AbstractThe objective of this study was to evaluate effect of noise and gases rising from electrical power generators on physiological blood parameters , liver functions in of workers in electrical generators in Al - Najaf Al-Ashraf city. The noise levels and gaseous pollutants emissions from electrical power generators were measured in Najaf city center. In each quartier, several generators were chosen to measure various noise and gaseous pollutants parameters at different time intervals. Additionally, the study also included determines blood parameters and liver functions in 30 electrical generators workers selected from two sectors and 30 unexposed subjects as control group. The results indicated that estimated average noise level (LAeq) from the electrical generator in Al-Ansar quarter was 95.350±0.750 dB(A) and Al-Shorta quarter was 93.35±1.35 from the electrical generator during morning and evening periods in south sector in Al-Najaf city. The study noted in this study is that all the quarters visited in southern sector during morning period have decibel levels above the recommended limits set by WHO. Furthermore, The results recorded that there was elevation in carbon monoxide (Co ) concentration emitted by electrical generators in south sectors compared with permissible limits of gaseous air pollutants emission from electrical power generators in Iraq. In addition, the results showed that there was a significant elevation (P≥0.01) in total white blood cells of electrical generators workers comparison with control group. Also, the study elucidated that significant increment (P≥0.01) in serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in workers of electrical generators comparison with control.


Introduction: We investigated the efficacy of carvedilol for preventing the recurrence of atrial fibrillation and reducing QT prolongation induced by bepridil. Methods: We assigned 144 subjects with persistent atrial fibrillation. The subjects were divided into 3 groups: carvedilol plus bepridil, candesartan plus bepridil, and bepridil alone. The primary endpoint was length of time to the recurrence of atrial fibrillation. All subjects were followed up for 3 years. Electrocardiographic parameters were measured for QT interval, QTc, heart rate, and QRS duration. Results: The pharmacological conversion rate by carvedilol plus bepridil was 77%, candesartan plus bepridil was 63%, and bepridil alone was 57%. The significant difference was between carvedilol plus bepridil and bepridil alone (P = 0.03). The maintenance of SR at 3 years was 60% in carvedilol plus bepridil, 59% in candesartan plus bepridil, and 40% in bepridil alone. The difference between carvedilol plus bepridil and bepridil alone was statistically significant (P = 0.04). QTc and QT interval were significantly prolonged in candesartan plus bepridil and bepridil alone but not in carvedilol plus bepridil. Conclusions: The authors demonstrated that the combination therapy with carvedilol plus bepridil is more effective for maintaining SR than bepridil alone therapy and carvedilol reduced QT prolongation by bepridil therapy.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between economic inequality and low birth weight (LBW) in the neighborhoods of the city of Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A sample of births from 1992, obtained from the Live Birth Information System (SINASC, acronym in Portuguese) of Niteroi was used to evaluate the role of mother's education, mother's age, pregnancy duration and hospital of birth as risk factors for the LBW as well as the contextual effects of indicators of income distribution, taken from the Brazilian Census of 1991. Economic inequality was evaluated by the Robin-Hood index and the ratio of income mean for the 10% richer as compared to the 40% poorer. Absolute level of income was evaluated by the mean income level of the neighborhood. Statistical analysis was carried out using multilevel logistic regression models. At the individual level, the mother's low education, the mother's age at the extremes of 20 and 29 years old and prematurity were related to LBW. At the contextual level only the Robin-Hood index showed an inverse association with LBW, indicating that the chance of LBW was lower in the situation that expressed higher economic inequality. The use of neighborhoods as the unit of geographical analysis might have impaired the ability to detect correctly contextual effects on LBW


Incubation of (25RS)-, (25R)- and (25S)-3α, 7α, 12α-trihydroxy-5β-cholestan-26-oic acid (THCA, 6, 6a, 6b) and (24E)-3α, 7α, 12α-trihydroxy-5β-cholest-24-en-26-oic acid (7) with rat liver mitochondria gave all four stereoisomers (9a, 9b, 9c, 9d) of 3α, 7α, 12α, 24-Tetrahydroxy-5β-cholestan-26-oic acid (TeHCA). The corresponding 27-nor analogs (10, 11) were also converted non-stereoselectively to a 1 : 1 mixture of the epimeric 24-hydroxy compounds (12).


In most areas of public policy, where regulation is expected to exhibit transparency and accountability, evaluation is recognized as necessary. Broadcasting is no different. Nevertheless, recently published reports repeatedly argue that a new evaluative approach for broadcasting processes and policies is required not only because current Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) policies and programs are inadequate, but also because past assessments are outdated and new methodologies should be adopted. Evidence is provided by numerous scholarly articles and public forum testimonies in recent years. In this context, the objective of this dissertation is to determine how and to what extent the CRTC holds radio station owners accountable to the objectives of the Broadcasting Act, 1991 through the application of the Radio regulations, 1986, the Commercial Radio Policy, 1998 and the Commercial Radio Policy, 2006, as well as broadcasters' conditions of licence. Using a normative evaluation approach, the methodology for this research involved documentary analysis of 141 radio station licence renewal decisions from the perspective of the law, policies, regulations and CRTC annual reports, to determine the extent to which the objectives of the Broadcasting Act, 1991 are met. Measurements and criteria for this study were based on an extensive literature review and an understanding of the process itself. This analysis was complemented by information obtained through interviews with relevant stakeholders. Findings yield compelling distinctions between the formal licence renewal process and what actually takes place. Although the CRTC seems to have criteria to evaluate stations and has been moving toward streamlining in recent years, it is apparent that case by case approaches are still employed. Information concerning the types of 'mistakes' the CRTC considers when evaluating a file and their consequences are also relevant results of the study. An


Introduction The head-mounted display (HMD) system is a novel personalized imaging monitoring system for use in a medical setting. Aim To support interactive intraoperative communication among HMD wearers, we integrated vision-based finger tracking into our system as a pointing device. Material and methods Our vision-based finger tracking system is composed of a commercially available real-time video camera, which is mounted on the modern HMD, and computer software that enables tracking of the tip of the operator's index finger and superimposing the marker on the endoscopic view. Results We used this system in an experimental demonstration. The operator used the finger-tracking pointer to explain the intraoperative findings of transurethral resection for bladder cancer to medical students. Conclusions This finger tracking system-based pointing device can function as a supportive tool for the HMD system, enabling interactive instruction and communication between the operator and other attending physicians or medical students.


The brotherhood? My gosh! The "brotherhood"! L.D., wake up. Git back on the danged planet. The brotherhood ain't any more. The brotherhood fell on his butt with Skip over there. The brotherhood got carried out of here with a dyin' old man. There ain't gonna be no stinkin' Knights of the White Magnolia cause the Knights of the White Magnolia idea is gone, finished, all washed up. Did you listen to that crap we were reading' tonight? The gospel according to Maynard C. Stemco. The sun, the moon, and the west wind? Well, L.D., old pal, lemme tell you as far as this here lodge is concerned, the sun's done set, the moon's gone down, and the west wind got a splotch on it.


Editor in chief Garlic, with the scientific name of Allium sativum, as a member of the liliaceae family is used in traditional medicine as one of the oldest medicinal plants. This fruit has the genus of onions, has been planted throughout the world, and is edible. The use of plants in traditional and modern medicine has long been discussed. For example, the benefits of garlic have been repeatedly tested by scientists. The use of garlic has benefits for the human health and this is the only matter that has been agreed on by scholars. This plant can act as an immune system modulator. The result of its use in numerous studies showed modifying of cytokine pattern such as IL-2 and IL-4 and Ifnγ, resulting in suitable cellular immune responses and humoral against infections. However, it should be noted that the mentioned results have been obtained under laboratory conditions in the case of leishmaniasis infection (1). Other studies have shown that this substance can shift the immune responses from Th2 to Th1. An effective cytokine in this respect is Ifnγ and its increase as a result of the use of garlic has been proven. This method is useful in the treatment of cancer and many infections (2,3). According to these evidences, some researchers have demonstrated that the active ingredients in garlic reduce the secretion of Ifnγ and IL-1b, and help to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), because these cytokines have a significant role in the creation of these inflammations. There are also reports which show the effectiveness of garlic in the treatment of worms and parasites, such as Schistosoma mansoni. This indicates that garlic, by helping to create antioxidants, reduces the number of parasite eggs resulting in the low birth rate of new worms in the living organism (4). It should also be noted that antioxidants, as effective methods of reactive nitrogen species (RNS) reduction, prevent the onset of cancer in the early stages. In other words, these molecules (antioxidants) eliminate the free radicals which are associated with oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been associated with diseases such as Alzheimer and different types of cancers. Some researchers have emphasized the effectiveness of garlic as an antifungal drug therapy in combination with medication. They have found that the use of garlic is the cause of an increase in cytokines like Ifnγ. (5). Garlic has also a significant impact on the


The need for automatically combining fragmentary telemetry tape records into one complete over-all composite record is discussed. The over-all organization of a tape-editing system is broken down into its two main functions: 1) synchronizing the tape transports, 2) measuring the excellence of the tape signals and then carrying out the diversity combination of these signals to form a new edited record. The problems associated with each function are discussed, and conclusions are reached regarding the final form of a tape editor. Finally, a practical tape editor system illustrating these conclusions is described.


Summary form only given. In this paper, fibre cable measurements were performed with a commercial test set that uses the interferometric method. The test set uses an LED with a center wavelength near 1550 nm and a spectral width of 70 nm. The PMD measured is the average differential group delay (DGD) over the 70-nm wavelength range.


