Turning on lights in all rooms of one's house ensures that the goddess of the wealth visits and leaves behind a fortune. This works best on Diwali evening. The wailing of a dog is a sure signal that the Great Reaper is visiting the neighbourhood and bad news will soon follow. A widow, even if she is in position of power, is inauspicious and major engineering projects have been inaugurated with religious fervour by a married lady before the formal function. Some trees are sacred. Some animals are inauspicious. Some days are not recommended for eating meat, chicken or meat preparations. Itching of the right eye is good for men and itching of the left eye for women. Conversely, itching of the other eye forewarns of bad news. This is just a sample of the current myths and superstitions that abound in our society. These hamper efficiency and productivity and sometimes result in situations that are ludicrous. These are selectively used for pampering our vast range of god men and in the process disempowering the believers  weak and ignorant. Mass media has a significant role in encouraging rationality and developing scientific tamper. With increasing reach and better accessibility it can discourage mysticism and promote analytical thinking. With increase in levels of literacy, superstitions (harmless and dangerous) are bound to reduce in importance to become the subject of satire and comedy. Some media houses have, however, positioned their presentations and reports in a manner which encourages dogmatism and irrational beliefs. This has become their USP (unique selling proposition) ensuring dedicated viewership and corresponding rates for commercial time. The impact on the viewers (a large number being semiliterate) has not received due attention. Vastu as a guide for a floor plan of a house, astrology and a whole host of other forecasting techniques to guide risk-takers and other pseudo-scientific knowledge systems find disproportionate space in both traditional and new media. The need to cover one's risks, particularly when the stakes are high, attracts a growing segment of the population to sacrificing rationality and seeking refuge in such mumbo-jumbo. Selective use of scientific terms and professional sounding anchors improves their credibility. Scientists are rarely on the show and if at all they are invited they are used very cleverly to strengthen the views of the astrologers. This abuse of the power of mass communication remains largely unchallenged. There are exceptions amongst rationalists and they can be counted on one's fingertips. They challenge the purveyors of such mysticism and demonstrate the weaknesses of the miracle men. They generally do not get the same space or stage to do this. The vast majority of science teachers and researchers, planners and policy makers, most unfortunately, continue to be passive observers and thus are doing great damage to their own credibility. Responsible print media houses and television channels must demonstrate commitment to rational thought, knowing the dismal levels of public understanding of science, and make deliberate positive efforts at encouraging reasoning and use of logical processes, and making people aware of the ill effects of superstitions. Vigyan Prasar and other institutions mandated to stimulate scientific temper have the responsibility for countering claims by frauds and exposing the truth behind natural phenomena as well as supporting victims of myths and superstitions. Legal remedies must be examined to stop the runaway programmes and ensure adequate opportunities for countering claims and exposing the myths. This task will become less daunting if support is received from academia and researchers in science, technology, philosophy, sociology, juridical science, management studies and mass communication. Are you willing to step forward and be counted?


Hypothyroidism in Chhattisgarh (India) is almost the second most common disease in middle aged and old aged females. First may be Diabetes / Hypertension / Arthritis / Osteoporosis. Hypothyroidism is caused due to under functioning Thyroid gland may be due to primary or secondary causes. The Etiology is still a mystery & is unknown but having strong relation with genetics as well as the environmental pollution, food habits & autoimmunity. The Thyroid gland regulates the metabolism of the body through the release of  T3, T4 hormones & have a negative feedback of TSH hormone.  A case study was conducted on 70 patients from  "Sai Kripa Clinic" Main Road Katora Talab Raipur , Chattisgarh, India.
Key words: Hypothyroidism, Autoimmune Disease, Obesity, Arthritis.


Jussi Heinimo Developing markets of energy biomass – local and global perspectives Lappeenranta 2011 75 p. Acta Universitatis Lappeenrantaensis 454 Diss. Lappeenranta University of technology ISBN 978-952-265-172-3, ISBN 978-952-265-173-0 (PDF), ISSN 1456-4491 The thesis explores global and national-level issues related to the development of markets for biomass for energy. The thesis consists of five separate papers and provides insights on selected issues. The aim of Paper I was to identify methodological and statistical challenges in assessing international solid and liquid biofuels trade and provide an overview of the Finnish situation with respect to the status of international solid and liquid biofuels trade. We found that, for the Finnish case, it is possible to qualify direct and indirect trade volumes of biofuels. The study showed that indirect trade of biofuels has a highly significant role in Finland and may be a significant sector also in global biofuels trade. The purpose of Paper II was to provide a quantified insight into Finnish prospects for meeting the national 2020 renewable energy targets and concurrently becoming a largescale producer of forest-biomass-based second-generation biofuels for feeding increasing demand in European markets. We found that Finland has good opportunities to realise a scenario to meet 2020 renewable energy targets and for large-scale production of wood-based biofuels. The potential net export of transport biofuels from Finland in 2020 would correspond to 2–3% of European demand. Paper III summarises the global status of international solid and liquid biofuels trade as illuminated by several separate sources. International trade of biofuels was estimated at nearly 1 EJ for 2006. Indirect trade of biofuels through trading of industrial roundwood and material by-products comprises the largest proportion of the trading, with a share of about two thirds. The purpose of Paper IV was to outline a comprehensive picture of the coverage of various certification schemes and sustainability principles relating to the entire value-added chain of biomass and bioenergy. Regardless of the intensive work that has been done in the field of sustainability schemes and principles concerning use of biomass for energy, weaknesses still exist. The objective of Paper V was to clarify the alternative scenarios for the international biomass market until 2020 and identify the underlying steps needed toward a wellfunctioning and sustainable market for biomass for energy purposes. An overall conclusion drawn from this analysis concerns the enormous opportunities related to the utilisation of biomass for energy in the coming decades.


This study contributes to the literature of stock market efficiency by examining the weak-form efficient hypothesis for Thai stock market, especially after the subprime mortgage crisis in which the restricted financial policies issued by Thai government has been implemented. Thus, the full sample and sub-sample windows covering pre- and post-subprime financial crisis periods are investigated. The newly developed multiple variance ratio tests based on the wild bootstrap together with the Lo-MacKinlay and the Chow-Denning variance ratio tests are employed for testing the hypothesis. In addition, sub-indices based upon market capitalisation are categorised for further investigation on the impact of firm-sized on efficiency. The results reveal that, for the market level, the Stock Exchange of Thailand exhibits the market efficiency during the period of pre- and post-subprime mortgage crisis. For the sub-indices point of view, however, the small-capitalisation index provides some evidences against a weak-form efficiency.


A new species, Adinopsis mmabolela, from northern Transvaal, South Africa, is described and illustrated, and its relationship to other Afrotropical species of Adinopsis Cameron 1919 is briefly discussed. New country records for the following two Neotropical/Nearctic species are provided: A. myllaenoides (Kraatz 1857), new to Paraguay, and A. pubescens Klimaszewski 1982, new to Paraguay and Peru. Adinopsis drakei (Bernhauer 1857) [originally as Dinopsis] is considered here to be a new junior synonym of A. myllaenoides (Kraatz 1857). Ten new species groups of world Adinopsis are proposed on the basis of male genitalic structures, to reflect phylogenetic affiliations. A new subgenus, Condylopennis, is erected to accommodate two Nearctic species: A. bicornis Klimaszewski 1979 and A. cuspidata Klimaszewski 1982. A checklist of the world species of Adinopsis is added.


The invention discloses a method for preparing a carrot complex bacterium fermentation beverage, and belongs to the technical field of food processing and making. According to the method, lactobacillus casei, lactobacillus rhamnosus and SY are mixed and fermented to prepare the carrot beverage. The content of alcohol substances and the content of ester substances in the prepared beverage are obviously increased; fermented carrot juice is thick and mellow, taste is better, and the number of lactic acid bacteria in the final product is larger than 109 CFU/ml. Reducing sugar in the original carrot juice is consumed by microorganisms in the fermentation process, xylitol is used as sweetening agents, and drinking of special crowds is further facilitated.


PROLOGUE An expected outcome of most clinical or applied pharmacokinetic courses offered in pharmacy schools is the design of dosage regimens for individual patients based on the drug kinetic and/or dynamic parameters in the patient. To achieve this outcome, specific methods are usually discussed for individual drugs such as aminoglycosides, digoxin, theophylline, and phenytoin among others. In Pharmacy 211 (Clinical Pharmacokinetics), offered to PharmD students at Drake University College of Pharmacy, students first learn the principles of dosage regimen design and modification as a part of a module which covers general clinical pharmacokinetic concepts. The discussion of the individual drugs is then covered in a subsequent module. In the first module, students are provided with expected outcomes, specific objectives (posed as questions), reading assignments or handouts, computer simulation programs, and one or more problems designed to cover the outcomes/objectives for the topic. Students are expected to work on the problems before attending the class session(s) where the solutions to the problem(s) are discussed. At the completion of the session(s), computer programs are used by students for generation of practice problems and homework assignments. The material presented in this article (outcomes/objectives, reading handout, and example problems) for the topic of design and modification of dosage regimens is normally covered in four lecture hours. Unless specifically referenced, the equations presented


Particle filter has been widely applied into many fields in recent years. Combined with the deficiency analysis of particle filter, an adaptive resampling strategy based on diversity guidance is proposed. Firstly, the adaptive resampling step in particle filter is tuned based on two diversity measures which are effective sample size and population diversity factor. Moreover, the operation of particle mutation after resampling is integrated into PF so as to assure the diversity of particle sets. Then, an optimized resampling strategy in PF is presented. It drew from the advantage that resampling is done faster in partial stratified resampling algorithm. At the same time, aimed at the disadvantage of PSR algorithm in PF, it used the weights optimal idea to improve the performance of PF. With the simulation program using matlab 7.0 to track a single target motion from a fixed visual observation points, the validity of the proposed method is verified.


