4120 Background: There is no standard-of-care second-line chemotherapy for APC. The combination of docetaxel and gefitinib, an inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) shows enhanced preclinical activity compared to docetaxel alone. Docetaxel alone has activity in APC, and this phase II trial is designed to evaluate the combination. The primary endpoint is survival with an accrual goal of 45 patients to detect an improvement to 5.25 months (mo) in median survival time by one-sided log-rank test at level α = 0.05.

METHODS
Patients with APC and one prior chemotherapy regimen are eligible for study; EGFR over-expression is not required. Gefitinib is administered at the dose of 250 mg/day orally without interruption. The initial dose of docetaxel was 75 mg/m2 every three weeks (one cycle), but was reduced to 60 mg/m2 due to a high incidence of febrile neutropenia.

RESULTS
31 pts, all with prior gemcitabine therapy, have been enrolled on study to date, with 26 evaluable for toxicity. Patient characteristics: 62% male; 92 % with ECOG performance status 0/1, 8% ECOG of 2; median age 64 years (range 47-82 years). The best response is stable disease (5 pts), median cycles administered 2 (range 1-12). Thus far the median survival time is 4.4 mo, with median time to progression of 2.5 mo. Grade (G) 3/4 febrile neutropenia occurred in 8 out of 18 pts treated at the 75 mg/m2 dose of docetaxel; none has been seen with the 60 mg/m2 dose. Other G 3/4 adverse events include: diarrhea (3.8%), rash (7.7%), constitutional symptoms (11.5%), and nausea (11.5%).

CONCLUSION
The combination of gefitinib and docetaxel at 60 mg/m2 is tolerable, with interim results showing a median survival time of 4.4 mo at this point. If the protocol's goal of median survival time of 5.25 mo is met upon study completion, the combination may be worthy of further investigation. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


More than 3D-year old industrial areas, especially those in urban areas, begin to need urban regeneration. For a successful urban regeneration, what the indigenous businesses concern needs to be understood. However, their concerns have not been sufficiently understood. This study aims to examine firms' concerns regarding regeneration and possible relocation. This paper investigates a case of Gunpo industrial area and survey the firms. This paper reveals that newly settled prospering businesses tend to oppose regeneration. If firms can move into a apartment-type industrial complex, they are positive to regeneration. Interestingly, incumbent businesses worry about possible knowledge network loss, which, in turn, affects negatively on urban regeneration. Regarding relocation, most of the businesses are concerned about business eco-system. That is, they worry about breaking the business network. If firms cannot easily switch suppliers and customers, they do not want to relocate. This research suggests that urban regeneration of an industrial area should consider business eco-system as well as physical environment improvement.


A model of multilayer polycrystalline structure of films of biological fluids of human organs has been developed. Each layer is associated with a partial Jones-matrix operator of phase and amplitude anisotropy. A new principle for detecting polarization-inhomogeneous object fields using a coherent laser wave is proposed. Algorithms for digital holographic reconstruction of field distributions of complex amplitudes in the plane of a polycrystalline film of a biological fluid are found. A new optical technique is proposed: direct measurement of 3D distributions of elements of the Jones matrix. Maps of layer-by-layer distributions of elements of the Jones matrix of polycrystalline urine films are studied. Sensitivity, specificity and balanced accuracy of the 3D Jones-matrix tomography method of the polycrystalline structure of urine films of healthy donors and patients with albuminuria were determined. Within the framework of the statistical analysis of stratified maps of elements of the Jones matrix of polycrystalline urine films, objective criteria for the early diagnosis of the onset and course of albuminuria were found.


Several studies have evaluated the usefulness of deep learning for lung segmentation using chest X‐ray (CXR) images with small‐ or medium‐sized abnormal findings. Here, we built a database including both CXR images with severe abnormalities and experts' lung segmentation results, and aimed to evaluate our network's efficacy in lung segmentation from these images. For lung segmentation, CXR images from the Japanese Society of Radiological Technology (JSRT, N = 247) and Montgomery databases (N = 138) were included, and 65 additional images depicting severe abnormalities from a public database were evaluated and annotated by a radiologist, thereby adding lung segmentation results to these images. U‐net was used to segment the lungs in images from the three databases. Subsequently, the U‐net network architecture was automatically optimized for lung segmentation from CXR images using Bayesian optimization. Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was calculated to confirm segmentation. Our results demonstrated that using baseline U‐net yielded poorer lung segmentation results in our database than those in the JSRT and Montgomery databases, implying that robust segmentation of lungs may be difficult because of severe abnormalities. The DSC values with baseline U‐net for the JSRT, Montgomery and our databases were 0.979, 0.941, and 0.889, respectively, and with optimized U‐net, 0.976, 0.973, and 0.932, respectively. For robust lung segmentation, the U‐net architecture was optimized via Bayesian optimization, and our results demonstrate that the optimized U‐net was more robust than baseline U‐net in lung segmentation from CXR images with large‐sized abnormalities.


ABSTRACT---Vehicle washing business services in the current era are growing in numbers, both simple and those that have used technology. As a consequence, the production of wastewater more and more, which if not controlled will have an impact on environmental pollution. Conventional wastewater treatment technology is sometimes less effective because it requires chemicals in the process and requires relatively longer, so the need for land to build a treatment unit is relatively wider. To provide an alternative treatment process that is simpler and has good results and does not require large tracts of land, it is necessary to develop electro-coagulation technology combined with flotation. Electrocoagulation is the process of clumping and precipitation of fine particles contained in water by using electrical energy. This study was to determine the ability of electrocoagulation-flotation technology in decreasing the parameters of COD, detergents, and oil in motor vehicle washing wastewater based on the type of electrodes used at 12 and 24-volt electric voltages with contact times of 30 and 60 minutes. This study is an experimental study with a "pre and post-test group design" design. The results showed that the combination of electrocoagulation-flotation at 24-volt voltage and 60 minutes contact time with aluminum electrodes could reduce COD 82.7%, oil 46.5%, and detergent 68.9%. Whereas with iron electrodes the COD decreased by 81.1%, oil by 43.7% and detergents by 65.1%. With an average reduction, aluminum electrodes are better than iron electrodes. Although aluminum and iron electrodes are better, statistically the two are not different (p <0.05), this shows that there is no difference in the ability to decrease test parameters. Other than that, the longer the contact time, the greater the decrease in test parameters. The conclusion is that the electrocoagulation-flotation combination method can be used to reduce the COD, oil/fat and detergent parameters in motor vehicle washing wastewater. The results of this study are expected to be applied to motor vehicle washing activities by utilizing iron waste as an electrode.


The REDCo project addressed the question of how study of religions and values in schools could contribute to either dialogue or tension in Europe. Researchers in the humanities and social sciences co‐operated in order to gain better insight into how European citizens of different religious, cultural and political backgrounds could enter into dialogue which respected freedom of religion or belief. Empirical studies, targeting students in the 14‐ to 16‐year age group, included a dual perspective of, on the one hand, the subjects' own perspectives and, on the other hand, analyses of examples of observed teaching. The project was funded by the European Commission for the period from March 2006 to March 2009 and was co‐ordinated by the University of Hamburg. Eight European countries (Estonia, Russia, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, France, England and Spain) participated. This contribution, by the project co‐ordinator, provides an overview of the project and presents a personal evaluation.


In Indonesia, some companies have started to be able to use and develop the technology augmented reality (AR). This technology produces a wide range of applications, and the many areas that can benefit from the use of AR technology. This study want to discuss about the application of AR technology in the media who need information with a grain of interest to the target audience is modern. Through this research, qualitative descriptive analysis, with a focus on the exposure of the role of AR technology to conventional media who need something new to the modern pursuit of market share. Object of research is centered on media history books because history is a science that must continue to be preserved with a focus on storybook series of Majapahit as a case study. Keywords: Augmented Reality, Storybook, Majapahit.


As a part of systematic researches of phase transitions induced by shock compression in phosphates, silicates, germanates and sulfates, in this article we report preliminary results obtained from shock recovery experiments on powders of a gypsum mineral. The shock experiment was performed in a light gas gun until a pressure close to 14 GPa reached. The experimental techniques employed to analyze the shock effects on recovered samples were: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) and Micro-Raman Spectroscopy (MRS). The SEM observations show a high plasticity in the impacted sample composed mainly by gypsum and bassanite quantified by Rietveld analysis of the XRD. The results indicate the partial dehydration of gypsum as a result of impact. The MRS analysis suggests the presence of micro-mixtures of gypsum, bassanite and anhydrite heterogeneously distributed throughout the recovered sample.


I discuss single top quark production at the Tevatron and the LHC. The cross section, including soft-gluon threshold corrections through NNNLO, is presented for each partonic channel. The higher-order corrections provide significant contributions to the single top cross sections at both colliders.


The management and delivery of healthcare services is evolving to new formats. The entire structure of the delivery system is undergoing significant change. Hospitals continue to respond to pressures to reduce costs through corporate reorganization and implementation of labor saving technologies. An increasingly competitive marketplace demands measures which enhance quality of care and provide a service orientation. These changes have a significant impact on nursing administration, which must increasingly focus on quality, productivity, and flexibility. In the quickly changing healthcare environment, the challenge for nurse administrators has shifted from managing daily operations to mastering change and innovation. Preparing nursing for the demands of the future requires a massive restructuring of roles and organization. With technology driven control systems, nursing administration can achieve the flexibility and responsiveness of a decentralized system and the integration and control of a centralized organization.