Children who are hospitalized will easily experience crises and problems such as anxiety. One way to reduce anxiety is to provide super bubble play therapy. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of super bubble play therapy on anxiety levels in preschool children. The method used was a pre-experimental type of one group posttest. The sample used was children aged between 4 to 5 years (preschool age) who had been hospitalized in Pandan Arang Boyolali Regional Hospital during the past month, namely 16 children and had undergone hospitalization on the second day using accidental sampling techniques and using t-test. The results showed that there was an influence of super bubble play therapy on the level of anxiety in preschoolers who were hospitalized in the Children's Room of Pandan Arang Boyolali Regional Hospital (p = 0,000). The conclusion of this study is that there is an influence of super bubble play therapy on the level of anxiety in preschool children who are hospitalized in the Children's Room of Pandan Arang Boyolali Regional Hospital


The report of Saphir and Howell 1 describing an apparent cure of a carrier of the typhoid-paratyphoid group by the oral administration of soluble iodophthalein has such potential significance from a public health standpoint that it was considered advisable to record another case in which the administration of the same drug was followed by the disappearance of Eberthella typhi from the stool. REPORT OF CASE C. B., a man aged 34, a Filipino living at the Hawaiian Homestead, Hoolehua, Molokai, was seen by a physician (P. W.) on the afternoon of Sept. 23, 1937. He gave a history of having felt "sick" since September 8 but he had not gone to bed. He complained of severe headache on September 17 but felt better on the 18th and 19th. On the 20th the symptoms became so severe that he went to bed. He summoned his physician on the 23d. The physician,


Gait recognition aimstoidentify people atadistance bythewaythey walk. This paper deals with aproblem ofrecog- nition bygait whentime-dependent covariates areadded. Prop- erties ofgait canbecategorized asstatic anddynamic features which wederivedfrom sequences ofimages ofwalking subjects. Weshowthat recognition rates fall significantly whengait data iscaptured overalengthy timeinterval. A newfusion algorithm issuggested inthepaper wherein thestatic anddynamic features arefused toobtain optimal performance. Thenewfusion algo- rithm divides decision situations into three categories. Thefirst caseiswhenmorethan twothirds oftheclassifiers agreed toas- sign identity tothesameclass. Thesecond caseiswhenthetwo different classes areselected byeachhalf ofclassifiers. Therest falls into thethird case. Thesuggestedfusion rule wascompared with themostpopularfusion rulesfor biometrics. Itisshownthat thenewfusion rule over-performs theestablished techniques.


Many transfeminine individuals have undergone gender-affirming surgeries and require transgender-competent gynecologic care. Gynecologists are well-suited to provide breast and genital care to tran...


The problems of the present management information system are introduced A solutionbased on field-bus is proposed to overcome the problem. A issue how the old instruments isapplied to the new syslem is discussed and a rebuild method of the old instruments with LED orLCD to fit the solution is provided


Abstract— The scope of this work was to investigate the nature, chronology and mechanisms of the cardiovascular disorders induced by scorpion envenoniation. Anaesthetized rats were instrumented for measurement of cardiac output (CO), renal (RBF) and muscular (HBF) blood flows (pulsed Doppler flowmetry), blood pressure, heart rate and dP/dt. Buthus occitanus venom (BO) was administered intravenously in the absence/presence of different pre‐treatments. BO dose‐dependently (150–300 μg/kg) increased blood pressure, dP/dt, total peripheral (TPR), renal (RVR) and muscular (HVR) vascular resistances, and decreased CO, RBF and HBF. Recovery occurred after 150 but not after 300 μg/kg. BO, 600 μg/kg, produced qualitatively similar effects but arrhythmias developed and mortality increased. Pre‐treatment with phentolamine prevented the rises in TPR, RVR, HVR and blood pressure and the decreases in CO, RBF and HBF induced by BO, 300 μg/kg. Pre‐treatment with propranolol prevented the rise in dP/dt and the occurrence of arrhythmias and limited the rise in RVR and the drop in RBF induced by BO, 300 μg/kg. Phentolamine, propranolol and their combination also prevented BO, 600 μg/kg‐induced mortality. Other pre‐treatments (bosentan, losartan, diltiazem, mepyramine) were almost ineffective vs. BO effects. Finally, BO, 300 μg/kg, induced a 30–40‐fold increase in plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine levels, but no change in plasma endothelin‐1 levels. Thus in anaesthetized rats, the pattern of the cardiac and systemic and regional haemodynamic effects of BO is typically that of and results from catecholamine outpouring‐induced α‐ and β‐adrenoceptor stimulation.


Over the past two decades, deterioration of lake ecosystems associated with rapid socio-economic development in China has acquired much attention by the public and the government. As a result, effective management for lake ecosystems is desired in response to this increasing concern and stress. Lake ecosystem management practices can be significantly improved through better understanding of lake ecosystem dynamics which is one of the fundamental disciplines in ecological dynamics. Previously, extensive efforts have been placed on the examination of ecological dynamics within ocean, forest and grassland systems as well as its application to the relevant ecosystem management. However, very few studies have been reported on the ecological dynamics of lake systems. As an extension of previous efforts on ecosystem dynamics studies, this paper focuses on the management-oriented characterization of dynamics in lake ecosystem in order to improve the overall quality of lake ecosystems and sustain a healthy lake-ecosystem condition. Based on the fundamental theories from ecosystem ecology and aquatic ecology, the characterization of lake ecosystem dynamics in this study begins with identification of major characteristics of lake ecosystem, including holism, dissipative structure, ecosystem health and services, followed by the examination of practical measures for restoring structure and function of lake ecosystems. Modeling of lake ecosystem dynamics is then conducted to reflect crucial dynamics factors and simulate various processes in lake ecosystem, such as mass inflow and outflow, system structure, food chains and network, nutrimental dynamics, internal nutrient circulation, and their ecological effects. The modeling results could be used to assist lake authorities in making lake-related decisions. In order to reflect system complexities, adaptive management measures can be incorporated into the practical management activities. It is observed from this study that characterization of lake ecosystem dynamics could not only help scientists, engineers, and planner better understand complexity of lake ecosystem and interactions among system components from a systematic standpoint, but also help local authorities enhance their management capabilities and thus improve their management practices.


An effective plan of temporary hoists is important in building construction that demands much vertical transportation of resources during the construction phase. Almost every trade of building project relies on hoists to move personnel, materials, and equipment in vertical direction. Thus, the availability of such equipment inevitably influences performance of each trade. Despite its significant roles and functions in building construction, it is challenging to develop an effective plan for the procurement, install, and operation of the equipment. One needs to deal with many decision variables and information associated with decision-making with regard to the selection, erection, operation, and maintenance of hoists. Understanding such significance and difficulties, the present research initiative intends to develop a method that can support decision-making process of planning hoists for building construction. This paper reports the results of the first phase of the present research.


Access to medical services is widely perceived in modern industrial nations as necessary, either to individual well being or to the well being of the society. Yet, despite expenditures nearing $2 billion per day, current health policy in the United States fails to assure adequate access to medical services for a large and growing number of persons. Sophisticated medical services are expensive. Few Americans can afford to pay for these services from their own savings or personal income and so most rely on some form of third party payment, that is private or public health insurance. Unfortunately, insurance coverage is inadequate or non-existent for large numbers of Americans. One recent federal estimate places the number of uninsured Americans at 37 million (Short, Monheit & Beauregard, 1989). (The magnitude of the problem is exemplified by the fact that some apologists for the current system claim that the true figure is "only" 32 million.) The uninsured population has grown from approximately 12.3 percent of the U.S. population in 1977 to 15.5 percent in 1987, an increase of roughly 7 million people (Short, Monheit & Beauregard, 1989). Census Bureau estimates of persons who lacked continuous coverage during the period from January 1985 until May 1987 are markedly higher at 63 million, 28 percent of the U.S. population (Ridley, 1990). Health insurance for most Americans under the age of 65 is provided through the work place (HIAA,1989). Benefits, copayments, d?ductibles and covered services vary from policy to policy and employer to employer. Benefit packages typically include hospital and physicians services and major medical expense insurance. Less often included are dental insurance (52.8% of insured persons) and long


'How do domestic actors construct Europe?' and 'How do they utilise it in seeking to empower themselves against other actors?' The questions of construction and utilisation of Europe are some of the most topical questions in Europeanization. The first question addresses constructivist/sociological concerns. The second addresses the issue of winners and losers (differential empowerment). Both are key issues in the literature of Europeanization and yet have been little addressed in the context of post-communist EU accession countries. This dissertation aims to bridge this gap by focusing on the post-communist country of Romania, a soon to be EU member-State. The actors under investigation are civil society, which emerged in Romania for the first time ever after 1989 and the central government Executive. The study covers the period during which the EU acquis negotiations were negotiated under the Social Democratic government led by Prime Minister Adrian Nastase (2000-2004). The data was gathered through in-depth case study and process-tracing, the methods found best able to disentangle a complex causal nexus.The Europeanization literature is contradictory with regard to which domestic actors are constrained and which empowered: some scholars theorise that it empowers civil society (Diffusion); others that it empowers the Executive (Executive Empowerment); still others that it promotes co-operation between them (Network Governance). The empirical evidence so far has been inconclusive. This dissertation shows that only a small elite made of civil society entrepreneurs and government Executives constructed and utilised Europe in the pre-membership phase, to empower themselves relative to other actors, particularly opponents. The empirical data support two of the classical Europeanization theses in the literature: the Diffusion and the Executive Empowerment Theses. The Diffusion Thesis better explains civil society empowerment near the beginning and at the peak of acquis negotiations, although some evidence also favours Executive Empowerment. This latter thesis better explains the powerlessness of civil society at the close of negotiations, although some evidence for Diffusion was also found. No evidence was found supporting Network Governance. Instead evidence was found in favour of its critics, namely support for the claim that the EU (or Europe) empowers an elite in both civil society and the State.(Ph.D thesis, Government Department, LSE).


