This research aimed to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of online learning from the perspectives of teachers and students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The subjects of this research were English teachers and students in SMA/SMK Negeri in Buleleng sub-district. In this case, the subjects of the study consist of 21 English teachers including 11 male and 10 female teachers, and 42 students covering 20 male and 22 female students. The data of this research were obtained by using questionnaires. This research is descriptive qualitative research design. The result of this research found that the online learning has strengths and weaknesses according to the perceptions of the teachers and the students.


This article reports the results of an evaluation of academic productivity of three academic departments of the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, through an interrelated system of evaluative indicators it is possible to construct an effective method for identifying the levels and degree of equilibrium in the academic productivity of an institution of higher education. The method used to evaluate the dimensions of departmental academic productivity permitted interpretation and analysis of the data in order to make comprehensive value judgments and recommendations. Thus, achievements in the areas of research, extension, and teaching were evaluated for the departments observed. The criteria for analyzing the indicator were: effectiveness, efficacy, efficiency, adequacy, and continuing education. Resumen


We numerically report a design of a highly nonlinear spiral-shaped photonic crystal fiber (PCF) in Ga8Sb32S60 chalcogenide glass for nonlinear applications in mid-infrared region. We have tailored the structural parameters to obtain all-normal and nearly zero flat-top dispersion profile. A flat-top dispersion curve is obtained with a negative dispersion value of -98.63 ps.nm-1 km-1 . This structure possesses a very high nonlinear coefficient of 49190 W-1 km -1 with effective mode area of the propagating fundamental mode as 0.833 μm2 at a pump wavelength of 1.9 μm. This highly nonlinear spiral-shaped PCF is suitable for the generation of an ultra-broadband supercontinuum spectrum in mid-IR domain. Various nonlinear applications of supercontinuum generation are pump-probe spectroscopy, nonlinear microscopy, metrology, frequency combs generation and optical coherence tomography.


In physical-geographical regionalization of Poland the Opole Hummock was qualified to the Silesian Lowland macroregion and the Wroclaw Glacial Valley mesoregion. This classification isn't matching criteria of mesoregions and macroregions distinguishing. The Opole Hummock in terms of the geological structure can be identified as the part of the nondistant the Silesian Upland, although is located on considerably of smaller height than hypsometrical border lowlands uplands. The example of the Opole Hummock is showing the problem of determining the membership of island physical-geographical individuals in the borderland of uplands and lowlands of Poland. On the basis of the study indicated two possibilities of solving similar problems: incorporating into adjacent similar units genetically or approval of the island about different character than the surrounding individual. The division of area into microregions was performed. Need to clarify the definition mesoregion and of criteria of allocating macroand of microregions was shown.


The paper describes a combination of lithological basis and foundation of cave monasteries of the Middle Podnistrovie. This combination resulted in specific integrated geohistorical monuments (geosites). In the steep rocks of the canyon-like valley of the Dniester, in the process of Christianity, numerous individual or communal caves have been made. Nowadays, only three have remained and continue to be used for their original religious purpose: Bakota, Neporotovo, and Liadova cave monasteries. The place for foundation was not randomly chosen and was conditioned by several factors, the essential ones being geomorphological and sacred aspects. The geologic-geomorphologic factor was determined by presence of high and almost inaccessible rocks that allowed solitude and relative security for the inhabitants from raids of non-Christians. Not the last role belonged to the rocks, in which using simple tools, caves could be cut and rooms organized. It was determined that Bakota rock monastery was founded in opokas of Cenomanian stage, which were highly porous, and were malleable for processing. The tortuous route above the caves of the Bakota monastery was made in solid Sarmatian limestones along the denudation fractures widened by karst processes and by tools. Neporotovo cave monastery has mixed natural-anthropogenic origins and was initiated by karst-suffusion processes     in the oolite Sarmatian limestones. Liadova cave monastery as well as Bakota cave monastery were cut from Cenomanian deposits, but in carbon facies, in which Cretaceous-like limestones dominate , which are malleable for making passageways Hydrogeological conditions were important for the building of the monastery, particularly, presence of drinking water. The sacred component was conditioned by religious canon laws and traditions. Each of the studied monasteries has a complex, and often tragic history recorded in archeological materials and archive documents, but the greater part of their thousand years history remains unknown.


This work presents a novel application of smart antennas in the radios based on SDR architecture. In these systems new requirements are emerging, and great challenges should still be won. Any solution that minimizes the signal processing necessities, optimizing the functionalities of SDR, is configured as a way of the development of this radio architecture. This article intends to propose such optimization, through by use of the CAPON estimate to detect the frequency and the direction of arrival, simultaneously, using a smart antenna.


I t is widely accepted that AGN are powered by accretion onto a massive black hole. Observations prove that this flow consists of a t least two phases: hot optically thin phase responsible for X-ray emission and cool optically thick phase responsible for the big blue bump. However, it is still far from being clear in which one of the two phases most of the energy is liberated. Comparison of the bolometric luminosities of the two components is a key test to any model. Unfortunately, the big bump emission peaks in the unobserved frequency range between the far-UV and soft Xrays and any estimate of its bolometric luminosity heavily relies on extrapolations which may differ by a n order of magnitude. In the early eighties when the very idea of the big blue bump started to emerge there was no good X-ray data. Therefore the big bump was thought to extend only to far-UV. The idea was supported by a turn-off observed in the UV data. After the first paper containing the analysis of three objects' more papers came and a claim was made' that the big blue bump has a universal shape corresponding to a temperature of 27 000 K. There was no good explanation of this peculiarity. Fortunately, good X-ray data came and in a few objects the soft X-ray emission was seen well above the hard power law component typical for all objects with intensity rising towards longer wavelengths3x4. A new claim was made that this emission is a high frequency tail of the big bump. The previous problem of its universal shape vanished. Unfortunately, more data were collected and soft X-ray excesses are now seen in about 90% of all quasars and Seyfert The idea of the universal shape of the big bump came back6 although this time the corresponding temperature is higher, about, lo6 K. Again, there is no explanation of this peculiarity. So perhaps we should be more careful this time before jumping into such a conclusion and consider alternative explanations for the universally seen soft X-ray emission.


The article summarizes the basic characteristics of nano-material and its applications in cosmetics in detail, and mainly introduces the applications of TiO2 and ZnO in cosmetics. The existent safe questions are expatiated and the applying foregrounds of nano-material in skin protecting cosmetics are put foreword, which can function as a guide for broadening its applying fields.


The positive magnetoresistance (MR) usually appears at cryogenic temperature in ZnO-based transport systems, the origin of which is reported to be related to the localized magnetic moment. Here we find a different origin of the positive MR in Zn1−x Mg x O/ZnO heterostructures prepared by magnetron sputtering. The large positive MR is observed in all samples at 2 K. On increasing temperature, the observed positive MR is gradually suppressed and transformed into the negative MR at higher temperature. Similarly, the suppression of the positive MR also occurs in the samples with the higher electron density. The experimental data can be well described by applying a two-band model combined with the weak localization (WL) theory. This indicates that the observed positive MR originates from the impurity-band-related two-band transport, while the observed negative MR arises from the WL.


Any discussion of how a researcher moves from the research question to interpretive inquiry must address a range of issues or problems related to where the researcher is located. In the section that follows, I describe an interpretive research process, but readers should be aware that my understanding of interpretation is guided by the work of Gadamer (1, 2). The audience for this paper are nurses who are interested in reading interpretive studies with a view to improving nursing practice and, specifically, nurses who are about to commence their own inquiry.


BACKGROUND
From clinical experience, kinesiophobia represents a barrier to being physically active after a heart transplantation (HTx), but studies in this field are lacking. Identifying the factors associated with kinesiophobia is essential to determine preventive interventions to avoid negative consequences for health.

AIMS
To study the influence of disability, physical, and behavioural variables on kinesiophobia in patients with an HTx.

METHODS
A total of 117 patients with an HTx [51 women; mean age 56 (SD 12.1) years] were recruited at an outpatient clinic. These patients were asked to fill in questionnaires measuring kinesiophobia, self-reported physical activity (PA), exercise self-efficacy, motivation for PA, and disability. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the statistical prediction of kinesiophobia as a dependent variable, with the questionnaires, gender and education as independent variables.

RESULTS
The independent variables explained 70% of the variance in kinesiophobia. The prediction model was significant (F = 32.1, P < 0.001). The time from transplantation (standardised coefficient, beta; -0.17), the total exercise self-efficacy (-0.16), extrinsic motivation (-0.23), and the disability total score (0.63) were significant predictors of kinesiophobia, while the independent variables of gender, education, intrinsic motivation, and the PA total score were not significant.

CONCLUSIONS
This study highlights that a short time from transplantation, low self-efficacy, low extrinsic motivation, and a high level of disability explained high levels of kinesiophobia in patients after an HTx. These results suggest that an increased awareness of the biopsychosocial health perspective is essential in order to maximising patient outcomes after an HTx.


Renewable microgrids are sustainable, resilient solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Making electric loads nearly 100% available (i.e., power remains on) during outages increases cost. Near 100% availability is required when human life or high-cost assets are involved, but availability can be reduced for less consequential loads leading to lower costs. This study analyses costs for photo-voltaic and lithium-ion battery microgrids with availability ranging from 0–99%. We develop a methodology to analyse three Puerto Rican coastal communities. We consider power outage effects for hurricanes, earthquakes, and everyday outages. The results show cost versus availability from 0–99%. There is 27–31% cost reduction at 80% availability in comparison to 99% availability. A regression model of microgrid availability versus three ratios: 1) the annual generation to demand ratio, 2) storage to interruption energy ratio, and 3) peak storage to load ratio produced a coefficient of determination of 0.99949 with 70% of the data used for training and 30% for testing. The results can therefore be extended to other coastal Puerto Rican communities of varying sizes that have ratios within the ranges analysed in this study. This can empower decision makers to rapidly analyse designs that have availabilities well below 100%.