The rubber tree lacebug, Leptopharsa heveae Drake & Poor, was studied aiming to determine its thermal requirements, biology and the population fluctuation of nymphs and adults in rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis Muell Arg. Experiments were conducted in climatic chambers at 15°C, 20°C, 25°C, 27°C and 30°C using rubber tree seedlings clone RRIM 600 as host plant. The population fluctuation was obtained by sampling north and south sides of rubber trees clone PB 235, considering leaves of internal and external parts located in the top, middle and basal sections of the trees. The temperature of 15°C was inadequate for the embryonic development of L. heveae. The shortest lacebug pre-oviposition period was observed at the high temperatures of 27°C and 30oC, however the female fecundity was not altered at the temperature gradient of 20°C to 30oC. The estimated lower developmental thermal thresholds and thermal constants of the egg and nymphal phases and of the biological cycle were 11.5/141.4, 8.3/234.6 and 9.8°C/370.4 degree-day, respectively. A population peak of adults and nymphs occurred in 30/03/99; another peak of adults was also observed in 04/06/99 and nymphs in 19/10/99. The thermal requirements provided the prevision of thirteen generations of L. heveae from October/1998 to November/1999.


Disclosed are systems for converting rotational momentum into linear propulsion. A propulsion system includes one or more thrust units with masses controllably driven by actuators to generate inertia that thrusts a vehicle with the propulsion system in a desired direction. The propulsion system can be configured to have multiple units, each configured to generate thrust in a desired direction and counteract or neutralize thrust in other directions. The propulsion system can generate thrust via two operational cycles and/or through continuous operation. The propulsion system may comprise two mirroring units, each configured to operate in mirrored synchrony to generate a net thrust in a desired direction and counteract or neutralize thrust in other or undesired directions.


For the purpose of ensuring the system of probation could be carried out effectively, enforcing the surveillance and inspect, and promoting the quality of reforming the criminals, it's urge to set up the system of deposit in security for the probationer. it's the need of adapting to both the socialist market economic system and people' change of idea, meanwhile,it's an important measure to actively take part in and push the composite administration of public security. In the process of carrying out, we have to not only fix the applying range of deposit amount in security reasonably, but also standardize its procedure and administration seriously; also, be strict with the institution of handling cases and the juristical condition of probation, and strengthen the financial administration of the deposit, stop some bodies take it as the source of "extra income", so that ensure the impartiality when executing the deposit in security of probation.


In this paper, we will discuss the technique for finding the appropriate cluster group for the nodes when the number of cluster(k) is limited. This process is carried out by using k-means algorithm and BFS-Dijkstra, also named as k-dijkstra. Grouping of nodes in different clusters is easy when the value of k is given by the user. The system is very efficient when the clusters are less in number. So the problem arises when the number of nodes are high, shattered and the number of clusters are less. Here we will study the different techniques and issues faced with clustering. Keywords— K-Means, BFS(Breadth First Search, Dijkstra algorithm, K-Dijkstra. I. INTRODUCTION Clustering is the techniques used in data mining for extracting useful information from large amount of data stored in different databases and data warehouses. Clustering is used for grouping the set of data objects into groups or clusters so that objects within one cluster have high similarities between them but highly dissimilar from objects in other clusters. Let's take some examples of clustering for grouping the people of a city according to their age. grouping of students according to their branches of study. K-means algorithm in clustering is used to find the distance between the nodes or objects and the cluster centroids. The distance is calculated by either Euclidean distance, Manhattan distance or Minkowski distance. The grouping of objects is done on the basis of distance between the object and the cluster centroids(1). In graph computing BFS(Breadth First Search) is used to traverse through different paths of the graph. BFS traverses the complete from level by level, so that the complete graph is checked and maintained. Dijkstra algorithm is used to find the distance of the nodes which are connected to the parent node. With the use if Dijkstra algorithm we can find the shortest path from source node and the destination node. Another technique was used to find the cluster groups known as k-dijkstra. It is used to find the cluster groups when the number of clusters(k) is not defined by the user or the system.


A computationally simple algorithm for the inversion of multidimensional (mD) continued fraction expansions is presented. The approach is based on the interpretation of an mD continued fraction expansion as a driving-point admittance. To facilitate the inversion procedure a cyclic function Ti(z1, z2,…, zm) is introduced. Several examples are given for inverting 3-D and 4-D systems to illustrate the efficiency of the algorithm.


ABSTRACT Eco-labels such as Blue Flags can be effective for enhancing both sustainability and tourism. Given the ongoing political debate on the effectiveness of Blue Flags for promoting tourism, we analyze the impact of the number of Blue Flag beaches on tourist arrivals (international and domestic, respectively) for Spanish coastal provinces. Panel data techniques are used to evaluate Blue Flags econometrically for the longest and most recent time period in the literature (2000–2019). Findings suggest that Blue Flags are effective at promoting international tourism but not domestic tourism. Different patterns for international and domestic tourists mean that differentiated policies should be applied.


There has been a great deal of interest in estimating parameters of the censored regression model, which arises in a regular regression situation if the measuring device fails to give a true measurement above or below a given level. Most previous works however are based on the assumption that the regressor (system input) is noise-free, which is not always true in many practical applications. In this paper, we focus on estimating parameters of a more general censored regression model which allows the regressor as well as the response to be observed with noises. In this case, ordinary least-squares estimators suffer from serious biases, which result from the censored outputs and noisy inputs as well. In order to solve the problem, we develop an efficient bias-compensated Heckman algorithm (BC-Heckman) for censored regression with noisy input. The BC-Heckman is able to significantly reduce the biases and thus outperforms the previously proposed algorithms. In addition, we also extend the algorithm to the distributed scenario where the data is distributed over many sensor nodes forming a network. The theoretical analysis results show the BC-Heckman algorithms have good convergence and steady state behaviors, and simulation experiments further demonstrate the good performance.


Introduction: Unique spongiosa like surface structure was introduced in 1982 by ESKA implants Germany. It is called "Spongiosa-Metal I surface" The purpose of this retrospective study is to report and compare long term results of Spongiosa Metal I total hip prosthesis in Japan and Germany. Method: In Japan, between June 1986 and August 1990 total 113 prostheses were implanted and consecutive 106 implants could be evaluated. In Germany, between May 1983 and December 1985 total 209 prostheses were implanted and consecutive 165 implants could be evaluated. The all evaluated prosthesis combined ceramic head and polyethylene inlay. Results: In Japan, average follow up period was 17 years. 85% of the patients had retained the original prostheses (cup, stem, ceramic head, and inlay). Survival rate was investigated by Kaplan-Meier method. Survival rate for the cup component was 95%, and for the stem component was 93%. In Germany, average follow up period was 21.8 years. 88.5% of the patients had retained the original prosthesis. Survival rate for the cup component was 95%, and for the stem component was 85%. Discussion: Main reason of the revision surgery was the ceramic head fracture (7 implants 6%) in Japan and the stem component loosening (14 implants 8%) in Germany. There was no ceramic head fracture in Germany. We thought that beating with the hammer when we install the ceramic head to the taper was one problem. Stem loosening was seen in undersized stem component. On the other hand, survival rate for the cup component was 95% in Japan and Germany. This was good result in comparison with other reports about long term survival. Conclusion 85% of the patients had retained the original prostheses average 17years in Japan and 88.5% average 21.8 years in Germany. Main reason for the revision surgery is stem loosening and ceramic head fracture. Survival rate for the cup component was 95% in Japan and Germany. We are convinced with this spongiosa metal surface can bear long term use.


An important element in the control of risk is understanding how counter-measures, or barriers, can be undermined. This paper describes a study of how barriers to accident sequences fail in practice. The objective, in particular, was to influence designers to help them understand how designed barriers failed, and how the nature of a design impeded the operation of other barriers. Fifty accidents reported in oil drilling operations were analysed in an attempt to characterise the nature of the barriers that had been or should have been in place, and how they had been undermined. Some of the barriers had a self-limiting quality, in that there was some intrinsic quality of the barrier that limited its effectiveness. This often took effect via the operator: typically the existence of a barrier induced an operator behaviour and this behaviour then undermined the barrier. This tended to arise when the operator misunderstood the intention rather than the causation that lay behind the barrier. We have suggested two main reasons why designers fail to predict this effect, both of which are essentially structural and not to do with the qualities of designers themselves. We have also suggested how designers could be supported in 'second order' reasoning. This requires them to identify risks and provide counter-measures, and then also to examine how the countermeasures are themselves at risk.


'Transformation as a technique for linguistic analysis', by G. G. Pocheptsov, The Kiev Pedagogical Institute for Foreign Languages, Kiev, U.S.S.R. Abstract (by the Editor). Despite the intensive development of transformational theory in the last ten years, certain fundamental questions have not yet been answered. In particular, the notion of 'structural meaning' has not been clarified, and criteria are lacking for deciding whether a given transformational difference is 'structural'. The author distinguishes two kinds of structural meanings associated with grammatical units: 'explicit' and 'implicit'. The former belong to the surface-structure of language, and were the primary concern of the traditional theory of the parts of speech and parts of the sentence; the latter belong to deep-structure, and traditional grammar did not have the apparatus required for their investigation – transformations. The most interesting transformations are those which 'translate' implicit meanings into explicit: e.g., the NP, Ms book, in This book is easy to read has the implicit meaning 'object', by contrast with this boy in This boy is eager to read. Both sentences may be transformationally 'reduced' to the same surface-structure, N V Da. (This book reads easily, This boy reads eagerly): but the structural conditions for the application of the transformations are not identical. The author discusses each sentence in relation to other characteristic transformational possibilities. Finally, the following fundamental types of transformation are distinguished, and illustrated from English: (a) those which establish both a difference of IC structure and a difference between the syntactic relations of the constituents; (b) those which formalize differences in the implicit structural meanings of constituents; (c) those which establish differences between sentence-constituents at the level of word classes and subclasses. Transformational analysis is of relatively small importance in the investigation of 'lexico-derivational' and 'lexico-phraseological' constraints. It is a valuable method of analysis, but must not be extended beyond its domain of relevance.


