We report on our experiments for the CLEF 2013 Entity Recognition Challenge. Our approach is based on a combination of machine translation and NE tagging techniques. The Silver Standard Corpus (SSC) is used to obtain a corresponding annotated corpus in the target language. The plain text of the SSC is translated and a mapping is created between entities in the original and phrases in the translation, to which are associated the same CUIs as in the original. This produces a Bronze Standard Corpus (BSC) in the target language. A dictionary of entities is also created, which associates to each pair (entity text, semantic group) the corresponding CUIs that appeared in the SSC. The BSC is used to train a model for a Named Entity tagger. The model is used for tagging entities in sentences in the target language with the proper semantic group and the entity dictionary is used for associating CUIs to each of them.


Introduction. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) increases with age. The main risk factor for NAFLD and the progression of liver fibrosis is obesity. However, the disease also occurs in 7% of people with normal body weight, mainly in young women with normal levels of liver enzymes, in whom liver disease can nevertheless progress.Aim. To assess the features of clinical and laboratory manifestations of non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis (NASP) in women of reproductive age and in menopause, depending on the degree of obesity.Materials and methods. We examined 86 women with NAS and obesity, of which 49 were women of reproductive age (37.3 ± 1.7 years) and 37 patients in menopause (51.3 ± 1.0 years). Determined: transaminases, total bilirubin, glucose, lipid spectrum, insulin, leptin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), vasculoendothelial growth factor (VEGF); body mass index (BMI), atherogenicity index (AI), and HOMA-IR index were calculated. Liver steatosis was determined by ultrasound, fibrosis was excluded by fibroelastography.Results. The clinic in both groups of women was poor; there were no signs of liver fibrosis. In women with liver steatosis with concomitant obesity in reproductive age and menopause, dyslipidemia, hyperleptinemia, increased levels of IL-6 and signs of endothelial damage in the form of VEGF hyperproduction are recorded. At the same time, dyslipidemia and hyperleptinemia are significant in menopause, and in women with steatosis at reproductive age, signs of endothelial damage are more pronounced.Conclusion. In both groups of women with the clinical form of NASP, most of the studied laboratory parameters marked the transition to stage 1 obesity, leptin made it possible to differentiate almost all degrees of obesity, and the production of IL-6 and VEGF significantly increased at stages 2–3 of obesity.


Indianist historiography has gone beyond the idea that the independence of the Americas implied the abandonment of norms, methods and even governmental institutions used during the Hispanic period.  In light of the above, this article explores the institutions of the campaign of the Mendoza (Argentina) jurisdiction in the XIX century in its transition from the Old Regime to the liberal order.  Notwithstanding the changes the course of time has shown, some things remained in the rural government, in relation to not only the practices, but also substantive legislation -something that could give rise to incompatibilities with both the existing liberal doctrine in those years and the provincial Constitution sanctioned in 1854.


The present invention discloses a method of forming a storage node electrode of a capacitor that can prevent a chemical liquid penetration to the storage node electrode bottom oxide film. The method of the present invention is disclosed, comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate having a predetermined lower structure is formed; Forming a first oxide film having a first contact hole exposing a predetermined portion of the substrate on the semiconductor substrate; Forming a conductive plug to fill the first contact holes; Forming a second etch stop layer and a second oxide film having a contact hole which exposes the conductive plug on the first oxide film including the conductive plug in turn; Forming the 1TiN film on the second oxide film; The step of performing plasma processing on the first film 1TiN modify the predetermined thickness of the first film 1TiN surface amorphous layer; Forming the 2TiN film on said amorphous layer; The step of filling the second contact hole to form a third oxide film on said first film 2TiN; A step of etching back the resultant until the second oxide film is exposed to form a storage node electrode; And it characterized in that it comprises the step of removing the remaining second and third oxide film.


The flammability of wood has always been an unavoidable problem. The thermal decomposition properties and flammability properties of buried wood (BW) were studied in this paper. It can be found that in the weight loss rate of dehydration and passive pyrolysis stage were significantly increased, while the weight loss rate in the second stage of pyrolysis was significantly reduced. The activation energy of BW increased by 23.621 kJ/mole, oxygen index by 2.34%, and the combustion rate and combustion length of horizontal combustion decreased by 0.7 s mm−1 and 7.7 mm respectively. The information provided by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) indicated that some calcium, iron and other metal elements were deposited in the cell walls and fiber ducts of wood. This is a potential method for wood modification without pollution.


NatureGate® innovation is described and analyzed using concept maps and CmapTools. First, it is shown, that there are new kind of free services like Google, which however create plenty of added values for individuals, societies and the whole humankind. At the same time they produce sustainable profits also to the original founders and keepers of those services. NatureGate® could be that kind of service. Both individuals and societies need knowledge about their organisms and ecosystems. CmapTools could be integrated with all the servers. It could be used for both individual and social knowledge construction, and knowledge management. NatureGate® is R&D project, which is planned to become a global free service in the WWW. The servers have to be powerful and fast, like those of Google. The vision is create kind of "NatureGoogle". Research and development is needed in order to keep the project in leading edge, and for continual quality assurance and improvement, and innovations. NatureGate® promotes e-learning for sustainable development both by alone and together with CmapTools, another free of charge, and empowering innovation. UN decade of Education for sustainable development is described as one of the most important motivators and contexts of NatureGate® and CmapTools. However, both tools can be used to promote e-learning, also without any reference to values of sustainable development. CmapTools is presented in relation to NatureGate® innovation and e-learning.


Modern perspective of anxiety have ranged from the ideas of Freud, who defined anxiety as a response to perceived danger or stress, to contemporary attempts of psychologist to alter patterns of anxious behavior by adjusting the chemistry of brain. It is from both personality, theorists and psychoanalysts that sports psychologist have obtained tools with which to carry out research and to help athlete adjust emotionally to stress imposed by competitive sport. The analyses of the data have been divided in to two sections. First selection deals with psychological profiles of National and International 90 (Senior, junior and sub junior) Judo players of India. The section the psychological profiles of National and International level senior, junior and sub junior Judo players India. It was further concluded that the combined mean scores of five components of statetrait anxiety of national and international level judo player have been found to be above five sten scores as per the norms of this test. The higher scores of state and traits anxiety refer that Indian judo player are very tense, excitable frustrate, driven, restless and fretful, impatient, depressed apprehensive, troubled moody, frustration tolerances suspicious, mistrusting and hard to fool, careless or painstaking. In this part we are analysis about psychological dimensions like Guilt Proneness, Maturity, Self-control, suspiciousness and Tension.


Our societies receive and reproduce differences, but they invent it, including under the seal of the tradition. Each of us, in the most immediate circle of acquaintances, is confronted with the raid of new identities, even with conversions; we observe the development of cultural movements. We also notice that our own experiences of a cultural sense of identity, including the most stable seemingly, are not inevitably definitive, that personal changes are always possible, susceptible to lead us up to the pure and simple renunciation of an identity, to adopt if necessary a piece of news. In the contemporary debate on the integration, the multiculturalism occupies a central place. The visibility growing of the multicultural question is connected to the conjunction of several phenomena. First of all, the rediscovery of the cultural and identical diversity in a world where this one acquires more and more importance for different groups of origin and style of life, forced to find a mode of cohabitation. Furthermore, the renewal of the social question, the corollary in the post-industrial era, places the culture in the heart of the community demands which the political impact is evident.


The present study was carried out wth the objective of determining in vitro response of two rice varieties to water stress conditions of water stress using concentrations of Polyethyleneglycol – 6 000 (PEG). As basal medium in calli formation and plant regeneration the salts Murashige and Skoog were used (MS). In the first case, plant growth regulators as 2,4 - Dichlorophenoxyacetic (2,4-D) and 6 - Bencilaminopurine (BAP) were added to culture mediun, meanwhile for the second, 6 - Bencilaminopurine and Kinetin (Kin). In both, different concentrations of stressing agent were used, (0, 5.0, 7.5 and 10%), being determined their effect on osmotic potential, induction and growth of calli, as well as, plant regeneration. A differentiated behavior of varieties not only in calli formation and also in fresh and dry weight was evidenced in correspondance of its tolerance grade using 5 and 7.5% of PEG-6 000. Those concentrations favored shoot and plants induction in plant regeneration medium without the presence of PEG-6 000; meanwhile when itn was added to this kind of culture medium it inhibited this process completely. Key words : calli, growth, Oryza sativa, PEG, plant regeneration


THE news item ( VR , November 3, 2012, vol 171, p 435) reporting Conlan and others' (2012) modelling analysis of current bovine TB infection, effectively a challenge to accepted levels of tuberculin test efficiency, may not fit bovine TB's postwar history.

When TB eradication recommenced after the Second World War, the tuberculin test …


The Westphalian A Colindale Member comprises the upper portion of the Port Hood Formation in western Cape Breton Island. The member is exposed at Colindale (type section) in the Port Hood area, and at the Evan's Coal Mine, MacRae's Beach, and Chimney Comer in the St. Rose area. A· ~umber of diamond drill cores, drilled as part of a coal resource evaluation, intersected portions of the Colindale Member, providing additional documentation of this stratigraphiC unit in both areas. The Colindale Member.is both conformable and transitional with bounding strata. The contact with the underlying Margaree Member of the Port Hood Formation is marked by a transition from a sandstone-dominated succession with red overbank deposits, to a succession dominated by grey, fine grained overbank deposits with fewer abundant channel sandstone bodies. This contact can be seen at Chimney' Corner and MacRae's Beach, and occurs within a thin concealed interval in the Colindale type section. The upper contact of the member with the overlying Henry Island Formation is known in cores from two holes drilled on Port Hood Islap.d. There, the member is transitional through intercalation with overlying fine grained, red overbank materials of the Henry Island Formation. The Colindale Member reaches more than 830 m thick in the St. Rose Chimney Corner area, and is approximately 620 m thick in the Port Hood region. Thick intervals of dark grey to black shales, mudstones, and siltstones typify the Colindale Member, with intercalated sandstones as thick channel sandstone bodies, and as thinner beds within the overbank succession. The fine grained grey rocks of the member consist of shales containing abundant bivalves and ostracodes, mudstones characterized by blocky weathering with slickensides and root traces (paleosols), laminated siltstones, and coal seams with associated carbonaceous shales. Coal seams of present and former economic significance occur in the upper part of the Colindale Member. The No. 5 seam, up to 2.6 m thick, is a useful local datum for correlating strata of the Colindale Member in the St. Rose Chimney Corner area. The so-called 6-Foot seam in the Port Hood area provides a comparable local datum. The overall similarity of the member in each of these respective outcrop areas suggests that these two relatively thick coal seams may be correlative.