This bibliographical review brings information about the productive chain of beans, an essential product in the Brazilian diet, but present in several countries of the world. Beans are a source of protein, fiber, minerals and vitamins, allowing for healthy eating for easy access. Being, Brazil is the third largest producer of beans in the world, losing only to Myanmar and India, also the main consumer of beans in the world, having to import part of the beans consumed in Argentina. Due to iss, the bean culture is a promising crop, since the supply does not meet the domestic demand, being necessary the application of technologies that improve the yield and facilitate the cultivation. One of the obstacles of the crop is the susceptibility of the deterioration of the grains to store them, because, these grains stored, the commercial value tends to fall due to loss of quality. The objective of the work was to raise information on the productive chain of the beans. Periodicals, books, and information literatures were explored. Therefore, in view of the above, it was observed that in Brazil, the crop still needs to stimulate cultivation to supply domestic demand, improve storage conditions, invest in genetic improvement to maintain grain quality, and the study is necessary of new alternatives of destination for the residues generated by the processing and beneficiation of grains.


For the first time quaternions have been used for real-time frequency estimation, where the multi-dimensional nature of quaternions allows for the full characterization of three-phase power systems. This is achieved through the use of quaternions to provide a unified framework for incorporating voltage measurements from all the phases of a three-phase system and then employing the recently introduced HR-calculus to derive a state space estimator based on the quaternion extended Kalman filter (QEKF). The components of the state space vector are designed such that they can be deployed for adaptive estimation of the system phasors. Finally, the proposed algorithm is validated through simulations using both synthetic and real-world data, which indicate that the developed quaternion frequency estimator can outperform its complex-valued counterparts.


A phaseless setup for a submillimetre-wave frequency scanning-based radar system is presented. The phase retrieval setup is implemented by modifying a previous implementation at microwave frequencies. In the new setup, the number of involved components (e.g. directional couplers, power combiners etc.) is reduced by including a time-domain reference signal by means of direct radiation, yielding a low-cost submillimetre-wave radar system that avoids the need for phase shifters. Several measurement examples are shown to illustrate the performance of the system.


The cytostatic effect of lymphoid cell (LC) suspensions from MSV‐induced tumorbearing mice has been tested in the "cytostasis assay" (CA) according to Chia and Festenstein (1973). The target cells (TC) were syngeneic lymphoma cells in suspension. Specific cytostasis was observed mainly at low LC/TC ratios while non‐specific effects could be detected when ratios higher than 25/1 were used. The serum of MSV‐tumor‐bearing mice can either inhibit or stimulate immune cytostasis. Non‐immune lymphoid cells can be armed by this kind of stimulating serum which suggests that an indirect mechanism, possibly antibody‐dependent, is involved in this cell‐mediated immune reaction. The kinetics of the immune response in CA have been studied by comparison with the kinetics of the immune response which can be detected in the chromium release test (CRT) with the same target cells. The cytostasis response in CA persists long after tumor rejection while the CRT activity decreases rapidly, confirming that CA and CRT would probably detect two different effects of the immune lymphoid cells on the same target cells. These results are briefly dicussed.


Abstract : The classic paradigm for U.S. Army program balance (force structure, modernization, readiness and sustainment) is challenged in the post-Cold War environment. The Army's inability to show the direct linkages of its program to the National Strategy, and do the hard trade-offs necessary to balance their program choices within the joint operational context, hinders its ability to justify its resourcing choices. Accordingly, Army program balance could be defined within the conceptual framework of Strategy-to-Tasks Resource Management (STRM) methodology whereby the Army leadership gets a fuller understanding of the implications of its resource choices.


Abstract We present an ongoing survey with the Nançay Radio Telescope at L-band. The targeted area is 74° ≲ l < 150° and 3.5° < |b| < 5°. This survey is characterized by a long integration time (18 min), large bandwidth (512 MHz) and high time and frequency resolution (64 μs and 0.5 MHz) giving a nominal sensitivity limit of 0.055 mJy for long period pulsars. This is about 2 times better than the mid-latitude HTRU survey, and is designed to be complementary with current large scale surveys. This survey will be more sensitive to transients (RRATs, intermittent pulsars), distant and faint millisecond pulsars as well as scintillating sources (or any other kind of radio faint sources) than all previous short-integration surveys.


PURPOSE: A method for evaluating performance of position decision of a mobile communication terminal using a radio communication network and an A-GPS(Assisted-GPS) method are provided to enable a measuring person to promptly and efficiently perform a performance evaluation related to position decision of a mobile communication terminal. CONSTITUTION: A mobile communication terminal(110) has a GPS(Global Positioning System) module receiving GPS electric wave including navigation data from a GPS artificial satellite for transmitting the navigation data to a radio communication network. A test apparatus(120) has an LBS(Location Based Service) radio network analyzing program connected with the mobile communication terminal(110) for receiving data related to position decision and analyzing and processing the data to display the processed data in text and graphic in real time. A position deciding server(162) receives the navigation data through the radio communication network, and converts the navigation data into coordinates of longitude and latitude to transmit the converted data to the mobile communication terminal(110).


Water conservation and wastewater reduction are crucial for many enterprises of process industries,and it is particularly true in China.The serious problems in water saving are described and the progresses in water network are introduced in this paper.In order to optimize the water network,the process systems engineering methodologies including water pinch technology and mathematical programming method must be used.The concepts and application of above two approaches are also described.


The problem of multichannel synthetic aperture radar image recovery in the presence of sidelobe narrow-band interference (NBI) is addressed. The NBI steering matrix is accurately estimated with the interference signal received in the passive mode. A beamforming technique is then utilised to minimise the energy loss of the target echoes and suppress NBI to a satisfactory level. By establishing a linear model for the signal with interference removed, the radar image is reconstructed via sparse recovery. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can both suppress NBI effectively and generate high resolution images.


We compute the Hausdorff dimension of limit sets generated by 3-dimensional self-affine mappings with diagonal matrices of the form A_{ijk}=Diag(a_{ijk}, b_{ij}, c_{i}), where 0<a_{ijk}\le b_{ij}\le c_i<1. By doing so we show that the variational principle for the dimension holds for this class.


YAG nano-sized powder has been prepared by improved sol-gel method successfully.In a experiment,Y(NO_3)_3·6H_2O and Al(NO_3)_3·9H_2O were dissolved into isopropanol with mole ratio of 3∶5.Then citric acid C_6H_8O_7·H_2O was added to the mixed solution,and the sol was generated.Subsequently,nano-sized gel-ball precursor was produced through negative-pressure deisopaopanol technique,by which the deisopaopanol and drying period has been decreased from more than 40h to less than 4h,by vacuum pump with circulating water.Then,the precursor was calcined to powder at different temperatures.The calcined powder was measured by means of XRD,TEM and TG/DTA.The results are shown that,obtained YAG particle possesses sphere-like shape,uniform size ( 20~30nm) and excellent dispersity.


The commercial blueberry industry in Australia produces 6000 tonnes of blueberries annually, representing a farmgate value of A$120 million. However, production levels currently do not meet demand. The industry stands to gain from ongoing development, including protected cropping, to provide consistent production of high quality blueberries to consumers.


Mobile Ad-hoc Network is nothing but a collection of hosts which are mobile and can configure, organize and maintain themselves according to the network. It is an independent network where the nodes are connected to other nodes through wireless links. The nodes are mobile in nature and don't need any organization, configuration, and administration. As the network topology frequently changes due to the mobility of nodes, routing in such network becomes extremely difficult. Routing solves various concerns related to network like its dynamic topology, bandwidth, overhead, delay, traffic etc. Hence based on the above issues, a comparative study has been done between the reactive, proactive and hybrid protocols on the basis of their pros and cons, to evaluate the performance of all 6 protocols (DSDV, OLSR, AODV, DSR, ZRP and FSR). So that it would be easy to choose an efficient routing protocol based on network complexity.


The challenges presented by the current global culture of violence are baffling. Humanity faces these unprecedented challenges that have origins in sacred texts containing violent events. "Spiritualizing" these events is not the solution to dealing with the problems they present. Christians should be prepared to doubt the texts that promote violence as a part of faithfulness to God. This article suggests the opposite of faith is not only doubt, but also fear. Christians demonstrate a cheap relationship with sacred texts when they fail to challenge traditional interpretations. A more mature approach is to embrace alternative, if unfamiliar, interpretations of sacred texts rather than hold on to orthodoxy that is beloved but unloving. Christians should see the texts that seem to justify violence or encourage war as a message requiring humanity to struggle against such violence to transform the world around them nonviolently. The Church of the twenty-first century has optimal opportunity for building harmonious relationships with people of other faiths, which will require a multifaceted approach to understanding God in a pluralistic age.


Monetary policy affects a number of key parameters of the economic system largely determine the dynamics of the economy, particularly on interest rates, exchange rate, and amount of money high performance. In the present conditions of the Russian economy direct impact interest rates have no stake on credit and deposit operations of the Central Bank, because they determine the minimum rate of return of assets acceptable to banks. High deposit rate of the Central Bank distorts the asset composition of banks, suppresses their loan and investment activity. Even a small reduction in deposit rates of the Central Bank in 2017 has helped spur the credit policy of banks. The article analyzes the effects of exchange rate changes depending on the currency in which exports and imports are paid. The weakening of the ruble to reserve currencies makes the purchase of Russian exports more profitable for foreign buyers only if the exports are paid in rubles. If the export settlements are made in dollars and other reserve currencies, the weakening of the ruble is beneficial for exporters only at the expense of the domestic economy. The increasing domestic debt exceeding the size of the budget deficit is associated with the reduction of the monetary base, or slowing its growth. In fact, interest-free liabilities of the extended government (reserve money) in this case, replaced with interest obligations (government bonds). The relatively stable size of the money supply, the Central Bank would allow maintaining a sustainable budget deficit, and the increase in the deficit during the depression could be financed by increase in public debt and spending of foreign exchange reserves, in particular – budget funds.


