This teaching case addresses the strategic choices of social entrepreneurs, Mie and Ingvild, who founded the ViaVia cafe in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In their daily management of ViaVia , Mie and Ingvild put respect for local culture and ideals above short-term profit. They offered good working conditions for staff with opportunities to learn and grow, which resulted in a loyal group of employees who felt a sense of ownership of ViaVia. Furthermore, the organization was involved in a multitude of social, cultural, environmental and humanitarian projects. As a result, ViaVia was regarded as a positive contributor to the local community. In 2013, it secured international recognition for its efforts by receiving the prestigious Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Award. However, Mie and Ingvild wondered whether the support of many projects was perhaps spreading their resources too thin, and whether greater impact could be generated with fewer but more focused initiatives. Despite ViaVia's success as a social enterprise, Mie and Ingvild reviewed the past 20 years of the cafe's existence and contemplated the sustainable strategy that they should follow in the years ahead.


Objective To introduce the self-management into community chronic non- communicable disease management and observe the effect of relevant health care behavior among patients with hypertension or diabetes mellitus. Methods To provide the self-management manuals to patients with hypertension (n=274) or diabetes mellitus (n=94) who were volunteer to participant, give them training on self-management skills, and ask them fill out the manual and carry their self- management. The doctors from health service center determinated the grade of self-management according to the days the patients' behavior reached the demand and the quality of the note of manual. Results The percentage of the patients who took the measurement on blood pressure and blood sugar regularly was increased by 10.0% and 28.9%, and the percentage of taking the measurement at home by themselves increased 37.6% and 52.5%. And correct percentage of other health care behavior such as more physical activities, less fat and salt intake, and taking the medicine reasonable increased as well. Conclusion It is effective to adopt health behavior for patients with hypertension and diabetes mellitus by the ways of self-management.


Reading and technology are believed to have a strong link with learner autonomy. This research aims at investigating how digital reader response tasks in a reading class promote learner autonomy. The students were given reader response tasks which challenged them to respond to texts using digital infographic and presentation tools in Moodle forum. The data of this case study, collected from questionnaires, online records, and reflections involving 25 participants, were analyzed based on the domains of autonomy. The findings indicated that digital reader response tasks in a Moodle-based reading class enabled learners to plan, execute, and evaluate their own learning. The findings also showed that these online tasks did not only motivate learners to engage in meaningful language learning experience, but also encouraged them to nurture social dimensions of autonomy.


The operating modes of the SC4-1 payload, the resultant charging of the spacecraft frame and sample materials on the spacecraft exterior and recorded transient pulses are reported. Arcing was detected by pulse monitors in several electron beam modes of operation. The ejection of a beam of 6 mA of 3 keV electrons caused three distinct payload failures and created a transient problem in the telemetry system. The exact time, nature, and cause of these failures was determined and component failure and why they failed was identified. Analytical and modeling techniques are used to examine possible spacecraft and payload responses to the electron beam ejection which might have contributed to the arcing and payload failures.


Cooperative programs with foreign universities bring in advanced education resources,which supply Chinese students chances to accept various educations of universities.As cooperative programs involve different universities,the cooperative programs will also encounter many problems in education administration.This article takes cooperative programs of Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology as examples to summarize problems and solutions of education administration in cooperative programs and study the education administration of cooperative programs.


After the incident on the 19th September 2008 and more than one year without beam the commissioning of the LHC started again on November 20, 2009. Progress was rapid and collisions under stable beam conditions were established at 1.2 TeV within 3 weeks. In 2010 after qualification of the new quench protection system the way to 3.5 TeV was open and collisions were delivered at this energy after a month of additional commissioning. This paper describes the experiences and issues encountered during these first periods of commissioning with beam.


Recently, [1] and [3] have proposed a penalized spline regression estimator to estimate a spatial total. This estimator is capable of properly taking into account the spatial autocorrelation, which typically characterizes spatial populations. It can be implemented for finite spatial populations (the sample is drawn from a finite number of plots) as well as for continuous populations (the sample is made of a points selected from a compact and connected subset of the plane). Such estimator is approximately design unbiased and consistent. Furthermore, under certain conditions it can be superefficient, that is, the sampling variance is of order greater than n−1 (see [3]). In this work we explore the use of glmnet, implemented in the R programming system for Elastic-Net regularization proposed by [2]. This algorithm is based on the coordinate descendent technique and is quite efficient. It enables faster computation of the regression coefficients required by the penalized spline estimator of the spatial total. Furthermore, this function fits generalized linear models with Elastic-Net as penalties. Using this tool, we can quickly extend the penalized spline regression technique to estimate spatial total of dichotomous data, multinomial data, and count data. Finally, through a simulation study, we compare ridge and Lasso based penalized spline regression estimators for different types of data to highlight the potentiality of this approach.


BPEL(Business Process Execution Language) composite service evolves a lot in its lifetime. Regression testing must be performed to ensure the correctness of each evolved version. In this article, an approach is proposed to select test cases for regression testing based on data flow testing criterion. With XCFG(eXtended Control Flow Graph) modeling BPEL composite service, the approach improves the traditional data flow analysis to compute the def-use pairs in BPEL process, and then identifies the affected def-use pairs by comparing the def-use pairs and XCFG model in the evolved version with those in the baseline version, where related WSDL(Web Service Description Language) documents are incorporated for comparison. The data flow paths covering the affected def-use pairs are calculated for regression testing, and some of them can reuse the test cases in the baseline version, which are determined by analyzing the path condition of data flow paths between two versions. The proposed approach can detect three kinds of changes, including process change, binding change and interface change. Experimental study shows the effectiveness.


The DIY programs from 'Burke's Backyard' to 'Backyard Blitz' simply present all kinds of handy hints, as happy hosts clamour to offer their free-to-air advice, but in reality these programs are a thorn in the side of real-life contractors. It is not bad for business, but certainly unhelpful to customer relations. These shows cite material prices that are exclusive of labour costs, which can lead viewers to react with embarrassment or hostility when they call a contractor out and receive a quote that's far higher than they anticipated.


This paper provides a comprehensive performance analysis of frequency estimation in additive and multiplicative noise environments. A general multiplicative and additive noise model is considered with the signal. The colored noise is modeled as an AR or MA process. The exact Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) is derived for short data lengths. A frequency domain evaluation of the CRB is also discussed and it is shown that the frequency domain evaluation provides in-sight that could be used for approximating the CRB in the presence of singularities in the covariance of the multiplicative noise model. This approach has been successfully used in obtaining the CRB for a Jakes' fading environment.


After the fall of Fascism Italian intellectuals suddenly discovered their own country and their fellowcitizens, whom they only knew from the Fascist propaganda. Cinema, photography, reportage, prose narrative: all these techniques were used to understand the country that had lost the war. In the mid-Fifties a booming economy transformed Italy again. This survey considers the years 1944-1963, and looks in particular at the following authors: C.Levi, Pasolini, Calvino, Piovene, Bocca, Bianciardi, Mastronardi; and first of all, with a deeper insight, Zavattini.


AbstractIn surgery, a new method called minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has been established in the last few years. Compared with traditional endoscopes, the use of videoendoscopes with enlarged representation of the scene on the monitor has improved the situation considerably. However, the loss of the impression of space restricts the use of this technique to just few and simple incisions. The development of a stereo videoendoscope system has made real three-dimensional (3D) vision inside the human body possible. This paper shows that the availability of perception of depth leads to a new quality of MIS: it will become safer and open up new fields of operation. Based on human visual perception, general rules for developing technical solutions are discussed. The 3D video system was originally developed for remote handling in inaccessible areas of nuclear facilities. Faced with similar requirements, this technology could easily be transferred to MIS applications. The resulting system impressively demonstr...


To avoid the complex modeling process of the system object and design the controllers for nonlinear systems fast and effectively, the design of the feedback controller of the nonlinear system draws lessons from the thinking of the virtual reference feedback tuning method. On this basis, in order to improve the system stability and eliminate the uncertain disturbance, adding a linear controller in the feedback loop can improve the tracking performance of the system, and the design is converted into the parameter identification of the nonlinear function under the expansion equation of a basis function. The simulation has verified the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


This paper studies local estimations of parameters for a class of time-inhomogeneous diffusion models, which is essential building blocks for option pricing and risk management. The parameters in our models are the key variables in option pricing and risk management. Based on discretely observed samples, we propose the local polynomial composite quantile regression(CQR) estimation of drift parameters by using local polynomial fitting, and verify its asymptotic properties. Considering diffusion parameter being positive, we take it to be locally log-polynomial fitting and obtain its kernel weighted estimation. The asymptotic bias, asymptotic variance and asymptotic normality of the estimation for volatility function are discussed.Separate bandwidths are used for the estimations of drift and diffusion parameters.Simulation studies show that the proposed local CQR estimations perform better than the local least squares estimations.


Knowledge of the literature pertaining to patterns of performance in normal individuals is essential if we are to understand intraindividual variability in neurocognitive test performance in neuropsychiatric disorders. Twenty-five healthy individuals with a high-level of education were evaluated on a short neuropsychological battery which spanned several cognitive domains. --Results indicated that cognitive abilities are not equally distributed within a sample of healthy, high-level functioning individuals. This may be of interest to neuropsychologists who might base clinical inference about the presence of cerebral dysfunction, at least in part, on marked variation in a patient's level of cognitive test performance. The practice of deductive reasoning in clinical neuropsychology may be prone to false-positive conclusions about cognitive functioning in neuropsychiatric disorders where base-rates of cognitive impairments are low and pre-existing educational achievements are high.


