The increasing demands imposed upon the secondary schools to provide broader opportunities to a rapidly growing enrolment have necessitated numerous changes in the internal organization of many secondary schools. Some recent research studies have been especially helpful in supplying administrators with the guiding principles by which such changes might be made. Recitation schedules, promotion plans, guidance programs, and extracurriculum activities appear to be the main problems with which these studies are concerned, and therefore determine the scope of this portion of the review.


Analysis of small disasters illustrates how these frequent events, usually as result of the climate variability, increase difficulties for the local development and entail a serious problem for the development of a country as a whole. These disasters, contrary to the extreme and extraordinary events, are not visible at national level very often and their effects are not relevant from macro-economic point of view. Small disasters usually affect the livelihoods of poor people in rural areas and small municipalities, perpetuating their level of poverty and human insecurity as factors of social vulnerability. On the other hand, in urban centers, small and moderate disasters have allowed having a light of the city zones that historically have presented the greatest vulnerability levels. The main objective of this paper is to present the revision made to the methodology of the Local Disaster Index (LDI), developed in the framework of the Program of Indicators for Disaster Risk Management in the Americas. The LDI in the new version illustrates that the accumulative impact may be highly significant at the local level and, consequently, to the national level from social point of view. In addition, the paper presents the results of the evaluation of the proneness of Colombia to small scale and chronic disasters and the type of impact they have to the local development and to the country from aggregated point of view. Such analyses have detected the spatial variability and dispersion of vulnerability and risk in the country as result of events that rarely enter in the international or even national disaster databases, but which pose an accumulative development problem for local areas and, given their overall probable impacts, for the country as a whole.


Pancreatic and venom phospholipase A/sub 2/ display a marked preference for micellar substrates and act poorly on monomeric substrates. The authors have now examined the merit of the proposal that the product-release step is slow, but is accelerated when the enzyme acts on aggregated phospholipids. Measurements of H/sub 2/ /sup 18/O isotope exchange into specifically-labeled substrate was used to obtain information on the rate-limiting step in the enzyme action. A novel technique of distinguishing /sup 18/O incorporation by /sup 13/C-/sup 18/O vs /sup 13/C-/sup 16/O chemical shift differences at 126 MHz for /sup 13/C NMR was employed. The enzymatic hydrolysis of a micellar phosphatidylcholine analogue of platelet activating factor, 1-alkyl, 2 (1-/sup 13/C)-lauroyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoryl-choline proceeds by O-acyl cleavage of the sn-2 ester bond. The reaction was examined for the possibility of simultaneous /sup 18/O incorporation into the substrate. No exchange was found suggesting that the catalytic step is not followed by a higher energy transition state and that it or a step before it appears to be rate-limiting.


Technical factors such as inaccurate jig placement can lead to mal-alignment of the screw which, in turn, can lead to higher rate of non-union after scaphoid fracture fixation using the Herbert– Huene jig.1 Central screw placement in the proximal fragment confers biomechanical advantage and increased strength of fixation.2 We have found that the jig can slip after placement and checking the position using an image intensifier, which can lead to inappropriate screw placement. TECHNIQUE The fracture is reduced and the jig is applied across the scaphoid in the usual way. A 1.6-mm K-wire sleeve from the AO proximal humeral locking plate system (PHILOS, Synthes, Welwyn Garden City, UK) can be inserted into the jig entry collar (Fig. 1). This K-wire sleeve is appropriately undersized to match the internal diameter of the jig collar and accommodates a 1.6-mm K-wire (Fig. 2). This allows the K-wire to be inserted centrally within the jig providing Technical Section doi 10.1308/003588409X464630


The effect of partial replacement of palm kernel shell powder by carbon black (CB) and halloysite nanotube (HNT) on the tensile properties, rubber-filler interaction, thermal properties and morphological studies of natural rubber (NR) composites were investigated. Four different compositions of NR/PKS/CB and NR/PKS/HNT composites i.e 20/0, 15/5, 10/10,5/15 and 0/20 parts per hundred rubber (phr) were prepared on a two roll mill. The results showed that the tensile strength and modulus at 100% elongation (M100) and 300% elongation (M300) were higher for NR/PKS/CB compared to NR/PKS/HNT composites. NR/PKS/CB composites had the lowest elongation at break (Eb). The effect of commercial fillers in NR/PKS composites on tensile properties was confirmed by the rubber-filler interaction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study. The thermal stability of PKS filled NR composites with partially replaced by commercial fillers also determined by Thermo gravimetric Analysis (TGA).The effect of partial replacement of palm kernel shell powder by carbon black (CB) and halloysite nanotube (HNT) on the tensile properties, rubber-filler interaction, thermal properties and morphological studies of natural rubber (NR) composites were investigated. Four different compositions of NR/PKS/CB and NR/PKS/HNT composites i.e 20/0, 15/5, 10/10,5/15 and 0/20 parts per hundred rubber (phr) were prepared on a two roll mill. The results showed that the tensile strength and modulus at 100% elongation (M100) and 300% elongation (M300) were higher for NR/PKS/CB compared to NR/PKS/HNT composites. NR/PKS/CB composites had the lowest elongation at break (Eb). The effect of commercial fillers in NR/PKS composites on tensile properties was confirmed by the rubber-filler interaction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study. The thermal stability of PKS filled NR composites with partially replaced by commercial fillers also determined by Thermo gravimetric Analysis (TGA).


Nowadays, there is great diversity of economic growth in the world. This paper is going to analyze some reasons which bring about such differences and if possible, motivate rapid economic growth in the future. Herein, a lot of decisive and influential factors have been proposed and most importantly, three crucial factors of governance, technological progress, and population growth have been discussed critically. Meanwhile, it is also significant to realize the fact that there is mutual influence between economic growth and these relevant factors, just like the relationship of eggs and chickens. So far, with our limited knowledge about economic development, it is still quite difficult to explain clearly why growth rates differ among countries. We need to trace economic growth for a long time, accumulate valuable experiences and revise them from time to time.


In this paper the authors analyse and overview the application principles of graphic communication as components of eLearning and the meaning of computer graphics for different teaching methods. A special emphasis is on graphic communication as element of communication in learning objects (LO). The authors observe the increasing implementation of ICT in teaching, both in teaching supported by computers and in teaching fully organized and performed by eTechnology – on-line eLearning. Graphic components in eLearning play a very important role, particularly in overcoming cultural and linguistic barriers in heterogeneous groups of students. This paper focuses on this particular moment, especially on the use of electronic elaborated LO content.


Anthropogenic climate warming is expected to accelerate the hydrological cycle with significant consequences for hydrological droughts. However, a systematic understanding of climate warming impacts on the global hydrological droughts and their driving mechanisms is still lacking. Here, we integrate bias‐corrected climate experiments, multiple hydrological models (HYs), and a multivariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a machine learning modeling framework, to examine the evolving frequency and multivariate characteristics of hydrological droughts and their mechanisms under climate warming for 6,688 catchments in the five principal Köppen‐Geiger climate zones. Results show that the total frequency of hydrological droughts is likely to stay unchanged while extreme hydrological droughts (e.g., events with a 30 yr joint return period, JRP) are projected to occur more frequently across the 21st century. The historical 30 yr JRP events assessed during the historical baseline period of 1985–2014 could become twice as frequent over ∼60% of global catchments by 2071–2100 under the middle and high emission scenarios (ESs). Climate uncertainty (i.e., from global climate models and ESs) is the major source of uncertainty over temperate and tropical catchments, versus HY uncertainty in arid catchments with locally complex runoff regimes. Our machine learning framework indicates that precipitation stress controls the development of historical droughts over ∼87% of global catchments. However, with climate warming, air temperature variations are expected to become the new primary driver of droughts in high‐latitude cold catchments. This study highlights an increasing risk of global extreme hydrological droughts with warming and suggests that rising temperatures in high latitudes may lead to more extreme hydrological droughts.


Objective: To compare the partially threaded versus fully threaded cannulated screw fixation methods in stable neck of femur fracture in terms of early functional outcomes in patients of age 60 and above. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at Orthopedic Unit-II, Mayo Hospital Lahore, Pakistan from July 2021 to July 2022. A total of 82 (41 in each group) patients of both genders, aged 60 or above were included. All patients had garden Type-I or II and were mobile before they fractured the femoral neck were included. In Group-A, cannulated screw fixation (cancellous screws 6 mm) was done using partially threaded screws while fully threaded screws (cancellous screws 6 mm) were used in Group-B. Patients were followed up at six weeks, three months and six months interval for "Radiographic Union Scale for Hip (RUSH)" and "Harris Hip score". Results: In a total of 82 (41 in each group) patients, 66 (80.5%) we male. At 6th week (p=0540) and 3rd month (p=0.653) postoperatively, no significant differences were seen between groups for Hip Harris score. However, at 6th month, functional outcome of Group-B patients was significantly better as compared to Group-A (p=0.038). Mean RUSH score in Group-A and in Group-B at 6th month postoperative was 25.45±2.73 and 30.52±2.39 (p<0.001). Conclusion: Fully threaded cannulated screw fixation is better in treating undisplaced neck of femur fracture as compared to partially threaded cannulated screw fixation in terms of early functional outcomes among the age group of 60 years and above. RCT Registration number: NCT05587660.


Distal ureteral lesion due to blunt trauma is relatively rare in the literature. Simultaneously, the bulbar urethra is the portion of the urethra most commonly affected in blunt trauma. This article reports the initial surgical management of an important combined lesion of distal ureter and bulbar urethra, in a reference trauma center in Brazil.


