An on-machine measurement method, called the square-layout four-point (SLFP) method with angle compensation, for evaluating two-dimensional (2-D) profiles of flat machined surfaces is proposed. In this method, four displacement sensors are arranged in a square and mounted to the scanning table of a 2-D stage. For measuring the 2-D profile of a target plane, height data corresponding to all measuring points are acquired by means of the raster scanning motion. At the same time, pitching data of the first primary scan line and rolling data of the first subsidiary scan line are monitored by means of two auto-collimators to compensate for major profile errors that arise out of the posture error. Use of the SLFP method facilitates connection of the results of straightness-measurements results obtained for each scanning line by using two additional sensors and rolling data of the first subsidiary scan line. Specifically, the height of a measuring point is calculated by means of a recurrence equation using three predetermined height data for adjacent points in conjunction with data acquired by the four displacement sensors. Results of the numerical simulation performed in this study demonstrate higher efficiency of the SLFP method with angle compensation. During actual measurement, however, it is difficult to perfectly align inline the origin height of each displacement sensor. With regard to the SLFP method, zero-adjustment error is defined as the relative height of a sensor's origin with respect to the plane comprising origins of the other three sensors. This error accumulates in proportion to number of times the recurrence equation is applied. Simulation results containing the zero-adjustment error demonstrate that accumulation of the said error results in unignorable distortion of measurement results. Therefore, a new self-calibration method for the zero-adjustment error has been proposed. During 2-D profile measurement, two different calculation paths – the raster scan path and orthogonal path – can be used to determine the height of a measurement point. Although heights determined through use of the two paths must ideally be equal, they are observed to be different because accumulated zero-adjustment errors for the two paths are different. In view of this result, the zero-adjustment error can be calculated backwards and calibrated. Validity of the calibration method has been confirmed via simulations and experiments.


A simplified method is described for the calibration of continuously recorded dye dilution curves. The accuracy of this method is demonstrated in vitro and in vivo.


The use of systemic fungicides is still necessary in actually agriculture of important crops, but due to the resistance risks that they have, it was developed and it implemented in the country a monitoring system to determine status of field populations sensitivity from year 1982, which include a set of standardized laboratory methods as well as the monitoring of diseases and the fungicides effectiveness in field. The evolution of resistance of Peronospora tabacina, Phytophthora nicotianae and P. infestans to phenilamides; Mycosphaerella musicola to benzimidazols, triazols and morfolines; M. citri to benzimidazols; Alternaria solani and A. porri to triazoles and dicarboximidas, Penicillium spp. and Lasiodiplodia theobromae to tiabendazol were detected and studied. A measure system for management of fungicides and fungoresistance was implemented, and that includes the monitoring of sensibility of fungi populations, the monitoring of fungicides effectiveness in field, the monitoring of diseases evolution and its relation with the climate and the opportune elaboration of national and local strategies of control. This allowed an applications reduction between 37.5 and 50% with respect to the conventional strategy by programs, with an important reduction of the negative impact in the atmosphere and the diminution of economic losses by concept of additional expenses of fungicides and damages to the cultures because of the diseases.


Often patients are found to have metal implants or devices in a head CT scan. The high-density materials create severe artifacts because of beam hardening and scattering effects. Further complication happens when the patient moves at the time of the scan, even if only slightly. The compound artifacts in the reconstructed images are likely to degrade the accuracy of the diagnosis. In this study we propose an approach to correct these compound artifacts based on the knowledge of the measured projections and known xray spectrum. We did this in two steps: 1) in an iterative scheme, rigid motion was estimated and a preliminary reduction of the metal artifacts was performed; (2) the estimated motion was modeled in a full polychromatic reconstruction, in which the starting image was the preliminary corrected image from step 1. The polychromatic reconstruction has the capability to further reduce the compound artifacts. We demonstrate the proposed approach in a simulation study. The image was improved significantly after correction, compared with the one with no correction.


This comment presents the responses of an experienced family court judge to the eight articles published in this special issue. The value of these scholarly articles to family court judges is enormous. Judges have little, if any, formal training in family dynamics and child development, yet are called upon to make rulings in complex cases that have life-long ramifications for all family members. The changing demographics and current realities of traditional and nontraditional family structures in our society as well as the increasing divorce rates have widened the gap between legal precedence and current social science research. It is essential that the material covered in this issue can be accessible to family law personnel in language that they can understand and learn from.


The MAC layer protocol in traditional mobile adhoc networks(Adhoc) can not solve energy and improving network throughput,based on the existing PEMAC agreement,this paper presents a algorithm thought to improve the MAC protocol performance.With the condition of the same data network environment and random collision probability,the paper uses Markov(Markov) chain model to analyze the network average energy maintain time and increase throughput volume under the confirmed parameters condition.Simulation experimental results not only give an effectively solution for the problem between energy and throughput but also show the superiority of the performance of this agreement.


Along international borders, spillover of resource management issues is a growing challenge. Development of cross-border regions (CBRs) is seen as an emerging means of addressing these issues. A set of theoretical models, geo-economic mobilization and a resource-focused territorial program of place-making have been proposed as a lens for understanding why such change could occur. From this theory, we identify three C's as critical initial or necessary conditions to start the process: common territorial identity, convergence of knowledge and values, willingness for cooperation. We then utilize results of a Delphi study in the Fraser Lowland, a sub-district of the American-Canadian Cascadia borderland, to test if these three are present and actively working together. Our analysis based on both cumulative logit and mixed-effect modeling confirms the active existence of the three C's demonstrating the value of these theoretical models. However, the Delphi also shows that not all in this region are convinced of cross-border convergence and case studies provide mixed signals of successful cross-border resource management, indicating that sufficient conditions are yet to be fully met. Thus, our results confirm the value of these models as a lens to view events, but leave many questions to be researched.


In this article, we enumerate the Hyers-Ulam stability of the nth order difference equation yt+n = g (t, yt, . . . , yt+n−1) by using contraction mapping principle.


With recent advances in aberration corrected electron optics, scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has proven its excellent capability of characterising nanomaterials. In principle, with STEM chemical information can be extracted at the level of individual atoms. Due to the high current densities occurring in a highly focused electron beam, however, interpretation of STEM data is often impeded by continuous beam induced sample changes [1]. This is especially true for systems with a high percentage of weakly bound surface or interface atoms, which is characteristic for nanoparticles and other nanoscaled materials. Hence, beam induced processes pose a main limitation to nanomaterial characterisation in the STEM. Despite its significance, knowledge about beam induced dynamics is still very limited.


3 Acknowledgments 4 List of Tables 9 List of Abbreviations 10 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 11 Background 11 Problem Statement 13 Statement of Purpose 14 Significance of Study 14 Research Questions and Hypotheses 14 Identification of Variables 16 Definitions 16 Summary 17 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 18 Theoretical Background 23 Related Literature 23 History of College Entrance Examinations 23 Shadow Education for College Entrance Examinations 29 Metacognition 32


ABSTRACT The movement that mobilized to oppose Alyaksandr Lukashenka in August 2020 was notable for its ability to bridge divisions of social class, geography, age, and identity. Almost uniquely among post-Soviet revolutionary movements, the Belarusians who rose up were not divided from those who did not along clearly discernible socio-demographic, ethnic, linguistic, or regional lines. They were, however, separated by one very stark barrier: the one separating the country's two distinct media systems, one controlled by the state, and one independent. Drawing on an original survey conducted in September 2020, just as the protest movement was reaching its peak, this article finds that respondents' choice of news media was the strongest and most consistent predictor of their political opinions. Media, then, appear to have served not merely as aggregators of and conduits for social processes generated elsewhere, but as the producers of social and political force in their own right.


heterogeneous multicore computational environment are increasingly being used for executing scientific workload. Heterogeneous computational framework aid is reducing energy dissipation for executing real-time data intensive workload by employing Dynamic Power Management (DPM) and Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS). However, reducing energy and improving performance is becoming major constraint in modelling workload scheduling model in heterogeneous computational environment. For building tradeoffs model this work assume that different task will have different execution path, I/O access, memory, active processing, and cache requirement. Considering such assumption this paper present cache aware workload scheduling (CATS) algorithm by minimizing energy dissipation and utilizing cache resource more efficiently. The CATS model achieves much lesser execution time and energy consumption when compared with existing multiobjective based and DVFS-based workload scheduling algorithm.


22 With the "green" culture becoming an imperative rather than an option in our global economy, the printing industry needs to continually innovate and reinvent key processes to minimize our environmental impact. Sustainability is now a major influencing factor with print buyers, highlighted by Walmart's announcement in February to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its global supply chain by the end of 2015. However, at the same time as meeting these green challenges, printers are also faced with the economic challenges of reducing operating costs to succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace.


This paper is concerned with the control of direct driven feed axes for robots and machine tools. Special consideration is given to the restriction of the axis performance by elastic structural components. Their effect on the feedback controlled system leads to a simplified dynamic model and to analytical "thumb rules" for the achievable controller gains. Controller gain prediction supports the system design phase and its fast setup. Several newly-developed machine tool feed axes illustrate the benefit of these results as practical examples.


Abstract: The rapid pace of change in instrumentation and control (IC methods based on test or diagnostic sensors; and methods based on active measurements made by injecting a test signal into sensors.


According to the singularity problem in the working space of industrial robot, the reachability of robot is judged from the view of equation solution. Based on this, the optimal selection algorithm of multiple solutions of inverse solution has been given.PUMA560 industrial robot is the study object, the parameters of its mechanism and linkage are analyzed, and the forward kinematics and inverse kinematics of the robot are studied by D-H method. In the MATLAB environment, the robotics toolbox for modeling and simulation has been used, the simulation results show that the forward and inverse kinematics model is reasonable and correct. It lays a solid foundation for the follow-up research and development of robot.


