MULTICRITERIA COMPROMISE OPTIMIZATION FOR LEATHER AND FUR SKIN MATERIALS TANNING TECHNOLOGY ABSTRACT. The work is devoted to the study of the influence of electro-activated aqueous solutions on the technological cycle of leather and fur skin materials production and footwear made of them. The influence of electro-activated aqueous solutions on the physicochemical transformations of the structure of skin tissue collagen is exemplified by rabbit fur skins used for shoe production. The spectral characteristics of changes in the structure and chemical composition of dermal collagen are determined and optimal modes of tanning process of leather and fur skin materials based on multicriteria compromise optimization are determined.


Background: The spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria may be driven by human-animal-environment interactions, especially in regions with limited restrictions on antibiotic use, widespread food animal production, and free-roaming domestic animals. In this study, we aimed to identify risk factors related to domestic animals, backyard food animals, and commercial food animal production in Ecuadorian communities. Methods & Findings: We conducted a repeated-measures study from 2018-2021 in 7 semi-rural parishes of Quito, Ecuador to identify determinants of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant E. coli (3GCR-EC) and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase E. coli (ESBL-EC) in children and domestic animals. We used multivariable log-binomial regression models to estimate relative risks (RR) of 3GCR-EC and ESBL-EC carriage. We collected 1,699 child fecal samples from 600 households and 1,871 animal fecal samples from 376 of the same households. Risk factors for 3GCR-EC included living within 5 km of more than 5 commercial food animal operations (RR: 1.36; 95% Confidence Interval: 1.16, 1.59), household pig ownership (1.23; 1.02, 1.48), child pet contact (1.23; 1.09, 1.39), and rarely/never washing hands after contact with animals (1.15; 0.98, 1.34). Risk factors for ESBL-EC were dog ownership (1.43; 1.00, 2.04), child pet contact (1.54; 1.10, 2.16), placing animal feces on household land/crops (1.63; 1.09, 2.46), and combined exposures to both household food animals and commercial food animal operation drainage paths (1.80; 0.94, 3.45). Conclusions: Policies and interventions that improve the safety of animal waste management in communities and in commercial food animal production operations may be necessary to curb the spread of resistant bacteria.


Abstract A procedure for calculating the net return on a daily basis from 35 to 55 days of age has been developed for broiler production and marketing. Parameters included in the net return are fixed costs, market price, variable processing costs, costs for up to three feeds, effects of temperature on growth rate and feed conversion, grower payment, and variable processing yield. A computer program for rapidly performing the calculations is described.


The research of influence of long quasistatic loading on characteristics of resistance to deformations and destruction of elements of vessels and devices, is of great interest to the solution of problems of control and forecasting of their technical condition. In order to detect changes in the mechanical characteristics of 09G2S steel and changes in the structure of the material under the influence of quasistatic loading, destructive tests of the studied samples in an initial state and after establishment of extrema of tension of constant magnetic field have been carried out. It is established that long influence of quasistatic loading in the considered conditions leads to change of a condition of steel 09G2S which causes reduction of characteristics of plasticity (S) and energy of destruction and increase in resistance to plastic deformations (ay , ctts) what, in turn, can lead to a reduction temporary resource. The received results have allowed to develop the equation of assessment of a resource of the shell designs operated in the conditions of quasistatic loading, based on settlement and experimental dependence of a ratio of mechanical characteristics (cry/eTS) of steel 09G2S from duration of quasistatic loading.


A multi-functional grain-scraping, package-filling, conveying and delivering machine is composed of a grain scraper part, a conveyor part, a motor and wheels and so on; a rotating mechanism is provided between the dynamic box of the grain scraper and a conveying frame; an elevating system is arranged inside the dynamic box of the grain scraper part. The grain scraping end of a delivering machine can rotate for 180 DEG, can work at any angle; the grain scraping part can be enfolded; the machine is driven by the motor, can be integrally removed, has very convenient operation, improves work efficiency.


Corporate governance aroses from solving the principle-agent problems caused by the separation of the owner-ship and management,the shareholders activism mainly led by the pension funds arising in the early 1990s in US will be able to partly solve these problems.However,there are some differences in the degree of participating in the corporate governance between public pension funds and private pension funds.Besides,there are some inherent principle-agent problems in those funds too.This paper also concisely depicts the traits of the shareholders activism nowadays which indicates that the modern corporate governance is being on the access to the new phase characterized by the institutional investors' capitalism model.


This article aims to discuss the contributions of the family constellation in the family system and employment in the field of law, known as Systemic Law. This research was carried out through bibliographic review, doctrinal and legal analyses. Reinforcing the theoretical part, data from some Courts open to the new, using non-traditional methods, but with a relevant capacity to support conflict resolution were also part of the research. Therefore, it is intended to point out the chances for conflict resolution using the dynamics of family constellation and thus extend the extra-judicial means to solve the conflict. In addition, it is intended to clarify the family constellation technique and to stimulate its use, since this technique is encouraged by the National Council of Justice as a successful instrument for conflict mediation. The article also addresses the capacity to reduce judicial demands and, consequently, the improvement in the analysis of cases in which the extrajudicial means are not sufficient, offering an important impact on the Judiciary.


In many applications one has to deal with infinite dimensional systems which are hardly possible to solve analytically, especially in the nonlinear case. Here we consider a special subclass of functional-differential equations, and look for their numerical solutions. Computation of a solution requires studying functionaldifferential equations. Among the vast majority of functional-differential prob-


This research mainly discussed the late death-factors of patients who received the surgery of heart valve replacement. The research's purpose is to provide the reference for the therapy of clinic. Logistic regressive mathematical model and a new conditioning set are given. There are incomplete difference analysis to the model and test with reamer intercept method to ensure the correctness of the model that has been done. It shows that diabetes mellitus, less than 35 percent of discharging blood after surgery, the duration of cardiopulmonary bypass 61-90minutes, and the age less than 15 or the age more than 65 are the main late deadly factors of the patients.


Based on the panel data of Chinese 31 provinces from 2002 to 2009,this paper analyzes the technical efficiency of China's Medical and Health System and its influencing factors by employing output-oriented stochastic distance function and one-stage method.The estimated results show that both national and regional average technical efficiency decrease first,and then rise.The efficiency gap between different areas is obvious.Further analysis find that,profit medical institutions proportion has positive impact on technical efficiency;but drug revenue,tertiary hospitals and health expenditure proportion have negative impact;the effect of medical stuffs proportion is insignificant.


As fifth-grade students continue to explore the physical world, they develop detailed comparisons through investigations and hands-on experiences. Students form an understanding of the relationship between food chains and food webs, compare plant and animal cells, and become more knowledgeable about the forms and transfer of energy. They also begin to compare Earth to other planets in our solar system.


warning of electoral frauds in the South, through Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech, to Theodore Roosevelt's speech at Osawatomie proclaiming the New Nationalism, to President Harding's announcement of "normalcy"; nine party platforms from the Greenbackers in 1884 to the Bull Moosers in 1912; acts of Congress, and the four Progressive Era Constitutional Amendments; eighteen Supreme Court decisions, from Munn v. Illinois to Abrams v. United States; and several "declarations and principles of organizations" from the Knights of Labor platform of 1878 to the International Congress of Women Manifesto of 1915. On the whole, this encyclopedia is not only a massive accomplishment but a very good, useful, and helpful one. It is not perfect, but it is valuable and impressive. It will help greatly in placing the Gilded Age and Progressive Era before the reading public, and for that alone, all of us in the field will be grateful. It should be in reference libraries of virtually every kind and level.


PurposeThis research aims to examine the association between political connection and tax aggressiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of business ethics in the association between political connection and tax aggressiveness.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a multiple regression method for 147 manufacturing firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during the pandemic era.FindingsPolitical connection has no association with tax aggressiveness. However, political connection has a negative (positive) association with tax aggressiveness in more (less) ethical firms. The results are robust after controlling for year-fixed effects, endogeneity issues and other tax aggressiveness measurements.Originality/valuePolitical connection is often cited as the driver of unethical business, including tax aggressiveness. However, this paper claims and finds that political connection is a double-edged sword. Ethical firms use political connection to reduce their tax aggressiveness, and vice versa. Previous research has paid little attention to this topic. This paper also uses COVID-19 as a natural experiment to highlight the importance of corporate social responsibility activities as business ethics.


The rice root knot nematode Meloidogyne graminicola is an endomic nematode pest of rice, causes serious damage in nurseries and upland rice (Prot et al., 1994). Jonathan and Padmanathan (2001) reported the nematode incidence in rice nurseries of Cauvery delta areas in Tamil Nadu. This root knot nematode has also been subsequently found to occur in main fields of irrigated rice in other parts of Tamil Nadu and cause yield loss 16-80 per cent. Generally various study were conducted to management of the root knot nematode in different crops. So far very limited research work has been made on the biological control of M. graminicola on rice. Therefore present experiment was conducted on rice variety TRY 3 for sustainable management of rice root knot nematode M. graminicola using biocontrol agents along with organic manures.


