Language learning strategies (LLSs) are "complex, dynamic thoughts and actions, selected and used by learners with some degree of consciousness in specific contexts in order to regulate multiple aspects of themselves (such as cognitive, emotional, and social) for the purpose of a) accomplishing language tasks; b) improving language performance or use; and/or c) enhancing long-term proficiency" (Oxford, 2017, p. 48). Considerable research into LLSs has demonstrated their significance in making learning more effective and enjoyable, and has contributed to advancements in pedagogy as well as language learning theory.
Online language learning has become an integral part of 21st century education. This newer form of learning has presented particular challenges which require language learners to adopt particular LLSs and develop new LLSs to effectively manage their learning. However, existing LLS studies have largely been concerned with on-campus students. Furthermore, there has been a lack of context-specific LLS research in online language learning, that is, research that distinguishes between synchronous and asynchronous environments.
With the popularity of the Chinese language increasing globally over recent decades, this thesis aims to investigate the types of LLSs that online Chinese learners use across asynchronous and synchronous learning environments in the contexts of self-directed learning, assessment task completion, and online class participation. It also examines how online Chinese learners' use of LLSs is influenced by the interactants, the characteristics of the specific learning context, and selected individual learner characteristics.
This research project was carried out among students in the online Chinese courses provided by Griffith University through Open Universities Australia. Following Creswell (2009, 2012), a mixed-methods approach was employed to investigate their LLS use. The approach utilised four research instruments: an online survey questionnaire adapted from the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) (Oxford, 1990), online interviews, observations of online classes, and tracking of learner activity online. The SILL was adapted to include questionnaire items soliciting participants' strategy use in online Chinese learning in particular.
The investigation of online Chinese students' LLS use in this project is of significance in four areas. It has provided: 1) new and detailed information about students' LLS use in online Chinese learning; 2) insights into how individual students adopt LLSs and technological tools to solve learning problems in various learning contexts; 3) an exploration of factors influencing LLS use – on one hand the characteristics of language learning contexts (asynchronous or synchronous environments, and interactants) and, on the other, individual learner characteristics (motives, learning goals, age, and length of prior learning of Chinese); and 4) recommendations regarding LLS adoption, use, and training.


Research shows the influence of the drug on the "Maxim" morphological physiological and kinetic characterization of F. oxysporum development in surface cultivation. F. oxysporum is to shown acquires physiological resistance with surface cultivation on agar media with different concentrations of the drug "Maxim".


SUMMARY Reports of thirteen cases of acute epiglottis are presented. Improvement in the mortality rate with adequate treatment is stressed. The diagnosis and management is briefly discussed. Particular regard must be given to the maintenance of the airway, the control of infection and use of steroids. In view of the rapid progression of hypoxia, and collapse, and the high mortality, acute epiglottitis presents a respiratory emergency requiring urgent intensive treatment.


Film-badge doses are reconstructed for sixteen ships and the residence islands of Enewetak and Kwajalein Atolls resulting from the six nuclear detonations comprising Operation CASTLE (March-May 1954). Fallout from Shots BRAVO and ROMEO was the major source of contamination on most of the ships and islands. Varying amounts of fallout from Shots UNION, YANKEE, and NECTAR contributed somewhat to the total doses of the shipboard and island-based personnel; no fallout was experienced as a result of Shot KOON. Shipboard personnel received additional exposure from hulls and salt water piping systems that had become contaminated from operating in the radioactive waters of Bikini Lagoon. From the reconstructed radiation environments, both topside and below, an equivalent film badge dose is calculated and compared to actual dosimetry data. Agreement is very good during badged periods when the ships received significant fallout. When topside intensities were not documented, generally late in the operation when intensity levels were low, agreement is not as good. Calculated ship contamination doses of significance are in excellent agreement with limited available dosimetry data. Calculated average doses for shipboard personnel range from a low of 0.19 rem for the crew of the USS LST-825 to a high of 3.56 remmore » for the crew of the USS PHILIP. Average doses on the residence islands of Enewetak and Kwajalein Atolls are 1.09 rem and 0.32 rem, respectively.« less


[P]rosecutors have exploited their virtually unchecked power to extract and coerce ever greater concessions, jeopardizing the very nature of our adversary system. It is destruction by accretion – a staged but seemingly inexorable concentration of power that has skewed the system. The net result has been the emasculation of the defense bar and the enforcement of the criminal law in a way that is often wildly out of proportion to the perceived wrongdoing. It . . . often is . . . a state-sponsored shakedown scheme in which corporations are extorted to pay penalties grossly out of proportion to any actual misconduct. Criminal sanctions, administrative sanctions, and director liability make the payment of tribute to the federal government essentially a cost of doing business.


The embodiment of the invention provides a cloud platform application deployment method and device. The method comprises the steps that an application deployment request sent by a cloud service consumer device is received, wherein the application deployment request comprises the identifier of an application to be deployed and computing resource information distributed to a deployed application of the cloud service consumer device; according to the computing resource information distributed to the deployed application, the existing computing resource distributed by a cloud service server to the deployed application of the cloud service consumer device is determined; and the existing computing resource is used to deploy the application to be deployed. According to the cloud platform application deployment method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the existing computing resource is used to deploy shared nodes; the user cost can be reduced; and the use efficiency of the computing resource is improved.


The main goal of this chapter is to show several optoelectronic systems to be applied in two different interest areas of spacecraft technologies: mechanical testing and optical communications. In the first part of this chapter, we present a simple, cost-effective and robust microcontrolled optoelectronic system that is able to measure with a reasonable accuracy a wide range of projectile velocities for impact testing of aeronautic and aerospace structures. In the second part of this chapter, we review different approaches to optimize the performance of free-space optical communications (FSOC) systems such as architecture of transceivers, pointing and tracking subsystems, wavelength tunability, diffraction limit, photodetectors' performance, among others. A great effort was made in the last decades to design advanced shielding to protect aircraft and spacecraft structures and to evaluate the damage on structures impacted by projectiles and meteoroids. Although numerical simulation has been increasingly adopted to analyze these problems, experimental testing is still a need to validate numerical codes and to obtain reliable information. The importance of taking measurements during an impact event is evident from the vast amount of work performed in this area. Among the variables that should be measured during the impact test, an accurate determination of the velocity of the projectile is obviously of great importance, since its square is related to the kinetic energy applied to the specimen. Many different measurement techniques have been used; however, the purpose of the next section is not an exhaustive review of the literature but to provide an overview of some typical measurement methods. Optical communication is a major issue in both guided and unguided modes of transmission. In optical fiber systems, losses can approach less tan 0.15 dB/km and and multi-Gbps data streams can be transmitted over tens of thousands of kilometers without electronic regeneration. In free-space systems, optical communication again has advantages. Smaller diameter transmitter and receiver apertures are needed to establish high date-rate communication links and, unlike the congested microwave bands, there is plenty of available spectrum. In addition, the narrow beam divergence of an optical system can be used to provide additional security by lowering the probability of detecting and intercepting the transmission. The advent of technologies such as the erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) which made the implementation of nearquantum limited receiver performance achievable and the


Introduction Partially stabilised zirconia (PSZ) can exhibit superior fracture toughness than other ceramics which makes it suitable for applications such as mechanical components and dental materials. The surface cracks induced by machinig leads to reduction in the fatigue strength if the size of the crack is larger than the acceptable size. The surface cracks in steels are rendered harmless by shot peening (SP), from the viewpoint of the fatigue limit [1]. Recent studies have shown that SP introduces compressive residual stresses near the surfaces of ceramics[2]. Takahashi et al. reported that a compressive residual stress of 1800 MPa introduced in PSZ and the apparent fracture toughness and flexural strengths were improved by SP [3]. However, the effects of SP on the cyclic fatigue strength of PSZ have not yet been studied.


Present knowledge of systemic lupus erythematosus, albeit scarce, has been accumulated slowly since its original description to its present recognition as a complex systemic disease responsible for a number of syndromes previously considered unrelated. The true incidence of systemic lupus erythematosus, though still unknown, evidently is much greater than was realized before the discovery of the L.E. cell phenomenon by Hargraves, Richmond, and Morton (1948). From their finding has stemmed also the concept that autoimmune mechanisms operate in systemic lupus erythematosus and probably are responsible for at least some of its clinical and laboratory manifestations. Little also is known of the pathogenesis of chronic ulcerative colitis. Studies on the role of immunity in that condition have been inconclusive (Good and Condie, 1961; Kraft, Bregman, and Kirsner, 1962) but extracolonic manifestations are being recognized with increasing frequency (Sloan, Bargen, and Gage, 1950; Hightower, Broders, Haines, McKenney, and Sommer, 1958). Particularly interesting are the associated arthritis and the hepatic damage. We have found 11 cases of systemic lupus erythematosus associated with chronic ulcerative colitis reported in the literature (Brown, Haserick, and Shirey, 1956a; Gray, Mackay, Taft, Weiden, and Wood, 1958; Bartholomew, Hagedorn, Cain, and Baggenstoss, 1958; Larson, 1961; McEwen, Lingg, Kirsner, and Spencer, 1962). Although the paucity of these reports may indicate that this association is merely coincidental, the systemic manifestations of both diseases and some peculiarities of the cases reported may indicate that the association is of some significance. During the year 1962, 475 patients with chronic


THEDEBATESAROUNDCONSERVATION and social justice are urgent, as Rangarajan and Shahabuddin (this issue) demonstrates, but these debates have not followed the same course in different countries. The histories of protected areas and people in countries other than India highlight differences as well as similarities. This response considers the questions raised from an Australian perspective, but these issues are not constrained by national borders. They reflect instead the three-way tensions between the specifics of local circumstances, the motives of governments and the prevailing international pressures. So while this paper starts from an Australian position, it moves to consider East Timor and Thailand, where numbers of Australians can be found today working as researches, staff or volunteers in conservation or development NGOs. Just as important are the questions arising in Vietnam, because it is from here that significant and articulate minority of Australia's population draw their family background, their continuing relationships and their experience of the interaction of protected areas and local peoples. There is an immediate parallel in the problem Rangarajan and Shahabuddin (this issue) have identified in the difficulties in communication between social science and scientific researchers. Activists, conservation professionals and academic researchers in Australia have concurred in their concern and frustration at the problems generated by the failures in communication, particularly


As part of the ongoing attempt to fully naturalize the concept of human being--and, more specifically, to re-center it around the notion of agency--this essay discusses an approach to defining the content of representations in terms ultimately derived from their central, evolved function of providing guidance for action. This 'guidance theory' of representation is discussed in the context of, and evaluated with respect to, two other biologically inspired theories of representation: Dan Lloyd's dialectical theory of representation and Ruth Millikan's biosemantics.