We recognize actions and activities in video sequences as distinguishing patterns in the 3D spatiotemporal volume of motion energy. Local motion descriptors, which capture highly discriminative invariant motion characteristics in a spherical neighborhood, are computed in the 3D volume at points of salient motion to represent actions or activities in video sequences. Two actions are then matched based on the similarity between their representing motion descriptors. Our action recognition algorithm using the new motion descriptors has achieved an accuracy rate of 98.6% on the Weizmann action dataset [1].


Plastic waste accumulation in the environment is causing an ever increasing ecological threat as it causes serious damage, both during its production and disposal. In the present study, potent microbial strains with the ability to degrade plastics (viz., HDPE, LDPE, PE and PVC) were isolated using enrichment culture technique. The samples were collected from Mavalipura dumpsite, Bangalore that is rich in plastic waste. At the end of the study, 6 fungal species were identified and isolated on MSV medium supplemented with emulsified plastic. The microbial species associated with the PE materials was identified as Aspergillus flavus, PVC materials were identified as Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus oryzae, Cladosporium; LDPE material was identified as Aspergillus flavus; HDPE materials were identified as Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Pencillium. The biodegradation of the respective plastics was analyzed after 3 months of incubation by liquid culture method and 80.6% weight loss for PE, 81% weight loss for PVC, 80.4% weight loss for LDPE and 82% weight loss for HDPE was observed. Optimization methods were employed to monitor different parameters like pH, temperature and concentration of plastics for the increased biodegradation of the respective plastics.


The present invention seeks to provide a useful viscous dispersion to form a semiconductor porous film (porous semiconductor layer) by means of low-temperature film forming process. Viscosity dispersions of the present invention is a viscous dispersion with water as a dispersion medium, containing the titanium dioxide nanoparticles, and the solid concentration is 30 to 60% by mass, the titanium dioxide nano-particles, an average particle diameter of 10 nm or more anatase less than 100 nm type crystalline titanium dioxide nanoparticles and the average particle size of 5 nm or more including the brookite-type crystal titanium dioxide nanoparticles of below 15 nm, and more than a viscosity at 25 ℃ 10 Pa · s 500 Pa · s or less.


Abstract To test whether a pulse of testosterone reported in young male garter snakes also occurs in related snakes, testosterone levels were measured in 18 male water snakes (Nerodia sipedon) belonging to four litters at 5–6, 16–17, 29–30, and 250–267 days of age. Testosterone levels were uniformly low over the first 30 days of life but increased significantly by 250–267 days of age; there were also significant differences among litters in levels of this hormone by that time.


The purpose of this study was to document, using electromyography and electrogoniometry, the normal function and interaction of extrinsic finger muscles of normal subjects during five exercises to establish a baseline of "normality." The exercises, typical components of occupational therapy activities, were resisted grasp, resisted finger extension, rapid and slow unresisted finger extension, and grasp-release of a lightweight cylinder. A high percentage of electrical output of all three extrinsic finger muscles was generated during resisted or rapid exercises A very low percentage of output was generated during unresisted slow exercises Carryover effects of the exercises (i.e., changes seen in movement after versus before) were limited to increased range of motion and increased level of electrical activity of the three muscles during rhythmical opening of the hand after resisted grasp and rapid extension The most common pattern of usage was reciprocal between agonist and antagonist, although no muscle was ever silent. True cocontraction occurred in only the most resistive exercise—grasp. No correlation was found between average wrist position and percent of muscle output. Intersubject variability suggests that the specific results of this study cannot be generalized However, the concept that resistance and speed increase motor unit recruitment of antagonist as well as agonist may be generalized.


Nowadays anomaly detection based on Artificial Immune system (AIS) is highly regarded among the research community and Clonal selection algorithm is one of the most interesting fields of it. In this paper we model self-region by a number of spheres with fix radius. We have assumed anomaly detectors as spherical shape with random central point and variable radius out of this region. Detection rate (DR) and false alarm (FA) are influenced by radius of Detectors. Large radiuses would increase both DR and FA and small radiuses would decrease them, so selecting appropriate quantity plays an important role for achieving high accuracy in recognition. The radius of detectors is determined based on self-environment. The radius of self-region spheres has straight effect on detectors radiuses and is an important parameter to achieve high accuracy. As a result of finding imperfect self-region radius we have faced weak detectors that couldn't recognize anomaly perfectly. In this paper we propose a novel algorithm to achieve suitable accuracy independent of self-region radius using learning automata.


Neonate rat pups rely on odor cues to identify their mother for food and warmth. Olfactory learning modifies behavioral, neural and metabolic responses to odor after a subsequent presentation with 24 h memory being dependent on CREB phosphorylation (pCREB). However the mRNA dependent changes that take place after olfactory learning have not been studied. Our lab previously showed that there is increased pCREB localization in the dorsolateral quadrant of mitral cells of the learning pups (odor + tactile stimulation) compared to the non-learning pups (odor only). In the present study, odor + stroking and odor only groups of pups were used. Following 10 minutes of training, pups were killed, and mRNA from the dorsolateral and ventromedial quadrants of the mitral cell layer was isolated using the laser microdissection (LMD) system for analyses by microarray.
Thirteen genes with a minimum of a 1.5- fold difference in expression levels between groups were then analyzed using quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Six of the 13 genes showed concordance between microarray and qRT-PCR. Seven genes showed opposite expression patterns. A second study compared gene expression between whole bulb and LMD samples and a third study utilized qRT-PCR in whole bulbs to analyze the expression of the 13 genes at various times post training. Several of the genes confirmed as changing with learning are known to be involved in plasticity related activities, but were not previously associated with olfactory learning and memory formation. These findings will form an important basis for conducting further studies that will help us understand olfactory learning better.


PURPOSE: To study the effects of a commercially available negative ion "energy band" on peak anaerobic capacity and recovery. METHODS: Twenty one participants (age = 28.2 + 5.2 yrs, ht = 172.1 + 1.0 cm, wt = 83.3 + 17.5 kg) completed two, 30-sec Wingate trials on a Monark 817E cycle ergometer while wearing either a True PowerTM Energy Band (TB) (True Power LLC) or silver bracelet placebo (PB) (Hobby Lobby). Trial order was counterbalanced and each trial separated by approximately 1 week. Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) and consent form were completed before testing, and participants were asked to refrain from consuming a heavy meal or caffeine at least 3 hours before testing. Wingate testing was preceded by a 5-min warm up consisting of cycling for 3 min at 50 rpm and 20% of prescribed Wingate load (.086 * body mass [kg]), and 5-sec sprints at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of prescribed load every 30 sec. After resting 3 min, participants commenced Wingate testing. Recovery consisted of cycling 10 min at 50rpm and 20% Wingate load. HR and oxygen consumption were measured throughout testing using a HR monitor (Polar) interfaced to a metabolic system (Parvo Medics' TrueOne 2400). RPE (Borg 6-20 Scale) was recorded immediately following Wingate test and at 5 and 10 min of recovery. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between each trial (TB vs. PB) for: TB PB O2 Consumption (L/min) Rest 0.36 + 0.07 0.34 + 0.08 Post Wingate 1.84 + 0.40 1.82 + 0.40 5-min recovery 1.55 + 0.36 1.55 + 0.34 10-min recovery 1.48 + 0.35 1.48 + 0.35 Heart Rate (BPM) Rest 85.2 + 12.8 84.0 + 10.2 Post Wingate 164.5 + 11.3 163.6 + 15.7 5-min recovery 146.3 + 15.0 144.0 + 17.3 10-min recovery 144.7 + 15.5 142.7 + 17.9 RPE Post Wingate 18.0 + 2.0 18.0 + 2.1 5-min recovery 13.6 + 2.5 13.0 + 1.5 10-min recovery 12.1 + 2.1 11.7 + 1.6 Total Revolutions 39.7 + 8.7 39.4 + 8.7 Peak Revolutions/5 sec 10.1 + 2.0 10.0 + 2.2


The traditional Hadoop-based logistic data processing platform of universities cannot fully collect and control remote data in the process of data processing and has defects such as poor efficiency, high error, and difficult query. In existing designs, devices often need to store complete block data. When retrieving or verifying specific data on the chain, a large number of blocks need to be traversed to find the corresponding data, which reduces the response speed on the user side. In addition, the traditional consensus algorithm is not suitable for resource-constrained terminal devices. Therefore, this paper proposes an intelligent data processing and optimization method of university logistics combined with block chain storage algorithm. For unstructured data on the cloud storage network, the storage information can be obtained through domain analysis, and the storage frequency can be dynamically adjusted based on the estimated data flapping. Moreover, a data storage audit scheme is designed on the cloud storage network to improve data storage efficiency. In order to ensure the integrity verification efficiency of unstructured big data cloud storage, a multilayer block chain network model suitable for university logistics data is designed by introducing block chain technology. The throughput and average occupancy under the same conditions in different environments are evaluated and analyzed, and it is verified that the proposed method is not affected by the initial priority distribution and has good stability and optimization performance. The results show that the proposed method can significantly improve the cloud storage efficiency of unstructured data, can effectively respond to a large number of requests to access data, and has good big data processing capability.


This paper presents the results of the author's archaeological research, conducted in the 70s of the 20th century in the south of Donbass, Sverdlovsk district of the Luhansk region, Ukraine, and in the Gukovo district of the Rostov region, Russian Federation. The paper represents the results obtained during the excavations of 2 burial mounds, in which 39 burials of various archaeological cultures were discovered: dated from the Early to Late Bronze Age. Both mounds were erected in the Yamnaya culture period; however, the abundance of inlet burials was noted. The excavations showed that both mounds represented small burial necropolises, which served as a sacred place for the local pastoralist population for a long time.


Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) are cryogenic photon detectors and are attractive because they permit simultaneous time, energy and spatial resolution of faint astronomical sources. We present a cost-effective alternative to dedicated (e.g. analogue) electronics for prototyping readout of single-pixel Optical/NIR MKIDs by repurposing existing and well-known ROACH-1 boards. We also present a pipeline that modernises previously-developed software and data frameworks to allow for extensibility to new applications and portability to new hardware (e.g. Xilinx ZCU111 or 2x2 RFSoC boards).


Water treatment processes incur relatively long  transport delays, simply because the process variable is controlled by the addition of chemicals where a reaction time is allowed before the process variable can be sampled. This process dead time makes it difficult to control water treatment plants using standard feedback techniques mainly because the control action takes some time to affect the controlled variable. The feedforward control when used exhibits low performance and instability when the flow rates vary rapidly and when there are large changes in other water quality variables. During the rainy seasons, raw water quality changes frequently and widely posing a challenge in the water coagulation process where the application of optimum amount of chemicals is required in  order to meet the laid down standards. The process being continuous and with no feedback, the consumers may receive water that does not meet the set down quality standards. This paper focuses on the application of Model Predictive Control (MPC) to control of turbidity in the water treatment plants. The system monitors the incoming water quality and prescribes an optimized coagulation chemicals dosage for the process before large changes in turbidity values can be seen in the outlet.


"Puzzle game" is used for academic research quite often. In recent years, the trend of puzzle games deign tends to be "hybrid genre" . Even the most popular game apps is "hybrid genre". It combines traditional puzzle games with the feature of development factors. Both puzzle games and development factors' characteristic is "flow". However, the mix of games enhance the complexity of games and may cause the opposite effect in players' flow experience and learning. Based on this research purpose, TONI -3 and questionnaires will be used as research tools to assess "Tower of Saviors" and "Candy Crush" in order to first find out how the combination puzzle games of the development factors and regular leisure puzzle games make the differences of flow experience and logical reasoning ability and further explore how the development factors impact on flow and learning. The research found that the combination of development factors do not cause any good or bad effect on players' flow experience. Likewise, no matter whether combining with development factors, puzzle games can enhance players' logical ability and will not restrain nor distract players' cognition learning. Moreover, the research also found out that "Tower of Saviors" has positive impact on players while players look for best matching "assorting" ability in current games since "Tower of Saviors" ties transfer beads and development factors closely. This result can be a direction for educators and game developers.


Floating spar platforms are widely used in the Gulf of Mexico for oil production. The spar is a bluff, vertical cylinder which is subject to Vortex Induced Motions (VIM) when current velocities exceed a few knots. All spars to date have been constructed with helical strakes to mitigate VIM in order to reduce the loads on the risers and moorings. Model tests have indicated that the effectiveness of these strakes is influenced greatly by details of their design, by appurtenances placed on the outside of the hull and by current direction. At this time there is limited full scale data to validate the model test results and little understanding of the mechanisms at work in strake performance. The authors have been investigating the use of CFD as a means for predicting full scale VIM performance and for facilitating the design of spars for reduced VIM. This paper reports on the results of a study to benchmark the CFD results for a truss spar with a set of model experiments carried out in a towing tank. The focus is on the effect of current direction, reduced velocity and strake pitch on the VIM response. The tests were carried out on a 1:40 scale model of an actual truss spar design, and all computations were carried out at model scale. Future study will consider the effect of external appurtenances on the hull and scale-up to full scale Reynolds' numbers on the results.Copyright © 2005 by ASME


The utility model discloses complete equipment for biodiesel production, which belongs to the technical field of environment-friendly mechanical complete equipment structures for producing biodiesel by raw materials including low-quality kitchen used oil, hogwash fat, swill-cooled dirty oil and acidified oil. The complete equipment comprises a raw material pretreatment tank, a reactor, a methyl alcohol recovery tower, a water washing tower, a vacuum distillation tower and at least one feed pump which are respectively electrically connected with an instrument control system and are connected with each other through metal pipelines. By the aid of the complete equipment for biodiesel production, the difficult problem that low-quality kitchen waste oil and hogwash fat are high in water content and impurity content is solved well, and defects of long layering time after reaction, long production cycle, low product yield and the like are overcome. Accordingly, the complete equipment has the advantages of reducing production cycle and increasing product yield.


Based on the study carried out on EHS, BBS and Industrial Hygiene evaluation for shop floor employees including contractors, the EHS culture can be quantified from lower level to higher level on a ladder of 5 steps namely; Pathological, Reactive, Calculative, Proactive and Generative. In the present study, substantial improvement was achieved in converting the lower level culture to higher level culture after quantification. By evaluating the EHS culture using of EHS and BBS Software, poor EHS culture employees can be identified and which in turn may help us to draw the road map for them in improving the safety culture through Safety Training Programs and also imparting on-line job training at work. In present study this approach shows significant improvement in achieving the proactive and generative culture which meets the world class standards. Heat, Noise, Dust, Illumination/Glare and Toxic gases of the work environment can bequantified and can becontrolled using engineering control systems to comply with international standards. In the present study this has been achieved successfully. The research concludes that the methodology used for evaluating and improving the EHS Culture is strongly recommended for other Industrial Sectors too to achieve world class level EHS culture. The methodology used for identifying the cultural values helps in understanding the present organization culture level and also helps in measuring the weakness regarding EHS and BBS Culture. Further, it helps in identifying the Hygiene Index Level.


Shipborne Over-The-Horizon Radar (OTHR) is an essential kind of equipment for warship to improve the performances of the early warning and survival. However,due to the integrated effect of the jamming signal,time-varied and non-linear signal channel and strong clutter background,many difficulties and problems are inevitable for shipborne OTHR indeed. Based on the emphasized analysis of the spread clutter spectrum of the shipborne OTHR,the applicable approaches are provided to improve the signal processing performance in this paper.


It has been a summer of discontent for the US Department of Energy (DOE), an agency that funds much of the physics research in the US. The immediate cause of the problems was the revelation earlier this year that lax security at the department's Los Alamos National Laboratory had gained China access to American nuclear secrets over a period of several years. Then a recent study by the National Research Council – together with estimates by the Congressional general accounting office – pinpointed lax management in the department.


In order to effectively improve the work efficiency and real-time performance of an automatic inspection of power transmission and transformation, this paper studies the automatic inspection method of power transmission and transformation based on artificial intelligence image recognition technology. First, we use cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to obtain image data for power transmission and transformation inspection. Second, through the artificial sample calibration and reconstruction technology, the power transmission, and transformation inspection sample database is constructed. Then, the model is trained using the Faster-R CNN algorithm based on regional relationship features. Finally, the model is further optimized through model release and evaluation to realize intelligent diagnosis in power transmission and transformation detection. This research raises the recognition accuracy of power transmission and transformation inspection, improves the intelligence and efficiency of inspection, and provides good technical support for the construction of intelligent operation inspection.


Public perception of nanotechnology is important as it helps scientists and policy makers understand how the public decides whether or not to support the development of these technologies. To examine the public's perception and attitude toward nanotechnology in China, we conducted a case study in Dalian through a survey in 2013 (N = 741). Support for the technology was indicated by 96.6% of the sample. This sample also had the highest self-reported awareness of nanotechnology worldwide, with 88.4% of the sample reporting having heard of nanotechnology, although they possessed little knowledge about the technology. Support was associated more with beliefs (e.g. expectations for nanotechnology, trust, benefit/risk ratio) than with knowledge. Mass media news reports and advertisements were the top means of communication about nanotechnology. It is very possible that the rate of support for nanotechnology may change in future, as with support for genetically modified food.


In this article, a steady heat transfer problem is investigated numerically by using power law model coupled with Zheng's model. Several efficient and robust methods are proposed to solve energy equations of dilatant fluids in a circular duct. Binomial formula and least-squares approximation are introduced in the transformation of the nonlinear item of the thermal diffusivity into a reasonable linear one. The results are obtained by using the control volume technique based on the finite difference model coupled with the LU decomposition method. These algorithms are compared with each other and the transfer characteristics of different values of parameters are revealed in details.


The battle for public opinion in the Islamic world is an ongoing priority for U.S. diplomacy. The current debate over why many Muslims hold anti-American views centers around whether individuals dislike "who Americans are" with respect to fundamental aspects of culture and government, or "what Americans do" policy-wise in international affairs. We propose, instead, that Muslim anti-Americanism is predominantly a domestic, elite-led phenomenon that intensifies when there is greater competition between Islamist and secular-nationalist political factions within a country. While more observant Muslims tend to be more anti-American, paradoxically the most anti-American countries are those with Muslim populations that are less religious overall, and thus more divided on the religious-secular issue dimension. We provide case study evidence consistent with this explanation, as well as an in-depth multilevel statistical analysis of public opinion data from over 12,000 Muslim respondents in 21 countries. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank Christopher Anderson, Ceren Belge, Giacomo Chiozza, Tom Clark, Jorge Dominguez, James Fearon, Nahomi Ichino, David Laitin, Monika Nalepa, Chris Reenock, Jeffrey Staton, Jonathan Wand, Carrie Wickham, and the audiences of the Notre Dame Kellogg Institute, the MIT Works-in-Progress Seminar Series and the Stanford Comparative Politics Workshop. Jana Marie Hutchinson, Ugur Pece, Jeremy Voss and Meredith Wheeler provided exemplary research assistance. The Pew Global Attitudes Project bears no responsibility for the interpretations presented or conclusions reached based on our analysis of the data.


