In sports where athletes play against an opponent, for example, ballgames and martial arts, a variety of cognitive functions hold the key to winning, such as grasping the situation, strategizing against one's opponent, making appropriate decisions instantaneously, and keeping an ideal mental state under intense pressure. Most of these functions, however, are "implicit" brain functions that the athlete himself/herself is not even aware of and cannot control at will. This is thought to be one of the factors behind the difficulty of acquiring, exhibiting, and coaching a specific skill. The NTT Sports Brain Science project was established in January 2017 to conduct research with the aim of understanding superior implicit brain functions in top athletes, identifying the factors in winning, and improving the performance of athletes based on research findings. The technical core of the project is "body-mind reading and feedback", which is constituted by various technologies such as wearable sensing, computer vision, biometric analyses, virtual reality, and sonification. The basic concepts and some research topics of the project will be introduced, with a focus on baseball and softball.


Background: Bicuspid aortic valves (BAV) are often associated with acquired lesions of the ascending aorta. Recent studies have demonstrated increased smooth muscle cell (SMC) apoptosis and decreas...


The subject of this thesis is to develop a cooperative strategy that can be adopted when a team of robots is required to search a building of an unknown layout. The layouts used in this thesis are based on the HDB flat floor plans, obtained from For this project, there is a need to devise a cooperative strategy to solve the problem. Hence, the idea of a cooperative strategy that utilises the sensor readings obtained and wireless communications, was devised. This was desired based on the literature survey as it is widely recommended. With the strategy in mind, an interlinked code was developed where counters will activate and deactivate linked elements. The coding process took about 4 months though there was still some refining to be done every now and then. The strategy for each robot is slightly different, with one searching in a clockwise direction, while the other searches in an anticlockwise direction. Based on the layouts obtained, a unique feature was developed in which the robots would only search the living room once and call a function to readjust its position once it re-enters the living room. Other functions used are door search, room search and then light search. Cooperation would exist in terms of communications as the task is being completed. The entire process will then be repeated until all the targets are found. This was tested using a simulation program available in the laboratory. The class of the robots required and the algorithm was created in the simulation program. The tests done with a 3-room layout showed the effectiveness of the strategy. The next step would be to design the robots to test out the strategy. Using sensors from the laboratory and redesigning the positions of the servos, two robots, Cooper 1 and Cooper 2, were assembled. The special feature of these robots is the ability to turn on the spot. For this case, the change in ii direction is done in right angles. Another feature would be the octagonal layer of sensors that will help to avoid obstacles and acquire targets. The wireless communications of the iPAQs were utilised by adding codes to the program. Fabrication and assembly of the robots took 2 months while testing was done in the laboratory over a period of 3 months. The first phase is to manufacture the chassis to house the different components of the robots. This was …


This study assesses health‐related quality of life (HRQOL), and variables associated with HRQOL, in children and adolescents with haemophilia and congenital bleeding disorders (CBD) in the Netherlands.


Retroviral vectors are excellent tools for gene transfer in experimental animal systems, and are potential vehicles for gene therapy in humans. Retroviral vector DNA, after entry into a cell, integrates into cellular chromosomal DNA, leading to stable gene expression. This property is especially advantageous for genetic transduction of actively proliferating cells such as epithelial cells and activated lymphocytes. However, cells from particular human tissues have been found to be resistant to retroviral gene transduction even if viral stocks of relatively high titer (>10 c.f.u7ml) are used. Since the retroviral envelope glycoprotein specifically binds to a cell surface receptor, relative or absolute deficiency of receptor molecules could be one of the causes of this poor transduction efficiency. In this report, we describe a method to increase retroviral gene transduction efficiency by transient overexpression of GLVR-2, a receptor for amphotropic retrovirus which has been recently identified as a member of the gibbon ape leukemia virus receptor family (1).


Death is the most inevitable and irrevocable problem that we face as physicians and human beings. Although many people seldom think about death, when the death of a close friend or relative does occur, everyone is confronted with a feeling of loss and reminder of his or her own mortality. The emotional reaction triggered by such a loss is called mourning. While in decades past it was debated whether or not children mourned, the consensus now is that they do, but not as completely or satisfactorily as adults. The manner in which children mourn is based on their level of development and on the emotional climate provided them.
 Almost without exception in our society, when a person dies, there is a funeral. More often than not parents do not know whether children should attend funerals. Because of this, they often ask pediatricians, but there is little published data that can be used as a guide for an intelligent response. The purpose of this review is to provide practical guidelines and suggestions that can be discussed with parents when this question arises.
 FUNERALS IN GENERAL
 The funeral is the most ancient rite known. Much of what we know about prehistoric cultures comes from burial customs that favored including everyday objects with the corpse.


issues. Why? challenges us to explore issues we have, perhaps, taken for granted or accepted without rigorously considering our underlying assumptions. We may feel awkward when a budding three year old scientist asks &dquo;Why does the moon shine so brightly?&dquo; as this, probably, highlights our own tenuous grasp of the concept of reflected sunlight. However, there is an increase in that feeling of ineptitude if an uncomfortable why question arises from a colleague, student, a child or family in our care. The easy option is to dismiss difficult questions and to avoid any uncomfortable situations. However, why questions are at the heart of professional children's nursing since they require both the courage to ask them and the knowledge, skills and disposition to answer them. Children's nursing is complex and skilled. It requires practitioners to make decisions about difficult and seemingly unmanageable problems and issues. One of the exciting aspects of practice, and indeed research, education and management, is that each day brings new challenges. However, the nature of children's nursing means that many issues that arise are often ill-defined, abstract and unique. Asking why and therefore adopting a questioning, critical and reflective approach to thinking about and practising nursing, results in nothing being taken for granted and assumptions being challenged. When such a stance is adopted nursing becomes truly dynamic and evolutionary and, even, revolutionary. Critical thinking means that even complex and possibly ambiguous issues are approached thoughtfully and an analysis of the elements of a decision is available for subsequent scrutiny. Every decision that is taken in children's nursing is affected by many contextual factors and often there is no lengthy period of time in which to make that decision. Nursing decisions call for all l


During recent years, increasing attention has been placed on the role of physical training in cardiopulmonary health. Paffenbarger and Hale report that individuals with high levels of endurance training tend to have a lower prevalence of, and mortality from, coronary artery disease.1 Arm-conditioning exercises have been shown to result in increased oxygen uptake, decreased heart rates at submaximal work loads, and increased physical work capacity.2, 3

In spite of such documentation of the benefits of endurance training and of the harmful effects of inactivity, too few spinal cord rehabilitation centers make a concerted effort to rehabilitate the cardiopulmonary system. A review of the literature, of many physical therapy curricula, and of three major spinal cord rehabilitation centers in this country reveals that endurance training for the purpose of improving cardiopulmonary health in nonambulatory patients is an area neglected in rehabilitation programs.…


. The design of a municipal water supply system may involve utilizing singly or in combination a conventional water supply, a desalted water supply, and a supply from a recharged aquifer reservoir. Optimization of the design requires a model formulated in a way that modern methods of systems analysis can be used. This study concerns the formulation, solution, and evaluation of a mathematical model of a municipal water supply system that includes a supply from a variable quality output desalting plant. The combined system is operated in conjunction with an artificially recharged aquifer reservoir. Also considered are short periods of water shortages. The model is set up in an approximate linear programming format, and the optimum solution (minimum cost) is found. The model is tested by applying it to the design of a supply system to meet the 1985 estimated water demand of the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. Results of this test indicate that the artificial reservoir and the existing conventional supply system are capable of supplying that demand during all but the peak period. An electrodialysis desalting system is used in this analysis. It is competitive only when the length of transmission pipeline for a conventional supply system approaches 90 miles. The model is formulated in a general way so that it can be applied to almost all situations encountered in municipal water supply design, as well as to the specific system designated for this study.


By using the self-developed meso shear test equipment for coal or rock containing gas, non-restrictive direct shear tests under the gas pressure of 0 MPa, 0.5 MPa, 1.0 MPa and 2.0 MPa were carried out. Based on the shear stress-shear stain curves and the meso-evolution laws of the shear fracture cracks, Fracture characteristics of the raw coal containing gas under shear loading was analyzed. The results show that: i) the gas pressure can hasten the growth rate of the fractural crack in raw coal containing gas, and accelerate its shear fracture process; ii) the shear fracture process of the raw coal containing gas experiences five stages; iii) the shear breaking process of coal results in two cracks: shear crack and tensile crack, and the cracks first appeared in the shear plane at both ends, then extension to the central until shear fracture surface formed.


Introduction: The world's biggest industrial disaster causes due to the leakage of MIC in Bhopal, India, on 3 Dec. 1984 led to the death of about 2000 people within 72 hours. Exposure to toxic gase...


