To solve the difficulties in the safety risk decision of the military aircrafts based on full life cycles, a military aircraft safety risk evaluation model was established on the basis of "human-machine" and "environment-machine". A grey fuzzy analytic network process was also proposed for the insufficiencies of current safety risk decision methods used in the research and development of military aircrafts. By using this method to evaluate the safety performance, we can not only quickly rank the available schemes by their safety performance, but also find out the insufficiencies of these schemes. The advantages of this method in safety evaluation were finally verified by specific examples.


Review: Wicked Environmental Problems: Managing Uncertainty and Conflict By Peter J. Balint, Ronald E. Steward, Anand Desai, and Lawrence C. Walters Reviewed by David Jenkins US Fish and Wildlife Service, USA Balint, Peter J., Stewart, Ronald E., Desai, Anand, Walters, Lawrence C. Wicked Environmental Problems: Managing Uncertainty and Conflict. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2011. 272pp. ISBN 9781597264754. US $40.00. Paperback. Acid free paper.A particular class of environmental problems defies simple solutions. These problems are characterized by scientific uncertainty, competing cultural values, and resulting conflict. When scientists disagree, and when citizens fail to share values over resource exploitation, preservation, or some balance between them, the result is what Peter Balint and his coauthors refer to as Wicked Environmental Problems.For some environmental problems there are no good solutions. For these problems, scientific understanding may be incomplete, policymakers may be unable to clearly define the issue, stakeholders may articulate widely divergent opinions on causes, solutions, and preferred outcomes, and resource managers may find their hands tied by political appointees following the shifting winds of presidential elections. In such cases, complexity and uncertainty often render public decision-making especially contentious.Coupled with scientific uncertainty and divergent cultural values are conflicting political objectives, rapid change in both natural and social systems, bureaucratic inefficiency and cowardice, and differential relations of power-that is who, in the social reality of a given historical moment, makes decisions about natural resource use. Balint and colleagues describe four environmental controversies that exhibit these characteristics: restoration of the Everglades in Florida, habitat conservation in Tanzania, emissions reductions under a European Union cap-and-trade system, and forest management in northeast California. Through an examination of these cases, the authors identify shared characteristics of wicked problems and propose a method to address them.Neither established precautionary approaches nor adaptive management practices are sufficient to address wicked problems. A precautionary approach stresses least harm to human and natural systems in the context of economic development and resource exploitation, and requires an analysis of risk. Risk analysis, however, is subject to competing views of potential outcomes of resource management decisions. Wicked problems are precisely those that have no general consensus concerning potential outcomes. Some risks are impossible to prioritize; outcomes of others cannot be predicted with any certainty.As an alternative, adaptive management should be able to respond to novel circumstances; in theory, it is experimental and assumes the possibility of failure. …


The projection implies a detailed calculation as a basis for planning in the process of drawing information data. While the projection is a process of analysis of the research with a detailed calculation with a picture that is useful for decision making. Credit implies the existence of a trust from a person or entity to another person or entity that is concerned that the future will meet all obligations that have been agreed beforehand. Credit on the first occurrence is caused by differences in income and expenditures among the members of the community. Investment decision is a decision made at the present time but the benefits will be felt in the future, so this decision must be implemented carefully.


Atraumatic removal of teeth is essential for preserving the periodontal morphology and regenerative potential of tissues at extraction sites, with but minimal damage. This is especially important at extraction sites aimed for immediate implant placement, implant site development and esthetic pre-prosthetic augmentation, where the need to preserve the original appearance is mandatory. . This article describes a simple technique for the atraumatic removal of single roots in the esthetic zone. The technique is based on the root morphology and socket anatomy; it is effective, requires no special skills, and is relatively little time consuming.


Experimentation with the use of monoclinic ZrO2 as an additive in TiB2-based composites, in order to improve mechanical properties without the use of stabilizers, has led to the identification of the TiB2 30 percent ZrO2 composition whose compacts exhibit low porosity, and 800 MN/sq m transverse rupture strength, and K(Ic) of 5 MPa m exp 1/2. It is speculated that the high strength and toughness obtained are primarily due to the presence of partially stabilized tetragonal ZrO2, as well as to a (TiZr)B2 solid solution which forms during sintering.


METASTATIC calcification may be defined as a deposition of calcium or calcium salts in abnormal locations in the body. This manifestation is quite uncommon in children and is especially unusual in the newborn. The occurrence of the condition in a young infant, in association with congenital anomalies of the gastrointestinal and urinary systems, makes it worthy of presentation. REPORT OF A CASE B. K., a white boy, was born on Aug. 17, 1949, to a 35-yr.-old mother and a 38-yr.-old father. Both parents had always been in good health. The mother was pentagravida, tetrapara, and had had no miscarriages. Her Mazzini reaction was negative. All previous pregnancies and deliveries were normal. The present pregnancy was uneventful. The delivery was normal and spontaneous, and the infant weighed 8 lb. 6 oz. (3,800 gm.) at birth. Shortly after admission to the nursery it was noted that he had an atresia of the


Unstable atherosclerotic plaques (ASP) are the cause of acute ischemia in the carotid and coronary systems. Numerous studies have shown a relationship between plaque instability, manifestations, echogenicity, histological findings and its neovascularization. The presence and extent of ASP neovascularization in the carotid arteries can be detected for the first time using contrast-enhanced carotid ultrasound. Contrast-enhanced carotid ultrasound does not have nephrotoxic effect; it also improves the accuracy of plaque ulceration detecting and determining the severity of stenosis. The article presents the opinions of the authors and international experts on contrast ultrasound of peripheral arteries. An analysis of the literature data and our own observations is presented. Significant parameters such as the doses, procedure onset time and duration, methods for the qualitative and quantitative assessment of plaque neovascularization are analyzed. The difficulties of contrast-enhanced ultrasound are described.


This paper is focused on practical questions arising when purchasing or specifying high-speed rotating machines with active magnetic bearings (AMBs). It may be used as a guideline for end users, engineering/procurement/construction (EPC) companies, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in their engineering and purchase departments. This paper explains and discusses the most important characteristics of AMB systems as well as the necessary documents of the vendor to prove feasibility of the AMB application. The authors' intention is to bring the AMB technology down from the highly technical discussion among specialists to the level of general understanding for every engineer or person with technical background.


Metal–organic frameworks or MOFs have witnessed a phenomenal rise owing to a highly tunable synthetic chemistry allowing flexibility in the selection of its constituents, namely metal nodes and linkers. Combined with their superior adsorption and diffusion properties, MOFs have become one of the most promising nanoporous materials for the fabrication of high-performance membranes. Polycrystalline MOF membranes have yielded one of the best gas separation performances, and are expected to replace or partially substitute thermally driven separation processes. In this respect, we present our perspective on the crystal engineering of MOF films that offers control over nucleation and growth of MOFs, film morphology, lattice defects, and therefore the separation performance of the resulting MOF films.


On the definitions and discussions of the genre of poeme en prose - distinct from prose poetry or poetic prose - by Unsi al-Hajj and Adonis ('Ali Ahmad Sa'id), and the use of this form in their works.


ABSTRACT Objectives This study aimed to identify the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic value of CC chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) expression in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSSC). Methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were followed in this meta-analysis. Up to the 2nd of July 2022 a search was conducted using five databases: PubMed, Embase, Scopus, ProQuest, and Web of Science. The methodological standards for the epidemiological research scale were used to assess the quality of the included articles, and Stata software was used to synthesize the meta-analysis. Results We considered 13 of the 615 studies which included 1005 HNSCC patients. High expression of CCR7 increased the pooled odds ratio (OR) of advanced stage, tumor size, metastasis and recurrence by 2.82 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.84 to 4.33], 2.48 (95% CI 1.68, to 3.67), 3.57, 95% CI 2.25 to 5.05) and 3.93 (95% CI 2.03 to 7.64), respectively. High CCR7 reduced overall patient survival [hazard ratio 2.62 (95% CI 1.59 to 4.32)]. Conclusion This study showed that high expression of CCR7 in HNSCC tumors was significantly associated with worse clinicopathological and survival outcomes, suggesting that CCR7 and its pathway could be potential therapeutic strategies for HNSCC.


Embodied models of social cognition argue that others' affective states are processed by re‐enacting a sensory‐specific representation of the same state in the observer. However, neuroimaging studies suggest that a reliable part of the representation shared between self and others is supramodal and relates to dimensions such as Unpleasantness or arousal, common to qualitatively different experiences. Here we investigated whether representations of first‐hand pain and disgust influenced the subsequent evaluation of facial expressions in Modality‐specific fashion, or in terms of Unpleasantness or arousal.


A Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) implementation of Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) for a digit recognition system is proposed to reduce the computation time of ANN and achieve high accuracy. A neural network with three layers of convolutions and two fully connected layers is developed by building input, hidden and output neurons to achieve an improved accuracy. The network is parallelized using a dedicated GPU on CUDA platform using Tensor flow library. A comparative analysis of accuracy and computation time is performed for sequential and parallel execution of the network on dual core (4 logical processors) CPU, octa core (16 logical processors) only CPU and octa core (16 logical processors) CPU with GPU systems. MNIST (Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology) and EMNIST (Extended MNIST) database are used for both training and testing. MNIST has 55000 training sets, 10000 testing sets and 5000 validation sets. EMNIST consists of 235000 training, 40000 testing and 5000 validation sets. The network designed requires high computation and hence parallelizing it shows significant improvement in execution time.


Based on the Pareto improvement criterion, this paper proposes a model of hydropower pricing using Shapley value approach. The penalty factor and reward factor of hydropower price are introduced in the model to achieve a discriminating hydropower pricing by providing effective economic signals. In this model the object to minimize the ratio of the economic reduction of hydropower and the reduction of line loss is also involved. Further, a case study is presented to analyze and illustrate the implications and characteristics of the proposed model. It is showed that the new hydropower pricing model can achieve a win-win result for operational efficiency of the power grid and economic efficiency of the small hydropower plants.


