This article proposes a novel Lyapunov stability analysis for a class of switched nonlinear systems under the mode-dependent average dwell time (MDADT) switching signals. For the first time, a polynomial fuzzy model is used to describe the nonlinearity of the switched systems instead of a Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy model, which can represent a wider range of nonlinear plants. As existing advanced results are relatively conservative and lead to that tighter bounds on the dwell time are not easy to be obtained, therefore, the stability analysis for switched systems is still quite challenging. In this article, to tackle this problem, by developing a polynomial multiple Lyapunov function (MLF) approach and exploring the feature of the membership functions, relaxed stability conditions are derived for the switched polynomial fuzzy-model-based control systems. In particular, the polynomial MLF is guaranteed radially unbounded by a two-step procedure, making traditional quadratic MLF a specific case, thereby improved stability conditions can be established in the form of sum-of-squares. Moreover, the new algorithm for multivariate Chebyshev membership functions based on linear programming is proposed to introduce the information of membership functions and further relax the stability conditions to obtain tighter bounds on MDADT. Finally, a simulation example demonstrates the effectiveness of the developed techniques.


Objective To investigate the effect and myocardial protection of combination of L-carnitine and Trimetazidine on ischemic cardiomyopathy patients.Methods The 234 patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and heart failure were chosen and randomly divided into two groups(each n = 117).The patients in control group were given routine treatment and the patients in therapy group were give L-carnitine 3.0 g per day intravenous drip and trimetazidine 20 mg per time,3 times/d orally,above the routine treatment.Echocardiography was performed and left ventricular end diastolic diameter(LVEDD),left ventricular end systolic diameter(LVESD)and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)were detected before and after treatment.The concentrations of creatin kinase MB(CK-MB),troponin I(TnI),heart fatty acid-binding protein(H-FABP)and brain natriuretic peptide(BNP)were detected before and after treatment.Results Compared to the control group,the heart functions of the patients in therapy group were remarkably improved,and the plasma levels of TNI,H-FABP and BNP was significantly decreased(P0.001).Conclusion Combination therapy of L-carnitine and trimetazidine can effectively improve the heart function and protect the myocardium of ischemic cardiomyopathy.


Intelligent transportation systems are often required to estimate their ego state globally while matching their trajectory to the motion of an object of interest (OoI). For example, industrial robots need to synchronize their motion to the trajectory of an OoI to perform visual inspection task in motion. For that, the ego state has to be estimated both globally and relatively to the OoI. In this work, a pose graph method is proposed, which holistically solves the global and relative state estimation. We demonstrate through closed-loop software-in-the-loop simulation that under ideal noise parameter settings, the proposed approach provides comparable performance to that of a Kalman filter, which is proven to be optimal under such conditions. Furthermore, it is shown that the proposed approach is more robust to inaccurate noise parameters than a Kalman filter. Finally, it is shown by experimental validation that the overall procedure performs effectively on a real robot.


The most widely spread operating system today, Microsoft Windows 2000, does not have enough built-in protection against malicious code, malware. Windows 2000, like many other operating systems, cannot detect malware and stop it from executing. This has lead to the situation that Windows need to be "patched" with additional protection mechanisms, such as antivirus programs and personal firewalls. This thesis shows that the protection software used today is not sufficient and that new solutions are needed to protect computer integrity. Today we have an unacceptable situation where the antivirus manufacturers always are one step behind the virus producers. The damage is already done by some new malware before the antivirus manufacturers can start producing a response to the new threat. The tests conducted in this thesis shows that the protection offered by most antivirus programs are limited to known threats. They cannot discover malicious code that they do not have signatures for in their definition files. The test also shows that personal firewalls cannot function without human interaction. They will ask the user if certain programs are allowed to connect to the Internet. This is not a good idea since there are trojans that can appear as other programs, such as the Internet Explorer. To show that the current protection software, antivirus programs and personal firewalls, is insufficient we used so-called "anti-protection trojans". The purpose of these trojans is to disable the installed protection and to let the attacker gain control. When the trojans were tested against computers with antivirus programs and personal firewalls they could in most cases disable the protection. Alternative solutions, such as computerized digital immune defence systems and Microsoft's criticized project Next Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB), where Digital Rights Management (DRM) is one part, are discussed as potential cures against the problem with malware. Fausi Qattan holds B.Sc. degree in Systems Analysis from Lund University – Sweden. He has been working in the IT field since 1987. Fredrik Thernelius holds M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. He has worked with system development since 1999.


Mobile agent systems employ a number of security features to address the various threats. Despite these mechanisms they do have to make certain assumptions for the trustfulness of other entities within the agent system. This paper intends to present the ways in which mobile agent trust models address specific threat scenarios, by comparing the behavior of four major mobile agent platforms. The conclusions drawn are then used to point out deficiencies of current technology and highlight issues that need to be addressed by future research.


Exceptional feature of the Physical Education study program in Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences (LUES) is teaching of a multitude of various sports movements and actions. During this educational process, students receive teaching of active sport motions of each sport in line with the theoretical knowledge. Permanent educational evaluation of sport skills basing on special tests provides objective information about effectiveness of the study program. The aim of the work was to establish sport skills and physical activeness of the second year Physical Education students of Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences. The investigated subjects were the second year Physical Education students of Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences (n = 62): female (n = 17) and male (n = 45). The applied research methods: 1. Questionnaire. 2. Anthropometry. 3. Fitness testing. 4. Tenzodynamometry. 5. Mathematical statistics. Fitness testing: the following motor skills of the students were established: female students: standing long jump – 2.06 ± 0.04 m, standing triple jump – 5.82 ± 0.10 m, 30 m running at run-up – 4.34 ± 0.05 s, 30 m running at the first stride – 5.10 ± 0.06 s, 800 m running – 3.04 ± 0.04 min, cross-country running (1 000 m) – 3.35 ± 0.24 min, sit-and-reach – 16.79 ± 2.40 cm, 100 m running – 15.33 ± 0.99 s; male students: standing long jump – 2.54 ± 0.03 m, standing triple jump – 7.19 ± 0.09 m, 30 m running at run-up – 3.73 ± 0.03 s, 30 m running at the first stride – 4.45 ± 0.03 s, 1500 m running – 5.10 ± 0.15 min, cross-country running (3 000 m) – 9.50 ± 0.48 min, sit-and-reach – 9.11 ± 1.42 cm, 100 m running – 13.14 ± 0.80 s. Tenzodynamometry: female students' take-off duration is 0.20 ± 0.01 s, body movement speed – 2.31 ± 0.05 m/sec, total body mass centre route during the jump – 0.42 ± 0.02 m, take-off force – 1893.1 ± 119.29 N, relative power – 28.95±0.97 W/kg; male students' take-off duration 0.25 ± 0.01 s, body movement speed – 2.84 ± 0.04 m/s, total body mass centre route during the jump – 0.63±0.02 m, take-off force – 2263.67 ± 56.09 N, relative power – 33.02 ± 0.59 W/kg. Total weekly physical activeness of the female students is 43.50 ± 3.70 hours, while for the male students it makes 35.73 ± 1.83 hours. In average, female students spend 10.81 ± 1.46 hours and male students – 9.24 ± 0.63 hours for their physical training sessions and workouts. Active free time for the female students makes 8.69 ± 1.27 hours and 5.99 ± 0.60 hours for the male ones. Mobility occupies 24.00 ± 2.92 hours for the female students and 20.50 ± 1.53 hours for the male students. Duration of the male students' activeness in training sessions and workouts is of positive impact on their results of 1 500 m running (r = 0.42, p < 0.05), 100 m running (r = –0.34, p < 0.05) and 3 000 m running (r = –0.50, p < 0.01). Keywords: students of Physical Education, physical activeness, anthropometric indices, motor skills. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.15823/sm.2017.14


Salmonellosis is a leading bacterial cause of foodborne illness, and numerous Salmonella enterica serovars have been responsible for foodborne outbreaks. In the United States outbreaks are often linked to poultry and poultry‐related products. The prevalence of Salmonella serovar Infantis has been increasing in poultry processing facilities over the past few years and in 2018 was identified as the causative agent for a large multistate outbreak linked to raw chicken. CRISPR‐typing is a subtyping approach based on PCR and the sequencing of two Salmonella loci, CRISPR1 and CRISPR2. CRISPR‐typing was used to interrogate 138 recent (2018–2019) isolates and genomes of ser. Infantis. Results show that the CRISPR elements are remarkably conserved in this serovar. The most conserved spacers, and those also unique to ser. Infantis, were used as targets to develop a ser. Infantis‐specific qPCR assay. This assay was able to detect ser. Infantis in mixed serovar cultures of Salmonella, down to 0·1% of the population, highlighting the utility of this molecular approach in improving surveillance sensitivity for this important food safety pathogen.


In this study, a fixed‐time adaptive cooperative controller by a self‐structuring neural network is proposed, and actuator faults are considered for multi‐robot systems. First, a novel fixed‐time leader state observer is developed to estimate the state information of the leader and pass on to other followers without measuring the leader's velocity. Second, a fixed‐time cooperative controller is designed to achieve fast response and high precision. Third, a fixed‐time convergent self‐structuring neural network is designed to improve the approximation accuracy affected by system uncertainties and actuator faults. A new neuronal splitting strategy is designed to avoid excessive computational burden caused by too many neurons. Next, the Lyapunov stability theorem is employed to demonstrate that the whole error closed‐loop system can globally converge to a small region around zero in a fixed time. Finally, a simulation example on multi‐robot systems shows that the proposed fixed‐time adaptive cooperative controller is able to obtain satisfactory performances in the presence of uncertainties from external disturbances, actuator faults and other causes.