An ion chromatographic method with indirect ultraviolet detection is described for the determination of chloride, nitrate, phosphate and sulphate anions in water extracts of plant materials and in displaced soil solutions. A procedure for overcoming interferences from aspartic and glutamic acids is described and the accuracy and precision of the method are discussed.


Successful product is need to satisfying user's needs. Therefore, if applying consumer's needs and usability base on safety to product design phase, minimize development time and retrench opportunity cost due to reduce various uncertainty conditions. It is on objective of Human Sensibility Ergonomics to solve that problem. However, it is hard to use these methods that most of techniques used in Human Sensibility Ergonomics are subjective and not in established yet. Besides it is offered as abstract text form. Therefore, intellectual design model is proposed for conceptual design process base on product safety and usability, and guideline of that model. PWC(Position Weight contour) map is the core of this study about Conceptual Design Method, which is considered about consumer's Usability & Ergonomics. The PWC map is applied design process of automobile interior development process considered as formal example in Human-Machine System. Consequence of applying this method, effective conceptual design process is developed base on consumer characteristics.


In continuation of systematic investigations of reactions of heteroatom-substituted and functionalized alkynes with metal carbonyl clusters, the authors initiated a study of the behavior of enynes in these reactions. The authors interest in enynes is due to the fact of their participation as intermediates in the oligomerization/cyclization reactions of alkynes promoted by metal complexes; moreover, the presence of an olefinic bond in enynes offers additional possibilities, in comparison to simple alkynes, for coordination with metal atoms in clusters and for carbon-carbon bond formation.


The lexical stylistic means serving to realization of the persuasive function in French political discourse are under-explored province of linguistics. This inquiry helps to single out the most efficient ways to influence listeners; it also reveals national peculiarities of the ways of natural language argumentation modeling and persuasion. Examination of persuasive lexical stylistic means of French political discourse through heuristic-systematic model of Shelly Chaiken makes possible to differentiate between linguistic means of argumentation i.e. the means appealing to intellect and logic, and means for persuasion via emotional appeal. The study also found that means of argumentation include sociopolitical vocabulary and terms, while means of emotional persuasion comprise lexical means (idioms, euphemisms, words with emotional charge, set phrases), stylistic devices (metaphor, epithet, comparison, hyperbole, litotes, personification) and figures of speech (rhetorical question, gradation, anaphora, epiphora,reiteration). Consequently, the ways of natural language argumentation modeling and persuasion are revealed in terms of the lexical stylistic persuasive means of French political discourse; it enables to select adequate translation transformation intended to ensure not only close translation but also reproduction of the speaker's emotional charge.


Mario E. Carranza is Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas A & M University-Kingsville. He has published articles in Asian Survey, The Journal of Peace Research, Latin American Perspectives, and International Politics, as well as a book (in Spanish) on the armed forces in Latin America. He has been a MacArthur postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. [Editor's Note: This article was completed prior to the most recent outbreak of fighting, on May 26, between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. These events provide a dramatic illustration of certain scenarios that Carranza discusses below as hypothetical possibilities.] AN IMPOSSIBLE GAME: STABLE NUCLEAR DETERRENCE AFTER THE INDIAN AND PAKISTANI TESTS


The present disclosure provides engineered pNB esterase polypeptides useful for the synthesis of the carbapenem antibiotic, imipenem. The disclosure also provides polynucleotides encoding the engineered pNB esterases, host cells capable of expressing the engineered pNB esterases, and methods of using the engineered pNB esterases in the production of imipenem.


A pioneer of Swedish marine geophysical surveying, Tom Flodén, sadly passed away on September 7 2016, at the Askö laboratory of the Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre. At age 78, Tom was at the field station to pursue marine geological and geophysical surveys around the island Askö and to share his tremendous experience and knowledge to a group of geology students. Tom was professionally active to the very last moment and passed away unexpectedly, without prior signs of bad health. Prof. Ivar Hessland initiated the research on marine geoscience in the early 1950s at Stockholm's Högskola, after a visiting professorship at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, USA. In the early 1960s, Tom became Hessland's student and was tasked with developing marine geophysics. The overarching aim was to acquire a fundamental understanding of the geology of the Baltic Sea and the Bothnian Bay. Tom, with strong background in mathematics and geology from his bachelor education, took on the task with much enthusiasm, and used his combined undergraduate training to become a master in the field of marine geophysics. He loved to work in the department's mechanical workshop, crafting seismic air guns, streamers and the plethora of gadgets needed for modern marine geophysical investigations. In essence, Tom was an autodidact. Tom quickly engaged in the computer revolution of the 1970s, clearly seeing its potential for marine geophysical data processing and presentation. Because of this interest, he connected with a young FOA researcher, Håkan Lans. Together they tackled how to digitize interpretations of analogue seismic reflection profiles. This resulted in the invention of the first digitizing table by Håkan, a device that became central for integrating a wide variety of analogue records and maps within the geoscientific field for many years to come. Tom explored the use of seismic sources in mapping the sub-bottom geology of the Baltic Sea and developed the wooden trawler Admete into a fully functional research vessel for marine geophysical mapping and sediment coring. This vessel was soon outgrown and the larger, 17.7 m long RV Strombus, built in 1956 for fishing, was purchased and converted into, at the time, a state of the art marine geological and geophysical research vessel. This became the vessel Tom used to explore the Baltic Sea sub-bottom geology for many years. Seismic reflection profiles were acquired over vast areas, and there are few parts of the Baltic that have not been visited by Tom and his numerous students. His first peerreview publication appeared in GFF 1965, "En Thumperprofil Genom Landsortsdjupet" (Flodén & Brännström 1965). GFF would become Tom's most frequent publication target seen over his entire career (e.g. Flodén 1980a, 1980b; Flodén et al. 1986, 1993, 2001). The extensive Baltic work culminated with Tom's 240 pages thick PhD thesis in 1980 on "The Seismic Stratigraphy and Bedrock Geology of the Central Baltic", which nearly four decades later still remains to be the basic reference for the Baltic Sea sub-bottom geology (Flodén 1980b). Tom was unique in the sense that he could operate an entire marine geophysical survey by himself, from driving the ship, repairing problematic airguns, to post-process acquired data and interpret the geology. This also made him a successful teacher and PhD supervisor. His PhD supervision extended beyond Stockholm University and Sweden through his research cooperation with colleagues in Finland and the Baltic States. Even after his retirement, he remained actively engaged in teaching and research. He was, for example, invited as marine geophysicist on the first international scientific ocean drilling expedition to the central Arctic Ocean in 2004. A decade later, he participated in Leg 2 of the SWERUS-C3 expedition onboard the Oden, a 45-day long transect from Barrow, Alaska, to Tromsø, Norway. He genuinely loved to be onboard ships doing his trade, assisted by his career-long engineer, Arne Lif. Back home was Eva who made Tom realize there was more to life than science and mapping the seafloor. He showed that he could lift his view from seismic records and maps also when passionately caring for the dachshunds he had over the years. The last one, Bonnie, will surely miss him. Sweden has lost its pioneer of marine geophysical surveying but his legacy will live on, first and foremost in all the students Tom supervised over the years.


The condition of active surface of a grinding wheel changes slightly or considerably in the process of metal grinding. The flank wear of cutting edges of grains widens the contact areas between grains and metals, and deteriorates the cutting ability of the wheel. On the contrary, the fracture and tearing-out of grains compensate the deterioration. The latter is so-called self dressing. In this report, the process of widening of the flank-wear area of grains in grinding, which is the result of both effects, the deterioration and the compensation, was analyzed under certain simple assumptions. An equation obtained in the analysis revealed a good agreement with the experimental data. Predictions on the characteristics of grinding wheels, which were derived from the equation, were illustrated.


Leiomyomas are common, benign, pelvic tumors that are present in the uterus of both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Leiomyomas can be diagnosed during a routine pelvic examination; however, small leiomyomas and those contained within the uterine cavity cannot be palpated on physical examination. Because routine ultrasound screening for leiomyomas is not indicated, the exact prevalence of leiomyomas is unknown. However, the incidence of leiomyomas has been assessed in hysterectomy specimens. Cramer and Patel identified leiomyomas in 74% of serial sectioned specimens from premenopausal women and in 84% of specimens from postmenopausal women. Although these are biased samples, one can still appreciate the high prevalence of these benign tumors. Because of the high prevalence of uterine leiomyomas, one might anticipate that the incidence of leiomyoma-associated symptoms would be quite high; however, not all patients with leiomyomas are symptomatic. In fact, it is estimated that only 20–50% of women with one leiomyoma or more will experience symptoms that can be directly attributed to the leiomyoma(s). The symptoms associated with uterine leiomyomas are quite variable and include abnormal uterine bleeding, pelvic pain or pressure, reduced capacity of the urinary bladder, constipation, and reproductive dysfunction. The incidence and severity of symptoms associated with leiomyomas varies with the size, number, and location of the leiomyoma. The variation in size of leiomyoma is significant. Although most leiomyomas have their origin from a single cell, tumors as large as 100 pounds have been reported. Furthermore, it is common for an individual to have more than a single leiomyoma. The distribution of leiomyomas within the uterus is quite variable from individual to individual. Leiomyomas may be present within the uterine cavity, confined completely within the myometrium, or attached to the outer serosal surface of the uterus. Leiomyomas contain both estrogen and progesterone receptors, and therefore, are responsive to hormonal stimulation. Thus, the size of a leiomyoma may change throughout a woman's lifetime. Enlargement of a leiomyoma during the reproductive years may cause symptoms to increase in severity and/or number. The length of time required Correspondence: Dale W. Stovall, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Box 980034, Richmond, VA 23298. CLINICAL OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY Volume 44, Number 2, pp 364–371 © 2001, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.


