This investigation is concerned with optimal identification of the parameters in Sun–Chen's plasticity model. An improved off-axis tensile test scheme involving only two angles is proposed. The model's feasibility is assessed with a combined mathematical and mechanical analysis. In mathematical identification of a minimum of two angles, explicit derivation of the goodness of a power-law fitting on effective stress–plastic strain curves via least square theory was imperative. In mechanical analysis to identify the optimal angles, coupling between the resolved shear and transverse stresses in the evolutions of plastic deformation is investigated; the angle that generates a maximal plastic flow is calculated. In addition, a sensitivity analysis of identified parameters with the fiber's nominal angle errors is performed and the result is presented via an insensitivity path. Specimens from carbon/epoxy systems were utilized in the experimental program. Results confirm that the predictions of shear and off-axis nonlinear stress–strain responses based on the improved scheme (15° and 45°) proposed in this investigation demonstrate comparable accuracy to those based on Sun–Chen's common scheme.


According to the requirements of "high standard, science oriented, and never yielding", this paper elaborated the railway inforamtization objectives and 10 key tasks to be implemented by 2012, and the means to construct railway network and information security structure, set up railway information operation and maintenance mechanism and training of railway information talents so as to improve scientific level of railway informatization in all round and provide strong technical support and guarantee for building harmonious railway and railway modernization.


Stroke is the main reason of aphasia which etiology is very complicated and living quality of patients is often affected.Language trainning has an important significance for patients of return to society.OBJECTIVE:To exprole the effect of early rehabilitation training on aphasia after stroke.


Raw biomass was carbonized by two different heating patterns to produce biomass char at 400,500,600 and 700 ℃ for 30,60 and 90 min.The composition,microstructure,and combustibility of the derived biomass char were investigated by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis(TG-DTG).The effects of preparing conditions on the biomass char's yield and reactivity for reacting with CO2 were studied.It is shown that the biomass char has typical duct structure or sheet structure,which is different from coal.The contents of N,S,ash and alkali metals in the biomass char are much lower,but its combustibility is better than coal samples,suitable for using as a reducing agent and a heating agent in ironmaking to partially replace coal and coke.The optimum preparing condition of biomass char for ironmaking is to carbonize raw biomass by a constant temperature heating pattern at 500 ℃ for 30 min.


In the Southeastern Quadrilátero Ferrífero, a package of metapelitic rocks previously attributed to the Archean Rio das Velhas Supergroup crops out in Piranga locality. This study presents the mineral chemistry and U-Pb-Hf zircon geochronology on foliated staurolite-garnet mica schists. Garnet and staurolite index minerals are synto post-kinematic towards the main schistosity. Garnet porphyroblasts display well-developed compositional zoning of Mg-Fe-Mn-Ca, with increase of almandine and pyrope and decrease of spessartine towards the rim, implying in prograde metamorphic pattern. Estimates of P-T values for the metamorphic peak resulted in temperatures between 630 to 650oC and pressure around 7 kbar. Pseudosections show well-defined stability fields in amphibolite facies, with a metamorphic path displaying progressive increase in P-T conditions. Maximum depositional age of 1,875 ± 51 Ma is established for the Piranga mica schists pointing to a depositional history that is younger than those previously described. Metamorphic Cambrian ages characterize the strong influence of deformational processes related to the final stages of Brasiliano Orogeny in the Southeastern Quadrilátero Ferrífero.


Background: In recent years, China's international status has become higher and higher, and its traditional culture has been warmly welcomed all over the world, which has aroused the interest of many young people. Therefore, many students come to China to study abroad. The ideology, religious beliefs and customs of foreign students in China are different from those of Chinese college students. Compared with Chinese college students, they are more prone to anxiety and depression. Psychology believes that anxiety refers to the tension, anxiety, fear and other negative emotions caused by the threat or imminent threat of an individual to something. Long term anxiety will cause serious problems in students' mental health, resulting in emotional disorders. Affective disorder, also known as mood disorder, is a disease with long-term, serious emotional or mood changes caused by various reasons. The clinical manifestation of affective disorder is mainly the abnormal mood of patients, with obvious rise or fall, accompanied by a series of psychotic symptoms, such as cognitive impairment, behavioral disorder, hallucination, delusion and so on. The onset of affective disorder is repetitive, alternating and mixed. The clinical manifestations of affective disorder include depressive episode, manic episode, mixed episode, cyclic mood disorder and dysthymic disorder. Finding an appropriate way to alleviate the emotional barriers of foreign students is of positive significance to the personal development of foreign students and China's international image. Affective psychology is one of the important parts of psychology. Its main research object is human emotion. The main research content is how to eliminate or alleviate individual tension and pressure caused by external stimulation or nature through certain means, so as to help individuals restore healthy and sound personality. Psychologists believe that only when individuals improve their psychology can they improve their emotions. Based on affective psychology, this study analyzes the causes of affective disorders of foreign students, and puts forward that the main causes of affective disorders of foreign students are loneliness and alienation. Therefore, the study translates the community of human destiny and makes it spread among foreign students, so as to


Bloomsbury's last surviving writer is the novelist David Garnett. He commanded public attention in 1922 with his first novel, Lady into Fox, which brought him two literary awards, popular acclaim, and serious critical attention. This first book was a fantasy; accordingly, critics and reviewers categorized him as a writer of fantasies, but the label persisted long after he ceased to work in this vein.1 More deserving of critical attention, because it is a permanent feature of Garnett's novels, is the clarity of his prose style. Yet his reputation as stylist and fantasy writer has blinded readers to the social implications of his work. Desmond MacCarthy's remark that Lady into Fox is "the per-


The variation behavior of the 3D shape of full-penetrated weld pool in the period from pulsed peak current to base current in pulsed TIG welding is analyzed qualitatively in this paper. The mathematical models are created from the view-point of force and energy. The numerical simulation is carried out using the FEM simulation software, Surface Evolver. The mathematical models are then modified through experimental results. The modified model lays the foundation for systematically and qualitatively simulating the principles of liquid surface of full-penetrated weld pool under various kinds of condition, and for obtaining the relationship between feature value of upper liquid surface and depth of the weld pool.


The last decade has seen a steady proliferation in the use of tissue-engineered cell culture systems (Deforest and Anseth, 2012), and these have been put to good use for studying neural axon growth and guidance (Li and Hoffman-Kim, 2008; Roy et al., 2013). These systems have been designed to more closely mimic the natural microenvironment of the developing or repairing nervous system and to enable spatiotemporal control over certain aspects of the microenvironment. The 3D nature of these culture systems provides a more physiologically-relevant microenvironment, while spatiotemporal control addresses aspects of tissue architecture and molecular presentation for quantitative investigation into how specific physical or molecular variables might influence axon growth. These capabilities should be tremendously important to the study of neural regeneration, since it is well known that developing and regenerating axons of both the central and peripheral nervous systems respond to particular attractive or repulsive cues presented in their microenvironments that may be sensed by the growth cones of these extending axons. Tissue-engineered model systems are well suited to the investigation into precise mechanisms of action of these cues, the elucidation of novel mechanisms, and for testing potential therapeutic strategies.


We report a new method for measuring fast rotations up to 13500 rpm of micrometer sized spherical particles utilizing an optical trap [A. Lamprecht et al., Lab Chip 16, 2682–2693 (2016)]. In an acoustofluidic flow cell, a single spherical particle rotates due to the acoustic viscous torque produced by two phase-shifted orthogonal standing waves. The Lorentzian power spectrum of the trapped and rotating particle has additional peaks at frequencies that correlate with its rotational speed. In one of our experiments the thickness of the viscous boundary layer δ around the particle is roughly as large as the particle radius R itself. We use a water glycerol mixture with a dynamic viscosity of μ_ff = 0.06 Pa s to increase δ. Our experiment validates recent numerical research that predicts power rotational speeds for the case δ ≈ R compared to the simplified theoretical formula valid for δ ≪ R [Lee and Wang, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 85, 1081–1088 (1989)].


Childhood involves entering "a stage which we did not design" and playing "subordinate parts in the dramas of others" (in the words of philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre). What happens when the script of the "drama" a child is born into is spoken in more than one language—when the main players, one's parents, come from different, even mutually hostile speech communities? While mixed race memoir is an increasingly recognized field, memoirs of mixed mother tongue families are a less familiar genre of life writing. This article considers Irish author Hugo Hamilton's memoir The Speckled People and Algerian-born French writer Leïla Sebbar's Je ne parle pas la langue de mon père as compelling examples of the mixed mother tongue genre, which explore how parental languages may be imposed or withheld, and the effects of this on children's lives.


The present paper has three main research objectives. First, we define a country's image through its principal dimensions, channels of communication (including the Public Diplomacy) and impact on the international relations framework. Second, we underline the specific determinants of China's image worldwide. The literature review emphasizes this country's distinctive "assets and liabilities", taking into account the role played by the political system in the Chinese economy, external factors, associated with the generally accepted norms and values, the geographical distance that hinders the direct contact and mutual understanding. Third, on the basis of recent studies, we analyze how China is perceived in different regions/countries and demonstrate that the economic rationale of international relations is stronger than that induced by a partner country's image.


Considering maternal influence or management of male factor, should only PGT-A be indicated to reduce miscarriage?

 The finest cost-effective treatment for each patient to improve ART success, is a good, tailored, and individualized indication for choosing the best IVF technique.

 Advanced maternal age is related with fertility decline, oocyte quality and the increased risk of aneuploid embryos. Aneuploid embryos lead to a reduced implantation potential and higher miscarriage rate. PGT-A is a screening method to determine the chromosomal status of the embryos and it's the most expanded technique used to reduce the miscarriage rates in most clinics.
 Common sperm capacitation techniques used in IVF laboratories could cause sperm DNA damage, leading to a smaller number of blastocysts obtained per cycle and a higher miscarriage rate. Microfluidics devices or sperm selection centrifugation-free (Swim-up modified techniques) could reduce sperm DNA fragmentation.