MUCH IS often1 written about the importance of intermediate and lower level planning so as to reduce the gap between the planning agency and the area of implementation and consequently to enable location, specific needs, and solution to be spelt out in the light of both local resource availability and national developmental priorities, keeping in view local socioadministrative practices and inter and intra local area economic linkages. Such local/intermediate plan documents would not only make sectoral financial outlays easier to decide, but also enable better coordinatiQn between the various sectoral allocations for an area and better physical, spatial and human (including individual beneficiary) planning. The lower the level of the plan, the smaller the plan area is likely to be, and thus, the more detailed the plan document, making its implementation easier. Also in case people closer to the implementation level do the planning then such plans are also likely to be much more practical and realistic from the implementation point of view. So the theory goes. And unless tried out in real earnest it can neither be proved nor disproved. Such an approach if taken to its logical conclusion implies that the field level implementation staff should prepare its own village block/district plans as also its own special developmental micro-projects and then also implement them. Or at most that the local citizenry, or other experts specially placed at the local level, associate with the local implementation agency to undertake such plan and project formulation. It is the purpose of this brief paper to examine existing trends (as are visible to this observer) in this direction in Rajasthan's rural development efforts to try and figure out whether such a trend is likely to continue until a situation


The upcoming Square Kilometre Array (SKA-Low) will map the distribution of neutral hydrogen during reionization and produce a tremendous amount of 3D tomographic data. The biggest challenge for the observational analysis of these images is to separate the 21-cm signal from the un-desired foreground and instrumental noise contaminations. Here we present SERENEt . A deep learning approach that works on SKA mock observation with an observation time of 1000 h and in the presence of the Galactic synchrotron foreground. We use a PCA and functional PCA (fPCA) pre-process with BlueBild code to reduce the dynamic range in foreground contaminated 21-cm image and show that our network identifies regions of neutral hydrogen (H I ) and re-covers the reionisation 21-cm signal from those same regions identified as neutral. We show as our approach can identify neutral regions during reionization with more than 87 per cent accuracy and recover the 21-cm 2D power spectra with an average of 95 per cent accuracy.


Prediction of glacier changes is crucial for our society to adapt to the ongoing climate change. First, using correlation analysis, we found that a climate index (annual temperature) is significantly correlated with glacier area changes in China. A linear empirical model was then constructed to predict glacier area changes using temperature projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). By using a subset of the glacier area change data as training data and the rest as verification data, we confirmed that the ability of the model to predict is reliable. The model requires only simple inputs and is easy to use. It gives a means of obtaining information on glacier area changes in the future for people in other disciplines as well as glaciologists who only need general information concerning glacier area changes in China.


We searched for 21-cm absorption associated with the Z abs = 1.3647 absorption system towards the gigahertz peaked-spectrum source PKS 0237-233 using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). A high quality Ultraviolet and Visible Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) spectrum shows that C I and C I* are detected at this redshift together with C II*, Mg I, Mg II, Si II, Al II, Fe II and Mn II. The complex profiles, spread over ∼300 km s -1 , are fitted with 21 Voigt profile components. None of these components is detected in 21-cm absorption down to a detection limit of τ(3σ) ≤ 3 x 10 -3 (or N(H I)/Ts ≤ 10 17 cm -2 K -1 ). We derive log [N(H I) cm -2 ]≤ 19.30 ± 0.30 using the Lya absorption line detected in the IUE (International Ultraviolet Explorer) spectrum of the quasar. Mg II, Si II and Al II column densities are consistent with near-solar metallicity and we measure [O/H] ≥ -0.33. Using photoionization models constrained by the fine-structure excitations of C i and C II, and the 21-cm optical depth, we show that the C I absorption arises predominantly either in a warm ionized medium (WIM) or warm neutral medium (WNM) in ionization and thermal equilibrium with the metagalactic ultraviolet (UV) background dominated by quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) and star-forming galaxies. The estimated thermal pressure of the gas is of the same order of magnitude over different velocity ranges through the absorption profile (2.6 ≤ log [P/k (cm -3 K)] ≤ 4.0). The gas-phase metallicity corrected for ionization is Z ≥ 0.5 Z ⊙ with a signature of iron coproduction elements being under abundant compared to a process elements by ∼0.5dex. At z abs ≥ 1.9, C I absorption is usually associated with H 2 absorption arising from cold gas in damped Lya systems (DLAs). This system and the Z abs = 2.139 towards Tol 1037-270 are the only two systems known which show that C I absorption can also be detected in warm gas provided the metallicity is high enough. Interestingly, both the systems are part of unusual concentrations of absorption lines.


The ultrafine-particle samples of Fe-29 wt% Ni alloy with different average particle sizes (12 to 100 nm) are prepared by the evaporation condensation method in N2 atmosphere. They exhibit a mixture of martensite α′ (bcc) and austenite γ (fcc) phases. Each individual particle is a single crystal (bcc or fcc). The volume fraction of martensite increases markedly with the decrease of the average particle size. During heating, as the average particle size decreases, the temperature (A s and A f) for α′→γ reverse martensitic transformation decreases, and the range (A s-A f) of reverse transformation temperature becomes narrower, whereas during cooling (down to 77 K), we have not observed γ→α′ martensitic transformation. The stabilization of austenite and the growth mechanism of martensite and austenite are preliminarily discussed in this paper.


The research trend in additive manufacturing (AM) has evolved over the past 30 years, from patents, advances in the design, and layer-by-layer materials, to technologies. However, this evolution is faced with some barriers, such as the implementation of additive manufacturing (AM) in operations, its productivity limitations, and economic and social sustainability. These barriers need to be overcome in order to realize the full potential of AM. The objective of this study is to analyze the bibliometric data on these barriers through a systematic review in two study areas: business model innovation and sustainability in AM from Industry 4.0 perspective. Using the most common keywords in these two study areas, we performed a search on the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases and filtered the results using some inclusion and exclusion criteria. A bibliometric analysis was performed for authorship productivity, journals, the most common keywords, and the identified research clusters in the study areas. For the bibliometric analysis, the BIBEXCEL software was used to extract the relevant information, and Bibliometrix was used to determine the research trend over the past few years. Finally, a literature review was performed to identify future trends in the study areas. The analysis showed evidence of the relationship between the study areas from a bibliometric perspective and areas related to AM as an enabler for Industry 4.0.


TB cases are on the increase worldwide. Professor Peter Davies explains how and why the fight against this disease should continue


Ablative material design and improvement need suitable ground testing under high enthalpy flow conditions using intrusive and non-intrusive measurement techniques. The main objective is to develop the ground testing environment adapted for the study of ablative materials at high heat flux levels and provide a database on precise information about the materials to be tested. This paper presents the studies aimed at the testing of graphite and cork ablative material samples at the Plasmatron Facility of the Von Karman Institute, under heat flux levels of around 5-7 MW/m 2


A nonvolatile memory cell comprising a silicon substrate comprising a major surface, a portion of the source region of the silicon substrate, a portion of the drain region of the silicon substrate, and a well region located a portion of the silicon substrate and between the source and the drain region. The unit comprises a bottom oxide layer is formed on the major surface of the substrate. The oxide layer on the bottom major surface proximate the well region. The unit comprises a charge storage layer is located above the bottom of the oxide layer, a dielectric tunneling layer is located above the charge storage layer and a control gate formed in the dielectric layer then on through. The tunneling dielectric layer comprises a first oxide layer, a nitride layer and a second oxide layer. To erase the nonvolatile memory cell comprising a positive gate voltage is applied to the hole injection from the gate.


This paper describes the Einzel lens beam chopper that has been newly developed for the KEK digital accelerator (DA) project. Function of beam chopping is added to the Einzel lens used as a transverse focusing device for a low energy ion beam. Its idea and operational chopping performance are discussed in details. INTRODUCTION The KEK digital accelerator (DA) is a small-scale induction synchrotron without a high-energy injector [1]. The concept of an induction synchrotron was experimentally demonstrated in 2006 [2] by utilizing the KEK 12 GeV Proton Synchrotron. Instead of an RF cavity, an induction cell is employed as the acceleration device. It is simply a one-to-one transformer, which is energized by a switching power supply generating pulse voltage. Two types of induction cells for acceleration and confinement are employed. An injected beam pulse is captured by the barrier bucket and accelerated with pulse voltages. It is a crucial point of the induction synchrotron that voltage timing is controlled by a gate signal of solidstate switching elements based on bunch signals detected at the bunch monitor. This operational performance enables acceleration of ions from extremely low velocities, and is the reason why the DA does not require a high-energy injector. It is understood from these properties that the DA is capable of accelerating any species of ion, regardless of possible charge state. Figure 1: Outline of the KEK Digital Accelerator. In the KEK DA, schematically shown in Fig. 1, a 5 msec long ion beam is created in the electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) and chopped by the newly developed Einzel lens chopper in 5 sec and postaccelerated in the acceleration column attached with the 200 kV high-voltage platform (HVP), after which it propagates through the low-energy beam transport line (LEBT) to be injected into the ring with the electrostatic injection kicker. The electrostatic kicker voltage is turned off before the injected beam pulse completes a single turn in the DA ring, which is a rapid-cycle synchrotron. The injected beam is captured with a pair of barrier voltage pulses and accelerated with pulse voltages. The single turn injection scheme limits on the maximum beam length. On the other hand, beam production in most of ion sources requires a finite time period due to a principle mechanism of plasma formation. A beam chopper which can provide a desired pulse length is indispensable. In this paper, its main argument will be focused on how a necessary beam length can be generated and key features of its operational performance are summarized.


Several protocols have been proposed to defend against wormhole attacks in sensor networks by adopting cryptographic methods, packet leashes, directional antennas, or visualization, etc. In this paper, we propose a local energy-efficient method to detect wormhole attacks. This method can be applied in sensor networks with metric-based routing protocols and is independent of data aggregation. We define two parameters, said to be potential and gradient respectively. The former is to describe the intensity of attraction of a node to information flow in sensor networks, and the later is to describe the increase rate of potential from children node to parent node. A node with overmuch potential and gradient over its children will be suspect by their sons, and then these sons will tell whether their parent are malicious with the help of the algorithm proposed to estimate neighborhood potential configuration. A malicious node will be found out because its potential is a local maximum in its neighborhood. We simulate the procedure of potential computing and analyze the performance of the method.