This study collected data about the current awareness and use of stroke rehabilitation interventions among a Canadian sample of PTs as a foundational step towards future endeavours to inform the translation of rehabilitation research literature into practice. Participants were recruited from health care centres providing stroke rehabilitation to patients in each of the 10 provinces across Canada. Physiotherapists who provided direct rehabilitative care to individuals after a stroke, were 18+ years old, and could read and write in English completed an electronic survey. Questions asked about therapists' work setting, patient demographics, how they stay up-to-date, and their awareness and use of stroke rehabilitation interventions. One hundred seventy five individuals (female = 82.9%) mainly from Ontario and Alberta (57.7%) were included. Therapists had high awareness and use of non-technological, peripherally-applied interventions (e.g., task-specific training, trunk training, overground walking). Except for mirror therapy and bilateral arm training, therapists had low or no awareness and use of brain priming interventions with or without a technological component. Therapists had low awareness and use of interventions which fall outside of standard education and training. This is an important area for future research on initiatives to increase knowledge translation and implementation into clinical practice.


Ituglanis paraguassuensis, new species, is described from the rio Paraguacu, Bahia, northeastern Brazil. It is distinguished from the remaining species of the genus by the following combination of characters: color pattern composed of several irregular pale brown blotches aligned along the body (Fig. 1), parietal fontanel extending to posterior edge of medial parietal border (Fig. 2), pectoral fin i,6, pelvic fin i,4 and the unusual reduced number of vertebrae 34–36. Some of these features are considered to be plesiomorphic within the genus. On the other hand, I. paraguassuensis shares several features with members of the derived TSVSG clade. Comparisons with others trichomycterids are presented, including a detailed description and illustration of the body and skeleton including the laterosensory canal and cephalic pores.


Time consumption for milking routines were recorded on 26 farms (Germany and GB) with swingover parlours (n = 20; 14 to 52 places) and in standard herringbone parlours (n = 6; only GB). As long as the milkers followed the same routines, no difference in the capacities of the two systems could be observed. The throughput in GB with bigger installations was 91 cows per hour (standard herringbone) and 98 cows per hours in swingover parlours, whereas in Germany it was 61 cows per hour, due to a different routine.


Abstract : This thesis is a cost-benefit analysis of the Enhanced Transportation Service (ETS) Program, which is a proposed initiative under the Marine Corps' 'Precision Logistics' concept. The general focus of 'Precision Logistics' is to provide the warfighter with the right thing, at the right place, at the right time, with the least amount of effort and cost. (Hamilton, 1996) The specific focus of the ETS Program is to utilize premium transportation service (i.e., next day air) to reduce order ship time (OST), which will result in lower stockage levels. The intent of this study was to determine if the benefit derived from reduced stockage levels outweighs the additional cost of air shipment. This is intended to be the first in a series of studies of the ETS Program. The study was based on the requisitioning objective (RO) stockage level. A computer spreadsheet model of the RO formula was built and two Monte Carlo simulation runs conducted to determine if the ETS Program is cost effective. Results of the analysis suggest that the cost of premium transportation service is significantly less than the cost of additional inventory that would have to be carried if premium transportation were not utilized. Therefore, further research of the ETS Program is warranted. Recommendations on the direction of future studies are provided.


Polycrystalline AgSbTe_2 compound was synthesized using high pure Ag,Sb,Te element powders by mechanical alloying.The influence of mechanical alloying processes,including charge ratio,rotation speed and milling time,on the phase composition and particle size of the resultant powder was investigated systematically.The results showed that single phase AgSbTe_2 compound was formed when the charge ratio was 20∶1,rotation speed above 400rpm,and milling time at least 15 hours.Single phase AgSbTe_2 compound particles with an average size about 370nm,which were constituted by smaller particles(50~100nm)could be obtained after milling for 48 hours with charge ratio 20∶1 and rotation speed 600 rpm.


In view of the biological importance of pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine derivatives, particularly in search of molecular candidates like Zaleplon for the treatment of insomnia, we have devoted our attention to the development of novel synthetic strategies for hitherto unknown derivatives of pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (13-20), resembling Zaleplon skeleton in aqueous media under thermal as well as ultrasound irradiation.


It is widely known that the upstream wake is a major contributor to the forced vibration of rotor blades,but seldom noticed its influence on flutter characteristics.The present research performs aeroelastic analysis on a typical turbofan NASA Rotor 67 by CFD technique and energy method.The results indicate that the most dangerous flutter mode of the rotor blades is the second bending mode with IBPA=60°without IGV.While analyzing the rotor with IGV,the wake changes the flutter characteristics of the rotor blade significantly.If the natural frequency of the most dangerous flutter mode of the blade is close to the IGV passing frequency,flutter may happen even it is stable without IGV.For a mode whose natural frequency is far away from the IGV passing frequency,the wake may also drive the vibration to be unstable.Though the IGV does not influence the performance of the rotor much,it does add significant nonlinear effects to the flutter behavior of the rotor blades.Designers need to consider the coupling effects between IGV and rotor to avoid the significant change of the flutter boundary.


While more than ever we are discussing animal rights and considering the possibility to extend the circle of our moral consideration, we are also more than ever inflicting suffering on more animals than in any time in history. This is especially the case for farm animals. This article aims to demonstrate that introducing animal-based measures into the legal system can be a practical and realistic step towards changing the familiar perspective of farm animals as mere commodities into the sentient beings they are.
Currently, legislation on farm animals builds on what are called resource-based measures. These measures are not based on the animals but on their environment and the conditions in which the animals are living. They are very compatible with the legal system being relatively easy to assess, less subjective and highly repeatable. However, compliance with resource-based measures does not always mean good animal welfare, since these measures are generally considered to be less well correlated to the experiences of the animal.
Animal-based measures, on the other hand, measure the state of the animal based on the actual animal, its behaviour (e.g. repetitive behaviour, human-animal relationship) and/or appearance (posture, facial expression, body condition).
A change where laws on animals actually require looking at the animals has the potential to improve the relationship to the animals and is an essential shift towards farm animals being regarded as someone and not something. By acknowledging animals as whole sentient beings, we do not just see a complex system of 'behaviours' (e.g. walking), but first and foremost we see a "behaver", a dynamic living being, whose movements are always meaningful and psychological expressive.
In conclusion, animal-based measures force us to look at animals and recognize that they are able to feel pain, love, joy, loneliness and fear. Implementing animal-based measures for farm animals makes us, in a practical and realistic way, take those animals that are mostly considered as mere commodities, into our moral consideration, and unveils aspects of their sentience, which are currently hidden by the law.


This diagnosis is part of the World Bank's technical assistance to the Haitian authorities regarding financial inclusion and financial sector development. The industrial development fund (FDI), a public instrument under the umbrella of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH), maintains advantages for agricultural financing in the country - subject to a clarification of its mandate and a strengthening of its capacities. The development and sustainability of an agricultural insurance program in Haiti faces many challenges. The World Bank Group supports the Haitian agricultural sector through numerous projects. In particular, these include the Resilient Productive Landscapes Project, which promotes sustainable land management, and the Strengthening Public Agricultural Services Project (RESEPAG II), which has established a co-financing mechanism for subprojects. It is called the co-financing fund for agricultural extension services (FSV) and includes a voucher system to acquire the agricultural goods and services needed for the adoption of technical packages from approved suppliers. On the basis of this diagnosis, recommendations aim to respond to the main constraints identified in order to promote sustainable financing of the agricultural sector by Haitian financial institutions. These recommendations focus on the supply of agricultural finance, while also recognizing the essential role of general agricultural support policies.


Spatial-temporal variations in physiochemical water qualities (temperature, salinity, DO, SPM, POC and nutrients) of surface and bottom waters were investigated along the mid-western coastal area (Taean Peninsula to Gomso Bay) of Korea. Spatial distribution patterns of temperature and salinity were mostly controlled by the physical mixing process of freshwater from Geum River and/or Gyunggi Bay with nearby coastal water. A strong tidal front is formed off Taean Peninsula during spring and summer. Seasonal variations in nutrient concentrations, lower in spring and summer and higher in fall and winter, are primarily regulated by magnitude of phytoplankton occurrence rather than freshwater loadings into the bay. Based on seasonal and spatial variability of physicochemical parameters, water quality of the study area can be divided into four water masses; Gyunggi Bay-influenced Water Mass (GBWM), Geum River-influenced Water Mass (GRWM), Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water Mass (YSBCWM) and Cheonsu Bay Water Mass (CBWM). Water quality of the GBWM (Taean Peninsula coastal area), which has relatively low salinity and high concentrations of nutrients, is strongly controlled by the Gyunggi Bay coastal water, which is under influence of the Han River freshwater. In this water mass, the mixed layer is always developed by strong tidal mixing. As a result, a tidal front is formed along the offshore boundary of the mixed layer. Such tidal fronts probably play an important role in the distribution of phytoplankton communities, SPM and nutrients. The GRWM, with low salinity and high nutrients, especially during the flood summer season, is closely related to physiochemical properties of the Geum River. During the flood season, nutrient-enriched Geum River water mass extends up to 60 km away from the river mouth, potentially causing serious environmental problems such as eutrophication and unusual and/or noxious algal blooms. Offshore (>30~40 m in water depth) of the study area, YSBCWM coupled with a strong thermocline can be identified in spring-summer periods, exhibiting abundant nutrients in association with low temperature and limited biological activity. During spring and summer, a tidal front is formed in a transition zone between the coastal water mass and bottom cold water mass in the Yellow Sea, resulting in intensified upwelling and thereby supplying abundant nutrients to the GBWM and GRWM. Such cold bottom water mass and tidal front formation seems to play an important role in controlling water quality and further regulating physical ecosystem processes along mid-western Korean coastal area.