Entomopathogenic nematodes are being used on a large scale as an alternative to chemical control of agricultural pests. The most used genera for this purpose are Heterorhabditis and Steinernema, in which species identification is difficult and time consuming. In this work, the main objective was to assess the utility of esterase phenotypes to identify entomopathogenic nematode species. The results revealed that the esterase phenotypes can be used to differentiate the genera. Two esterase phenotypes were characterized, one for each entomopathogenic nematode genus. Other isoenzimes should be evaluated in order to provide a faster and more reliable and fast method for species identification.


Objective To investigate the effect and influence of nursing behavior on treatment for severe acute pancreatitis(SAP) patients with real time intensive glucose control.Methods From July 2010 to July 2011 there were 15 patients with SAP who underwent intensive glucose control.We retrospectively analyzed the nursing methods and key points of 24-hour real-time continuous glucose monitoring.Results Fifteen patients successfully completed the clinical study of intensive glucose control.A total of 78.3% of the patients were in the target blood glucose ranged from 6.1 to 8.3 mmol/L,and no serious complications occurred.Conclusion Real-time continuous glucose monitoring and strict implementation of intensive glucose control program plus featured nursing procedures are effective and safe for intensive blood glucose control in patients with SAP.


About 200 million people suffer annually from natural disasters. The economic damage of these events amounts to billions of dollars. In circumstances where more than 50% of the world's population lives in cities, naturally arises challenge related to implementation of new methods and means aimed at enhancing the capacity of authorities to ensure the safety of human capital, economic values and natural resources. Resilience of cities, regarded as the ability to keep effective functioning during and after natural disasters, is determined by the many criteria. The most important of it is the correct organizational and planning structure of the settlement that meets the Sustainable Development Goals. The presence of a completed scientifically grounded and rational greening of the settlement system will allow for the main range of ecosystem services - from global, sanitary and hygienic and medico-social to scientific, educational, cultural and aesthetic. There are 6 main associated with the objects of greening and plantings subgroups of city resilience criteria. 8 main directions of work of the governing bodies are proposed to achieve the goals of the development of settlements in accordance with the principles of enhancing the viability. 8 main directions of governing bodies work are proposed to achieve the goals of the development of settlements in accordance with the principles of enhancing the city resilience.


We theoretically consider the possibility of generating nonlinear transverse patterns in an optomechanical system in which the mechanical element is a microstructured oscillating end-mirrror consisting in an array of weakly-coupled micromirrors. While in the limit of large number of micro-mirrors we naturally recover the continuous model that we recently studied in [Ruiz-Rivas et al., Phys. Rev. A 93, 033850 (2015)], we pay special numerical attention to the opposite limit, showing that the structures predicted with the continuous model can be observed for a number of micro-mirrors as low as ten or less. This opens new venues for experimental approaches to the subject.


The study aimed to analyze some of the effects of the prophetic educational method on the Companions, in light of the texts of the Prophetic Sunnah. The researcher used the descriptive and analytical method of research and applied document analysis to highlight the educational approach of the Holy Prophet. The research showed that the prophetic educational approach infused firm faith in the bilateral relations between him and Muslims on the one hand, and among the Muslim community on the other hand. The research addressed several variables related to the significant qualities in the prophetic education that resulted in creating the integrated character in the companions. The research findings show that the prophetic educational curriculum brought about a comprehensive and profound revolution in the companion's era based on various methods of education that led to the psychological and educational success of the era. The study concluded after analyzing the method of derivation and analysis of the prophetic educational thought that the principles of positive human construction can be adopted in the multiplicity of methods of prophetic education and the diversity of its goals.


For building design, fire safety is the second important key requirement (according to European legislation). The engineering approach of fire safety use, among other things, the concept of fire design, as a model that estimates the severity of a fire developed in the conditions of a specified space; this should capture the reality of the possible danger. The present paper is a review of the procedures to establish an appropriate fire model for a known situation, specifying the parameters values that define the heat flow variation with time, procedures based on the rate of heat release (RHR), depending on the type of the analysed building.


Wuling mountain area includes border regions of Hunan province,Chongqin city,Hubei and Guizhou province,over 40 counties and cities,covers about 100 000km2,has a population of 10 000 000 ,where the ecological evironment is advantageous to planting tea,the history of producing tea is long,the famous quality tea is created increasingly,the tea culture of the minority nationalites is rich in connotation.Seizing the opportunity of the large-scale development of western China,and breaking the restriction of administrative area,foster tap enterprises and combine tea industry of this area,which is significant to develop China large-scale tea industry.


Introduction Requirement for blood transfusion in the injured paediatric civilian population is rare. Therefore, a substantial evidence base underpinning damage control resuscitation (DCR) in paediatric patients is lacking. Published outcome data originating from Iraq and Afghanistan offer a unique opportunity to study large cohorts of children who received DCR. It is hoped that by collating the data, this review will inform pre-deployment medical training and support the development of paediatric specific DCR guidelines, which can be used in all trauma environments. Methodology A comprehensive search of the literature was conducted using online databases, grey literature searching and screening of reference lists. Papers discussing blood product, crystalloid or tranexamic acid (TXA) administration in paediatric patients injured in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001to present were included. Results Eighteen papers were included – all were retrospective studies of data from military trauma databases. Most children that received massive transfusion were male (73.4%), injured in Afghanistan (69.9%) by explosives (60.4%) with a median age of 9 years. A definition of paediatric massive transfusion of 40 ml/kg of all blood products within 24 h was developed. Massive transfusion rates were high (15.7% of children). Whole blood administration occurred in 4% of patients requiring blood transfusions. Low crystalloid volumes in combination with balanced blood product ratios were associated with improved survival, along with the use of whole blood and TXA. Conclusion The review offers insight into the paediatric population likely to require DCR and the optimal DCR strategies to be used in their management.


Management of high-density suburban deer populations requires knowledge of survival and movement to predict population trends. However, natural and human-induced influences on survival and movement of suburban deer are poorly understood. Therefore, we marked 208 (60 bucks, 148 does) white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from forest preserves in Chicago, Illinois, USA (1994-1998). Seasonal and annual survivorship was >0.80 for 114 does and 13 bucks. Deer-auto collisions produced the highest mortality rates, 0.10 (95% CI 0.06 to 0.14) and 0.17 (95% CI 0.0 to 0.37). Spring dispersal for does was 7% (3 of 41) for fawns and 6% (5 of 83) for yearlings and adults; and for bucks it was 50% (8 of 16) for fawns and 7% (2 of 30) for yearlings and adults. All dispersals were <9 km, except for I parous doe that moved 33.9 km. Doe home ranges averaged 51 (95% CI 40.5 to 61.5), 26 (95% CI 22.0 to 30.0), and 32 (95% CI 19.6 to 44.4) ha for winter-spring, summer, and fall, respectively. A priori, we developed a set of 10 logistic regression models for suburban doe survival relative to home range size and traffic exposure indices. Using Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC), the best models included covariates reflecting home range size and traffic exposure. Inference across a ≥90% confidence set of survival models indicated substantial spatial heterogeneity in mortality risk for suburban does. High survival and philopatry by suburban deer apparently contribute to their overabundance in metropolitan areas.


It has been found that the interaction between orbital vehicles and the ambient environment produces a contaminant cloud which can cause deletrious effects to spacecraft materials and equipment, create increased radiative backgrounds that would interfere with observational instrumentation, and enhance surface charging. A brief overview of the phenomena that produce the contaminant cloud is presented along with a review of physical data required to characterize it. Laboratory techniques which can be utilized to provide the required data are described. In particular, several oxygen beam apparati are discussed.


Summary form only given. Single wire experiments have been performed on Cornell's new Low Current Pulser 3 (LCP3) which consisted of a 220 nF capacitor charged to 20 kV. The capacitor and wire holder were connected in series through a switch and external, variable inductor used to control the current rise-time. This external series inductance was adjustable in five steps from 0.2 /spl mu/H to 2 /spl mu/H allowing the current rise time to be varied from 5 A/nsec to 50 A/nsec. Each wire was heated through melting and vaporizing phases by the current pulse and began expanding. Energy deposition, reproducibility and expansion rates were measured as functions of the current rise rate. These results indicate better energy deposition and higher expansion rates with faster current rise rates. The connection method and sign of the radial electric field at the surface of the wire were also varied. Preliminary experiments with copper indicate that energy deposition becomes independent of current rise rate with better wire-electrode connections.


ABSTRACT Solubility and density profiles for 3-aminosalicylic acid (3-ASA) in the mixed solvents of 2-propanol and water is determined by a shake-flask method at 293.2–313.2 K. The obtained numerical data is correlated by some mathematical models such as van't Hoff, the mixture response surface, Jouyban–Acree, Jouyban–Acree–van't Hoff and the modified Wilson models. The accuracy of the used models is investigated by calculation of the mean relative deviations for back-calculated data. Moreover, apparent thermodynamic properties such as standard enthalpy, Gibbs free energy and entropy of the 3-ASA dissolution process are computed and discussed. Further, 3-ASA is preferentially solvated by water in almost all the aqueous mixtures.


Minerva heard about a 29 year old woman who presented to an orthopaedic clinic with an injured left foot. The injury was sustained when she jumped off the ground during an interactive game on a Sony PlayStation 2 Dance Mat. She had marked bruising and swelling, and x rays showed a minimally displaced fracture of the base of the fifth metatarsal. When Sony released the Dance Mat, it was part of a strategy to get couch potatoes on to their feet. This patient is now set for four to six weeks of immobility.


We analyzed the fidelity of the quantum state transfer (QST) from a photon-polarization qubit to an electron-spin-polarization qubit in a semiconductor quantum dot, with special attention to the exchange interaction between the electron and the simultaneously created hole. In order to realize a high-fidelity QST we had to separate the electron and hole as soon as possible, since the electron-hole exchange interaction modifies the orientation of the electron spin. Thus, we propose a double-dot structure to separate the electron and hole quickly, and show that the fidelity of the QST can reach as high as 0.996 if the resonant tunneling condition is satisfied.