FTSH PROTEASE 3 directly interacts with the Complex I (CI) (NADH dehydrogenase) subunit PSST, to facilitate the disassembly of the CI matrix arm domain for turnover in the face of oxidative damage.


Cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1) has been reported to have a major role in metabolizing arachidonic acid (AA) into cardiotoxic metabolites, mid‐chain hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (HETEs). Of particular interest, several studies have demonstrated the role of mid‐chain HETEs in the development of cardiac hypertrophy. Recently, we have shown that fluconazole inhibits the formation of mid‐chain HETEs metabolite, however, whether fluconazole would be able to modulate CYP1B1‐mediated AA metabolism in an Ang II‐induced cellular hypertrophy model and in rats' heart has never been investigated before. Therefore, the objectives of this study were; 1) to investigate the effect of fluconazole on CYP1B1 mediated AA metabolites and to explore the potential protective effect against Ang II‐induced cellular hypertrophy, and 2) to study the effect of fluconazole on CYP1B1 and its associated AA metabolites in vivo in Sprague Dawley rats. For this purpose, both H9c2 and RL‐14 cells were treated with 10 μM Ang II in the absence and presence of 50 μM fluconazole for 24 hours. Also, Sprague Dawley rats (n=6) were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of fluconazole (20 mg/kg) or saline and the heart tissues were harvested 24 hours post‐treatment. Thereafter, the formation of AA metabolites was measured using liquid chromatography‐electron spray ionization‐mass spectrometry (LC‐ESI‐MS). Whereas, the expression of cardiac hypertrophic markers and CYP1B1 were determined by real time‐polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis, respectively. Moreover, enzymatic activity and determination of CYP1B1 inhibition kinetics by fluconazole were assessed using 7‐ethoxyresorufin O‐deethylase (EROD) and recombinant human CYP1B1 assays. Our results demonstrated that fluconazole was able to attenuate Ang‐II‐induced cellular hypertrophy as evidenced by a significant inhibition of hypertrophic markers, β‐myosin heavy chain (MHC)/ α‐MHC, BNP as well as cell surface area. The protective effect of fluconazole was associated with a significant decrease in the level of CYP1B1 gene, protein, activity levels and its associated mid‐chain HETEs metabolite induced by Ang II. Furthermore, treatment of rats with fluconazole significantly decreased the expression of CYP1B1 enzyme and the formation level of cardiotoxic mid‐chain HETEs metabolites in the heart. In conclusion, our results showed that fluconazole protects against Ang II‐induced cellular hypertrophy by inhibiting CYP1B1 and its associated mid‐chain HETEs metabolites. Also, fluconazole may be repurposed as a mid‐chain HETEs formation inhibitor for the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure.


A process of Ni/Al2O3 eggshell type catalyst preparation has been developed in laboratory scale. Active catalysts with high Ni content, in which the active metal is concentrated in a very thin layer below the particle surface, were prepared by this process. Wet impregnation of carrier particles with a solution of inorganic Ni salt in organic solvent, in particular ethanol and acetone, was the basic principle of the preparation method. Catalysts with a maximum Ni content of 20.9 mass %, concentrated into a layer of thickness of 770 μm were prepared when ethanol was used as the solvent, while 15.4 % Ni maximum concentration and 622 μm layer thickness were achieved when acetone was used as the solvent. The catalysts prepared were characterized by following analytical methods: XRD, BET, Raman spectroscopy and EDS. The catalysts activities were tested in the gas phase C5 olefins hydrogenation. Despite the lower Ni content, the catalyst impregnated by Ni nitrate, dissolved in acetone was characterized by higher activity in comparison with the catalyst impregnated by ethanol solution.


Leaf samples of Ilex opaca 'Miss Helen' were collected over a 2-month period and analyzed on a mg/g basis for total nonstructural carbohydrates (TNSC), individual ethanol soluble sugars (IESS), total ethanol soluble sugars (TESS) and apparent storage carbohydrates (ASC). Samples were preserved for analysis by 4 methods: 1) liquid nitrogen killed freeze-dried (NFD); 2) liquid nitrogen killed oven-dried (NOD); 3) oven-dried (OD) and 4) ambient air-dried (AD). The samples showed significant decreases in TNSC between the NFD and NOD, NOD and OD and OD and AD methods; a significant decrease in TESS with the NOD and OD methods and a further significant decrease in TESS with the AD method. A significant increase in ASC was noted with the AD method. Gas liquid chromatographic analysis of the IESS revealed a significant decrease in D-fructose and D-galactose with the AD method, a significant decrease in α-D and β-D glucose with the OD method and an additional decrease in both sugars with the AD method. Sucrose was undetectable with the NOD method, and was significantly decreased with the OD and AD methods. TNSC, TESS and ASC all decreased significantly with leaf maturation and expansion. Time of day of sampling showed no significant differences in any carbohydrate fraction.


This study was performed for the purpose of determining the effects of distribution of the lateral earth pressure in the case of sloping backfills of being consisted of the idealized cohesionless fragmental masses. The displacements were classified as eight types by D_UBROVA (by patterns). B type among these has its turning point at the top of the wall, moves outwardly and is significant to gravitational structure because of its foundation elasticity which causes displacement. Therefore, it might be surely acknowledged that the resultant, fromula; E=l/2*rH²{sin(u-e)cos(α+e)}/cos(u+α)*cot(u+p)(t/㎥), is appropriate for applying it to the designing of the sand-catch dams. The results obtained are as follows: 1. Lateral earth pressure is proportional to the square of the wall heights. 2. The coefficient(K) is directly proportional to the sloping of backfill surface and inversely proportional to the displacement. 3. The distribution of the pressure looks like parabola, curve of second order (Fig. 5, b). 4. The distribution of the pressure strength looks like that of hydrostatic pressure (Fig. 5, c).


The present invention provides a kind of concentric-ring pattern folded net device, and the device includes:Take over a business, bracket, center-pole and chassis, wherein, take over a business to be separately fixed at the two ends of center-pole with chassis, bracket is connected to the spider being through on center-pole by bracket hound, and limits its free movement by upper and lower spacing hole.The present invention is on the basis of manual storage mode, by taking over a business the cooperation with bracket, success is by the folded portion of netting and treats that containing section is separated up and down, so that the folding storage process of each layer of netting is all visible controllable, again by the cooperation of two groups of adjustment axis, separate fixation is carried out to every layer of sleeve so that haveing suffered folded network process circulation can continue.


Appropriate level of NAD+is important for industrial fermentation which uses sugar as substrate to improve the speed of glycolysis. By changing the amount of dissolved oxygen,and adding niacin to alter the ratios of NADH/NAD+,to study the effects made by the change of NADH metabolism for the Rhizopus oryzae As 3.3461. With the change of the NADH metabolism pathways,ATP levels change. When ATP levels reduce,the activities of PFK,HK,PK which are the key enzymes in the process of glycolysis increased,the conversion rate of pyruvate increases. Under the influence of energy metabolism and the activities of PFK,HK,PK,the yield of L-lactic acid and ethanol change. Therefore,it has important significance to improve the yield of lactic acid by regulating the NADH metabolism pathways in Rhizopus oryzae.


CR and PU hidden terminals in multi-channel Cognitive MAC protocols result in increased packet drops. This is due to inefficient node synchronization with existing "Control Channel" design. To date, In-band and Out-of-band CCC based MAC protocols are proposed to avoid PU and CR hidden terminals. But, In-band CCC based CR-MAC protocols cannot efficiently resolve the hidden terminal packet drops due to imperfect node synchronization whereas out-of-band CCC based MAC is vulnerable to intruder attacks and channel saturation. To overcome this, we propose an Interference-aware hybrid CCC cognitive MAC protocol with directional RTS/CTS and data transmission. In addition, adaptive power control algorithm is proposed to avoid interference to hidden PU and CR nodes at edge coverage area. Experimental results show that proposed Hybrid cognitive MAC protocol has increased link aggregate throughput and reduced cognitive control overhead in comparison with existing CCC based CR-MAC protocols.


The necessity for trustworthy and secure means of user identification has become critical in a society that is becoming more and more digital. The widespread use of biometric authentication has emerged as a possible answer to the hacker-proneness of conventional authentication techniques like passwords and PINs. Biometric authentication uses a person's distinctive physiological and behavioral traits to confirm their identity. "Biometric Authentication using Gait Recognition" is one such new and creative strategy.


The invention relates to a sole and particularly provides a sole of a high-heeled shoe for women, which can achieve the effects of sound elimination, skid resistance and shock absorption. The invention provides the two-section sole of a shoe for women; the sole comprises a sole base layer and a heel; an anti-skid piece is embedded at the main touchdown part of a sole part of the sole base layer; the anti-skid piece and the sole are formed at one step through an injection process; snowflake-shaped radial patterns are arranged on the surface of the anti-skid piece; the heel is divided into three layers including a plastic layer, a foamed rubber layer and a TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethanes) layer from the top down in sequence; and the three layers are injected into a die according to the position and are manufactured through heating sulfidation, pressurization and cooling. The sole has the advantages that forces from both directions of the footstep and the ground can be buffered effectively, so that the effect of shock absorption and sound elimination can be achieved, and the abrasion resistance and shock absorption of the sole face contacted with the ground can ensure that the sole face is protected from being damaged.