Background Specific immunotherapy is based on the regular administration over time of a maintenance dose of allergen extracts to allergic patients in order to modify the immune response, thus achieving a decrease in symptoms/drug intake and an improvement in quality of life, possibly on the long-term. Grass pollen tablet, Oralair (Stallergenes, Antony Cedex, France), were developed and registered for rhinoconjunctivitis allergy induced by grass pollen. There is sufficient evidence for the clinical efficacy of the product, but pharmaco-economy data are lacking. Methods An economic analysis, using a rescue medication adjusted score (AASS) was performed, based on the available registration trials—to assess the magnitude of Oralair effect if patients had not taken any rescue medication. In the present study the results of an adult and a pediatric study are pooled together with economic data in order to perform a cost–effectiveness analysis from the third party payer perspective. Medical visits, diagnostic exams, skin prick test, and drugs were valorized in euros according to the National tariffs and the standard drug prices in the Italian setting. The estimated ROC also enabled us to quantify the effectiveness in terms of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY). A decision tree was structured in order to model the possible outcomes and costs, according to a low, moderate and high AASS in adults and pediatric patients. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis was finally conducted to test the robustness of the results as well as the consistency with an assumed cost effectiveness threshold of euros 30.000/QALY. Results The results showed a relative difference of 1.84 in favor of the active treatment versus placebo in absolute value in adult study and of 1.64 in pediatric study. The results also show how the Oralair administration costs 1024 euro/QALY with high and moderate AASS. Including also the loss of productivity the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) in adults is 700 euro/QALY. The 95% of the simulation performed by sensitivity analysis shows an ICER below the threshold of 30.000 euro/QALY. Conclusions In conclusion our results show that Oralair grass tablet is a cost effective strategy in adults and pediatric patients with moderate and severe AASS.


One of the major challenges facing 3D printing for construction is the technological suitability, 'printability', of the materials used. These cement-based materials differ from those used in other sectors, which has a series of conditioning factors that are the object of the present analysis. This article first reviews the definition of the term 'printability' and its constituent stages. Those stages condition the requirements to be met by cement-based materials, whether designed for other uses or developed ad hoc, and therefore the tests applicable to determine their aptitude for use in additive manufacturing for construction. That is followed by a review of the standardised tests presently in place for mortars and concretes that can be used to verify a material's compliance with such requirements. The paper concludes with a recommendation on the advisability of developing a standard test or suite of tests to ascertain printability.


A MRI-based detection scheme was proposed for the detection of bladder tumor and its invasion depth,which has a potential for noninvasive detection of bladder tumor and its stage.Since MRI bladder images could provide natural contrast between urine and bladder wall,there were some texture features demonstrating statistically significant difference between tumor tissue and wall tissue.Among them,mean,standard deviation,uniformity,covariance and contrast,were selected for classification.Then,a labeling scheme was proposed for obtaining the pseudo-color mapping of bladder tumor invasion.Experiments based on MRI datasets of 16 patients were carried out to evaluate the scheme.It was revealed that among 56 testing images,classification and labeling results of 46 images(82.1%) were consistent with their histopathological results from postoperative biopsy,while labeling results of 15 out of 16 patients consistented well with histopathological tests,with an accuracy of 93.8%.With texture-based classification,the proposed method implemented preliminary detection of bladder tumor and its invasion depth,which might be a novel and promising tool for noninvasive tumor detection with virtual cystoscopy.


Pigeon Lake is a seepage lake located in south-central Manitowoc County. It has a surface area of 77 acres and a maximum depth of 67 feet. The lake is hard, clear and experiences heavy recreational use. The shoreline is highly developed with over sixty dwellings and a youth camp on its shores. The 2014 fisheries survey on Pigeon Lake characterized the fish populations of the lake using various fisheries assessment gear during multiple seasons. Each gear type was efficient in capturing certain fish species and fish sizes. The use of multiple gears during different sampling seasons provided a clearer picture of the entire fish community and fish population characteristics of individual species within the lake. However, in 2014 the late spring and quick melt likely caused our spring surveys to miss much of the spring spawning period and the fish that we usually capture with fyke nets or electroshocking gear. A total of 915 fish were collected during the fisheries survey of Pigeon Lake with Bluegill, Rock Bass and Largemouth Bass as the most common species captured during the survey. Based on catch per effort data, Largemouth Bass were more abundant in 2014 than measured during the last comprehensive fish survey in 1984. The 2014 survey also noted an improvement in growth of Bass since the previous survey. Walleye were stable in number and continued to exhibit good growth. Natural reproduction of walleye was not noted in 2014 and if present, is likely very low. The Northern Pike population appeared to be stable with perhaps some decline in growth rate noted. Panfish numbers were down since the previous comprehensive survey conducted 1984. Decreasing numbers have allowed growth rates to improve for Bluegill and Rock Bass. It is recommended to continue Walleye stocking, to support a new DNR panfish study and conduct follow-up surveys following that initiative that evaluates changes in individual panfish daily bag limits to improve size structure in bluegill. We encourage the reestablishment of natural shorelines including diverse, native aquatic plant communities for the benefit of fish species.


A particulate instant solid drink (1), each particle (1) comprising: 0.1-30wt% of the beverage concentrates (2) and 60-95wt% of the carbohydrate matrix (3), wherein the plurality of matrix particles ( 3) form a network-like structure of the body of solid particles of the beverage (1), in the network, a plurality of beverage concentrate pieces (2) dispersed between the particles embedded in the matrix (3), or connect two or more as the matrix particles (3) is connected to the bridge, the network can also be dispersed voids containing gas (4), the solid particles of the beverage (1) the shape and size of the beverage and allowed to self-unit is used in automatic beverage vending machine, and which the angle of repose by the Carr method after exposure to air for 24 hours determined α≤40 °.


From the urban land utilization,land use layout of Wangcheng,use construction land per capita accounting method,calculated at the city planning at the end of each villages and towns of rural residential land consolidation potential value theory,for the future of Wangcheng land use planning and policy formulation and provide theoretical reference.


A computer based procedure for analysis of composite precast concrete girder bridges with cast in place topping is presented. Girder splicing with or without posttensioning is used to introduce continuity in the bridge superstructure. The method of analysis presented in this paper can also be applied to other types of multistage construction and prestressing involving the use of temporary falsework.


Subdivision algorithm defines a very powerful way of constructing smooth, continuous, seamless surface. This paper proposed to construct families of interpolating subdivision from approximating subdivision by combining an approximating scheme with a difference interpolating function. By combining Loop subdivision with two-point linear interpolation, the modified Butterfly scheme is generated. Additionally, a new interpolating subdivision scheme, Loop-Butterfly, was constructed by combining Loop subdivision with Butterfly interpolation. The results show that the proposed method keeps the fairing surface of approximating schemes.


The present study was carried out with the purpose of ga in ing k n o w l e d g e on the use of the A P G A R Score tes t in Braz i l i an In s t i t u t i ons . M o r e spedifically, the objective was to evaluate the procedures and purposefor the application of the A P G A R Score scale. In order to attain these objectives, it was necessary to carry out the following steps: choice of the institutions where data was to be collected; direct observation of the use of the A P G A R "Scale in births taking place; •©©llection ©f opinions of profess ionals involved in relation to the purpose, concepts and evalut ion of the method . The collection of data was carried out in the city of Campinas (State of São Paulo). The first stage involved identifying institutions assisting the birth of babies; this was carried out at ERSA (Campinas regional health office). At three of these institutions, (the ones that had the greatest number of bir ths per mon th and ass is ted b i r ths t h r o u g h the municipal health system, SUS) , direct observations on the application of the A P G A R Score and interviews with the professionals using said test were carried out. The results presented are related to the level of proficiency of the professionals or receptionists carrying out the tests, the facilities whe re the newly born are received, the materials and equipment required for the application of the A P G A R test, the frequency with which the examined were controlled during the life of the newly born and the method used for this control, the A P G A R Score counts which the observed born showed, the definitions of the scale by the receptionists interviewed, the A P G A R Score counts which the receptionists considered satisfactory, the various purposes of the scale in accordance with those interviewed, as.well as a characterization of the services rendered to the critical cases of newly born. From the results obtained it was possible to detect problems relative to the levels of proficiency of the professionals applying the test, to the type of reception (individual or collective), and to the method used for the application of the A P G A R Score test (specially with reference to the period of life of the newly born when A P G A R Score tests were performed and the interpretation of signs and symptoms of the items contained in the scale). Suggest ions were presented to minimize problems identified, going from the reception of the newly born more than one professional and a better training of the professionals applying the test to the use of a more detailed chart of signals and symptoms of the items of the A P G A R Score scale.