An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of  Titonia bokashi on the changes in the level of potassium (K) up take and yield of shallot ( Allium ascalonicum L.) grown on Entisol. The experiment was arranged in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with the rates of bokashi includingno bokashi added (t o ), 10 t ha -1 (t 1) , 20 t ha -1 (t 2 ), 30 t ha -1 (t 3 ), 40 t ha -1 (t 4 ), 50 t ha -1 (t 5 ), and 60 t ha -1 (t 6 ). Each treatment was replicated three times so that there were 21 experimental units.  The application of Titonia bokashi up to 60 t ha - 1 was proven to effectively increase soil C-organic, K-total, K-available, plant dry weight, plant K concentration, K uptake, fresh and dry weight of shallot bulbs of Lembah Palu variety. Highest potassium uptake (11.07g) and maximum dry weight of shallot bulbs per clump was achieved at the rate of 60 t ha - 1 . Key Words : Potassium, shallot, and Titonia bokashi.


recursion, for example. In fact, I would be shocked to learn that it did. But this recursion is lacking in the grammar. The crucial point again is that Pirahã culture constrains Pirahã grammar and that the lack of embedding, etc., follow from the cultural value in the immediacy-of-experience principle, showing that cultural forces may play an evolutionary role in shaping grammars. —Daniel L. Everett


Objective : The purpose of this literature review is to explore literature focused on health related preparational programs' ability, experiences and effectiveness in developing the skill sets of students to improve health outcomes of ethnic and racial minority populations.              Method : EbscoHost, MEDLINE, PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for articles published between 1998 and 2012 to identify research on cultural competency academic curriculum in health disciplines.  From this literature review, researchers extracted studies reported on cultural competency in collegiate programs and practitioner assessments. Result : Sixteen articles were identified, 10 original research studies and 6 review articles or commentaries. Of these, eight were from medicine, three from health education, two from nursing and three from pharmacy education. The majority of studies utilized a case study or multi-site assessment approach. Themes derived from the review include: administrative views and assessments; practitioner academic preparation analysis; student focused activities and; guided academic curriculum development. Conclusion : Groups currently experiencing poorer health status are expected to grow as a proportion of the total U.S. population; therefore, the future health of America as a whole will be influenced substantially by improving the health of these racial and ethnic minorities. As a result health education specialists must be culturally competent to implement effective programming targeting these populations. Cultural competence incorporates principles which contribute to understanding the cultural and social influence on individuals' health behaviors and beliefs. Those employed in preparation programs have a responsibility to build the capacity of students through the utilization of appropriate curriculum.


Cores of the Ordovician-age Arbuckle Group and Ordovician-Silurian-Devonian-age Hunton Group contain evidence of paleokarst. Arbuckle and Hunton Group rocks display surprisingly similar suites of distinct paleo-karstic features. Vugs, solution-enlarged fractures, cavities, collapse breccias, and sediment-filled solution features are evident. Phreatic cements are more commonly observed than vadose cements, while primary speleothemic precipitates are rare. A complex history of exposure, subsidence, and diagenesis is recorded in these rocks. Hunton and Arbuckle carbonates have been subaerially exposed for periods of variable intensity and duration during geologic history. Paleokarst appears to have developed subjacent to disconformities within and between formations of the Arbuckle Group and where these rocks subcrop below regional unconformities. Hunton paleokarstic horizons are apparent below the regional pre-Woodford unconformity, while evidence of inter- and intra-formational subaerial exposure is tenuous. This complex hierarchy of unconformities can produce numerous porous horizons. Porosity preservation may depend on subsidence rates or sea level rises rapid enough to prevent extensive low-temperature phreatic cementation and sediment infill of the existing pore network. Caves in the Arbuckle Group in Murray County, Oklahoma contain many karstic features similar to those observed in cores. Cemented collapse breccia and sediment-filled solution cavities are evident in caves developed in the Coolmore » Creek Formation. These caves are part of an extensive internal drainage system associated with Honey Creek near the crest of the Arbuckle anticline. Cave speleothems and surficial travertine deposits are by-product of karstification processes.« less


The report is an updated version of "A Manual for the Repair and Protection of Hydraulic Cement Concrete Bridge Decks" (VTRC 90-TAR2). The report was prepared for Chapter 2 of the Hydraulic Cement Concrete Construction School Study Guide which is distributed by the Virginia Department of Transportation at Hydraulic Cement Concrete Construction Schools.


Composition analysis of gallstones by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was rarely reported in the past. There were 73 cases of gallbladder stones (GBS), 41 common bile duct stones (CBDS), and 42 intrahepatic stones (IHS) in this study. The percentages of stone composition, which included cholesterol, calcium carbonate, and calcium bilirubinate, were analyzed. In the GBS group, there were 33 cholesterol stones (45.2%), 28 pigment stones (38.4%), 7 calcium carbonate stones (9.6%), and 5 unclassified stones (6.8%). In the CBDS group, there were 5 cholesterol stones (12.2%), 34 pigment stones (82.9%), 1 calcium carbonate stone (2.4%), and 1 unclassified stone (2.4%). In the IHS group, there were 6 cholesterol stones (14.3%), 32 pigment stones (76.2%), and 4 calcium carbonate stones (9.5%). There were 17 cases which involved more than one site (e.g. GBS+CBDS, GBS+JHS, or CBDS+IHS, and 11 out of the 17 cases had stones of different composition. It was concluded that gallstones occur more commonly iii people over 50 years old. The female-to-male ratios of cholesterol, pigment, and calcium carbonate stones were 1.8, 1.3, and 1.0, respectively. Most of the BDS and IHS were pigment stones; whereas, in the GBS group, 33 out of 73 cases were cholesterol stones (45.2%). Gallstones were of a variety of colors and shapes, and to classify gallstones simply by their gross appearances would sometimes be misleading. It is worth mentioning that the existence of cholesterol stones in the biliary tree, intrahepatic or extrahepatic ducts, is not so uncommon.


In the present paper, we obtain an explicit product formula for products of multiple integrals w.r.t. a random measure associated with a L\'evy process. As a building block, we use a representation formula for products of martingales from a compensated-covariation stable family. This enables us to consider L\'evy processes with both jump and Gaussian part. It is well known that for multiple integrals w.r.t. the Brownian motion such product formulas exist without further integrability conditions on the kernels. However, if a jump part is present, this is, in general, false. Therefore, we provide here sufficient conditions on the kernels which allow us to establish product formulas. As an application, we obtain explicit expressions for the expectation of products of iterated integrals, as well as for the moments and the cumulants for stochastic integrals w.r.t. the random measure. Based on these expressions, we show a central limit theorem for the long time behaviour of a class of stochastic integrals. Finally, we provide methods to calculate the number of summands in the product formula.


An optimal reflux extraction of total flavonoids from genkwa flos was established.Based on the single factor analysis,a 4-factor,3-level Box-Behnken experimental design was applied to evaluate the effects of the four factors,including extraction temperature,extraction time,ethanol concentration and ratio of material to liquid.The interactions of each factor on the extraction yield were investigated with response surface analysis(RSA).Results showed that the developed mathematical model for total flavonoids yield fit the actual experiment very well.A significant effect on total flavonoids yield was observed in quadratic and linear terms.However,the interactions among the above parameters were not significant.Ethanol concentration had the most significant effect,ratio of material to liquid was the second place and extraction time,extraction temperature had a little effect.The final optimal extracting conditions were as follows:extraction temperature was 73 oC,extraction time was 1 h,ethanol concentration was 78% and ratio of material to liquid was 1∶12(g/mL).Under the above conditions the extraction yield was 2.239%.


An optoelectronic 32-bit serial-to-parallel converter with novel conversion scheme and shared-trigger configuration is developed for label processing of 100Gb/s (25Gb/s×4λ) optical packets. The converter exhibits high gain and tolerance to voltage swing of received bits.


Optical switching of a new middle trace observed in an optically controlled parallel resonant tunneling (OPT) device is demonstrated. A circuit model for the OPT is developed. The circuit model satisfactorily explains the existence of the middle trace and its optical switching.


Abstract Polymerization of phenolic-resin-based materials requires elevated temperatures. The low thermal conductivity of these materials has led to the use of dielectric heating techniques in lieu of standard convection oven heating to obtain a satisfactory cure. The curing rate and therefore the quality of the cured material depends on the heating rate and the maximum temperature attained, parameters which are extremely difficult to measure in dielectric heating units. The dielectric curing of these materials has been monitored by using a mass spectrometer to measure the partial pressure of phenol in the gas evolved during polymerization. The resulting plots of phenol partial pressure as a function of time have a characteristic shape, and these may be used to indicate the attainment of complete curing. The validity of the mass spectrometric technique was confirmed by chemical analysis of the polymerized samples. L 17. Key-Words (Suggested by Author(s1 1 I 18. Distribution Statement


Water resources planning and management of a region requires an understanding of the water balance in the region. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) with QGIS interface (QSWAT) has been used here to arrive at the water balance components in the Palapuzha watershed of Valapattanam river basin in Kerala. Valapattanam river drains an area of 1867 sq.km. with 456 sq.km. area in Karnataka State. The river basin receives an average annual rainfall of 3600 mm. The Palapuzha watershed drains an area of 237.25 sq.km with an average annual rainfall of 4562 mm. The QSWAT model has been calibrated and validated using data for a period of eight years (2000-2007) for which both rainfall and streamflow data are available. The model was successful in simulating monthly streamflow during the calibration and validation periods with Nash Sutcliffe efficiency and correlation co-efficient greater than 0.75 and percent bias less than 10%, showing that the model is very good for predicting streamflow in Valapattanam river basin. This calibrated model was used to arrive at the different water balance components in the Palapuzha watershed. The results obtained will be useful for the sustainable development and planning of the water resources system in the highland humid tropical watersheds


In this text, I explore what I have termed "aesthetic theology". After noting the transference of religious content, function, etc., to art in Modernity, an act that has made art a locus theologicus once again, I analyse one of the main consequences of this phenomenon: art is progressively being considered through what was once purely theological categories, thus giving rise to aesthetic theology. The implication is that some of the solutions that have arisen from theological debate might be useful in the philosophy of art. I also suggest that aesthetic theology can provide theology with a generalized way of reasoning based on aesthetic judgments—judgements formed by postulated consensus instead of forced judgements formed on conceptual grounds. I defend that the formulation of religious judgement has always been of the former sort, such that aesthetic theology may prove itself a useful tool for theologians in developing their thinking about, depiction of, representing, or approaching God.