Composite microsystems that integrate mechanical and fluidic components are fast emerging as the next generation of system-on-chip designs. As these systems become widespread in safety-critical biomedical applications, dependability emerges as a critical performance parameter. In this paper, we present a costeffective concurrent test methodology for droplet-based microelectrofluidic systems. We present a classification of catastrophic and parametric faults in such systems and show how faults can be detected by electrostatically controlling and tracking droplet motion. We then present tolerance analysis based on Monte-Carlo simulations to characterize the impact of parameter variations on system performance. To the best of our knowledge, this constitutes the first attempt to define a fault model and to develop a test methodology for droplet-based microelectrofluidic systems.


We present a pilot study that aims to examine the possibility to easily and noninvasively detect and discriminate females with ovarian cancer (OC) from females that have no tumor(s) and from females that have benign genital tract neoplasia, using exhaled breath samples. The study is based on clinical samples and data from 182 females, as follows: 48 females with OC, 48 tumor‐free controls and 86 females with benign gynecological neoplasia. Analysis of the breath samples with gas chromatography linked with mass spectrometry shows that decanal, nonanal, styrene, 2‐butanone and hexadecane could serve as potential volatile markers for OC. Analysis of the same samples with tailor‐made nanoarrays shows good discrimination between females with OC and females that have either no tumor or benign genital tract neoplasia (71% for accuracy, sensitivity and specificity). Conversely, the nanoarray output shows excellent discrimination between the OC patients and the tumor‐free controls (79% sensitivity, 100% specificity and 89% accuracy). These results suggest that the nanoarray approach might be useful to avoid unnecessary complicated or expensive tests for tumor‐free females in case of a negative result. In the case of positive result, the test will indicate with high probability the presence of OC.


Effect of different plant species and colors on host preference of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) B-biotype was studied in the present study. The quantity of adults and eggs per plant on five species of host plants were assessed in selection test in a cage, the results revealed that significantly different host preference of female adults was present in different plants. The preference order was tomatocabbagepeppertobacco and cottonpepper. With the time going, the amount of adults in tomato increased gradually, and that in cabbage decreased, whereas no dramatic change occurred in tobacco and cotton. Eggs B. tabaci B-biotype layed in different host plants were cabbagetomatocotton, and tobaccopepper, and egg production in cabbage and tomato respectively accounted for 56.8% and 28.2% number of total eggs, whereas that in tobacco, cotton and pepper all accounted for less than 6.0% number of total eggs. Furthermore, a Y-tube olfactometer was used to test the role of volatiles from host plants and colors in host selection by B. tabaci. It was found that odors of tomato and cabbage showed significant attractiveness to B. tabaci, odors of tomato being more attractive; but odors of pepper had no attractiveness to B. tabaci. The green leaves of tomato, cabbage and pepper all showed significant attractiveness to B. tabaci adults, and no significant difference existed in the three plants. B tabaci adults could be attracted by green and yellow color but not by red color. When B. tabaci were faced with both green and yellow color at the same time, they were more attracted by yellow than by green. All results above-mentioned indicated that both vision and olfaction of B. tabaci played important roles in host orientation and selection; olfaction was crucial to host orientation and selection of green hosts, and vision was crucial to host orientation and selection of red, green and yellow hosts.


Based on research undertaken in 1988, an examination is carried out of the strategies being pursued by the Canadian and the UK health services in the light of current realities. These include developing employment plans to cope with rising demand, escalating costs and a tighter labour market.


The paper discusses the problem of probability distribution category identification of train delay data by a genetic programming algorithm. This train delay frequency function and the probability distribution simply derived from it are significant to train traffic modelling and management. The genetic programming algorithm was used as an uninformed tool to prevent the influence of a priori information, which should be biased. The real traffic data were aggregated into predefined bins and then the frequencies of the individual delays were computed. The genetic programming algorithm was used in the next step as a symbolic regression tool to discover their frequency function in the form of an algebraic expression. The results concluded that although data has no known distribution, their distributions are similar to exponential ones.


In view of the phenomenon of axial running of rotor of under host electric motor of 4-h finishing plate mill during rolling process,the axial force balance device of shaft was improved and the four row tapered roller partition bearing was adopted.The amount of axial runing of rotor was reduced from 10~12mm to 2~3mm, and the good shape of plate can be enssured too.


The Gibbs energies of activation of the Menschutkin reactions of trethylamine with ethyl iodide in 10 monoalcohols and nine dialcohols, were dissected into contributions from the initial state and transition state. To perform this study, the infinite dilution activity coefficient values of the solutes in the solvents, γ∞, were determined by the UNIFAC group-contribution method, using the modified Flory–Huggins equation in the combinatorial term. For triethylamine, the γ∞ values were calculated using group-interaction parameters from the VLE Parameter Table, due to the nonavailability of specific γ∞ UNIFAC interaction parameters for the relevant groups. For ethyl iodide, the γ∞ values were calculated using the group-interaction parameters from the specific γ∞ UNIFAC Parameter Table, except for the solvents diethylene glycol and triethlene glycol, where VLE parameters were used for the same reasons as explained above for the triethylamine. The results were compared with those obtained for the unimolecular decomposition of tert-butyl halides. For the Menschutkin reaction, we conclude that solvent disruption and reorganization to a state appropriate to solvating the molecular species is a dominant interaction mechanisim.


Yellow water, distiller's grains and ending water are by-products in the production of Luzhou-flavor Daqu liquor by solid fermentation. Yellow water contains not only rich alcohols, aldehyde, acids, and esters but also rich nutritional substances including organic acids, starch and reducing sugar etc. Besides, it also contains large amount of long-term domesticated microbes and flavor-producing precursor substances. Ending water contains some usable substances. Yellow water and ending water could be used for pit-filling fermentation, the culture of manmade aged pit mud, esterification, cross-steaming of Daqu, and the production of flavoring liquor etc., which could improve the quality of Daqu liquor.


A data-set of nearly 100,000 symmetry unique multi-configurational ab initio points for methane were generated at the (AE)-MRCI-F12(Q)/CVQZ-F12 level, including energies beyond 30,000 cm−1 above the minimum and fit into potential energy surfaces (PESs) by several permutation invariant schemes. A multi-expansion interpolative fit combining interpolating moving least squares (IMLS) fitting and permutation invariant polynomials (PIP) was able to fit the complete data-set to a root-mean-square deviation of 1.0 cm−1 and thus was used to benchmark the other fitting methods. The other fitting methods include a single PIP expansion and two neural network (NN) based approaches, one of which combines NN with PIP. Full-dimensional variational vibrational calculations using a contracted-iterative method (and a Lanczos eigensolver) were used to assess the spectroscopic accuracy of the electronic structure method. The results show that the NN-based fitting approaches are able to fit the data-set remarkably accurately with the PIP–NN method producing levels in remarkably close agreement with the PIP–IMLS benchmark. The (AE)-MRCI-F12(Q)/CVQZ-F12 electronic structure method produces vibrational levels of near spectroscopic accuracy and a superb equilibrium geometry. The levels are systematically slightly too high, beginning at ∼ 1–2 cm−1 above the fundamentals and becoming correspondingly higher for overtones. The PES is therefore suitable for small ab initio or empirical corrections and since it is based on a multi-reference method, can be extended to represent dynamically relevant dissociation channels.


Raman scattering of photons into phonons gives rise to entangled photon pairs when the phonon emitted in a Stokes process is absorbed in antiStokes scattering, forming the photonic analog of Cooper pairs. We present a nonperturbative theory for the time evolution of photonic Cooper pairs that treats interacting photons and phonons as a hybrid excitation, the Ramaniton. As the Ramaniton propagates in a wave guide it displays quantum oscillations between photon and phonon occupation, leading to resonant squeezed Stokes-antiStokes light when the phonon occupation becomes equal to zero. This phenomena can be used to generate up to 28 dB of squeezed light even in standard silicon on insulator waveguides.


Sensitivity analysis provides important information on how the input uncertainty impacts the system output uncertainty. Typically, sensitivity analysis entails large number of system evaluations. For expensive system models with high-dimensional outputs, direct adoption of such models for sensitivity analysis poses significant computational challenges. To address these challenges, an efficient dimension reduction and surrogate based approach is proposed for efficient sensitivity analysis of expensive system models with high-dimensional outputs. As an example, the proposed approach is applied to investigate the sensitivity of peak water level over large coastal regions in San Francisco Bay with respect to the construction of levees at different counties under projected sea level rise.


From Penn's early work of the 1940s to recent images made in the twenty-first century, "Irving Penn Portraits" honors a selection of photographs with reproductions of superb quality. Among those featured are Giorgio de Chirico, Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Picasso, Duke Ellington, Marlene Dietrich, Woody Allen, Rudolf Nureyev, Helmut Newton and Jasper Johns. Irving Penn was born in 1917, in Plainfield, New Jersey. In a career of more than sixty years, he created an extensive and influential body of photographs in portraiture, fashion and still life. His work resides in the permanent collections of major museums internationally and has been published in over twenty-five monographs and exhibited throughout the world. The full list of contents include: Giorgio de Chirico, The Angel, Cecil Beaton with Nude, Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning, Peter Ustinov, Edith Piaf, Elsa Schiaparelli, Truman Capote, Igor Stravinsky, Ballet Society, Joan Miro and his daughter, Dolores, Tarragona, Caffe Greco, Marlene Dietrich, Alberto Giacometti, Colette, Tennessee Williams, Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, Saul Bellow, Rudolph Nureyev, Barnett Newman, Saul Steinberg, Duke Ellington, Woody Allen, Issey Miyake, Louise Bourgeois, Helmut Newton, Ellsworth Kelly, Chuck Close, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Kenneth Noland. This title accompanies a major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London (18 February-6 June 2010), followed by a European tour. It is the first book ever dedicated to the portraits of Irving Penn. It includes thirty stunning tri-tone photographic reproductions. Photographs are drawn from across seven decades, from the celebrated 'Portrait Series of 1947-8' to an arresting image of Jasper Johns captured as recently as 2006.