Several years ago, in an editorial concerning evaluation of the coronary microcirculation, I made the point that in order to evaluate the microcirculation during coronary angiography, one needs to allow the cine camera to run longer than usual to assess perfusion of the distal coronary circulation. Often a microcirculatory blush can be seen just prior to the venous phase of the coronary angiogram. I thought this was useful information, particularly in the case of a patient whose ventricle may not be contracting normally in that coronary distribution. I also indicated that the presence of a myocardial blush defines a viable myocardium. A myocardial blush is relatively easy to identify, but grading the blush is quite subjective. As reperfusion therapy evolved, an objective assessment of flow in the coronary circulation after recannalization either by thrombolytic therapy or by angioplasty was needed.


A non-contact optical method, consisting of a projecting grating technique for the relative measurement of a surface, and a technique of absolute measurement at a fixed point on the surface, are applied to measure the free surface vibration in a liquid bridge of half floating zone with small typical scale of a few of mm for emphasizing the thermocapillary effect in comparison with the effect of buoyancy. The radii variations in both longitudinal and azimuthal directions are obtained, and, then, the feature of surface wave could be analyzed in detail. The results show that there are values of principal oscillatory frequencies at different positions of free surface. The amplitudes of surface waves in longitudinal and azimuthal directions are several mum and several tenths of mum in order of magnitude. The phase of two-dimensional surface waves is different at different height for fixed cross section or at different azimuthal angle for fixed height. The wave features are discussed for the cases of typical parameter ranges.


Tess Gerritsen, author of the Rizzoli and Isles novels that formed the basis for the TNT series, discusses her craft and the reasons that she writes.


In this study, a negative stiffness device based on the magnetic principle is presented and experimentally tested. Then, a tuned mass damper with a negative stiffness device (denoted as TMD_NSD) subjected to harmonic support excitation is optimized in terms of H∞ optimization criterion, H2 optimization criterion, and stability maximization criterion (SMC). Closed‐form expressions for the optimal tuning parameters are derived in terms of both H∞ criterion and SMC, while the optimal tuning parameters are numerically determined in terms of H2 criterion. The control performance of the TMD_NSD is compared with the classical TMD in terms of maximum dynamic amplification factor (DAFmax). It is found that the performance of the TMD_NSD based on these three optimization methods is superior to that of the classical TMD. Besides, the performance based on H∞ and H2 optimization is almost similar, while the performance based on SMC is less than the first two methods. Compared with the classical TMD, the TMD_NSD could significantly reduce the primary system's peak value and broaden the efficient frequency range of vibration mitigation. However, surprisingly, the DAFmax decreases with the increase in the mass ratio of the classical TMD, while the DAFmax for the TMD_NSD increases with the increase in mass ratio. Finally, the effectiveness of optimization methods in seismic response control is examined via time history analyses (THA) under 20 real earthquake excitations. The THA findings suggest that the TMD_NSD is superior to the TMD for seismic response mitigation for the three optimization methods. However, it is noted that the displacement response of TMD_NSD based on H∞ and H2 optimization is comparable but slightly better than that of the SMC method. Nevertheless, in terms of absolute acceleration control, it is shown that TMD_NSD performance based on the SMC method is better than that of the H∞ and H2 methods. Overall, the three optimization methods are validated to be effective for seismic mitigation of the un‐damped single‐degree‐of‐freedom (SDOF) primary structure subjected to real seismic excitations.


According to Xuzhou city relevant economic data for 1998-2004 year,this text,on the basis of environmental kuznets curve basic theories of the introduction,substantiates Xuzhou environment of economic development bearing capacity,which analyzes the necessity of economic development of circulation and adopts the economics method to explain the analysis result.


The article considers some problems faced by designers of foreign language syllabi and methodology for non-linguistics universities. The author shares experience gained at the National Research University of Electronic Technology where a number of syllabi and methodology materials for students of various fields of studies were successfully developed by using table-based frames or templets.


The financial crisis 2007-2009 with certain impacts on the Viet Nam economy and especially, the stock exchange, has affected systematic risk in the whole hotel and tourism industries. Hence, it is the reason to perform the risk re-estimation for the listed firms in these industries. First of all, by using a proper traditional estimating model to estimate asset and equity beta of three (3) groups of listed companies in Viet Nam entertainment, tourism, and hotel industries, we found out that the beta values, in general, for most companies are acceptable, excluding just a few cases. There are 77% of listed firms with lower risk, among total 22 firms, whose beta values vary in a range from 0 to 1. Secondly, through comparison of beta values among three (3) above industries, we recognized there are still 18% of total listed firms in the above group companies with beta values higher than (>) 1and have stock returns moving more than the market benchmark. Last but not least, this paper generates some results that could provide both internal and external investors, financial institutions, companies and government more evidence in establishing their policies in investments and in governance.


In recent years, the development of the health insurance business, in recent years since 2019 in Indonesia has decreased, including one insurance company X. The company closed several branches in several cities in Indonesia. Many employees are forced to take early retirement decisions and resign, but on the other hand, potential employees are still needed to become branch heads. Several branch heads who have retired must be replaced with new ones, therefore, the company needs to carry out several strategies to get new branch head candidates. This study aims to explain a process of mapping the head of an insurance company branch carried out by the human resources division. The research method used is qualitative with a case study approach. Informants in this study were prospective branch heads, consultants, and the human resources team. From the results of this study, the mapping system carried out by the Human Resources Division in mapping is quite effective. The selection of test tools and dimensions of managerial competence used for prospective branch heads is quite by the profile and branch leadership needs. This research can improve the mapping skills of branch heads of similar insurance companies and contribute knowledge of human resource management for insurance companies and other similar companies.


The goal of this research work is to design, construct and analyse the performance of a single stage vapour absorption unit of 1kW rated cooling capacity. The correlations required for the design and analysis are mentioned in the section III. The solution heat exchanger of spiral tube and shell type was designed and installed in the unit. A forced horizontal tube heat exchanger type condenser was designed and used in the construction of the unit. A pool boiling generator has been installed in the unit. The determined hypothetical results including the overall heat transfer coefficient are compared with the test results inferred for a developed unit with a nominal output of 1kW. At last the performance parameters are examined in connection to the concentration of the absorber and mass flow rates. The actual COP of the system increased by 15% with the decrease in solution concentration at absorber inlet. Critical analysis is carried-out at each level to calculate the each accessory heat load and other parameters


Based on the analysis of the deficiencies in the current University Entrance Examination, this article analyses the external factors affecting the test, it proposes a modern language assessment system such as dynamic assessment and studies the advantages and disadvantages of their application to the High School Final Test. The proposals made here relate to the OPENPAU project (FFI2011-22442) conducted by a consortium of eight universities to review the University Entrance Examination.


The interfluvial overbank deposits of the Paleocene Fort Union Fm. near Bison Basin, Wyoming, contain a series of superimposed paleo-spodosols. Soil horizon differentiation took place during periods of quiescence between flood events. Paleosols developed under a broad-leafed, deciduous forest cover and their mineralogy supports evidence of a humid, warm temperature climate with marked seasonality. Former land surfaces are defined by endocarp compressions, tree trunks in growth position, zones of vertebrate fossil accumulation and traces of invertebrate burrowing activity. Soil horizons are distinctively color banded due to translocation of silica, Fe, Mn, Al and clay from the grey elluvial layers to the dusky red illuvial layers. This early, pedogenic cementation has preserved a variety of durinode concretions, rhizoliths, micro- and macro-endostratal faunal traces, as well as clues to the original mineralogy of the deposit. Local variations in thickness and mineralogy of the soil profiles offer unique information on paleotopography, drainage and ground water levels with indications of rapid, punctuated deposition and basin subsidence.


High temporal resolution, full three-dimensional imaging of the heart and circulation is required for accurate basic physiological studies of the structural-to-functional relationships of these organ systems, and for improved diagnostic evaluation and treatment of patients with cardiovascular disorders. A new generation, fully electronic and very rapid whole-body computed tomography system called the Dynamic Spatial Reconstructor (DSR) will provide stop-action (0.01 sec), rapidly sequential (60-per-second), synchronous volume (240 simultaneous transaxial sections) reconstructions and display of the full anatomic extent of the heart throughout successive cardiac cycles, and will permit visualization of the three-dimensional vascular anatomy and circulatory functions in all regions of the body of patients with cardiovascular and other pathological disabilities. The feasibility and potential of a DSR system has been demonstrated by studies using a currently operational single source prototype assembly, the SSDSR, from which full three-dimensional dynamic reconstructions of the thorax and its contents have been obtained.


