To the Editor: We read with interest the report by Bilgic et al 1 describing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak after rhinoplasty. This report demonstrates the possibility of CSF leak not only after cranial procedures but also after surgical interventions for facial pathologic lesions. The main issue we attend to argue is the authors' method of managing the postoperative CSF leak that complicated their approach. Cerebrospinal fluid leak is a serious problem that must not be underestimated. Patients with CSF leak may develop complications such as pneumocephalus, meningitis, or brain abscess. Meningitis may occur in 20% of patients, and this risk increases proportionally with the duration of the leak, reaching 57% with delayed surgical repair, as we can see in the case of the authors' report. Mortality rates related to this complication have been reported to be as high as 10%. The first issue we disagree with the authors is using the lumbar CSF drainage for managing the postoperative iatrogenic CSF leak. It is now well known that the definitive treatment of the iatrogenic and/or late-onset CSF leaks is surgical repair, with high failure rates reported with lumbar CSF divergence confirmed by our results and those of others. Lumbar CSF divergence can be curative, especially in traumatic leaks with low flow rate, but it might also result in a devastating complication by causing a mass effect producing pneumocele. Although the patient's complaint of rhinorrhea was regressed, the pathologic lesion was not healed, and even postmeningitis fibrosis did not obliterate the fistule. For these reasons, we believe that the long-term follow-up of the patient will be advisable. We are also wondering about the surgical technique performed that could lead to such complication. It is well known for neurosurgeons, otolaryngologists, and plastic and reconstructive surgeons that the development of this kind of complication after nasal surgery is not easy and requires disruption of the bony anterior skull base and the dural covering. This issue is important for all craniofacial surgeons from different surgical branches. In such complications, if iatrogenic penetration was evidenced by the surgeon, we recommend the transbasal extradural approach as surgical intervention after performing magnetic resonance cisternography and thin-slice computed tomography to localize the site of the leak. Appropriate dural and bony defect repair plus enhancement with the pericranial frontal vascularized glial flap is an effective surgical technique with satisfactory long-term results. Identification and prompt treatment of CSF fistulae are critical in preventing these complications because recent studies indicate that the cumulative risk of developing meningitis within 10 years is reduced from 85% to 7% when the surgery is successful and CSF leak is stopped. On the basis of these data, there is a general agreement that postoperative iatrogenic CSF leaks are serious complications that must not be underestimated and need urgent surgical repair to avoid life-threatening complications.


It is the goal of this paper to establish mechanisms for smart cities to include Islamic approaches by interacting with the following components: "Smart Facilities", "Smart Devices", "Smart Governance", "Smart Data", and "Smart People "influence towards the adoption of Islamic smart city concepts, taking into account the wide range of smart city components. Assessment of these variables associated Islamic approach has been presented in this paper. It was revealed that in order to improve the quality of life, a smart city makes use of cutting-edge advance technology and technological tools like sensors and a sensor network, among other things. Furthermore, Smart city adoption in the Muslim world, Muslim communities, or in and around Muslim-majority areas has also been a long-standing quest for ways to improve the quality of life for Muslims. While also taking into consideration the Islamic approach to constructing a smart city, the concept will conserve and promote a more environmentally conscious community. GJRE-J Classification: DDC Code: 006.3 LCC Code: Q335 IslamicSmartCityInnovationConceptApplicationandShariahParametersATheoreticalAssessmentandTechnologicalAdvancementinArtificialIntelligence Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of: Islamic Smart City Innovation, Concept, Application and Shari'ah Islamic Smart City Innovation,Concept, Application and Shari'ah Parameters: A Theoretical Assessment and Technological Advancement in Artificial Intelligence Auwal Adam Sa'ad , Adamu Abubakar Ibrahim , Aznan Hassan ρ & Abubakar Usman Ѡ AbstractIt is the goal of this paper to establish mechanisms for smart cities to include Islamic approaches by interacting with the following components: "Smart Facilities", "Smart Devices", "Smart Governance", "Smart Data", and "Smart People "influence towards the adoption of Islamic smart city concepts, taking into account the wide range of smart city components. Assessment of these variables associated Islamic approach has been presented in this paper. It was revealed that in order to improve the quality of life, a smart city makes use of cutting-edge advance technology and technological tools like sensors and a sensor network, among other things. Furthermore, Smart city adoption in the Muslim world, Muslim communities, or in and around Muslim-majority areas has also been a long-standing quest for ways to improve the quality of life for Muslims. While also taking into consideration the Islamic approach to constructing a smart city, the concept will conserve and promote a more environmentally conscious community. It is the goal of this paper to establish mechanisms for smart cities to include Islamic approaches by interacting with the following components: "Smart Facilities", "Smart Devices", "Smart Governance", "Smart Data", and "Smart People "influence towards the adoption of Islamic smart city concepts, taking into account the wide range of smart city components. Assessment of these variables associated Islamic approach has been presented in this paper. It was revealed that in order to improve the quality of life, a smart city makes use of cutting-edge advance technology and technological tools like sensors and a sensor network, among other things. Furthermore, Smart city adoption in the Muslim world, Muslim communities, or in and around Muslim-majority areas has also been a long-standing quest for ways to improve the quality of life for Muslims. While also taking into consideration the Islamic approach to constructing a smart city, the concept will conserve and promote a more environmentally conscious community.


We have recently proposed a promising trading system for the S P 500 index which consists of a feature selection component and a simple filter for data preprocessing two specialized neural networks for return prediction and a rule base for prediction integration. The objective of this study is to explore if including additional knowledge for more sophisticated data filter ing and return integration leads to further improvements in the system. The new system uses a well known technical indicator to split the data and an additional indicator for reducing the number of unprofitable trades. Several system combinations are explored and tested over a 5 year trading period. The most promising system yielded an annual rate of return ARR of 15.99% with 54 trades. This compares favorably to the ARR for the buy and hold strategy 11.05% and to the best results obtained using the system with no technical analysis knowl edge embedded 13.35% with 126 trades.


Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan, R.O.C(Dated: December 30, 2002)The Euclidean action and entropy are computed in string-generated gravity models with quadraticcurvatures, and used to argue that a negative mass extremal metric is the background for hyperbolic(k = −1) black hole spacetimes, k being the curvature constant of the event horizon. The entropyassociated with a black hole is always positive for k = {0, 1} family. The positivity of energycondition also ensures that the k = −1 (extremal) entropy is non-negative.


Address for Correspondence: Dr Prathap Kumar J, Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Ramaiah Medical College, M S R Nagar, MSRIT post, Mathikere, Bangalore, Karnataka, India560054 E-Mail: email@example.com Background: The knowledge of variations of the position nutrient foramina and hence nutrient arteries is important for the orthopedicians and radiologists for various procedures. The incidence of normal position of nutrient foramina and nutrient artery in the shaft of long bone is 99%. Aims and Objectives: Nutrient artery provides the main source of blood supply to the long bones in the human body. The nutrient artery enters the shaft of the long bones, through a foramen termed 'nutrient foramen'. The nutrient artery passing through the nutrient foramen plays a pivotal role in the growth and development of the long bones. The presence, position, number, direction and distances from the various landmarks on the bone have clinical significance. The present study was done on the radius and ulna of South Indian population to know the number, position of nutrient foramina and to discuss the embryological basis and clinical significance of the variations. Materials and Methods: The present study consists of forearm bones: 69 radii and 84 ulnae which were taken from Department of Anatomy, Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore, India and studied keenly for the number, position, direction and distance of nutrient foramina in relation to length and from the proximal epiphysis of the long bones were noted with osteometric board and digital vernier calipers and also the direction of nutrient foramina were noted with a probe. Results: The mean position of the nutrient foramen in radius from its upper end was 8.71cms and in ulna was 9.31cms. The main nutrient foramina and the accessory nutrient foramina were directed upwards in all the radii and ulnae studied. The nutrient foramina were present in middle 1/3rd (65.8%), anterior surface (69.6%) for radius and middle 1/3rd (60.7%), anterior surface (77.3%) for ulna. Conclusion: This study will provide the ethnic data for comparison among various populations. It is also helpful in interpretation of radiological images and for orthopedic procedures. Precise knowledge of usual and anomalous position of nutrient foramina and hence the nutrient artery may help the orthopaedician for the internal fixation at appropriate place in the long bone. The location of nutrient foramen is important for bone grafts, tumour resections, in traumas, congenital pseudoarthrosis and more recently in microsurgical vascularised bone transplantation.