The competition between singlet Fermi liquids and magnetic states was theoretically investigated in Kondo lattices. The RKKY exchange interaction was treated in the mean field approximation, while the Kondo effect was taken into account in the next divergent approximation, or in the approximation that terms of the order of 1/ N 2 are included in the 1/ N -expansion method, N being the degeneracy of localized levels. The theory can explain saturated magnetization of CeNi x Pt 1- x as a function of Ni content, x , by assuming that the Kondo temperature depends linearly on x .


The European Union (EU) has recently concluded a number of ambitious Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that inter alia include the right to make establishments. Based on the agreements concluded with Korea, Singapore and Canada, it is examined to what extent these agreements secure a free movement of companies that is comparable with the free movement of companies that has been achieved within the EU.


The task of managing dynamic change is always a complex, multi-faceted process, but in environments facing unparalleled transformation, this process becomes intractable.
Establishing the right tools to help define and safeguard threatened urban heritage and its setting in the context of Shanghai's growth over the past decade, which reflects one of the most intense urban transformations in history, presents many exceptional challenges and opportunities. This paper aims to provide an overview of the evolution of Shanghai's inimitable character and its unique setting. It has been extracted from a far more detailed analysis of its physical development that will be available in the form of an international publication in 2006. The purpose of this broader study has been to help define Shanghai's physical heritage and thereby contribute to supporting its preservation through this current period of dynamic change. Lessons learned from this exercise can help establish a practical framework and appropriate tools which can be used in comparable urban environments for similar purposes.


The traditional multi-source location information fusion algorithm based on probability density function is inefficiency when dozens of targets are concerned. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes an improved algorithm which is based on comprehensive probability distance matrix(CPDM), and creatively puts forward how to extract location information on the same target by using absolute probability distance matrix(APDM) and relative probability distance matrix(RPDM). A simulation was conducted to emulate the real environment. The accuracy of the improved algorithm under different conditions is analyzed. Results show that the algorithm can effectively fuse multi-source location information to improve the locating precision.


In honour of Professor Isao Koshima's 70th birthday, a short manuscript regarding his main contributions to microsurgery, as well as impact on the surgical specialty in Russian Federation is discussed. The numerous achievements of Professor Koshima are built upon years of experience. Currently, Isao Koshima is the Chief of the International Center for Lymphedema, at Hiroshima University Hospital (Japan). He is known be all as an enthusiastic and extremely talented microsurgeon and a world-known scientist. In 1989, I. Koshima first introduced the epigastric artery perforator flap, and the discovery of the DIEP flap is widely accredited to him. He introduced this flap at the 1st International Course on Perforator Flaps held in Ghent in 1997. Professor Koshima's numerous contributions to the field of microsurgery are truly invaluable. His life and career are respected by all and his guidance is requested daily around the World. I. Koshima's contribution to lymphatic supermicrosurgery is especially prominent, as this field is completely built upon his pronounced expertise. To this day, Isao Koshima offers lectures, training programs and is an active participant of many congresses worldwide, making him one of the most sought teachers in the history of microsurgery.


The smart monitor system of roof net construction consists of sensing system , data communication interface of monitor system , software system of construction monitor and far monitor system . The smart sensor , dynamic strain device and signal processor device are used to monitor roof net construction , assess its safe condition , repair it and control its impairment , and so on . 


In an effort to develop new techniques for studying the effects of irradiation on high polymers, the influence of molecular weight distribution has been investigated. From general mathematical expressions obtained by Saito, equations have been developed to be used for polymers of Schulz-Zimm distributions, and their mixtures. According to the computations, it should be possible to distinguish between crosslinking and endlinking as alternative mechanisms of network formation, by comparing gelling doses for samples of different initial distributions. From gelling dose determinations for polystyrene samples of different polydispersities, it was confirmed that network formation in irradiated polystyrene takes place through crosslinking, in agreement with mechanisms suggested by several authors. It is believed that the simple technique described should be useful for studying radiation processes in polymers that form networks, especially since the method is insensitive to the extent of degradation.


In situ time‐resolved reflectivity (TRR) measurements have been made on unpatterned 800 nm pure Al films located on top of different underlying layers (e.g., substrate, diffusion barrier, or oxide) under XeCl (λ=308 nm, pulse width 40 ns) excimer laser planarization conditions. The reflectivity change observed when using a HeNe (λ=632.8 nm) probe beam is assumed to indicate layer melting. Results show that Al melt durations increase with laser energy fluence, oxide thickness, and substrate temperature. In addition, under certain processing conditions Al areas with a thick underlying oxide remain molten for over 1000 ns while no Al melting is observed where it directly contacts the silicon substrate. This work explains why substrate heating during excimer laser planarization is necessary in order to completely fill high aspect ratio contact holes.


The central theme of this review are studies that deal with the influence of different types of devices and various web-forms on the results of web-surveys. The results of the previous researches are not unambiguous. Various authors report on different directions of significant effects, while in some studies effects did not manifest. The interaction between devices and web-forms is also considered, but studies that explore that issue are almost non-existent. The review is concluded with the guidelines for future research.


Calibration-Free Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (CF-LIBS) is a promising approach for quantitative analysis without using certified samples and calibration curves. It can overcome the matrix effects. However this method is based on the hypothesis that in the actual temporal observation window the plasma is in local thermal equilibrium (LTE). In this paper, the plasma is generated using a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser hits on certified soil samples in air at atmospheric pressure. The local values of the parameters that characterize laser induced plasma (temperature, electron density) have been derived from the recorded spectra with different observation window. The electron density in the plasma at different time delay after laser firing has been investigated in detail, which can be served as a criterion of the existence of the LTE. As a result, an appropriate time delay is obtained. By comparing the temperatures deduced from the spectroscopy line intensity of neutral atom and ion emissions at different gate width, the optimized time duration which satisfies the LTE is obtained. Finally, we analyze the importance of observation window and its effect on the accuracy and precision of this method.


The task which we set ourself in this essay looks a very assuming one, especially if one takes into consideration the detailed elucidation of MnUiktisodhana problems in a series of works, and first and foremost in those of the famous Sanskritists R. P. Kangle and H. Scharfe. As to us, we would like to draw the attention to two features which seem interconnected with one another and help to understand the character of the kantakasodhana in the Arthasästra. We mean, on the one hand, the functional role of different parts of the kantakasodhana in the text of this treatise (Book IV), and, on the other hand, duties of those officials whom the duty of the examination of affairs appearing in the kantakasodhana was imposed on, i.e. the pradestrs. One may find the most detailed observation of a circle of problems which we usually deal with in the case of the kan^kasodhana in the work of R. P. Kangle on the Kautiliya Arthasästra. R. P. Kangle has writtèn : "As remarked earlier, the suppression of crime and the maintenance of law and order, especially in the countryside, is ultimately the responsibility of the sarnähartr. Through his secret agents he has to be on the lookout for criminals and anti-social elements including corrupt officials (4.4.1—5) . . . And all the officers who are directly concerned with the investigation of crime and the punishment of criminals are subordinated to the sarnähartr. The principal officers who are to help the sarnähartr in the task of kantakasodhana are the pradestrs. Three pradestrs, it is stated, should be stationed at the headquarters of the gopas and the sthänikas (4.1.1 and 2.35.7). This means that three pradestrs are to serve in an area covered by a group of five or ten villages and there are to be three pradestrs at each of the siMmto-headquarters. The capital city is specifically excluded from the jurisdiction of pradestrs. The detection of crime and the punishment of criminals in the city is the responsibility of the nägarika (4.6.20). In the task of detecting thieves and other criminals, the pradestrs are to be assisted by the gopas and the sthänikas (4.6.20)." i "The first four Chapters of this Book do not deal with crimes properly so called. The first Chapter deals with artisans and craftsmen like weavers, washermen, smiths etc., who are prone to cheat the public with respect to the quality and quantity of the goods produced by them, also to charge exorbitantly for their services. The Chapter lays down regulations for controlling their activity. Though the pradestrs should appear to


The reliability physics of GaN HFETs has been investigated in order to identify strain related traps originating at the GaN/SiC substrate interface. The buffer layers investigated were deposited by MBE techniques at a series of growth temperatures and thicknesses so as to attain buffer layers with variable trap density. Heterojunction transistors (HFETs) based on AlGaN/GaN heterostructures have been modeled and the results are described in this paper.


The embodiments of the present invention disclose the methods for multi-mode base station acquiring an external clock signal and the multi-mode base station. The methods and the multi-mode base station belong to mobile communication field. A method includes the following steps: a standard module of a multi-mode base station acquires the external clock signal from an external clock source (S301); the standard module provides the external clock signal to each standard module of the multi-mode base station as an internal clock reference signal of each standard module (S302). The other provided method includes the following steps: a common clock unit of a multi-mode base station acquires the external clock signal from an external clock source; the common clock unit provides the external clock signal to each standard module of the multi-mode base station as an internal clock reference signal of each standard module. In the present invention, as long as at least one of the standard modules or the common clock unit is collocated the external clock source, the multi-mode base station can work. Consequently, the requirement for the application conditions is reduced greatly, the application scenario is more flexible, and the application and development are acquired more extensive.