Abstract : Many breast cancers overexpress the tumor angiogenesis factor VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor). Consequently numerous VEGF inhibitors are being studied. Some such as bevacizumab extend progression-free survival but have not yet been shown to extend overall survival in breast cancer patients. We are pursuing a totally different approach to targeting VEGF: rather than inhibit VEGF our goal is to convert VEGF to act as a cell death factor. Toward this aim we created a chimeric receptor (R2Fas) composed of domains from VEGF receptor 2 fused to the intracellular domain of the Fas cell death receptor. As controls we generated two inactive versions of R2Fas with mutations in the VEGF receptor 2 domain or the Fas domain. Replication-defective adenoviruses expressing each of the receptors were generated and used to direct expression of the receptors in human breast cancer cell lines. We found that expression of the R2Fas chimeric receptor but not the inactive control receptors could induce apoptosis in several human breast cancer cell lines in vitro. These studies suggest that a receptor such as R2Fas which converts VEGF to act as a cell death factor could yield a new and more aggressive approach to targeting overexpressed VEGF in breast cancer.


In the recent worlds computing applications it's the revolutionary challenging task for database people to maintain and process information in cyclic manner. Thus it turned the research people interest how the peculiar queries for particular application can be resolved in an elapsed time slice optimistically. Ultimately it's parallelizing the process. An optimistic analysis is made in this paper how to cover parallelism for database queries without suffering any loss and obtained desired response time.


It all started 4 years ago with an idea, a wing anda lot of prayers. Patrick and I own and operate an aviary and retail showroom. Our business is called Mt. Rushmore Birds (www.mtrushmorebirds. com). We belong to the Rocky Mountain Society of Aviculture and travel to Denver several times each year. It had occurred to us that it would be great to have some public educational event in Rapid City and on one of these trips we heard of an event in a green house in Colorado that filled the greenhouse with birds and an enthusiastic public. Patrick and I went to see it for ourselves. When we came back home, we were bursting with ideas and excitement. We now knew the perfect place to hold our own event, but we would need to convince the owners of the greenhouse. After pitching the idea, they were sold! The event would be held at the Jolly Lane Greenhouse owned by Tim and Todd Sime. We named it the Birds and Blooms Day Event. We had about 3 weeks to put it together. We introduced the idea to The Black Hills Companion Bird Club and we were off and running! The work began; we contacted the TV and radio stations, sent flyers to school children and burned gallons of gas hanging up flyers around town and in neighboring towns. Ads and articles were placed in the local papers. The day finally came and there were about 50 birds placed throughout the Greenhouse. Club members were standing by their pet birds. Breeders or birds that weren't really pets were placed in cages around the greenhouse with stands beside them explaining the bird species, if they make good pets, their life span, their country of origin, etc. The greenhouse was bulging with beautiful house plants and exotic flowers. Rare orchids were all over. Outside was the cold South Dakota winter, while inside a tropical paradise. Jolly Lane Greenhouse popped the popcorn and provided free refreshments. Thus began the annual free public educational event called Birds and Blooms Day. In the beginning we were hoping and praying someone would come. In all, about 1800 people showed up for the two-day event held in Colorado. Members of our bird club invited family members, neighbors, and friends to attend; and we hoped that all the advertising and promotional activities would pay off. Well, we shouldn't have worried! That first year over 800 people crowded into the Greenhouse during the one day, six hour event. Club members were kept busy talking to people. Misty, the Cockatoo, was there in her glory playing ball with kids for hours, and other pet birds were doing their thing to entertain the public. What a wonderful way to educate people about the commitment and responsibility of owning a parrot! Now, four years later, the event has grown beyond our wildest dreams. Additionally, the Black Hills Companion Bird Club has also grown. This year we were privileged to have Nebraska Exotics join us to display a pair of Hyacinth Macaws, a very rare Black Palm Cockatoo, Rose-breasted and Moluccan Cocatoos. Club members from Sioux Falls (350 miles away) brought an additional Hyacinth Macaw and a pair of Blue and Gold Macaws. They made outstanding displays. Another group called Wildlife Experiences has provided, each year, an educational program featuring live birds of prey. The green house was bustling from 1 Oam to 4pm with 70+ birds and well over 2000 people in just six hours. Young and old alike, from toddlers to residents of local nursing homes, all came to enjoy this great experience. If you ever get a chance to be in Rapid City, South Dakota on the last Saturday of January, by all means stop by the Jolly Lane Green House and meet the birds. If you are a member of a bird club, and don't know what to do in the winter, perhaps you and your club will consider an educational event like Birds and Blooms Day for your town. We can't think of a better way to educate people about birds and the dedication it takes to own one. It looks like the Black Hills Companion Bird Club will be holding the Birds & Blooms Day Event for many years to come. We are very grateful to have a greenhouse that gives so much general and financial support, without which this event would not be possible. •


Spatial intermittency in fully developed turbulence is an established feature of astrophysical plasma fluctuations and in particular apparent in the interplanetary medium by in situ observations. In this situation the classical Boltzmann-Gibbs extensive thermo-statistics, applicable when microscopic interactions and memory are short ranged and the environment is a continuous and differentiable manifold, fails. Upon generalization of the entropy function to nonextensivity, accounting for long-range interactions and thus for correlations in the system, it is demonstrated that the corresponding probability distributions (PDFs) are members of a family of specific power-law distributions. In particular, the resulting theoretical bi-kappa functional reproduces accurately the observed global leptokurtic, non-Gaussian shape of the increment PDFs of characteristic solar wind variables on all scales, where nonlocality in turbulence is controlled via a multi-scale coupling parameter. Gradual decoupling is obtained by enhancing the spatial separation scale corresponding to increasing kappa-values in case of slow solar wind conditions where a Gaussian is approached in the limit of large scales. Contrary, the scaling properties in the high speed solar wind are predominantly governed by the mean energy or variance of the distribution, appearing as second parameter in the theory. The PDFs of solar wind scalar field differences are computed from WIND and ACE data for different time-lags and bulk speeds and analyzed within the nonextensive theory, where also a particular nonlinear dependence of the coupling parameter and variance with scale arises for best fitting theoretical PDFs. Consequently, nonlocality in fluctuations, related to both, turbulence and its large scale driving, should be related to long-range interactions in the context of nonextensive entropy generalization, providing fundamentally the physical background of the observed scale dependence of fluctuations in intermittent space plasmas.


This paper shows an IT solution to an industrial application for the grading of pepper berries that may replace certain physical tests and at the same time enhance quality control through the use of image processing and an artificial neural network (ANN).


HOMOCYSTEINE is a non–protein-forming, sulfur amino acid whose metabolism is at the intersection of two metabolic pathways1: remethylation and transsulfuration (Fig [1][1]). In remethylation, homocysteine acquires a methyl group from N-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (MTHF ) or from betaine to form


The present invention, (wherein, A, R The invention further relates to pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds, processes for their preparation, and their use for the treatment and / or prevention of diseases which are associated with the modulation of SST receptors subtype 5.


We study a Bootstrap test of the unit-root hypothesis, based on residual resampling, in a simple AR (1) model. The Bootstrap is performed under the null hypothesis and under local alternatives which allows to construct a power function estimator: this avoids the non-stable properties of the Bootstrap observed in the non stationnary cases. We study the asymptotic validity of the method theoretically and give some empirical evidences by simulations.


The direction of any long-run relationship between stock prices and house prices provides useful information for policy makers and practitioners regarding the presence of wealth and credit effects. Using quarterly data from the UK and US this paper reports evidence of non-linear dynamics in the adjustment to equilibrium. Specifically, the equilibrium-deviation must become large before stock prices revert. However, there is no evidence that house price adjust to any disequilbrium. This supports a credit effect on stock prices.


A new approach for embedding the authentication data using fractal and chaos technique is developed in this paper. This approach is to meet the need for authentication, including fragility and inalterability. Using chaos technique and the keyword extracted from the image itself, it is so unlikely to predict the blocks used for embedding the data. The first section is dedicated to introduce digital watermarking; the next section is prepared to review the fractal coding by which we can analyze our innovative approach proposed in section three. Results are presented in section four.


The authors describe a process for designing low-cost, light-weight antenna apertures for use in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radars. In a MIMO radar system, two or more transmitters emit independent waveforms, with the resulting reflections received by an array of receivers. Recently, MIMO radar has become a subject of great interest. In part, this interest is due to the potential for MIMO techniques to reduce radar weight and cost, while maintaining performance (as compared with conventional radar approaches). However, the size of these reductions has not yet been quantified. Here, the authors describe a process for designing optimal radar apertures. This process treats the design problem as one of minimising an objective function under performance constraints. The objective function is based upon a first-order model for the relationship between cost (or weight) and performance, and is derived for systems employing active, element-digitised arrays. A systematic process for optimising the aperture's design with respect to this objective function is presented, and equations describing the optimal aperture are derived. These equations provide insight into the optimal relationship between various aperture characteristics, such as the number of transmitters, number of receivers, module power level and virtual array length.