Flavonols derivatives of 2'-hydroxycalone have been synthesized under basic condition (KOH). The structures of all compounds were characterized based on the interpretation of spectroscopic data including HPLC, UV, FTIR, NMR and HRMS. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH assay which showed that the flavonol 2'-hydroxycalone derivative was potentially active as antioxidants with IC50 values <1000 µg / mL.


Events such as the Boston Marathon bombing and the Manchester attack are reminders that terrorist attacks are of great concern to the general public. The various types of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) can be remembered by the acronym CBRNE which stands for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive weapons. The focus of this paper will be improvised explosive devices (IEDs).[1][2][3] The United States Department of Defense defines IEDs as "devices placed or fabricated in an improvised manner incorporating destructive, lethal, noxious, pyrotechnic or incendiary chemicals, designed to destroy, disfigure, distract or harass..." Explosive-related injuries were once thought to be related solely to combat medicine. While the IED is considered one of the greatest threats to troops operating in Afghanistan during the War on Terror, they are not exclusively confined to the battlefield as civilian-targeted terrorist attacks like those mentioned above are becoming more commonplace. In fact, Kluger states that "[b]ombing and explosions directed against innocent civilians have become the primary instrument of global terror..." It is of great importance that medical personnel be aware of the threat of terrorist-related IED attacks so that the appropriate steps can be taken if such an event were to occur.


The Forum is pleased to publish the following essays on age integration, which are adapted from a working paper issued in May 1999 by the National Institute on Aging. The working paper, one component of NIA's Program on Age and Structural Change (PASC), was edited by Matilda White Riley and Peter Uhlenberg from contributions to conferences at the International Sociological Association (in Montreal) and the American Sociological Association (in San Francisco). Our purpose is to introduce to a broader readership this important area of inquiry, as well as to provide specialists with a summary of the current state of the field.


Meiosis in four primary hexaploid triticale lines, in their component two tetraploid wheat and two rye parents, and in the hybrids obtained by crossing within each ploidic level was studied using Giemsa banding. The individual chromosomes were identified and their meiotic behaviour at first metaphase was analyzed in each line. In each new triticale line, the level of pairing for wheat chromosomes was moderately reduced and for rye chromosomes was very significantly reduced, in comparison with that of the wheat and rye parents used to synthesize it. The pairing intensity observed suggests the presence of a strong negative intergenomic interaction between the rye and wheat genomes in triticale, irrespective of whether the rye is in a homozygous or heterozygous genotypic condition. The homozygosity or heterozygosity in the wheat constituent does not appear to effect the behaviour of the rye chromosomes in triticale.Key words: triticale, meiosis, C-banding, heterosis.


Background: Access to safe drinking water will prevent water borne diseases, disability and death. Clean water and sanitation are crucial to healthy living. Access to good drinking water is indicated by safe water sources. Objectives: The study was conducted to determine access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities amongst residents of Lagos Mainland Local Government Area (LGA), Lagos. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out using mainly interviewer administered questionnaire to 381 participants of not less than 18 years which focused on questions on source of drinking water, sanitation facility and incidence of water borne diseases. Results: Response rate was 94.5%. Majority of the respondents (40%) were between 38-47 years old. Half of the respondents relied on sachet water as source of drinking water while 5% from pipe water in the compound. Majority of the respondents' households (85%) had access to water within a distance of about 100 metres or less and within 15 minutes or less. About 60% of the household had government piped water into their compound. Majority of the households (80%) had flush toilets while 20% had improved pit latrine. Most of the respondents (80%) were aware that disease can be caused by unsafe drinking water. More than half (55.56%) of the households have not treated water related diseases in the last two months. Conclusion: The surveyed households had close access to safe drinking water. Sachet water was the main source of drinking water. The sanitation facilities in the studied area were adequate for healthy living and good quality of life.


Abstract- The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of market competition (MC) and perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) on the use of supply chain management (SCM) information and the utilization of SCM information on organizational performance, based on contingency theory. Data were collected using a questionnaire sent directly to the main managers of three, four and five-star hotels in the Province of Bali, Indonesia. This study uses organizational level analysis units. The data obtained were 122 and analyzed using WarpPls 6.0. The results showed that MC and PEU had a positive and significant effect on the utilization of SCM information (broad scope, timeliness, aggregation, and integration). In addition, the use of SCM information, affects the performance of three, four and five-star hotels in Bali Province, Indonesia.


Largely absent from college and university engagement efforts are the community members who work on our own campuses, often those in the lowest-paid positions, even though they are from the communities the campus purports to serve. This article represents the results of a project that scanned the civic microcosm of our colleges and universities to identify these underserved groups and their needs. Topics discussed include campus models already in existence, challenges facing this type of engagement, and strategies for linking efforts to aid this "community within" to campus civic engagement.


In "Invitation to Virtue Epistemologists: Epistemic Goal of Education Revisited," Ka Ya Lee calls for an open conversation between virtue epistemol-ogists and philosophers of education. There is a growing body of literature on "intellectual virtues" and education by virtue epistemologists. However, Lee invites them to stop and think more about "education" – Why should we cultivate intellectual virtues in education? What are the aim(s) of education? She contends that these fundamental questions inform a "well-grounded" epistemology of education.


There is the application of substituting punishment in China's ancient death penalty system.The application of substituting punishment in death penalty is influenced by each era and dynasty and embodies the characteristics of that era and dynasty.Different times have the different substituting punishment.The type of the substituting punishment is related to the demands and purpose of the society in that time.Generally,the substituting punishment in China's ancient death penalty system is combined to the system settings and the demands of China's ancient death penalty system.The development of substituting punishment embodies the changes of the entire death penalty system and criminal justice system in ancient China.


This thesis investigates the relationship between regime and everyday dynamics of sectarianism, comparing the two Arab Gulf countries of Kuwait and Bahrain. Both case
studies are viewed through the central theme of an "informal civil society" and its subsequent impact on sectarian politics in both countries. In Bahrain, the state has forwarded a sectarian narrative of the post-2011 conflict while at the grassroots level, concerted efforts have been made to bridge relations between Sunni and Shia Muslims. In Kuwait, meanwhile, there are indications of a reverse trajectory coming to fruition; while the regime denies a sectarian image of the state, posing as a neutral arbitrator between various political blocs, at the communal level, people across the political and social spectrum are defining themselves through the lens of sectarian identities that have become increasingly salient across several platforms. What is
discernable in both countries is the complex and dynamic nature of sectarianism at work, where it is at one and the same time amplified and negated.


One study after another reports that men aren't getting screened for colorectal cancer and prostate cancer, leading to unnecessary morbidity and mortality--as well as higher costs. Here's what you can do about it.


Hill coding, based on linear algebra, by the American mathematician Lester S. Hill in 1929 in this method we use a square matrix A of integers as a key, which determines the linear transformation Y = A * X where Y, X they are the column vectors. Using this encryption method, a text was encrypted to later decrypt it with the use of brute force, that is, to test each of the possible combinations of keys to find the original text in this article. A 2x2 key was used to encrypt the text with a limit from 1 to 256 for each element in the matrix 256 x 256 x 256 x 256 permutations were found that is 4,294,967,296 possible keys for this decipher this text as it can be clearly seen there are too many operations to perform that can consume a considerable time for the CPU since he must decipher the text for each of these combinations and find the correct one, that is why to do this arduous task, parallel programming was used to generate each of the keys and work with each one of them.


In order to ensure that the old travel safely and they can seek for he lp quickly when unexpected circumstances appear.Through the analysis of the rem ote location technology,according to the satellite positioning of the quickness and accuracy an intelligent positioning crutch is designed using MSP430F149 sing le chip as the core processor,GARMIN OEM(Orignd Equipment Manufactuce) as the GPS(Global Positing System) chip,nRF905 as the wireles s transceiver,Ampire12864 as the LCD(Liquid Crystal Display) monitor.nRF905 receive and send data,and display accurate position through the LCD.This increased security for the olds travelling.


