In this commentary, I focus on Albert Newen 's multiplicity view ( MV ) and aim to provide an alternative framework in which it can be embedded. Newen claims that social understanding draws on at least four different epistemic mechanisms, thus rejecting the idea that there is a default mechanism for social cognition. I claim that MV runs the risk of combining elements that have been described in metaphysically incompatible theories. I will argue that multiplicity needs coherence, which can be achieved by applying the theoretical framework of first-, second-, and third-order embodiment (1-3E; Metzinger 2014 ) to the study of social cognition. The modified version of this theory, 1-3sE (first-, second-, and third-order social embodiment), can serve as a unifying framework for a pluralistic account of social understanding.


In 2 studies, we assessed concepts of personal entitlements in more and less hierarchically organized cultures. Study 1 assessed the judgments of 88 adolescent and adult males (mean ages 17-6 and 34-7) from Druze and Jewish communities in Israel. Subjects were presented with conflict situations in which a person in a dominant position (husband, father) objects to the activities of a family member in a subordinate position (wife, daughter, son), and vice versa. Druze subjects attributed more power than Jewish subjects to husbands and fathers over wives and daughters, but concepts of personal entitlements were prominent in both groups. Study 2 assessed the judgements of Druze females (mean ages 12-10, 17-5, and 38-6). Results show that females accept the legitimacy of males' power and personal autonomy, recognize the consequences for those in subordinate positions, and regard the existing social arrangements as unfair. Overall, the findings indicate that social reasoning is heterogeneous in different types of cultures.


Vertiginous change in technology has led to global and full-scale business growth, which implicitly has caused organizations to face new contingencies, exogenous factors such as globalization or issue of international regulations and endogenous factors due to the increase in operations, have completely modified the classical organizational structure, resulting exposed to surprising levels of risk, including fraud. The frequent facts that come from corrupt practices impact not only the organizations where they are committed, but the society and in general the State where they execute their operations. The objective of the current research was based on the analysis of the internal audit role against the fraud risk management with a quantitative approach of the economic impact in the organizations and qualitative of the different international standards issued, as well as of diverse doctrinal studies made on this matter. Both the international standards and the legislation issued by the nations seek to increase the credibility of the information reported to the regulatory bodies, strengthen preventive mechanisms and encourage the organizations' responsibility for fraud risk management. However, there are still pending issues for legislation, such as the imperative adoption of such international regulations and the mandatory implementation of an independent Internal Audit unit in all companies that contributes to generate value and strengthen transparency in them.


In 1962 John McKernan was expelled from the pre-med program at Creighton University for, in his own words, "drinking and carousing." Thank God. Until his expulsion, he had not read or studied a single poem. From Creighton, McKernan went on to the University of Omaha where he majored variously in History, Philosophy and English. He received a Grad uate Fellowship to the University of Arkansas and did further work in creative writing at Columbia University. As if making up for time lost, he has been remarkably energetic in his pursuit of the craft. In addition to teaching, editing The Little Review and translating from the works of Rim baud, Horace, Guillevic and Rilke, he has published several hundred poems in many of the best literary magazines in the country. Perhaps the first thing one notices about McKernan's poetry is his passion for places: New York, Illinois, Alabama, West Virginia, Alaska and Japan are just a few of the names appearing in the following pages. That is quite an area to cover. But the poet is not straining to somehow encom pass the world, nor is he making any grandiose claims to universality. He is of a specific time, of a particular place, and he knows it. Often this aware ness is painful and frustrating, as evident in the poem ingenuously titled "Shucks." Here, the poet's personal attempt to bridge the gap between Eastern and Western Cultures ends in failure: "But always mid-west/Torna does slam through/My veins . . . . " Although we can try physically to es cape, or bury, our past, we cannot be other than what we are. On the other hand, we are often not what we appear. McKernan has a pronounced affection for the whimsical — some of his titles are almost poems themselves. Many of his personae assume a voice of disarming sim plicity. How does one respond to a poem that concludes: "I am/From Denver. Up in the sky. Simple. I/Would just die to talk to Susan one day."? Well, having read the poems that precede it, the reader does not fully believe him. However, while this "simple I" is only one of the poet's poses, it would be wrong to divide the poems into the serious and the not so-serious. McKernan is not as accomodating as that. The light and the serious (in fashionable terms, one would call it the poet's darker side) generally blend together, like two parts of an integrated personality. Thus


Using an effective tight-binding model, together with a transfer matrix technique, we investigate the n final form 28 July 2014 vailable online 4 August 2014 electronic transport through an oligopeptide chain composed by two amino acid pairs alanine–lysine (Ala–Lys) and threonine–alanine (Thr–Ala), respectively, sandwiched between two platinum electrodes. Our results show that factors such as the oligopeptide chain length and the possible combinations between the amino acids residues are crucial to the diode-like profile of the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics, whose asymmetric curves were analyzed using the inverted rectification ratio (IRR). © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


The lattice structure of points in an n-dimensional space produced by an ap- propriate grouping of pseudo-random numbers obtained from multiplicative congruential generators is discussed. Examples are given for 2 < n < 6. The work is based on the theory of the reduction of positive quadratic forms in n variables.


This paper highlights the potential of Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations to capture the cyclic behavior of the granular materials including liquefaction, post liquefaction and dynamic properties. A series of strain controlled undrained cyclic triaxial tests have been carried out on isotropically compressed assembly of spheres to understand the influence of different parameters on the cyclic behavior of granular materials. The undrained tests have been simulated by maintaining a constant volume condition of the sample throughout the cyclic triaxial tests. Post liquefaction undrained monotonic studies were carried out on samples without dissipating the excess pore water pressure developed during initial liquefaction. As observed from the results, numerical simulation using DEM has captured liquefaction, pore water pressure generation, post-liquefaction and dynamic properties similar to the experimental results. Furthermore, evolution of micromechanical parameters such as average coordination number and anisotropic coefficients during cyclic triaxial loading has also been reported and discussed. INTRODUCTION For the last few decades, the behaviour of saturated granular materials during undrained cyclic loading condition has attracted the attention of researchers worldwide. The high incidence of liquefaction during earthquakes, with its potential to damage, has made the liquefaction a prime subject of concern in geotechnical earthquake engineering. It has been reported, based on the laboratory investigations, that liquefaction and pore water pressure response during cyclic loading depends on many factors such as confining pressure, initial void ratio, initial stress condition, amount of fines, sample preparation method, over consolidation ratio, length of time under sustained pressures [1-9]. Despite the extensive research in this area, liquefaction still remains a major problem even in recent earthquakes. This is due to the fact that the mechanical behaviour of granular materials is influenced by a large number of factors, which make it difficult to establish general stress – strain relationships. The major concern during earthquake loading was to safe guard the structure from liquefaction, if the structures are resting on saturated loose sand. Often, costly ground improvement projects (e.g densification of sand) are preferred to mitigate the liquefaction hazards (e.g. earthquake induced displacements). In the last two decades, the need for evaluating earthquake-induced settlements was recognized and as a result, some analytical and empirical relationships were developed [10-12]. The important information required to evaluate the earthquake induced displacement is the undrained stress-strain response of the post liquefied sands. This will allow the designer to predict the potential resistance of liquefied sand to withstand the monotonically increasing static loads. This information is also required for the assessment of post liquefaction stress strain behaviour of soils to mitigate liquefaction hazards. Recent laboratory investigations [13-15] have achieved a qualitative understanding from laboratory investigation on the post liquefaction undrained behaviour of sandy soils. However, no attempt has been done so far to understand the post liquefaction monotonic undrained test from grain scale level. The behaviour of soils subjected to dynamic loading is governed by dynamic soil properties. The measurement of dynamic soil properties is critical task in the solution of earthquake geotechnical engineering program. Since dynamic properties are influenced by several factors, precise measurement of dynamic soil properties is somewhat a difficult task in the solution of geotechnical earthquake engineering problems [16]. Several laboratory and field techniques are available to measure the dynamic properties of soils. Some of these tests are oriented toward measurements of dynamic properties at low strain levels and some other towards large strain levels. However it is highly difficult to determine the dynamic properties for wide range of shear strain level (from low shear strain to high) using single testing apparatus. Moreover, in the recent past, many experimental investigations mostly for sandy soil have been carried out to investigate the effect of parameters such as confining pressure, amplitude of shear strain, void ratio, number of cycles, stress history, initial stress, soil type etc on the dynamic properties [17-20]. These experimental investigations are mostly confined to isotropically consolidated samples without considering the initial soil structure or fabric. Since dynamic properties are highly sensitive to all these factors it is highly essential to evaluate these properties using a numerical technique which can model granular material as an assemblage of particles for wide range of shear strain where in sample preparation problem can be avoided. To comprehensively understand the macroscopic behavior of granular materials an understanding of the micromechanical response during cyclic loading is necessary. This approach requires observations at micro level, which is very difficult to achieve by actual experiments on real granular media. This


PURPOSE: A local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensor using a chalcogenide material and a manufacturing method thereof are provided to control a composition ratio of a chalcogenide material forming an LSPR excitation layer, thereby variously changing the carrier concentration of the LSPR excitation layer. CONSTITUTION: An LSPR sensor using a chalcogenide material includes an LSPR excitation layer formed of a chalcogenide material. The chalcogenide material includes a first material and a second material. The first material includes at least one among selenium and tellurium. The second material includes at least one among germanium and antimony.


A fluid disturbing cone was set behind the nozzle of the powdered fuel feeding system in powdered fuel ramjet.A numerical simulation method was adopted to analyze the effects of its structures and position on the discrete phase particle concentration in cold flow field.The law that the fluid disturbing cone in cold state affects the particle concentration distribution in external flow field is presented.