The field experiment was carried out with title "Effect of foliar application of micronutrients on growth, yield and quality of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cv. Arka Samrat" at the Department of Horticulture, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh during the Rabi-2021-22 with a view to determine the effect of foliar application of micronutrients on tomato variety 'Arka Samrat' for its growth, quality and yield and to work out the economics of various treatments. Under this experiment, overall 8 treatment was taken T1 Control (water spray), T2 FeSO4 @ 0.2% spray, T3 Ca(NO3)2 @ 0.2% spray, T4 firstname.lastname@example.com% spray, T5 ZnSO4 @ 0.2% spray, T6 FeSO4 @ 0.2% + Ca(NO3)2 @ 0.2% + H3BO3 @ 0.1% + ZnSO4 @ 0.2% spray, T7 Ca(NO3)2 @ 0.2% + ZnSO4 @ 0.2% spray, T8 Ca(NO3)2 @ 0.2% + email@example.com% spray. From the above experimental finding it may be concluded that the treatment T6 (FeSO4 @ 0.2% + (CaNO3)-2 @ 0.2%+ H3BO3 @ 0.1% + ZnSO4 @ 0.2%) was found to be best in the terms of growth Yield and quality of tomato. While, the maximum Plant height (167.85 cm), highest No. of leaves per plant (204.33), Minimum Days to 50% flowering (37.33 DAS), Maximum No. of flower per cluster (5.12), Maximum No. of fruit per plant (60.33) and maximum Fruit set per cluster (5.06), Maximum fruit weight (94.22 g), Maximum average yield per plant (5.68 kg), Maximum average yield per plot (34.10), Maximum average yield per hectare (189.43t/ha), Maximum Total soluble solid (5.23), Maximum Ascorbic Acid (26.11).


In this article the model of diagnostics and improvement of quality of preparation for professional activity on the basis of integration of pedagogical and technical knowledge and its contents are described. Expert model is a standard description that provides successful solutions to emerging problems in the manufacturing industry, defines certain qualities and reflects the professional knowledge and self-development of a professional, and is one of the types of qualifications that are specific to each position and job. professional activities, tasks and responsibilities, personal qualities, knowledge and skills.


Repetitive stimulation of the presynaptic nerve for a short time induces a long-term potentiation (LTP) of transmission at the excitatory glutaminergic synapses of the hippocampal formation. Mechanisms of LTPs, being a likely substrate for learning and memory, are discussed in terms of their induction, expression, and maintenance at pre-and postsynaptic sites of different types of synapse. Although cascades of LTP mechanisms are diversified among synapses, many common elementary processes are found to be shared by not only different hippocampal synapses but also other central and peripheral synapses.


In this paper, the cooling water pump of centrifugal equipment is taken as the research object in ship system. The pump set is normally open. And, it is also one of the main vibration sources of ship. On the premise of meeting the requirement of hydraulic performance parameters, several different hydraulic model prototypes of this pump set are manufactured. On the same test bench, the vibration tests of this pump show that the measured values are quite different. Fluid software is used to analyse these hydraulic models under the same boundary conditions. It is found that there are obvious differences in hydraulic fluctuations and fluid vortices among impeller passage, vortex chamber, inlet and outlet passages. In order to verify the inference, vibration test and analysis are carried out on the whole pump set and the foots of installation. The corresponding relationship was found out between the fluid fluctuation of hydraulic components and the vibration characteristics. Based on the corresponding relationship, the current hydraulic model of pump is optimized and improved. The parameters of hydraulic model which can affect the vibration sensitivity of pump are optimized. Finally, the experimental results prove that this method can reduce the vibration effectively.


The authors examined the extent to which teacher interventions focused on students' mathematical thinking in naturalistic cooperative-learning mathematics classroom settings. The authors also observed 6 videotapes about the same teaching content using similar curriculum from 2 states. They created 2 instruments for coding the quality of teacher intervention length, choice and frequency, and intervention. The results show the differences of teacher interventions to improve students' cognitive performance. The authors explained how to balance peer resource and students' independent thinking and how to use peer resource to improve students' thinking. Finally, the authors suggest detailed techniques to address students' thinking, such as identify, diversify, and deepen their thinking.


for the energy range from 0.0005 to 20 eV. The DR cross sections were exceedingly large at low energies, and DR resulted in efficient internal energy redistribution and pronounced fragmentation with two main product channels: D2 +3D (0.62 ± 0.03) and 2D2 +D (0.35 ± 0.01). The DR and DE cross sections were comparable in the energy range from 0.2 to 20 eV, which suggest that the two processes follow similar dynamics and are competing outcomes of the ion–electron interaction. A simple picture of the recombination process of D5 + which captures the essential physics is suggested.


AIM: [JP4]To explore the clinical results of using reconstruction interlocking nail in the treatment of femoral shaft fractures accompanied with ipsilateral femoral neck or trochanteric fractures. METHODS: The authors retrospectively analyzed clinical data of twenty four cases treated with reconstruction interlocking nail. RESULTS: The follow up period ranged from 13 to 29 months with a mean of 18.4 months. The average time of union for the shaft fractures was within 5.6 months, 6.2 months for the neck fractures, 4.8 months for the trochanteric fractures. No infection, implant failure or embolism syndrome occurred. CONCLUSION : The reconstruction interlocking nail is a reliable and effective method to treat femoral shaft fracture accompanied with ipsilateral femoral neck or trochanteric fractures.


This paper applies non-parametric techniques to examine the evolution of the entire distribution of regional productivity in the European Union between 1977...


Objective: To evaluate the effect of graded doses of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) on sperm chromatin integrity and sex hormones in the adult male mouse. Methods: Forty-nine male adult mice were divided into seven groups. Control group received no drug, sham group received ASA solvent (dimethylsulfoxide 0.1%), groups 3 to 7 received different doses of 0.05, 0.10, 0.50, 1.00 and 5.00 mg ASA, daily for 14 d, respectively. On day 15, evaluations were made by sperm chromatin dispersion test for the study of DNA sperm integrity, radioimmunoassay for the study of testosterone and luteinizing hormone (LH) level and histopathology of testis for Jhonson's scoring. Results: ASA in groups 0.50, 1.00 and 5.00 mg reduced big halo sperms. DNA fragmentation significantly increased just in 5 mg group. Serum level of testosterone in doses of 0.50, 1.00 and 5.00 mg groups reduced significantly (P<0.01) while LH level was not affected. Johnson's score reduced in all ASA treated groups. Conclusions: Administration of ASA over the 14 days in dose of 5.00 mg increases sperm DNA fragmentation index and therefore reduces DNA integrity and in doses of 0.50, 1.00, 5.00 mg reduces serum testosterone level with no effect on LH. Generally, ASA has deleterious effects on the male reproductive indices even in low doses.


PURPOSE: To obtain a nonpoisonous, nonflammable, odorless blowing agent compsn. useful in the preparation of an elastomeric silicone sponge by making an aq. emulsion contg. organopolysiloxane, an emulsifier, water and a specified material as the base. CONSTITUTION: This blowing agent compsn. is based on an aq. emulsion contg. organopolysiloxane e.g. dimethylpolysiloxane whose the end is blocked with trimethylsiloxy, an emulsifier e.g. aliphatic alcohol polyglycol ether, water and a thickener which is preferably hydrophobic silicon dioxide optionally and having 50 m 2 /g BET specific surface area. COPYRIGHT: (C)1994,JPO


Based on the method of sequence-based lithofacies-paleogeography mapping,this paper studies the sequence stratigraphy and lithofacies-paleogeography of Lower Triassic Leikoupo Formation and Middle Triassic Jialingjiang Formation in eastern Sichuan Basin.The Jialingjiang Formation is divided into two sequences(TSQ1,TSQ2),and the Leikoupo Formation into one sequence(TSQ3).Taking the system tract or sequence as the mapping unit,5 maps of sequence-based lithofacies paleogeography are drawn from Jialingjiang Formation to Leikoupo Formation in eastern Sichuan Basin.In TST of TSQ1 there mainly deposits limestone of open platform and in HST of TSQ1 there deposits in restricted platform facies gypsolith,gypsum-dolomite and pelitic-dolomite,showing the sea level falling and the evaporated environment in eastern Sichuan basin.In TST of TSQ2 there also deposits limestone of open platform.Then,with the water body shoaling,there deposits gypsolith,gypsum-dolomite and pelitic-dolomite of restricted platform in HST of TSQ2.With the Jiangnan old land enlarging,TSQ3 is incomplete and the upper stratum is absent.From east to west,in TSQ3 there deposits clastic rock to the carbonate and the beach-barrier coast to restricted platform in sedimentary environment.The most important factor of controlling sequence filling and paleogeography evolvement is the sea level fluctuation.


The mathematical model of optimal calculation for looped gas network by applying numeric method is presented, and a new method named fastest fall method, which is instead of usual ones, is introduced. The operation efficiency and calculation precision are upgraded. A whole series of program has been established correspondingly, and the program has been debugged in simulation finally.


Crack growth was studied in sapphire on both the m-plane and the r-plane (rhombohedral twin plane). The crack growth rate on the m-plane was expressed in terms of a power law function of stress-intensity factor and an Arrhenius function of temperature. Crack growth on r-plane double-torsion specimens was irregular. Spurts of growth on the r-plane were mixed with propagation on rough surfaces. Control of crack growth was not possible. Our studies suggest that r-plane fracture requires a lower K I than that on the m-plane. We suggest that propagation on the r-plane may be associated with twinning at the crack tip during or prior to crack growth.