Allo-grooming is perhaps the most powerful affiliative behavior observed in non-human primates. However, the functional significance of grooming in New World monkeys has not yet been fully understood, perhaps because grooming is less frequently observed in platyrrhines. To differentiate the potential role of affiliative investment and/or kinship on sharing access to food (co-feeding) in spider monkeys, behavioral data on grooming, embracing, and feeding were collected from two different groups of captive study subjects: a familiar/kin group and a non-familiar/non-kin group. The results of this study suggest that family-related spider monkeys that engage in grooming tend to share access to food resources more than unfamiliar conspecifics that do not groom. One explanation for this difference is that the unfamiliar study subjects had not yet invested in the affiliative social network, were not reciprocating their affiliative investments and hence, had a higher tendency toward single animal monopolizing resources. Degree of relatedness alone was not found to be a determinant for sharing the access to food, suggesting that familiarity in spider monkeys is based on the extent to which animals invest in affiliative relationships. In this study, only animals that had engaged in long-term grooming and recognized each other as familiar shared the access to food. Therefore, it might be likely that in spider monkeys, long-term grooming of high intensity has to be developed for co-feeding to occur. Zoo Biol 20:293–303, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


The synergistic action between K and N (NO3-) favors the absorption of both ions by plants. A suitable combination of these macronutrients may be an alternative capable of alleviating the nutritional imbalance due to the excessive absorption of chloride and sodium by the plant and inhibitory competition between nitrate and potassium. In addition, it can favor the control of the turgidity of the cells, through the osmoregulation, elevate the synthesis of organic solutes, promoting the ionic homeostase, and consequently decrease the effect saline stress on the plants. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the gas exchanges and growth of sesame cv. BRS G4 as a function of irrigation with water of increasing electrical conductivity (ECw) and fertilization with different combinations of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K). This experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions. Treatments were distributed in randomized blocks and analyzed in 5 x 4 factorial scheme, consisting of five levels of ECw (0.6; 1.2; 1.8; 2.4 and 3.0 dS m-1) and four combinations of N and K: N/K2O (70/50; 100/75; 130/100 and 160/125% of the recommendation for pot experiments), with three replicates, totaling 60 experimental units. Except for the ECw level of 0.6 dS m-1, the other salt concentrations evaluated in this study compromised the gas exchanges and consequently growth of sesame cv. BRS G4, at 50 days after sowing. Fertilization with N and K in the combination of 70/50% of the recommendation of N/K2O led to the greatest growth of sesame cv. BRS G4. The N/K2O combinations of 130/100, 160/125 and 160/125% reduced the negative effects of saline irrigation of 1.2, 1.8 and 2.4 dS m-1, respectively, on the stomatal conductance of sesame plants. The combined supply of N and K2O in combinations of 100/75, 130/100 and 130/100% promoted higher CO2 assimilation rate in sesame plants using water of 1.2 and 1.8 and 2.4 dS m-1, respectively.


An upgrade of the existing ORNL Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) to the National Radioactive Ion Beam Isotope Separator On Line (RIB ISOL) Facility is being proposed. Part of the upgrade involves increasing the source proton energy and current, resulting in more intense, higher energy radiation. Shielding requirements for the proposed upgrade to the HRIBF have been assessed with respect to weight, space, and dose-rate constraints. Shielding assessments were made for operating, shutdown, and accident conditions. The results indicate reasonable shielding solutions for the target room except for the marginal dose rate on the roof. Shielding requirements in the target room were greatly reduced by decisions to move the target to a more interior room and to direct the proton beam downward into the target. A slightly more difficult shielding problem arises for proton beam extraction losses from the cyclotron. Here, the assumed isotropic beam losses (hence, neutron emissions) mean higher roof dose rates than those over the target room unless substantial localized shielding is placed over the cyclotron. Shutdown dose rates were found to present no problems. While dose rates through the sides of the facility during accident conditions will probably satisfy the accident dose-rate constraints, dose rates above the roof will be well above the constraints unless a solution is devised to shield the locations where beam losses are likely to occur. Ground activation analysis was postponed for this study.


The effect of an advanced porous surface morphology on the mechanical performance of an uncemented femoral knee prosthesis was investigated. Eighteen implants were inserted and then pushed-off from nine paired femurs (Left legs: advanced surface coating; right legs: Porocoat® surface coating as baseline). Bone mineral density (BMD) and anteroposterior dimension were measured, which both were not significantly different between groups. The insertion force was not significantly different, but push-off force was significantly higher in the advanced surface coating group (P = 0.007). BMD had direct relationship with the insertion force and push-off force (p


With today's technology, it's easier and easier to video interactions with police officers. But just how far do your rights go when you hit record?


The essence and topicality of marketing explerent strategy is considered, the example of successful development and use of new competitive goods is given.


Abstract Unidirectional isora fibre reinforced epoxy composites were prepared by compression moulding. Isora is a natural bast fibre separated from Helicteres isora plant by retting process. The effect of alkali treatment on the properties of the fibre was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), IR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, Young's modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus and impact strength of the composites containing untreated and alkali treated fibres have been studied as a function of fibre loading. The optimum fibre loading for tensile properties of the untreated fibre composite was found to be 49% by volume and for flexural properties the loading was optimised at ∼45%. Impact strength of the composite increased with increase in fibre loading and remained constant at a fibre loading of 54·5%. Alkali treated fibre composite showed improved thermal and mechanical properties compared to untreated fibre composite. From dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) studies it was observed that the alkali treated fibre composites have higher E' and low tan δ maximum values compared to untreated fibre composites. From swelling studies in methyl ethyl ketone it was observed that the mole percentage of uptake of the solvent by the treated fibre composites is less than that by the untreated fibre composites. From these results it can be concluded that in composites containing alkalised fibres there is enhanced interfacial adhesion between the fibre and the matrix leading to better properties, compared to untreated fibre composites.


During the last two decades, it has been increasingly acknowledged that the engineering of information systems usually requires a huge effort in integrating master data and business processes. This has led to a plethora of proposals, both from academia and the industry. However, such approaches typically come with ad-hoc abstractions to represent and interact with the data component. This has a twofold disadvantage. On the one hand, they cannot be used to effortlessly enrich an existing relational database with dynamics. On the other hand, they generally do not allow for integrated modelling, verification, and enactment. We attack these two challenges by proposing a declarative approach, fully grounded in SQL, that supports the agile modelling of relational data-aware processes directly on top of relational databases. We show how this approach can be automatically translated into a concrete procedural SQL dialect, executable directly inside any relational database engine. The translation exploits an in-database representation of process states that, in turn, is used to handle, at once, process enactment with or without logging of the executed instances, as well as process verification. The approach has been implemented in a working prototype.


One of the purposes of the present invention is to provide a high quality projection lens that can be manufactured at a low cost, and a vehicle lamp fitting that is provided with the projection lens. A projection lens (11) formed of a resin having light transmitting characteristics has: an input section (12) having light inputted thereto; an output section (13) having the light outputted therefrom, said light having been inputted from the input section (12); a peripheral end section (14) that is provided at a boundary between the input section (12) and the output section (13); and a thick section (15), which is provided at a part of the peripheral end section (14), and which is made thicker in the optical axis direction than other parts of the peripheral end section (14), said thick section having a gate mark formed at least on a part of an outer peripheral surface.


CLINICAL HISTORY This 8-year-old girl presents with a 1-year history of headaches which were occurring once a week until 1 month ago when they increased to almost daily. She has mild headaches about every other day often in the afternoon described as a bifrontal pressure with light sensitivity lasting a couple of hours after taking acetaminophen. On other days, she reports a generalized throbbing associated with dizziness and light sensitivity lasting about 2 hours after she takes acetaminophen. For the last few weeks, she has been averaging two acetaminophen per day. The patient and her mother deny any new stressors. Her grades in school are satisfactory and have not changed in the last year. Family history is negative for migraine. Neurologic examination is normal. The mother is concerned about possible secondary causes of headache and would like a scan of the brain performed even after I advised her that the episodes have features of migraine and tension-type headaches and that there may be an element of medication rebound. Questions.— What is the likelihood that an MRI scan of the brain would be abnormal? What do you advise parents in this situation?


A novel method of classifying Power quality (PQ) events using Wavelet Packet Transform (WPT) and Extreme Learning Machines (ELM) has been proposed. In recent times, the power quality has been a major research concern due to changing regulations, liberalized distribution market and increased use of power electronic based equipment. The first step of any remedial action requires proper identification of PQ events. One of the major challenge of this event identification is to extract significant features from the limited measurements, which can subsequently be used for the classification. Therefore, in the present study Wavelet Packet Transform (WPT) has been used to obtain several mathematical features. These features can segregate both single and simultaneous PQ event occurrences. Further to improve the classification performance, the ELM based classifier has been used. This classifier significantly reduces the training time by many-fold. The performance of the proposed approach has been compared with ANN based classifier considering over 1000 PQ signals from various PQ events. The results of the simulation demonstrate that the proposed approach can achieve over 99% classification accuracy.


Bovine milk contains 3-4 % protein and almost 80% of the milk protein fraction consist of four caseins; α s1 -casein, β-casein, α s2 -casein and κ-casein. Most of the caseins in milk are assembled in casein micelles, which consist of several thousands of individual casein molecules and salts. The unique structure of casein micelles allows the delivery of large amounts of calcium and phosphate to the neonate. Considerable natural variation in casein content and composition exists between milk samples from individual cows, however the impact of these variations on casein micelle structure and technological properties of dairy products are largely unknown. This study showed that the expression of caseins and their post-translational modification as well as inclusion of calcium in casein micelles are well-balanced processes. Analysis of the genetic background of phosphorylation of α s1 -casein with eight or nine phosphate groupsshowed that α s1 -casein phosphorylation was regulated by a different set of genes. Also, variation in α s1 -casein phosphorylation resulted in changes in the core of casein micelles and was associated with a difference in degradation efficiency by chymosin in milk gels. Another post-translational modification, glycosylation of κ-casein, resulted in changes in the surface of casein micelles. Natural variation in α s1 -CN phosphorylationand glycosylation of κ-casein are both relevant factors to consider for optimization of dairy products and the design of future breeding strategies.