Medication reconciliation by pharmacists in the emergency department (ED), a role discussed by various authors,[1][1],[2][2] is a tangible means to justify a pharmacy position. A major concern, however, is how a pharmacist can balance medication reconciliation with his or her other responsibilities


(Note: With the exception of the correction of typographical or spelling errors that could be a source of ambiguity, letters and reports are not edited. The original formatting of letters and referee reports may not be reflected in this compilation.) Thank you again for submitting your work to Molecular Systems Biology. We have now heard back from the three referees whom we asked to evaluate your manuscript. As you will see from the reports below, the referees find the topic of your study of potential interest. However, they raise substantial concerns on your work, which, I am afraid to say, preclude its publication in its present form. The major concerns raised by the reviewers refer to the need to discriminate between the causes and consequences of the reported metabolic alterations. Additional investigations are therefore required to convincingly demonstrate that the metabolic alterations depend on K-Ras and do not merely reflect indirect effects and to provide more functional evidence that the observed decoupling "supports cancer cell growth". The reviewers also raise additional important methodological concerns with regard to the flux analysis and transcriptome analysis. If you feel you can satisfactorily deal with these points and those listed by the referees, you may wish to submit a revised version of your manuscript. Systems Biology will publish online a Review Process File to accompany accepted manuscripts. When preparing your letter of response, please be aware that in the event of acceptance, your cover letter/point-by-point document will be included as part of this File, which will be available to the scientific community. More information about this initiative is available in our Instructions to Authors. If you have any questions about this initiative, please contact the editorial office email@example.com.


"Myth: A Frozen Tale" is a VR short film created at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Inspired by the folklore of "Frozen", the film is a fairy tale within a fairy tale which explores the past, present, and future of the elemental spirits of "Frozen 2". The result is a visual poem which combines Disney Animation's heritage of 2D animation, music, and real-time technology in novel ways. To create an engaging, emotional experience on par with the initial designs, our team was presented with a number of technical and procedural challenges. This is the studio's first use of Unreal Engine, so a significant amount of experimentation was necessary to find the workflow and VR integration techniques needed to achieve the high level of production quality we strive for. In this talk, the team will explore many of these aspects of the production process. Using two case studies, we will discuss the design, challenges, collaborative workflows, and technological execution needed to bring "Myth: A Frozen Tale" to life.


Injection molded long fiber thermoplastic components are being used in recent days as a viable replacement for metals in many applications .Present work focus on the effect of fiber length on the short-term flexural creep performance of fiber reinforced thermoplastic polypropylene. Unreinforced polypropylene, 20 wt % short and 20 wt % long glass fiber reinforced polypropylene materials was injection-molded into flexural test specimens. Short-term flexural creep tests were performed for 2 h duration on molded specimen at various stress levels with the aid of in-house developed flexural creep fixture. Experimental creep performance of polypropylene composites for 2 h is utilized to predict the creep performance with the aid of four parameter HRZ model and compared with 24 h experimental creep data. Creep strain was found to be increased with respect to time for all the test materials and found to be sensitive with respect to the stress level. Test results also revealed that long fiber reinforced thermoplastic material possessed enhanced creep resistance over their counter parts and HRZ model is sufficient enough to predict creep performance of polypropylene composites over wide range of stress.


The law in England and regulatory standards The paternalistic model of `doctor knows best ́ has been quite rightly replaced by one of shared decision-making, in which the doctor provides expert knowledge and interpretation, enabling the patient tomake decisions about their care [1]. Still today, most surgical patients first meet an anaesthetist on the day of their operation. A pre-operative discussion takes place that must include an explanation of risk as part of the content process. There are several regulatory and professional bodies that offer guidance on consent which are relevant to the pre-operative interview between the patient and their anaesthetist. The General Medical Council sets out seven key principles for considering the consent process. These include all patients having the right to be involved in decisions around their care and that time and support must be given to facilitate this process [2]. In the Royal College of Anaesthetists' Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthesia Services, the importance of timely and accurate patient information provision is highlighted as of the upmost importance [3]. The Association of Anaesthetists' most recent guidance on consent for anaesthesia (published January 2017) [4] was revised to take into account the Montgomery ruling [5], emphasising the necessity to individualise consent to account for what each individual patient would wish to know regarding the options and related risks of anaesthesia. In contrast to the previous Bolam principle [6], the Montgomery ruling puts the patient at the centre of the process. The necessarily individualised approach places extra emphasis on providing an opportunity for each patient to have an unhurried conversation with an anaesthetist, including discussing their potential anaesthetic options. Consent should follow a BRAN approach: explaining the Benefits and Risks of a proposed treatment and the Alternatives, including the option of doingNothing. The challenge with this approach is that the clinician must explore what the patient in front of themwould want to know, considering their lifestyle, occupation and aspirations to help guide the discussion. For example, formost patients, detailed information about the risks of arterial cannulation is not necessary as these are usually minor, uncommon (<1%) and of little consequence [7]; however, for a concert pianist, where even the slightest change of function could be catastrophic, it clearly warrants highlighting. Similarly, discussion of rare vocal cord dysfunctionmay becomemore relevant if the patient is a professional singer. There is no level of risk that necessitates discussion or omission. Discussions must include `material ́ risks; those that would


Safety is a top priority of federal agencies, rail transit agencies, railroads, and the public. Acquisition of a new safety-critical or vital rail system requires a thorough specification of functional, operational, maintenance, performance, and program requirements. A comprehensive System Safety Program is required to be implemented and safety quantified for the entire system. Once an acceptable level of system safety has been achieved it must be maintained for the life of that system. What must be considered in the specification for a safety-critical or vital system to be implemented to operate as an overlay to an existing safety-critical or vital system? This paper will look the challenges of specifying the requirements for implementing and verifying system safety of the new vital functions while maintaining the safety of the underlying system. This paper looks at applying Systems Engineering to specifying a specific type of positive train control (PTC) implementation, as an overlay to an existing railroad.


Closed-end multi-wall carbon nanotubes, which contain an encapsulated aqueous multi-phase fluidunder high pressure, have been produced by hydrothermal synthesis. These nanotubes are leak-tight by virtue of holding the fluid at the high vacuum of a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and can be used as a testplatform for unique in-situ nanofluidic experiments in TEM. They form an experimental apparatus, which is at least two orders of magnitude smaller than the smallest capillaries used in fluidic experiments so far. Excellent wettability of the carbon tube walls by the liquid and a dynamic behavior similar to that in micro-capillaries demonstrates the possibility of use of nanoscale (


The euro interest rate swap market is one of the largest and most liquid financial markets in the world. Indeed, the swap curve is emerging as the preeminent benchmark yield curve in euro financial markets, against which even some government bonds are now often referenced. However, owing to the current structure of the swap market, liquidity is not as robust to market stress as in the larger government securities and futures markets.


Health Technology Assessment developed out of pharmacoeconomy; although it is routinely used for all health technologies incl. therapeutic interventions, preventive measures etc., its methodology fits best for drugs. Medical devices have their specificities that affect significantly all processess, where they are involved. The differences between medical devices and drugs from the perspective of HTA have led to a special methodology used by NICE. However, the main challenge remains to be how to calculate and express the effects (outcomes) of a particular device. The generally used QALY concept is not much suitable for medical devices, as they frequently do not directly affect the quality of life and/or life years of the pacient. The efficiency of a device depends not only on the device itself, but also how it is used (the skill and experience of the surgeon, organization of work on the clinic, etc.). Its effect can be lower radiation, more comfort for the clinician or the patient, better image resolution. We recommend to calculate standard CEA, where the effects are evaluated by means of a combination of value engineering methods and multiple-criteria decision analysis, while costs are evaluted directly (ideally by the micro-costing method). The paper discusses specific features of medical devices, and provides example of a solution.


Abstract This paper includes an analysis of a fragment of Cicero's address in pro Balbo 24.54, which contains interesting, yet highly laconic information regarding one of the leges de repetundis – i.e. lex Servilia Caepionis. The analysis of the fragment led to the determination that the basic purpose of issuing that act was to cover the issue of changing the personal composition of judges sitting on the de reptundis tribunal. Apart from that, it seems that the genesis of the institution of divinatio can also be found in that statute.


In this work world outlook-theoretical causation of «lifes philosophy» of F.Nietzsche and postmodern theory of culture is analyzed. J.Habermass point of view on the Nietzsches role in the change-over from modern to postmodern. Nietzsche showed a system crisis of European culture and put into scientific using ideas of crisis. Being based on Nietzsches crisis theory postmodern discourse keeps on theorization at the same direction.


The extreme learning machine (ELM) is a new method for using single hidden layer feed-forward networks with a much simpler training method. While conventional kernel-based classifiers are based on a single kernel, in reality, it is often desirable to base classifiers on combinations of multiple kernels. In this paper, we propose the issue of multiple-kernel learning (MKL) for ELM by formulating it as a semi-infinite linear programming. We further extend this idea by integrating with techniques of MKL. The kernel function in this ELM formulation no longer needs to be fixed, but can be automatically learned as a combination of multiple kernels. Two formulations of multiple-kernel classifiers are proposed. The first one is based on a convex combination of the given base kernels, while the second one uses a convex combination of the so-called equivalent kernels. Empirically, the second formulation is particularly competitive. Experiments on a large number of both toy and real-world data sets (including high-magnification sampling rate image data set) show that the resultant classifier is fast and accurate and can also be easily trained by simply changing linear program.


It"s been over 60 years since the Korean war. As time goes on, North and South are changing. The man who experienced Korean war got old or passed away. This generation who have never experienced the war and heard about before are living in this land. They don"t feel the need to unify north and south and they are living under the belief which the peaceful life last forever. However, is it alright to live like this? In this project, Emotions which experienced Korean war and lived hard through the period of recovery give a shape and make a space. Seeing these spaces meditate the past and give a time which understand rightly the present to visitor. Futhermore, The present we face. have an optional alternative plan about future and the space warn the future which not far out of the past.


