Pyrolysis experiments were performed in high vacuum and under reduced air pressure (100 Pa). The volatile products of pure cellulose and cellulose containing various amounts of flame retardant 2,2′-oxybis (5,5-dimethyl-1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinane-2,2′-disulfide), i.e., Sandoflam 5060 of Sandoz AG, were studied by means of gas chromatography in combination with mass spectroscopy. The volatile products were characterized with infrared spectroscopy. The studied revealed that the incorporation of the flame retardant enhanced the water release and shifted the onset of this reaction to lower temperature. On the basis of these findings an explanation for the mechanism of flame retardancy in generated cellulose fibers modified with this particular flame retardant is attempted. From experiments with different residual air pressure the influence of oxygen on the primary processes of the pyrolytic degradation of cellulose is being discussed.


In a modem integrated industrial complex, electricity is the prime source of power. Therefore, unscheduled interruptions of the flow of electricity will result in serious economic loss. One way to lessen the impact of an abnormal condition on the electrical system is to maintain the electrical protective devices so that the protection designed into the system will always be available. A modem cement plant learned that many of its electrical protective devices were malfunctioning after several years of operation with a maintenance program that excluded electrical operation of protective devices. Basic principles of operation, reasons for maintenance, and maintenance techniques for electrical protective devices are presented.


In this paper,we discuss the design and implementaion of spatial data integrated management system with the support of ArcGIS 9,ArcSDE and Oracle9i.In this system,the integrated and effective management on spatial data of different kinds and multi-scales including vector,grid and DEM is realized by using advanced data storage management technology.Furthermore,system architecture,spatial data storage scheme,key technologies and main functions are also discussed in detail.


Financial globalisation has advanced notably in recent decades. In principle, greater integration should raise the degree of economic efficiency. However, the empirical evidence suggests that, for this to occur, countries should have well-designed economic institutions and sufficiently developed local financial markets. Moreover, these flows may jeopardise financial stability in certain circumstances, whereby the economic authorities need to draw on criteria and instruments to withstand such situations. These tools should be used as part of a broader programme of measures that includes the macro and microeconomic adjustments required. Furthermore, international cooperation emerges as a necessary complement to globalisation.


ABSTRACT Water-energy nexus plays a crucial role in addressing the issue of water wasting as well as planning, developing, and optimization of the agricultural product irrigation demands. The objective of this paper is to improve the water and energy use in value crops irrigated by center pivot systems under conventional irrigation planning in southern Algeria. This study is based on the field evaluation of the real water and electrical energy consumption, in two types of center pivot systems, large pivots and traditional Mini-Center Pivot Systems in two different areas (Ouargla and El Oued). Over two years, irrigation campaigns on six pivots systems with six different crops were analyzed to evaluate and characterize their water and electrical energy use. The CROPWAT model was used to determine the crop water requirements and compared with the water volumes currently applied by conventional irrigation planning. The results showed that there was over-consumption of water followed by high electrical energy use due to the poor planning of irrigation, which was generally excessive. In addition, the amount of water applied by conventional irrigation planning and that estimated by CROPWAT do not coincide during the most stages of crop growth. Closer inspection of the results shows that the irrigation water use efficiency for different crops was low and ranged between 0.25 and 3.27 kg/m3 due to the Over-irrigation. Furthermore, the modern pivots presented the most efficient equipment in terms of Energy Use Indicators with 1.1 kW ha−1 while the average of the traditional mini pivots was four times more (4.15 kWh−1). No significant difference was evident between the present specific consumption Es (in the average of 0.274 kWh m−3) and those reported in the literature due to high power installed in the pumping station for Mini-Center Pivot Systems. Therefore, the study findings are expected to draw the attention of decision-makers to the extent of wasting water and energy. Also, these findings reveal the harmful effects of farmers' incorrect irrigation practices and motivate them to take strong measures toward sustainable agriculture. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Multiferroic BiFeO3-CoFe2O4 (BFO-CFO) double-layer thin film has been deposited on platinized silicon substrate by pulsed-laser deposition. The BFO and CFO thin layers are deposited at 450 and 600 degC respectively. The diffraction peaks from spinel CoFe2O4 phases can be observed from the x-ray diffraction patterns of the double-layer BFO-CFO films. Dielectric constant and loss of the BFO-CFO films are of around 60 and 0.06 respectively, changing little with increasing the frequency. The leakege current density is about 10-6 A/cm2 under the field of 100 kV/cm. BFO-CFO thin films exhibit good ferromagnetic properties with the saturation magnetization of 120 emu/cm3 .


Hot compression tests at different deformation temperatures and with different amount of deformation at 700℃ are carried out to study the microstructure evolution of medium carbon steel 35K.The results show that deformation induced ferrite(DIF) can be obtained through suitable deformation for medium carbon steel as deformation raises the transformation temperature from austenite to ferrite. The curve of the volume fraction of DIF via deformation temperatures looks like a mirror shape of S, that is to say, with the decreasing of deformation temperature, the volume fraction of DIF increases slowly firstly and then quickly, when the volume fraction of DIF exceeds the equilibrium content, its increasing will slow down.The curve for the volume fraction of DIF via different amount of deformation at 700℃ looks like a S shape. A rather good spheroidized microstructure can be obtained after controlled cooling when deformed at 700℃ for e=0.7.The decomposition of untransformed austenite during controlled cooling differs from that of conventional non-deformed austenite according to the sizes of untransformed austenite, deformation stored energy, the degree of carbon concentration, the fluctuation of energy or component which are influenced by the deformation temperature and the amount of deformation strain. Therefore, degenerated pearlite and/or spherical or rod-like cementite can be obtained after controlled rolling and controlled cooling.


A key objective for improving titanium tanning power is increasing titanium solution stability. This is done by adjusting both the states and behaviors of the Ti(IV) species in aqueous solution to enable titanium tanning can be carried out at a suitable (high) pH. The influence of 35 organic ligands, including mono and multiple carboxylates, amino-ligands and hydroxylcarboxylates, on the stability and tanning power of titanium sulfate liquors were investigated. Results show that only some hydroxylcarboxylates, such as lactate, tartrate, citrate, sulfosalicylate, etc., can effectively improve titanium sulfate solution stability. Only these ligands form stable chelate-type coordination compounds with Ti 4+ , as shown by potentiometic titration, FTIR spectroscopy and elemental analysis of the coordination complexes. Among these hydroxylcarboxylates, the lactate masked titanium sulfate system at 0.40-0.50:1 mole ratio of lactate to Ti 4+ has the best tanning power. Lactate has a relatively small molecular volume as well as a moderately high formation constant with Ti 4+ . Leather tanned by a lactate masked titanium sulfate liquor had the highest titanium content, the best titanium distribution uniformity, a shrinkage temperature, T s , of 97°C with pleasing softness.


Summary Indomethacin inhibited the appearance of the local Shwartzman reaction in rabbits, when given before both the preparatory and the eliciting injections; treated animals at 24 hr had only 8% of the reaction that control animals had. In contrast, when indomethacin was not given until 1 hr before the eliciting injection, the reaction was hindered only slightly; the mean score at 24 hr was 76% of that for controls. Histologic studies have shown that in the presence of indomethacin even more leukocytes appear at the site of endotoxin injection than in control rabbits. These results can be interpreted as indicating that although indomethacin does not prevent leukocytes from gathering at the site of inflammation, it prevents their disruption and release of enzymes when the second (eliciting) injection of endotoxin is given.


ABSTRACT Objective: to identify stimuli that interfere with the adaptation of long-lived elders at home after hospitalization in the intensive care unit and hospital discharge. Method: a descriptive study with a qualitative approach, conducted with elderly individuals who were hospitalized in the intensive care unit and were already at home after hospital discharge. Data collection took place through open interviews and was performed at the intensive care unit of the hospital and at the home of the elderly. Home visits took place between December 2017 and February 2018, and were conducted in seven cities. Bardin's content analysis was used, and the discussion was based on Callista Roy's Adaptation Theory. Ethical and legal cares were strictly respected. Results: eleven long-lived elders, aged between 80 and 94 years old, took part in the study. Two categories emerged from the participants' testimonies: Stimuli that contribute to adaptive behavioral responses in the long-lived elders and Stimuli that negatively affect the adaptation of the long-lived elders. Conclusion: the main stimuli that contributed to the adaptive behavior of the long-lived elders were the return to their homes, family support and the social support network. In contrast, the stimuli that negatively affected adaptation were fear, lack of information and difficulties in continuing the care. The critical role of the health professionals in the intensive care unit and the hospital unit in preparing longevity the long-lived elders their families for hospital discharge and home return is highlighted.


A 71-year-old male with asymptomatic iron deficiency anaemia underwent elective endoscopy. Colonoscopy revealed sigmoid diverticulosis and an unusual appearing, 'pouting' appendicular orifice with normal overlying mucosa (Fig. 1). Histology results demonstrated a Tang B, signet ring cell type, adenocarcinoma ex goblet cell carcinoid (GCC). Computed tomography demonstrated a normal appearing appendix without hepatic or pulmonary lesions. Repeat biopsies were performed for confirmation due to disease rarity and a normal looking appendix. Following multidisciplinary team discussion, a right hemicolectomy was performed with oncological margins. Final histology showed involvement of the entire appendix with perineural and lymphovascular invasion with extension into the mesoappendix. Macroscopically normal tissue from the cecum at the base of appendix was infiltrated and mesocolic lymph node metastases were present (pT4aN1M0R0). Post-operatively, he was commenced on adjuvant Oxaliplatin and Fluorouracil. He will undergo 6 monthly clinical examination and computed tomography. Goblet cell appendiceal carcinomas are also called mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinomas as they contain both epithelial and neuroendocrine cells. Incidence is 3–5% of primary appendicular tumours. The expression of markers including CK20, CDX-2, CD56 assists diagnosis. Tissue may stain for chromogranin or synaptophysin. Five-year mean survival varies from 15–60% in the absence of metastatic disease. Tang developed a classification with three histological subtypes. Adenocarcinoma ex-goblet cell carcinoid frequently exhibits aggressive behaviour with peritoneal/intra-abdominal dissemination. Presentation with stage III/IV disease with spread to right colon, peritoneal surfaces and ovary occurs in 51–97%. The choice of surgical procedure (appendicectomy versus hemicolectomy) is dependent upon histology and disease extent. Median age of diagnosis is the fifth decade of life. Presentations include: acute appendicitis (approximately 23%), non-localized abdominal pain (5%) and appendicular mass (3%). Up to 5% are asymptomatic. In our case, a high degree of clinical suspicion on the part of the endoscopist resulted in timely diagnosis and treatment of this patient.