Abstract : The experiment design for the measurement of cesium beam effusion patterns was finalized, and experimental measurementswere performed. Beam intensity was measured as a function of beam angle and source temperature. Although the results require additional verification, it would appear that higher source temperatures than previously thought feasible can be used. It was determined by analysis that Molybdenum waveguide is superior to 403 Monel waveguide for use in the proposed microwave structure. Preliminary magnetic shield ing measurements were made on Mumental shields. It was determined that more accurate measuring instruments are required for this phase of the program. (Author)


3 Abstract: The nutritional value of 10 edible mushroom species were analyzed, which forms a part of the food culture of the Kaani tribal community settled in the forests of Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. Young and matured carpophores of 10 common wild edible mushrooms were collected from different locations in the Western Ghats of Kanyakumari district. These mushrooms were analyzed for proximate analysis of nutritional values. The macro nutrient profiles in general revealed that the wild mushrooms were rich sources of protein and carbohydrates and had a low amount of fat. The results showed that the samples contained appreciable amount of essential nutrients. Harvesting of sporophores and conducting inquiries among the tribal people allowed to record 10 taxa of edible mushrooms. For each specimen, local and vernacular names were noted. Hence, these nutrient contents revealed that mushrooms were low energy, healthy food and may also be used as a protein supplementary diet.


The invention belongs to the technical field of preparing catalysts and provides a catalyst for preparing cyclohexanone from cyclohexanol through gas-phase dehydrogenization and a preparation method thereof. The preparation method includes following steps: (1) with a fractional precipitation method, precipitating silica sol with a precipitating agent at a precipitating temperature of 55-70 DEG C to obtain a solution, wherein the precipitating agent is alkaline; (2) performing an ageing step for 20-30 min, adding a copper nitrate solution to the solution to perform precipitation at a precipitating temperature of 60-70 DEG C, and regulating the pH value to 7.2 with an acid or an alkali; (3) performing an ageing step for 20-30 min to obtain a mixture; (4) washing the mixture, performing solid-liquid separation, a drying process and a calcination process, wherein a calcination temperature is 350-450 DEG C; and (5) performing a tablet compressing process to obtain the catalyst. The catalyst is mainly composed of Cu/SiO2. Meanwhile, a modifying aid is introduced to the catalyst. Physical and chemical properties of the catalyst are described as follows: an average specific surface area is 160-280 m /g; an average pore diameter is 2.5-6.0 nm; and an average pore volume is 0.15-0.45 ml/g. The catalyst is high in activity and selectivity and is less in specific gravity.


Tailings collected from the tailing reservoir at Huogeqi Copper Mine, located in Inner Mongolia, China, were used in a leachate study to evaluate the acid potential, neutralization potential, and possibility for producing acid mine drainage (AMD) from the site. The speciation of Cu, Pb, and Zn contained in the tailings was also determined during the leachate study to further access the potential migration abilities of these metals. The results showed that the tailings did not produce significant AMD as the pH of the leachate ranged from 7 to 9 and decreased with time. The Cu, Pb, and Zn concentrations were high, ranging from 439.1 to 4527 mg/kg in the tailings and from 0.162 to 7.964 mg/L in the leachate, respectively. Concentrations of metals in the leachate and tailings were positively correlated. Over 60% of the Cu in the tailing samples existed in an oxidizable form. Most of the Pb also existed in its oxidized form, as did the silicate and Zn. Metals usually have higher mobility in their exchangeable and oxidizable forms and as such represent a higher potential risk to the environment. Results of risk assessment code also revealed that metals in tailings exerted medium to high risks to the environment.


This article's ultimate aim is to contribute to upgrading the artistic level of Korean creative ballet by raising a question on the basis of the...


The conditions and initiatives for the formation of digital competence, which are part of the reform of Ukrainian education, are analyzed. The possibilities of digital laboratory complexes as an effective tool for the formation of digital competence of students and pupils are identified. It is emphasized that the cost of such equipment is quite high, so the actual and effective alternative is to upgrade existing laboratory equipment with modern digital software and hardware components. The analysis of researches of domestic and foreign scientists is carried out, which gives grounds to assert that the problems of formation of digital competence can be formed, in particular in the process of modernization and use of the updated educational experiment in physics. The problems of effective methods of updating the educational physical experiment and its promotion of the development of information and digital competence of students and pupils are clarified. A modernized experimental setup for studying pendulum oscillations is described. The main characteristics and features of equipment manufacturing are considered, in particular the use of Arduino platform, means of microelectronic circuitry and three - dimensional prototyping. Practical recommendations for the use of the complex in a training experiment in physics are offered. The approbation of the complex in the educational process and research work was carried out, which confirmed the effectiveness of the use of modernized equipment as a tool for the formation of information and digital competence of pupils and students.


Describes the principle,development and defects of Intrusion Detection System,and also explains that the application of intrusion detection technology and other security technology provide the effective protection for hospital information system.


Seismic reflection tomography is one method to update a preliminary velocity model for depth imaging. By residual move-out analysis of reflectors in depth migrated image gathers and the local reflector dip, an update of the velocity is estimated by a ray-based tomography. This is an iterative process spanning depth migration with updated velocity model, common image point (CIP) gather analysis, reflector dip estimation, tomography and velocity update.


Recent years have witnessed the great progress in the stability analysis of time-delay systems. Numerous stability studies have been reported utilizing all kinds of approaches and techniques. However, most of the concerns have been laid on the utilization of the Lyapunov-Krasovskii theory to obtain sufficient stability conditions which are expressed in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMI). The purpose of this paper is to present a brief survey on the approach and techniques used in the LMI method. Special emphases are placed on the treatment method of time delay, the construction of Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF) and the bounding techniques. Some insights on the adopted approaches and techniques are also presented.


Vascular calcification is accelerated in patients with diabetes mellitus and increases risk of cardiovascular events and mortality. Wes have demonstrated elevated protein
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 -GlcNAcylation promotes vascular calcification in diabetes. Increased
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 -GlcNAcylation is linked to impaired calcium signaling, which is critical for the development of vascular calcification in both humans and animal models. The present studies determined the role of an important regulator for intracellular calcium homeostasis, the stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1), in regulating
 O
 -GlcNAcylation and vascular calcification. Deletion of STIM1 induced osteogenic differentiation and calcification of VSMC, which was associated with decreased expression of the SMC marker genes and increased expression of the key osteogenic transcription factor, Runx2. By generating a SMC-specific STIM1 ablation mouse model, we determined that STIM1 ablation induced vascular calcification in aortic rings cultured ex vivo and in diabetic mice injected with low-dose streptozotocin in vivo. The diabetic mide with SMC-specific STIM1 ablation also exhibited increased aortic Runx2 expression and aortic stiffness (pulse wave velocity). Mechanistically, we identified that STIM1 deficiency impaired calcium homeostasis in VSMC, increased activation of the Ca
 2+
 /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and elevation of protein
 O
 -GlcNAcylation. Increased
 O
 -GlcNAcylation by STIM1 deficiency was further demonstrated in aortic arteries from the SMC-specific STIM1 ablation mice. The essential role of
 O
 -GlcNAcylation in mediating STIM1 deficiency-induced VSMC calcification was determined using a specific inhibitor for the
 O
 -GlcNAc transferase (OGT), the enzyme adding
 O
 -GlcNAc onto proteins. Inhibition of OGT abolished STIM1 deficiency-induced elevation of
 O
 -GlcNAcylation and VSMC. In conclusion, our studies have demonstrated a causative effect of SMC-expressed STIM1 on vascular calcification and stiffness in diabetes. We have further identified a novel link connecting STIM1 deficiency-induced impairment of calcium homeostasis and elevation of protein
 O
 -GlcNAcylation in VSMC that promotes osteogenic differentiation and calcification of VSMC.


Solar electrical vehicle is a real laboratory for new technology to be in the service of the electrical vehicle in the future. University and Industry research will favour appearance of future way.


With the transition of the economic system in China, there have been changes in the state, the enterprise and the individual. Under the system of market economy, the trade union organization has played an increasingly important role in defending the workers' interest and coordinating labor relations. In order to ensure the smooth operation of the market economy, a trade union that speaks for the workers is of vital importance in establishing and stabilizing labor relations.


In this study, we report on the improvement in the optoelectronic properties of n-ZnO. This was achieved by doping the ZnO with cadmium (Cd) and rare earth (Y,La). The Cd 0.02 Zn 0.98 O and Cd 0.02 Zn 0.98 O:REnano powders synthesized by sol-gel method, can be used to fabricate the light emitting diodes (LEDs). Structural measurement revealed that nanopowders with wurtzite structure having a preferential orientation along the (101) plane. The UV–vis spectra show that the optical band gap of Cd 0.02 Zn 0.98 O nanopowders is decreased in comparison to ZnO nanopowders. The effect of doping was to reduce the valence band offsets and consequently more hole injection has occurred leading to the observed enhancement of the broad band in the visible region.


The traditional Kalman filter algorithms have disadvantages of poor stability (the program cannot converge or crash), robustness (sensitive to the initial errors) and accuracy, partially resulted from the fact that noise covariance matrices in the algorithms need to be set artificially. To overcome the above problems, some adaptive Kalman filter (AKF) algorithms are studied, but the problems still remain unsolved. In this study, two improved AKF algorithms, the improved Sage-Husa and innovation-based adaptive estimation (IAE) algorithms, are proposed. Under the different operating conditions, the estimation accuracy, filter stability, and robustness of the two proposed algorithms are analyzed. Results show that the state of charge (SOC) Max error based on the improved Sage-Husa and the improved IAE is less than 3% and 1.5%, respectively, while the Max errors of the original algorithms is larger than 16% and 4% The two proposed algorithms have higher filter stability than the traditional algorithms. In addition, analyses of the robustness of the two proposed algorithms are carried out by changing the initial parameters, proving that neither are sensitive to the initial errors.


