prisoners were killed or sent back so mutilated that they were unfi tted for war service and work. The same applied to destroying fi elds, fi lling in wells and cutting down trees. In a predominantly agrarian society, in which immobile possessions represented the major part of property, this, too, served to weaken the enemy.


In the process of R D, various kinds of project information from various parities is related, a model which can represent all information in product development process is necessary. The multiview model of project management oriented product, process, resource, organization and capital is presented in this paper. A view mapping method is also proposed in order to maintain the integrity of the information in multi-views and distill the availability of the information in project management system, the paper also analyzes the relations of multi-view spaces, and achieves the solution on database by an application example of mechanical product, at last, the translation from product view to process view is built. The practice proves that multi-viewis powerful in supporting system to manage product development project.


From Non-Usability to Non-Factualism Holly Smith has done more than anyone to explore and defend the importance of usability for moral theories. In Making Morality Work, she develops a moral theory that is almost universally usable. But not quite. In this article, I argue that no moral theory is universally usable, in the sense that is most immediately relevant to action, even by agents who know all the normative facts. There is no moral theory knowledge of which suffices to settle deliberation about what to 2


Recent results with solid-state semiconductor gas sensors based on organic sensor elements are reviewed. Devices based on metal phthalocyanines show useful responses to NO2. Lead phthalocyanine combines the highest conductivity with the maximum sensitivity to NO2. A thin-film lead phthalocyanine sensor has successfully been used to monitor NOx produced by shot-firing in coal mines. To obtain reasonable conductance and speed of response and recovery, phthalocyanine sensors have been operated at 170°C. Conducting polymer materials, and particularly chemically doped polypyrrole, show responses to toxic gases at ambient temperature. Initial work, using polypyrrole black impregnated filter paper, showed a response to ammonia. More recently, using polypyrrole films electrochemically deposited over electrode arrays, responses to nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen sulphide have also been obtained. Organic-semiconductor gas sensors may have advantages compared to metal-oxide devices in their sensitivity to toxic gases and in their ability to operate at or near room temperature. However, the mechanisms of device function are not yet well understood.


Interdepartmental collaboration can be very beneficial for the success of an organisation, as it affects the ability of managers to engage employees and it increases efficiency; especially in fast-growing multidisciplinary organisations with an intensive knowledge base. These multidisciplinary organisations are often characterised by having traditional hierarchical structures; where different departments often work in silos. Prior studies, addressing interdepartmental collaboration, primarily focused on the departments or entities that have a direct effect on productivity, growth, and profit. However, there is scarcely research that focuses on departments that have an importance influence on the conduct of business, but do not have a direct effect on the performance metrics. Therefore, this study focuses on these executive entities and aims to gain insight into in the actors' perspectives on current interdepartmental collaboration and knowledge sharing practices. Because collaboration and institutionalisation are proven to be interdependent, this study provided a lens based upon the concepts of institutional work and complexity. In seven semi-structured individual interviews and two duo- interviews, participants offered their perspectives on the organisation's current interdepartmental collaboration. The findings showed that there are contrasting perspectives and logics towards current interdepartmental collaboration. The determinants for these divergent perspectives were found in the high degree of polarisation, compartmentalisation, and the level of commitment to their own department. Thus, it is important to find a way to crisscross the departments to benefit from current compartmentalisation and avoid and overcome polarisation; where the actors are aware of equivocal perceptions and can eventually act on and accommodate to them. The findings of this study emphasise the importance of studying interdepartmental collaboration in correlation with institutional complexity and ambidexterity in the broader organisational context. This study also sets the groundwork for future research on interdepartmental collaboration in fast-changing and multidisciplinary organisations.


Direct evidence for the hydrolysis of O-methyl ester linkage(s) of Dipterex in the rat has been obtained using Dipterex in which the two methyl groups are C14-labelled. Following a single injection (i.p.) of radio-Dipterex, about 60% of the C14 activity was recovered, after 24 hours, in the expired air and in the urine. C14O2 and C14-formate constituted about 50% of the recovered radioactivity. The contribution of P—OCH3 cleavage to the detoxification of the insecticide has been discussed. A scheme for the fate of the methyl groups has been suggested.


1. A receiving apparatus comprising: a receiver configured to receive audio and video content; feature extraction unit operable to extract feature data from the received audio-video content; identification result obtaining unit, configured to obtain the identification result AV content identified by feature extraction using an automatic content recognition technology; obtaining unit teams, capable of receiving the command to manage job application program that runs in cooperation with said audio-video content according to the result of identification; a controller operable to control the operation of the application program in accordance with the obtained komandoy.2. The receiving device according to claim 1, wherein: said command indicates any of the following: receipt or record receiving or activation event trigger, the suspension or termination of the application program;. aupomyanuty controller is adapted to control or obtain a record or receipt or activation of an application program running either event, either the suspension or termination of the application program executed in accordance with each of komand.3. The receiving device according to claim 2, wherein:. Time information indicating the time of the command, included in the commands, and wherein the controller is configured to execute the command in accordance with said time informatsiey.4. The receiving device according to claim 3, wherein:. Said time information is information for


This paper presents a novel architecture, called Flex-WiFi, specifically designed for IEEE 802.11 home networks. Objective of the new approach is to improve legacy network capacity in such home scenarios. Network capacity is increased by allowing setting up multiple contemporary IEEE 802.11 connections using a single WLAN card. All connections share the same data link and physical layers but use different channels; the MAC is responsible to handle the channel switching as well as to allocate/de-allocate the direct link sessions. In particular we aim implementing a solution where stations can be associated to an access point and can have ad-hoc connections on a different pysical chanel at the same. The idea is to maximize the overall network capacity by transferring some traffic load from the infrastructure to a direct link session. Results have been provided by implementing Flex-WiFi in the Madwifi open source driver of the Atheros chipsets.


Several thousand inventions result each year from research supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA seeks patent protection on inventions to which it has title if the invention has important use in government programs or significant commercial potential. These inventions cover a broad range of technologies and include many that have useful and valuable commercial application. NASA inventions best serve the interests of the United States when their benefits are available to the public. In many instances, the granting of nonexclusive or exclusive licenses for the practice of these inventions may assist in the accomplishment of this objective. This bibliography is published as a service to companies, firms, and individuals seeking new, licensable products for the commercial market. The NASA Patent Abstracts Bibliography is a semiannual NASA publication containing comprehensive abstracts of NASA owned inventions covered by U.S. patents. The citations included in the bibliography arrangement of citations were originally published in NASA's Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR) and cover STAR announcements made since May 1969. The citations published in this issue cover the period July 2002 through. December 2002. This issue includes 10 major subject divisions separated into 76 specific categories and one general category/division. (See Table of Contents for the scope note of each category, under which are grouped appropriate NASA inventions.) This scheme was devised in 1975 and revised in 1987 in lieu of the 34 category divisions which were utilized in supplements (01) through (06) covering STAR abstracts from May 1969 through January 1974. Each entry consists of a STAR citation accompanied by an abstract and, when appropriate, a key illustration taken from the patent or application for patent. Entries are arranged by subject category in ascending order. A typical citation and abstract presents the various data elements included in most records cited. This appears after the table of contents.


Despite the tremendous disease burden of chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain on the United States population in terms of patient suffering, loss of productivity, and the costs of healthcare and disability due to chronic pain, the CDC does not regularly collect, analyze and publish comprehensive population research data on pain like they do for other major diseases. High-quality data is necessary to identify trends, risks and consequences of pain and to inform interventions aimed at improving care and patient outcomes and reducing costs to the US healthcare system.


A rising trend is being observed in enhancing Inter-Professional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) in health care settings. Empirical evidence on its effects, particularly in youth settings, remains limited. This study examined the moderating role of inter-professional learning in the relation between youth work practitioners' self-efficacy in social work and their creative self-efficacy and innovative behaviour. A total of 227 youth work practitioners from sixteen district-based youth services in Hong Kong were invited to participate in a survey. The results of regression analyses indicate a positive association between practitioners' sense of self-efficacy in social work and their creative self-efficacy and innovative behaviour. They also show a positive association between practitioners' inter-professional learning experience and their creative self-efficacy and innovative behaviour. However, concerning the interaction effect between self-efficacy in social work and inter-professional learning, the results indicate that the positive relationship between self-efficacy in social work and creative self-efficacy and innovative behaviour was weaker for practitioners who had a higher level of inter-professional learning. The promotion of IPECP and the preparation of social workers to be collaboration-ready were deemed essential in fostering an effective multi-agency and multi-profession partnership, especially for seasoned practitioners who were more likely to possess a silo mentality.


Abstract The aim of this paper is to obtain an asymptotic formula for each solution of a l 2 -perturbed linear delay difference system. The results obtained here extend some earlier results for ordinary difference equations and are parallel to some recent results for delay differential equations.


PdCl2 immobilized in polyacrylamide (PAM), named Pd/PAM, produced at an extremely low cost, was found to be an efficient catalyst for Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions. Iodo- and bromoarenes may couple with phenylboronic acid under eco-friendly conditions (i.e., phosphine-free and with ethanol as the solvent) to give excellent product yields. Aryl chlorides, in contrast, were found to be unsuitable reagents in this context, yielding modest results. The recyclability of Pd/PAM is limited because of PdII leaching, which leaves only the base polymer on the surface after six runs. The Pd/PAM catalyst was initially prepared via the formation of a PAM hydrogel using an aqueous PdCl2 solution. After drying, the solid Pd/PAM was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES).


PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA (Bacillus pyocyaneus) is normally an organism of low invasiveness and virulence, frequently noted as a local inhabitant of burns, surgical wounds and the genitourinary tract. Under suitable host conditions, however, this gram-negative, motile rod can assume the role of a life-threatening pathogen. Reports of serious pseudomonas infection date back to the 1890's1 although these infections were apparently quite rare before the advent of antibiotics. There is little question that the incidence of serious pseudomonas infection has risen since 1940, and from the spate of reports in the past several years,2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 it is possible that this organism will achieve . . .


Objective To investigate the differences of pathological results between multiple sites biopsy and cold knife cervical conization,and to evaluate the accurancy of cervix biopsy,and the diagnostic and therapeutic value of cervical conization for the patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia(CIN).Methods 96 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia were performed cold knife conization,and the results of the two methods were compared.Results On the premise that the coordinate pathological levels were the same,54 cases were accordant with cervix biopsy results after conization,while 42 cases were not.Among the 42 cases,10 patients′(10/96,10.4%) diagnostic results after conization were more serious than that of biopsy,and 32 patients′(32/56,76.2%) were milder.Conclusion It is insufficient to diagnose and treat the patients with CIN only based on cervix biopsy.Cervical conization plays an important role in diagnosing and treating patients,especially those with moderate and sever cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.


Although packet delay and loss are two important parameters of the Internet performance, to the best of our knowledge, the evolution of large‐scale IPv6 delay and loss performance has previously not been studied. In this paper, we analyze more than 600 end‐to‐end IPv6 paths between about 26 testboxes of RIPE Network Coordination Centre over two years, and compare the delay and loss performance over time with their IPv4 counterparts. We present and discuss the measurement methodologies and show that IPv6 paths have a higher delay and loss than their IPv4 counterparts. The main reason for the worse performance stems from IPv6‐in‐IPv4 tunnels rather than from native IPv6 paths and such tunnels are still widely used today. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


An analytical method using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy( ICP-AES) for the rapid and accurate determination of Si,Fe,Mn,Mg in sponge titanium was investigated. Samples were decomposed with HF and HNO3.The instrument equipped with a nebulizer and a torch made from HF resisting material was used for the direct determination,which made the pretreatment more convenient and with less interference. The Ti matrix effect on nebulization for Si,Fe,Mn,Mg could be effectively eliminated by using Ti matrix matching,which made the results more accurate. The detection limits of the method were in the range of 0. 3-6. 2 mg / L; the relative standard deviations were in the range of 1. 0%-3. 0% and the recoveries of the standard samples were in the range of 95. 5%-110. 0% for the determination of Si,Fe,Mn,Mg.


Lack of people's awareness in maintaining environment demands human being to keep it clean. Thorugh of creativity and innovative are poured into action by Kuya Tilu Belas, people's role as agent of change is trying to be risen again so that revitalization process to keep river staying clean will immediatelly occur as it was before . The result of this study exposes that conceptual mode has been spreaded by community to society of RW 13 Tamansari outcoming a thought of movement "Cikapundung clean".To communicate this idea, community uses two approaches (intrapersonal and mass media) to ease society in looking for information about movement of Cikapundung clean, from this study shows that four RTs receive and adapt ideas while three of them choose no longer to adapt this diffusion and innovation .


Predictive models of microclimate under various site conditions in forested headwater stream – riparian areas are poorly developed, and sampling designs for characterizing underlying riparian microclimate gradients are sparse. We used riparian microclimate data collected at eight headwater streams in the Oregon Coast Range to compare ordinary kriging (OK), universal kriging (UK), and kriging with external drift (KED) for point prediction of mean maximum air temperature (Tair). Several topographic and forest structure characteristics were considered as site-specific parameters. Height above stream and distance to stream were the most important covariates in the KED models, which outperformed OK and UK in terms of root mean square error. Sample patterns were optimized based on the kriging variance and the weighted means of shortest distance criterion using the simulated annealing algorithm. The optimized sample patterns outperformed systematic sample patterns in terms of mean kriging variance mainly for sma...


AJR 2016; 206:W48 0361–803X/16/2062–W48 © American Roentgen Ray Society Supernumerary Kidneys Do Exist! We read with great interest the article "MDCT and MR Urogram Spectrum of Congenital Anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract Diagnosed in Adulthood" by Dr. Surabhi and colleagues [1] in the September 2015 issue of the AJR. We would like to add an important differential diagnosis to the authors' list of congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract: anomalies in renal number. Anomalies in renal number include the development of supernumerary kidneys and renal agenesis. Renal agenesis is well-described in the article by Dr. Surabhi and colleagues. We would like to add few important comments about supernumerary kidneys. Supernumerary kidneys are said to be present when the total number of kidneys exceeds two; therefore, supernumerary kidneys can be defined by either the presence of more than two separate kidneys or the observation of an extra kidney coexisting with a horseshoe kidney. A supernumerary kidney can develop from secondary outpouching of the Wolffian duct or from branching from the initial ureteral bud; both means of development induce growth of the metanephric anlage, even though the kidneys have separated entirely [2]. It is necessary to differentiate a supernumerary kidney from a duplex kidney. A supernumerary kidney has a completely separate or partially fused renal parenchyma, a separate renal capsule with a greater number of calyces, and a separate arterial supply and venous drainage. On the other hand, for a duplex kidney, both poles are attached with a single renal capsule, the number of calyces does not exceed the number of calyces of the opposite kidney, and the vascular supply is the same as that of the opposite kidney [2]. Two types of supernumerary kidney exist: the type that is drained by a bifid ureter and the type that is drained by a separate ureter. When a bifid system is present, the supernumerary kidney lies caudally; however, when a separate ureter is seen, the supernumerary kidney is located cranially in relation to the normal kidney. If both a horseshoe kidney and a supernumerary kidney coexist, then the half of the horseshoe kidney located on the side of the body containing the supernumerary kidney is always small. We also would like to highlight an important sign (other than the drooping lily sign) seen in the collecting system of a duplex kidney. This sign is known as the "nubbin sign," a term that refers to the tiny nonfunctioning lower pole of a duplex kidney that is seen on urography images and that may be confused with a focal renal mass [3].


Use chitosan (CS) fiber and cellulose acetate (CA) fiber with different mixing ratios as raw materials, the kinetic and thermodynamic characteristics of the adsorption process of chitosan fiber/cellulose acetate fiber (CS/CA) ratio of 90:10 are explored, and the adsorption process conforms to the quasi-second-order kinetic equation. It can be fitted by Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption process is a spontaneous thermal reaction with both physical adsorption and chemical adsorption. The best adsorption time is 30 min, the time to reach adsorption equilibrium is 180 min, and the best adsorption pH is 5, the most suitable temperature is 35°C, and rising the temperature is conducive to the fibers adsorption. The materials before and after the CS/CA blended yarn adsorbed copper ions were characterized by XRD, DSC, FT-IR, and the adsorption mechanism was analyzed. In the orthogonal experiment, the copper ions concentration has the most obvious effect on the adsorption capacity, and the temperature has the most obvious effect on the adsorption efficiency. The optimal adsorption combination is that the mixing ratio of chitosan fiber/cellulose acetate (CS/CA) is 80:20, the pH is 5, the temperature is 35°C, and the copper ion concentration is 100 mg L−1. Comparing the adsorption performance of fibers with different mixing ratios, the adsorption performance of CS/CA ratio of 90:10 is the best. The filtration efficiency of the filter material, made of fibers with different mixing ratios, to copper ions is tested, and the filtration performance with a mixing ratio of 90:10 is the best, and the filtration efficiency is 64.33%.


A study of 103 2nd diabetes mellitus inpatients was carried out with the help of the composite test (clinical scales TSS and NIS LL + 7 EMG-characteristics of the leg peripheral nerves' state) for diagnosing and establishing stages of diabetic polyneuropathy. In 75% of patients distal symmetric sensor-motor diabetic polyneuropathy is detected, from them – in 33% subclinical stage. In 30 patients with subclinical stage of the diabetic polyneuropathy treatment by Actovegin® was conducted for 5 months: 10 infusions 250.00 ml of 20%-solution and then administration of Actovegin® tablets at a dosage 200 mg 3 tpd. At examination after the course of treatment improvement of the capillary blood flow, increase of density of thin fibers in epidermis and skin (punch-biopsy), content of endothelium in the skin, activation of neoanginesis. Discussing the literature data and own findings a conclusion about effectiveness of Actovegin® in the 2nd diabetes mellitus patients with polyneuropathy, including at a subclinical stage.


OBJECTIVES:The presence of low grade dysplasia (LGD) within Barrett's esophagus (BE) has a multitude of ramifications. Identification of markers that could risk stratify LGD would be of great clinical benefit. We aimed to prospectively evaluate the prognosis of the immunohistochemical overexpression of p53 protein in BE colocalized to LGD.METHODS:Consecutive BE patients in whom LGD was found had a repeat esophagogastroduodenoscopy within 8–12 wk per an ongoing prospective study. At each esophagogastroduodenoscopy, a therapeutic scope was used in conjunction with the Seattle Biopsy Protocol. Patients were observed until development of multifocal high grade dysplasia (mHGD), presence of an HGD dysplasia-associated lesion or mass (DALM) lesion, or frank adenocarcinoma. p53 protein overexpression was determined by computerized immunoquantitation using image analysis software on step serial-sectioned specimens of BE segment(s) harboring LGD. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were made on the ability of p53 staining colocalized to areas of LGD to predict progression to mHGD, HGD DALM, or cancer during prospective follow-up.RESULTS:Forty-eight BE patients with LGD were observed for a mean of 41.2 ± 22.5 months. During this period, five of 48 patients progressed to mHGD with a focus in which intramucosal cancer could not be excluded (one), mHGD/DALM with one or more foci in which intramucosal cancer could not be excluded (two), cancer (one), or mHGD (one). Twelve had persistent LGD and 31 had regressed to no dysplasia. p53 staining was positive and colocalized to areas of LGD in 4/31 of patients that regressed, 3/12 that persisted, and 3/5 that progressed. Kaplan-Meier curves differed significantly between p53 positive and negative patients for outcome defined as progression of LGD.CONCLUSIONS:p53 colocalization with LGD at index LGD diagnosis is a risk factor for progression of LGD. This can potentially be used to risk stratify BE LGD patients in terms of surveillance intervals or enrollment into secondary prevention studies.