The objective of this paper is to present a new exact approach for solving Single, Bi, and MultiObjective Integer Linear Programming. The new approach employing two of the existing exact algorithms in the literature, including the approximation algorithms, interactive algorithms, balanced box and e-constraint methods, in two stages. A computationally study shows that the new approach has four desirable characteristics. (1) It solves less single-objective integer linear programming. (2) It solves less bi-objective integer linear programming. (3) Its solution time is significantly smaller. (4) It is competitive with two-stage algorithms proposed by Sylva, J. & Crema, A; in 2004.


'No movement can be dangerous unless it is a movement of ideas. If Trade Unionism is to be the revolutionary power of the future, it will become so only by virtue of the idealism that inspires it. While it remains merely materialistic, it will not stand a dog's chance of changing the capitalist system into something better.'(i) Has the A.C.T.U. betrayed this early idealism of the trade union movement? Or has it rather progressed from its earlier concept? In 1957 Albert Monk, as President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, could speak of the 'interest of the trade unions in increased productivity in co-operation with Government and employers'. (?) What had happened then to the movement of ideas which caused the All Australian Trade Union Congress of 1919 to denounce methods of mending capitalism and rendering it tolerable, thereby perpetuating instead of ending it? A study of radical thought and ideals, as reflected by the 'Y Club' of this post-war period, and of the ambitious One Big Union movement will help to illuminate the development of present union policies. As well, it is aimed to provide a record of these two dynamic, yet contrast ing, labour movements of the period?one concerned basically with ideas and communication, the other with organisation and action.


Recently, there is increasing interest in high-spectral efficiency (SE) optical superchannel transmission employing an optical frequency comb generator (OFCG) driven by a single semiconductor laser. This paper introduces a new configuration for OFCG suitable for this application which consists of series connection of a dual-parallel Mach-Zhender modulator (DP-MZM) and two electro-absorption modulators (EAMs). The proposed configuration is able to generate 62 comb lines, within 1 dB-flatness, separated by 25 GHz spacing. The use of the proposed comb in 64-channel WDM superchannel operating with 160Gbps dual-polarization 16-QAM signal per comb line is demonstrated by simulation over around 500 km transmission. The simulation is based on a commercial package, namely Optisystem ver. 15.


Purpose: To investigate the seed oils of Corchorus olitorius and Hibiscus sabdariffa for their antioxidant and antimicrobial potential. Methods: The physicochemical characteristics of oil of the plant seeds were determined using standard methods while their volatile compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometery (GC-MS). The antioxidant activity of these oils was determined using 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging method, and their antimicrobial effect was determined by agar dilution method. Results: Phospholipids, carotenoids and phenols contents of the studied seed oils were approximately 2.0 %, 100 mg/100g and 6.7 mg/100g, respectively. GC-MS analysis of the volatile compounds showed the presence of various aromatic and aliphatic organic compounds while the antioxidant activity of the oils was in the range of 0 to 5 g/l, which was higher than that of ascorbic acid. The seed oils also showed antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus fumigatus and Trichophyton mentagrophytes with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 250.0 and 62.5 mg/ml for C. olitorius and H. sabdariffa seed oils, respectively. Conclusion: C. olitorius and H. sabdariffa seed oils showed pronounced antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. These characteristics should be exploited for possible applications in the food supplement, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.


Crit Care Med 2015 • Volume 43 • Number 12 (Suppl.) [value (sensitivity, specificity)]: flank NIRS [78% (0.93, 0.68)]; cerebral NIRS [75% (0.69, 0.81)]; central CRT [1.5 sec (0.63, 0.43); peripheral CRT [2 sec (0.75, 0.62)]. Conclusions: NIRS (specifically flank) outperforms CRT in discriminating ScvO2<70%. These data lend support to study whether NIRS monitoring might be useful for pediatric shock resuscitation in the community hospital setting. 1 Oliviera CF, et al. Intensive Care Med 2008 2 Sankar J, et al. Pediatr Crit Care Med 2014 3 Raimer PL, et al. J Pediatr 2011


Sorption of pure anhydrous ammonia and pure sulfur dioxide in Kapton polyimide has been measured at 30 and 35/sup 0/C at subatmospheric pressures using a McBain quartz spring balance. The sulfur dioxide sorption and desorption was well described by the Fickian transport model; however, the ammonia sorption exhibited significant deviations from Fickian behavior. A substantial fraction of the initially sorbed ammonia remained in the film after extended periods under vacuum at 35/sup 0/C. Infrared analysis of the treated film revealed the presence of new carbonyl and nitrogen-hydrogen stretching peaks characteristic of primary and secondary amides. These observations suggest that the ammonia reacts chemically with some of the imide linkages. Based on infrared analysis of the ammonia-exposed Kapton, heating the sample under vacuum at 120/sup 0/C caused re-fomation of most of the originally disturbed imide structures, with attendant evolution of ammonia as a condensation product.


Boiling in a minichannel occurring at a low mass flow rate is accompanied by non-stationary twophase flow. The analysis of pressure fluctuations during non-stationary boiling in minichannel shows that quasi-periodic changes in flow patterns can be observed in such fluctuations. We can define in such a way the sequences, which are called "oscillating boiling patterns". In the present paper the model, which allows us to simulate the appearance of "oscillating boiling patterns" has been presented. In the proposed model the mass flow rate changes (because of evaporation and condensation) are modelled by compressible volumes representing various sizes bubbles. In the paper the good quality agreement between experimental data and simulation results has been achieved. Experimental data was collected during the boiling in open minichannels system with inner diameter of 1 mm.


Calculia is considered to be the ability of performing arithmetic operations, the preconditions for the development of mathematical skills in the complex functioning of psychological functions represented in neuro-anatomical systems, as well in the interaction with the environment. Problems in acquiring arithmetic skills can be described as difficulties in counting as well as developmental dyscalculia. Reported prevalence rate for this problem in general population is 6%-10%. The most common difficulties in counting are: difficulties in logic, difficulties in planning, perseverance of inappropriate (responses) procedures and poor understanding of arithmetic operations. This paper aims to identify the influence of assessed arithmetic skills and to clarify to what extent the assessed cognitive skills affect each other in children with difficulties in counting. The relations between the level of working memory and acquiring of arithmetic skills, between the attention and the conceptual observation, and also between planning ability and acquiring of arithmetic skills have been assessed within the study goals. The tested sample consists of 84 third-grade pupils of general population divided into an experimental and a control group. The subjects of the experimental group were chosen according to the discrepancy between general intellectual competences, general achievement at school and success in the filed of mathematics expressed by school marks. Following tests of neuropsychological test battery were used: (1) Taylor's word list-Rey test; and (2) Trail-making-TMTa/b test. The results have been analyzed regarding qualitative test results, as well as the aspect of previous knowledge in the studies dealing with dyscalculia. The results of the studies indicate that there is statistically a significant difference in effectiveness of assessed cognitive characteristics of working memory, attention and planning abilities between experimental and control group (sample) (p < 0.01). The subjects of experimental group, i.e., those with difficulties in counting and the results given, show that there is poor effectiveness but positive connection of moderate intensity among assessed cognitive characteristics (p < 0.01).


Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in tropospheric photochemistry. Biogenic soil emissions of Nitric Oxide were measured from an intensively managed agricultural row crop (corn, Zea mays) during a four-week period (May 15 through June 9, 1995). The site was located in Washington County, near the town of Plymouth, which is in the Lower Coastal Plain of North Carolina, U.S.A. Soil NO flux was determined using a dynamic flow-through chamber technique. The measurement period was characterized by two distinguishing features: an application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer at the midpoint of the experiment and a non-typical rainfall pattern. Average NO flux prior to the application of N fertilizer was 31.5 ± 10.1 ng N nrVl, and more than doubled (77.7 ± 63.7 ng N


Exploring the problem of teaching quality monitoring and evaluation from the perspective of educational balance can help educators and policy makers discover educational inequality problems, thereby promoting fair allocation of educational resources and opportunities. In light of this, this study attempts to research teaching quality monitoring and evaluation from the perspective of educational balance. At first, the mechanism of promoting educational balance by information technology was expounded, and the principle and necessity of a comprehensive assessment based on the evaluation results of different evaluators were explained. Then, this study innovatively introduced the whitening weight function (WWF)-grey evaluation model into the conventional grey clustering evaluation, calculated the unit comprehensive clustering coefficients of the indexes of teaching quality evaluation from the perspective of educational balance, and gave fair, accurate, and effective evaluations. After that, the grey GM (1,1) model was applied to the prediction of teaching quality improvement effect, the future trend of teaching quality changes was predicted based on history data, and the results provided references for teaching reform and educational decision-making. At last, experimental results verified the validity of the proposed method.


When excising a large periorbital tumor, the Mohs surgeon may remove enough eyelid tissue so that corneal coverage becomes inadequate. Because Mohs surgery may require a successive number of excisions that can take place over several days, the eyelid repair may be delayed. Consequently, corneal moisturization and protection must be maintained during a prolonged time period. Although several methods exist to protect an exposed cornea, one method we have found particularly useful is to apply a large swim goggle to cover the orbit.