Cardiac Angiotensin-(1-7) in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy Print ISSN: 0009-7322. Online ISSN: 1524-4539 Copyright © 2003 American Heart Association, Inc. All rights reserved. is published by the American Heart Association, 7272 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75231 Circulation doi: 10.1161/01.CIR.0000092888.63239.54 2003;108:2141-2146; originally published online September 29, 2003; Circulation. http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/108/17/2141 World Wide Web at: The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is located on the


Purpose Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have emerged as a potent cancer therapeutic option in recent years. DP303c is a HER2-targeting ADC with a cleavable linker-MMAE payload. The current study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic potentials of DP303c in vitro as well as in vivo. Materials and Methods Size exclusion chromatography (SEC), reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were used to analyze the physicochemical characterization of DP303c. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), a cell-based assay, and bio-layer interferometry (BLI) were used to evaluate DP303c's affinity with HER2 and Fc receptors. A confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to observe the internalization of DP303c. Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and cytotoxicity assays were used to investigate the activity of DP303c in vitro. The antitumor activity of DP303c was assessed in vivo in the HER2-positive cell-derived xenograft model. Results DP303c was a site-specific anti-HER2 antibody-drug conjugate with a monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) with an average drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR) of 2.0. DP303c showed a high affinity with HER2 and could be effectively internalized. In vitro and in vivo, DP303c showed stronger antitumor activity as compared to trastuzumab-DM1 (T-DM1) in a series of HER2-positive cancer cells and cell-derived xenograft (CDX) models, especially in the lower HER2-expressing cells. DP303c also exhibited high serum stability and a good PK profile. Conclusion DP303c was a steady and homogenous DAR 2 ADC that was predicted to deliver MMAE inhibitor to tumor cells. DP303c demonstrated remarkable anticancer efficacy against T-DM1 in xenograft models. DP303c was a strong candidate for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive cancer.


We used subfossil Chaoborus mandibles preserved in sediments of Cabin, Caledonia, and Celestine lakes, Alberta, to determine whether fish were present in the lakes (which now contain rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and lake chub (Couesius plumbeus)) prior to the first fish stockings early this century. We first tested whether Chaoborus were good indicators of the presence of fish in montane lakes in a survey of 43 lakes in jasper and Banff national parks. Chaoborus americanus was the only species inhabiting fishless lakes and was also found in three lakes with low fish density (co-occurring with C. flavicans in two of the three lakes). Other lakes containing fish had either C. flavicans or no Chaoborus species. Subfossils revealed that C. americanus was the predominant species prior to this century in Cabin and Celestine lakes, suggesting that these lakes were originally fishless; C. americanus (and C. trivittatus in Cabin Lake) were eliminated early this century, contemporarily with the first recorde...


The impact pornography is having on young people is alarming. It used to be that when you would ask someone when they first saw pornography they would tell you a story about seeing a porn magazine at a friend's house when they were in middle school or high school. Now a child in grade school has already seen images that were only available in an adult bookstore a few years ago. At one time these images were inaccessible to youth; now they are merely a mouse click away. The average age of first exposure to Internet pornography is 11 years old. And the largest consumer of Internet pornography is the 12-17 age group.{7}


Bundled gap filling exercises (Wojatzki et al., 2016) were recently introduced as a promising new exercise type to complement or even replace single gap-fill tasks. However, it is not yet confirmed that the applied creation method works properly and it is still to be investigated if bundled gap-fill tests are a suitable method for assessing language proficiency. In this paper, we address both issues by varying the construction methods and by conducting a user study with 75 participants in which we also measure externally validated language proficiency. We find that the originally proposed way to construct bundles is indeed minimizing their ambiguity, but that further investigation is needed to determine which aspects of language proficiency they are actually measuring.


The use of the selective chemisorption of hydrogen or oxygen for the determination of metal surface areas in catalysts consisting of iridium supported on silica or γ-alumina is subject to various difficulties. On the one hand, the hydrogen stoichiometry is found to vary with the nature of the support and the metal content, and in any case is larger than unity; on the other hand, oxygen adsorption coexists with a surface oxidation process which prevents the calculation of the oxygen uptake corresponding to monolayer coverage. The conventional application of the Elovich equation in its integrated form to kinetic data for adsorption cannot differentiate between the two existing processes. A method is proposed for the application of this equation in its differential form so that the two processes can be separated and a reliable value for the oxygen monolayer on the metal can be obtained.


Extensive investigations were undertaken on construction sites to estimate workers exposure to hazardous substances during flooring work. The measurements were carried out using not only recognised and recommended measuring procedures but also simple measuring methods (short term tubes). All relevant parameters which were likely to have an effect on the measuring result were carefully registered. As a more general result the investigations showed that the degree of pollutant exposure is mainly determined by the product used. The classification of products as a function of the nature and quantity of solvents they contain (GISCODE) helps make prospective estimations of the possible pollutant concentration in the workplace atmosphere


Review(s) of: Shari'a and Constitutional Reform in Indonesia, by Nadirsyah Hosen, (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2007, ISBN 978-981-230-402-5, $US49.90, i-x, 271 pages).


This brief summarises the findings and conclusions of the study "Policy approaches to business investment in agricultural commercialisation in Ethiopia", supported by The Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) consortium. The study was based on five case studies of agribusinesses and in-depth interviews with business leaders, ten key informant interviews, and a review and synthesis of academic and grey literature on Ethiopia.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the trends toward work being more suitable for machines than people, which promotes more addictive lifecycles. This paper suggests ways people can reverse this trend to cut them off from their humanity and create ways of working that are more natural, uplifting, life‐affirming and healthier for people.Design/methodology/approach – The approach is to cite evidence of growing dysfunction, including facts and studies that support the trends; to explain how this has occurred; to describe how systems behave and misbehave; and to call for transformation.Findings – This paper finds that people are suffering more stress, experiencing a reduced quality of life, getting sick more often and are less happy. And most of them don't realize why they are less happy because they seem to have so much (material wealth) to be grateful for. The findings include a way to reverse these trends and return to a life more suitable to human beings.Practical implications – The pra...


The structures of unsteady cavitating flows around a blunt axisymmetric body were investigated by the experimental and numerical methods.In order to accurately capture the vortex separation and cloud shedding,a filter-based k-eturbulence model was applied in numerical simulations.In experiment,the high-speed video camera was used to visualize the unsteady flow structure,and 2D and 3D particle image velocimetry(PIV)were used to measure flow field,including the velocity and vorticity fields.The experimental and numerical results show that the high shear vortex structures locate in the shoulder area of the blunt object,and the inception cavity appears in the boundary layer separation zone near the wall,but not the adherent area.With the decrease of cavitation number,cavitation region will significantly increase,and the profile of the cavity is ellipsoidal shape.Irregular pulse of small-scale bubble group changes into larger-scale cloud shedding.As in the experiment,the modeled reentrant flow has been observed to follow a helical pattern.This helical flow revolves around the circumference of the cylinder.The flow enables from the high pressure region downstream of the cavity.The high pressure region is situated at the aft end of the azimuthal section of the cavity of greatest axial extent.During its initial formation,due perhaps to turbulence fluctuations,the reentrant flow was initially driven and then moved permanently in a helical path.The velocity of this region is lower that of the main flow area,but the vorticity is larger than other regions,indicating that obvious vortex structures exist in the part,due to the frequently mass and momentum transformation.


The aim of the research is to examine and provide the empirical evidences of the influence of the effectiveness of internal control and the appropriateness of compensation to the tendency of accounting fraud by the unethical behavior as an intervening variable. The population in this research is all accounting staffs and financial staffs who work in the Indonesian Own Stated Enterprises, particularly in Central Java. The sample in this research is accounting staffs and financial staffs who work in the Indonesian Own Stated Enterprises, particularly in Central Java. There are 98 respondents. The techniques of collecting data use questionnaires, analysis data technique using path analysis, t test F test, and the coefficient of determination. The results of this study show that the effectiveness of the internal control system affects the unethical behavior negatively. The internal control done by the enterprises hasn't been effective yet. So, they haven't had any capabilities to decrease the unethical behavior. The effectiveness of the internal control system doesn't affect to the tendency of accounting fraud conducted in the Indonesian Own Stated Enterprises, particularly in Central Java. The respondents feel doubt whether the internal control system in the enterprises has run well or not. The appropriateness of the compensation affects negatively to the unethical behavior conducted in the Indonesian Own Stated Enterprises particularly in Central Java. The attribution theory says that a leader's behavior is affected by the attribute of cause. So, if the compensation is acceptable, the employees will avoid the unethical behavior. The appropriateness of the compensation affect negatively to the tendency of accounting fraud conducted in the Indonesian Own Stated Enterprises, particularly in Central Java. The acceptable compensation system makes individuals have good finance. So, they don't do the tendency of accounting fraud conducted in the Indonesian Own Stated Enterprises, particularly in Central Java. The unethical behavior doesn't affect to the tendency of accounting fraud. This is caused by each institution in the Indonesian Own Stated Enterprises has different ethical standards.