Dietary protein, as an important macronutrient, widely participates in host growth and metabolism. In this study, effects of different protein levels (14, 20 and 26%) on the gut development, microbial compositions and mucin expressions were studied in C57BL/6 mice.


Physiotherapy is that part of medicine which, in its multidisciplinary, affects almost all medical fields. It therefor operates in different techniques to empower patients in a drive to rehabilitate, and restore functional capacities, by maintaining, strengthening, and restoring them. Despite the history of this discipline and its proven evidence, physiotherapy turns out to be always in the shadows because very little known by a large number of Cameroonians. The objective of this study is to promote physiotherapy by evidence of its importance in the management of chronic and acute pathologies, by assessing the satisfaction rate of patients after 10 physiotherapy sessions at the HDD. Our descriptive prospective study was conducted from February 12 to May 12, 2020, using a 4 part questionnaire, and 32 questions including, 09 reliable questions, used for data collection. The data thus collected after compliance with the inclusion criteria were analyses using the Epi info V3.5.3 software and presented in the form of tables and graphs using Excel and Word software. 36 participants participated in the study, therefor 22 are women and 14 are men. At the end of this study, 03 participants had a satisfaction rate below 50%, 30% for two patients and 40% for one of them. On the other hand, 33 patients recorded a satisfaction rate above 50% ranging from 65% to 95% after 10 sessions. At the end of this study, it's emerges that physiotherapy improves the defective condition of patients after 10 sessions. However, it remains imperative to increase the promotion of physiotherapy by virtue of it for well-being of all in city of Dschang in particular and in Cameroon in general.


The paper presents a method of describing Brownian motion in a non-equilibrium medium for the case of irreversible processes. We computed spectral density of velocity fluctuations for a Brownian particle in a non-equilibrium medium and determined that in the low-frequency region it is represented by flicker noise. We employed the method we developed to describe Brownian motion in a non-equilibrium medium to compute fluctuations of current in a small volume of an electrolyte. We derived estimations of the Hooge parameter magnitude and the randomisation time constant for ions in an electrolyte, which match the estimations obtained via experiments


"The History of Parliament - The House of Commons, 1558-1603" contains 2,668 biographical articles and 241 constituency articles. The biographies include many of the powerful political figures of Elizabeth's reign such as Sir William Cecil, Sir Robert Dudley, Sir Amias Paulet, Thomas Sackville and Sir Christopher Hatton, as well as the middling figures like Laurence Tomson and Richard Topcliffe, the 'parliament men' Thomas Norton and William Fleetwood and the firebrand Peter Wentworth. "All writers of Elizabethan history shall now refer to these biographies for the most reliable information about the leaders of the Elizabethan polity who served out their time in the Commons" declared the "British Book News" on the first publication of this three-volume set.


The priority direction of the improvement of the system of the organization of sanatorium-resort aftertreatment of working people straight after hospital on the basis of its analysis is considered to be the optimization of patient' streams, directed to the aftertreatment, and improvement of the system of sanatorium-resort trip tickets. The author of the article has suggested and introduced the optimized scheme of organization of aftertreatment which gives the opportunity of distribution of patients' streams between different sanatoriums on the basis of real necessity of patients, who get medical help in hospitals, in sanatorium-resort trip tickets and also this scheme helps to eliminate the quantity of documentation.


Purpose: To maximize the processing of organic waste into compost that is useful for the surrounding community and to find out the cause of the slow processing of waste in Bambe village.
Design/methodology/approach: The   method   used   in   this   research is Fishbone Methods and SWOT Analisys.
Findings: The main obstacles to poor organic waste management are the lack of knowledge of Bambe village residents in sorting organic and inorganic waste, unavailability of supporting equipment in managing organic waste into compost, lack of TPS-T places and facilities, inadequate waste processing officers, lack of support from the local government. so that the funding factor from the APBN and the provincial APBD is a problem that can hinder the process of processing organic waste.
Research limitations/implications: Can optimize the use of house hold waste in the form of organic waste into compost.
Practical implications: The use of house hold waste that can be converted into compost will reduce the amount of existing waste.
Originality/value: Socialization of the use of processing and addition of waste processing facilities to residents is very useful for solving existing problems and the local government must be willing to support it in terms of funding so that the waste processing process becomes better.
Paper type: Research paper


In this paper we discuss the wavelet approach to image representation according to the action of the similarities group, i.e., according to the action of radial scaling, angular rotation and shifting. We find sufficient conditions for a discrete set of such wavelet-type functions in order to constitute a frame of L2(R2) images. Finally, an iterative algorithm to compute the desired representation coefficients is presented, and a lower bound on the rate of convergence of the algorithm is offered.


Objective:To investigate human leukemia KG-1 cells apoptosis induced by resveratrol. Methods:After treated with different concentrations RES,the suppressive effect of RES on proliferation of KG-1 cells was analyzed by MTT method. Transmission electron microscope technique were used to detect the apoptosis status of KG-1 cells.The cell cycle and apoptosis rate of KG-1 cells treated with RES were detected by flow cytometry. Results:RES could obviously inhibit proliferation of KG-1 cells (P0.05).Compared with the control group,after treated with RES,the cells number in S phase of KG-1 cells increased(P0.01),and the apoptosis rate increased(P0.01). Conclusion:RES could significantly inhibit the proliferation of KG-1 cells and block the cell cycle at S. And in the end RES could induce the apoptosis of KG-1 cells.


The invention relates to an automatic control method for rapidly blending heavy sizings in well killing, belonging to the technical field of rapidly blending heavy sizings in well killing for petroleum and natural gas exploratory drilling. The automatic control method comprises the step of controlling the opening and closing sequences of a base sizing suction pump, a strong sizing discharge pump, a stirring motor, a circulating pump, a relay pump, a base sizing suction butterfly valve, a ash discharge butterfly valve and a strong sizing discharge butterfly valve and the step of controlling angles of the base sizing suction butterfly valve, the ash discharge butterfly valve and the strong sizing discharge butterfly valve, and solves the problems that the existing heavy sizing blending equipment is difficult to operate, and has high operation requirements, so that the heavy sizing blending speed and the blending quality can not directly meet the heavy sizing blending requirements when leakage and flushing accidents occur, therefore, heavy sizing with volume of 1000m needs to be blended in advance for well killing in case that the leakage and flushing accidents occur, however, if the leakage and flushing accidents do not occur, various huge wastes and environmental pollutions are caused. With the adoption of the automatic control method provided by the invention, the heavy sizing blending quality can achieve the best, and the blending speed can achieve the highest; and moreover, during operation, only once starting by one key is needed, so that the requirements on technological levels of operating personnel are reduced.


The filamentous fungi display remarkable and diverse metabolic pathways and show great versatility in the utilization of sources of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and other metabolites and in acquiring essential elements, e.g., iron and potassium. This chapter emphasizes practical aspects, methods, and simple assays for investigating fungal physiology and metabolism and introduces some of the specialized molecular techniques that have proved invaluable in studying this fascinating group of eukaryotic microorganisms. In studies of metabolism and gene expression, it is often necessary to examine RNA and protein synthesis. A number of useful methods for RNA isolation from filamentous fungi have been devised. The ability to readily transform filamentous fungi with exogenous DNA has been revolutionary and provided the essential step required in cloning, characterization, and sophisticated manipulation of individual genes. The fungi have many remarkable characteristics and promise a wealth of exciting new phenomena and discoveries as their biology and genetics are further explored.


The research on travelers' routing behaviors has great theoretical and practical significance to urban transport engineering and planning.Traditional route choice research is based on expected utility theory which has some shortages,while prospect theory can better describe decision-making behaviors under conditions of uncertainty.First,setting of reference points in the model was discussed.Arrival time was considered to be reference point of routing,and commuters' kinds of reference points were studied through questionnaires.Finally,the impact of departure time on commuters' routing with stable reference points was studied.The result shows that the prospect theory is more practical than expected utility theory for routing,commuters tend to choose more stable routes when gains or losses are little,while they would choose uncertain routes when faced with a big loss.


Colour evaluation, by means of multivariate image analysis was applied on colour lightness changes corresponding to oxidative browning of minimally-processed basil-based food emulsions. We have analysed the influence of metal-chelating protein lactoferrin on browning of emulsions (atributed to enzymaic and non-enzymatic oxidation). The colourgram of digitalized images, taken during oxidation of the samples, was evaluated, both by colour analysis and by PCA analysis. The basic colour information was derived from frequency colour distribution for RGB and HSV colour system, while the PCA analysis was carried out by evaluating covariance matrix, for raw, mean centered and autoscaled matrix of the basic R, G, B colour information, and the evaluation of eigenvalues and eigenvectors for all three numeric models. The resulting colourgram information is one-dimensional signal, which consists of 4900 elements, and describes colour properties of the image. The changes in material due to oxidation was observed by the changes in lightness frequency distribution (L).