The fabrication and characteristics of edge-emitting microlasers with deeply etched distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors are presented. Using reactive ion etching, the mirrors are formed at both cavity ends of a ridge waveguide laser with an GaInAs-AlGaAs single-quantum-well active layer. The devices have continuous-wave threshold currents as low as 2 and 6 mA at cavity lengths of 80 and 40 /spl mu/m, respectively. Lasing operation is achieved down to a length of 28 /spl mu/m. Diffraction limited reflectivities >75% are obtained for third-order gratings, with two DBR periods.


BASED on the multiplicative decomposition of the stretch tensor and the additive decomposition of the second Cosserat deformation tensor into elastic and inelastic parts, a theory of the elastic-viscoplastic Cosserat continuum is formulated. It is stressed that the rotation field is to be treated as a kinematical variable which can not be decomposed into elastic and inelastic parts. A thorough discussion of the configuration space by relying on basic concepts of Lie groups is provided and the field equations are derived from a variational statement. The flow rules are specified by means of the postulate of maximum dissipation paralleling some developments of the classical theory.


A field study was conducted during 2006-07 at Cereal Crops Research In s titute (CCRI) Pirsabak, Nowhshera, Pakistan to asses the individu a l an d com b ined effect of different herbicides on weed control in wheat. The experim e nt was laid out in RC B D with 4 replications. The experim e nt comprised of 6 herbicides, hand weeding and a weedy check. Th e herbicidal treatments were the post-emergence application of Affini t y 50 WDG (carnfentrazone ethy l + isoproturon) @ 0.016, Buctril super (bromoxynil octanovate + heptanovate ester) @ 1.23, Puma super 75 EW (fenoxaprop-p-et hyl) @ 0. 9 4, Topi k 15 WP (clodinafop propargyl) @ 0.04, Topik 15 WP + Buctril super 60 EC @ 0.04 + 1 . 2 3, Pu ma su p er 75 EW + Buct r i l su p er 60 EC @ 0.94+ 1.23 kg a.i. ha -1 . Da t a were recorded on weed density m -2 before an d af te r h e rbi c ides applicat io n , dry w e ed biomass (g m -2 ), biological yield (t ha -1 )


[77202-08-5] C4H5N3 (MW 95.12)

InChI = 1S/C4H5N3/c1-4-2-3-5-7-6-4/h2-3H,1H3

InChIKey = FXKQPQOOZSXQAG-UHFFFAOYSA-N

(an electron-deficient heteroaromatic azadiene capable of participation in inverse electron demand Diels–Alder reactions with electron-rich dienophiles employed for preparation of substituted pyridines1)

Physical Data: mp 31 °C.

Solubility: sol CHCl3, CH2Cl2, EtOH.

Form Supplied in: plates (i-Pr2O).

Preparative Method: an ice-cold solution of 0.01 mol of N-amino-5-methylpyrazole in 30 mL of CH2Cl2 and 10 mL of H2O is treated with 0.02 mol of solid Sodium Periodate or potassium periodate with stirring. The resulting mixture is allowed to stir at 0–5 °C overnight and then extracted repeatedly with CHCl3. The CHCl3 phase is dried over Na2SO4, concentrated, and purified by recrystallization or column chromatography on silica gel.2

Handling, Storage, and Precautions: stable at room temperature and is probably hygroscopic.


Maize doubled haploid breeding is a rapid method to generate pure elite inbred lines.Two sister inbred lines,BX08 and BX19,both belong to BSSS(Iowa Stiff Stock Synthetic)are used for the study.These two lines have poor agronomic traits,but compensating to each other.Crosses were made between those two lines.The F1 plants were crossed by pollen from haploid induction line carrying purple crown and purple plumule color.A total of 74 ears had at least 1-kenel(D1 seeds)seed set.Among those doubled haploid lines,33 doubled haploid lines had D2 seeds.The D1 ear or D2 seeds were materials and data of ear length,row number,kernel volume,kernel weight,kernel density(weight/volume)were collected.Results indicated that haploid breeding was in favor of kernel volume and kernel weight improvement.Both traits of kernel volume and kernel weight are mainly controlled by additive gene effect.Ear length and row number are most likely controlled by dominant gene effect.Results also indicated that haploid breeding could be very effective to eliminate unfavorable genes due to uncovering those deleterious genes at its haploid phase.Therefore,haploid breeding method can have its selective advantages against poor agronomic genetic traits for seed and plant growth and development.


An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of extrusion processing on apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, energy and minerals in soya bean meal (SBM), barley, corn gluten meal and whole wheat, using rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss as the test species. In addition, availabilities of amino acids were also determined in SBM. Feed ingredients were preconditioned at 89–93 °C and then extruded using a Wenger X-85 extruder. Nonextruded ingredients were used as is, meaning that they were not preconditioned. The extruded and nonextruded ingredients were mixed with a casein–gelatin reference diet at 3 : 7 ratio prior to determination of ADC values. A total of 135 trout (initial mean body weight 223.4 ± 12.7 g) were stocked into nine 140-L fibreglass digestibility tanks with 15 fish per tank. Individual tanks were assigned randomly to each of eight diets made from the four ingredients (extruded and nonextruded) plus the reference diet. After faeces were collected in the first week, the diets were switched among tanks, and faeces were collected again after 5-day acclimation period in the second week. Yttrium oxide was used as the inert marker. Results showed that extrusion processing significantly improved ADCs of dry matter, crude fat and gross energy, and reduced ADCs of crude protein, phosphorus, copper, iron and zinc. Results also showed that the effects of extrusion processing on chemical composition and ADCs of nutrients depended on the ingredients. It is recommended that trace minerals such as copper, iron and zinc be supplemented by an additional 10–20% when rainbow trout diets are extruded because of their reduced bioavailability in plant meal-based feed ingredients.


A Magnet®-designated acute care community hospital in Southeast Texas experienced a COVID-19 surge during the summer of 2020 that increased the acuity of admitted patients. The critical care, intermediate care, and COVID-19 units were consistently at capacity. These beds were no longer considered an available resource, but their need continued to grow. As hospital acuity increased, patients were placed in medical or surgical (medsurg) units when historically they may have been placed in a critical care unit. Hospital leadership determined that more space was needed to cohort COVID-19 patients, specifically those on high-flow oxygen. Given the decrease in observation status patients, an existing observation unit was converted into a high-flow oxygen unit using team nursing and personal protective equipment (PPE) zones. The successful transformation of the observation unit provided a guide on the cohorting of patients and team nursing approach for any future disease surges.


In this paper we study the outage diversity in distributed estimation over parallel fading channels.We find tight upper and lower bounds on the diversity order and show that they are arbitrarily close under certain conditions. Our results show that the diversity order does not always equal to the number of sensors, but also depends on sensing quality of the sensors.


The typical sites such as Fulaowenpao wetland and Erbaifangzi wetland were chosen to study the characteristics of seasonal dynamics of nitrate nitrogen in soils from"close" wetlands and"open" wetlands.The results showed that except that the changing tendency of nitrate nitrogen concentrations in surface soils appears the shape of anomalous"V"in"close" wetlands,but as for other soil layers,the contents of nitrate nitrogen change gently.The contents of nitrate nitrogen in soils from"open" wetlands significantly decrease from December in last year to May,and change gently from May to October.There is similarity of the characteristics of seasonal dynamic of nitrate nitrogen for the two sites,the changing processes of nitrate nitrogen contents in soils from each soil layer can be fitted by three order polynomial,and these models give a good fit,reflecting the changing laws of seasonal dynamic of the contents of nitrate nitrogen in soils.


Disclosed is a thermosetting composition for optical semiconductors which is high in transparency and excellent in heat resistance, light resistance and adhesion to housing materials and the like, while being free from film thinning or discoloration due to heat generation or light emission of a light-emitting device. Also disclosed are a sealing agent for optical semiconductor devices and a die bond material for optical semiconductor devices each using such a thermosetting composition, and an optical semiconductor device obtained by using the thermosetting composition for optical semiconductors, the sealing agent for optical semiconductor devices, the die bond material for optical semiconductor devices and/or an underfill material for optical semiconductor devices. Specifically disclosed is a thermosetting composition for optical semiconductors, which contains a silicone resin having a cyclic ether-containing group, and a heat curing agent reactive with the cyclic ether-containing group. The silicone resin mainly contains a structural unit represented by the general formula (1) below and a structural unit represented by the general formula (2) below. When the total number of the structural units contained in the silicone resin is taken as 1, the content of the structural unit represented by the general formula (1) is 0.6-0.95 (on a molar basis) and the content of the structural unit represented by the general formula (2) is 0.05-0.4 (on a molar basis). In addition, the thermosetting composition for optical semiconductors contains 5-40% by mole of the cyclic ether-containing group. [chemical formula 1] (R1R2SiO2/2) (1) [chemical formula 2] (R3SiO3/2) (2)


A sample plan is given for the design of a laboratory for work with radioactive substances. The precautions to he used in laboratory maintenance and operation are described. (J.S.R.)


In article the approach to an estimation of intensity of the behavior which mathematical model is Poisson the casual process modeling this behavior as a series of episodes is described. The intensity estimation is formed in the conditions of deficiency of the information, namely on the basis of data on a small number of last episodes, and these data are presented by inexact statements of the respondent in a natural language.


Steel-fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) brings favorable properties to concrete pavements. The use of the material is limited by the lack of an appropriate analysis method. This paper is the second in a series of two aimed at providing a modeling approach, which can be used to model the behavior of SFRC concrete and SFRC ground slabs. In this paper, a finite-element model, capable of simulating the nonlinear behavior of the SFRC slab, is proposed and compared with the slab's experimental response. An approximate model describing the behavior of the support layers is developed using results from a plate-bearing test. The same support model is adopted for the analysis of the combined structure of the slab and the support. The material model developed and tested in the first paper, for the SFRC containing 15  kg/m3 of steel fiber, is adopted for the analysis of the SFRC slabs. In addition, a parameter study is conducted to investigate the influence of concrete strength, steel-fiber content, and the support st...