Sodium hypochlorite as a strong oxidant- bleaching agent and benzalkonium chloride as a biocide is frequently used agents for cleaning and sterilization purposes, both in health care units and at home. Despite the injection of sodium hypochlorite into the venous system has been described many times before, to our knowledge self-administration of a mixture of sodium hypochlorite and benzalkonium chloride has not been reported by a way of suicide. Our patient was a health Professional who was running a sport and beauty center. The amount of total concentration intake that patient said prepared by himself (400 ml of sodium hypochlorite, 400 ml of benzalkonium chloride, and 1000 ml of isotonic liquid ) was unknown but it was known that >150–200 mL of hypochlorite in adults is enough for systemic poisoning. The cross effects of chemicals on human tissues and organs are unpredictable, our patient was discharged by recovering all systemic damages except permanent kidney damage. This study aims to present a rare suicide poisoning event and adverse clinical sequelae.


【Objective】Discussion of caudal anesthesia combined with laryngeal mask airway for infants in the lower abdomen and perineum efficacy and safety of surgery.【Methods】60 cases of the proposed abdominal perineal surgery were divided randomly into caudal block combined with laryngeal mask airway group,which is the A group,and ketamine anesthesia group,which is the B group,A group of first sacral block,after the success of midazolam 0.1mg/kg,fentanyl 2ug/kg,propofol 2mg/kg in accordance with the body weight in children placed in the appropriate size of laryngeal mask,continuous intravenous pump surgery into propofol 4-6mg /(kg/h) to maintain,B group midazolam 0.1mg/kg,ketamine 2mg/kg,10-15min or after surgery when there is body movement,an additional ketamine 1-1.5mg/kg were observed before induction of anesthesia(baseline).After induction,skin incision,the surgery,of surgery when the MAP,HR,SPO2,it can record the anesthesia time,intraoperative muscle relaxation,body movement and the emergence of adverse reactions.【Results】Two groups of patients showed a significant decrement after the induction of HR(P 0.05),there is no distinct differences between the two groups;During A group's skin incision and intraoperative,the indication of MAP and HR are stable;meanwhile,B group showed a significantly higher compared to the initial baseline.Also,there are significant differences between the two groups(P 0.05) ;A group SPO2 surgery was maintained at 100% while in B group,there are 7 cases of children's SPO2 dropped to below 95%,thus,there is a significant difference between A and B group(P 0.01) ;muscle relaxant rate of A group was significantly higher than B group(P 0.05) ;and A group has a significantly shorter recovery time compared B group(P 0.05) ;During intraoperative,body movement,agitation,nausea and vomiting occurred significantly less in A group compared to B group.【Conclusion】The combination of caudal anesthesia and laryngeal mask ventilation technique for infants during abdominal and perineal surgery provided satisfactory analgesia,muscle relaxation and the ideal depth of sedation.During intraoperative,respiratory and circulatory are stable,there is a rapid postoperative recovery with low adverse reactions.


The evolution of distyly from tristyly has occurred repeatedly, especially in the Lythraceae. However, the evolutionary forces involved remain unclear since species exhibiting transitional stages between tristyly and distyly have rarely been studied. The self-compatible, wetland perennial Decodon verticillatus (Lythraceae) may provide this transitional variation since populations commonly lack style morphs, particularly the mid-styled (M) morph. In dimorphic populations lacking the M morph, anthers positioned at the mid level in both the long(L) and short-styled (S) morphs have lost their target stigma, setting the stage for either evolutionary repositioning of mid-level anthers to increase pollen export to L and S stigmas, or increased variability in mid-level anther position resulting from relaxed selection. We examined these two hypotheses by comparing floral morphology in eight dimorphic and ten trimorphic populations from throughout the species' range. We found no evidence that loss of the M morph has led to evolutionary modification of mid-level stamens. While mid-level stamens of the S morph were 11.0 ? 4.0% (mean ? 1 SE) longer than those of the L morph in dimorphic populations, divergence in stamen length between morphs occurred to the same extent (10.4 ? 2.0%) in trimorphic populations and cannot be attributed to the absence of the M morph. Analyses of variability using median ratio tests revealed no difference in the variability of mid-level stamen length between dimorphic and trimorphic populations. Mid-level stamens were not more variable than longand short-level stamens within dimorphic populations. The consistent divergence in midlevel stamens between the L and S morphs may reflect morph-specific differences in the optimal position of mid-level anthers for maximizing cross-pollination and avoiding self-fertilization.


Article Info Background: Noise pollution is one of the common physical harmful factors in many work environments. The current study aimed to assess the personal and environmental noise level and project the sound map of an Iranian tire manufacturing complex using Surfer V.14 and Noise At Work tools. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in the curing hall [including curing, sandblast, and trimming units] of a tire manufacturing complex in 2018. Following ISO 9612:2009, Casella Cel-320 was used to measure the personal noise level, while CEL-450 sound level meter (Casella-Cel, the UK) was employed to assess the environmental sound pressure level [ISO 1996-1:2016].The sound and isosonic maps were projected using Surfer V.14 and Noise At Work. Results: The results indicated that the highest received dose (163.30%) and personal equivalent sound level [87.13 dBA] were recorded for workers in the curing unit. The results of measuring the environmental sound pressure level also revealed that out of 101 measurement stations in the curing unit, 76 stations (75.25%) were hazardous areas (over 85 dBA). Conclusions: Over 75% of the curing hall had a sound pressure level greater than 85 dBA. The curing unit was found to be the most dangerous area in terms of noise pollution. It is, therefore, necessary to implement noise control measures (e.g., the use of screens, barriers, enclosures), apply hearing conservation programs, and conduct auditory tests on workers in this unit.


In her Geobodies video essay projects—Performing the Border, about the feminization of labor in Ciudad Juarez on the U.S.–Mexico border; Remote Sensing, about transnational sex labor markets; and Sahara Chronicle, about labor migration in Africa and Europe—Ursula Biemann challenges the ways in which transnational labor migrations are apprehended in separate disciplines, social sciences, art, and mass media. Biemann's contribution to the global labor discourse lies in the striking extradisciplinarity of her projects and the attention she brings to the very "work" of discourse that accounts for the diverse conditions under which human bodies travel and labor worldwide. Her video projects show not only that human labor, flows of capital, policy issues, and geographic circumstances are all interrelated and interdependent, but that disciplinary, representational codes which obscure their own subjectivities and biases, effectively wipe out entire regions, populations, and forms of labor from collective consciousness. In her experiments in video and text, Biemann recovers the work of gendered and/or non-Western subjects, illuminating how marginalized transnational laborers transform the social and material spaces they inhabit despite great political and economic odds. Moreover, Biemann recognizes the significance of often ignored kinds of labor–domestic, sexual, illegal, artistic. Finally, she demonstrates that aesthetic theory (and practice) can play a vital role as a labor discourse that produces new topographies of transnational labor.


Do the personal characteristics and foreign policy behavior of world leaders correlate with their birth order? The literature of birth order theory suggests that they should. An exploratory empirical analysis of 46 world leaders as to their personal political characteristics, foreign policy orientations, and for- eign policy behavior is performed in order to assess what, if any, effects can be linked to birth order. The results substantiate the hypotheses derived from birth order theory in a few cases, contradict them in others, and point out some new paths of inquiry as well. In brief, differences between the birth orders can be detected in the attainment of national leadership. Though no substantiation is found for hypothesized differences between firstborns and middle-borns, the group of last-born leaders differs significantly from all other groups on measures of personal characteristics. However, no signifi- cant differences were found regarding foreign policy orientation and for- eign policy behavior.


With in-depth reform of high education in China,local colleges and universities are facing unprecedented opportunities and challenges,such as increasingly fierce competition of talents and serious loss of teaching resources.Therefore,it's necessary to take positive measures to stablize the teaching faculty.In this paper,the point are demostrated in the following three aspects:main factors affecting teaching faculty,transform of admistration and major routes carrying out flexible management and excellence service.


Electron tunneling through a coupled quantum-dot dimer under a dc-bias is investigated. We find that a peak in the $I$-$V$ curve appears at low temperature when two discrete electronic states in the two quantum dots are aligned with each other -- resonance coupling. This leads to a negative differential resistance. The peak height and width depend on the dot-dot coupling. At high temperature, the peak disappears due to thermal smearing effects.


− Almost all dams currently use a water level monitoring system that automatically measures the dam's water discharge in real time. Only a small number of dams use conventional monitoring systems. Conventional monitoring systems are considered ineffective when associated with real time monitoring. With an IoT-based water level monitoring system, it is expected to increase the efficiency of the dam and reduce the risk of overflowing dam water. The system made in this research is an IoT-based water level monitoring system and dam gate control. This research was conducted using the concept of the Internet of Things. The working principle is that the HC-SR04 sensor is used to read the water level. There are two systems to regulate the dam door, namely automatically or manually. In automatic mode, the dam door will rise when the water situation is an emergency. In manual mode, the dam door can be controlled via the website. There are additional features to monitor conditions around the dam such as temperature, humidity and rain. The DHT11 sensor is used to measure air temperature and humidity, while the rain drop sensor is used to detect raindrops. All information that enters the web server will be processed and displayed on the website and can be accessed via internet-connected devices. Abstrak


The purpose of this article was to determine how the process of planning, organizing, implementing, and evaluating improving the quality of student memorization in the tahfidz Qur'an program at MA NU NAFA. This research was a type of qualitative research with a case study approach. The subjects in this research were the headmaster, the head of the curriculum, the tahfidz coordinator, the tahfidz teachers, and the students in the tahfidz Qur'an program. The data collection techniques were carried out through observation, interviews, and documentation. The data analysis used interactive techniques by Miles and Huberman. The triangulation technique is used to check the validity of the data. The results of this research indicated that in the program of Tahfidz Qur'an, good management was carried out in supporting each program implementation process by following the goals and targets that have been set. The management of the tahfidz Qur'an program at MA NU NAFA was: The planning was carried out includes, including program planning that discussed costs and budgets, then educator planning and material planning. The organization was carried out in the preparation of the organizational structure by following the responsibilities and job descriptions. The implementation of the program was carried out through the learning process of the tahfidz Qur'an. The evaluation program was carried out in several ways or stages of the learning process that have been set.