Background: Motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) can lead to movement disorders of upper limb (UL), affecting the performance of activities of daily life (ADL) and patient independence. The literature is still scarce in relation to the therapeutic approach of the UL in patients with PD. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of non-immersive virtual reality training on the UL, as well as on the quality of life of patients with PD. Methods: We evaluated prospectively 16 volunteers of both genders, age 64 ± 5 years, diagnosis time of 5.4 ± 3.8 years, Hoehn & Yahr of 2.5 [2.0; 3.0]. Patients were recruited between January 2015 and January 2017 at the Neurology outpatient clinic of the Fluminense Federal University-UFF, Niteroi - RJ, Brazil. Participants performed 22 individualized training sessions, with non-immersive virtual reality, playing eight games of the Nintendo Wii®. They were supervised by a physiotherapist in all sessions, held twice a week, lasting 60 minutes each. Main outcome measures: quality of life was assessed using the Specific Quality of Life Assessment Scale in PD - PDQ - 39 and the clinical results were determined based on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Scale - UPDRS (Total, Sections II and III). The motor results were evaluated using the Test d'Evaluation des Membres Superieurs de Personnes Agees (TEMPA) and Nine Hole Peg Test (9HPT). Results: There were significant differences were observed for the variables PDQ39 total (p = 0.019), PDQ39 in the mobility domains (p = 0.002), ADLs (p = 0.043), cognition = 0.017), communication (p <0.001) and body discomfort (p = 0.011). Significant differences were observed for the total UPDRS (p = 0.002), as well as for UPDRS II and III (both p <0.001) for the pre, postintervention and follow-up analysis, statistically significant differences were observed for total TEMPA (p = 0.003), task 4 (p = 0.005), task 5 (p = 0.002), task 6 (p <0.001), task 7 (right: p = 0.009, left: p <0.001), task 8 (right: p = 0.002; left: p <0.001) for pre, postintervention and follow up analysis. No significant differences were observed for 9HPT. Conclusion: Patients with PD in the 2-3 stages of Hoehn and Yahr presented functional improvement of the UL submitted to non-immersive virtual reality training, even one month after the end of the protocol


United States immigration data, e. g. E. P. Hutchinson, "Notes on Immigration ... " in Journal of American Statistical Association, 53: 963ff; M. R. Davis" Critique of ... " in W. F. Willcox International Migration (1931) pp. 645ff. 2. The author makes no mention of the use of corroborative data which could have enhanced his description of assimilation of Anderson, Indiana Greeks. Specifically, no use of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (Indianapolis, Indiana) parish birth, death, and wedding registers was made. Although the author did use the mailing. list of this parish, the parish registers were perhaps unavailable. 3. Anderson is also the county seat of Madison County, Indiana. No mention was ever made of the use of Naturalization Dockets available in the Court House at Anderson (or the I & N office at Indianapolis). This would have provided the author with much data on Greek aliens. Again, it is possible that these dockets were unavailable to the author. 4. We are never told of the validity or reliability of the various "indexes" derived by the author. However, the author may have felt that these " indexes" were more exploratory and one could not apply refined techniques to such data. Professor Vlachos attempted a difficult task on an ethnic group which has been all but neglected by contemporary American sociologists. He competently reviews the literature, the 32 tables and nine figures are mostly clear, but this reviewer feels somewhat uneasy with his presentation of the Anderson data as he tries to relate it to the larger American scene. Can a sample of 63 Greek-Americans with Peloponnesian backgrounds be generalized, say, to Greek-Americans in Youngstown or Warren, Ohio, who have Chian or Dodecanesian roots, or, be said to be representative of the approximately 400,000 people of Greek stock throughout the United States? However, there is a contribution in the self identification typology, based on the Anderson sample, which may serve as a model for the study of other ethnic groups not previously studied by American scholars and researchers. There is much in this work that is relevant to the sociologist interested in ethnic groups, especially Americans of the "new immigration." Perhaps the story of the "sociology" of the Greek in America is yet to be written. It may be an impossible story, for the Greek, "Bigger Thomas" or "Alexander Portnoy" has not yet emerged in his literature. He will perhaps remain forever the stranger in an alien land. MICHAEL N. CUTSUMBIS Franklin and Marshall College


We study the two point correlation function of two nucleon currents sandwiched between the vacuum and the pion state. The light cone QCD sum rules are derived for the πNN coupling gπNN and the πNN(1535) coupling gπNN∗ . The contribution from the excited states and the continuum is subtracted cleanly through the double Borel transform with respect to the two external momenta, p1, p 2 2 = (p − q). We first improve the original sum rule for gπNN and determine the value of the pion wave function φπ(u0 = 1 2 ) = 1.5 ± 0.2, which is a fundamental nonperturbative quantity like the quark condensate. Our calculation shows that the πNN(1535) coupling is strongly suppressed. PACS Indices: 13.75.Gx; 14.20.Gk; 14.40.Aq; 13.75.Cs; 12.38.Lg


Distinguished psychoanalyst and educator Ann Ulanov has gathered in this noteworthy volume a collection of essays she has written and delivered over some twenty years on the subject of issues related to religious belief and its difficulties in the work of Carl Jung. The essays fall into three areas: Jung and Religion and Politics o Religion and Jung's View o Jung and Prayer o The Double Cross: Scapegoating o The Holding Self: Jung and the desire for being Teaching Jung on Religion o Image and Imago: Jung and the Study of Religion o Teaching Jung in a Theological Seminary and a Graduate School of Religion o Jung and Religion: The Opposing Self The Relationship of Jung to Religion and Psychological Issues o A Shared Space o The Anxiety of Being o Between Anxiety and Faith: The Role of the Feminine in Tillich's Theological Thought o Religious Devotion or Masochism: Therse of Lisieux o The God You Touch o Being and Space These essays will make stimulating reading for students and professionals in the field of religion, theology, or spirituality, as well as for anyone with an interest in Carl Jung.


The experiment was undertaken on nine genotypes namely 2007, 8918, 2002, 9903, 9106, 9807, 2015, 2108 (germplasm lines) including check variety Azad Dhania-1 of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.). The materials were evaluated in an augmented Randomized Block Design with three replications during the rabi season of 2009–10. Efforts have been made to study the association of component traits with seed yield. It came into account that seed yield was significantly and positively correlated with its component characters like the number of primary branches plant−1 (rg = 0.750** and rp = 0.581**), number of secondary branches plant−1 (rg = 0.471* and rp = 0.431*), number of umbels plant−1 (rg = 0.932** and rp = 0.801**), number of umbellets plant−1 (rg = 0.806** and rp = 573**), number of seeds umbel−1 (rg = 667** and rp = 0.569**) and umbel diameter (rg = 851** and rp = 0.703**) both at the genotypic and phenotypic levels. Thus, the data revealed that the highest positive correlation (0.932) was appeared between number of umbels plant−1 and seeds yield (gm) whereas the lowest positive correlation (0.031) was expressed between number of umbellets plant−1 and 1000-seeds weight. Hence, the study will help the breeder to know the degree of association between traits, which can be used for crop improvement through selection of component traits.


The emission from low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) arises from the accretion of mass onto a neutron star or black hole. A knowledge of the amount of mass being accreted as well as changes in this value are therefore essential inputs into models of these systems. Despite the need for this information, we currently lack an easily applied method that allows the accretion rate to be measured. X-ray color-color plots and UV observations can be used for this purpose, but these methods require access to oversubscribed satellites. Even if time is granted on these facilities, there is no guarantee that the source will be in a desired state when the observations take place. In this paper we show that an estimate of the ratio of the mass accretion rate to the Eddington rate can be obtained for Sco X-1 by using the Johnson B magnitude. Based on correlated X-ray and ground-based observations, we find that for Sco X-1, Ṁ/ṀE = -(0.123 ± 0.007)B + 2.543 ± 0.085. This relation is valid when the system is on its normal and lower flaring branches. Based on theoretical models, we suggest that similar relations should also exist for other LMXBs.


We present a theoretical model of airport searches. The model extends previous work in the area in that detection conditional on search is imperfect. The hit rates tests for racial bias developed in Knowles, Persico, and Todd (2001) is shown to apply even in the presence of imperfections in monitoring. We then study two channels for improving airport security: better targeting and better detection. We show that better targeting does not necessarily decrease the overall crime rate, although it will decrease crime in the group that is targeted. Improved detection rates unambiguously decrease crime. Group-specific improvements in detection do not necessarily increase the number of searches for those groups. The analysis is extended to allow for the possibility that criminal passengers disguise themselves as members of low-crime groups.


The autobiographical account of the author's climb up Mount Everest. Ten expeditions from around the world were preparing for the final climb when a devastating storm hit Everest, leaving eight climbers dead. This is a look at all that happened on the mountain that day.


Photocurrent measurements are shown to be a useful tool for characterizing charge‐injecting heterostructure devices under bias. The measurements rely on a large photoconductive gain mechanism which operates in single‐barrier, double‐barrier, and superlattice devices. Photocurrent measurements on a set of superlattice doping interface devices indicate the presence of charge domains and an interesting electric field‐screening phenomenon. These phenomena are not evident in the current versus voltage data and emphasize the importance of using optical probes to characterize electronic devices.


The majority of episodic symptoms are of benign nature, but the possibility of potentially serious conditions should be taken into account.


A new model for theoretical study of vibronic (de-)excitation (including vibrational (de-)excitation) cross sections of CH+ by electron impact was developed based on the multichannel quantum defect theory (MQDT) close-channel-elimination procedure and vibrational-frame-transformation theory of Chang and Fano. The successful application of this model suggested a promising calculation method for vibronic (de-)excitation of diatomic ion core by resonant scattering of electron.


Recently, oxidative stress has been identified as a pivotal pathological factor inducing bone osteoporosis. This phenomenon is responsible for low bone density. It alters bone quality and generates bone fractures. Strontium is found to induce osteoblast activity by stimulating bone formation and reducing bone resorption by restraining osteoclasts. Bioglass (BG) has been used to repair bone defects, and, in combination with strontium (BG-Sr), offers an opportunity to treat this disease. This study investigated the potential role of BG-Sr in improving antioxidant activity and regenerative bone capacity, The effects of both BG-Sr and BG were tested on osteoblast SaOS2 and endothelial EAhy926 cell proliferation in vitro. In vivo, BG-Sr and BG were implanted in the femoral condyles of Wistar rats and compared to that of control groups. Cell proliferation increased significantly by 120% at SaOS2 and 127% at EAhy926. Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) and Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) were significantly enhanced in BG-Sr treated rats compared to other groups. Moreover, a significant decrease of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARs) was observed. The Ca/P ratio increase improved progressive bone mineralization. According to these results, BG-Sr ameliorated cell proliferation and developed an antioxidative defense against ROS. The histological findings highlight the BG-Sr implications in the osteoporosis treatment confirmed by bone construction. The development of BG-Sr as a therapeutic biomaterial protecting against oxidative stress might make an effective choice for application in tissue engineering.