The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between athletic motor skill competencies (AMSC), maturation, sex, body mass index, physical performance, and psychological constructs (motivation to exercise, physical self-efficacy, and global self-esteem). Two-hundred and twenty-four children aged 11–13 years old were included in the study and sub-divided by sex. The athlete introductory movement screen (AIMS) and tuck jump assessment (TJA) were used to assess AMSC, while standing long jump distance assessed physical performance. Online surveys examined participants' motivation to exercise, physical self-efficacy, and self-esteem. Trivial to moderate strength relationships were evident between AMSC and BMI (boys: rs = −0.183; girls: rs = −0.176), physical performance (boys: rs = 0.425; girls: rs = 0.397), and psychological constructs (boys: rs = 0.130–0.336; girls rs = 0.030–0.260), with the strength of relationships different between the sexes. Higher levels of AMSC were related to significantly higher levels of physical performance (d = 0.25), motivation to exercise (d = 0.17), and physical self-efficacy (d = 0.15–0.19) in both boys and girls. Enhancing AMSC may have mediating effects on levels of physical performance and psychological constructs in school-aged children, which may hold important implications for physical activity levels and the development of physical literacy.


Abstract This article summarizes and assesses federal K-12 compensatory education policies during the past six decades. It focuses on the centerpiece of that effort, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Related programs such as America 2000, Goals 2000, No Child Left Behind, and Every Student Succeeds Act are discussed. It analyzes the increasing use of ambitious federal education goals since the 1990s as well as greater reliance on high-stakes testing. It also considers the role of presidents as well as governors in this process.


Recent scandals in certain large global corporations have led to increased expectations from accountants regarding careful comprehensive observation of ethical guidelines. In this research, the author seeks to explain ethical approaches and their effect on qualitative characteristics of accounting profits. Research variables include morality as the independent variable and 5 qualitative characteristics of profit as dependent variables. Company size is taken as the control variable. Results from hypothesis testing indicate that the morality variable directly affects profit quality based on qualitative characteristics of profit. In general, morality in smaller corporations had a positive effect on the qualitative characteristics profit, and with growing size, this positive relation diminished. The obtained results showed that qualitative characteristics of profit are directly related to the internal tendencies of information providers, and such tendencies are in turn related to each individual's ethical structure. Based on their internal tendencies, individuals are different, and the degree of this difference depends on their conceptual processes, the structure and method of their reasoning, and the degree of their conceptual and moral development.


Context: Xanthine oxidase (XO) is a key enzyme in the pathophysiological homeostasis of hyperuricemia. It catalyzes the oxidation of hypoxanthine to xanthine and then to uric acid, the reaction involves the formation of free radical intermediates and superoxide byproducts. Objectives: This study was undertaken to investigate the antioxidant, antihyperuricemic, and xanthine oxidase inhibitory potentials of Hyoscyamus reticulatus L. (Solanaceae) extract. Materials and methods: The antioxidant potency was measured using the ABTS•+ scavenging capacity system, which includes Trolox as a standard. The xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity of the extract was quantitated in vitro by measuring the decline in the catalytic rate of xanthine oxidase following incubations with the plant extracts and using xanthine as a substrate. The hypouricemic potential of the extract was evaluated using an in vivo model for hyperuricemia. We tested three different doses of the extract and allopurinol was used as standard antihyperuricemic positive control. Results: H. reticulatus aqueous extract exhibited significant antioxidant scavenging properties (533.26 μmol TE/g dry extract weight) and inhibitory effect on xanthine oxidase activity (IC50 12.8 μg/mL). Furthermore, oral administration of the aqueous extract significantly reduced serum urate levels in oxonate-induced hyperuricemic mice in a dose-dependent manner. Discussion and conclusion: Our results suggest that the aqueous extract of H. reticulatus aerial parts might have great potential as an antioxidant and a hypouricemic agent. Our lab is currently identifying the active compounds in the extract to which the biological activities could be attributed.


We introduce the 'Mover-Stayer Model' (MSM) to the strategy literature and use it to study persistent performance heterogeneity. The MSM can give us a finer grained picture of performance heterogeneity because it allows us to divide firms into different performance categories (e.g. superior, moderate, and inferior) and study the probabilities that firms move between these categories over time. Using COMPUSTAT data across 40 industries over 50 years (1950-2006), we demonstrate three different aspects of performance heterogeneity: (1) persistence heterogeneity: the performance of superior performers is more persistent than that of inferior performers, followed by moderate performers; (2) mobility heterogeneity: moderate performers are more mobile (i.e., more likely to move into or from the adjacent categories) than superior or inferior performers; (3) measurement heterogeneity: while the persistence of profit is much stronger than the persistence of growth, corporate turnaround is more likely in the growth ...


Enhancement-mode InAlAs/InGaAs/GaAs metamorphic HEMTs with a composite InGaAs channel and double-recessed 0.15-/spl mu/m gate length are presented. Epilayers with a room-temperature mobility of 10 000 cm/sup 2//V-s and a sheet charge of 3.5/spl times/10/sup 12/cm/sup -2/ are grown using molecular beam epitaxy on 4-in GaAs substrates. Fully selective double-recess and buried Pt-gate processes are employed to realize uniform and true enhancement-mode operation. Excellent dc and RF characteristics are achieved with threshold voltage, maximum drain current, extrinsic transconductance, and cutoff frequency of 0.3 V, 500 mA/mm, 850 mS/mm, and 128 GHz, respectively, as measured on 100-/spl mu/m gate width devices. The load pull measurements of 300-/spl mu/m gate width devices at 35 GHz yielded a 1-dB compression point output power density of 580 mW/mm, gain of 7.2 dB, and a power-added efficiency of 44% at 5 V of drain bias.


In this paper high power Yb-doped double-clad fiber laser is presented. A Yb3+-silica fiber laser has been cladding pumped at 937 nm by a InGaAs semiconductor laser diode and operated with the slope efficiency of 73 ± 3% with respect to the incident pump power. We obtained 4 W cw-output power when working with 20-m long fiber with laser core in 7 μm diameter (cut-off wavelength - 1 μm) and pump core in 120 x 120 μm (rectangle-shaped, NA = 0.6). Yb-doping concentration has been at the level 3 - 10 • 1019 cm-3 and attenuation in laser core has been 8 - 12 dB/km. The fiber laser operated at 1084 nm.


To obtain high quality and sufficient quantity of Fas protein. Methods:①Recombinant expression vector of Pin-Pointxa-Fas of construction, human Fas extracellular cDNA fragment was amplified through reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction from the total RNA of T cell lineage Jurket cells which were activated by PHA/PMA.②Affinity-purified the Biotinylated fusion proteins and obtained recombinant Fas fusion protein.③Using Fas recombinant protein as antigen when detected by ELISA.Results:①About 470 bp cDNA fragment was amplified from Jurket total RNA by RT-PCR.Recorabinant expression vector of pinpointxa-Fas were constructed. ②DNA sequence analysis by sanger' s dideoxy-mediated chain termination showed that the DNA sequence contained only one mutation A→G( 174th), and the DNA encoded the same AA sequence as the published Fas extrallular AA sequence. ③The recombinant plasmid PinPointxa3-Fas were further transfered into E. coli HB101. After IPTG induction fusion protein was expressed in E.coli and could be detected by SDS-PAGE. The thin layer gel scanning analysis showed that the yield of the fusion protein was 17.4% of total protein and its molecular weight was about 34.3 kD.④Western blotting indicated this was the specific band of Fas-biotinylated fusion-protein. After being cut off by factor Xa and affinity-purified, purified Fas protein was obtained. SDS-PAGE showed that it was Fas recombinant protein with a molecular weight of 21.3 kD.⑤Using Fas recombinant protein as antigen when detected by ELISA,the results showed Fas recombinant protein had immunoreactivity with anti-Fas MeAb. Conclusion: The successful expression and purification of Fas recombinant protein , and will provide sufficient materials for further studies on Fas.


To the Editor We believe that the findings of Schwann et al. are not applicable to patients undergoing cardiac surgery in general, title notwithstanding, because they studied outcomes of only a narrow and nonrepresentative segment: coronary revascularization with the use of extracorporeal circulatory support and without transesophageal echocardiography guidance. The presumed cause-and-effect conclusions and the discussion of various potential etiologies of detrimental outcomes in patients in whom pulmonary artery catheters (PACs) were used were based on the statistical analysis of outcomes of propensity-matched patients. The logical absurdity of this approach could be illustrated by the following "thought experiment": substitute the procedure in question (placement of PAC) with another (for example, performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR]). State-of-the-art statistical analysis would show higher mortality and morbidity rates in those patients to whom CPR was administered, compared with propensity-matched patients to whom CPR was not administered. Should we call for a reassessment of CPR as a procedure associated with worse outcomes? In addition to the many concerns and limitations discussed in the accompanying editorial, two sources of potential bias stand out: first, the absence of pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction, arguably the most important indications for perioperative pulmonary arterial catheterization from the list of covariates used for propensity matching analysis. The second is a significant heterogeneity of perioperative surgical care introduced by noninclusion of specific institutions and surgeons as analysis covariates. It remains entirely plausible that institutions with low frequency of pulmonary artery catheterizations also have more experienced and proficient surgeons, shorter cardiopulmonary bypass times, "better" intensive care unit care, and achieve lower morbidity and mortality rates in otherwise propensity-matched populations. This possibility might explain the mysterious doubling of mortality in patients monitored with PACs despite very modest changes in fluid balance and/or use of vasoactive support statistically attributed to PACs. We applaud the efforts to establish parameters for the perioperative use of invasive hemodynamic monitoring in cardiac surgery, but caution against extrapolating the potentially biased outcomes of on-bypass coronary revascularization in low-risk population to the entire field.