Aiming at the phenomenon that employment rate of students of hotel management is relatively low in hotel industry,this thesis analyzes the factors influencing employment of students of hotel management from the aspects of the society,hotel industry,students themselves and college and tries to find solutions,based on which countermeasures are put forward.


Objective To observe the clinic effect of tacrolimus ointment combined with narrow-band ultraviolet B in treatment of leucoderma. Methods 120 cases of leucoderma patients treated in our hospital from July 2011 to July2012 were selected and randomly divided into the observation group( n=40),control group A(n=40) and control group B(n=40).The observation group was given treatment of tacrolimus ointment combined with narrow-band ultraviolet B,the control group A was given the treatment of only tacrolimus and the control group B was only given the treatment of narrow-band ultraviolet B.The therapeutic effects among the three groups were compared. Results The effective rate of treatment in the observation group(100.0%) was better than those in the control group A(70.0%) and control group B(67.5%)(P0.05).The time of repigmentation areas in the observation group was significantly shooter than those in the control group A and control group B(P0.05). Conclusion The treatment effect of tacrolimus ointment combined with narrow-band ultraviolet B for leucoderma is remarkable and should be the one of first choices for leucoderma in clinic.


In Japan, most esophageal carcinomas are squa− mous cell carcinomas (SCC), and the presence of lymph node metastasis (LNM) determines the prognosis of patients with SCC [1]. The rate of LNM tends to be higher when tumor infiltration is deeper [2, 3], and esophageal mucosal carcino− mas are divided into three subgroups according to the depth of their invasion: epithelial carcino− ma (m1) is limited to the intraepithelial layer, whereas m3 carcinoma involves or partly in− volves the deep mucosal layer adjacent to the lamina muscularis mucosae. Mucosal esophageal carcinomas with intermediate−depth invasion between m1 and m3 are classified as m2 [1]. Pa− tients with intraepithelial carcinoma (m1) and carcinoma invading the lamina propria (m2) are generally considered by the Japanese Esophageal Association to be good candidates for EMR, as hardly any of them show LNM [1,4]. Although a few cases of esophageal carcinoma invading the lamina propria (m2) have been reported to show nodal involvement or vascular invasion, LNM and subsequent death due to cancer after EMR for m1 or m2 esophageal carcinomas have never been documented previously [1]. We describe a pa− tient who suffered recurrence of LNM after EMR of an esophageal carcinoma invading the lamina propria (m2) without vascular invasion. Unfortu− nately, the patient died due to recurrence of the LNM despite receiving multimodality treatment including chemoradiotherapy and salvage sur− gery.


A world away from the blockbusters produced by the modern studio system, the Italian neorealist and French New Wave movements consisted of filmmakers who often prioritised intimate, everyday observation over more conventional narrative beats. As Jason D Dehart describes, these texts provide great learning opportunities for students seeking to compose their own work.


Various methods of fetal‐fraction measurement have been employed in conjunction with different approaches to cell‐free DNA testing for fetal aneuploidy. In this study, we determined the accuracy and reproducibility of fetal‐fraction measurement using polymorphic assays that are incorporated into the test design as part of the Harmony® prenatal test and evaluated whether the single nucleotide polymorphisms selected for and used in these assays can be applied broadly to all patient populations.


AbstractOrganized tropical convection, often characterized by overshooting tops, is a distinguishing quality of tropical cyclones (TCs). In this study, the climatology of tropical overshooting tops (TOTs) in North Atlantic Ocean TCs from 2004 to 2015 is examined. Previous studies have investigated the distribution of convection in TCs based on lightning data. The purpose of this study is to examine the distribution of TC convection from geostationary satellites using an objective TOT detection algorithm based on infrared brightness temperatures and empirically dependent thresholds. It will be shown that TOTs can provide an additional metric for identifying the characteristics of TC convection. Based on the 12-yr (2004–15) climatology, a distinct semidiurnal cycle in TOT activity is detected within 500 km of the TC center. In agreement with lightning data from previous studies, a predawn maximum (local to the TC) in TOTs is observed within 300 km of the TC center. A second predusk maximum is associated wit...


This paperpresentsa highly accurate yet efficient crosstalknoise model,the2model,andappliesit to interconnectoptimizations for noisereduction. Compar ed to previous crosstalknoisemodelswith similar complexity, our 2modeltakesinto consider ation manykey parameter s, such as coupling locations(near-driver or near-receiver)andthecoarsedistributedRCcharacteristicsfor the victimnet.Thus,it is veryaccurate(lessthan6%error onaverage compar ed with HSPICEsimulations). Moreover, our modelprovidessimpleclosed-formexpressionsfor bothpeaknoiseamplitude and noisewidth. It is therefore very usefulto guidenoise-awar e layout optimizations. In particular, we demonstr ate its effectivenessin twoapplications:(i) optimizationrule generation for noise reductionusingvariousinterconnectoptimizationtechniques;(ii) simultaneouswire spacingto multiple netsfor noiseconstrained areaminimization.


Background: Helicobacter pylori infection of the gastric mucosa is the most important aetiologic agent identified to cause chronic gastritis with consequences ranging from acute ulceration to the development of debilitating gastric cancer. Histopathologic characterisation of the disease progression from gastric biopsies is frequently required. Objectives: To determine the histopathologic pattern of gastric biopsies categorised chronic gastritis using updated Sydney classification and determined the role of Helicobacter pylori in chronic gastritis in our centre. Methodology: A retrospective study of all the gastric biopsies received in the department of Histopathology, Usmanu Danfodio University Teaching Hospital, and Sokoto between the years 2011-2020. Formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tissue blocks and slides stained with routine, special and immunohistochemical stains were used. Microscopic features detailing different pathologies were analysed and chronic gastritis were classified based on updated Sydney classification. Information on age, sex and duration of disease was retrieved from request cards and case folders. Collected data analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: There were 252 gastric biopsies received, 137 male and 115 female patients and a ratio of 1.2:1. Their ages ranged from 16 to 82 years and peak in the 6 th decade of life with a mean age of 46.5 years. The most common diagnosis was chronic gastritis and constitutes 85.5% (215 cases), followed by adenocarcinoma (10.3%), gastrointestinal stromal tumour (2.4%) and gastric ulcer (2.0%). Among chronic gastritis, 47.4% were H. pylori associated. Moderate to severe activity and inflammation were seen in 45.6% and 48.4% respectively. Mucosal atrophy (Atrophic Gastritis) was seen 81.4% while 19.5% show complete or incomplete intestinal metaplasia. Conclusion: Helicobacter pylori organism was the common cause of gastric morbidity in our environment, causing chronic gastritis with predominantly mild to moderate grade of inflammation, mucosal atrophy, activity and organisms colonisation.


Addresses a research topic of interest to air force and space related agencies, namely formation flying control of microsatellites in Earth orbits. Since the propulsive material on board the satellites for relative position control is quite limited, innovative control design methods are warranted to accomplish the formation flying mission requirements that make the best use of control forces and moments. In the paper, such an innovative control design method is presented using hybrid system stability analysis techniques and is applied to the satellite relative position control problem and results are analyzed. The problem formulation naturally fits into a hybrid control system framework because the orbital dynamics is "continuous" whereas the controllers are "discrete" acting only occasionally in a periodic way. Using the proposed method, an intelligent trade off between relative position accuracy requirement and available control effort is obtained.


Ten patients with postoperative infections were treated intramuscularly with netilmicin, a new aminoglycoside. Netilmicin was administered either with or without antibiotics. The overall cure rate was 60%. No adverse reaction was appeared in 10 patients during the course of the treatment.


Narcissus is widely used for cut flowers and potted plants, and is one of the most important commercial bulbous flowers in the floricultural industry. In this study, ten carotenoid and eighteen flavonoid compounds from the perianths and coronas of fifteen narcissus cultivars were measured by HPLC–APCI-MS/MS and UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS. Among these, six carotenoids, a total of seventeen flavonols and chlorogenic acid were identified in narcissus for the first time. A multivariate analysis was used to explore the relationship between flower color and pigment composition. We found that all-trans-violaxanthin and total carotenoid content were the main factors that affected flower color. These investigations could provide a global view of flower color formation and a theoretical basis for hybridization breeding in narcissus.


Sarcoidosis is rarity in clinically.It is basis of pathology and physiology with imbibition of non caseous granuloma gangraenescens.Final diagnosis depends on pathologic examination of living tissue with lung and lymphaden.Clinical data of 2 cases with sarcoidosis were retrospectively analyzed.Discussed clinical feature and highlight of defferential diagnosis with sarcoidosis importantly in order to improve level of diagnosis and therapy with sarcoidosis.