The effect of salt concentration on the physicochemical properties of cassava starch was investigated. Cassava was modified by heat moisture treatment at 100°C for 16Hrs, 25 moisture level moisture heat treatment and 30 moisture level. All starches swelled as the temperature increases by 500, 600, 700, 800, 900. And solubilised at different time 10minutes to 180minutes,at different concentration such as 1%,2.5%,4.5 and 7.5 Sodium chloride. The result shows that as the temperature increases at times and at different concentration solubility product becomes smaller while the swelling products increases.


Aiming at the geologic strata of Daqing Oilfield, many kinds of synthesized sulfonate surfactant are produced from the different raw material for enhanced oil recovery.The effects of the concentration of surfactant,the concentration of alkali,the types of alkalis, and the salinity of the systems are studied. The laboratory experimental results show that the corresponding system of all kinds of synthesized surfactant which to be produced from the different raw materials have very low interfacial tension with Daqing crude oil. So this study is useful for the technical production condition of series of the synthesized sulfonate surfactant.


An ionic liquid modified carbon paste electrode(IL/CPE) has been fabricated by using hydrophilic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate([C4MIM][BF4]) as a modifier.The electrochemical behavior of paracetamol at the modified electrode was investigated in pH 4.78 Britton-Robinson(B-R) buffer solution by cyclic voltammetry(CV) and square wave voltammetry(SWV).The IL/CPE possessed an excellent electrocatalytic activity for the redox of paracetamol.On SWV curves,a linear dependence of oxidation current on paracetamol concentration was obtained in the range of 8.0×10-7~2.0×10-4 mol/L(r=0.9998),with a detection limit of 3.0×10-7 mol/L(S/N=3).A novel method for the determination of paracetamol in tablets has been established.


Vaccines and cancer immunotherapies work by activating the immune system with biochemical signals. A new study shows that the immune system can also respond to physical cues such as the texture of injected nanoparticles, potentially opening up new ways to design therapies for cancer and other diseases. Many pathogens, including the flu virus, have spikelike features on their surface, and scientists have wondered whether their characteristic shapes have a role in triggering the immune system. To test whether physical cues could help activate an immune response, Mei X. Wu of Massachusetts General Hospital and Xi Xie of Sun Yat-Sen University designed an experiment that allowed them to isolate shape-based and biochemical cues. First, they made two sets of nanoparticles from titanium dioxide, a compound that doesn't usually trigger the immune system. Some were spiky, some rough. They coated some of them with a lipid found on the surface of some


Disclosed are a method and an apparatus to provide ultrasound information. The present invention generates a Doppler image using Doppler data of an object, obtains guidelines indicating a moving path of the object in the Doppler image, corrects the Doppler data based on an angle formed by the beam axis of a probe and the guidelines, and displays the Doppler image using the corrected Doppler data.


Back-To-Sit and Sit-To-Stand movements are the most important and essential movements for any human being to sustain their life and to accomplish their habitual actions. Not only for human beings, but for robots or assistive devices to accomplish several tasks, these movements are vital. The knee joint has the major functionality to execute such movements and indeed, the torque required at these joints will be very high. Hence it is significant to study the torque at the knee joints. As inverse dynamics multiplies the computation step requirement based on the addition of number of degrees of freedom, the computation for the torque becomes quite complex for higher order systems. However, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) reduces the computation load by building weighted networks between inputs and outputs based on the training with known data. This work is based on the computation of unknown torque using the back propagation algorithm built up from the known training input and output data. The predicted results with ANN are compared with the actual values and found to have a regression coefficient, R2, value of 99% and a sum of errors of 1%.


The article reflects that in the Russian Federation, including in the Saratov region, milk production did not reach the level of 2010. It is noted that overcoming the decline, increasing the output of dairy products, improving its quality characteristics is largely determined by the technical and technological base of the industry. The example of some dairy farms in Russia shows the experience of using digital technologies in dairy cattle breeding. Today, the whole world is moving to a new economic way. The widespread introduction of information and computer technologies (ICT) in all spheres of activity is accelerating. The nature of work and production is changing significantly. Most of the work is done by modern software. A person is replaced by automated systems. Digitalization in agriculture radically changes the methods of farming, the entire production process: not only the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the products are improved, but also the efficiency of organizing production increases. From this point of view, digitalization of the agricultural economy can be considered a determining factor in its development. The use of ICT allows much faster implementation of all operations, control of all stages of the production process. The transition to digital software, the integration of «cyber physical systems» and «Internet of things» in the production process opens up almost unlimited opportunities for enterprise development. A wide range of modern ICTs are used abroad. The robot program, thanks to its functionality, timely warns the agricultural producer about the current unfavorable situation. In fact, the farmer receives a system that minimizes risks, which gives a lot of advantages to the producer. Today, the most economically and technologically developed foreign countries are leading in digitalizing the economy. First of all, these are the USA, Germany, France, the Netherlands, etc. In the United States, up to half of the country's farms have moved to a new technological level in agriculture. In Europe, Germany has been at the forefront for about two decades. It uses systems of «accurate agriculture» and «smart farm.» In Russia, this direction is just beginning to develop. In terms of the level of introduction of digital technologies into agriculture, Russia ranks 15th in the world. The article noted that in connection with the low (unstable) profitability of dairy cattle breeding for the implementation of a promising direction in Russia - a robotic dairy farm («smart farm»), it is necessary to solve a set of problems, including the problem of significant state support for commodity producers.


Sir, Chronic lymphocytic inflammation with pontine perivascular enhancement responsive to steroids (CLIPPERS) is a newly defined clinical and radiological inflammatory entity prominently involving the pons. Patients with this condition present with an evolving brainstem syndrome and have characteristic punctate and curvilinear gadolinium enhancing lesions 'peppering the pons', extending variably into adjacent CNS structures. This condition is said to be responsive to corticosteroids, with patients requiring prolonged steroid or immunosuppressive therapy (Pittock et al. , 2010). Here, we report two patients with brainstem syndromes and MRI scans compatible with CLIPPERS. One had a steroid-dependent syndrome, as described by Pittock et al. (2010). However, another—with a typical presentation and MRI scan—had biopsy findings favouring a low-grade glioma and failed to respond to dexamethasone and radiotherapy. This raises the possibility that 'radiologically compatible CLIPPERS' may conceal a number of pathologies.

A 70-year-old female presented in September 2010 with 1 month history of intermittent rotational vertigo and nausea, fluctuating diplopia and mild gait ataxia. She had a past history of a superficial melanoma excised from her nose in 2006 but was otherwise fit and well. MRI at presentation showed multiple curvilinear enhancing lesions within the pons, with a small number of lesions scattered throughout both cerebellar hemispheres (Fig. 1A). None of …


A new on-chip single-event transient (SET) test structure has been developed to autonomously characterize the widths of random SET pulses. Simulation results show measurement granularity of 900 ps for a 1.5 mum technology and also indicate that the measurement granularity rapidly scales down with technology. Laser tests were used to demonstrate circuit operation on test chips fabricated using a 1.5 mum process. The experimental results indicate pulsewidths varying from about 900 ps to over 3 ns as the laser energy was increased


Experiments on motion of sand particles between groins as for example on sandy beach, were performed in fixed basin to compare with results of groins in movable bed; comparison proved that both results were in comparatively good agreement.


OBJECTIVES: To find out the usefulness of plain radiograph comparing with advance imaging in non-traumatic acute abdominal emergencies in a limited resource private set up. STUDY DESIGN : Cross sectional study STUDY PLACE AND DURATION: Emergency Department in collaboration of Department of Radiology, Sir Syed Hospital Karachi, a private tertiary care center. Six months from 1 st August 2017 to 31 st January 2018. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Total 204 patients presenting in ER department with non-traumatic acute abdominal pain were enrolled in the study referred to the Radiology department for imaging were recorded on proforma. SPSS version 20.0 was used for data analysis. Patients demographic data, precipitating symptoms and diagnostic findings were presented as percentages. RESULTS: Plain x-ray correctly detected bowel obstruction 97.9% followed by gastroenteritis  88.2%, hernia 80%, peritonitis 75%, acute pancreatitis 55.6%, acute cholecystitis 50%, renal calculus 44.4%, ureteral calculus 36.4% and acute appendicitis 26.3%, but could not suspect about gynecological issues. Plain x-ray correctly diagnosed 151 (74.02%), ultrasound 189 (92.65%) and CT 201 (98.5%). CONCLUSION: Abdominal radiography & ultrasonography along with precipitating factors and pathology lab findings still useful as a first imaging examination to evaluate abdominal pain in the emergency department (ED) and reduces rate of unnecessary hospitalization. KEYWORDS : Acute, abdominal pain, diagnosis, radiography, ultrasonography


Generation of carbon, silicon, and silver clusters by a laser- vaporization supersonic expansion cluster beam source was studied using a reflectron-type time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer. The atomic cluster was generated by the laser vaporization of a solid sample disk, followed by cooling with supersonic expansion of pulsed helium gas. The neutral cluster, carried by helium gas, was ionized by a fourth harmonic Nd:YAG laser and accelerated by high voltage to the reflectron mass spectrometer. Positi ve-ion TOF mass spectra of carbon, silicon, and silver clusters were compared for se veral cluster source nozzle conditions. Helium gas pressure at the time of vaporization of solid material played the key role in cluster size range obtained. The effect of pressure was thoroughly examined for a relatively large carbon cluster, which was regarded as fullerene.