The production of Rosé wine is developing around the world. In terms of quantity, the volumes made are increasing. In terms of quantity, two apparently contradicting tendencies can be observed: a global trend converging towards a clear, dry model and, at the same time, a desire to differentiate different regions, based on terroir. Thanks to several analytical and sensorial databases which have been assembled over the last fifteen years, the Centre du Rosé provides an objective view of these emerging phenomena. The typicity of the Provence Rosé wines can be measured, both analytically and sensorially, and within the Provençal vineyard itself, the different vintages have some remarkable characteristics. In other French and European wine regions we examined typical rosé wines whose particularity has its origins in the terroir.


A novel reconfigurable digital-to-analog converter (DAC) with supply independent linearity is presented. The process agnostic converter achieves wide supply range operation and re-configurability by being charge based. This converter consists of a 7-bit parallel digital input control core and an analog "summing" core utilizing charging capacitors with an operational transconductance amplifier in a voltage-follower configuration. This topology is highly configurable to allow for optimization across process voltages, step sizes and low power operation. The specification of the DAC is (1) supply independence (2) low power operation (3) operation up to 200 kHz and (4) conversion control through a DAC enable signal. Supply independence is achieved through the use of a charge-based approach in the analog core utilizing a finite stepping voltage derived from another, much smaller, voltage reference. This voltage reference in turn determines the resolution of the DAC. The DAC will thus create a "stairstepping" analog output until digital input is met or the voltage supply is reached. Feedback is utilized when either of these events occurs notifying the DAC to wait until another sample is requested. Low power is achieved by using static CMOS logic and the inclusion of a "sleep mode" in the analog core which can be used after the desired output is achieved. This design was implemented across two different processes with different power supplies to confirm the architecture. ©2013 by Nicholas J. Chiolino All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Countless thanks are due to Dr. H. Alan Mantooth and Dr. A. Matt Francis for all of their support and guidance in the author's pursuit of a master's degree. Added thanks are to be given to Dr. Randy Brown and Dr. Jia Di for their expertise and advice. Great thanks are given to all of the author's colleagues and classmates for all of their added advice and instructions, the experience that was shared is priceless. Lastly, overall thanks are given to everyone participating in the MSCAD group for all of their support with lab equipment and resources needed. Also, thank you to all administrative assistance in electrical engineering for without you the author would have no warm welcomes, no vital resources, and no peppermints! DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my family whose support in my educational pursuits has motivated me to work harder every day, also, to my wife, Erin, who has been my rock throughout this journey. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 – Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Project Motivation ............................................................................................... 1 1.2 System Overview ................................................................................................. 2 Chapter 2 – Survey of Digital-to-Analog Converters ........................................................ 3 2.1 Converter Overview ............................................................................................. 3 2.2 Application........................................................................................................... 5 2.3 Digital-to-Analog Converters .............................................................................. 6 Chapter 3 – Reconfigurable Digital-to-Analog Converter Design .................................... 8 3.1 Top Down Design ................................................................................................ 8 3.2 System/functional ................................................................................................ 9 3.3 Operation ........................................................................................................... 13 3.3.1 Dead Time .............................................................................................. 19 3.4 Architectural/Design .......................................................................................... 20 3.4.1 Architecture/Design of DAC Core......................................................... 21 3.5 Implementation .................................................................................................. 25 3.5.1 Digital Building Blocks ......................................................................... 25 3.5.2 Analog Building Blocks ......................................................................... 33 3.5.3 Transmission Gates ................................................................................ 33 3.5.4 Operational Amplifiers .......................................................................... 36 Chapter 4 – Simulation .................................................................................................... 52 4.1 Tool Flow ........................................................................................................... 52 4.2 Digital Simulations ............................................................................................ 53 4.2.1 Digital Gates .......................................................................................... 53 4.2.2 Counter ................................................................................................... 56 4.2.3 Two Phase Clock Generator .................................................................. 58 4.3 Analog Simulations............................................................................................ 59 4.3.1 Operational Amplifier ............................................................................ 60 4.4 DAC Integrated Circuit ...................................................................................... 65 4.5 XFAB Simulation Results ................................................................................. 66 4.6 XFAB Temperature Simulation Results ............................................................ 68 4.7 TSMC Simulation Results ................................................................................. 68 4.8 Error Checking ................................................................................................... 71 4.8.1 DNL ....................................................................................................... 71 4.8.2 INL ......................................................................................................... 72 Chapter 5 – Physical Design ............................................................................................ 74 5.1 Digital Layout .................................................................................................... 74 5.1.1 Counter Layout ...................................................................................... 77 5.1.2 Two Phase Clock Generator Layout ...................................................... 78 5.1.3 Digital Core ............................................................................................ 80 5.2 Analog Layout ................................................................................................... 80 5.2.1 Operational Amplifier ............................................................................ 81 5.2.2 Mixed-Signal Core ................................................................................. 82 5.3 Full Chip Layout ................................................................................................ 83 5.3.1 Digital Core ............................................................................................ 83 5.3.2 Analog Core ........................................................................................... 84 5.3.3 DAC with no Voltage Reference ........................................................... 85 5.3.4 DAC with Voltage Reference ................................................................ 87 Chapter 6 – Verification and Testing .............................................................................. 89 6.1 XFAB Testing .................................................................................................... 91 6.1.1 Simulation Results ................................................................................. 94 6.2 TSMC Die Packaging ........................................................................................ 97 6.3 TSMC Testing.................................................................................................. 100 6.3.1 TSMC Simulation Results ................................................................... 103 6.4 Temperature Testing ........................................................................................ 105 6.4.1 TSMC Results ...................................................................................... 105 Chapter 7 – Applications ............................................................................................... 110 7.1 Full System Application .................................................................................. 110 Chapter 8 – Summary and Conclusions ........................................................................ 112 8.1 The Top Down Approach ................................................................................ 112 8.2 Same Design; Two Processes .......................................................................... 112 8.3 Packaging ......................................................................................................... 113 8.4 Future Work ..................................................................................................... 113 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 114 Appendix A ..................................................................................................................... 116 LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 2.1. Data conversion system. ..................................................................


Carbon sequestration of plantations formed by three kinds of forestation (natural forest to plantation (NP), grassland to plantation (GP), and cropland to plantation (CP)) greatly depends on the change of soil organic carbon density (SOCD) compared with its initial SOCD before forestation. However, this dependence was rarely studied, especially in semi-humid/arid regions with strong site variation. This limits the precise assessment and management of SOCD. Therefore, the SOCD variations of 0–100 cm soil layers in these three kinds of plantations were studied in the semi-humid/arid Liupan Mountains in northwestern China. The NP with high initial SOCD showed firstly a decrease and then an increase of SOCD up to 293.2 t·ha−1 at 40 years. The CP and GP with low and relatively high initial SOCD showed negligible and slight SOCD decrease after forestation, but then an increase up to 154.5 and 266.5 t·ha−1 at 40 years. After detecting the main factors influencing SOCD for each forestation mode, statistic relationships were fitted for predicting SOCD variation. This study indicates that besides forest age and biomass growth, the effects of initial vegetation, site-dependent initial SOCD, and SOCD capacity, also precipitation and air temperature in some cases, should be considered for more precise assessment and management of SOCD of plantations.


Method and apparatus for determining the fault causes of alarm patterns in process control systems are disclosed. An exemplary method involves retrieving Prozessleitdaten generated in a process control system during a past period. The Prozessleitdaten comprise alarm data which are linked to alarms which were activated during the last period. The exemplary method further comprises generating an alarm activation time axis for the past period of time. The alarm activation time axis includes symbols that represent the alarms to visually representing a timing relation of activations of alarms, wherein one of the symbols represents a alarms, which is no longer active and the exemplary method further includes storing the alarm activation time axis in a database.


A strengthening U.S. economy bodes well for the oil industry. Increased oil consumption, resulting from an expanding economy and somewhat lower oil prices, could have a major role in solidifying world oil prices at or near current levels through the end of 1983. A continuation of economic growth through 1984 and 1985 can be expected to put upward pressure on oil prices in those years.


Internet services designed for human use are being abused by programs. We present a defense against such attacks in the form of a CAPTCHA (Completely Automatic Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) that exploits the difference in ability between humans and machines in reading images of text. CAPTCHAs are a special case of 'human interactive proofs,' a broad class of security protocols that allow people to identify themselves over networks as members of given groups. We point out vulnerabilities of reading-based CAPTCHAs to dictionary and computer-vision attacks. We also draw on the literature on the psychophysics of human reading, which suggests fresh defenses available to CAPTCHAs. Motivated by these considerations, we propose BaffleText, a CAPTCHA which uses non-English pronounceable words to defend against dictionary attacks, and Gestalt-motivated image-masking degradations to defend against image restoration attacks. Experiments on human subjects confirm the human legibility and user acceptance of BaffleText images. We have found an image-complexity measure that correlates well with user acceptance and assists in engineering the generation of challenges to fit the ability gap. Recent computer-vision attacks, run independently by Mori and Jitendra, suggest that BaffleText is stronger than two existing CAPTCHAs.


Hot coal gas desulfurization,which can enhance efficiency of IGCC electric generation,lower electricity cost and simplify the process,has been paid much attention.The key to researches in this aspect are mechanism of the interaction between regeneratible metal oxides and hydrogen sulfide and other sulfides,and behaviors of the oxides.Latest researches in the sorbents for high temperature coal gas desulfurization were reviewed in this paper,especially calcium-,zinc-,iron-,copper-and manganese-based sorbents.The trends in this field would be a transfer from single metal oxide to multifunctional mixed metal oxides with high-temperature resistance and good regeneratibility.