Trichophyton tonsurans has recently emerged as the leading cause of tinea capitis in the U.S. With the change in the causative organism have come changes in the epidemiology of the disease. Tinea capitis now affects adults as well as children, blacks more than whites, and is spread primarily from human to human, rather than from animals to humans. Prior studies have shown a high prevalence of positive scalp cultures in family members of children with tinea capitis. This larger study evaluated the prevalence of undetected …


Guangxi Auto Region was one of region with rich resource of wood-decaying fungi in China.Investigations on wood-decaying fungi had been carried out in the main forest ecosystems of Guangxi during 2004-2007.After systematic study on morphological characters,136 species of wood-decaying fungi were identified,belonging to 58 genera in 15 families.Among 84 species(up to 61.8 % of total species) are new in Guangxi.The study showed that the dominant family was Polyporaceae(45.6 %),and the dominant genus was Polyporus(8 %).Except cosmopolitan element,tropical-subtropical elements(25.9 %) played an important role on the genera level;on species level,the tropical elements(38.2 %) were dominant.The wood-decaying fungi flora of Guangxi was very similar to that of Hainan province in tropical China.This suggested that the polypore flora of two areas were closely related.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Satisfaction has traditionally been conceptualized as a global affective response toward offering usage/consumption (Westbrook 1987). To date, its study has yet to uncover the complexities related to the antecedents leading to global satisfaction, which are customers. reactions to different foci of offering usage/consumption. However, a number of research streams in a variety of disciplines have investigated these antecedents and suggested that they are usually independent and multidimensional. These investigations have implications for managers that are more complex and often contrary to those associated with the traditional conceptualization of (dis)satisfaction. They also have implications for the underlying models and measurement techniques that may be appropriate for understanding (dis)satisfaction. These streams of research, their prospective implications, and supportive findings from related research are reviewed, and their associated issues and directions for additional research are discussed. Scholars from disciplines as diverse as human resources, engineering, and marketing have identified different antecedents to (dis)satisfaction. The primary distinction among these antecedents is that (1) some increase satisfaction when present but do not increase dissatisfaction when absent, (2) some increase dissatisfaction when absent but do not increase satisfaction when present, (3) some impact both satisfaction and dissatisfaction and negative evaluations to the extent that they are present or absent, and (4) some have no impact on satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Each of the research streams has its own distinct terminology for identifying these factors. Because of their marketing origins coupled with their direct connection to (dis)satisfaction, we use the terms satisfiers, dissatisfiers, criticals, and neutrals (Cadotte and Turgeon 1988), respectively, as generic terms to refer to these factors. A cross disciplinary review of the literature suggests that satisfiers meet the intrinsic needs of individuals, which are considered to be ends in themselves. Dissatisfiers tend to meet the extrinsic needs of individuals and their minimal requirements, which are in turn related to the functional performance of offerings and are means to ends. This suggests that customers can be highly satisfied only if the functional or utilitarian aspects of the offerings are controlled and the psychological or hedonistic aspects are offered in addition. While they do not specifically deal with (dis)satisfaction, a number of models and theories help illustrate the relative impact of satisfiers, dissatisfiers, criticals, and neutrals on (dis)satisfaction and the evolution cycle among these factors. For example, prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky 1979) suggests that the impact of losses (negative outcomes) is greater than the impact of gains (positive outcomes). This finding lends support to the idea that dissatisfiers have priority over satisfiers. Further, Levitt's (1986) total product model suggests there is an evolving cycle among these antecedents. For example product attributes that once were satisfiers become criticals and then dissatisfiers over time (Brandt 1988; Cadotte and Turgeon 1988; Kano et al. 1984). The review of these research streams reveals several unresolved issues. The most important of these is the question of how to integrate the existence of satisfiers, dissatisfiers, criticals, and neutrals into customer satisfaction models. However, most research in customer satisfaction relies on the disconfirmation of expectations (DE) model, which has not accounted for the multidimensional nature of these antecedents leading to satisfaction. As such, further extensions to the DE model or an alternative model are needed. As an extension to the DE model, the need-gratification model (Oliver 1997) captures the curve-linear relationship between the change in product attribute level and (dis)satisfaction. …


An automatic object-oriented video segmentation and representation algorithm is proposed, where the local variance contrast and the frame difference contrast are jointly exploited for meaningful moving object extraction because these two visual features can indicate the spatial homogeneity of the gray levels and the temporal coherence of the motion fields efficiently. The 2-D entropic thresholding technique and the watershed transformation method are further developed to determine the global feature thresholds adaptively according to the variation of the video components. The obtained video components are first represented by a group of 4x4 blocks coarsely, and then the meaningful moving objects are generated by an iterative region-merging procedure according to the spatiotemporal similarity measure. The temporal tracking procedure is further proposed to obtain more semantic moving objects and to establish the correspondence of the moving objects among frames. Therefore, the proposed automatic moving object extraction algorithm can detect the appearance of new objects as well as the disappearance of existing objects efficiently because the correspondence of the video objects among frames is also established. Moreover, an object-oriented video representation and indexing approach is suggested, where both the operation of the camera (i.e., change of the viewpoint) and the birth or death of the individual objects are exploited to detect the breakpoints of the video data and to select the key frames adaptively.


Populations of indigenous Rhizobium meliloti isolated from nodules of alfalfa grown at sites A and B (soil pH, 7.0 and 6.1, respectively) were previously characterized on the basis of phage sensitivity and divided into 55 and 65 phage types. The available iron content of soil at site B was significantly higher than that at site A. Isolates representing the phage types comprising each of these populations were tested for the production of siderophores. The frequency of siderophore-producing (sid+) phage types of R. meliloti, estimated from the distribution of types in the two field populations, was significantly higher at site A (54%), where iron was less available, than at site B (18%). The distributions of frequency for sid+ and sid− phage types were similar at site A but differed (P < 0.005) at site B, where the soil was slightly acidic and contained more available iron. The apparent absence of a direct relationship between siderophore production and frequency of occurrence suggests that siderophore pro...


Objective To compare Connective Tissue Growth Factor(CTGF) expression between keloid derived fibroblasts(KFs) and normal dermal fibroblast(NFs) upon serum stimulation,and study the signal transduction pathways.Methods Small molecule synthesized inhibitors of various signal pathways were added to culture medium 30 min before serum stimulation to block specific signal transduction pathways,including PI3K inhibitor wortmannin(100 nM);ERK inhibitor PD98059(50 mM);p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580(10 mM).JNK inhibitor SP600125(25 mM),and TGF-β type I receptor inhibitor SB431542(0.1μM,0.5μM,1μM and 10μM).RNA was collected 0,1,6,12 and 24 hours after serum stimulation and the expression of CTGF in KFs and NFs was analyzed with quantitative real-time PCR.Results The expression of CTGF was elevated significantly in KFs versus NFs.JNK inhibitor SP600125 and TGF-β type I receptor inhibitor SB431542 decreased the CTGF up-regulation in KFs after serum stimulation significantly(P0.05).Conclusion Both JNK and TGF-β/SMAD signaling pathway took part in the over-expression of CTGF in KFs.


The paper mainly illustrates the design of multi-parameter and wireless monitoring system in intelligent greenhouse with the core of AT89C51 based on nRF905. And it has put out the parameter monitoring circuit of the system. The multi-computer communications and low power operation are introduced in detail. The data in the system transmits 100kbps with high reliability and the function of the system may be extended into many fields.


In this paper, we investigate the existence of non-inhibitory consistent-cut protocols: protocols which create without interfering with the actions of the system in which they are running. Specifically, we consider systems in which processors have only three kinds of events: sends, receives, and internal events (which do not involve communication with another processor). We show that there is no non-inhibitory consistent-cut protocol for such systems.


Microparticles are free spherical dust between 1 and 1000 microns made of synthetic, non-biodegradable, and non-biodegradable polymers. There are two types of microparticles: microcapsules and micro matrix. The main types of microparticles are magnetic microparticles, polymer microparticles, bio-adhesive microparticles, biodegradable polymer microparticles, synthetic polymer microparticles, floating microparticles, and radioactive microparticles. The advantage of microcarriers over nanoparticles is that they do not cross the 100 nm interstitium during lymphatic transport and therefore act locally. Toxic substances can be solidified in the form of micro-encapsulated and dried particles. Moreover, methods to characterize numerous physicochemical parameters like drug release, thermal properties, and particle size are introduced, along with new tests like in vitro leaching tests and floating tests.


Treatment of diseasesusing plant-based medicines hadincreased significantly which waspredicted due to its fewer side effects. However, some of the medicinal plantsmight not be scientifically tested, hence their side effects remainunknown. It is necessary to carry out a toxicity study to ensure the safety ofthe plants in the animal models.This review article aims to provide comprehensive information about the toxicity study of medicinal plants. Various factors could influence the results of the assay,starting from the harvesting of the plants,the drying, the plant extraction, the determining of doses used, the animals housing and feeding conditions, the measurement of body and organ weight, the serum preparation and organ isolation, biochemical, hematology, and histopathology parameters.The most influential factor in toxicity study is the dose of the plant extracts.


ABSTRACT This paper examines the development of small medieval towns through a study of multi- disciplinary evidence of monastic activity in and around embryonic market settlements in northeast Shropshire. By comparing the parallel agendas of monastic landlords in these small towns and the surrounding countryside it will establish a connection that appears fundamental to the development of these settlements. In turn the relationships between these activities and neighbouring castle sites are examined in the context of influence in the local landscape.


GENERAL REMARKS ON PLANT RESPIRATION IN THE LIGHT 51 ENHANCEMENT OF RESPIRATION BY BLUE LIGHT 53 In Nonphotosynthetic Mutants 53 In Green Cells with Poisoned Photosynthesis 54 In Photosynthesizing Cells 55 On the Mode of Action of Blue Light 56 Inj/uences on ATP levels 56 I nj/uences on respiratory enzymes 57 Inj/uences on intracellular compartmentatian ..... 59 On the Physiological Significance of Blue Light-Enhanced Respiration 61 INHIBITION OF RESPIRATION BY BLUE LIGHT .. 63 SUMMARY 64


Background: Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anaemia. Females have higher prevalence of iron deficiency anemia. Hemoglobin (Hb) concentration is used to diagnose iron deficiency anemia along with other test. It is used in screening of anemia too. Increase in body fat may impair the level of Hb in healthy females.