Under ultrasonication, the production of high quality graphene layers by exfoliation of graphite was achieved via addition of tiopronin as an antioxidant.


thoughts disturb the participants, 1 recall again the experiences at NHLBl. At one particularly trying point during the development of the Bethesda assay, the Cynical One recalled that the camel was the result of a committee attempting to design a horse. The Wise Man listened, then suggested that, while this may be so, when one is in the desert a camel provides most satisfactory transportation. 2. Kasper CK. Aledort LM, Counts RB, et al. A more uniform measurement of factor Vlll inhibitors. Thrornb Diath Haemorrh


Abstract The reflectance (R0) of solid bitumen in Ordovician to Devonian sequences in the Quebec Appalachians and in the Mackenzie area of northern Canada is standardized to the R0 of vitrinite. The migrabitumen, having autochthonous characteristics, is the best solid bitumen type to evaluate the thermal maturation from its R0 This migrabitumen is generally found as irregular high-reflecting areas, forming part of low-reflecting organic matter frameworks, called protobitumen, and appearing as amorphous bodies in transmitted light. The R0 difference between migrabitumen and protobitumen disappears with increasing maturation. Because vitrinite is missing in pre-Devonian sequences, the R0 of solid bitumens is standardized through the R- of zooclasts. The R0 of migrabitumen increases similarly to those of zooclasts and vitrinite with maturation, but no universal calibration between the R0of migrabitumen and vitrinite can be suggested. Scales of calibration are specific for different lithologies and basins. Th...


Objective\ To evaluate the laparoscopic surgery for adrenal diseases by transperitoneal approach.Methods\ Performed laparoscopic surgery in 42 cases of adrenal diseases, including 23 on the left and 19 on the right side. The operation was done in lateral decubitus through three or four ports. The colon was reflected medially by incising the line of Toldt, and Gerota′s fascia was exposed and opened to expose the adrenal gland or tumor. In order to reach adrenal gland the spleen and tail of pancreas should be reflected medially for left side and the liver need to be pushed upward for right side. The adrenal gland or the adrenal tumor was separated with electric hook or harmonic scalpel. The adrenal central vein should be clamped with clip and the adrenal artery and adrenal tissue could be divided with harmonic scalpel. The gland or the tumor was put in a plastic bag and removed.Results\ Laparoscopic procedures were completed in 41 cases. Only one pheochromocytoma had to be transferred to open surgery because of the severe adherence. The diameter of the specimen ranged from 8 to 62 mm. The mean operating time was 82 minutes. And the mean blood loss was 65 ml. There was no intraoperative or postoperative complication occurred in all cases.Conclusions\ The adrenal gland is easy to be exposed in lateral decubitus. Transperitoneal laparoscopic approach can provided clear anatomical landmark, which help to identify adrenal gland or tumor and avoid the injury of peripheral organ or large blood vessel. Transperitoneal laparoscopic procedure is suitable for pheochromocytoma, bigger tumor or the tumor in front of renal pedicle.


This paper identifies the determinants of the Nobel Prize Award. The analysis is analogous in spirit to Hamermesh and Schmidt (Econometrica, 2003) on the election of Econometric Society fellows. It is found that the number of citations, age and nationality have significant impacts on the odds of winning the Nobel. We provide the first statistical evidence that John Bates Clark medalists and individuals affiliated with the University of Chicago have a higher chance of winning the Prize.


In our previous research, EPCs has been isolated from animal marrow cells and cord blood and improved the angiogenesis performance. Here we explored the effect of over-expression of Wnt3a gene in endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and demonstrated a new therapeutic angiogenesis strategy using genetically modified EPCs. As we previously reported, EPCs could be cultivated from animal peripheral blood. The adenovirus vector encoding Wnt3a gene was transfected into EPCs. Overexpression of Wnt3a firstly activated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway led to increased nuclear translocation of β-catenin and increased secretion of angiogenic cytokines (vascular endothelial growth factor-a). It enhanced the survival, proliferation, and differentiation of EPCs. What's more, combination of transplantation of EPCs with injection of adenovirus vector encoding Wnt3a gene into the hind limb ischemic model of mouse significantly improved blood flow and tissue capillary density compared with EPCs only treatment group and hind limb ischemic model. Over expression of Wnt3a in the EPCs augmented the in vitro and in vivo angiogenic potency of these cell populations. These data provide evidence that the Wnt3 pathway potentially has a key role in the angiogenic properties of EPCs. Furthermore, the genetic modification of EPCs to stimulate this signaling pathway would promote the efficacy of the therapeutic angiogenesis.


55yr old lady was first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in November 2011 which was well controlled for 2 years with diet, Metformin and Gliclazide. She was also trying to lose weight at the time, however ended up losing two stone in weight. She also experienced significant osmolar symptoms. Her HbA1c jumped from 9% (75 mmol/mol) to 13% (118 mmol/mol), inspite of significant weight loss. Home blood sugar readings were consistently in between 17-30 mmol/L. She tested positive for GAD antibodies 1544 IU/ml. She was initiated on Insulin.


In this work we present a first interrogation syste m for optical sensors based on fiber Bragg gratings using an Erbium doped fiber laser with a 60-nm tuning range in the C & L bands of the optical communication technology and an optical power about mW. Our system is integrated with a commercial device based on a diffraction grating and a linear array of photodiodes for sensing the spectral response of se veral fiber Bragg gratings. The measurements with t his interrogation system can be made with an accuracy of ±5 pm and a frequecy up to 100 Hz.


My PhD research aims to develop novel solutions to the challenge of identifying web page structure through the visual analysis of web pages as images. The intention is to then combine this back end design with various front end applications in order to provide improved web experiences for users with assistive needs (e.g. assisting visually impaired users by supporting more selective screenreader output, or improving experiences of users with cognitive deficits by allowing reduction of clutter or zooming in on selected web page content). I propose to build a comprehensive computer vision-based system to analyse the semantic structure of web pages based purely on an image of the rendered page, which will produce a rich representation of the page as a tree of regions labelled according to their semantic role. Most research into web page segmentation has focused on the use of the structure of the DOM tree and visual features derived from properties specified in the DOM tree. I argue, however, that the image of the rendered page may be a better representation to use, since it is created by the page designer to convey the structure of the page to the user, while the source code and DOM tree are simply intended to cause the browser's rendering engine to produce the correct appearance, and treat many types of content as black boxes. Additionally, my proposed system uses exactly the information seen by a user regardless of implementation method; this gives advantages in implementation-independence and versatility.


Though Oceanic languages are often described as preferring primary stress on penultimate syllables, many different patterns have been noted across and within language families, and may interact with segmental and phonotactic factors. This is exemplified across linguistically diverse Vanuatu. However, both impressionistic and instrumentally-based escriptions of prosodic patterns and their correlates are limited for languages of this region. This paper presents preliminary acoustic and durational results for Nafsan, an Oceanic language of Vanuatu, which suggest a preference for prominence at the right edge of words,
with fundamental frequency as a primary correlate.


The article introduces into scientific circulation new archaeological materials from Matua Island n the central part of the Kuril Islands. There is the description of two sites, one of which was discovered in 2009, stratigraphy and the archaeological collection. The results of faunal analysis, two new radiocarbon dating, the definition of indigenous source for the same sample of obsidian is discussed here. Epi-Jamn, Okhotsk, Ainu cultures, those of the origins of which are associated with Hokkaido. A decisive influence on the life of the ancient sea hunters on the island provided the processes of active volcanism.


OBJECTIVES
To review our experience and assess the role of TC99m MIBI thyroid scintigraphy in patients with well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

DESIGN
Cross sectional descriptive study comparing the results of TC99m MIBI and TC99m pertechnetate scintigraphy with histology.

SETTING
Ga-Rankuwa Hospital, a tertiary referral centre, MEDUNSA, South Africa.

SUBJECTS
Between October 1998 and January 2000, 63 patients presenting with a single thyroid nodule were included in this study.

INTERVENTION
All patients included in the study were subjected to fine needle aspiration, thyroid function tests, TC99m pertechnetate and TC99m MIBI scintigraphy. Following surgery all specimens were sent for pathological examination.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The outcome of the study was measured comparing the results of pre-operative TC99m MIBI and TC99m pertechnetate scintigraphy with final histology.

RESULTS
41 of these 63 patients were found to have benign disease and 22 patients had malignant disease. In the malignant group there were 17 females and five males. The age of the patients ranged from 28 years to 85 years in the carcinoma group. Thirteen patients had follicular carcinoma, six patients had papillary carcinoma, two patients had Hurthle cell carcinoma and one patient had medullary carcinoma. TC99m MIBI correctly predicted malignancy in 21/22 patients in contrast with TC99m pertechnetate scintigraphy which diagnosed malignancy in 17/22 patients. The sensitivity of MIBI was 95% and its specificity was found to be 63%. The sensitivity and specificity of TC99m pertechnetate, however, was 77% and 29% respectively.

CONCLUSION
TC99m MIBI scintigraphy can be used in association with Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) in the pre-operative evaluation of thyroid carcinoma.


The oxygen consumption mechanism in the benthic ecosystem of Tokyo bay was estimated by using ECOHYM, the first ecosystem model describing the ecological connectivity consisting of both benthic-pelagic and central bay-tidal flat ecosystem coupling while simultaneously describing the vertical micro-scale in the benthic ecosystem (Sohma et al, 2005a).The model revealed the annual dynamics of the vertical biochemical oxygen consumption rate and mechanism. The benthic oxygen consumption during summer was quite low due to the depletion of dissolved oxygen (DO) at the seafloor. However, under the assumption of saturated DO seawater covering the seafloor, the highest level of benthic oxygen consumption was prospective in summer due to high production and accumulation of reduced substances in the pore water.