Objectives: To assess the contribution of preoperative radiologic appearance of vestibular schwannoma (VS) on the magnetic resonance imaging in constructive interference in steady-state sequences and demonstrate if the degree of the internal auditory canal (IAC) filling is correlated with hearing and facial preservation. Patients: A group of 278 patients who underwent VS surgery in a tertiary referral center. Intervention: Retrosigmoid approach surgery. Main Outcome Measures: Patients were classified in 4 groups according to the percentage of IAC filling on the preoperative magnetic resonance imaging as Group IAC 1(IAC empty or filled <25% and with free fundus), Group IAC 2 (IAC filled from 25% to 50% with free fundus), Group IAC 3 (IAC filled from 50% to 75% with free fundus), and Group IAC 4 (complete filling of the IAC without fundus obliteration). Results: A good correlation was observed between the IAC classification and the rate of hearing and facial preservation. The global rate of postoperative facial palsy was 10.4%. The global rate of hearing preservation in 213 patients with preoperative hearing class A and B was 40.8%.Regression analysis showed that the degree of lateral extension of the VS in the IAC was a strong predictor of hearing preservation (p < 0.04). Conclusion: The retrosigmoid approach yields good facial outcomes in selected patients with possible hearing preservation. In case of patient with small tumor and IAC empty or filled less than 75% and with free fundus, surgery is the treatment of choice for patients with serviceable hearing and the desire to retain it.


This study tries to see whether the subjects' "monolingualism" and "bilingualism" (monolinguals learning an L2 and bilinguals learning an L3) influence their study on English, especially writing. The term "bilinguals" also means "multilinguals" in this study. Bilinguals in this paper are classified into two; first, passive bilinguals who are only exposed to another local language, besides speaking Bahasa Indonesia at home, and second, active bilinguals who are exposed to and also speak other language(s) and Bahasa Indonesia at home. The findings show that the monolingual and the active bilingual are better than the passive one; the active bilingual is better than the monolingual. However, if the passive and the active bilingual are combined, the monolingual is better than the bilinguals.


In this work the effect of nanostructuring an epoxy resin by introducing POSS (Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes) is investigated. Dielectric spectroscopy, thermal conductivity measurements and surface erosion by electrical discharges have been conducted. Epoxy/POSS composites have shown a remarkably improved resistance to electrical discharges along with a significant increase of thermal conductivity compared to the neat epoxy.


Earlier in this issue, the article 'How to empower communities to take action on improving eye health' (page 64) provided the background, rationale and overall approach to empowering communities to improve their eye health. This article provides more information about specific techniques that you might use within your overall strategy, including examples of each technique and when to consider using it. As mentioned earlier in this issue, it is important that the technique you choose is inclusive, meaning that it is possible for people with different types of disabilities and levels of literacy to benefit. For example, people who are deaf or hearing impaired may need written materials or sign language interpreters. Verbal techniques including plays and puppet shows may be better than written information in illiterate communities. 'Easy read' 1 materials (which use short, simple sentences that are clearly presented and supported with helpful images) may help children, people with learning difficulties and those who have lower literacy. Venues should always be accessible for people who use wheelchairs or need support with moving around (e.g. there should be ramps or elevators, not just stairs). Information sharing refers to sharing specific messages with the community that can improve their eye health. Depending on the knowledge gaps in the community, the type of information shared may be about what services are available (including where they are, how much they cost, what exact procedures they entail, and what support is available in accessing them) or about specific diseases or infections common in the community (and how they can be identified and treated). As explained in 'How to empower communities to take action on improving eye health', there are many reasons why communities may not be aware of the best practices to improve their eye health, and may not have accurate information about how they can do this and what services are available to support them. Ensuring that the community are aware of these key messages is extremely important. How can information be shared? There are a number of different ways that information can be shared, using different channels of communications and different techniques. 1 Oral presentations explaining where/ what services are available or how communities can improve their eye health. For example, giving a talk at a church congregation or village meeting on the availability of new cataract services, or giving a health talk in a hospital waiting room (see article on …


Mélanges occur as discontinuous, mappable, units along an extensive N–S-trending, steeply dipping zone of distributed shear in metamorphic complexes along the coast of central Chile. Large mélange zones, from north to south, near Chañaral, Los Vilos, Pichilemu, and Chiloé Island, contain variations in lithologic and structural detail, but are consistent in exhibiting cross-cutting fabric features indicating a progressive transition from earlier ductile to more brittle deformation. In the Infiernillo mélange near Pichilemu, Permian to Early Triassic, sub-horizontal schistosity planes of the Western Series schist are disrupted, incorporated into, and uplifted along high-angle, N–S- to NNE–SSW-trending brittle–ductile shears. Mylonitic and cataclastic zones within the mélange matrix indicate active lateral shear during cumulative exhumation from depths exceeding 12 km in some areas. Exotic lithologies, such as Carboniferous mafic amphibolite and blueschist, formed during earlier Gondwanide subduction, match well with similar rocks in the Bahia Mansa to Los Pabilos region 750 km to the south, suggesting possible dextral offset. The development of the Middle to Late Triassic, N–S=trending, near-vertical shear zones formed weaknesses in the crust facilitating later fault localization, gravitational collapse, and subduction erosion along the continental margin. The length and linearity of this zone of lateral movement, coincident with a general hiatus of regional arc magmatism during the Middle to Late Triassic, is consistent with large-scale dextral transpression, or possible transform movement, during highly oblique NNE–SSW convergence along the pre-Andean (Gondwana) margin. The resultant margin parallel N–S-trending shear planes may be exploited by seismically active faults along the present coastal area of Chile. The palaeo-tectonic setting during the transitional period between earlier Gondwanide (Devonian to Permian) and later Andean (Late Jurassic to present) subduction may have had some similarity to the presently active San Andreas transform system of California.


Bis(2-(oxiran-2-ylmethyl)-1,3-dioxoisoindolin-5-yl) carbonate and polymers containing 9-anthracenylmethylmethacrylate (AMMA), p-tert-butoxy styrene (PTBS), and methacrylic acid (MAA) monomeric units were synthesized with the aim of developing a novel photo-patternable cross-linked epoxy system. The oxirane groups in bis(2-(oxiran-2-ylmethyl)-1,3-dioxoisoindolin-5-yl) carbonate were reacted with the carboxylic acid in the polymer to generate a cross-linked epoxy film, and the photo degradation of the cross-linked film was achieved through decomposition of the carbonate groups in the cross-linked film by deep UV irradiation. Because the copolymer containing anthracene groups has relatively high reflective index and absorption at 248 nm, this cross-linked system can be applied to patternable bottom antireflective coating materials for deep UV lithography applications. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009


Detailed measurements of the temperature, snot voIume fraction, and COZhave been performed for a 10 em diameter heptane &e. In addition, the concenhatins of H20 and CO were inferred from generalized state relationships. The heat feedback to the surface was calculated by using a reverse LMonte-Carlo method in conjunction with RADCAL The cakxdated heat fluxes to the surface with and without gas emission indicate that the contributions from the gaseous combustion products to total radiation are signifhnt for heptane due to its mildly sooting mture. Simultaneous optical memmements using two probes were performed to investigate the importance of temporal corrdations on the heat transfer calculations. lMeasurements made throughout the fire indicate that norrsimukaneous data sets can be used to accurately prediet the heat transfer to the fuel surface.


Globally, biochar research and its application for soil improvement have attracted the interest of many researchers, primarily environmental and soil scientists, in the last decade. But, a limited number of biochar research studies have been conducted in Bangladesh. Therefore, a comprehensive study on biochar research is necessary to find out the scope and opportunities of biochar application in the soils of Bangladesh. Generally, biochar can improve the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils. It also has a significant role in greenhouse gas emissions. The contaminated soils can also be remediated through the judicious application of biochar. In Bangladesh, biochar application enhanced soil pH, organic matter, phosphorus availability, and agricultural production while decreasing soil acidification, microbial activity, and heavy metals mobility. Besides that, there were both positive and negative findings regarding nitrogen availability, greenhouse gas emissions, and heavy metal accumulation. However, this review includes the selection of feedstock, the advancement of pyrolysis technology, the characterization of biochar, and the agronomic and environmental benefits of biochar use. This paper also reviews biochar study and application activities in Bangladesh over the last decade. Further research directions have been suggested to ensure the beneficial and safe application of biochar to agricultural property.


Macroeconomic Indicators and CO 2 Emissions in the EU Region. 24(61), pp. 817-830. Abstract The anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere are one of the problems facing mankind on a global scale. Therefore, the governments of many countries are making efforts to reduce CO 2 emissions through regulatory measures. Environmental pollution from CO 2 emissions is not only an environmental problem, but also an economic one. Therefore, the authors focus on conducting a multi-econometric study of the impact of macroeconomic factors (gross domestic product, exports, imports, inflation, and unemployment) on CO 2 emissions in the EU region. Systematization, empirical comparative analysis, and econometric modeling (determining the relationships between indicators) were the research methods applied in our research. The results, which were carried out based on statistical data for the period 1970-2020 in the EU, confirmed the existence of dependence of carbon dioxide emissions on macroeconomic indicators such as gross domestic product, exports, imports, inflation, and unemployment. To know whether to reduce or maintain allowable CO 2 emissions, governments can use multivariate regression models to optimize, monitor, and forecast their macroeconomic indicators.


The article is devoted to the analysis of case materials from the funds of the State Archives of the Russian Federation (GA RF) about the long-term, during 1827—1849, and persistent search by gendarmes on the orders of Nicholas I, the author of one of the drafts of the liberal "constitution". Such actions could not be generated only by the adherence of the emperor to reactionary politics. It is possible that the principal course towards the eradication of the spirit of "English liberty" from the consciousness of the Russian nobility is explained by their desire to use another component of the British experience of state and constitutional building — the priority of evolutionary rather than revolutionary development. Nicholas I was not going to succumb to anyone's pressure, both inside the country and outside. He planned first to create a nation from among the representatives of those social groups that, from his point of view, were important for strengthening the foundations of power, then to grant the nation laws, possibly fundamental ones, and only then, on this basis, to build relationships with law-abiding subjects. The twenty-year search for the author of the criminal "constitution" is proof of this.