Background and Purpose: Postural-suprapostural task is defined as achievement of a motor/cognitive task together with successful maintenance of postural balance. However, whether postural-suprapostural performance is conditional to task priority is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect for task priority on a postural-suprapostural task. Methods: This study recruited twelve healthy young adults. Each subject was asked to execute a force-matching task (suprapostural task) while maintaining balance on a stabilometer with force-matching or postural balance as the first-priority task. Task accuracy and variability for both suprapostural and postural task were measured. Both task accuracy (force-matching error and postural error) and task variability (coefficient of variation (CV) of force output and approximate entropy (ApEn) of stabilometer movement) were measured. Results: Using suprapostural- first strategy resulted in smaller force-matching error and postural error than those by using postural-first strategy. In addition, suprapostural-first strategy resulted in higher postural variability (larger ApEn) and lower suprapostural variability (smaller CV of force output). Conclusions: Task accuracy and variability of suprapostural and postural tasks varied significantly with task priority strategies. With suprapostural-first strategy, young healthy adults could perform a postural-suprapostural task in a more efficient way and have better performance. Clinical Implications: In clinic, the difficulty of postural and suprapostural tasks should be modulated according to patients' ability for postural-suprapostural control training. For instance, we can ask patients to stand on a disc instead of keeping balance on a stabilometer. The effect of task priority strategies could be investigated on older adults or patients with neurological disease in further studies for providing posture/motor training with proper task priority.


ABSTRACT In this study, a new combined framework based on the methods of Multiple-criteria decision-making and mathematical planning was provided in order to select the Road Sections (RS) to carry out Maintenance and Repair Operation (MRO) in order to maximise the reliability of using roads. At first, using Multiple-criteria decision-making of the Best-Worst Method (BWM) and Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) methods, the weight of each RS for each MRO was defined, which can be considered as the amount of improvement in every section for the implementation of each MRO. Then, using a mathematical model, the optimal decision was specified to implement MRO for each RS. According to the calculation results, the fracture level on the road with the weight of 0.159 is the most important criterion and the lack of light with the weight of 0.074 is the least important criterion for selecting the type of MRO. Also, using the results of the mathematical model creates a confidence level of more than 93 percent in using all the section of road, which shows 14.8 percent improvement compared to the current situation. Also, the robust model results have also shown that as the level of uncertainty level rises along with the increase in the robust value, the road reliability decreases.


Although the last decades saw considerable improvement in the treatment of patients suffering from hematopoietic malignancies, primary and secondary resistance of the malignant clone still represents the main pathophysiological cause, which prevents definitive cure. Moreover, conventional therapies – in particular combination chemotherapy – are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality due to the fact that these drugs lack specificity and not only destroy neoplastic cells but also harm healthy tissues. Therefore, the concept of 'targeted therapies', which specifically target the malignant clone whereas sparing normal cells is most appealing. One intriguing possibility of such a targeted therapy seems to be the inhibition of the hedgehog signalling pathway. The hedgehog pathway is crucial in embryonic development and regulates stem cell fate in adults. Furthermore, constitutive activations of the hedgehog pathway are oncogenic mechanisms in a number of malignancies [1]. Pertinently the implication of the hedgehog signalling pathway in CML progression has been demonstrated [2] and, it was found that elements of the hedgehog signalling pathway are involved in the control of hematopoietic differentiation, because erythroid differentiation in vitro is blocked by cyclopamine [3]. The possible therapeutic effect of cyclopamine, a steroidal alkaloid that inhibits the hedgehog pathway, against various malignancies has been shown in in vitro-studies amongst others for breast cancer, prostate cancer and for colorectal tumor cells [1,4–7] and, previously we demonstrated its strong cytotoxic effect on human osteosarcoma cells [8]. Furthermore, cyclopamine was able to induce apoptosis in lymphoma cells in vitro and to reduce tumor mass in mice with fully developed disease [9]. Apoptosis was also shown upon cyclopamine treatment in human Tcell ALL (CEM) cells in vitro [10]. To further evaluate the potential of the hedgehog inhibitor 'cyclopamine' on the growth and cell death of lymphocytic B-lineage and myelogenous leukemic cells in vitro, this study was undertaken. For drug investigation the human erythroleukemic cell line CML K562 (ATCC No. CCL-243) and the acute lymphoblastic leukemia B-lineage cell line RS4;11 (ATCC No. CRL-1873) were used. To evaluate cytotoxicity in lymphocytes, mononuclear cells were separated from whole blood of healthy donors by Ficoll-Hypaque centrifugation and stimulated using 100 U/mL interleukin-2 and 10 mg/mL PHA in RPMI containing 10% human plasma. Analysis of GLI1 expression in cyclopamine and mock-treated K562, RS4;11 cells as well as native lymphocytes was achieved by reverse transcriptasepolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RNA was prepared from the cells 24 h after treatment with 10 mM cyclopamine, 10 mM tomatidine or buffer. (Tomatidine is a cytotoxic steroidal alkaloid similar to cyclopamine but lacks the ability to block hedgehog signalling and serves, therefore, as an additional


This paper demonstrates a improved model of QoS (Quality of Service),and describes how to accept and expand to the UDDI (Universal Description Discovery and Intergration) for system.Then,it expatiates different parts of the model from domain expert,service provider and service requester,including management of domain,management of indicator,management of service,sort of service and feedback of service.


Pulmonary hypertension in chronic pulmonary disease is due mainly to the impairment of the pulmonary vascular bed. It is still doubtful, however, whether neuro-humoral factors also participate in the genesis of this hypertension. Because of the difficulties of the methods that have to be used in the study of this problem, little is known about the autonomous regulation of the lesser circulation in man. Lately there have been some attempts to extend our knowledge in this field by pharmacological investigations of the lesser circulation. Most of the authors have dealt with pulmonary hypertension in congenital or acquired heart disease. Several substances have been employed as e.g. TEAB (Davies et al., 1954; Scott et al., 1955), hexamethonium (Gilmore et al., 1952; Judson et al., 1954; Wade et al., 1956), theophyllinethylendiamin (Storstein et al., 1958), regitin (Storstein et al., 1957), serpasil (Halmagyi et al., 1957), acetylcholin (Harris, 1957; Soderholm and Werko, 1959; Wood, 1957), procain (Gottsegen et al., 1959) and priscol (Braun et al., 1957; Dresdale et al., 1951; Dresdale et al., 1954; Rudolph et al., 1958). The genesis of hypertension in congenital and acquired heart disease, however, differs from that of hypertension in cor pulmonale. Little attention has been paid to pulmonary hypertension in cor pulmonale so that the number of studies concerned with the pharmacology of this problem is small. The only substances to be used in sufficiently large groups of subjects with cor pulmonale have been TEAB (Fowler et al., 1950) and hexamethonium (Malamos et al., 1957; Sancetta, 1955). However, results are difficult to assess since the doses of these substances used lowered systemic blood pressure. An attempt was therefore made to affect pulmonary hypertension in cor pulmonale pharmacologically by employing a substance that would lower pulmonary arterial blood pressure without substantially affecting systemic blood pressure. Since it was found (Widimsky et al., 1959) that priscol fulfils these requirements, the effect of this drug upon patients with cor pulmonale has been investigated in greater detail. Methods. Fifteen patients with pulmonary disease, 11 of these with pulmonary hypertension at rest, within an age range of 21-68 years were investigated by catheterization of the pulmonary circulation. One day before catheterization the following premedication was applied: phenobarbital 0-06 g. natr. bromati 0-6 g., chinidini sulphur 0-2 g., and on the day of catheterization phenobarbital 0 03 g., natrii bromati 0 3 g., and chinidini sulphur 0-1 g. were administered. Catheterization was performed in the usual manner, always in the morning. The catheter was introduced into the pulmonary artery and a Cournand needle was introduced into the femoral artery. Pulmonary arterial pressure, systemic blood pressure (Riva-Rocci, right arm), and pulse rate were measured. Pressures in the lesser circulation were measured with an electromanometer of Elema type and recorded with an Elema-42 mingograph, and the mean pressure was determined by electrical integration. Mean systemic blood pressure was estimated by adding one-third of the pressure amplitude to the diastolic pressure. Pulmonary arterial blood pressure, pulse rate, and systemic blood pressure were measured at 5-minute intervals for a total period of 20-30 minutes.


BACKGROUND: For people with chronic diseases such as COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), eHealth provides new opportunities for self-management. Although sufficient research on COPD self-management exists, COPD telehealth research is primarily based on 'care at a distance' as directed by health professionals and technicians; it is less based on user needs of older people.

OBJECTIVE: Aims were to explore the requirements of older people for eHealth support, and through this to promote self-management and enhance quality of life.

METHODS: An explorative user-centred design approach was used, combining focus groups (n=17) with surveys (n=69), involving COPD patients aged 55 to 90, to elicit key criteria for eHealth support.

RESULTS: Respondents provided specific needs and wishes for eHealth; they reported activities and problems for which they could use support. For them, eHealth should increase their sense of security, provide opportunities for questions and alerts, and increase confidence in their knowledge and abilities.

CONCLUSIONS: Older people do want self-management support at home, to stay more independent and active. A user-centred design approach enables older persons to identify key requirements for eHealth support. Additional research will be conducted to complete this approach, to contribute to recommendations on form and contents of 'eCOPD' self-management support.


Abstract Opuntia fragilis is the smallest and most cold-hardy species of North American prickly pear, with an unusual distribution. This document is a review of its taxonomy, distribution, and ecology.