Abstract : In target environments that include Electronic Countermeasures (ECM), where availability of radar range measurements is severely reduced, an integration of ESM data into a multi-sensor tracker provides an inexpensive but effective approach to augmenting radar tracking systems. Tracking-filter equations are presented for a multi-heterogenous sensor tracking system consisting of radars and ESM sensors. Measurement time-based track updating is performed, due to non-periodicity of ESM measurement acquisition times, instead of the usual track-based updating times. Track updating, using ESM measurements, is accomplished via an extended Kalman filter (EKF)-based algorithm and radar measurement via an alpha-beta tracking algorithm. The integration of data from different sensor types is a logical response to increasingly hostile airborne threats. The technique described in this paper is a straightforward and cost- effective approach for accomplishing that integration.


During fracture-stimulation treatments, particle-laden slurries may damage pumping equipment and have been shown to erode perforation tunnels. During subsequent flowback operations, minor to severe erosion of surface equipment may be observed if formation sand and/or proppants are produced. This paper compares the erosivity of sand-based and ceramic proppants. The erosion mechanisms are examined, and theoretical and laboratory measurements are in agreement that low-density ceramic proppants, because of roundness and sphericity, are less erosive than more-angular sand products.


Franchises are one of the most interesting bets to invest and to undertake in Colombia, for those who want to start a commercial project with lower risks, since they have the backing of a brand proven and positioned in the market. The success of this important model is due to the great opportunities offered by registered trademarks and positioned with Know How, which allows them to have a competitive advantage over companies or brands that offer products with the same characteristics.


Context The effect of colonoscopy on colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality is unknown. Contribution By using a Canadian province-wide data set, the authors identified 10292 case patients who died of CRC and, for each case patient, 5 matched controls who did not. A total of 7.0% of the case patients and 9.8% of the controls had colonoscopy. Colonoscopy was associated with fewer CRC deaths (odds ratio, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.63 to 0.74]). The odds ratios for death from CRC that developed in the left and right colon were 0.33 (CI, 0.28 to 0.39) and 0.99 (CI, 0.86 to 1.14), respectively. Caution This was an observational casecontrol study. The data set did not identify a reason for colonoscopy. Implication Colonoscopy may be much less effective in preventing death from CRC of the right colon compared with the left colon. The Editors Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer death in North America (1). Although colonoscopy is untested in randomized trials, many lay organizations (2, 3) and specialty societies (46) advocate it as the preferred screening method (7, 8). In the United States, screening colonoscopy rates have rapidly increased (911). The evidence for effectiveness of screening colonoscopy is indirect, inferred from reductions in CRC deaths in randomized trials of screening with fecal occult blood testing (12), a test that is much less sensitive than colonoscopy (13). In casecontrol studies, large-bowel endoscopy was associated with a 50% reduction in CRC development and 60% reduction in CRC deaths (14, 15). However, most of these studies included few women and evaluated sigmoidoscopy. Casecontrol studies of the association of colonoscopy with the incidence of CRC (16, 17) have been conducted but are more prone to bias than those defining case status by cancer death (18). Colonoscopy has real-world limitations. In a population-based study, 6% of patients with newly discovered right-sided CRC had undergone colonoscopy 6 months to 3 years before diagnosis, indicating a substantial miss rate in the community setting (19). Detection rates vary by endoscopist and by endoscope withdrawal time (20). The accuracy of colonoscopy done in the real world is unknown but may be substantially less than that in published reports (2123). We studied colonoscopy throughout Ontario, Canada, hypothesizing that it would be associated with fewer CRC deaths, but to a lesser degree than estimated in the literature. Methods The research ethics board of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, approved the study. Study Design We did a casecontrol study of the association of colonoscopy and CRC deaths. We measured the odds of exposure to colonoscopy in case patients (persons who died of CRC) and controls (persons who did not die of CRC) and calculated an odds ratio (OR) for exposure. Because this OR is mathematically equal to the ratio of the odds of being a case patient given colonoscopy exposure to the odds of being a control given colonoscopy exposure, it estimates the association between colonoscopy and CRC death. Data Sources We used 4 data sources. The Ontario Cancer Registry tracks all incident cancer cases diagnosed in Ontario since 1964; it is more than 95% complete (24). It is linked to the Mortality File, an electronic database maintained by the Registrar General of Ontario to tally deaths of Ontario residents. Data on vital status and cause of death were available through 31 December 2003. The Ontario Health Insurance Plan database contains information on claims billed by physicians for services and has been linkable since 1991, permitting identification of almost all medical procedures occurring in Ontario. The Registered Persons Database, a roster of all Ontario Health Insurance Plan beneficiaries, contains almost all Ontario residents. The Canadian Institute for Health Information hospital discharge abstract database, linkable since 1988, contains information on every patient discharged from a hospital or same-day surgery unit in Ontario and includes patient demographic information, major diagnoses, procedures, and discharge status. Identification of Case Patients We identified case patients from the Ontario Cancer Registry. They received a diagnosis of CRC (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes 153.0 to 153.4 or 153.6 to 154.1) from 1 January 1996 to 31 December 2001 and died of CRC or related causes between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2003 (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes 159 [malignant neoplasm of other or ill-defined sites within the digestive organs and peritoneum], 197 [secondary malignant neoplasm of respiratory and digestive systems], or 199 [malignant neoplasm without specification of site]). Complete identification of CRC deaths by using the cause of death on Ontario death certificates requires including deaths from these closely related causes. We included only persons age 52 to 90 years so that all controls would be in the screening-eligible age range during the exposure period. We excluded persons who had received a previous diagnosis of CRC, lived where physicians do not bill directly (<5% of the sample), or were not continuously eligible for an Ontario Health Insurance Plan from 1 January 1992. For secondary analyses, we stratified case patients by age; sex; and site of primary CRC, as assessed by registrars of the Ontario Cancer Registry from pathology reports and hospital discharge summaries (right-sided cancer [proximal to the splenic flexure], left-sided cancer [splenic flexure to rectum], or unknown site of cancer). Identification of Controls From the Registered Persons Database, we selected persons continuously eligible for Ontario Health Insurance Plan coverage from 1 January 1992 to 31 December 2003 or death. Case patients were matched to controls for factors known to influence colonoscopy rates and risk for CRC death: sex (1, 25), socioeconomic status (25, 26), and age (25). To minimize bias from differing access to colonoscopy, we matched for geographic location. Consequently, each case patient had 5 controls matched for sex, income quintile (based on the mean household income of the enumeration area of residence), residence location by health care region during year of diagnosis, and calendar year of birth. For each potential match, we defined the referent date, the date on which case patients received a diagnosis of cancer, determined from the Ontario Cancer Registry, a source that uses a standardized hierarchy for date of diagnosis. The date of pathologic confirmation of cancer, if available, was considered the date of diagnosis. We then linked the cohort of potential matches to the Ontario Cancer Registry to detect and exclude potential matches with a diagnosis of CRC on or before the referent date or death from CRC before 31 December 2003. Controls were alive at the date of the case patients' death. We included controls who developed CRC after the referent date. By matching for calendar year of birth, case patients and controls had an equal period to be exposed to colonoscopy before the date of CRC diagnosis (referent date). By using random numbers, we randomly selected 5 controls from all matches and assigned them to a case patient to form the control group. Determining Exposure By using the Ontario Health Insurance Plan billing codes (Appendix Table), we detected exposure to colonoscopy from 1 January 1992 to an index date 6 months before case patients received a diagnosis of CRC. Every case patient and control had more than 42 months of potential exposure to colonoscopy and at least 18 months of potential exposure while of screening-eligible age. We defined 2 exposures: any colonoscopy regardless of completeness (Appendix Table) and complete colonoscopy (colonoscopy coded as reaching the cecum). We did not consider flexible sigmoidoscopy to be an exposure. We treated exposure to colonoscopy as a binary variable: Persons who had at least 1 colonoscopy were considered exposed, and if any colonoscopy was complete to the cecum, those persons were considered exposed to complete colonoscopy. For persons who had more than 1 colonoscopy, we included only the first complete colonoscopy. In persons with no complete colonoscopy, we included the first incomplete colonoscopy. From billing codes, we detected polypectomies done during colonoscopy. We ascertained the self-designated specialty of the physician who billed for the included colonoscopy from the Ontario Physicians Human Resources Data Centre. Appendix Table. Diagnostic and Procedure Codes Diagnostic colonoscopies (those done to evaluate CRC symptoms, confirm the diagnosis, or search for metachronous tumors) would be associated with greater odds of CRC death than screening colonoscopies, which could mask any effect of screening colonoscopy on preventing death from CRC. Because Ontario Health Insurance Plan billing codes do not distinguish between screening and diagnostic colonoscopies (27), we tried to increase the proportion of screening colonoscopies by excluding all colonoscopies done within 6 months before the date of CRC diagnosis (referent date). This strategy assumes that most diagnoses of CRC in the Ontario Cancer Registry would be made within 6 months of a colonoscopy to investigate symptoms, confirm diagnosis, or search for metachronous tumors. Previous investigators have used a 6-month window of exclusion (19), although some chose a shorter period (14). To validate our choice, we recalculated the OR for the association of colonoscopy and CRC death for windows varying from 0 to 12 months. Determining Comorbid Conditions We identified comorbid conditions at a hospital discharge occurring within 60 months before the index date. We calculated the Charlson Comorbidity Index score (28) as 0, 1, 2, or 3 or more. We assigned a score of 0 to those who were not hospitalized. Statistical Analysis We calculated descriptive statistics for study variables stra