The Army's top priority is readiness, but maintaining a force that is ready to deploy units at any time--while taking care of soldiers physically mentally and in their careers--is a precarious balance. Human resource and medical fitness practices make units' deployment preparation unnecessarily difficult, as those practices did for the 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command (13th ESC) in 2014 when it prepared to deploy to Kuwait. After receiving orders in January 2014, the 13th ESC managed to deploy in December at just 71 percent of mandated strength. The unit struggled to overcome issues common to the Army's personnel and medical systems practices that hinder operating units' readiness. To help units overcome these challenges, the institutional Army, sometimes called the generating force, needs to think like the operating force. The institution must focus on how to help each operational unit prepare as a whole for deployment. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 13th ESC's analysis of its deployment preparation showed how certain systemic medical and personnel practices beyond the unit's control impeded its preparation. It found deficiencies in medical and personnel practices that the Army could remedy to more efficiently provide deployable soldiers to units. This article encapsulates those challenges and highlights medical and personnel aspects that play a pivotal role in a soldier's deployment availability. This article also offers solutions--where possible. It aims to help units conduct predeployment strength management and to help the Army improve strength management practices. Policy recommendations include that the Army Human Resources Command (HRC) open the Distribution Conference (where unit vacancies are validated and prioritized for filling) to higher headquarters at the general officer level, to fully coordinate current and future deployments with the operating force. This collaboration could help human resource administrators to think like operators. The Army should ensure medical support personnel with experience in operational medicine are available to truly assess soldiers' deployable status prior to assigning them to deploying units. Human resource professionals should improve coordination at the unit, installation, and HRC levels to fine-tune and support deployment needs. In addition, it is time to make the Army's medical fitness standards established in Army Regulation (AR) 40-501, Standards of Medical Fitness, align with its deployment standards. (1) Moreover, units need help with processes for the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) and the Warrior Care and Transition Unit. (2) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command Deployment Preparation In January 2014, the 13th ESC, based at Fort Hood, Texas, received its deployment orders for a nine-month temporary change-of-station mission to Kuwait at full modified-table-of-organization-and-equipment (MTOE) strength of 262 personnel. The unit's mission was to serve as the operational command post of the 1st Sustainment Command (Theater), providing mission command for sustainment to all U.S. and coalition forces serving in the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility. The 1st Sustainment Command (Theater) main command post is based at Fort Knox, Kentucky (formerly at Fort Bragg, North Carolina). The command sources its operational command post in Kuwait with an ESC to conduct logistics operations in theater. During its deployment, the 13th ESC provided 80 percent of the personnel needed for 1st Sustainment Command's operational command post in Kuwait, and 20 percent came from the 1st Sustainment Command's headquarters. As the 13th ESC began its deployment preparation, numerous events hindered its ability to deploy at required strength: * an officer separation board; * an enhanced selective early retirement board; * a Qualitative Service Program board; * a Qualitative Management Program board; * Fort Hoods deployment of forces in support of United States Africa Command, and to Korea, and to Ukraine; * the October 2014 redeployment of the Multinational Forces and Observers Provisional Battalion headquarters, internally sourced several months earlier by the 13th ESC; * the 13th ESC's deployment of the headquarters and three battalion headquarters from 4th Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, in support of Operation Resolute Support; * the reestablishment of logistical support to the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command-Iraq and the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve; and * the Afghanistan theater transition from Operation Resolute Support to Operation Freedoms Sentinel. …


This paper presents a software-based design of an ultra-wideband slot antenna that is applicable for wireless applications. Due to introduction of polygonal wide slot in the ground plane, the ultra-wideband has been achieved. The battery slot and rectangular shapes are implemented to improve S11, operating bandwidth range and radiation pattern of antenna. The optimal dimensions of the presented antenna are 45mm × 45mm × 1.565mm and is simulated on FR-4 substrate with relative permittivity of 4.3 and loss tangent of 0.025. The proposed antenna shows wide impedance bandwidth of 4.56GHz (104%) ranging0 from 2.08GHz to 6.64GHz that covers WLAN and WIMAX application.


Nowadays, the use of blog in daily activity is increasing, yet research of how the blog used in teaching is still a few. Further contribution of how the blog used toward learning result is limited. To overcome this problem, a research was conducted which aimed: 1) to develop the classroom blog in engneering mathematics; 2) to find out whether there is an improvement of student's comprehension ability in engineering mathematics or not; and 3) to find out how the students response after learning using classroom blog. The method of this research is research and development continued by quasi-experiment in limited implementation. Samples are taken from students of mechanical engineering of education department. Instruments used in this research are judgment sheets of testing media, pre- test and post-test instrument, and questionnaire sheets. After developing and testing it, the test toward classroom blog acquired result that the classroom blog is considered worthy, whereas hypothesis testing acquired result that the use of classroom blog increased the student's comprehension ability in engineering mathematical. This is shown by index of normalized gain for 0.69 on students who implement classroom blog on intermediate criterion. Based on questionnaire, it acquired result that the students' response toward classroom blog developed is favorable.


Spatial navigation is one of the fundamental cognitive functions central to survival in most animals. Studies in humans investigating the neural foundations of spatial navigation traditionally use stationary, desk‐top protocols revealing the hippocampus, parahippocampal place area (PPA), and retrosplenial complex to be involved in navigation. However, brain dynamics, while freely navigating the real world remain poorly understood. To address this issue, we developed a novel paradigm, the AudioMaze, in which participants freely explore a room‐sized virtual maze, while EEG is recorded synchronized to motion capture. Participants (n = 16) were blindfolded and explored different mazes, each in three successive trials, using their right hand as a probe to "feel" for virtual maze walls. When their hand "neared" a virtual wall, they received directional noise feedback. Evidence for spatial learning include shortening of time spent and an increase of movement velocity as the same maze was repeatedly explored. Theta‐band EEG power in or near the right lingual gyrus, the posterior portion of the PPA, decreased across trials, potentially reflecting the spatial learning. Effective connectivity analysis revealed directed information flow from the lingual gyrus to the midcingulate cortex, which may indicate an updating process that integrates spatial information with future action. To conclude, we found behavioral evidence of navigational learning in a sparse‐AR environment, and a neural correlate of navigational learning was found near the lingual gyrus.


This volume contains the lectures presented at the summer school, "Diagnostic Tools for the Atmosphere". The intention this time was to address a number of both experimental techniques and methods for the data treatment introduced in the last ten years or so in different fields of the atmospheric sciences. Considerable emphasis has been given, since their introduction, to the use of satellites or spaceborne measurements, with a recent example being the important results obtained with UARS. Of particular interest are the airborne instruments developed for the stratospheric measurement campaign organized by NASA since 1976 in order to study the ozone hole. This was followed later by similar experiments to study the high-latitude ozone depletion in the northern hemisphere. The results of these experiments have helped clarify the role of chlorine-bearing compounds in the ozone depletion and the effect of the heterogeneous processes. The book is organised into four chapters: the first three divide the different techniques according to the location of the measuring instrumentation (ground, air and space), with the fourth chapter dealing with theory and analysis.


Migraine remains undiagnosed in a significant percentage of patients. Even among those in whom migraine has been diagnosed, a substantial percentage do riot receive adequate treatment, leading to dissatisfaction with their healthcare management. Increased awareness, proper diagnosis, and appropriate treatment are necessary to improve patient care and quality of life. Appropriate treatment includes prophylaxis with lifestyle changes and drug therapy and acute therapy with drugs. Over-the-counter analgesics can be effective acute therapy for mild migraine. For moderate to severe attacks, the 5-HT 1 B / 1 D agonists, or triptans, offer significant clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness. The successful management of migraine attacks and their associated symptoms leads to economic benefits such as a decreased reliance on healthcare resources, decreased employee absenteeism, and increased productivity.


The adverse effect due to toxicity of silver nanoparticles was evaluated using seed germination test with Oryza sativa, Vigna radiata and Brassica campestris exposed to different concentrations of silver nanoparticles (µg/ml). Silver nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical reductions method where AgNO3 is reduced by NaBH4 in aqueous medium at room temperature. Tween-20 was added as surfactant to prevent aggregations of nanoparticles. Formations of Silver nanoparticles were investigated by UV-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and X-Ray Diffractions observations. The U.V-Vis analysis of nanoparticles shows absorptions peak at 400 nm. XRD analysis revealed the size whereas TEM helps to know its shape as well as size of nanoparticles. Inhibitory effect due to Tween-20 at different concentrations was studied on test seeds. Silver nanoparticles show adverse effect on seed germinations, root and shoot growth on these three plant species when they were soaked and incubated at different concentrations of nanoparticles. Inhibitions of root growth occurred at 1000µg/ml , 1200µg/ml and 1600µg/ml for Oryza sativa , Brassica campestris and Vigna radiata respectively. Comparatively inhibitions of roots by ions was found to be 4500µg/ml, 6000µg/ml and 3000µg/ml Oryza sativa , Brassica campestris and Vigna radiata respectively. Effect of Tween-20 was also observed . It was found that retardations of roots length in Oryza sativa and Brassica campestris occurs at 1% while Vigna radiata shows at 0.5% of Tween-20. A preliminary study was also performed in order to find out the possible toxic effects by different molar concentrations of Silver nitrate solutions and Sodium borohydride solutions on the seeds of three plant species since they have been used as raw materials for nanoparticle synthesis.