In a year of very dramatic change worldwide, there was at least one major oversight in the environmental area. I am very sorry to report that no one ever thought to prepare an environmental impact statement before taking down the Berlin Wall. Actually that statement is considerably less outlandish than it might seem at first blush. As old preoccupations have withered away, environmental issues have assumed a new prominence internationally. For example, there is now serious talk of environmental integrity as an essential component of national security. A global environmental awareness is simultaneously growing so quickly as to strain the ability of the international legal system to keep up. Indeed, developments in this area are so rapid that they may very well be a paradigm that illustrates the potential of international law generally well into the next century. As a general matter, international legal standards in the environmental field are often less developed than in other areas of international law, including some that have been addressed by the previous panelists. The international community is now absorbed with the self-conscious process of creating environmental norms. Accordingly, the most important developments in recent years, including last year, have been in the creation of new law, as contrasted with the application of existing requirements. I would like to report on developments in the lawmaking process in two broad areas: (1) exports of hazardous substances; and (2) global atmospheric issues. While there were important policy developments in both areas in the past year, I hope to emphasize the significance of these developments for lawyers and the law. International trade in hazardous wastes, toxic chemicals and dangerous pesticides consumed a great deal of attention during the past year. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) sponsored a negotiation that led in March of last year to the adoption of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. The negotiation of the Convention followed very quickly upon a number of well-publicized, serious incidents in which private firms headquartered in industrialized countries had shipped hazardous wastes to Third World countries that were ill-equipped to handle the problems associated with the treatment, storage and disposal of those wastes. Because of the heightened awareness of the magnitude of the underlying problem, as well as the trade implications involved in exports of hazardous wastes, the negotiations preceding adoption of the Convention were significantly more acrimonious than previous international treatment of this issue had been. As a result, the Basel Convention is substantially more than a simple codification of existing law in this area. Rather, it is a major departure from previously applicable law, both international and domestic. In fact, the Basel Convention establishes a stricter regime for management of international shipments of hazardous wastes than is in place in any one country.


The United Nations has decreed that access to a variety of methods of birth control is a basic human right, that prevention of pregnancy, not termination, is the goal of birth control, and that abortion is an unacceptable method of birth control. Until recently, condoms and the rhythm method were the only legal forms of contraception in Japan. The high failure rates of these methods, coupled with access to abortion on demand, made abortion the de facto primary method of birth control in Japan. The Japanese government's recent decision to end the ban on oral contraceptives will reduce the number of abortions in Japan.


PBX explosive is the main charge of modern weapons,so its mechanical behavior determines the survival ability of weapons.To study the dynamic behavior of PBX explosive,a series of split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB) tests for PBX explosive have been carried out.With combination of the semiconductor strain gauge and quartz crystal transducer,the validity of the experimental data was obtained.In addition,the stress equilibrium of the specimen and constant strain rate loading were realized experimentally using wave shaping technique.The stress-strain curves of PBX explosive under different strain rates(90~410 s-1) were acquired.According to the variations of the dynamic modulus,failure strength and failure strain with strain rate,a constitutive model of the PBX explosive under uniaxial compression was proposed.The fitted curves derived from the developed model agree well with the experimental results.


In the hierarchy of cognitive processes, Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) is the highest level that requires high-level creative thinking and action which includes the ability to analyze, evaluate, and create. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that affect the ability of teachers in preparing HOTS-based assessments. This study uses a descriptive or exploratory approach with a qualitative descriptive strategy involving 28 high school mathematics teachers in the provinces of Bali, NTB, and NTT. Research data were collected through in-depth interviews, questionnaires, and documentation analysis. The results showed that in general the teacher's ability in compiling HOTS-based assessments was in a fairlygood category with a percentage of 48.90. The indicator of understanding the HOTS concept is in the good category with a percentage of 72.14%; indicator of completeness of references related to digital literacy with a percentage of 35.71%; 72 in the low category the indicator of developing a HOTS assessment related to motivation has a percentage of 34.82%; and the indicator of modifying the content for HOTS questions related to creativity has a percentage of 17.86%. It is recommended that intensive training be carried out for teachers, especially high school mathematics teachers in preparing HOTS-based assessments.


Purpose. To identify factors constraining functionality and life quality in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALs). Methods. cross-sectional study in 6 ALs patients aged 51.16 ± 8.70 years, with disease duration of 3.16 ± 2.63 years. Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis severity scale (ALsss) and Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis Functional rating scale (ALsFrs-r/Br) served to evaluate functionality; Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis Assessment Questionnaire (ALsAQ-40) analysed life quality. Descriptive statistics was applied to clinical characteristics. The correlation of clinical profile and disease duration with the degree of functionality and life quality was verified by spearman's correlation, with values considered significant if p < 0.05 and r > 0.8. Results. There was a positive correlation of age with ALsFrs (r = 0.852), disease duration with ALsAQ-40/physical mobility (r = 0.805), ALsFrs-r with ALsss (r = 0.972), physical mobility with food (r = 0.881), and communication with emotional status (r = 0.947). Negative correlations were observed of age with mobility (r = –0.805) and emotional status (r = –0.876), disease duration with ALsFrs-r (r = –0.858) and ALsss (r = –0.930), ALsFrs-r with physical mobility (r = –0.978) and food (r = –0.855), ALsss with physical mobility (r = –0.910) and daily life activity (r = –0.874). Conclusions. Longer disease was associated with lower functionality and poor life quality. Better functionality indicated lower severity and higher life quality in physical mobility and food. Higher severity was bound with poor life quality in physical mobility and daily life activity. We also observed correlations of physical mobility with food, and communication with emotional status.


We propose an interior point method for finding a stationary point of a nonlinear program with linear equality and nonnegativity constraints. This method maintains a basis at each iteration and updates the iterate by taking an affine-scaling step in the space of nonbasic variables. In the general case, we propose to choose the basis according to a rule that maximizes the basic components of the iterate. In the case where the feasible region is the product of simplices, we propose an alternative rule that minimizes the basic components of the cost gradient. We analyze the convergence of the method under each rule. A key feature of this method is that it can be implemented much like the simplex method.


In this paper, the daily data of SSE 50 stock index futures and SSE 50 index in the past two years from April 16, 2015 to March 16, 2017 are selected as the research object to study the lead relationship between SSE 50 stock index futures and corresponding stock spot price with the methods of co-integration test, Granger causality test, impulse response and variance decomposition etc. The results show that SSE 50 stock index future has a one-way effect on SSE 50 index, and SSE 50 stock index future has reflected the price discovery function.


Recent experimental work has shown that CH3Cl reacts with lithiated single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) at low temperatures. The reaction was shown to be irreversible, resulting in the cleavage of the C—Cl bond and the formation of a bond between CH3 and the SWNT. We have computed the reaction mechanism of CH3Cl with lithiated SWNTs from density functional theory and here present detailed reaction pathways for reactions both inside and outside the nanotubes. Our calculations show that the consumption of CH3Cl proceeds by a two-step reaction pathway and that at least two Li atoms are needed to dissociate CH3Cl at an appreciable rate at the low temperatures of the experiments; one Li atom is consumed to form LiCl, and the second Li atom acts as a catalyst to lower the energy of the first step of the reaction. The catalytic Li lowers the energy of both the transition state and the intermediate state in the reaction. This mechanism of an alkali metal acting catalytically to stabilize a radical intermediate...


As a new two-dimensional (2D) carbon hybrid material, graphdiyne (GDY) has attracted much attention due to its good conductivity, adjustable electronic structure and special electron transfer enhancement properties. It has...


Features of research of the contents and properties of economic categories, such as innovations, assume consideration of their evolutionary development under the influence of processes of market transformation. In foreign economic literature this term is understood as transformation of potential scientific and technical progress in real, being embodied in new products and technologies. Taking into ac-count the above, for studying of theoretical essence of innovations it is necessary to carry out the analysis of the basic definitions characterizing modern idea of innovations, including features of their structuring. The last means distribution to concrete groups on offered signs. Creation of the scheme of structuring innovations begins with definition of classification signs which represent distinctive property of this group of innovations, their essential feature. Structuring innovations can be carried out according to various schemes. In modern economic literature the most various approaches to this process, and also to allocation of its criteria are presented.


This paper describes an assessment—the Aurora Battery—currently under development at the Yale University Child Study Center. The assessment is based on Sternberg's theory and arose from a need to broaden the definition of giftedness and capture an individual's abilities in creative, practical and analytical thinking. Creativity, in this battery, is recognized as an equally important contributor to the expression of intelligence and to overall success in life. Implications for the classroom including definitions and manifestations of creativity as well as integration into the curriculum are discussed.


The benefits of pooling vehicles among routes that emanate from a common focus terminal are examined. In this strategy, trips are still scheduled, but vehicles are not assigned to specific trips. Instead, vehicles belonging to the pool serve all of the round trips leaving that terminal in a first in/first out sequence. Pooling improves schedule adherence, since in a pooled system a bus returning early can "cover" for a bus returning late. Pooling also facilitates interlining (sharing of buses among routes), which reduces the need for slack time. A procedure is developed for estimating schedule reliability. This procedure is applied to a set of 8 routes emanating from a Boston area terminal where it was found that with pooling the fleet size could be reduced by 11% while at the same time improving schedule adherence.


'The goals and scope of competition and antitrust laws' evaluates the goals and scope of competition and antitrust laws. Competition laws seek to protect the competitive process in the marketplace from companies that seek to distort it. By safeguarding free and fair markets, competition laws promote consumer welfare as well as efficiencies in the marketplace. While key competition law principles are similar across the world, competition laws are not internationally uniform, but are instead customized by each jurisdiction. A comparison can be made between US Federal Antitrust Law and the EU competition law. There are also other jurisdictions that apply competition laws, including China, Japan, and South Korea.