An algorithm is presented for the four‐index transformation of electron repulsion integrals to a localized molecular orbital (MO) basis. Unlike in most programs, the first two indices are transformed in a single step. This and the localization of the orbitals allows the efficient neglect of small contributions at several points in the algorithm, leading to significant time savings. Thresholds are applied to the following quantities: distant orbital pairs, the virtual space before and after the orthogonalizing projection to the occupied space, and small contributions in the transformation. A series of calculations on medium‐sized molecules has been used to determine appropriate thresholds that keep the truncation errors small (below 0.01% of the correlation energy in most cases). Benchmarks for local second‐order Møller–Plesset perturbation theory (MP2; i.e., MP2 with a localized MO basis in the occupied subspace) are presented for several large molecules with no symmetry, up to 975 contracted basis functions, and 60 atoms. These are among the largest MP2 calculations performed on a single processor. The computational time (with constant basis set) scales with a somewhat lower than cubic power of the molecular size, and the memory demand is moderate even for large molecules, making calculations that require a supercomputer for the traditional MP2 feasible on workstations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 19: 1241–1254, 1998


Modern practice urgently requires a theoretical analysis of the younger generation spiritual culture formation problems, considering the realities of a modern, dynamically changing society. The research is relevant because today there is a contradiction between the demand for the spiritual potential of the younger generation by society and the real level of the spiritual culture of young people. The desire to find ways to resolve this contradiction determines the scientific problem of our research. In theoretical terms, this is the problem of substantiating the theoretical and methodological foundations of the younger generation spiritual culture development. In practical terms - the search for ways to optimize the processes of the formation of his spiritual culture in the modern period of the society development. One cannot speak about spirituality and morality as a mass social phenomenon regardless of specific conditions that can either hinder or contribute to the broad assertion of their principles. Today our society is going through a difficult period of its development, where crisis phenomena have covered all spheres of life and activities of people. The characteristic features of these phenomena in the spiritual sphere of society are a drop in the proportion of moral values, a decrease in spiritual principles in people's lives. In educational work, operating with general categories of social order, we often leave on the background, and sometimes we simply forget, such fundamental concepts for a person as the fulfillment of one's moral duty, conscience, honor, honesty, decency, mercy, dignity, nobility, goodness.


Treatment of Idiopathic nephritic syndrome with steroid dependent or frequent relapse is controversial. Many immunosuppressive drugs have been proposed. This is a review to help in choosing first line treatment with steroid dependent or frequent relapse. Among all used medicine cyclophosphamide is the preferred first line of treatment. Intravenous cyclophosphamide has fewer side effects in comparison to oral route. There has also been significant improvement in steroid response category from steroid dependent to steroid response; frequent relapse to infrequent relapse after use of cyclophosphamide. If no response with cyclophosphamide, other alkylating agents, levamisole, calcineurin inhibitors, mycophenolatemofetil has been considered as an alternative therapy.


With the differing development in similarity to enhance basic leadership, the hugeness of IFRS can't be over misrepresented. Is been 10 years since Ghana formally acknowledged International Accounting Standard(IAS)/International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS), trading Ghana National Accounting Standard for every single recorded organization. Recorded organizations who asserted consistence have consistence hole as yet existing. Past research has upheld that. This examination, explored the degree of consistence with IFRS disclosure necessities of recorded firms on the Ghana Stock Exchange. What's more, the investigation endeavored to recognize factors, for example, firm size, use, profitability related with the level of consistence. The investigation utilized optional information which were procured from recorded firms on the Ghana Stock Exchange yearly reports. The period attempted for the investigation was from 2008 to 2016. These years were picked since less work has been done on consistence for the years under audit for recorded firms on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). The populace for the examination was recorded firms on GSE with test size of twenty-six (26). In light of the example of the twenty-six (26) recorded firms for the 9 years time frame, a normal of 83.7% consistence with IFRS disclosure necessities was made, with firm size measurably connected with the level of consistence. Despite what might be expected, the level of consistence displays a negative huge relationship with use and profitability. As the powers of globalization enable nations to open their ways to remote speculation and business improvement crosswise over outskirts, the requirement for a typical reporting has come to stay and it has along these lines wind up imperative to guarantee full consistence with the utilization of the IFRS. On the off chance that there is strict standard observing by the administrative bodies, for example, (Ghana Stock Exchange, Security and Exchange commission, Bank of Ghana), at that point full consistence can be accomplished. Additionally, Institute of Chatered Accountants Ghana which is in charge of controlling the accounting profession ought to guarantee that normal preparing are sorted out for accounting, inspectors and so forth to make them side by side and refreshed with the consistence of IFRS. This would help accounting approach producers to found procedures to energize consistence with IFRS by the recorded firms.


OBJECTIVES: To identify associations between lower extremity ischemia and leg strength, leg power, and hand grip in persons with and without lower extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD). To determine whether poorer strength may mediate poorer lower extremity performance in persons with lower arterial brachial index (ABI) levels.


Little is known about the cell loading process, as the majority of tissue engineering studies focus on relatively long time points. The present study investigates the dynamic distribution of cells during the initial cell loading process in porous scaffolds, namely those made of type-I collagen and silk fibroin, with similar porosities and pore sizes. Loading efficiency of the cells was higher in the silk fibroin scaffold (90%±1.8 %) compared to that in the type-I collagen scaffold (76% ± 1.0%). There were significantly more unattached cells in the type-I collagen scaffold at 0.5 h compared to those in the silk scaffold (p = 0.03). The number of adherent cells decreased with time in the type-I collagen scaffold (p = 0.01), whereas in the silk scaffold, the loading cells gradually attached to the biomaterials or aggregated with time. The majority of the cells gradually attached to the scaffolds within 6 h and exhibited an elongated morphology, which did not change. In general, there was no significant difference in cell adhesion and cell morphology between the two types of scaffold. The initial six hours were critical for the cell seeding process.


The present investigation was carried out in kabuli chickpea cultivars differing in seed size consisting of two small (BG-1053 and L-550), two medium (GLK-25104 and GLK-28125) and two bold (GLK-27346 and GLK-26155) seeded cultivars. The variations in physiological parameters (biomass accumation, plant height and number of branches) and in activities of enzymes of sucrose metabolism such as invertases (acid and alkaline) and sucrose synthase were estimated in the vegetative (apical leaves, 1 st to 3 rd intermodal portion of the stem) and reproductive tissues (podwall and seeds) of these cultivars at different stages of crop development. The profound vegetative growth in bold seeded cultivars was the result of their increased height and broader leaves that might be assimilating more photosynthates in them as compared to small seeded cultivars. The higher activities of sucrose metabolizing enzymes in leaves and stem along with higher content of total sugars in these tissues of bold seeded cultivars were might be responsible better availability and utilization of these photoassimilates for increased vegetative growth in them as compared to small seeded cultivars. The lower as well as earlier decrease in activities of invertases and sucrose synthase in podwall of GLK-27346 and GLK-26155 as compared to medium and small seeded cultivars might be helping to channel more sucrose towards the seeds. The rapid decrease in invertase activities in seeds of GLK-27346 and GLK-26155 at 21 days after flowering and higher and sustained activity of sucrose synthase in their seeds upto 35 days after flowering as compared to other culivars indicates longer seed filling duration and higher sink strength in them that might be responsible for their increased seed size.


Two-mirror reduction system design for soft-x-ray projection lithography application has been described[1,2]. 5X reduction two-aspheric-mirror design reported earlier[2] has small back clearance distance, which makes it difficult to build. In order to find an optimum design solution, which can provide the maximum back clearance distance at the minimum system length, the system magnification should be included in the design process as one of the variable parameters.


Gemellus read with great interest the report from Norway and Sweden of a randomised trial comparing the collagen plug to the advancement flap for trans-sphincteric anal fistula repair (British Journal of Surgery 2017 May 10. https://doi.org/10.1002/bjs.10549. [Epub ahead of print]. As Gemellus knows to his patients' cost the role of a collagen plug for treating anal fistula is not well established. A randomized prospective multicentre study of surgical treatment of trans-sphincteric cryptogenic fistulas was undertaken, comparing the anal fistula plug with the mucosal advancement flap with regard to fistula recurrence rate and functional outcome. Anal pain (visual analogue scale), anal incontinence (St Mark's score) and quality of life (Short Form 36 questionnaire) were also reported. Ninety-four patients were included; 48 were allocated to the plug procedure and 46 to advancement flap surgery. The median follow-up was 12 (range 9–24)months. The recurrence rate at 12 months was 66 per cent (27 of 41 patients) in the plug group and 38 per cent (15 of 40) in the flap group (P = 0.006). Also there were no differences between the groups with regard to pain, incontinence or quality of life. Despite these high recurrence rates patients reported an increased quality of life after 3 months but Gemellus notes that there was a considerably higher recurrence rate after the anal fistula plug procedure. Therefore not the right time to reach for the collagen plug however simple the concept.


A brief but ominous entry in the minutes of the Genevan Company of Pastors on Saturday, 30 August 1572, heralds a turning point in French history and the life of the Company's moderator, Theodore Beza.1 "News has come," it records, "of the treachery and horrible cruelty taking place in France against several nobles and all the faithful, not only at Paris, but also subsequently at Lyon and throughout all France, where there were horrible massacres."2 The entry alludes to the Saint-Bartholomew's Day massacre, which commenced on the morning of 24 August at the instigation of Catherine de' Medici in collusion with her somewhat conflicted son, King Charles IX.3 Initially it involved the assassination of Admiral Gaspard II de Coligny (a Huguenot leader who was urging Charles to declare war on Spain) and some Huguenot nobles, who had come to Paris to attend the wedding of Henri de Navarre and Charles' sister, Marguerite de Valois. It quickly spread, however, to the murder of some twoto four-thou-


Objective: To investigate the effects of spaceflight on CHO(dhfr-) cells growth characteristics Methods: CHO(dhfr-) cells were loaded and flight 18days on the No.18 recovered satellite. All survival cells were monocoloned and 159 cell lines were obtained. 3 cell lines selected randomly were used as cell models, the experimental methods such as cell morphological observation, MTT assay, FACS and 3H incorporation were used for analysis of cell growth characteristics. Results: Comparing with the control group, CHO(dhfr-) cells appeared multiple cell morphological changes and the cell number of G1 phase was increased markedly (p0.05). Growth rate ,biosynthesis of nucleic acid and protein in mutated cells were varied without specifically disciplinarian. Conclusion: The data suggested that effects of spaceflight on growth characteristics were complicated and multiplex in CHO(dhfr-) cells.;


Summary: A review of the processes underlying the solid state postcondensation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is presented. Fundamental aspects of the reactions are treated, and it is shown that the rate of polycondensation in the solid state depends on the relative rates of two types of diffusion. On the one hand, the diffusion of reaction by-products (physical diffusion) controls the rate of the forward reactions. And on the other hand the diffusion of end-groups (chemical diffusion) allows the reaction to proceed.