The purpose of this research is to produce a WEB-based learning e-module using Google Classroom that is valid, practical, and effective in Electrical Engineering Drawing subjects. WEB-based learning e-modules using Google Classroom are designed to improve student understanding to improve student learning outcomes. This research method uses Research and Development (R&D) with 4-D development procedures (Define, Design, Develop, Dissemination). The data analysis technique used descriptive analysis techniques to describe the validity, practicality, and effectiveness of WEB-based learning e-modules using Google Classroom. The results obtained from this development research: The validity of the WEB-based learning e-module using Google Classroom is declared valid on the media and material aspects. The practicality of WEB-based learning e-modules using Google Classroom from teacher and student responses is stated to be very practical. The effectiveness of WEB-based learning e-modules using Google Classroom is declared effective in improving learning outcomes. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that the WEB-based learning e-module using Google Classroom was declared valid, practical, and effective to be used as a learning aid in Electrical Engineering Drawing subjects.


The X-band EPR spectra of [(H2O)5CrIII–CHCl2]2+, [(H2O)5CrIII–CHCBr2]2+, [(H2O)5CrIII–CH3]2+, [(H2O)5CrIII–CH2CO2H]2+ and [(H2O)5CrIII–CH(CH3)OC2H5]2+ were measured at liquid helium temperatures. For all complexes the major derivative signal is observed at g′perp ≈ 4 with weaker signals at g′par ≈ 2 and g′ ≈ 5.9. The signals broaden with increasing temperature and can not be observed at T ≥ 20 K. the low-temperature spectra could readily be simulated by using the spin Hamiltonian formalism for S = 3/2 with axial and rhombic zero-field splitting parameters D = −1.6 cm−1 and E/D = 0.06, respectively. Based on these results the (H2O)5Cr–R2+ complexes studied here are best described as chromium(III) compounds with a covalent chromium–carbon bond. In accord with expectations, this bond has a considerably larger covalent nature than the Cr–X bond, where X = halide, etc.


This research focuses on the relationship between the spatial self- position-detection with landmarks and the function of the visual field. 28 college students participated in the experiment were asked to move the center of the landmarks in virtual environment. By measuring the difference between the stopped positions under each condition and the exact central point of landmarks, the accuracy of the spatial position detection was quantified. The results indicate that the central visual field within 5 degrees and the visual field of 15 to 20 degrees of vision centered on the fixation point play a large role in the self-position-detection. This research focuses on the relationship between the spatial self-position- detection with landmarks and the function of the visual field. 28 college students participated in the experiment were asked to move the center of the landmarks in virtual environment. By measuring the difference between the stopped positions under each condition and the exact central point of landmarks, the accuracy of the spatial position detection was quantified. The results indicate that the central visual field within 5 degrees and the visual field of 15 to 20 degrees of vision centered on the fixation point play a large role in the self-position-detection.


Morphine can be distinguished from codeine by the shift of the maximum absorption value of morphine in alkaline medium from that in acid medium. Two spectrophotometric methods, the absolute and the relative methods, are presented for the determination of morphine and of codeine. Equations are given for the calculation of the concentrations of alkaloids in unknown samples. The relative method required a standard each time a sample was assayed while the absolute method did not require a standard. Samples of morphine and codeine were assayed by each of these methods. The percentages of error ranged from 0.4 per cent to 2.46 per cent, using the relative method, and from 0.85 per cent to 2.34 per cent, using the absolute method. No significant difference in precision was found between the two methods.


The central Sn atom in the title complex, [Sn(C4H9)2(C14H9N2S)2], is located on a twofold axis. The coordination polyhedron about the Sn atom is a skew-trapezoidal bipyramid. The trapezoidal plane is formed by the two 2-phenylquinazoline-4-thiolate resdues, which act as bidentate ligands with cis-Sn—S and cis-Sn—N bonds. The axial C atoms are shifted towards the half-sphere occupied by two N atoms, resulting in a C—Sn—C angle of 131.1 (2)°. Each phenyl substituent is twisted with respect to the mean plane of the quinazoline system.


In the reaction conditions leading to γ-Li7VN4, no ordered solid solution γ-Li7VN4–Li2O seems to exist but rather a mixture of two phases: γ-Li7VN4 and a lithium vanadium oxynitride with the disordered anti-fluorite structure. Even though the trend may be different in the case of β-Li7VN4–Li2O, neutron diffraction experiments would be desirable to confirm/dismiss these assumptions, as they would allow to determine the number of phases and polymorphs present and the degree of Li/V or N/O order, if any.


Nontraditional college students are entering secondary-education programs in increasing numbers. Defined as students outside the 18–24-year age range, nontraditional students are a diverse group focused on degree completion and workplace preparation. This group has a higher percentage of really good students among them, a fact we attribute to their being tightly focused, well motivated, and having a mature attitude. The students are respected by their younger classmates, and their life experiences add a distinctive dimension to classroom discussions. Nontraditional students are also different from their traditional counterparts because of the nature and extent of their special needs. They are usually employed, have greater family commitments, and occasionally require allowances for family emergencies. Consequently, they must manage their time wisely, and they often show little tolerance for the less-mature attitudes of some of their classmates. Can some of these highly motivated students be enticed into g...


Abstract : Unrest around the world has increased since the end of the Cold War. International analysts attribute this increase in global crises to two factors: the reduction of competition between the East and the West and the end of colonialism. Essentially, Cold War tensions kept a lid on potential crises. Consequently, the 1990s saw a marked increase in small wars. Some were cross-border wars, but many were civil wars in which conditions for large-scale humanitarian catastrophes occurred. With the United States as the sole remaining super power, many nations look to it for leadership to solve these problems. American participation in operations (Somalia, Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Haiti, Kosovo, and East Timor) demonstrated a need for an integrated U.S. approach to these complex crises. The Chairman decided to focus this year's seminar on interagency planning and coordination to address the changing nature of complex crises since the end of the Cold War. In the past only rudimentary steps had been taken to synchronize all elements of national power toward a crisis. Concepts such as an interagency coordination committee and comprehensive political-military (Pol-Mil) plans were discussed, but only occasionally implemented. Thus, it was in the Chairman's desire to assist the new administration in solidifying its thoughts and processes toward the management of complex contingencies. From 10-12 July 2001, the U.S. Army Peacekeeping Institute in conjunction with the National Defense University hosted the 7th annual Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff seminar on peace operations. The goals of the seminar were to outline a simple, yet useable format for the initial national security guidance paper; discuss political-military plans and devise a methodology for bringing together the work of all departments in the U.S. Government; and develop methods for educating members of the interagency team and mechanisms for reviewing past crises to garner lessons learned.


Decision tree is a renowned classifier reformed by innumerable tree generation techniques to construct efficient trees. In this paper, a novel framework for constructing decision tree classifiers using ranked attributes and weights is presented. The tree is fabricated using proposed framework hierarchically from root to leaf using ranks and weights of attributes assigned to branches based on their contribution towards classification accuracy. The weights are perpetually updated until the tree furnishes maximum classification accuracy. This framework is experimented with cuckoo search, firefly search, wolf search and proposed limited lazy wolf search for ranking attributes and the experimental results illustrates the framework achieving excellent performance than the antecedent. For demonstrating the stability of proposed framework in all problems, numerous experiments are carried out using prominent benchmark datasets and a proposed crime propensity prediction dataset. The crime propensity prediction accuracy accomplished by fine tuning the proposed algorithm was 99.3617% directing crime free society.


Research on nonautonomous delayed differential equations (DDEs) is crucial and very difficult due to nonautonomy and time delay in many fields. The main work of the present paper is to discuss complex dynamics of nonautonomous DDEs, such as Hopf bifurcation, periodic solutions and multistability. We consider three examples of nonautonomous DDEs with time-varying coefficients: a harmonically forced Duffing oscillator with time delayed state feedback and periodic disturbance, generalized van der Pol oscillator with delayed displacement difference feedback and periodic disturbance, and an electro-mechanical system with delayed and periodic disturbance. Firstly, we obtain the amplitude equations of these three examples by the method of multiple scales (MMS), and then analyze the stability of approximate solutions by the Routh–Hurwitz criterion. The obtained amplitude equations are used to construct the bifurcation diagrams, so that we can observe the occurrence of the Hopf bifurcation and judge its type (super- or subcritical) from the bifurcation diagrams. We discover rich dynamic phenomena of the three systems under consideration, such as Hopf bifurcation, quasi-periodic solutions and the coexistence of multiple stable solutions, and then discuss the impact of some parameter changes on the system dynamics. Finally, we validate the correctness of these theoretical conclusions by software WinPP, and the numerical simulations are consistent with our theoretical findings. Therefore, the MMS we use to analyze the dynamics of nonautonomous DDEs is effective, which is of great significance to the research of nonautonomous DDEs in many fields.


Heap bioleaching of sulfide ores (geotechnology) simulates naturally occurring processes when sulfides convert to oxides. This process is environmentally-friendly. Gold-bearing sulfide ore from a Russian deposit was studied. The samples were composed of quartz (38-48%), feldspars (22-24%) and micaceous minerals (18-21%). Carbonates occurred as ankerite, calcite, dolomite and siderite. The host minerals were pyrite (2.2-2.3%) and arsenopyrite (1.2-1/7%). The grade of gold was 1.6-2.0 g/t. Russian software package Selector was used to develop the model. Thermodynamics of the reaction pathway for the conversion of the gold-bearing sulfide ore in H2SO4 environment with and without using bacteria was calculated. Phases and their components which are able to form in these given conditions were selected during modeling. Modeling of irreversible evolution of the rocks caused by bacteria was carried out in the three reservoir system. They are interconnected by the flows of three movable phases: gases, solid phase and liquid phase. In this case, the composition of the solutions which were obtained under steady state conditions without bacteria and metastable equilibrium using bacteria can be compared. Bacterial oxidation occurs under acidic conditions. Oxidation without using bacteria occurs under more alkaline conditions. Bacteria increase the rate of sulfides oxidation and retard the formation of mixed-layer aluminum silicates (illites, montmorillomonites) and carbonates (magnesian calcite). It was found that bacteria have the potential to achieve the required destruction of sulfides in favorable environment. Bacteria make the rate of sulfide oxidation higher. In the presence of bacteria, the rate of aluminosilicates oxidation is slower compared to the conditions without using bacteria. Mineralogical analyses of the leach products confirmed this. Results show that thermodynamic approach can be successfully used for the modeling of bacterial-oxidation circuits and geology of the rocks and ores.