THIS WORK WANTS TO SHOW THE IMPROVISATIVE DEVELOPMENT ON MUSICIANS FORMED ON SYSTEMATIC AND NON-SISTEMATIC WAYS, WITH TRADITIONAL METHODOLOGY FOCUSED ON LECTURE AND INTERPRETATIVE SUBJECTS, AND NOT BEING TAUGHT HOW TO ANALYZE, CREATIVITY OR HOW TO IMPROVISE, IT ALSO SUGGESTS TO SHOW CONCEPTUAL, PROCEDIMENTAL AND METHODOLOGICAL DESIGN AND METHODOLOGICAL DESIGN AND HOW NOWADAYS IT IS TAUGHT, TAKING AS A START THE CONCEPTIONS.


Accurate segmentation of pancreatic venous vessels (PVV) is of great significance for clinical pancreatic cancer radiotherapy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide qualitative assessment of PVV through visualization. Therefore, there is a strong need for an automated segmentation method that can be directly applied to the segmentation of PVV in MR images. In this paper, we develop a deep learning based method with distance and contour regularized level set evolution (DCRLSE) model refinement for automatic detection and segmentation of PVV. The proposed method consists of two main steps: (1) venous vessel localization and segmentation using a dual convolutional neural network (DualCNN) (2) refinement of the initial segmentation with DLRSE model. As PBV is very challenging to segment due to the high inter-patient anatomical variability in both shape and size, the learned weights from other cases are utilized and finetuned to be applied on new cases to obtain consistent and accurate segmentation results. The proposed method was evaluated on 40 MRI scans from a clinical thoracic-abdomen dynamic MRI dataset. Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), sensitivity, specificity, and modified Hausdorff distance (MHD) were calculated to evaluate the segmentation performance of the proposed method. An average sensitivity: 87.60%, specificity: 99.60%, DSC: 86.3%, and MHD: 0.0991mm were obtained. Comparison with other state-of-the-art segmentation methods demonstrate that the proposed method can provide more accurate and consistent segmentation results of PVV in MR images.


In the first chapter of this thesis is discussed legislation extraordinary remedies. As regards the theoretical part, we define the key concepts of administrative law and its subject matter. Equally important was to remember the principles that govern the administrative procedure and we also draw attention to the conditions under which it is permissible to use extraordinary remedies. The second chapter is dedicated to the specific concept of a retrial, and the conditions that must be satisfied that it was permissible use of a retrial as an extraordinary remedy in the process. In the third chapter, we elaborate the issue of reviewing administrative decisions beyond appeal, and analyzed the occurrence of extraordinary legal remedies against decisions made by various authorities in the Slovak Republic.


OBJECTIVE
Never in Mitosis (NIMA) Related Kinase 2 (Nek2) is a serine/threonine-protein kinase encoded by the NEK2 gene and is an essential enzyme in cell cycle progression. In this study, we investigated NEK2 expression profile, its independent prognostic value in terms of recurrence-free survival (RFS)/overall survival (OS), and the potential mechanisms of its dysregulation in melanoma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A retrospective study was conducted using data from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets and the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM).

RESULTS
NEK2 was significantly upregulated in melanoma tissues. NEK2 upregulation independently predicted poor OS (HR: 1.500, 95% CI: 1.092-2.059, p = 0.012) and RFS (HR: 2.213, 95% CI: 1.298-3.772, p = 0.004). NEK2 DNA amplification was common in melanoma (192/366, 52.5%), which was associated with significantly elevated NEK2 expression. NEK2 expression was weakly and negatively correlated with its DNA methylation (Pearson's r = -0.29). Loss of p53 was associated with increased NEK2 expression.

CONCLUSIONS
Based on findings above, we infer that NEK2 expression independently predicts poor survival of melanoma. Its dysregulation might be related to DNA amplification/methylation and TP53 mutation.


The possible masking of responsive adjustments in hemoglobin isomorph abundances was examined in rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri. Comparison of untreated animals with specimens recovering from anemia induced by phenylhydrazine hydrochloride at 14 °C under normoxic circumstances revealed significant differences in the relative abundances of 8 of 12 isomorphs representing over half of the total hemoglobin complement. Comparisons with trout similarly treated after normoxic acclimation to 20 °C led to very similar findings. Observed differences do not appear to be attributable to direct phenylhydrazine effects on globin gene expression or to acute anemic hypoxia. It is suggested that prior induction of anemia may provide a means for improving detection of changes in hemoglobin isomorph complement during respiratory response to environmental change.


Microchemical analyses of fish otoliths have revolutionized fisheries science. Molecules deposited within otoliths may originate from ambient water and diet, with molecular concentrations being subject to subsequent physiological alteration after exposure. Analyses of otolith microstructure and incorporation of inorganic elements have led to major advances in stock assessment and fisheries ecology. However, the use of otoliths for microchemical analyses has drawbacks. Specifically, otolith removal from live specimens requires specimen sacrifice, which may be forbidden in the case of protected species. In addition, otoliths rarely contain sufficient concentrations of organic matter to allow reconstruction of food‐web relationships via multiple stable isotopes, and otolith microstructure can be difficult to interpret in some species. Here, we review alternatives to otoliths that can provide microchemical analytes for life‐history studies in fishes. Our focus is to describe advantages and disadvantages to the use of each alternative structure, with particular attention paid to trace‐element analysis for inorganic matrices and stable‐isotope analysis for organic ones. In general, the chronological analysis of elemental and isotopic values within each structure depends on the inert nature (or lack of molecular turnover) of the tissue. Structures with high turnover rates or those that are metabolically active will not effectively record elemental or isotopic compositions over time. Here, we provide an assessment of the use of bony endoskeleton, fin spines, fin rays, scales, and eye lenses as alternatives or complements to fish otolith analysis.


The current chapter deals with the use of Facebook as a social network for learning. Collaborative learning, metacognition and reflectivity are theoretically discussed and assessed in the current Facebook learning environment, as essential skills of the 21st century. The case study presented examines the relationship between attitudes and achievements of high school students learning an English play in the Facebook closed-group environment. Its findings reveal a significant improvement in students' attitudes at the end of the sessions. However, these were not found to correlate with students' final achievements. In addition, low achieving students preferred to study collaboratively, as they did in the Facebook closed group, more than higher achieving students. These findings may indicate the contribution of other factors to achievement in addition to positive attitudes and satisfaction in the Facebook learning environment. A metacognitive analysis of the students' written responses supports and expands the findings of this study.


One of the most controversial and discussed issues related to the development of the hydrocarbon raw material base in recent years is the issue of exploring the possibilities of involvement in industrial development accumulations associated with high-carbon shale complexes that are widespread in Russia. Interest therein is supported by the system of benefits provided by the Government for low-permeability reservoirs and special preferential conditions for geological exploration provided to subsurface users in recent years. An important effect was also achieved by developing a methodology for reserves assessment and placing on the state balance a whole series of fields with oil deposits in the Domanik formation of the Volga-Ural oil and gas province (OGP). Simultaneously, the assessment of the potential of high-carbon formations in the Russian Federation mainly continues to be the subject of scientific research without an applied component, due to its inapplicability for selecting both the most significant areas for exploration and the possibilities of using it to justify investments. Here, the uncertainty is related to the estimation of possible production levels with an unclear correlation between development technologies, filtration and reservoir properties, and the potential of high-carbon strata. This study discusses two approaches that allow assessment of the potential of the main high-carbon strata distributed in Russia.


Starting with the 4.5 kV fast switching thyristor 5SPYY 4500L from ABB Semiconductor [1] a novel highly compact multichip device has been developed in collaboration between ISL and ABB Switzerland. This device consists of three switching wafers and one diode wafer stacked in series and assembled in one housing. The blocking capability of the multichip thyristor is 13.5 kV and the maximum pulsed current is higher than 120 kA. A detailed electrical characterisation of the device will be given in the paper. Based on this multichip device a pulsed power supply unit has been designed in a very compact manner. This unit consists of a high energy density 50 kJ-capacitor, the novel multichip thyristor as a closing switch, a multichip diode as a crowbar switch and a coaxial cable serving as a connector to the load. Due to the application of multichip devices and due to a very sophisticated design the size of the realized pulsed power supply is much smaller than that of similar units known today [2]. The electrical behaviour of this ultra compact pulsed power supply module with its extremely reduced overall height will be presented. Finally some applications for the multichip switches and the complete pulsed power supply unit will be discussed.


[Objective]To investigate attitude medical university students hold towards HIV/AIDS of family members and friends,providing scientific basis for AIDS prevention.[Methods]A number of students,from sophomores to seniors of a certain college's public health school in Guangzhou city,were selected through stratified cluster sampling. Access and SPSS 10.0 were applied to construct database and analysis.[Results]When friends or family members were infected with HIV/AIDS,The receptivity rate was 96.2% and 74.7% respectively,there was significant difference between the two groups(P﹤0.05). But refer to leucocythemia,hepatitis and AIDS,the receptivity rate of leucocythemia was the highest,and the rate of AIDS was the lowest not only in family members but also in friends. The rate regarding these three diseases were 99.6 %,96.9%,96.2% in family members and 98.5%,84.3%,74.7% in friends respectively.[Conclusion]University students had discriminative attitude on HIV/AIDS. Family members have important role in supporting people with HIV/AIDS.