The transesterification of BHET to form PET.


Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a complex disease and one of the leading contributors to disease burden throughout the world. In the current study, we explored the efficacy and tolerability of vortioxetine versus sertraline on symptoms of depression in elderly patients with MDD.


A correlation is presented between experimental data obtained under various operating conditions and a modified coherent rotation model which predicts the behavior of the residual signal and the sideband noise. The authors identify an operating regime that eliminates the residual signal and gives rise to a reduction in noise levels by a factor of five over previously reported results. Minimum detectable fields of 11+or-2pT/ square root Hz at 1 Hz and 38+or-8 pT/ square root Hz at 0.2 Hz are achieved. >


Objective:To analyze the usage of prophylactic antibiotics for the perioperative period.Methods:1080 surgical cases of perioperative period were selected from our hospital during 2003 year,and a statistical analysis was conducted.Results:Antibiotics were used in all surgical cases.The using rate of prophylactic antibiotics was high,the opportunity of the usage of antibiotics was incorrect,and continuing prophylactic antibiotic usage beyond the standard recommendations was too long.Conclusion:Prophylactic antibiotic usage in perioperative period in our hospital still has some problems,and it is very important to strengthen standardized administration of prophylactic antibiotic usage.


In this paper, the corrosion behaviour of copper in sulphuric acid solution and in the presence of N-methylaniline (MA) was investigated. The inhibitory effect of MA has been studied by several methods, i.e., weight loss measurements, linear polarization, Tafel plots method for kinetic parameters determination and scanning electron microscopy, all of them providing complete information about the inhibition mechanism.


The inventories of atmospheric selenium (Se) emissions from coal combustion in China were compiled for the year 2005 utilizing the emission factor method based on provincial coal consumption and average Se concentration in coal. Se emission sources were categorized by economic sectors, fuel types, combustion technologies and pollution control equipments. The Se emissions were 1331.14t, in which Shandong had heaviest emissions (175.90 t), followed by Hebei (111.79t), Henan (105.36t), Jiangsu (97.32t), and Shanxi (84.66t), suggesting east and central China dominance of Se emission. Approximately 43.32% of the Se emissions came from industry sector (576.60t), and 40.85% from thermal power generation (543.82t). Combustion of raw coal was the major emission source, contributing 90.07% of total Se emissions.


Modernity is the core issue of the sociology study. In nowadays west society thought field, English sociologist Anthony Giddens's modernity thought is focused attention upon by many people for its profound analyze, integrated system and original points of view. In this paper, the author introduces Giddens's academic life and the learning clue of his sociological theory, summarizes the meanings of modernity and introduces his "discontinuous view of modern history" and the theory about "four institutional dimensitions of modernity". Upon this foundation, the author puts Giddens's modernity thought in the background of the modern sociological theory, appraises and compares with some important theories which studying modern society such as Lyotard's post-modernity thought, Frankfurt school's society criticism theory and Daniel Bell's post-industrial social theory. In addition, the author summarizes some characters of Giddens's modernity thought by combining it with the contestation about "modernity" between Habermas and Lyotard, so definitudes the different study emphasizing points of these theories and their analyzing frames.


This paper presents data from an ethnographic research that tookplace in a small city called Bananal (a little over 11 000 inhabitants). Thereferred city is located at Vale do Paraiba in Sao Paulo State – Brazil.Historically, Bananal was enshrined as one of the main coffee producers inthe 19th century, in the eastern region of Sao Paulo State. At first theresearch investigated among the popular imagination of local studentsabout a characteristic of a character of the "folklore" in the country: theSaci. The researchers noticed that beyond the walls of the local school,there were memories, musics and dances that are characteristic of blackpopulation brought through the African diaspora. Bananal is located at theHistoric Valley of the Paraiba do Sul River, which until now preserves thetraditional cultural that remain in the memory of its inhabitants, such as:the Jongo – a music style that can be identified as the music of the diasporadue to the particularity of antifonia of the singing. This scenary of Bananalwas ideal to the part of the oral history, reconstruct the memories of thecommunity, the Jongo and the history of blacks in Brazil, without forgettingthe precarious condition of the public school system used for these socialgroups in their initial formation.


A three dimensional mathematical model has been developed to study the effect of degree of superheat and casting speed in continuous casting of steel slab. Study is based on investigation of heat transfer and solidification behaviour of steel within mold and Secondary Cooling Zone (SCZ). The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software Ansys Fluent 13.0 has been used to solve the discretized equations with realizable k- turbulence model. For solidification, EnthalpyPorosity technique was used which treats the mushy region (partially solidified region) as a "pseudo" porous medium. Liquid fraction of steel in the mushy region has been traced to find the solidified shell thickness. However, calculations were made to find the temperature distribution and metallurgical length at different degree of superheat and casting speed. Result shows that superheat has a little effect on temperature distribution and metallurgical length of strand while casting speed has a significant effect. High casting speed may cause inadequate thickness of the solidified shell at the mold exit to withstand the Ferro-static pressure of the molten metal below the mold. It may also leads to breakout due to sticking of solidified shell and mold because of lack of slag film for lubrication between the two.


The invention relates to an electric fuel pump assembly of a one-piece automobile. The electric fuel pump assembly mainly solves the technical problems that the existing fuel pump assembly is of an open structure and is connected through a connection pipe and a wiring harness, easily resulting in unreliable connection, leakage, weak vibration resistance and the like. The electric fuel pump assembly of the one-piece automobile is characterized in that a sealed filter housing and an upper cover fixedly connected with the filter housing are arranged at an opening of the cleaner housing; the top end of the upper cover is fixedly connected with a flange; an oil delivery pipe connected with a spraying pipeline of the automobile is arranged at the top end face of the flange; the oil delivery pipe is communicated with a connection pipe inside the upper cover; the connection pipe is connected with a fuel pump outlet inside the filter housing; a voltage stabilizer is arranged inside the upper cover; an inlet of the voltage stabilizer is communicated with the connection pipe, and an outlet is arranged outside the upper cover and communicated with the external part. The electric fuel pump assembly of the one-piece automobile has the beneficial effects that the filter housing is sealed through the upper cover below the flange and the flange is fixedly connected with the filter housing, so the flange and the filter housing can form an integral structure.


In hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), histocompatibility between a potential marrow donor and the recipient depends on the highly polymorphic human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system. Five of the most crucial HLA genes for histocompatibility that reside in this region are A, B, C, DRB1 and DQB1. Both the genotypes and the formed haplotypes of these genes have been a central topic of research in this area. Allogeneic HSCT is a curative therapy for hematologic, genetic diseases and immunodeficiencies. The source of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) may be matched sibling donors (MSD), matched unrelated donors (MUD) and umbilical cord blood (UCB) units from public UCB banks. The use of haploidentical HSCT has extended the availability of allo-HSCT and has limited the use of UCB. However, the existence of public UCB banks increases the chance of finding an ideal MUD in countries with a relatively small population and large genetic diversity. This study was initiated by the regional public UCB bank of Crete, Greece operating in the University Hospital of Heraklion. The main aim of this study is to assess the need of a regional public UCB bank in Crete by creating an HLA profile of the Cretan population, by comparing it afterwards with one of the most representative European unrelated donor registries (UDR), i.e. the German DKMS and finally, by comparing the HLA genetic diversity between the 4 Prefectures of Crete. These assessments can provide valuable insights regarding the potential need for the enrichment of the national/international UDR with uncommon/rare HLA haplotypes through UCB donor recruitment. The comparative analyses of the estimated HLA allelic and haplotypic frequencies between the Cretan population and different cohorts from DKMS resulted in significant differences in the distribution of specific alleles and haplotypes, as well as in a low number of common haplotypes and a relatively large number of unique Cretan alleles with 9 possible novel alleles. Additionally, the 4 Prefectures of


As radio access networks (RAN) are evolving, the accompanying backhaul technologies are also being adapted constantly to meet the required cost-performance curve. The evolution in the RAN backhaul is being triggered by the adoption of Ethernet as the physical interface and the proven advantages of IP in simplifying the network layer. This article attempts to survey some of the prevalent and upcoming backhaul technology trends based on the aforementioned evolution within RAN. Wherever possible, a critical analysis of a particular technology trend for its technical and commercial feasibility is also presented.


In the present patient with the rupture of gastric varix complicated by portal hypertension, a bulky hepatic artery-to-portal vein fistula (hereafter referred to as hepatic A-P fistula) was noted in the anterosuperior region of the right hepatic lobe from angiography performed preoperatively, and a partial hepatectomy inclusive of the heaptic A-P fistula was carried out successfully. Ever since Sacks reported a death from digestive tract hemorrhage in 1892, 47 cases of hepatic A-P fistula have been reported up to last year. In the present patient, hepatic A-P fistula may not have been the sole cause of the gastric vein rupture because of the presence of post hepatitic cirrhosis. However, our diagnosis was iatrogenic hepatic A-P fistula, as the symptoms of portal hypertension appeared subsequent to liver biopsy and the similar cases have been reported before. Palliative treatment, such as ligation of the hepatic artery, is conventional in such cases. However, as hepatectomy guided by operative ultrasonography has become a safe and positive therapy regardless of the location of the fistula, the authors undertook direct resection of the hepatic A-P fistula along with Hassab's procedure for gastric varix and upper gastric dissection.