This study investigated prosodic characteristics of American English in school-age children. Previous studies reported that children's speech productions differed from those of adults in temporal and pitch aspects of speech prosody. The current study analyzed speech samples from 16 adults and 16 school-age children using both absolute measures (duration and fundamental frequency) and proportional measures (rhythm metrics and pitch range). The results showed differences between adults and children in absolute measures of temporal and pitch aspects of speech production, but these differences diminished in proportional measures. For temporal aspects of speech, absolute durations of children's utterances were longer than adults' utterances, whereas no statistically significant differences were found between adults' and children's rhythm metrics. Similarly, absolute fundamental frequency values were higher in children's speech than in adults' speech, but the pitch range did not differ between adults and children. These results suggest that children's speech may be slower in rate and higher in pitch, but their prosodic characteristics may be similar to those of adults in the temporal and pitch aspects of speech prosody by school age.


Aim. To study the opportunities of complex radiological diagnostic of breast silicone gel implant rupture after endoprosthesis replacement of mammary glands. Material and methods. Complex kliniko-radiological examination of 630 women with 1260 implants after a breast augmentation of mammary glands is conducted. Various complications after endoprosthesis replacement of mammary glands were diagnosed at 127 (20.1%) women. Thus, ruptures of silicone implants were diagnosed in 27.6% cases of all complications and developed in terms from 2 to 16 years after endoprosthesis replacement of mammary glands. Intracapsular rupture met in 16.1%s, extracapsular - in 11.4%. Bilateral damage of implants of mammary glands met at 18.9% of patients. Results. Sensitivity of mammography in diagnostics of ruptures of implants of mammary glands made 28.4%, specificity -88.3%, diagnostic accuracy - 70.9%. Sensitivity of sonography in diagnostics of ruptures of implants of mammary glands made 77%, specificity - 91.7%, diagnostic accuracy - 87.4%. Sensitivity of MRI in diagnostics of ruptures of implants of mammary glands made 91,9%, specificity - 97.2%, diagnostic accuracy - 95.7%. Conclusion. The analysis of the obtained data showed that sonography is prime, cheap and highly informative method of diagnostics intra-and extracapsular ruptures of breast silicone implants. It is expedient to apply ultrasonography as the first method of visualization in complex clinico radiological inspection of mammary glands after a breast augmentation of mammary glands. The magnetic resonance Imaging (MRI) is the most informative method in diagnostics of ruptures of breast implants. However, in connection with the high cost of research application of this method is limited. Application of MRI is shown for specification of nature of changes of mammary glands and the implants revealed at sonography.


Switching bridge having a housing (2) for bridging at least two juxtaposed electrical terminal blocks (3, 3 '), wherein the terminal blocks (3, 3') each have at least one bus bar (4, 4 '), and (in the busbars 4 , 4 ') in each case at least one opening (5, 6, 7) is formed, characterized, that in the housing (2) at least two mutually insulated contact elements (8) for engaging in an opening (5, 6, 7) in each case one of the busbars (4, 4 ') are arranged, and that a bridge rail (9) movable in the housing (2) is held, said bridge rail (9) at least two contact areas (10) and a contact areas connecting (10) the connecting region (11) and wherein the bridge bar (9) from a first end position in which the contact regions (10) the contact elements (8) does not contact being movable into a second end position in which the contact elements (8) over the bridge rail (9) are electrically conductively connected to one another.


During World War II there was a shortage of physicians to serve the civilian population, including pediatricians and general practitioners. This resulted in the beginning of the trend to "bring the child to the office," producing an end to house calls by the 1950s and early 1960s. Apparently, children did not suffer as a consequence, and during the continuing period of physician shortage the practice persisted, since one could see many more children in the office if house calls were not made. While the physician shortage resolved, the custom has continued. With the renewed interest in home care for the elderly, one is reminded ofthat era in which pediatricians made house calls. This is a phenomenon that is completely unknown to modern-day pediatricians, and, thus, it might be postulated that for the past 30 years they have not made house calls. Is this good, a custom that should


IN TRYING TO JUSTIFY THE HIGHWAY PROGRAM TO BUSINESSMEN IT IS SOMETIMES DIFFICULT BECAUSE OF THE PROBLEM OF: A CERTAIN ROUTE LOCATION DEPENDS ON ITS ECONOMIC BENEFITS OR ON THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF THE ROAD PROGRAM AS A WHOLE. AN EXAMPLE IS GIVEN OF AN EXPERIENCE IN CONNECTION WITH THE NEW YORK THRUWAY, IN WHICH A TRUCKING CONCERN REPORTED SPENDING $48,000 IN TOLLS ON THE NEW YORK THRUWAY, BUT DURING THAT SAME PERIOD, BECAUSE OF GREATER SAFETY IN OPERATION, MADE A SAVINGS IN INSURANCE COST OF AROUND $50,000. THE IMPACT OF THE ROAD CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM DEVELOPED BY THE COUNCIL FOR ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRY RESEARCH, INC., OF VIRGINIA, SHOWS THE IMPACT ON SOME 194 DIFFERENT TYPES OF BUSINESSES. THE ECONOMIC STUDIES IN VIRGINIA SHOW THAT THE PEOPLE WILL BENEFIT A GREAT DEAL BY THE WORK BEING DONE.


In the area of speech processing, there is a demonstrated need for robust prosodic notation systems of continuous speech – regardless to the speaking style (+/- spontaneous vs. formal). The fundamental issue for the transcription of prosody is to define stable events (boundary tones, pitch accents, disfluent segments, etc.) that can be identified both by experts (regardless their theoretical background), and novice listeners (linguists of other domains, students). In particular, the transcription methodology should provide an annotation scheme that can be easily used for prosodic labelling and statistical determination of relevant perceptual-acoustic correlates in continuous speech (Buhman et al. 2002; Cresti & Moneglia 2005; Cheng et al. 2005; Obin et al. 2008; Cole et al. 2011, Lacheret-Dujour et al. 2011; Smith 2011). The aim of this communication is to present the different steps of the prosodic transcription study that has been conducted during 3 years within the Rhapsodie project in order to provide a reference transcription system, based on prominence labelling as well as disfluencies tagging, for the segmentation of French discourses into prosodic units of different levels. The methodology – including linguistic assumptions, speech database, and experiments results – will be presented as follows: 1. The general context and the different modules involved in the transcription of the Rhapsodie speech database, http://rhapsodie.risc.cnrs.fr/fr/, a 33.000 word treebank of spoken French created with the aim of modeling the interface between prosody, syntax and discourse, will be presented, so as the linguistic motivations of the chosen methodology for the prosodic processing (bottom-up approach driven by the data, regardless to a particular theory and functional cues). 2. The speech database, covering various discourse genres and speaking styles (about 3 hours of continuous speech, monologues and dialogues, private vs. public, face-to-face vs. broadcasting, mor or less interactive, descriptive vs. argumentative vs. procedural samples). 3. The results of the experiments conducted to provide guidelines for the transcription of French prosody (methodology and reliability measures) and to design a reference speech database of French prosody. As for the third point, first: two pilot experiments conducted with a consortium of 15 French experts in order to define the best, i.e. the more sharable, transcription unit (boundary vs. prominences) and to process contexts of disfluencies will be resumed. Second: the perception-driven prosodic labelling used in the Rhapsodie project, based on these two pilot experiments, and the annotation schemata retained for the transcription will be presented.


This paper deals with a simulation of a tethered satellite system where a discretized model of the cable is considered. The characteristics of a few space discretization procedures are compared while investigating the dynamics of two physically relevant models, namely the Space Pendulum and the Space String. The study of these limit problems provides a reference line for a better understanding of other more complex dynamic situations.


During a machining process, cutting forces result in a relative movement between the workpiece and the tool. This displacement changes the chip section and thus modifies the cutting forces. This phenomenon, called regenerative chatter, greatly reduces the tool life and the workpiece surface finish. Being able to predict these phenomena helps choosing better cutting conditions to improve productivity. Over the past twenty years, many theoretical models have been developed for various applications and very few studies on the particular case of discs milling cutter. In this article we will study the stability of discs milling cutter using a numerical method of time domain simulation. Mots clefs : stabilité, fraisage, simulation temporelle, fraise disque. 22 ème Congrès Français de Mécanique Lyon, 24 au 28 Août 2015


Analog signal processing offers advantages from a power consumption viewpoint. The real-time tinnitus detection method described in this paper detects tinnitus by comparing ECoG/EEG signal energies from different locations in the brain according to a tinnitus "signature". First, the proposed strategy selects appropriate ECoG/EEG bands per channel by means of band-pass filters. Next, their extracted energies are compared to their counterparts from a different (healthy) location. Tinnitus is detected only if higher theta and gamma energies associated with lower alpha energy, in comparison to corresponding signal energies from healthy brain region, are present. To verify the detector performance, a tinnitus CMOS detector circuit has been designed to be implemented in AMIS 0.35µm technology (I3T25) and has been verified by means of simulations in Cadence using RF spectre. The final circuit operates from a 1V supply and consumes only 60nA. The applicability of the detector is verified by means of circuit simulations with real neural waveforms and is able to successfully detect tinnitus.


Design of a high frequency, high power capacitor will be described for use in a vacuum space environment. The capacitor will operate at 600 V ac with a 600 V dc bias, at up to 400 kHz, a power level of 75 kVAR and a current level of 125 A rms. Careful choice of capacitor materials along with design of capacitive elements, conductor/element assembly and capacitor case was necessary to accomplish this task. A matrix elimination process of choosing capacitor film type and impregnant will be outlined.


This editorial introduces the 15th volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management. The volume is a special issue from the 2017 International Conference on Energy & Environment, Porto, Portugal and it presents work on energy markets, energy financing and accounting of energy projects.