I. Adsorption of Alkali Metals. Theory of alkali adsorption on metal surfaces (N.D. Lang). Work function changes due to alkali-metal adsorption (K. Wandelt). Penning spectroscopy of alkali metal surfaces (J. Kuppers). Electronic structure of adsorbed alkali metal layers on A1(111) determined by valence level photoemission (K. Horn et al.). Structures and phases of adsorbed alkali metals (K. Muller et al.). Ordered phases and surface diffusion in adsorbed layers of electropositive metals (A.T. Loburets et al.). Overlayer states and resonances (S.A. Lindgren, L. Wallden). Alkali adsorption and alkali induced reconstructions on FCC(110) metal surfaces (R.J. Behm). Quantitative structural studies of the reconstruction of the {110} faces of Ag, Pd and Cu 85 Pd 15 by alkali metals (C.J. Barnes et al.). Dynamical response, in the bulk and at the surface, of simple metals (E.W. Plummer et al.). II. Coadsorption of Alkali Metal and Molecules. Alkali metal promotion of thermo- and photochemistry (W. Ho). Some aspects of oxygen and alkali metal coadsorption on solid surfaces (L. Surnev). The role of adsorbed alkalis in desorption induced by electronic transitions (T.E. Madey et al.). Structural orientation of adsorbed molecules: Applications of X-ray photoelectron diffraction (D.A. Wesner et al.). Vibrational spectroscopy of alkali-molecule interaction and compound formation on metal surfaces (J. Paul et al.). Coadsorption with alkali metals: Surface science involving SIMS (J.M. White). Influence of alkali atoms on coadsorbed molecules (E. Umbach et al.). Adsorbate-adsorbate interactions and surface reactivity (J. Norskov). Theory of the co-adsorption of H 2 O and CO with K on the Pt(111) surface (J.E. Muller). Investigations of the co-adsorption of K and CN on Pd(110) and Pd(111) with photoemission and penning spectroscopy (R. Hemmen et al.). III. Significance of Alkali Additives in Heterogeneous Catalysis. The role of potassium promoters in nickel catalysts for CO hydrogenation (D.W. Goodman). Alkali modification of iron Fischer-Tropsch catalysts (D.J. Dwyer). Alkali metals as structure and bonding modifieres of transition metal catalysts (G.A. Somorjai, E.L. Garfunkel). Spectroscopy of adsorbed alkali metal compounds (H.P. Bonzel, H.J. Krebs). Alkali metals in heterogeneous catalysts (R. Schlogl). IV. Matrix-Isolated Alkali Metal-Molecule Complexes. Matrix-isolation studies of alkali metal atom/small cluster interactions with molecules (J.L. Margrave et al.). Infrared spectra and structures of alkali metal complexes with CO, C 2 H 2 , C 2 H 4 , C 6 H 6 molecules isolated in solid argon (L. Manceron, J.P. Perchard). Comparison of matrix isolated alkali metal carbonyl complexes with coadsorbed K and CO on Pt(111) surfaces (G. Pirug, H.P. Bonzel). V. Significance of Alkali Metals in Semiconductor Technology. The mechanisms of the alkali-enhanced oxidation of semiconductors (R. Miranda).


The hormonal control of protein deposition in animals is a highly integrated process. Consideration of this topic not only requires a study of hormonal interactions with target tissues but also the much more general topic of growth. Growth itself is a complex and integrated process and involves the formation and enlargement of many metabolic units. Obviously maximal protein deposition in an animal only occurs when the overall status of the animal favours anabolism. In this review the production of protein for export from the tissues, e.g. hair, milk and eggs, will not be considered. The production of milk and egg protein is subject to considerable hormonal control and will be considered elsewhere in this Symposium. As pointed out by Young (1980) protein metabolism is intimately affected by, and related to, the status of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in the whole organism and these aspects of metabolism are also subject to considerable hormonal control. A detailed evaluation of the many reports of the effects of a wide variety of hormones on the many facets of protein metabolism is not possible in the space available but instead an attempt will be made to consider those aspects which are relevant to the manipulation of the hormonal status of animals. No attempt will be made to present a catalogue of the effects of various hormones and hormone-like substances on growth and carcass composition, this has recently been reviewed by Galbraith & Topps (1981); nor will any attempt be made to review in detail the neuro+mdocrinological control of hormone secretion, an area in which considerable advances are to be expected during the next decade.


Many carnivore populations were in decline throughout much of the 20th century, but due to recent conservation policies, their numbers are stabilising or even increasing in some areas of the world. This, compounded with human population growth, has caused increased livestock depredation by carnivores, which threatens farmer livelihoods, particularly those in developing countries such as Namibia. How to resolve this so-called "conflict" between carnivores and livestock farmers remains challenging, in part because some mitigation strategies have proven somewhat ineffective or unacceptable. By using a case-study approach on the commercial farmlands of northcentral Namibia, I aimed to understand the complexity of the human dimensions affecting coexistence between carnivores and people in an unprotected working landscape.


The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is the dominant mode of intraseasonal variability of rainfall in Indonesia, but its signal is often obscured in individual station data, where effects are most directly felt at the local level. This study aims to investigate the general impacts of MJO on rainfall at different seasons in Indonesia, particularly during boreal summer. Impacts of the MJO on daily rainfall anomaly during the four climatic seasons: DJF, MAM, JJA, and SON in Indonesia have been evaluated using in-situ data from 86 stations during 1981 - 2012 and remote sensing data using GPM IMERGV06 from 2001 - 2019. The greatest impact of the MJO on rainfall over Indonesia occurs during the DJF and MAM seasons (austral summer), with the magnitude varying across regions. Enhanced rainfall generally occurs over the western parts of Indonesia on phases 2 to 4, central parts of Indonesia on phase 4, and eastern parts of Indonesia on phases 4 to 5. Conversely, suppressed rainfall generally occurs over the western parts of Indonesia on phases 5 to 8, central parts of Indonesia on phases 6 to 8, and eastern parts of Indonesia on phases 1 to 2 and 6 to 8. In addition, the MJO influence during the JJA and SON seasons are slightly less, in terms of intensity, than during the DJF and MAM seasons, which is likely due to the northward shift of ITCZ and, hence, the intraseasonal oscillation convective envelope during boreal summer. Generally, enhanced rainfall occurs over the western and northern parts of Indonesia on phases 2 to 3, and suppressed rainfall on phases 6 to 7. The results indicate that convectively active MJO may increase the possibility of daily extreme rainfall in particular regions in Indonesia at different seasons.


ABSTRACT Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) are an integral part of evaluating course outcomes. They are routinely used to evaluate teaching quality for the purposes of reappointment, promotion, and tenure (RPT), annual review, and the rehiring of adjunct faculty and lecturers. These evaluations are often based almost entirely on the mean or proportion of the ordinal overall score with no regard to statistical noise. This study examines the distribution of the statistic (mean or proportion) when SETs are administered online and in-person. Using non-parametric procedures, we show that the size of the 95% confidence interval of the statistic is a function of response rates. Prior to COVID-19, online administration of SETs resulted in significantly more uncertainty than in-person administration because the in-person response rates were higher. Due to a decrease in in-person response rates in the post-COVID vaccine period, both methods result in significant levels of uncertainty of the true statistic value. In classes of fewer than 30 students, the 95% confidence interval of the statistic is wide enough for instructors to be considered for a teaching award in one semester or below average in another semester, while holding teaching quality constant.


Diabetes mellitus is a chronic non-communicable disease and is increasing in trend due to modernization and unhealthy lifestyle. Antidiabetic medication is one of the pharmacological approach being prescribed to the diabetes patients for optimizing the blood glucose level. However, non-adherence towards medication was identified as one of the barrier to the effectiveness of diabetes management. The aim of this study is to determine the adherence rate among type 2 diabetes patients towards their anti-diabetic medications and its association with socio-demographic and clinical profiles. A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted on 427 randomly selected diabetes patients who had attended two public hospitals implementing Total Hospital Information System (THIS) in Malaysia. Data collection was performed using validated Medication Compliance Questionnaire (MCQ). Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS software version 22. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between patients' profile and medication adherence. The confidence interval was set at 95% CI with p value of 0.05. Overall, a response rate for this study was 93.4%. The adherence rate of the diabetes patients was 53.4% with the Indian and Chinese ethnics were more likely to adhere towards their medication prescription with p=0.017 and p=0.046 respectively. There was also a significant association between HbA1c level with patients' medication adherence (p=0.001). As a conclusion, the contributing factors other than socio-demographic and clinical profile were suggested to be explored subjectively from patients' point of view to facilitate a formulation of patient-centred strategies on adherence to antidiabetic medication.


With nine research centres and over 15000 employees, the French atomic energy commission (CEA) is one of France's leading scientific organizations. However, recent financial problems at the commission could lead to the closure of at least one large physics facility and a freeze on recruitment in astro, nuclear and particle physics.