Connecting Histories in Afghanistan draws on extensive research, mainly in the North-West Frontier Province archives in Peshawar, the Punjab Province archives in Lahore, and the National Archives of India in Delhi. The PhD thesis on which it is based won the American Historical Society's e-Gutenberg award, and since 2008 the book has been available as a download. Unlike most discussions of Afghanistan in the nineteenth century, which concentrate on imperial strategy and military campaigns, its principal focus is markets and long-distance trade between eastern and southern Afghanistan and India, in particular in relation to the three market centres of Kabul, Qandahar and Peshawar. As such its appearance for the first time in hard copy is overdue and welcome. For centuries a great variety of dried and fresh fruits and nuts grown around Kabul and Qandahar had been exported in considerable quantities to northern India, and Hanifi explains that in spite of political upheaval and war this trade continued into the nineteenth century. Other exports at this time included timber, a range of animal products and opium, while tea, sugar, textiles and, later in the century, industrial machinery, travelled in the other direction. Three 'major communities of market actors' (p.23) were involved in this trade. Firstly there were the state authorities, the Afghan and British Indian officials. Secondly there were the Hindkis, bankers, merchants and traders of Indian origin, some of whom lived in Afghanistan, who could offer extensive credit, and transfer large sums of money through paper notes (hundis or hawalas). Thirdly there were the nomadic 'tribal traders', contract carriers (kochis, pawendas, and Lohanis), who transported the goods to and from India and Afghanistan, and sometimes Central Asia as well. In this section Hanifi also discusses maps, labels and identities, suggesting for instance that there was a 'cartographic dynamic' (p.18) in the nineteenth century, in the course of which maps increasingly referred to 'Afghanistan' rather than, for example, 'kingdom of Kabul'. Hanifi also explores some of the ambiguous ways in which the terms Afghan, Pashtun (and Pakhtun) and Pathan, were used in the colonial period. The question of Pashtun ethnogenesis is raised here, but only briefly. A discussion of some broadly-speaking economic aspects of British Indian interactions with Afghanistan during the first half of the nineteenth century, including inter-currency relationships, and the organization of commercial finance, transport and taxation, follows. Influenced by Christopher Bayly's work on Hindu Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 47, No. 5, 825–844, September 2011


Niger-Delia Crisis in Nigeria is s t i l l on an unprecedented scale despite all the effort by both Nigerians and international community to change the situation, it is against this background (hat (his. paper examines and suggests a managerial tool Total Quality Management (TQM) if implemented it would help to promote a change in the region. The paper among others establishes (he guiding principles of TQM and (hen analyses (he various steps that would assist in adopting TQM to resolve Niger-Delia Crisis.


Undergraduate teaching of engineers should prepare graduates for designing processes and making products to solve real-world problems. As such, an engineering course should enable the development of engineering knowledge, skills, imagination and experience. On the other hand, intellectual property rights cover topics such as patents, utility models and registered designs among others. These tools are granted for inventions, form and appearance of objects and can be found in every single product available to a lesser or greater extent. This paper reports on teaching aspects of intellectual property rights to undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students as part of the syllabus at a technological university in the Greek island of Crete. The courses are described in terms of goals and procedures which teach students IP rights so as to prepare them to benefit the maximum in today's knowledge-based economy.


We study the asymptotic behavior for large time of solutions to the Cauchy problem for the generalized Benjamin-Ono (BO) equation: ut + (|u|ρ−1u)x + Huxx = 0, where H is the Hilbert transform, x, t ∈ R, when the initial data are small enough. If the power ρ of the nonlinearity is greater than 3, then the solution of the Cauchy problem has a quasilinear asymptotic behavior for large time. In the case ρ = 3 critical for the asymptotic behavior i.e. for the modified Benjamin-Ono equation, we prove that the solutions have the same L∞ time decay as in the corresponding linear BO equation. Also we find the asymptotics for large time of the solutions of the Cauchy problem for the BO equation in the critical and noncritical cases. For the critical case, we prove the existence of modified scattering states if the initial function is sufficiently small in certain weighted Sobolev spaces. These modified scattering states differ from the free scattering states by a rapidly oscillating factor.


Background: The present trial was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of escitalopram prescribed to patients seeking treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in a Canadian primary‐care setting. Methods: Investigators (mainly primary‐care physicians) enrolled patients with MDD from their daily practice. Patients were treated with escitalopram (flexible dose 10–20 mg/day) for up to 24 weeks. Efficacy assessments included the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the Clinical Global Impression‐Improvement and ‐Severity scales (CGI‐I, CGI‐S), the Patient Global Evaluation (PGE), and the Medical Outcome Study 36‐item Short Form (SF‐36). Results: Out of the 647 patients enrolled, 461 (71%) completed 24 weeks of treatment. The most common reason for discontinuation was adverse events (10%). The mean MADRS score decreased from 30.7 at baseline to 10.9 at the end of 24 weeks (last observation carried forward, LOCF). Remission (MADRS≤12) was achieved by 65.5% of patients (LOCF). Symptom improvements were confirmed by global ratings of improvement made by physicians (CGI‐I) as well as patients PGE. There was improvement on all dimensions of the SF‐36, suggesting an overall improvement in quality of life. Conclusions: Escitalopram was well tolerated, safe, and efficacious. Escitalopram can be used with confidence to treat patients with MDD in Canadian primary‐care settings. Depression and Anxiety, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Sustainability transitions require transdisciplinary knowledge production, going beyond traditional role divisions. In order to contribute to system innovations, researchers often engage in action research, and participate actively in system innovations. This configuration raises questions about their role and position with regard to the practical context, about quality assurance and about intervention legitimacy: how intensively should they participate, and how do they preserve their unique contribution as a researcher. Existing literature about the rise of transdisciplinary research provides some building blocks for understanding the complex relationships in these situations. There is some literature about the different roles researchers can play in action research for sustainability, but so far the literature has limited sensitivity to the way researchers combine and balance different roles. In particular the role of social scientists is understudied. The research question of this paper is: what roles are required of social scientific researchers in system innovations and what are the advantages and disadvantages of the combinations of roles that can be adopted? Our theoretical framework builds on transition literature and studies on the role of researchers in sustainability science and action research. We will apply and problematize the analytical framework by Wittmayer and Schapke, who claim that sustainability researchers typically encounter four key issues: ownership, sustainability, power and action. This corresponds with five roles of researchers, reflecting how they deal with these issues: the reflective scientist, process facilitator, knowledge broker, change agent and self-reflexive scientist (Wittmayer and Schapke 2014). The paper analyses a case study on the Knowledge Action Programme on Water (KAPW), a transdisciplinary initiative on innovative water governance carried out in the Netherlands (2017-2019). The main aims of KAPW are to address the governance challenges that water authorities experience in sustainability transitions, and to more effectively link ongoing research and knowledge generation to decision making processes. KAPW is a particularly interesting case because of its action-oriented, dynamic and reflexive nature. Over the course of the past few years, it has shifted its focus and strategy repeatedly, in response to its changing policy context and internal reflections. These reflections highlighted the need to change the self-understanding of researchers and our role in the process, and to redefine the expectations from researchers in processes like KAPW. Our data sources include 45 interviews, analysis of (online) documents, and self-reflection of the authors, who are personally involved in the program. In the paper we will analyse which key issues the researchers of the programme have experienced and which (combinations of) roles they have adopted in response to these issues. KAPW researchers faced several dilemmas, such as providing answers or formulating questions, active participation versus systematic documentation and producing scientific publications versus societal relevance. In addition there were some issues with ownership (appropriation of results versus collective branding of the program), sustainability (defining the circular economy and sustainable energy) and power (negotiations between the water authority, infrastructure utility and municipality). KAPW researchers have adopted and integrated several roles, most prominently the knowledge broker, process facilitator and change agent. In many instances researchers struggled with a combination of roles, because of the conflicting values and demands associated with them. For example, while practitioners frequently asked for the guidance and leadership of a process facilitator, researchers were looking for space to act as a knowledge broker or self-reflexive scientist. Based on this analysis we will enrich the framework of Wittmayer and Schapke with additional issues and with insights into the relationships and interactions between the different roles. Wittmayer, J. M., and N. Schapke. 2014. Action, research and participation: roles of researchers in sustainability transitions. Sustainability science 9:483-496


Abstract We wish to describe the decarbalkoxylation of selected esters with the alkaloids quinine monohydrate (1) and perloline hydrochloride (2). Quinine has been effectively used for medicinal purposes and is the most important constituent of two Rubiaceous genera, Cinchona and Remijia 1. Perloline2 occurs in several species of grass and has been found to be inhibitory to seed germination, root elongation, protozoa mobility and cellulytic activity3. The stimulation of volatile fatty acid production by the alkaloid perloline is particularly noteworthy3.