The characteristics of the clones used in the cassava cultivation vary in according to the commercial aptitude of the culture, for industrial processing or "in nature" human consumption. The present research aimed to identify new cassava clones obtained by polycross in the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) in 1998 regarding those aptitudes. For such, an attempt was made to identify clones with molecular patterns similar to the patterns presented by the commercial clones. The methodology used for the DNA extraction and the obtaining the band patterns was the same recommended for the of Microsatellite molecular marker technique. The molecular characterization of the cassava clones of the UFLA accession and commercial clones already established presented a distribution similarity concentrated in two large groups. One group is composed by commercial "in nature" human consumption clones Baiana, Casca-roxa and IAC 576-70, and the UFLA 7, UFLA E, UFLA 22 and UFLA 55 accesses. The other group is composed by commercial industrial processing clones, FIBRA, IAC 12, IAC 13, IAC 14 e IAC 15, and the UFLA 20, UFLA 33, UFLA 36 and UFLA 64 accesses. The commercial cultivar Ouro-do-vale and the clones UFLA 38 and UFLA 69 not framed in any group, either "in nature" human consumption or industrial processing, while the clone Pão-daChina ("in nature" human consumption) was grouped together with clones for the industrial processing. So, the use of primers was appropriate to group the clones for the "in nature" human consumption, but not for industry. Molecular markers of the type Microsatellites, using 13 primers for amplification, became possible to characterize 100 cassava clones, namely, 77 obtained by polycrossing in the year of 1998 in the Federal University of Lavras and 23 cultivars already in use by farmers. The obtaining of the genetic material from DNA extraction was done from leaves of cassava clones of the UFLA collection of accessions. The results point out that primer 13 presented higher amplification of alleles. However, primers 7 and 11 did not amplify alleles for none of the clones and bands. The dendrograms generated on the basis on the amplified alleles demonstrated the existence of groups of genetically similar clones and some inferences are done on the basis of the identification. Keyword: Manihot esculenta. Microsatellite markers. Genetic similarity.


The 3′X domain is a 98-nt region located at the 3′ end of hepatitis C virus genomic RNA that plays essential functions in the viral life cycle. It contains an absolutely conserved, 16-base palindromic sequence that promotes viral RNA dimerization, overlapped with a 7-nt tract implicated in a distal contact with a nearby functional sequence. Using small angle X-ray scattering measurements combined with model building guided by NMR spectroscopy, we have studied the stoichiometry, structure, and flexibility of domain 3′X and two smaller subdomain sequences as a function of ionic strength, and obtained a three-dimensional view of the full-length domain in its monomeric and dimeric states. In the monomeric form, the 3′X domain adopted an elongated conformation containing two SL1′ and SL2′ double-helical stems stabilized by coaxial stacking. This structure was significantly less flexible than that of isolated subdomain SL2′ monomers. At higher ionic strength, the 3′X scattering envelope nearly doubled its size, reflecting the formation of extended homodimers containing an antiparallel SL2′ duplex flanked by coaxially stacked SL1′ helices. Formation of these dimers could initialize and/or regulate the packaging of viral RNA genomes into virions.


This article deals with the linking of examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEF). It describes the political and educational context of this work and presents the main procedures proposed in the manual: It presents four inter-related sets of procedures that users are advised to follow in order to design a linking scheme in terms of self-contained, manageable activities: familiarisation, specification, standardisation and empirical validation. In this article relating examinations to the CEF are seen as a process of "building an argument" based on a theoretical rationale. (DIPF/paul)


Background: Antiepileptic drugs are increasingly used in the treatment of pain syndromes. This study evaluates efficacy and safety of lamotrigine in comparison with carbamazepine (CBZ) in trigeminal neuralgia (TN) patients. Methods: A total of 50 previously and newly diagnosed patients of TN were administered with lamotrigine (LTG) in comparison to CBZ. The final titration in dose for LTG was 400 mg/day and 1200 mg/day for CBZ. Clinical assessment (pain relief) was done before and after 15, 30, and 60 days of drug administration by visual analog scale and verbal rating scale. Side effects were recorded during study in both groups. Results: Of 25 patients in Group I who received CBZ, 16 patients (64%) experienced complete pain relief, while in Group II (LTG), 21 patients experienced complete pain relief. LTG was generally well tolerated except one patient was withdrawn due to skin rashes. CBZ was associated with mild hematological and central nervous system side effects. Conclusion: LTG is as effective and safe treatment for the management of TN as compared to CBZ.


The utility model discloses a ladder for sweeping and replacing an overhead line insulator. The ladder comprises two support rods, a first connecting rod, a second connecting rod, a bearing net, a first hook and two second hooks, wherein the first connecting rod is fixed between one ends of the two support rods; the second connecting rod is fixed between the other ends of the two support rods; the bearing net is fixed in a planar quadrilateral framework formed by the two support rods, the first connecting rod and the second connecting rod; a connecting part of the first hook part is connected with the middle part of the first connecting rod; the connecting parts of the two second hooks are respectively correspondingly connected with the ends, close to the second connecting rod, of the two support rods. According to the ladder for sweeping and replacing the overhead line insulator, the occurrence of accidents that workers fall from high places is effectively reduced, the personal safety protection of the workers is improved, and casualties are avoided, and therefore, the ladder is very safe.


Since the implementation of the new rural cooperative medical system in Urumqi county. It has achieved some success and most of farmers are quite satisfactory. But it still exists funding difficult, farmers who are lack of consciousness of rational consumption, reimbursement program trival, and lacking the ability to agency organization, backward management means, the hinder factors of poor basic conditions of certified medical institution, and so on. For this proposed the countermeasure: the pluralistic financing, to intensify propaganda, to improve the system design, to strengthen the construction of ability of agency organization, to speed up the pace of network information technology, and increase government public financial inputs.


Oxidation of E/Z-mixtures of enol ethers of type (I), prepared by Wittig reaction, with singlet oxygen offers a convenient synthesis of α-substituted acrylic esters.


This paper considers the possibility of controlling an artificial upper extremity by a special-purpose computer, where the points that the extremity should reach are given in advance.


With the development of cloud computing, the sensitive information of outsourced data is at risk of unauthorized accesses. To protect data privacy, the sensitive data should be encrypted by the data owner before outsourcing, which makes the traditional and efficient plaintext keyword search technique useless. Hence, it is an especially important thing to explore secure encrypted cloud data search service. In this paper, we propose a practically efficient and flexible searchable encrypted scheme which supports multi-keyword ranked search. To support multi-keyword search and result relevance ranking, we adopt Vector Space Model (VSM) to build the searchable index to achieve accurate search result. To improve search efficiency, we design a tree-based index structure. We propose a secure search scheme to meet the privacy requirements in the threat model. Finally, experiments on real-world dataset show that our scheme is efficient.


A comparison of murine monoclonal IgG subclass antisera with rabbit polyclonal IgG subclass antisera restriction of the monoclonal antisera and further antigenic heterogeneity within the IgG subclasses of at least two antigenic variants of IgG1, two of IgG2, two of IgG3 and a third subtype of IgG4.


Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with an embedded atom method (EAM) potential are carried out to analyze the deformation mechanisms and the size and strain rate effects in the tensile deformation of single-crystal Cu nanowires. The cross-sections of the wires are squares with dimensions between 5 and 20 lattice constants (or 1.8 to 7.2 nm). Deformations under constant strain rates between 1.67◊10 5 s -1 and 1.67◊10 10 s -1 are analyzed. The analysis focuses on the variation of deformation mechanisms with specimen size and strain rate. It is observed that in small wires stacking faults are formed along alternating (111) planes through the motion of a single dislocation, while the formation of networks of stacking faults, local HCP structure, and twins through nucleation and motion of multiple dislocations are primarily responsible for the progression of plastic deformation in larger wires. As strain rate is increased, dislocation speed increases to accommodate the plastic deformation. However, when the dislocation speed approaches the shear wave speed of the material, a transition of deformation mechanism from sequential propagation of stacking faults through dislocation motion to amorphization is observed. The influences of specimen size and strain rate on the behavior are also discussed.


Wittig olefination of 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde with allylidenetriphenylphosphorane afforded trans-1-(buta-1,3-dien-1-yl)-2-naphthol in good yield. Subsequent O-acylation with acryloyl chloride provided the corresponding acrylate ester. Attempts to effect cyclisation of the latter by ring-closing metathesis with Grubbs' 2nd generation catalyst failed to provide 5H-naphth[2,1-b]oxocin-5-one and instead induced a novel cross-metathesis reaction to generate trans,trans,trans-1,6-bis(2-acryloyloxynaphthalen-1-yl)hexa-1,3,5-triene, the structure of which was established by 1H NMR spectroscopy and by X-ray crystallography.


Financing Agreement (Additional Financing for the Emergency Urban and Social Rehabilitation Project) between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the International Development Association (with schedules, appendix and International Development Association General Conditions for Credits and Grants, dated 1 July 2005, as amended through 15 October 2006). Kinshasa, 2 February 2011


− In order to investigate the behavior of limestones which have been usually used for in-situ desulfurization reaction in circulating fluidized bed combustors, the attrition characteristics and calcination reactions of domestic limestones were analyzed in this study by using a thermogravimetric analyzer and an ASTM D5757-95 attrition tester. The average size distribution of limestones in circulating fluidized bed boilers have to be changed due to the attrition of particle-particle and particle-reactor wall and the calcination reaction. Domestic limestones might be used in commercial circulating fluidized bed boilers, but the attrition behaviors and particle size changes of limestones were varied. In calcination experiments at 850 o C, the calcination reaction were varied with limestone samples. The calcination reaction time increased with an increase of particle size. Also, fine particles generated the attrition test of calcined limestone was 20% higher than those generated the attrition test of original limestone.