Songshan Li, Andina Hu This is not the inverted logo of an automotive brand but a congenital cataract incidentally found in a man in his 50s (fig 1). He presented with a two week history of a curtain-like shadow and blurred vision in his right eye. The blurred vision was caused by retinal detachment diagnosed on dilated funduscopy. Unusual lens opacities were visible in both eyes during examination, each having a Y shaped appearance separating the lamellar opacity in the lens into three parts. This appearance is characteristic of a congenital cataract that accentuates the Y suture present in the lens during embryonic development.1 Vision in the right eye improved after retinal and cataract surgery. Congenital sutural cataracts commonly do not affect vision and may be found incidentally.2


Recent years have witnessed an upsurge of Al3+ selective optical sensors involving simple Schiff bases to other complex organic frameworks. However, more than ∼95% of such reports lack crystallographic evidence, and proposals of binding sites for Al3+ are based upon spectroscopic evidence only. We herein synthesized and fully characterized a quinolineimine derivative (CMO) and explored its potential toward efficient detection of Al3+ with crystallographic evidence. The ongoing nonradiative photoinduced electron transfer (PET) and excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) processes in CMO got inhibited via the chelation enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) effects induced by Al3+, and consequently turn-on fluorescence response was observed with 18-fold emission enhancements. The theoretical calculations performed were in good consonance with experimental results. We also explored further the applicability of the CMO·Al3+ complex toward highly sensitive and selective detection of inorganic phosphate (PPi) and an explosive picric acid (PA) via fluorescence quenching processes through two different chemical routes. The bioimaging of Al3+ and PPi were carried out in the living human cancer cells (MCF-7).


We study the existence and uniqueness of mild solution of a class of nonlinear fractional integrodifferential equations , , , in a Banach space , where . New results are obtained by fixed point theorem. An application of the abstract results is also given.


Transmetalation reactions where organotin reagents are used for the transfer of organic groups to boron halides are among the most selective and hence synthetically useful methods for the preparation of organoboranes. We describe here a rare example of the reverse reaction, where migration of the organic group from boron to tin is promoted by addition of fluoride. The bidentate Lewis acids Fc(BMeR)(SnMe2Cl) (Fc = 1,2-ferrocenediyl; R = phenyl (Ph), thienyl (Th), allyl (All)) react with KF at 45 °C to give the rearranged fluoroboranes Fc(BMeF)(SnMe2R) as oily liquids. With an excess of KF, the fluoroborate complexes K[Fc(BMeF2)(SnMe2R)] are obtained, which are readily isolated as light yellow solids in good to high yields. For the phenyl derivative it was demonstrated that the borate salt can be converted back to the fluoroborane by treatment with Me3SiOTf or addition of pyridine, which gives the adduct Fc(BMeF)(SnMe2Ph)·Py as a crystalline solid. The fluoride and pyridine complexes have been characterized...


This paper examines grid interfaces which are currently used in many musical devices and instruments. This type of interface concept has been rooted in the NIME community since the early 2000s. We provide an overview of research projects and commercial products and conducted an expert interview as well as an online survey. In summary this work shares: (1) an overview on grid controller research, (2) a set of three usability issues deduced by a multi method approach, and (3) an evaluation of user perceptions regarding persistent usability issues and common reasons for the use of grid interfaces.


Background: The impact of body mass index (BMI) on the clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients ≥75 years old remained unclear. Methods: A total of 1098 elderly patients undergoing PCI with stent implantation were recruited. Patients were divided into four groups by the value of BMI: Underweight (⩽20.0 kg/m2), normal weight (20.0–24.9 kg/m2), overweight (25.0–29.9 kg/m2) and obese (≥30.0 kg/m2). Major clinical outcomes after PCI were compared between the groups. The primary endpoint was defined as in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), which included death, myocardial infarction (MI) and target vessel revascularization. The secondary endpoint was defined as 1 year death. Logistic regression analysis was performed to adjust for the potential confounders. Results: Totally, 1077 elderly patients with available BMIs were included in the analysis. Patients of underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese accounted for 5.6%, 45.4%, 41.5% and 7.5% of the population, respectively. Underweight patients were more likely to attract ST-segment elevation MI, and get accompanied with anemia or renal dysfunction. Meanwhile, they were less likely to achieve thrombolysis in MI 3 grade flow after PCI, and receive beta-blocker, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker after discharge. In underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese patients, in-hospital MACE were 1.7%, 2.7%, 3.8%, and 3.7% respectively (P = 0.68), and 1 year mortality rates were 5.0%, 3.9%, 5.1% and 3.7% (P = 0.80), without significant difference between the groups. Multivariate regression analysis showed that the value of BMI was not associated with in-hospital MACE in patients at 75 years old. Conclusions: The BMI "obese paradox" was not found in patients ≥75 years old. It was suggested that BMI may not be a sensitive predictor of adverse cardiovascular events in elderly patients.


Persuasion success is often related to hard-to-measure characteristics, such as the way the persuader speaks. To examine how vocal tones impact persuasion in an online appeal, this research measures persuaders' vocal tones in Kickstarter video pitches using novel audio mining technology. Connecting vocal tone dimensions with real-world funding outcomes offers insight into the impact of vocal tones on receivers' actions. The core hypothesis of this paper is that a successful persuasion attempt is associated with vocal tones denoting (1) focus, (2) low stress, and (3) stable emotions. These three vocal tone dimensions—which are in line with the stereotype content model—matter because they allow receivers to make inferences about a persuader's competence. The hypotheses are tested with a large-scale empirical study using Kickstarter data, which is then replicated in a different category. In addition, two controlled experiments provide evidence that perceptions of competence mediate the impact of the three vocal tones on persuasion attempt success. The results identify key indicators of persuasion attempt success and suggest a greater role for audio mining in academic consumer research.


A gene that encodes a protein with a chief function as part of a physical structure within a cell. This is in contrast to genes that encode proteins with a function that is enzymatic or regulatory.


We propose a simulation model of Bluetooth (BT) passive scanning for vehicular traffic monitoring. The model is designed to simulate packet detection in the physical and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers for fixed BT sensors. At the physical layer, we consider the radio propagation effects of path loss, small- and large-scale fading. At the MAC layer, we model channel hopping and packet collisions.Associated to a vehicular traffic simulator, our proposal provides a cost-efficient way to generate large-scale BT traffic measurement datasets including both sensor and ground-truth data, avoiding deployment costs.We validate the model by comparing the simulation output to experimental data and we show a simulation use-case of vehicular traffic monitoring in a complex urban context.


The graph cut based approach has become very popular for interactive segmentation of the object of interest from the background. One of the most important and yet largely unsolved issues in the graph cut segmentation framework is parameter selection. Parameters are usually fixed beforehand by the developer of the algorithm. There is no single setting of parameters, however, that will result in the best possible segmentation for any general image. Usually each image has its own optimal set of parameters. If segmentation of an image is not as desired under the current setting of parameters, the user can always perform more interaction until the desired results are achieved. However, significant interaction may be required if parameter settings are far from optimal. In this paper, we develop an algorithm for automatic parameter selection. We design a measure of segmentation quality based on different features of segmentation that are combined using AdaBoost. Then we run the graph cut segmentation algorithm for different parameter values and choose the segmentation of highest quality according to our learnt measure. We develop a new way to normalize feature weights for the AdaBoost based classifier which is particularly suitable for our framework. Experimental results show a success rate of 95.6% for parameter selection.


PTI's engineering studies business continued strong in 1984, with growing interest among large industrial users of power. Our participation in HVDC application studies also increased, responding to the industry's growing appreciation of DC's functional advantages. PTI's course business flourished too, spurred by the addition of some new subjects and the introduction of a video training course on distribution system operation .• The past year illustrated dramatically the synergism among PTI's three business areas; services, software, and the manufacture of special purpose equipment. As early as 1970, software developed for our system studies was being requested by clients for use in-house. Over the years our success as a software products supplier has been strongly dependent on our leadership position in the studies and analysis of systems and plants. About 1976 PTI also saw that our mixture of system expertise, software experience, creative people, and close interaction with you, our clients and friends in the industry, led to ideas whose implementation required that we manufacture equipments not yet available commercially. PTI's new stabilizer, the subject of a 1984 patent and described elsewhere in this issue, is a prime example of how the combined strength of three related businesses can be greater than the sum of the parts. We expect this three way split in PTI's business to continue, but recognize that our unusual strength in the physical and economic understanding of systems, as manifested in engineering services, will remain our primary raison d'etre and the foundation on which software and systems businesses must be based. ~~.


A.X. thanks the Royal Commission for the Exhibition
of 1851 for financial support. M.P. is supported by the UK
EPSRC through a Career Acceleration Fellowship and the
"New Directions for EPSRC Research Leaders" initiative
(EP/G004759/1). Parts of the calculations were carried out using
computational facilities funded by the European Regional
Development Fund, Project ERDF-080.


in guinea pigs was tested by its power to obliterate the normal lymphocyte transfer (NLT), reaction'0 when injected into the recipient on the day before and on the day of cell transfer. Such antisera can greatly prolong the life of skin homografts in guinea pigs, but this property was not made the basis of a systematic assessment of potency. All normal sera and antisera were heated to 560 for 30 min as a matter of routine. The route of injection was invariably subintegumentary. All antisera raised against guinea pig lymphoid cells were exhaustively absorbed with washed red cells and with acetone powders or fresh, re-peatedly washed triturated matter prepared from guinea pig kidneys and lungs.