 This is a retrospective study from 2018-2020 including patients using their own oocytes fertilized by ICSI. No major differences on male factor were found between male patients. In all cycles at least one good quality blastocyst was obtained to biopsy on blastocyst stage in cycles with PGT-A or to transfer without PGT-A. Live-Birth Rate (LBR) per cycle is compared and analyzed by the t-Student and X2 test between groups.

 A total of 308 cycles were included in this study. Three groups of patients were formed: Group 1: 76 cycles with PGT-A; Group 2: 191 cycles without PGT-A and sperm samples processed by Swim-Up technique; and Group 3: 41 cycles without PGT-A and a centrifugation free sperm selection (IO-Lix) used for ICSI. The main indication for PGT-A was maternal age. No differences between male or other female infertility factors were found between groups.

 When we compare the 3 groups, no statistically significant differences were obtained in fertilization rate (79.8%; 73.5%; 72.6%; p = 0.28); development to the blastocyst stage (48.7%; 43.1%; 44.9%; p = 0.11) and pregnancy rate per transfer (48.8%; 45.6%; 52.8%; p = 0.55).
 It seems that PGT-A doesn't affect the viability, or the implantation potential of the biopsied embryos and a special sperm capacitation technique is useful for daily clinical use.
 If we include only patients with ages >38 years old to avoid age differences, comparing Group 1 (PGT-A) and Group 3 (no-PGT-A and IO-lix) (LBR=19.7% vs 50%), we obtain statistically significant differences between both groups (p = 0.01). No differences were found between Group 2 (LBR=26.4%; p = 0.25) and the Group 1.
 To summarize, the female age appears to be the most important factor for IVF success and the PGT-A can help to avoid a miscarriage, however when we compare women with advanced maternal age, the LBR is increased when PGT-A is non performed, and the sperm DNA is not damaged by the capacitation technique. Why not PGT-A to be complemented with efficient sperm selection?

 Although sperm selection techniques to decrease sperm DNA damage could reduce miscarriage rates, PGT-A is the only used technique that allows us to ensure that euploid embryos are transferred.

 A better understanding of male factor in IVF treatments can reduce miscarriage. Male factor assessment is a cost-effective technique to improve LBR in those patients without a clear indication for PGT-A, (advanced maternal age). Patient must be studied individually, and PGT-A shouldn't be used indiscriminately to ensure a healthy new-born.

 Not Applicable


In this paper, an AGV path planning method fusing multiple heuristics rapidly exploring random tree (MH-RRT) with an improved two-step Timed Elastic Band (TEB) is proposed. The modified RRT integrating multiple heuristics can search a safer, optimal and faster converge global path within a short time, and the improved TEB can optimize both path smoothness and path length. The method is composed of a global path planning procedure and a local path planning procedure, and the Receding Horizon Planning (RHP) strategy is adopted to fuse these two modules. Firstly, the MH-RRT is utilized to generate a state tree structure as prior knowledge, as well as the global path. Then, a receding horizon window is established to select the local goal point. On this basis, an improved two-step TEB is designed to optimize the local path if the current global path is feasible. Various simulations both on static and dynamic environments are conducted to clarify the performance of the proposed MH-RRT and the improved two-step TEB. Furthermore, real applicative experiments verified the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


More than 3 million persons reside in Maricopa County, Arizona, one of the fastest growing urban areas in the country. The urbanized portion of the county has been designated a nonattainment area for PM10, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for levels of particulate matter that exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. In response, Maricopa County has enacted Rule 310 that contains measures to mitigate the generation of fugitive dust. Construction activities are estimated to generate nearly 40% of airborne particulates in the area. The Arizona Department of Transportation contracted with Lima & Associates and Cathy D. Arthur to develop an educational outreach program with the purpose of training construction industry personnel on the importance of controlling fugitive dust and the methods of so doing. This report summarizes the background leading up to the enactment of Rule 310 and the subsequent development of the outreach program. Elements of the program are described, and an implementation plan is provided. This report is accompanied by appendices that contain prototype elements of the training program that have been developed. These prototypes are intended to illustrate the results of the research only, and are not current training instruments.


This paper presents an in-depth investigation into the formation mechanisms and microstructures of adiabatic shear bands (ASBs) in hardened AISI 1045 steel induced by high speed machining (HSM). A systematic analysis, both experimentally and theoretically, shows that a low cutting speed leads to deformed ASBs, and a high cutting speed results in transformed ASBs. The formation mechanisms of the two types of ASBs are fundamentally different. A deformed ASB is simply due to severe plastic shear, but a transformed ASB involves a process of reorientation and elongation of the martensite laths in the hardened steel, and the partitioning of elongated subgrains. It was found that a dynamic rotational recrystallization


Snider defines Morgan's interests as site and the borderline condition. The artist's use of latex to cast objects and to take layers of the surface of an abandonned industrial site is described.


In this work, a 2D structure of AlGaN/GaN HEMT is designed and an inverter is implemented to investigate the switching characteristics of the device. The issues of high on-resistance of HEMT due to the occurrence of current collapse causing poor charging and discharging of the device, making it undesirable for switching circuit operations are justified through the voltage transfer characteristics (VTC) of the inverter circuit. Among the methods of reducing the on-resistance of the device, the recessed-gate structure is analysed. Further in order to prevail over the gate leakage current and high on-resistance the inverter based on metal oxide semiconductor high electron mobility transistor (MOSHEMT) is compared with the inverters designed with the conventional structure and the recessed-gate structure of HEMT. An efficient inverter with better on-off switching is obtained on improvising the HEMT to MOSHEMT. The Power Delay Product of the inverter is also calculated and its value obtained is 8.287fJ/mm. In addition to the inverter, functionality of some more logic circuits is also presented through proper dc and transient analysis.


Genetical and environmental factors play an interactive role in the
 development of acute and chronic leukemias. HLA antigens have been considered
 as possible genetic risk factors. The aim of this work was to investigate a
 possible association between HLA class II polymorphisms and leukemias and
 myelodysplastic syndrome. In the present study we investigated HLA class II
 antigens, DR/DQ and DR51/DR52/DR53 haplotypes in 100 patients: 7 suffering
 from myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS),37 from acute lymphoblastic
 leukemia(ALL),32 from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 24 from chronic
 myeloid leukemia(CML). A panel of 210 healthy unrelated individuals of the
 same origin, from Vojvodina, served as controls. HLA phenotyping was
 performed by two color fluorescence method. In patients suffering from MDS
 was found a positive association with DR7(RR=2.598,EF=0.175) and
 DQ7(3)(RR=4.419, EF=0.632), while negative association was found for
 DR15(2)(RR=0.405, PF=0.172) and DQ6(1) (RR=0.889, PF=0,936).Positive
 association was found in the group of patients with ALL for
 DR7(RR=2.391,EF=0.688) and DQ2(RR=1.62, EF=0.15),while negative association
 was found with DQ5(1)(RR=0.075, PF=0.324). In the group of patients with
 AML, there were positive associations with DR11(5)(RR=1.732,EF=0.211),DQ2(RR=
 1.594, EF=0.151) and DQ7(3) (RR=2.547,EF=0.266),while possible protective
 antigen was DQ5(1) (RR=0.107,RF=0.701). Higher RR than 1 and EF>0.15, in
 patients suffering from CML was found for DQ6(1)(RR=1.661,EF=0.232), while
 negative association was found for DR4 (RR=0.182,PF=0.155).Possible
 protective haplotype in this study was DR3DQ8(3) for patients suffering from
 AML(RR=0.007, PF=0.501).The distribution of DR53-DR53 haplotypes showed
 significant difference in male patients with ALL(6% vs 0.09%), while
 DR52-DR52 haplotype was significantly less frequent in male patients with CML
 (4% vs 20.47%) and female patients with MDS (1% vs 18.57%), respectively, in
 comparison to controls. We deduced that DR7 antigen in male patients with ALL
 has the greatest impact to the higher frequency of DR53-DR53 haplotype in
 this type of leukemia. The role of HLA antigens as risk factors for
 development of leukemias in our population was shown and furthermore it could
 be useful in clinical practice.


Sentiment Analysis is important to understand various aspects of human emotions through different modes, the modes can be, either by understanding the text or analyzing it for obtaining the desired outputs. The three algorithms considered for sentiment analysis are Logistic Regression, Multinomial Naïve Bayes & Random Forest on the Uber & Ola datasets. The number of tweets extracted from Twitter is 3000. These tweets are cleaned & tokenized using python. The main factor of this paper is Google word2Vec, as the tokenized tweets are transformed with vocabulary from Google Word2Vec. Using this immense dataset of words, helped tokenized words to create a better vocabulary and understanding. Finally, the accuracy and the Mean Cross-Validation Accuracy (MCVA) was generated for all the three algorithms which are used to check if it was giving proper results to the trained data. Visualization was created for understanding the accuracy of three algorithms, which in turn helped to select the most accurate algorithm among others. The programming language used in this for pre-processing & analysis is Python.


The present report describes SEM observations on a variety of subjects, such as the walls of cerebral ventricles under pathological circumstances (hydrocephalus) as well as the surface morphology of abnormal cavities like arachnoid cysts and subdural hematomas. In the human specimens with hydrocephalus the changes consisted of degeneration of ependymal cilia, progressing to denudation of the ependyma while rupture of the ependymal layer was also seen. In experimental animals where the hydrocephalus was induced by agents (presumably irritant to the tissue), the presence of reactive supraependymal cells was observed next to the manifestations of ependymal degeneration. With the SEM the wall of arachnoid cysts showed numerous microvilli of stubby appearance with interspersed projections of diverse shape in the individual cases. SEM may aid in the diagnosis of arachnoid cysts, particularly in differentiating them from traumatic leptomeningeal cysts.