A fairly new type of compensator for carrier control systems consists of a passive electric network that contains one or more periodically-conducting branches. This type of compensator (referred to as a demodulating compensating network) is superior to other types, used previously, in terms of size, weight, cost, and sensitivity to variations in carrier frequency. Although a detailed analysis of the operation of a demodulating compensating network is usually very tedious, it is possible to describe the effect of such a network in a feedback control system very simply by the use of an equivalent time-invariant passive electric network. A procedure for designing a phase-lead demodulating compensating network to meet specifications on system performance is presented in this paper. In essence, this procedure consists of the following steps. First, the uncompensated frequency response of the system is examined. Then an acceptable and realizable phase and/or gain characteristic is selected. Finally, by the use of design curves, the parameters of the demodulating compensator required to provide the desired frequency response are determined. Numerical examples are included to illustrate the application of the design procedure, and experimental results are reported to reveal the value of the procedure.


Introduction: Sepsis results in life-threatening organ dysfunction, but if recognised and treated promptly, survival chances increase. Current clinical practice uses the systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria to identify sepsis, and the sepsis six care bundle for management. Changes to the definitions of sepsis internationally and new national sepsis guidelines call into question the most appropriate way to recognise and manage sepsis.
Method: This was a two-site audit of healthcare provider's compliance to the sepsis six care bundle. All patients admitted to two NHS hospitals over 24 hours were screened for sepsis using the modified systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria and the quick-sequential (sepsis related) organ failure assessment score. Adherence was assessed for each element of the care bundle for all patients identified with sepsis.

Results: 249 patients were screened for sepsis; 24 fulfilled the modified systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria for sepsis, and six fulfilled quick-sequential (sepsis related) organ failure assessment criteria. Compliance was poor; only one patient received all elements of the sepsis six care bundle. Three patients (12%) died within 60 days of admission; all three were receiving palliative cancer care.

Conclusion: Current management of sepsis is below recommended standards. The prevalence of sepsis is different depending upon the screening method used. Recommendations for future work include validation of the new sepsis definitions for mortality and morbidity rates.


Manfred Schewe and I have been engaging with our passion for drama and language at opposite ends of the world, and our approaches and practices have much in common. My offering to the celebration of Manfred's work is a presentation and discussion of how I go about making pedagogical decisions. I will illustrate my own planning process through sharing the details of my 'Bukit Merah' drama, and illustrate how I attempt to hold both "the artistry of the form and the intended learning in one hand" (Dunn & Stinson 2011: 618) when drama is employed as a medium for language learning.


Volume 9, Tourists' and Customers' Behaviors and Evaluations, describes the benefits of taking a behaviorstoevaluations perspective in tourism and customer research. The thirteen papers in the volume include "the general theory of guest evaluations of service design/performances" by Woodside and Kozak


Abandonment pressure is the premise of accurately calculating recovery efficiency and recoverable reserves of gas reservoir. A method of binomial deliverability equation can be used in abandonment pressure evaluation to reveal the original pressure, burial depth, heterogenity, and to show the effects of different abandoning conditions on abandonment pressure. Therefore, the evaluation result of the method is more reliable than that of the traditional ones, such as empirical and burial depth methods. Aiming at difficulties of the method in solving parameters, this study carries through the iterative improvement. Moreover, a related program has been composed to raise the calculation efficiency and accuracy.


This paper continues an earlier published history of the OAI Workshops, organised under the aegis of the LIBER Access Division, in CERN Geneva. It discusses the OAI5 Workshop, held on 18-20 April 2007, which underlines the emerging importance of Open Access to support information provision and exchange across Europe.


Unlike many parts of the world, both HIV-1 and HIV-2 are endemic in West Africa. The work in this thesis was based on a clinic cohort at the Medical Research Council Laboratories in the Gambia and a community cohort based in Caio, a rural village in Guinea-Bissau. Although HIV-2 was the dominant infection in these countries two decades ago, HIV-1 has increased rapidly in recent years. Chapter 3 demonstrates that although HIV-1 CRF02_AG is responsible for most HIV-1 infections in both cohorts, the subtype distribution varies considerably – including the presence of a novel circulating recombinant form (CRF49_cpx) in the Gambia, accounting for approximately 15% of all cases. Chapter 4 applies modern phylogenetic and phylodynamic techniques to viral sequences from rural Guinea-Bissau to characterise the molecular epidemiology and population dynamics of HIV-1 and HIV-2 in this region. Viruses from HIV-2 elite controllers and progressors can share a most recent common ancestor, suggesting that host factors are responsible for the dichotomous outcomes observed in HIV-2 infection. Chapter 5 explores whether humoral immunity plays a role in HIV-2 non-progression. Neutralising antibody responses of remarkable magnitude and breadth are seen in the plasma of HIV-2 infected subjects, yet there is no direct relationship to viral control. Chapter 6 demonstrates that polyfunctional HIV-2 Gag-specific CD8+ T-cell responses are, however, associated with control of HIV-2. The phenotype of these CD8+ T-cells varies from what is thought to be important in HIV-1 control. In contrast to HIV-1, escape from both humoral and cellular immune responses may be limited in HIV-2. The aim of this work was to help understand the spread and transmission of HIV-1 and HIV-2 in West Africa, as well as to provide insight into why most HIV-2 infected individuals behave as long term non-progressors, whereas others progress to AIDS like their HIV-1 infected counterparts.


The condensation of hydrazides with aldehydes has been found to be a simple and rapid method for synthesizing catechol-terminated coating reagents for magnetite nanoparticles. This approach allowed the production of biotin- and polyethylene glycol-functionalized nanoparticles, whose interaction with 3T3 fibroblast cells has been assessed. The cellular location of these nanoparticles was imaged by fluorescence microscopy, which was made possible by co-coating with a porphyrin-catechol conjugate. Images show significant interactions between biotinylated nanoparticles and 3T3 fibroblasts, but those with a polyethylene glycol coating did not interact.


The diurnal variation of serum iron found in healthy adults was evaluated in two groups of children of different ages. No variation was found in 12 children aged 2 weeks to 20 months. In contrast, there was a significant variation of the per cent relative change of serum iron from a. m. to p. m. for a group of 12 children from 3 to 14 years of age. These results support the evidence for the late appearance of a biological "clock" in children.


Establishing a kind stickiness flexibility rotation dynamics equation of the cylinder between random two cross sections,discussing steadiness of relatively rotation angle.Gaining solution for a kind stickiness flexibility coefficient because the equation is non-homogeneous ordinary differential equation group of order 2 linear of variable coefficient,and there isn't unified solution to this equation group.


Air transport infrastructure development is crucial for economic and social growth. Regional airports connecting remote, tourist destinations such as islands provide important services and boost global and local commerce networks. Airport authorities intend to maximize expansion while limiting environmental impacts. Regional airports may achieve efficient environmental management by applying sustainable practices and developing long-term strategies. The purpose of this paper is the development of an in-depth comparison and assessment of the environmental sustainability performance of a number of regional airports in terms of the environmental impacts that are caused by their operations and their demand patterns. The evaluation methodology is based on the identification of evidence about the incorporation of key environmental management performance aspects in the environmental reports of the top five regional tourist airports in the Mediterranean islands. The most important finding was that airports, despite requiring an efficient and forward-thinking environmental management plan in order to address the environmental impact that they have, do not prioritize their environmental performance management issues. The conventional wisdom is to provide a framework for evaluating tourist airports' performance toward environmental mitigation efforts, promote best practices, and benchmark sustainability for regions heavily dependent on tourism.


Sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of milk production were analysed on organic and conventional dairy farms from cradle to farm gate and resulted in a mean of ca. 1 kg CO2 eq kg ECM-1 independent of the farm system. When calculated according to dry matter intake of the cows, mean percentages of GHG emissions from enteric fermentation on organic or conventional farms were 31 or 42 % from the complete product related emissions from milk production from cradle to farm gate, respectively. When feed quality parameters were considered in calculation, enteric methane production increased considerably with higher fibre contents in feedstuffs. This was especially important at lower milk yields. On the 44 farms that were analysed, minimal potential GHG emissions from enteric fermentation on the herd level were 0.39 (organic farm) and 0.32 kg CO2 eq kg ECM-1 (conventional farm). This is proposed as unavoidable range for milk from intensive conventional and organic dairy production. GHG emissions from replacement animals and from feedstuff production are also part of the dairy systems. These emissions can only partly be reduced by feedstuff man-agement, manure management and technical measures, e.g. slurry cover, biogas production. Efficiency gains in all steps of the process chain by appropriate manage-ment appear to be most important for (reliably) reducing GHG emissions, e.g., by optimal feed quality and its related good milk yields and healthy and long living cows.


Many asthmatic patients have coexisting allergic rhinitis (AR). This study aims to investigate the compliance of physicians with respiratory medicine specialty (PRMs) to Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) guidelines during the management of their asthma‐AR patients.


Double contact analysis has been made for the contact of three elastic cylindrical bodies. The analysis with finite element method has been improved. It was considered contact with and without friction between contact surfaces. The own computer programme CONTACT and experimental research with photoelastic models were the source for the analysis of the maximum shear stresses and the deepness where maximum shear stresses appear. A great departure from classical Hertz theory has been noticed, especially for the place of appearing the maximum shear stresses.


The teaching archives management in a department of a university is appraised by using fuzzy syntheses evaluation.The result of evaluation is more exact,objective and scientific.The fuzzy syntheses evaluation is propitious to enhance managing quality of teaching archives.