As a grassroots democracy,the rural grass-roots unit self-governance has multiple values of political ethics.It changes the political ecology of China dramatically and promotes rural governance and the development of country effectively.From the political level,the rural grassroots unit self-governance is the logical starting point of political democratization and stabilizer of social harmony in rural arrears;from the ecological ethic it is the continuation of traditional self-governance which is based on the moral order and the politically ethical and ecological result of the separation of the political state from civil society.It demonstrates great political and ethical charm during its development.


Today's internal audit activity provides assurance that internal controls in place are adequate to mitigate the risks, governance processes are effective and efficient, and organizational goals and objectives are met. As technology, globalization, organizational governance, and such trends as mergers and acquisitions have evolved, so has the internal audit profession. Higher expectations for increased accountability, more transparency, greater due diligence, and enhanced oversight have all contributed to growing professional opportunities in internal auditing. There is an overall movement toward solid organizational governance, to which internal auditing is essential. One of this profession's challenges is clarifying for all stakeholders the internal auditors' roles, responsibilities, and true value. In actuality, they serve as management's and the board's safety net. The internal auditors provide assurance that policies and procedures are being followed. They monitor the ethical environment, corporate culture, and "tone at the top."


The intension of smart grid and its present development situation home and abroad are briefly described. Based on domestic actual condition,the significance and the key points of constructing smart grids in China are expounded. A preliminary framework of comprehensive multi-factor assessment index system for strong smart grid is proposed. This assessment system contains three first grade indices,i.e.,the scale and development level of smart grid,the technical supporting ability for smart grid and development impact of smart grid; meanwhile,ecah first grade index includes refined second grade indices and third grade indices.


In 1993, the Eastern German company Verbundnetz Gas, an importer and distributor of natural gas, financed the launching of an effort to produce a series of photographs documenting the territory of the former German Democratic Republic with special emphasis on the Leipzig area. Its goal was to monitor the radical transformations then taking place in society and the economy. The project lasted eight years, employed a total of seventeen photographers, and took two different names, first VorOrt (1994) and later East (2001). It served as a vehicle for the combined advancement of economic and artistic elites at a time when the status of both was rapidly changing. Sponsorship of the arts enabled a newly privatized Eastern German firm to establish itself both economically and politically within a reunified Germany. In addition, the sponsoring firm helped photographers from the former East Germany to gain national prominence thanks to its links to the Hochschule fur Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig (Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig).


There is a clear need for dictionaries translating between a large number of languages. The creation o f a dictionary of good quality takes a lot of time, and given the fac t that 5000-6000 languages yield 25-30 million pair s of languages, it is important to have a database that provides the possibility to translate directly between pairs of languages. The problem is that words are often hard to match across languages: different wor ds from different languages do not have the same ra nge of meanings, not all words from one languages have an equivalent in the other, etc. This paper sheds light on a multilingua l database in which most of these problems are solved.


Integrated electric ship propulsion is becoming common in the commercial marine industry primarily because it lowers the total ownership cost for many ship types. An integrated electric ship is one where all the ship's power (both propulsion and ship service) originates from a common set of generators. In order to maneuver an electrically driven ship, the propulsion motors are normally powered via variable speed drives (VSDs). Typical commercial practice is to use LCI or cyclo-converter drives with transformer isolation on the large propulsion motor loads. Similarly, the ship service loads are fed via step-down transformers. Isolating the propulsion motor drives via transformers minimizes the harmonics on the main bus. Most loads on a commercial ship can tolerate the remaining harmonics The very few sensitive loads such as radios and radars are further isolated via motor/generator sets. The US Navy is also developing electric propulsion systems for its ships. An advanced development system has been built and tested at a shore-based test site. The design for this prototype system includes a medium voltage 19 MW induction motor and PWM drive. This selection was made primarily for increased power density and to improve the acoustic signature of the propulsion motor and drive. In order to minimize the system volume and weight for this critical military application the motor drive utilizes a non-isolated six-pulse rectifier. There are enormous space and weight savings from eliminating the propulsion transformer however the lack of electrical isolation that the transformer normally provides poses significant system design challenges. Common mode currents from both the rectifier and the PWM inverter can not be completely contained within the motor/drive subsystem. Consequently, every component attached to the main distribution bus must be designed to accommodate the harmonics and common mode currents generated by the propulsion motor drives. This affects not only the motors and drives themselves, but also the generators, the ship service transformer interface and the grounding system. This paper describes the specific impacts of the motor drives on the system design including the generators, the requirement for harmonic filters on the main bus and issues associated with the ground fault protection system design. Test results from the full scale land-based engineering site are presented that validate many of the design concepts. Problems encountered in testing uncovered unforeseen system design issues and the design modifications to correct these deficiencies are also presented. Harmonic and Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) data from the testing are presented. Finally, recommendations on future non-isolated system designs are presented. The topics discussed in this paper have application to any industry where large, medium voltage VSDs are installed.


The fast repulsion mechanism has become one of the feasible schemes for the opening and closing operation of DC vacuum circuit breaker due to its fast-moving and controllable output characteristics. In this paper, considering the influence of material characteristics and structural changes of the repulsion disc, the motion process and electromagnetic force output changes of the mechanism are quantitatively analyzed. Using finite element numerical simulation method, a coupled physical mathematical model of electromagnetic force was established, the mechanical motion characteristics were solved, and the influence of the material and structure changes of the repulsion disc on the characteristics of the operating mechanism was studied. The results show that changing the material and mechanical structure of the repulsion disc can effectively improve its motion characteristics and stress distribution, and the composite hole structure of the repulsion disc can ensure the mechanical strength of the repulsion disc and the rapid reliability of the mechanism.


Almost ten years after the revolutionary changes of 1989, this special issue of Convergence focuses on the recent cultural, social and political implications of new media technologies in the post-socialist countries of Eastern, Central and South-Eastern Europe. One of the first lessons to be learned as the Iron Curtain rose was that the east bloc was hardly a bloc at all in the sense of a homogeneous, solid whole. Strategies and forms of media culture were quite different in the individual countries due to the varying possibilities of access to new media (eg video cameras, computers, xerox machines, etc) as well as the varying degrees to which independent mass media and 'divergent' opinions were tolerated. While, for example, the subcultural or alternative scene in Yugoslavia especially in Slovenia had been working with video since the early 1980s, the situation in Czechoslovakia, the GDR, or Romania' was entirely different because access to the technologies was not possible, for either political or economic reasons. In the past few years, new media centres and initiatives have been set up in several post-socialist countries in Eastern Europe. They focus on various forms of media culture and internet projects and are increasingly taking an active role in global digital culture 2


Abstract Two new genera and two new species from Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea are described and illustrated. These taxa are discussed in relation to others in the tribe Colpurini.


The article considers the democratic principles of formation of legislative and executive state power bodies of the subjects of the Russian Federation. It is noted that namely elections and referendums are both important institutions of democracy and necessary elements of democracy realization as a basic principle of Russian statehood. Soluition of the number of issues connected with the right of citizens to vote and to be elected, to participate in the referendum, depends on the observance of certain basic principles of the Russian electoral law, which are generally represented in the federal legislation. Constitutional and legal formula of interaction between democracy as a form of political organization of government and elections as an institution providing one of directions of citizens` participation in management of state affairs refers to the basics of the constitutional order, according to which multinational people of the RF is the only source of state power.


In this experiment we have studied the effect of zinc provided from concentrated chelated glasses and inorganic substance (ZnO) on nutritive and bioproductive indices in broiler chickens. The experiment was carried out on 120 broiler chickens divided into four experimental groups (CL, EL1, EL2 and EL3), with 30 broiler chickens in each experimental lot. The used hybrid was Ross 308. Zinc was provided by concentrated phosphatic glass with zinc (G 300) at following levels: at CL, 20 mg Zn, at EL1, 10 mg Zn, at EL2 40 mg Zn. At EL3 20 mg Zn was provided by inorganic substance (Zn O). Zinc assurance by G 300, at 20 mg/kg combined feed, determined superior bioproductive indices comparative with zinc assurance by Zn O at the same level.


Due to the good taste and nutritional value,Japanese flounder,Paralichthys olivaceus is one of the most important marine aquaculture species and is widely cultured along northern coastal areas in China. Vibrio anguillarum is the main causative agent of vibriosis which is a highly significant disease for cultured and wild marine fish,including Japanese flounder. Vibriosis has resulted in severe economic losses,which hindered the development of aquaculture. The use of antibiotics could partially solve the problem,but bring risks of antibiotic residues in fish,environmental pollution,and antibiotic resistance development. To obtain genes associated with Vibrio anguillarum disease and provide references for molecular marker-assisted selective breeding of Japanese flounder,the mRNA differential display technique( DD-PCR) was performed to identify and isolate differentially expressed cDNAs representing transcripts from Paralichthys olivaceus challenged by Vibrio anguillarum. Total 20 cDNA fragments were recoveried,cloned and sequenced,of which nine were confirmed to be positive fragments,after elimination of false-positives by Semi-quantitative RT-PCR( reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) expression studies. Among these nine positive fragments,BLAST analysis indicated that two of them shared high homology with known genes. One was homologous with complement component 3 gene( 98% identity),the other showed 98% identity with TEGT (testis-enhanced gene transcript) gene,while the others were new cDNA fragments and had no high homologous genes in GenBank database. RT-PCR analysis showed that these nine positive fragments differentially expressed in different organisms and times between Vibrio anguillarum treated group and control group,and expressions of most fragments increased in main fish immune organs such as liver,kidney and spleen after infection,so these fragments maybe Vibrio anguillarum-resistance associated genes of Paralichthys olivaceus. Further research on the functions of these genes will provide important reference for molecular marker-assisted selective breeding of Japanese flounder.