In cases of severe coronal destruction, conventional dentistry must resort to complex techniques and combinations of prosthetic materials. In addition, execution and placement of the restoration results in more destruction of sound dental tissue. This paper presents an alternative technique that utilizes the adhesive capabilities of new materials in combination with strategic placement of parts of extracted human teeth to achieve better esthetics and more conservation of sound dental tissue.


A noncoding RNA competes with DNA for binding to the glucocorticoid receptor. This is a conversation with Tomoshige Kino about a Research Article published in the 2 February 2010 issue of Science Signaling.


SUMMARYThe chromosome number of Citrus Assamensis has been found to be 2n — 18. Though it is ordinary diploid species yet it shows multivalent formation ranging from trivalent, quadrivalent to esavalent. The bridge fragment configuration has also been observed at anaphase. The second division is marked by stray chromosomes and laggards. The pollen sterility is 45%.


literature class, Lupack's rendition is enjoyable and highly readable. Moreover, this choice makes sense, considering the anthology's subtitle. The few quibbles are minor and overshadowed by the overall quality of the anthology. Lacy's third edition provides an excellent survey of Arthurian literature across the medieval period. This edition should please undergraduate students and their instructors with its more comprehensive breadth. The generic, linguistic, and thematic variety found across the pages of the volume make this a wonderful replacement for and improvement of the previous edition. The anthology includes the following texts: Arthur in the Latin Chronicles; Arthur in the Early Welsh Tradition; Culhwch and Olwen; Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth; Wace, Roman de Brut; Layamon, Brut; Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot; Chrétien de Troyes, Perceval; Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival; The Quest for the Holy Grail; Selected Lyrics; The Saga of the Mantle; Béroul, The Romance of Tristran; Thomas of Britain, Romance of Tristran; Marie de France, Chevrefueil and Lanval; Cantare on the Death of Tristan; The Prose Merlin and the Suite du Merlin; The Rise of Gawain, Nephew of Arthur; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle; The Alliterative Morte Arthure, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur.


A hallmark of respiratory‐related diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is chronic hypercapnia (CH). Common therapeutic intervention for patients experiencing CH is mechanical ventilation to restore blood‐gas homeostasis. While many neurophysiological consequences of CH have been characterized, little is known about the effects reversing CH. The primary goal of the present study was to test the hypothesis that abrupt deacclimatization from CH would significantly alter markers of neuroplasticity and tryptophan metabolism, but not levels of excitatory neuromodulators. Utilizing our goat model of increased inspired CO2 (InCO2)‐induced CH, adult female goats were exposed to an InCO2 of 6% for 30 days (d) followed by a return to room air for 24 hours (h). Following 24h of recovery, goats were euthanized, and brainstems were rapidly extracted. Tissue punches of key nuclei throughout the brainstem respiratory network (hypoglossal motor nucleus (XII), nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS)/dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV), ventral respiratory column (VRC), medullary raphe (MR), ventrolateral medulla (VLM), retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN), and cuneate nucleus (CN)) were obtained and used for either western blot or HPLC analysis. Changes in glutamatergic signaling, neuroinflammation, tryptophan metabolism, and neuromodulators concentration, following recovery from CH, were assessed. Following 24h of recovery, there were no significant differences in AMPA or NMDA receptor expression or phosphorylation, compared to room air control goats, across all nuclei investigated. Similarly, there were no significant differences in the inflammatory cytokine IL1B following 24h recovery across all nuclei investigated, compared to room air control goats. However, there was significantly (P<0.05) lower expression of key enzymes of tryptophan metabolism (Indolamine 2,3‐dioxygenase (IDO); Tryptophan Hydroxylase (TPH) and neuronal markers (NeuN) compared to control within the rostral VLM and MR. Within the solitary complex (NTS & DMV), there was significantly (P>0.05) greater concentrations in norepinephrine (+132%±49), serotonin (+348%±142), and dopamine (+86%±53) at 24h of recovery compared to 30d of CH. We conclude that although specific markers of neuroplasticity and neuroinflammation were unchanged from control during deacclimatization, there were brainstem‐site dependent changes in excitatory neuromodulators during deacclimatization from CH. These data suggest that the mechanisms of neuroplasticity during acclimatization to‐ and deacclimatization from‐ CH are fundamentally different.


According to the requirements of the 《Quality Standard for File Making of Criminal Case Photography》, the application of image processing technology in the standardization of physical evidence photos by using image processing software of Photoshop 7.0 is presented, introducing the methodology and operation details of adjusting amplificatory multiple,setting photo size and printing output. It also emphasized the key points in the photography of physical evidence as well as processing and printing out images.


Certain post-thoracic surgery complications are monitored in a standard manner using methods that employ ionising radiation. A need to automatise the diagnostic procedure has now arisen following the clinical trial of a novel lung ultrasound examination procedure that can replace X-rays. Deep learning was used as a powerful tool for lung ultrasound analysis. We present a novel deep-learning method, automated M-mode classification, to detect the absence of lung sliding motion in lung ultrasound. Automated M-mode classification leverages semantic segmentation to select 2D slices across the temporal dimension of the video recording. These 2D slices are the input for a convolutional neural network, and the output of the neural network indicates the presence or absence of lung sliding in the given time slot. We aggregate the partial predictions over the entire video recording to determine whether the subject has developed post-surgery complications. With a 64-frame version of this architecture, we detected lung sliding on average with a balanced accuracy of 89%, sensitivity of 82%, and specificity of 92%. Automated M-mode classification is suitable for lung sliding detection from clinical lung ultrasound videos. Furthermore, in lung ultrasound videos, we recommend using time windows between 0.53 and 2.13 s for the classification of lung sliding motion followed by aggregation.


In this paper we explain how the dynamics of a complex system can be understood in terms of the lowdimensional manifolds (phases), described by slowly varying effective variables, it settles onto. We then explain how we can discover these phases by grouping the large number of microscopic time series or time series segments, based on their statistical similarities, into the a small number of time series classes, each representing a distinct phase. We describe a specific recursive scheme for time series segmentation based on the Jensen-Shannon divergence, and check its performance against artificial time series data. We then apply the method on the high-frequency time series data of various US and Japanese financial market indices, where we found that the time series segments can be very naturally grouped into four to six classes, corresponding roughly with economic growth, economic crisis, market correction, and market crash. From a single time series, we can estimate the lifetimes of these macroeconomic phases, and also identify potential triggers for each phase transition. From a cross section of time series, we can further estimate the transition times, and also arrive at an unbiased and detailed picture of how financial markets react to internal or external stimuli.


Community detection is a fundamental problem in analyzing the network building principles. Previous community detections left many security issues that every user in a social network must be assigned into a community, which enables attackers easily infiltrate into a community at little cost. For example, an online cancer patients' community consists solely of cancer patients that want to share drug and treatment information together, but many malicious sybil attackers who collude in joining a target community with ulterior purpose will be probably classified into the target community if one or more patients randomly accept their friendship requests from these attackers. This may lead to the privacy disclosure of community information. Thus, to address this problem, this brief focuses on the novel mechanism of sybil-attack-defended community detection. Firstly, we propose a new similarity-based community detection algorithm (SCDA) which can incorporate any similarity metric to efficiently detect communities and defend sybil attacks in multi-level granularities. Secondly, we are the first to consider both the hierarchical community detection and sybil-attack defense. Several possible sybil-attack models are defined to simulate the attack process in real social networks. Finally, we conduct extensive experiments to demonstrate that our method has a good performance both on community detection and sybil-attack defense.


In the first 15–30 see after addition of 10 mM NH4+ to Escherichia coli cells, one observes a 20-fold increase in the concentration of glutamine, an approximate one-third reduction in the stationary concentration of glutamate, an approximate 90% decrease in the concentration of ATP and a decrease in the activity of glutamine synthetase to a few percent of the initial value. In the subsequent 30 see, glutamine synthetase remains inactive, glutamine concentration decreases, glutamate concentration increases 2 to 3-fold, and the ATP concentration rises slowly. The above-mentioned changes after addition of NH4+, together with previous observations on properties of purified glutamine synthetase and adenylyl transferase, make the following sequence of events probably: NH4+ enters the cells and is quickly incorporated into glutamate yielding glutamine, with a concomitant utilization of ATP. The accumulated glutamine stimulates the adenylyl transferase resulting in an inactivation of glutamine synthetase. Thus, 15 sec after addition of NH4+, further synthesis of glutamine is prevented. Consequently, glutamate concentration increases, glutamine concentration decreases, and ATP concentration increases. On the basis of these findings and conclusions, the following biological functions of NH4+ inactivation of glutamine synthetase are discussed: (a) prevention of a too high level of glutamine and (b) prevention of a sustained decrease in the ATP concentration which would be harmful to the cell.


For 31 years the ISSCC has served as the l ading forum for the presentation ofn ew ideas in solid-state circuits. To an unprecedented extent, the evolution of the semiconductor industry has been reported at these meetings. Indeed, the Conference has itself contributed significantly to the industry's growth, providing an annual opportunity for speakers, panelists and attendees to gather and exchange views. For over two decades, an integral part of the ISSCC has been its Outstanding Paper Awards. First presented in 1962, these awards serve to recognize and encourage the highest standards of both content and presentation. They are awarded annually of the basis of a survey of the Conference attendees, and since their inception a total of 71 papers have been honored. In this retrospective we have chosen, rather arbitrarily, to look briefly at some of the outstanding papers from the first decade of LSI, 1968 through 1977.