Aims and Objectives: The aim and objective of this study were to find correlation between Hb versus body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage in otherwise healthy adult female.

Materials and Methods: Weight and height were measured to calculate BMI. Body fat was measured by Omron body fat monitor. Hb was measured by colorimetric method from venous blood. Pearson correlation was used to find a correlation between Hb and measured parameters. A P


Abstract Clonal trees from five different plantation-grown, industrially relevant hybrid poplar genotypes of the same age, grown on a common site in British Columbia, Canada, were tested for their performance in strand production and properties of oriented strand board (OSB). The results were compared against a benchmark mill-run OSB furnish derived from native aspen (Populus tremuloides). Variation in solid wood density among the hybrid poplar clones was shown to influence the compaction ratio and densification of the OSB, which in turn led to variation in board strength properties. After accounting for specimen density using co-variate statistical models, it was apparent that there were significant effects of genotype on bonding strength and thickness swell. Lower density wood from the fastest growing P. deltoides×P. trichocarpa (DTAC 7) clone resulted in better mat compaction and higher bond strength, whereas higher density wood from a P. trichocarpa×P. deltoides (TD 50-184) clone resulted in lower compaction and bonding strength. Flexural strength (rupture and elastic moduli) and nail pull through were not as significantly affected by either board density or genotype when adjusted for density. The study clearly demonstrates that fast grown, large diameter wood of lower initial wood density from hybrid poplar is highly suited for OSB production.


Abstract : The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Antibody Technology Program (ATP) focused on developing technologies to enhance the thermal stability and binding affinity of an antibody. In this study, the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) functioned as an independent testing laboratory to provide specific technical support on immune reagents and assist in the definition of government-supplied, antibody-antigen pairs. The project goal was to select, develop, and standardize methods for characterizing the de novo thermal and binding properties of select reagents to be used by DARPA-funded investigators and to use those methods to validate changes in antibody thermal stability and binding affinities. The antibody chosen was the ECBC MS2 recombinant antibody, which detects an MS2 coat protein that forms the capsid for MS2 bacteriophage. The focus of the work described herein was to evaluate the MS2 antibodies supplied by the DARPA-funded investigator, AnaptysBio, Inc. (San Diego, CA), for affinity and stability enhancements. The study results provide standardized parametric data on antibody properties and performance. This information will also help develop a decisional analysis tool to expand confidence levels for the selection of antibody-based reagents that will optimize field operational and performance metrics for future detection and diagnostic platforms.


Pressure decays a f te r intravenous acetazolamide have been recorded simultaneously from the two e y e s in about 80 patients in a sitting position by alternating applanation tonometry (as described by Nissen and Hoppe 1974): In the 'control' period (10-20 minutes) the two p r e s s u r e s adjust themselves at levels which are often a few mil l imeters lower than the f i r s t readings. A t t ime zero 10 mg of acetazolamide p e r kg body weight is injected intravenously, the alternating p r e s s u r e measurements are resumed and the p r e s s u r e decays recorded. In these tes t curves attention was payed to the following parameters : a) the f i r s t p ressure readings, b) the stable p r e s s u r e levels la te in the control period, c) the stable p r e s s u r e levels reached af te r the acetazolamide, di the outflow facilities estimated by comparison with reference curves (see below), e) 'breaks' in the test curves , f ) the degree of s imilar i ty between the curves of the two eyes . The reference curves were calculated on the following assumptions:


Objective To study the effects of BCG-PSN on prevention of recurrent genital herpes.Methods Divided 186 cases of recurrent genital herpes patients into two groups at random,both took ACV orally,BCG-PSN were added to the preclude recurrence treatment group,and polycytidylic acid to the control group,the course of treatment was 3 weeks,followed by observation 6 month's.Results At the end of the course,the effective rates were 82.35% and 63.09% for the treatment group and the control group respectively(P0.01).The curative effect in the treatment group was obviously superior to the control group.The recurrence rates were 12.75% and 25% respectively(P0.005).Conclusion BCG-PSN could be used to assist in treating recurrence genital herpes.


Objective To compare differences of SRS-22 scores between male and female AIS patients.Methods From October 2007 to April 2009,298 AIS patients from 7 spine centers completed simplified Chinese edition of SRS-22 questionnaire,including 62 males and 236 females with an average age of 15.7 years old,and the average Cobb angle was 52.8°.Of 62 male patients,34 were from urban areas and 28 rural areas.Among 236 female patients,132 were from urban areas and 104 rural areas.A comparison was conducted in terms of age,Cobb angle,the ratio of urban population to rural population,and the scores of all domains and the subtotal scores of SRS-22 questionnaire between male and female patients.Results There was no difference of age,Cobb angle and the ratio of urban population to rural population between male and female patients(P>0.05).The scores of four domains and subtotal scores of SRS-22 questionnaire were significantly higher in male patients when compared with female patients(P<0.05).Conclusion Gender difference should be taken into the consideration when estimating the quality of life in AIS patients by SRS-22 questionnaire.The quality of life in male patients with AIS was better than that of female patients.

Key words:
Adolescent;  Scoliosis;  Gender factors;  Questionnaires


The goal of this paper is the application of an energy estimate with loss of derivative, proved with the Littlewood–Paley theory, to prove some results of global existence of smooth enough solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations with an exterior force.


The fractal dimension of Longmenshan fault around the Beichuan county and the hazards-point of different zone of Longmenshan fault is calculated by using fractal.The results showed that the fractal dimension of the different zone of Longmenshan fault well reflect the tectonized charactics of the faults,and it is positively correlated with the secondary hazards-point distribution density of different zone of Longmenshan fault;the fractal dimension of the secondary hazards-point distribution is not fully consistent with the fractal dimension of the faults and the hazards-point distribution density.All this quantitatively proof the relate among the fractal dimension of fault,the fractal dimension of the secondary hazards-point distribution and the hazards-point distribution density,and the distribution of hazards-point after earthquake controlled by Longmenshan faults is successfully confirmed by quantitatively way.


A photonic scheme to generate frequency sextupled microwave signal is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. An intensity modulator (IM) and a Sagnac loop with another IM imbedded inside are cascaded in the scheme. A light wave is modulated by a local oscillator (LO) signal in the first IM at the minimum transmission point to generate the ±1st‐order sidebands, and the modulated light wave is then sent to the Sagnac loop. The IM in the Sagnac loop is operating at the maximum transmission point and is driven by the same LO signal. The optical signal at the output of the Sagnac loop mainly contains ±3rd‐order sidebands. In the experiment, a 15.1‐dB electrical spurious suppression ratio (ESSR) is observed and no extra phase noise is introduced. In addition, the proposed system has no optical or electrical filter so that the generated frequency of the system can be tuned flexibly. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 59:853–857, 2017


This work is motivated by the question of whether the Jones polynomial can detect knottedness. Following the previous works of Eliahou–Kauffman–Thistlethwaite, Kanenobu, and Watson, we construct specific new examples of knots which cannot be distinguished by the Jones polynomial.


Proteins with high‐sequence identity but very different folds present a special challenge to sequence‐based protein structure prediction methods. In particular, a 56‐residue three‐helical bundle protein (GA95) and an α/β‐fold protein (GB95), which share 95% sequence identity, were targets in the CASP‐8 structure prediction contest. With only 12 out of 300 submitted server‐CASP8 models for GA95 exhibiting the correct fold, this protein proved particularly challenging despite its small size. Here, we demonstrate that the information contained in NMR chemical shifts can readily be exploited by the CS‐Rosetta structure prediction program and yields adequate convergence, even when input chemical shifts are limited to just amide 1HN and 15N or 1HN and 1Hα values.


Femoral knee implants have promising outcomes, although some high-flex designs have shown rather high loosening rates (Han et al., 2007). In uncemented implants, it is vital to limit micromotions a...


The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal) recently published an interim decision on an application for a 16 turbine wind energy facility between Melbourne and Seymour. The decision is important for two principal reasons.


Nineteen O-aryl O-2-chloroethyl O-ethyl phosphates were screened for their nematicidal activity against Meloidogyne incognita. In vitro, 0–2, 4, 6-trichlorophenyl-0-2-chloroethyl-0-ethyl phosphate expressed maximum activity (LC50 = 23.22 ppm). Quantitative structure activity relationship studies indicate that molar refractivity for orf/zo-substifuents (MR(0)) and STERIMOL length parameter forpara-substituents (L(p)) contribute about 87% towards the activity of phosphate compounds. In vivo testing of five selected compounds showed that four compounds significantly reduced the number of galls in treated plants compared to untreated control plants. None of the tested compound expressed phytotoxicity.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of antibiotics in reducing the infectious complications following closed tube thoracostomy for isolated chest trauma.

DESIGN
Double-blind, randomized clinical trial.

SETTING
Medical school affiliated large urban teaching hospital and trauma center.

PATIENTS
One hundred nineteen of 159 patients over 18 years old presenting to the emergency department requiring closed tube thoracostomy for isolated chest injuries (113 penetrating, 6 blunt).

INTERVENTION
Patients received either placebo or 1 g cefonicid daily intravenously started at chest tube insertion and stopped within 24 h of removal.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS
The development of wound infections, pneumonia (CDC criteria), or empyema; the incidence of adverse events; length of hospitalization. One nonspecific infection was seen in the cefonicid group (1.6 percent) and six respiratory tract infections (10.7 percent) in the placebo group (three empyema, one empyema with pneumonia, two pneumonia) (p = 0.0505; p = 0.0094 [excluding nonspecific infection]). No significant differences with antibiotic use were seen in the duration of chest tube use (p = 0.766), peak WBC counts (p = 0.108), lower peak temperatures (p = 0.063), or length of hospitalization (p = 0.165). Patients who developed infectious complications averaged approximately 8 days longer hospitalization than those without (p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION
This study showed that patients receiving antibiotics had a significantly reduced rate of infection than did patients administered placebo. No significant adverse events were seen in either group.