The reproductive biology of the sand dollar Peronella lesueuri was studied between 2009 and 2011 in Cockburn Sound, a large coastal embayment in south-western Australia. Individuals of P. lesueuri did not display sexual size-dimorphism, and the population was found to have a sex ratio of 1:1. Maturity occurred over the range of 80–115 mm with all sand dollars larger than 115 mm having distinct gonads. Monthly histological analysis of gonads and changes in oocyte proportions over time indicated that P. lesueuri has an annual reproductive cycle; gametogenesis occurs in spring and spawning in summer. Differences in the rate of gametogenesis between 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 may have been influenced by higher temperatures experienced in 2010/2011. P. lesueuri have large ova (mean = 210 μm), which suggests the species has lecithotrophic larval development.


Abstract Predation on larvae and pupae of the soldier fly Inopus rubriceps was studied in Southeast Queensland and New Zealand grasslands. Larvae were killed by invertebrate predators when artificially 'planted' in the field. Wireworm predation influenced larval survival in New Zealand, but not in Queensland. Pupae were vulnerable to predation in both countries. A relatively constant proportion (74%) of pupae were killed at each of seven densities between 350 pupae/m2 and 10 000 pupae/m2 which were planted in grassland. Pupal survival was higher in plots designed to exclude invertebrate predators than in exposed plots. Larval density was subsequently three times higher in predator exclusion plots than exposed plots. Similar trends were indicated in unreplicated large-plot experiments (three in South-eastern Queensland, one in New Zealand) where predator numbers were reduced by insecticide treatment. Predation on pupae and perhaps larvae by invertebrates (probably Carabidae, Staphylinidae and larval Elater...


The present article of investigation the study to teachers of high school studies during the partial second one, at two educational particular institutions of different socioeconomic level, at Manta's locality, for the sake of examining the dynamics of educative communication and the learning at the classroom. The telling style and resources took in account member themselves like element of study psychological, didactic and of oratory, by means of a guide of aulic observation that you allowed to reflect the aspects that would be able to prove to be precise in the educational efficacious and telling process. Enter the obtained results you pretended to be a significant reach of the telling processes at both educational institutions between the reputable levels, and regular customer evidently, principally. The results revealed the pertinence of this study expressed in the benefit of the students of high school, since the development of the comunicative abilities is indispensable so much in the social, educational and cultural space, furthermore, in his next stage of a superior study.


TO THE EDITOR—We thank Leow for his correspondence [1] in which he recognized the significance of our recent work [2]. We also welcome the constructive comments he provided concerning the limitations of our study. In our study, we focused on the in vitro cell line susceptibility of the novel coronavirus, now renamed "Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus" (MERS-CoV) [3]. We agree with Leow that the results from studies of in vitro cell line tropism may not directly correlate with the in vivo behavior of the virus. Our observation that MERS-CoV replicates more efficiently than does SARSCoV within in vitro human tissues is supported by the findings in subsequent ex vivo culture systems that showed that MERS-CoV productively replicates in both human bronchial and lung tissues, as compared with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV, which only replicates in lung tissues [4]. Furthermore, an animal model using rhesus macaques for MERSCoV infection was recently developed and showed histopathological evidence of acute localized to widespread lung consolidation in all infected animals, resulting in clinical disease [5]. Detailed histopathological examination of patients with MERS-CoV infection would be important for the confirmation of these changes in humans. Although dysfunction of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis has not been well described in patients with MERS-CoV, some patients did develop hyponatremia, which was possibly related to a syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion [3]. We agree that further studies on the predilection of


THIS ARTICLE STRESSES THE NEED FOR SELF CONTROL OF HIS OWN PRODUCTION BY THE TECHNICIAN RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. THE MAIN AIMS OF QUALITY CONTROL (SYSTEMATIC CONTROL OF THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS AND SURVEILLANCE OF THE RAW MATERIALS) ARE DISCUSSED. THE MANUFACTURING CONTROL MUST COMPRISE A CONTROL OF RAW MATERIALS, OF SEMI-FINISHED PRODUCTS AND OF THE FINISHED PRODUCTS. LASTLY THE CONTROL OF SELF CONTROL AIMS AT CARRYING OUT A FORM OF CONTROL INDEPENDENT FROM THAT OF THE MANUFACTURER TO CONFIRM THE RESULTS OBTAINED BY THE LATTER.


Industrial and laboratory flotation copper concentrates were subjected to separation into density fractions by means of heavy liquids in the form of sodium polytungstate aqueous solutions. For two samples, three densities factions were created, however in different density ranges. The density fractions were analyzed to establish the content of copper, lead, silver and organic carbon. The size of particles in both samples was similar (90-95% −0.071 mm). It was found that the lightest density fractions −2.45 and −2.0 g/cm3 still contained sulfide minerals scattered in the organic carbon bearing particles. Removal of the lightest density fraction (−2.0 g/cm3 ) from the industrial concentrate samples led to considerable reduction of organic carbon (92%) and increasing its quality from 13 to 28% Cu. The mineralogical analysis of the heavy liquid separation products showed that most sulfide minerals were evenly dissemination in the heaviest density fractions with the recovery of 95-98%. The lightest density fraction of −2.0 g/cm3 , being the richest in organic carbon, contained approximately 3% of unliberated sulfide minerals.


Pe rf o rm a n c e R e s e a r c h 1 4 ( 3 ) , p p . 5 4 6 4 © Ta y l o r & F ra n c i s L td 2 0 0 9 D O I : 1 0 . 1 0 8 0 / 1 3 5 2 8 1 6 0 9 0 3 5 1 9 5 1 8 The object of our study is to outline the particular nature of dramaturgical practice in media art, which has up to the present time been incorporated into the field of fine arts. In order to study Bill Viola's recent productions and the process of artistic creation from the work's genesis to its concrete representation, we need to consider the aesthetic and ideological choices made by the artist as a director together with the actors and his troupe. A large proportion of the themes and sources of inspiration that can be found in Bill Viola's work are recorded in his notebooks. They contain a collection of ideas, reflections and obsessions in the form of drawings, storyboards and sketches. Viola uses the notebook as a kind of sketch diary, which accompanies and acts as a witness to the genesis of his works. A complex web of cultural references emerges from these notes. They range from mystical Oriental and European literature to Ancient Hindu and Buddhist texts and Zen, from artistic practices in the 1970s to experimental cinema and ambient music. In his work, art and life, ethics and aesthetics are interrelated, since Bill Viola believes in the pragmatic function of art, in its ability to modify people's existence, as the faithful do when participating in a ritual or looking at a sacred image. Art must contribute to a deeper self-awareness and sense of inner life through the purification of the individual. Seen in this light his art is political because it regenerates and renews the need for utopias, faith and generosity and opposes cynicism and the commercialization of the spiritual act. Bill Viola's The Passions cycle and his impressive installation Going Forth By Day (2002), among others, are evidence of a desire for experimentation that led to significant changes in the artist's creative process. Déserts (1994) and The Greeting (1995) mark the starting point of this transformation. Such efforts draw attention to the synergies that have been created between painting, film and the performing arts within the hybrid and liminal territories of video and multimedia installations. This is no novelty, because installations have been well-known artistic practices since the 1970s and are an expression of the tendency in the fine arts to go beyond the boundaries of space and incorporate a dimension of time, which creates a sense of 'theatricality', as suggested by the American critic Michael Fried in 1967.1 A€similar process of hybridization has effected all the arts, with the result that in the new millennium the specific characteristics of each discipline seem to have disappeared, causing theatre to become real-time film (as in the Big Art Group), film to become installation (as in Douglas Gordon) and the production process of installation to acquire the traits of performance and film. In The Passions the artist follows a productive process similar to the one used in cinema, because he chooses the cast and deals with the interpretation in the acting, builds the set and decides on the costumes, the make-up and the lights. The shots in the single frames are very different from the long ones typical of video. The On the Dramaturgical Aspects of Bill Viola's Multi-media Installations


Experimental verification of the soil model as reported in the previous paper was made by long-time observations of evaporation,ground surface temperature and soil water content.The first observation of evaporation from a sand was performed using a lysimeter with a diameter of 0.46 m,for a period of 416 days at Sendai.Total amount of observed evaporation is 583 mm and that of calculated one is 616 mm.The difference between the calculated and observed result is •} 0.3 mm d-1 for a five-days mean evaporation,and that is •}1•Ž for a daily mean ground surface temperature. The second observation was carried out at a field of bare soil ground consisting of a fine sand called Narita sand, for a period of 23 days at Chiba.The soil model well simulates the observed evapotation and ground surface temperature.Total amount of observed evaporation is 45 mm,and that of calculated one is 51 mm.


Bretschneidera sinensis is a kind of national first-grade protected plants and has important scientific value in studying angiosperm's phylogeny,paleogeography and paleoclimate.The cpDNA-PCR reaction is the basis of determinting the phylogenetic classification of B.sinensis at the molecular level.The concentrations of Mg2+,dNTPs,primers and template DNA affecting the cpDNAPCR that will affect the amplified reaction were optimized to establish the cpDNA-PCR for B.sinensis,and the suitable non-coding sequences and primers for B.sinensis on molecular phylogeography were screened.The optimum 30 μL reaction system contained 10×PCR buffer,2.9 mmol Mg2+,120 mmol dNTPs,11 μmol primers,30 ng template DNA and 3 units Taq polymerase.The 3 pairs of primers that are appropriate for the geographical study of molecular genealogy of B.sinensis and their corresponding annealing temperatures were screened out as followings: PipetB1411F-PipetD738R(52℃),psbA-trnHGUG(59℃),trnL-trnF(56℃).