Introduction: Gigantomastia in pregnancy is a rare pathology that is often
 physically and psychologically complicated.
 Observation: We report two cases, the first of which was a 24-year-old primigravida at 24 weeks amenorrhea, presenting with bilateral gigantomastia progressing from the beginning of her pregnancy and complicated by a large hemorrhagic ulcerative necrotizing skin lesion.
The second case was that of a second pregnant patient, primiparous 29-year-old with a 27-week amenorrhea pregnancy. She had consulted for an exaggerated augmentation and inflammation of both breasts with collateral venous circulation on the chest. They had hyperprolactinemia and glandular hypertrophy. Treatment was symptomatic and the evolution was spontaneously favorable in the postpartum period.
 Conclusion: Gigantomastia in pregnancy has hormonal origin. It often becomes complicated towards the end of the second trimester of pregnancy by trophic skin
disorders, and may regress spontaneously in the postpartum.


The accuracy of face alignment affects the performance of a face recognition system. Since face alignment is usually conducted using eye positions, an accurate eye localization algorithm is therefore essential for accurate face recognition. In this paper, we first study the impact of eye locations on face recognition accuracy, and then introduce an automatic technique for eye detection. The performance of our automatic eye detection technique is subsequently validated using FRGC 1.0 database. The validation shows that our eye detector has an overall 94.5% eye detection rate, with the detected eyes very close to the manually provided eye positions. In addition, the face recognition performance based on the automatic eye detection is shown to be comparable to that of using manually given eye positions.


The system described in this paper is intended to be of assistance to those people who would benefit in their work from computer graphics but do not have the necessary knowledge or familiarity with its methodological principles. This system consists of an APL implementation of the CORE Graphics System, called APLCORE, and of a user interface giving the opportunity of learning and practicing on the CORE concepts. The system is highly interactive, being ready to give explanations to the user at any time, and to teach him the use of the system. The implementation has been made under VSAPL for CMS running on an IBM 3033. The graphics output device supported is the IBM 3277 Graphics Attachment equipped with a Tektronix 619 Storage Display Monitor and a Summagraphics Digitizing Tablet.


In partnership with the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Nature Conservancy, and Colorado State University, the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project (SREP) launched Linking Colorado's Landscapes in fall 2003. Linking Colorado's Landscapes is a multifaceted collaboration to promote wildlife linkages in the context of long-range planning. Phase I consisted of a statewide analysis of wildlife linkages, the objective of which was to identify broad linkage zones that facilitate movement for Colorado's diverse array of wildlife species and to prioritize amongst them. Building upon linkage assessment methodologies used elsewhere, we developed a science-based approach integrating local and regional expertise (via a series of workshops) and computer modeling. Recognizing that connectivity is a function of individual species' perceptions of suitable habitat and barriers in the landscape, a focal species approach was employed as the basis for linkage identification in both the workshops and the modeling. By integrating both qualitative and quantitative processes, we were able to produce a comprehensive biological assessment of the most critical wildlife linkages in the state. In total, 176 linkages were identified via expert workshops, with additional linkages modeled for Canada lynx, gray wolf, and pronghorn. In prioritizing linkages for further analysis in Phase II, we also considered: the presence of local partners; stretches of roadway with frequent animal-vehicle collisions; planned transportation projects projected by CDOT through 2030; and the distribution of linkages across the state and their complementary contributions to landscape connectivity. Twenty-three linkages were selected and were grouped into 12 high-priority linkage complexes based on similarities in species usage patterns and geography. Phase II of Linking Colorado's Landscapes provides an in-depth assessment of each high-priority linkage. Based on this compilation of site-specific information, we will next provide recommendations for possible crossing structures, management alternatives, and other measures to improve permeability in these linkage areas. Phase II analyses include: an assessment of additional species that utilize the linkage; identification of specific crossings; an assessment of land ownership and management within the linkage; and an evaluation of existing natural or man-made features that facilitate or impair movement. The resulting linkage assessment packages and recommendations will be distributed in spring 2006 and will serve as a guide for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and other local and regional transportation planners, community leaders, and conservationists working to develop more wildlifefriendly landscapes and transportation networks.


The scattering Properties of Wideband Dual-Polarized Vivaldi Antenna for MIMO OTA test system was measured using three non-overlapping 2 GHz sub-bands within 1.35-7.25 GHz. The measurements were performed in two orientations with three different link distances (radius of 1.0 m, 1.5 m, and 2.0 m).


A metal-organic framework was constructed from struts in which donor-acceptor [2]catenane units become integrated, leading to a high density of these molecular machinery modules positioned precisely in well-defined layered (2D) structures.


Kanaan Junior High School and Senior High School in Jakarta are Christian schools whose teachers are Christian. Christian teachers must understand humanist education and apply it according to the Christian faith. Christian teachers at Kanaan Jakarta Junior School and High School are not limited to knowledge. The learning process is part of developing human values. Teachers should understand children as unique individuals. This view of the uniqueness of the individual leads teachers to emphasize education as an effort to find personal meaning in students. Education functions to help individuals become independent and responsible human beings in choosing. This study was to determine the understanding of the Christian faith so that Christian teachers at Kanaan Jakarta Junior School and High School about humanist education based on Deuteronomy 6:5 in the learning process. The method used is the descriptive qualitative method. Christian teachers at Kanaan School Jakarta have understood Deuteronomy 6:5 as the basis for humanist education in the learning process, applied the principle of love in the learning process, implemented humanist-based education, and taught technology, to use communicative methods in the teaching and learning process. In learning, the teacher has acted as an evaluator and facilitator.


The absence of confirmed signal in dark matter (DM) direct detection (DD) may suggest weak interaction strengths between DM and the abundant constituents inside nucleon, i.e. gluons and valence light quarks. In this work we consider a real scalar dark matter S interacting only with SU(2)L singlet Up-type quarks Ui = uR,cR,tR via a vector-like fermion ψ which has the same quantum number as Ui. The DM-nucleon scattering can proceed through both h-mediated Higgs portal (HP) and ψ-mediated vector-like portal (VLP), in which HP can receive sizable radiative corrections through the new fermions. We first study the separate constraints on the new Yukawa couplings yi and find that the constraints of XENON1T results are strong on y1 from VLP scattering and on y3 from its radiative contributions to HP scattering. Since both DM-light quark interactions and HP have been well studied in the existing literature, we move forward to focus on DM-heavy quark interactions. Since there is no valence c,t quark inside nucleons at μhad ∼ 1 GeV, y2,y3 interactions are manifested in DM-gluon scattering at loop level. We find that renormalization group equation (RGE) and heavy quark threshold effects are important if one calculates the DM-nucleon scattering rate σSIp at μhad ∼ 1 GeV while constructing the effective theory at μEFT ∼ mZ. For the benchmarks y3 = 0.5, y2 = 0.5, 1, 3, combined results from ΩDM h2 ≃ 0.12, XENON1T, Fermi-LAT, 13 TeV LHC data have almost excluded mS < mt/2 when only DM-{c,t} interactions are considered. FCNC of top quark can be generated at both tree level t → ψ(*)S → cSS and loop level t → c+γ/g/Z, of which the branching fractions are typically below 10−9 after passing the other constraints, which are still safe from the current top quark width measurements.


In this paper, we provide the model of optimal shareholder structure by the institution investor based on the lower voting costs. This paper shows that the institution investors should get more and more shares with the improvement of legal system. In the optimal shareholder structure, their shares should increase with the increased proportion of shares owned by the block shareholders.


In recent years, the medical community and the public have become more aware that body composition assessment is an important factor in combating obesity. Various body composition methods exist, both for research and clinical use. A study was conducted on fifty-four (n=54) young adults, of varying body build, in order to evaluate bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and skinfold thickness (SKF) measurements. By means of results from measurements by SKF and BIA, an attempt has been made to asses the agreement between the methods for the prediction of the quantity of fat in the body. Body fat percentage (BF%) was the primary outcome variable. The mean BF% (plusmnSD) that resulted from the SKF device was 19.96 (plusmn7.51) and was not statistically different from the leg-to-leg BIA result of 20.15 (plusmn7.74). However, the arm-to-arm 16.27 (plusmn8.03) BIA results for BF% were statistically different from both the SKF and the leg-to-leg BIA by a post ANOVA Tukey's Multiple Comparison test. As previous papers have suggested, the results of this study indicate several factors that limit the valid applications of both BIA and SKF measurements. A direction for effective improvement is provided.


We construct divide knots with arbitrary smooth four-genus but topological four-genus equal to one. In particular, for strongly quasipositive fibred knots, the ratio between the topological and the smooth four-genus can be arbitrarily close to zero.


The multi-component noncommutative coupled dispersionless (NC-CD) system is presented. It has been shown that multi-component NC-CD system is integrable in the sense of exhibiting its Lax pair, zer...


Machine condition monitoring and diagnosis have become increasingly important, and the application of these processes to stationary structures and rotating machinery has been widely investigated. The authors previously proposed a stepwise diagnosis method. In that method, the location of the abnormality is first estimated using the force identification approach, and then the cause and the severity of the abnormality are identified. But the method was applicable for an abnormality of linear property. In this study, a stepwise diagnostic approach for a beam with an abnormality of nonlinear property, that is, a breathing crack, is proposed. In this method, the location and the severity of abnormality are identified by using the multi-frequencies of response under the abnormal condition. Using the numerical example of a uniform beam fixed at both ends, we confirmed the validity of the method and determined that the selection of the excitation frequency was very important. Moreover, we showed the applicability of the method by using experimental data. We conclude that the proposed diagnosis method is feasible for identifying the abnormality of a breathing crack.