. In recent years, the role of cultivation of various aquatic organisms, in mariculture to reduce the anthropogenic pressure on natural fish populations is extremely important, especially for species with reduced abundance, including sturgeons – family Acipenseridae. Technologies for growing dif ferent fish species in fresh and saltwater are constantly improving and the yields are increasing. In Bulgaria, sturgeon farming is very well developed, but exclusively in freshwater. The Black Sea is not used in this direction, despite the potential it has as a water basin. Allocated Zones for Aquaculture (AZA) are essential for the rational utilisation of the sea coast and the maritime space. The overall assessment is that AZA is a key tool for the development of aquaculture activities in the Black Sea countries. Some obvious differences can be observed between the countries in terms of environmental conditions, management, technical capacity, aquaculture development, and knowledge. These dif ferences are also reflected in the development, implementation, and management of AZA. Besides, AZA provides added value, guarantees for the future, legal stability for aquaculture. Cage fish farms in Bulgarian marine area, which in general can be located near the shore – 'inshore', 'coastal' or at a greater distance from it – 'offshore'. The number of environmental factors, antropogenic impacts, bottom relief and possible spatial and temporal conflicts of different activities should be taken into account in AZA application in Bulgarian marine area. for developing the sturgeon mariculture in Bulgarian marine area, a few suitable areas suitable for cage farming have been identified. The complex factors show that


The Internet of Things (IoT) is generally seen as a distributed information gathering platform when used in business processes (BP). IoT devices have computational capabilities that can and should be used to execute fragments of BP that present benefits for both the devices and the BP execution engine. In fact, executing parts of the BP in the IoT devices may result in the reduction of the number of messages exchanged between the IoT network and the BP execution engine, increasing the battery lifespan of the IoT devices; also, it reduces the workload of the BP execution engine. However, processes are still defined following a centralised approach, making it difficult to use the full capabilities of these devices. In this paper, we present an automatic decomposition solution for IoT aware business processes, described using the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). We start from a BP model that follows a centralised approach and apply our decomposition method to transfer to the IoT devices the operations that can be performed there. This transformation preserves the control and the data flows of the original process and reduces the central processing and the number of messages exchanged in the network. The code that IoT devices execute is automatically generated from the BPMN process being decentralised.


Lipases are enzymes that hydrolyse lipids to produce free fatty acids and glycerol. Fungi were cultured on sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) plates and identified using microscopic techniques. Screening for lipase producers was carried out on SDA media supplemented with 3 % olive oil at ambient temperature. M. pusillus, M. canis, A. fumigatus, Yeast and T. mentagrophytes were found to produce lipases in different amounts with Yeast and M. canis being the highest producers, they were further characterised for this reason . Lipase production was carried out using submerged fermentation. Both Yeast and M. canis produced lipases maximally at 72 h. Optimum pH and temperature of activity for the lipases from Yeast were determined to be 5 and 35 o C respectively whereas, those from M. canis were 6 and 40 o C correspondingly. Yeast and M. canis lipases had preference for olive oil than vegetable and palm oils and both enzymes were activated by K + , Mg 2+ and Ca 2+ and inhibited by Fe 3+ , Hg 2+ and Co 2+ . The lipase enzyme from Yeast had V max of 0.0006 U/mL/Sec, K m of 0.4242 mM and K cat of 0.0004 S -1 while that from M. canis had corresponding V max , K m and K cat of 0.0001 U/mL/Sec, 3.2287 mM and 0.0001 S -1 .


AbstractReported frequently in recent earthquakes, failure of the ceiling perimeters in suspended ceiling systems leads to propagation of damage to the rest of the system. Therefore, the need to understand how ceiling systems perform around their perimeters during an earthquake is becoming increasingly important. In this study, a series of component-level experiments was designed at the University of Nevada, Reno to estimate the ceiling-perimeter capacities. Test specimens were constructed from cross tees and main runners, which were then connected to a portion of gypsum–stud partition wall using either pop rivets or seismic clips. The test specimens were subjected to monotonic and cyclic loading to obtain their failure capacities. Then, several fragility curves were developed for ceiling joints based on available experimental data. In addition to the experimental studies, a series of analytical models for ceiling-perimeter joints was developed and calibrated using component experimental data.


For the past 2 years, detailed field and laboratory studies have focused on the hydrogeologic investigation of a proposed, subsurface, radioactive waste management site in Alberta at the Defence Research Establishment Suffield. The basic approach has involved test drilling and sampling augmented by down-hole geophysical techniques to establish stratigraphic sequences. In addition, piezometers and soil moisture – temperature blocks have been emplaced to define the saturated–unsaturated flow regime. Laboratory studies of drift and bedrock samples have characterized variations in mineralogy, texture, and sorptive properties.Piezometric data indicate that the site is predominantly a recharge area with median values of permeability ranging from 2.8 × 10−2 to 2.8 × 10−4 ft/day (1 × 10−5 to 1 × 10−7 cm/s). To reach the zone of saturation, recharge water must pass downward through a maximum of 120 ft (36.3 m) of unsaturated, glacial drift with cation exchange capacities ranging from 25 to 105 mequiv per 100 g. Th...


This document is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree
Master of Urban Design at the University of the Witwatersrand, 2016


World Bank funding for agricultural development has fallen sharply, despite the evident need and a good track record. The reasons are both internal to the Bank and also external, within client countries. A new strategy has been developed to reverse the trend, by focusing more sharply on the contribution of rural development to poverty reduction. The strategy rests on three legs: (i) fostering broad‐based rural growth; (ii) improving social well‐being, managing risk, and reducing vulnerability; and (iii) enhancing the sustainable management of natural resources. Innovations include a new emphasis on the rural non‐farm economy, and on risk management in rural areas.


In this paper, the two-sample scale problem is addressed within the rank framework which does not require to specify the underlying continuous distribution. However, since the power of a rank test depends on the underlying distribution, it would be very useful for the researcher to have some information on it in order to use the possibly most suitable test. A two-stage adaptive design is used with adaptive tests where the data from the first stage are used to compute a selector statistic to select the test statistic for stage 2. More precisely, an adaptive scale test due to Hall and Padmanabhan and its components are considered in one-stage and several adaptive and non-adaptive two-stage procedures. A simulation study shows that the two-stage test with the adaptive choice in the second stage and with Liptak combination, when it is not more powerful than the corresponding one-stage test, shows, however, a quite similar power behavior. The test procedures are illustrated using two ecological applications and a clinical trial.


Breeding better cultivars has become a highly efficient way to improve plant production for yield, quality and reduced input. Most breeding activities have been focussed into fewer and larger programs with less people engaged. Educational environments for the area have been correspondingly reduced in size, which makes it harder to provide inspiring environments to generate high level education, for the fewer people needed in industry. Still plant breeders, scientists as well as society have ample interest in widespread public understanding of the use of new as well as old technologies for improvement of our cultivated plants. This is not least to avoid future communication problems with the general public like experienced with genetically modified plants during recent years.


this article analyzes global trends in the development of higher education, the basic principles of modern strategic management of higher education, the formation of corporate culture necessary for the implementation of the strategy, the development and implementation of a comprehensive development program.


This paper is concerned with the study of a new integral equation formulation for electromagnetic scattering by a $2\pi$-biperiodic polyhedral Lipschitz profile. Using a combined
potential ansatz, we derive a singular integral equation with Fredholm operator of index zero from time-harmonic Maxwell's equations and prove its equivalence
to the electromagnetic scattering problem. Moreover, under certain assumptions on the electric permittivity and the magnetic permeability, we obtain existence and uniqueness results
in the special case that the grating is smooth and, under more restrictive assumptions, in the case that the grating is of polyhedral Lipschitz regularity.


INTRODUCTION THE CONTEXT PART I - STAKEHOLDER EXPECTATIONS IN THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT REGIME 1.1 What do Developing Countries Expect from the International Investment Regime? ROBERTO ECHANDI 1.2 Civil Society Perspectives: What Do Key Stakeholders Expect From the International Investment Regime? HOWARD MANN 1.3 Regulating Multinationals: Foreign Investment, Development and the Balance of Corporate and Home Country Rights and Responsibilities in a Globalizing World PETER T. MUCHLINSKI 1.4 On the Perceived Inconsistency in Investor-State Jurisprudence STANIMIR A. ALEXANDROV PART II - REFORMING THE FDI REGIME: AVENUES TO CONSIDER 2.1 Considering Recalibration of International Investment Agreements: Empirical Insights SUSAN D. FRANCK 2.2 All Clear on the Investment Front: A Plea for a Restatement PETROS C. MAVROIDIS 2.3 Legal Developments in U.S. National Security Reviews of Foreign Direct Investment (2006-2008) 1 JOHN COBAU 2.4 Challenges and Prospects Facing the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes 1 NASSIB G. ZIADE 2.5 The Changing Political Economy of Foreign Investment: Finding a Balance Between Hard and Soft Forms of Regulation JOHN H. DUNNING AND SARIANNA M. LUNDAN 2.6 Multilateral Approaches to Investment: The Way Forward RAINER GEIGER* 2.7 The Future of International Investment Law: A Balance Between the Protection of Investors and the States' Capacity to Regulate BRIGITTE STERN 2.8 International Investment Rulemaking at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Stocktaking and Options for the Way Forward JAMES ZHAN, JORG WEBER AND JOACHIM KARL PART III - REPORT OF THE RAPPORTEUR 3.1 Improving the International Investment Law and Policy System REPORT OF THE RAPPORTEUR ANDREA K. BJORKLUND


In this paper, we present a numerical method for solving a quadratic interval equation in its dual form. The method is based on the generalized procedure of interval extension called" interval extended zero" method. It is shown that the solution of interval quadratic equation based on the proposed method may be naturally treated as a fuzzy number. An important advantage of the proposed method is that it substantially decreases the excess width defect. Several numerical examples are included to demonstrate the applicability and validity of the proposed method.