Daoists refused to regard holiness (聖 sheng) and wisdom (智 zhi) as virtues; Confucians, however, held them in high esteem. In The Confucian Analects 論語, benevolence (仁 ren), holiness and wisdom are always inseparable from politics, culture, and practical matters. These Confucian virtues still retained these distinctive qualities and connotations by the bamboo-slip text The Six Virtues (六德 Liude), excavated at Guodian 郭店, was written. However, at the same time the text shows that these virtues had also begun to be applied to the spheres of family and political ethics, forming implied requirements for the three kinships and five ethical relationships.Following the rise of Zisi's 子思 school, the new emphases were on virtue (德 de) unlocked by the mind (心 xin), the thinking (思 si) springing from within (中 zhong), the worries of the mind (中心之憂 zhongxin zhi you), and the selfawareness of the mind. Thus benevolence, wisdom and holiness, detached from practical matters, now came to possess a profound existence their own right, highlighting their independent value. These Confucian virtues thus developed towards an 'inner holiness,' which eventually resulted in the establishment of a Confucian metaphysical system by the time of Mencius. The process of establishing virtue as described in The Five Elements (五行 Wuxing), a text excavated both at Guodian and Mawangdui 馬王堆, and The Holiness of Virtue (德聖 Desheng), a text written on silk and unearthed at Mawangdui, and the discourse in The Golden Mean (中庸 Zhongyong) on holiness and wisdom, in which Heaven (天 tian) can be understood by means of sincerity (誠 cheng) and clarity (明 ming), all clearly reveal such a transformation.By examining the different implied interpretations of the virtues of holiness and wisdom in the Six Virtues, Five Elements and Holiness of Virtues, we can roughly discern the different sources from which sprung the two Confucian schools of Mencius and Xunzi 荀子.


Many mechanical systems operate under mixed-boundary lubricated conditions. Moreover, these mechanical systems have highly loaded non-conformal contact surfaces, therefore significantly influencing friction/wear performance and also inducing various modes of failures. Hence, it is important to optimize selection of the lubricant since it plays a crucial role in controlling friction and affecting durability by forming tribochemical film on top of contact surfaces. The aim of the present work is to investigate the influence of extreme pressure additives, anti-wear additives, and corrosion inhibitors interacting at a steel/steel lubricated contact under extreme conditions and characterize the additive/surface interactions by advanced surface analysis techniques. The tribological testing was carried out employing a ball-on-disc test rig (ASTM G99-05) to measure friction. The wear on the balls was observed on the optical microscope after completion of the tribotest. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to access the chemistry on the surface. In this paper, synergistic effects and antagonistic effects in terms of tribological parameters (friction and wear) are discussed, and mechanisms of the interactions are explained by surface analysis. Implications for optimizing the system performance are discussed.


1680 www.anesthesia-analgesia.org anesthesia & anaLgesia In Response We acknowledge the consternation of Lydon 1 and respect his opinion about our recent publication on the "Future of Anesthesiology."2 However, we must clarify that we are not promoting any specific care model but rather are encouraging an overall reassessment of the total value proposition of current anesthesia practice and education as we endeavor to address patient safety, quality, and ensure patient access in the evolving healthcare markets. We would like to clarify these additional components of our recommendations: 1. First, we are not advocating for independent practice for certified registered nurse anesthetists, any other advanced practice registered nurses, or anesthesiologist assistants. At the same time, we must acknowledge that 24 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands already allow independent certified registered nurse anesthetist practice (in some cases even including pain management).3 The rationale for independent nursing practice is generally justified based on assumed lower cost and improved access. Although these reasons for expanding practice for nonphysicians working without medical supervision may not be justifiable, we also recognize that Lydon's hope for robust and convincing outcome data will likely never be realized. We agree that physician supervision and physical presence for all critical portions of each case and immediate availability to manage emergent issues are important elements of anesthesia care. We may not have formal studies to document the higher quality and safety of the supervised model of care, but we agree that physician oversight is important for our patients. At the same time, we may need to identify other issues that support the value of continued physician supervision, including the implementation of new models of care, use of technology, and other methods to ensure ongoing assessment and immediate availability based on clinical needs both within and outside the traditional operating room environment. 2. Second, and in part to address the issues outlined earlier, we believe that coverage ratios should be flexible, dynamic, and predicated on the complexity of the patient, the operation, and the environment. We viscerally believe that, "anesthesia is the practice of medicine," but we are also sufficiently realistic that we can envision one anesthesiologist supervising 10 (or more) endoscopy suites at the same time and in a safe manner using more creative and innovative ways to provide supervision, guidance, and ensure immediate availability of a qualified physician. In other circumstances, the coverage might be 1:2 to 1:4, depending on the clinical demands, anesthetic circumstances, and experience of the anesthesia care team. Of course, for the most clinically demanding patients, personal physician-delivered anesthesia care will continue to be the most appropriate model of care. 3. We are not suggesting that our proposed multifaceted model delivers better quality than do the current ratios nor do we accept a priori that it delivers a lower quality. We are suggesting that there might be a better All I have to go on is common sense and 31 years of practice supervising, as well as personally providing, anesthesia care. However, I think that most honest brokers would concur that personally provided anesthesia care by a physician would be the safest delivery method in an ideal world and that 1:6 to 1:20, as proposed in the article, would by definition be less safe (res ipsa loquitur). I would boomerang the question back to the authors and ask, "Where is the evidence that such ratios produce similar outcomes and mortality as lower ratios and even MD anesthesia care?" Again, those studies are not likely to be ever performed, but should not they be before our leadership proposes such a radical change? Key questions that are not adequately addressed as part of the article are numbers of physician anesthesiologists needed in the new paradigm the authors propose and the education, training, and methods of supervising 20 extenders (what are the nuts and bolts of how to do it?). We must demand more accountability from our extenders to practice in a standardized fashion and not allow the "this is the way I have always done it" attitude to continue to prevail, especially in the proposed model of "drive by" supervision. The independent CRNA practice model has been repudiated in this austere journal, as well as in Anesthesiology. As a member of the board of the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists, I have been personally involved in the efforts to defeat legislation that was put forth by the AANA (American Association of Nurse Anesthetists) and the Florida Association of Nurse Anesthetists (FANA) to allow independent practice in our state. Have not we (physician anesthesiologists) emphasized the expansive differences in training and education between doctors and nurses to anyone who is listening to make our case that independent CRNA practice would be disastrous for patient safety? And finally, have not all of us who currently supervise extenders rescued patients from events and near events all day long, every day of the week? I see these issues, independent CRNA practice and expansive supervisory ratios, to be inextricably linked together. It is not a far reach for legislators and many in the public who are on the outside looking in to ask why they need a physician anesthesiologist when they see only 1 physician for every 20 nurse anesthetists or anesthesiology assistants. To summarize, to maintain our relevance as physician anesthesiologists, we must continue to be a noticeable presence in the operating room. We must balance patient safety, economic reality, and the impact of changes in healthcare delivery in a fashion such that we as a society, and as individual physicians, remain relevant in every anesthetic delivered in our hospitals, however that may be accomplished.


Although mortality arguably is the most widespread empirical measure in entomology, it is poorly understood in a broader life table context. In this article, we describe 10 general principles of mortality derived from the results of previous research on age-specific mortality in large cohorts of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). These principles include slowing of mortality at older ages, mortality crossovers, costs of reproduction, density effects, two-mode aging rates, life span indeterminacy, and subdetectable mortality. Both practical and conceptual implications concerning the use of mortality in entomological research are discussed.


We describe a photoconducting antenna array, a novel optoelectronic device for optically generating and electrically controlling a submillimeter wave. With the optical excitation of a train of properly spared laser pulses, the direction of the emitted submillimeter wave can be electrically steered in free space by varying the static bias voltage on each antenna element of the array.


Muonium (y e , chemical symbol Mu) consists of an orbital electron associated with a positive muon as nucleus. It can be regarded as a very light 'isotope' of the hydrogen atom because i t has essentially the same Bohr radius and ionization energy. Thus i t can be used as a sensitive probe of isotope effects and of H-atom reactions which cannot be studied by conventional techniques. Due to the unique nuclear spin properties of the muon, there are several techniques available for investigation. These include muon spin rotation (ySR), muonium spin rotation (MSR) and muonium radical spin rotation (MRSR) in transverse magnetic fi e l d s , as used in this study. Various fundamental aspects of muonium formation and of chemical reaction kinetics have been explored by the experiments presented in this thesis. These are summarized below. (i) From the magnetic f i e l d dependence, i t was verified that Mu does not react chemically with water to any significant extent. Its observed spontaneous slow spin relaxation arises from experimental artifacts such as magnetic f i e l d inhomogeneities and/or Mu-frequency beating. ( i i ) The MRSR technique was used to observe and identify muonium-substituted free radicals via their pair of precession frequencies in high transverse magnetic fields in pure benzene, pure styrene, and their mixtures. The results have implications regarding the mechanism of radical formation and selectivity, ( i i i ) Both ySR and MSR experiments were performed on neopentane (liquid § solid) and concentrated KOH solutions. The y+ and Mu yields in these systems indicated that a spur model of Mu formation is neither appropriate nor adequate to explain the results, (iv) In muonium solution kinetic studies, the reaction Mu + OH was found to be relatively slow, with a substantial a c t i aq ' vation energy (E ) and no kinetic isotope effect compared to H at room temperature. The reaction shows Mu behaving as a "muonic" acid, (v) Kinetic studies of the abstraction of D by Mu from D C O 2 as a solute in water gave a large E^. Upon comparison with HC^", the isotope effects (k^/k^ and k^/k^) imply that quantum mechanical tunnelling does not dominate the abstraction of H and D atoms in H C 0 2 ~ and D C 0 2 ~ by either H or Mu at room temperature, (vi) The MSR technique was used to i n i t i a t e a study of model biological systems (various solutes incorporated in cyclodextrins and micelles). The results demonstrated the sensitive and non-destructive nature of the MSR technique, (vii) Hydrocarbons were also investigated: including measuring their muon yields, their temperature dependence, the effect of an external electric f i e l d , and yields in solvent mixtures. Almost a l l the data obtained seem to be at variance with the expectations of significant intra-spur processes in Mu formation, but are consistent with that of a 'hot atom' mechanism.


Sulfides are the most abundant inclusions in diamonds and a key tool for dating diamond formation via Re-Os isotopic analyses. The manner in which fluids invade the continental lithospheric mantle and the time scale at which they equilibrate with preexisting (protogenetic) sulfides are poorly understood yet essential factors to understanding diamond formation and the validity of isotopic ages. We investigated a suite of sulfide-bearing diamonds from two Canadian cratons to test the robustness of Re-Os in sulfide for dating diamond formation. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) allowed determination of the original monosulfide solid-solution (Mss) composition stable in the mantle, indicating subsolidus conditions of encapsulation, and providing crystallographic evidence supporting a protogenetic origin of the inclusions. The results, coupled with a diffusion model, indicate Re-Os isotope equilibration is sufficiently fast in sulfide inclusions with typical grain size, at mantle temperatures, for the system to be reset by the diamond-forming event. This confirms that even if protogenetic, the Re-Os isochrons defined by these minerals likely reflect the ages of diamond formation, and this result highlights the power of this system to date the timing of fluid migration in mantle lithosphere.