DNA biosensors based on silicon carbide nanowire bioFET (SiC NW bioFET) benefit from both biocompatibility and semiconducting properties of SiC. One of the device realization key points is the functionalization of the SiC NW. This process is composed of two main steps: silanization and DNA grafting. It has been successfully carried out on both SiC single crystals and SiC nanopillars. Evidences of DNA detection are given by X-Ray photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and fluorescence microscopy.


Parathyroid carcinoma is one of the rare causes of primary hyperparathyroidism. These tumors account for 0.4-1% of all cases of primary hyperparathyroid- ism and it is difficult to distinguish from benign dis- orders of parathyroid glands. A 61-year-old female patient previously operated for parathyroid adenoma admitted to our clinic with parathyroid carcinoma sus- picion. Clinical examination revealed a mass in the right half of the thyroid gland and radiological investi- gation supported the diagnosis. She underwent sur- gery and thyroidectomy, parathyroidectomy, neck dis- section and strap muscle excision were performed. The pathological investigation revealed parathyroid carcinoma. The patient was discharged uneventful with oral calcitriol and calcium replacement.


Video Captioning and Summarization have become very popular in the recent years due to advancements in Sequence Modelling, with the resurgence of Long-Short Term Memory networks (LSTMs) and introduction of Gated Recurrent Units (GRUs). Existing architectures [1, 2] extract spatio-temporal features using CNNs and utilize either GRUs or LSTMs to model dependencies with soft attention layers. These attention layers do help in attending to the most prominent features and improve upon the recurrent units, however, these models suffer from the inherent drawbacks of the recurrent units themselves. Although these techniques have helped in capturing long term dependencies, a 30fps 5 minute video can contain about 9000 frames, making it difficult for the gradients to backpropagate through time. Each training example has to be modelled sequentially and hence, prohibits parallelization within training examples. Given that videos can be very large in size, training a recurrent model for Video captioning can be a tedious and time-consuming task. Another problem with existing techniques is that they take into account only the video features, while video's text descriptions are completely ignored [3].


Based on the modified Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H) modeling methods for ground fixed base industrial robots and the conservation of momentum and conservation of angular momentum suitable for Space Robot (SR), continuous motion trajectory control modeling algorithm based on Recursive Generalized Jacobian Matrix (RGJM) for SR has been proposed and developed. First, kinematics model for SR is researched based on the principle of the ground-based Jacobian and modified D-H method. Then, the effective algorithms for controlling continuous motion trajectory and calculating recursive GJM of SR with visual feedback and torque feedback have been presented. Finally, correctness and validity of the algorithms proposed have been verified through three dimensional computer graphics simulation. The SR conceptual model and kinematics modeling method based on the modified D-H notation in this paper can be extended to any degree of freedom single arm or multi arm SR with tree structure link containing rotary joints and translational joints.


Temporal patterns (1974 to 1998) of atmospheric deposition of 6 metals to an epilithic lichen were assessed using a spatial grid of 6 (of 28) field sites throughout Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. The lichen material was cleaned, wet digested and analyzed by ICP-MS for a suite of elements: (cadmium [Cd], copper [Cu], lead [Pb], platinum [Pt], tin [Sn], and zinc [Zn]). Copper, lead and tin have all exhibited declines at some sites; whereas zinc and platinum have increased at most sites. Causes of the temporal patterns are inferred to be related to closure of a copper smelter, change in gasoline type (now unleaded), dramatic increases in traffic volume, rapid development of the urban area and expansion of the Phoenix industrial base.


This paper solves the finite‐time synchronization and adaptive synchronization problems of drive‐response memristive recurrent neural networks with delays under two control methods. First, the state‐feedback control rule containing delays and the adaptive control rule are designed for realizing synchronization of drive‐response memristive recurrent neural networks in finite time. Then, on the basis of the Lyapunov stability theory, many algebraic sufficient conditions are obtained to guarantee finite‐time synchronization and adaptive synchronization of drive‐response memristive recurrent neural networks via two control methods, which are easily verified. In addition, the estimation of the upper bounds of the settling time of finite‐time synchronization is obtained. Lastly, to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results, two examples are given.


The goal of this study was to investigate whether young children's collaborative play and learning about magnetism could be enhanced by open-ended play with an innovative type of magnetic unit blocks that teachers could use in conjunction with an explicit lesson about magnetism. This research was completed as part of a dual thesis: the BXA Capstone Project and the H&SS Honors Thesis. The BXA Capstone Project was dedicated to the design and construction of the toy: Modular Mighty Magz. The H&SS Honors Thesis was dedicated to the experimental evaluation of the educational and collaborative impact of Modular Mighty Magz. The four-year-olds and kindergarten children at the Carnegie Mellon Children's School participated in four different assessments. Children were given a three part preand post-test interview that asked questions about magnets and magnetic fields, magnetic poles, and magnetic versus non-magnetic objects. Between the preand post-test interviews, the children's teachers did a group lesson about magnetism during circle time and then gave the children time in groups of four to play with either Modular Mighty Magz or a common magnet toy, Mega Magz, in a separate room for 15 minutes. The play time was used to determine the collaborative impact of Modular Mighty Magz versus Mega Magz. A 2 (age [four-year-olds/kindergarten]) x 2 (toy [Modular Mighty Magz/Mega Magz]) mixed design ANOVA was conducted for all four of the dependent measures. Overall the results showed that every child improved, with kindergartners performing better than the four-year-olds, between the preand post-test interviews on the magnet and magnetic field questions and magnetic pole questions. This demonstrated the creation of an effective teacher lesson. There was a three-way interaction between age, toy used, and the magnetic versus non-magnetic object questions. It was determined that the four-year-olds did not improve on this test or have any benefit in which toy they used. However, the children EDUCATIONAL IMPACT OF MODULAR MIGHTY MAGZ                                                                        5 who were given Modular Mighty Magz and were in kindergarten had a significant improvement in responses to these questions whereas those who got the Mega Magz did not improve on their scores. Children in both age groups spent significantly more time collaborating with the Modular Mighty Magz than with the Mega Magz. Thus, the teacher lesson effectively taught the children concepts of magnetism. Even with only a fifteen minute play session, the materials I designed, Modular Mighty Magz, were more effective than an existing toy in improving concepts for the kindergartners regarding magnetic versus non-magnetic objects and in promoting collaboration for all ages. EDUCATIONAL IMPACT OF MODULAR MIGHTY MAGZ                                                                        6 Open-Ended Play With Magnetic Unit Blocks: The Educational and Collaborative Impact of Modular Mighty Magz on 4-6 Year-Old Children The purpose of this study was to determine how to support young children's collaborative play and learning about magnetism through designing a toy that teachers could use in conjunction with an explicit lesson about magnetism. Originally I planned to create a toy for the children at the Carnegie Mellon Children's School for my BXA Capstone Project. However, my goal was to go beyond designing a toy that is engaging and fun, to create a toy that is also educational and effective in teaching important school concepts. Therefore this study was completed for the H&SS Honors Thesis and in collaboration with the BXA Capstone Project to create a dual thesis. The report of my design process for Modular Mighty Magz, which also supports improving fine and gross motor skills, one of the developmental goals of the Children's School (Carnegie Mellon University Children's School, 2004), is separate from this study and referenced in my BXA Capstone Project. The rationale for promoting collaboration is that it is one of the four C's in Learning and Innovation Skills, which is one of the four main components in the framework of goals for twenty-first century skills (Partnership For 21 Century Skills, 2011). The goal of this framework is to build an education system to prepare children for the changing world. It works more to give them the necessary skills to adapt to the changing world than memorizing facts and knowledge, because the world is changing at such a fast pace that we cannot predict what is necessary for children to know in the future. All we know now is that the most important thing is to be able to be adaptive and solve new problems as they arise. The Pennsylvania Department of Education also lists collaboration with social identity in section 25.4.1 under the broader heading EDUCATIONAL IMPACT OF MODULAR MIGHTY MAGZ                                                                        7 of Pro-Social Relationships With Peers. It states that during free choice time children should be able to initiate play with two to three peers, participate in cooperative learning activities to complete desired tasks, or play cooperatively with three or four children for a sustained period of time (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2009). Concepts of magnetism fall under the topic of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) improvement in education. In section 3.2b.4, the Pennsylvania Department of Education talks about how magnets fit into the broader heading of physical sciences for their kindergarten standards. They expect kindergarten children to be able to talk about concepts of magnetic force and use them. Kindergarten children are expected to attach objects to magnets, explain what happens near magnets, and distinguish items that are magnetic and non-magnetic (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2009). However, after attending a joint professional development program between the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Harvard Graduate School of Design last summer, I knew more could be taught to the children. Just as we talked in the institute that the future of education in physical school designs should be for the future and not the present, why not try to teach more advanced concepts to the children? If we fix the present solutions, they will be obsolete by the time it is implemented. Therefore we need to design for the future by predicting the problems children will face and how they will overcome them. While the Pennsylvania Department of Education Kindergarten Standards served as a baseline of knowledge for the kindergarten children and a benchmark for the four-year-olds at the Carnegie Mellon Children's School, my goal was to teach more advanced concepts to the kindergarten and four-year-olds than they are currently required to know. In this way, my toy design could improve the current STEM curriculums, as well as have a broader range of potential