The invention discloses a apparatus and method for adjustable multiple reflection optical absorption, which adopts the principle of multiple reflection to design a optical absorbing pool; light beam multiple reflects by main reflector and two auxiliary reflectors so as to effectively accrete the length of detecting optical path in a small spacing. The multiple reflection optical absorbing pool has compact structure and can do alternative measurement to sample spectrum and background spectrum.


This article examines the role transaction-specific investments play in forming self-enforcing contracts between fishers and processors in the market for raw fish. Though some contracts are simple spot exchanges, others are accompanied by vertical ties, such as processor provision or financing of vessels, ancillary gear, and credit. The article hypothesizes that, owing to the temporal specific investments undertaken by some fishers, reciprocal ex ante specific investment costs are incurred by some processors in order to reduce the probability of ex post holdup. In fisheries where holdup is not a problem, spot exchange arise. A new dataset on the characteristics of 726 vessel owner/operators and 75 fish buyers is used to perform an ordered probity analysis. The contractual arrangements vary both across and within different fisheries, and are strongly correlated with indicators of temporal specificity. Copyright 1999 by Oxford University Press.


Q: Did Medicare increase or decrease the 2007 payment rates for wound management procedures performed by physicians? A: When the 2007 Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) was first released, it included a 5% conversion factor decrease that was due to take effect on January 1, 2007. After enormous pressure from physicians and their professional societies, Congress passed the Tax Relief & Health Care Act of 2006 on December 9, 2006. President Bush signed the act into law on December 20, 2006, thus erasing the pending 5% physician pay cut. The new law addresses 2 components of the RBRVS payment formula: & Conversion factor: The 2007 RBRVS fee schedule conversion factor is frozen at the 2006 level of $37.8975 & Geographic Practice Cost Index (GPCI): All work GPCIs that would have fallen below 1.0 are frozen at 1.0.


We estimate the ultimate noise of Gunn oscillators in the absence of 1/ f noise. The basic noise source considered is thermal or Johnson noise augmented by intervalley noise of carriers hopping between the high and low mobility bands. For example, for Q ext = 102and P out =10-1W we estimate δf rms ≈ 1-2 Hz, and AM noise relative to the carrier of -156 dD, both measured in 1-kHz bandwidths.


Cultural diversity is the presence of variation in human culture; each culture has its own aspects which may distinguish it from others, and this becomes particularly apparent when different cultures occupy the same geographical region. A monoculture community, on the contrary, is one in which only one culture exists in the community, however this is rare and most human communities are influenced by at least some level of cultural diversity. The implications of investigating this phenomenon has become more crucial in areas where there is an exceptionally high level of cultural diversity as in the context of the present study, the Diyala governorate of Iraq. The Diyala governorate was intentionally chosen for this study because it has a long and intense history of sectarian conflicts. The population and the cultural composition of the area have been in a major state of flux since 2003. Within Diyala, a large number of ethnic groups, nationalities, languages, life conditions and religious sects are present. Learners of the study grew up in this diverse community and as such the level of cultural diversity may either positively or negatively affect learners' acceptance of other foreign cultures. This viewpoint is in accordance with Milliken et al.'s (2003) belief that the diversity of cultures can be a twoedged sword which may have either positive or negative impact. Gebhard (2006, p. 124) confirmed that "teachers can teach concepts that not only bring about appreciation for people and culture but can also be useful for students when placed in cross-cultural communication situations". Whereas cultural diversity represents variation in culture, cultural awareness reflects the degree of awareness the learners may have towards different cultures in order to take the appropriate action to avoid any kind of cultural conflict if it happens in their educational context. Brown (1994, p. 165) clarifies that "language is a part of culture and a culture is a part of a language; the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture". This idea was also expressed by Baylan and Huntley, (2003, p. 38) who mentioned that "language and culture cannot exist independently; each is the shadow of the other to such an extent that language meaning can frequently be obscured if there is no recognition of cultural rules". The present study attempts to examine how language is interwoven with culture in relation to cultural diversity. It also investigates learners' attitude towards the current situation of teaching culture in Iraq and how learners interact with it. With the above information in mind, the present study tries to answer the following research questions:


Objective To discussed the differential diagnostic value of plasma BNP levels in the elderly patients with dyspnea. Method The f inal diagnosis was as follows:the dyspnea was caused by CHF,or pulmonary disease (PD) ,or both CHF and PD,or other problems except CHF or PD. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was used to measure the levels of serum BNP in 136 patients with dyspnea. Results It was found that there were 43 patients with dyspnea in CHF group,and 40 patients with dyspnea in PD group among the 136 patients ; while 53 patients' symptoms were caused by combination of CHF and PD. Their BNP levels was (714 ±311) ng/L,(68±31) ng/L,(63 ±27) ng/L,(501 ±312) ng/L,respectively. The BNP levels of CHF group were signif icantly higher than those of other groups (P0.01). Plasma BNP levels increased signifi cantly accordingly to different New York Hcart Association(NYHA) functional classes [class Ⅱ:(374 ±221) ng/L,class Ⅲ:(634±336) ng/L,class Ⅳ:(964±321) ng/L,P 0.01]. Conclusion The rapid assay of plasma BNP concentration is useful in differentiatial diagnosis in elderly patients with dyspnea ( heart failure vs pulmonary disease),and plasma BNP is a sensitive index in CHF.


The relations between "rule of law (fazhi)" and "virtue politics (dezhi)" have been repeatedly debated in China over the last century. After a brief introduction to pre-twentieth-century Chinese discussions of these themes, the essay focuses on two such debates, from the mid-1910s and from the late1950s and early 1960s. Within these contexts, the essay pays special attention to the arguments of Zhang Shizhao (1885-1973) and Mou Zongsan (1909-95), respectively. The latter parts of the essay survey more recent Chinese discussions of the inter-relations between law and virtue, and then suggest various ways in which the arguments of Zhang and Mou might contribute to current dialogue, both within and without China, on issues like the limits on moral authority and on the role of virtue in politics, the relations between public and private, and the need for political and legal value to be rooted in morality.


Between the wars soccer was the leading national sport in Britain. But far more watched the brief depictions of 'celluloid' soccer on the newsreels in the cinema than ever watched football on the pitch. Newsreels were a central cultural feature, yet their broader social, historical and ideological significance has been overlooked by both sports and media historians. This study draws on an extensive body of surviving newsreel material. It begins by exploring the complex nature of the inter-war cinema audiences, their responses to sporting newsreels and the cultural competencies they brought to their watching. Examination of newsreel content reveals the changing nature and highly varied coverage of professional and amateur soccer over the period, including significant attention devoted to women's soccer even after its banning from English Football Association grounds in 1921. The day to day practices of newsreel soccer coverage provide fascinating insights into the British sporting values and identities, contained, encouraged or prevented by its representations, codes and conventions. Soccer newsreels produced by the leading companies, while largely conservative in tone, were also highly ideologically charged. Through the ways in which they addressed notions of class, gender, politics, region and identity they had a major cultural impact on broader British society.


An upper bound is obtained on the average modulus of the vector product of the transverse momenta of secondary particles.


Keeping a distinct focus on the 1950s-1980s, I critically evaluate the development of "doing folklore" outside the universities in Turkey. Considering two case-studies in detail, I scrutinize the trajectories of folklore knowledge, its functions, and formats in non-academic settings. I argue that the 1950s brought unprecedented changes to the practice of folklore in Turkey. Because of escalating racial/nationalist discourses, folklore at the academe went into an era of silence but bloomed outside university settings. The concentration shifted from "science" to "knowledge," which distinctively emphasized collection, display, staging, showcasing, consumption, and commercialization of folklore genres. All these activities contributed to different folklore milieus yet remained within the indissoluble contours of the nationalist state ideology in Turkey.


The emergence and development of new culture movement with a focus on newspaper is a main line in Chinese journalism history during May 4th Movement.""Morning Daily Supplement 'poetry'",a main cultural front for"New Moon Poets",plays a great role in the spread of their poetry theory,writing and reputation of early"New Moon Poetry School",Their literary propositions promote and lay a foundation for the formation of the supplement and its general writing keynote thus glorifying the supplement to some extent.The two coexist and enjoy a close connection.


Cast irons were produced with variations in the quantity and shape of the free graphite inclusions and in the matrix structure to investigate the relationship between the shear, compressive and tensile mechanical properties. Differences were observed which may have a significant effect on design criteria for cast irons. For example, the ratio of shear to tensile strengths decreased from about 1·25 to 0·577 and the ratio of 0·1 per cent proof stress in compression to that in tension decreased from approximately 2 to 11 as the tensile strength (and ductility) were increased.


The concentration of iron was determined in wastewater, soil and vegetable (carrot, lettuce, onion, spinach, cabbage, tomato and okro) samples that were collected on seasonal basis from January, 2013 to September 2014 along Kubanni stream channels in Zaria. The results showed iron levels in wastewater were in the range of 3.85 – 42.33mg/L for the year 2013 and 15.60 – 72.08 mg/L in 2014; 0.96 – 12.73mg/Kg for the year 2013 and 4.93 – 18.24 mg/Kg in 2014 for the soil while the vegetables had concentrations in the range of 3.80 – 23.65mg/Kg for the year 2013 and 7.48 – 27.15 mg/Kg in 2014. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in iron levels across the locations and seasons for wastewater, soil and vegetables analyzed. Pearson correlation showed moderate (r = 0.527) relationship between iron levels in wastewater for the year 2013 and 2014, moderate (r = 0.526) relationship was also obtained for the soil between these two years likewise, moderate (r = 0.597) relationship was obtained for vegetables cultivated in 2013 and that of 2014 respectively. Iron concentrations obtained in this study was higher than maximum contaminant levels set by Standard Organizations such as W.H.O. and F.A.O for wastewater while the soil and vegetables were within the limits set by these bodies. Keywords: Iron level, Kubanni River, Soil, Vegetable and Wastewater


The objective of this research is to assembly and analyze instrumental climate data and to develop and apply climate models as a basis for detecting greenhouse-gas-induced climatic change, and validation of General Circulation Models. In addition to changes due to variations in anthropogenic forcing, including greenhouse gas and aerosol concentration changes, the global climate system exhibits a high degree of internally-generated and externally-forced natural variability. To detect the anthropogenic effect, its signal must be isolated from the ``noise`` of this natural climatic variability. A high quality, spatially extensive data base is required to define the noise and its spatial characteristics. To facilitate this, available land and marine data bases will be updated and expanded. The data will be analyzed to determine the potential effects on climate of greenhouse gas and aerosol concentration changes and other factors. Analyses will be guided by a variety of models, from simple energy balance climate models to coupled atmosphere ocean General Circulation Models. These analyses are oriented towards obtaining early evidence of anthropogenic climatic change that would lead either to confirmation, rejection or modification of model projections, and towards the statistical validation of General Circulation Model control runs and perturbation experiments.