Background: TNBC is associated with higher percentages of pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), and women with a pCR have a favorable prognosis. However, Liedtke (2008) and Loibl (2017) found that women with residual disease have a substantially higher risk of recurrence than women with other subtypes of breast cancer. Additionally, Adams (2017) and Schmid (2017) found that therapeutic blockade of PD-L1 binding by atezolizumab has resulted in relevant anti-tumor efficacy. Methods: Design This is a phase III, double blind, placebo-control trial evaluating neoadjuvant atezolizumab with NAC followed by adjuvant atezolizumab in TNBC. Pts are stratified by region (North America; Europe), tumor size (1.1-3.0cm; >3.0cm), AC/EC schedule (q2w; q3w), and nodal status (positive; negative), then randomized 1:1 to receive atezolizumab/placebo 1200 mg IV every 3 wks concurrently with both sequential regimens of weekly paclitaxel 80 mg/m2 IV for 12 doses with every 3-wk carboplatin AUC of 5 IV for 4 doses followed by AC/EC every 2-3 wks (per investigator discretion) for 4 cycles. Following surgery, pts resume atezolizumab/placebo 1200 mg IV every 3 wks as adjuvant therapy for 6 months. Radiotherapy based on local standards is co-administered with atezolizumab/placebo. Eligibility criteria Centrally-confirmed ER-neg, PR-neg, HER2-neg invasive breast cancer by ASCO/CAP guidelines. Primary tumor must be stage T2 or T3 if cN0 or cN1 with negative biopsy or T1c, T2, or T3 if cN1 with positive biopsy or cN2 or cN3. LVEF >55% and no significant cardiac history. Statistical methods Co-primary endpoints are event-free survival (EFS) and pCR breast/nodes. Secondary endpoints include pCR breast, overall survival, distant disease-free survival, safety and toxicity. Trial is an academic collaboration between NSABP and GBG with support from Genentech/Roche. NCT03281954 Support: Genentech/Roche Citation Format: Geyer, Jr. CE, Loibl S, Rastogi P, Seiler S, Costantino JP, Nekljudova VN, Cortazar P, Lucas PC, Denkert C, Mamounas EP, Jackisch C, Wolmark N. A randomized double-blind phase III clinical trial of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) with atezolizumab or placebo in patients (pts) with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) followed by adjuvant atezolizumab or placebo: NSABP B-59/GBG 96-GeparDouze [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr OT3-05-01.


Thefuzzification of the cluster configuration is refereed as Fuzzy K-Means (FKM) where the algorithm generates limited homogeneous clusters. The data points are assigned respective clusters in accordance to the membership degrees within interval [0,1]. Several variations of FKM algorithm were applied in identifying better clusters of few drugs data set derived from DrugBank database as possible GSK-3 beta inhibitors defined against diabetes. Better clusters were evaluated based on cluster balance and membership degree plots. With k=3, observation of cluster balance and membership degree plots revealed that FKM with entropy is the best method of choice with equal assignment of objects and no ambiguous assignments. The membership degree plot resulted in a good fuzzy clustering result where only 3 points appeared between membership degrees of 0.6 to 0.8


It is doubtless the case that Christian services were held on ships that visited New Zealand from the 17th century onwards, but there is no evidence of any service on the dry land of the islands before 1814, when on Christmas Day an Anglican chaplain from the New South Wales prison colony, Samuel Marsden, landed a small group of lay missionaries at the Bay of Islands in the north of the North Island. Marsden had cultivated links with the indigenous Maori people who had visited Australia. However, the sponsor of the missionaries, the chief Ruatara, died shortly after the missionaries arrived, and for several years the missionaries clung on the margins of Maori society, engaging in the supply of arms and struggling with the low reputation of the Europeans who had settled in the country. In 1823, however, a former naval captain, Henry Williams, and his wife Marianne arrived to take charge of the mission, and thereafter it grew rapidly on the basis of sternly evangelical Anglicanism, bible translation, lessons in civilization, and careful catechetical instruction.

Keywords:

New Zealand Christianity;
anglican chaplain, New South Wales prison colony;
age of disestablishment debate, in Britain;
second evangelical mission, by Samuel Leigh;
maori, part-christian and traditional, pai marire


THIS BOOK DEALS WITH THE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF THE STATIC AND DYNAMIC LOADING OF BRIDGES. DETAILS ARE GIVEN OF THE TEST DEVICES USED (MECHANICAL DEVICES, STRAIN GAUGES, TOPOGRAPHIC AND PHOTOGRAMMETRIC DEVICES) AND OF THE TESTS ON MODELS. WAYS OF INTERPRETING RESULTS WITH AND WITHOUT THE NOTION OF PROBABILITY ARE EXAMINED.


Western modern dancing marks a complete rupture in the history of ballet, and more widely, in the history of group dancing. The sources of inspiration, as well as the ways of performing, are then getting more diverse. These ruptures may be historically analysed, but understanding the innovations occurring in the movement requires new tools of analysis, which should combine the observation of practices and a characterization of ressources mobilised. Training, the "consciousness" and the perception of the body's weight, of it's verticality, of one's respiration and skin, of the impulses, "images" and representation are as many ressources that dancers use for technical learning and performing. Analysing these multiple elements is necessary to approach the difference between modern dancing and ordinary movements.


Despite unprecedented advances in science and technology for health in the developed world, the developing economies are increasingly left behind. One way to bring these advances to these economies is through the use of information and communication technology (ICT), also known as eHealth. The reach of ICT, both via Internet access and mobile phones, is increasing substantially1. Additional solutions will involve advancing education for workers2 and building science capacity.3 Indeed, a number of initiatives in many countries have been undertaken.4 Some successful programs have involved partnerships with academic centers in developed countries5.


The paper investigates Scandinavian countries and its respective male and female youth unemployment rates. Okun's law is used to estimate age-cohort and gender specific Okun coefficients to make inference on the business-cycle dependence of young people across Scandinavian countries.


Auf den ersten Blick ist die Frage, ob es uberhaupt ein christliches Menschenbild gibt, wenig ergiebig. Die Antwort scheint vollig klar zu sein. Es gibt ein solches Menschenbild. Es macht eine Starke des christlichen Glaubens aus, das er inmitten der Sinnkrise und eines grosen pluralistischen Angebots auf ein solches Menschenbild zuruckgreifen kann. Aber da gibt es andere Tone, die eine solche rasch zupackende Antwort unsicher werden lassen. Sinnschwund und Verlust pragender Leitbilder gehoren zur Signatur unserer Zeit. Bei Bert Brecht heist es in einem Chor: Es weis seit langer Zeit/Niemand mehr, was ein Mensch ist". (...)  English SUMMARY: The Christian view on mankind - orientation in a pluralistic society In this text the chairman of the conference of the German bishops raises the question of the existance of a specific Christian view on mankind. In a first step he formulates in six theses the basic perspectives and aspects of a theological anthropology. He distincts, that in Christian faith a theolo&ical or philoso:phical view on mankind cannot exist as a mere theory w1th the exhausting claim to integrate all asP.ects of human being. For that reason Christianity is able to get in touch Wlth all kinds of humanism, which do not advocate an exclusive, reduced and in that totalitarian anthropological approach. In the second part of the text the author denominates some main supports of the Christian understanding of human being. He develops them by means of three thematical lines: transcendence and god, man as person, Christ as the human being. With regards to the relation between the Cfmrch and the public, the author concluding1y pleads for competent catholics, who are able to hold the dialog with the pluralistic world and to work in any range of media. Tius is for the task to dea1 with any present-day problern and cl1a1Ienge from a position of an "alert catholic".


One of the central purposes of education is not only to provide students with the information they need to face and understand the world around them, but also to provide the skills they need in order to analyze that world and manage the various types of issues and problems they will encounter. Considerable debate exists in education as to whether and how critical thinking should be taught and encouraged in schools. Among the many existing models of thinking, Paul's (1992) elements of reasoning stand out as a strong foundation for careful consideration of issues in and out of the classroom. The model represents a strong core of higher level thinking that can be embedded within content areas, especially language arts and social studies, so that students have the opportunity to recognize and assess their thinking processes as part of their central content, rather than as a disconnected piece unto itself. Applications of the model to specific learning activities in existing language arts curricula include questioning strategies, persuasive writing, and research.


Outline • How Low cost airlines have changed the EU? • Maturity in Europe? • Market Substitution or generation? • Are LCCs culpable for increasing aviation's carbon footprint? • What makes a successful low cost airline? • LCCs and the long haul market


Objective:
We sought to characterize current US hospital practices in feeding tube placement for inpatients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).
 Background:
Feeding tube placement in an ICH patient is a common decision shared between an inpatient team and the patient or surrogate, but variability among hospitals and predictors of placement have not been characterized.
 Methods:
We used the National Inpatient Sample to calculate the proportion of patients with primary ICH who received surgical or endoscopic feeding tube placement at individual US hospitals with ≥ 30 ICH admissions annually from 2002-2011. We used a multilevel multivariable regression model, adjusting for relevant patient and hospital covariates as fixed-effect variables and using hospital itself as a random effect, to assess residual variation among hospitals, as measured by the median odds ratio (MOR).
 Results:
Among 690 hospitals with 38,080 ICH hospitalizations, 9.9[percnt] of patients had a feeding tube inserted. Variation in the rate of feeding tube placement among hospitals was large, from 0[percnt] to 34.4[percnt] (IQR 6.3[percnt]-14.0[percnt]). For the regression model, hospital-level predictors included volume of ICH admissions (OR=1.19 highest vs. lowest quartile; 95[percnt] CI 1.06-1.34), intubation rates (1.67 highest vs. lowest quartile; 1.46-1.91), and mean hospital charges (1.26 highest vs. lowest quartile; 1.11-1.43). Patient-level predictors included female sex (0.87; 0.82-0.94), age ≥ 85 years (0.81 vs. 18-54 years; 0.69-0.94), severe comorbidity (2.50 vs. none; 2.30-2.71), Medicaid insurance (1.51 vs. Medicare; 1.34-1.71), and black race (1.59 vs. white; 1.45-1.74). The MOR was 1.36 (95[percnt] CI 1.28-1.44), indicating that if a patient moved from one hospital to another with a higher intrinsic propensity of feeding tube placement, there was a 1.36-fold median increase in the odds of receiving a feeding tube, independent of patient- and hospital factors.
 Conclusions:
Variation in feeding tube insertion rates across hospitals was large and may reflect practice cultures within individual hospitals. Disclosure: Dr. Hwang has received research support from the American Brain Foundation Practice Research Training Fellowship. Dr. George has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kelly has nothing to disclose. Dr. Schneider has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sheth has nothing to disclose. Dr. Holloway has received personal compensation for activities with Milliman Guideline, Inc. as a consultant. Dr. Holloway has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Neurology Today.