Copyright: © 2014 Sharma KR. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The Nobel Prize in Physics in the year 2010 was awarded to Profs. A.K. Geim and K. Novoselov for their research work on graphenes. Graphene has a two-dimensional lattice structure that is different from the 14 Bravais lattice structures instructed in the Materials Science courses. It has a honey-comb structure of benzene rings allowing for delocalization of electrons and unhindered electron transport. The graphene sheet is planar. Graphene possesses 200 times greater electron mobility compared with Silicon. In order to maintain the octet configuration, at a given juncture in time, some rows of benzene rings have three alternate single and double bonds, some rows have two double bonds and the rest single bonds in an alternating manner. I have authored a book "Graphene Nano materials", Momentum Press that is expected to be on the bookshelves in April 2014. Graphene market is expected to grow to a size of $ 675 million dollars by the year 2020 allowing for a scalable model of graphene fabrication. International standards are yet to be developed for graphene. The cost of production of graphene is ~ $60 per square inch on copper substrate. The cost of production needs to be reduced to less than ~ $1 per square inch in order for some applications to be profitable. Expectations are high for graphene to be used in solar cells and towards the sun shot initiative of the department of energy. There are three ways graphene can be used in optical devices.


[Objective] The aim was to research the genetic mechanism of barley male sterility,and provide the theoretical reference for breeding strong heterosis hybrid of barley. [Method] Fertility segregation phenomenon,morphological characteristics and main agronomic characters of male sterility character of 4 kinds of barley male sterility materials 2001-17,2001-37,2001-84 and 2001-116 and their derived lines were observed and researched. [Result] Barley male sterility existed genetic phenomenon of single dominant nuclear gene caused by environmental stimulation,its sterility controlled by MS,the sterile genotype was MSms. There was stable nucleo-cytoplasmic inheritance on barley male sterility which was controlled by cytoplasmic male sterile gene S and nuclear gene rr,and its genotype was S(rr),this male sterility belonged to CMS type sterility. Temperature had no effect on fertility. [Conclusion] There was stable nucleo-cytoplasmic inheritance on barley male sterility,this result played a positively promoting role in barley practical production.


Though widely used in modelling nano- and micro- structures, Eringen's differential model shows some inconsistencies and recent study has demonstrated its differences between the integral model, which then implies the necessity of using the latter model. In this paper, an analytical study is taken to analyze static bending of nonlocal Euler-Bernoulli beams using Eringen's two-phase local/nonlocal model. Firstly, a reduction method is proved rigorously, with which the integral equation in consideration can be reduced to a differential equation with mixed boundary value conditions. Then, the static bending problem is formulated and four types of boundary conditions with various loadings are considered. By solving the corresponding differential equations, exact solutions are obtained explicitly in all of the cases, especially for the paradoxical cantilever beam problem. Finally, asymptotic analysis of the exact solutions reveals clearly that, unlike the differential model, the integral model adopted herein h...


The experiments on silica extraction by membrane filters were carried out. Three types of membranes were tested. The first were ceramic membrane filters with diameters of pores 0.1-0.3 μm and average pores diameter 0.2 μm. The second type were filters with pores sizes in the range of ultrafiltration – 0.01-0.001 μm. The third was filter with reverse osmosis membrane with diameters of pores in the range 0.001-0.0001 μm. Addition of coagulant aluminium sulphate was used in the experiments with ceramic filters. Temperature of solution was varied from 20 to 90 C, mass rate of filtrate was from 5 to 720 liters per hour. Concentration of Al cation added with coagulant in the experiments with ceramic filters was from 2 to 10 mg/liter. Selectivity of membrane layers with respect to colloidal silica particles and molecules of orthosilicic acid was determined in the experiments. Concentrated solutions with SiO2 content about 27 g/liter were obtained by reverse osmosis filtration. Results of our work can be applied for developing of technology of silica extraction from hydrothermal heat carriers.


A granite-porphyry mass, one of a number of porphyries with complex relationships occurring in the pre-Cambrian of Great Bear Lake, is defined. A description is given of the various phases of the formation, its contact phenomena, its apophyses, its form and possible origin, and post-intrusive alterations of a pneumatolytic character. Associated formations are briefly described, and some of the interesting physical features of the region discussed.


Objective To investigate the evidence-based nursing in the operation for breast cancer patients psychological nursing application effect.Methods In our hospital from 2010 July to 2011 July were treated breast cancer operation in 40 cases,were randomly divided into treatment group and control group,20 cases in each group.Two groups of patients were given routine nursing care,the treatment group was based on giving the evidencebased nursing,observes two groups of patients before and after nursing psychological status,statistical results of clinical application.Results Nursing after treatment group 8 cases,5 cases of inferiority complex,psychological,drug resistance in 4 cases of fear,3 cases of other adverse psychological;the control group 13 cases,10 cases of inferiority complex psychological,drug resistance in 8 cases of fear,7 cases of other adverse psychological.Conclusion The evidence-based nursing in the operation for breast cancer patients' psychological nursing application effect,worthy of clinical application.


The Calaveras skull, first reported in 1866, represents the earliest purported fossil human discovery in California and one of the earliest in the New World. The specimen is in the possession of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. The validity of the original "Tertiary" age assignment was rejected by the first generation of professional American archaeologists early in the twentieth century. Radiocarbon analyses using both conventional decay counting and accelerator mass spectrometry indicate a late Holocene age for the Calaveras skull.


In response to the recommendations of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [9] and the increasing interest on the part of educators and scientists in the teaching of discrete mathematics in the schools, the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS) of Rutgers University held a conference on the subject on October 2-4, 1992. The volume under review grew out of that conference. The five-year delay is explained by the editors' decision to solicit expanded articles and additional contributions from people who have played leadership roles in introducing discrete math at precollege levels. The book is well worth the wait. The 34 articles are well written, carefully edited, and full of valuable ideas. The collection is divided into eight sections as follows:


A novel featuring Dr Kay Scarpetta, female Chief Medical Examiner. The electrocution of a murderer and the killing of a 13-year-old boy the same night seem unrelated, until Scarpetta recalls that the boy's body had been arranged in a strikingly similar position to that of the executed man's victim.


The social development view is an important part of Mao zedong Thought,and an importont part of the exploration period in constructig socialism with Chinese characteristics and building a harmonious society.The two have the same purport to carry out the most people's interests and come into power for people,which is the Party's strategy based on the foundation of people's interest.Development is the main theme of the time,and the requirement of the socialist essence,and also a pre- condition of building a harmonious society.Development is a red thread which penetrates Mao Zedong's Social Development view and the theory of building a Harmonious Society.Therefore,a thorough research with a deep understanding of Mao Zedong's social development view and the theory of building a harmonious society,becomes practical for us to build the socialism with Chinese characteristics and a harmonious society.


We have used the iterative spectral fitting method to measure both the elastic and anelastic splitting functions of 20 inner core sensitive normal modes. These modes show significant improvement in spectral fit when anelastic splitting function coefficients dst are introduced in addition to the elastic splitting function coefficients cst. We employ two separate anelastic treatments: (i) fully anelastic measurement, in which a complete set of anelastic splitting function coefficients is measured in addition to the elastic coefficients, and (ii) zonal anelastic measurement, in which anelasticity is only allowed in zonal splitting function coefficients. Together, these two approaches confirm that normal modes sensitive to the Earth's inner core resolve zonally dominant elastic and anelastic structures. The zonal dominance of anelasticity suggests that the inner core exhibit cylindrical attenuation anisotropy in addition to cylindrical velocity anisotropy. In particular, the zonally dominant anelasticity correlates with zonal elastic structure, that is, directions of higher velocity in the inner core also appear more attenuating.


Recently, constraints on the size of metrical domains receive much attention from phonologists. Proposals have been made regarding the minimal and maximal size of the syllable and the foot, as well as regarding the minimal size of the prosodic word. Here, we center on the maximal size of the prosodic word, as it occurs in Italian. Firstly, non phonetic facts will be presented which argue in favor of a prosodic word maximality constraint. Secondly, we focus on phonetic correlates of primary word stress and secondary word stress in Italian. Thirdly, duration measurements as well as the results of a pilot perception test will be presented. Although these tests sometimes give rise to highly diverging results, evidence is provided in support of a two-foot maximum on prosodic words.


Brand Image or can be called Brand Image is a perception of a brand Brand about the brand associated with brand associations that appear in the minds of consumers. One of the factors that can affect the brand image of  a company's product is quality. Quality related to product quality offered by manufacturers with a particular brand. The purpose of this study was to determine whether brand image and product quality variables significantly influence purchasing decisions of Rabbani members in the city of Jombang. This research uses quantitative research using descriptive statistics, validity test, reliability test, classic assumption test, partial and simultaneous hypothesis test, and coefficient of determination with the help of the IBM SPSS Statistics 20 program. The number of samples is 110 Rabbani members in Jombang. Data collection uses a non-probability sampling technique by means of purposive sampling. Data collection was carried out by distributing questionnaires. The results showed that (1) brand image has an effect on purchasing decisions (2) product quality has an effect on purchasing decisions (3) brand image and product quality has an influence on purchasing decisions.
Keywords: Brand Image, Buying Decision, Product Quality


The polyethyleneamines ethylenediamine (EDA) and diethylenetriamine (DETA) can be considered as promising CO2-capturing solvents, producible from renewable resources. In the present work, kinetics of CO2 reactions with EDA and DETA was investigated by using a stirred-cell reactor. The molarities of EDA and DETA in the aqueous solutions were varied from 0.1 to 0.4 and 0.1 to 0.5, correspondingly. The observed pseudo-first-order reaction rate constants were measured at 303, 308, and 313 K. The zwitterion and termolecular mechanisms were used to correlate the rate constants. DETA was found to have higher reactivity with CO2 than EDA. Second-order rate constants for the reactions with EDA and DETA were equal to 15770 and 21480 m3/(kmol s) at 303 K. The activation energy values for EDA and DETA were found to be 57.7 and 30.2 kJ/mol, respectively.