Australia is an attractive destination for many overseas students in the past
decade. A large proportion of them came here to study postgraduate
accounting courses. However, the employment outcomes of those overseas
graduates show far less optimistic figures, although the Australian government
has continuously stressed on the importance of the accounting profession to
the society.
This paper throws some light upon the reasons behind this problem. It also
investigates what have been, and should be done to make up for this situation.
Unlike much previous literature examining the similar issue by relying heavily
on large scale surveys, this paper incorporates interview results with overseas
postgraduate accounting students and some corporate managers to add a
layer of more in-depth perspective. Apparently, language and employability
skills are the largest concern for Australian employers. The paper is
contributive to both the accounting education industry and the relevant
government departments.


Homer uses a large number of terms implying moral and social judgements in the Odyssey. These appear singly. in pairs, and in extended passages. This article investigates 'clusters' where three or more such terms are concentrated in a short passage. It examines the various uses of these devices and the influence they have upon our understanding of the text. Clusters are relatively uncommon but they are an effective, efficient device with which the poet can create a complex vision of events.


Under a hybrid theoretical perspective involving positive psychology (PosPsy) and ecological paradigm, this research attempts to explore the interrelationship between classroom environment and willingness to communicate (WTC) in English among EFL (English as a foreign language) learners in the normal universities in Shandong province, China. A survey method is used engaging a questionnaire comprised of demographic information and items on classroom environment and L2 WTC. The statistical analysis was conducted based on 128 returned questionnaires. The findings confirmed that the EFL students in Shandong normal universities perceived themselves as having a high level of L2 WTC and classroom environment. What's more, a statistically significant positive relationship that is moderately strong between L2 WTC and classroom environment was found. Moreover, the multiple regression analysis identified that teacher support is the classroom environment dimension that is a statistically significant predictor of L2 WTC. The fitness indexes of the proposed structural model achieved the fitness required for Ratio Chisq/df (Chi-square/ Degrees of Freedom), CFI (Comparative Fit Index), and RMSEA (Root Mean Square of Error Approximation) at an acceptable level. Hence, the proposed structural model was established for this research.


The modified nano-TiO2 by aminopropyl triethoxy silane(KH550) was used to prepare nano-TiO2/PVA composites through a solution casting method(PVA types: 17-88 and 17-99).The different contents of PVA 17-88 in nano-TiO2/PVA composites were characterized by TG analysis,and the structures of the composites were analyzed by SEM.The mechanical and water resistance and transparency of the composites were also characterized.The results show that when the mass fraction of PVA 17-88 is 30% and the thickness of membrane is controlled in 25~30 μm,the tensile strength is up to 28.72 MPa,the mass loss rate is the lowest.


OBJECTIVES
The ideal option of food for a newborn's nourishment has traditionally been human breast milk (HBM). Previous studies have demonstrated a connection between the length of exclusively breastfeeding and its preventive effects on several conditions in neonates. Considering the significance of HBM, the study aimed at detecting the expression of microRNA (miR126*, miR155, miR21, and miR29a) in the breast milk cell fraction of women with hypertension. This was a cohort study of 35 postpartum women.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Five ml of milk was collected into a sterile container from patients in the morning on the second and third days after the labor. The collected milk has been centrifuged, total cellular RNA has been isolated from cell fraction from the collected milk, isolated RNA has been subject to qualitative and quantitative analysis, next reverse transcription has been conducted, followed by that, evaluation of the expression of the selected microRNA has been conducted using the synthesized cDNA. Finally, the tested microRNA's relative expression level has been calculated.

RESULTS
Among patients with hypertension, the analysis of cell fraction of breast milk reported lower mean expression of miR126*, miR155, miR21, and miR29a as compared to patients without hypertension. Strong and very strong positive correlation between the expression of miR126* and miR155, miR126* and miR21, miR155 and miR21, miR 155 and miR29a, and miR 21 and miR29a have been noted.

CONCLUSIONS
Comparing patients with and without hypertension, it has been noted that patients with hypertension had lower mean expression of miR126*, miR155, miR21, and miR29a.


The incidence of hypertension associated with pregnancy contributes significantly to increase maternal and fetal deaths during pregnancy and childbirth. Due to its high incidence rate and several complications, the study of this disorder has been subject of numerous investigations in an attempt to determine its prevention and improve the treatment conduction. In this context, this paper uses a data mining (DM) technique, named random forest (RF), applied to health care to early identification of these disorders. It also presents the modeling, performance assessment, and comparison with other DM methods to evaluate the performance of the proposed model. Results showed that the RF classifier had a regular performance, presenting the best values for true positive Rate (TP Rate) and recall in the prediction of preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension compared to the other experimented classifiers. Even finding a good performance to predict hypertensive disorders, other tree-based methods need to be evaluated, as well as other DM techniques. Discovering reliable information of pregnant women suffering from the hypertensive disease is an important path to reduce the high rate of deaths, mainly, in developing countries where 99% of these deaths occur.


The design, installation, checkout, and operation of an exhaust gas composition measurement system for collecting and analyzing the exhaust gas from a liquid monopropellant rocket engine are described. Design guidelines are given for the critical components of each portion of the system to provide an exhaust gas composition measurement which meets the performance criteria specified.


Background: Knowledge about HIV/AIDS is crucial to prevent the HIV/AIDS disease burden, especially for women of reproductive age to protect their offspring from mother-to-child transmissions of HIV/AIDS. This study aims to explore the prevalence and correlates of HIV/AIDS knowledge among ever-married reproductive women in Bangladesh.
Methods: Data were extracted from a nationally representative two-stage stratified Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) conducted in 2014. Knowledge level of women regarding HIV/AIDS was constructed by scoring 11 dichotomous knowledge questions and classified into low, moderate and high level by using the principal component analysis. Multiple multinomial logistic regression model was fitted to identify the correlates.
Results: Among 17,863 ever-married women of reproductive age, 70% had ever heard about HIV/AIDS, and 34.2% had low, 33.0% had moderate and 32.8% had high level of HIV/AIDS knowledge. Women with age at first marriage between 15-19 years and ≥20 years of age were respectively 1.18 and 1.85 times more likely to have high HIV/AIDS knowledge than women who got married before 15 years of age. Compared to illiterate women, women who completed primary and secondary or higher education had higher odds of having both moderate and high HIV/AIDS knowledge. Women exposed to mass-media were 2.39 and 2.91 times more likely to have moderate and high HIV/AIDS knowledge respectively than women without mass-media exposure.
Conclusions: Findings of this study stress the importance of building awareness regarding the transmissions and consequences of HIV/AIDS among women of reproductive age in order to avert the risk of further spread. Through promotion of female education, incorporation of HIV/AIDS teaching in the national curriculum and vigorous mass media campaigns, women's awareness about HIV/AIDS can be enhanced effectively. Also, strict enforcement of policy to prevent early marriage will aid in better control of HIV in Bangladesh.


Cracks often appear in concrete arch dams, due to the thermal stress and low tensile strength of early age concrete. There are three commonly used temperature controlling measures: controlling the casting temperature, burying cooling pipe, and protecting the surface. However, because of the difficulty to obtain accurate temperature and thermal stress field of the concrete, the rationality and economy of these measures are not assessed validly before and after construction. In this paper, a crack risk evaluation system for early age concrete is established, including distributed optical fiber temperature sensing (DTS), prediction of temperature and stress fields, and crack risk evaluation. Based on the DTS temperature data, the back-analysis method is applied to retrieve the thermal parameters of concrete. Then, the temperature and thermal stress of early age concrete are predicted using the reversed thermal parameters, as well as the laboratory test parameters. Finally, under the proposed cracking risk evaluation principle, the cracking risk level of each concrete block is given; the preliminary and later temperature controlling measures were recommended, respectively. The application of the proposed system in Xiluodu super high arch dam shows that this system works effectively for preventing cracks of early age concrete.


The core competence of a library is viewed as a basis on which the library can depend to exist and develop.The author of this article differentiates and analyzes all concepts and features of the competence of the library and concludes that the core competence of a library means the unique academic judgments through the organic coordination and integration of the resources,skills and the management process.The principles and channels of the improvement of the core competence of libraries are also discussed in the article.


As the participation of multinational firms in global value chains gains importance, intra-firm trade receives an increasing attention from both researchers and policy makers. Empirical evidence suggests that related-party trade has been growing significantly over the years and for instance accounted for 48% of total US imports and 29% of US exports in 2011 (source: US Census Bureau). From a policy point of view, the implications of the recent growth of intra-firm trade are wide-ranging. On the one hand, the expansion of multinational companies and implicitly that of intra-firm trade changes the motivation of policy makers to liberalize trade while at the same time reinforces the benefits of the reduction of barriers to trade. On the other hand, evidence suggests that the presence of global value chains and vertically integrated production networks made the global economy more resilient in the face of negative macroeconomic shocks (Lanz and Miroudot, 2011).

The goal of this paper is to highlight the role of global value chains and intra-firm trade in the context of trade liberalization between the US and EU in a computable general equilibrium setting. We propose an innovative quantitative framework that combines newly available data sources and further improves existing modeling tools. We build on the modeling framework developed by Lakatos and Fukui (2012) – an extended GTAP model that explicitly accounts for both FDI and multinational companies differentiated by the region of ownership. First, we modify this model to account for global value chains based on data from WIOD. This data allows us to follow the fragmentation of the supply chain by introducing international trade in intermediates. As a next step, we combine this data with that on the activities of foreign affiliates (Fukui and Lakatos, 2012) and data on related party trade (US Census and OECD Statistics on Measuring Globalization) to develop a disaggregated GTAP database.