Shenzhou was a very important figure in the literary world of Ming dynasty.He was the great artist of his time.He refused to be an official but he was not traditional recluse.He lived in common people.He simply was a populace literati.He did not attach his ideal and life to feudal state.And he concentrated his attention on his own personal affairs.He did not concern with public affairs and pay attention to the personal interests and his own life.Shenzhou's manner of life means the awakening of the idea of personal right.The great changes would be taken place in the Chinese ancient literature.


The transition point between capillary water and adsorbed water, which is the critical point Pc [defined by the critical matric potential (ψc) and the critical water content (θc)] of the soil water retention curve (SWRC), demarcates the energy and water content region where flow is dominated by capillarity or liquid film flow. Accurate estimation of Pc is crucial for modeling water movement in the vadose zone. By modeling the dry-end (matric potential –10⁴.² cm H₂O) sections of the SWRC using the models of Campbell and Shiozawa, and of van Genuchten, a fixed tangent line method was developed to estimate Pc as an alternative to the commonly used flexible tangent line method. The relationships between Pc, and particle-size distribution and specific surface area (SSA) were analyzed. For 27 soils with various textures, the mean RMSE of water content from the fixed tangent line method was 0.007 g g–¹, which was slightly better than that of the flexible tangent line method. With increasing clay content or SSA, ψc was more negative initially but became less negative at clay contents above ∼30%. Increasing the silt contents resulted in more negative ψc values, whereas soils with higher sand content had less negative ψc values. The magnitude of θc increased linearly with SSA and clay content. Our findings suggest that Pc estimated from the fixed tangent line method could represent the actual values and clarify the effect of particle-size distribution and SSA on Pc.


The structure of polyamide 6-montmorillonite hybrid (PA6-MMT) composites prepared in-situ by means of activated anionic polymerization (AAP) of caprolactam (CL) was studied by various methods. It was established by WAXS that the predominant PA6 polymorph in the MMT hybrids obtained by AAP is the α-PA6 form, contrary to the conventional hybrids produced by melt intercalation with hydrolytic PA6 where almost pure γ-PA6 was observed. The gradual transition of ε-CL into α-PA6 as the AAP advances, as well as the polymorphic changes of the resulting hybrids as a function of temperature were observed for the first time by in-beam AAP during a WAXS measurement in synchrotron beamline (Figure 1, a). It can be seen that the two crystalline reflections of the α-polymorph are abruptly formed after 10 min of polymerization at 165oC. Until the end of AAP one observes disappearance of CL crystalline reflections whereby amorphous PA6 material is apparently formed. Heating of anionic PA6 to 200oC (below Brill transition) maintains the α-polymorph, whereas melting at 260oC and subsequent recrystallization result in γ-PA6.


In this paper an enhanced delay based system is proposed with a parallel execution of PID and Pseudo PID controllers using a Xilinx System Generator14.5. This paper presents simulation results on Direct synthesis, IMC and lambda based designs in both PID and Pseudo PID separately and parallel. The control methodology is suited for the people under Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and it will maintain a glucose insulin homeostasis.


Now a day in GIS application fuzzy spatial objects have become extremely important. There have been many research developments on the conceptual description of topological relation between spatial objects. In this paper a formal definition of the computational fuzzy topology is shown which is based on the interior operator and closure operators. In spatial object modeling the interior and exterior boundary are computed based on computational fuzzy topology. An example for determining interior boundary and exterior boundary of flood affected areas of upper Assam based on data collected from Govt. of Assam GOI Directory Assam Tourism NIC ASHA Districts of India.


With the growth of demand for electrical energy, it is a common practice in the power industry to shorten the maintenance duration and often to postpone maintenance tasks. Maintenance or overhaul of generating units is one of the crucial factors in delivering reliable electrical energy. A large part of the overhaul work is to examine the condition of the mechanical and the electrical elements. This examination can highlight faults in some components requiring management of new activities. This paper presents a method using a dependency structure matrix for managing schedules within uncertain conditions of information dependency. The matrix is optimized using an evolutionary algorithm for scheduling overhaul and planned outages at hydro power plants. The dependency between tasks or the information flow between activities is formulated in a structural matrix with the objective to minimize the total completion time. The method is used to examine the staff scheduling of a twelve years overhaul at one of Landsvirkjun's hydro power units. Staff scheduling or rostering is a large scale constrained optimization problem. Using the Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM) and evolutionary methods (GA) to optimize the order of activities shows improvements in the overhaul operational plan.


This Article is one of the first to take an inclusive look at Comprehensive Childhood Crime Impact (Triple-C Impact) — the monumental problem of exposure to crime during childhood. This problem is estimated to be one of the most damaging and costly public health and public safety problems in our society today. This Article presents an original empirical analysis revealing the states' failure to provide effective recourse to the millions of children nationwide who suffer from exposure to crime and violence. Additionally, it provides an in-depth, evidence-based investigation into the magnitude of the Triple-C Impact problem, and the full range of adverse outcomes suffered by affected children, as well as our society as a whole, that result from the states' deficient practices. This Article establishes the importance of developing effective policies that will enable early identification of, and intervention for, children harmed by crime exposure, in order to facilitate recovery from trauma. It demonstrates how improving state practices will prevent cascading injurious consequences, improving the lives and Michal Gilad is an Associate Fellow with the University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (Penn LDI). She holds an LL.M. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, an M.S. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Department of Criminology, and an LL.B. from Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law. The author would like to thank Professor David Rudovsky for his endless support and ongoing mentorship. Abraham Gutman is an economist and a health policy expert. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in economics and public policy from Hunter College. He currently serves as a Staff Writer with the Philadelphia Inquirer. Stephen P. Chawaga is a practicing attorney and a long-standing volunteer with the Support Center for Child Advocates. He is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia University Law School and holds an M.A. degree in Applied Economics from John Hopkins University. 2 FORDHAM URB. L.J. [Vol. XLVI well-being of millions of children into adulthood, while also providing an almost unparalleled opportunity for savings on fiscal and social costs. Introduction ................................................................................................. 2 I. The Scope and Prevalence of the Triple-C Impact ........................... 3 II. Identifying Gaps in Law and Policy .................................................. 19 A. Statutory Mapping .................................................................. 21 B. Statutory Application ............................................................. 24 C. Root Causes ............................................................................. 27 III. Understanding the Consequences .................................................... 34 A. Criminal Justice ....................................................................... 35 B. Substance Abuse ..................................................................... 42 C. Mental Health .......................................................................... 45 D. Physical Health ........................................................................ 50 E. Education ................................................................................. 55 F. Economic Well-Being ............................................................. 60 G. Methodological Limitations ................................................... 64 IV. The Spill–Over Effect ......................................................................... 65 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 67 Appendix: 50-State Survey Results ......................................................... 70


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Excess lamins delay the cell cycle.On page

[83][2], Dorner et al. report that overexpression of a lamina-associated protein slows cell proliferation and promotes differentiation in vitro. The findings suggest that laminopathy symptoms may not be due to structural


The odor episode events caused by the odor c ompounds in water have profoundly influenced the ways people live and work, whereas there are few effective approaches to tackle this problem. In this paper, β-Ionone was taken as object to study the basic law of its photo-catalytic degradation with nanometer Titanium dioxide. The optimal initial concentrations of odor compound, dosage of the photo-catalyst and pH in water have been deeply discussed. The results indicate that the photo-catalytic degradation kinetics of β-Ionone follows the pseudo first-order reaction.


Background Although coronary reperfusion in ischaemic myocardium is the only prerequisite of heart salvage,but reperfusion may lead to reperfusion arrhythmias.Cytosolic Ca2+ overload is a significant mechanism for the severe life-threatening arrhythmias.Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase Ⅱ (CaMK Ⅱ)is a serine/threonine kinase,which can adjust the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) via various pathways.Objective To explore the structure and function of CaMK Ⅱ and the impact of CaMK Ⅱ-dependent phosphorylation of the target protein on reperfusion arrhythmias.Content CaMK Ⅱ is a main signal molecule for early reperfusion arrhythmias.CaMK Ⅱ dysfunction can lead to deregulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis,finally cause reperfusion arrhythmias.Trend The choice of appropriate drug on the CaMK Ⅱ and its relevant target protein may be important therapeutic approach for reperfusion arrhythmias.

Key words:
Reperfusion arrhythmia;  Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase Ⅱ ;  Calcium overload;  Depolarization


Pituitary stalk interruption syndrome(PSIS) is a rare disease characterized by different degrees of anterior pituitary hormone deficiency.The typical imaging finding is a thin or absent pituitary stalk,often associated with an ectopic posterior pituitary and a hypoplastic anterior pituitary.The cause is still unkown.Dynamic contrastenhanced MRI helps to confirm the diagnosis.Replacement of multiple anterior pituitary hormones is the key of the treatment.Doctors should have a thorough understanding of the disease and give patients efficacious treatment and a better prognosis would be obtained.