We investigate if Malaysian listed companies engaged in financial information fraud during financial distressed after two years of US subprime mortgage crisis.We also investigate the impact of financial information fraudulence in bankruptcy prediction and misclassification errors. This study used consumer product companies listed on the main board and the timeframe is from 2011 till 2015. The Altman Z score indicates that 37 out of 133 Malaysian consumer product companies are financially distressed. Meanwhile, the M score shows that 28 out of 224observations are engaged in financial information fraudulence. However, these results are relatively low because the samples are taken from the main board and fraudulence in their financial statements might be done in lower magnitude in order to avoid sanctions by the Security Exchange Commission. Logistic regression was used to measure the predicting accuracy. The result of the overall accuracy percentage slightly improved by 0.9 after eliminating fraudulent companies. The confusion matrix result i.e. before and after the removal of financial information fraudulent companies, the misclassification errors especially type one has improved. This finding satisfied objective three, whereby one of the reasons for the deterioration in financial distress prediction is due to the upward bias of financial information fraudulence.Governments, monitoring bodies, and all those involved in an insolvency process would benefit from this study.


Charcoal flowers had been used at tea ceremony in Edo era in Japan by the name of "Ohanazumi", but they remained in the literature only its name without any description on their preparation method. In the present study a preparation of charcoal flowers was tried by the application of pre-oxidation process. Flowers were dried at first and then oxidized in a furnace or in an air oven at temperatures between 200°C and 300°C. The flowers thus oxidized were put into a quartz vessel and carbonized by heating in a crucible furnace from 250°Cd to 600°C in a flow of argon gas with a heating rate of 120°C/hr. The charcoal flowers could easily be prepared by this method in a short time of four hours or so. The charcoal flowers obtained in the present study were those from chrysanthemum, babies-breath, sazanka, fuyou (a kind of rose mallow) and etc. Art charcoals from leaves of Japanese holly and ginkgo, mandarin oranges and dried mushrooms (Shiitake) were also made.


Sir: I am very pleased that my article has been read with interest by Marco D'Ettorre et al., who have recently proposed an innovative, safe, and repeatable surgical technique called "kris knife" brachioplasty after bariatric surgery and massive weight loss. (Kris knife means scalloped edge, wavy blade, a flame-shaped or serpentine ridged blade, and it is not a fixed shape, figure, or symbol; this is descriptive term for the knife blade that has many shapes and types according to the location and culture.) That article was published in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.1 In their article, they stated that attention must be paid in case of surgically induced massive weight loss patients, whose extreme tissue laxity deserves proper management. From our review of the literature, we found that arm contour deformities are common with aging, weight fluctuation, or normal weight loss, and after massive weight loss, especially that seen following bariatric surgery, and no age group is immune to this problem. Even if the skin is firm, some people simply have too much fat deposited in the upper arm that makes it out of proportion to the rest of the body. Brachioplasty as a global term should deal with all of these types of deformities in addition to the surgically induced massive weight loss patients, as all are categories of arm contour deformities. The surgical approach will depend on the extent and the degree of arm lipodystrophy, the extent of skin laxity, and the amount of excess fat deposits such that there is no universal technique addressing all arm contour deformities. The authors stress that their technique should be used on selected types of patients who have mild to moderate brachial ptosis and skin laxity with relatively


We present a novel iterative reconstruction method applied to in situ x-ray synchrotron tomographic data of dendrite formation during the solidification of magnesium alloy. Frequently, fast dynamic imaging projection data are undersampled, noisy, of poor contrast and can contain various acquisition artifacts. Direct reconstruction methods are not suitable and iterative reconstruction techniques must be adapted to the existing data features. Normally, an accurate modelling of the objective function can guarantee a better reconstruction. In this work, we design a special cost function where the data fidelity term is based on the Group-Huber functional to minimize ring artifacts and the regularization term is a higher-order variational penalty. We show that the total variation penalty is unsuitable for some cases and higher-order regularization functionals can ensure a better fit to the expected properties of the data. Additionally, we highlight the importance of 3D regularization over 2D for the problematic data. The proposed method shows a promising performance dealing with angular undersampled noisy dynamic data with ring artifacts.


The present paper describes the results of an experimental wind tunnel test campaign aimed at investigating and characterizing the complicated aerodynamic flow patterns around a wing section equipped with propellers mounted on a boom. The investigated configuration is meant to be representative of a full-scale eVTOL aircraft in cruise flight condition. The Infrared Thermography technique enabled a quantitative evaluation of the amount of laminar flow for the baseline airfoil section and also for the wing airfoil under the influence of the propeller at different thrust conditions.


A fact that in the association of human life, individuals and groups, there are often deviations from the norms of his life, especially known legal norms. Where in mutual human association, this deviation of legal norms is referred to as a criminal offense. In recent years there has been more and more crime against human souls in society. The research method used in this study is the Library Research and Field Research. Judge's consideration or Ratio Decidendi is an argument or reason used by the judge as a legal consideration that becomes the basis before deciding a case. In practice before this juridical consideration is proven, the judge will first withdraw the facts in the trial that arises and constitute the cumulative conclusions of the witnesses' statements, the defendant's statements, and the evidence. The application of the law in this case to the murder case is legitimate while in reasonable terms because the application of the law must be in accordance with what was done by the perpetrators because the deterrent effect that is expected in the application of this law is very important.


In 2020, the Chinese government set goals for carbon neutrality and carbon peaking. As one of the high-energy consuming industries, it plays an important role in energy conservation and emission reduction and sustainable development in China. This article focuses on logistics enterprises, governments, and consumers, and uses evolutionary game theory to construct an evolutionary game model. The decision behavior of the three parties in the sustainable development of the cold chain logistics industry is studied, and the evolution path and laws of the model are theoretically and numerically simulated. Research has found that from a cost-benefit perspective, when the government takes strong intervention and increases subsidies for sustainable development technologies in cold chain logistics, the cost of sustainable development for cold chain logistics enterprises decreases and the benefits increase. Consumers will choose environmentally friendly cold chain logistics services, resulting in synergistic benefits among the three parties, thereby promoting the formation and improvement of a mechanism for the government, cold chain logistics enterprises, and consumers to collaborate in implementing sustainable development of cold chain logistics.


Summary The nymphalid butterfly Erebia medusa is a typical species of meadows that are poor in nitrogen and fallow land. In forests, it is only found on clearings with meadow-like structures. However, it is missing on wind exposed places, too. 239 imagoes of E. medusa were sampled in the Aggtelek Karst region (north-eastern Hungary) at six different localities at the end of May 1997. The sample sizes varied between 33 and 46. The studied karst area has a typical forest steppe vegetation and is characterised by a mosaic-like distribution of meadows and forests. The sampled butterflies were analysed by allozyme electrophoresis. The level of polymorphism was significantly higher in the samples than the mean of the populations on European scale. Significant genetic differentiation was found between populations but the level of differentiation was low. Genetic distances varied between 0.013 and 0.020 with a mean of 0.017 (± 0.002 S.D.). The estimated F ST value was about 0.005 (± 0.005 S.D.). An isolation by distance analysis showed no significant correlation between geographical and genetic distances (p > 0.05; r = 0.48). Contrarily, a significant correlation between genetic distances and the minimum forest distances between sampling sites was found (p E. medusa seem to be of little influence on the formation of local genetic structuring, whereas the distribution of forests which might act as migration barriers for this species seems to be an important factor.


The reduction of funding allocation for school operations occurs in the education administration yearly. It is a notable fact that schools around the world are facing challenges in school funding as it affects the school's operation. As a result, the performance of school for the long term would not be a primary concern in the future. Schools in Malaysia are not exempted from this issue as it is one of the main concerns in the centralized schools of this country. Generally, as the number of schools is increasing and a corresponding decrease takes place in centralized funding, it is vital for school principals to find alternatives for fundraising. Following a growing pattern of decentralization of school policies, entrepreneurial leadership currently begins to make an appearance in the education system through the transformation it creates in schools. However, there is insufficient discussion regarding the practices of entrepreneurial leadership and the abilities of entrepreneurial leaders in centralized schools. This study aims to identify the practices performed by centralized school principals to implement entrepreneurial activities in two schools selected for this study, which consisted of two different demographic backgrounds, districts, and locations. It investigates the entrepreneurial leadership practices performed by the Malaysian school principals in fundraising activities. The roles of the school principals as entrepreneurial leaders were identified based on their peers and other school staff who gained the experience of working under those principals. The various fundraising practices of the entrepreneurial leaders of both of these schools are examined within this crucial and challenging environment, followed by a discussion of how the school administrations deal with the external parties to obtain school funding. This study contributes to the field of educational administration by analysing the current fundraising practices of entrepreneurial principals of centralized schools in Malaysia.


A thermionic-thermoradiative converter (TITRC) is established by combining the concepts of the thermionic emission and thermoluminescence, where the main irreversible losses are considered. The TITRC utilizes simultaneously electron and photon fluxes and converts directly a part of them into electricity, which enables a significant enhancement on the heat transfer and performance of the TITRC. Compared with either the thermionic energy generator or the thermoradiative device, the TITRC possesses advantages of higher power output and conversion efficiency in an extended temperature range. When the emitter in the TITRC is operated at 1500 K and Ag-O-Cs is used as the collector, the maximum power density and efficiency of the proposed TITRC can reach up to 0.301 Wcm $^{-2}$  and 22.5%, respectively. This letter can benefit the optimal design of the TITRC, and shed light on developing the ongoing research of the alternative energy harvesting devices.