Objective: To establish the relationship between different combinations of polymorphic variants of PPARG2 (Pro12Ala), ADRB2 (Gln27Glu), ADRB2 (Agr16Gly), ADRB3 (Trp64Agr), and FABP2 (Thr54Ala) genes and hypertension Design and method: 191 adults (33.1% of men and 66.9% of women), mean age (52.7 ± 10.8) years with hypertension were examined. Blood pressure was measured according to the guidelines for the management of patients with hypertension of the European Society of Cardiology (2018). Conducted daily monitoring of blood pressure. Determination of polymorphisms in the genes PPARG2 (Pro12Ala), ADRB2 (Gln27Glu), ADRB2 (Agr16Gly), ADRB3 (Trp64Agr), and FABP2 (Thr54Ala) of the PPARG2 (Pro12Ala) receptor by the method of real-time polymerase chain reaction polymerase chain reaction. Statistical processing of the obtained data was performed using the statistical package SPSS 17 (IBM) Results: In the study population, target blood pressure reduction was observed in 63% of patients after 12 months of follow-up. Patients with controlled arterial hypertension (60.7%) predominated in the group of those who reached the target blood pressure values, while patients with overt hypertension (42.9%) predominated in the group with those who did not reach the target blood pressure values. Patients were divided into groups depending on the phenotype of hypertension. The odds ratio for hypertension was found to be 1.11 for PPARG2 (CC vs CG+GG); 1.32 for ADRB2 (CG vs CC+CG); 1.05 for ADRB2 (AG vs. AA+AG); 2.0 for ADRB3 (TT vs. CC) and 1.33 for FABP2 (GG vs. AG+AA) (95% confidence interval). The odds ratio of the combination of the polymorphic CC variant of the ADRB3 gene (Trp64Agr) and the AA variant of the ADRB2 gene (Agr16Gly) in groups with overt AH was 2.33. Other combinations of genes and their polymorphic variants did not provide a reliable diagnostic criterion for the relationship with arterial hypertension phenotypes Conclusions: The combination of the CC variant of the ADRB3 gene (Trp64Agr) and the AA variant of the ADRB2 gene (Agr16Gly) is a reliable marker of overt arterial hypertension


A device and a method for controlling initialization of an image forming device using a NAND flash memory are provided to largely reduce a printing preparation time of the image forming device by preferentially executing a boot program and an engine control program stored in the NAND flash memory, and storing a system control program stored in the NAND flash memory to a RAM simultaneously with an operation of the image forming device. The NAND flash memory(130) stores the boot program for initializing the image forming device and the system control program. The RAM(140) temporarily stores execution programs and data. A controller(110) preferentially reads/executes the boot program and the engine control program from the NAND flash memory. When the engine control program is executed, the controller reads the system control program excluding the engine control program from the NAND flash memory and stores the read program to the RAM. The controller includes an internal memory(112) for storing the boot program and the engine control program read from the NAND flash memory.


In the present paper, the SIR model tracks the numbers of susceptible, infected and recovered individuals during an epidemic with the help of ordinary differential equations (ODE). First, we give the model formulation of our phenomena. Secondly, a fully discrete difference scheme is derived for the SIR model.At the end of this aper, we give the simulation results of the model. A comparison of the obtained numerical results of both the models is performed in the absence of an exact solution.


Decision support system in voice disorder classification has developed more and more momentum now days because of complication in routine methods. Neurological disorder creates speech problems. Therefore, decision support system can serve as an important mean to detect voice disorders. In this research work, normal & vocal cord cancer voice samples are used & a system is designed to classify vocal cord cancer speech from Normal speech. Vocal cord carcinoma is defined as a malignant tumor in the vocal fold. It is a form of laryngeal cancer, also called as glottis cancer. Pre-processed diseased and normal speech signals are used for spectral analysis to detect disease. Autocorrelation of speech signals is calculated to see the difference between normal and vocal cord cancer speech signal. Two sets of twenty five features are calculated and three neural networks like MLP, GFF, Modular and SVM are used for classification. Feature sets, Networks with highest classification accuracy were found. It is observed that the accuracy of this disease classification is 100%. General Terms Biomedical signal processing, Classification, Algorithms.


Different opinions are presented on the definition of noise and associated performance parameters for infrared detectors and infrared focal plane array detectors in Chinese National Standards GB/T 13584 and GB/T 17444. Without background radiance and signal irradiance level given, the definition of noise in the Chinese National standard can easily lead to fuzzy conceptions of noise and associated performance parameters. When the signal is very strong, the photon noise predominates, signal to noise ratio is not directly proportional to signal level, and care must be exercised in deriving NEP and D * from signal to noise ratio. When the signal is weak, and the photon noise can be ignored, it is very simple to derive NEP and D  from signal to noise ratio.


Abstract This article analyzes political participation and the attitudes of Muslim-Americans. Assessing national patterns, the first part highlights several regression models, discerning the impact of race/ethnicity, gender, foreign born status, age, and education on political activity and attitudes. I also compare changes in voting patterns among respondents between the 2000 and 2004 elections. The second half is based on in-depth interviews of Muslims from St. Louis, Missouri, probing more directly particular shifts in views and participation since September 11. Among the national sample, South Asians and Middle Easterners largely supported Republican George W. Bush in 2000, while African-Americans voted for Democrat Al Gore. However, by 2004, race and ethnicity were no longer statistically significant factors dividing the Muslim vote; instead, support largely went to Democrat John Kerry. Changes in voting patterns between 2000 and 2004 were also evident in the St. Louis sample of South Asians and Middle Easterners. They generally cited unfavorable views of Muslim treatment both at home and abroad since the War on Terror began as major reasons for these changes. Partisan and voting shifts were not evident among African-Americans, who have been consistent Democrats. However, many African-Americans in addition to Middle Easterners and South Asians reported heightened interest in politics and similar changes since September 11. Only Bosnians, who are relatively new to the United States, report few changes. This is largely because they have yet to develop firm political identities. Among both samples, Muslim-Americans generally exhibit high rates of participation in various political activities, many reporting increasing interest and involvement since September 11. Therefore, regardless of the hardships they may currently feel, Muslim-Americans are not hiding in the shadows but are fully participating in the political sphere.


Abstract : A review of the literature on ethylene oxide sterilization is presented. This review shows that the death rate of microorganisms exposed to ethylene oxide is dependent on such variables as oxide concentration, relative humidity, temperature, and the type of microorganism involved plus the protective influences of its surrounding medium. In many respects, ethylene oxide resembles heat, whose sterilizing effect also depends on concentration (temperature), relative humidity and the specific microorganism and its surrounding medium. Heat, however, penetrates more readily and sterilizes material interiors, while ethylene oxide's ability to penetrate varies with the material involved. Thus, ethylene oxide is recommended primarily as a surface sterilant.


The problem of mass manufacturing electrode structures suitable for contacting nanoscale
elements lies primarily in the difficulty of fabricating a nanometre-scale gap between two
electrodes in a well controlled, highly parallel manner. In ULSI circuit production, the gate and
substrate in MOSFETs are routinely fabricated with a precise vertical spacing of 3 nm between
them. In this work, we have investigated a number of highly parallel methods for the generation
of nanogaps, including reconfiguration of the ubiquitous MOS device structure. The silicon
dioxide layer that provides vertical separation and electrical insulation between two regions of
silicon (the crystalline substrate and the poly-crystalline gate) gives a leakage current of
1 nA P
-2 at 1 V for an oxide thickness of 2 nm [1]. This will enable objects the size of single
molecules that are held across this layer to be detected electrically if they provide currents on the
nanoampere scale, assuming a parasitic area for leakage between gate and substrate of order
1 µm 2 . In the future this kind of device has the potential to provide a bolt-on technology for the
fabrication of ULSI circuits in which conventional CMOS devices are directly hybridised with
functional nanoscale elements.


International education and the international student experience worldwide have been fractured due to the COVID0-19 global pandemic. This special issue brings together papers from around the world which not only critically examine the impact a global crisis has on policies, procedures, operations and people around international education but also the unprecedented effects these have on international students themselves. This special issue moreover opens discussion on the future direction of international education policy and practice in order to create the best international student experience possible.


The performance of telemetry plays a key role in modern flight test design to promise the success of such tests. This paper gives a survey of the current telemetry technology in flight test industry under the Range Commanders' Council (RCC) IRIG-106 standard with a focus on Chapter 10 of iRig-106 network message (Ch10 packet) that utilizing Chapter 4 frame format. Due to the characteristics of the composition of Ch10 packets, the throughput overhead is too large to transfer real-time data over a long fat network (LFN) distance. Here we start with an introduction of such message structure, followed by the issue encountered when transmitting such message over the modern dedicated site to site line, then analysis and address the issues by introducing application accelerator and implement necessary technology to overcome such difficulties, verified with synthetic stress test and real-world data replay test. This implementation greatly alleviates the network bottleneck issue post by Ch10 packet and provide future scalability among networked telemetry system.