Key words:
Pituitary stalk interruption syndrome ;  Gene;  Clinical feature;  Diagnosis;  Therapy


To select a proper laser for arthroscopic laser meniscotomy, we studied the menisci ablation rate and damaged layer thickness made by various laser irradiations. The pig knee-joint menisci were used as sample materials. We use eight different lasers from UV region to IR region, pulsed or cw: ArF, KrF, XeCl, XeF excimer lasers, Ar+-UV, Ar+visible, CO and CO2 lasers. We irradiated these lasers on menisci at an input power density of 60J/cm2/sec. The proper laser for the arthroscopic laser meniscotomy must indicate high ablation rate and thin damaged layer for menisci. Furthermore it can be delivered by flexible fibers. In this point of view, we concluded that the proper laser satisfying those requirements may be XeCl excimer laser. 1.緒 言


Structuralist Narratology has put forward a set of new narrative thoughts against the traditional narrative theory. That is, they propose a new theory of narratology that treats literary structural forms, rather than the content of literary works, as the noumenon and the rule formula, instead of the author's subjective spirit, as the impetus of study. Derrida, who starts from his deconstructionism, however, percipiently notices the deadly weak point of Structuralist Narratology that overemphasized the universal oneness of literary narration but completely overlooked its practical otherness. He then advances his own narrative theory based on the talented creativity of the active individuals as well as the diversity of discourse texts. His endeavors have promoted the Western Symbolic Narratology to a new stage.


This paper focuses on the effects of material incentives in face-to-face surveys. We discuss the experience of the ESS Project in Poland. We will draw on the methodology research conducted in connection with the ESS to show how incentives have worked in Poland, i.e. how the incentives used to date have performed. Polish respondents are divided in their opinions regarding the use of incentives in surveys. This attitude is driven by two types of motivations. Some comments indicate that participation in surveys is seen as a kind of 'duty to the public', which should not entail any reward. Other opinions collected in our studies indicate that at least some respondents in Poland expect some kind of reward in connection with their participation in a survey.


Background: The role of miRNAs in macrophage polarization has not been well defined. Results: miR-125a-5p promotes M2, while it suppresses M1 macrophage polarization. Conclusion: miR-125a-5p is an important regulator of the differential activation of macrophages. Significance: Delineation of the role of miR-125a-5p in macrophage polarization provides insights into miRNA regulation of inflammation, tissue repair and tumor progression. Macrophage activation is a central event in immune responses. Macrophages undergoing classical activation (M1 macrophages) are proinflammatory, whereas alternatively activated macrophages (M2 macrophages) are generally anti-inflammatory. miRNAs play important regulatory roles in inflammatory response. However, the manner in which miRNAs regulate macrophage activation in response to different environmental cues has not been well defined. In this study, we found that M-BMM macrophages (M2) express greater levels of miR-125a-5p than do GM-BMM macrophages (M1). Stimulation of macrophages through TLR2 and TLR4 but not through TLR3 enhanced miR-125a-5p expression. Up-regulation of miR-125a-5p after TLR2/4 activation requires the adaptor MYD88 but not TRIF. Overexpression of miR-125a-5p diminished M1 phenotype expression induced by LPS but promoted M2 marker expression induced by IL-4. In contrast, knockdown of miR-125a-5p promoted M1 polarization and diminished IL-4-induced M2 marker expression. We found that miR-125a-5p targets KLF13, a transcriptional factor that has an important role in T lymphocyte activation and inflammation. KLF13 knockdown had similar effects on M1 activation as did miR-125a-5p overexpression. In addition, miR-125a-5p regulates phagocytic and bactericidal activities of macrophages. Our data suggest that miR-125a-5p has an important role in suppressing classical activation of macrophages while promoting alternative activation.


The Accusatory Criminal System has two main characteristics: division of functions and the application of orality. However, in Ecuador these two characteristics havent been strictly put into practice and that is why according to my own judgment and that of many jurists like Dr. Walter Guerrero Vivanco, the Criminal System that governs Ecuador is Formal Accusatory or Combined. But it isnt the Combined System what delays justice but the lack of commitment of judges, public prosecutors and lawyers. Evacuation of processes as established in the Ecuadorian Constitution, the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code must be done in an oral way and it implies the requirement of hearings. Orality is understood as the clear and concise expression of every single element concerning the case; elements that will enable the Judge to acquire full knowledge of all facts and then base their decision on the right law. But orality has nothing to do with oratory. The problem is that in spite of everything that been said about orality, it is still confused with oratory. Theres no doubt that oratory is a characteristic that every attorney must have, but thats not what turns someone into an attorney. What makes a real attorney is the way the Case Theory is handled. This thesis project aims to determine the flaws in the application of the Accusatory System. This is why all the methods used were the comparative and descriptive background established to analyze the antecedents of the Accusatory Criminal System. And to carry out field research was also necessary because it gave me the opportunity to observe the way hearings are substantiated in Ecuador. This country could have the ideal justice providing that all judges, public prosecutors and lawyers begin to apply the law. And the Province of Azuay is a clear proof of this. But attorneys must also consider the preparation of a Case Theory and the use of specific strategies and tactics. This will bring efficiency into case proceedings and thus, will improve professional performance.


The purpose of the present study is to analyse the energy and kinetic reaction during pyrolysis of heterogeneous material under different heating load. Such considered pyrolysis reaction is encountered in thermodamageable materials, thermal ablative protections. Such detailed characterisation is necessary in order to master the involved phenomenon and carry out numerical simulation on full thermal protection (multilayers) used to protect some particular combustion chamber. The authors developed ablative materials and the kinetic reaction is modelled with modified Arrhenius laws. The modification was necessary to carry out the effect of the continuous temperature change under different heating rate. The new model allows accuracy in studying the heterogeneous material under dynamic heating load and permits a memory effect.


The lunar gravity field is determined from the tracking data of previous missions to the Moon with the 1998–1999 Lunar Prospector (LP) mission being the major contributor. LP provided the first measurement of the gravity field in a low polar circular orbit giving complete coverage at high resolution for the entire lunar nearside. However, since there is no direct measurement of the lunar farside from LP or any other mission, gravity details for the farside gravity are greatly limited. Even so, it has become apparent that there are mascons on the farside of the Moon together with the newly identified mascons in the LP data for the lunar nearside. The extended mission low-altitude data (at times less than 10 km above the surface) has gravity information for the nearside to nearly degree and order 180. The 100th-degree lunar gravity models (LP100J and LP100K) extract most of the information from the nominal 100-km altitude. A 165th degree model LP165P attempts to model the extended mission data with some but limited success. This model provides a smooth solution without aliasing when evaluated up to degree 110 allowing for resolution of numerous craters. In addition, a preliminary solution for the lunar Love number is k2=0.026±0.003.


The present paper investigates fractal dimension of Hadamard fractional integral of continuous functions with countable UV points. Firstly, we prove that fractal dimension of Hadamard fractional integral of continuous functions with at most one UV point is 1. More generally, the conclusion still holds for continuous function containing finite UV points. Furthermore, we show that Hausdorff dimension of Hadamard fractional integral of continuous functions containing coutable UV points is 1. Finally, Box dimension of Hadamard fractional integral of continuous functions containing coutable UV points has been given.


As with the employee, the employer must take all reasonable steps to make it possible for the employee to carry out his or her part of the agreement and must not deprive the employee of the opportunity


The oxidized bonito and tunny insulin have been studied by comparing paper electrophoresis in 20% formic acid and isoelectric fractionation in 0.1M aqueous ammonia with that of the oxidized beef insulin. Oxidation of these insulins were performed with performic acid under Sanger's condition. After the electrophoresis the main three bands were present on paper in the oxidized fish insulin. One moved toward the anode and the other two toward the cathode, whereas the main two bands (A and B peptide chains) were present in the oxidized beef insulin (Fig. 1). This suggests that the fish insulin is probably composed of three peptide chains. When the oxidized fish insulin was fractionated in 0.1M aqueous ammonia at pH 5.5, the precipitate formed was small. The remaining fraction in the supernatant fluid showed the same three bands as the original oxidized insulin using the paper electrophoresis. Thus, the precipitation method for fractionation of the three peptide chains of the oxidized fish insulin was unsuccessful. Also, a comparison of the nitrogen content of the each bands separated after the electrophoresis of these oxidized insulins was conducted.