Abstract In this article we present comparative data on visual hunting signals from the Kalahari Basin Area of southern Africa, encompassing three Kalahari Khoe-speaking (Ts'ixa, Buga, ǁAni) and one Kx'a-speaking group (Juǀ'hoan). For the comparison, an analysis of handshapes, handedness and iconicity in the individual data sets was conducted. Being applied in analyses of gestures and (partly) sign languages, these parameters reveal significant similarities and differences between the individual systems. We find that the systems documented most likely constitute an areal feature that transcends the boundaries of genealogical linguistic affiliation and may ultimately contribute to a better understanding of population contact and local networks in the Kalahari Basin Area Sprachbund.


This paper presents an adaptive active tracking system with sector based scanning for a single PTZ camera. Dividing sectors on an image reduces the search space to shorten selection time so that the system can cover many targets. Upon the selection of a target, the system estimates the target trajectory to predict the zooming location with a finite amount of time for camera movement. Advanced estimation techniques using probabilistic reason suffer from the unknown object dynamics and the inaccurate estimation compromises the zooming level to prevent tracking failure. The proposed system uses the simple piecewise estimation with a few frames to cope with fast moving objects and/or slow camera movements. The target is tracked in multiple steps and the zooming time for each step is determined by maximizing the zooming level within the expected variation of object velocity and detection. The number of zooming steps is adaptively determined according to target speed. In addition, the iterative estimation of a zooming location with camera movement time compensates for the target prediction error due to the difference between speeds of a target and a camera. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by simulations and real time experiments.


Sir, Two distinct calcium phosphate deposits may occur in uremic patients: nonvisceral (periarticular and subcutaneous) and arterial calcifications of hydroxyapatite, and visceral calcifications of amorphous or microcrystalline compound composed of calcium/magnesium/phosphorous somewhat like withlockite (1). Since Mg is known to be integral part of visceral calcifications, the increased serum and total body Mg, present in uremic patients (2), has been suggested to play an important role in formation and retention of these (1). By lowering the serum CaxPi product, the nonvisceral calcifications may disappear, the arterial calcifications mayor not improve (3), whereas the visceral ones continue to occur (1). Thus, we investigated the effect of low dialysate Mg concentration on visceral calcifications in a male patient, 35 years old, on chronic dialysis for 14 years and since 7 dialyzed thrice a week against a dialysate containing 0.75 mmolll of Mg. He developed periarticular, arterial and visceral (lung and tracheobronchial tree) calcifications The International Journal Of Artificial Organs / Vol. 4 no. 4,1981/ p.p. ~06


Through summarizing the aging essence and combining with modern medicine,deeply research on the effects and application of the health moxibustion.Supposed that health moxibustion can invigorate health effectively and defer senility to prevent disease and increase in life span.


The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) aboard the European satellite ENVISAT is a limb sounder measuring the thermal emission of atmospheric trace gases and particles between 4.15 and 14.6 μwavelength with high spectral resolution. Due to the special limb viewing geometry MIPAS yields global coverage of atmospheric parameters from pole to pole every day since March 2002. The main altitude range detected covers the upper troposphere, the stratosphere and the lower mesosphere when using the nominal measurement mode. MIPAS data have been applied to retrieve operationally vertical profiles of the temperature and the six key species H2O, O3, CH4, N2O, HNO3 and NO2. In addition a large number of other parameters have been derived with none-operational research algorithms. Many scientific results have already been published in various peer-reviewed journals. In this only a selection of more recent results will be presented including the "ozone hole" in the Arctic 2010/2011, polluti...


The decay and the buildup characteristics of delayed emissions in a naphthalene host–chrysene guest ''real'' four component mixed crystal consisting of the host, a physical defect, the guest, and a chemical impurity have been studied. Heterofusion of the defect–guest and the defect–impurity triplet excitions have been found to be responsible, respectively, for the guest and the impurity delayed fluorescence. The decay and the buildup kinetics observed are generally of second order though in the long time region first order kinetics predominates. Both first and second order kinetic analyses have been made. From various Arrhenius plots it has been estabilished that the thermal excitation energy is the T1H–T1D energy gap, suggesting T1D→T1D*→T1H→T1G (or T1(imp)) as the thermally activated process in the guest or the impurity delayed fluoresence generation. Some kinetic parameters have been evaluated and the values obtained suggest that at short times about 80% of the guest or impurity triplets undergo hetero...


Gene-expression responses to an input can depend on growth conditions; in this issue, Sasson et al. (2012) show that this dependence is lower when the input results in a high degree of promoter occupancy. All biological regulatory processes involve intermolecular interactions. Strong binding between the interacting molecules , for example a transcription factor (TF) and its cognate DNA promoter, can result in high specificity of signaling, since the TF is tightly bound to its cognate promoter and, thus, excluding other non-specific interactions, which can result in condition-specific influences on the signal transduction (Shinar et al., 2006). Such tight binding, however, limits the dynamical range of the regulatory effect only to a regime of high-promoter occupancy by the cognate TF. Thus, signal transduction is constrained by a trade-off between the dynamical range of the input signals (TF) and the conditions-dependent difference in the input-output response function (which quantifies the relation between input and downstream gene expression). Sasson et al. (2012) combine well-controlled experiments and a simple model to demonstrate an elegant solution to this trade-off in E. coli. Sasson et al. (2012) construct E. coli strains in which a fluorescent reporter (output) is transcribed under the control of cAMP-receptor protein (CRP) that depending on the promoter acts either as an activator or as a repressor (input). Since the activity of CRP is modulated by cAMP, the input in these strains can be controlled easily by growing the strains across different concentrations of cAMP, and the resulting fluorescent signal can be quantified accurately. This experimental design allows answering fundamental questions: Does the input-output response function depend on the growth conditions? Is this dependence affected by the input level (cAMP concentration) or by the mode of regulation, activation versus repression? The authors found that the input-output response function was less dependent on the growth conditions , for both the activating and the repressing CRP, in the regime when the CRP promoter occupancy was high. This result is consistent with earlier theoretical predictions (Shinar et al., 2006) and corroborates the idea that high-promoter occupancy by its cognate TF may prevent nonspecific binding—and thus result in more similar input-output response functions across different growth conditions. Such high fidelity of the input-output response function, however, is limited only to input levels that result in high-promoter occupancies, raising another intriguing question: Is it possible to overcome this limitation and make the input-output function robust to changes in …


This work includes preparation and characterization of new four mono nuclear complexes of palladium metal ion result from treating palladium chloride with ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), tertiary phosphines(dppe, dppp) and 2-phenyl pyridine (Hppy) in different molar ratios. All complexes have been characterized by spectroscopic methods{IR, UV-Vis, 1HNMR} spectroscopy, in addition to elemental analysis (C.H.N) and conductivity measurement. pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate ligand behaves like bidentate in the complexes [Pd(PDTC)(dppe)]Cl and [Pd(PDTC)(ppy)] but it behaves as mono dentate in the complexes [Pd(PDTC)2(dppp)] and [Pd(PDTC)2(dppe)], while tertiary phosphines and 2-phenyl pyridine behave like bidentate ligand.


The present invention relates to formula (I) compounds and their pharmaceutically-acceptable salts thereof: wherein: R1 and R9 is independently selected from: -H, C1-4 alkyl, C2-4 alkenyl and halo C1-4 alkyl; R3NA and R3NB is independently selected from: -H, C1-4 alkyl, C2-4 alkenyl, C1-4 alkyl and haloalkyl; R7NA and R7NB is independently is selected from: -H, C1-4 alkyl, C2-4 alkenyl and halo C1-4 alkyl; and wherein: RA and RB is independently selected from: C1-4 alkyl, halo C1 -4 alkyl and C6-10 aryl group; or RA and RB are connected to form a group selected from the group: C1-6 alkylene and C6-10 arylene group; for example, they are useful for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. In other aspects, the present invention also relates to novel formulations of 3,7-diamino -10H- phenothiazine onium salt.


Although there is increasing emphasis on and investment in healthcare information technology (HIT) it is important to determine why actual adoption and usage rates are below expectations. This research builds on Fichman and Kemerer's (1997) work by examining the relationship between organizational learning capacity and assimilation of a complex organizational information technology. It also explores the role a community-wide organizing vision (Swanson and Ramiller, 1997) plays in organizational learning about EMR technology and considers the extent to which community-wide learning supplements organizational level learning in small physician practices. The study will employ a survey of physician practices in Hawaii and will contribute to both practice and theory. By determining the characteristics of small physician practices that facilitate or hinder the adoption of EMRs, findings will be valuable to organizations seeking to promote HIT generally and EMRs in particular. Theoretical contributions include replication and extension of Fichman and Kemerer's (1997) assimilation model by testing the theory with a different type of complex organizational technology (an EMR system) by testing the theory in a different institutional context (healthcare) and by evaluating the applicability of the theory in a different organizational setting (small organizations. Theoretical contributions also include exploring applicability of Swanson and Ramiller's (1997) organizing vision on organizational learning capacity in small organizations.


Ba1−xAl2O4:xEu2+ (x = 0.005–0.1) cyan phosphor ceramics have been fabricated by high-temperature vacuum sintering technology. Under excitation of 365 nm near ultraviolet (NUV) light, a broad emission band with an emission peak at 497 nm can be obtained. White light-emitting diodes (w-LEDs) have been encapsulated by Ba0.9Al2O4:0.1Eu2+ phosphor ceramics, CaAlSiN3:Eu2+ phosphors in glass, and NUV-LED chips. When the w-LEDs have been driven by 300 mA electricity, the obtained white light shows a correlated color temperature of 5050 K and color rendering index of 75, which indicates that the cyan BaAl2O4:Eu2+ ceramic phosphors have potential application in the field of full-spectrum lighting.