Cytokinins have been associated with delaying or suppressing leaf senescence in plants. The objectives of this study were to determine whether the expression of theiptgene that encodes adenine isopentenyltransferase would delay leaf senescence induced by shade or heat stress in a perennial grass species. Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera cv. Penncross) was transformed with ipt isolated from agrobacterium (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) using two gene constructs (SAG12-ipt and HSP18-ipt) designed to activate cytokinin synthesis during shade or heat stress. Whole plants of nine SAG12-ipt transgenic lines and the nontransgenic control plants were incubated in darkness at 20 8C for 20 days. Chlorophyll content of all transgenic lines and the control line decreased after dark treatment, but the decline was less pronounced in transgenic lines. All transgenic lines had higher isopentenyladenine (iP/iPA) content than the control line after 20 days of treatment. In six of the transgenic lines, iP/iPA content remained the same or higher after dark treatment. Whole plants of nine HSP18-ipt transgenic lines and the control plants were incubated at 35 8C for 7 days. Chlorophyll and iP/iPA content declined in the control plants, but the nine transgenic lines had asignificantly higherconcentration of iP/iPAand were ableto maintainchlorophyll contentat the prestress level. Our results suggest that expression of SAG12-ipt or HSP18-ipt in creeping bentgrass resulted in increases in cytokinin production, which may have led to the delay and suppression of leaf senescence induced by shade or heat stress.


ABSTRACT Chronic liver disease when associated with impaired breakdown of sex steroids may result in hyperestrogenism, which, if unopposed by progesterone, represents a corpus carcinoma risk indica...


The intravenous administration of 1 mg of: cortisol, cortisone, estradiol or progesterone, or the infusion of 5 i.u./kg body weight/24h of thyroid stimulating hormone, had a facilitating effect upon fungus growth on the freshwater teleost Catostomus commersonii commersonii Lacépéde. The same dose (1 mg) of corticosterone or testosterone or adrenocorticotrophin (5 i.u./kg/24h) did not have this facilitating effect. The possible role of steroids in the mechanism of action of temperature in promoting infections in fish is discussed.


Radiation effects in oxides: as in metal alloys the accumulation of damage (fluence dependent) and the overlap of cascades (flux dependent) may produce substantial changes in the structure and microstructure. But: - Is radiation damage actually able to produce new phases not present in the P-T phase diagram or only "natural" polymorphs are observed? - Can we measure these modifications in an efficient way in ion irradiated samples? Examples illustrating material response to fluence dependent effects - ZrO2 system - UO2+x system


Abstract . This research was carried out to reveal 1) Is there an influence of the principal's leadership on teacher work motivation? 2) Is there an influence of school organizational culture on teacher work motivation? 3) Is there an influence of the principal's leadership on the culture of the school organization? 4) Is there an influence on the principal's leadership on the teacher's work motivation through the culture of the school organization ?. This research was conducted using a quantitative approach to path analysis with a total sample of 30 people consisting of school principals and teachers. Data was collected using a Likert scale model questionnaire. Data were analyzed using simple and multiple correlation and regression techniques. The results revealed that the four issues raised proved to be very influential and significant. This proves that work motivation is determined by leadership. Work motivation is also determined by organizational culture, organizational culture is determined by leadership.


In this paper,the author summarizes the research results on information architecture in recent years.Based on the above,general comments on some representative viewpoints of information architecture in recent 7 years are given from there aspects: achievements and apocalypse,problem and lack,discussion and brief summary.


EXCISION of the uterus, historically considered, is of ancient date. Soranos of Ephesus, in his book on Diseases of Women, ipublished a century before Christ, mentions the operation, but there can be no doubt that it was subsequently forgotten. -Coming to the present century, Langenbeck in 1813 successfully removed the whole uterus (by the abdomen) for cancer: followed by Sauter, of Constance, who in I822 had the first .successful vaginal extirpation for cancer. In the following ~years Blundell, R6camier, Siebold, Delpech, and others performed the operation, but with very little success, so that the -operation fell into disuse until I879, when Czerny successfully ,reintroduced it. Billroth, Mikulicz, Schroder, Freund, and others soon followed, and the operation now took its place amongst the established proceedings in surgery. Freund struck out a new path for himself by removing the -uterus by the abdomen. His mortality was, however, prohibitive (about 72 per cent.), and it has now been universally discarded for the vaginal operation, an operation which by improved technique and antisepsis has now been performed with a general mortality of io per cent., and, in the hands of especially skilled operators, such as Schr6der, Sanger, and Leopold, has even been reduced to between 4 and 5 per cent. Although the vaginal operation for the removal of the cancerous uterus is the one universally adopted at the present time, we occasionally meet with a small percentage of cases which are not to be dealt with by this method, owing either to the bulk of the uterus or to extreme narrowness of the vagina, or, as in the specimen which I am about to show you, from fixity from old peritonitis due to diseased appendages; fixity due to malignant infiltration would, of course, make any operation unjustifiable. During the last two years five such cases have come under my care, in which, removal by the vagina being practically impossible, I removed the cancerous uterus by the abdomen. All ithe patients recovered; four of these cases were suffering from epithelioma of the cervix; the fifth was a case of malignant degeneration of a uterine fibroid, the uterus being the size of a three-months' pregnancy, and the vagina extremely -narrow. The age of the oldest patient was 6o years, and the youngest 32. In the last case the patient had suffered for some five or six years from frequent attacks of pelvic peritonitis, originating primarily in a severe attack of septicmmia following abortion induced by herself with a knitting needle. I found the cervix stuffed with malignant growth (epithelioma), but movable, the Fallopian tubes being felt bimanually distended (pyosalpinx), and fixed high up by adhesions. The operation itself differs in no respect, except in minor detail, from that of total extirpation of the fibroid uterus, the broad ligaments being tied off, and the stumps, with the uterine arteries, turned into the vagina; drainage I consider absolutely necessary in these malignant cases. I prefer to operate in the Trendelenburg position, a position which renders the operation comparatively easy, and as a ligature material have abandoned silk for very stout catgut, ,specially prepared with ether, sublimate,and spirit of juniper, and have designed a special broad ligament needle which I have found very useful in this operation. With regard to the question of recurrence, two of these cases are absolutely free after twelve and nine months respectively, two died at the end of twelve months (one of deposit in the lungs, the other of local recurrence), one died at six months, apparently of growth in the lumbar glands pressing on the ureter. May we not ask, Do we go far enough in our methods of operating on these unfortunate cases? Why not open up the connective tissue of the pelvis, and thoroughly eradicate all infected glands, if any are found, with the contiguous tissue, as in cancer of the breast, where we do not confine ourselves to the removal of the infected organ, but thoroughly -clear out the axilla? This could only be properly carried out through the abdomen, but, with modern improvements as to


Kinesin, a kind of microtubule-dependent motor proteins responsible for active transport in animal cells, is identified and localized in mature sieve tubes of Apium graveolens, especially on sieve plates. On Western blot of phloem proteins, anti-kinesin antibodies specifically recognize the protein band with ATPase (adenosine triphos-phntase) activity Confocal laser scanning micrographs show that the anti-kinesin antibodies yield some fluorescent spots and filamentous structures in mature sieve tubes, especially label a layer of structure on sieve plate, and make the plate look like having a cap on it but with some fluorescent labeling anchored into the sieve pores. The kinesin is presumed to function as active "pump" for the long-distance transport of organic substances of phleom.


Tumors of peripheral nerves, both sensory and motor, constitute one of the most frequent types of generalized palpable subcutaneous neoplasms. Neurofibromatosis of the cutaneous and terminal nerve filaments is eponymically known as Recklinghausen's disease. Neurofibromas of similar histologic structure are frequently found involving the subcutaneous or deeper nerve trunks. They differ from the former group chiefly in their variability in size, deep location and infrequency of pedunculation. The case reported here is unusual because of the peculiar distribution of these benign tumors and because of the significant stigmas or sequels of their occurrence. REPORT OF A CASE History. —D. E., a white boy, aged 11, entered the clinic complaining of an overgrowth of the left side of the face, pain and partial blindness in the left eye and daily vertigo. His parents and grandparents were living and healthy. He was next to the oldest of five children, the youngest of


In this paper, a prey-predator-scavenger model is proposed and analyzed. It is assumed that the model considered the effect of disease on the prey. Firstly, the existence, uniqueness and boundedness of the solution of the model are discussed. Secondly, we studied the existence and local stability of all equilibrium points. Furthermore, some of the Sufficient conditions of the global stability of the positive equilibrium are established using suitable Lyapunov functions. Finally, those theoretical results are demonstrated with numerical simulations.


A spectral survey of a 200-square degree region surrounding the South Galactic Pole has disclosed a new carbon star which is not in the catalog of carbon stars prepared by Stephenson ( 1966 ). The spectrum of the star as it appears on a Kodak 103a-O Schmidt plate taken at the Mexican National Observatory at Tonantzintla, Septem-ber 2, 1965, is shown in Plate I. The dispersion is 280 A/mm at Hy.


There is provided a holder, LED and LED module system, comprising a base having a holder opening. LED array having a LED emitter can be positioned such that the LED transmitter is located in the aperture. Can be welded to the retainer comprises a surface of the contact pads on the LED array. Holder further comprises a pad electrically connected to the contacts. And the contact pads can be formed from the base portion inserted into the terminal settings. Integrated connector can include a base, which has integrated connector terminal contacts which extend.


High filtration efficiency is needed for protection against airborne high-toxic particulate matter such as bacteria, viruses, CWA liquid aerosols and radioactive fine particles. Filter media based on micro glass fibre is widely used in NBC filters. Polymer based nanofibre composites are new candidates for filter media with high or ultra-high filtration efficiency. They offer many new and useful properties, but they also have some serious limitations in performance.