Hydrophobins are a family of small, moderately hydrophobic proteins with eight cysteine residues arranged in a conserved pattern. A full‐length cDNA, designated Po.hyd, corresponding to a hydrophobin gene of Pleurotus ostreatus was obtained in our previous work. The Po.hyd gene contains a 333 bp open reading frame (ORF), which is interrupted by two typical classI introns. There was no consensus signal for a polyA tail detected in the 3′untranslated region. However, an analogous T‐ or TG‐rich motif was observed that probably influence the formation of the mRNA 3′ end. We assign the putative Po.HYD protein to the classI hydrophobins since its sequence arrangement and hydropathy pattern has a high consensus to other known class I hydrophobins. Northern analysis showed that the Po.hyd gene was abundantly expressed throughout the fruiting process (from primordium to mature fruiting body) but silenced during vegetative growth of the mycelium. Southern blot analysis showed Po.hyd to be a single copy gene in the genome of dikaryotic strain likely to locate at the same locus within the two parental genomes. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Efficiencies of one sided and two sided procedures are considered from the standpoint of risk. It is shown that the two sided Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) and Kuiper procedures, which were shown in [4] to be asymptotically equiefficient with the median for translation alternatives for symmetric unimodal distributions, have efficiencies for sample sizes in a wide range in the general vicinity of that of the median; but even if certain standard asymptotic approximations can be made, the efficiencies are not too close to that of the median, and in many cases the dominant asymptotic correction term does not even yield the sign of the deviation for samples of size 1020. A procedure briefly discussed in [1], for which the Pitman efficiency is zero, has good Bayes risk efficiency for translation alternatives for any distribution and merits further work for two sided testing. In the one sided case, the one sided K-S procedure appears to be somewhat worse to much worse than a procedure introduced by the author in [3]. Also, the K-S procedure involves a choice of significance level which is highly distribution dependent. We shall consider the "moderately large sample" efficiencies of certain well known and not sufficiently well known nonparametric procedures from a decision theoretic standpoint. By "moderately large sample" we shall mean that central limit type theorems yield adequate approximations to the distributions involved, but that the further asymptotic approximations of the type in [4] are not necessarily very good. We shall also assume that the samples under consideration are sufficiently large that the large sample form of the risk can be used. That is, we shall carry out our computations as if the observations can be considered as a stochastic process on [0, 1] such that


A simple micro-relief meter which can be operated by one person and be used both in the field and the laboratory was designed and used to measure the surface micro-relief of ploughed (P), ploughed and then harrowed (PH), and ploughed, harrowed and then rolled (PHR) soils. The measurements were used to estimate the plough layer porosity of the tilled soils. The estimated values of tilled layer porosity (P) were compared with those determined in a laboratory from 100 cubic cm core samples and from water retention curves (WRC) of the soils. The results showed that both WRC and core methods gave significantly lower values of P for the ploughed soil, which the WRC method consistently gave lower values of P for all the tilled soils. The results indicated that such a meter can be used to characterize surface roughness of tilled soils and that the micro-relief measurement method can give reasonable estimates of the porosity of freshly tilled soils with rough structures dominated by large clods and often loose soil material. UNISWA Research Journal of Agriculture, Science and Technology Vol 3 (1) 1999: pp 21-26


It is generally accepted by municipal governments to make changed construction and remove illegal buildings in order to reduce mobile populations in their habitats,as also seen in Beijing's case.However,these measures turned out to be not successful.Based on Beijing's real conditions,the paper makes analysis of the contributions on local governments and residents in the habitat areas of mobile populations,as well as the advantages for the mobile populations to be merged into local communities,and proposes that the administration of mobile population habitats should be a combination of various objectives.


To transportation means, the attack via the communication channel to detect, a new device for preventing, sensors, network-based services, navigation applications, the electronic control unit of the vehicle, means of transport bus network, subsystem of the vehicle, and from a variety of sources such as on-board diagnostic system, the configuration input unit to collect real-time data and / or off-line data, and a database for storing data, an input unit communication a detection unit that transmits an alert via a communication channel, and / or cleave attack communication channel, or configured to prevent attacks by changing, in communication with the detection unit Device with the operation units are Nest. Detection unit content data, metadata, and the physical data monitored simultaneously, and is configured to detect an attack.


The Algerian cork oak forest is constituted with numerous essences, essentially the cork oak (Quercus suber) which establishes an ecosystem very rich in terms of biovariety. The called acorn "ballot" characteristic fruit of the genus Quercus forms in the year, its shape and its size vary according to trees. This reproductive organ is constituted with an embryo surrounded with a tissue containing materials of reserves (the albumen) and protected by a more or less thick and impervious integument. The acorn is classified in the category of girdles kick out which is the object of numerous attacks of insects. We extracted acorns of cork oak infested by carpophagous insects using organic solvents as the acetone, the chloroform, the ethanol and also extract by water. The dosage of the total polyphenols realized by Folin-Ciacolteau's method allowed to show that phenolic composition is important for all the used solvents, it is the ethanol which extracts most of polyphenols (154,8 mg GAE/g dry weight), it seems clear that among the used solvents, the chloroform is the least effective solvent (44,6 mg GAE/g dry weight). Dosage, quantification and identification of the polyphenolic contents was realized by coupling chromatography in gas phase/spectrometry of mass (GC/MS). Chromatographic profile and spectre show that the compound adults are going molecules from 18 to 29 carbons. We identified besides polyphenols with 28 and 29 carbons, acids, alcohols and aldehyds.


In mammalian cells, one of the most serious types of DNA damage is a double-stranded break (DSB), where the DNA double helix is completely severed. DSBs are associated with cell death and tumorigenesis, so they are of keen interest in understanding cancerous mechanisms as well as developing therapeutic treatments. One of the most characterized early markers of DNA DSBs is the phosphorylation of the histone 2AX (H2AX) to γ-H2AX. Here, a positive feedback loop is created between γ-H2AX and phosphatidyl inositol 3' kinase-related kinases, where repair systems are recruited to the damage, creating nucleation sites, or foci, that correspond to the level of DSB. When the foci are bound to fluorescently labeled antibodies, overall γ-H2AX levels can be visualized and quantified via immunofluorescence microscopy.


Cell-free extracts of Aerobacter aerogenes grown on a medium containing yeast extract, glucose, and salts, oxidized D-α-fructoheptose (2-C-hydroxymethyl-D-glucose), glucose, gluconate, and other he...


Knowledge of the number of people in a building at a given time is crucial for applications such as emergency response. Sensors can be used to gather noisy measurements which when combined, can be used to make inferences about the location, movement and density of people. In this paper we describe a probabilistic model for predicting the occupancy of a building using networks of people-counting sensors. This model provides robust predictions given typical sensor noise as well as missing and corrupted data from malfunctioning sensors. We experimentally validate the model by comparing it to a baseline method using real data from a network of optical counting sensors in a campus building.


In this paper, we propose an enhanced quasi-maximum likelihood (EQML) decoder for short LDPC codes. The proposed EQML decoder selects unreliable variable nodes (VNs) and performs the reprocessing if the first belief propagation (BP) decoding attempt fails. To improve the decoding error rate performance, we propose a novel node selection method based on the sign fluctuation of VNs' extrinsic messages. We also present a partial pruning stopping (PPS) rule to reduce the decoding complexity by deactivating part of the decoding tests once a valid codeword is found. Simulation results show that the proposed PPS rule achieves 20% lower decoding complexity compared to the full list decoding without sacrificing the error rate performance. In addition, the proposed EQML decoder outperforms the augmented BP decoder for short LDPC codes and approaches the performance of the ML decoder within 0.3 dB in terms of the frame error rate.


The microbiological study of the wastewater and its sediment around Abu-Hamour pond (untreated wastewater pond) and Abu-Nakhla pond (treated wastewater pond), located on the outskirts of Doha City, revealed that coliform bacteria were prominently present in the former than in the latter one. E. coli. was


Abstract. The purpose of this study was to determine the calcium (Ca) content and phosphorus (p) silage combination of rice straw and lamtoro leaves as a good feed for ruminants. The Research Method used Completely Randomized Design (CRD) which consisted of 4 treatments and each treatment was repeated 3 times namely J0 = 100% Rice Straw + 0% Leucaena Leaves (Control), J1 = 60% Rice Straw + 40% Leucaena Leaves, J2 = 70% Rice Straw + 30% Leucaena Leaf and J3 = 80% Rice Straw + 20% Leucaena Leaf. The results showed that the combination of rice straw silage and lamtoro leaves showed that there was a very significant effect (P <0.01) on calcium (ca) and phosphorus (p) on rice straw and lamtoro leaves. The average value of calcium from highest to lowest is J1 (0.86%), J2 (0.82%), J3 (0.75%) and J0 (0.59%). The highest to lowest phosphorus values were J1 (0.29%), J2 (0.27%), J3 (0.23%) and J0 (0.19%). From the results of the study, it is known that the best treatment and can be recommended is J1 treatment consisting of 60% rice straw and 40% lamtoro leaves.Keywords: Rice Straw; Lamtoro Leaves; Silage; Calcium; Phosphor; Ruminant animals


Research was conducted to determine the effect of press drying on the physical properties of handsheets made from groundwood, corrugated material, and various mixes of ground wood and corrugated material. During this study, press dried handsheets were compared to conventionally dried handsheets. There was a difference in handsheet properties as the blend ratio of corrugated-to-groundwood stock changed. Strength related properties were positively affected by the amount of corrugated material present for both press dried and conven tionally dried handsheets. The press dried sheets had higher burst factor and tear factor as corrugated content increased •. Burst factor, elongation, and tear factor increased with increasing corrugated material for the conventionally dried sheets. Press drying was seen to be beneficial to strength development in handsheets. Tensile and bursting strength were greatly enhanced by press drying. However, press drying was detrimental to tearing strength and stiffness. Increased bonding in the press dried sheets results in the higher breaking length and burst factor, and lower tear factor. The greater stiffness of the conventionally dried handsheets is caused by the higher caliper of these sheets compared to the press dried handsheets.


Iran is gradually opening up its civil aviation operations to world scrutiny in the hopes of attracting more business 22 years after the U.S. barred technology imports to the country. Russia has been a main supplier of aircraft to the four main airlines, with maintenance carried out by Russian firms. The government is taking steps to encourage more international aviation and restore Iran to its former role as a hub connecting Africa with Europe and the Far East.


Through the comparison of constructed wetland and sewage treatment plant,it was found that constructed wetland used in municipal wastewater treatment had the advantages of less investment,low operation cost,good purification effect.The function and role of constructed wetland in the urban sewage treatment were analyzed.The present problems of urban wetland construction in China were pointed out.Some recommendations of future constructed wetland wastewater treatment were proposed.


