using fuzzy theory to control charging station when quickly or slowly charging mode is needed. To verify performance of proposed method, the commercial customers were selected on distribution transformer and considering transformer loading to set charging mode on each charging station to prevent transformer over loading when all of EVs are in charging. Finally, the proposed method can ensure all of EVs are full charge and enhance power quality and efficiency of distribution transformers.


According to the present invention, an intra-terminal display unit causes at least one first icon to appear and to be displayed in at least one of a plurality of areas. An intra-terminal input unit accepts an operation for switching the areas and an operation for selecting the first icon. In the case when one of the first icons is selected in an area to which switching has been performed, an intra-terminal control unit or an intra-server control unit performs control so as to render a game corresponding to the selected first icon playable. The intra-terminal control unit or the intra-server control unit limits the number of the first icons that can be made to appear to a value equal to or less than an upper limit value.


Wind power is an important renewable energy generation technology, but the location of wind potential and wind power plant installation are not in complete sync with each other. Many national, state and local variables other than wind potential play a role in site selection. The weights given to different local variables during wind power investment decisions are not known and are difficult to estimate in data paucity settings in India. Accordingly, this study proposes a framework to estimate the weights given to different local parameters in wind power investment decisions. We use the case study of select districts in Maharashtra, India to test the framework. The investment predictions based on priority of local factors estimated by the proposed approach are in agreement with the actual investment in the wind energy sector.


Program approximation has been accepted as a necessary and useful technique for solving time-consuming computational problems since the inception of computer science. However, for a long time it has been treated exclusively as an algorithmic problem – a domain expert, computer scientist, or a developer has been responsible for proposing, implementing, and evaluating approximate algorithms. Up to recently, most programming languages did not expose special abstractions to support approximate program development. Moreover, automated program optimizations have been exclusively semantics-preserving transformations – the compiler guarantees that the optimized and original programs always produce identical results. Many emerging applications operate on noisy inputs or solve problems for which multiple solutions are possible (while some may be more accurate than the others). In addition, recent hardware design proposals provide components that can save energy in return for occasionally producing incorrect results. Traditional, semantics-preserving program optimizations are too rigid to exploit the full optimization potential of these applications. Instead, we need a novel program optimization approach that relaxes the notion of binary correctness of program transformations. We propose accuracy-aware program transformations that change semantics of a program to trade accuracy for performance by exploiting the properties of program's inputs, structure, and execution environment. Automatically applying accuracy-aware transformations provides an additional opportunity to reduce developers' engineering effort, reduce resource consumption, and increase program's functionality. However, these opportunities come at a price – the transformations introduce uncertainty into the computation and can generate many alternative programs with different tradeoffs. A key prerequisite to utilizing this potential is responding to the two challenges: 1) to characterize the effects that a transformation has on a program and 2) to automatically discover transformations that provide maximum performance gains for an acceptable accuracy loss. The goal of our research is to provide developers and users with optimization techniques to automatically generate approximate programs that deliver profitable, safe, and predictable tradeoffs between accuracy and performance. This paper presents several transformation and reasoning techniques that are starting points toward that goal.


Ensemble-averaged randomly scaled radar or sonar pulses are considered and the statistical theory for the corresponding phase and amplitude modulations are developed. Random scaling expresses varying radar cross-sections for scattering objects or varying antenna gain of a sweeping emitter. The noise variance of the modulations depends on the distribution function of the scaling, and how to minimise the variance by rejecting pulses below a certain amplitude threshold is shown. The theory is asymptotic in the sense that it is more accurate for increasing signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). In a test case with uniformly distributed scaling, sufficient accuracy is reached for an average SNR larger than ∼5 for the phase average and ∼15 for the amplitude average.


The aim of the present study is to identify the factors influencing Chinese consumers' intentions to purchase organic food based on Theory of Planned...


To compare a diabetes group lifestyle intervention (GLI) with dietitian referral for medical nutrition therapy (RD) for weight loss in the usual care setting.


During the in vitro maturation process of tissue engineered heart valves in a bioreactor, the pressures ahead of and behind the heart valve as well as the transvalvular flow rate strongly influence the tissue development. In this paper, a norm-optimal iterative learning control scheme for the control of these three process input variables within a new bioreactor setup is introduced and evaluated using physiological references of an aortic heart valve. A Model-in-the-Loop (MiL) setup is established for this evaluation. The results indicate that the proposed scheme yields good tracking performance for all three controlled variables: The stationary root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) of the aortic and left ventricular pressures are, respectively, 0.9 mmHg and 4.8 mmHg (pressure range: 0 - 120 mmHg). The RMSE of the transvalvular flow rate equals to 12.3 ml s-1 (flow rate range: 0 - 500 ml s-1). Consequently, the proposed scheme is suitable for the introduced task and can therefore be investigated further.