Hybrid learning is a modern way for the education, fusing the traditional learning method in the classroom and the network based learning method. As the development of the multimedia and computer science, various advanced technologies are generalized to the education tasks. Hence, the hybrid learning would become as a popular method for the education. In this paper, specialized to the competitive training, we present the hybrid learning based competitive sports training. The key of the application of the computer technology and hybrid learning is presented as discuss, which would contribute to the development of the hybrid learning in the competitive training.


To the Editor.— The ceramic pathology of the pre-Columbian Americas is always a delight to the students of the history of medicine. The abundance of material and the skill of the artisans, especially of the ancient Andean cultures, contribute to this. The popularity of the exhibit of Dominique D. Verut 1 at the recent 15th International Congress of Dermatology in Mexico shows the interest of the dermatologists. I recently acquired a small terracotta head, reportedly from the Mayan culture, 300 to 600 AD, in Guatemala (Figure). The deformity of the nose with its proliferative character and the appearance of the nares suggest the Hebra-type nose of rhinoscleroma. 2,3 The pattern is deliberate, so that punitive mutilation of a captive or artifact can be ruled out. The nasal deformities of leishmaniasis in the pottery of the Andean cultures are ulcerative rather than proliferative. 4 This holds even with Uta Macho . The


An increasing number of very young children go on-line and use a wide range of technologies. Digital devices are becoming common educational tools in primary schools and 80% of nurseries in UK have excellent ICT facilities. More and more parents admit using tablets to keep their children quiet and entertained, although they often express feelings of guilt and would value advice on how to maximise the benefits and minimise risks. Some childcare experts started to question the beneficial effects of using digital technology in early years education; however other claim that exposing children to technology at early age is important. This presentation will provide an overview of the benefits and risks of children's use of technology, with emphasis on the UK context and the risk of developing addiction to digital devices.


Abstract : Scaled measurements of the fluctuating acoustical signal resulting from interference of the direct and surface reflected signals from complex targets are reported. Water surface and acoustic autocorrelation functions and spectra are examined for both stationary targets and targets with yaw motion. The scaled surface waves are compared to ocean waves. (Author)


In this paper, we address the problem of inaccuracy in evaluating bottom hole circulating pressure (BHCP) in the petroleum industry by proposing a new predicting scheme. This scheme utilises a modified version of the stem cells algorithm (MSCA), recently introduced as a powerful meta-heuristic optimisation method, along with the back propagation (BP) training strategy to build a three-layer artificial neural network (ANN) as a predictive scheme. This new method is able to predict the complex relationship between inputs and outputs of a highly nonlinear system such as BHCP more accurately. The results by applying the proposed method compared with those by applying previous predicting methods used for BHCP demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method in terms of accuracy and time consumption.


The essence of the contradiction. The hypothetical Fermat's equality is contradictory between the second digits of the factors of the number А.


The limitation imposed on the achievable power level by the IEC 1000-3-2 standard in buck-derived power factor preregulators, is overcome by using a combined buck-flyback power stage. Two different step-down converters are proposed in this paper, which incorporate an auxiliary flyback stage. The auxiliary stage uses the same switch of the main converter, plus an additional power switch commutated at the line frequency. As compared to a simple buck rectifier, with this solution the harmonic content of the absorbed line current, at a given power level, can be reduced, thanks to the resulting increased conduction angle of the input rectifier bridge. Experimental results based on a 1 kW prototype are reported to validate the theoretical analysis of the proposed topologies.


TREC Precision Medicine (PM) focuses on providing highquality evidence from the biomedical literature for clinicians treating cancer patients. Our experiments focus on incorporating treatment into search. We established a promising baseline using PM 2017-2018 datasets for training and 2019 for validation. Our baseline consisted of a base-ranking step using Divergence From Randomness (DFR) scoring that used disease and gene as queries and an aggregated text field to represent documents, followed by a BERT-based neural reranker. We examined two mechanisms for incorporating the treatment within the query formulation strategy for DFR: (1) a concatenation of disease, gene and treatment fields; and (2) a concatenation of disease and gene fields, but filtering out the documents where treatment terms were absent. We experimented with both strategies in combination with re-rankers trained either directly on TREC PM 2017-2019 retrieval task, or trained on a treatment-augmented version of these tasks. We obtained the best results using boolean retrieval for treatment terms with a re-ranker trained on non-augmented TREC PM datasets. Our top-ranking run achieved 0.530, 0.565, 0.436 for infNDCG, P@10, RPrec, respectively. TREC median for these metrics were 0.432, 0.465, and 0.326.


The article gives the consideration of general issues of the efficiency of application of civil laws. Certain theoretical and methodological aspects of the concept efficiency of application of civil laws are analyzed in this article. The notion of efficiency of application of civil laws is defined and influence factors of the given efficiency are formulated. The author offers a scientific definition of the notion efficiency of application of civil laws and characterizes the substance of the given notion. The correlation between the operation of civil legal rules and the application of civil legal rules is discovered through the legal content of the notion of efficiency. Issues of realization of the public legal policy in the civil circulation's sphere are taken up. These issues are brought up in connection with the problem of assessment of the efficiency of application of civil law. The author calls the law application examination of acts containing civil legal rules as one of the instruments of appraisal of the efficiency of application of civil laws. It is underlined that the basic goal of the public legal policy's realization in the civil legal sphere, as a constitutionally significant expression of the state's public will, is a high efficiency of application of civil legal rules. It is mentioned that the efficiency of application of civil legal rules designates a positive or negative social usefulness of one of the segments of the system of application of law, as an effect of the relationship between the juridical ability of the civil laws to generate the legal consequences (i.e. ability to operate) and the actual result of realization of these consequences (i.e. ability to be applied). It is accentuated that the positive dynamics of the development of private and public legal relationships is made conditional on the ability of state to form a qualitative legal strategy of coordination and control of the given relationships. The author concludes that legal policy, as an expression of the official position of public authority, demonstrates the real, actual attitude of state, represented by its superior and lower organs and officials, to natural and legal persons as participants of civil legal relationships; to base civil legal institutes; to civil rights' protecting by means of the sequential, organic, open and effective application of civil laws.


ABSTRACT This study investigated rural women's use of food security information in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. A greater proportion (56.1%) of the women were classified as low users of food security information. Mass media exposure (t = 4.38; p = .000) and market distance (t = −2.02; p = .049) significantly influenced rural women's use of food security information. The study recommends that identified constraints to the use of food security information be addressed so as to improve the household food security situation.


Single crystals of Ce2PdIn8 were studied by means of magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, and specific heat measurements. The compound was found to be a heavy fermion clean-limit superconductor with Tc=0.68 K. Most remarkably, the superconductivity in this system emerges out of the antiferromagnetic state that sets in at TN=10 K, and both cooperative phenomena coexist in a bulk at ambient pressure conditions.


Heavy metal contents (Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb and Cd) were determined in two brown macroalgal species (Cystoseira crinita and Cystoseira barbata). Samples were collected during six seasons from spring 1996 to summer 2000 from five different sites of the Bulgarian Black Sea coastal zone – Tuzlata, Ravda, Sozopol, Ahtopol and Sinemoretz. The local and seasonal metal distribution and their variations were examined. The data obtained indicate that the two investigated species demonstrate various degrees of metal accumulation and can be used as indicators for the type and quantity of anthropogenic contamination in marine ecosystems.


The authors report the case of a 30-year old patient who presented atrioventricular block 12 years after mediastinal radiation treatment of Hodgkin's disease. This patient had been monitored in the service for 3 years after the insertion of a pacemaker. A review of the literature, identified 15 cases of post-radiation AV block. The AV block was subnodal in the 7 cases which were subjected to endocavitary recording.


In tracking and sensor data fusion applications, the full information on kinematic object properties accumulated over a certain discrete time window up to the present time is contained in the conditional joint probability density function of the kinematic state vectors referring to each time step in this window. This density is conditioned by the time series of all sensor data collected the present time and has accordingly been called an accumulated state density (ASD). ASDs provide a unified treatment of filtering and retrodiction insofar as by marginalizing them appropriately, the standard filtering and retrodiction densities are obtained. In addition, ASDs fully describe the posterior correlations between the states at different instants of time. We here provide an introduction into the notion of ASDs, derive closed formulae for calculating them, and discuss their relevance for problem solving in exact track-to-track fusion in distributed sensor networks.


22 infants under age two years were admitted to the Ubol Provincial Hospital in Northeast Thailand with acute diarrhea. The house physician saw them and judged them to have moderate dehydration. 11 infants aged from 4-10 months were given nasogastric infusion; another 11 infants aged from 5-17 months received intravenous fluid. The absorption of nasogastric infusion fluid was remarkable as could be seen by the amount of stool loss, weight gain, reduction of serum specific gravity and urea nitrogen. Biochemical study showed high incidence of hypernatremia which could be explained by the limited fluid intake in these infants during diarrhea. Nasogastric infusion fluid which contained only table salt and cane sugar could provide effective volume. Electrolyte imbalance and metabolic acidosis were gradually corrected at a similar rate to bicarbonate containing solution as reported by others. Balance study indicated taht nasogastric infusion retained less nitrogen and sodium during the course of treatment as compared to intravenous infusion. All the infants recovered from diarrheal disease once dehydration was corrected without complications.