The rapid progress of motorized society has contributed to a continuous upswing in traffic demand and a resultant increase in the number of fatalities by traffic accidents. Chronic traffic jams and traffic pollution in Kanazawa, the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, are the city's grave problems in urgent need of improvement or solution. Kanazawa has an urban structure liable to traffic congestion, characterized by an old road structure--the remains of a castle town, narrow arterial roads running through its central part, and non-standard major intersections low in traffic processing capability. Under these circumstances, the Prefectural Police Headquarters (HQ) execute traffic and signal control, provide traffic information centered around a traffic control center, and enforce systematic and comprehensive traffic regulation in an attempt to secure safe, smooth road traffic in Kanazawa, within which expanding the traffic capacity by measures such as constructing new roads, etc., is difficult. On the other hand, HQ has taken measures early on for total traffic volume suppression and transportation demand management (TDM) in cooperation with Kanazawa City, and have produced a number of results including the introduction of reversible lanes. Another TDM measure, a full-scale "Park-and-Bus-Ride" system for the tourist season in May, is drawing nationwide attention, in addition to the "Park-and-Ride" system for rush hours. Both systems were implemented in 1992 and 1993, respectively, and confirmed the effectiveness of each system.


Effectiveness of community based worker implemented speech correction program for children with repaired cleft lip and palate in rural districts of Tamil Nadu 87 In India, as in several developing countries, the challenges in providing services specifically related to speech in individuals with CLP is impacted by various factors such as social, cultural, economic characteristics of the population seeking services, geographical distribution, and access to medical care (Raju, 2000). These challenges impact service delivery at hospitals predominantly due to failure of patients to followup (Raman et al., 2004). This is further compounded by non-availability of trained professionals across regions to deal with such cases. Thus speech disorders in individuals with cleft are ignored or not addressed. One strategy to overcome these issues is by developing and implementing alternate models of service delivery such as community based intervention, camp based intervention, tele intervention, etc. Across the globe different models of intervention (Sell et al., 2013) and outcomes of intervention delivered by professionals and non professionals (Bessell et al., 2013; Rai et al., 2013; Makarabhirom, Prathanee, Suphawatjariyakul,& Yodee (2015); Scherer et al., 2008; Andrea et al., 2007) have been reported. Involving community based rehabilitation workers in the implementation of health and education related projects have been widely reported across the world (Lagerkvist, 1992), (WHO-SEARO, 2013), (Bowers, Kuipers, & Dorsett, 2015), (Robertson, Emerson, Hatton, & Yasamy, 2012). In countries like Thailand (Makarabhirom, et al., 2015; Prathanee et al., 2010), Laos (Prathanee B, et al.,2011), Nepal (Rai et al., 2013) speech therapy for individuals with CLP have been delivered through assistants/health workers/nurses under the supervision of an SLP. In the Indian scenario, community based workers have been involved in implementation of services in the field of health (Raj & Thomas, 2015; Chatterjee, Pillai, Jain, Cohen, & Patel, 2009; Nagarajan, 1998; Vijayakumar, Datta, Karthika,Thulasiraj, & Nirmalan, 2003; Rao, Mukundan, & Kant, 1990; Ramkumar, Vanaja, Hall, Selvakumar, & Nagarajan, 2018). This is the first known attempt in India to implement a speech correction program for pressure consonants in individuals with CLP delivered by CBWs using a systematic training and evaluation.


Nanoindenter techniques have been used to determine the hardness. Young's modulus, and strain rate sensitivity of nanophase TiO_2, which is currently available only in very small quantities and which cannot be tested by most conventional techniques. Hardness and Young's modulus both increase linearly with sintering temperature over the range 25–900°C but come to within only 50–70% of the single crystal values. Strain rate sensitivity, on the other hand, is measurably greater for this material than for single crystal rutile, and the value of strain rate sensitivity increases as the grain size and the sintering temperature are decreased. In its as-compacted form, the strain rate sensitivity of nanophase TiO_2 is approximately a quarter that of lead at room temperature, indicating a potential for significant ductility in these ceramic materials. Finally, a significant scatter in hardness values has been detected within individual nanophase samples. This is interpreted as arising from microstructural inhomogeneity in these materials.


The Positron Accumulator Ring (PAR) consists of 8 dipole magnets connected in series. These magnets are energized via one 12-pulse dc power supply. The power supply consists of four phase controlled half-wave wye group converters. Each of the two half-wave converters are connected through an interphase transformer to obtain a full-wave converter with 120{degrees} conduction. The input voltage for these two half-wave converters are 180{degrees} apart. The two full-wave converters are connected in parallel through a third interphase transformer. This type of connection of the converters not only provides the required output current, it also improves the input power factor of the power supply. The output of the wye group converters is filtered through a passive L-R-C filter to reduce the ripple content of the output current. At low current values of the power supply the current ripple is high, thus a large filter is needed, which adds to the cost of the power supply, however at high output current levels, the current ripple is less severe. The large size of the filter can be reduced by adding an anti-parallel rectifier diode(D1) to the output of the power supply. A freewheeling diode(D2) is connected before the choke to circulate themore » current once the power supply is turned off. In order to measure the current in the magnet a high precision, low drift, zero flux current transductor is used. This transductor senses the magnet current which provides a feedback signal to control the gating of the converter`s thyristors. A true 14 bit Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) is programmed by the control computer for the required current value, providing a reference for the current regulator. Fast correction of the line transients is provided by a relatively fast voltage loop controlled by a high gain slow response current loop.« less


In order to analyze and forecast the air force flight safety situation scientifically,nonlinear forecasting model and method based on least squares support vector machines(LS-SVM) are used to study the indicator of 10000-hour-flight accident-rate which is one of the important indicators of air force flight safety situation,and analysis the parameter choosing.The simulation result shows that the forecasting method is feasible and has good consistency with reality.


In humans, there are two P-glycoprotein (P-gp) transporters encoded by MDR1 (PGY1) and MDR3 (also named MDR2 and PGY3) adjacently located at the chromosomal region 7q21 [1][2]. The encoded gene pro...


The development, testing, and uses of an edge monitor for monitoring the characteristics of thin metallic films used in the fabrication of hybrid microcircuits are described. The data obtained on this quality control equipment demonstrated improved techniques for monitoring thin film characteristics for reliable hybrid microcircuit fabrication. This was accomplished through the design of a specialized circuit, an integral part of the product substrate to be tested that enhances the effects of degradation mechanisms, both mechanically and electrically. Correlation of mechanical and/or physical characteristcs with electrical data was demonstrated. When coupled with a minicomputer test set with controlling and data retention capabilities, the system offers a useful tool for production process monitoring, diagnostic evaluation, or developmental efforts. (LCL)


Background : People with type 2 diabetes (T2D) have a high risk of developing serious and debilitating illnesses. T2D is common, with a prevalence of approximately 7% of the population in the United Kingdom. The quality of T2D care is inconsistent across the United Kingdom, and Greater Manchester (GM) does not currently achieve the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence treatment targets. Barriers to delivery of care include low attendance and poor engagement with local T2D interventions, which tend to consist of programs of education delivered in traditional, face-to-face clinical settings. Thus, a flexible approach to T2D management that is accessible to people from different backgrounds and communities is needed. Diabetes My Way ( DMW ) is a digital platform that offers a comprehensive self-management and educational program that should be accessible to a wide range of people through mobile apps and websites. Building on evidence generated by a Scotland-wide pilot study, DMW is being rolled out and tested across GM. Objective : The overarching objectives are to assess whether DMW improves outcomes for patients with T2D in the GM area, to explore the acceptability of the DMW intervention to stakeholders, and to assess the cost-effectiveness of the intervention. Methods : A mixed methods approach will be used. We will take a census approach to recruitment in that all eligible participants in GM will be invited to participate. The primary outcomes will be intervention-related changes compared with changes observed in a matched group of controls, and the secondary outcomes will be within-person intervention-related changes. The cost-effectiveness analysis will focus on obtaining reliable estimates of how each intervention affects risk factors such as HbA 1c and costs across population groups. Qualitative data will be collected via semistructured interviews and focus groups and organized using template analysis. Results : As of May 10, 2021, a total of 316 participants have been recruited for the quantitative study and have successfully enrolled. A total of 278 participants attempted to register but did not have appropriate permissions set by the general practitioners to gain access to their data. In total, 10 participants have been recruited for the qualitative study (7 practitioners and 3 patients). An extension complete by June 2022. Recruitment and analysis for the qualitative study should be complete by December 2021. Conclusions : There is a clear need to improve patients' ability to self-manage T2D, and the DMW electronic platform offers an accessible alternative to the current, mostly unsuccessful method of traditional classroom-style education. DMW has been proven popular with patients and practitioners in Scotland; however, uptake is low, with disproportionately lower use in older populations, lower socioeconomic groups, and minority ethnic groups and risks perpetuating or augmenting health inequalities. Exploring issues around the acceptability of the implementation of DMW in GM with both patients and practitioners could offer important insights into possible reasons for the lack of engagement and uptake in certain populations. The findings from this study can be used both to further develop and enhance the DMW system and improve accessibility and usability in more deprived populations generally, thus improving equity in access to support for T2D self-management.