In multivariate analysis, a predictive model is a mathematical/statistical
 model that relates a set of independent variables to dependent or response
 variable(s). This work presents a descriptive model that explains copper
 recovery from secondary sulfide minerals (chalcocite) taking into account
 the effects of time, heap height, superficial velocity of leaching flow,
 chloride concentration, particle size, porosity, and effective diffusivity
 of the solute within particle pores. Copper recovery is then modelled by a
 system of first-order differential equations. The results indicated that the
 heap height and superficial velocity of leaching flow are the most critical
 independent variables while the others are less influential under
 operational conditions applied. In the present study representative
 adjustment parameters are obtained, so that the model could be used to
 explore copper recovery in chloride media as a part of the extended value
 chain of the copper sulfides processing.


We demonstrate that a dispersive imaging technique based on the Faraday effect can measure the atom number in a large, ultracold atom cloud with a precision below the atom shot noise level. The minimally destructive character of the technique allows us to take multiple images of the same cloud, which enables sub-atom shot noise measurement precision of the atom number and allows for an in situ determination of the measurement precision. We have developed a noise model that quantitatively describes the noise contributions due to photon shot noise in the detected light and the noise associated with single atom loss. This model contains no free parameters and is calculated through an analysis of the fluctuations in the acquired images. For clouds containing N ∼ 5 × 10 6 atoms, we achieve a precision more than a factor of two below the atom shot noise level.


PURPOSE: A method for forming contact of a semiconductor device is provided to improve a step coverage and a diffusion barrier property of a barrier metal film by forming multi-layer barrier films mixed using PVD(Physical Vapor Deposition) and CVD(Chemical Vapor Deposition). CONSTITUTION: After forming an interlayer dielectric(102) on a silicon substrate(100), a vertical contact hole(104) is formed by selectively etching the interlayer dielectric(102). Then, multi-layer barrier metal films(110) are formed on the resultant structure. Firstly, a thin Ti/TiN film(106) as an ohmic layer is formed on the interlayer dielectric(102) and the contact hole(104). Secondly, a first glue film(107) made of TiN is deposited on the ohmic layer by CVD method and a second glue film(108) made of TiN is deposited on the first glue film by PVD method.


This article proposes a new technique that advances long-gauge carbon fiber line sensor technology, with and without post-tensioning of the sensor, to measure changes in strain levels in structural areas. Carbon fiber line sensors were fabricated to produce a slim high-strength sensor with a diameter of less than 1.4 mm using a carbon fiber tow with a width of 6 mm. A theoretical analysis of these sensors as well as several series of experiments was conducted to investigate the effect of fiber arrangement on the error compensation of the carbon fiber line sensors. The results revealed that using two sets of carbon fiber line sensors, one as an active sensor and the other to compensate the errors of the first, is an effective method when both sensors have a convergent fiber arrangement and change in resistance. A post-tensioning method was implemented to enhance the overall behavior of the sensor. The results showed that the post-tensioning method yields significant improvement in the linearity and cyclic ability up to 6000 microstrains and reduces the fluctuation errors in the change in resistance from ±0.031% to ±0.007%. Finally, the possibility of repairing damaged carbon fiber line sensors is also discussed.


Purpose: To describe and analyze the clinical manifestation of Usher's syndrome and to study their hereditary standard as well. Methods: Four patients with Usher's syndrome were studied at Ophthalmologic Clinic of the Getulio Vargas Hospital, in Teresina-PI, between December, 1997 and March, 1999. The patients were scheduled for tests of visual acuity, refraction, biomicroscopy, direct and indirect ophthalmoscopy, tonometry, retinography, visual field with Goldman perimeter and audiometry. Family's pedigree was built and an anamnesis and indirect binocular ophthalmoscopy of 63 (sixty-three) relatives were performed. Results: Of the four patients with Usher's syndrome, one was of type I and three of type II. Their visual acuity varied from 20/100 to 20/400 and the dysacusis was from moderate to severe. All patients had retinitis pigmentosa, and tubular visual field. Conclusion: It is important to make the ophthalmologist aware of Usher's syndrome diagnosis in face of a case of retinitis pigmentosa, calling attention to the autosomal recessive inheritance pattern of the disease as well as to instruct the patients about the clinic manifestations of the disease and the importance of their being treated and attended by an ophthalmogist and otolaryngologist.


This library guide was created to showcase library resources for Intercultural Communications courses by Professors Evans-Zepeda, Salcedo, Selnick, and Lee.


Background: Studies aiming to objectively quantify upper limb movement disorders during functional tasks using wearable sensors have recently increased, but there is a wide variety in described measurement and analyzing methods, hampering standardization of methods in research and clinics. Therefore, the primary objective of this review was to provide an overview of sensor set-up and type, included tasks, sensor features and methods used to quantify movement disorders during upper limb tasks in multiple pathological populations. The secondary objective was to select the most sensitive sensor features for symptom detection and quantification and discuss application of the proposed methods in clinical practice. Methods: A literature search using Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed was performed. Articles needed to meet following criteria: (1) participants were adults/children with a neurological disease, (2) (at least) one sensor was placed on the upper limb for evaluation of movement disorders during functional tasks, (3) comparisons between: groups with/without movement disorders, sensor features before/after intervention, or sensor features with a clinical scale for assessment of the movement disorder. (4) Outcome measures included sensor features from acceleration/angular velocity signals. Results: A total of 101 articles were included, of which 56 researched Parkinsons Disease. Wrist(s), hand and index finger were the most popular sensor locations. The most frequent tasks for assessment were: finger tapping, wrist pro/supination, keeping the arms extended in front of the body and finger-to-nose. The most frequently calculated sensor features were mean, standard deviation, root-mean-square, ranges, skewness, kurtosis and entropy of acceleration and/or angular velocity, in combination with dominant frequencies and power of acceleration signals. Examples of clinical applications were automatization of a clinical scale or discrimination between a patient/control group or different patient groups. Conclusion: Current overview can support clinicians and researchers to select the most sensitive pathology-dependent sensor features and measurement methodologies for detection and quantification of upper limb movement disorders and for the objective evaluations of treatment effects. The insights from Parkinsons Disease studies can accelerate the development of wearable sensors protocols in the remaining pathologies, provided that there is sufficient attention for the standardisation of protocols, tasks, feasibility and data analysis methods.


Two interesting and unusual Spiruroid parasites have been reported from the intestines of marine fish. These are referred to the new genera and species, namely, Bulbocephalus inglisi and Cestocephalus serratus. The former is characterized by a globular head and the muscular oesophagus has two bulbs in its most anterior part. The glandular portion of this oesophagus is 20–25 times as long as the muscular part. The diganosis of Cestocephalus serratus is mainly based on the presence of an oblong head which is covered anteriorly by lobe-like structures in the manner of bothridia in some Cestodes. A new subfamily (family Spiruridae) has been proposed to accommodate Bulbocephalus gen.nov. The family or subfamily diagnosis of Cestocephalus gen.nov. has been restricted at present due to the paucity of material. The writer wishes to express her gratitude to Professor J. J. C. Buckley for his interest throughout this work.


About a billion tubes of toothpaste are discarded in landfills every year. It becomes a real environmental problem considering that the package is composed of 75% plastic and 25% aluminum. Aware of this, new green brands go on the market with the will to eradicate such waste. The idea is to validate the developing of a toothpaste that is a pill that is used for cleaning teeth that will be mainly clay combined with coconut oil. Making this toothpaste will result on a better dental health as well as taking care of the environment, helping to eliminate plastics. Using clay and coconut oil has prove to destroy of all types of microbes, viruses, bacteria, many of which harm our oral hygiene. Helping to solve the problem of caries that affects 60 to 90 percent of the population by improving their dental hygiene. Survey in a simple of 383 inhabitans was taken in order to Identify areas of commercial opportunity and the willingness of the consumer to purchase oral cleaning tablets.


The measurement of ocular blood flow is important in studying the pathophysiology and treatment of several leading causes of blindness. A pilot study was performed to evaluate the total retinal blood flow in glaucoma patient using Fourier domain optical coherence tomography. For normal people, the measured total retinal flow was between 40.8 and 60.2 μl/minute. We found that eyes with glaucoma had decreased retinal blood flow and average flow veocity, while the venous cross sectional areas were essentially the same as normal. The decrease in blood flow was highly correlated with the severity of visual field loss.


ABSTRACT Narrative approaches have been well known in public policy and public administration research for years. As a contribution to research on reform narratives, this paper will deal with the question of how the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) can be used to understand the dynamics of reforms. For the case of New Public Management (NPM) reforms in Germany between 1993 and the late 2000s, it is shown how a reform narrative is shaped by reform actors and how it evolves through implementation. It is argued that the dynamics of re-form narratives typically lead to excessive expectations which must be disappointed during implementation. While from a methodological perspective, benefits of the NPF for structuring narrative analysis are evident, a systematic approach for linking narrative evolution to material or social facts seems to be vital.


the manuscript investigates the capacity enhancement derived from the new trend of Coded-Beam High Throughput Satellite (CB-HTS) System; CB-HTS is a methodology of adoption of Direct- Sequence Code Division Multiplexing (DS-CDM) orthogonal coding as a resource allocation associated with each beam of multi-beam satellites. This system offers no spectrum reuses and there is no co-channel interference between beams as they are isolated with the code orthogonally, therefore the system throughput increases without scarifying any resources or increasing neither system complexity nor latency. The presented work uses the affordable polarization resource at the user terminal side to increase the capacity in each beam by using both vertical and horizontal polarization support with the conventional multiple accessing techniques between users in the beam. Results show the superiority of proposed scheme compared to current state of- the art in cases of practical interest.