The characteristics, structure of extended remote operation and maintenance protocol based on IEC60870-5-101, the normal or abnormal communication process of remote maintenance are introduced, and the transmission of operation and maintenance data between distribution master stations and distribution terminal units is effectively standardized. This paper expounds some common problems and solutions of remote maintenance under current wireless public network communication mode.


The unicellular green alga, Chlorella sorokiniana Shihira and Krauss, was cultured in vitro using an inorganic growth medium with various concentrations of the herbicide glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine]. Growth rates, in terms of ceil doublings per day, were determined for cells inoculated into media containing from 5.91 × 10−6 M to 591 × 10−6M glyphosate. Comparisons with a control, which supported 10.4 doublings/day, showed growth only slightly reduced at 5.91 × 10−6M and 11.8 × 10−6M, with averages of 9.7 and 9.5 doublings/day; reduced by more than half at 17.7 × 10−6M with an average of 4.4 doublings/day; and prevented at all higher concentrations. In addition to completely preventing growth at 23.7 × 10−6M and above, glyphosate seemed to cause a deterioration of the inoculum cells. Filtering the media containing 5.91 × 10−6M, 11.8 × 10−6M, and 17.7 × 10−6M through kaolinite prior to introduction of the alga reduced the inhibition previously noted at 17.7 × 10−6M and resulted in growth rates from 9.1 to 9.5 doublings/day.


Shortlisted teams are thinking outside the box and using patient centred approaches to drive improvements in care, reports Nigel Hawkes


The English edition of this atlas in 2 volumes has been available since 1957, but for some unaccountable reason our attention was called to it only a few weeks ago. An atlas does not become outdated quickly, as does a textbook, and that is fortunate, for the 2 volumes afford a wealth of stimulating looking and reading. The preface states that the Atlas might well be called the end product of collaboration of practically all dermatologists in Japan whose cooperation was enlisted by the editors. From over 2,500 photographs some 200 were selected for publication, all but a few of them clinical lesions. The result is a collection of life-like illustrations that are large and clear. With each illustration there is a very short paragraph of text which either points out its diagnostic features or gives a brief history of the case or comments on the treatment. In 1 or


We present an approach to the breaking of SU(3) \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} SU(3) symmetry which emphasizes the Nambu-Goldstone realization of this symmetry. Here the octet $\ensuremath{\pi}$, $K$, $\ensuremath{\eta}$ are the ground-state mesons. For matrix elements which are not analytic in the symmetry-breaking parameters, we can establish exactly the leading behavior in symmetry breaking. An example of this is a chiral-limit theorem on the meson decay constants $\frac{{f}_{K}}{{f}_{+}}(0) {f}_{\ensuremath{\pi}}\ensuremath{-}1=[\frac{3({{m}_{K}}^{2}\ensuremath{-}{{m}_{\ensuremath{\pi}}}^{2})}{64{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{2}{{f}_{\ensuremath{\pi}}}^{2}}]\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\mathrm{ln} [\frac{64{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{2}{{f}_{\ensuremath{\pi}}}^{2}}{3{({m}_{K}+{m}_{\ensuremath{\pi}})}^{2}}]+O(\ensuremath{\lambda})$. For matrix elements which are analytic to leading order in symmetry breaking, we advance the hypothesis of threshold dominance of the Goldstone-boson-pair states. When this hypothesis is applied to the mass splittings of the ground-state mesons there results an eigenvalue problem to which the unique notrivial solution corresponds to octet enhancement. This is independent of any assumption about the Hamiltonian symmetry breaking. When we apply these ideas to the baryon mass splittings we again obtain octet solutions corresponding to tadpole-model results and a new result $\frac{3}{10}{(\frac{f}{d})}_{B}=\frac{{(\frac{f}{d})}_{A}}{[3{{(\frac{f}{d})}_{A}}^{2}\ensuremath{-}1]}$ relating the baryon mass $\frac{f}{d}$ ratio to the axial-vector-baryon $\frac{f}{d}$ ratio, in good agreement with experiment. We also discuss electromagnetic mass shifts in this context and advocate that for $\ensuremath{\Delta}I=1$ mass shifts the Cottingham formula diverges (and should be abandoned). If the Cottingham formula diverges for $\ensuremath{\Delta}I=1$ mass shifts, then we no longer have Dashen's sum rule ${{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{{K}^{+}}}^{2}\ensuremath{-}{{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{{K}^{0}}}^{2}={{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{+}}}^{2}\ensuremath{-}{{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}}}^{2}$. An alternative, finite approach for $\ensuremath{\Delta}I=1$ mass shifts is suggested and developed.


Nephrotic syndrome is a kidney disease with proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia and edema. It can be primary, being a disease specific to the kidneys, or secondary, being a renal manifestation of a systemic general illness. Minimal change disease is the most common cause of primary nephrotic syndrome in children. It causes 80% of cases in young children and only10-15% of cases in adults. The cause is unknown but it can be related to allergic reactions like bee sting, medications, tumors, vaccinations and infections.Latex sensitivity is an immunological response to either the protein in the latex or the chemicals used in the production of latex compounds. Some patients are at high risk for developing latex allergies like children with spina bifida, congenital urinary tract anomalies, health care workers etc.


Two stimuli can compet a company to redesign the way they are doing their business : business changes and new IT potentials. The,,classic methods do not deliver appropriate answers to the stimuli mentioned above. Many new methods have been developed under the global term Business Process Redesign. These methods differ from the classic methods in their design objects as well as in their components. The new methods give the companies important guidelines on how to design their processes today, unfortunately many questions are still open.


certain areas, such as respiratory medicine, are omitted completely (surprising in view of the psychosomatic nature of asthma and other conditions), and some of the chapters are very selective in their coverage. For example, the chapter on diabetes mellitus by Drs Pelver and Groen excellently covers the training of diabetics and the understanding and prevention of their psycho logical problems, but omits any mention of the recog msed and often troublesome complications of eating disorders occurring in young diabetics. These difficulties aside, it must be said that no one could fail to appreciate and grasp the essential general principles of the psychological management of the physically ill from the authors' clear presentations in respect to their chosen topics. Any book which attempts to reach a wide readership will inevitably have problems in spanning the gulf of knowledge and attitudes between general physicians, psychiatrists and social workers. This book is certainly well pitched for general physicians and surgeons and I hope that many can find time and motivation to read it. Chapters such as those on cardiac rehabilitation and the psychological intolerance of food are particularly well matched for the physician. In spite of this, most chap ters would have value for both trained and training psychiatrists. The case histories described throughout this book are particularly valuable. They allow the reader to appre ciate that the authors are not simply †̃¿ academic' experts in their fields, but that they also have deep clinical experience. Sufficient practical details of treatment regimes are given in all chapters to allow the readers to feel confident that they themselves could replicate the therapies in clinical situations. It is my hope, in spite of the authors being mainly psychiatrists and psychol ogists, that physicians, surgeons and medical social workers will feel able to attempt aspects of the psycho logical management of their patients, and certainly be more aware of such problems. Sadly, the price of this book is not insubstantial, and although it is an essential purchase for medical and psy chiatric libraries, I am sure that many individuals will await its publication in paperback form.


Electrolytic chromium-coated steel (ECCS)is conditionally referred to as Tin-free-Steel(TFS) . It has been in use for more than 30 years abroad, its consumption being comparable with that of the tinplate in Japan and in the United States. The production of TFS in China, however, was not started until a tin-plating line in this Company was turned into a chromium-coated one for producing TFS in the year of 2000. A "two-step" process is used, which employs a plating bath ultra-low in SO4-2 and F (0.1 -3. 0 g/L), in contrast to the conventional "one-step" process employing the conventionally low content of CrO3 ( 100 g/L). With a metallic luster and a high cohesion strength with the substrate, the chromium coating on the TFS steel produced by using this process contains only a thin chromium oxide film of 30 - 150 mg/m2 . The features of the process and the key points concerning the quality control with it are described as well.


In this test, 15 strains were isolated from the filtrate of kefir grains which can reduce cholesterol level, identified by physiological and biochemistry reaction and other indexes, 7 were coccus sp., 8 were bacillus sp.. Only one of them can produce bile salt hydrolase, it was lactobillus casei identified by micro station full automaticity.


In the Kennin 建仁 1 (1201) section of Ienaga nikki 家長日記, Minamoto Ienaga 源 家長 (1170?–1234) relates that the former sovereign Go-Toba 後鳥羽 "would often lament that there were not many women poets around these days." Of the few court women who had been known as poets, Ienaga continues, most had retired, and Go-Toba regretted that "once these elderly ladies passed away the day of the woman poet would be past."1 After noting that Go-Toba's concern about this matter "had become a bit tiresome to listen to," Ienaga recounts that Go-Toba later invited several younger women, among them Shunzei-kyō no Musume 俊成卿女 (ca. 1175?–1250?), Echizen 越前 (?–1249?), and Kunaikyō 宮内卿 (ca. 1185–ca. 1204), to court to take part in its many poetic activities. Go-Toba's search for court women poets raises several questions. First and most fundamentally, why had the former sovereign felt their presence to be significant— that is, what did he feel women brought to his poetic salon that their male contemporaries alone perhaps did not? When Go-Toba spoke of the passing of the "day of the woman poet," what qualities of poetry or poetic practice did he fear would be lost with her that he wished to recover or at least to preserve? Based on their sex, Go-Toba seems to anticipate some distinctiveness in the poetic skills of women, or perhaps some difference in the manner in which those skills were exercised, so that court waka practice would be somehow poorer for their absence. Second, why did Go-Toba choose to bring to his court those three women poets rather than others; what besides their relative youth recommended them? Ienaga himself provides the beginnings of the answer to this question when he mentions another woman poet, Shichijō no In no Dainagon 七条院大納言 (n.d.), who "despite the poetic pedigree on both sides of her family" did not live up to this promise.2


After the Second World War, technological advancements helped to develop agriculture and meet urgent food needs. The green revolution was based on the cultivation of new high-yielding varieties, the adoption of plant protection measures, and synthetic fertilizer use. Today, agriculture is called upon to recover its productivity in environmentally friendly terms and to face challenges such as climate change and international political–military events that threaten global sufficiency in agricultural products. The objective of the study is to evaluate the function that crop-protection technologies play in ensuring the continuity of agricultural output. The research was conducted by the use of a questionnaire in a sample of 250 farmers in Northern Greece. Specifically, through descriptive and regression analysis, the roles of biological crop protection, chemical crop-protection techniques, and mechanical crop-protection techniques were explored, and it was found that they either have a positive effect or a significant relationship with sustainable agricultural productivity. In order to meet the current environmental, economic, and political challenges, the agriculture sector at the global and local level should improve and further adopt existing technologies, consolidate the use of integrated pest-management strategies, and fully introduce innovations, combined with digital transformation, into agricultural management and production.