For the laser fluorination analysis of oxygen isotopes in silicate and oxide minerals,oxygen gas is commonly used as working gas and molecular sieves are used to absorb and transfer the oxygen gas into the inlet system of IRMS.In doing so,activation of molecular sieves has the influence on the efficiency of gas absorption/desorption and thus on oxygen isotope fractionation in vacuum extraction procedures.A series of experiments were carried out by means of 13X molecular sieves to test the influences.The results show that oxygen isotope fractionation could occur during adsorption and desorption of oxygen gas if the molecular sieves have different degrees of activation.At lower temperatures the molecular sieves are not able to be activated or only incomplete activation.As a result,the absorption capacity of molecular sieves is poor and measured δ18O values are fluctuated.Nevertheless,if the molecular sieves were heated at 200℃ meffle furnace for 24hrs and then timely transferred to the vacuum system and heated at 100℃ and in 10-3 Pa for 12hrs,their absorption is much enhanced relative to those untreated and slightly done at the lower temperatures.This leads to an external precision of ±0.05‰ (1σ) for oxygen isotope analysis.If molecular sieves were contaminated by BrF5,their absorption capacity is awfully reduced to cause measured δ18O values to be lower than the expected ones with the largest fractionation is up to 0.7‰.If molecular sieves were polluted by water vapor,there is re-absorption at the desorption temperature to cause measured δ18O values to increase with time.Hence,the molecular sieves have to be activated before the vacuum extraction and renewed timely when finding either pollution or the fluctuated δ18O values.


Abstract Objective: To obtain accurate data regarding the handwashing behavior and patterns of visits to patients by healthcare workers (HCWs). Methods: All visits by HCWs to selected patient rooms were recorded for 3 days and 2 nights. Additionally, 5 nurses were observed for 1 day each and 2 nurses were observed for 1 night each. Nurses were observed for their entire shifts and all of their activities were recorded. Setting: A general medical ward in a tertiary-care hospital. Participants: Convenience samples of HCWs and patients. Results: Patients were visited every 25 minutes on average. Monitoring rooms and observing nurses resulted in similar rates of patient visits. The highest level of risk was contact with body fluids in 11% of visits and skin in 40% of visits. The overall rate of handwashing was 46%; however, the rate was higher for visits involving contact with body fluids (81%) and skin (61%). Nurses returned immediately to the same patient 45% of the time. The rate of handwashing was higher for the last of a series of visits to a patient's room (53% vs 30%, P < .0001). Conclusions: Nurses adjusted their handwashing rates in accordance with the risk level of each visit. Monitoring patient rooms and observing nurses yielded similar estimates of patient visits and proportions of visits involving contact with skin or body fluids. Education programs about hand hygiene may be more effective if patterns of care and levels of risk are incorporated into recommendations.


The presence of organic pollutants, which cannot be eliminated by conventional processes of primary and secondary treatment, can be problematic. Photocatalytic processes offer an efficient breakdown of organic pollutants into non-toxic compounds such as CO2 and H2O. This paper proposes the use of the titanium dioxide embedded in palygorskite as a photoactive material in the degradation of cationic dye, Coomassie Brilliant Blue. The system was irradiated using UV light for a maximum time of 120 minutes. The concentration of the dye used was 1.0x10-4 mol L-1 in 0.5 g L-1 of the photoactive material. The kinetics of the system was monitored by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. In 120 minutes of radiation, the process of photocatalysis reduced the initial concentration of the Coomassie Brilliant Blue dye in half.


The classical multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) matrix can be viewed as a two-dimensional cross-classification of traits and methods. Beside commonly used analysis methods such as structural equation modeling and generalizability theory, multilevel analysis offers attractive possibilities. If the focus is only on analyzing classical MTMM data, the multilevel approach has no surplus value, because the resulting model is equivalent to a confirmatory factor model with additional restrictions imposed by the multilevel parameterization. However, if the data contain further complexities, such as additional information on the traits or persons, multilevel analysis of MTMM data offers a flexible analysis tool with more possibilities than the other approaches. The classical multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) matrix can be viewed as a two-dimensional cross-classification of traits and methods. Several approaches have been proposed to analyze such data, notably structural equation models, generalizabil- ity theory, and even facet analysis. Since recent multilevel modeling software can also analyze cross-classified struc- tures, multilevel analysis can be added to this list. This study investigates the specific advantages and disad- vantages of the multilevel approach for analyzing MTMM data. First, in the next section, the MTMM design for the assessment of construct validity is described using a small example data set. The classic Campbell-Fiske criteria, the commonly used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the multilevel analysis for MTMM data, are discussed. For a stan- dard MTMM matrix it is shown that the multilevel approach can be viewed as a confirmatory factor model with additional restrictions. In the next section a more complicated data set (a part of the German Big 5 MTMM data set, Eid, Lischetzke, Nussbeck, & Geiser, 2004; Eid, Lischetzke, & Trierweiler, 2001) is used to show the advantages of the multilevel approach. The construct validity of measures of three of the Big 5 factors, namely extraversion, neuroticism, and consci- entiousness (Ostendorf, 1990), are computed, following a MTMM multilevel approach. The models and results are reported and the attractiveness of the multilevel approach for complicated data structures is discussed. The report ends with conclusions and a discussion, whereby the center of inter- est lies in the differences between the multilevel approach to MTMM data and the more common CFA approach.


The work is devoted to an overview of major infectious diseases and risks of treatment with suspected infected patients in healthcare facilities and their transport between medical facilities. Special emphasis is placed on the newly discovered high-risk infectious diseases such as SARS, which will become a new threat to civilization.


Swarm intelligence based algorithms such as particle swarm optimization have become popular in the last two decades. Various new algorithms such as cuckoo search and bat algorithm also show promising efficiency. In all these algorithms, it is essential to maintain the balance of exploration and exploitation by controlling directly and indirectly the diversity of the population. Different algorithms may use different mechanisms to control such diversity. In this review paper, the author reviews and analyzes the roles of diversity and relevant mechanisms in swarm intelligence. The author also discuss parameter tuning and parameter control. In addition, the author highlights some key open questions in swarm intelligence.


The invention relates to a radiation sensor arrangement (21) comprising - a radiation sensor (2) comprising a self-supporting element (5) comprising an optical absorber (6) and a resistor structure (3) and a support structure (4), which (the cantilevered element (5) at a distance from a substrate 1) hold, and which constitutes a connection between the self-supporting element (5) and the substrate (1), and - an evaluation unit for determining an absorbed radiation of a change in electrical resistance of the resistance structure (3) marked by - a wavelength selective optical design of the absorber (6).


Defect center production in irradiated silica is shown to exceed that found in stoichiometric SiO 2 . The defect centers observed are the E′ type which are associated with oxygen vacancies. It is suggested that a large concentration of E′ centers is expected near the oxygen deficient Si-SiO 2 interface of irradiated MOS devices and that the presence of these defects is one source of positive space charge buildup within the first hundred Angstroms of the oxide. In addition, the 4500A emission band observed in irradiated SiO 2 has been shown to be associated with the decay of E′ centers.


In this contribution we discuss an evaluation of double-nucleon coincidence spectra for the non-mesonic weak decay of Lambda-hypernuclei. The results have been obtained by combining a one-meson-exchange model for the Lambda N -> nN transition in finite nuclei with a Monte Carlo code accounting for the nucleon final state interactions. A weak-decay-model independent analysis of KEK coincidence data allows us to extract Gn/Gp values around 0.3-0.4 for 5_Lambda-He and 12_Lambda-C, thus representing an important progress towards the solution of the Gn/Gp puzzle. Preliminary results for the angular asymmetries in the non-mesonic weak decay of polarized hypernuclei are also presented.


Because hydrophilic copolymers containing cyanacrylate elements should be useful as components of adhesives in surgery, the conditions of grafting of ethyl α-cyanacrylate on poly(vinyl alcohol) were studied. Two anthraquinone derivatives were applied as sensitizers in UV-initiated grafting; 2,6-disulfoanthraquinone sodium salt proved to be especially efficient. IR spectra and derivatograms of poly(vinyl alcohol-g-ethyl α-cyanacrylate) are described.


The large published literature on the management of Graves' Hyperthyroidism reflects the persisting controversies regarding optimum management of this common condition. This was highlighted in surveys of the European and American Thyroid Associations in 1986 and 1990 in which members were asked questions regarding the investigation and treatment of a 43year-old female with moderate hyperthyroidism, a diffuse goitre and minimal eye signs (Glinoer t al., 1987; Solomonet al., 1990). Some of the areas where expert opinion differed are shown in Table 1. We aim in this review to highlight areas in which the literature does, we believe, provide guidance in the management of Graves' disease, and summarize the state of knowledge in those areas in which the data remain inconclusive.


Mike Pompeo is President Donald J. Trump's nominee to become secretary of state after Trump abruptly fired Rex Tillerson on March 13. Currently director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Pompeo, formerly a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, previously led the oil-field equipment company Sentry International and founded Thayer Aerospace. Pompeo is skeptical of climate change and would head the State Department as it represents the U.S. at international climate talks later this year. He has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Military Academy and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Lisa Porter is Trump's nominee to be deputy undersecretary for research and engineering at the Department of Defense. Porter is executive vice president of In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture fund, and director of In-Q-Tel Labs. She has a B.S. in nuclear engineering from MIT and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University. Peter C. Wright is


In this paper we present some recent multiplicity results for a class of second order Hamiltonian systems. Exploiting the variational structure of the problem, it will be shown how the existence of multiple, even infinitely many, periodic solutions can be assured.


Great-grandfather of Cato the Younger (Uticensis), Cato the Elder was a novus homo who rose to political prominence during the Second Punic War (218–202 bce) and famously hastened the Third Punic War with the constant refrain"Carthage must be destroyed".