Background: Sonographic examination is an important tool in assessment of normal and abnormal cervical lymph nodes. The aim of the study is to assess the distribution and the characteristic features of normal cervical lymph nodes in a sample of Syrian population. Materials and Methods: Fifty healthy Syrian subjects (25 men and 25 women) with an age of 20 -60years old, who had their cervical lymph nodes examined by ultrasound. Three hundred and two lymph nodes were detected. Lymph nodes were evaluated for their number, size, site, echogenic hilus, shape, as well as for the border sharpness. The subjects were categorized by age into four groups, (20 -30, 31 40 , 41 50 , 5160 years ). Statistical analysis of data was done using SPSS software (version 11.5), and analytical one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Duncan's Multiple Range Test. Results: The results showed that there was no significant difference in mean number of nodes between different age groups. All lymph nodes were hypoechoic; majority of them possessed an echogenic hilus, with transverse diameter of 8 mm or less. All lymph nodes were oval except for submandibular and parotid nodes which appeared round. Conclusions: This study provides a sonographic appearance of normal cervical lymph nodes in relation to their site, size, shape, numbers, border sharpness, and echogenic hilum, in a sample of Syrian population.


The detailed analysis of crack prediction in the continuous casting production at national and abroad has been presented. Based on clustering subtraction of ANFIS fuzzy adaptive network modeling and simulation, the simulation result prove that according to the signs, it can forecast cracks before it appear. Resolved the former equipments error crack examination detection problem, lowered the crack occurrence rate effectively, and increased the quantity of the continuous casting slab.


Oocytes from the land hermit crab, Coenobita clypeatus, in various stages of vitellogenesis were examined by light and electron microscopy. Early vitellogenic oocytes are characterized by accumulations of discrete vesicles of endoplasmic reticulum in the perinuclear cytoplasm. As oocytes develop, the endoplasmic reticulum becomes abundant, and numerous Golgi complexes are seen. There is a well developed Golgi‐endoplasmic reticulum interaction. Within the confines of the reticulum are discrete intracisternal granules, which can be seen coalescing into electron‐dense yolk bodies. Lipid accumulation is seen throughout the cytoplasm. Coincident with the burst of intra‐oocytic metabolism are oolemma modifications and micropinocytosis, which provide ultrastructural evidence for extra‐oocytic yolk production. The mature oocyte contains numerous yolk and lipid vesicles of varying electron density that comprise both intra‐ and extra‐oocytic substrates.


International development aid will reach record levels this year, but still fall far short of the sums pledged by donors at the 2005 Gleneagles summit, says a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The organisation's latest figures, released on 17 February, show that aid rose by $27bn (£17bn; €20bn) from 2004 to 2010, but this still represents a $21bn shortfall between what donors promised in 2005 and current estimates for 2010.

It warns that Africa will be particularly badly hit by the shortfall because it is likely to get only about $12bn of the $25bn increase envisaged at Gleneagles, "due in …


Respiration requires the free passage of air through the nasopharyngeal duct. The obstruction of the respiratory canal may cause growth and development anomalies in young patients. Atmospheric pollution in urban areas increases respiratory allergies such as allergic rhinitis in the population. This research analyzed the relation between the variation in atmospheric pollution and allergic rhinitis with the incidence of posterior and anterior crossbite in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey. Patients between 5 to 16 years old were diagnosed with chronic allergic rhinitis. Patients were given dental exams to identify the presence of crossbite in the patients. The geographical location of their homes and concentration variation of ozone, PM2.5, PM10 and sulphur dioxide in three-year periods from 2004-2014 was analyzed using mapping techniques to establish if the increasing pollution concentrations are related to the presence of crossbite in patients with allergic rhinitis. In general, an increase in pollutant concentrations resulted in a significant increase of crossbite in patients. In conclusion, the increasing concentrations of air pollution and respiratory diseases are related to craniofacial growth and development anomalies.


Undergraduate training in secondary vocational and higher vocational schools is the basic path for the sustainable development of education. Using "secondary vocational and higher vocational undergraduate" as the key word to carry out literature search and analysis on CNKI, we found that researchers mainly conduct research from the aspects of training objectives, model selection, curriculum reform, implementation path, and implementation guarantee. However, there are few comprehensive studies on the path and system construction of the talent training model. Therefore, this article provides a model path that can be referred to by classifying and summarizing the literature.


The Royal Decree allowing Morisco slavery was issued by King Philip II in 1573, following the defeat of Morisco rebels in the Alpujarras mountains (north of Granada andalusia), thus ending a war that had lasted three years (1569-1571). Moriscos (Muslims who had remained in the Kingdom of Granada following its conquest by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492) had been baptised by force in 1500, being known thereafter as "New Christians". Since Christians could not enslave other Christians, King Philip II of Spain sought the advice of the ecclesiastical authorities, who opined that Morisco adults of either sex could be sold as slaves because they were former Muslims and only paid lip-service to Christianity. Girls (under 9-and-a-half years of age) and boys (under 10-and-a-half years) should not be sold as slaves, but put to work as servants in Christian homes until the age of 20. Morisco slaves had remained in Spain following the Decrees for Expulsion on 10 July 1610 and 20 March 1611 precisely because they were considered private property. This article analyzes the legal and philosophical debate regarding Morisco slavery, its implementation and consequences.


The aim of the study was to compare visual estimates of the severity of coronary stenoses (VE) and quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) and to relate both parameters to myocardial perfusion scintigraphy. The authors studied 80 patients (63 men, 17 women) with angiographically determined single vessel disease (47 LAD, 22 LCX, 11 RCA) and no prior myocardial infarction. 45 of these patients also underwent a Tl-201 perfusion SPECT. VE was performed from coronary angiograms by 3 independent observers. QCA was performed off-line using the QCA-CMS 2.3D. Interobserver variability of VE was highest for intermediate stenoses (40-60% diameter stenosis). VE agreed better with QCA%-area stenosis for severe lesions (>50%-diameter stenosis) and with QCA%-diameter stenosis for mild lesions (<40%-diameter stenosis). Diagnostic accuracies of VE and QCA were high (area under ROC-curve/spl ap/0.90). 50% QCA%-diameter stenosis and 63% percent stenosis by VE were the optimal threshold values to differentiate normal and abnormal results of myocardial scintigraphy. Thus, VE yields adequate accuracy in most clinical routine patients. For borderline lesions and for scientific studies QCA should be preferred.


The research was done to find out price determining policy at PT. Indonesia Matsuya Pasuruan. Variables researched in this research were: product selling price as independent variable (X) and selling level as dependent variable (Y). The research aimed to find out the correct price determining policy for PT. Matsuya Pasuruan. Analytical tool used to find out the correct price determining policy for PT. Indonesia Matsuya Pasuruan was by using simple linear regression and also to find out the changing proportion of selling level using R2 test. From the simple linear analysis, there showed that wardrobe product selling price with the selling level had positive influence. The condition was in opposite of chair and table product selling which had negative relation to selling level. So that there could be found that the correct policy for PT. Indonesia Matsuya Pasuruan was quantity discount price application policy. According to the research, the writer implied that it would be better for PT. Indonesia Matsuya used quantity discount price determining policy, where the company gave discount for buyer who bought 100 units or more in order to increase selling.


The use of protected imidazolium compounds as initial products avoiding overoxidation is the key to the success of this method.


This paper deals with investigating the problem of singer identification, by studying some spectral features and the way they depend on each other and on musical performance. Features like the spectral centroid, the tristimulus, the odd/even harmonics relationship are calculated and their evolution during a musical phrase is studied. Their inter-dependence is tested using the Spearman's correlation coefficient. The mentioned features have previously found to be useful for musical instruments description. The results we obtained suggest that the spectral characteristics of the singing voice are mostly determined by the position of the formants, under conscious control of the singer.


Thermal properties, namely, Debye temperature, thermal expansion coefficient, heat capacity, and thermal conductivity of γ-Y 2Si2O7, a high-temperature polymorph of yttrium disilicate, were investigated. The anisotropic thermal expansions of γ-Y2Si2O7 powders were examined using high-temperature X-ray diffractometer from 300 to 1373 K and the volumetric thermal expansion coefficient is (6.68±0.35) × 10-6 K-1. The linear thermal expansion coefficient of polycrystalline γ-Y2Si2O7 determined by push-rod dilatometer is (3.90±0.4) × 10-6 K-1, being very close to that of silicon nitride and silicon carbide. Besides, γ-Y2Si2O7 displays a low-thermal conductivity, with a κ value measured below 3.0 W·(m·K) -1 at the temperatures above 600 K. The calculated minimum thermal conductivity, κmin, was 1.35 W·(m·K) -1. The unique combination of low thermal expansion coefficient and low-thermal conductivity of γ-Y2Si2O7 renders it a very competitive candidate material for high temperature structural components and environmental/thermal-barrier coatings. The thermal shock resistance of γ-Y2Si2O7 was estimated by quenching dense materials in water from various temperatures and the critical temperature difference, ΔTc, was determined to be 300 K.