In this paper, papain enzyme (E.C. 22.214.171.124, 1.6 U/mg) was successfully immobilized in poly (vinylalcohol) (PVA) nanofibers prepared by electrospinning technique. Morphology of the electrospun nanofibers was characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), obtaining diameters distribution in the range of 80-170 nm. The presence of the enzyme in the PVA nanofibers was confirmed through infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Maximum enzyme catalytic activity was reached at 13% of enzyme loading. The catalytic activity of the immobilized papain was 88% of the crude enzyme and retained its catalytic activity after six cycles of reuse. Crosslinked samples maintained 40% of its initial activity after 40 days storage. Introduction. Papain is a thiol protease commonly found in many plants and fungi organisms. The kinetics and structure of papain has been well studied; being the enzyme par excellence to compare the efficiency of various immobilization methods [1]. Papain has been used as catalyst to oligomerize hydrophobic aminoacids [2]. The potential uses of papain include the development of assays and biosensors. The past two decades, electrospinning technique has been studied as a useful tool for the production of polymer fibers with diameters in the nanometer to sub-micrometer. The process of nanofiber electrospinning can be successfully controlled resulting in long, uniform nanofibers, which can be deposited forming non-woven mats and membranes with open porosity, high surface area and good mechanical properties. Such distinctive characteristics and superiority made electrospun fibers excellent candidates for protein immobilization. In this work, we studied electrospun poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibers to immobilize the papain. The morphology of the electrospun PVA fibers embedded with papain, the loading efficiency, the crosslinking process, the catalytic activity and the recyclability of the immobilized enzyme was studied. Experimental part. The encapsulated papain samples were prepared using a PVA solution of 8.0 wt %. The enzyme was added to the polymer solution until the targeted concentration of enzyme was reached. Once the enzyme was dissolved in the polymer solution, the electrospinning process was carried out. The immobilization of the papain encapsulated in the nanofibers was achieved through PVA crosslinking using glutaraldehyde. The amount of encapsulated enzyme on the PVA membrane was measured by the Bradford protein assay. The amidase activity of the papain was measured using the Earlanger et al. method adapted to the papain [3], where Nα-Benzoyl-L-arginine 4-nitroanilide (BAPA) is used as substrate. PVA nanofibers and PVA nanofiber with encapasulated papain were analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), FTIR and X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectostroscopies. Results and discussion. Figure 1 shows the effect of the enzyme concentration upon the final morphology of the electrospun nanofibres. Our approach to produce PVA nanofibers was successful, since no bimodal diameter distribution, indicative of polymer phase separation was found. PVA nanofibers, without enzyme (Figure 1a), showed defect free morphology, and 81 nm average diameter. After GA treatment, the PVA/papain membranes appear densely packed in comparison to their uncrosslinked forms (Figure 2). FTIR and XPS analysis were used to prove the presence of the papain in the PVA electrospun nanofibers. The IR spectra of electrospun papain loaded PVA nanofibers are shown in Fig. 3. The absorption band at 1650 cm is induced from amide I bond (O=C-NH), characteristic of proteins [4].The surface chemistry composition of PVA and PVA/papain membranes was analyzed by XPS. We can observe the presence of nitrogen element in the PVA/papain membrane due to the papain, whereas this element is absent in the control PVA non-woven membrane. The maximum enzymatic activity reached by the papain immobilized in electrospun PVA membranes was approximately 88% of that of the free papain (1.22 X 10U/mg). The reusability of immobilized papain was studied by measuring the activity during several cycles., the relative activity of the immobilized papain decreased along with the reusing times (Fig.7). The immobilized enzyme retained over 12% of its initial activity after six cycles of reuse. The catalytic behavior of the papain at different storage times was improved by the immobilization process (Fig. 8). The immobilized papain retains nearly 40% of its initial activity after 14 days of storage, which is much better than the native enzyme. References [1] R.S. Rao, P.S. Borkar, C.N. Khobragade, A.D. Sagar. Enzyme Microb. Technol. 39 (2006) 958. [2] L.W. Schwab, W.M.J. Kloosterman, J. Konieczny, K. Loos. Polymers, 4 (2012) 710. [3] S.P. Colowick, N.O. Kaplan, Methods in Enzymology, in: S.P. Colowick, N.O. Kaplan (Eds.), Academic Press, New York, 1971, pp. 226-230. [4] L. Wu, X. Yuan, J. Sheng. J. Membr. Sci., 250 (2005) 167.


A method and apparatus for providing improved protection for the auditory systems of persons who may be subjected to excessive sound pressures or concussive shock waves or who may have certain disorders of the ear which require the exclusion of foreign matter or fluids from the auditory canal, comprising an earplug or an earplug set in which auditory canal inserts may be pneumatically expanded into positive sealing engagement with the auditory meatus by the application of orally-blown pneumatic pressure developed by the human pulmonary system.


Organizational change models designed for human service organizations include the ARC model, the sanctuary model, getting to outcomes, and design team. Their use might require assistance from expert consultants. Each includes high participation of staff members, using structured systems and processes to identify opportunities to improve operations in a program or in administrative operations, followed by analysis and brainstorming to generate improvement ideas. Innovation and intrapraneurship are concepts that have been adapted from the for-profit sector for application in the human services. Innovation can be defined as a process, method, product, or outcome that is new and creates an improvement. Intrapraneurship is the use of entrepreneurial principles within an organization to solve problems or improve operations. Cutback management is not specifically identified as a change model, but is a process for changing organizations by addressing funding cuts, through methods ranging from efficiency improvements to, ideally, finding new revenue sources.


FIELD: railway car truck control system. SUBSTANCE: truck has two side frames with supporting jaws and truck beam for connecting two side frames. Insert is adapted to be located between heel of side frame supporting jaw and box journal top or coupling on truck. Insert minimizes side deformation causing compression due to lifting motions transmitted to insert by braking and swinging of railway car. Usage of auxiliary layers, making of special recesses in elastomeric material, nonuniform thickness of elastomeric material and high coefficient of elastomeric layer form allow side deformation resulting in compression to be reduced. EFFECT: increased efficiency, simplified construction and prolonged service life. 13 cl, 6 dwg


Much research exists on the impact of divorce on the nuclear family. Less is known about the response of the extended family to a divorce. In this study, the authors examined divorcing children's perceptions of their parents' behavior; divorcing children experienced their parents' reactions as supportive, non-supportive, or "mixed." Types of helpful behaviors were categorized and patterns of unhelpful parental behavior were elaborated. Implications of the study for therapy and for an understanding of parent-adult child relationships are discussed.


Regulated OHS management (OHSM) is the main government intervention to improve OHS. This specifies how employers shall conduct a systematic OHSM within their total management control. Mandatory OHSM is difficult to evaluate as it aims to change how employers manage their operations Evaluations have been neither reliable (using managers self-claimed compliance) nor valid (covering only some processes but not the mandated risks prevention). The evaluation of the Swedish OHSM-provisions on Systematic Work Environment Management (SWEM) instead reviewed some 270 case studies. These revealed a consistent pattern of actual OHS-management. Divided on three requirement levels in SWEM, major results were: I. Systematic OHSM-routines – e.g. risk assessments and action plans – are normal in larger employers but they are rarely fully implemented. II. SWEM-actors are not capable enough. Managers are delegated SWEM-tasks but rarely with enough time, funding, authority and competence. This is worse in the public sector. Safety rep and worker participation is organized, but with limited prerequisites for an OHS dialogue. III. The controlling level is poorest. OHS objectives are vague or limited. Only processes, sickness absence and sometimes accidents rates are monitored but rarely the dominating health risks. SWEM's effectiveness is rarely audited and improved. In all, this limited SWEM is fairly – but not enough – effective to abate technical risks, mainly for accidents, from noise and chemical hazards and to install ergonomic equipment. But organizational risks for stress and for RSI are rarely raised enough to be resolved. Small firms have less SWEM at all three levels. The increasing supply-chain economy erodes employermanagers and workers-safety reps as actors, which results in poorer SWEM e.g. subcontractors and for casual employees. Employers and executives thus leave SWEM in OHS's old side-car. The evaluation compares this to the requirements of an effective management control. It analyses this against changes in the Swedish economy and labour market and in intra-organizational prerequisites of management and accounting. The latter e.g. reveal why economic OHS arguments mostly are ineffective.


9013 Background: ILI-M is a well tolerated treatment for pts with in-transit melanoma of the extremity with a 30% CR rate in our own cohort of 50 previously treated pts. ADH-1 is a cyclic pentapept...


An organic solar cell based on a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) of a polymer and a methanofullerene ([60]PCBM or [70]PCBM) exhibits a complex morphology that controls both its photovoltaic and mechanical compliance (robustness, flexibility, and stretchability). Methanofullerenes are excellent electron acceptors; however, they have relatively high cost and production energy (in the purest samples) compared to other small-molecule semiconductors. Moreover, [60]PCBM and [70]PCBM—typical of van der Waals solids—can be stiff and brittle. Stiffness and brittleness may lower the yield of working modules in roll-to-roll manufacturing, shorten the lifetime against mechanical failure in outdoor conditions, and jeopardize wearable and portable applications that demand stretchability or extreme flexibility. This paper tests the hypothesis that "technical grade" PCBM (incompletely separated but otherwise pure blends containing ≥ 90% [60]PCBM or [70]PCBM) could lower the cost of manufacturing organic solar cells while simul...