So-called mixed tumor in the otorhinolaryngological field is frequently found in the salivary gland, but that developed from the nasal septum is very rare. This case was a 35-year-old male complairing of obstruction of the right nasal cavity and epistaxis. The right nasal cavity was filled with a tumor having a steel appeared from the nasal septum. The tumor was easily extirpated, and the size was 2.5 *2.3 *1.5 cm, and its weight was 3.5g. The histological picture showed diffuse proliferation of fibroblast-like cells, satellite cell-like cells, and the various kinds of cellular components, which characteristic for a mixed tumor of the salivary gland such as epithelial cell components forming the cell nests and many glandular cavities, those showing squamous cell metaplasia with a keratinized pearl and those with myxomatous change. In Japan, 12 cases of this tumor have been reported so far and this case is the 13th.


The medical opinions and traditions regarding exercise during pregnancy have been shaped more by cultural and political forces than science. This is true not only of our times, but as long as we have had records about pregnancy. Roman authors glorified Spartan women who exercised in pregnancy to develop more fit offspring. Traditions of women working throughout pregnancy, traditions of isolation in the puerperium, and traditions about "confinement" have all been based more on social mores than scientific evaluation. Even in the past three decades, the recommended "maximal" maternal heart rate of 140 bpm during exercise was never substantiated by evidence-based research. One can find the 140 bpm heart rate in all manner of books about pregnancy; only recently has the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists dropped that recommendation. The past 30 years has seen a tremendous increase in both the depth and breadth of research regarding the physiologic responses of the pregnant woman. This report summarizes recent research regarding exercise that is done in the water during pregnancy (immersed exercise). Numerous physiologic changes occur when a woman exercises, including changes in temperature and body carriage, effects on catecholamines, redistribution of blood flow, and changes in ventilation, cardiac output, and maternal renal blood flow. The physiologic adaptations of pregnancy are challenged by the physiologic tasks of exercise. The interaction of the adaptations and maternal physiology is detailed throughout this issue. As can be read in other reports, different types of exercise influence the pregnant woman in different ways. For example, cardiac output changes in different maternal positions. Pregnancy in the water involves immersion, which has a profound effect on physiologic variables. The hydrostatic forces of water leads indirectly to increased cardiac output, through a direct effect on increased central blood volume. The increased central blood volume and cardiac output lead to greater visceral and renal blood flow. The buoyancy of water provides physical support to the pregnant woman and her increasing abdominal girth, particularly during the last several weeks of gestation. This leads to many pregnant women being able to continue their exercise throughout pregnancy rather than having to stop in the last 4 to 6 weeks. Thus, exercise in the water is different than exercise on land. Though there are several advantages to water exercise, particularly in pregnancy, Correspondence: Vern Katz, MD, 1200 Hilyard Street, Suite 570, Eugene, OR 97401. E-mail: vkatz@peacehealth. org. CLINICAL OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY Volume 46, Number 2, 432–441 © 2003, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.


The interaction between colloidal CdTe quantum dots (QDs) and silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), both in their negatively charged state, is studied to determine the importance of surface charge and epitaxial coupling of the two components to achieve the potential activity of the metal–semiconductor nanocomposites. An unexpected strong interaction between the two similarly charged species is evident from dramatic quenching of the excitonic emission of the QDs by the Ag NPs. Direct evidence of electron transfer from the photoexcited QDs to Ag NPs is obtained from an accelerated bleach recovery of the first exciton band of the QDs and a faster carrier cooling in the presence of Ag NPs in transient absorption measurements. The evidence of charge carrier trapping is demonstrated by the observation of a new broad positive transient absorption in the visible–near-infrared region, which was absent in their isolated counterparts. The electron transfer and charge carrier trapping processes are further substantiated by ...


The contraction mapping theorem is a powerful and most useful method in constructing the solution of linear and nonlinear systems. The principle of Banach fixed point guarantees that a self-contraction mapping of a complete metric space has a unique fixed point which can be obtain using the limit of iteration technique defined by repeated images under mapping of an arbitrary starting point in space. In this paper, we propose a Bi-commutative (II-commuting) digital maps for Kannan and Reich contraction mapping theorem and analyze the existence and uniqueness of the fixed point in the framework of digital metric spaces. We applied the contraction and commutative maps methods in proving our results. The results obtained satisfies the existence and uniqueness condition of the Banach contraction principle for a digital contraction mapping in digital metric space.


The use of the sweet potato as fodder, a central factor in recent changes in the human ecology of the Central Highlands of New Guinea (CHNG), supported a substantial increase of the previously small pig herd. With this modification of adaptive strategies came new uses of the regional habitat and new social arrangements. Among probable motives for the change were environmental stress, dietary advantage, and conscious intergroup competition. Intergroup competition offers a potential for escalation inherent in symmetrical relationships. Where pigs are mutually exchanged, the expansion of pig production in some part of a network leads to expanding production in other parts. Termed here the Jones Effect, this principle better than others so far proposed suggests how recent ecological developments in CHNG were rapidly spread. THE SWEET POTATO IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS With the discovery of CHNG some 50 years ago came the recognition of a 700 mile-long series of high valleys distinctive in a number of respects from surrounding areas. Large populations and high local densities, extensive grass


A resilient city will strive from stress driven by climate change and play pivotal role in climate adaptation initiatives. Thus, it is imperative that the Local Government of cities as the urban managers and city planners to effectively mainstream climate resilience adaptation in the planning processes of the local government. The aim of this research is to understand and explore the challenges faced by the Malaysian Local Government, particularly Land Use Planning (LUP) in Penang adapting to climate change. Secondly, it is to identify key defining changes needed in LUP to facilitate climate resilience adaptation. A multi method approach was used to gather data: four sessions of focus group discussion were carried out encompassing officers from the planning department of the local government, state and federal government officers, representatives from the property developers' association, civil societies and representatives from a local university. Two sessions of interviews were also conducted with policy makers. Results implore four imperative challenges that post bigger opportunities for change including leadership on sustainable development, reliability and collation of spatial and non-spatial data, the need for transdisciplinary planning team and a climate proof land use planning approach. The findings are a steppingstone in determining the priority of LUP for the next few decades but also the physical parameter of growth of Penang. © 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK


The improved method of extracting precious metals such as gold or silver, using the new ion exchange resins containing the functional group arilguanidilnuyu of aryl guanidine compounds having a pKa value at 25C of less than 13, preferably less than 12. The use of alkaline eluting solution and in particular, such efficient elution solutions such as sodium benzoate and sodium hydroxide mixture to give a resin having improved properties compared eluting with guanidine reagents. Selective elution of the base metals may be carried out prior to the elution of precious metals from resins having a functional group guanidilduyu.


Parameritannin A-3, a new tetrameric A-type proanthocyanidin, along with the cinnamtannin B-2, pavetannin C-1 and cinnamtannin D-1 have been isolated from the bark of Parameria laevigata. Complete assignments by spectroscopic analysis established their structures as epicatechin - (2β→O→7, 4β→6)-epicatechin - (2β→O→7, 4β→8) - epicatechin - (4β→8) - epicatechin, epicatechin-(4b→8)-epicatechin-(2β→O→7, 4β→8)-epicatechin-(4β→8)-epicatechin, epicatechin-(4β→6)-epicatechin-(2β→O→7, 4β→8)-epicatechin-(4β→8)-epicatechin, epicatechin-(2β→O→7, 4β→8)-epicatechin-(4β→8)-catechin, respectively.


This article, part nine of the "Catalogue of Greek Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Collections of the United States of America," analyzes and describes the Greek manuscripts held in the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, The Jesuit-Krauss-McCormick Library in Chicago, Illinois.


Dyslipidemia is a coronary heart disease risk factor. Dyslipidemia is characterized by the elevated levels of LDL, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and the decrease in HDL. Ginger rhizome (Curcuma xanthorriza Roxb.) and bay leaf (Eugenia polyantha Wight.) are local plants that have the abilities to decrease total cholesterol. This research design was true experimental with pre- and post-control group design. Criteria of sample were white rats, wistar strain, male, age of 8-12 weeks, and body weight range of 150-200 grams. Sampling method was simple random sampling. The experimental rats were acclimatized for seven days. Hypercholesterol diet was fed two weeks, and then the rats were given intervention and get hypercholesterol diet for two weeks. During intervention, the experimental rats were divided into 6 groups of administrationi.e, rats administered with 1) carboxymethil celluse/CMC, 2) simvastatin 0,9 mg/kg BW/day, 3) ginger rhizome extract 200 mg /kg BW/day, 4) ginger rhizome extract 400 mg/kg BW/day, 5) bay leaf extract 200 mg/kg BW/day, and 6) bay leaf extract 400 mg/kg BW/day. Blood samples were taken from caudal vein and total cholesterol levels were measured by spectrophotometry. The analysis used paired T test, One Way ANOVA test. The results showed ginger rhizome extract did not effectively reduce total cholesterol. However, bay leaf extract effectively decreased total cholesterol levels with the highest total cholesterol reduction was found in rats administered with dose of 400 mg/kg BW/day i.e, 15.4 mg/dl. Bay leaf extract have the same effectivity with simvastatin as a standard drug in lowering cholesterol level.