Contact problems are very common in engineering. The FE methods for contact problems, i.e. the iterative method, the contact constraint method, and the mathematical programming method are discussed. The iterative method is a "trial and error" method with a clear concept and convenient implementation, but the amount of computation is large and convergence cannot be ensured. The contact constraint method can convert a contact problem to a unconstrained optimization problem by use of the penalty method of the Lagrange multiplier. The mathematical programming method solves a contact problem as a quadratic programming (linear complementarity) problem based on its complementarity condition and non penetration condition, and the method is a non iterative method with rapid stable convergence and little amount of computation. Finally trends of the research on contact problems are introduced briefly.


Prostaglandin E2 tablets were administered orally following amniotomy to 46 primagravid and 54 multiparous women at or near term. Of these, 96 women had vaginal delivery with an average induction-delivery interval of 8 1/2 hours. Vomiting and or diarrhoea occurred in 9 women. No adverse effects on the foetus were apparent. The safety, ease and convenience of administration were obvious to the patients and staff.


Ubiquitous IoT allowed everything to be connected, thereby creating heterogeneous data transmissions in the network, ranging from small sensor packets to large video frames. This prevents error correction techniques from proper algebraic coding without padding the unequal-sized packets. Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) for instance, generates unreasonable amounts of padding overhead in media distribution that can suppress its pervasive benefits. We propose a set of approaches that overcome this issue, while also reducing the decoding delays at the same time.


Early heart disease detection could be vital and some other diagnostic ways are being developed. In this paper, a lowcost tool for a diagnostic that analyzes the digitized heartbeat sound is given. This can be used to detect heart anomalies. The instrument shows the heart sound and also keeps a patient's long-term record for future use. The signal from the heart provides a lot of knowledge about the heart and offers an initial diagnosis recommendation. The electronic stethoscope uses the condenser microphone, preamplifier circuit, and filter circuit. The optimum filter is Butterworth with a fourth-order Sallen key low pass filter topology with a gain of 0.707 volts, -3.01 dB, and a fourth-order high pass filter with a gain of 0.782 volts, -2.137 dB. The frequency of the heart sound is about 20 Hz – 120 Hz in general. Therefore, the lower cutoff frequency of the filter is set to 20 Hz, while the higher cutoff frequency set to 120 Hz. The evaluation used to measure the performance of an electronic stethoscope is to compare with a conventional stethoscope, the recorded sound is the same.


Using an optimized delay-differential-equation model, we efficiently simulate the signal propagation through a quantum-dot semiconductor amplifier. We analyze the device performance by means of the signal quality factor when amplifying signals on either the ground or excited state transition, in dependence of pump current and signal power.


This paper introduces the generation and harm of electric power system harmonic,as well as the common used suppression and elimination method.The electrical propulsion system of a large LNG ship which rectified with a 24-pulse converter was modeled and simulated.The results show that the proposed scheme is effective to suppress the harmonic without a filter.


Objective: To compare the effectiveness of transcervical Foley catheter – oxytocin with oxytocin alone for labor induction in term pregnancies. Design: Case-control study. Setting: Hospital Central "Dr. Urquinaona", Maracaibo, Venezuela. Participants: Pregnant women undergoing cervical ripening and labor induction were randomly assigned to be treated with transcervical Foley catheter – oxytocin (group A) or oxytocin alone (group B). Main outcome measures: General characteristics, interval between beginning of induction and delivery, vaginal birth rate, maternal complications, perinatal variables, and adverse effects were evaluated. Results: There were no significant differences between groups in general characteristics (p = ns). Patients of group A showed a shorter interval between the beginning of induction and delivery compared with patients in group B (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in vaginal birth rate between groups (p = ns). Newborns of both groups had similar mean values of Apgar scores at 1 minute and 5 minutes (p = ns). The most common adverse effect in both groups was nausea, but there were no significant differences between groups in frequency of adverse effects (p = ns). Conclusions: Use of transcervical Foley catheter – oxytocin shortened the interval between beginning of induction and delivery compared with oxytocin alone, with similar incidence of maternal and perinatal adverse effects.


Main changes in study programs at the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) based on the Bologna declaration [1] were completed more than 10 years ago [2]. The bachelor and master degree studies were strictly separated, and new separate study plans had to be worked out. It brought both advantages and disadvantages, and later it resulted in further changes in the study programs. The paper aims to show how CTU, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (CTU–FEE), has taken the advantage of the changes and how the disadvantages have been solved.


In order to converge the EPON system and WiFi technique,a novel scheme was proposed to design a converged optical network unit(ONU) based on ARM9 S3C2440.The hardware structure and its function modules were demonstrated in detail,so were the software design and its main functions.Besides,the performances of the devised converged ONU were tested under the circumstance of wireless access and optical signal transmission respectively.Performance testing results showed that both the connectivity of the wireless signals and the uplink transmission of the optical signals met the requirement of practical application for the devised converged ONU.


The food industry seeks to utilize by-products and meet the needs and wants of consumers as well as improving their products according to the requirements of proper nutrition. In the Republic of Croatia, about 40.600,00 tons of grape pomace are produced annually. In this thesis, trial baking and analysis of tea cookies with the addition of grape pomace were carried out. Tea cookies were made in laboratory conditions according to the standard recipe AACC 10-50.05 method from wheat flour and with the addition of different shares of grape pomace from variety Cabernet Sauvignon. Dried and chopped grape pomace was added as a substitute for wheat flour in shares of 10, 20 and 30 %. The aim was to monitor the following properties of tea cookies with the addition of grape pomace from variety Cabernet Sauvignon: colour, water content, texture, sensory properties, volume, length and height. By increasing the share of grape pomace, height and length are increased, while the hardness, spread ratio, volume, water content and brightness of the tea cookies are reduced.


While parental feeding styles have been associated with children's dietary intake and weight status, the objective of this study was to determine how a child's eating style is related to their parent's feeding style. Parents of preschool children (n=43) completed the Caregiver Feeding Style Questionnaire to determine parental feeding style and the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) to determine their child's eating style. Authoritarian (35%) and indulgent (30%) feeding styles were most common, and the authoritative (14%) feeding style was least common among parents. Children of indulgent parents had higher CEBQ scores for enjoyment of food (r=.453, p= 0.01) and lower scores for slowness in eating subscales (r=‐.430, p=0.01), which have both been linked to higher child BMI. Children of authoritarian parents had higher CEBQ scores for satiety responsiveness (r=.673, p=0.01) and slowness in eating (r=.600, p=0.01), and lower scores for enjoyment of food (r=‐.477, p=0.01), which have been associated with desirable child weight status. Interestingly, children of authoritarian parents scored higher on emotional over eating (r=.522, p=0.01), emotional under eating (r=.343, p=0.05), and food fussiness (r=.481, p=0.01), which may be why these parents use a controlling feeding style. Further research should determine the direction of the relationship between parent feeding and child eating styles.


The first of these two articles gave an insight into the basis on which the suitability of valuation methods to perform their functions should be judged. In this article attention turns to specific principles in the Equated Yield (EY) and Inflation Risk Free Yield (IRFY) approaches.


Gingival recession (GR) is a common periodontal condition that affects a large portion of the young and adult population and negatively affects the esthetic aspects of the smile. It has been described as relatively complex in terms of its multifactorial cause, variable subjective outcomes, and continuously evolving treatment modalities, but it appears to present a simple objective manifestation that can be quite challenging to the orthodontist. The available options for treating the condition consist of a varied range of nonsurgical and surgical techniques, which lie mainly within the field of Periodontology but may include Orthodontics and the broader field of Restorative Dentistry. In addition, the high association of GR with periodontal disease progression would imply an understanding of the latter by the orthodontist would be required in order to effectively diagnose and treat the condition accordingly. Currently, cosmetic expectations have risen to such a level that they constitute a major factor for an orthodontist when planning treatment for patients in whom restoring function could outweigh esthetic harmony.


Disclosures: Gerardo González-Saldivar has nothing to declare in relation to this article. David R Chow declares the following financial interests or relationships: consultant/advisor for Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center (DORC) International USA and Katalyst; lecture fees for DORC International USA, OptoVue and Allergan; and equity ownership/stock options in public or privately traded firms, excluding mutual funds from Katalyst and Synergetics, Inc.


The leakage of sensitive data of users and global positioning system location trajectories from different cloud computation sources have increased in daily lives. This critical problem can influence users' lives because attackers try to misuse the leaked information. In this study, we addressed the critical problem pertaining to the privacy of personal identification information (PII) and location information over vehicular cloud networks (VCNs). The problem was addressed by proposing a data and location privacy (DLP) framework that preserves data privacy in terms of the anonymity of PII and provides location privacy for users' trajectories through the obfuscation technique. The proposed DLP framework contains five stages: registration with VCN server, processing of PII/data privacy block, segregation of obfuscation data, authentication, and provision of cryptographic security. The result analysis shows that the proposed mechanism is able to generate obfuscated trajectories and successfully recomputes the original trajectories at the server side.


The Trypillia settlement is located at the western edge of Hlybochok village (former Zvenyhorodka district of Cherkasy Oblast), at the plateau of the western bank of the Hirskyi Tikych River. According to the geophysical surveys, the settlement size reached 100 ha. Its dwellings were organized into two ellipses. The remains of two dwellings (ploshchadki) were excavated in 1994—1995. Ploshchadka No. 1 was located in the southern part of the external construction ellipse, while ploshchadka No. 2 was located in the second internal ellipse at the eastern part of the site. The remains of both houses had a rectangular shape and included several layers of burnt clay. Houses had fireplaces on the lower storey. The second house also included an elevation of rectangular shape with grinding stones. Living areas are associated with the upper storey of houses. The majority of materials, mainly kitchen and table pottery, were found between the layers of burnt clay. Kitchen pottery (6—7 %) is represented by conical bowls and pots with S-shaped profiles with poor ornamentation. Table pottery (92—93 %) is represented by ceramics ornamented with black monochromic painting. Nearly 45 % of pottery forms and 25 % of ornamentation schemes were reconstructed. Ceramic shapes are represented by bowls, goblets, biconical, spherical and conical vessels, amphorae, pear-shaped vessels, leads, craters, pots and binocular-shaped vessels. Anthropomorphic figurines were found in fragments. The Hlybochok settlement is referred to the late phase of Nebelivska group (the end of BII period) of the development of the Western Trypillia culture. The settlement is dated to the range of 3925—3825 BC. The Nebelivska group marks the migration of the Western Trypillia culture populations to the north-eastern direction, towards the Middle Dnieper region. Its further development between the Ros and the Dnieper rivers resulted in the formation of Kanivska local group, which pottery is also characterized by the influence of the Eastern Trypillia traditions. In the indigenous area the Nebelivska local group was replaced by the Tomashivska group.