Learner-centered education gives importance to student motivation, exploration and productivity. Moreover, in learner-centered teaching, students are given more control and power is shared with students. This study aims to determine the power sharing level in higher education classes according to students' opinions. In this study, survey method, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The study was conducted to the population, 454 students at Foreign Languages School in Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey in 2014-2015 academic years. The data was collected with "Powersharing Scale" developed by Oruç (2014). SPSS Statistics was used for the statistical analysis of the data. It is found out that in the preparation classrooms power is shared on average level. It is thought that giving more responsibility to students in learning environment will make a great contribution to students' educational process.


This paper introduces a discrete wavelet transform (DWT)-based color images encryption method by multi-chaotic maps. Three improved one-dimensional (1D) chaotic maps are utilized to produce the keystreams, where the original image and the external secret key are employed to update the initial conditions and parameters of the chaotic systems. The image sub-bands obtained via DWT decomposition are firstly encrypted. In what follows, the image after inverse discrete wavelet transform (IDWT) reconstruction is further diffused in the spatial domain by the keystreams to strengthen the security of the cryptosystem. Experimental results and security analysis show the feasibility, validity and security of the proposed scheme.


This thesis describes the cross-matching software solution lying at thecore of the computational infrastructure for the VASCO project. The VASCO project has a goal to mine historical all-sky survey ...


Redevelopment of brownfields is placed high on the political agendas in many countries. However, brownfield redevelopment projects are often problematic; the frequent occurrence of conflicts between involved and interdependent stakeholders is directly related to this. To date, tools are lacking to support the complex decisionmaking between stakeholders. The aim of this article is to create a generic model that explains the occurrence of conflict or cooperation in brownfield redevelopment projects. The explicit interaction between these involved stakeholders is modeled as an interdependent process, using a relative novel approach in which conjoint analysis and game theory are combined. Resulting data analysis shows that there is one major source of conflicts; stakeholders choosing not to cooperate based upon the presented game-setting. Other possible sources of conflict, like difficulties in reaching a stable outcome or incomprehensibility of the game-setting, proved to have a limited contribution to the occurrence of conflicts. A more in-depth analysis of game-settings ending up in mutual cooperation showed that the appraisal of both stakeholders for the proposed development plan is the most influential factor, together with an eventual absolute difference between both players' appraisals. Furthermore, stakeholders having a relatively weak power position within projects tend to prefer a non-cooperative attitude, and having some 'change' can be beneficial for achieving mutual cooperation. If stakeholders have the prospect of achieving extra value through mutual plan optimization, they tend to be more willing to act cooperatively.


Objective: Solubility is greater challenges for formulation which can be explain by different technological approaches during the pharmaceutical product development and to improve water solubility and drug release respectively. Methods: The solid dispersions of nebivolol were prepared in ratio 1:1, 1:3, 1:5 and 1:7 by fusion and solvent evaporation method using PEG 6000 and PVP K30 as carriers to enhance solubility of compound. Results: All the solid dispersions were evaluated for drug content, phase solubility, in vitro dissolution study. Deferential Scanning Calorimetric (DSC) and Fourier Transformer Infra Red (FTIR) showed no chemical interaction between the drug and its carriers. Solubility of PEG 6000 and PVP K30 indicates a linear relationship (A L type of curve) in the investigated polymer concentration range. The Gibb's free energy showed declined trend with increase in the carrier concentrations. The uniformly of drug content was found in all solid dispersions. The drug release obtained from different drug-carrier concentration level fitted to different kinetic model and it was found that solid dispersions exhibited fickian diffusional characteristics and best fitted to higuchi model. A PVP K30 solid dispersion (1:7 ratio) prepared by solvent evaporation method showed faster dissolution rate (94.38 %) in 30 min among studied solid dispersions.. Conclusion: The overall results showed that process of nebivolol transfer from water to carrier solution is more favorable at higher level of PVP K30. The solid dispersion of drug: PVP K 30 (1:7 ratio) prepared by solvent evaporation method was found to be optimum in term of solubility and dissolution rate. Hence, we can concluded that solubility of nebivolol can be enhanced using this carrier ratio. Keywords: Nebivolol, Solid dispersion, Fusion method, Solvent evaporation method.


OBJECTIVE
Combined hyperative dysfunction syndrome (HDS) defined as the combination of HDSs such as trigeminal neuralgia (TN), hemifacial spasm (HFS) and glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GPN), which may or may not occur simultaneously on one or both sides. We reviewed patients with combined HDS and demonstrated their demographic characteristics by comparing them with those of patients with a single HDS.

METHODS
Between October 1994 and February 2006, we retrospectively studied a series of 1,720 patients who suffered from HDS and found 51 patients with combined HDSs. We analyzed several independent variables in order to evaluate the prevalence and etiologic factors of combined HDS.

RESULTS
The combined HDS group accounted for 51 of 1,720 (2.97%) patients with HDS; 27 cases of bilateral HFS, 10 cases of bilateral TN and 14 cases of HFS with TN. Their mean age was 52.1 years (range, 26-79 years). There were 5 men and 46 women. Seven patients had synchronous and 44 patients metachronous onset of HDSs. By comparison of combined and single HDS groups, we found that age and hypertension were closely associated with the prevalence of combined HDS (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
This study revealed that combined HDS was very rare. Hypertension and age might be the most important causative factors to evoke combined HDS.


The study makes an irrefutable six-fold case for realizing the full potential of a most successful way of building: 'informal incremental urban settlement'. It describes procedures, by which millions of low-income people develop their homes and neighborhoods, often to surprisingly high standards as the series of excellent photographs prove. Half a century ago virtually all squatter settlements were seen as slums and city cancers. Few saw the difference between 'slums of hope' that have the potential for development, and 'slums of despair' which did not. Failures of eradication and resettlement policies strengthened the view that many informal settlements solved more problems than they created. The emergent policies described in this publication followed international agencies' recognition of this fact, reinforced by some pioneering national government agencies. The facts and the potential for incremental housing are stated clearly here but they have yet to be learned by many. It is hugely encouraging that the cities alliance is publishing 'the case for incremental housing'. It is a 'must read' for all concerned with sustainable development and justice, both by those struggling for their rights to do what they are able to do for themselves as well as by those who support them. Translations are essential.


The compound library information resources construction should use the complementar of printed and digital information resources,the information resources has with the information resources deposit and withdrawal pays equal attention to,the conformity of entityies library information resources and virtual library information resources strategies and so on.


Secondly, this volume marks an evolution in Sorokin's own approach to sociological theory. His earlier work dealt with theory in terms of a school of thought, and for this purpose he used a scheme of classification which was sometimes arbitrary and often misleading. In this volume he employs a new scheme which places the theory in a context more descriptive of its real character. In another very important respect there is a significant difference between the two works. In 1928 Sorokin had not yet formulated his own theories, so that his treatment of theory was a straightforward piece of work, a model of logical exposition and criticism. In this work, while the same qualities are still in evidence in all their pristine vigour, Sorokin's criticisms are made from the point of view of his own highly developed formulations. So he enters the fray armed with weapons forged with his own hands and wielded with comparable aplomb and dexterity. This gives an added dimension to the work, making it infinitely more exciting and more controversial. Readers unfa-


The thermal chemistry of 1,3-diiodopropane on a Pt(111) single-crystal surface was investigated by temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and reflection−absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS). It was found that the first decomposition steps of the chemisorbed diiodo compound are the scissions of its C−I bonds, and that that takes place sequentially and results in the initial formation of an iodopropyl surface intermediate which subsequently decomposes to a C3 metallacycle. Upon further heating of the crystal, the metallacycle intermediate dehydrogenates via a β-hydride elimination step to form an allylic moiety. This allylic species then hydrogenates to propene, a product that subsequently desorbs in two different temperature regimes (around 240 and 330 K) or dehydrogenates to surface propylidyne. The metallacyclic surface intermediate displays additional chemistry at high coverages. Specifically, some of the hydrogen made available by β-hydride elimination from a few of the C3 metallacycles is incorpo...


The public free software (now renamed as open software) is the basis of the open source software (OSS) project. This initiative promotes the use of open standards and platform-independent accessibility. Many OSS products are free or low cost, which allows their deployment even in the absence of large economic resources (developing countries, schools, etc.). Besides, their source code can be modified, adapted and optimized by anyone, since it is public. Nevertheless, the OSS may also have drawbacks. Thus, its development may not be as orderly and hierarchical as the privative software is, and may not have an appropriate funding. This may jeopardize the ease of use and coherence of the final product, increasing the transition, training and technical support costs. Besides, it must be taken into account that there is also commercial open software, as well as free privative software. In any case, the excellence of the software may be independent of such variables. Thus, the best strategy is the coexistence and free competition of all kinds of software. This will allow a quality improvement and an innovation enhancement, which will benefit the education, research, management and assistance at the university in particular and at the whole society in general.


This paper presents an advanced photovoltaic inverter which can deliver the maximum power from photovoltaic arrays to the utility grid for all sunlight conditions, as well as simultaneously providing power conditioning to suppress power line distortions. A new control strategy is developed to maximize the inverter output from the photovoltaic array and to suppress current harmonics in the power line using a single inverter configuration. A new control strategy and experimental results are given.


Four‐dimensional (4D) seismic exploration, an improved geophysical technique for hydrocarbon‐data acquisition, was applied for the first time in the Nembe Creek prospect area of Nigeria. The affected soils were slightly alkaline in situ when wet (pH 7.2), but extremely acidic when dry (pH 3.0). The organic carbon content (4.6–26.8%) and other physicochemical properties of soils and water (N, P, and heavy‐metal contents, etc.) were higher than the baseline values obtained in 2001 before seismic profiling. Most values also exceeded the baseline compliance standards of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA). Rehabilitation of the affected areas was achieved by stabilizing the mangrove floor by liming and appropriate application of nutrients, followed by replanting the cut seismic lines over a distance of 1,372 km with different mangrove species, including juvenile Rhizophora racemosa, R. mangle, and Avicennia species, which were transferred from nursery points. Quicker post‐operational intervention is recommended for future 4D surveys, because the time lag between the end of seismic activity and post‐impact investigation is critical in determining the relationship between activity and impact: the longer the intervening period, the more mooted the interaction.