Purpose – The purpose of this study was to test a method of teaching information literacy, using the Toulmin method of argumentation, to aid students in developing topics, evaluating sources and creating stronger arguments that avoided "myside" or confirmation bias. Design/methodology/approach – The Toulmin method of argument analysis was tested in two related studies. A quasi-experimental comparison study in six sections of English composition courses was implemented at a small liberal arts college. A traditional one-shot session was compared to a flipped class, incorporating Toulmin argumentation. A Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (SAILS) test was administered and research papers analyzed using a rubric. A modified version of the Toulmin method, using images, was implemented in a two-unit information literacy course at a state university. Pretest and posttest information literacy test scores and research papers were analyzed. Findings – The first study showed that the experimental...


Objective: Through the systematic collection of ancient and modern drugs in treatment of ulcerative colitis to summarize the ancient and modern used effective drugs and analysis of medicine laws including compare drug trends between ancient and modern medicine.Method: The ancient and modern prescriptions were collected and SPSS 11.5 statistics software was applied to establish a database,so as to summarize medicine laws depending on correlation analysis,frequency analysis and cluster analysis as well as difference between ancient and modern medicine made by student t test.Result: A total of 461 the ancient prescription and 286 the modern prescription collected.Licorice,angelica,ginger,wood,poria et al of ancient high-frequency medicine and licorice,woody,poria,dried tangerine peel,Magnolia et al of modern high-frequency were showed by frequency analysis.The significant positive correlation between the medicine were showed by correlation analysis.UC prescription medicine compatibility relations were further pointed out by cluster analysis.A significant difference between ancient and modern UC drug trends was showed by student t tests.Conclusion: The ancient prescriptions are applied to supplement Qi and blood,invigorate spleen and stomach deduced by the statistical data.While,the modern prescriptions are applied to replenish lung and spleen Qi,clear heat and remove dampness detoxification,promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis,harmony Qi and purge stagnation,spleen and stomach,invigorate spleen and stomach.There was significant difference between ancient and modern medicine trends.


The growing burden of global obesity requires innovative measures to encourage greater participation in regular physical activity (PA). There is evidence to suggest that owning, and regularly walking, a dog can lead to a significant improvement in physical activity. A recently developed Dogs and Physical Activity (DAPA) tool helps investigate the relationship between dogs and their owners to help elucidate key factors that are possibly associated with increased participation in PA. PURPOSE: Although the DAPA tool has been shown to be adequately reproducible in a large group of 197 English speakers, it remains to be determined if an adapted Chinese version is also adequately reproducible. METHODS: The original DAPA was adapted (with permission) and translated to suit the Hong Kong environment. A convenience sample of 50 Cantonese- speaking residents was then recruited (aged 18-60 years; 70% female). Each participant completed an electronic version of the DAPA tool in an Excel format, and repeated this process about 8 days later. The test and re-test data were analysed using two-way model single-measure intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) using SPSS v14.0 software. RESULTS: Of the 74 questions, the number of questions with an ICC within the following ranges were: <0.40 = 8; 0.4-0.50 = 12; 0.50-0.60 = 23; 0.60-0.70 = 14; 0.70-0.80 = 12; >0.80 = 5. Overall the dog-owners reported very few difficulties understanding the range of questions. CONCLUSION: Although the ICC values from our Chinese respondents were in general lower than those previously reported on a larger Western sample, suggesting some cultural variations within the questionnaire, only 11% of questions showed evidence of poor reproducibility (ICC <0.40). Most questions (78%) produced fair to good reproducibility (ICC =0.40-0.75), with 11% showing excellent reproducibility (ICC >0.75). It can be concluded that this adapted version of the DAPA tool is sufficiently reproducible in a sample of Chinese dog-owners to help examine factors that may be associated with enhanced levels of PA, such as regular dog-walking. Schools are important locations for children to accrue a portion of their recommended physical activity (PA). Opportunities for PA in schools vary widely, and there is interest in studying how PA opportunities are influenced by school policy and environmental conditions. Conducting school policy and environment research related to children's PA is in its infancy, and new tools permitting generalizable conclusions need to be developed and additional studies conducted. PURPOSE: The purpose was to develop and validate a generalizable instrument designed to assess school policy and environmental aspects associated with the quantity and quality of school PA. METHODS: We assembled focus groups consisting of PE policy stakeholders at various levels and perused relevant literature and analyzed related instruments. We used standard psychometric procedures for item development. To assess construct validity, we consulted educational policy makers, physical education teachers, and university faculty with expertise in physical education and education policy. To examine test-retest reliability, a sample of 19 elementary school physical education teachers completed the instrument on two occasions, 14 days apart. RESULTS: The School Physical Activity Policy Assessment (SPAPA) uses open-ended, dichotomous, multichotomous, and checklist formatting and has three distinct sections: (1) Physical Education (47 items); (2) Recess (27 items), and (3) Other Before, During, and After School Programs (15 items). Total scale reliability is not appropriate; individual items were assessed. Administration time was approximately 30 minutes. Generally, the reliability of physical education and recess items had fair to substantial levels of agreement (Kappas = 0.31 - 0.81), and items about other before, during and after school PA programs had fair to perfect agreement (Kappa = 0.31 - 1.00). Few items had poor reliabilities and were primarily items about PE program evaluation and estimates of PE time allocations to categories of subject matter. CONCLUSIONS: Test-retest reliability results suggest the SPAPA items were reliable and can be useful in assessing school physical activity policies.


Background— Noninvasively assessed pulmonary pressure elevations and left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction are associated with increased mortality in adults with sickle cell disease, but their relationship to exercise intolerance has not been evaluated prospectively. Methods and Results— Echocardiography, 6-minute walk distance, hemolytic rate, and serum concentrations of ferritin and erythropoietin were evaluated in a cohort of 483 subjects with homozygous hemoglobin S in the US and UK Walk–Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension and Sickle Cell Disease with Sildenafil Therapy (Walk-PHaSST) study. Tricuspid regurgitation velocity, which reflects systolic pulmonary artery pressure, was 2.7 to <3.0 m/s (mean±SD, 2.8±0.1) in 26% of the subjects and ≥3.0 m/s (mean±SD, 3.4±0.4) in 11%. The LV lateral E/e′ ratio, which has been shown to reflect LV filling pressure in other conditions but has not been studied in sickle cell disease, was significantly higher in the groups with tricuspid regurgitation velocity ≥2.7 m/s. Increased hemolysis (P<0.0001), LV lateral E/e′ ratio (P=0.0001), blood urea nitrogen (P=0.0002), and erythropoietin (P=0.002) were independently associated with an increased tricuspid regurgitation velocity. Furthermore, female sex (P<0.0001), older age (P<0.0001), LV lateral E/e′ ratio (P=0.014), and tricuspid regurgitation velocity (P=0.019) were independent predictors of a shorter 6-minute walk distance. Conclusions— Echocardiography-estimated elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressure and LV lateral E/e′ ratio were independently associated with poor exercise capacity in a large cohort of patients with sickle cell anemia. Controlled trials investigating whether strategies to prevent or delay pulmonary hypertension and/or LV diastolic dysfunction will improve exercise capacity and long-term outcomes in sickle cell anemia should be considered. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00492531.


Dr. Richard Gunderman is the Chancellor's Professor in the Schools of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy and John A. Campbell Professor of Radiology. He also serves as the faculty advisor for the IUSM Student Research Symposium.


Purpose Assessment of the masticatory motion of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is of interest for a variety of pathologies, e.g. the abnormal motion of the articular disc. Current approaches for measuring mastication include tracking through external devices [1] and the static or pseudo-dynamic visualization through MRI [2]. However, the dynamic visualization of the TMJ under realistic mastication is still limited by the poor spatial-temporal resolution [3]. Recently, we have shown the feasibility of retrospective gated reconstruction using a device that tracks the angular position of the mandible [4]. In this contribution we introduce a retrospective self-gated reconstruction method for the imaging of the TMJ dynamics.


This book explores the condition of American civil society, evaluates the forces-political, social, demographic, and global-that are operating upon it, and provides critical thinking on how to strengthen it in the decades ahead. Drawing from some of the country's leading thinkers, it looks candidly at the stress fractures on American society- issues such as the underclass, gender, family, and religion, and concludes with five philosophical perspectives: libertarian, populist, communitarian, traditionalist, and the political and cultural center.


The evaluation of alternative alignments for a proposed highway project in California required taking into account impacts on a variety of environmental and socioeconomic issues. Techniques of formal decision analysis were used to evaluate the overall impact of each alternative alignment and to rank the alignments in an ascending order of the overall impact. A multiattribute penalty function was calibrated using acceptable trade-offs among impacts on different issues as assessed by a project team of scientists and planners. Results of decision analysis suggested that one of the alternative alignments should be most preferred under a variety of assumptions and value judgments. This alternative was recommended for further analysis and inclusion in a draft environmental impact report statement. The application of decision analysis to this evaluation problem was effective because it: (1) Provided a rational procedure to address multiple and often conflicting environmental and socioeconomic issues; (2) facilitated sensitivity analysis to evaluate the impact of perceived value judgments of different concerned groups on the ranking of the alternatives; and (3) provided a full documentation of the evaluation process.


In this article we present the latest version of our ECG holter. The request for his design arose in difficult COVID times. The device is developed in cooperation and based on the specification of F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. The ECG holter is built modularly, its digital part can be used in several telemedicine projects. In addition to measuring ECG and respiration, the device also includes a wide set of physical sensors, and in order to achieve higher resistance of the device to interference, we use our own 2.4 GHz proprietary protocol.


A pyrolytic carbon film electrode was fabricated by the low temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. This report deals with the preparation and electrochemical behavior of this carbon film. To characterize the surface structure, scanning electron microscopy was applied. Also, cyclic voltammetry and chronocoulometery were applied to evaluate the electrochemical properties


Izz al-Din al-Qassam is one of the most important elements of the Palestinian historical narrative. His name is associated with the announced uncompromising resistance to the Zionist settlement activities and the administration of the BritishMandate. His death in November 1935 contributed to the fact that he became a martyr who died in the course of the heroic jihad in the name of faith and homeland. The re-emergence of Al-Qassam as a marker of national narrative became possibleonly after the registration of the first Palestinian political organizations outside the former Mandate of Palestine. Left Palestinian organizations were the first turned to his figure, but then he had been "assigned" by religious structures. However  Al-Qassam  never became a hero of the Fatah movement and  appellation to his personality from left-wing organizations such as Hamas has been subject to fluctuations.