Keywords:

agriculture;
historians;
imperialism and conquest;
political history;
Roman history;
women's history


Consideration of obsolete laboratory tests produced animated discussion among a large group of members but apart from the obvious candidates for obsolescence, such as the icterus index, surprisingly few current biochemical procedures were regarded as obsolete. It rapidly became apparent that members' views on obsolescence were in part conditioned by inadequate collection of specimens and difficulties in obtaining specifically timed, or 24 hour, collections of stool or urine evidently were widespread. This was thought to be the major reason for members dissatisfaction with feecal fat estimations on so called 24 hour collections of stool. It was generally agreed that isolated specimens for this purpose were useless, and that 5 or 6 days collection was essential with pooling of results to obtain a satisfactory mean. A strong plea was entered for the use of markers to define the collection period. The radio-iodinated triolein absorption test was considered an alternative but many speakers thought that difficulties caused by breakdown of the complex within the gut made interpretation difficult. The xylose absorption was a satisfactory screening test but it was emphasised that it measured a different function of the gut. Vitamin Bl2 and folic acid absorption were thought to have a significant part to play in the investigation of gastro-intestinal disease.


The speed of decomposition of solutions of chromic acid in strong (e.g. 100%) sulphuric acid is reduced by the product of the reaction, a nearly colourless substance which precipitates when its solution is heated.

The formation of this precipitate and the reduction of the speed of reaction may be observed also when a slight amount of water is present, both effects increasing with increasing sulphuric acid content.

A positive autocatalytic effect in more diluted sulphuric acid is already known 1 .

In combination with the hypothesis which was developed for the explanation of the variations of the speed of decomposition, which result from a change in the composition of the solvent1 .), these two catalytic effects allow the understanding of the behaviour of decomposing solutions of chromic acid at any composition of the solvent (at least above 60% acid) and at any stage of the decomposition.


Climate change and variability threatens the sustainability of future food productions, especially in semi-arid regions where water resources are limited, and irrigated agriculture is widespread. I...


As part of the Crustal Dynamics Project, an experiment was performed to verify the ability of Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), Very Long Baseline interferometry (VLBI) and Doppler Satellite Positioning System (Doppler) techniques to estimate the baseline distances between several locations. The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) lasers were in operation at all five sites available to them. The ten baselines involved were analyzed using monthly orbits and various methods of selecting data. The standard deviation of the monthly SLR baseline lengths was at the 7 cm level. The GSFC VLBI (Mark III) data was obtained during three separate experiments. November 1979 at Haystack and Owens Valley, and April and July 1980 at Haystack, Owens Valley, and Fort Davis. Repeatability of the VLBI in determining baseline lengths was calculated to be at the 2 cm level. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) VLBI (Mark II) data was acquired on the Owens Valley to Goldstone baseline on ten occasions between August 1979 and November 1980. The repeatability of these baseline length determinations was calculated to be at the 5 cm level. National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Doppler data was acquired at all five sites in January 1980. Repeatability of the Doppler determined baseline lengths results were calculated at approximately 30 cm. An intercomparison between baseline distances and associated parameters was made utilizing SLR, VLBI, and Doppler results on all available baselines. The VLBI and SLR length determinations were compared on four baselines with a resultant mean difference of -1 cm and a maximum difference of 12 cm. The SLR and Doppler length determinations were compared on ten baselines with a resultant mean difference of about 30 cm and a maximum difference of about 60 cm. The VLBI and Doppler lengths from seven baselines showed a resultant mean difference of about 30 cm and maximum difference of about 1 meter. The intercomparison of baseline orientation parameters were consistent with past analysis.


The exponential growth in number of telecom providers and unceasing competition in the market has caused telecom operators to divert their focus more towards customer retention rather than customer acquisition. Hence it becomes extremely essential to identify the factors causing a customer to switch and take proactive actions in order to retain them. The paper aims to review existing literature to bring up a holistic view of various factors and their relationships that cause a customer to churn in the telecommunication industry. A total of 140 factors related to customer churn were compiled by reviewing several studies on customer churn behavior. The identified factors are then discussed in detail with their impact on customer's switching behavior. The limitations of the existing studies and directions for future research have also been provided. The paper will aid practitioners and researchers by serving a strong base for their industrial practice and future research.


It was observed that the introduction of CO/sub 2/ into a He-Xe mixture in an unbalanced MHD generator led to a drop in the effective Hall parameter by a factor of 10. (AIP)


Ridge Integrated Laser Modulator (ILM) devices were fabricated using a butt-coupling technology based on two gas source molecular beam epitaxy. A complete stability evaluation was undertaken, including a reliability study on discrete lasers, discrete modulators and integrated devices. The butt-coupling integration process does not affect the reliability of the integrated devices.


Provided in the present invention are a method, base station, positioning server, and system for uplink reference signal configuration. The method comprises the following steps: a base station receives configuration information transmitted by a positioning server (101); the base station refers to the configuration information to determine a configuration parameter for transmitting an uplink reference signal of a user equipment (UE); the base station configures a transmission parameter for the uplink reference signal of the UE on the basis of the configuration parameter (103); and, the UE transmits the uplink reference signal to the base station on the basis of a transmission mode configured by the base station. The present invention is primarily applicable in a UE positioning process and is capable of solving the problem of reduced positioning precision due to poor uplink reference signal quality.


Seizure genesis is usually attributed to imbalance of the excitation and inhibition activities of neurons. It is claimed that slow inhibition mechanism is responsible for controlling the variations of the excitation mechanism, and any deficiency in this function will lead to disturbance of their natural balance. Fast inhibition mechanism is also known to collaborate with slow inhibitory processes. Any proof about the excitation and inhibition mechanisms refers to the ex-vivo or in-vitro experiments, i.e. from the microscopic point of view. Up to now, there is not a straight road into evaluating these hypotheses from the macroscopic view. In this paper we try to interpret the excitation-inhibition sequences extracted from some depth-EEG signals through an identification-based procedure. The aim is to check out whether the statements gained from microscopic observations are re-established in population of neurons in the case of MTLE or not. Using Neyman-Pearson hypothesis test technique we try to answer these questions. We observe that even in population of neurons slow inhibition is responsible for compensating excitatory processes to balance inhibitory /excitatory ratio, such that when it is impaired causes seizures to arise; also the average fast inhibitory process of population of neurons follows its slow inhibition dynamics. Also, we check the differentiation of the excitation-inhibition ratio between normal and ictal states, as well as between normal and pre-ictal states. Ictal activity is properly a state of abnormal high excitation-inhibition ratio but before beginning of seizures there are not unique patterns.


In this issue Anastasia Varvarigou extensively reviews the mechanisms leading to intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) which is a potential risk factor for adult disease onset. In a substantial number of children the only information we have is that the child was born small for gestational age (SGA). 'As stated also by Varvarigou, a distinction should be made between infants born SGA who grow consistently on a low percentile and those who are small as a result of IUGR. Children born SGA are a non-homogeneous group. Etiology and diagnostic needs vary among subgroups. In view of the knowledge accumulated about immediate and future risk factors of these children born SGA it is important to study the etiology and to invest in long-term prevention programs. Current knowledge does not always enable us to identify in each child the etiological cause for IUGR. An intact maternal hormonal system is a prerequisite for a normal intrauterine growth pattern. But etiologies originating from the fetus, the placenta and the environment should also be taken into consideration. It is sometimes impossible to separate etiologies since systems interact and affect each other. As seen in the following example: Comparison of maternal and cord blood levels of vitamin A, folic acid and iron demonstrated no difference between mothers of IUGR children and those of normal children. At the same time, IUGR infants had a higher percentage of children with lower vitamin A, folic acid and iron levels than those born appropriate for gestational age (AGA). Mothers of IUGR infants had a higher level of ferritin than mothers giving birth to AGA children. Since infections induce an increase in ferritin blood levels it is possible that IUGR in these infants was secondary to intrauterine infection, lowering vitamin A, folic acid and iron blood levels. With the increased interest in mutations affecting growth, various mutations in the growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis were discovered and their effects investigated, such as the human Arg59Ter insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGF1R) mutation and its implications for a gene dosage effect of human IGFJR. These changes may have an impact on human growth, organ function, and glucose metabolism. Few heterozygous mutations in IGF1R leading to IGF-I resistance and intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation have been described to date. In addition, it was recently reported that mutation within a kinase-conserved motif of the insulinlike growth factor-I receptor can also cause intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation. More explanations are needed to explain why different groups of children born SGA need a much higher dose of GH than those born AGA. Can epigenetic changes add an explanation not provided by mutations?


Striae distensae are a well-recognized, common skin condition that rarely causes any significant medical problems but are often a significant source of distress to those affected. The natural evolution of striae is from red or purple, raised wavy lesions (striae rubra) to white atrophic lesions with wrinkly surface (striae alba).

 The present study was designed to compare the efficacy of fractional CO2 laser alone or combined with lyophilized growth factors or to its efficacy alone in the treatment of striae distensae.

 The present study included 20 female patients with SD; they were all recruited from Dermatology Outpatient Clinic, Ain Shams University from may 2017 to march 2018. An informed consent for treatment, photography and punch biopsy was taken before enrollment and the study was approved by Dermatology Research Ethical Committee.

 The present study showed statistically significant clinical and histopathological improvement in areas A and B after treatment. This impronment was in rubra more than alba. Area C showed no clinical and histopathological improvement. Area B showed better results than area A.We propose that LGF alone did not show clinical or histopathologiacl improvement. Treatment was tolerated well by all patients where side effects were minimal in the form of transient PIH that resolved after using bleaching creams. There was no statistically sgnificant difference in the incidence of PIH between areas A& B.

 We concluded that fractional CO2 alone is effective in treatment of SD especially stria rubra in skin type III and IV.