Russia is one of the six main goldproducing countries with unique geotechnical investigation codes of gold deposit in the world.Through the comparison of the "Classification of ore deposits reserve and solid mineral prognosis prediction resource extent" and "Reserve classification guide of gold deposit" issued by Ministry of Nature Resources of Russia with the "Criterion of geological reconnaissance of rock gold ore" issued by Ministry of Land and Resources,China,the authors analyze the similarities and differences of regulation contents between Russia and China.


In 2006, Statistics Netherlands started the ambitious HEcS+ redesign program for the chain of statistics relating to economic growth. It has three main goals: increasing efficiency, reducing administrative burden and improving quality. Major innovations in the HEcS+ program include an integrated approach for large enterprise groups, use of VAT data for turnover estimates, sophisticated new tools for analysis of intermediate results and automated balancing methods for National accounts. Important parts of the HEcS+ program have been implemented in 2010 and 2011; the remainder will follow in 2012. The HEcS+ program has benefited greatly from a comprehensive architecture. This architecture simplified integral management of the development program and scoping of individual projects. Moreover, a new and efficient organisational structure for economic statistics has been created along the lines of the HEcS+ architecture. This contribution aims at giving a broad overview of the HEcS+ program and its architecture, covering both the ideas and their implementation. Not only the successes, but also the false steps that were -almost inevitablytaken will be presented.


Objective:To establish a new method of spinal mamon cell culture in-vitro for the further study of spinal mamow is chemia reprefusion. Methods:The spinal manow of all 24h new born SD rats received a standard open, isolated,filter for cell cultrue. Cell growth and purity were obserwed via cell morphology and cell immunity. Results: The method of spinal manow cell culture in-vittro were vetified for its growth, purity and survice could be applied for the further study of spinal marrow ischemia reperfusion. Canclusions:A new rat spinal marrow cell alltare model was established.


This work presents the results of plasma electrolytic hardening of steel 20Cr2Ni4A. The optimal electrolyte composition for electrolytic-plasma hardening of steels containing 20 % sodium carbonate and 20 % urea has been determined. As a result, a modified layer was obtained on the surface of steel with increased hardness and wear resistance. In this case, the basis of the material does not change, it consists of a ferritic-pearlitic structure, i.e. the part retains its viscous core, and the surface layer contains carbide particles. The presence of carbide particles in the surface layers has a positive effect on the performance properties of the parts, since small carbides keep the products from abrasion.


Abstract This paper analyzes a form of community engagement that differs from the way it is usually conceived and practiced in the domain of global health. This story takes place in the Cuban context and more specifically in a recent programme of oncology clinical trials implemented in primary healthcare (PHC) centres. By considering both the genealogy of this program and local interactions between PHC professionals and patients and their close relatives, I show that, in the context of Cuban socialist biomedicine, community engagement emerges as an implicit practice that forms part of the PHC professional ethos. I explore the ways cancer biomedicine is adapted in order to address specific needs and demands related to public acceptance of cancer in the Cuban society, diagnostic communication and palliative care. I argue that the way community engagement is enacted within Cuban socialist biomedicine is alternative to the global health dominant paradigm since it does strengthen existing relations between citizenry, health professions and public health infrastructures. Finally, by questioning the specificity of such socialist approach to community engagement, I suggest it greatly contributes to global health literature, because it creates continuity within existing state infrastructures rather than bypasses them, and, furthermore, offers a unique vantage on the treatment of chronic disease.


So I quite fancy being a bit civilly disobedient. . . You know, overthrow a government or two. But where to start? Maybe I'll align myself to a cause of some description, or perhaps a political uprising is the order of the day. No, let's not revolt before we can walk. First things first – research. . . And that's where People Power: Unarmed Resistance and Global Solidarity, edited by Howard Clark, comes in.


A study was carried out during 2001 to 2010 to illustrate the profit of momentum strategy in Tehran stock Exchange, and possibility of higher abnormal return based on past performance trends. In this study, the effects of two substantial variables including size and liquidity on profitability of momentum strategy in Tehran stock Exchange were investigated. The study was conducted in two sub-periods: 2005-2010, and 2007-2010. The first is due to a significant change in the number of stock companies after privatization, and the second is to cover the effects of global financial crisis on Iran's economy. Our sample includes three separate samples of all stock market joined companies before the mentioned related periods that have been traded in at least half of the total trading days in the related period. R esults showed that using momentum strategy in Tehran Stock Exchange created negative returns in all periods. Moreover, liquidity factor did not affect the profitability of momentum strategy. Meanwhile, considering size as another fundamental factor, the positive effect of small stocks was identified only in one period , from 2005 to 2010. In other periods, however, it led to negative returns.


In order to meet the demand of high performance development of remote sensing camera, the design of camera software is becoming more and more complex. In this way, the large-scale processing devices, such as SRAM-FPGA demand is increasing. However, due to the complex space radiation environment faced by remote sensing cameras, especially the Single-Event Upset (SEU) effect, it has a great impact on SRAM devices, which may easily lead to abnormal system operation or functional interruption. In this paper, several commonly used strategies to deal with the SEU of SRAM-FPGA were studied, and their advantages and disadvantages were compared and analyzed respectively. Based on the characteristics of remote sensing camera mission, a comprehensive strategy of SEU-tolerant was proposed, and the implementation methods and the flow chart were given. Finally, this paper used the common fault injection method to verify the correctness and effectiveness of the strategy. It was proved that this strategy could well meet the mission needs of remote sensing cameras and provide a new way to upgrade the functions of remote sensing cameras in the future.


A current problem for protected area management is contending with increasing backcountry use, notably that use which is directed toward wilderness experiences. The notion of multiple perceptions of wilderness suggest that a variety of wildernesses can be defined and managed in such a way as to minimize user impacts while maximizing user satisfaction. The spatial delimitation of multiple perceptions of wilderness has been formalized through wilderness perception mapping. The wilderness perception mapping methodology can be operationalized through two approaches, using geographic information systems, which are outlined and compared. The first method is an intuitive spatial-perceptual approach, while the alternative method is a more sophisticated multivariate approach. The results of applying each method to a study area are examined and contrasted. While there is broad similarity in the spatial delimitation of wilderness perceptions achieved by each method, the multi-variate approach affords a finer level of differentiation. The implications of these comparative differences and similarities for management of, and research for, protected are discussed.


In this paper, examples of existing AMR systems and IT integration solutions are described. Use cases for LV neutral fault management is specially covered. In order to illustrate the capabilities of the current AMR meters for neutral fault indication some laboratory test results are presented. (4 pages)


Anders Fredrik Regnell – an early and generous sponsor of our society Borne in 1807 as the son of Anders Rignell, a horse driver and Brita Persdotter, a servant girl, Anders Fredrik became motherless at an early age. His father then married a rather wealthy widow and innkeeper, and with his new wife he was busy taking care of business. There wasnt much time for family life for the young boy, but, he had the fortune of having a good education. Curiously, Anders Fredrik got his last name, Regnell, by a misspelling when enrolled in school. Anders Fredrik Regnell became a student in Uppsala 1824, passed the preparatory exams for medical studies 1830, med lic 1836 and got his medical doctorate as primus 1837. From 1836 to 1839 he worked in Stockholm and for some while as an assistant to Anders Retzius. He was appointed position as a Cholera physician twice. 1839-1840 he worked as a ship's doctor travelling with the Jarrama expedition to the Mediterranean regions. Returning home from this he was understandably concerned by his own health, with a lung disease causing blood coughing. Thus, he decided to emigrate to a warmer and healthier climate. In Rio de Janeiro he passed the tests of the medical faculty and was approved as a doctor. He then established a successful practice in the small town Caldas in Minas Geiras. Although he was something of a lonesome wolf he gave hospitality to many visitors from his old country. As other well-known medici he showed an interest in botany. Later in life he collected plants in tropical regions, sending them to different museums in the old world to be characterized by experts. In South America he also showed interest in animal life, geology and meteorology. Many great men have been remembered for their knowledge, contributions to science by new discoveries or by their synthesis of evolutions in science. Anders Fredrik Regnell deserves to be remembered also because of his monetary contributions to research and education. Due to his earnings as a skilled doctor and to wise investments in different projects e g mining he made a large fortune. Donations of impressive magnitude were made to many different organisations. First of all to his Alma Mater, Uppsala University and in fact Regnell's donations were most significant as they, next to those of Gustav II Adolf, were the largest ever given to Uppsala University. …


Same as Dung's abstract argumentation framework (AF), the notion of generalized abstract argumen- tation framework (GenAF) aims at reasoning about inconsistency disregarding any logic for arguments; thus both the knowledge base (KB) and language to express beliefs remain unspecified. Nonetheless, reifying the abstract configuration of the AF argumentation machineries to specific logics may bring about some inconveniences. A GenAF is assumed to eventually relate first-order logic (FOL) formulae to abstract arguments. The main purpose of the generalization is to provide a theory capable of reasoning (following argumentation technics) about inconsistent knowledge bases (KB) expressed in any FOL fragment. Consequently, the notion of argument is related to a single formula in the KB. This allows to share the same primitive elements from both, the framework (arguments) and, the KB (formulae). A framework with such features would not only allow to manage a wide range of knowledge representation languages, but also to cope straightforwardly with the dynamics of knowledge. Once the formalism is presented, we propose a reification to the description logic ALC with the intention to handle ontology debugging. In this sense, since argumentation frameworks reason over graphs that relate arguments through attack, our methodology is proposed to bridge ontological inconsistency sources to attack relations in argumentation. Finally, an argumentation semantics adapted to GenAF's, is proposed as a consistency restoration tool with the objective of debugging and repairing ontologies.


The effects of rotational speed and sand concentrations on the wear behavior on carbon steel and stainless steel were investigated by open-circuit potential, polarization curves, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The mass loss rates of samples under each condition were determined. The erosion rates of both steels increased with the rotational speed and sand concentration, and the erosion rates of the 304 stainless steel were approximately one-tenth of the carbon steel for the same conditions in the sand-containing water. The erosion rate that was calculated from the polarization curve method was similar to the tested mass loss results, and can be used to determine the erosion rate in flowing sand-containing water.