The most important component that defines the experience visitors to your site or blog get is the hosting service. The service provider determines important aspects of your website such as the rendering speed and security. However, many hosting service providers that market themselves as the best option in the market rarely deliver the value they promise to site owners. This is the primary reason why many people end up going back into the market just a few months after procuring hosting services.


In this paper, a fluid‐thermal coupled finite element model is established based on the design parameters of dry‐type core reactor, the detailed temperature distribution results are given, and the heat transfer process of the layer coils was analyzed. Meanwhile, the electromagnetic characteristics of core reactor have been analyzed, it shows that the structure parameters adjustment of layer coils have little effect on the inductance of reactor. Taking the metal conductor usage of coils as the optimization object, the heat dissipation process between the layer coils and air ducts is equivalent to the vertical pipe, the calculation method of temperature rise is given, and the thermal efficiency optimization method of dry‐type core reactor is proposed based on the particle swarm optimization algorithm, which can obtain the optimal structure parameters of coils. According to the optimization design results, the metal conductor usage of coils is only 80% compared with the initial parameters, and the correctness is verified by the simulation results. Thus, the optimization method can significantly improve the thermal efficiency and reduce the metal conductor usage of core reactor. © 2021 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.


FOR the past several decades there has been increasing interest in the therapeutic use of hyperbaric oxygenation in many hypoxic and some infectious and neoplastic diseases in man.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Although the overall application of such a therapeutic approach has not been fully assessed, there have been some encouraging results, and it is likely that there will be continued interest in this field. Oxygen at high pressure has been known for some time to have detrimental effects that impose definite limiting factors on its usefulness. Biochemically, oxygen has been well established as a toxin that interferes with certain specific enzyme systems.8 9 10 Pathologic . . .


This paper explores the phenomenological possibility of transcending the impoverished ontological state of contemporary "standardized" education (social efficiency), which forecloses original ways of Being-and-learning. Focused on the notion of phenomenological self-hood, I elucidate a fundamental educational theory, which holds the potential of inspiring a renewed conception of curriculum design and praxis. Envisioning a reconceived notion of world and human being, I look to the realm of "absorbed coping," a mode of Being-in-the-world that antedates both practical comportment and theoretical comportment. It is a mode of existence wherein we literally "learn" to respond to the "address" of world and others. Building hermeneutically on this analysis, a fundamental theory of education emerges, which is grounded ontologically in the "lived experience" of "pre-theoretical" comportment. Ultimately, I reveal the essential aim of education for thematic analysis, which is the human's primordial search for meaning. This, I claim, is an original form of Beingeducated, and beyond, it is the essential ontological-meaning-structure giving form to all instances of learning and the theoretical manifestation thereof.


We perform a tomographic analysis of structure growth and expansion rate from the anisotropic galaxy clustering of the combined sample of Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 12, which covers the redshift range of $0.2<z<0.75$. In order to extract the redshift information of anisotropic galaxy clustering, we analyse this data set in nine overlapping redshift slices in configuration space and perform the joint constraints on the parameters $(D_V, F_{\mathrm{AP}}, f\sigma_8)$ using the correlation function multipoles. The analysis pipeline is validated using the MultiDark-Patchy mock catalogues. We obtain a measurement precision of $1.5\%-2.9\%$ for $D_V$, $5.2\%-9\%$ for $F_{\mathrm{AP}}$ and $13.3\%-24\%$ for $f \sigma_8$, depending on the effective redshift of the slices. We report a joint measurement of $(D_V, F_{\mathrm{AP}}, f\sigma_8)$ with the full covariance matrix in nine redshift slices. We use our joint BAO and RSD measurement combined with external datasets to constrain the gravitational growth index $\gamma$, and find $\gamma=0.656 \pm 0.057$, which is consistent with the $\Lambda$CDM prediction within 95\% CL.


Tense marking, a grammatical means to "locate situations in time" (Comrie 1994: 4558), is typically an inflectional category of verbs. In general, definitions of tense explicitly or implicitly claim that tense marking will be found in the verbal morphology of a language. In languages that do not have verbal tense markers, temporal reference is usually made through either aspectual or modal mophology (Smith in press; Comrie 1985: 50ff.), which also belongs to the verbal domain. The fact that temporal reference is typically carried out in the verbal domain is of course no coincidence. Verbs conventionally denote situations (events, processes, states) that are not time-stable, in contrast to nouns, which predominantly denote things, i.e. time-stable concepts. In this paper I discuss the case of Movima, a linguistic isolate of the Bolivian Amazon area with still several hundred speakers. Movima has no verbal tense morphology. Unlike other tenseless languages, Movima does not recur to mood or aspect morphology, but instead uses a rich system of referential elements (articles, pronouns, demonstratives) to express temporal relations. This strategy can be described as "nominal tense marking" as defined by Nordlinger and Sadler (2004). However, Movima proves to be different from the languages that were investigated by Nordlinger and Sadler in their cross-linguistic study, because in Movima, the same markers that indicate temporal properties of a nominal referent, can also determine the temporal interpretation of a clause as a whole. This conflation of "independent" and "propositional" nominal tense marking (Nordlinger and Sadler 2004) has so far not been identified in any other language and can be considered a cross-linguistic rarity. The paper is structured as follows. In section 2, Nordlinger and Sadler's concept of nominal tense marking is introduced. In section 3 it is shown that Movima has no verbal tense morphology (3.2), and that tense categories are optionally expressed by particles (3.3). Section 4 presents the system of articles, which indicate spatial and temporal properties of nominal referents. Section 5 shows how the temporal-deictic function of the articles by implicature determines the temporal interpretation of the clause (5.1), and that the article can also serve as a marker of temporal reference in discourse (5.2). Section 6 concludes by presenting the possible pathway from independent to propositional tense marking. The data on which the analysis is based were collected in Santa Ana del Yacuma, Bolivia, between 2001 and 2004. Most of the data presented here stem from spontaneous discourse; elicited examples are explicitly marked.


Human factors are of vital importance to the success of projects. The purpose of this study is to identify the leadership qualities of an effective project manager in order to achieve success in project. The characteristics of an effective project manager are also measured on the basis of leadership behavior. To address the primary aims, a questionnaire-based survey was used to measure the project manager's leadership style, teamwork in terms of communication, integrity, visionary and project success. The role of organizational structure in the same is also studied. The analyses suggest that project manager's leadership style, teamwork, and project performance are highly correlated. The findings also indicate that problem solving is the most important conflict management style being used by the project.tter disinvestment programme.


Background: This paper presents an evaluation of a new piezoresistive multi MEMS device for measuring viscosity, Pressure and Temperature for monitoring oil maintenance system of lubricating system. It is well known that the application of MEMS device provide high speed, low cost and low power consumption which improves the device performance. The sensor designed in this device will measure all the three parameters with a single package .Measurement of viscosity, pressure and temperature are the key elements in most of the oil maintenance systems for monitoring and controlling. Design and analysis are carried out with the consideration that one sensor output is not affected by the other. The proposed device is designed with the same diaphragm material for all the three sensors and the deformations of the sensors are analyzed and the result is explained. Finally, the multi sensor is designed with the help of Intellisuite Software. The dimension of the multisensor is 1000µm x500µm. The designed sensor is suitable for the temperature in the range of 30°C to 280°C and pressure in the range of 0 to 4 bar. The load was applied to the sensor and the result was obtained using the software.


To learn mathematics, historically students had no choice but to memorize fundamental facts and apply memorized algorithms. Since 1995 in the US, all states have adopted standards to govern K-12 mathematics instruction, and in most, standards have de-emphasized memorization and emphasized reasoning based on concepts. This change assumed the brain could reason in mathematics without relying on memorized knowledge. Scientists who study the brain have recently verified this assumption was mistaken. Due to stringent limitations in working memory (where the brain solves problems), mathematical problem-solving of any complexity requires applying well-memorized facts and procedures. A decade after the implementation of standards in most states, US young adults ranked last in testing in mathematics among 22 nations. Changes are proposed to state K-12 standards, which recent scientific research suggests would substantially improve student mathematics achievement.


When applying reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms such as Q-learning to real-world applications, we must consider the influence of sensor noise. The simplest way to reduce such noise influence is to additionally use other types of sensors, but this may require more state space – and probably increase redundancy. Conventional value-function approximators used to RL in continuous state-action space do not deal appropriately with such situations. The selective desensitization neural network (SDNN) has high generalization ability and robustness against noise and redundant input. We therefore propose an SDNNbased value-function approximator for Q-learning in continuous state-action space, and evaluate its performance in terms of robustness against redundant input and sensor noise. Results show that our proposal is strongly robust against noise and redundant input and enables the agent to take better actions by using additional inputs without degrading learning efficiency. These properties are eminently advantageous in realworld applications such as in robotic systems.