This study aims to incorporate a new service into existing Moodle Core Services for student's usage data retrieval. This service can ease the pre-processing in EDM and provide a generic mechanism for data portability. The proposed method expects to reduce the data pre-processing time and enhance the interoperability in Moodle.


This research examined the effects of an emotion coaching group counselling program on middle school students with high depression, anxiety and suicide consideration. The emotion coaching group counselling program is one, based on emotion coaching, in which art therapy and reading therapy are carried out side by side. The subject of this research was female students, whose level of depression, anxiety and suicide was higher than average, out of 2nd graders of J middle school in Daegu. They were divided into Experimental group(N=6) and control group(N=6). The session was composed of 10 sessions in total, each for 40 minutes at the same time every week. Post and preliminary tests were conducted for the inspection of effects using measurements of depression, anxiety, suicide and self-esteem of which the reliability and validity were verified. SPSS 20.0 was used for data analysis. The results of this study are as follows. First, the experimental group students, who took part in the emotion coaching group counselling program, showed a significantly reduced depression compared to the control group students. Second, the experimental group students showed a significantly reduced anxiety compared to the control group students. Third, the experimental group students showed a significantly reduced suicidal consideration compared to the control group students. Fourth, the experimental group students showed an increased self-esteem compared to the control group students. In conclusion, the emotion coaching group counselling of this study was found out to be efficient in reducing the depression, anxiety and suicide consideration of students and raising the self-esteem.


This research study aims at finding FM radio uses and needs gratification among the youth of Mardan. The objective of the study was to find out the different kind of needs, for example, communication, information, entertainment, education, company, etc., that youth gratify from FM Radio. A sample of two hundred students from Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan and two colleges i.e., The Fazl-i-haq College Mardan and Government Post Graduate College, Mardan, were selected for the study. This research is based on quantitative method, which is theoretically grounded in the uses and gratification approach. Data was collected from the respondents through survey method, using a predesigned questionnaire. The results show that most of the respondents are listening to FM radio for entertainment and also as a source of information. The area of study is important because of the growing inclusion of FM Radio in our lives. The study has implications in paving way for the establishment and making the contents of the community radio station (FM Radio).


We study a tunnel junction consisting of two thin-film $s$-wave superconductors separated by a thin, insulating barrier in the presence of misaligned in-plane exchange fields. We find an interesting interplay between the superconducting phase difference and the relative orientation of the exchange fields, manifested in the Josephson current across the junction. Specifically, this may be written ${I}_{\mathrm{J}}^{\mathrm{C}}=({I}_{0}+{I}_{m}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{cos}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\varphi})\mathrm{sin}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\theta}$, where ${I}_{0}$ and ${I}_{m}$ are constants, and $\ensuremath{\varphi}$ is the relative orientation of the exchange fields, while $\ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\theta}$ is the superconducting phase difference. Similar results have recently been obtained in other superconductor-insulator-superconductor junctions coexisting with helimagnetic or ferromagnetic order. We calculate the superconducting order parameter self-consistently, and investigate quantitatively the effect which the misaligned exchange fields constitute on the Josephson current, to see if ${I}_{m}$ may have an appreciable effect on the Josephson current. It is found that ${I}_{0}$ and ${I}_{m}$ become comparable in magnitude at sufficiently low temperatures and fields close to the critical value, in agreement with previous work. From our analytical results, it then follows that the Josephson current in the present system may be controlled in a well-defined manner by a rotation of the exchange fields on both sides of the junction. We discuss a possible experimental realization of this proposition.


Abstract 2815 [][1]

Background: Azacitidine has emerged as the standard of care for treatment of higher risk MDS based upon results of the AZA-001 study. Several groups reported poor outcomes after AZA failure in patients with int-2 or high risk International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) risk groups with a median overall survival (OS) ranging from 4–8 months (mo). In the USA, AZA is approved for all FAB types and risk groups and is as first or second line therapy for anemia after erythroid stimulating agents in low /int-1 risk non-deletion 5q MDS and is the treatment of choice for thrombocytopenia. The outcome of patients with lower risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) after AZA failure has not been characterized. We report our experience in a large cohort of low/int-1 (lower risk) MDS patients after AZA failure.

Methods: Patients were identified through the Moffitt Cancer Center (MCC) MDS database. Individual charts were reviewed and relevant clinical data was extracted. Patients with low or intermediate-1 (int-1) risk disease as defined by IPSS who had received AZA treatment were identified. These patients were also risk stratified based on Global MD Anderson Score (MDAS). The primary objective was to estimate OS in these patients after AZA failure. AZA failure was defined as failure to respond after 4 or more treatment courses, loss of response, or disease progression while on therapy. All responses were defined according to the International Working Group (IWG) 2006 criteria. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate median overall survival.

Results: Two hundred eighty MDS patients with low/int-1 IPSS risk who had received AZA treatment were identified. Most patients (81%) were greater than 60 years of age (median, 69 years), and 90% of AZA treated patients were RBC transfusion dependent. Refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia (RCMD) was the most common WHO subtype (44%), and 81% of patients had good risk cytogenetics (Table-1).

The median time from MDS diagnosis to AZA treatment was 12.3 months; median number of AZA cycles received was six. At the time of AZA treatment, 241 patients (86 %) were risk stratified as int-1 versus 39 patients (14 %) who were stratified as low risk IPSS. The IWG 2006 responses to AZA treatment included 4% CR (n=10 ), 1% marrow CR (n=2), 4% PR (n=10), 27% Hematological improvement (HI) (n=75), whereas 52% (n=146) had stable disease with no HI (n=146) and 10% had progressive disease (n=10); 6 patients (2%) died on therapy, and responses were missing in 2 patients (<1%). The overall best response (HI or better) was 36%.

The median OS for the entire cohort after AZA failure was 18.5 months (95% CI [13.5–23.5 mo], [Figure 1][2]A). The median OS for patients with low risk IPSS disease from time of AZA failure was 46 months versus 15 mo for int-1 patients (p<0.005, [Figure 1][2]B). When utilizing MDAS, median OS was 33.3 months for low risk patients, 21 months for int-1, 11 months for int-2, and 7.5 months for poor risk patients (p=0.005).

Conclusions: To our knowledge this is the first report describing the outcome of lower risk MDS patients after AZA treatment failure. Outcome is particularly poor for those patients with int-1 risk MDS, with a median OS of 15 mo. Global MDAS identified patients upstaged to int-2 or high risk with less than one year OS. There is unmet need for effective novel therapies for lower risk MDS patients after AZA failure.

| Variable | | N (%) |
|:------------:| ------------ | ------------------- |
| | | N=280 |
| Age | >60 | 227 (81%) |
| Gender | Male | 74 (64%) |
| WHO subtype | RA | 26 (9%) |
| | RARS | 33 (12%) |
| | RCMD | 123 (43%) |
| | Del5 q | 9 (3%) |
| | RAEB-1 | 55 (20%) |
| | RAEB-2 | 6 (2%) |
| | MDS-U | 7 (3%) |
| | CMML | 8 (3%) |
| | MDS/MPN-U | 13 (5%) |
| IPSS | | Diagnosis Prior AZA |
| | Low | 61 (22%) 39 (14%) |
| | Int-1 | 219 (78%) 241 (86%) |
| MDAS | Low | 47 (17%) |
| | Int-1 | 159 (57%) |
| | Int-2 | 61 (22%) |
| | High | 13 (5%) |
| Cytogenetics | Good | 227 (81%) |
| | Intermediate | 43 (15%) |
| | Poor | 8 (3%) |

Table 1
Baseline characteristics

![Figure-1][3]

Figure-1
(A) KM estimates of OS (B) KM of OS in low versus int-1 risk IPSS

Disclosures: List: Celgene: Consultancy. Komrokji: Celgene: Speakers Bureau.

 [1]: #fn-2
 [2]: #F1
 [3]: pending:yes


Thoughtful teaching requires the mapping of one's own life, a land marked with features of recalled sites. In the studio of my own classroom practice, working material resides in the poetic groundwork of after-school treks along contours of a New England shoreline. A black stone library. A harbor sound. The placement of a dogwood by a marshy pond. Through the lens of one day last December, read on…


Purpose

Though many studies in the past dealt with the survival and growth of enterprises both in the local- and export-markets, less attention was given to the analysis of the duration of enterprises entry into the export-markets. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to analyze the duration of Ethiopian enterprises entry into the export-markets.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper used data collected from 848 enterprises through a cross-sectional survey method conducted by the World Bank in 2015. In order to estimate the average duration – the time that enterprises need to wait before entering into the export-markets and the associated factors – the authors used the mixture of non-parametric (Kaplan-Meier) and parametric (Weibull) models.

Findings

The non-parametric results show that enterprises are required to wait for an average of about eight years before entering into the export-markets after their establishment. In addition, foreign-owned enterprises were found to be faster in entering into the export-markets than their domestically owned counterparts. The parametric results revealed that enterprises' product innovation, enterprises' size and age, and custom and trade regulations are factors that curtail the durations of enterprises entry into the export-markets. On the other hand, enterprises' operational costs, the size of enterprises' locality, and enterprises' location are factors that slow the durations of enterprises' entry into the export-markets.

Originality/value

This study is the first to offer pioneering evidences on the duration (time in years) that Ethiopian enterprises need to wait before entering into the export-markets and the factors that affect the length of their waiting time.