The popularity of visual communication in social network sites (SNS) can guide an important question about its effectiveness and the optimization for luxury brand advertising: How do visual communication messages via SNS work for consumer information processing and their evaluation of luxury hotels? To address this question, we examine consumer information processing in SNS in which visual communication messages work as narratives based on narrative transportation theory (Green & Brock, 2002; van Laer, Ruyter, Visconti, & Wetzels, 2014). Specific purposes are: (1) to identify key features of consumer information processing as narrative persuasion (i.e., narrative transportation), (2) to examine how consumers' perceptions of fluency with visual messages (i.e., comprehension fluency and imagery fluency) influence the narrative persuasion process, and (3) to explore how the narrative persuasion process develops consumer responses with respect to positive affect and visit intention. First, we predict that increased fluency of information processing (comprehension fluency and imagery fluency) would increase narrative transportation. Second, increased narrative transportation would increase affective response and visit intention. Lastly, as for the two consequences, we predict that affective response would positively affect visit intention. A web-based survey was used for data collection. Measurement items of research variables were adapted from previous studies. A total of 193 usable responses were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants were directed to explore one randomly assigned luxury hotel Instagram page (Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton) and complete the questionnaire based on the experience. Results showed that comprehensive fluency, rather than imagery fluency, has significant impact on narrative transportation. Narrative transportation in turn influences affective response and visit intention; affective response influences visit intention. Additional tests suggest that narrative transportation and affective response play a mediating role in the narrative persuasion process. These findings highlight the power of narrative transportation in advertising for luxury brands, advising that marketers need to put efforts on enhancing visual storytelling in SNS communication.


OBJECTIVE
To patlern the clinical ruptures of injured arteries.

METHODS
Traumatic methods and microsurgery were employed.

RESULTS
Experimental model of pseudoaneurysm was made in 72 femoral arteries of 54 Japanese white rabbits, with a successful rate of 95.8%. Using these models, the process and the mechanism for the formation of pseudoaneurysm were studied. The effects of color Doppler's ultrasonic image, CT, MRI and arterial angiography in the diagnosis of pseudoaneurysm were evaluated.

CONCLUSION
The indicators for clinical signs of the rupture hemorrhage of pseudoaneurysm were put forward. The methods for balloon dilation to block the blood supply of the carrier artery and control the hemorrhage of operation were set up.


Objective:To preparate BCUN-loaded lipid ultrasound contrast agent and detect its physical properties and contrast-enhancing effects.Methods:Mechanical oscillation was used to prepare BCUN-loaded lipid contrast agent.Density was detected and analyzed with microscope.Malvern determined intensity,disposition and Zeta potential.RP-HPLC detected envelopment rate.Cryodesiccated-microb ubbles were sterilized by 60Co irradiation.Following injected it through rabbit ear vein,effects of ultrasounic enhanced imaging in rabbit liver was observed.Results:The density of microbubble was(2.6~3.1)×109/ ml.The mean intensity was(1.05±0.20)μm.The mean Zeta potential was(12.93±1.84)mV.The mean nvelopment rate was(42.6±0.11)%.After injecting this microbubble,good and sustained ultrasounic enhanced images in rabbit liver were seen.Conclusions:BCUN-loaded lipid contrast agents were successfully prepared,which hopefullyprovide a new option oftargetingtreatment for the tumor.


1. Electroconductive modified material adapted to interact with the touch screen device, wherein a modified material comprising: a skin or skin material representing a material containing a plurality of voids or fibers distributed in the material, electroconductive agent; isvyazuyuschy agent, wherein at least a portion of leather or leather-like material impregnated with a conductive agent and a binder at a concentration sufficient to provide electrical conductivity and capacity of the modified material, wherein the modified material has a volume resistivity of less than about 1.0 × 10 Ohm · cm ; wherein the modified material, when formed into a means for interacting with a touch screen device has a capacity of more than 10.0 pF; and wherein electrical conductivity and capacity of the modified material providing capacitive coupling modified material with a device touch ekrana.2. Electroconductive modified material of claim 1, wherein, when the skin or the skin material include a plurality of voids, a plurality of electrically conductive agent fills the voids in the skin or leather-like materiale.3. Electroconductive modified material of claim 1 comprising at least about 30% conductive agenta.4. Electroconductive modified material according to claim 3, wherein the conductive agent is selected from the group consisting of carbon black, carbon nanotubes, graphite, PEDOT, polyaniline, silver, copper, gold, nickel, aluminum, indium, zinc, tin and combinations thereof. five. The electrically conductive material is modified by


As part of statutory relationships and sex education, schools will need to ensure that the needs of children with SEND are met. Lucy Emmerson advises


Objective
To investigate the clinical characteristics of colonic diverticulosis and the surgical method and curative effect of laparoscope in colonic diverticulosis.

Methods
From June 2013 to July 2018, thirty-two cases of colonic diverticulosis diagnosed in Guangzhou Huadu District People's Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. There were eleven males and twenty-one females. Diverticles occurred in rectum in four cases, sigmoid colon in two cases, left colon in six cases and ileocecal in twenty cases. The operation was terminated in two cases because the family refused to undergo intestinal resection. Thirty cases underwent intestinal resection, including sigmoidectomy in two cases, rectal resection in four cases, right hemicolectomy in eleven cases, partial resection of descending colon in five cases, ileocecal resection plus jejunocolic anastomosis in eight cases, of which seven cases underwent temporary descending colon fistula and were admitted half a year later. Laparoscopic exploration and conversion to laparotomy were performed in fourteen cases, laparoscopic surgery was performed in sixteen cases.

Results
The symptoms were relieved after anti-infection treatment in two cases, after 1 month of follow-up, colonoscopy was not positive, and diverticulitis had not recurred so far. Thirty cases gained satisfactory postoperative recovery results, no symptoms such as diarrhea and feces were found during follow-up. There was no significant difference in the incidence of complications between ileocecal resection and right hemicolectomy (50.0% vs36.4%, χ2=1.584, P=0.812). The recovery of gastrointestinal function in laparoscopic surgery group was faster than that in open surgery group (t=8.062, P<0.01), and the hospitalization time was shorter (t=8.607, P<0.01).

Conclusions
Partial intestinal resection in the first stage is safe and effective after diagnosis of colonic diverticulum. Laparoscopic partial intestinal resection has more advantages than traditional surgery.

Key words:
Diverticulum, colon; Abdomen, acute; Colectomy; Laparoscopes


Time series is a sequence of measurements made at regular time intervals. Tremendous work has been done on pipe break investigation and maintenance, using different models. However, the authors have not found any research work on pipe failures in water distribution networks using time series.

 The principal objective of this paper was to investigate the applications of time series analysis in modeling man-made (pipe breaks) and natural (rainfall) environmental systems.

 This objective was satisfied by employing the Time-Domain (Box-Jenkins) approach to assess two case studies in Kuwait of a water distribution network (pipe failures), and from rainfall rates measurement of a solid waste disposal site, respectively. The statistical analysis of these data was conducted with the aid of the BMDP and SAS computer software packages and by the use of the P2T programming procedure for the Box-Jenkins method.

 The results showed a significant correlation between the data and the time series models provides good estimates of pipe reliability and rainfall measurements.

 Based on the significant results, time series analyses could and should be useful by water authorities in planning pipe maintenance and inspection. Moreover, it is recommended and it would be very useful to conduct similar studies on pipes carrying other fluids such as gas, air and oil.


....................................................................................................................................... 13 TOXICOFERA .................................................................................................................................... 13 ANGUIMORPHA ................................................................................................................................. 17 TOXINS ............................................................................................................................................. 23 CONCLUDING REMARKS .................................................................................................................... 43 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 2: FOSSILIZED VENOM: THE UNUSUALLY CONSERVED VENOM PROFILES OF HELODERMA SPECIES (BEADED LIZARDS AND GILA MONSTERS) ..................................... 60 ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................ 6


Current collaborative learning systems focus on maximizing shared information. However, "meaningful learning" is not simply information sharing but also knowledge construction. CLARE is a computer-supported learning environment that facilitates meaningful learning through collaborative knowledge construction. It provides a semi-formal representation language called RESRA and an explicit process model called SECAI. Experimental evaluation through 300 hours of classroom usage indicates that CLARE does support meaningful learning. It also shows that a major bottleneck to computer-mediated knowledge construction is summarization. Lessons learned through the design and evaluation of CLARE provide new insights into both collaborative learning systems and collaborative learning theories.


Abstract : The report presents the proceedings of a symposium on the utilization of organizational indicator data, held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sept. 25-27, 1974. Each of the first four sessions covered, in the form of invited papers, a segment of the overall topic: history and background, methodological issues, management information system uses, and developmental uses. The fifth session consisted of a derivation activity, in which general points emerging from the presentations were posted and possible action implications were identified.