A new technique of hiding a speech signal clip inside a digital color image is proposed in this paper to improve steganography security and loading capacity. The suggested technique of image steganography is achieved using both spatial and cepstral domains, where the Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) are adopted, as very efficient features of the speech signal. The presented technique in this paper contributes to improving the image steganography features through two approaches. First is to support the hiding capacity by the usage of the extracted MFCCs features and pitches extracted from the speech signal and embed them inside the cover color image rather than directly hiding the whole samples of the digitized speech signal. Second is to improve the data security by hiding the secret data (MFCCs features) anywhere in the host image rather than directly using the least significant bits substitution of the cover image. At the recovering side, the proposed approach recovers these hidden features and using them to reconstruct the speech waveform again by inverting the steps of MFCCs extraction to recover an approximated vocal tract response and combine it with recovered pitch based excitation signal. The results show a peak signal to noise ratio of 52.4 dB of the stego-image, which reflect a very good quality and a reduction ratio of embedded data to about (6%–25%). In addition, the results show a speech reconstruction degree of about 94.24% correlation with the original speech signal.


The present invention provides a process-based implementation Network fluid physical and chemical properties of data resources platform, according to sources of data are different and acquisition mode, the acquisition method of fluid property data into physical property calculations, molecular simulation data, the physical properties of estimates physical properties of four types of query data; use of computer technology and network technology, introducing four fluid physical and chemical properties of data software; on this basis, through the network system in a manner on B / S shared. Full use ChinaGrid other network computing resources, combined with the base fluid Thermal test experimental system-based fluid physical and chemical properties of the network data resource platform for the majority of scientists and engineers to provide network-based physical data acquisition means.


Quality education has become the dominant idea of all kinds of education at all levels. How to full implementation of quality education in physical education teaching, become the primary task of the physical education teaching in colleges and universities as they are the basic qualities of modern talent cultivation base. This paper studies China's colleges and universities sports quality education content, in order to provide China's colleges and universities sports teaching quality and improve the physical quality of college students.


The invention provides a port structure which is used for an electrical device. The port structure comprises a port which is formed in the outer wall of a shell body of the electrical device and a port cover which is matched with the port, wherein a first opening is formed in the port. The port cover comprises a cover body and a leg portion which extends at one side of the cover body towards the port, and a protruding part is arranged at a free end of the leg portion far away from the cover body. The leg portion is inserted into the first opening at a set angle with the axial direction of the port when the port cover is installed on the electrical device, elastic displacement is produced on the protruding portion when the protruding part contacts with the periphery of the first opening, and therefore the leg portion is inserted into the first opening, the leg portion is withdrawn from the first opening at the set angle with the axial direction of the port when the port cover is withdrawn from the electrical device, the elastic displacement is produced on the protruding part when the protruding part contacts with the periphery of the first opening, and therefore the leg portion is withdrawn from the first opening.


The aim of this paper is to present an efficient technique devoted basically for digital image stabilization (DIS). As it is well known, image stabilization algorithms are implemented in video camera systems in order to remove unwanted shaking phenomena. We have considered in this study the case where the sequence is acquired in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In such conditions, classical techniques don't work properly. Therefore, we propose in this work a new approach for optimal image synchronization based on genetic algorithms (GA). We show that this technique allows, at the same time, both stabilization and denoising. The proposed method has been evaluated on simulated case as well as on real sequences.


The morphology of Motierella 332 and γ linolenic acid were markedly affected by the inoculum.For the shake culture,the mycelium was pellet with less than 10 5 spore/ml inoculum,and filamentous growth occurred with above 10 7 spore/ml inoculum.The mycelial dry weight and γ linolenic acid productiveity of the mycelial pellet were lower than filamentous mycelium.The condition of the fermentation tank culture was similar to the shake culture.


This article is aimed at presenting a simulated model on the smoke exhausting effect at different heights and different exhausting velocities of the vent.As a matter of fact,in practical engineering, smoke ventilator should be designed allowing for the smoke exhaust effect.In current design practice,it doesn' t seem very strict with the design parameters of smoke vent,which habit has made the design random in engineering routine.As a result,it fails to be conducive to smoke exhaust efficiency and the designing success.Therefore, it has become an important technical issue how to design the smoke vent rationally and effectively.To solve the problem,we have analyzed all the factors involving the smoke exhausting efficiency, such as the smoke layer stability,the flow of the smoke layer and the efficiency of the mechanical smoke exhaust by doing experiments with the artificial or mechanical smoke exhaust.The results of our experiments show that different configurations of smoke ventilators are likely to lead to different effects of smoke exhausting.All in all,the height of the smoke vent proves to play some meaningful role.That is to say,the efficiency of the smoke exhaust can be improved with the increase of the smoke vent.The vertical distance between the block wall and the smoke vent proves to be 0.8 m above.In addition,the mechanical smoke exhaust velocity should be kept moderate,for too great velocity is likely to lead to the disorder of the smoke layer.On the other hand,if the flow of the smoke layer is too small,the exhaust efficiency would be too low.


Based on samples from the Pearl River Delta of China, this paper investigates the relationship social capital, knowledge-sharing and team performance. The result shows that: social capital has positive impact on team performance; social capital has positive impact on knowledge-sharing; knowledge-sharing acts a partly mediator between social capital and team performance. At the end of this paper, we discuss he practical significance of this study, in order to put some suggestions for improving the team performance by social capital management and knowledge-sharing management.


In this paper, two conjectures which were proposed in Luo et al (2010 Phys. Rev. A 82 052122) on the correlations in a bipartite state ρAB are studied. If the mutual information I(ρAB) between two quantum systems A and B before any measurement is considered as the total amount of correlations in the state ρAB, then it can be separated into two parts: classical correlations and quantum correlations. The so-called classical correlations C(ρAB) in the state ρAB are defined by the maximizing mutual information between two quantum systems A and B after von Neumann measurements on system B. We show that it is upper bounded by the von Neumann entropies of both subsystems A and B, which answered the conjecture on the classical correlation. If the quantum correlations Q(ρAB) in the state ρAB are defined by Q(ρAB) = I(ρAB) − C(ρAB), we also show that it is upper bounded by the von Neumann entropy of subsystem B. It is also found that Q(ρAB) is upper bounded by the von Neumann entropy of subsystem A for a class of states.


The Maasai Project guide is an aid for students in the Fine and Performing Arts department, or all others who are simply interested in the Maasai culture.


Simple Summary Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death among women in the United States. Overall survival of patients with advanced stage disease has not significantly changed despite improvements in treatment that have extended median survival. Photoimmunotherapy (PIT) using an antibody conjugated to a near infrared (NIR) dye constitutes an effective theranostic strategy to detect and selectively eliminate cell populations. The programmed death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) signaling pathway is being extensively studied for immune checkpoint blockade. PD-L1 expression has been described across all major ovarian cancer histological subtypes and is commonly expressed by cancer cells and by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). Here, we used NIR-PIT to eliminate PD-L1-expressing TAMs and cancer cells in ovarian cancer xenografts. Overall, our findings support using NIR-PIT as a potential therapeutic option for ovarian cancer. Abstract (1) Background: Despite advances in surgical approaches and drug development, ovarian cancer is still a leading cause of death from gynecological malignancies. Patients diagnosed with late-stage disease are treated with aggressive surgical resection and chemotherapy, but recurrence with resistant disease is often observed following treatment. There is a critical need for effective therapy for late-stage ovarian cancer. Photoimmunotherapy (PIT), using an antibody conjugated to a near infrared (NIR) dye, constitutes an effective theranostic strategy to detect and selectively eliminate targeted cell populations. (2) Methods: Here, we are targeting program death ligand 1 (PD-L1) using NIR-PIT in a syngeneic mouse model of ovarian cancer. PD-L1 PIT-mediated cytotoxicity was quantified in RAW264.7 macrophages and ID8-Defb29-VEGF cells in culture, and in vivo with orthotopic ID8-Defb29-VEGF tumors. (3) Results: Treatment efficacy was observed both in vitro and in vivo. (4) Conclusions: Our data highlight the need for further investigations to assess the potential of using NIR-PIT for ovarian cancer therapy to improve the treatment outcome of ovarian cancer.


: Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is a very common volatile toxic antimicrobial secondary metabolite produced by a number of microorganisms including plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) that plays a major key role in plant pathogenic disease suppression through its effective toxicity to the phytopathogens and also serves as an important factor in regulation of phosphorous availability to plants as well as in weed control. A considerable numbers of bacteria produce hydrogen cyanide (HCN) as their volatile or exogenous metabolite secreted in microbial culture. This characteristic can be exploited as a substantial quality to fight against plant and crop pathogens as well as a potential weed growth controlling factor in agricultural fields. Aiming the perspective mentioned above, the present work deals with the isolation, purification and identification of a purple non sulfur bacterium (PNSB), tentatively identified as Rubrivivax gelatinosus (strain RASN4) and evaluation of its potentiality for HCN production (in vitro) as a substantial phytopatho-remidiatory quality against a wide range of agricultural crop and plant pathogens and vis-à-vis as an effective measure to control the growth of the weeds in crop fields beside of its other plant growth promoting rhizobacterial (PGPR) features in order to formulate a potential microbial biofertilizer. For this said purpose, this said purple non sulfur bacterium (PNSB) Rubrivivax gelatinosus (strain RASN4) was first screened qualitatively followed by its quantitative determination of bacterial HCN production (in vitro) in order to confirm this assessment. This is the first time report that the purple non sulfur bacterium (PNSB) Rubrivivax gelatinosus strain RASN4 can produce HCN. Quantitative study showed that the amount of HCN produced by R. gelatinosus (strain RASN4) attended its optimum level on the second day (131µg/ml) through regularly routine examination of the HCN estimation produced exogenously in culture medium up to 15 th date of its experimental incubation. A controlled set was run side by side by mixing 5 ml of distilled H 2 O, 2ml of 1N Na 2 CO 3 and 10 ml of 1% picric acid. The O.D. was taken at 510 nm and the total amount of cyanide (µg/ml) was estimated with the help of a standard curve prepared with the NaCN (HPLC grade, Sigma). enzymatic activities like oxidase, catalase and gelatinase, indole production test, tests for citrate utilization, ni trate reduction, gelatin liquefaction and casein hydrolysis, Huge-Leiffson (O/F) reaction test, bacterial pigme nt study, tests for exopolysaccharide (EPS) production, poly-beta-hydroxy butyrate (PBHB) production, pig