The invention provides an instant communication device and method, relating to the field of communication. The instant communication device comprises a touch screen, a touch detector, an action interpreter and a voice recorder, wherein the touch screen is used for displaying a touch action; the touch detector is used for detecting the touch action; the action interpreter is used for sending a control command corresponding to the touch action by responding to the touch action; and the voice recorder is used for beginning to record by responding to a voice recording command, stopping recording by responding to a voice sending command and sending currently recorded voice to a receiver in an instant communication interface. By means of the above structure, blind voice communication operation is realized; therefore, the number that a user lowers the head to operate the instant communication device tends to zero; the operation convenience is greatly increased; driving is taken as an example; and thus, the driving risk is effectively reduced.


The development of effective hard coatings for high performance dry machining, which is associated with high stress/temperatures during friction, is a major challenge. Newly developed synergistically alloyed nanocrystalline adaptive Ti0.2Al0.55Cr0.2Si0.03Y0.02N plasma vapor deposited hard coatings exhibit excellent tool life under conditions of high performance dry machining of hardened steel, especially under severe and extreme cutting conditions. The coating is capable of sustaining cutting speeds as high as 600 m/min. Comprehensive investigation of the microstructure and properties of the coating was performed. The structure of the coating before and after service has been characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Micromechanical characteristics of the coating have been investigated at elevated temperatures. Oxidation resistance of the coating has been studied by using thermogravimetry within a temperature range of 25–1100 °C in air. The coefficient of friction of the coatings ...


We consider endogenous attrition in panels where the probability of attrition may depend on current and past outcomes. We show that this probability is nonparametrically identified provided that instruments affecting the outcomes but not directly attrition, and whose distribution is identified, are available. We thus complement Hirano et al. (2001)'s framework, which does not rely on such instruments. Contrary to their approach, neither a refreshment sample nor an additive decomposition on the probability of attrition are needed. We also show that the exclusion restriction has testable implications. We propose an efficient estimation and a test of the exclusion restriction when the outcome and instruments are discrete. The continuous case, which shares some similar features with nonparametric instrumental variable additive models, is also investigated. Finally, we apply our results to the French labor force survey, and provide evidence that attrition is related to transitions on the employment status


Abstract Trials over 5 years on a border-dyked irrigated yellow-brown earth (YBE) soil of the Acheron set with initial cover crops and various species mixtures gave mean annual yields of only 3.7–5.7 DM/ha, even though annual rates of applied fertiliser were up to 1 t/ha superphosphate and 200 kg N/ha. There was large within-paddock variability from 5 × 2 m plots with yields of 0.1–11.1 t/ha/a related to soil depth. The pastures remained white- and red clover-dominant with negligible establishment from repeated grass sowing of cocksfoot, ryegrass, timothy, or tall fescue. Superphosphate responses were limited to the half year after application.


Objective To investigate the effect of intravenous low dose ketamine pretreatment on propofol.Methods Fifty ASA I or II gastroscopic patients were randomly separated into pretreatment group and control group(n=25).The pretreatment group intravenous 0.2 mg/kg ketamine within 20 s through the same vein before administration of propofol.Results Pain on injection of propofol and postoperative pain memorability in the control group were significantly greater than that in the pretreatment group(P0.01).The fell asleep time was significantly shorter in the pretreatment group(P0.01).There were no difference in the awake time in two groups(P0.05 ).Comparing with before administration, MAP、HR were significantly lower 1 min 、5 min after propofol injection in the control group and significantly lower than the pretreatment group(P0.05).Conclusion Intravenous low dose ketamine (0.2 mg/kg)pretreatment reduces propofol induced injection pain and postoperative memorability, keeps the hemodynamics stable.Importantly, it shortens the fall asleep time and there is no influence on awake time.


The structure and principle of pyroelectric infrared detector were introduced. The expression of pyroelectric current and voltage was deduced by pyroelectric effect. Pspice model of pyroelectric detector is analysed and circuit of detector is presented by BISS0001 in unrepeated mode.


The new method of embedding histological specimens in polystyrene (Frangioni and Borgioli 1979) prescribes spreading and mounting the embedded sections on slides using a 10% paraldehyde solution on a hot plate set at 80 C; time required about 10 min. During this operation, analogous to that used for paraffin mounts (including the use of Mayer's albumen), sections rich in connective tissue or particularly hard often cannot be adequately spread due to the rapidity with which the paraldehyde solution evaporates. This disadvantage, which results in opacity where the mounted sections have not adhered to the slide, can be eliminated by modifying the solution as follows:


Film consisting of a gelatin base serves as a flexible, water soluble microbiological assay coupon for clean room use. It is nontoxic to microorganisms and capable of remaining unchanged during periods of storage.


The present invention discloses a method for preparing a carborane-containing polyimide structure, comprising: (1) A mixture of carboranes or carborane-diamine diamine, an organic diamine, dissolved in an appropriate amount of N- methylpyrrolidone ; and (2) an organic dianhydride was dissolved in an appropriate amount of N- methylpyrrolidone was added in three portions to the first step (1) was stirred at room temperature for the reaction 20? h; (3) addition of toluene, the connection trap, was heated to 180? ℃, refluxing 24? h; (4) the reaction liquid was added to distilled water, solid precipitated was filtered washed, and dried. The present invention takes advantage of the carborane structure having good thermal and oxidative stability, the carborane introduced into the polymer structure, significantly improves the heat resistance of the polymer, the principle reliable, simple, and has broad market prospects.


The authors describe a 50-year-old-man who developed renal artery pseudoaneurysm (RAP) 3 months after blunt trauma, which he sustained during a car accident. The patient presented with fever and left loin pain of 1 month's duration. Ultrasound examination of the abdomen revealed a large cystic lesion in the upper pole of the left kidney, which was separated from the nondilatated pelvis of the kidney. The patient underwent left nephrec tomy, and pathological examination confirmed the absence of infection, vasculitis, or malignancy.


There is a continuing need for organisations to identify the returns obtained from marketing research, such as direct knowledge acquisition or the indirect results of decisions made using this information (e.g., financial returns). This paper reports on a study based on a conceptual model proposed by earlier researchers that explored knowledge acquisition derived from marketing research, together with its dissemination and utilisation. An adequate fit for the model was found using primary data from a sample of decision-makers in Australian organisation. The findings of this empirical study show an association between marketing research, knowledge utilisation, and the performance of the organisations sampled.


Objective To prepare the supersaturation self-emulsifying drug delivery system(S-SEDDS) containing silymarin and to evaluate its basic properties.Methods With the time of self-emulsifying,the consequence of color visual examination and particle size as parameters,the optimum formulations of silymarin SSEDDS were screened by solubility test,compatibility tests and pseudo ternary phase diagrams.The silymarin concentration was determined by HPLC.The in vitro dissolution characteristics of silymarin S-SEDDS were investigated with silymarin SEDDS as control.Results The optimum silymarin S-SEDDS was composed of medium chain triglycerides(MCT) 40%,Cremophor RH40(ethoxylated hydrogenatedcastor oil) 48%,Labrasol 12%.The time of self-emulsifying was less than 3 min,the average particle diameter was 49.6 nm,the adding amount of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose(HPMC) was 50 mg/g,and the average content of silymarin was 39.3 mg/g.The in vitro dissolution test of silymarin S-SEDDS showed that the presence of a small amount of cellulosic polymer effectively sustained a metastable supersaturated state by retarding precipitation kinetics.Conclusion The designed formulation of silymarin S-SEDDS is reasonable and provides a strong foundation for further development of new preparations.


The objective of this research is to acquire basic data to develop a program for professional consultants who can consult and provide advice for rural women's small business entrepreneur. In this research, startup business educational programs and 10 major related textbooks in Korea were analyzed, and a survey was conducted in which 71 owners of government funded rural small business responded. The major findings are as follows; First, most programs were targeting city females and were providing basic information mostly using lecture method over a few days. And no programs for rural women's small business could be found. Second, no textbooks dealing with rural women's small business could be found and the contents of each textbook differed significantly even though there were a few common points. Third, the result of the survey indicated that rural women's small business entrepreneurs had difficulty especially in acquiring necessary initial funds and raw materials, selling products, and judging the possibility of business success. And, there was significant difference in importance and perceived knowledge over 36 business know-hows in business startup area among the respondents. Based on the results, the followings could be recommended; First, educational programs for rural women's small business entrepreneurs should use a unique and different approach than other industries. Also, it is necessary to foster startup consultants especially for the rural women's small business entrepreneurs and to develop a delivery system for the startup educational programs. Second, contents of educational programs need to be selectively included depending on the level of uses. Finally, a workbook should be developed so that entrepreneur candidates can actually practice rather than just acquiring basic information and superficial knowledge during the participation.


Ranging accumulation error is one of the main factors affecting the performance of relative localization in wireless sensor network,and can be reduced through clustering effectively.A new clustering algorithm-EOK(Enhanced Overlapped K-hop) which is based on OK (Overlapped K-hop) clustering algorithm is proposed in this paper.It enhances the choosing mechanism of cluster nodes in OK,and presents a combination mechanism of neighbor cluster nodes.Clustering is more suitable for relative localization using EOK.In comparison with OK,simulation results show that EOK provides less number of cluster nodes and cluster's distribution is well-proportioned.Moreover,it can reach a lower level of the communication cost in many network conditions.