The present invention relates to a natural perfume composition comprising health functional natural plant extracts, and more specifically, to a natural perfume composition comprising health functional natural plant extracts, the natural perfume composition being formed by comprising vegetable oil, a Chamaecyparis obtusa extract, a pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) extract, an Opuntia humifusa extract, an edelweiss (Gnaphalium leontopodium) extract, an illite extract, an antioxidant, and titanium dioxide as natural air fresheners. A natural perfume composition comprising health functional natural plant extracts has excellent effects that the composition can be used as cosmetics, an air freshener, an air purifying agent, a malodor removing agent, and others emitting nice scents while maintaining a medicinal effect of exhibiting a certain care effect to the skin and the human body or a medicinal effect of exhibiting health functions.


This study has been undertaken to investigate turbulent burning velocities of alternative gaseous fuels at elevated temperature and pressure using the established Bunsen burner method. The experiments were conducted in the industrial scale High Pressure Optical Chamber (HPOC) in Gas Turbine Research Centre (GTRC) of Cardi University. Five dierent gaseous fuels: methane, two methane - carbon dioxide mixtures and two methane - hydrogen mixtures were tested. Two dierent temperatures - 473 K and 673 K, and two dierent pressures - 3 bara and 7 bara, were chosen at which to conduct the experiments. Analysis of measurements made using pure methane indicated that the expected burning velocity trends occurred with temperature and pressure. When compared with the correlations proposed by Peters and Zimont et al. the results reported here showed good agreement, although the burning velocities recorded by Kobayashi et al. were somewhat higher. Hydrogen enrichment and carbon dioxide dilution of methane, show some expected trends, but others which require further consolidation and study. In particular it is seen that dilution of methane with carbon dioxide reduces the measured burning velocity. Increasing pressure and temperature in this case have competing eects with temperature raising the burning velocity and pressure reducing it. Comparison of the results presented here are consistent with the qualitative trends recently reported by Kobayashi et al., but exhibit quantitative dierences which require further investigation. Hydrogen enrichment of the fuel leads to a signicant increase in the measured burning velocity compared to methane. Comparison with the results of Shy et al. and Kido et al. show reasonable agreement with the measurements reported here, also with those of other researchers. Our measurements show that increases in temperature and pressure separately lead to increased turbulent burning velocity, with a more pronounced eect of pressure for lean


Protecting electricity distribution networks is becoming increasingly challenging and improved performance is continually being demanded. The growth in distributed generation, the opportunities offered by meshed networks and the service demands of consumers require smarter protection. Invariably, the solution will involve capitalizing on the developments in digital relaying and communications. This paper describes the findings of an investigation into extending the concepts of communications within the substation contained in IEC61850 beyond the substation in order to provide substation to substation communications. It introduces the basis for Fault Passage Relaying and current differential relaying for protecting distribution feeders and an associated internet communications scheme. This internet based communications scheme builds on the concepts behind IEC61850 and provides a substation to substation process bus.


According to AlUle Wilkinson, the author ofthe broadly infonnative 171e Victorian Gardener: The Growth of Gardening and the Floral World, the Golden Age of Victorian garden publishing occurred between the deaths of Joseph Paxton and John Lindley in 1865 and the first appearance of William Robinson's weekly journal, The Garden, in 1871. This golden age coincided with the rapid urbanization of British society and the most active period ofBritish colonial expansion, and Ms Wilkinson notes that in spite of questionable practices in bringing the spoils of the imperial nurgins to the homes and gardens of the British citizenry, there was great invention and empirical observation employed in the production of garden features and rapid evolution of garden culture in that period. She emphasizes the cJasstranscendent appeal of gardening to the British people and provides dear explication of the role of gardening in the creation of Victorian society. Respectability was conferred by various dergymen and furthered by Prince Albert's patronage of the Royal Horticultural Society, which led to a royal charter gran ted in 186 I, and helped legitimize gardening as an acceptable activity for ail. Wilkinson's assertion of the role played by gardening in the enhancement of British domestic life is supported by ample primary source material covering the years between 1830 and 1900. The development ofthe florist societies and, subsequently, the l1luseries and seed houses, sponsored the availability of a huge diversity of


It would be highly desirable to automate the pellet inspection process, which at the present time is done by humans using the naked eye for inspection. A prototype of an automated inspection system was developed. The system examines photographic images of pellets using various artificial intelligence techniques for image analysis and defect classification. The steps in the process are described.


A novel design of analog front-end for detecting the neural signal is present in this paper. According to the traditional way with sigma delta ADC or pipelined ADC, this paper provides a new method to get better performance. The analog front-end contains low noise operational amplifier and SAR ADC which can be shared by multi channels. The design is verified in SMIC 0.18um CMOS process. The total current of 2 channels is only 2mA that is mainly cost by OPA. This circuit provides the new method to achieve ultra low power in Neural Signal Detection system.


The Indian Government has identified infrastructure as one of the key sectors for economic development. 45% investment of infrastructure goes towards construction, and it is the major employer also. The construction sector contributes around 10% to the Indian gross domestic product (GDP). The industry is growing at a high rate with 40% funding coming from private sector. India is poised to be the third largest construction market by 2025. The industry also has witnessed several business combinations small or big in the form of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and is about to increase further. This study provides an overview of the most recent M&A in construction industry and expectations for the future. The data of the construction industry M&A have been collected from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) database. The event study methodology has been used to find the abnormal return (AR) to the bidder shareholders and their expectations from the deal. It has been found that the M&A activity has increased the value to the shareholders of the bidder firm to an extent of 2.2% cumulative abnormal return (CAR) over a period of 180 days around the merger. This study helps to understand the rational of M&A in construction industry and guides the practice managers about M&A decisions. When M&A is mostly understood as value destroying for bidders, construction industry proves to be an exception.


It is very important from the health physics point of view that the population dose, the population, and the surface area covered by the diffusion of radioactive clouds be estimated approximately even as an order of magnitude. Formulas to calculate the population dose, population, average dose, and surface area of the isopleth are derived by different methods of approximation of Sutton's diffusion formula. The values for the surface areas calculated from these formulas are compared with those obtained by the graphical integration of the original Sutton's formula for the continuous point source cn ground level. The results of the analysis indicate that the approximation of Sutton"s formula by an ellipse with one half of the maximum downwind interaction distance (r/2) as one half of the major axis and either the maximum crosswind distancc (Ymax) or the crosswind distance corresponding to one half of the maximum downwind distance (Yr2) as one half of the minor axis, or the approximation by expanding Y2 of the Sutton's formula in Taylor series of x giving Ymax and taking up to the term of x2, gives a better approximation than expanding the exponential of the Sutton's formula and keeping only the first two terms.


The hard, fuzzy and possibilistic c-means clustering algorithms are widely used for partitioning a set of n objects into c groups. There are cases, however, when more than one type of partition is necessary to correctly describe the belongingness of an object to a group. Previously, Pal, Pal and Bezdek listed some of these cases and proposed a method to simultaneously produce both memberships and typicalities for a set of vectorial object data: the fuzzy possibilistic c-means (FPCM) clustering algorithm. However, FPCM is not directly applicable when the data are represented by object-object relationships. In this paper, we reformulate FPCM so that it can work with A-norm relational data. Extensions and properties of the relational clustering algorithm are also considered.


Application-oriented universities to research universities,it is to train applied talents of production,business line,accounting as the technical,practical and social science,requirements of application-oriented universities to establish and perfect the system of accounting practice teaching.But there are many problems in the current accounting practice teaching,this paper puts forward the corresponding countermeasures to solve the problem.


Paraplegia compromises the life of the individual as well as the family. While the entire family is affected by its occurrence, it is one of its members known as the family caregiver who assumes responsibility for the care of the individual and his needs. The planning, implementation and evaluation of educational intervention for family caregivers regarding appropriate ways to perform care and adaptation to the environment falls under the nurse's responsibility. The present study focussed on the effectiveness of nursing intervention on practice of family caregivers of patients with paraplegia. The research design adopted in the study was quasi experimental pretest post test control group design and was conducted in physical medicine and rehabilitation wards. The sample consisted of 80 family caregivers who satisfy the inclusion criteria. Nursing intervention consisted of the structured, individual patient and caregiver education of 3 sessions of 45 minutes duration using power point slides on exercises, nutrition, skin care, sexual functioning, psychological aspects, bladder training, bowel training, demonstration and return demonstration of exercises and provision of an information booklet describing the interventions to be followed by the patients and family caregivers. Post test was conducted  on 25 th day and 90 th day. The effect of intervention was found to be significant which indicates that there exists a significant difference in practice scores of family caregivers of patients with paraplegia.


AFDX (ARINC 664 standard) is currently used to cope with the increasing data exchange needs between avionic systems. The certification imposes to upper bound the end-to-end communication delay between these systems. This paper presents and compares approaches for the computation of a guaranteed upper bound of end-to-end delays on an AFDX network. The network calculus approach has been used for the certification of the AFDX network on the A380. Obtained upper bounds are often pessimistic, leading to an under-utilization of the network. The more recent trajectory approach can be applied in the context of AFDX. First results are less pessimistic than those obtained by the network calculus approach. A model checking approach gives an exact upper bound on network configurations which size is limited by a combinatorial explosion problem. Approaches are compared on a realistic industrial configuration.


Gas-path analysis holds a central position in the engine condition monitoring and fault diagnostics technique. The success of gas-path analysis, as concluded from previous investigations, depends mainly on the quality of the measurements obtained. For approaches using either a classical Kalman filter method or a contemporary artificial neural network approach, a high success rate of diagnosis can only be guaranteed when a correct set of measurement deltas is available. The objective of the present work is to design a genetic autoassociative neural network algorithm that can perform offline sensor data validation simultaneously for noise filtering and bias detection and correction. The neural network-based sensor validation procedure usually suffers from the slow convergence in network training. In addition, the trained network often fails to provide an accurate accommodation when bias error is detected. To remedy these network training and bias accommodation problems, a two-step approach is proposed. The first step is the construction of a noise-filtering and a self-mapping autoassociative neural network based on the backpropagation algorithm. The second step uses an optimization procedure built on top of these noise-filtering and self-mapping nets to perform bias detection and correction. A nongradient genetic algorithm search is employed as the optimization method. It is shown in the present work that effective sensor data validation can be achieved for noise filtering, bias correction, and missing sensor data replacement incurred in the gas-path analysis. This newly developed algorithm can also serve as an intelligent trend detector. A true performance delta and trend change can be identified with no delay, to assure a timely and high-quality engine fault diagnosis.