Objective
To compare the application of ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and minimally invasive endoscopic surgery in the treatment of patients with benign thyroid nodules.

Methods
From January 2015 to January 2019, one thousand patients with benign thyroid nodules who underwent surgery in the 928th Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army Joint Logistics and Support Force were divided into ultrasound-guided RFA group (594 cases) and minimally invasive endoscopic surgery group (406 cases) according to different surgical methods. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospitalization time, changes of thyroid function before surgery and 6 months after surgery, interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and occurrence of postoperative complications were compared between the two groups.

Results
After surgery, levels of IL-6, CRP and TNF-α in RFA group were significantly lower than those in minimally invasive endoscopic surgery group (t=-67.827, -117.340, 32.192, all P<0.001). The operation time, postoperative hospitalization time, surgical blood loss, and the incidence of postoperative complications in RFA group were significantly lower than those in minimally invasive endoscopic surgery group (t=85.135, 67.418, 65.475, χ2=169.568, all P<0.001).

Conclusions
The damage of both ultrasound-guided RFA and minimally invasive endoscopic surgery in treatment of patients with benign thyroid nodules is relatively less for thyroid function. The safety of the former is better, with less trauma and fewer postoperative complications.

Key words:
Thyroid nodule; Catheter ablation; Ablation techniques; Surgical procedures, minimally invasive


Gaurav Goyal, Currently working with Infosys Technologies, Gaurav Goyal has completed his PGD PM & IR from XLRI School of Business & Human Resources, Jamshedpur. A Graduate in Electronics & Instrumentation engineering, Gaurav had worked as an Assistant System Engineer with TATA Consultancy Services (TCS) Ltd. He has also co-authored a paper on "Indian Penal Code & Industrial Relations", published in Labor Law Notes."


An n-tuple (a1,a2,…,an) is symmetric if ak=an−k+1, 1≤k≤n. A symmetric n-sigraph (symmetric n-marked graph) is an ordered pair Sn=(G,σ) (Sn=(G,μ)), where G=(V,E) is a graph called the underlying graph of Sn and σ:E→Hn (μ:V→Hn) is a function. Two symmetric n-sigraphs Sn=(G,σ) and S′n=(G′,σ′) are switching equivalent (written Sn∼S′n) whenever there exists an n-marking μ of Sn such that the symmetric n-sigraph obtained by changing the n-tuple of every edge uv of Sn by μ(u)σ(uv)μ(v), is isomorphic to S′n. In this paper, we characterize symmetric n-sigraphs, iterated line symmetric n-sigraphs and complementary symmetric n-sigraphs as switching equivalent.


The case of R (on the application of Gaines-Cooper) ? Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs1 (the ' Gaines-Cooper case') attracted considerable industry and press attention during its progression through the UK courts. The Supreme Court decision, released on 19 October 2011, has brought the UK process to a close, but the ramifications of the decision and, indeed, the future path of the case itself, remain open to speculation and comment.The Gaines-Cooper case was heard in conjunction with another, R (on the application of Davies and another) v Her Majesty 's Revenue & Customs. This commentary will refer to the facts of the Gaines-Cooper case but the conclusions apply to both cases.BackgroundThe Supreme Court decision concerns the interpretation of Her Majesty's Revenue 8c Customs (HMRC) guidance entitled 'IR20: Residents and nonresidents - Liability to tax in the United Kingdom' ('IR20') , replaced in April 2009 by 'HMRC6: Residence, domicile and the remittance basis' ('HMRC6') . This guidance is pivotal to those for whom the issue of residence needs to be determined for a given tax year, owing to the fact that, for individuals, UK law currently has no statutory definition of residence. Accordingly, individuals seeking to determine whether or not they are resident in the UK for tax purposes are dependent on case law and on HMRC guidance such as that formerly found in IR20. In international terms, the UK test can be particularly important because the UK's special regime for those regarded as resident but not domiciled in the UK requires specific planning, and affected individuals thus need to understand their residence status.Mr Gaines-Cooper's appeal focused on paragraphs 2.7 to 2.9 of IR20 regarding leaving the UK permanently or indefinitely, but referred, in this context, to paragraph 2.2. The text of the relevant paragraphs is set out below:'Working abroad2.2 If you leave the UK to work full-time abroad under a contract of employment, you are treated as not resident and not ordinarily resident if you meet all the following conditions:* your absence from the UK and your employment abroad both last for at least a whole tax year* during your absence any visits you make to the UK total less than 183 days in any tax year, and* average less than 91 days a tax year. (The average is taken over the period of absence up to a maximum of four years - see paragraph 2.10. Any days spent in the UKbecause of exceptional circumstances beyond your control, for example the illness of yourself or a member of your immediate family, are not normally counted for this purpose.)Leaving the UK permanently or indefinitely2.7 If you go abroad permanently, you will be treated as remaining resident and ordinarily resident if your visits to the UK average 91 days or more a year- see paragraph 2.10. Any days spent in the UKbecause of exceptional circumstances beyond your control, for example the illness of yourself or your immediate family, are not normally counted for the purposes of averaging your visits.2.8 If you claim that you are no longer resident and ordinarily resident, we may ask you to give some evidence that you have left the UK either permanently or to live outside the UK for three years or more. This evidence might be, for example, that you have taken steps to acquire accommodation abroad to live in as a permanent home, and if you continue to have property in the UKfor your use, the reason is consistent with your stated aim of living abroad permanently or for three years or more. If you have left the UK permanently or for at least three years, you will be treated as not resident and not ordinarily resident from the day after the date of your departure providing:* your absence from the UK has covered at least a whole tax year, and* your visits to the UK since leaving have totalled less than 183 days in any tax year, and* have averaged less than 91 days a tax year. …


We applied otolith growth rate analysis to an investigation of cadmium (Cd)‐exposed larval topsmelt (Atherinops affinis) to determine if growth rate was a more sensitive measure than somatic growth (body wt or length). Topsmelt otoliths, calcareous concretions in the fish inner ear, formed daily increments, and otolith growth was proportional to somatic growth. Nine‐day posthatch larval topsmelt were exposed to Cd (0–100 ppb) in seawater for 14 d and fed low or high ration levels in separate experiments. Whereas Cd impaired topsmelt growth and growth rates, the extent of growth reduction was dependent on the ration level. At high ration levels, otolith and somatic growth rates of fish exposed to Cd (50 and 100 ppb) were significantly reduced; however, no differences in final mean weight and only marginal differences in final mean length of Cd‐exposed topsmelt were observed. At low ration levels, we detected reductions in both somatic growth as well as otolith and somatic growth rates of topsmelt exposed to Cd (50 and 100 ppb). Otolith growth rate analysis was more sensitive than growth measurements of Cd‐exposed topsmelt, because it allowed the detection of small differences in growth rates even when differences in somatic growth were not observed.


POLITICAL AND SOCIAL IDEAS played a peculiarly important part in shaping British institutions in the century between Waterloo and the Great War of 1914. The utilitarian theories of Jeremy Bentham and his Radical followers, the free trade doctrines promoted by Richard Cobden and the Anti-Corn Law League, the evolutionary socialism of Sidney Webb and the Fabian Society are classic examples of concepts which profoundly affected the course of British history, and which cannot be explained in purely material terms. The current fashion may be to emphasize the interplay of economic interests represented in parliament and consider reform legislation in terms of the pressure of special groups, but the great debates in the Commons and in the country were held in terms of the basic principles of government. Economic interest was a factor that only the blind could fail to recognize; but the great reforms which moulded British institutions into their present shape can be understood only in connection with the general ideas from which they grew. The influence of theory on politics was particularly significant in the early years of the twentieth century, when the great social reforms of the Liberal party laid the foundations of a new-and yet thoroughly British-social unity, the strength of which was tested in the first world war and in the great depression, and won universal admiration after the military collapse of Dunkirk. Between 1906 and 1911 as much important legislation was placed upon the statute books as in the six years from 1832 to 1837. Among the more significant laws were the Trade Disputes Act and the Workman's Compensation Act of 1906, the Old Age Pensions Act of 1908, the Labor Exchange Act, the Children's Act and the Housing and Town Planning Act of 1909, and the National Insurance Act of 1911. Although this mass of detailed social legislation was put into effect piece-meal, it was the coherent result of years of discussion and agitation. It was based on a considered view of the State and society. The laws have been described many times, and the circumstances of their passage are recorded in detail. Yet, curiously enough, little effort has been made to connect social reform with the acceptance of new political ideas.'


A nuclear monochromator using grazing incidence anti-reflection (GIAR) films of {sup 119}SnO{sub 2} coated on a Pd backing mirror was designed, fabricated and characterized. {sup 119}SnO{sub 2} /Pd/quartz GIAR films were synthesized by a magnetron reactive sputtering technique. The films were characterized by x-ray scattering of 23.87 keV synchrotron radiation source. From the measurement of off-resonance reflectivity and the simulation of the resonant nuclear reflectivity, {approximately} 0.8 reflectivity with 10{sup {minus}2} electronic reflectivity and an energy band width {approximately} 100{Gamma} where {Gamma} is a natural line width, at a 2 mrad incident beam angle would be expected. The requirements and alternative methods to improve performance of a GIAR film nuclear monochromator were discussed.