My first issue lies in the metaphor of night constantly appearing in the narratives on culture, as for example in Heidegger's remarks on the Weltnacht. Scenes of night appear not only in apocalyptic discourses, but also in common discourses on culture. In first part of this paper, I will try to explain briefly the reason of the frequent appearance of nocturnal scene, in commenting on two simple poetic texts from a structuralist point of view. The second part is concerned with the position in which psychoanalysis can deal with the scene of night. If psychoanalysis is a "nocturnal" science that investigates the dark world of the unconscious, what would be its critical effect on the metaphysical thinking as a helio-centrism? I will bring up the deconstructive aspect of psychoanalysis in terms of "dramatology," a word that makes visible the overlap of psychoanalysis and Derridian grammatology. The third problem lies in the possibility of psychoanalysis to intervene in the historical passage into the Weltnacht in the Heideggerian sense. How can Lacanian psychoanalysis translate this unprecedented historical scene, in which the difference between the Orient and the Occident seems to disappear? In the last part, I will attempt to give an answer to this question, in commenting on Žižek's thesis concerning Hegel with Lacan and Lacan with Hegel.


Phonological features in Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) has been found from people experiencing the interlanguage. Numerous studies have used ASR as a tool to convert speech form into text form. Initially, it extracts features and elements of a speech, including the phonological features. The negative transfer is a phenomenon caused by L2 learners try to, intentionally or not, bring their respective L1 regularities into the L2. Furthermore, it creates a new language in the process, called the interlanguage. One can found the negative transfer phenomenon in the interlanguage, which is commonly experienced by L2 learners. This phenomenon will be most likely to be examined in its phonological features of respective first language (L1). In this paper, we investigate the negative transfer in the phonological features from different ASRs using different models, techniques, and algorithms. In addition, we also present the respective language phonology model to highlight the why factor causing the negative transfer phenomenon. This paper is a literature review regarding the effort of phonological features extraction for Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) in terms of interlanguage.


Abstract This study responds to calls for theory and research on work–family aspects in entrepreneurship research. This study examines the role of work–family conflict, work–family enhancement and social support on small business owners' (SBOs) well-being. Drawing from The Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) panel data, the sample is restricted to SBOs, married with children under the age of 14 during 2010–2011 (two waves), totaling 167 SBOs. Results revealed that work–family conflict has a negative direct effect on mental health, job, family and life satisfactions. Similarly, work–family enhancement was found to have a direct positive effect on job, family and life satisfaction but not mental health. A significant interaction term also suggested that work–family enhancement moderated the relationship between work–family conflict and SBOs' job satisfaction. Finally social support was found to have positive main effect on both subjective and psychological well-being. The interventions to well-being of SBOs should aim to balance the work and family lives of SBOs as well as making sure they have adequate social support networks. For public policy makers, support programs should extend from traditional means to balancing work–family matters for this particular occupation. Aside from broadening existing knowledge on the effects of work–family conflict, enhancement and social support, this is one of the first studies to examine well-being as a measure of success for SBOs. Additionally, the use of cross-wave data in the present study helps us to reduce this problem and provide a much stronger causal relationship between the focal variables of interest.


Several cellulose-hydrolysis enzymes are required for eco-friendly utilization of cellulose as renewable biomass, and it would therefore be beneficial if fermenting microbes can provide such enzymes without genetic engineering. Thermotolerant and multisugar-fermenting Kluyveromyces marxianus is one of the promising yeasts for high-temperature fermentation and has genes for putative oligosaccharide-degradation enzymes. Mutants obtained after multiple mutagenesis showed significantly higher activity than that of the parental strain for cellobiose fermentation. The efficient strains were found to have amino acid substitutions and frame-shift mutations in 26-28 genes including 3 genes for glucose transporters. These strains grown in a cellobiose medium showed higher β-glucosidase than that of the parental strain and greatly reduced glucose utilization. The introduction of KTH2 for a glucose transporter into one of the efficient mutants reduced the cellobiose fermentation activity of the mutant. The results suggest that release from glucose repression significantly promotes the uptake of cellobiose. Co-culture of one efficient strain and the parental strain allowed good fermentation of both glucose and cellobiose, suggesting that the efficient strains are useful for conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol.


Introduction: Oral health requires a contextual and social analysis in populations considered vulnerable. Objective: Establish the oral health status of a group of visually impaired schoolchildren and its relationship to social, family and individual determinants. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted of 21 visually impaired schoolchildren and 15 significant adults. A survey was applied to collect sociodemographic information and data about habits and use of oral health care services. Clinical examination was based on the following indicators: O'Leary's index, Loe and Silness's gingivitis index, Klein and Palmer's COP-D index, both traditional and modified, and significant caries index (SiC). Descriptive analysis was performed of absolute and relative frequencies. Results: The data were distributed into three categories: social, family and individual. Social analysis found that 40% (n = 6) of the respondents were in the subsidized sector, whereas 53.3% (n = 8) reported difficulties to access dental care services. With respect to the family environment, it was found that 53% (n = 8) of the study population were from a low socioeconomic stratum and only 60% (n = 9) of the participants in the study had completed secondary education. Individual analysis revealed that 100% of the schoolchildren showed evidence of poor plaque control (73.3 % ± 23.7). The traditional significant caries index was 4.3 (± 2.4), whereas the modified significant caries index was 6.7 (± 1.7). A moderate gingivitis index was found in 100% of the schoolchildren with an average 23.5 (± 24.5). Conclusions: The main hurdles identified had to do with the social status (occupation, income, education), all of which has an impact on the oral health status. It is necessary to address this type of population with a participative, continuous, integral approach which empowers care givers and transforms their practices via health promotion.


A Scheffers theorem states that for commutative hypercomplex numbers the differential calculus does exist and the functions can be introduced in the same way as they are for the complex variable. This property could open new applications of commutative quaternions in comparison with non-commutative Hamilton quaternions. In this article we introduce some quaternionic systems, their algebraic properties and the differential conditions (Generalized Cauchy-Riemann conditions) that their functions must satisfy. Then we show that the functional mapping, studied in the geometry associated with the quaternions, does have the same properties of the conformal mapping performed by the functions of complex variable. We also summarize the expressions of the elementary functions.


To speak of Asian American literature in the 1950s is to speak of something which did not yet exist, and would not for over a decade hence. This is not to say that there were no literary works by people of Asian descent being written or published in America during this time – there were, and had been since at least the turn of the century – but rather to acknowledge how significantly the task of reading and analyzing such texts is shaped by how we perceive their relationship to a literary genre and academic discipline which would not take shape until the late 1960s, and to acknowledge also the multiple "afterlives" which these texts have enjoyed (or, in some cases, suffered through) in the decades since. The "birth" of Asian America as a political consciousness during the 1960s and 1970s was in many ways a direct outgrowth of the civil rights and antiwarmovements in which African Americans in particular played an influential role. The emergence of Asian American literature as a recognized field in the mid-1970s can be understood as a continuation of this political struggle to make Asian American "voices" heard, this time by articulating connections between Asian American political and aesthetic agendas. Such was clearly the impulse behind the 1974 publication of Aiiieeeee!, one of the earliest (and certainly the most infamous) Asian American literary anthologies. Coedited by Jeffery Paul Chan, Frank Chin, Lawson Fusao Inada, and Shawn Wong, Aiiieeeee! was instrumental in recovering many of the Asian American Cold War texts discussed in this chapter; indeed, the controversial brand of "cultural nationalism" which the co-editors championed – one frequently criticized for its militant masculinity and essentializing tendencies – was in fact grounded almost entirely in Asian American works from the 1950s, most notably John Okada's No-No Boy and Louis Chu's Eat a Bowl of Tea, virtually unknown novels which Chan et al. succeeded in getting republished by the University of Washington Press in 1976 and 1979, respectively. This chapter accordingly focuses on a cluster of mainly Chinese and Japanese American texts which not only reflected their Cold


A significant difference was found between stripe widths of bubble garnet film observed by different measuring methods. The methods are (1) stripe width Sw(?) arranged with the ac magnetic field perpendicular to the film plane; (2) stripe widths Sw(H) elongated parallel to the in‐plane dc magnetic field with the aid of the ac field as in (1); (3) stripe widths Sw(H?) modulated with an additional ac field after obtaining the magnetic domains of Sw(H). The result that Sw(?) =Sw(H?) ?1.1 Sw(H) was obtained. The exchange stiffness estimated using Sw(?) gives reasonable values, while that from Sw(H) does not. It has been concluded that method (3) is superior to the other two methods.


Introduction: The integration of new evidence into clinical practice can be a prolonged process, with delays of years or even decades. One approach to speed this integration is through the use of online provider education. Problem: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a serious patient safety issue. Prevention requires coordinated care and adherence to evidence-based guidelines, supported by provider education. Purpose: This study reports how an interdisciplinary team developed and piloted an online provider training program for the prevention of VTE. Hypothesis: If providers use the online educational training, they will demonstrate increased mastery of key content areas related to VTE prophylaxis. Methods: We used a prospective test—retest study design in which medical residents and fellows served as their own controls. All participants were given a pretest followed by educational content and then a posttest. We also assessed 2 different types of learning content (ie, with and without case studies/questions) and randomized participants to each type prior to assessment. Results: Using the McNemar test we found a trend for knowledge gains related to VTE guidelines on the posttest for clinicians (n = 67) with a 14.5% improvement in content mastery (P = .05, 2-tailed). We did not find any significant differences between training modalities. Clinicians overall reported high levels of satisfaction with the application. Conclusion: Our online education efforts indicate the potential for increasing mastery of VTE prophylaxis concepts. If resources are limited, we suggest a static approach to content delivery and an exploration of standardized methods for portability of online curriculums across learning management systems.