The invention relates to a method for processing watermelon water and watermelon juice by combining ultrasonic and ultrahigh pressure, and belongs to the field of food beverage and producing and processing method. The method comprises the following steps: (1) watermelon water: cleaning and pre-cooling a fresh watermelon raw material; crushing the watermelon and taking out pulp, and adding Vc and citric acid into the pulp for cold-pressing juice; carrying out broken wall treatment by ultrasonic; then evaporating the mixture by vacuum at low temperature to obtain the watermelon water; sterilizing the watermelon water by adopting ultraviolet and ultrahigh pressure combined sterilizing technology; and finally carrying out sterile canning; and (2) watermelon juice: cleaning and pre-cooling a fresh watermelon raw material; crushing the watermelon and taking out pulp, and adding Vc and citric acid into the pulp for cold-pressing juice; carrying out broken wall treatment by ultrasonic; adding pectase and cellulolytic enzyme into the mixture to carry out low temperature enzymolysis; homogenizing the mixture twice; adding sucrose or honey into the mixture to adjust taste; sterilizing the mixture by ultrahigh pressure; and carrying out sterile canning. The product has the natural character flavor of the watermelon, can obviously improve the utilization rate of the watermelon, reduce resource waste, and increase the economic benefit of the watermelon industry.


A device for removing solder residues (19) from the surface (23) of a substrate member (21) having a cleaning head (11) having a heated face (22) for receiving the solder residue (19) can be brought into contact with these wherein the end face (22) is formed by a flatly designed wettable with the solder residues recording medium (13) which is replaceably mounted on a forehead side relined flat receiving surface (12), characterized in that the recording medium (in the form of a ribbon 13 is formed), wherein the cleaning head (11) has a conveyor device, can be guided past the tape (13) on the receiving surface (12).


Scaffold modification based on Wang's pioneering MDM2-p53 inhibitors led to novel, chemically stable spiro-oxindole compounds bearing a spiro[3H-indole-3,2'-pyrrolidin]-2(1H)-one scaffold that are not prone to epimerization as observed for the initial spiro[3H-indole-3,3'-pyrrolidin]-2(1H)-one scaffold. Further structure-based optimization inspired by natural product architectures led to a complex fused ring system ideally suited to bind to the MDM2 protein and to interrupt its protein-protein interaction (PPI) with TP53. The compounds are highly selective and show in vivo efficacy in a SJSA-1 xenograft model even when given as a single dose as demonstrated for 4-[(3S,3'S,3'aS,5'R,6'aS)-6-chloro-3'-(3-chloro-2-fluorophenyl)-1'-(cyclopropylmethyl)-2-oxo-1,2,3',3'a,4',5',6',6'a-octahydro-1'H-spiro[indole-3,2'-pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrrole]-5'-yl]benzoic acid (BI-0252).


There were two major objectives to this contract: (1) being the continuation of the structural characterization of EOR-active fractions from petroleum sulfonate and (2) being the investigation of factors which need not necessarily be structural but still has a bearing on tertiary oil recovery. The two objectives were distributed over four tasks. The first task was a continuation of our earlier effort involving the fractionation and chemical characterization of petroleum sulfonates. Some modifications were made to facilitate handling larger amounts of material at every fractionation step without compromising too much on resolution. As a result of these modifications we could process up to 70 g of ether-extractables from acidic aqueous solution of Pyronate-40 through the Florisil column in one batch and up to 40 g of the EOR-active fraction from the Florisil column could be fractionated through the ODS-silica column operating under the ''Flash Chromatographic'' mode. The preparative HPLC fractions were EOR-active, but the increase in EOR-activity was not commensurate with the increase expected from the enrichment of a few compounds that might be responsible for EOR-activity. The second task was to explore the results observed earlier at METC of increased EOR-activity on remethylation of petroleum sulfonates with diazomethane. Alternatemore » methods of methylation which would eliminate the side products of diazomethane and thereby allow comparison of the esters in structure and EOR-activity with the esters from diazomethane treatment was performed under Task III. The reaction of the sulfonate, either in the acid form or as slat, with PCl/sub 5/ in benzene followed by reaction with methanol proved to be an alternate method to diazomethane treatment. Under Task IV a spectrophotometric assay for sulfonate in the 2% brine solution was developed and applied to the different pyronate-40 fractions for determining their sulfonate content. 15 refs., 38 figs., 16 tabs.« less


Objective To observe the effect and complications of augmentation mammoplasty by mammary implants,to summarize the experience of augmentation mammoplasty by breast implants. Methods To analyse the effect and complications of augmentation mammoplasty by mammary implants for 753 cases,to summarize operative method,the treatments of complication and after operated. Results 618 cases have been visited for more than two months,average 28.36±14.65months,604 cases97.73%)are satisfactory,capsular contracture happens in 2 cases(0.32%);The complications are capsular contracture,blood edema,incorrect position and so on, they can be treated well. Conclusion The augmentation mammoplasty by mammary implants stated in this article can get good effect,the complications should be treated properly for the successful rate of augmentation mammoplasty by mammary implants.


In an attempt to further improve the performance of the PCDTBT-based polymer solar cells (PSCs), we have synthesized a selenophene analogue of PCDTBT, namely, PCDSeBT, in which diselenienylbenzothiadiazole (DSeBT) monomer alternately flanks with a 2,7-carbazole unit. The intrinsic properties of PCDSeBT are not only characterized by UV–vis absorption, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) but also the surface morphology, mobilities of space charge-limited current (SCLC) model, and polymer solar cells (PSCs) in its bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) active layer with [6,6]-phenyl C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) are evaluated in detail. It is found that PCDSeBT simultaneously has a low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level at −5.4 eV and a low bandgap of 1.70 eV as required by the ideal polymers for BHJ PSCs. The high current of 11.7 mA/cm2 is obtained for PCDSeBT-based PSCs, to our knowledge, which is among the highest short-circuit current density (JSC) ...


This publication analyzes the Arbitration Law Reform in the Netherlands, and focuses on the formal and substantive validity of an Arbitration Agreement.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the practises on the quality performance impact toward supply chain quality management (SCQM). The study applies quantitative approach, and the questionnaire as a primary data to collect the information. A total of 30 questionnaires were collected from poultry farm owner in the state of Selangor. The descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multi-regression analysis are used to test the relationship between the independent variable with dependent variable. The results of the finding shows that supply chain integration, customer focus, supplier focus and quality leadership have no relationship toward quality performance. Only employee involvement have relationship with quality performance. The results of this study will help to encourage managers to give the high priority on both inter-firm and intra-firm relationships as a ways to achieve the superior quality performance. The results provide the managers with guidance on effective management to the upstream and downstream of supply chain networks and help to create awareness on the potential synergies that keep arise from the combinations effects of SCQM practices that could bring about desired quality performance outcomes across the whole supply chain network.


According to the relationship between the edge of tool and the shape of workpiece,it analyzes the main factors which affect turning form parts.On the means of AuToCAD,the theory of designing the edge of formal turning tool is discussed and the procedures of designing counterpart tool is offered for the workpiece to be machined.The shape errors of parts machined by the form tool designed with the drawing method is analyzed,which explores the source and causes of parts cut with round and wedge fomal tools,After comparing the error size caused form the two methods,the methods and measures of eliminating or reducing the error for different things are found out,which provides basis for accurate turning.


Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Doctor of Philosophy Stability, Robustness and Switching Performance of Vibrational Control Systems by Xiaoxiao Cheng The thesis focuses on the stability and robustness analysis of a class of vibrational control systems, which take advantages of high-frequency dithers to provide an extra design freedom. By carefully revisiting the vibrational stabilizability in literature, a new definition of vibrational stabilizablity is introduced, which plays as a basis of this thesis. With this help of this definition, it is possible to obtain more general vibrational stability properties such as semi-globally practically vibrational stability for a large class of nonlinear engineering systems. Stability criteria for the new definition of vibrational stabilizability have been obtained. This new definition can provide a link between the vibrational stabilizability and the standard stability or robustness definition with respect to a given equilibrium point. Hence it makes possible to analyze the robustness properties of the vibrational control system. By using averaging technique and perturbation theory, it has been shown that both linear and nonlinear vibrational control systems are robust with respect to bounded additive disturbances. In particular, when disturbances are much faster compared to the frequency of dithers, it is shown that the system can handle disturbances with a large amplitude while the ultimate bound of the state trajectories can be reduced. Moreover, the transient response of vibrational control systems in the presence of disturbances is fully investigated. Finally, in order to reduce the energy consumption, novel switching laws are proposed. Guidelines for the design of switching laws and parameters tuning are provided for the linear and nonlinear switched vibrational control systems separately. Dynamical behaviours of the switched vibrational control systems have been discovered. Numeric simulations of several application examples have been executed to verify the effectiveness of theoretic analysis. Declaration of Authorship I, Xiaoxiao Cheng, declare that this thesis titled, 'Stability, Robustness and Switching Performance of Vibrational Control Systems' and the work presented in it are my own. I confirm that: This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this University. Where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly stated. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work. I have acknowledged all main sources of help. Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself. The thesis is fewer than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices.