The Sultanate of Oman (Fig. 1) is an incredibly diverse geologic region with a plethora of cultural, geomorphic, and stratigraphic sea-level data sets and was, therefore, a brilliant location to kick-off the International Geoscience Program (IGCP) project 639 (http://www. sealevelchange.org) meetings. The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization funded, IGCP 639 Project, " Coupling instrumental, historical, archaeological, and geological records of sea-level change over minutes to millennia" , held its first meeting from November 9–14, 2016. The 2016 IGCP 639 project meeting was a multi-faceted conference that included a one-day workshop, two-day science symposium, and field-excursion components. Both the workshop and symposium sessions were held on the campus of German University of Technology in Oman, in Muscat, Oman and a three-day field excursion was conducted along Oman's northeastern coastline. Thanks to the commitment from the event organizers and enthusiastic involvement from attendees, the meeting was extremely successful and well acknowledged by all (Fig. http://sealevelchange.org/pdf/ igcpOman4.pdf).


ABNORMAL P-R INTERVAL A prolonged P-R interval is one that is over 0.20 second in duration. It is indicative of auriculoventricular block, since the greater part of the P-R interval is consumed in the passage of the excitation wave through the A-V node and the junctional tissue (figs. 63 to 67). A shortened P-R interval may occur in A-V nodal rhythm, (figs. 100 and 101) when the P wave is inverted and falls just before, just after or with the Q-R-S wave, and also in a recently described rhythm consisting of functional bundle branch block, occurring in healthy young people prone to paroxysmal tachycardia. It may also appear to be shortened in cases of heart block, ventricular extrasystoles and reciprocal rhythm (escape), but in such cases it is better to speak of it as the interval between the P wave and the R wave rather than of the P-R interval


The estimation of body surface area involvement is an important tool. Hand surface area (HSA) or palm surface area (PSA) is commonly used for the estimate, with an assumption that HSA represents 1% of the total body surface area (TBSA).


Planners and architects will find that many aspects of fractal geometry covered in this book are relevant to their own interests.


Early Modern emblems combined text and image. Though there were many variants, the archetypical emblem literary form (mid-sixteenth through mid-eighteenth centuries) consisted of an image (the pictura), a text inscription (the inscriptio), and a text epigram (the subscriptio), the last usually in verse. Digitized emblem literature poses interesting challenges as regards content and metadata granularity, the use of interdisciplinary controlled vocabularies, and the need to present digitized primary sources in a complex network of associated sources, derivatives, and contemporaneous context. In this paper, we describe a digital library Web application designed to better support the ways emblem scholars search for and use digitized emblem books, focusing on metadata design, issues of resource granularity and identification, and the use of Linked Data Web services for Iconclass, a multilingual classification system for cultural heritage art and images. Outcomes to date, achieved by emblem scholars and librarians working in collaboration, provide a case study for multi-faceted, interactive approaches to curating mixed text-image digital resources and the use of Linked Data vocabulary services. Lessons learned highlight the value of librarian-scholar collaboration and help to illustrate why digital libraries need to move beyond merely disseminating digitized book surrogates.


A token-based distributed mutual exclusion algorithm is presented. The algorithm assumes a fully connected, reliable physical network and a directed acyclic graph (DAG) structured logical network. The number of messages required to provide mutual exclusion is dependent upon the logical topology imposed on the nodes. Using the best topology, the algorithm attains comparable performance to a centralized mutual exclusion algorithm; i.e., three messages per critical section entry. The algorithm achieves minimal heavy-load synchronization delay and imposes very little storage overhead.<<ETX>>


The study evaluates economic analysis of cat Fish Production in Karu local government area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Primary data was used for this study. Data were obtained using structured questionnaire. The questionnaires were administered to twenty (20) sampled fish farmers using a simple random sampling technique. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics to describe and categorize the socio-economics characteristics of the respondents; budgetary technique was used to analyze the Profitability of fish production in the study area. The result shows that (35%) of the sampled fish farmers fall within the age bracket of 21 – 30 years, and 31 – 40 years respectively and the average age of the sampled farmers was 41 years; The average farming experience of the sampled farmers was 8 years. Also 55% percent of the respondents depend on borehole for source of water while (5%) depend directly on either stream or river as their major source of water. In terms of holding/rearing structure, 45% percent of the sampled respondents used concrete pond only, while (30%) of the respondents used both concrete and earthen ponds, 25% percent of the respondents used earthen pond only. The result of the profitability analysis shows that a total average cost (TAC) of N919, 667.6 was incurred by the sampled fish farmers per cropping season while the total revenue (TR) of N1, 296, 894.00 was realized with a returning gross margin (GM) of N309, 909.3 in the study area and the rate of return on investment realized was 31% which shows that for every N1.00 invested, 31kobo is gained on investment by the respondents. This indicates that fish farmingis a profitable venture in the study area. Despite the profitability of fish production in the study area farmers encountered production constraints such as preservation/storage and processing facilities, inadequate motivation from extension officers lack of capital, lack and high cost of feeds, market fluctuation, source of water, fingerlings and technical know-how were identified as major constraint of fish production in the study area. The study recommends that provision should be made for trained extension agents to create awareness about fish production, capital, and source of water, fingerlings and subsidized fish feed.


Introgression libraries can be used to localize genomic regions carrying quantitative trait loci (QTL). We used this approach to detect QTL regions affecting the per se performance of agronomic and quality traits with two rye (Secale cereale L.) introgression libraries. Our objectives were to detect candidate introgression lines (pre-ILs) that have a different per se performance than the recurrent parent and to identify the underlying QTL regions. The introgression libraries containing 40 BC 2 S 3 lines each were established with marker-assisted backcrossing from crosses of the heterozygous Iranian primitive rye accession Altevogt 14160 and the elite inbred line L2053-N. To assess the phenotypic effect of the donor chromosome segments (DCS) the pre-ILs were evaluated for grain yield, plant height, thousand-kernel weight, test weight, falling number and protein content in replicated field trials at five locations in Germany over 2 years. In total, 58 significant (P < 0.05) differences between pre-ILs and L2053-N were observed in each introgression library. The DCS in pre-ILs differing from the recurrent parent possess most likely the responsible QTL. Genomic regions carrying favourable QTL alleles were detected for test weight, thousand-kernel weight and protein content. We conclude that Altevogt 14160 can not only be used to enrich the genetic variation of the restricted hybrid rye gene pools but will also allow the breeder to efficiently detect favourable QTL for marker-assisted selection.


One important parameter in the calculation of the performance of an aircraft is its weight. There are two methods commonly used for aircraft weighing. In one method, platform is used under each tier. In this method four load cells are located in the four corners of a13; platform and signals of each load cell are brought out through a connector on one side of the platform. Ramps leading up to the platform are used to roll the aircraft on and off the platform. In the second method load cell is placed on a jack under each axle. Aircraft is then jacked13; up off the ground to put its full weight on the load cells. The load cell outputs are processed and the sum of the three processed outputs gives the weight of the aircraft. This document describes an Aircraft Weighing System having a range of 0-1000kg. The system has an accuracy of +0.1% of the full range and a resolution of +10 gms. The system consists of three weighing platforms, each of them incorporating four load cells fitted in a frame work. Two of the platforms have a range of13; 0-300 kg and the third has a range of 0-60 kg. The system was developed for the Flight Research Group of the division, during the fabrication and operation of the Light Canard Research Aircraft (LCRA). The front wheel of the aircraft is placed on the platform with the range and platforms with larger ranges are used for the two rear wheels.


The Naval Ship Design Concept and Requirements Exploration (C&RE) process used at Virginia Tech is based on a Multi-Objective Optimization approach that explores the design space to identify a Non-Dominated set of ship design solutions ranked by cost, risk, and effectiveness. The current method of calculating an Overall Measure of Effectiveness (OMOE) used in this approach is based on expert opinion and pairwise comparison. Despite the good results obtained using expert opinion, more direct physics-based Operational Effectiveness Models (OEMs) starting with a detailed Design Reference Mission (DRM) including mission Operational Situations (OpSits), conditions, and measures may provide greater confidence in the validity of the results and a perception that results are more unbiased and rational. This paper describes a method for building a Design Reference Mission (DRM) composed of multiple Operational Situations (OpSits) required by the ship's mission. The DRM is defined using a Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach and a Total-Ship System Architecture to define and understand the relationships between various aspects of the ship design and their relationship to operational effectiveness. The system architecture is based on the DoD Architecture Framework (DoDAF 2.0). It includes the DRM and enables the development of Operational Effectiveness Models (OEMs) as an alternative to an expert opinion-based OMOE. A notional US Coast Guard (USCG) Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) is used as an example in this paper. The ship design architecture and Design Reference Mission are based on the OPV mission requirement specified in a notional Initial Capabilities Document (ICD).


Purpose: Exergaming is a relatively new area of entertainment that couples physical activity and video gaming. To date, research that has focused on the physiological responses to Exergaming has been focused exclusively on aerobic-type activities. The purpose of this project was to describe the acute exercise responses (i.e. VO2, Heart Rate, & RPE) to Exergaming using full-body isometric muscle resistance, and to determine whether these responses are different during single versus opponent based play. Methods: Male subjects (n=32) were randomly and equally divided into either an Experimental (EXP) or Control (CON) group. Acute exercise responses (VO2, Heart Rate, and RPE) were measured in all subjects during both solo and opponent-based video game play. Subjects in the EXP group played using a game controller that relied on full body isometric muscle resistance to manipulate the on screen character, while CON subjects used a conventional hand held controller. Results: There were no differences in the exercise response within groups between single and competitive play. Results between groups during solo play are presented in the following table, and are expressed as means±SD:


Two cases of primary adenocarcinoma of the renal pevlis are described. One patient was a 64‐year‐old female who had multiple papillary tumors in the right ureter and renal pelvis. The other was a 57‐year‐old male who had diffuse infiltrating carcinoma in the left renal pelvis with calculi. In both cases, the lining of the renal pelvis underwent columnar cell metaplasia and the tumor cells showed mucin production. Forty‐six cases repored previously are reviewed briefly. The histogenesis of primary adenocarcinoma of the renal pelvis seems to be closely related to metaplasia of transitional epithelium induced by longstanding chronic inflammation or renal calculi in many cases.