Covariant orthogonal decompositions of symmetric tensors have proven to be of great interest in the theory of gravitation and in characterizing spaces of Riemannian metrics. The known transverse decomposition t and a transverse- traceless decomposition TT introduced recently are described and compared. The consistency and compatibility of these two procedures are demonstrated by showing that if Tsup(ab) is an arbitrary symmetric tensor, then Tsub(TT)sup(ab)=(Tsub(t)sup(ab))sub(TT)=(Tsub(TT)sup(ab))sub(t). The relationships of the various remaining longitudinal and trace parts of Tsup(ab) are exhibited. It is found that every transverse tensor can be uniquely and orthogonally decomposed into a sum of a transverse-traceless part and another part that is transverse but has in general a non vanishing trace. Physical interpretation of the reaction between transverse and transverse-traceless tensors is provided by the canonical momentum of a gravitational field. Geometrical interpretation follows from considering the structure of the space of conformal metrics on closed manifolds. (FR)


The invention relates to a method of hot-stamping at least a portion of at least one band-shaped stamping foil (10, 20) on a tape-shaped substrate (30), and a corresponding hot stamping apparatus. The substrate to be embossed (30) with an embossing foil (10, 20) of the at least one stamping foil (10, 20) together. The substrate (30) and the overlying it embossing foil (10, 20) is guided on the periphery of a first heated embossing roll along, wherein a first imprinting layer is embossed onto the substrate (30) in a first embossing. The simple bepragte substrate (30) is guided away from the first embossing roll and in the running direction (33) of the substrate (30) of the first embossing roll again with the same or a further embossing foil (10, 20) of the at least one stamping foil (10, 20) brought together , The simple bepragte substrate (30) and the overlying it embossing foil (10, 20) is guided on the periphery of a second heated embossing roll along, wherein a second embossing layer is embossed onto the substrate (30) in a second embossing. Finally, the doubly bepragte substrate (30) is led away from the second embossing roll.


This paper reviews the policy context that has sought to shape the curriculum of Australian schools during the 1980s. Three elements which have shaped that context are identified: concern with the economy, concern with the cost of education and the integration of education and youth policies. In theoretical terms, the policy context is firmly located in instrumentalist thinking and the curriculum of schools has become very much a public policy issue. Education systems seem to have responded to this context by moving towards a full secondary education for all students, stressing the need for balance and coherence in the curriculum, introducing new curriculum options and giving more credence to the vocational orientation of students. There have been no explicit attempts to move towards an overly vocational curriculum. Two basic problems remain: the extent to which current policy priorities will cater specifically for disadvantaged groups and the willingness of teachers to move curriculum practice in the directions being advocated by policy makers.


This paper presents a new reconfigurable unequal filtering power divider. Three operating modes, one power divider mode (2:1) and two transmission modes (1:0 and 0:1), can be obtained with the proposed circuit. Moreover, the circuit can also provide a second-order bandpass filter response while operating in the divider mode. The experimental results for the divider mode show that the insertion losses (|S<inf>21</inf>| and |S<inf>31</inf>|) are about 1.8 dB and the isolation (|S<inf>32</inf>|) is 22 dB at the center frequency of 0.96 GHz. In the transmission mode, the measured insertion losses are 0.7–0.83 dB with isolations of 44–48 dB.


Based on the processing method of extension engineering theory and extension information, this paper firstly analyzes the existing methods of resolving conrtadications and the characteristic of achieving extedsion. Then the paper presents a new thinking pattern of processing extension information data, which form information field and extension china mould. Finally, the author applies this mould to the extension market communication of product information china, constructs a demand-stimulating mould, which is guiede by customer satisfaction, starting form the demand information of terminal customer, paying close attention to the member relationship in the chain, and bring the integrated of system into full paly.


Next-generation sequencing technologies paired with bioinformatics analysis pipelines are necessary to elucidate the causes and functional consequences of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions. Various methods exist that accurately detect and quantify deletions in nuclear DNA, but due to special characteristics of mtDNA, these methods are inaccurate in the detection of mtDNA deletions. Recently, a few tools have emerged specifically for detecting deletions in mtDNA. However, these tools often require large amounts of RAM and have significant run times. For a scientist using a personal computer to analyze their data without access to a high-performance cluster, these limitations can be barriers to use. Therefore, efficient tools for detecting mtDNA deletions are necessary. Here we present MitoMut, a tool capable of efficiently and effectively analyzing mitochondrial deletions while maintaining user freedom. MitoMut runs easily on personal computers and scales well for use in large bioinformatics pipelines. We thoroughly tested MitoMut on simulated and real data, showing that it can detect deletions at low heteroplasmy ($<$ 1%) with high precision and recall. MitoMut consistently outperforms alternate approaches in both time and space efficiency, as well as overall sensitivity. In addition, we report the results of MitoMut for 970 phase 3 1000 Genomes Project samples. MitoMut is implemented in Python and is freely available at https://github.com/shane-e945/MitoMut.


Zeaxanthin is a natural carotenoid existing.Lots of research results show that zeaxanthin has efficiencies like prevention from senile maculopathy、cataracta、cardiovascular diseases and anticancer etc.It is closely to the people health.This paper introduces the main properties,technologies of extraction,physiological functions of zeaxanthin and the applications in food.The prospect of application were discussed as well.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the diversity of yam genotypes concerning their agro-morphological traits based on the Ward-modified location model (Ward-MLM) procedure. 209 genotypes from the commercial production area of the Reconcavo region in the state of Bahia, Brazil were used. Three agronomic traits (length, width and weight of the rhizophore) and two morphological traits (rhizophore shape and skin color) were evaluated. A considerable agro-morphological diversity was detected in the data for the 209 yam genotypes. The Ward-MLM procedure showed that the optimal number of groups according to the criteria of pseudo F and pseudo t2 is four. The separation by genotype groups was associated with their origin from two regions with different soil and climatic conditions. The Ward-MLM procedure has shown its usefulness to detect diversity and cluster genotypes by simultaneous use of morphological and agronomic traits.

 Key words:  Cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, Dioscorea species, Ward-modified location model (MLM).


BACKGROUND
This study aimed to quantify the blood flow of free flaps and compare the blood flow of small-vessel (<0.8 mm) and larger-vessel (>0.8 mm) anastomosed free flaps.

METHODS
A retrospective study included the patients treated with a perforator free flap which was successful in the lower extremity were included between June 2015 and March 2017. A color duplex ultrasound system measured flow volume through the pedicle by analyzing the mean flow peak velocity, flow volume, and flow volume per 100g of the flap.

RESULTS
A total of 69 patients were enrolled in this study. There was no statistical difference in peak velocity comparing the small vessel anastomosed free flap (25.2 ± 5.6) and the larger vessel anastomosed free flap (26.5 ± 5.4). Flow volume (6.8 ± 4.2 versus 6.3 ±3.6) and flow volume/100g (3.6 ± 3.9 versus 6.2 ± 6.9) also did not show significant differences.

CONCLUSIONS
Small-vessel (<0.8 mm) free flaps showed similar flow velocity and flow volume to larger-vessel (>0.8 mm) anastomosed free flaps. Blood flow to the small-vessel anastomosed free flap was sufficient despite its small-vessel size.


The photochemistry of trans - and cis -1-(1′-naphthyl)-2-(3-hydroxyphenyl)ethene in cyclohexane and acetonitrile was examined. In cyclohexane fluorescence is the main deactivation channel for the^1 trans * isomer while photocyclization is the main reaction of the^1 cis * isomer. The weighty formation of hydroxychrysene following one photon absorption by the trans isomer furnished evidence of an adiabatic^1 trans *→^1 cis * isomerization. The photoreactivity data in acetonitrile indicated the influence of solvent polarity on the shape of the excited state surface.


This paper describes the progress made in the development of an operational Two Scale Approximation (TSA) for the computation of non-linear four-wave interactions in discrete wave spectra (Hasselmann, 1962). The first ideas of a two-scale method where already described by Resio et al. (1992). A formal framework of the TSA was presented by Resio and Perrie (2008). The TSA is a hybrid method using a combination of precomputed exact non-linear transfer rates and correction terms. An attractive feature of the TSA is that it has the same mathematical structure for deep and shallow water.


ABSTRACT The present work verifies the structural instability of θ' precipitates, a primary strengthening phase in aged Al-Cu alloys, using atomic-scale imaging. A periodic structure of the precipitate has been found around the semi-coherent interface. In addition, the experimental results also show that the structure of the shear-resistant precipitate can be modified by long-time electron beam irradiation in the transmission electron microscope. During the process, stacking faults will be introduced in both the precipitates and the matrix, and a step with a height of four atomic layers will be formed on the coherent interface between precipitates and matrix.


Contamination of dental surgical goggles and protective spectacles was investigated using a measuring method to detect adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mean concentration was 11 RLU (Relative Light Unit) at the beginning of the working day, but had increased to 11,638 RLU after 1 hour (t test: p<0.05). Mean concentration on the lecture measured for comparison was 46 RLU (p<0.05). Moreover, contamination of the back of the lens section of protective spectacles was 7 RLU at the beginning of the working day, but had increased to 306 RLU after 1 hour. The cleanliness factor was nearly worse than the back of the lens of dental surgical goggles (p<0.05). Choice of optic protection against transmission of infection should consider that spectacles do not oŠer complete protection, so dentists should wear dental surgical goggles to perform dentistry examinations. Contamination investigation using a measuring method which evaluates ATP is both simple and quick, so can be used eŠectively as an index of environmental contamination in a dental clinic. Key wordsATP measuring instrument, dental surgical goggles, protective spectacles, contamination investigation, infection control


The present investigation was intended to determine the growth , yield capacity and soil moisture use of different late sown varieties of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under different irrigation schedules. is the present study was undertaken with an objective to evaluate the varietal performance under less moisture availability. To fulfil the aim the field experiment was conducted during winter (Rabi) season of 2019-20 with the combination of three irrigation schedules as main plot, and five late sown wheat varieties as sub plot factor, with three replication. Significant impact of three irrigations on crop growth, yield and total soil moisture use was observed over two and one irrigation schedule. Among varieties, WR-544 reported superior growth and yield attributes, where the grain yield was 11.5–15.0% more over MACS-6222, HS-562 and HD-3086, and was at par with HI-1544. Better establishment and tillering capacity of the varieties HI-1544 and WR-544 resulted in efficient moisture utilisation starting from CRI to harvest stage compared to the variety MACS-6222. Irrigation scheduling at the critical moisture stages resulted in efficient soil moisture use by the late-sown varieties HI-1544, WR-544, HS-562 and HD-3086.