During the next years, environmental pressures due to consumption are expected to continue increasing, driven by per capita income increases and resource intensive lifestyles. Although significant income and consumption increases have been experienced, the average level of subjective well being has remained stable over time.

This research explores the individual's choice between income and material goods over leisure time in affluent societies. It considers an analysis of working preferences and subjective well being. Within this context, it attempts to identify possible policy options.

The choice seems to be influenced mainly by a rise of material aspirations and the not easy way to ?choose? how many hours to work. Working time reductions preferences are generally not easy to achieve, but the existence of collective bargaining helps. Moreover it is observed a constant rise in material aspirations, which provides a sense of insatiability. Furthermore, it appears to exist a strong association in the society between income and material goods with quality of life measures, disregarding non material aspects of well being. In general, sustainable consumption policies are not focused on the volume aspect of consumption, but mainly on the product quality.


Content filtering on the WWW is significant social issue, since children can easily access pornography and other illegal material with ease. In this study, a descriptive and predictive model of pornographic web page characteristics was developed, to assist with recognition of pornographic pages in a content filter. Support and confidence results from simple association rules suggest that using individual terms to identify pornographic web pages is useful for description, but unreliable for prediction. However, Bayesian classification provided 99.1% accuracy in classifying test pages from both pornographic and non-pornographic corpora. The challenges for multimodal filtering are discussed.


Introduction: Plastination is a unique technique for preservation of biological specimens used for teaching purposes. The protocol of flexible sheet plastination includes fixation, The procedure is done by using P87 flexible unsaturated polyester resin and provides heavy, gross, fragile, and bubbling plastinated sheets. In this study, synthetic resin (P89) in the plastination laboratory at Isfahan Medical School is utilized with a new method for plastination of 3-mm human's brain slices without casting stage. Also, common plastination method with the use of P87 flexible resin was used and the products were evaluated and compared in the laboratory with new method products. This method is also compared with specimens made by P35 resin sandwich method. Methods: This study was carried out on 3 human brains. Initially, according to the conventional methods, the brains were fixed in 10% formaldehyde, cut sagitally, coronally, and horizontally into 3-mm thickness slices by meat slicer, and then dehydrated in cold acetone (-25°C) and immersed in P89 unsaturated polyester resin at 25°C. Finally, the specimens were taken out from vacuum chamber and exposed to room temperature. When both surfaces of specimens became dry, they were taken to P89 polyester resin pail again. We repeated this stage 10 times. Results: P35 specimens had high tensile strength compared to P89 specimens. Also P89 specimens had high bending capability compared to P35 specimens made by sandwich method. Likewise, P89 specimens were lighter compared to P35 specimens. In the naked survey of specimens, P35 specimens with white spot in the tissue indicate discoloration for plastination of brain specimens without casting stage. Conclusion: Our study showed that P89 technique is a cheap, quick, and less expensive method for producing sheet plastinated specimens which are suitable in teaching neuroanatomy. Abbas Ali Rabiei is the assistant professor of anatomical sciences in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. He was graduated from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (MD, PhD). His research interests include sheet and bulk Plastination, synthesis new polymeric materials for Plastination, and neuroanatomy.


A teleological reason to φ is a reason to φ in virtue of the fact that φ-ing would either itself promote a certain end or is appropriately related to something else that would promote that end. And teleological reasons divide into direct and the indirect kinds, depending on whether the first or second of these two disjuncts applies. Thus, supposing that our end is to maximize utility, the fact that my killing one to save two would maximize utility is a direct teleological reason for me to do so, whereas the fact that my killing one to save two is prohibited by the code of rules whose universal acceptance would maximize utility is an indirect teleological reason for me to refrain from doing so. This chapter discusses various types of reasons, such as epistemic reasons (that is, reasons to believe), and whether all, some, or none of them are teleological. The chapter pays particularly close attention to the issue of whether all practical reasons (that is, reasons for action) are teleological.


Aim of the research is to find out the fear of death among diabetes challengers. So, Researcher selected two groups like area and gender, both group of 120 diabetes challengers. In each group like 60 male and 60 females from rural and urban areas diabetes challengers. Data was collected from different privet & government hospital at Navasari district. Tools were used for purpose of data collection reference to personal datasheet of "Fear of Personal Death Scale (FPDS)". The scale was developed and standardized by Dr. M. Rajamanickam (1985). 2×2 factorial design was used and data were analysis by 'F' ANOVA test. Results show, there is no significant difference of fear of Death among rural and urban areas diabetes challengers. Gender had significant impact on Fear of Death among male and female diabetes challengers. Female Diabetes challengers Death of fear Better than Male Diabetes Challengers. There is no significant interaction effect between area and gender among diabetes challengers.


OBJECTIVE To find the safe and effective antiseptics for incubator.METHODS In the rooms for mother with infant,the incubators were randomly divided into Three groups under the same surroundings.A group Containing 250mg/L available chlorine preparation of the solution,disinfecting cabinet,operating window,water ports,mattress;B group With 500mg/L iodine complex,A group of disinfection sites with the same;C group: 0.1% benzalkonium bromide solution,A group of disinfection sites with the same Then compare the effect of three disinfectants.RESULTS 3 kinds of disinfectants were able to achieve the effects of sterilization The results of three disinfectants after comparison P0.05.No significant difference.CONCLUSION Povidone Iodine was more fit for incubators because of its lower toxicity,no stimulation and more stable nature.


The continuing technological progress resulted in sustained increase in the number of transistors per chip as well as improved energy efficiency per FLOPS. This spurred a dramatic growth in aggregate computational performance of the largest supercomputing systems, yielding multiple Petascale implementations deployed in various locations over the world. Unfortunately, these advances did not translate to the required extent into accompanying I/O systems, which primarily saw the improvement in cumulative storage sizes required to match the ever expanding volume of scientific data sets, but little more in terms of architecture or effective access latency. Moreover, while new models of computations are formulated to handle the burden of efficiently structuring the parallel computations in anticipation of the arrival of Exascale systems, a meager progress is observed in the area of storage subsystems. New classes of algorithms developed for massively parallel applications, that gracefully handle the challenges of asynchrony, heavily multithreaded distributed codes, and message-driven computation, must be matched by similar advances in I/O methods and algorithms to produce a well performing and balanced supercomputing system. This paper discusses PXFS, a file system model for persistent objects inspired by the ParalleX model of execution that addresses many of these challenges. An early implementation of PXFS utilizing a well known Orange parallel file system as its back-end via asynchronous I/O layer is also described along with the preliminary performance data. The results show perfect scalability and 3× to 20× times speedup of I/O throughput performance comparing to OrangeFS user interface. Also the PXFS module on OrangeFS with 24 clients sees a 5× to 10× times more throughput than NFS.


In recent years, the role that knowledge plays in the development of nations has been widely debated in the literature. Not only knowledge has been viewed as an important factor of production, but also as an important source of wealth. As a consequence, the challenges facing nations today, including Muslim countries, are measured in their capabilities to absorb, apply and create knowledge. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of building a knowledge-based economy in Bahrain. In recent years, the government of Bahrain has been making efforts to convert its economy into a knowledge-based economy by introducing reforms in such areas as trade, finance, education, skills and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Also, the ICT industry in Bahrain has been growing rapidly which is important for building a knowledge society. Recently, Bahrain has gained number one status in the Arab World for ICT services, especially e-government.


Abstract Abstract Abstract This paper investigates the possibility of both linear as well as nonlinear effects of energy consumption on economic growth, using data for the period 1970-2008 in Iran. Some previous studies support the view that energy consumption may promote economic growth. However, the conclusion drawn from this study suggests that such relationship exists only in low levels of energy consumption in Iran. The evidence shows that, there is a break point (corresponding with two regimes) in economic growth function. We find that energy consumption has an important positive influence on economic growth for the low regime of energy use. We show that a threshold regression model provides better empirical model than the standard linear model.


You might find this additional info useful...This article cites€35 articles, 12 of which you can access for free at: http://jap.physiology.org/content/88/4/1310.full#ref-list-1This article has been cited by€8 other HighWire-hosted articles: http://jap.physiology.org/content/88/4/1310#cited-by Updated information and services including high resolution figures, can be found at: http://jap.physiology.org/content/88/4/1310.fullAdditional material and information about Journal of Applied Physiology can be found at: http://www.the-aps.org/publications/japplThis information is current as of May 31, 2013.


Managerial ownership and firm performance have been conducted in different parts of the globe with different findings; this study tends to fill the gap by examining the impact of managerial ownership on performance of quoted building materials firms in Nigeria. The population of the study consists of six (6) firms quoted on the Nigerian stock exchange as at 31 st December 2016 out of which four (4) firms were selected using two criteria which are company that made available their annual report of thirteen (13) years and company quoted on the Nigerian stock exchange before 2004. The study uses multiple regressions as a tool for analysis and secondary source of data analysis. The result of the study revealed that managerial ownership impacts positively significantly on performance of quoted building materials firms in Nigeria. The study concludes that managerial ownership affects firm performance of building materials firms in Nigeria and recommended that Security and exchange commission should encourage potential managers in the building material industry to invest in long term investment.


In this study, we investigate the input firing rate propagation in a feedforward biological neural network composed of multiple layers. Dynamical behaviour of neurons in the network are modeled by using stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley equations which considers the probabilistic nature of ion channels embedded in neuronal membranes. Thus, firing rate propagation is studied in a biophysically more realistic manner by including ion channel noise which is ignored in previous studies. Input rate information in the network is provided by varying the cell size in the first layer. We show that the efficent transmission of input firing rate through the network can be achieved via the synchronization mechanism within the neurons in layers. We also show that this synchronization araise from the synaptic current variance increase and provided by adjusting the cell size or the intrinsic channel noise strength in layers to an optimal value.