Purpose

This paper aims to explore the phenomenon of workplace bullying in response to recent calls for the development of different approaches and provide an exploration of artful approaches to intervention.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper offers a unique conceptualisation of workplace bullying and applies a phenomenological lens to the issue. A review of literature explores the potential value of artful interventions, and drawing on authors' knowledge and experience with the targets of bullying, they design a forum theatre intervention for use in practice.

Findings

This paper argues that phenomenology offers a unique and valuable approach to understanding workplace bullying and its management. In turn, the authors propose that artful ways of engaging with workplace bullying could be an effective way of empowering workers in a "moment" of workplace bullying, and present a forum theatre workshop specifically designed for application in workplace contexts where bullying is prevalent. The three-phase workshop aims to help employees critically reflect on their current work practices and is intended for use in small group teaching.

Research limitations/implications

The long-term impact of this intervention has not been evaluated against more traditional methods of addressing this problem. Future research should evaluate the efficacy of this, and other art-based interventions, in workplace settings.

Originality/value

Workplace bullying research is predominantly conducted from a functionalist perspective, and other methods of inquiry, such as phenomenology, are rarely considered. This paper argues for artful interventions and provides an original, tailored workshop designed to empower employees to recognise and respond to bullying in the workplace.


This article examines the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on domestic market concentration and profitability in 13 Central and East European countries. The hypotheses are tested with linear and non-linear regressions using firm-level data from the BEEPS II database complied by the EBRD and the World Bank. The endogeneity between the ratio of FDI stock to GDP and domestic profitability and concentration is eliminated by using instrumental variables capturing the business environment. It appears that FDI has strengthened domestic enterprises, increasing their profitability and reducing concentration in those countries.


Summary. The presence of B substance in saline extracts of albumen glands of Helix pomatia has been reported by Kimet al. [5] and the agglutination of Hela cells by anti-AHel mentioned by Uhlenbbucket al. [10]. We report in this paper serological differences between related species of snails revealed by haemolysis, agglutination of Hela cells and presence of B-like substance.

The same snail substances have been used as in Part I of this report. Saline extracts of seeds were prepared as described in [2] and anti-BST was the same as that used for experiments in Part I of this report.


Groundwater is regarded as a major source of irrigation in our agriculture sector. Its potential paved the way for the green revolution in our country and we owe our 1960's food security to this blue gold. Keeping in mind the necessity of its preservation and its economic use, the author would try to address one of the most key features of India that is trading of this blue gold. The trading happens between farmers in general for increasing the productivity; nonetheless, it is the initial benefit of access which allows this trade to flourish in a phenomenal way. In simpler terms, we call such trading the 'groundwater markets'. The trading shows a peculiar feature of socio-economic feature of our country especially of the farmers. The trading also forces us to look at our current laws. An economic analysis of this significant yet ignored domain of environment law is taken up where abundant literature review has been done; however, there is hardly any change in the scenario. The author in this paper has simplified the situation with a hypothetical scenario of how big or rich farmers who have access to this blue gold with the use of extraction machines are exploiting the small or the poor farmers. This not only leads to the exploitation of the groundwater but also increase the income gap between the classes. As a conclusion to this governance fallacy, the author has described three models which have their own merits and demerits and could be used to situations with their own specific circumstances.


The present invention relates to liquid phase chip method of detecting bird flu virus H5N1 subtype. The liquid phase chip technology includes the homogeny analysis on all the H5 and N1 serum subtype nucleic acid sequence capable of being searched in the nucleic acid sequence bank by means of biological informatic means to find out conservative region, design degenerate primer and specific probe on the H5 and N1 gene fragment and couple the specific probe with fluorescent coding microsphere to make specific detecting microsphere as the liquid phase chip; and recognizing the H5 and N1 gene fragment specifically with the liquid phase chip through two rounds of PCR reaction and reading out the detection result in the chip detection instrument. The method can detect bird flu virus H5N1 subtype quickly for early diagnosis.


A comparative study of the chemico-mineralogical properties of three profiles of chestnut earth of Inner Mongolia developed from granite, basalt and loess were made by chemical analysis, thermal differentiation and X-ray diffraction. The composition of the primary minerals of the three soils differs markedly, but that of the secondary minerals remains much alike. They are composed essentially of montmorillonite, although illite is also present. The influence of parent materials shows more prominantly in the accessory secondary minerals, especially in the deeper soil horizons. It is suggested that under the steppe condition, montmorillonite might be elther transformed into illite through repotassication, or weathered into kaolinite.


The Greek key β‐barrel topology is a folding motif observed in many proteins of widespread evolutionary origin. The arthropodan hemocyanins also have such a Greek key β‐barrel, which forms the core of the third domain of this protein. The hemocyanin β‐barrel was found to be structurally very similar to the β‐barrels of the immunoglobulin domains, Cu,Zn‐superoxide dismutase and the chromophore carrying antitumor proteins. The structural similarity within this group of protein families is not accompanied by an evolutionary or functional relationship. It is therefore possible to study structure–sequence relations without bias from nonstructural constraints. The present study reports a conserved pattern of features in these Greek key β‐barrels that is strongly suggestive of a folding nucleation site. This proposed nucleation site, which we call a "β‐zipper," shows a pattern of well‐conserved, large hydrophobic residues on two sequential β‐strands joined by a short loop. Each β‐zipper strand is near the center of one of the β‐sheets, so that the two strands face each other from opposite sides of the barrel and interact through their hydrophobic side chains, rather than forming a hydrogen‐bonded β‐hairpin. Other protein families with Greek key β‐barrels that do not as strongly resemble the immunoglobulin fold—such as the azurins, plastocyanins, crystallins, and prealbumins—also contain the β‐zipper pattern, which might therefore be a universal feature of Greek key β‐barrel proteins.


Fatigue tests were performed in laboratory air using extruded Ti-6Al-4V to determine the effect of microstructure on S-N curve, and the crack initiation and crack propagation behavior of the alloy. A modified linear elastic fracture mechanics approach was used in the analysis of the short crack propagation behavior to predict the S-N curve and the crack propagation curve. The predictions agreed well with the experimental results.


Multivariate profile analysis is proposed as an alternative to Ghiselli's correlation method of identifying moderator variables for the following reasons: (a) The direction of predictability is not sacrificed, since absolute values of residuals are not used, (b) A multivariate method of analysis is needed when screening more than one potential moderator, (c) Residual profiles provide more information than single correlation coefficients.


Non-standard Romance languages in the monograph Langues romanes non standard edited by Iwona Piechnik y Marta Wicherek

The aim of this article is to make some critical remarks on the monograph edited by Iwona Piechnik and Marta Wicherek, whose object of study are non-standard Romance languages. Moreover, the work highlights the importance of conducting this type of investigation in contemporary linguistic studies.


The theory of Social Accounting Matrix including Resources and Environment(SAMRE) was used in this article to calculate the net resource product(NRP),net environment product(NEP),and genuine saving(Sg) for the period of 1991~1999 for Hunan Province,and to evaluate quantitatively the cost of resources and environment during the economic development processes of this province.The total annual lost was $ 4.00×108 to$ 99.01×108 for NRP and NEP,accounting for 0.48% to 3.18% of GDP with the average of 2.35%.Genuine saving was about $ 10.41×108 to$ 109.60×108,accounting for 1.25% to 3.52% of GDP with the average of 2.84%.From the research,the resource and environment cost of the economic development for Hunan Province(from 1991 to 1999) was very heavy.Fortunately,the lost decreased in recent years,and the proportion of Sg in Hunan's GDP began rising.


Prediction of extinction and colonization rates for whole species assemblages emerges as an urgent task for ecology. We hypothesized that nestedness of species assemblage reflects differential ability of species to occupy sites and of sites to support species. If correct, a nested ordering of species and sites should condense long-term dynamics of metacommunities. To test this we characterized the differential ability of species to use habitat (niche position and niche breadth) using eight surveys of invertebrate communities inhabiting 49 tropical rock pools. We examined temporal consistency of the nested rank of species and pools, and related them to species and pool characteristics to infer temporal dynamics of species composition. Invertebrate assemblages in the rock-pools were significantly nested and species ranks were generally preserved over time. By contrast, pool ranks were usually conserved between adjacent years only but their similarity declined with time separating surveys. The nested species-by-pool matrix of the first survey served as a benchmark to assess individual species and local community changed in subsequent years. As hypothesized, benchmark cells with high state occupancy probability had low extinction rates in subsequent years. Moreover, species high in the nested matrix (also with high regional occupancy probability) were better survivors and colonizers relative to species that ranked low. The year-to-year dynamics were similar. Species with non-marginal niche position retained high ranks in the matrix. Yet, niche position predicted only colonization rate of species. Niche breadth and species' nested ranking, extinction risk, or ability to colonize a pool showed no relationship. Counter to the expectation, pool ranks did not predict species extinction and colonization rates. Apparently, even in dynamic systems, regional nested pattern remains consistent and the underlying extinction and colonization dynamics appear to be largely determined by the hierarchical order among species and much less by that among sites.