Ceramic coatings with the same thickness were prepared on magnesium alloy in the silicate solution under the constant voltage mode.The surface morphologies of ceramic coatings were observed by SEM.The corrosion rates of the coatings were evaluated by the method of corrosion proportion.The value of medium ullage tangent tanδ was measured by LCR-digital electric bridge.The effects of micro-arc oxidation energy parameters on the surface morphologies of ceramic coatings were analyzed.Corresponding relations between the average value medium ullage tangent tanδ-and surface morphologies were investigated.Furthermore,the dependence of the corrosion resistance of ceramic coatings on the value of tanδ-was discussed.The results show that micropore apertures of the surface of ceramic coatings are decreased and the compactness is increased with increasing the frequency or decreasing the duty cycle;tanδ-is increased linearly with decreasing the frequency and increasing the duty cycle.The corrosion resistance of ceramic coatings gets worse with increasing tanδ-.As a result,the corrosion resistance of ceramic coatings evaluated lossless by tanδ-is realized.


It is often believed that inflation persistence can be attributed to variation in the Federal Reserve's long-run inflation target rather than firm's backwardlooking pricing behavior in the literature. In this regard, this paper investigates whether there is a need for the role of firm's backward-looking behavior in accounting for inflation persistence even after trend inflation is taken into account. To this end, we study the role of past output gaps in determining the inflation gap, defined as the deviation of inflation from its long-run path. Our findings are threefold. First, there is a long-lasting effect of the output gap on inflation gap and the maximum effect of the output gap on inflation gap occurs after four to seven quarters. Second, most fluctuations in the inflation gap are attributable to past output gaps than current and expected future output gaps. Finally, firm's backward-looking behavior is an essential ingredient in accounting for observed dynamic correlation between the output gap and inflation gap while the Federal Reserve's long run inflation target as a source of inflation persistence is not. Moreover, moments of key macroeconomic variables are best explained when both forwardand backward-looking behavior are equally important in determining the inflation gap. These results disagree with the forward-looking New Keynesian Phillips Curve (NKPC).


OBJECTIVE To improve our knowledge about the basic characteristics of tuberculosis(TB)in students,and provide evidences for implementing tuberculosis control methods in students.METHODS Through Jiangsu Information System for Diseases Control and Prevention,we retrospectively enrolled 8 690 students with TB form 2005 to 2009,and we explored the relationship between basic characteristics and TB occurrence.RESULTS TB students aged from 15 to 19 constituted the main proportion(58.61%)of all enrolled subjects,and the second group was the students aged from 20 to 24,taking the average percentage of 30.47%.Although the proportion of smear positive subjects was decreasing annually(P﹤0.000 1),the proportion of smear positive TB was high in 15 to 19 aged group(45.7%).We also found that the proportion of male students was increasing in older group(Ptrend﹤0.000 1).CONCLUSION Students aged from 15 to 19 years old should pay more attention on TB prevention and control;also,we should enhance surveillance and treatment for male adult students.


We consider the capacitated cycle covering problem: given an undirected, complete graph G with metric edge lengths and demands on the vertices, we want to cover the vertices with vertex-disjoint cycles, each serving a demand of at most one. The objective is to minimize a linear combination of the total length and the number of cycles. This problem is closely related to the capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP) and other cycle cover problems such as min-max cycle cover and bounded cycle cover.We show that a greedy algorithm followed by a post-processing step yields a (2+ 7 )-approximation for this problem by comparing the solution to a polymatroid relaxation. We also show that the analysis of our algorithm is tight and provide a 2+ lower bound for the relaxation. Mathematics Subject Classification 68W25 · 68W20 · 90C05 · 90C27 · 90B06


Presents an omni-directional mobile robot which can run on offroad and run over an obstacle. The robot is constructed with four crawler-roller-motor-units and a center-body. It is equipped with a crawler-roller running system. Each unit can be driven independently and the motion of the robot is controlled by the speed of motors. We also designed a position and velocity control system for the machine. The robot can be automatically controlled to run in optional directions and in any orbit. The efficiency of the mechanism and the autonomic running method have been verified by many practical running tests and computer simulations.


The above article, published online on 3 May 2014 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor in Chief, and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The retraction has been agreed due to errors in the results of the published article. The authors stated in the Methods section that '. . . only clusters with a false discovery rate (FDR)‐corrected P‐value less than 0.05 were included.' However, it was subsequently discovered that the FDG‐correction had not been performed correctly. Had this been carried out in the right way, the difference between the case group and the control group in most of the presented regions would have been insignificant.


The present invention embodies an apparatus and method to drive an orthodontic implant while minimizing the risk of damaging the implant. More specifically, a dual option driver (10) is adapted to drive an orthodontic implant (42) using both the base (38) and the top (36) of the head portion of the implant. When engaged with the base (38) of the implant head (36), the driver (10) has a friction fit with the implant due to a retaining clip (48) which mates with the top of the implant head (36). The primary force for driving is transferred to the screw through the base. This protects the neck (40) of the implant head from high torque forces. In addition, the retaining clip (48) allows a clinician to pick up the implant (42) using only one hand so that the clinician never has to touch the implant. Once installed, the driver (10) can adjust the implant (42) by engaging the top of its head portion (36).


A systematic check on longllved atmospheric radloactlvlty using samples of dust and precipltatlons was made. - The main methods of sample-taking and analysis are reviewed briefly: high-output pumps, filters, rain gauges, collectors, evaporations and calclnatlons, and counting. The results are presented for atmospheric dusts, and precipltatlons. After a perturbed year, l958, and the flrst half of 1959 which showed the maxlmum and the most perslstant activities, a rapid and continuous decrease ls shown; the low levels were maintained September 1, l961, and were disturbed only to a negligible extent in 1960 by the Sahara experiments. (auth)


The adenylyl cyclase isoform 6 (AC6) is expressed in all tubule segments and the collecting duct. Previously we showed that AC6 is important for AQP2 phosphorylation and urinary concentration. To define the role of this enzyme in membrane abundance and arginine‐vasopressin (AVP)‐induced phosphorylation of NKCC2 (residue S126) and NCC (residues T53, T58 and S71) we studied AC6 wild‐type (WT, n=3–4) and knockout (AC6−/−, n=3–4) mice. Endogenous AVP was suppressed overnight by water loading (5% dextrose/1% ethanol in drinking water). dDAVP (0.1 μg/kg i.p.) or vehicle were applied, kidneys removed 20 min later and responses compared between WT vs AC6−/−. The dDAVP‐induced increase in total membrane NKCC2 expression was blunted in AC6−/− vs WT (1.9±0.3 vs 13±3 fold, P<0.05) and S126‐NKCC2 phosphorylation attenuated (AC6−/−: 0.9±0.1 vs WT: 1.4±0.1 fold, P<0.05). The dDAVP‐induced increase in total membrane NCC expression (0.6±0.1 vs 1.6±0.1 fold, P<0.05) and NCC phosphorylation at T53, T58 and S71 were attenuated in AC6−/− vs WT (0.6±0.1 vs 2.0±0.3, 0.8±0.1 vs 1.8±0.1, and 0.4±0.1 vs 2.9±0.1 fold, respectively, P<0.05). Immunohistochemistry showed reduced membrane abundance for S126‐NKCC2, T53‐ and T58‐NCC in response to dDAVP in AC6−/− vs WT. Our results implicate AC6 in AVP‐induced upregulation of NKCC2 and NCC membrane expression and phosphorylation.


In order to apply laser real time holograhic interference computed tomography technique to 3 dimension temperature field measurement,some experimental methods,special devices and related problems were demonstrated.Moreover,the necessity of introducing the technique into college physics experiment was delivered.Some opinions on the problems in designing experiment teaching and innovation capability cultivation were presented.


Nurses in East Yorkshire are carrying laptop computers on their rounds to provide better education for women with breast cancer or benign disorders, the initiative, believed to be the first of its kind in the field, has been designed so that patients can use the latest computer technology to find information relevant to their individual diseases.


Fractional differ-integrals plays very important role in the description of the dynamics of many complex systems. Many methods were proposed to explicit solution in the last two decades but rigorous convergence analysis is often not available. Thus a user who needs a systematic approach for a particular problem often has difficulties in finding suitable method. The development of suitable and well-founded new analytical and approximate methods to solve complicated Fractional ordinary and partial differential equations has become the major attraction amongst researchers. In the present paper the fractional reduced differential transform method (FRDTM) is implemented to solve linear and nonlinear initial and boundary value problems for time fractional differential equations. The relation of solution with time at given x=1 and the phase plot of solution behavior for different derivative orders like 0.5, 0.75 and 1 are depicted through graphs.