Vegetation restoration influences near soil-surface characteristics and thus likely affects soil erodibility. This study was performed to quantify the effects of vegetation restoration on soil erodibility on steep gully slopes, and to identify the potential influencing factors on the Loess Plateau. Three shrub and four grass types distributed on different gully slopes were selected, and six erodibility indicators and an integrated erodibility index (IEI) were applied to indirectly evaluate the effects of vegetation restoration on soil erodibility. The former included the soil erodibility K factor, aggregate stability (the mean weight diameter, MWD, and the mean number of drop impacts, MND), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), cohesion (Coh), and penetration resistance (PR), and the latter was calculated using these indicators and a weighted integration method. The results showed that vegetation restoration on steep gully slopes was effective in reducing soil erodibility on the Loess Plateau, and grasses seemed more effective than shrubs. Compared with the control, the K of vegetation-restored gully slopes decreased by 4.1–24.0%, and MWD, MND, Ks, Coh, and PR increased by 64.0–284.3, 51.4–269.5, 100.5–417.4, 10.1–172.2, and 63.3–278.9% respectively. Consequently, the IEI of the vegetation-restored gully slopes declined by 33.1–81.9%, and the mean reduction percentage of the four grasses was 1.5 times that of the three shrubs. The variation in soil erodibility was closely related to the changes in the soil organic matter content and root mass density with vegetation restoration. The results will help in understanding the soil conservation mechanisms of vegetation restoration on steep gully slopes.


With the increase of the public's brand awareness, the display of corporate identity functions as a crucial tool to retain old customers and attract new ones. For this study, it digs into the discourse-historical construction of the corporate identity of Microsoft in letters to shareholders of Corporate Social Responsibility Reports (CSRR), investigating: 1) the key linguistic resources used in the texts at three different stages; 2) the discursive strategies formed by the choice of linguistic resources at each stage; 3) the similarities and differences of the identities constructed by the discursive strategies at the three stages. It turns out that Microsoft's development promotes the identity transfer of itself at different stages. Keywords: Discourse-historical analysis, Microsoft, identity construction, letters to shareholders of Corporate Social Responsibility Reports (CSRR), discursive strategies


A system of wireless power transmission in near-field range utilizing retardation phase shift is described. The distance between the transmitting coil and the receiving coil gives retardation phase shift when the electromagnetic wave transfer between the two coils. The retardation drags the phase of reflected electro-motive force (EMF) so that its phase angle to the transmitting current is less than 90 degree and the real part of the reflected impedance is negative. To achieve resonance of system, the imaginary part of reflected impedance should be counterbalanced by the imaginary part of transmitting impedance. Such a system can be used as power generator.


Mobile apps connect with counterpart cloud services and pursue data transfer over wireless networks. The amount of mobile data transferred will only increase as app data needs and usage expand. Energy expenditure during periods of data transfer constitutes a significant portion of a mobile's battery usage. At the same time, due to the evolving nature of wireless technologies, there is a proliferation of networks (such as public Wifi hotspots, access points, and cellular technologies) that exhibit diverse energy and performance characteristics. As a user moves around (even within the same logical network) the hardware serving data transfer varies, often offering opportunities for data transfer with distinct bandwidth and latency capabilities. Apps and data services in smartphones however are oblivious to this diversity and the energy impact of using one opportunity vs. others.

In this paper, we first present a study of Wifi characteristics in two domains, shopping malls and within an enterprise campus, demonstrating the fine-grained diversity of network opportunities in two commonplace scenarios. Next, we describe a system-level framework and set of interfaces that enable energy efficient app syncs by leveraging the right opportunities. Preliminary results using our approach show up to three times lower energy costs for popular mobile apps using media uploads.


This article studies India's vibrant IPO market, via a dataset of the 2056 IPOs which took place in the last 4.5 years. We study the overall underpricing, the delay between issue date and listing date, the time- series of monthly volume of IPO issues and average underpricing in a given month, the cross-section of underpricing across companies, the post-listing trading frequency, the long-run returns to new listings, and price discovery by the market shortly after first listing.


Based on the theories and methods related to ecology,ecological economics and environmental geography,method for tradeoff between development and ecological conservation of Chinese island ecosystems at both macro and local levels were developed.At macro level,we proposed a tradeoff matrix for the balance between development and ecological conservation of island ecosystems,which should consider the following three aspects: island ecosystem service value,development suitability and existing development intensity.With the tradeoff matrix,Chinese coastal islands were classified into four general development zones: optimal development zone,focused development zone,restricted development zone and prohibited development zone.Meanwhile,guidelines of development and ecological conservation for each general development zone were proposed in detail.At local level,this paper emphasized some key notes for valuation of island ecosystem services(such as life support functions,ecological adjustment function and information function) before implementation of local development projects.The proposed method for tradeoff between development and ecological conservation of Chinese island ecosystems at both macro and local levels is important to decision making for achieving at the goals of sustainable development of Chinese coastal islands.


Advanced producer services firms and the highly skilled labour they employ are important indicators for world-city formation, as their activities allegedly grant cities the capabilities to exert command and control over global accumulation processes. To 'stress test' this central assumption of global city theory, we apply Burawoy's extended case method to probe world-city formation in Beirut, Lebanon. Observing a tendency in the literature to superimpose distinctions between high- and low-skilled labour and between North and South, the study marshals a more plural conceptualization of 'professionals' to include expatriate or transnational Lebanese service workers. The study's key finding is that Euro-American professionals play a relatively marginal role in Beirut's human resource base, complicating North–South distinctions. By contrast, domestic and expat Beiruti professionals are far more crucial in manning circuits of value leading to and from the city. These professionals act as intermediaries in unlocking Gulf markets for clients, contribute to institutional change in their host countries and help build command and control functions elsewhere. Relatedly, Beirut has become susceptible to processes of 'expatriate world-city formation', where real estate development and the attraction of bank deposits are partly the result of these APS-professionals repatriating their management fees into Beirut's built environment and Lebanon's domestic banking sector. Witnessing the growth of Beirut's expatriate world-city functions in absence of financial centre redevelopment, the paper proposes to be sensitive to potential disconnects between the function and location of command and control in global cities more generally.


This talk presents a cross section of case studies which exemplified the best and the worst ofthe system. The technical aspects of each case, along with the legal theories and the final resolution is discussed. The author will present his philosophical prospective of the process based on over 25 years experience.


The results of the prephase A study of the Mars Rover Sample Return system are presented. Four mission scenarios are studied, two in the B-configuration, and two D-configuration missions. They incorporated variations in delivery-to-Mars mode, earth-return mode (propulsive or aerocapture), landing site latitude, and rover size and capability in order to identify system drivers.


Madagascar has struggled with the question of decentralisation for more than three decades. Since coming to power in 2002, President Marc Ravalomanana has both reformed and accelerated this process, granting new roles and responsibilities to regional and community leadership. This political path is consistent with shifts in natural resource management in the 1990s, notably in the water sector. We thus see the role of the national government diminishing in favour of resource management at the community level. This paper explores the impact of increased responsibility for water management and decision making in the southern district of AmbovombeAndroy. The assumption is that this sort of decentralisation leads to empowerment at the local level and improves accountability, civic engagement and equity. Unfortunately, in the case of Ambovombe, 'local empowerment' quickly translates to 'you're on your own'. 'Decentralisation' quickly translates into state disengagement. To avoid this, a finer relationship between state and local institutional relationships and responsibilities needs to be explored. Only once we understand what a community is, and what its capacity can be, can we figure out what responsibilities it needs to take on to ensure the efficacy of a state that tends to be at best inefficient and at worst predatory.


The aim of the present work was to develop a method of qualitative analyses of verbal fluency and to apply it to the study of aging. In the first experiment, data from 48 young adults suggest the existence of three components : clustering, relying upon verbal knowledge; hard switching, involving search processes through verbal knowledge; and cluster switching; being an intermediate process. In the second experiment results revealed that older adults were impaired in hard switching and produced larger clusters than young and middle aged subjects. This improvement could be considered as a strategy to compensate for hard switching difficulties. A third experiment was designed to study the relationship between age-related dopamine decrease and switching deficits. Results revealed that high-level older adults increased performance in hard switching under dopamine. Finally. Preliminary results from an fMRI experiment suggest different patterns of activation between young and older adults.


Image matching is an important image processing technique and is widely used in navigation and location.In the paper,the principle of image matching is firstly given and the area based matching algorithm is analyzed in detail.Then factors constituting image matching algorithm are studied.In the algorithm,correlation is used as the similarity metric.The matching is accelerated by using a coarse-to-precise hierarchical matching control strategy.The matching simulation experiment results demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of the algorithm.


Description of the former distribution range of the Giant lizard of El Hierro and its historie decline. Paleontological and archaeological evidences coming from 39 sites ofEl Hierro (Canary Islands) show that the herbivorous, big sized and endangered G simonyi (Lacertidae) was formerly tied to the xeric and thermophyllic ecosystems ali around the island. Sadly for conservation concems, most of this landscape has been strongly perturbed by man. C dating revealed that in currently well preserved habitats ofthis kind at La Dehesa, sorne populations faded out not before the 19m century. The taphonomical traits of many subfossil findings strongly suggest for feral cats (probably introduced after the european conquest) playing a role in these extinctions. Except for the occurrence of cats (which also threaten the small wild population), La Dehesajuniper scrubland/ woodland appears as a priority place for the reintroduction of captive bred lizards.


The conditions of physics course and physics experiment teaching as well as management in USA universities were investigated at the beginning of 2012,the study gains was mentioned also.


This paper proposes to focus on the area of domestic decision-making which is believed to reveal some of the salient shifts encountered in the Iraqi rural family. Notwithstanding the vast array of ...