This research is to investigate the influence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to corporate financial performance with earning management and size company as moderating variable. CSR disclosure by GRI G3 is used as the proxy of CSR activity, ROE is used as the proxy of financial performance and discretionary accruals by The Modified Jones model is used as the proxy of earning management practices. The results of this research show that CSR has significant influence on corporate financial performance. The analysis with the moderating variable Absolute Residual Method shows that earning management moderate in relation between CSR and corporate financial performance and it shows negative significant influence. And The analysis with the moderating variable Absolute Residual Method shows that size company moderate in relation between CSR and corporate financial performance and it shows positive significant influence. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, earnings management, size company, and corporate financial performance


A key ring holder of the type designed to be supported by a belt, including an elongated loop member adapted to surround and be retained by a belt, the loop member having secured thereto an eye which projects outwardly from the loop member and which carries a spring clip for holding a key ring spaced outwardly from the body of the wearer. The outer wall of the loop member preferably diverges outwardly from the inner wall from the top to the bottom so that it can be used for belts of different thicknesses. In one form, the ring may have secured thereto by means of a flexible wire a second ring so as to permit dividing the keys into two groups each of which is carried by a separate ring.


This article extends a recently proposed heterogeneous data assimilation technique for site characterization to estimate compression and shear wave velocity (Vp and Vs, respectively) and damping at Treasure Island and Delaney Park downhole arrays. The adopted method is based on the joint inversion of earthquake acceleration time series and experimental surface wave dispersion data and includes physical constraints to improve the inverse problem's well-posedness. We first use synthetic data at these two sites to refine the proposed approach and then apply the refined algorithm to real datasets available at the Treasure Island and Delaney Park downhole arrays. The joint inversion results show that the estimated Vs and Vp profiles are in very good agreement with measured profiles at these two sites. Our synthetic and real data experiment results suggest that Vp estimation from inversion at downhole arrays can be improved by integrating the water table depth information or the higher modes of the Rayleigh wave dispersion data. In the last part of this article, we compare the performance of the inverted profiles to other methods used to incorporate spatial variability and wave scattering effects in one-dimensional (1D) ground response analysis (GRA). The comparisons show that the joint inversion-based Vs and Vp profiles and damping ratios estimated in this article can better integrate the effects of spatial variability and wave scattering into 1D GRAs, especially at the Delaney Park downhole array, which is classified as a poorly modeled site using traditional 1D GRA.


The Psychology as Science Scale (Friedrich, 1996) was administered to 525 psychology students from nine Russian universities to assess their beliefs about the nature of the discipline. About half of students (49.6%) generally agreed that psychology may be called a scientific discipline. Specifically, 71. 5% of the students agreed that psychology is a natural science, similar to biology, chemistry, and physics, 39. 9% of students agreed that psychological research is important and training in psychological methodology is necessary, and 43.1% of students agreed that human behavior is highly predictable. Students who took three methodology courses shared significantly stronger beliefs in the need for psychological research and the importance of training in methodology compared to students who did not take any methodology courses. Furthermore, students with a specialist degree had significantly stronger beliefs that psychology is a science compared to students who have just finished school. In terms of the effect of students' career aspirations, students who wanted to be academic psychologists and clinicians had significantly stronger beliefs that psychology is a science compared to students who did not have clarity about their future careers. Regardless of the study limitations, these findings have potential implications for Russian psychology instructors.


Aim To evaluate the effect of a novel phytoestrogen α-Zearalanol on oxLDL-induced effect on NO and ET-1 production in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.Methods Protein and mRNA expression of NOS and ET-1 were measured by Western blot and RT-PCR, levels of NO and ET-1 were measured by spectrophotometry and enzymatic immunoassay.Results Our results indicated that oxLDL significantly reduced NO release and enhanced ET-1 production associated with reducing eNOS protein/mRNA expression and enhancing ET-1 mRNA expression. α-Zearalanol could attenuate or abolish these oxLDL-induced alterations.Conclusion Phytoestrogen α-Zearalanol may effectively antagonize oxLDL-induced decrease in NO and increase in ET-1, which may be protective for endothelial function.


With the technology of Additive manufacturing (AM) still developing and more and more AM machines and technologies becoming available, it is very important to know accurate data about every machine to make the right choice for your product. This paper will focus on selective laser sintering (SLS) and more specifically the influence of the laser speed on the average manufacturing speed.


Using the client device of a distributed speech recognizer usually implies the presence of background noise since most scenarios for distributed speech recognition (DSR) are situated in a non-office environment. Thus, the general task is to choose the most suitable feature extraction method for the given conditions. We present a hybrid speech recognition approach implemented for DSR that allows the choice of arbitrary feature vectors (regarding number and range of value) without changing the amount of data sent to the recognition engine. Experiments were carried out using mel-cepstrum and RASTA-PLP features on the AURORA database. Results show how the recognition performance under different noise conditions can be adjusted if the different features are combined, and that our hybrid approach to DSR has advantages that could not that easily be obtained with traditional DSR architectures.


The present work was undertaken to identify and determine the concentration of PAHs in forty samples of three different types of tea (green, oolong and black teas) collected in two provinces of Vietnam (Thai Nguyen province in the North and Lam Dong province in the South). For sample preparation, the quick and simple QuEChRES procedure was used and eighteen PAHs congeners were detected by gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), with the percentage recovery higher than 70%. The concentration of the total 18 PAHs in tea samples ranged from 154.2 to 709.0 μg/kg with the highest of total PAHs found in black tea samples. Nine PAHs congeners were found in all samples with wide ranges of concentrations as follows: 1-methylnapththalene (3.6 – 73.1 μg/kg), Acenaphthene (1.6 – 45.0 μg/kg), Fluorene (4.2 – 49.5 μg/kg), Anthracene (2.1 – 40.0 μg/kg), Pyrene (19.3 – 224.9 μg/kg), Chrysene (4.6 – 233.0 μg/kg), Benzo (b) fluoranthene (0.6 – 23.7 μg/kg), Indeno (1,2,3,cd) pyrene (1.0 – 38.4 μg/kg), and Dibenzo (a,h) anthraxcene (1.1 – 25.0 μg/kg). 3–4 rings PAHs were dominant in all tea samples, with a contribution of 66.0 – 84.3% of the total 18 PAHs content. The average content of the indicated PAHs in oolong tea from the South (OS) was the lowest and that of black tea from the South (BS) was the highest. It was also observed that the toxic equivalent (TEQ) values of tea samples from the North higher than those from the South.


The Program Synthesis system is a compiler compiler specially designed to enable the implementors of application systems to design, implement and issue language-based applications without having to concern themselves with the technical aspects of compiler construction; and also to ensure that the resulting systems are easily enhanced and easily portable. The background of the Program Synthesis system is described as well as its associated methodology and the internal structure of the system. The proposed enhancements to the system are described together with the reasons for their consideration. Finally some of the achievements of the system are described.


We show in this paper that the statistical properties of the speckle image formed at the focus of a large telescope can be fully described by a joint statistical analysis at N different spatial positions, where N is the number of resolution cells in the object's support. To obtain this result, the statistical properties are defined using multifold moment-generating functions (MGFs). Simplifying assumptions (discrete one-dimensional geometry, stationarity) are used to make the mathematical formalism simpler; they make the imaging process similar to a moving average process. General expressions are given for the twofold MGF and for MGFs of higher order. These relations are then used to show that an analysis of order N is exhaustive. It is shown that an MGF of order N + 1 can be written as the product of two MGFs of order N divided by an MGF of order N - 1. Alternatively, it is also shown that the cumulant of order N + 1 is equal to zero. A particular comment is made for the case of the double-star speckle pattern.


The use of mixing vials in place of the usual calibrated viscometers as vessels for dissolving cellulose in cuprammonium solution is described. The solution of cellulose is prepared in the vial and poured into a calibrated viscometer for flow measurements. The data given show that the exposure of the solution to the air for the short time required for pouring has no measurable effect on the fluidity. CONTENTS Page


According to Singapore green construction standard,green construction organization is set up and green construction system is improved.Green construction idea is brought into construction to reduce resource degradation and influence on normal life.Based on energy and materials saving,soil erosion prevention,water treatment,noise and vibration control,garbage disposal,water and land saving,public security and person management and green construction innovation,the authors introduce green construction of Singapore Universal Studio project in detail.


The nature and function of pleadings. The formal requirements and principal rules of pleadings. Chapters on statements of claim, defences and subsequent pleadings. The amendment and striking out of pleadings.


Motivation The possibility of modelling protein interaction at the domain level introduces some combinatorial problems in the description of cellular pathways to be avoided. In particular, cellular pathways often involve many different proteins, which can bind with each other in several different ways, thus forming a huge number of different protein complexes. The usual approach to the modelling of these pathways is by considering each possible protein complex as a different species, hence as a different entity in the model. The result is that models often become too complex to be analysed. The modelling of protein interaction at the domain level allows the set of species considered in a model to consist only of the proteins involved in the described pathway by representing complexes as structures having proteins as building blocks. In our framework, we can combine the advantages of this way of modelling protein interactions with the advantages of having a rather general formalism.


Guide on the Side interactive tutorials for ProQuest's Global Newsstream and Gale's Opposing Viewpoints in Context databases. (ENGL1050 - Kraft)