Six-sentence poetry,as an important category of the ancient poetry,was prevailed in the "Book of Songs" era.With the constant improvement and gradual penetration of metrical in Qiliang Dynasty,Six-sentence poetry had learned new sound legal factors,and thus developed into a special poetry style,six-sentence Lv Shi.After Tang Dynasty,the creating of six-sentence Lv Shi was more successful.Although the creation was far less prosperous than five-character Lv Shi or seven-character Lv Shi.Six-sentence Lv Shi had artistic value which could not be ignored.LI Bai,the greatful poet in Tang Dynasty,was particularly good at creating six-sentence Lv Shi.In the process of creating six-sentence Lv Shi,LI Bai consciously integrated into the "retro" and "new change" poetic thoughts,and opened up a new art world in addition to the prevailing poetic creating,which was an important part in the history of six-sentence Lv Shi.


In the medical community, it is still discussion whether to apply lossy or lossless compression methods since each has its own advantages and weaknesses. Then the idea of combining both methods arises to achieve higher compression rate for transmission and storage effciency without discarding important medical information. This combination is called hybrid method. This research aimed to compare two hybrid medical image compression methods by applying them into the same data set. The hybrid medical image compression methods were vector quantization with variable block sizes in wavelet domain (VQ- wavelet) and DCT-based subband decomposition and modied SPIHT data organization (DCT-SPIHT). Seven metrics were used to objectively evaluate the compressed images; entropy, computation time, mean square error (MSE), peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity (MSSIM), normalized cross correlation (NCC), and image quality index. Simulation results showed that DCT-SPIHT is the best method which is supported by fast computation time, lower MSE, higher PSNR, and almost perfect value of MSSIM, NCC, and image quality index.


The Middle Rio Grande Database was initiated in 1998. The database consists of measurements of discharge, channel characteristics and sediment for the period from 1895 to the present. The data for this project was obtained through the USGS and the USBR and was used in numerous Hydraulic Modeling reports written for the USBR. The database was updated with the most recent possible data, and was compiled and consolidated. The data and analyses developed during the last several years of research were organized into an interactive database that can be accessed like a webpage. Besides the database, numerous theses and dissertations on the Rio Grande have been compiled.


How to improve English teaching quality and turn traditional education to quality education lies in effective teaching methods.It is necessary to center around students with the guidance of teachers and focuse on listening,speaking,reading,writing,teaching and practicing which are closely related to each other.


We investigated the effects of increasing the concentration of intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) on genes associated with oligodendrocyte differentiation in an immortalized glial cell line, 6E12, derived from the spinal cord of an MBP‐SV40 large T‐antigen transgenic mouse. Raising intracellular levels of cAMP induced expression of oligodendrocyte differentiation antigens recognized by O4 and anti‐galactocerebroside antibodies, up‐regulated expression of the proteolipid protein (PLP) gene, and down‐regulated glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression. There was no treatment effect on myelinassociated glycoprotein (MAG) expression. These phenotypic changes are consistent with oligodendrocyte differentiation. Treatment of 6E12 cells with dibutyryl cyclic AMP (DBC) down‐regulated myelin basic protein (MBP) gene expression, perhaps, because it also up‐regulated expression of a putative MBP repressor SCIP/Tst‐1. Moreover, the 6E12 cells expressed high levels of MBP mRNA but no MBP translation products were detected in the presence or absence of DBC. This immortalized glial cell line is proposed as a CNS model for cAMP‐modulated myelin gene expression and for post‐transcriptional regulation of MBP. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of traditional and blended (partially online and partially face-to-face) course delivery methods. This study further examined the impact of using technology to improve student learning by providing meaningful learning in the areas of content delivery, communication and collaboration, evaluation and feedback, and personal learning experiences. Non-traditional students enrolled in an elementary statistics course either delivered as a traditional course or a blended course participated in the study. It was hypothesized that students enrolled in the blended course would perform better and prefer this method of delivery compared to students enrolled in the traditional course. Student knowledge was assessed by test grades, course grades, and post-tests. Analysis of the first two indicators did not support the hypothesis that students in the blended course delivery would perform better than students enrolled in the traditional course delivery method. Contrary to the hypothesis, students in the face-to-face course scored higher in the post-test compared to the students in the blended course. These contradictory results may suggest that the differences in teaching strategies and/or the use of technology have not resulted in a significant change or improvement in the performance of students. Past experience, familiarity with instructional format and types of assessment used may be considerations in the findings obtained. Student perceptions were also measured. Results indicated that students in the blended course were more satisfied with using technology to facilitate and help them improve their learning than students in the traditional course. FACE-TO-FACE AND BLENDED COURSE DELIVERY iv Students in the blended course had more positives perceptions of their learning experiences than students in the traditional course in the following areas: (a) accessibility and availability of course materials; (b) use of web-based or electronic tools for communication and collaboration; (c) assessment and evaluation; and (d) student learning experiences with real-life applications. The perception of the majority of the students in both courses indicated a positive view of technology use in the classroom. The findings further suggest that student participants would choose blended course delivery as an alternative to face-to-face instruction. Both course delivery methods emerged as enhancing the students" appreciation of the integration of technology and recognizing the role of the teacher as the expert in the classroom, engaging students in meaningful learning. In spite of the emergence of technology in the classroom, the value of traditional instruction was indicated. FACE-TO-FACE AND BLENDED COURSE DELIVERY v


MIMO (Multi Input Multi Output) wireless communication system is an innovative solution to improve the bandwidth efficiency by exploiting multipath-richness of the propagation environment. The degree of multipath-richness of the channel will determine the capacity gain attainable by MIMO deployment. Therefore, it is very important to have accurate knowledge of the propagation environment/radio channel before MIMO implement. The radio channel behavior can be estimated by channel measurement or channel sounding. CDM (Code Division multiplexing) is one of the channel sounding techniques that allow accurate measurement at the cost of hardware complexity. CDM based channel sounder, requires code with excellent autocorrelation and cross-correlation properties which generally difficult to achieve simultaneously. Theoretical analysis and computer simulation result demonstrated that, having excellent correlation propertied Loosely Synchronous (LS) code sequence perform efficiently. Finally, the an efficient LS code generator as a data source for transmitter implemented in Xilinx FPGA that can be integrated into CDM based 2x2 MIMO complete channel sounder.


This paper is to find public acceptance factors that may affect trust on nuclear power policy when the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster in Japan on March 11, 2011 decreased public acceptance on nuclear power plants in Korea. This paper employs a regression analysis method and a logistic regression analysis methods with four independent variables of knowledge, safety, trust, and energy factors from the literature review. According to the results, males show more support nuclear power plants than females. Knowledge and safety factors seems to be more important than the other factors. All of the four factors have statistical significances on public acceptance of nuclear power plants, especially knowledge factors to be more important. Trust factors are highly associated with residential locations in constructuring new nuclear power plant. This paper may suggest to increase nulcear safety technology and to provide accurate and balanced information in order to enhance public acceptance and trust toward nuclear power plant


Abstract To obtain surface layer thickness easily, a simple pseudo pulse excited photoacoustic spectrometric method was proposed. An argon ion laser was chopped mechanically to generate a pseudo pulse (pulse width; 6.6 ms, duty 1.67%), which was then led to a sample enclosed in photoacoustic cell. Two layer samples made of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) were used as model samples. The photoacoustic signal waveform observed showed a maximum from the negative edge of the pseudo pulse of the laser. The delay of the signal increased concomitant with the sample surface thickness. The delay time of the signal was calculated by a cross-correlation method. A linear relationship was obtained between the delay time of the photoacoustic signal from the input pseudo pulse and the surface transparent layer thickness in the range of 0–90 mm. The regression line between the film thickness x (cm) and the delay time was expressed with the thermal diffusivity of the film k, as follows; Δτ (s) = 1.16 × 10−1 κ−½ x + 0.006. U...


Financing is a bottleneck of development of SMEs in the northeast region.It is reflected in two aspects: irrational financing structure and high financing costs.Therefore,we must further improve in three areas: corporate,financial system,government policy.


The Vuilleumier (VM)-type pulse tube cryocooler is a novel kind of cryocooler used to obtain liquid helium temperature, which has been experimentally verified. However, the overall efficiency is not satisfying. Based on previous work on a low pressure ratio system, numerical investigations that explore the effect of high pressure ratios on cooling performance are presented in this paper. The research system is cryogen-free in which a Stirling type pulse tube cryocooler is used to provide the required cooling power for the thermal compressor and makes it adjustable for pre-cooling temperature to achieve optimum efficiency. First, after increasing the displacer swept volume to increase the pressure ratio, the dimensions of the main components were optimized with the lowest no-load temperature as the optimization target. Then the dependence of system performance on average pressure, displacer swept volume, frequency and cold HX temperature were studied considering the heat transfer temperature difference of the thermal bridge. Compared with the previous low efficiency under low pressure ratio, when the heat transfer temperature difference of the thermal bridge is 0 K, a higher relative Carrot efficiency of 1.29% and a cooling power of 250 mW at 4.2 K were predicted with an average pressure of 3 MPa, a frequency of 3 Hz and a pressure ratio of 1.67. Further optimization is underway.