ObjectiveTo investigate the information about the present nosocomial infection characteritics and drug resistance of stenotrophomonas maltophilia.MethodsNosocomial infection caused by stenotrophomonas maltophilia was retrospectively analyzed among the cases from 2000 to 2002 in our hospital. The change in drug resistance of stenotrophomonas mal tophilia during 2000~2002 was also anlayzed.ResultThe main departments happened frequently with nosocomial infection caused by stenotrophomunas maltophilia were ICU(37.5%), nerve surgery department(21.88%) and respiration department(9.38%). The common infection site was respiratory tract(90.63%). The ratio of resistance for cefotaxime, ceftriaxone imipenem against stenotrophomonas maltophilia was 100% during 2000~2002.Conclusion Severe patients in neurological surgery department and respiratory department are susceptible population to stenotrophomonas maltophilia. Many kinds of antibiotics are ineffective to this specific infection so it is very important to select antibiotics correctly according to the susceptibility tests.


The article analyzes the Donetsk Mining Institute's contribution to the process of modernization of the coal industry in Donbass. Particular attention is paid to research and development of Institute's scientists, in close connection with the production, and also to the solution of the staffing problems in industrial sphere.


A.c. voltammetric measurements have shown that bovine and human immunoglobulin G are adsorbed at a mercury electrode over a broad potential range and at open circuit. A current signal at ca. -0.55 V was identified as being due to an interfacial process connected with reversible protein re-orientations in the adsorption layer and, possibly, with fast faradaic reactions of both adsorbed redox states of the immunoglobulin.


Channel catfish virus disease (CCVD) is a highly pathogenic herpesvirus disease of cultured channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, fry and fingerlings. The disease is confined to the southern United States, but occurs sporadically in other areas where young channel catfish are intensively cultured. Blue catfish, I. furcatus, have been experimentally infected with CCV, but other ictalurids appear to be refractory. The causative virus can be isolated only from fish showing clinical signs and morbidity. The clinical signs resemble those of other fish viral diseases. Histopathology is characterized by hemorrhage, necrosis, and edema in most tissues. It is possible to isolate CCV in brown bUllhead, I. nebulosis, cells or cell cultures derived from channel catfish ovaries. The immunological response of channel catfish is discussed and theoretical control measures are suggested. fected fish may influence the rate of mortality and may serve as triggering mechanisms for epizootics. Optimum water temperature for CCVD is above 25°C. Mortality may occur at 20°C, but below this temperature the effects of CCV are diminished. Secondary bacterial infections of Aeromonas hydrophila and Flexibacter columnaris also serve as synergistic forces in CCV infections and probably contribute to mortality.


1. High vacuum solar panel comprising a frame supporting longitudinal and transverse struts crossing each other, and at least a transparent wall attached to said frame and defining with said frame a closed vacuum chamber containing a said longitudinal and transverse spacer, and absorber containing a plurality of absorbent panels, each of which is connected to the cooling tube, wherein the longitudinal members have a portion in contact with the transparent wall for Bolster Bani it when exposed to ambient pressure, and the transverse struts are at a distance from the transparent wall, the absorbent panel extends between the longitudinal struts, the transverse struts and the transparent wall, characterized in that the absorbent panels are supported on the transverse strut. ! 2. The solar battery panel according to claim 1, characterized in that the transverse struts have slots for placement of the cooling tubes of the absorber. ! 3. The solar battery panel according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the seating of the transverse struts are formed notches in the transverse struts. ! 4. Solar panel according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the seats also have protruding edges. ! 5. Solar panel according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the seats have a spacer which is in loose contact at their lower surfaces for the thermal insulation of the cooling tubes. ! 6. Solar panel according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the absorbing panels have a longitudinal length substantially equal to the longitudinal length of the chamber. ! 7. Solar panel n


Workplace bullying has drawn greater attention in the last one and half decades. Despite its recognition by many organizations and countries, it is still rife. Why is that so? Could it be that the root of the problem has not been addressed? Or, could it be due to difficulties and resistances in embarking preventive and control measures. In this paper, we will examine the possible causes of workplace bullying based on a proposed model. In depth discussion of the personal and organizational factors are made while the work group and societal factors are dealt with in brief. In summary, the root of workplace bullying is multi-factorial. Understanding the complexity and subtlety of workplace bullying is pertinent in the effort to prevent or curtail it.


Voluntary participation of citizens in maintaining public order and ensuring public safety is an important component of civil society. The topical scientific-theoretical problem related to this is the classification of forms of such participation. The classification of citizens' participation on various grounds testifies to the diversity of its forms. The legislator distinguishes the following forms of citizens' participation in public order maintenance: 1) assistance to internal affairs bodies (police) and other law enforcement agencies; 2) participation in the search of missing persons; 3) freelance cooperation with police; 4) participation in the activities of public associations of law enforcement focus. The criterion for this classification is the sphere of the activities of citizens for the protection of public order and forms of their interaction with law enforcement agencies. The analysis of normative legal acts and law enforcement practice allows to conclude that aside from the above mentioned legislative approach, many other classifications of citizens' participation in public order protection are possible. The following classifications of forms of participation are substantiated: 1) depending on the number of citizens participating in public order maintenance and ensuring public safety individual and collective forms of participation; 2) depending on the nature of imposing authorities the right of citizens to participate in protecting public order and ensuring public safety and the duty of citizens to participate in protecting public order and ensuring public safety; 3) depending on the practical implementation of participation in maintaining public order and ensuring public safety actual and indirect participation of citizens.


Dein et al [1][1] appear to believe, on the basis of suggestive but by no means overwhelming evidence, that religious belief is associated with good mental health. Bruno Bettelheim, in his account of his concentration camp incarceration,[2][2] noted that those who survived best were those with


The paper analyzes the adaptive abilities of black currant cultivars of plants for the assimilation of nickel from highly cultivated sod-podzolic soils containing 10.7-14.1 mg / kg of fluent nickel. Plantings were monitored at experimental plantings of ARHIBAN (Moscow region) on 9 black currant cultivars: Oryol Serenade, Belarusskaja sladkaja, Zagadka, Vologda, Triton, Biryulevskaya, Titania, Orlowsky waltz, Exotica. The agrochemical properties of the soil, the content of fluent nickel in the soil, and its content in the fruits of black currant plants were determined. Based on the analysis, the coefficients of nickel assimilation by black currant plants were calculated and statistical dependencies of its accumulation indicators on agrochemical properties of sod-podzolic soils at different depths of the root layer were determined. According to the results of research, regression dependences of the accumulation of nickel in black currant fruits on the indicators of the agrochemical properties of the soil and the content in the soil of fluent nickel were constructed. It was established that the nickel content in black currant fruits primarily depended on the acidity of the soil, on the content in the soil of fluent nickel, alkaline hydrolysable nitrogen and fluent potassium. Black currant cultivars Belarusskaja sladkaja, Vologda, Triton, Biryulevskaya, Titania were more resistant to soil pollution with nickel.


In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: a b s t r a c t Several models of PTSD suggest that dysfunctional beliefs play an important role in the maintenance of PTSD. This study examined whether thought control strategies intermediated in the relationship between PTSD and dysfunctional cognitions. It was hypothesized that PTSD would be positively associated with dysfunctional cognitions and that negative thought control strategies (worry and self-punishment) would partially account for this relationship. These maladaptive strategies were predicted to be associated with increased levels of PTSD and more trauma-related beliefs. Additionally, it was predicted that positive thought control strategies (social control and reappraisal) would be associated with decreased levels of PTSD and fewer trauma-related beliefs. Finally, because the literature supports distraction as both an adaptive and a maladaptive thought control strategy, no a priori hypothesis was made. Results support worry and self-punishment as maladaptive intervening variables in the association between PTSD and dysfunctional cognitions, resulting in greater levels of PTSD and trauma cogni-tions. Social control and distraction emerged as adaptive strategies, resulting in lower levels of PTSD and trauma cognitions, while reappraisal showed no relationship with PTSD severity. Although the results are cross-sectional, continued focus on the effects of thought control strategies as meditational maintenance variables over time appears warranted. A central focus in the literature on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been identifying factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of posttrauma symptoms (Ozer, Best, Lipsey, & Weiss, 2003). Although much attention has been paid to factors that increase risk for the development of PTSD, research is beginning to examine factors that help to maintain symptomotol-ogy. Resick and Schnicke (1992) highlighted the importance of identifying negative cognitions that may contribute to the persistent nature of PTSD. Related research has examined individual efforts to manage these dysfunctional cognitions (Reynolds & Wells, 1999) with emphasis on the role that thought control strategies play in maintaining posttrauma problems. The aim of the present study is to examine whether specific thought control strategies intervene in the relationship between PTSD symptoms and negative posttrauma cognitions. A number of theoretical models have emphasized the importance of cognitions in the psychopathology of PTSD. Resick and Schnicke (1993) highlight the significance …


The migration of ion implanted {sup 13}C in tempered martensitic steel (nominal composition 1.05 wt. % C, 0.2 wt. % Si, and 0.3 wt. % Mn) during excimer laser melting was examined utilizing the resonance of the {sup 13}C(p,{gamma}){sup 14}N reaction at Ep = 1747.6 keV. Depth concentration profiles after five and ten laser pulses of 1 J/cm{sup 2} revealed deviation from random walk diffusion in a homogeneous media. This was modelled by using the solubility controlled flow of carbon in iron-carbon melt. A diffusion length of 2{radical}D{tau} 34 {plus minus} 2 nm during a period {tau} of the melted phase was deduced. Significant amorphous to crystalline transformation occurred during the rapid self quenching following laser melting. 18 refs., 3 figs.


Obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS) is closely associated with cardiocerebrovascular comobidities,which are based on atherosclerosis(AS). Systemic inflammation may be the key pathological process linking OSAHS and AS. Serving as a linchpin of inflammatory cascade, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) may play an important role in the pathogenesis of OSAHS leading to AS. The aim of this review is to clarify the complex relationships among OSAHS,NF-κB and AS.

Key words:
Obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome;  Nuclear factor-kappaB;  Atherosclerosis; Endothelial dysfunction; Oxidative stress


Aminoresin precursors prepared by the addition of a new, colorless, nonvolatile and nontoxic aldehyde, dimethoxyethanal (DME), to melamine or urea gave resins for boards that were able to harden, however they were underperforming because of the lower reactivity of DME in relation to formaldehyde. Melamine and urea reacts with one and two (melamine up to three) molecules of DME to form M-DME and U-DME (called DU), but the subsequent cross-linking reaction to form bridges does not occur unless the reaction is catalyzed during resin preparation by the addition of glyoxylic acid. Such bridges between two melamine molecules form only up to the formation of dimers and no more. The use of glyoxylic acid during the reaction has allowed the formation of different oligomers formed by both aldol condensation and condensation of melamine and glyoxylic acid with two molecules of melamine to form dimers. These were observed by 13C NMR and MALDI-TOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectroscopy). However, the addition of 20% isocyanate (pMDI) was necessary to satisfy the relevant mechanical strength standards of panels prepared with these resins. pMDI contributed to cross-linking of M-DME and DU by its reaction to form urethane bridges according to reactions already described. The adhesive resins so formed had excellent performance and were colorless, and they produced boards that well satisfied the requirements of the relevant standards for interior panels. Formaldehyde emission was down to what would be expected obtained by just heating the wood chips in absence of adhesives. The panels emission was sufficiently low to even satisfy the most severe relevant F**** JIS A 5908 Japanese standard. These adhesives are colorless as MUF and UF resins. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008


In the previous papers, a sealing nozzle and a visual sensor were mounted on the end-effector of a manipulator, but control of nozzle position was only considered. As the results, the visual sensor would possibly lost the seam target at curved part of a sealing line during tracking. In order to improve tracking property of the sealing robot, both a visual sensor and a nozzle of a sealing robot must be real time controlled. In this paper, a fuzzy model based method for generating desired trajectory of the visual sensor is proposed. The fuzzy rules are obtained by applying neural network learning. Generated desired positions of nozzle are equivalently converted to rotation angles considered in the visual sensor coordinate. Then, a visual feedback algorithm for simultaneously controlling the nozzle and the visual sensor is also developed. Using the proposed method, positions of the sealing nozzle and the visual sensor can be controlled at every sampling instant in the robot control system. Therefore, both the nozzle and the visual sensor can move along a sealing line without losing the target during tracking. Tracking experiments for sealing objects with different type of sealing lines are carried out, and the effectiveness of proposed method has been demonstrated.


The Pamir region supplies water for most countries of the Central Asia. Discussions and arguments with regard to reduction of water resources related to climate change are popular today among various governmental and international institutions being a great concern for modern society. Probable decrease of the Pamirs runoff will affect downstream countries that can face water deficiency. However, there is no scientific rationale behind such disputes. The Pamir region is a remote, high-mountainous and hard-to-access area with scarce observation network and no reliable data. It is not sufficiently investigated in order to perform any assessment of climate change. This article represents results of study of climate parameters change (such as temperature, precipitation and river discharge) in the Pamirs. The study area covers all countries included in this mountain region (Tajikistan, China, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan). Observation records, remote sensing data and GIS modeling were used in the present work. Chronological data series were divided into two equal time intervals and were treated as climatic periods. Further analysis of climate change helped to estimate its influence on change of water potential in the Pamirs. The paper considers issues of liquid and solid precipitation change in the study area.


The emergence of a powerful tool: the blog. Fashion blogging: business model analysis. Fashion blogging: how it changed the fashion industry. Analysing suitable solutions for other industries-automotive industry.


Identifying a maximally separated set of signals is important in the design of modems. The notion of optimality is dependent on the model chosen to describe noise in the measurements; while some analytic results can be derived under the assumption of Gaussian noise, no such techniques are known for choosing signal sets in the non-Gaussian case. To obtain numerical solutions for non-Gaussian detectors, minimax problems are transformed into nonlinear programs, resulting in a novel formulation yielding problems with relatively few variables and many inequality constraints. Using sequential quadratic programming, optimal signal sets are obtained for a variety of noise distributions.


This paper made an analysis on our pig price control policy from the aspects of its background,subject and object,tools,constraint condition and effects.The results show that its total effect was relatively good.It was good for promoting mass breeding and increasing farmers' income,however,its effects on stabilizing price and market supply was not very successful.Some measures should be taken,like strengthening legislation of the pig price control policies,perfecting the work of monitoring statistics,accelerating the circulation system construction and promoting scientific and technological innovation of pig industry,etc.


A headset ear type apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a body provided for allowing a wearer's head; and two ear-type headphones, a headset which two ear protector to the body type connector, so the ear protector relative to the wearer's ear remains operable. At least one of the ear protector can be used to selectively reduce the sound temporarily wearer's ear corresponding degree of protection, so that the external sounds clearer. In one embodiment, the eye protector to the body assembly, with the body of the two connecting a headphone ear protector.


A model for the pinching of an inviscid liquid column, originally developed by Lee, is considered. We find that Lee's model has a singularity in the curvature at a finite thread radius, and therefore does not describe breakup. However, the observed steepening of the profile corresponds to experiments with fluids at low viscosity. The singularity has similarity form, which we compute analytically. The result agrees well with numerical simulations of Lee's model.


High-coverage long-read sequencing of the Halobacterium salinarum type strain (91-R6) revealed a 2.17-Mb chromosome and two large plasmids (148 and 102 kb). Population heterogeneity and long repeats were observed. Strain 91-R6 and laboratory strain R1 showed 99.63% sequence identity in common chromosomal regions and only 38 strain-specific segments. This information resolves the previously uncertain relationship between type and laboratory strains. ABSTRACT High-coverage long-read sequencing of the Halobacterium salinarum type strain (91-R6) revealed a 2.17-Mb chromosome and two large plasmids (148 and 102 kb). Population heterogeneity and long repeats were observed. Strain 91-R6 and laboratory strain R1 showed 99.63% sequence identity in common chromosomal regions and only 38 strain-specific segments. This information resolves the previously uncertain relationship between type and laboratory strains.


Small winemaking regions worldwide face intense competition from global brands; as such, their challenge is to promote brands that tell the unique story of the collectivity of regional wineries in order to achieve a favorable reputation for the regional product. This paper introduces a method to audit the communication of regional wine brands, drawing upon branding and corporate identity literature. The proposed audit has several objectives: providing a picture of the communicated brand's personality; checking gaps between intentions—that is, what winemakers want to communicate—and projections—that is, what formal communications actually project; delineating the potential target that communications address; checking the consistency of communications; and evaluating the expressiveness of wineries in communicating the regional wine brand. The paper further illustrates the audit using the case of the Swiss wine Merlot Ticino.


Typical speech enhancement algorithms operate on the shorttime magnitude spectrum, while keeping the short-time phase spectrum unchanged for synthesis. Recently, a novel approach to speech enhancement has been proposed where the noisy magnitude spectrum is recombined with a changed phase spectrum to produce a modified complex spectrum. During synthesis the low energy components of the modified complex spectrum cancel out more than the high energy components, thus reducing background noise. In the present work, a procedure that employs noise estimates to compensate the phase spectrum for additive noise distortion is formulated. The proposed approach is objectively evaluated against several popular speech enhancement methods under various noise conditions and is shown to compare favourably


The title compounds (2 and 4) obtained by the diastereoselective hydrogenation of the corresponding 1,2,3,6-tetrahydrophosphinine oxides (1 and 3) were subjected to a detailed quantum chemical study. The possible chair conformers were calculated at the HF/6-31G* level of theory, according to which, the 1-phenyl-3-P(O)Y2-substituted products (2) exist in the trans1 form, in which all substituents are equatorial. At the same time, the 1-ethoxy-3-dialkylphosphono compounds (4) adopt the cis conformations, in which the 1-ethoxy group is axial and the 3-P(O)(OR)2 moiety is equatorial. The major diastereomer (4–1) is cis3, in which the 5-methyl group is axial, while the minor one is cis1 with an equatorial methyl substituent. It is noteworthy that the rotational position of the exocyclic P(O)Z2 function affected the energy content of the chair conformer to a high extent. The possibility of the involvement of the twist conformers was also considered. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 16:520–524, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.20148


The following paper is to introduce models of production systems presented and discussed in the literature. The models most often used are briefly described and characterized, as well as classified into two groups: in the first one manufacturing system's model is based on mathematical description of relations between parameters of the system and includes f.ex. production function and Leontief's formulas, while in the second models reflect system's structure and relations between its elements and includes f.ex. industrial dynamics model. The classification developed is useful for manufacturing systems analysis and description providing some formal background, especially when using informal, descrptive approach. Paper type: Literature Review Published online: 21 April 2011 © 2011 Poznan University of Technology. All rights reserved.