Objetive. To evaluate the relationship of AMH blood concentration with ovarian follicular count and in vitro embryo production in female Brahman cattle. Material and methods. To standardize the AMH quantification for Brahman oocyte donors, experiment 1 was performed, blood samples were taken from 10 heat synchronized Brahman females, in three different days of the estrous cycle, with more than 90 days postpartum and with normal reproductive evaluation. Serum concentration of AMH was determined with a commercial immunoenzymatic kit. In experiment 2, blood samples were taken from 100 non-synchronized Brahman oocyte donors, an ovum pick-up session was performed for in vitro embryo production and the number of follicles greater than 2 mm in the two ovaries was registered. Results. There were no differences in AMH concentration between the evaluated days of estrous cycle and a correlation of 0.82 (p<0.001) was found between antral follicle population (AFP) and AMH concentration. Serum AMH concentration ranged from 0.02 to 2.69 ng/ml in Brahman oocyte donors. Also, a correlation of 0.73 (p<0.001) between AMH and AFP and 0.54 between the AMH and the percentage of blastocysts were found in donors. Conclusions . The AMH can be used as a satisfactory endocrine marker of ovarian reserve prediction for in vitro embryo production in Brahman cattle.


On the basis of documentary records in ancient and modern times,this paper explores the characteristics of"Sishen Decoction"from its composition, efficacy,and administration. Three proven cases were presented to illustrate its indications and clinical experience.


In perennial crop supply analysis, separate estimation of the qualitatively different new planting and replanting decisions is desirable. Commonly, data paucity restricts estimation to a single reduced form equation. This study develops a dynamic unobserved components method where separate estimation of the structural equations is possible in the absence of detailed data on new plantings and replantings. The proposed method is empirically implemented in a case study of the Florida grapefruit industry. In terms of both statistical and forecasting performance, the proposed structural approach is found superior to a single equation reduced form specification.


A model «network» formed by the reversible adsorption of telechelic polymers between two flat surfaces is studied using the dynamic Monte Carlo technique on a cubic lattice. Chains of 60 segments are studied in an athermal solvent and in the weak overlap limit. The parameters varied are the end-adsorption energy (e/kT) and separation of the surfaces (L). We investigate the effect of the adsorption energy and the surface separation upon the equilibrium bridging fraction and on the lifetime distribution of the bridges. The bridging fraction is been to increase monotonically with adsorption energy and reaches a limiting value for strong adsorption; the bridging fraction decreases monotonically with increasing surface separation


Stevia or sweet leaf (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, Asteraceae) is a small shrub, a non-caloric natural-source alternative to artificially produced sugar substitutes. A protocol was developed for adaptation of Stevia rebaudiana plant in greenhouse under Egypt condition to study the effect of plant age, light duration, (light duration and light intensity) interaction and time of adaptation during various year months on adaptation of the plant. The plants used in this study were developed previously in vitro and grown in Applied Research Center of Medicinal Plants farm, at Abo-Elhol region, Egypt. The best adaptation results obtained from the plants at age from 2 to 6 weeks, while plants at 8 weeks age decreased in survival percentage (50%). The effect of several light duration on adaptation of the plant showed that, increasing light long more than 11 h/day affected positively on adaptation parameters. 12 h/day light long interaction with different light intensity were recorded the best adaptation parameters. The effect of planting time around the year from January to December was studied. Significant differences were observed between the treatments. The highest shoot length obtained from plants cultivated in July and August. June, July, August and September were the best for plant strength, from March to September a 100% survival percentage was recorded while January and December recorded a 0.0% survival percentage.


1. Recognition of transplantation antigens and its genetic and immunological implications. 2. The test system. 3. Specific inhibition of the process of recognition of transplantation antigens by immunocompetent cells. A. Inhibition by means of blocking of transplantation antigens. B. Inhibition due to blocking of receptors. C. Specificity of receptor inhibition. DAnatomy of receptor specificity. E. Specificity revealed by absorption of antisera. 4. Similarity of receptors and of combining sites of alloantibodies. 5. Speculations on the nature of cell-associated receptors for transplantation antigens and on the nature of anti-receptor antibodies.


A connection between generalized Montgomery identity, Bernoulli polynomials and Euler identity is esablished. Using this connection, certain strict improvements of some Ostrowski type inequalities are obtained.


This paper reports research on improvement techniques of scalability and performance of Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition, (J2EE) based applications. The study deals with operating systems and Java Virtual Machine (JVM) tuning, the setting of Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) Application Servers' configuration parameters and clustering methods. The theoretical principles of achieving high performance and scalability of J2EE Applications are considered. The experimental environment and scenarios are described. The experimental results of the considered techniques' evaluation are presented and analyzed.


Monolithic fabrication and advancements in MEMS and nanotechnology have made biomedical implants more popular for monitoring and other applications in humans and animals. One of the primary challenges faced in employing implants is providing a stable battery-less power supply. Inductive coupling is a commonly used means of transferring energy to implanted devices requiring power in milliwatt or microwatt range. Similar to passive RFID tags, an external transmit-coil may be used to induce a current in an implanted receive-coil by generating a magnetic field in the vicinity. However, it must be realized that the physical design of inductive coils and their orientation with respect to each other has a direct impact on the inductive link circuit, and power delivery. This paper focuses on developing three dimensional mathematical models of the magnetic field of spiral and solenoid coils to investigate the effect of lateral misalignment on the mutual inductance of the coils. Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations of the spiral and solenoid transmit coils are carried out to validate the developed models. Coil circuit parameters such as inductance, resistance and quality factor are also given.


In the teaching of design courses, the process of students to complete the designs is considered more important than the final results, and usually there are no standard answers for these designs. Thus, the research on the process evaluation method in design courses is of great significance. Taking the assessments of two design courses in optical discipline as examples, the psychophysical experimental methods are introduced into the process evaluation of the design courses, i.e. the process evaluation given by each student to others in forms of classification, sorting or grading are adopted as one trial of a psychophysical experiment, which generate many experimental data of mutual evaluation. Based on these data, evaluation results are measured scientifically using the statistical method. Furthermore, through correlation analysis and regression analysis of these data, the relationship among various aspects of different process can be studied. It is easier for students to understand and accept their assessment results, and more helpful for teachers to analyze the influencing factors in their teaching process.


A temperature sensitive sol-gel transfer polyethylene glycol/polypeptide block copolymer, and a method for preparing the polyethylene glycol/polypeptide block copolymer are provided to improve the drug delivery efficiency by the transfer of the block copolymer from an aqueous solution to a hydrated gel at a specific temperature. A polyethylene glycol/polypeptide block copolymer comprises 40-80 wt% of a polyethylene glycol block having a number average molecular weight of 400-6,000 Dalton and 20-70 wt% of a polypeptide block having a number average molecular weight of 200-2,000 Dalton, and has a molecular weight of 500-30,000. Preferably the polyethylene glycol/polypeptide block copolymer has a structure of a polyethylene glycol-polypeptide, a polyethylene glycol,-polypeptide-polyethylene glycol, a polypeptide-polyethylene glycol-polyethylene glycol-polypeptide, or a (polyethylene glycol-polypeptide)n, wherein n is an integer of 2-30.


This paper will first discuss intrinsic advantages of high-pressure oxidation of Ge and then present further improvement of electron mobility in Ge n-MISFET using high-k gate stacks combined with high-pressure oxidation. The peak mobility is about 1500 cm2/Vsec, which is the highest one to date among unstrained Si and Ge MISFETs. Ge-CMOS is a strong candidate for beyond Si-CMOS.


The New Economic Mechanism of 1968 reformed the Soviettype planning model that Hungary inherited after the Second World War. Enterprises became autonomous, profit-maximizing units. Central determination over resource al location was replaced by indirect controls. Prices, wages, credits and taxes were designed to function as economic regulators coercing enterprises to produce ef ficiently. Through the adjustment of the regulators, microeconomic perfor mance was to be kept in harmony with macroeconomic goals. The success of the 1968 Reform, however, is questionable. Criticisms have been directed against the comprehensiveness of the Reform, arguing that the important structures were not altered. In particular, the institutional hierarchy of the pre-Reform command economy remained intact and prevented the re formed economy from realizing the full benefits of economic decentralization. From a different perspective, it has been argued that the Reforms, as promul gated, were not implemented. Some authors take the position that a recentrali zation actually occurred during the 1970's, and thus both the intentions and practical implementation of the Reform were rescinded. Thomas Bauer argues that the aspirations of enterprises came to be expressed through the interests of higher echelons of the planning administration. This resulted as CMEA con tracts were arranged by the top administrative offices.* 1 Since CMEA trade is of ten based on bilateral trade and commodity quotas, microeconomic decision criteria of the enterprises are thus subsumed under higher level interests.2 Laszlo Antal's position on the Reform is similar to that of Bauer's. He notes that a recentralization occurred as enterprises were given "responsibility for supply" of commodities in accordance with administrative requests.3 Teresa Laky also argues that a recentralization occurred with the emergence of numerous orders, prescriptions, and guidelines used by sectoral ministries under the guise of as signing task details.4


The paper describes the indigenous knowledge of local communities on the traditional healthcare system in district Porbandar. A total of about 573 individuals from 42 villages across district Porbandar were interviewed. Of the total interviewed persons, 41% claimed to have the ethnoveterinary knowledge. Respondents listed a total of 74 plant species that are used for treating ailments in the animals. Leaves, seeds, fruits and in some cases whole plant were used for medicinal purposes. The plant parts are fed to sick animal for treating rheumatism, fever, bloat, foot and mouth diseases, constipation, stomach pain, mastitis, swellings, sprains, gastric problems and to expel the placenta after delivery in cattle. The emphasis has been laid on scientific validation of medicinal properties of the plants used in traditional medication system, and also to recognize and reward the traditional wisdom of the local communities.