Treatment of hard-to-heal, chronic wounds, particularly in palliative patients or in intensive care units, constitutes a significant issue. Due to the constant development in this field of medicine and numerous scientific reports, it is possible to use a variety of techniques and dressings in the difficult-to-heal wound treatment. However, a promising strategy and an alternative to conventional dressings may be the transplantation of cell-coated bio-scaffolds into the wound. In addition to keratinocytes or fibroblasts transplants, which show promising healing effects during scarring, an interesting solution seems to be the use of multipotent mesenchymal stem/stromal cells, for instance, those derived from the adipose tissue (ASCs). Stem/stromal cell therapy presents a variety of benefits e.g., the isolation itself is simple, has minimal side effects, and any adipose tissue in an adult body may be the source of the cells. The presence of stem/stromal cells at the site of skin damage not only stimulates their proliferation or migration, but also their differentiation into other necessary cell types and continuous recovery at the site of a chronic wound. ASCs are also characterized by high paracrine activity, they are capable of secreting many growth factors, cytokines, and extracellular vehicles (EVs) to the external wound environment. They may also stimulate cell-to-cell interactions and improve the survival of resident cells. The multitude of mechanisms which can promote stem/stromal cells at the site of a chronic wound may potentially lead to more effective repair and regeneration processes and ultimately faster recovery. However, cell therapy requires detailed further research, in particular clinical trials, in order to assess the practicality and cost-effectiveness of this application in clinical environments and in hospital wards.


Manganese (Mn)‐modified bismuth potassium titanate, i.e., Bi0.5K0.5Ti1−xMnxO3 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.15), compounds are fabricated by a mixed‐oxide method. The Rietveld analyses of X‐ray diffraction data and the Raman spectroscopy support the formation of the compounds in the tetragonal phase. The crystallite and the grain size are found to be higher for compounds having more oxygen vacancies. With increase in Mn concentration, the bulk resistance decreases drastically and the energy bandgap reduces. The dielectric constant increases substantially with substitution of Mn. The analysis of complex impedance spectroscopy confirms the non‐Debye‐type relaxation mechanisms in the compounds. Based on the activation energy of the conduction process, analysis of leakage current, and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX) data, the ionization of oxygen vacancy and the hopping of trapped electrons between multivalent Ti and Mn ions in electrical properties of the compounds are discussed. The compounds follow the correlated barrier hopping conduction mechanism. While the leakage current in Bi0.5K0.5TiO3 fits the Poole–Frenkel model, that in Mn‐substituted samples exhibits Ohmic conduction mechanism.


e18505Background: Lack of KIR-HLA class I interactions has been associated with NK-mediated antitumor efficacy in AML patients (pts) in remission upon KIR-mismatched haploidentical stem cell transp...


A feasible Grid Service Workflow system is proposed based on in-depth understanding the concepts,characteristics,applications of Grid technology,Grid Service and Grid Workflow,dynamic modeling optimizing technology and dynamic scheduling algorithm are introduced as the emphases.Dynamic Colored Petri Net as a modeling tool of service workflow is defined,Which sustains workflow Dynamic Modeling and Dynamic Scheduling,as well as offering performance appraisement method.The test shows that using the model can improve resource utilization.


The season of Advent is upon us, which means that we once again face the challenge of observing this time of quiet waiting in the midst of a world filled with the chaos and stress of the secular holiday season. One of the ways we overcome this challenge is by participating in certain traditions and practices that help to focus our hearts and minds on the true meaning of Advent. These traditions and practices include the use of the Advent wreath to mark the weeks of the season. Adding a dedicated time for daily prayer and contemplation can also be a helpful practice during Advent as we seek to find peace and spiritual rest.


Effects of optimum colour, installation height and size of sticky traps were studied for monitoring insects in grapes.Aphis spp., Amrasca biguttula biguttula Ishida, Rhipiphorothrips cruentatus Hood, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood andStethorus rani Kapur were the major insect species trapped. Yellow was most effective colour for trapping all thesefive insect species as compared to blue. Optimum installation height was at near-ground for Aphis spp. and A. biguttula biguttula and above-canopy for S. rani. Optimum size of traps was found to be 11×30 square cm over 22×30 square cm sizes. When analysed for interaction effects, yellow sticky traps of 11×30 square cm installed at near-ground level provided most effective trapping for A. biguttula biguttula (1.47, 2.46 and 1.22 and 1.14, 2.12 and 0.95 catches per cell during 2011-12, 2012 and 2012-13 in bower and Y, respectively) and Aphis spp. (5.92, 0.37 and 1.42 and 4.31, 0.37 and 1.11 catches per cell during 2011-12, 2012 and 2012-13 in bower and Y, respectively). Yellow sticky traps (11×30 square cm size) installed at above-canopy were most effective in trapping R. cruentatus (0.03, 0.86 and 0.47 catches per cell during 2011-12, 2012 and 2012-13) in Y system, however at near-ground in bower system (0.92 and 0.727 catches per cell during 2012 and 2012-13). Yellow sticky traps installed at above-canopy were most effective in trapping S. rani in both bower (0.027 and 0.010 catches per cell during 2011-12 and 2012-13) and Y system (0.058 and 0.007 catches per cell during 2011-12 and 2012-13).


SESSION VI, CORRECTION AND PROTECTION. MORE THAN 1,000,000 FRENCH PEOPLE WITH BAD EYE SIGHT TRAVEL ON THE ROADS IN FRANCE, GROUZI,J (FRANCE); APHAKIA AND CAR DRIVING, PEYRESBLANQUES,J (FRANCE); INFLUENCE OF THE MEANS OF CORRECTION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE EYE, MAITENAZ,B (FRANCE); PROBLEMS OF DRIVERS WEARING SPECTACLES WITH VERY STRONG CORRECTION, PECHEUR,J (FRANCE); THE OPTICIAN AND ROAD SAFETY, DARRAS,C (FRANCE); INJURIES TO THE CORNEA BY GLASS FROM BROKEN WINDSCREENS, RENARD,G (FRANCE); THE PROTECTION OF SIGHT, ROUX,M (FRANCE); PHOTOGRAY AND PJOTO-BRUN GLASSES USED FOR VISUAL COMFORT AND EYE SAFETY, DESTRUEL,L (FRANCE); SOLUTIONS USED TO REDUCE GLARE FROM CAR HEADLIGHTS, DEVAUX,P (FRANCE); ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS AND PERFORATING EYE INJURIES, JOHNSTON,SS (U.K.); COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS ON VISION OF YELLOW GLASS AND UNCOLOURED GLASS IN WINDSCREENS, VERRIEST,G AND TOUSSAIN,F (BELGIUM). FOR THE COVERING ABSTRACT, SEE IRRD ABSTRACT NO 105324.


The purpose of this research is to know the influence of profitability, solvency, and commodity prices on the stock price of mining companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in 2008-2018. Some aspects used in research include financial ratios such as ROE (Return of Equity), EPS (Earning per share of common stock) for variable profitability and DER (Debt to Equity Ratio) for solvency as well as the addition of external factors Like commodity prices to see how it affects the price of the stock. This research is conducted by the documentation method using data from the financial report of the mining company obtained from the Indonesia Stock Exchange website. The analytical methods used in the research are the classical assumption test analysis and the data regression panel. This research uses a data mining company registered in Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) in 2008 – 2018 as 5 companies from 27 registered companies. The results of the Common-Constant estimation method (Pooled Ordinary Least Square/PLS) found that DER and EPS influence the stock price of the mining company partially, While commodity prices do not have a significant effect against the stock price of mining companies. ROE, DER, EPS and commodity prices do not have a significant effect on the stock price of mining companies, it can be demonstrated by the R-Squared 0.150565 value which means the above variables affect only 15.05% and the remaining 84.95% is determined by other variables not researched in this study.


The manufacturing industry today is challenged with the task of designing new products that create value added experiences unique to every customer. Internet enabled cross-enterprise integration in product development will be the critical capability that will help executives overcome this challenge. This paper, which is based on research from in-depth interviews with senior executives in leading global manufacturing companies, describes best practices of leading manufacturers in cross-enterprise integration. It provides a road map for executives to conduct collaborative real-time product development through virtual relationships with their business partners located anywhere in the world. Ultimately, it serves as a useful tool for manufacturing executives who are striving to capture a larger share of customer wallet through integration-enabled product innovation.


The influence of climate change on the runoff of Niger River is investigated for the period 1055-2010 using Gaussian Low Pass Filler, Spearman rank correlation co-efficient and multiple regression analysis. Niger River runoff is characterized by marked temporal variability which must have obliterated any trend in the long-term. An increasing trend which is insignificant (0.0226) during the long-term period (1955-2010) but significant (0.6762) in the recent period (1981-2010) has been detected. There is high positive correlation between annual rainfall (0.653) annual heavy rainfall (0.658) with annual runoff while (he correlation between annual temperature and annual runoff is significant but negative (-0.325). The multiple regression analysis shows that the annual rainfall, annual heavy rainfall and annual temperature account for 54.4% of its variance and are good predictors of runoff. The runoff of Niger River has been observed to be highly sensitive to changes in rainfall as a small increase or decrease in rainfall resulted in marked changes in runoff particularly in dry climate. The projected changes in runoff in the sub-Sahara Africa are consistent with the observed increase in the Niger River runoff.