This document covered the following: a) demonstration of feasibility of microsensor for tube and particulate growth systems; b) Dissolved oxygen; c)Wetness; d) Flexible microfluidic substrate with microfluidic channels and microsensor arrays; e)Dynamic root zone control/monitoring in microgravity; f)Rapid prototyping of phytoremediation; and g) A new tool for root physiology and pathology.


Abstract : A continuous partcle replicator for cloud drops and ice crystals has been constructed for use on a pressurized aircraft, the C130 of Air Force Systems Command, Hanscom Field. A design is described which has the following capabilities: produces a uniform replica over a wide range of aircraft operating conditions; gives eight speeds of film transport enabling the particle concentration on the film to be adjusted depending on the concentration in the cloud and flight speed; gives inflight viewing of the replica; and enables the film to be stopped and started in flight. Preliminary flight results show that at air speeds around 100 m/sec crystals smaller than 100 micrometers and drops smaller than 40 micrometers are replicated without serious problems, larger particles break up or shatter, although larger ice crystals, up to several mm, may still be identified. (Author)


In this article, we aim to represent a neonatal fatal case of CHARGE syndrome and make a mini-review of the literature to underline the wide range of congenital abnormalities and clinical symptoms of individuals with CHARGE syndrome face early in life. This patient, with his characteristic dysmorphic features, congenital heart defects, and severe feeding intolerance, is a good example of how complex the syndrome could be. CHARGE syndrome might affect numerous organ systems and result in severe early lethal cases for some, while some of the cases show a very mild phenotypic spectrum and may go unrecognized.


The dc-dc buck converter is some of the most widely used power electronics circuit for its high conversion efficiency and flexible output voltage. These converter used for electronic device are designed to regulate the output voltage against the change of the input voltage and load current. This leads to the requirement of more advanced control method to meet the real demand .The controller offers advantage such as fixed switching frequency and zero steady state error and give a better small signal performance at the designed operating point but under large parameter and load variation their performance degrades so sliding mode control technique are well suited to dc-dc converter as they are inherently variable structure system .SM controlled converter generally suffer from switching frequency variation when the input voltage and output load are varied. A comparison of the effect of PWM controller and SM control of the dc-dc buck converter response in steady state under line variation and load variation is performed. The comparison with the PWM controller the SM control provides better steady state response, better dynamic response and robustness against system uncertainty disturbance. The converter with conventional sliding mode result in steady state error in load voltage.


Aspiration pneumonia is a serious condition in the elderly. To strengthen the muscles required for swallowing, patients can train using the Mendelsohn maneuver, wherein they maintain their larynx at the top of the laryngeal elevation during swallowing. This study describes a wearable device to detect the onset and offset times of the laryngeal elevation for a biofeedback system to support this training. The biofeedback system consists of a band-shaped device with stretchable strain sensors. The strain sensors measure the change of circumferential length of the neck. An algorithm detects the onset and offset times of the laryngeal elevation based on the absolute first-order difference of the measured data and distance between the measured data and template data by pattern matching. The algorithm detected the onset and offset times of 53 out of 54 data sets from elderly participants. Cluster analysis separated the data into two groups. For both groups, the mean absolute error of the interval time was within 1 s when compared with the time recorded by a speech-language-hearing therapist. We believe that this biofeedback system for the Mendelsohn maneuver tolerates the 1 s delay. The wearable device is soft, lightweight, and easy for a patient to use alone. The efficacy of the device for the strengthening of muscles must be verified in a clinical study.


crowds out the text. "All roads in these chapters lead", Griffin has stated earlier, "to The Deserted Village, and to the tragic ironies of commerce and empire which this poem describes" (27), but when we arrive it is these wider resonances that absorb his attention. As this book's conclusion observes, The Deserted Village continues to haunt postCeltic Tiger Ireland. This valuable study updates Goldsmith criticism by placing him squarely within the political debates and geographies of enlightened modernity, and should appeal to readers interested in eighteenth-century culture both Irish and global.


One of the important characters of the E-learning system is the support for interactive coopera-tion, it plays a very important role in the development of student creation awareness, cooperation spirit and the ability of using communication tools. In order to satisfy the need of this functionality of an E-learning system, this paper realizes a prototype with cooperative function to support application sharing, whiteboard sharing, real time communication and file transmission besides it has the function of document browse, task referring and imformation query. Based on the advanced IP multicast infrastructure, the system has some significant features such as good scalability, low complexity and strong ability for real time application.


Objective To investigate the imaging characteristics of rabbit liver VX2 tumor with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography(CEUS) and multidetector spiral CT(MDCT), to explore the criterion of phase timing apllicable to the model.Methods CEUS and MDCT were acquired in thirty-three New Zealand rabbits with hepatic VX2 tumors.The initial time of hepatic arterial phase was verified as the time the hepatic artery beginning to enhance,the initial time of portal phase as the time the VX2 tumor reaching peak enhancement and the initial time of hepatic parenchymal phase as the time the hepatic parenchyma reaching peak enhancement.The enhancing characteristics were observed.The time-intensity curve of VX2 tumor and peripheral parenchyma in CEUS was analysed and compared with the time-desity curve of abdominal aorta, portal vein, hepatic parenchyma and tumor in MDCT.Results The initial time of heptic arterial phase,portal phase and parenchymal phase in CEUS and MDCT was (6.82±1.36)s and (9.43±2.23)s,(11.64±2.03)s and (13.77±2.01)s,(20.24±4.17)s and (22.71± 4.58)s,respectively.The initial time of each phase in CEUS was earlier than that in MDCT (P<0.01).The contrast enhancing characteristics in CEUS and MDCT were consistent as fast wash-in and fast wash-out.Conclusions The status of hemodynamic perfusion in rabbit hepatic VX2 tumor could be well displayed by CEUS and the phase timing criterion concluded in this experimental study could offer fundmental theory basis for relevant imaging evaluation.

Key words:
Ultrasonography;  Microbubbles;  Tomography, Spiral Computed;  Liver rabbits;  Liver neoplasms, experimental


Prescription drug abuse is an epidemic that will not be controlled without a well-coordinated effort. Prescribers in Rhode Island can contribute substantively to this effort by using the Rhode Island Prescription Drug Monitoring Program ("PMP") consistently. The PMP is a simple on-line tool that helps prescribers monitor patient-prescription histories. Every prescription filled in the state is input to the PMP system within seven days of filling (and the average lag is less). Why use the PMP? In the words of an old axiom from medical school, "It's what you don't know you don't know that will hurt you" – and your patients. I work with physicians every day who are genuinely surprised by the patient-prescription histories they review in the PMP. Consider. In the year 2013, 1,394 Rhode Island residents used five or more pharmacies to fill prescriptions from five or more prescribers. Are at least some of these people diverting prescription drugs from their intended purposes? Yes, of course. Did you unknowingly write prescriptions for any of these people? Possibly. Using the PMP helps you avoid this problem. Less ominously, but also of potentially great concern, are those patients who do not inform you of prescriptions written for reasons unconnected with the care you provide. For example, a patient taking a benzodiazepine for anxiety may forget to mention this fact when being seen for severe pain following a serious injury – pain for which you would normally (and appropriately) prescribe an opioid. Does the benzodiazepine prescription matter? Of course. Using the PMP helps you avoid potentially dangerous prescribing conflicts such as this.


Modern Russia is characterized by an amplifying tendency of transfer on local level of the center of gravity of the practical solution of problems of effective social and economic development. Regional systems have stored experience of self-organizing and self-control as rather isolated subsystems of higher level. Such systems can not only support their internal equilibrium, but also change the structure and system of interrelations under the infl uence of external and internal factors. In the paradigm of regional development focused on the self-development of the region, active development was received by the concept of internal sources and mechanisms of territorial selfdevelopment, fi rst of all, in the form of science and technology parks and technopolises, «enterprise zones», various forms of stimulation of small and medium innovative business. The question of treatment of self-development of the region remains debatable, although the majority of researchers are unanimous, fi rst, in use of a systembased reprocessing approach to formation of spontaneous regions and territories and, secondly, in aiming of all spontaneous economic systems at realization of the purposes and priorities of a higher-level system – the Russian Federation as a whole. Thus, the defi nition of criteria of self-development is highly signifi cant as the wide range of possibilities of regions of the Russian Federation is in many respects predetermined by the successful development of municipalities. In this regard the research of profi table sources of process of self-development and conceptual approaches of their formation, which this article is devoted to, is essential.


This study aims to investigate the combined effects of Pulsed wave low‐level laser therapy (PW LLLT) and human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell‐conditioned medium (hBM‐MSC‐CM) on the microbial flora and tensiometrical properties of an infected wound model with methicillin‐resistant staphylococcal aureus (MRSA) in an experimental model for Type 1 diabetes mellitus (TIDM). TIDM was induced in rats by streptozotocin (STZ). One full‐thickness excision was made on the backs of the rats. Next, the rats were divided into the following groups: Group 1 was the control (placebo) group; Group 2 received hBM‐MSCs‐CM four times; Group 3 were laser PWLLLT (890 nm, 80 Hz, 0.2 J/cm2); and Group 4 received hBM‐MSCs‐CM +LASER. Wounds were infected with MRSA. Microbiological examinations were performed on days 4, 7, and 15. Tensiometerical examinations were carried out on the 15th day. One‐way analysis of variance showed that laser and CM alone and/or in combination significantly increases the tensiomerical properties of the repaired wounds compared with control wounds. A combination of PW laser and CM was statistically more effective than other treated groups. Two‐way analysis of variance showed that laser and CM alone and/or in combination significantly decreases the colony‐forming units (CFUs) compared with the control group. The application of hBM‐MSC‐CM and PWlaser alone and/or together significantly accelerates the wound‐healing process in MRSA‐infected cutaneous wounds in TI DM in rats. Additionally, a combined application of hBM‐MSC‐CM and PWlaser demonstrates a synergistic effect on the wound‐healing process in MRSA‐infected cutaneous wounds in Type I DM rats.