Background: Recent years have been marked by numerous advances in the quality of type 1 diabetes care. However, glycemic control remains suboptimal for many patients with type 1 diabetes. The aim of our study was to identify factors associated with poor glycemic control in type 1 diabetic patients. Methods:


A study is made of a series of stochastic growth processes related to multi-type branching models with interaction phenomena among the types with aim to ascertain criteria for extinction or non-extinction of the population. It is established that trends depicting changes of expected sizes of types generally overwhelm any effects of statistical fluctuations such that the conditions for extinction reduce to natural conditions on expected values. Three models are developed. The first two involve special mating systems for certain two sex populations. The last model is a neutralization phenomenon for two types of particles.


We report the design of a thin film dual band metamaterial absorber based on metal/insulator/metal multilayer structures with the top metallic layer periodically carved into triangular shaped patches.


Recently, as evidenced by numerous publications and surveys on the topic, the interest in clarithromycin is not reduced. This drug has a wide range of the antibacterial activity, is able to penetrate into cells and create stable and high tissue concentration exceeding the level of the drug in the blood serum. However, in recent years, more attention is paid to the study of nonantibacterial effects of clarithromycin. In modern macrolides, in particular in clarithromycin, the anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and mucoregulatory properties have been found. The primary mechanism of the immunomodulatory action of macrolides today is considered to be their ability to affect NF-kB-and MAPK-dependent signaling pathways of cells. Under the effect of clarithromycin the decrease in the synthesis and/ or secretion of pro-inflammatory (IL-1, -6, -8, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)) and the increase in the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2, -4, -10) are observed. The effectiveness of the indirect antimicrobial action of clarithromycin is intensively studied in vitro and in vivo, and it further expands our understanding of the therapeutic possibilities of this drug.


DNA is regularly damaged in all forms of life. One of most dangerous damaging agents is UV light. The mechanism of the recognition of these lesions through repair proteins has been poorly understood. The large excess of undamaged bases makes the recognition demanding. In my thesis this mechanism was studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulation by extending the standard methodology. It was discovered that the key part of the recognition occurs before the actual repair procedure.


The solutions of mechanism position fall squarely into the solutions of nonlinear evolution equations, which is an extremely difficult process. Using the chaotic sequence as the initial values of mathematical programming, all solutions of equations can be quickly found out. Neural network, which is a highly complicated nonlinear system, exist the chaos phenomenon. By eliminating the simulated annealing strategy of the transient chaos nerve cell, a kind of chaotic nerve cell that could permanently maintain chaos was investigated. With the hyper-chaos system and mathematical programming, the this new method for solving the nonlinear equation setting based on the initial node generating by the hyper-chaos mathematical programming of neural network was put forward. The mathematical model of forward displacement analysis of general 6-SPS parallel mechanisms is set up based on a quaternion.


Let C be a linear space of Radon measures on R. Then we say a bounded Borel set E C_ R is a determining set for C if and only if /z C, /z(x + E) 0 for all x R implies/z 0 (equivalently,/, , C and /z(x + E) y(x + E) for all x R implies/z =,). The general problem is: given a class of measures C, find conditions under which a given set E is a determining set. In this paper we study this problem for various classes of measures under different growth/decay conditions of the measures at Let M be the class of all Radon measures, Mr the class of "tempered" Radon measures, M0 the class of measures "vanishing at oo" and Me the class of finite complex measures. Then we have M _C M0, Mr C_ M. We describe the following interesting features:


Normal 0 21 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Mi is a fantasy? Tipus? Műfaj? A fantasy temaju konyvek a legnepszerűbbek manapsag, a fantasyről mar mindenki hallott, de hazankban nincsenek kidolgozott rendszertanok ezzel a terulettel kapcsolatban. Előadasunkban a fantasztikus irodalomrol, s a belőluk szarmazo fantasy-alműfajokrol ejtunk szot. About the Typology and Genre-theories of Fantastic Literature What are the fantasies? Types? Genres? These are the most popular group of the books; everybody did hear about these, but in Hungary there are not correct concepts of this area. In our presentation we are going to tell about the fantastic texts and from these lineal descended sub-genres of fantasy literature.
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Developments in technology have recently attracted interest from researchers investigating notetaking in first language (L1) contexts. Digital tools such as computers and presentation slides have impacted how students take notes in comparison to the traditional longhand method of using pen and paper. Technology-based practices, such as taking notes with computers, writing notes on handouts of lecture slides, and even taking photos of information instead of taking notes, have begun to play increasingly larger roles in English-medium instruction (EMI) in second language (L2) English contexts. However, the robust and expanding research agenda on notetaking and technology evident in L1 environments has yet to stimulate similar interest in L2 contexts. The present paper reviews relevant research on notetaking and technology from L1 contexts and argues the need for similar investigations in L2 contexts such as Japan, where increasing numbers of students are enrolled in EMI courses. テクノロジーの進歩により、第一言語(L1)環境におけるノート取りの研究に関心が集まっている。これはコンピューターやパワーポイントなどのデジタルツールが、ペンと紙を使用する従来のノート取りの手法に変化を及ぼしているからである。コンピューターでノートを取る、講義スライドの配布物にメモを書く、ノートを取る代わりに写真を撮るなど、デジタル技術は英語を第二言語(L2)とする環境における英語で教える(EMI)授業において、ますます大きな役割を担うようになってきている。しかし、L1環境におけるノート取りとテクノロジーに関する研究に比べるとL2環境における研究はまだまだ限定的である。本論はL1環境におけるノート取りとテクノロジーに関する研究の先行文献調査の後に、日本のようなEMIの授業を履修する学生が増加しているL2環境においても同様の調査研究を行う必要性があることを主張する。


The present study was carried out in south 24 parganas and north 24 parganas district, West Bengal. From each of the two districts, three blocks were selected randomly. From each of the selected blocks three Gram panchayets (GP) were also selected randomly to study the socio-economic background of duck owners and status of duck rearing. Three hundred respondents were selected for the purpose of data collection and the direct face to face interview method was followed to collect data. It was found that cultivation was the main occupation followed by labourer among the farmers. The ducks were mostly fed home made feed with foraging facilities. The annual average egg production per duck was very poor and most of the duck owners earned a good amount of subsidiary income from duck rearing. Most of the duck owners belonged to poor, small or marginal income group. Most of duck farmers were literate. Women were mainly involved in duck rearing. The majority of flocks comprised of 6-10 ducks. A few duck of improved varieties was found in north 24 parganas but no improved duck was found in south 24 parganas.


Epoxy resins represent a commonly used basis for insulation materials and have been used in many different electrical applications. The formation of these systems involves reactions between a hardener, such as an amine-curing system, and an epoxy terminated resin. Recent studies have reported that epoxy resin systems can exhibit enhanced physical properties when the stoichiometry of the resin is varied using reactive diluent. This has been attributed to the increased free volume within the molecular structures within the epoxy resin network. The work described here set out to investigate this hypothesis concerning the potential benefits of varying the network structure of epoxy resin through the inclusion of monofunctional reactive diluents within the epoxy formulation. This research is of potential significance because any modification of the epoxy resin network results in modified thermal, mechanical and electrical properties and, consequently, represents a potential mean of tailoring overall performance to suit particular applications.


Lifeless things, like stones, books, rivers and mountains fit easily into Berkeley's system. Living things, fur, feather, fish and flower, do not. The stone is completely passive; it stays put, or goes where it is made to go. The living thing has at least some activity. It makes motion begin to be. Moreover the living thing is a centre of experience. It is, in Bergson's, phrase, chose qui dure. It is not instantaneous: it covers a slab of time, as you and I do. It remembers, repeats the past of its kind, and is big with the future. In both respects, as a source of motion and as a centre of experience, the living thing cuts across Berkeley's distinction between active spirit and passive idea-thing. The former problem, the living thing as a source of motion, hit me hard over thirty years ago. I was in mid-Atlantic on board S.S. Berengaria. A convinced immaterialist, I had got my sea-legs literally and metaphysically. The wind was fresh and I looked out at the hurly-burly with pride and satisfaction. It all fitted in. Here am I, an active mind or spirit, and out there it is all passive, air and water being moved by a power not their own. Just then a white sea-gull on strong wings swooped between me and the horizon, challenged Berkeley's assumption, and this paper began to be born. The other problem, the living thing as a centre of experience, cropped up in my recent article in Hermathena (no. 105, pp 74 ff). I was discussing the ad hominem argument in the first dialogue, where Philonous and Hylas agree that an intense heat is a very great pain. I charged Philonous with cheating and Hylas with conniving. For there is great heat in a red-hot poker, but no pain. The pain arises only when the red-hot poker touches living flesh; and then it is the living thing, the centre of experience, that feels the pain, not the poker.


A vanadium phosphorous oxide and a preparing method thereof are disclosed. The content of VOHPO .(0.5)H2O by volume in the vanadium phosphorous oxide is 80-95%. The vanadium phosphorous oxide has double pore path distribution, namely a pore size of 10-20 nm and a pore size of 20-35 nm, wherein pore paths the pore size of which is 10-20 nm account for 30-35% of the total pore volume, and pore paths the pore size of which is 20-35 nm account for 35-45% of the total pore volume. The method includes adding ionic liquids I and II in a synthetic process, and after the reaction is finished, subjecting generated precipitates to filtration, drying and calcination to obtain the vanadium phosphorous oxide. The vanadium phosphorous oxide has double pore path distribution and is suitable as a precursor of a catalyst in an n-butane oxidation to prepare maleic anhydride.