Background Epidemiological data suggests that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with increased cancer incidence and mortality. We investigate the effects of cyclical intermittent hypoxia (CIH), akin to the underlying pathophysiology of OSA, on lung cancer progression and metastatic profile in a mouse model. Methods Intrathoracic injection of Ad5CMVCre virus into a genetically engineered mouse (GEM) KrasG12D+/-; p53fl/fl; myristolated-p110αfl/fl-ROSA-gfp was utilized to induce a solitary lung cancer. Male mice were then exposed to either CIH or Sham for 40–41 days until harvest. To monitor malignant progression, serial micro CT scans with respiratory gating (no contrast) was performed. To detect spontaneous metastases in distant organs, H&E and immunohistochemistry were performed. Results Eighty-eight percent of injected Ad5CMVCre virus was recovered from left lung tissue, indicating reliable and accurate injections. Serial micro CT demonstrated that CIH increases primary lung tumor volume progression compared to Sham on days 33 (p = 0.004) and 40 (p<0.001) post-injection. In addition, CIH increases variability in tumor volume on day 19 (p<0.0001), day 26 (p<0.0001), day 33 (p = 0.025) and day 40 (p = 0.004). Finally, metastases are frequently detected in heart, mediastinal lymph nodes, and right lung using H&E and immunohistochemistry. Conclusions Using a GEM mouse model of metastatic lung cancer, we report that male mice with solitary lung cancer have accelerated malignant progression and increased variability in tumor growth when exposed to cyclical intermittent hypoxia. Our results indicate that cyclical intermittent hypoxia is a pathogenic factor in non-small cell lung cancer that promotes the more rapid growth of developing tumors.


Damietta coastal plain northern of Nile Delta, is a very promising area for energy resources, tourism and industrial activities. It suffered from several changes over the past century, especially in its boundaries and topography. The objective of this work was to study the spatial and temporal changes that took place along the coastal line of Damietta governorate by using RS and GIS techniques. This is in addition to providing an accurate estimation of the areas where erosion and deposition processes take place. For that purpose multitemporal Landsat data were collected in 1984, 2000, 2011 and 2014. Also, two spectral indices were used in this study, which are the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and the World View Water Index (WVWI)) to study the changes along the coastal water/land interface. The obtained results indicated that the eroded areas were about 14.08 kmP P from 1984 to 2000, about 3.54 kmP P from 2000 to 2011, and about 2.05 kmP P from 2011 to 2014. The erosion rate during the studied period from 1984 to 2014 was about 0.41 km P P/ year. The areas were deposition take place was about 4.92 kmP P during the period from 1984 to 2000, about 4.94 kmP P from 2000 to 2011 and about 6.35 km2 from 2011 to 2014. The deposition rate during the whole studied period was about 0.291 kmP P/ year. Accordingly, the deposition rate along the coastline was higher than the erosion rate, however it took place at different locations. Some of these areas were naturally occurred, however some others were human induced, especially after 2011. Accuracy assessment revealed that WVWI was more accurate than the NDWI in studying the changes along the coastal line. Different scenarios about the possibilities of costal submersion as a result of possible tsunamis or global warming were also studied. These scenarios indicated that a possible area of about 75.89 kmP P of the coastal land could be submerged in case of a sea level raised by about 5 meters. The obtained results and the hypothetical views were also considered in setting the criteria for selecting the most suitable and secure areas for tourist.


Purpose

With the increasingly collaborative nature of innovation and the expanding role of digital platforms on inter-firm collaboration, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of digital platforms on collaborative innovation capability (CIC) under conditions of two distinctive governance mechanisms. Furthermore, the competitive benefits of CIC at different levels of environmental uncertainty are examined to clarify the performance of collaborative innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The research model is proposed based on dynamic capabilities theory, information technology (IT)-enabled organizational capability and governance mechanisms literature, and then validated by using partial least squares with data collected from 200 Chinese firms that engage in digital collaboration with their major channel distributors.

Findings

Empirical results show that the enabling effect of digital platforms capability on CIC is positively moderated by relational governance while negatively moderated by formal governance, and both governance mechanisms directly and positively influence CIC; the positive relationship between CIC and competitive performance is stronger for higher level of environmental uncertainty; and CIC is the key mediator converting digital platforms capability into competitive performance.

Originality/value

This study enriches the existing literatures in IT-innovation relationship by not only surfacing the interplay of digital platforms capability with two distinctive governance mechanisms in building CIC, but also clarifying the competitive benefits of CIC in an uncertain environment. Moreover, this study helps explain the controversial issue of the business value of IT capability by discovering the mediating role of CIC.


The aim of this pilot study is to test the reliability and validity of the survey instrument designed to measure the residents' support for tourism. Since the study uses an adapted questionnaire the need to assess the reliability and validity appears to be desirable. The questionnaire was distributed to altogether 70 residents of Huna Valley. Initially the content and face validity was authenticated by field experts and later on the internal construct validity was calculated through various measures. Hence inter-item correlation shows that all the variables are correlated to each other at significant level. Secondly, construct validity results show that all the constructs used by study are reliable and met the level of acceptability. Therefore, the results validated that modified instrument is valid and reliable in the context of the social lab selected i.e. residents of Huna Velly and a full large scale study can be carried out using this instrument.


Brown stem rot (BSR) and sudden death syndrome (SDS) are among the most important yield-reducing diseases of soybeans throughout Iowa. These diseases are easily confused because foliar symptoms are very similar (Figure 1). It is important to diagnose BSR and SDS correctly so that appropriate disease management practices can be applied. This article presents a review of each disease, provides guidelines on how to distinguish them, and describes available management options.


This collection of technically fine radiographs of interesting disease processes is arranged in logical anatomico-pathological divisions. Each section is preceded by a rather incomplete, short, elementary text of etiological, radiographic, clinical, and therapeutic features. Presentation of the radiographic material is in serial form, providing a rare opportunity to observe the progression and regression of diseases of the chest. Instead of illustrating exotic chest diseases, the book presents common conditions and compares the varied radiographic and clinical manifestations of each disease in detail, emphasizing basic radiographic and surgical principles. The detailed legends accompanying each set of radiographs are in general far too verbose, but many gems of surgical and radiographic diagnosis appear suddenly in these descriptions. Titles are absent from the illustrations, precluding a rapid survey of the material. A variation in degree of magnification as well as in actual size of the prints and an unattractive black masking of the


Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have garnered significant importance as thermoelectric (TE) material due to their high TE performance owing to their inherent fascinating one-dimensional quantum confinement of charge carriers. Among various...


Aimed to evaluate risk factors for breast cancer in women who used a Basic Health Unit in Fortaleza. Quantitative study, carried out from March to November 2009 with 320 women. It was used for a data collection form. Among the participants, 206 (64.38%) reported menarche over twelve years, 238 (74.38%) had their first pregnancy below 30 years, 210 (65.63%) breastfed their children, it was found that 177 (55.31%) reported using oral contraceptives, 71 (22.19%) had a family history of breast cancer, 62 (19.38%) were smokers, 89 (27.81%) consumed alcohol. It is noteworthy that even with the technology developed for the control of breast cancer, one can't ignore the many factors that make up its etiology. Hence, the need for nurses show greater effectiveness in the early recognition of risk factors.


Ix two papers upon this subject previously published our knowledge of the Cretaceous flora of Staten Island was brought up to the year 1892.' Since that time considerable additional material has been collected, including several species not beforc recorded from.the island, which have been the subject of notes and memoranda read before the Natural Scicnce Association of Staten Island and published from time to time in its Proceedings. The object of the present paper is to describe this material as a whole and also to indicate certain modifications of views previously expressed, due to information acquired since the other contributions to the subject werc issued. All the specimens were found in hardened ferruginous clay concretions or shaly fragments, in connection with the terminal moraine. None of the specimens was found id place, although they must have been derived from Cretaceous strata in the immediate vicinity, either on the island or on the adjacent mainland. Some of those from Tottenville 'and Prince's Bay may have been from the latter source, but the Arrochar specimens were undoubtedly native to the island, although disturbed from their original position. It was prcviously taken for granted that all the cretaceous 1 The I'daeon'ology of the Cretaccous Formation on Staten Islnnd. I fiwu. N.


Poly(L-lactic acid)(PLLA) was directly prepared through melt polycondensation started from industrial L-lactic acid under continuous microwave irradiation.In this paper the effects of dehydration vacuum level,pre-polymerization temperature,polymerization time at constant temperature,the catalyst species on polymerization process were studied.Finally,it is concluded that the optimum polymerization conditions are: the use of a binary catalyst system consisting of SnCl2 and TSA as co-catalyst(SnCl2/TSA=1∶1,SnCl2: 0.45%) increased the molecular weight of PLLA efficiently,firstly,under 0.080 MPa dehydration lasts for 15 min;then,under 0.090 MPa pre-polymerization runs for 30 min;finally,reactant system remains constant temperature for 20 min after being increased to 230 ℃,where PLLA with viscosity-average molecular weight as high as 6.02×104 g/mol is synthesized.


of a third set, two completed a fourth set, and one subject completed a fifth set. Thus, in phase I the fewest trials completed by any subject was 1000, and the most was 2500. These discrepancies were caused by differences in starting dates due to individual differences in length of pretraining. The termination date was the same for all, and was due to factors unrelated to the experiment. The results of phase I showed that initially subjects matched objects at about chance level but improved rapidly. By the end of the first set of 500 trials, four of the subjects were performing at better than 90 percent accuracy, with the remaining subject at better than 80 percent. When the discriminanda were recombined for the second set (beginning with trial 501), the accuracy of two subjects initially decreased slightly, while the other three performed at least as well as before. But from the middle of the second set, this high level (90 percent or better) was maintained by all subjects even when recombinations were introduced, for example, trials 1001 to 1020, and 1501 to 1520. During the course of the experiment, subjects' response method also evolved: whereas at the beginning of phase I subjects usually felt both objects before choosing, with further training they responded immediately if the matching object wastouched first. Clearly, in phase I subjects were operationally matching to sample across sensory modalities. But the question remained, was their successful performance based on the perception of the similarity between the visible object and its mate (the concept of equivalence of stimuli), or were they performing a rapidly learned 'conditional response across modalities. Phase II was designed to answer this critical question. Subjects were presented once with each of 40 unique combinations, composed of discriminanda not used previously, not repeated here, and with which subjects had had no experience. Ten of the unique trials were presented each day for a period of 4 days. If the high level of accuracy in phase I was due to specific training with a limited number of objects, then performance on phase II would be chance. But if subjects had grasped the essential nature of the problem, "If A, then another A," their matching scores on