The images captured in fog conditions have degraded contrast, that makes current image processing applications sensitive and error prone. We propose in this paper an efficient single image enhancement algorithm suitable for daytime fog conditions and based on an original mathematical model, for computing the atmospheric veil, that takes into account the variation in fog density to the distance. This model is inspired by the functions that appear in partition of unity in the differential geometry field. When observing images captured in fog conditions, usually the fog has a very low density in front of the camera and this density has a non-linear increase with the distance, such that objects are no longer visible at greater distances. By using our mathematical model we are able to obtain superior reconstructions of the original fog-free image, when comparing to traditional methods. Another advantage of our method is the ability to adapt the model in accordance to the density of the fog. A quantitative and qualitative evaluation is performed on both synthetic and real camera images. This evaluation proves that our mathematical model is more suitable for image enhancement in both homogeneous and heterogeneous fog conditions. Our algorithm is able to perform image enhancement in real time for both color and gray scale images.


Communication is a priority element in the management of organisations, especially in times of crisis, as both internally and externally it can facilitate its containment. In the case of COVID-19, given the rapid spread of the pandemic, the impact was global in a very short period of time, so that organisations were forced to adapt to an unprecedented situation. One of the elements that became important in this adaptation process was internal communication, which helped to maintain cohesion between members of the organisation in a period when physical distance and isolation were widespread. Aspects such as managing remote working, loyalty, keeping staff aligned with corporate objectives and the mental health of employees became important issues. In the case of the health sector, whose work has been essential in this period of time, aspects such as communication with employees, effective and decisive leadership, prevention of stress, burnout and compassion fatigue, self-care, people management, promotion of training and knowledge or support in decision-making became particularly important.
This work is framed within the area of study of organisational communication aimed at internal audiences, specifically in its relationship with organisational wellbeing and happiness in the field of healthcare institutions. It argues that Spanish hospital institutions strengthened their internal communication during the COVID-19 crisis as a key factor in dealing with the situation, despite the fact that organisational happiness and well-being are aspects that are still underdeveloped in these institutions. Two general objectives are established: to determine the role of internal communication in Spanish hospitals during the pandemic and to describe the policies of well-being and promotion of corporate happiness that have taken place during this time in the organisations studied. The secondary objectives are to identify the internal communication policies that have been developed, to establish the tools and channels used during this period, to study the role that the promotion of the well-being and happiness of the staff plays in the organisations and to describe the policies that have been implemented in this area. Through a document review and a semi-structured questionnaire in which 17 Spanish hospitals, mostly privately owned, participated, this research aims to determine the role of internal communication in these centres during the pandemic, as well as to describe the policies of well-being and promotion of corporate happiness that have taken place during this time in the organisations studied.
The results indicate that the hospitals were forced to strengthen their internal communication to maintain control of the situation, implementing tools and encouraging communication with leaders and managers. However, the lack of formal management of staff wellbeing and happiness is evident in most of these institutions, as the organisational charts of these institutions lack specific departments or directorates for this purpose, resulting in scarce financial resources being allocated to these issues. Despite the mental and physical health problems of healthcare workers during the pandemic reported in the literature, the measures developed are still limited and often lack a specific budget. This work shows that there has been progress in the field of internal communication in hospitals in recent times, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that it is still a field with a lot of potential to be exploited, especially with regard to new technologies and social platforms.


Competition, Leadership and Entry.- Strategic Commitments and Endogenous Entry.- Stackelberg Competition and Endogenous Entry.- Dynamic Competition and Endogenous Entry.- Antitrust and Abuse of Dominance.- Microsoft Economics.- Epilogue.- References.


Double‐row rotator cuff repair techniques incorporate a medial and lateral row of suture anchors in the repair configuration. Biomechanical studies of double‐row repair have shown increased load to failure, improved contact areas and pressures, and decreased gap formation at the healing enthesis, findings that have provided impetus for clinical studies comparing single‐row with double‐row repair. Clinical studies, however, have not yet demonstrated a substantial improvement over single‐row repair with regard to either the degree of structural healing or functional outcomes. Although double‐row repair may provide an improved mechanical environment for the healing enthesis, several confounding variables have complicated attempts to establish a definitive relationship with improved rates of healing. Appropriately powered rigorous level I studies that directly compare single‐row with double‐row techniques in matched tear patterns are necessary to further address these questions. These studies are needed to justify the potentially increased implant costs and surgical times associated with double‐row rotator cuff repair.


The Li-rich Zn-doped LiNbO 3 (LN) crystals were grown by the Czochralski method. The structure of the crystals was measured by ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra. The results indicated that the Li-rich Zn-doped LN crystals had the same characteristics as the pure LN crystal. After Zn 2 entered into the lattice of Li-rich Zn-doped LN crystal, it replaced Nb Li firstly. When there was no Nb Li , Zn 2+ replaced Li then. The second harmonic generation (SHG) property of Li-rich Zn-doped LiNbO 3 crystal was measured. The results showed that the SHG conversation efficiency of Li-rich Zn-doped LiNbO 3 crystals was higher than that of Zn-doped LiNbO 3 crystals.


Objective To compare the effects of epidural administration of different combinations of lidocaine, corticosteroids (dexamethasone, prednisolone) and vitamins(B 1,B 6,B 12 ) on epidural space adhesion and nerve root inflammation in rabbits Methods Forty eight adult Japannese white rabbits of either sex weighing (2 38±0 31)kg were anesthetized with intramuscular ketamine 15 mg·kg -1 and midazolam 0 2 0 3 mg·kg -1 A catheter was inserted into epidural space at L 2 when the ligamentum flavum was exposed by surgery and advanced caudally for 2 3cm Correct placement of the catheter in epidural space was confirmed by injecting 0 5% lidocaine 0 2 ml through the cathter when the animal was awake 24h after epidural cathter placement 0 2ml·kg -1 of normal saline containing talcum power 1mg·ml -1 was injected into epidural space 3 days later the animal were randomly divided into 8 groups: group Ⅰ received no treatment, group Ⅱ epidural normal saline 0 2ml·kg -1 , group Ⅲ epidural 0 5% lidocaine 0 2ml·kg -1 , group Ⅳ epidural compound lidocaine solution 1 (lidocaine 100mg +dexamethasone 10 mg in 20 ml normal saline) 0 2ml·kg -1 , group V epidural compound lidocaine solution 2 (lidocaine 100mg+prednisolone 50 mg in 20 ml normal saline)0 2 ml·kg -1 , group Ⅳ epidural compound lidocaine solution 3 (lidocaine 100mg+dexamethasone 10 mg+vitamin B 1 200mg in 20 ml normal saline) 0 2 ml/kg, group Ⅵ epidural compound lidocaine solution 4 ( lidocaine 100mg+dexamethasone 10 mg+vitamin B 6 200mg in 20 ml normal saline) 0 2 ml/kg, and group Ⅷ epidural compound lidocaine solution 5 (lidocaine 100mg+dexamethasone 10 mg+vitamin B 12 200mg in 20 ml normal saline) 0 2 ml/kg One week later animals were killed by intravenous injection of air Spinal column below L 1 was removed Epidural space and nerve root adhesion was checked first with naked eye then examined under microscope Epidural space adhesion was divided into 4 grades according to Rydell Results 1 Macroscopic examination of epidural space for adhesion: there was no significant different between group Ⅰ and group Ⅱ,Ⅲ, also between group Ⅱ,Ⅲ and group Ⅳ,Ⅴ,Ⅵ,Ⅶ,Ⅷ; there was significant different between group Ⅰ and groupⅣ,Ⅴ,Ⅵ,Ⅵ,Ⅷ (P0 01) 2 Microscopic examination of nerve root for inflammation: there was no significant different among group Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ; however there was significant different between group Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ and group Ⅳ, Ⅴ, Ⅵ, Ⅶ ,Ⅷ; there was no significant different among group Ⅳ, Ⅴ, Ⅵ, Ⅶ and Ⅷ Conclusions Epidural administration of lidocaine combined with corticosteroid (dexamethasone, prenisolone) in early stage of inflammation can eliminate nerve root inflammation, prevent or alleviate epidural space adhesion Vitamin B 1 or B 6 or B 12 combined with lidocaine and corticosteroids does not enhance their therapeutic effect


Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology ¦ Volume 37 ¦ Supplementary Issue 1 ¦ May 2019 S3 Symposium 1 Vaccination sPeAKer 1 The Crown Jewel in Preventing Infectious Disease


Start of tourist activity in the world is connected with the appearance of the first organized trip. They were mainly related to the organization of visits of pilgrims of different countries which were then related to the life of Jesus, as

well as Rome, the seat of Christianity. Great controversy was, and still today is being led, over whether the pilgrims areat the same time tourists. This paper analyzes the first map that followed the journey of pilgrims to Rome, and was made to mark 1500th anniversary of the birth of Jesus. These maps were made by Erhard Ertzlaub, and by their content and artistic expression, aesthetic experience and used iconography, it can be concluded that these are the first tourist maps of the world: they are intended for passengers "passers", which in this way are oriented, they want to visit certain places, which are marked with cartographic symbols, and which are understandable and recognizable. On the same map there are signs for calculating distances between settlements-all that

one tourist needs. The dilemma of whether a pilgrim is at the same time a tourist here is clear: the pilgrim is on the road more than 24 hours, on that jouney he spends, and duringthat time he had a specially-crafted geographic map. The conclusion is simple: Map Ertzlaub is for these special passengers and is the forerunner of tourist maps. It is characterized by the properties necessary for the modern tourist maps. There are spaciousness, measurability, modelity, accuracy, integrity and aesthetics.