Mass loss, together with nitrogen and carbon loss, from above‐ground material and roots of Festuca vivipara were followed for 13 months in a high Arctic polar semi‐desert and a low Arctic tree‐line dwarf shrub heath. Festuca vivipara for the study was obtained from plants cultivated at two different CO2 concentrations (350 and 500 μL L–1) in controlled environment chambers in the UK. Each of the four resource types (shoots or roots from plants grown in elevated or ambient CO2 concentrations) was subsequently placed in an experiment simulating aspects of environmental change in each Arctic ecosystem. Air, litter and soil temperatures were increased using open‐topped polythene tents at both sites, and a 58% increase in summer precipitation was simulated at the high Arctic site.


Correspondence Rafael Ventura, Department of Philosophy, Bilkent University, Ankara 06800 Turkey. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Abstract In this paper, I survey and defend the use of quantitative methods in philosophy of language. Quantitative methods in philosophy of language include a wide variety of methods, ranging from model-based techniques (computer simulations and mathematical models) to data-driven approaches (experimental philosophy and corpus-based studies). After offering a few case studies of these methodologies in action, I single out some debates in philosophy of language that are especially well served by their use. These are cases in which quantitative methods increase precision, improve the accuracy and reliability of results, and allow philosophers of language to borrow from other fields the best epistemic practices available. I conclude with some farreaching considerations about the role of qualitative and quantitative methods in debates about philosophical methodology.


Aims  We have identified an excess of children with cerebral palsy (CP) born to women who received antibiotic treatment for spontaneous preterm labour (SPL). This nested study investigated the profile of impairment among children with CP in the ORACLE Children Study (OCS), and contrasted outcomes with those in 4Child, a population CP registry.


This study was conducted to evaluateknowledge, attitude, behavior, and factors infl uencepain management of patientswith chronic non-cancer pain in 2 communities of Mahasarakham province. Drug related problems were also evaluated. Twenty-three patients were surveyed and 10 patients were in-depth interviewed. The results showed that21 of 23 patients were female with age range from 50-79 years old. The knowledge and behavior of patients on pain managements were at good level, whereasattitude to pain management were at moderate level. Physician suggestions and convenience to buy medicineswere the major factors affecting pain medication used (15 and 9 patients, respectively). Paracetamol was the most common drug used for pain management (18 patients). Drug related problems of tanking drug with no indication label and taking mixed of drugs containing steroids (Ya-Chud)were founded in 13 and 10 patients, respectively.Five main themes were identifi ed from in-depth interview including: (1) perspectives on


Clock protein REV-ERBα influences development of type 3 innate lymphoid cells in a circadian-independent manner (see the related Focus by Mortha and Research Article by Teng et al.). Keeping track of time A number of bodily functions, from feeding to sleeping, are regulated by our circadian clocks. Teng et al. and Wang et al. report that expression of a number of genes in intestinal group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) in mice is synchronized to the time of day. To probe the role of clock proteins in regulating ILC3 functions, the two groups studied mice lacking distinct clock proteins, BMAL1 and REV-ERBα. Both groups found that the loss of these clock proteins resulted in marked losses of intestinal ILC3s, but that these ILC3s produced higher levels of certain cytokines. How clock proteins fit within the larger network of transcription factors in regulating development and gene expression in ILC3s remains to be seen. Many gut functions are attuned to circadian rhythm. Intestinal group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) include NKp46+ and NKp46− subsets, which are RORγt dependent and provide mucosal defense through secretion of interleukin-22 (IL-22) and IL-17. Because ILC3s highly express some key circadian clock genes, we investigated whether ILC3s are also attuned to circadian rhythm. We noted circadian oscillations in the expression of clock and cytokine genes, such as REV-ERBα, IL-22, and IL-17, whereas acute disruption of the circadian rhythm affected cytokine secretion by ILC3s. Because of prominent and rhythmic expression of REV-ERBα in ILC3s, we also investigated the impact of constitutive deletion of REV-ERBα, which has been previously shown to inhibit the expression of a RORγt repressor, NFIL3, while also directly antagonizing DNA binding of RORγt. Development of the NKp46+ ILC3 subset was markedly impaired, with reduced cell numbers, RORγt expression, and IL-22 production in REV-ERBα–deficient mice. The NKp46− ILC3 subsets developed normally, potentially due to compensatory expression of other clock genes, but IL-17 secretion paradoxically increased, probably because RORγt was not antagonized by REV-ERBα. We conclude that ILC3s are attuned to circadian rhythm, but clock regulator REV-ERBα also has circadian-independent impacts on ILC3 development and functions due to its roles in the regulation of RORγt.


Whether monocrystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon for solar cells need to cutting the ingots into wafers by metal wire and silicon carbide powder grinding,In the process of cutting,about 43% of the silicon is grounded into a powder into slurry,if this part of silicon could be recycled,It is very meaningful.In this paper,a method for recycling the silicon from the cutting slurry is researched by experiment,a proposal is made that separation Si in water and purification the silicon by segregation in Zn metal or Zn-Mg alloy melt for the production of solar grade silicon.


Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG). Over 20 years, it is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide, with onshore conventional wellsite production facilities being the source of more than 50% of petroleum methane emission in the United States (US). An operator working in the gas condensate window of the Eagle Ford shale has been diligently looking for innovative transition technologies to help minimize methane emissions from wellsite sources. Other key sustainability attributes for the project were capex and opex savings while simplifying well-pad architecture.
 Leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs that identify unintended or fugitive emissions from equipment in an oil and gas facility are a traditional way to drive maintenance activities to reduce emissions. However, this is focused on detection rather than elimination. The operator typically configures well-pads with three to six wells with one test separator per well, resulting in multiple separators per well-pad. The switch from test separators to full gamma-spectroscopy/Venturi combination surface multiphase flowmeters (MPFM) was an ideal solution as it eliminates the need for so many test separators, thus eliminating valves, pneumatic devices, and connections responsible for most fugitive gas emissions on production well sites, while simultaneously delivering real-time monitoring, which provides repeatable and accurate fluid measurements.
 Over the course of a field trial, the MPFM performed within the uncertainty range specified by the operator and even helped identify bias errors with reference to a test separator to enable remediation. Additionally, the high-frequency data (up to 1 second) helped detect changes in flow behavior like slugging flow or slight changes in water cut. Financial incentive was a significant driver in assessing the MPFM as it provides a 50% reduction in capex per well by simplifying the equipment and pipeline infrastructure and the investment cost for ancillaries (space, power, manifolds, etc.). In addition, overall methane emissions were reduced by an estimated 67%, and the number of potential leak paths for fugitive methane was minimized.
 Using the field case study, the paper demonstrates how integrating the use of MPFM technology to reduce GHG emissions will bring more tangible results than leak detection and repair efforts. The study shows how emissions can be reduced by more than 72% in different scenarios, depending on the number of wells in a well-pad with one test separator. If the test separator is removed, the reduction can reach up to 92%. Simplifying well-pad architectures using MPFMs for well measurements while performing separation and liquid handling at centralized facilities minimizes the many connections and valves responsible for most methane fugitive emissions. New or retrofitted facilities can use this transforming technology as their cost has decreased significantly, and data are repeatable and accurate.


Aims: 1) To study the effect of some formulation variables on drug load, encapsulation efficiency, swelling ratio, mucoadhesion and drug release. 2) Optimize the mucoadhesion capabilities for targeting drug absorption and releasecontrolling capabilities of algi nate beads. Methodology: Alginatebeads were prepared by dripping sodium alginate gel into calcium chloride solution and then dried overnight at ambient temperature. The effects of alginate concentration, cross linker concentration, cross linking time, vol


This study deals with violation of maxin on facebook status. The objectives of thestudy were to find out the types of maxim which were violated by university studentsand described the reasons why they did it in the conversation. The study used Gricetheory of conversational maxim and was conducted by using qualitative descriptivedesign which aimed at describing the types of violated maxim and the reasons whypeople did it. The data were the utterances and were taken from fifty selectedstatus of students from 9 universities in North Sumatera and collected byrandomly sampling technique. The findings of the study showed there were threetypes and reasons of using violation of maxim. They were maxim of quality (1),maxim of quantity (17), maxim of relation (24) and as the most dominant type. Theirreasons were to show respect, change a topic and create humor.


This study attempts: to study the dynamics of organisational citizenship behaviour, learned optimism, and organisational ethos across types of organisations (service and manufacturing), hierarchical positions (executive and non-executive), and gender (male and female) of the employees; to examine the functional relationship between organisational citizenship behaviour, learned optimism and organisational ethos; and to ascertain the relative importance of learned optimism, organisational ethos and its eight dimensions in determining organisational citizenship behaviour. It follows a 2 A— 2 A— 2 factorial design with 600 respondents. Three standardised questionnaires are used. There is a significant difference between the independent variables, i.e., types of organisations, hierarchical positions and gender of the employees, on organisational citizenship behaviour, organisational ethos and learned optimism. Further, the result shows that learned optimism, confrontation and pro-action influence organisational citizenship behaviour significantly. Based on the findings, organisational development and behavioural development interventions are suggested to increase the performance in the organisation.