The invention discloses a flotation device and technology adopting waste grease. The flotation device adopting waste grease comprises a grease storage groove and a flotation machine. An outlet of the flotation machine is connected with a concentrate grease flotation groove and a tailing grease flotation groove. The concentrate grease flotation groove and the tailing grease flotation groove are both provided with grease inlets connected with the grease storage groove. Concentrate outlets of the concentrate grease flotation groove and the tailing grease flotation groove are connected with a first pressure filter and a second pressure filter correspondingly. Grease outlets of the pressure filters are connected with the grease storage groove. According to the technological process, after a collecting agent and a foaming agent are sequentially added to ore pulp to be floated and evenly mixed with the ore pulp to be floated, the mixture is fed into the flotation machine, flotation concentrates are scrapped out through a scraper blade and enter the concentrate grease flotation groove, and the tailings automatically flow out and enter the tailing grease flotation groove; the waste grease enters the concentrate grease flotation groove and the tailing grease flotation groove, grease layers in the concentrate grease flotation groove and the tailing grease flotation groove are scraped out through the scraper blade, after pressure filtering, concentrates are obtained, and the grease obtained after pressure filtering enters the grease storage groove for cyclic utilization again.


The invention discloses a vertical keel integrated power ventilation exposed frame curtain wall. The vertical keel integrated power ventilation exposed frame curtain wall solves the problems that a traditional opening window is irregular in ventilation and too large in energy consumption and cost. The vertical keel integrated power ventilation exposed frame curtain wall comprises a framework unit assembled together with glass surface materials, and is characterized in that a ventilation device is integrated in a vertical frame with an opened cavity and a closed cavity of the framework unit in a hidden mode, the ventilation device comprises a shell, an end plate, a cross-flow fan, a baffle and a stepping motor controlling the baffle to rotate to achieve opening and closing of the channel, wherein the shell, the end plate, the cross-flow fan, the baffle and the stepping motor are assembled in the opened cavity of the vertical frame, and the ventilation device further comprises an air duct, a detachable inner buckle board and an outer buckle board, wherein the air duct is assembled in the closed cavity of the vertical frame and is communicated with a hole in the front wall and a hole in the rear wall of the closed cavity of the vertical frame, the detachable inner buckle board is arranged at the inner side of the vertical frame chamber for sealing an opening of the opened cavity, and the outer buckle board for shielding the shell of the ventilation device is connected to the outdoor side in a buckling mode. The vertical keel integrated power ventilation exposed frame curtain wall is reasonable in structure design, easy to manufacture and indoors detachable; a specific air duct is arranged and the power of the cross-flow fan assists the ventilation, irregular and precise indoor quantitative ventilation is achieved, the cleaning, maintenance and replacement of the ventilation device are convenient, energy is saved, and the uniformity of the decorative effect of the curtain wall is guaranteed.


Few scholars disagrees that electricity consumption is an important supporting factor for economy growth. However, the relationship between electricity consumption and economy growth has different manifestation in different country according to previous studies. In order to probe it, based on the time series of GDP and electricity consumption of China, the cointegration test is carried out in this paper. Firstly, the calculation is based on the original data and then, the data is transformed by Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filtering. The results show that electricity consumption has a prominent promote effect on the economic growth and there is only unidirectional Granger causality running from electricity consumption to real GDP but not the vice versa. Based on the filtered data, the cointegration test indicates that there is cointegration between not only the trend components, but also the cyclical components of the two series, which implies that, the Granger causality is probably related with the business cycle. The estimation results are of policy implication to the development of electric sector in China.


Vital for the success of the robot soccer system is a streamlined strategy. Robot soccer strategy is a form of decision making for robots. On the soccer pitch, robots, divided in two teams, interact with each other and a ball, each trying to win a soccer match. In a streamlined strategy, robots in the same team try to maximize the scoring opportunities for their team and minimize the scoring opportunities of the opponent by means of strategic plans. Already for robot soccer, strategy research has been directed towards the use of weighted linear functions. However, for creating and adapting strategies, the use of a weighted linear function seems to be complex. This thesis presents a different direction in strategy design. This uses finite state machines (FSM) to create directed positioning for the robots. The transitions of the state machines consist of guarded plans, where the guards are based on existing observations. Observations represent expert knowledge about situation on the robot soccer pitch and plans represent expert knowledge about the strategic means for the robots. In the FSM approach, strategies are represented explicitly by assigning roles to robots and modeling the desired behavior for each role with an FSM. Two of such strategies are given, namely the " 2-2 formation " and " 1-3 formation with rotational tactic ". The two strategies have been tested in robot soccer tournaments. On these tournaments, universities have the means of testing their robot soccer system against each other. The " 1-3 formation with rotational tactic " proved most successful. This strategy was able to recover from failed shoot attempts and used multiple coordinated robots to perform scoring attempts. Nevertheless, the " 2-2 formation " seemed to have a more robust defense. A future direction to a " 2-2 formation with rotational tactic " is suggested, which combines the advantages of both strategies. Preface To conclude the study Computer Science at the University of Twente I choose to participate in the robot soccer project. In this project, different aspects of the study are combined. I joined this project because it brings theoretical knowledge, learned in my study, into practice. With the robot soccer team, we attended at international tournaments. These tournaments were most enjoyable. During the attendance to the different tournaments, we showed real progress and this resulted in a 2 nd place at the European Championship in 2007.


The local school board has traditionally been the predominant control mechanism for public education in this country. Since the 1970s however, increased legislation and reform in statehouses across the nation have functioned to reduce the discretion enjoyed by local boards. This paper represents an attempt to sketch this increase in state intervention and the resulting erosion of local control over the past few decades. The sketch begins with a theoretical framework that provides an analytical perspective on the nexus between state and local educational policy-making. This is followed by a brief historical overview of local control and an identification of the issues and arguments surrounding local control. Discussions on the future of school board control and possible avenues of research follow. (Contains 88 footnotes and 44 references.) (Author) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** SACRIFICING LIBERTY FOR EQUALITY: THE EROSION OF LOCAL CONTROL IN AMERICAN EDUCATION An occasional paper for the Louisiana LEAD Project Department of Administrative and Foundational Services College of Education Louisiana State University Bob L. Johnson, Jr. August 31, 1988 Baton Rouge, Louisiana U S DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION Otto e of f ducattonai Research and Improvement OUCATIONAL RE SOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERICI 4....his document has been reproduced as re, hived from the person or organizatron nnutnahng o I Minor changes nave been made to improve reproduction quality Potsts of view or opinions staled in this dOcut mem no not necessarily represent official OE Pi position or polcy 2 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO T r,' EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFOrs...ATION CENTER (ERIC)"


The dimerization of the hydroxypyrrolidinones (I) and the methylated hydroxypyrrolidinones case of compound I, the ring-fused hexaazacyclododecane was isolated. X-ray diffraction analysis of dipyrrolo dipyrazolo tetrazocine verified the dimeric structure of these products


Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) is an abnormal fistulous tract that extends between the bladder and the vagina thus allowing the continuous involuntary discharge of urine into the vaginal vault of the affected patient. This study evaluated presumptively the prevalence and antibiogram of pathogenic bacteria isolated from preand postsurgery VVF patients. Urine samples were collected in duplicates from the VVF patients; and these were bacteriologically analyzed using cysteine lactose electrolyte deficient (CLED) agar, MacConkey agar and blood agar. Susceptibility studies were carried out on the isolated pathogens using the disk diffusion method. Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, S. pyogenes and S. aureus were the most isolated bacteria from the urine samples of preand post-surgery VVF patients. The organisms showed highest levels of resistance to ceftazidime, cotrimoxazole, amoxicillin, nitrofurantoin, cefuroxime, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and tetracycline. With the exception of some S. aureus isolates, all the organisms including K. pneumoniae, E. coli and S. aureus were completely resistant to imipenem. However, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and ofloxacin showed appreciable levels of antimicrobial efficacy against the E. coli, K. pneumoniae, S. pyogenes and S. aureus isolates from both the preand post-surgery VVF patients. The complications of UTI in VVF patients necessitate the need to back up treatment with proper susceptibility studies. Our study has shown that the isolated organisms are resistant to some commonly used drugs. Thus it is vital to make antimicrobial stewardship a vital part of VVF management in our hospitals so that antibiotic therapy for such affected patients can be properly guided. INTRODUCTION: Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF), a subtype of female urogenital fistula (UGF) is an abnormal fistulous tract that extends between the bladder and the vagina thus allowing the continuous involuntary discharge of urine into the vaginal vault of the affected patient. 1, 2, 3 QUICK RESPONSE CODE DOI: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.7(3).1005-11 Article can be accessed online on: www.ijpsr.com DOI link: http://dx.doi.org/10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.7 (3).1005-11 VVF is both a social calamity and pathological condition that leaves its sufferers with some sort of stigma. The affected tissue may necrotize, leaving a hole on the vesico-vaginal wall; and VVF patients are predisposed to several underlying urogenital infections that may affect the bladder. 4, 5 Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the commonest bacterial infections in VVF patients, and it is critical to manage the pathological condition with effective antibiotics. 1,5 The close proximity of the female genitalia (i.e. the vagina) and the urinary tract system predisposes females to several uropathogenic infections especially UTI. The uncontrolled leakage of urine into the vagina from