Theme: Scientific evidence is irreversibly mounting regarding the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to adapt to the inevitable changes already under way. How much climate change mitigation is needed, when these initiatives should be implemented and who should shoulder the burden are the core issues of many academic and policy debates. Consensus among most scientists is far from settling these debates. This 'arguable agreement' among the scientific community has nevertheless helped make the climate change debate more important in the policy agenda, albeit to a limited extent. The present paper will introduce the debate with respect to action taken to mitigate climate change, its characteristics and challenges in the context of global, EU and Spanish actions. Summary: The recent publication of the Stern Review (SR) and the fourth assessment report (AR4) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has attracted much attention. Their damage estimates along with the increasing certainty of the anthropogenic nature of GHG emission concentrations have been scrutinised in academic and policy arenas. Despite criticism, the main results presented by the SR have been backed by some of the leading experts in the climate change (CC) field as well as by the International Energy Agency. The salient issues regarding climate change as well as the main debates will be analysed in the first two sections of this paper. The leading role of the EU in CC negotiations as well as current proposals will then be advanced as well as Spain's disappointing trend in GHG emissions since 1990. Spain's strategy regarding CC will be analysed and further specific targets will be suggested for future policies. The role of the US, China nd India will be discussed as a necessary addon to CC negotiations to manage a global public good, a stable climate. A fair burdensharing agreement and the use of issue linkage coupled with the damages of CC will be presented as the main motives for a fruitful global CC agreement.


A call for updated guidelines on preventing bullying in the health-care sector Tamim Alsuliman,a Angie Moukib & Walaa Abdul Rahmanc a Saint Antoine hospital AP-HP, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France. b Faculty of Pharmacy, Maykop State Technological University, Zhukovskogo street 12, Maykop, Adygeya, 385000, Russian Federation. c Directorate of Education, Tishreen University, Lattakia, Syria. Correspondence to Angie Mouki (email: firstname.lastname@example.com). (Submitted: 7 November 2021 – Revised version received: 30 March 2022 – Accepted: 1 April 2022 – Published online: 2 May 2022) Bullying is a growing issue in the health-care sector. In 2002, the World Health Organization in collaboration with the International Labour Office, the International Council of Nurses and Public Services International published guidelines for addressing workplace violence in the health-care sector. The guidelines provide several recommendations for governments and employers to prevent bullying in the workplace. While many governments have not implemented these recommendations, others stepped forward and set frameworks for the prevention of bullying in the workplace. For example, the government of Western Australia implemented a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying under the employment policy framework in 2016, which was updated in 2019. The employers' organization for the National Health Service in England has adopted guidance to address the issue of bullying from an organizational approach, providing tools and offering support to employees who experienced bullying. In addition, workers are encouraged to follow these guidelines and to report incidents of bullying.


Although the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 to Malala Yousafzai demonstrates recognition of girl's education as a political issue, the education of girls also has economic repercussions that specifically affect trade. These repercussions include: (a) Girls' education leads to growth in developing countries; (b) Girls' education results in more skilled labour and higher productivity; (c) To move up the global value chain, countries need a deep pool of skilled, productive labour; (d) For countries in the Asia-Pacific region that are seeking to allocate their public funding efficiently, girls' education has a particularly high payoff because of high marginal returns and because of spillover effects to family members; (e) Trade benefits girls – when opportunities to work in trade-related industries exist, girls stay in school. Thus, a virtuous cycle exists between the education of girls and economic development.


Sand and dust storms are often occurred in Northwest of China.The scientists have found that the sand and dust storms can not only change the insulation capability of air,but also generate strong electric field due to the friction among the sand and dust, which may affect the safe operation of the power transmission lines.In this paper,the influence of the sand and dust storms as well as wind-sand electricity on the power-frequency electric field distribution around head of transmission tower is investigated.Based on the moment method,by introducing the concept of complex resistivity,a numerical model to analyze the maximal electric field strength on the surfaces of the conductor and grading rings under the electric field around the transmission tower is developed.The influence of the wind-sand electricity on the electric field distribution around the head of transmission tower is analyzed,The measures to reduce the maximal electric field strength on the surface of the middle phase of transmission line by optimizing the configuration of the conductor and grading ring is also investigated.It is found that the strong wind-sand electricity may increase the maximal electric field strength on the surfaces of the conductor and grading rings,which may affect the safe operation of the power transmission lines.However,this situation can be improved by optimizing the conductor arrangement.


Tongshi is a new type of ore field discovered recently with multi-mineralization types recognized.Crypto-explosion breccia Au mineralization is the major one.Indicator elements used in other ore field show only Au,Ag anomly in large Au deposit.Whereas high concentration and multi-element combination occur at uneconomic porphyry and skarn Au ore accurrances.Therefore,the indicator elements formerly used can not meet needs of ore search in the area.The disperse elements such as Te,Se and halogen element F should be fully made use of for indication and strengthening the ore-caused anomly and wcakening the non-ore anomly.


The electron beam machine (EBM) irradiators based on plasma cathode that emit pulse electron beam for radiation vulcanized natural rubber latex (RVNRL) have been developed in Tomsk, Russia. Meanwhile, a prototype of an ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV-LED) irradiator for RVNRL has been developed by the Research Technology Center for Accelerator and the ATK Polytechnic in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This research aims to compare the irradiator prototype technology for RVNRL. The RVNRL technology comparison method is carried out by assessing the specifications and performance of the equipment, costs (investment, operational, maintenance), hazard, and operability. The results of the comparison of irradiator technology for RVNRL show that the UV-LED irradiators are superior to the UV-mercury irradiators and the plasma cathode-based EBM irradiators which gives a total value of 476, 412, and 248, respectively. Thus, it can be concluded that the UV-LED irradiators technology for RVNRL is simpler, more practical, economical, and environmentally friendly compared to the UV-mercury irradiators and the plasma cathode-based EBM irradiators.


Light sensitive phototransistor based on the composite of poly(3-hexylthiophene) and TiO2 nanoparticles has been developed. The device shows a quick change in channel current under light exposure, which can be attributed to a positive shift of the threshold voltage, while no change in the field effect mobility and off current can be observed. The shift of the threshold voltage is induced by accumulated electrons trapped by the TiO2 nanoparticles in the channel. The photosensitivity of the device has been found to be dependent on the concentration of TiO2 nanoparticles, the incident wavelength and the voltage between the source and drain.


The main purpose of this paper is to find an efficient image fusion algorithm for multifocus images, based on the shift-invariance, multi-scale and multi-directional properties of nonsubsampled contourlet transform (NSCT) along with human visual characteristics of spiking cortical model (SCM). Firstly, maximum selection rule (MSR) is used to fuse low frequency coefficients of NSCT. Secondly, the time matrix of SCM is set as criteria to select coefficients of high frequency subband. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is achieved by the comparison with existing fusion methods. Objective tests and analysis conducted under different noised source image environments proved the robustness of the proposed fusion method.


Background: Insight in the motivations of prescribing antidepressants may contribute to advance the efficiency of the current, large antidepressant prescription rate. Less is known about why general practitioners (GPs) treat patients with antidepressants or not and choose modern SSRIs instead of the classical tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). Aim: To explore the motivations of and reasons for prescribing antidepressants and to determine the relevance of each motivation/reason in concrete patients. Methods: Based on a semi-structured interview in 22 GPs we distracted motivations of prescribing antidepressants. Subsequently, 67 other GPs filled in for concrete patients with depression or anxiety disorder whether or not these motivations were relevant for choosing an antidepressant treatment in general or a specific antidepressant (case-control study). The GPs in the case-control study were participating in the National Information Network GPs (LINH) and recorded all patient contacts and prescriptions in their electronic medical system. Results: The interviews showed that clinical characteristics, guidelines, costs and patient's preference for (non-)medical treatment played a role in prescribing antidepressants. In the case-control study, severity and duration of symptoms, expected effectiveness and effectiveness in the past were most frequently mentioned as reasons for prescribing antidepressants. Antidepressants were not prescribed in case of a treatment with a non-medical treatment or when no effectiveness was expected. The most frequently reported reasons for prescribing SSRIs and TCAs were similar (e.g. expected effectiveness, effectiveness in the past and Iess side effects). Another relevant motivation in case of TCAs are costs. Other relevant motivations in case of SSRIs are friendly use and good compliance. Conclusions: Clinical characteristics are more frequently the reason for prescribing antidepressants than the preference of the patient. The large prescription rate of SSRIs may be related to the GPs' believe that SSRIs are friendly in use and result in good compliance.


This disclosure in the application control method for an electronic device, the method comprising the steps of: executing in the foreground and the background for a plurality of apps, and detects the number of the touch-point input on a touch screen, detecting an app corresponding to the number of the touch points process and in response to the touch gesture for detecting the process and, for controlling the touch gesture corresponding to app comprises a process for controlling the corresponding app.


Short-read DNA sequencing has led to a massive growth of genome databases but mainly with highly fragmented metagenome assembled genomes from environmental systems. The fragmentation is a result of closely related species, strains, and genome repeats that cannot be resolved with short reads. To confidently explore the functional potential of a microbial community, high-quality reference genomes are needed. In this study, we evaluated the use of different combinations of short (Illumina) and long-read technologies (Nanopore R9.4, R10.3, and PacBio CCS) for recovering high-quality metagenome assembled genomes (HQ MAGs) from a complex microbial community (anaerobic digester). Depending on the sequencing approach, 33 to 86 HQ MAGs (encompassing up to 34 % of the assembly and 49 % of the reads) were recovered using long reads, with Nanopore R9 featuring the lowest sequencing costs per HQ MAG recovered. PacBio CCS was also found to be an effective platform for genome-centric metagenomics (74 HQ MAGs) and produced HQ MAGs with the lowest fragmentation (median of 9 contigs) as a stand-alone technology. Using PacBio CCS MAGs as reference, we show that, although a high number of high-quality MAGs can be generated using Nanopore R9, systematic indel errors are still present, which can lead to truncated gene calling. However, polishing the Nanopore MAGs with short-read Illumina data, enabled recovery of MAGs with similar quality as MAGs from PacBio CCS.Multiple approaches exists for performing genome-centric metagenomics to recover high-quality genomes from microbial communities. The plethora of possible sequencing strategies can be cumbersome for designing metagenomics projects, especially under limited budget conditions. Here, we performed single sequencing runs of the same complex microbial community sample using Illumina MiSeq, Oxford Nanopore MinION and PacBio Sequel II to assess the performance of each platform. We show that, in general, long read sequencing significantly outperforms the short read Illumina platform for recovering microbial genomes. In addition, we observed that the hybrid Nanopore-Illumina approach recovers genomes of comparable quality to PacBio CCS, while maintaining lower sequencing costs per genome recovered. For this reason, we find the Nanopore R.9.4.1 and supplemental Illumina read polishing to be, at the moment of writing, the most cost-effective sequencing strategy for de novo acquisition of high-quality genomes.