We aimed to enumerate the barriers to self-foot care management in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients and factors associated with these barriers.A cross-sectional study of successive type 2 diabetes patients attending routine out-patient diabetes clinics in tertiary care hospitals in Kolkata, India from 1June 2018 to 31 October 2018. All patients who matched our study eligibility criteria were interviewed by diabetes care providers using a structured questionnaire modeled after a systematic review of similar studies but tuned to regional preferences. Besides demographic details, patient particulars, laboratory investigations, the questionnaire included 2 direct questions on possible barriers to self-foot care management. The questions were grouped into five categories viz. environmental (4 questions), behavioral (9 questions), occupational (2 questions), physical inability (7 questions) and medical reason (1 question). An overwhelming 60% of the study population have more than one barrier to self-foot management. A larger proportion of females (68.9%) were not taking self-foot care management compared to their male counterparts (53.5%). Around one-third of the male participants cited lack of time as a major barrier to self-foot care management.Around, 30% females reported lack of foot care education and training as the major obstacle to self-foot care management. This study elaborates the need for awareness regarding possible barriers when counseling T2DM patients. Self-foot care management remains one of the cheapest pillars of diabetic foot care management, the benefits of which extend beyond glycemic control. This study also highlights the importance of physician advice regarding self-foot care management. Behavioral causes seem to be the commonest barrier to self-foot care and hence strategies to target the same needs to be thought of.


Analysis of variation of temperature with time, made from repeated bathythermo~rams taken at three locations off the east coast of India, indicates that the ~reatest «;han~es in temperature occurred at a depth related to that of the thermocline. It is su~~este'd that the combination of temperature differences and auto-correlatioI:l values might be used to express variabi11ty and to provide a clue to the processes contributing to variability in the area.


Summary

The sensory determination of ammonia in raw, steamed and boiled ray wings using a scoring system appeared to be a valuable method of quality assessment. The borderline of acceptability was reached after 10 (±1) days in ice. A combination of the steaming and boiling tests (with addition of acetic acid and salt) was useful to confirm definite spoilage or to indicate the approach to the borderline of acceptability.

The chemical determination of ammonia appeared to be a useful objective method in addition to the organoleptic tests.

Thornback ray was borderline at a concentration of 60–70 mg N. From the other related parameters determined (urea, pH, redox potential, total bacterial count, α-amino nitrogen) only pH appeared to be of value.


Standard tax multipliers are a widespread feature of fiscal equalization sys- tems. A simple theoretical model shows that actual tax multipliers respond positively to changes in standard tax multipliers. This theoretical prediction is tested empirically using data on municipalities in Germany. A quasi-experiment in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is exploited to identify the incentive effect. The empirical results confirm that local business tax policy is shaped by standard tax multipliers. They pro- vide a straightforward practical tool to avoid a race to the bottom in local business tax rates.


The behaviors of bubbles in a vortex pump play a crucial role in its performance when handling gas–liquid flows. However, not much research has been done on the distribution of the gas–liquid phases and the characteristics of bubble breakage and aggregation in vortex pumps. This lack of understanding hinders the improvement of pump performance in gas–liquid flow transport. This study aims to investigate the bubble characteristics in a vortex pump using the population balance model, focusing on the variation of bubble size and the influence of the inlet gas volume fraction (IGVF) on bubble breakage and aggregation. The results show that as the IGVF increases, the gas volume fraction in the impeller becomes larger than that in the bladeless chamber. The majority of bubbles in the impeller are concentrated near the hub, while they also remain in the circulating-flow zone of the bladeless chamber. Under low IGVF conditions, the average diameter of bubbles decreases from the pump inlet to the outlet. The bladeless chamber has a larger average bubble diameter and a higher percentage of large bubbles compared to other parts of the pump. Moreover, the bubble number density at the pump outlet increases with the IGVF, indicating the production of more bubbles, while the increase in IGVF also results in an increase in the percentage of large bubbles. The study also discusses the mechanism of bubble breakage and aggregation in vortex pumps. It suggests that the effective breakage frequency and effective aggregation frequency are responsible for bubble breakage and aggregation in the vortex pump. The gas volume fraction and turbulent dissipation rate are identified as important parameters affecting the effective breakage and aggregation frequency. These findings provide new insights into understanding the characteristics of bubble breakage and aggregation in vortex pumps.


A study was undertaken to determine the impact of online lecture notes on learning outcomes of students in a web-assisted first engineering thermodynamics course taught in a traditional faceto-face classroom setting. In the control group lectures were presented using a classroom computer projector and chalkboard. In the test group the same material and approach were taken, but the instructor's lecture notes were made available online the day before each class. Students were encouraged to download and print out the notes and bring them to class to minimize time spent taking notes in class. At the end of each semester, the same multiple-choice final examination was administered and student performances recorded. Although a difference in final exam grades was found between the two groups, with the group having lecture notes available online not performing as well, the difference was not statistically significant. Statistical analyses were also performed among sub-groups in the overall study population. Students were stratified with respect to incoming grade-point-average, academic major, and semester hours completed. No statistically significant differences were found in any of the subgroups examined. Finally, comparisons were made between the two groups on exam questions at two different levels within Bloom's taxonomy of the cognitive domain. Again, no statistically significant difference was found between the control and test groups.