Background: Disasters are events that threaten human life. So, should the effort to anticipate disaster. One of them with disaster preparedness activities. Disaster volunteers are needed to provide assistance. Therefore, disaster volunteers should have knowledge in disaster management that is able to respond effectively to any disaster that will happen. Knowledge can affect the attitudes and concerns someone prepare for a disaster. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the knowledge and attitudes toward emergency preparedness disaster volunteers.

Method: This research was a descriptive research. The data were taken using online questionnaires distributed to volunteers Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center (MDMC) Malang City and Malang Regency. Size sample in this study were 73 respondents. The sampling technique used is convenience sampling. Analysis of the data used is descriptive statistical analysis.

Research Result: The results of the data analysis of 73 knowledge and attitude preparedness questionnaires analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis showed that 96.6% of MDMC volunteers had adequate knowledge about disaster preparedness. While, 4.1% had moderate knowledge and 1.4% had low knowledge. The results of attitude data on disaster preparedness showed that 97.3% of MDMC volunteers had a positive attitude and 2.7% had a negative attitude.

Conclusion: Communities can further improve the knowledge related to disaster preparedness. Attention from the government is required to always evaluate deficiencies in handling the disaster events that occurred.


The Papanicolau and ultramicroscopical methods for the early cytological diagnosis of malignancy in urinary sediments are compared. Papanicolau's method proved to be easier and more precise than the dark-field observation.


We report the replication of holographically defined photonic crystals using multistage atomic layer deposition. Low- and high-temperature atomic layer depositions were combined with selective etching to deposit and remove multiple conformal thin films within three-dimensional polymer templates. Using intermediate Al2O3 inverse replicas, temperature-sensitive SU-8 photonic crystal templates were faithfully replicated with TiO2 and GaP, greatly increasing the dielectric contrasts of the photonic crystals. Optical measurements are in good agreement with the calculated band structures.


The parasitic barnacles, Rhizocephala, are a little known group within Australia with only seven described species from a coastline stretching approximately 59763 km. This study describes a new species of Rhizocephala, Sacculina nectocarcini. The description is based on a unique combination of features pertaining to the structure of the mantle papillae, the retinaculae and the male receptacles. Biological notes, prevalence and intensity of infection are reported for this rhizocephalan, infesting the red rock crab, Nectocarcinus integrifrons, collected from Western Port, Victoria, Australia.


Rasashastra is a branch of Ayurveda which deals with mainly metals and minerals, their Identification, purification, incineration and therapeutic uses. The number of metals found in nature throughout the world is innumerable. But only a few of them have been recognized to possess medicinal values in Ayurveda. Metals are highly important for our day to life as well as for our health. From the therapeutic point of view metals are used for the maintenance of health and curing of diseases. Different type of metallic bhasma has been used in either single form or compound form for the treatment of various diseases since long period. Ancient alchemists also mentioned detailed characteristics of standard bhasmas, their therapeutic effects and sub standard bhasma with harmful effects in the body. Much attention should be necessary to develop equipment for preparation of bhasma which having therapeutic efficacy, time consuming and cost effective.


PDF documents are commonly used to exchange and store information. Their compact and self-contained nature has kept them relevant for a long time. It also, however, leads to problems when trying to automate operations on them. An example of this is the automatic extraction of textual content a problem, which has not been entirely solved to this day. Textual content within the documents is only stored at a character level, which means that words and text lines have to be rebuilt from the ground up. There exist rule-based algorithms, which try to solve the problem by taking advantage of the spacing within the documents. Using them on documents with a standard layout (e.g. scientific publications), which feature rectangular columns and figures has achieved satisfactory results. It is, however, more challenging for documents, which have a complex layout. Some magazine and news articles, for example, feature circular pull quotes in-between text columns, which are used to emphasize a certain point. This, in turn, makes it harder to deploy the rule-based algorithms, because the spacing in the documents becomes irregular. In the following thesis, this problem is tackled with the help of a deep learning approach. The approach looks at the pages of a PDF document as a collection of sequences, which are in the form of text lines. These sequences are then processed by a deep learning model and each character from them is grouped into its respective word. The usage of not only the distances between the characters, but also their value and information about their font, as input features, enables the model to more easily identify complex elements (e.g. pull quotes) and accurately extract their textual contents.


Objective: The purpose of the article will present and analyze the adjustment of India's foreign policy towards Southeast Asia under Prime Minister N. Modi and its impacts on Vietnam - India relations.

Theoretical framework: In this study, International Relations theories such as those of Realism, Liberalism and Constructivism have been used to clear the goals, approaches and content of India's policies for Southeast Asia, the adjustment of Prime Minister N. Modi towards ASEAN and Southeast Asian countries.

Method: The author uses historical methods, interdisciplinary research methods and comparative methods to present and evaluate India's foreign policy with ASEAN and Southeast Asian countries under Prime Minister Modi compared to before and evaluate the impacts of this adjustment on Vietnam - India relations in the future.

Results and conclusions: Historically, India has reached Southeast Asia by way of peace, trade and religion. Entering the 21st century, Southeast Asia is one of the focal points in India's strategic adjustment to the Asia-Pacific region because of its extremely important geo-political and geo-economical position. However, India's foreign policy before 2014 (Look East Policy) was primarily "observation" rather than "action". Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in May 2014, the Look East Policy has been adjusted into the Act East Policy to expand the goals, scope and areas of cooperation, and enhance the actions and strategic priorities in relations with its extended neighbor Southeast Asia.

Implication of the research: This adjustment has greatly impacted on India, Southeast Asian countries and the Vietnam - India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The article provides some policy implications for Vietnam to promote the Vietnam - India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the coming time.

Originality/ Value: This study is an elaborate, comprehensive and systematic work of the authors through an international approach.


The objective of average fiber diameter measurement is to determine the grade of a lot of wool with a reasonable degree of certainty. A sequential sampling plan for each of the 16 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grades of grease wool was developed in an effort to reduce the minimum number of fiber measurements specified for grade determination. The sequential sampling plan was applied to 61 samples representing 14 USDA grades of grease wool. Forty-four (72%) of the samples were determined to be in the proper grade on a sequential basis before the currently prescribed minimum number of fibers were measured.


With high speed CMOS image sensor CMV4000 produced by CMOSIS company as the object, after the thorough analysis of the piecewise linear response principle and how to extend the dynamic range, using piecewise linear response extends the dynamic range of CMV4000 image sensor. The ideas and methods of using the finite state machine designs piecewise linear response sequence are given, and the function simulation is done for the sequence in the Quartus II 9.0 environment using the Verilog HDL hardware description language. Through the analysis of simulation results, it can satisfy the demands of piecewise linear response sequence. The method is simple and feasible, and can improve the optical dynamic range of CMV4000 image sensor.


Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) focuses sunlight in order to use the heat energy of the sun. In a central receiver system configuration, many mirrors (heliostats) individually track the sun and reflect the concentrated solar energy onto a receiver on top of a tower. The receiver contains the working fluid which is heated by the concentrated solar radiation. The useful energy that absorbed by the water flows through the receiver in solar tower plant depending on the angle between the solar rays and the position of heliostat in the region of work. Heliostat will reflect the incident solar radiation in the direction of the receiver founded in the top of the tower, in order to get a maximum incident solar radiation on the heliostat reflection area. Because of the cosine factor loss effect due to the sun position is variable along the day from sunrise to sunset, which must be in a minimum value, therefore an automated tracking system with dual axes as a control system with sensors had been built and used to stay the sunrays incident on the receiver, and enable the heliostat to flow the sun where it was


Sylvia's Lovers is a novel about war. It is a historical novel set in the years 1793-1800 during the Napoleonic wars, and written by Elizabeth Gaskell in the years 1859-1862 when the American Civil War broke out, in April 1861. Examining Gaskell's correspondence with Charles Eliot Norton in the years 1861-63 and the articles Norton wrote in support of the War and the anti-slavery cause, this paper explores the way in which the news coming from America and the debates on the contemporary events left a significant mark on the second part of the novel. The implied reference to the context of the American Civil War would shed new light on Gaskell's narrative choices concerning the plot and the main male character's development, which has been substantially overlooked.


Abstract. In this article we study the existence of positive periodic solutions of the second-order nonlinear neutral differential equation with variable delay The main tool employed here is the Krasnoselskii's hybrid fixed point theorem dealing with a sum of two mappings, one is a contraction and the other is compact. The results obtained here generalize the work of Yankson [Electron. J. Differential Equations 2012 (2012), paper no. 14, 1–6].


In this paper, we present a Multi-Dimensional analysis of Brazilian Portuguese, based on a large, diverse corpus comprising forty-eight different spoken and written registers. Previous research in MD analysis includes multi-register investigations of a range of languages, including English, Spanish, Somali and Korean, among others. At the same time, a large body of literature on text varieties in Brazilian Portuguese exists, but previous research focusses on specific aspects of one, or at the most, a few varieties at a time and, therefore, does not present a comprehensive picture of register use in the linguistic community of Brazilian Portuguese speakers. In this study, we attempt to fill this gap by employing the MD framework, enabling researchers to account for a large number of different registers, based on a wide repertory of linguistic features. The analysis revealed six dimensions of variation, which are presented, illustrated and discussed here.