Ketamine first became available in Britain for clinical trial in January 1970, but early results revealed a high incidence of delirium and unpleasant dreams during the recovery period.' These sequelae were particularly severe in unpremedicated patients undergoing minor gynaecological operations lasting less than 15 min. Published studies have shown the importance of the dose of ketamine,' presupplementation of a n a e s t h e ~ i a , ~ . ~ sex of the ~ a t i e n t , ~ and the type and duration of in determining the nature and severity of sequelae. Fig. 1 summarizes the incidence of undesired effects found in the studies from this centre and shows the need for further investigations. Ketamine possesses many unique properties, such as ability to be given by the intravenous or intramuscular route, and the production of profound analgesia without cardiovascular depression. These could, in certain circumstances, make it superior as an induction agent to any other at present in clinical use, provided the post-operative problems could be minimized. It was thus felt that a study of adjuvants which would further reduce these sequelae was indicated, and this paper shows how acceptable results can be obtained in general surgical patients.


Optical properties and material microstructures of InGaN/GaN quantum wells structures with various nominal indium contents, quantum well widths, and different thermal annealing conditions were compared to show the effects of indium aggregations and strains.


Introduction Augmented renal clearance(ARC) of hydrophilic drugs is frequent in PICU patients and warrants adjustment of standard dosing regimens to prevent therapeutic failure. Knowledge of patient-, disease- and therapy-related factors associated with ARC, would allow to predict before the start of treatment, which patients would benefit from higher drug doses. We aimed to identify predictors of ARC in critically ill children with normal serum creatinine(Scr) using iohexol plasma clearance (CLiohexol) to quantify renal function. Methods We performed a post hoc analysis of data collected from an interventional study conducted at our academic PICU, which measured glomerular filtration rate (GFR) by CLiohexol in patients with normal Scr. ARC was defined as GFR exceeding normal values for age plus 2 standard deviations. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of ARC. Results GFR was measured in 85 patients, median age was 16 [IQR 5;89] months, 59% had a surgical profile. Median CLiohexol was 122[IQR 75;152] ml/min/1.73m2. Fourthy patients out of 85 (47%) expressed ARC. Postoperative status was identified as independent predictor of ARC (p=0.014, OR 4.253, 95%CI 1.338–13.517). However, in patients after cardiac surgery the odds of developing ARC were significantly lower (p=0.010, OR 0.163, 95%CI 0.041 –0.644). There was a trend suggesting more ARC in male patients and in those without need for vaso-active drugs, however, this was not statistically significant. Conclusion Our findings raise clinicians' awareness about ARC potentially being present in children after major surgery. This knowledge allows to anticipate on enhanced elimination of drugs by using empirically adjusted dosing regimens immediately from the start of treatment.


This paper investigates the performances of partially-saturated ferrite power inductors in DC-DC hysteretic regulators. Exploiting inductors saturation allows reducing the volume and weight of switch-mode power supplies, provided that inductors ripple and losses are reliably limited. Hysteretic control is a simple viable solution for power supplies design, ensuring inherent inductor peak-peak ripple current and power losses stabilization over wide load range. The results of experimental tests performed by means of a 2.5V/2A buck converter prove the feasibility and reliability of hysteretic regulators exploiting inductors saturation.


Based on damage modes of container cranes under earthquake and the characteristic of over-span flexible structures, the anti-seismic design of such machines was investigated. Taking the first crane equipped with isolating device as an example, through dynamic analysis and simulating to anti-seismic crane flexible system under the earthquake and validating analysis and results though the earthquake table tests, efforts was made to research for suitable anti-seismic device and design method for port cranes. The calculation and analysis in the present study could be used as a new way for earthquake resistant design of large-scale flexible portal machine.


In this paper,the fractal nature of Viscous fingeringin(VF) random porous media has been studied.The fluid transport is based on the deterministic method.The result shows that the topology and the geometry of the porous media have a strong effect on displacement processes.The cluster size of viscous fingering pattern in percolation cluster increases with the increase of iteration parameter n.When iteration parameter n ? 10,VF pattern does not change with n.The distribution of velocities normal to the interface of VF in percolation cluster is also studied.The sweep efficiency E increases along with the increasing of iteration parameter n and decreases with the network size L.


Article history: Received 11 May 2016 Received in revised form 5 October 2016 Accepted 18 October 2016 Available online 19 October 2016 Objective: The purpose of this study was to test whether pre-treatment levels of psychological flexibility would longitudinally predict quality of life and eating disorder risk in patients at a residential treatment facility for eating disorders. Method:Data on body image psychological flexibility, quality of life, and eating disorder risk were collected from 63 adolescent and50 adult, female, residential patients (N=113) diagnosedwith an eating disorder. These same measureswere again collected at post-treatment. Sequentialmultiple regression analyseswere performed to test whether pre-treatment levels of psychological flexibility longitudinally predicted quality of life and eating disorder risk after controlling for age and baseline effects. Results: Pre-treatment psychological flexibility significantly predicted post-treatment quality of lifewith approximately 19% of the variation being attributable to age and pre-treatment psychological flexibility. Pre-treatment psychological flexibility also significantly predicted post-treatment eating disorder risk with nearly 30% of the variation attributed to age and pre-treatment psychological flexibility. Discussion: This study suggests that levels of psychological flexibility upon entering treatment for an eating disorder longitudinally predict eating disorder outcome and quality of life. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Based on the semi-explicit asymmetric exponential schemes constructed by the author, a new alternating group explicit (AGE) method with exponential-type for the numerical solution of the convection–diffusion equation is derived in the paper. The method has the obvious property of parallelism and is unconditionally stable. The results of numerical examples are given to show the effectiveness of the present methods that are in preference to the Evans and Abdullah' method in [Evans, D.J. and Abdullah, A.R., 1985, A new explicit method for the diffusion–convection equation. Computers & Mathematics with Application, 11, 145–154].


Diplomatic envoys — Immunities of — High Commissioner for India in United Kingdom — Counterclaim in action brought by High Commissioner — Waiver of immunity — Action for repayment of loan — Counterclaim for slander — Whether infringement of immunity — Relevance of degree of connection between claim and counterclaim. Jurisdiction — Territorial — Exemptions from — Foreign States — Counterclaim against sovereign plaintiff — Whether counterclaim infringes sovereign immunity — Action for repayment of loan — Counterclaim for damages for slander — Whether bringing of action amounts to waiver of immunity — Relevance of degree of connection between claim and counterclaim.


Honeycomb weathering has been observed in a Carboniferous sandstone at a coastal location near Ballycastle on the north coast of Northern Ireland. Specimens of this sandstone have been analysed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectrometry. Results reveal that calcium sulphate (gypsum) is the only salt present and is found only at and immediately below the rock surface. SEM observations suggest that crystallization of salts in pores could easily dislodge quartz grains to promote granular disintegration, whilst etching of quartz grain surfaces attests to chemical weathering activity within the rock However, the reason for the development of the honeycomb pattern is not known.


M. Salis(*), P. C. Ricci and F. RagaDipartimento di Fisica - Universita` di CagliariINFM- UdR CagliariCittadella Universitaria , 09042 Monserrato-Cagliari ,ItalyThe concept of "recombination resistance" introduced by Shockley and Read(Phys. Rev. 87, 835 (1952)) is discussed within the framework of the thermo-dynamics of irreversible processes ruled by the principle of the minimum rate ofentropy production. It is shown that the affinities of recombination processesrepresent "voltages" in a thermodynamic Ohm-like law where the net rates ofrecombinations represent the "currents". The quantities thus found allow forthe definition of the "dissipated power" which is to be related to the rate ofentropy production of the recombination processes dealt with.PACS numbers: 05.70.Ln; 72.20.Jv; 82.20 M


Noise signals are often encountered in several science and engineering fields. They can be originated by a lot of different mechanisms, some of which are still not sufficiently understood. Since reliability and performance of many systems depend on their noise sensitivity and noise rejection capability, suitable noise sources are required to lead appropriate tests to investigate the behavior of the same systems in the presence of noise. At present, only white noise sources are available on the market. Technicians that need to generate colored noise could use arbitrary waveform generators as noise sources; but, they will barely find application notes that support them in this challenging task. This work presents tutorial notes related to the simulation of colored noise, in particular of composite-power-law noise, and proposes an analog generator that exploits an arbitrary waveform generator as noise source.


It had been estimated the state of Robina pseudoacacia plantations growing under the various forest conditions, which were created artificially in the recultivated landscapes of Semenovsky-Golovkovsky brown coal basin. It was found that at starting development stages the "pure" and combined plantations grown up to the third growth class, but after 15–25 years they approach the first growth class level.


The oscillatory behaviors of an oscillator made from double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) with vacancy defects were systematically investigated via molecular dynamics simulation method. We found that the vacancy defects change the off-axial rocking motion and the van der Waals potential, resulting in more energy dissipation. Unlike the case in the C60–nanotube oscillators (Song, et al., Phys. Lett. A. 373 2009, 1058-1061) that one vacancy can make the oscillators more stable, our study showed that the vacancies cannot improve the performance of DWCNT-based oscillators no matter where vacancy defects are located.


This article provides an overview of the ceramic sequence of the Pacific slope of Guatemala from the perspective of compositional data generated by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of 1166 ceramic specimens from the Pacific coastal plain and Vally of Guatemala. Excluding ethnographic ceramics and raw material samples, the analyzed specimens pertain to four chronological divisions, the Early Formative, Middle through Terminal Formative, Classic, and Early Post classic periods. Differences in subgroups among the four chronological subdivisions of the sample reflect shifting ceramic resource procurement, production, and exchange.