Thoracic multidisciplinary meetings (TMDM) are a key component of lung cancer patient management. The optimal design, organisation and function of TMDM are uncertain, and different models may serve different purposes. In the Auckland/Northland region, there are two contemporaneous weekly TMDM using different formats; one is a co‐located TMDM (C‐TMDM), and the other is a video conference TMDM (V‐TMDM) connecting different locations.


This thesis aims at visualizing deep convolutional neural network interpretations for aerial imagery and understanding how these interpretations change when network weights are damaged. We focus our investigation on networks for aerial imagery, as these may be prone to damages due to harsh operating conditions and are usually inaccessible for regular maintenance once deployed. We simulate damages by zeroing network weights at different levels of the network and analyze their effects on activation maps. Then we re-train the network to observe if it can recover the lost interpretations. Visualizing changes in the neural network's interpretation, when the undamaged weights are retrained, allows us to visually assess the resiliency of a network. Our experiments on the AID and the UC Merced Land Use aerial datasets demonstrate the emergence of object and texture detectors in convolutional networks commonly used for classification. We further analyze these interpretations when the network is trained on one dataset and tested on another to demonstrate the robustness of feature learning across aerial datasets. We also explore the shift in interpretations when transfer learning is performed from an aerial dataset (AID) to a generic object dataset (MS-COCO). These results illustrate how transfer learning benefits the network's internal representations. Additionally, we explore the effects of various kinds of pooling operations for class activation map extraction and their resiliency to coefficient damages. Finally, we investigate the effects of network retraining by visualizing the change in the network's degraded interpretations before and after retraining. Our visualization results offer insights on the resiliency of some of the most commonly used networks, such as VGG16, ResNet50, and DenseNet121. This type of analysis can help guide prudent choices when it comes to selecting the network architecture during development and deployment under challenging conditions.


With the rapid development of freight industry in our country and foreign logistics giants to enter, freight market is more and more fierce, in order to achieve the power-and-power union, many shipping companies begin to choose to form a union of carriage of goods, and whether cargo transport union will form and form a stable operation is the key of the cargo transport business decisions, based on the enterprise facing this problem, this article uses the method of shapley values proves that the various types of cargo transportation enterprise in the alliance's expected return is greater than the expected return and not joint or part of a joint interest distribution of game analysis model is set up, for the enterprise to form a coalition to provide the theoretical basis of allocation negotiation.


Uptake of micronutrient zinc by intact leaves, enzymically isolated leaf cells, leaf disks, excised roots, and stem-callus tissue of two field bean cultivars 'Saginaw' and 'Sanilac') was studied using radio-isotope tracer technique. Radio-phosphorus absorption by these tissues was also followed under comparable experimental conditions. A rapid absorption of the micronutrient and strong dependency on external zinc concentration and pH were revealed. Absorption of zinc was not inhibited by respiratory inhibitors (dinitrophenol, azide, cyanide, and amytal), and was not light or temperature dependent. Q10 values for zinc uptake ranged between 1 and 1.2. Uptake of phosphate, on the other hand, was temperature and light dependent and drastically reduced by the presence of metabolic inhibitors.

Differences in responses to respiratory inhibitors, temperature, pH, light and darkness, and kinetic data, strongly suggest that zinc uptake in bean tissues occurs primarily by a passive mechanism, involving possibly a physical or physiochemical binding of the micronutrient ions to the cell wall and free space components, and a passive diffusion into the interior of the cell.


A new spatiotemporal inflow condition is devised and evaluated with other methods, i.e., temporal, phase jittering and amplitude jittering, and random noise. These methods are validated by testing a large-eddy simulation of turbulent channel flow. Computational results are presented to disclose the ability of inflow conditions to capture the turbulent statistics with correct phase information and dynamics. The present spatiotemporal inflow condition is found to be generally satisfactory in CPU time and data management.


Supportive care interventions used to manage chemotherapy‐induced myelosuppression (CIM), including granulocyte colony‐stimulating factors (G‐CSFs), erythropoiesis‐stimulating agents (ESAs), and red blood cell (RBC) transfusions, are burdensome to patients and associated with greater costs to health care systems. We evaluated the utilization of supportive care interventions and their relationship with the myeloprotective agent, trilaciclib.


The performance of Radio-Isotope Identification (RIID) algorithms using NaI-based γ spectroscopy is increasingly important. For example, sensors at locations that screen for illicit nuclear material rely on isotope identification using NaI detectors to distinguish innocent nuisance alarms, arising from naturally occurring radioactive material, from alarms arising from threat isotopes. Recent data collections for RIID testing consist of repeat measurements for each of several measurement scenarios to test RIID algorithms. It is anticipated that vendors can modify their algorithms on the basis of performance on chosen measurement scenarios and then test modified algorithms on data for other measurement scenarios. It is therefore timely to review the current status of RIID algorithms on NaI detectors. This review describes γ spectra from NaI detectors, measurement issues and challenges, current RIID algorithms, data preprocessing steps, the role and current quality of synthetic spectra, and opportunities for improvements.


We present a review of recent reports on vertical MOSFETs which includes a summary of our own research in this area. Such devices can offer a decananometer channel length in a relaxed lithography. Furthermore, the footprint is substantially smaller than an equivalent lateral MOSFET for a given on-current. We summarise a number of innovative device architectures that allow control of short channel effects and reduction of parasitic elements. Both numerical modelling and experimental results are presented to validate the proposals. The devices are particularly suited to radio frequency application.


A successful implementation of green technologies in today's society requires performing a progressive decentralization of the manufacturing processes. In this context, biomass hydrolysis by supercritical water must play a leading role. First, the reduction of the reaction times to values lower than 1 second intensifies the process. Second, the high selectivities, reaching values up to 98%, eliminates further separation stages. Finally, since only water is used as solvent and reaction medium, the postprocessing of effluents is avoided. However, the operation of a real biomass hydrolysis plant still presents some challenges related to the combination of solid particles and high pressure and to the complexity of the biomass structure. The implementation of this technology in delocalized production centers strongly depends on overcoming these limitations. The main objective of this thesis is to redesign and adapt the unit operations of the process to the raw materials and operating conditions expected in a real plant.


Field experiments were carried out in 2005 to assess the effect of solarization on the physico-chemical properties of soil at various depths, and nutrient content of two harvested seeds from soybean-bradyrhizobia symbiosis. Experiments were organized in a Randomized Block Design with two levels of inoculation and three durations of solarization. Results indicate that at 5 cm depth, solarization increased the soil temperature by 14.5°C, 18°C and 16°C, respectively after four, eight and 12 weeks, whereas at 25 cm depth, it was enhanced by 14°C and 9.5°C, respectively, after 1–2 months and three months over the control. The soil conductivity and pH increased with the solarization period. The sand grain fractionation in soil gradually decreased while the clay-size fractions increased continually with the duration of solarization. The nutrient concentrations in soil were consistently increased with the duration of solarization. The nutrients accumulation in seeds was also improved by solarization and inoculation. The oil concentration of seeds was not affected by these treatments. Two months' solarization significantly enhanced the seed yield more than other treatments. Under the experimental conditions, the present study suggests that soybean-bradyrhizobia symbiosis can be increased under solarization practices through improved nutrients nutrition.


The digital era has changed employment relationships dramatically, causing a considerable degree of legal uncertainty as to which rules apply in cyberspace. Technology is transforming business organisation in a way that makes employees – as subordinate workers – less necessary. New types of companies, based on the 'on-demand economy' or so-called 'sharing economy' and dedicated to connecting customers directly with individual service providers, are emerging. These companies conduct their entire core business through workers that they classify as self-employed. In this context, employment law is facing its greatest challenge, as it has to deal with a very different reality to the one existing when it was created. This article analyses the literature available about the classification of this new type of worker as an employee or as self-employed, concluding that there is a need for a new special labour regulation. It also describes and justifies the bases for this new special labour regulation.


A procedure for a fast X-ray-diffraction-based crystal size distribution analysis, named FXD-CSD, is presented. The method enables the user, with minimal sample preparation, to determine the crystal size distribution (CSD) of crystalline powders or polycrystalline materials, derivedviaan intensity scaling procedure from the diffraction intensities of single Bragg spots measured in spotty diffraction patterns with a two-dimensional detector. The method can be implemented on any single-crystal laboratory diffractometer and any synchrotron-based instrument with a fast-readout two-dimensional detector and a precise sample scanning axis. The intensity scaling is achievedviathe measurement of areferencesample with known CSD under identical conditions; the only other prerequisite is that the structure (factors) of bothsampleandreferencematerial must be known. The data analysis is done with a software package written in Python. A detailed account is given of each step of the procedure, including the measurement strategy and the demands on the spottiness of the diffraction rings, the data reduction and the intensity corrections needed, and the data evaluation and the requirements for the reference material. Using commercial laboratory X-ray equipment, several corundum crystal size fractions with precisely known CSD were measured and analysed to verify the accuracy and precision of the FXD-CSD method; a comparison of known and deduced CSDs shows good agreement both in mean size and in the shape of the size distribution. For the used material and diffractometer setup, the crystal size application range is one to several tens of micrometres; this range is highly material and X-ray source dependent and can easily be extended on synchrotron sources to cover the range from below 0.5 µm to over 100 µm. FXD-CSD has the potential to become a generally applicable method for CSD determination in the field of materials science and pharmaceutics, including development and quality management, as well as in various areas of fundamental research in physics, chemistry, chemical engineering, crystallography, the geological sciences and bio-crystallization. It can be used also underin situconditions for studying crystal coarsening phenomena, and delivers precise and accurate CSDs, permitting experimental tests of various theories developed to predict their evolution.