A hard faced contact ultrasound transducer device for transmitting ultrasound pulses into a workstructure at temperatures substantially above room temperature comprises a ceramic protection block, a piezoelectric element bonded to the protecting block, a damping substrate adjacent the piezoelectric element, a ceramic clamping block with standoff portions that limit the approach of the clamping block toward the ceramic protecting block, and fasteners to draw the clamping block toward the protecting block forcing the damping substrate against the piezoelectric element and the protecting block.


This research was about commissive acts uttered by characters  and the aims behind the use of commissive acts in The Hunger Games : Mockingjay Part 2 movie. In conversation, commissive acts are threatening, promissing, vowing, refusing, etc. The research data was in the form of utterances that contained commissive acts uttered by the characters in the movie. To analyze the data, the researcher used Spradley's theory (1998) which covered : data analysis; domain analysis, taxonomic analysis, componential analysis, and cultural value. This research was conducted by accomodating two theories: Levinson (1983) in analyzing commissive acts and Searle & Vanderveken (1985) in analyzing the aims of commissive acts. The result of the research showed that the were twenty five data that indicated as the relevant data. From the data, the researcher found five aims behind the use of commissive acts in the movie; they were planning, refusing, offering, promising, and threatening. The most dominant aim behind the use of commissive acts were planning (ten data) and promissing (seven data) while the least dominant were refusing (four data), offering ( two data), and threatening (two data).


1. Few empirical studies have described social- ecological systems (SESs) in transition. Some studies focused on external drivers that impact the SES and communities' responses to adapt to changes, including economic, land and conservation policies. Others have considered the effect of social and cultural changes on communities' capacity to sustain their activities. While sociocultural changes are increasingly common through globalization and world- wide economic development, there is an urgent need to better understand and document how these changes affect individual and community agency to adapt or transform a system that is facing a combination of powerful internal and external forces. 2. The human– Asian elephant relationship appears particularly illustrative of a complex SES because of the dual status of the elephant being wild or under human care, and the entanglement of ecological, cultural, social and economic dimensions. The ongoing and rapid political, socio- economic and environmental changes occurring in


The modified phenolic foam is prepared by the method of the precursor blending with the modifier FeCl2/NH4NO3.The modified carbon foam is obtained by carbonizing and activating with H2O modifying phenolic foam.Physical and chemical characters of the products are characterized using the N2 adsorption,TG,XRD,SEM,FT-IR.The results indicate that the surface of modified carbon foam has a wide range of pore diameter distribution,the specific area is 311.19m2/g and the sum pore volume is 9.687mL/g.The beneficial functional groups such as nitrogenous alkaline group and iron ion are found on the surface.The adsorption capacity of acidic gas can make significantly improve because of the interaction between the iron ion and the nitrogenous alkaline group.


Although very rare, pantoprazole can result in acute hepatitis. It has yet to be reported, however, that it can also cause chronic autoimmune hepatitis.


ABSTRACT: Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) is being used widely in repairing and retrofitting structures which suf fer from damage or some design deficiencies. For gravity-des ign d (or generally nonseismically designed) struct ures, FRP strengthening also appears to be an obvious cho ice when comes to the need of upgrading for improve d seismic resistance. However, typical FRP strengthen ing is known to be susceptible to debonding and suc h problem is expected to become more serious under cy clic deformations. This paper investigates the effectiveness of FRP retrofitting for enhancing the seismic performance of RC frames. A half-scale rei nforced concrete test frame, originally designed without co nsidering any seismic requirements, is constructed an subsequently subjected to simulated earthquakes unt il a significant degree of damage is generated. The damaged frame is then repaired using glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) following a typical repairing proce dure. The repaired frame is subsequently tested until final f ailure. The observed responses before and after the repairing are compared. The effectiveness of the retrofitting scheme is discussed in terms of the restoration of the initial stiffness, the evaluation of damage, and the base s hear strength and ductility. The development and pa ttern of debonding during the course of tests are highlighte d.


Article history: Received: February 16, 2020 Received in revised format: March 22 2020 Accepted: March 22, 2020 Available online: March 22, 2020 The research was conducted in order to identify the relationships between human resource practices, employee motivation and employee loyalty. Quantitative research method was applied with questionnaires directly delivered to 595 employees in hospitality sector in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. Statistics techniques including exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, multiple regression and mediation analysis were used. The empirical results showed that variables of team spirit, career development, compensation, relationship with manager and working environment directly affected employee motivation and consequently, they provided indirect effects on loyalty through the mediation of employee motivation. In addition, employee loyalty was also directly affected by career development, working environment and employee motivation. It is suggested that hospitality sector should develop attractive compensation and benefit policies, comfortable workplace environment, coherent teamwork culture as well as straightforward career training and development plan for achieving higher level of employee loyalty. © 2020 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada


The optical glass lens is required high dimensional precision such as the lack of defect. In this paper, we examined the detectable defect by using the resonant ultrasound spectroscopy(RUS). The RUS is the measurement system which is to excite the specimen and to inspect the differences of resonant frequency pattern between acceptable specimen and specimen which has some defects. In this paper, for nondestructive evaluation by using RUS, we measured the resonant frequency of each specimen which is spherical and aspherical glass lens. With the results, we knew the polishing processing degree of spherical glass lens by the measured resonant frequency and could evaluate the characteristic of aspherical glass lens about some flaws.


PURPOSE: A power supply device, a display device including the same, and a driving method thereof are provided to maintain high image quality by detecting a display panel property and supplying a power voltage according to optimum driving conditions. CONSTITUTION: A power voltage supply device includes a DC-DC converter(50) and a power voltage control unit(60). The DC-DC converter generates a power voltage according to an input voltage and a feedback voltage and supplies the power voltage to a display unit. The display unit includes a plurality of light emitting devices. A power voltage control unit senses an input current flowing in the DC-DC converter and an output voltage outputted from the DC-DC converter. The power voltage control unit generates the feedback voltage controlled by corresponding to the input current and the output voltage and transmits the feedback voltage to the DC-DC converter.


The measurement and mapping of land proprietary in the process of land
proprietary registration in order to get the legal determination based on the
Government Regulation Number 24 year 1997 in Desa Lendola Kecamatan Teluk
Mutiara, Kabupaten Alor Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur. How is the execution of
land proprietary measurement and mapping in the process of land proprietary
registration in order to get the legal determination based on the Government
Regulation Number 24 1997 and wether the proprietary land measurement and
mapping of the land proprietary itself would actualize the legal determination.
The purpose of this research is to discover, study, and analize about the execution
of land proprietary measurement and mapping on the sporadic registration of land
proprietary in order to obtain legal determination and wether the land proprietary
measurement and mapping in the sporadic land proprietary registration has
actualize land administration rules, using the empiric law research method which
is done directly towards the responden that act as primary data beside the
secondary data. The land proprietary measurement and mapping in the process of
sporadic land proprietary registration is already accordance the Government
Regulation Number 24 year 1997. From 44 respondent which submit sporadic
land proprietary registration application, 26 of the respondent has obtained a
certificate as the execution result of sporadic land proprietary registration, 18
respondent are still waiting for the process of certificate publishment. Therefore,
the land proprietary land measurement and mapping in the process of sporadic
land proprietary registration has actualize the legal regulation because most of the
respondent (26 respondent) has already obtained certificate.


THE COMBINE "unveiling" article (COMBINE Study Research Group, 2003) describes the design of the COMBINE Study. The broad scope of that article allowed only a brief discussion of the rationale for the study design. The first two articles in this section provide more insight into why the particular design was chosen. The other two describe ancillary studies to the COMBINE Study. The COMBINE Study is a randomized trial testing combinations of treatments, with eight of the nine treatment combinations in the trial forming a factorial design. The article by Couper et al. in Section 1 of this supplement discusses questions that need to be addressed when a factorial design is used in a clinical trial. That article gives an overview of factorial designs in general rather than specifically in the field of alcohol research. The first article in this section, by Hosking et al., examines reasons for testing combinations of treatments rather than single-treatment modalities. It examines the reasons both in general and with particular reference to the design of the COMBINE Study. In the factorial component of the COMBINE Study, participants receive two medications (acamprosate and naltrexone) or their matching placebos plus one of two levels of behavioral intervention. As all participants in this component receive pills, it is not possible to use the factorial component to estimate a placebo effect. Because of concerns about the strength of a possible placebo effect, an additional treatment combination was added to the design. Participants randomized to this treatment received behavioral therapy but no pills. The second article in this section, by Weiss et al., describes the rationale behind adding this treatment combination and addresses the issues that this raised in terms of implementing the study. The cost of health care continues to increase substantially faster than the inflation rate. As long as there is no single treatment (or treatment combination) that is markedly superior to all other treatments for alcohol dependence, the relative costs of competing regimens will influence treatment decisions for at least some patients. Even if a particular regimen is universally accepted as being superior to all others in terms of efficacy, its cost may preclude its widespread use. Thus it is important to examine not only the relative efficacies of treatments but also their relative and absolute costs. The COMBINE Cost-Effectiveness (CE) Study aims to estimate the cost of delivering each COMBINE treatment combination in clinical practice. As COMBINE is a research study, the CE Study will distinguish research costs from treatment costs. The CE Study is a separately funded ancillary study to COMBINE. It does not use all COMBINE participants; two of the clinical centers declined to be part of this study. Furthermore, some participants in the main study were unwilling to provide consent for this ancillary study or had been lost to follow-up and could not be contacted to request their participation. The article by Zarkin et al. describes the methodology of the CE Study. In a multifactorial condition such as alcohol dependence, the response to a particular treatment often varies substantially across individuals. This variation may occur in both the efficacy of the treatment and in its side effects. Some of the variation may be the result of genetic differences affecting either the nature of the alcohol dependence or the response to the treatment, such as metabolism of a drug. The COMBINE Genetics Study is an ancillary study investigating associations between specific genetic markers and treatment outcomes in COMBINE. The final article in this section, by Goldman et al., describes this ancillary study, including discussing some of the candidate genes that will be investigated. As for the CE Study, separate informed consent was required for participation in the Genetics Study. All of the clinical centers are participating in this ancillary study. Approval for this study was obtained after the main study had already randomized and completed treatment for a substantial proportion of the target sample size. Some COMBINE participants could not be contacted to request participation in this ancillary study, and others were unwilling to provide informed consent.