Does the use of double dose of GnRH antagonists during COH in women with risk of premature LH surge alter luteinization after final oocyte maturation induction?

 The use of double dose of GnRH antagonist in women with risk of premature luteinizing hormone surge dosent affect luteinization after final oocyte maturation induction.

 GnRH antagonists are used to prevent a premature LH surge during controlled ovarian hyperstimulation. The antagonists directly inhibit gonadotrophin release within several hours through competitive binding to pituitary GnRH receptors, producing a rapid suppression of LH and FSH, with no initial flare effect. In women with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) it is not uncommon that premature luteinization cannot be completely prevented using a daily dose GnRH antagonist. To date, no study has evaluated the effects of using a daily double dose of GnRH antagonists to prevent a premature LH surge and its effect on luteinization after final oocyte maturation induction.

 This monocentric retrospective analysis evaluated the effect on luteinization after final oocyte maturation induction in twenty women during COH who received a daily double dose of GnRH antagonists (Cetrotide 0.25 mg/mL, Merck) from January 2020 to December 2020.

 Women with severe DOR and history of premature luteinization during COH received a double dose of GnRH antagonist when the leading follicle reached 12–14 mm (am and pm). When two follicles reached ≥18 mm in diameter, final oocyte maturation was induced with dual trigger using Leuprolide acetate and hCG. Progesterone, estradiol, bHCG, and LH levels were measured the day after final oocyte maturation induction to assure adequate luteinization.

 In total twenty women were included in the analysis. Mean age 36.8± 4.2, AMH 0.65± 0.32 ng/ml, baseline antral follicle count 4± 2.3, serum hormone levels the day of ovulation induction trigger: progesterone 0.89± 0.34 ng/ml, LH 1.6± 2.1 ng/ml, estradiol 1235 ± 1420 pg/ml. Post-surge serum hormone levels average reached adequate levels: estradiol 1645 ± 1116 pg/ml, progesterone 20.4 ±2.2 ng/ml, LH 62.66± 10.5 IU/ml and, bHCG 247±115 IU/ml. A total of 76 oocytes were retrieved (3.8± 0.8 oocytes per patient), 63.1% (48/76) MII, 22% (17/76) MI, 14% (11/76) GV.

 The retrospective nature of the study, small sample size, and potential variability in the study center's laboratory protocol(s) compared to other reproductive treatment centers may limit the external validity of our findings.
 Wider implications of the findings: The daily use of double dose of GnRH antagonists during COH offers the possibility of preventing a premature LH surge in women with DOR with high risk of early ovulation, without compromising luteinization after final oocyte maturation induction.

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The consequences of vitamin D deficiency can be severe. It is therefore recommended that Swiss infants have a minimum intake of 10 µg of vitamin D3 per day during the first 12 mo of life (1). For this purpose they are prescribed an "alcoholic" preparation that contains vitamin D3 (1).

Infants given preparations containing vitamin D3 either dissolved in alcohol or in peanut oil very much prefer the "oily" form (2). As a consequence, beginning on the first of January 2005, we replaced the traditional "alcoholic" vitamin D3 formulations and replaced it with the peanut oil formulation.

There are conflicting data concerning whether palatability is important for adherence to the recommended regimen of care and persistence with it over time (3, 4). The adherence to the supplementation with vitamin D3 was therefore compared in Swiss infants prescribed either "alcoholic" or "oily" vitamin D3. A preliminary account of the results obtained in infants prescribed "alcoholic" vitamin D3 has been published elsewhere as a letter (5).


We study perfect sampling for the posterior distribution in a class of spatial point process models introduced by Baddeley and van Lieshout (1993). For Neyman-Scott cluster models, perfect sampling from the posterior is shown to be computationally feasible via a coupling-from-the-past type algorithm of Kendall and M0ller. An application to data on leukemia incidence in upstate New York is presented.


Does anyone need the rhetorical theory of literature? The new various directions of the literary research are continiously appearing. Together with them, new perspectives of the research of the literary texts are opening up. They allow to ask questions concerning the language generated by them, with the use of which they shape the literary discourse. Being aware of the consequences of the linguistic shift for the research on culture, today the rethorical viewpoint in the conduct of the theoretical discourse is adopted. At the same time, the attention is paid to the phrases, style, as well as the metaphors used in the current literary research. The entire reflection is accompanied by the comparative spirit, that is, a certain transdisciplinary openness, which calls for abandoning the internal literary field by the theoretical research, and entering the wide field of the culture research. This process is especially visible in the new theoretical-literary directions (cognitive humanities, constructivism, affective theory of literature etc.) and enables to assign to the comparative literature the role of a binder of the taken discourse on the border between theory and rethorics.


Geoelectrical measurements were used in association with soil engineering tests in environmental engineering investigations at Tenth of Ramadan city, east Nile Delta, Egypt. The genetic algorithm (GA) approach with structure-based (SB) model is applied towards an optimal interpretation of DC resistivity measurements. The inverted models together with borehole data and soil classification exhibit two soil types, gravelly sand and clayey sand with free lime. The survey demonstrates that the combined use of the GA with SB model provides valuable information to constraint the number of interfaces. The reliable resistivity inversion results are considered as a key role in studying the geotechnical parameters such as Atterberg limits unconfined compressive strength and swelling tests. The clay sediments are described by medium plasticity and sensitivity for swelling. Further, the free lime with water makes gill action with decreasing the compressive strength. Therefore, such soil, in turn, may cause soil water appearance on the ground surface and geotechnical problems during or after the process of any construction. In this respect, the integration of the geoelectrical survey with soil engineering properties is efficient and less time consuming for characterizing the engineering-geologic zone.


pH-sensitive hydrogels based on chitosan-pectin(CS-PT) and chitosan-octyl-pectin were synthesized by using glutaradehyde as cross-link agent.The effects of the degree of the dosage of crosslinking,pH,and ionic strength on the swelling behaviors of two kinds of hydrogels have been studied,and the swelling ratio(SR) of this hydrogel in acide solution is much larger than that in alkaline solution.The release behavior of bovine serum alumin entrapped in the hydrogels was of distinctly difference with the changes of pH value of loading medium. The release of bovine serum alumin in those two kinds of hydrogels in the medium of pH=1.0 was much quicker in pH=7.4 and pH=9.18.


The parameters for efficient nitric acid leaching were experimentally determined, which ensured the recoveries of Zr and REEs from eudialyte concentrate up to 87.0%–91.7% and 76.0%–81.1%, respectively. The possibility was shown of intensifying the leaching process through preliminary energy treatments to ensure the intensive breakdown of mineral complexes and grains; as a result, the recovery of Zr and REEs increased by more than 10%. A process was developed for the selective recovery of up to 91.5% of zirconium and up to 71.2% of REEs in the form of carbonate compounds from the pregnant solution of nitric acid leaching by chemical precipitation as well as up to 81.1% REEs and up to 91.7% zirconium on hypercrosslinked polystyrene sorbents.


Old age is the age at which risk of degenerative diseases such as hypertension. Hypertensive disease if not treated immediately can be fatal to the sufferer, one of the efforts to lower blood pressure in people with hypertension by doing music therapy. Music is able to clear the mind and the sound of music is able to create physical forms that affect our health, awareness, and everyday behavior. The power of music that is a powerful source of emotional healing to ward off negative forces and increase positive power. The purpose of this research is to know the blood pressure before and after being given music therapy in elderly with hypertension in Working Area of Puskesmas KTK Kota Solok. This research design is quasi experiment with One group pretest post test design with 18 samples with Purposive sampling technique. The result showed that the difference of blood pressure before and after classical music therapy in elderly with mild hypertension was obtained p-value = 0,001 (<0,05), in elderly with moderate hypertension, p-value = 0,023 (<0,05 ). This number indicates that there is influence between systolic blood pressure before and after classical music therapy whereas in severe hypertension we get p-value = 0,175 (˃0,05). This figure shows that there is no influence between systolic blood pressure before and after classical music therapy. Keywords :music theraphy, elderly, hypertension, blood pressure.


Generalized experimental equations of the flow friction factor and heat transfer coefficient have been derived for packed wire screens with a variety of geometries. Based on these equations, a method to design a screen matrix for the regenerator of a Stirling engine is presented. Theoretical analysis is made on the thermal behavior of the matrix as well as on the thermal effectiveness of the regenerator. For comparison, several design of matrices are tested in an experimental Stirling engine. The results obtained confirm the validity of the design method.


The coupled system of renormalized Dyson-Schwinger equations for the quark, gluon, and ghost propagators of the Landau gauge QCD is solved within truncation schemes. These employ bare as well as nonperturbative Ans\"atze for the vertices such that the running coupling as well as the quark mass function are independent of the renormalization point. The one-loop anomalous dimensions of all propagators are reproduced. Dynamical chiral symmetry breaking is found; the dynamically generated quark mass agrees well with the phenomenological values, and the corresponding results from lattice calculations. The effects of unquenching the system are small. In particular the infrared behavior of the ghost and gluon dressing functions found in previous studies is almost unchanged as long as the number of light flavors is smaller than four.


An experiment was conducted to assess the impact of different intercrops like maize, pea, strawberry, cabbage, red clover, french bean, oats and maize on cropping, quality and relative economic yield of cherry cv. Misri under Kashmir conditions. The results obtained revealed significant improvement in cherry trees intercropped with leguminous crops like pea, red clover and french bean than clean cultivation and heavy feeder crops (requiring high level of soil nutrients) like strawberry, cabbage, oats and maize. Highest per cent fruit set, fruit maturity, fruit yield and fruit physico-chemical characteristics were recorded maximum in cherry trees with leguminous type of crops. The impact of intercrops on relative economic yield of cherry (system equivalent yield) revealed that the cherry plants intercropped with pea had better benefit: cost ratio (1.71) followed by cabbage (1.41), red clover (1.40) and French bean (1.39) than clean cultivation (1.34).