It introduces the construction technology of underground curtain and reinforcedconcrete sheet surrounding protection structure for the underground garage project of Xiamen seashore, the economic technical indices of which is compared with those of casting piledstructure for surrounding protection.


Multi-angle swath bathymetry sonar systems use the range and estimates of the angle of signal arrival to determine bottom depth. The accuracy of angle of arrival estimates is influenced by a number of factors including noise levels, the presence of multipath arrivals, signal bandwidth, pulse length etc. Angle estimation accuracy is also affected by the integrity of the transducer array employed to receive the returning signals. This paper addresses some of the issues associated with transducer design for multi-angle swath bathymetry systems including inter-element crosstalk and housing interactions. Beampatterns and relative angle responses are presented for transducer arrays that show evidence of crosstalk and housing interactions. It is shown that the crosstalk and housing interactions can be reduced through the use of different inter-element materials and housing configurations. Beampatterns and relative angle responses are presented for an improved array and compared to the previous patterns and phase responses. The discussion and experimental results are limited to arrays constructed with piezo-ceramic bars resonant at 300 kHz, and intended for shallow water use.


Abstract : The South China Sea region has emerged in the 21st century as an area of unrivalled economic activity, significant natural resources, and a global hub of seaborne commerce. Adjoining nations are aggressively pursuing sovereignty claims over the scattered islets and reefs of the Sea in order to exploit and develop marine resources, while they seek to balance a rising China and a distant U.S. hegemon. Despite the colossal stakes, American strategy for the region is largely rhetorical and reactionary.Focused on six statesthe Peoples Republic of China (PRC), Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Indonesiathis essay examines the drivers of regional conflict and sources of instability and competition in detail. Both individual national strategies and the multilateral efforts of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are analyzed in the light of U.S. engagement. Ultimately, the essay advocates a fresh approach of sustainable engagement that would focus on facilitating resolution of sovereignty issues and promoting equitable resource distribution while building partner capacity to more effectively and efficiently secure the maritime commons. Only the U.S. has the diplomatic and economic power levers to compel lasting change and stability in the region.


CD36 is a cell surface receptor previously characterized on phagocytic cells as a scavenger receptor, on microvascular endothelial cells as a negative regulator of angiogenesis, and on fat, muscle and epithelial cells as a transporter of free fatty acids. Although it was first identified on platelets and termed glycoprotein IV or IIIb, its role in platelet biology has only recently been determined. Our group has shown that CD36 functions as a signaling receptor on platelets, recognizing oxidized lipoproteins and endothelial-derived microparticles, and augmenting activation and aggregation in response to low doses of agonists. The CD36 gene is highly polymorphic; in addition to the well characterized null mutations common in Asian and African populations, there are numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertions/deletions, including some in the promoter region at putative transcription factor binding sites. Systematic studies relating CD36 deficiency or CD36 polymorphisms to arterial thrombosis, coronary disease or cerebrovascular disease are limited. The goal of this study was to characterize the relationship between common CD36 genetic polymorphisms, platelet expression levels, and platelet function. Initial studies of 32 normal healthy volunteers revealed that platelet CD36 expression was highly variable, ranging from as low as less than 2000 molecules per platelet to more than 14,000 molecules per platelet. Individual donors showed consistent levels of CD36 expression on repeated analyses over time. Western blot analysis of selected subjects showed that surface expression levels correlated closely with total CD36 expression. To assess the functional consequences of this variability in CD36 expression we studied platelets from donors with high, medium and low levels of expression. Platelet reactivity to oxidized LDL (oxLDL) was analyzed by flow cytometric measurement of alpha granule secretion (anti-P-selectin antibody binding). We found a strong correlation between platelet activation by oxLDL and level of CD36 expression. To determine the relationship of CD36 genetic polymorphisms with expression levels we measured platelet surface CD36 expression in a population of 550 successive subjects recruited through the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac Catheterization lab. As with the normal volunteers, this group also showed a wide variability in platelet CD36 expression. We then identified 10 SNPs with allelic frequencies >5% from the International HapMap consortium database that "tag" major areas of linkage disequilibrium and genotyped DNA isolated from the 550 subjects using a PCR-based method. Three SNPs were significantly associated with CD36 expression (p values


Electrical stimulation of the n.cuneiformis and medial parabrachial nucleus inducing the inhibition of locomotor behaviour, was performed in cataleptic and non-cataleptic rats. The stimulation of the inhibitory brainstem zones proved to be more effective in cataleptic animals, the state having been induced by a nociceptive stimulus.


Summary Tracings of the amino acid patterns obtained chromatographically on the tungstic acid acid filtrates of skeletal muscle, left ventricle and kidney from normal and potassium-deficient dogs have been presented. The amino acid patterns of the tissues from control and potassium-deficient dogs were found to be identical, even in the presence of marked changes in the electrolyte compositions of plasma and skeletal muscle. Differences between amino acid patterns of the skeletal muscle from potassium-deficient dogs and of the skeletal muscle from potassium-deficient rats previously reported were pointed out.


Assessing micronutrient powder (MNP) consumption is a key component of monitoring program performance; there is no gold standard for assessing MNP consumption in publichealth program settings.


Ultracold quantum gases serve as ideal models for the characterization of universal properties of a variety of phenomena in quantum systems. In a formal analogy to such 'quantum simulators' we demonstrate in this brief review that photonic crystals embedded into flat microwave billiards can also serve as ideal model systems for the experimental study of non-relativistic and relativistic phenomena in flat and curved structures like Graphene and Fullerene, respectively. We determined in high precision experiments with superconducting microwave billiards modeling Graphene billiards (flakes) a few thousands of eigenvalues and thereby were able to study thoroughly fluctuation properties in their spectra. Using a microwave cavity modeling a Fullerene billiard with the geometrical structure of a C60 molecule it became possible to determine in high resolution experiments for the first time the number of zero-energy modes, i.e. of modes with energy values at the Dirac point existing due to the honeycomb structure in the carbon lattice. We were thereby able to test the so-called Atiyah–Singer index theorem which relates this number to the topology of the curved carbon lattice.


The present article considers the papers at the Bodleian Libraries, specifically the Opies' primary and secondary data relating to children's verbal art and play. A finding aid for the Opie Working Papers was compiled in 2011, and the material itself is available for consultation onsite in Oxford. A project entitled "Childhoods and Play: An Archive" has recently been set up to seek funding for the full cataloging and digitization of the Opie papers and, subject to the necessary permission, to make them freely available online for academic, educational, and community purposes. The project has been granted British Academy Research Project status (2012-17) and is a collaboration between the University of Sheffield, the University of London Institute of Education, the Bodleian Libraries, the British Library, and the Folklore Society.


ABANGA, the native name of a palm, sometimes called Thernel's restorative, but most commonly ady, or palma ady, and by the Portuguese carvoces or cariosse. The abanga is a tall plant of the endogenous class, natural order Palmacece. It grows in the West Indies, especially in the island of St. Thomas. Three articles of diet are obtained from this tree by the natives : 1. An intoxicating fermented liquor from the juice furnished by the thick branching head of the tree; 2. An oily substance, of a saffron colour, resembling butter, extracted from the kernels by immersion in hot water; 3. The kernels themselves, which are given to debilitated people in the proportion of from three to four a day, as a general restorative,


Background: Inconsistency in results and outcomes between presented abstracts and corresponding published articles can negatively affect clinical education and care. The objective of this study was to describe the frequency of clinically meaningful change in results and outcomes between abstracts presented at the American Association of Plastic Surgeons annual conference and the corresponding published articles, and to determine risk factors associated with discrepancies. Methods: All abstracts delivered as oral presentations at the American Association of Plastic Surgeons conference (2006–2016) were reviewed. Results and outcomes were compared with those in corresponding articles. We defined clinically meaningful discrepancy as any change in the directionality of an outcome, or a quantitative change in results exceeding 10%. Results: Four hundred eighty-six abstracts were identified. Of these, 63% (N = 305) advanced to publication. Of the published studies, 19% (N = 59) contained a discrepancy. In 85% of these (N = 50), discrepancies could not be explained by random variation. Changes in sample size were associated with heightened risk for a discrepancy (OR 10.38, 95% CI 5.16–20.86, P < 0.001). A decrease in sample size greater than 10% increased the likelihood of a discrepancy by 25-fold (OR 24.92, 95% CI 8.66–71.68, P < 0.001), whereas an increase in sample size greater than 10% increased the likelihood of a discrepancy by eight-fold (OR 8.36, CI 3.69–19.00, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Most discrepancies between abstract and published article were not due to random statistical variation. To mitigate the possible impact of unreliable abstracts, we recommend abstracts be marked as preliminary, that authors indicate whether sample size is final at time of presentation, and that changes to previously reported results be indicated in final publications.