In this paper, a shape memory alloy (SMA) re-centring damper is developed by using pseudo-elasticity property of SMA, and a new isolation device combining the above damper with laminated rubber bearing is proposed, the application of which enables the isolation system to provide preferable isolation character and re-centring capacity. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed system, the extract method of thermo-dynamics non-linear equation is put forward according to thermo-dynamics constitutive relation of SMA. Furthermore, through an extensive study on the mechanical behavior of this device, the corresponding mechanical analysis model is discussed. In addition, the program based on the theory of story model for shear tape is compiled to conduct elasto-plastic time-history analysis of some practical structure examples. According to the results, the seismic response of the super-structure is significantly reduced, and the fully re-centring capacity after earthquake is obtained by this isolation system, laying foundations for further theoretical research of the re-centring device for isolation and floor isolation techniques.


Con ten t s Io II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XlIl. XIV. XV. Computer Traffic Characterization Error Control Techniques Modems S t a t i s t i c a l M u l t i p l e x i n g Packet Switching Via Satellites Loop Systems Examples of Computer Communications Networks Computer Network Design Considerations Communications Processors for Store-and-Forward Networks Interprocess Communications Distributed Data Base Design Considerations Computer Communications Systems Reliability Computer Communication Security Common Carrier Facilities and Services Social, Regulatory and Legal Issues in Computer Communications


In a recent paper (Thompson & Hubbard 1960) it was shown how the diffusion coefficients of the Fokker-Planck equation could be calculated in the case of a plasma in thermal equilibrium by a method which included automatically correlation effects and avoided the use of a cut-off procedure. In this paper the method is extended to plasmas not in thermal equilibrium and a calculation of the friction coefficient is given.


This paper proposes a channel equalization algorithm for a large speech database with application in concatenative TTS systems. The convolutional channel distortion is equalized by comparing the power spectral densities (PSDs) of utterances of different recording sessions. Autoregressive linear filters are designed on a corpus level and are used offline to filter the corresponding sentences to compensate for the relative distortions caused by the channel effects. Two experiments are carried out to evaluate the benefit of the channel equalization approach. First, this method is used to reduce the distance of their PSDs between two recording sessions to verify the effectiveness of the method. Sec- ondly, it is applied practically in the TTS system. The whole TTS speech database is processed to reduce the PSDs variance over all sessions. Moreover, a subjective listening test is carried out to obtain human evaluation of the new TTS system. Almost all listeners prefer the synthetic speech generated by the new TTS system. Furthermore, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) on this subjective listening test demonstrates that the channel equalization process has significant effect on increasing the per- ceived voice-quality consistency of the TTS system.


Backround: Insertion of Ventilation Tubes (VT) by the cleft
palate children is the common used therapeutical method. The
question can be: in which time ? how is the correlation between
tympanometry investigation and prognosis middle ear pathology.
Objective: In co-operation paediatric ORL Department and
plastic surgery Department of Masaryk University in Brno were
followed cleft palate children. Results: In the year 2001 we
investigated together 62 patients with clef palate diseases and
tympanometry, microotoscopy and audiometry was done. By 89% of
patients we found tympanometry type B, in 8% type C2 and 3%
type C1 and A. By most of them is insertion of ventilation
tubes indicated. Conclusions: We want follow this group of
patient and compare tympanometry and microotoscopy with type of
reconstructive clef palate operation. This work was supported
by grant IGA 6602-3/2001 Health Ministry of Czech Republic


This paper analyze economic growth during the transition from centrally planned to market economy in Central and Eastern European and former Soviet Union countries. It provides a descriptive analysis of regional growth performance vis-a-vis countries at similar levels of different factors that have been identified in the cross-country literature as being associated with economic growth. Several points of controversy emerged within the overall stately, particularly over so-called shock therapy, and over sequencing. Rapid policy action was possible in some areas of reform - price and trade liberalization, and inflation stabilization, and perhaps small scale privatization - but in others it was clear that reform would take a long time. The controversies over shock treatment related mainly to macroeconomic stabilization and the pace at which privatization could be attempted, and to a lesser extant, over the pace of trade liberalization for some reason there was less controversy over the pace of trade liberalization. On sequencing the argument was that some reforms were preconditions for others - for instance that privatization would fail unless the right legal framework or financial system or both were in place, or that price decontrol should non take place until macroeconomic stabilization could be assured. After a brief assessment of the extent to which economic growth has been associated with progress on different measures of well being, the paper concludes with a list suggested issues to be investigated in the context of specific country studies.


4258 Background: Locally advanced gastric carcinoma is very frequent in Morocco. In spite of a surgery often satisfactory and an adjuvant chemotherapy based on 5 FU+ Cisplatine, the 2 years surviva...


Caerleon. Mr. V. E. Nash-Williams writes as follows :—In July, 1927, the Caerleon Excavation Committee began the systematic exploration of the large four-acre field known as the Prysg Field, lying in the retentura of the fortress immediately within the western angle. The work completed to date includes the trenching of the southwestern half of the field (next the angle) and a partial investigation of the fortress-defences. Cuttings across these latter have shown that the original defences consisted of an outer ditch, apparently single, and an inner clay bank, bedded on a foundation of logs laid transversely to its line. It may be recalled that a similar bedding of timber strips was found in the case of the primary bank at York (J.R.S. xv, 1925, p. 187). The occurrence beneath the clay bank of sherds of Samian form 29 of Flavian type leaves room for the conjecture that the ditch and the bank were constructed during the period A.D. 70-80. At a later date, probably towards the close of the century, the outer face of the bank was cut away and revetted with a stone wall, 5 ft. to 5^ ft. in basal thickness. In the rounded angle the foundations of a small well-built stone turret have been found, with a later annexe (? used as a furnace) behind, flanked by a latrine-building ; this latter overlies part of a complex of foundations, lying in the intervallum, parallel to and abutting on the north-western rampart. On present evidence, the earlier turret and the foundations would appear to belong to the period of the clay bank, and the annexe and the latrine-building to that of the stone wall. But further investigation is necessary here. Within the ramparts and separated from them by a heavily-metalled roadway four L-shaped barrack-buildings have been brought to light. In size and plan they resemble closely the barrack-buildings excavated at Neuss. They are arranged, as usual, in pairs (strigae), separated


A Hidden Markov Model(HMM)-based information extraction method is proposed in this paper. The proposed extraction method is applied to extraction of products' prices. The input of the proposed IESHMM is the URLs of a search engine's interface, which contains the names of the product types. The output of the system is the list of extracted slots of each product: name, price, image, and URL. With the observation data set Maximum Likelihood algorithm and Baum-Welch algorithm are used for the training of HMM and The Viterbi algorithm is then applied to find the state sequence of the maximal probability that matches the observation block sequence. When applied to practical problems, the proposed HMM-based system shows improved results over a conventional method, PEWEB, in terms of recall ration and accuracy.


Our study shows how the United States government can achieve its goal of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in 2025, 2030, and 2050 by reducing energy consumption through a pure carbon tax. To achieve its emissions reduction goals, it is necessary for the U.S. to impose a long-term carbon tax that balances taxes on labour, capital, energy, and carbon. Therefore, in this study, through the two-layer CGE Cobb–Douglas model, the carbon tax rate is set while balancing the production and profit functions of government, businesses, and households. This study concludes that the carbon price will increase from USD 0.4391/kg CO2 in 2020 to USD 2.5671/kg CO2 in 2050, when the CO2 emissions reduction target is increased from 17% reduction in 2020 to 83% reduction in 2050 for the U.S.


Taking the CCD automatic fire monitor system as the technical support,with regard to the fire protection problems in the multi-level lock rooms on the three gorges of Yangtze River,the paper develops a technical solution on automatic fire alarm that meets the requirements of large space fire monitoring and controlling outside the multi-level lock rooms.The technical solution is systematically discussed in the paper.


The normal contact of a frictionless, elastic curved beam indented by a flat, rigid surface is solved using a Michell-Fourier series expansion, which satisfies the mixed boundary value problem resulting from partial contact. When the contact region is small compared to the radius of curvature of the beam, semi-analytical solutions are obtained by exploiting dual series equation techniques. The relation between the level of loading and the extent of contact, as well as stress on the surface, are found for plane strain. The elasticity results extend Hertz line contact to finite thickness, curved beams. As the beam becomes thin, beam theory type behavior is recovered. The results may have application to finite-thickness wavy surfaces, cylindrical structures, or pressurized seals.


This article explores the importance of the social environment for the stability of armed groups as organizations. A case study of the Angolan UNITA explores how this armed group engaged and transformed existing social structures to recruit members and create a stable and loyal following. Contrary to the image of UNITA as a tribal organization, it is shown that UNITA's most loyal followership was created in a far-reaching project of social engineering, designed to control the combatants' entire lifeworld. UNITA created a state within a state, a society within society. To policymakers in the post-war context, this situation poses a major challenge. To facilitate a rapprochement of UNITA people to the majority society and the institutions of the state will take time and effort. The latter will have to be as intensive as UNITA's original social project had been.