An overcomplete ICA algorithm was presented based on the geometric algorithm and shortest-path algorithm for underdetermined blind source separation, i.e. observed signal numbers are less than sources numbers. The algorithm is used to extract speech signal. In speech signals processing, speech signals are collected by microphones, and then use algorithms to extract and separate, when the number of speakers more than the number of microphones. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method has good effect.


In 2009, China surpassed the United States to become the largest global energy consumer. By 2013, coal, crude oil, and natural gas combined represented more than 90% of this consumption, and it is estimated that China's energy consumption needs will more than double by the year 2040. This projection highlights China's growing challenge to safely and efficiently supply energy resources across the country. This effort will include new supplies to areas with developing rural populations and increased supplies to rapidly growing urban areas. Buried pipeline has become the selected method of transmission, as pipelines are more cost effective, more sustainable, and more efficient than the construction and operation of aboveground railway or long-haul trucking. To meet the demand, the Chinese government has implemented massive buried pipeline construction initiatives, allowing China to become the fastest growing country in trenchless technology construction methods. Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) has played a particularly critical role in executing large-scale pipeline construction by providing an economical, timely, and environmentally responsible method to bypass challenges along the path of the pipelines. Thus, Chinese HDD contractors have played a critical role in the overall development of China's buried energy infrastructure. Understanding this role would be of great value to the global trenchless technology community. Developing countries would benefit from the Chinese advancements for large-scale HDD installation. In developed areas, such as North America, studying Chinese execution may allow for new ideas to help to improve long-established HDD best practices.


Chemistry education has an important role in creating a sustainable path forward for humanity. By connecting chemistry education to a fuller understanding of the world, citizens and scientists will be more effective in addressing the coming complex challenges. This article presents a new approach to introducing high school chemistry that links to Earth's systems using a systems thinking framework. This structure provides students with a bridge to the larger world that makes chemistry relevant and empowering. Systems thinking concepts such as connectedness, nestedness, and feedback loops are central to this framework. Specific activities and content, using examples of human and natural systems, are introduced in the beginning of the curriculum and guide and support the entire year-long college-preparatory chemistry course content. This article provides examples of the activities used to introduce systems thinking in the context of Earth's systems.


Structure-Air noise sources in different frequencies were identified based on analysis of frequency and testing of vibration and noise under idling condition, and a method for signal sources priority was developed under identifying the kinds of noise sources. The partial coherence equations of the six input and single output systems were derived based on the theory of coherence. Coefficient of partial coherence of the test data of vibration and noise in vehicle was calculated by using MATLAB. Coherence analysis results show that working engine incentive transferred to the driving cab in low frequency range caused structure noise, engine RH mounting is the main noise source; The noise in middle frequency range is caused by the coupling effects of vibration of engine left mounting and noise of the engine compartment to the driving cab, between which left hanging mount vibration affected more; Engine compartment noise in high frequency leaked through the air to the cab, engine noise is the main source of noise inside.


The possibilities of the direct determination of the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value in trichloracetic acid (TCA) extracts instead of distillates were evaluated. Tests carried out on herring (Clupea harengus L.), redfish (Sebastes marinus L.), cod (Gadus morhua L.), plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) and spurdog (Squalus acanthias L.) of varying degree of oxidation gave 95.3% recovery in the teleost species but only 75.2% in the elasmobranch spurdog, due to the urea present. With the distillation technique, recoveries were lower and averaged 66.1% for teleosts and 43.0% for spurdog. Addition of 0.1% of both propyl gallate and EDTA to the TCA solution lowered TBA values by 25 to 59%. When fish samples were submitted to a 4 hours′ forced oxidation period, TBA values increased to a greater extent with the direct extraction procedure than with the distillation method.


Vital Events Registration System (VERS) is an important source to generate and update population data regularly on vital registration. Realizing its importance Nepal government has initiated to start it from the beginning of the 1960s and started since 1977 backing by law. Despite the policies and plans of action of the Nepal government and support from various international agencies, the system could not be an effective instrument to generate regular data on population. The data generated from this source is not complete and reliable for public use till date.The Economic Journal of NepalVol. 35, No. 4, October-December 2012 (Issue N0. 140)Page: 235-251


This paper examines the relationship between transformational leadership dimensions and employees' job engagement in Cairo five- star hotels. It explores how participants of employees deem transformational leader and how this leader helps them to keep vigorous, dedicated, and absorbed at work. The paper concludes with a discussion of the importance of supervisors spending time teaching, coaching, developing their employees, and how this makes the employees more willing to dedicate extra effort and be more engaged in the job performance with the aim of producing world class levels of innovation, enhancing service quality and generating competitive advantage.


With the rapid development of IC technology, the application of FPGA becomes more and more widely, and its testing techniques have been paid attention to and research extensively This paper briefly describes the development of FPGA and its major components; presents a specific testing method and proce-dure of FPGA based on the ATE; describes the Intel HEX file format with a set of actual configuration data of Xilinx XC3042,as well as the method of converting it into a binary configuration code, and describes the configu-ration code format and the calculating method of configuration data length of FPGA; Then, explains about the FPGA configuration principle through the configuration circuit schematic diagram and configuration sequence of XC3042 at the mode of Peripheral. At last, this paper describes the FPGA configuration and testing process with ATE-J750.This can be regarded as a practical and effective way for the FPGA's general-purpose test.


Automatic palmprint identification has received much attention in security applications and law enforcement. The performance of a palmprint identification system is improved by means of feature extraction and classification. Feature extraction methods such as Subspace learning are highly sensitive to the rotation variances, translation and illumination in image identification. Thus, Histogram of Oriented Lines (HOL) has not obtained promising performance for palmprint recognition so far. In this paper, we propose a new descriptor of palmprint named Improved Histogram of Oriented Lines (IHOL), which is an alternative of HOL. Improved HOL is not very sensitive to changes of translation and illumination, and has the robustness against small transformations whereas the small translation and rotations make no change in histogram value adjustment of the proposed work. The experiment results show that based on IHOL, with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) subspace learning can achieve high recognition rates. The proposed method (IHOL-Cosine distance) improves 1.30% on PolyU I database, and similarly (IHOL-Euclidean distance) improves 2.36% on COEP database compared with existing HOL method.


Objective To investigate the effects in vivo of high-dose methylprednisolone(MP) therapy on serum cytokines in patients with active multiple sclerosis(AMS). Methods Blood samples were taken before and after 3 days of methylprednisolone administration at doses of 1 g/day;and 24 hours,96 hours post-treatment.Serum levels of interleukin(IL)-1β,IL-2,IL-4 and IL-10 were measured. Results Before treatment,IL-1β,IL-2 and IL-10 were significantly higher in the serum of the patients with AMS as compared to those of the healthy controls(P0.005,P=0.001,P=0.012).The IL-4 was similar in the AMS and the control groups.After therapy,serum IL-1β,IL-2 in AMS patients were significantly decreased(P0.001,P0.001),with a gradual decrement trend.IL-10 gradually increased,but with no statistical significance(P0.05).There was a significant increase in the level of IL-4(P0.05). Conclusions The mechanism of immunomodulating effects of methylprednisolone in active MS may be suppressed by activated Th1cell immume response through modulation of pre-inflammatory(Th1) and anti-inflammatory(Th2) cytokines in cytokine network.


Many studies of the ac power supply have been reported. There are ac chopper circuits in these reports. The ac chopper circuits are effective method for ac power control. But, the ac chopper does not apply to practical use because it has some problems that needs bi-directional switch and ac snubber.In this paper, I propose the novel PWM controlled ac power supply based on ac chopper technology. Proposed PWM controlled ac power supply can solve problems of devices and snubber circuits because this circuit uses bilateral switch circuit instead of bi-directional switch. This paper describes circuit configuration and operation of PWM controlled ac power supply, and explains ac voltage regulator and series voltage compensator for application example through experimental results.


pre-sents some first results from an exploratory, small-scale, qualitative study of Finnish adults with Type 1 diabetes, focussing on their diabetes information practices concerning certain information or sources. McKenzie (2003) identi-fied four modes of practices named seeking', 'active scan-ning', 'non-directed monitoring' and 'by proxy'. 'information these four modes.


RDM is a special measurement function of Total Station,and it can be used to measure the horizontal distance between two view points which are not intervisible.The advantages of this method are flexibly setting station and simple operation.But its accuracy is not marked,and is obtained through the calculation.This paper derived the accuracy calculation formula of RDM,basing on the principle of RDM with total station.Through an example of calculation,it analyzed the accuracy and its change law of RDM while station was changing,and proposed the method to improve its accuracy.


Biogenic and inorganic carbonates are widely used to reconstruct past temperatures and fluid compositions. For decades, calcification temperatures have been inferred from oxygen isotope composition (δ 18 O) of calcium carbonates (CaCO 3 ) assuming the δ 18 O of the parental fluid and isotopic equilibrium precipitation conditions. The development of the clumped isotope (Δ 47 ) thermometer allows for reconstructing equilibrium calcification temperatures without requiring a priori knowledge of the water δ 18 O values.


Many consumers use alternative preparations such as herbals, vitamins, and over-the-counter products in an attempt to prevent or improve the outcome of dementia. Despite use by almost half of all patients, evidence supporting their utilization is either conflicting or lacking. Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, and beta-carotene currently do not have clinical trials showing evidence impacting the progression or treatment of symptoms associated with dementia. In addition, conflicting data exist pertaining to the beneficial utilization of ginkgo biloba and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs associated with dementia treatment. While a link to the utility of folate associated with areas of improved cognitive functioning has been suggested, further studies are needed. Vitamin E may have some benefit in patients with Alzheimer's disease, however, may also have risks in patients with comorbid diseases such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus. With limited options still existing...