The proposed research is to evaluate how contextual variables affect compliance with fisheries regulations. The analysis was carried out on two islands, San Andres and Old Providence, which share many cultural antecedents. Nevertheless each island chose a very different path of economic development. This creates a natural experiment in which to evaluate how factors that vary systematically across the two islands affect the compliance decisions. The research evaluates how contextual variables such as knowledge of rules and regulations, perception about punishment and formal enforcement levels, perception of social control and fishers' attitudes about legitimacy of rules, and social/economic factors, affect compliance with fisheries regulations. A survey of fishermen was completed and data from that survey was used to econometrically estimate a model of compliance choices. Reports on violation are much higher than in previous studies, and results suggest that despite the structural differences between the two islands, the levels of compliance are the same, but the significant factors which explain compliance differ. Specific conditions on each island must be taken into account particularly, so the impact of the environmental policy will be higher on each island according to its own conditions.


A 14. 7mW4Gb/s/lane wireless TSI (through silicon interface) employing magnetic resonance and 16-QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) is presented for 3D (three dimensional) stacked memory cube. In this scenario, taking advantage of broadband low noise signal approach and high order modulation, 4x symbol data rate and long-distance transmission could be obtained simultaneously. The transmitter based on source follower common-mode amplitude modulator is developed to increase the voltage headroom and the saturated output power. Besides, a double Gm-boost LNA is proposed to achieve high power efficiency and ultrahigh sensitivity, respectively. The proposed interface prototype is designed with 55nm CMOS process and achieves a maximum data rate of 4Gb/s/lane at transfer distance of 300um while dissipating 14. 72mW from a 1. 2V supply.


Generation of coherent optical phonons in GaAs and Ge are systematically investigated by pump-probe reflectivity measureents. While the amplitude of the coherent optical phonon of Ge increases linearly with increasing optical excitation density, that of the coherent LO phonon of GaAs shows a saturation above a certain optical density. The coherent optical phonon of Ge follows the Raman selection rule, while that of GaAs is generated isotropically regardless of pump polarization. These differences are explained by different generation mechanisms of coherent phonons; impulsive stimulated Raman scattering and transient depletion field screening.


Laser drilling of monolithic materials like metals and alloys is a well-established process and used extensively in a wide range of applications in many sectors including aerospace, medical and automotive. However, conventional laser drilling of materials like metal matrix composites is challenging due to the differences in the chemical and physical properties of the hard ceramic reinforcement particles and the soft-metal matrix. The water-jet guided laser process has the potential to machine advanced materials such as an aluminium metal matrix composite reinforced with silicon carbide particles (Al MMC), with exceptional quality. The main objective of this research is to understand the material removal mechanism associated with water-jet guided laser drilling of Al MMCs and compare this with conventional laser drilling of Al MMC. Experimental results showed that the water-jet guided laser process is an excellent technique for drilling holes in composite materials like metal matrix composites. During water-jet guided laser drilling of Al MMC, the material has been removed by cold ablation, without leaving any residual melt layer within the bulk material. Both soft-matrix and hard-particles are removed by the same process of cold ablation, which is completely different to the conventional laser drilling process in which the solid SiC are ejected without melting, along with the molten aluminium.


On-machine direct detection of profile errors is vital to improve accuracy and efficiency in profile grinding. However, achieving such detection processes is difficult because of harsh machining conditions. This study presents a novel machine-vision-based processing methodology for the profile grinding of contour surfaces instead of the traditional optical-enlargement-based profile grinding which is manual dependent and low efficient. Grinding errors were efficiently detected online through machine vision. A specific vision system was coordinately designed with the profile grinding system to ensure distortionless measurement of workpiece contour and overcome the interferences of machining environment during profile grinding. A machining error detection principle was proposed based on the online captured workpiece contour image. Real-time error identification and compensation algorithms were developed through the synthetic error measurement. Simulations and experiments were conducted successively. The results indicated that profile errors were considerably reduced and measurement efficiency was improved, validating the effectiveness of the proposed methodology for profile grinding of contour surface. The findings can also provide a reference for the direct measurement of machining errors in other machines.


Given a group $G$ and an integer $n\geq 0$ we consider the family $\mathcal{F}_n$ of all virtually abelian subgroups of $G$ of rank at most $n$. In this article we prove that for each $n\ge2$ the Bredon cohomology, with respect to the family $\mathcal{F}_n$, of a free abelian group with rank $k>n$ is nontrivial in dimension $k+n$; this answers a question of Corob-Cook, Moreno, Nucinkis and Pasini. As an application, we compute the minimal dimension of a classifying space for the family $\mathcal{F}_n$ for braid groups, right-angled Artin groups, and graphs of groups whose vertex groups are infinite finitely generated virtually abelian groups, for all $n\ge2$. The main tools that we use are the Mayer-Vietoris sequence for Bredon cohomology, Bass-Serre theory, and the L\"uck-Weiermann construction.


–  Fragmented populations of freshwater fish may develop genotypic and phenotypic differences as adaptations to local habitat conditions. These differences contribute significantly to biological diversity and may lead to speciation. In the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia, the Murray hardyhead Craterocephalus fluviatilis, listed as 'endangered' by the World Conservation Union, has a wide but fragmented distribution that is apparently related to salinity. To determine whether this pattern has a physiological basis, we compared osmoregulation in fish from two isolated populations in different salinity regimes (Wyndgate: 0.4–1.5‰; Disher Creek: c. 1.0–45‰). In laboratory trials, fish from both populations remained healthy at high salinities (5–65‰). The Disher Creek population maintained a significantly lower blood osmotic concentration than the Wyndgate population at salinities ≤1‰, suggesting that there is a physiological difference between them. The findings have implications for the conservation of C. fluviatilis and other fish populations whose distributions are fragmented by salinity.


The toxicological impacts of the increasing number of synthetic compounds present in the aquatic environment are assessed predominantly in laboratory studies where test organisms are exposed to a range of concentrations of single compounds. Protozoan cells are often used as bioindicators for the presence of xenobiotic compounds. In this article, we describe the inhibitory effect of a synthetic phosphoramidate derivative at different concentrations (40, 60, and 80 µmol L−1) on Paramecium sp., affecting its growth (proliferation) in concentration-dependent manner, as well as the generation time and response percentage. The LC50 value determined for these protozoa was estimated at 60 µmol L−1 on 24 h of exposure. The respiratory metabolism of protozoan is perturbed at three concentrations, noting that the oxygen consumption was significantly increased at high concentrations after 18 h of exposure. In addition, the data can be used as reference values in further testing with other pesticides.


The oil and gas industry is a significant contributor to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which have a major impact on climate change. Geoscientists in the industry play a crucial role in mitigating climate change by identifying and evaluating potential CO2 storage sites, monitoring CO2 behavior after injection, and exploring CO2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques. CO2 -EOR involves injecting CO2 into depleted oil reservoirs to increase oil production. Reservoir characterization using well log and seismic data analysis helps determine storage capacity, containment, and injectivity of reservoirs for CO2 sequestration and EOR. In this study, two sand reservoirs (RES 1 and RES 2) were analyzed, with RES 2 being considered more suitable for CO2 sequestration and CO2 -EOR. The estimated storage capacity of the study area was approximately 40 million metric tons (MT). Assessments of fault sealing capacity and reservoir properties were conducted to validate storage potential. Further investigations and analysis by experts in different fields are necessary. The interpretation of seismic and well log data aids in generating geological and structural models, which provide necessary information for designing injection and production wells and analyzing the compatibility of CO2 -EOR techniques with the reservoir. Direct Air Capture and Rejection (DACR) technology is also highlighted as a beneficial carbon capture solution for developing countries like Nigeria, as it can help reduce carbon emissions from oil and gas operations while enhancing oil recovery in characterized reservoirs.


The solar bubble dryer (SBD) is a convenient and better option to traditional open sun drying commonly practiced by smallholder farmers in Ghana and other developing countries. However, to operate the SBD, one is faced with the challenge of frequent mixing of grains using a rake to enhance uniform drying and prevent over-heating of the top-layer exposed to the sun. Additionally, condensation in the SBD can compromise the quality of grains during drying under humid conditions. In the present study, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to select an appropriate drying platform, tarpaulin, or elevated drying rack for maize drying in the SBD. Using the AHP, the elevated drying rack was chosen as a suitable platform for drying maize in the SBD. The SBD with the elevated drying racks was used to dry 270 kg of maize from a moisture content of 18.2% to 12.6% (w.w.b) within 6 hours compared to 11 hours for the same quantity of grains dried on the tarpaulin of the SBD to reach an MC of 12.5% (w.w.b). An average drying rate and moisture extraction rate of 0.93%/h and 2.88 kg/h were achieved with the elevated drying rack system compared to 0.52%/h and 1.60 kg/h when drying on the tarpaulin of the SBD. An average temperature of 44.6°C recorded in the SBD was 9°C more compared to the ambient temperature. The thermal efficiency of the SBD collector was determined as 36.2%. Drying grains with the elevated racks showed advantages of reduced drying time, improved airflow through the drying bed, and prevention of condensation, which occurs when drying on the tarpaulin of the SBD.


Although widely used in ecology, comparative analyses of diversity and niche properties are still lacking for microorganisms, especially concerning niche variations. In this study, we identified important topoclimatic, edaphic, spatial and biotic drivers of the alpha and beta diversity of bacterial, archaeal, fungal and protist communities. Then, we calculated the niche breadth and position of each taxon along environmental gradients within all taxonomic groups, to determine how these vary within and between groups. Quantifying the niches of microbial taxa is necessary to then forecast how taxa and the communities they compose might respond to environmental changes. We found that edaphic properties were the most important drivers of both community diversity and composition for all microbial groups. Protists presented the largest niche breadths, followed by bacteria and archaea, with fungi displaying the smallest. Niche breadth generally decreased towards environmental extremes, especially along edaphic gradients, suggesting increased specialisation of microbial taxa in highly selective environments. Overall, we showed that microorganisms have well defined niches, as do macro-organisms, likely driving part of the observed spatial patterns of community variations. Assessing niche variation more widely in microbial ecology should open new perspectives, especially to tackle global change effects on microbes.