The article deals with the analysis of parametric reliability of thread processing equipment. Particular attention is paid to the basic characteristics of parametric reliability of precision threading equipment safety margin for each of the output parameters.


Judging from reports in the literature, one observer seldom has the opportunity to compare the effects, in different patients, of bullets in the middle ear. Three such cases are reported, and briefly compared, in this paper. REPORT OF CASES Case 1. —A woman, aged 36, came to the Mayo Clinic because of obesity and discharging ears. When the patient was 16 years old and living in Italy, she became infatuated with a youth of 18 years. They decided to get married, but the parents of both objected strenuously. The young people, much disheartened, went into the woods, where they spent the day. Evening came, but home was an undesirable place, and the young woman did not deem it proper to remain in the woods all night with a young man to whom she was not married. After much consultation, they decided to shoot themselves, reasoning that the most vulnerable spot


reflection by re-visioning, seeing anew, the patterns of community, meaning, power, and transformation that shape families, the church, and other human communities. Transformation is both personal and societal and is integral to religious meaning, and the search for justice and transformation are interrelated. Throughout the book theory and practice are interwoven in a way that will spark questions and dialogue. Overall, the book addresses the responsibility of families and communities to engage whiteness and racial identity in ways that transform and liberate and to reject that which perpetuates injustice and oppression. Overall, the book encourages white people to use our agency to work for justice in our families and beyond.


The Three Tier system of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) which was put in place with 73rd amendment in the constitution of India, is a major initiative for democratic decentralization. PRIs are acting successfully and gradually becoming more powerful and resourceful. Now most of the Panchayets, including block and village level, are having their own buildings with basic infrastructural facilities like internet and computers. They are the representative institutions of people at grassroots. The villages Panchayats also share a common concern to strengthen educational opportunities. With increasing role being played by Village Panchayats in rural developmental arena we feel that Open and Distance Learning Systems (ODL) support services operations should converge with them (Gargava 2017). Authors of this paper have been engaged in the promotion of Indira Gandhi national Open University (IGNOU)'s Programmes and Policies in the state of Madhya Pradesh for quite some time. It is in this context that authors have planned a new strategic intervention for the sensitization operations and delivery systems of IGNOU, India, and results have been encouraging. The paper describes the experiences of the authors while using some out of box strategies to sensitize the people through Panchayats. It helped the IGNOU Regional Centre to generate the participation in IGNOU's academic programmes. Further, the delivery of academic services in the villages had positive impact on the participation of students in the counseling sessions and success rate of the students. This paper documents varied learning experiences in this experiment.


Soil maps derived from random or grid-based sampling schemes are often an important part of precision crop
management. Sampling and soil analysis to derive such maps require a large investment of both time and money. Aerial
photos have been used as a soil mapping aid for years. Studies have shown such an approach can be useful for defining
management units in precision farming, but these studies are often limited to a single field, not an entire farming
operation. In this study, multispectral airborne [green, red, near infrared (NIR), and thermal] and satellite (SPOT and
Landsat TM) data were used to derive soil textural class maps for 350 ha of a 770 ha research and demonstration farm in
Maricopa, Arizona. These maps were compared to soil textural analysis results from samples in the top 30 cm of the soil
profile at an approximate grid spacing of 120 m. Differences in tillage, residue, soil moisture, etc. between fields limited
the accuracy of spectral classification procedures when applied across the entire study area. However, using spectral
classification procedures on a field-by-field basis, it was possible to map areas of soil textural class with reasonable
accuracy. These results are specific to the study area and may not apply at other locations due to the numerous factors
that can contribute to a soil's spectral response. Classification procedures were also used with vegetation present over the
study area later in the season. Resulting vegetation classes may be helpful in deciding if soil classes impact crop
development enough to warrant different management practices.


Starting from a nonlinear 2D/1D fluid–structure interaction problem between a thin layer of a viscous fluid and a thin elastic structure, in the vanishing limit of the relative fluid thickness, we rigorously derive a sixth-order thin-film equation describing the dynamics of vertical displacements of the structure. The procedure is essentially based on quantitative energy estimates in terms of the relative fluid thickness and a uniform no-contact result between the structure and the solid substrate. The sixth-order thin-film equation is justified in the sense of strong convergence of rescaled structure displacements to the unique positive classical solution of the thin-film equation. Moreover, the limiting fluid velocity and pressure can be expressed solely in terms of the solution to the thin-film equation.


The aldehyde function coordinated as eta(1); eta(2) is able to discriminate between aliphatic and aromatic amines in the Schiff condensation reaction.


The conventional method of detecting flood extent using satellite SAR data is derived from signal intensity changes for each pixel between before and during the flood time. SAR signal intensity should include the information of interaction between ground features and microwave radar. Using mathematical morphology, particular ground feature can be investigated, such as regularly straight lined levees of consolidated paddy fields.


A lighting device 12 according to the present invention includes: a plurality of light sources 18; a chassis 14 housing the light sources 18, the chassis 14 having a guide 30, 31; a power supply board 20 configured to supply drive power to the light sources 18; and a plurality of relay connectors 21 mounted to the chassis 14 and configured to relay power supply between the power supply board 20 and the light sources 18. The relay connectors 21 are arranged in a row. The power supply board 20 is disposed such that a long-side direction thereof is aligned with a direction along the row of the relay connectors 21. The power supply board 20 is moved in the direction along the row of the relay connectors 21 so as to be connected to the relay connectors 21. The guide 30, 31 is configured to guide the power supply board 20 in the direction along the row of the relay connectors 21.


The name Flexopecten glaber ponticus (Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1889) is generally used for the only Pectinidae representative inhabiting the Black Sea. It is registered in the Red Book of the Republic of Crimea as endemic subspecies reducing in amount. F. glaber ponticus is listed in WoRMS MolluscaBase as the only accepted subspecies of Flexopecten glaber (Linnaeus, 1758). In the past its taxonomic status has been changed from a geographic variety to valid species. The purpose of this study is to establish its correct taxonomic status. The study is based on a comparative analysis of conchological features of Flexopecten glaber and F. glaber ponticus in relation with the brief natural history of population in the Black Sea. Sampling was performed by snorkel equipment in Kazach'ya Bay (Black Sea, Crimea, Sevastopol) at 2–6 m depths. A total of 100 scallop specimens were sampled in September 2017. To assure a better understanding in a broader context those results are compared with the previously published morphological data based on the analysis of a large amount of material from the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea – Marmara Sea regions. Comparative analysis of conchological features of F. glaber ponticus from the Black Sea with F. glaber from the Mediterranean region has not revealed any distinct differences between them. Thus, there are no evidenced data for the diagnosis of F. glaber ponticus as a subspecies. Species F. glaber appeared in the Black Sea not earlier than 7,000 years ago and formed a well developed population less than 3,000 years ago. We have to conclude that the specified divergence period is not long enough to form a subspecies. As a result of the present survey the subspecific status of F. glaber ponticus is not retained and the name is placed in synonymy of the parent species Flexopecten glaber.


[Objective] To study express of tumor necrosis factor-α,interleukin-1 on liver transplantation ischemia/reperfusion in rats and protection of ginkgo bilobo extract pretreatment.[Methods] Male sprague-Dawley rats were used as donors and recipients of orthotopic liver transplantation(OLT)and were divided into EGb Group and NS control group randomly according to whether extract of ginkgo biloba leaves was injected by venous(40 mg/kg)1 h before liver grafts harvesting.The rats were killed at 2 h,6 h,24 h after ischemia/reperfusion,serum concentration of ALT,AST were meassured and the liver tissue were sampled to observe the expression of TNF-α,IL-1 on hepatic tissue.[Results] After ischemia/reperfusion,the serum concentration of ALT,AST and expression of TNF-α,IL-1 on hepatic tissue in Group NS significantly increased(P 0.01),and the hepatocyte morphology change was obvious compared with Group SO.Treatment of ginkgo biloba extract could significantly decrease serum concentration of ALT,AST and expression of TNF-α,IL-1 on hepatic tissue in group EGb compared with group NS(P 0.01),and relieve hepatocyte swelling and necrosis.[Conclusions] TNF-α,IL-1 are the important factors of HIRI.Ginkgo bilobo extract can decrease TNF-α,IL-1 and HIRI.


This paper analyses the main factors affecting the undamping caused by subsynchronous torsional interaction (SSTI) between HVDC and turbine-generator unit. A model describing simple AC-DC transmission system consisting of a turbine-generator, HVDC CIGRE benchmark model and equivalent sources describing the AC systems connected to converter terminals is used to study the interaction. The paper shows how and in what extent the known main factors effect on the level of undamping caused by HVDC. This understanding is of great value as the risk of growing subsynchronous oscillations in transmission system is considered in connection of major structural network changes in vicinity of existing HVDC and turbine-generator installations. The study results and the simulation model used in SSTI studies will be exploited when the SSTI risk is estimated as a part of long-term network planning of Finnish transmission grid.