he selection of species and provenances for planting is still a very subjective process. It is largely reliant on personal knowledge, judgement and experience augmented by literature reviews. This situation has improved somewhat in recent years with the development of computer-assisted decision support systems. Field surveys of the planting site, assessment of the precise end-use of the trees and a desk survey of the range of potentially suitable species available should be conducted before final decisions are made on species to be short-listed. Ideally this phase should be followed by a research phase involving field tests of short-listed species, seed sources and management options. Only when such steps have been followed can we be confident that we have selected the best species for the site and intended end use. Although there have been some instances where a single species has been chosen and planted widely from the start, one should be aware that new 'miracle' species often have not been adequately tested and may not meet expectations. Perhaps the most exciting new development in recent years has been the emphasis placed on the selection of non-industrial trees for farm (agroforestry) and environmental use in both developed and developing countries. This has considerably expanded the range of species to be considered and has really tested the capacity of forestry professionals to give accurate advice on choice of species. There has also been an increased call for the greater use of indigenous species to avoid the reliance usually placed by professionals on a small number of well-tried exotics. The problem we all face is that reliable information on ecological, growth, silvicultural and utilisation characteristics of many potentially valuable species is still difficult to obtain. Many lesser-known species with potential for agroforestry, e.g. native fruit trees, have been described by Leakey (1994) as Cinderella species. When detailed knowledge of lesser-known indigenous species is acquired it may also be possible to trade-off species with rapid growth for those indigenous species with slower growth but with greater resistance to drought, fire and pests. Such species may have lower water and nutrient requirements, or may provide more valuable wood products than common exotics, albeit over a longer time. The modern development of agroforestry as a scientific discipline has brought with it a very special focus on the use of certain tree species, and their special properties, for use in particular farming systems (see Sanchez 1995). From …


Business Intelligence in Platform as a Service (PaaS) for information analysis is increasingly being considered for its applications in the enterprises because of its advantages. It is widely used for Data Analysis, Customer Churn Prediction, etc. However, the challenges that the traditional BI platform faces includes the tremendous volume of data, high time and space complexity of algorithms and the incompatibility in the Integration to the BI tools. Thus instead of having traditional Data Warehouses for storage which require high maintenance and storages, companies are moving towards more efficient cloud based storages and platform simply because of the fact that they don't personally have to maintain the cloud and the computing speed in Cloud is much faster than traditional storages. Keywords— Business Intelligence, Analysis, Data, Storage, Cloud Platforms, Data Warehouse


Today, in the field of science and technology, huge forecasting applications are used by scholars to forecast future values. Nowadays, using estimating the flood forecasting for peak flow discharges is very common for the risk assessment annually by quantitative data collections from different resources. The very famous and longest rivers of Pakistan i.e. Indus River and other rivers too like River Jhelum, River Kabul, and River Chenab are the prime sources of flooding. These rivers are the prime tributaries of the Indus River System. Pakistan's longest river, River Indus, is connected with the seven (7) gauge stations called Dams and barrages, and they are playing a vital role in the generation of electricity and also in irrigation for Pakistan. In this research paper, we calculated the flood risk for the Indus using the streamflow discharges on the daily basis. At present, Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) model is widely used to analyze these hydrological time series data. Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS) merges the potentiality of Fuzzy Inference Systems (FIS) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to work out problems of different kinds. For this purpose, we used the data for the years from 2002 to 2012 daily (6-months each year) streamflow period. In our analysis, the root means square error (RMSE) shows that the ANFIS model generated more satisfactory results than other models with minimum prediction errors. The ANFIS model is more reliable and has the feasibility of integrating the essence of a fuzzy system into the real world.1–28


International students potentially experience stress in a number of areas whilst studying in the UK; encountering a range of challenges and adjustment issues. This research found that WeChat (a Chinese social media app) has helped Chinese students to address key communication barriers and study challenges within their university experience. This has led to an increase in their motivation in undertaking learning activities; as well as impacting on issues of engagement, performance and retention. Focus groups were conducted with Chinese students ranging from year two undergraduate to postgraduate level. Questionnaires were used to collect data in order to evaluate the influencing factors of the students' engagement and motivation when WeChat is deployed. Results show that social media can facilitate lecturers to achieve student-centred pedagogy within the blended e-learning environment. Moreover, effectiveness factors regarding the use of social media within higher education are identified to support the development of curriculum design and communication methods. The study seeks to make suggestions regarding the implementation of social media for international students within higher education according to the needs, education settings and cultural backgrounds of the "always-on" generation.


c-Crossing-critical graphs are the minimal graphs requiring at least c edge crossings in every drawing in the plane. The structure of these obstructions is very rich for every c ≥ 2. Although, at least in the first nontrivial case of c = 2, their structure is well understood. For example, we know that, aside of finitely many small exceptions, the 2-crossing-critical graphs have vertex degrees from the set {3, 4, 5, 6} and their average degree can achieve exactly all rational values from the interval [3 1 2 , 4 2 3 ]. Continuing in depth in this research direction, we determine which average degrees of 2-crossing-critical graphs are possible if we restrict their vertex degrees to proper subsets of {3, 4, 5, 6}. In particular, we identify the (surprising) subcases in which, by number-theoretical reasons, the achievable average degrees form discontinuous sets of rationals.


In this article, mode I interlaminar fracture toughness (GIC) of Vectran-stitched laminated composite is determined experimentally and computa- tionally. Critical strain energy release rates are measured by performing double can- tilever beam test on composites stitched with Vectran as stitch fiber, and are found to increase with increasing stitch thread thickness and stitch density. It is also revealed that the relationship between GIC and stitch density or stitch thread volume fraction appears to be linear. Interlaminar tension test is conducted to identify important fracture behavior of a single Vectran stitch fiber thread. The finite-element (FE) model of the stitched composite incorporates the novel four-step stitch fracture pro- cess, namely, interfacial debonding, slack absorption, fiber breakage, and pullout friction. The FE predictions of load-displacement curves and critical mode I strain energy release rates show good agreement with the experimental results. The differ- ences in interdependent stitch mechanisms between moderately stitched and densely stitched composites are discussed.


Our pilot study commissioned by Cheshire East Council set out to use the Attitudes towards Higher Education Questionnaire (AHEQ) and the 'Map of Me' graffiti chart, to measure the change in young people's attitudes towards Higher Education. We worked with Student Ambassadors from Manchester Metropolitan University's Collaborative Office as co-researchers to lead creative workshops and collect data from children attending two local primary schools. The research team collected data that measured the effect sizes of having taken part in a music making workshop series that used technological and non-technological performative methods. This research-project was supported by the Collaborative Office's Widening Participation (WP) team, as a means of generating more detailed data on its WP activities. We were particularly interested in tracking the children's views of their 'Likelihood to attend university' and their academic self-image. Our quasi-experimental design used both a non-random and randomised sample of young people attending two primary schools in the Crewe area between the ages of 8 and 10 years. They were divided into two test groups who participated in the music workshops and two control groups who did not. Both groups were interviewed using AHEQ and 'Map of Me' questionnaires before and after the intervention over roughly the same time period. The design was quasi-experimental using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. We administered the 'Attitudes to HE Questionnaire' (AHEQ) (Maras, 2007) to all the young people participating in the study before and after the intervention. The questionnaire was administered verbally on an individual basis and questions were rephrased in an age-appropriate manner when necessary. AHEQ is a self-reporting measure that comprises 62 statements about attitudes towards higher education and academic self-concept. Participants respond to each statement on a five point 'likert' scale indicating whether they strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree or strongly disagree. Maras developed the questionnaire through extensive piloting because she wanted to explore the following Using a combination of creative music workshops and gaming. A Widening Participation project. two and two We conducted quasi experimental mixed mode research on an intergenerational Widening Participation project that used creative music sessions. We used the Attitudes to Higher Education Questionnaire (AHEQ) developed by Pam Maras and the 'Map of Me' graffiti chart developed by Ornette D Clennon to measure and track the children's changed attitudes towards Higher Education as a result of the creative music interventions. We found that despite the apparent creative freedom given to our cohorts in terms of negotiating their own learning outcomes in the creative music sessions, the boys (n=43) still lagged far behind their female counterparts (n=51) when it came to their attitudes towards Higher Education and academic self-image. However, the post-intervention data did point towards the boys' preference for as a form of social and collaborative learning, which led us to write a brief Appreciative Inquiry into the intervention we could have had we this the


This paper studied a class of multiobjective programing problems involving differentiable n-set functions,and obtained sufficient optimality conditions for weak efficient solutions under generalized convexity conditions.Firstly,we definited pseudometric d(R,S) for n-foldproduct of σ-algebra A of subsets of a given set X,and definite indicator function h,I s of subset S of An;Secondly,we gave the concept of differentiable of set function at subset S° and concept of partial derivative at S° with respect to the ith argument S i through in dicator function;Thirdly,we defound the weak efficient solution of (VP);Finally,we obtained three sufficient optimality conditions for weak efficient solutions under generalized convexity conditions.