A novel design of printed L-shaped probe fed microstrip patch antenna is presented. This antenna can be designed for broad-band dual-polarization SAR applications. Because of using crossed printed L-shaped probe and air substrate, this antenna has advantages of simple structure, easy fabrication and low cost. The details experimental results for the proposed design are presented and discussed.


Three severely brain damaged children of an age between 13 and 17 months were found to have retarded bone center development and low basal metabolic rate. The absence of myxoedematous appearance suggested that these symptoms were not attributable to an abnormal thyroid gland activity. Studies of iodine metabolism demonstrated normal thyroid function. It is concluded that atypical cases of congenital hypothyroidism should be investigated complétély.


Successful protection of environment is mostly based on high-quality assessment of potential and present risks. Environmental risk management is a complex process which includes: identification, assessment and control of risk, namely taking measures in order to minimize the risk to an acceptable level. Environmental risk management methodology: In addition to these phases in the management of environmental risk, appropriate measures that affect the reduction of risk occurrence should be implemented: - normative and legal regulations (laws and regulations), - appropriate organizational structures in society, and - establishing quality monitoring of environment. The emphasis is placed on the application of assessment methodologies (three-model concept), as the most important aspect of successful management of environmental risk. Risk assessment methodology - European concept: The first concept of ecological risk assessment methodology is based on the so-called European model-concept. In order to better understand this ecological risk assessment methodology, two concepts - hazard and risk - are introduced. The European concept of environmental risk assessment has the following phases in its implementation: identification of hazard (danger), identification of consequences (if there is hazard), estimate of the scale of consequences, estimate of consequence probability and risk assessment (also called risk characterization). The European concept is often used to assess risk in the environment as a model for addressing the distribution of stressors along the source - path - receptor line. Risk assessment methodology - Canadian concept: The second concept of the methodology of environmental risk assessment is based on the so-called Canadian model-concept. The assessment of ecological risk includes risk arising from natural events (floods, extreme weather conditions, etc.), technological processes and products, agents (chemical, biological, radiological, etc.) and industrial activities that may pose threats to ecosystems, flora, fauna and humans. This model-concept gives a three-phase assessment where the assessor tries to determine whether a specific place may be subject to assessment, to characterize the level of risk and to confirm or refute the findings of the first phase, collecting information and corrective measures, or to establish basic requirements for environment protection. Risk assessment methodology - American concept: The third methodological approach to environmental risk assessment is developed by the U.S. Agency for Environmental Protection, 'U.S. EPA'. This model primarily involves the implementation of environmental risk assessment under the conditions of anthropogenic impact on environment, without aiming at solving problems of natural environmental risks, although this methodology can be applied in this environment segment as well. The methodology gives a clear distinction between a scientific (phase of estimation) and a non-scientific (planning) part of assessment. The phases of estimation given by this model are: problem formulation, risk analysis and risk characterization. Conclusion: Concepts and methodologies of all three models-concepts of assessment are mostly reduced to a common goal: how to reduce existing or avoid potential risks. However, it should be noted that the implementation of appropriate management and ecological risk assessment does not guarantee that risks will be avoided or that the implementation of these processes will be successful.


Moving from deterministic to probabilistic reliability criteria for power systems necessitates probabilistic methods for socio-economic impact assessment. This paper demonstrates a probabilistic assessment of the long-term impact of the amount of transmission capacity given to the power market both on the market costs and on the expected customer interruption costs. A hydro-thermal market analysis is integrated with a contingency and reliability analysis and applied to the Nordic power system, focusing on a particular region of Norway and the transmission limits for this region. The results of this analysis are then combined in a socio-economic cost assessment that illustrates how a probabilistic approach and flexible transmission limits may allow for a more socio-economically optimal utilization of the grid. The results show that the impact of uncertainties (climatic variability) on the socio-economic cost assessment can be substantial.


The fundamental concepts of system simulation and the characteristics of simulation software Flexsim are introduced.Aim at the manufacturing process of automobile redirectors,employs simulation software Flexsim to model and simulate the product flow.The "bottleneck" is found in the manufacture process by running the simulating model.As a result,the scientific evidence for decision-making can been obtained for adjusting the balance of the product line.


The Schluchtern Tunnel is the largest engineering structure on the railway line linking Frankfurt/Main and Fulda in Germany. Work has been progressing on the new tunnel as a second tube for the existing old tunnel since 2005 so that services can in future run through 2 single-track tubes in order to be able to comply with the latest safety standards. The New Schluchtern Tunnel has a total length of approx. 4 km and an inner diameter of 9 metres. Using the example of the New Schluchtern Tunnel it is shown how innovation in tunnelling could be achieved and how Research and Development (R&D) could be transferred into practice. With awarding the contract for the tunnel construction, the client Deutsche Bahn AG also commissioned an extensive measurement programme to trace stresses in the segmental lining right from the beginning of the construction of the segment rings. In an exemplarily co-operation Client, Contractor and STUVA, the German Research Association for Underground Transportation Facilities, are conducting R&D on a running project. During the tunnel construction the outcome of three completed R&D-projects of Hochtief Construction was transferred into prac tice.


Objective To observe single nucleotide polymorphisms of transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1) G-800A and C-509T,and to analyze the relationship between different types of their polymorphisms and susceptibility of papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC) in Han adults in Jinan city.Methods Distribution of alleles of TGF-β1 G-800A and C-509T SNP were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphisms(PCR-RFLP).The linkage disequilibrium relationships were observed between susceptibility of the PTC and TGF-β1 G-800A and C-509T polymorphisms in a case-control study.Results TGF β-1 C-509 T and G-800 A linkage equilibrium factors are D′= 0.75,r2=0.83,P=0.03;In a population of Han located in Jinan city: adjusted by wild type GC,number of T GF β-1 GT haploid type,in both PTC patients and control,OR was 2.206(P0.000 1),this demonstrated that GT haploid type strengthened PTC susceptibility;The TGF β-1 G/G + C/C genotype,adjusted by non-mutated TGF β-1 G/G + C/C in both PTC patients and control,OR was 2.437(P=0.010).This demonstrated that the TGF β-1 G/A+T/T genotype enhanced PTC susceptibility;TGF β-1 C-509 T T/T was related to the wild type C/C,OR=3.826,P0.000 1,that demonstrated that the TGF β-1 C-509 T T/T haploid type strengthened PTC susceptibility.Conclusion In the Jinan Han ethnic group,the TGF-β 1 haploid type GT and merged genotype GA+TT increased PTC susceptibility.Also,the TGF β1 C-509 T T/T genotype significantly increased susceptibility to PTC.TGF-β1 in G-800A,and C-509T chain single nucleotide polymorphisms can be used as markers for individual monitoring.TGFβ1 C-509T was closely related to high risk of PTC and might be a therapeutic target in PTC.


Worldwide 10000 m(3) of highly active radioactive waste is being produced each year originating from the most diverse sources. The storage issues arising from this considerable amount is being discussed from country to country. The Belgian concept is founded on the use of cylindrical concrete supercontainers deeply stored inside the geological Boom Clay. This concept is based on a multiple barrier system where every component has its own specific safety function requirements. A self-compacting concrete (SCC) is being considered for the choice of the cementitious buffer, enclosing the radwaste. The use of SCC will ease considerably the precast process and complies with all other requirements regarding strength, durability, chemical interactions,... .
A laboratory characterization program, in order to obtain the mechanical and thermal properties of the SCC has been finalised and the data are used to simulate the behaviour of the concrete buffer by using a 2.5D thermal and crack modelling program during the different manufacturing steps of the supercontainer: 1. Fabrication of the concrete, 2. Emplacement of the heat-emitting waste canisters, 3. Filling the remaining annular gap, 4. Closing the lid. Through-going cracks in the concrete buffer, which will considerably ease the transport mechanisms inside the supercontainer, are not expected.


Excerpt] Kalavati's family derives all of its money from labor earnings. Her husband long ago worked for the Cannon textile mills when they were still making bath towels in India. Sixteen years earlier, the mill shut down, moving to a place where labor was even cheaper, and her husband lost his job. For fifteen years, he did not work. Then finally, he got a job where he works at night. He does not tell Kalavati where he works or how much he earns, nor does he contribute his earnings to the day-to-day expenses. (He does contribute to interest payments to the local money lender, though.)