With conventional vehicle drivelines, the engine is normally run at low load, where its efficiency is poor. The fuel consumption could be reduced if the engine were run intermittently at high load and then disengaged. The surplus power produced when the engine is engaged can be used to charge an Energy Storage Unit (ESU), e.g. a flywheel. During the periods of disengagement, the ESU will drive the vehicle. Simulations show a possible reduction at road and city driving of 10 and 18 percent, respectively. Those values are valid for medium-sized and large cars. For small cars, the reductions were lower. An alternative to an ESU is to let the vehicle speed vary. The vehicle will then accelerate when the engine is engaged, and decelerate when it is disengaged. At road driving speeds, simulations indicated a fuel consumption reduction potential of about 14 percent. (A) For the covering abstract see IRRD 874988.


In cognitive radio systems,collaboration between cognitive users can improve the performance of spectrum sensing significantly.However,in a real enviornment,the SNR of each cognitive user is different,their local decisions also have different impacts on the final decision in fusion center.Therefore,a method of SNR-based weighted cooperative spectrum sensing is proposed.In this paper,we assign different weights to different users according to their SNRs,and change the energy thresholds of different users indirectly.Simulation results show that our method can get an improvement of the sensing performance.


School-to-work transition data are an important component of labor market information systems (LMIS). Policy makers, researchers, and education providers benefit from knowing how long it takes work-seekers to find employment, how and where they search for employment, the quality of employment obtained, and how steady it is over time. In less-developed countries, these data are poorly collected, or not collected at all, a situation the International Labour Organization and other donors have attempted to change. However, LMIS reform efforts typically miss a critical part of the picture—the geospatial aspects of these transitions. Few LMIS systems fully consider or integrate geospatial school-to-work transition information, ignoring data critical to understanding and supporting successful and sustainable employment: employer locations; transportation infrastructure; commute time, distance, and cost; location of employment services; and other geographic barriers to employment. We provide recently collected geospatial school-to-work transition data from South Africa and Kenya to demonstrate the importance of these data and their implications for labor market and urban development policy.


A list of the 233 type specimens belonging to the 141 species of the family Pseudophyllidae (Orthoptera) which are preserved in the Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS in Warsaw is given, of these 55 are holotypes, 30 - paratypes, 141 - syntpes, 5 lecotytes and 2 paralectotypes.


This article clarifies the often overlooked facts attributed to European missionaries in Asia, especially Jesuits, who acted as catalysts of a kind of nuanced acculturation named Accommodatio (adaptation). To a great extent, they became harbingers of culture and science more than faith itself to the dismay of many, including the Roman Church. Such cultural and scientific transference was actually two-pronged, for simultaneously they presented in Europe unique findings related to language, e.g., the Chinese characters (considered to be the sole natural language), geography, cosmology and even governance. Here we try to prove that such procedure contributed positively to the modern scientific notions of sustainability and to provide the kind of accoutrements that model the modern world as we know it. However, in the process, many Jesuits clearly became sinified and eventually acculturated.


Explosion of biological data due to large-scale genomic research and advances in high throughput data generation tools result in massive distributed datasets. Analysis of such large non-relational, heterogeneous, and distributed datasets is emerging challenge in data driven biomedical industries. Highly complex biological data require unconventional computational approaches and knowledge-based solutions. Distributed datasets need to be reduced to smaller datasets that can be efficiently queried. Since genomic and biological data is generated in large volume and is stored in geographically diverse locations, distributed computing on multiple clusters, our objective here is to assess the feasibility of using Cloud based platform to analyze genomic big data. In this paper we present an enhanced Hadoop architecture to reduce computation by utilizing "Common Features" before performing redundant computation. The enhanced Hadoop architecture allows the jobs to share these common features among them. The common features describe the contents of data in blocks and can be used to determine DataNodes that store the required data.


Epidural abscess with bone involvement is a rare manifestation of central nervous system cryptococcal infection. Both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients can present with a painless swelling of the head that may or may not be accompanied with headache. Definitive diagnosis requires stain and culture of tissue. The overall prognosis is good when adequate surgical drainage and extended antifungal therapy are administered; however, the optimal duration of treatment is not determined at this time.


OBJECTIVE
Objective of our study was optimization of noninvasive fetal sex detection from maternal plasma in pregnant women.

STUDY DESIGN
Molecular DNA quantitative analyses in gonosomal loci.

SETTING
The study was performed at Department of Medical Genetics and Fetal Medicine, University Hospital Olomouc.

METHODS
Together 475 DNA samples isolated from maternal plasma in different weeks of pregnancy ranging from 4th w.g. to 37th w.g. Y chromosomal sequences in AMELY and TSPY were tested by refined quantitative fluorescent PCR using capillary electrophoresis.

RESULTS
The method is able to distinguish 1% of Y chromosomal sequences of artificial mixtures. Investigation and assessment in cell free fetal DNA samples achieved 4.05% of false positivity and 7.15% of false negativity in Y sequence detection.

CONCLUSION
Established method allows detecting fetal sex with high sensitivity and specificity. The method is possible to use also for quantitative purposes.


Recent observations have discovered the presence of a Box/Peanut or X-shape structure in the Galactic bulge. Such Box/Peanut structures are common in external disc galaxies, and are well-known in N-body simulations where they form following the buckling instability of a bar. From studies of analytical potentials and N-body models it has been claimed in the past that Box/Peanut bulges are supported by "bananas", or x1v1 orbits. We present here a set of N-body models where instead the peanut bulge is mainly supported by brezel-like orbits, allowing strong peanuts to form with short extent relative to the bar length. This shows that stars in the X-shape do not necessarily stream along banana orbits which follow the arms of the X-shape. The brezel orbits are also found to be the main orbital component supporting the peanut shape in our recent Made-to-Measure dynamical models of the Galactic bulge. We also show that in these models the fraction of stellar orbits that contribute to the X-structure account for 40-45% of the stellar mass.


3 INTRODUCTION 3 PROBLEM FORMULATION 4 METHOD 5 SOCIAL RELEVANCE 5 BACKGROUND 6 CANCER 6 THE CELL CYCLE 6 CELL DEATH: NECROSIS VS. APOPTOSIS 7 IS SEROTONIN CONNECTED WITH BCL-2? 8 BLOOD CELLS 10 DIFFERENT TYPES OF BLOOD CANCER 10 CANCER TREATMENTS 11 MDMA 11 MDMA ANALOGUES 13 ANALYSIS 14 DISCUSSION 14


Using reinventing as a synonym of administrative reform, the author traces evolution of India's parlipmentary form of government, its constitutional framework, and civil services followed by a critical account on its functioning in the initial phase. He then presents contributions of ARC and measures like in-service training in the reinventing venture. The author focusses on liberalisation process and the challenges it poses for reinventing public administration before concluding the piece with a critique on the subject.


Stretchable Triboelectric Nanogenerators In article number 2201070, Jin Woo Bae, Ju‐Hyuck Lee, and co‐workers report a plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)‐gel single layer based stretchable triboelectric nanogenerator for mechanical energy harvesting and tactile sensing. The plasticized PVC‐gel is transparent and stretchable, has highly tribo‐negative property, and has improved electrical conductivity. It provides a novel approach of stretchable tactile sensor that can sense position and pressure without complicate electrode pattern.


The aim of our study is investigation of new living style and housing design where aged and disables can move freely in snow season without barrier. On this paper, We made clear as follows. Planning of the low floor type house using co-generation system is effective in energy cut and making new living style in snow country. Especially intermediate space (greenhouse, workshop, garage, entrance space) that is warmed low temperature by using cascade heat system from co-generation's surplus heat is effective in connecting between outside and living space, and makes livable in snow season indoor life.


Indian moral theologians have enthusiastically responded to the call for renewal of moral theology by the Second Vatican Council. This paper presents some of the contributions of Indian moral theologians after the Council, and delineates some the concerns for further development of moral theology in India. Seminary continues to be main context of the moral theologian. Although it helps address the pastoral issues, it does not facilitate the engagement with many social issues. Similarly, moral theology needs to enter into a deeper and more open dialogue with the cultures and religions of India. It is also necessary that moral theologians become more courageous enough to 'read the signs of the times' and learn from them, instead of identifying his/her role merely as a commentator of the texts given. In the changed socio-political and economic context, preferential option for the poor has become a more challenging task. Moral theologian should strive for ensuring justice in the internal structures of the Church, and to work towards a more gender-just Church. Since there are two Eastern rites in India, the task of integrating Eastern perspectives into moral theological reflection is also important for further development and renewal of moral theology in India. Shaji George Kochuthara, CMI is Associate Professor of Moral Theology at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore. He is also the Chief Editor of Asian Horizons, Dharmaram Journal of Theology, the Chairperson of the Institutional Ethical Board of St John's Medical College, Bangalore, Religious Adviser of the Ethics Committee of St Martha's Hospital, Bangalore, and a member of the Asian Regional Committee of "Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church" and the Head of its Asian Forum. He completed his undergraduate studies at DVK in India and the postgraduate and doctoral studies in moral theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. His publications include The Concept of Sexual Pleasure in the Catholic Moral Tradition (Rome: Gregorian, 2007), Moral Theology in India Today, ed. (2013) and Revisiting Vatican II: 50 Years of Renewal, 3 Volumes (2014-2015) [both, Bangalore: Dharmaram Publications) and over 30 articles. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


This paper presents a comprehensive approach to control flat panel display (FPD) lithographic tool exposure process based on projection lens thermal behavior. Lithographic tool can maintain enough process window and high throughput for large DOSE exposure on this control method. In some FPD lithographic process layers, the exposure tool would generate huge thermal aberration, such as focal plane and magnification drift, because of the large DOSE. This control method includes several technics such as high accuracy patterning quality prediction, high accuracy thermal aberration prediction, aberration correction and equipment process adaptive management. In exposure process, the lithographic tool can adjust the internal parameters and working sequences in real time to maintain the aberration level and tact time. Based on this method, the FPD lithographic tool is applicable for high resolution and high DOSE processes with high manufacturing efficiency.