In 2000, a former student successfully sued the State of Victoria for the failure by a government school principal and deputy principal to report what was found should have amounted to a reasonable suspicion that the child had been and was being sexually abused (AB v Victoria, 2000;1 Briggs & Potter, 2004). The action was in negligence, with the failure to report occurring in 1991-92, before the introduction of legislation in Victoria in 1993 which compelled teachers to report suspected child sexual abuse. The student was awarded $494,000 in damages for the contribution of the failure to report to her subsequent suffering of abuse by her stepfather and consequential injury. In 2001, the High Court of Australia delivered judgment in Sullivan v Moody; Thompson v Connon,2 two cases heard together, with each involving an inaccurate report made by a mandated reporter of child sexual abuse. The court upheld the principle that a person who possesses a statutory duty to report a reasonable suspicion of child sexual abuse and who makes an inaccurate report in fulfilling that duty, owes no tortious duty of care to persons who may be wrongly suspected of being the source of the incorrectly alleged harm, and therefore cannot be liable in negligence.These two cases illustrate parts of the legal context surrounding the detection and reporting of suspected child sexual abuse. Common law principles and statutory reporting obligations requiring members of certain professional groups to report knowledge and 'reasonable suspicion' of child sexual abuse are predicated on fulfilling a duty of care to avoid damage, and the desire for accurate reports of child sexual abuse by professionals who are well-placed and legally compelled to report it, with this desire being motivated by goals of crime prevention, health enhancement, and the saving of future economic cost to the individual, society and the state.However, the factual postscripts of the reports made in Sullivan and Thompson evince one of the main tensions in mandatory reporting laws. In Sullivan, the suspicion of child sexual abuse was formed by a doctor and a psychiatric social worker. The social worker made the report, and the child's father came under suspicion as the perpetrator. The report was later found to be inaccurate and criminal charges against the father were dropped. The allegation, pursued in Family Court proceedings against the father, was also resolved in his favour. As a result of the report and events surrounding it, the child's father suffered severe consequences: his marriage broke down, and he allegedly suffered shock, distress, psychiatric injury and personal and financial loss. In Thompson, the initial report of child sexual abuse was made by a medical practitioner and was concurred with by government community welfare investigators. Police charged Mr Thompson with sexual Ben Mathews & Kerryann WalshQueensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia1327-7634 Vol 9, No 2, 2004, pp. 3-17Australia & New Zealand Journal of Law & Education
Ben Mathews & Kerryann Walsh4offences but these charges were later dropped. As a consequence of this series of events, Mr Thompson suffered shock, distress, psychiatric injury and personal and financial loss.The tension is therefore between mandated reporters' failure to report deserving cases (underreporting), and their inaccurate reporting of undeserving cases (overreporting). With the exceptions of Western Australia and Queensland, laws in all Australian jurisdictions compel members of multiple professional groups to report all forms of child abuse. In these jurisdictions, members of the teaching profession form one of these professional groups, and their obligation to report extends to cases of reasonably suspected child sexual abuse.The question that arises here is: how does this fundamental tension play out in the context of teachers' reporting of child sexual abuse? While there is ongoing debate about the justifiability of mandatory reporting legislation (Ainsworth, 2002; Harries & Clare, 2002; Mathews & Walsh, 2004), it is not the purpose of this article to add directly to that debate. Rather, this article proceeds from the basis that, while there are three different statutory models in Australia, legal frameworks do exist for the reporting by teachers of child sexual abuse in all jurisdictions, yet there remain crucial questions about whether these laws work in practice, which legal provisions are effective or ineffective, and why.The main function of this article is therefore to identify existing gaps in the empirical research that need to be filled to provide a thorough assessment of the different Australian legislative provisions and to provide assessments of teacher preparation and practice throughout Australia. This article will first describe the relevant context by synthesising the major rationales for mandatory reporting legislation, drawing together recent evidence confirming the incidence and multiple adverse effects of child sexual abuse, and summarising the main reasons mandatory teacher reporting obligations are opposed. The article will then contribute to the knowledge base by articulating the statutory legal obligations of teachers in every Australian jurisdiction, before identifying some of the most important gaps in the research literature in this field. It will be seen that these gaps impede the evidence-based design of both the most effective legislative technique for mandatory reporting by teachers of child sexual abuse, and of the most efficient methods of teacher training and preparation to meet legal reporting obligations. Arguably, these gaps in the evidence base are not only producing significant costs to children enduring sexual abuse which could be interrupted, but are also contributing to individuals being wrongly accused of abuse, and the significant waste of state resources.


High\|energy laser weapon is playing a more and more important role in military application. It's an important component of the NMD plan of USA. High\|energy laser weapon represents the developing direction of future weapons. It will change the present status of battle field and the mode of operations completely, and it will also change the formation of future war deeply. The research and development of the laser weapon, and the modern laser weapon's function, characteristics and its present development level are introduced. The difficulties and development prospects of laser weapon's application are also analyzed.


Purpose: Dynamic retinal vascular assessment and peripheral endothelial tonometry are non-invasive measures of microcirculatory function and may be surrogate markers of atherosclerotic vascular disease. Correlation between these two techniques and whether these novel markers improve our ability to predict coronary artery disease (CAD) is unknown.

Methods: Patients with and without clinically evident CAD were prospectively recruited (n=197). CAD was defined as a coronary angiographic stenosis of >50%. Retinal arteriolar dilatation in response to flicker light (FI-RAD) was measured using the Dynamic Vessel Analyzer. FI-RAD is expressed as percentage increase over baseline diameter. Augmentation index (AI) was assessed utilising the endothelial peripheral arterial tonometry (endoPAT) system. Logistic regression was performed to determine predictors of CAD and Pearson's correlation to assess the relationship between FI-RAD and AI. The incremental value of FI-RAD and AI to predict CAD over traditional risk factors was assessed with ROC curves.

Results: Subjects with CAD (n=78) were older (63±9 vs 55±12 years; p<0.01), more likely to be male (82% vs 55%; p<0.01) and have dyslipidaemia (96% vs 74%; p<0.01), but less likely to be current smokers (16% vs 30%; p=0.04) than subjects without CAD (n=119). FI-RAD was attenuated in patients with CAD (1.5±1.5% vs 2.4±2.0%, mean±SD; p<0.01). AI was higher among patients with CAD (21±18% vs 12±18%, mean±SD; p=0.01). Both were independent predictors of underlying CAD adjusted for age, gender, risk factors of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular medication (table). Correlation between FI-RAD and AI was significant (r=-0.24; p<0.01). The addition of AI to a model including FI-RAD as a predictor of underlying CAD increased the c-statistic to 0.66 (95% CI 0.59, 0.73; p< 0.01), compared to 0.60 for traditional risk factors alone.

View this table:

Table 1

Conclusion: Increased AI and reduced FI-RAD independently predict the presence of CAD, indicating that these novel markers might be used to identify patients at risk. However, the incremental predictive value above traditional atherosclerosis risk factors was small.


The severity of the different rickettsioses varies considerably. For example, rickettsialpox is a relatively mild disease that has never proved fatal, whereas Rocky Mountain spotted fever and epidemic typhus are serious, life-threatening illnesses with high fatality rates in untreated patients. Of the many factors that affect the course and the outcome of a given rickettsial infection, the relative virulence of the infecting organism is of major significance. Before considering the role of microbial virulence in determining the severity of rickettsial infections, however, it would be useful to define virulence. The 26th edition of Dorlund's Medical Dictionary' provides the following definition:


Summary

1. Tyler's Line delimits two distinct limnological provinces that reflect differences in climate, geology and vegetation in Tasmania. Lakes west of Tyler's Line are typically acidic and dystrophic with relatively shallow euphotic zones, whereas eastern lakes are circumneutral and oligotrophic or ultra-oligotrophic, allowing deeper penetration of light. Consequently, Tyler's Line defines a boundary where species assemblages change over a relatively short distance.

2. A survey of 48 Tasmanian lakes was undertaken to identify indicator taxa of the two limnological provinces and breakpoints along the pH gradient where shifts in taxa occur. Chironomidae (Diptera) were used because they are ideal candidates for lake classification.

3. Three independent methods (geographical position, piecewise linear regression, two-way indicator species analysis) verified that chironomids accurately reflect the environmental variables defining Tyler's Line at lake and catchment scales. Chironomid genera are often speciose, and members of the same genus can have markedly different responses to a given environmental variable. Although the types of taxa changed along the pH gradient, richness did not. This finding contrasts with many studies from the northern hemisphere but accords with other studies from Australia.

4. Models of pH, developed using both partial least squares and weighted averaging partial least squares, can be used to understand past natural variability of pH in Tasmania and to test hypotheses regarding the timing, magnitude and source of contamination in impacted aquatic ecosystems.


Piston rod is an important part of hydraulic mechanical devices, and welding deformation and the root fracture occurs when assembling. The fracture was analyzed by means of micro-macro microstructure,chemical composition, mechanical properties, and other experimental methods. The results showed that welding defects and material strength did not meet the national standards,which were the main cause of rupture.


Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS)‐like models for permutation invariant electronic interactions are investigated in terms of recent rigorous mean‐field methods. Their limiting dynamics is constructed in the Heisenberg picture on (extensions of) the full canonical commutation relation (CAR) algebra and also restricted to (extensions of) the pair algebra. The classical part of the proper BCS dynamics on the CAR algebra is shown to exhibit 15 macroscopic collective variables, the time dependence of which is explicitly integrated and discussed.


This paper discusses the relationship between positioning precision and the geometric distribution of beacons in a Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) land-based positioning system. The way of calculating the horizontal dilution of precision (HDOP) is introduced, and the lower bound of HDOP is given. The simulation results of HDOP with varied beacon distributions are given, as well as a distribution with high performance, which can be used in a practical positioning system.