As the U.S. opioid addiction crisis continues to worsen, the pharmacy industry's role in addressing the epidemic continues to increase.


LAMPF Experiment No. 727, a study of muon-catalyzed fusion in mixtures of deuterium and tritium, was started in 1982 and completed with several important extensions in 1985. A unique feature of the experiment was that near-liquid-hydrogen densities were maintained over a broad range of temperatures. Many basic parameters of muon catalysis were measured for the first time. A summary is given of salient results with an emphasis on the many surprises that the experiment yielded.


Background. Streptococci are a known cause of complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTI). Dalbavancin, a lipoglycopeptide antibiotic has been studied in 3 global phase 3 randomized, double-blind, controlled trials for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) and cSSTI. The objective of this analysis is to evaluate outcomes for patients with streptococcal skin infections enrolled in the 3 global trials. Methods. Patients enrolled in the 3 phase 3 ABSSSI/cSSTI trials with baseline cultures positive for streptococcal species were identified. In these trials, dalbavancin, 1 g IV on day 1 followed by 500mg IV on day 8 was compared to either IV vancomycin or IV linezolid with an option to switch to oral linezolid. The MIC distribution of streptococcal isolates and clinical outcomes for patients with streptococcal skin infections were determined. Results. The in vitro MIC90 to dalbavancin for each strain of streptococci was ≤0.06 mcg/mL. Table 1: Distribution of streptococci in 3 phase 3 ABSSSI/cSSTI trials


Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) were developed to overcome the intrinsic brittleness and lack of reliability of monolithic ceramics. Their major advantages include high temperature capability, light weight, corrosion resistance and adequate damage tolerance. All-oxide Ceramic Matrix Composites (OCMCs) offer essential advantages with respect to long time stability in oxidizing atmospheres, when compared to their non-oxide counterparts. Nevertheless, there is at present almost no production concept which meets the requirements in view of cost and performance for these materials. This work aims at producing OCMCs by means of a more flexible production route. This is achieved by integrating well-known powder metallurgy routes with the prepreg technique, used at present for producing commercial high performance polymer matrix composites. The processing consists of the following steps: (a) infiltration of commercial alumina fiber fabrics (3M NextelTM 610) with a liquid suspension of the matrix material; (b) lamination of the pre-infiltrated fiber textiles with a paraffin-based suspension for the formation of prepregs; (c) layup of prepregs; (d) warm-pressing for the consolidation of the green body; (e) debinding and (f) reaction bonding and/or sintering for synthesis of the oxide matrix. Pure alumina or Reaction Bonded Aluminum Oxide (RBAO) can be used as matrix materials and damage tolerance is achieved by the porous, weak-matrix approach. Microstructural analysis of a pure alumina composite fabricated by this route show good infiltration of fiber bundles and proves the good adhesion of prepregs during processing. Average strength value of 199 MPa in fiber direction is in good agreement with values presented in the literature for OCMCs produced by other techniques.


Objective: Studies using life course perspective, longitudinal data, and path analysis on the relationships between exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), complementary feeding (CF), low birthweight (LBW), and wasting are lacking. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between EBF, CF, LBW, and wasting, while controlling for some confounding factors.Methods: This was a case–control study conducted in Purworejo, Central Java, Indonesia. A total sample of 160 children 2–5 years of age were selected by fixed disease sampling, consisting of 28 wasted and 132 normal weight children. The dependent variable was wasting. The independent variables were EBF, CF, LBW, maternal middle upper-arm circumference at pregnancy, and family income at pregnancy. Sources of data were maternal and child health record and pre-tested questionnaire. The data were analyzed by path analysis using Stata 13.Results: A path model was created based on life course perspective and longitudinal sample data. Wasting was directly and significantly affected by CF (b=−3.65; 95% CI=−5.72 – −1.59; p<0.001). The direct association between wasting and EBF was not significant (b=0.37; 95% CI=−0.76–1.49; p=0.521), while the indirect association between wasting and EBF through CF was significant (b=2.17; 95% CI=1.42–2.93; p<0.001). Wasting was directly and significantly associated with LBW (b=1.49; 95% 0.39–2.58; p=0.008). Family income at pregnancy indirectly and significantly affected the risk of wasting both through LBW and middle upper-arm circumference at pregnancy.Conclusion: EBF and CF jointly predict the risk of wasting. Only if EBF is followed by CF, it can reduce the risk of wasting in children under five. LBW is a significant predictor of wasting.


With MLCC to meet towards the miniaturization of electronic components,high performance,multi-purpose development and thus for multi-layer ceramic chip capacitors production equipment also made more stringent requirements.MLCC production process of the present main characteristics of the study,briefly addressed several common multi-layer ceramic chip capacitors tape casting technology,and presents a practical t technique of lip-type cast.As the same time,the working principle,the overall composition,the system control and the key technologies of the tape casting machine are analyzed and researched.


The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a dynamic barrier essential for central nervous system interstitial fluid separation from circulating blood. This dynamic separation ensures maintenance of neuronal microenvironment homeostasis against that of the everchanging in solutes and toxin concentration in circulating blood. The blood–brain barrier structure is complex, it has multiple contributors, such as specialised blood microvascular endothelium, neurons, astrocytes and pericytes. Transfer of essential nutrients to the brain and waste products from the brain to circulating blood is tightly regulated and facilitated by a large surface area and specialised transport systems. It is not only the physical characteristics of the barrier that assist in maintenance of neuronal microenvironment, biochemical substances and the high trans endothelial electrical resistance also play a major role.

Circumventricular organs are those parts of the central nervous system lacking the blood–brain barrier. These are essential for optimum central nervous system interaction with circulating blood directly or using neurotransmitters.

Primary or secondary central nervous system pathological states, such as infective and noninfective causes, directly or indirectly induce biochemical mediators that may disrupt and alter blood–brain barrier structure and function.

Understanding of the blood–brain barrier anatomy and physiology assists in developing treatment methods to overcome degenerative and pathological states negatively affecting the central nervous system.


A number of chemical compounds were evaluated for their effectiveness in inhibiting alkali-silica reaction in concrete, either as admixtures in the concrete mix or as penetrating agents to stop further progress of the reaction in already affected or damaged concrete. Two compounds, zinc sulfate and aluminum sulfate, were found to be effective admixtures for fresh concrete. Zinc sulfate also appeared to significantly reduce the subsequent expansion of mortar bars and could be a suitable penetrating agent for arresting alkali-silica reaction in hardened concrete.


Four male and 4 female subjects part i c i p a t- ed in a series of experiments to determ i n e the aerobic capacity of the abdominal mus- cles and to see if a port a ble abdominal machine called the 6 Second Abs machine could increase the aerobic endurance and strength of the abdominal muscles. Subjects were trained for 20 minutes per day 3 times per week for 3 weeks. Each training session i nvo l ved accomplishing 6 second supine abdominal crunches with feet on a wall at a load adjusted to fatigue the subject in 20 minutes or less. When 20 minutes could be a c c o m p l i s h e d, the load on the abdominal exerciser was increased for the next training


An ultrasound-based remote sensing method to evaluate the mechanical properties of materials is presented. This method consists of a disk-shaped, piezoelectric transducer, operating at its resonance frequency, and a phase-shifted, feedback circuit. Mechanical parameters are derived by analyzing the signal contained in the phaseshifted values of the reflected signal. It is concluded that, using this novel transducer system and signal processing, remote mechanical measurements can be made. Such measurements obviate the need to apply the force-deformation approach and may be used to enable stiffness imaging.


This work considers conformance testing (functional testing). The main distinction from the other works is the availability of mapping from implementation states to specification ones. This information allows us to simplify test development and to reduce test execution time. We introduce a novel implementation relation called conff and composite test suites. The conff relation minimizes the size of generated test suite. Composite test suite is a compact representation of traditional test suite. Furthermore, it allows to reduce test execution time.


We study the Dirac oscillators in a noncommutative phase space. The results show that the energy gap of Dirac oscillator was changed by noncommutative effect. In addition, we obtain the non-relativistic limit of the energy spectrum.


Around 12,000 deaths from glioblastoma occurs within the European Community annually. At present, the best available treatment for malignant brain tumors results in a median survival of patients of 15 months despite surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. The purpose of this paper is to review our results of radiosensitized treatment of malignant brain tumors.


A quarter‐mode (QM) substrate‐integrated‐waveguide (SIW) cavity is designed as a dual‐functional component. By etching three slots, four sub‐cavities are formed and then two of them with the same size are individually fed by a coaxial port. Three resonating frequencies are excited in the single QM SIW cavity. One of them can radiate cavity energy input by these ports into free space, implying a two‐element multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna, whereas the other two can transmit energy from one port to the other port, indicating a second‐order bandpass filter. Moreover, antenna isolation and filter bandwidth can be adjusted to a certain degree. A prototype with the overall size of 0.40λ0 × 0.40λ0 × 0.02λ0 has been fabricated. The integrated bandpass filter demonstrates the measured center frequency of 3.8 GHz and operating bandwidth of 32 MHz while the integrated MIMO antenna exhibits the frequency of 3.4 GHz, bandwidth of 67 MHz, port isolation of 18.0 dB, radiation gain of 4.0 dBi, and envelope correlation coefficient of 0.25.


This article discusses risk assessment of urban earthquake disaster,which includes risk assessment,vulnerability assessment,disaster prevention and mitigation capacity assessment.Firstly,the article reviews the research process on earthquake risk assessment,and points out shortcomings of these methods.Secondly,the article presents the urban earthquake risk assessment based on earthquake microzonation,vulnerability assessment based on land-use type and disaster prevention and mitigation capacity assessment based on expert scoring.At last,the flowchart of risk assessment of urban earthquake disaster is designed,and zonation arithmetic of risk region is showed.