In America the flip-in/flip-over rights plan has been adopted under many States laws. It is not intended primarily for entrenchment of management. The plan which indirectly limits alienation of shares and the conduct of proxy contests, is sustainable within the parameters of the business judgement rule, as necessary to protect the benefit of the corporation and all its constituencies from the coercive nature of certain two-tier or partial tender offers and hostile takeover. Japan, by the enactment new corporate law of 2005, has defensive systems similar to those of American states against hostile takeover. But Korean law has not systematical defensive tactics against hostile takeover, and Korean corporations are vulnerable to hostile takeover threat by foreign funds. Therefore in order to put forward long-time stability of management and to protect the corporation and its shareholders' interests from hostile takeover bid, Korean law should introduce the poison pills to the target corporations. This article describes on the poison pills rights of U.S. and Japan, and analyzes some legislative problems on the introduction of the poison pills in Korean law.


The following fields are now known in the Lower-Middle Jurassic and the lower Callovian sediments: Taylakov, Lantyn'yakh, Moiseyev, Ust'-Sil'gin, Severo-Vasyugan (gas), Medvedev, Kamen, and Yelizarov. There is a basis for believing that many more fields will be discovered in these sediments. Figs. show the distribution of sandstones and siltstones and average contents of detrital rock in the sandstones of these units.


Introduction: Our lab has identified a unique sub-strain of Sprague Dawley (SD) rats obtained from a colony of Charles River labs (Montreal, Canada) exhibiting hyper-responsiveness (HR) to the VEGFR2 antagonist, SU5416 (SU). These rats developed severe progressive PAH in response to single injection of SU in absence of CH. In the present study, we investigated genetic basis of hyper-responsive (HR) phenotype in the sub-strain of SD rats. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that hyper-responsiveness to SU was conferred by as yet unknown genetic modifiers that modulate the response to VEFR2 blockade. Methods and Results: Male and female rats were injected with SU (20mg/kg, sc) or vehicle (control). Right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) was measured at 7 weeks after SU injection. In absence of CH, 72% (13 of 18) male SD rats demonstrated HR-phenotype and developed severe PAH in response to SU with mean RVSP of 97±18 mmHg; whereas only 27% (7 of 26) of the female rats showed HR-phenotype. Furthermore, crossing n...


An 82-year-old man with hypertension and gout developed periods of dizziness, neck pain, and arm weakness. Could the gout be responsible?


Complete solubilization of citrus pectinesterase is not effected by alkaline salt buffers but is partially enhanced after degradation of the cell wall by pectinase and cellulase. After heating at 70°C for 2 min, the pectinesterase fractions solubilized after enzymatic cell wall degradation possessed three times the residual activity of the pectinesterase fractions solubilized by alkaline salt buffer. Isoelectric focusing prints of pectinesterase activity and SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis suggest increased solubilization of a heat stable pectinesterase isozyme after cell wall degradation.


This assignment is aimed to design a prototype that helps to sightless people locate obstacles, such as vehicles, lampposts and walls; they easily avoid them, with no need of a guide dog. This allows visually impaired individuals to adapt better in the environment they live in and to fend for themselves. The prototype works by means of an ultrasonic device, which sends sound waves to find the hindrance, making sounds through a speaker, depending on the distance in which the obstacle is located; the closer you are, the sounds will be more constant. In order to create this prototype, it has been needed the Arduino Nano device usage, which is responsible for executing the measurement of the obstacle. Furthermore of the development of this prototype, visually impaired people's economy has been helped, because of the advances in Electronics, there are several devices that fulfill the same function, but with higher costs.


In the present work, both the surface chemical contamination and the mechanical alteration of Ti–6Al–4V (Ti64) and Ti–6Al–4V extra low interstitial (Ti64ELI) titanium alloys subjected to superplastic forming (SPF) for the manufacturing of highly customized biomedical prostheses have been investigated. As case study, a cranial implant was considered. The design of the manufacturing process was assisted by a numerical model calibrated on free inflation experimental tests. Glow discharge optical emission spectrometry (GDOES) analyses, nanoindentation tests, and metallographic analyses allowed to relate the mechanical alteration to the oxygen enrichment due to the environmental exposition during processing. While similar diffusion kinetics were found, different oxidation rates were measured in the two investigated alloys. The hardness variation was strictly related to the oxygen content. In order to verify the material biocompatibility, cytotoxicity tests were conducted on the most oxidized part. Results highlighted that the oxygen enrichment due to the manufacturing process did not significantly affect the cells viability.


We consider a class of p(x)-Kirchhoff type problem with a subdifferential term and a discontinuous perturbation. Assuming the existence of an ordered pair of appropriately defined upper and lower solutions, by the method of lower-upper solutions, penalization techniques, truncations, and results from nonlinear and multivalued analysis, we show the existence of solutions, and of extremal solutions in the interval defined by the lower and upper solution.


The optimum scheduling of maintenance for transportation facilities is addressed. The problem is described as a multiple-period resource allocation problem with constraints on both resource availability and state and decision variables. The problem is formulated as a nonlinear optimization problem and solved by using the generalized reduced gradient method. The model uses recursive formulas similar to those used in dynamic programming in order to calculate the partial derivatives of the objective function. The model is applied to an example based, in part, on actual data provided by the Japanese National Railways. Several tests are made to show the performance of the model, and the results are compared with those of two alternative solutions. The results show the usefulness of the model in a wide variety of applications and its superiority to the alternative solutions examined. Maintenance of facilities is important in all transportation modes. Maintenance consumes a sizable, and increasing, fraction of total operating expenditures. For example, the 1982 Highway Cost Allocation Study <.!.> estimated 39 percent of all highway expenditures in 1985 would be for resurfacing, restoring, rehabilitating, and reconstructing (4R) work compared to 25 percent in 1978. In 1982 U.S. railroads spent $5.2 billion on maintenance of way and structures (19. 7 percent of total operating costs), up from $3.5 billion (17.7 percent of total oper,,ting costs) 5 years earlier (_~). · An important characteristic of many transportation facilities is that their condition declines nonlinearly over time. Figure 1 shows this point,


Estimation in a three-state Markov process with irreversible transitions in the presence of interval-censored data is considered. A nonparametric maximum likelihood procedure for the estimation of the cumulative transition intensities is presented. A self-consistent estimator of the parameters is defined and it is shown that the maximum likelihood estimator is a self-consistent estimator. This extends the idea of self-consistency introduced by Efron to the estimation of more than one parameter. An algorithm, based on selfconsistency equations, is provided for the computation of the estimators


The remains of the fragmented skeleton of a mature male individual from a Neolithic mass burial (ca. 5000 years BP) are presented. The lesions consist of osteoblastic proliferation and replacement of previously normal haematopoietic tissue. The most affected area seems to have been the iliac blade. So-called 'seeding' of tumour tissue has been found in different loci in the femoral neck, sacrum, L4 and scapula. Differential diagnosis points to metastatic carcinoma, most likely from the prostrate gland. In order to support the observations, radiological and histological analyses have been performed. Trace element analyses of tumour and control samples have shown the limited contribution of these data to ascertain the aetiology of secondary neoplasias in buried material.


It is generally acknowledged that academic research is both thrilling and time-consuming. It appears as a « greedy institution » (Coser, 1974) demanding time and loyalty. On the one hand, this representation of « research » still fuels today's expectations toward researchers and, on the other hand, it shapes the way researchers see their work. This extended availability has kept increasing due to the growing competition between researchers and also to the latest craze for international mobility. Our current diachronic research (2011-2014) is centered on post-doctoral researchers funded for three years by the National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) in Belgium. What interest us most is their work/family balance while carrying out their scientific carreer. These researchers are interesting for two reasons. First, they have both never gained such recognition as researchers and never been so closed to a tenured position in the academic field. Second, they are at a turning point in their life course (28-35) when children (Etzkowitz et al., 2000, p. 141), marriage and house purchase are common preoccupations. In other words, a period when family may turn into a greedy institution. First results based on the exploratory research (188 online questionnaires and 30 interviews with researchers) enabled us to distinguish four standpoints regarding scientific carreer related to sex and parental status – childless women, childless men, mothers and fathers. First, some researchers are immersed in research, leaving apart their leisure, family and social life, as research is considered by them as social life. Their commitment relies mainly on a specific conjugal and familial situation (single, childless). Others on the other hand are « optimistic » about their future, as they think that academic research shouldn't prevent them from achieving their work-life balance successfully. They add value to the autonomy and the freedom that they think they have at work. Events in the family or working life blend in harmony with the events in the working or family life: the birth of a child is seen as schedule-structuring and another way to be more efficient at work. Others are shared between the requirements of the academic research and the requirements of private life. The choices they make in favor of one or the other leads them to feel guilty. This feeling of guilt is usually felt by mothers. The last group consists of researchers who stepped back from competition, on account of an uneven cost-benefit analysis – high sacrifices in private life without reward in their working life. This paper will examine the private and occupational events that can account for the transition from one type to another. The material we will use consists of the second series of interviews carried out currently with the same researchers and among whom more specifically mothers and fathers. This interest for postdoctoral research fellows may shed light on broader concerns about work-life balance and interference.


The folate pattern in cabbage was studied by chromatography on Sephadex G-25 and DEAE-cellulose columns associated with markers of high specific radioactivity and with differential microbiological ...