ABSTRACT This article examines the perception of four English vowels (/i, i, ε, æ/) by adult native speakers of German. From the standpoint of German, it appears that English /i, i,ε/ are perceptually similar, if not identical, to German /i, i, ε,/ whereas /ε/ is a "new" vowel for German learners of English. The role of foreign language experience in the perception of second language vowels was examined through labeling responses to members of synthetic continua (beat-bit, bet-bat) in which vowel duration and spectrum were varied factorily. The subjects were relatively experienced and inexperienced second language (L2) learners and a monolingual English control group. The results suggest that L2 experience did not affect perception for the continuum with the two "similar" vowels /i/ and /I/. However, for the continuum involving the "new" vowel /æ/, the experienced Germans more closely resembled the native English speakers than the inexperienced Germans. The predominant use of duration cues in differentiating the English /ε/–/æ/ contrast by the inexperienced Germans suggested that when spectral cues are insufficient to differentiate an L2 vowel contrast, duration will be used.


Vanadium alloy have been identified as leading candidate for fusion energy systems. To construct more effective and economic system,dissimilar materials joints between vanadium alloys and stainless steel were required. The high vacuum electron beam isolationwelding( EBIW) was used to joining vanadium alloy( V-5Cr-5Ti) to stainless-steel( HR-2) with the middle transition metal of Au. The effect of electron beam( EB) offset on the joint properties was analyzed. The results show that the penetrated crack forms in the joint without EB off-set( d =0),which directly leads to failure of the joint. And the metallurgical bonding joint can be achieved by minimizing the formation of intermetallic compounds with EB off-set( d = r). Au as filler material exhibits good isolation layer which helps to suppress the formation of V /Fe intermetallic compounds,improve the weld quality. The tensile strength of vanadium alloy /stainless-steel of EBIW joint is higher than 380 MPa. The weld seams have good top and back appearance,and there is no crack and porosity in the joints detected by X-ray inspection.


The paper examines the nature of competitive paths in an exhaustible resource model, which allows for growing population. For competitive paths which are equitable in the sense that the per capita consumption level is constant over time, the implicit investment rule is derived. This is seen to be a generalization of Hartwick's rule, obtained in the case of a stationary population. It is also shown that the existence of a competitive equitable path implies that population can experience at most quasi-arithmetic growth.


Lasersurgery has established itself in the treatment of minor tumors (T1 - T2) of the upper aerodigestive tract. However, advanced carcinomas of the head and neck (T3 - T4) are generally treated with conventional surgical procedures which include pharyngolaryngectomy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the oncological outcome of endoscopic lasersurgery in advanced head and neck tumors and to compare the results with conventional surgical procedures. Between January 1994 to December 1996, 86 patients with advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx and hypopharynx underwent endoscopic lasersurgery instead of pharyngolaryngectomy as a curative measure. Besides the recurrence and survival rate, the necessity of tracheostomy, postoperative complications and the mean duration of hospitalization were documented. The results showed that the recurrence and survival rate were similar or even better after conventional pharyngolaryngectomy, whereas the patients' postoperative rehabilitation was better after lasersurgery. In this contribution the indication for lasersurgical intervention or pharyngolaryngectomy in advanced carcinomas of the head and neck is discussed.


Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) will not pursue FDA approval of its hepatitis C (HCV) treatment, a dual regimen of daclatasvir and asunaprevir, and has withdrawn its new drug application (NDA) for asunaprevir, an NS3/4A protease inhibitor.


FOR THE PAST HALF CENTURY, CHINA'S PEASANTS HAVE BEEN THE POOR RELATIONS OF THE REVOLUTION; NOW THEY MAKE UP THE FORGOTTEN BILLION OF THE COUNTRY'S 'ECONOMIC MIRACLE'


Based on the background of the establishment of internal audit ,with analysing of the theory of the fiduciary responsibility, piont out that the internal audit stems from enterprise internal needs.From the starting possibility and necessity of the Internal audit expounded that Auditfiduciary responsibility is the fundamental cause of internal audit.


The main principle of the Library 2.0 is in the fact that the information has to be spread from the library to the user and viceversa, to allow fast and permanent adaptation of the library services. Within the framework of the implementation of the "Departmental Plan of the Public Services Reading" by the "General Council of Moselle", the division of the public reading develops a departmental portal as main vector of the information with various users' profile. The context of this research work takes a part of a Master degree training Diploma in STI-Economic Intelligence (Nancy2 University), combining facets of R&D in a professional context at the "Conseil G\'en\'eral de la Moselle" in France.


This paper focuses on the performance gain obtained on the Kepler graphics processing units (GPUs) for multi‐key quicksort. Because multi‐key quicksort is a recursive‐based algorithm, many of the researchers have found it tedious to parallelize the algorithm on the multi and many core architectures. A survey of the state‐of‐the‐art string sorting algorithms and a robust insight of the Kepler GPU architecture gave rise to an intriguing research idea of matching the template of multi‐key quicksort with the dynamic parallelism feature offered by the Kepler‐based GPU's. The CPU parallel implementation has an improvement of 33 to 50% and 62 to 75 improvement when compared with 8‐bit and 16‐bit parallel most significant digit radix sort, respectively. The GPU implementation of multi‐key quicksort gives 6× to 18× speed up compared with the CPU parallel implementation of parallel multi‐key quicksort. The GPU implementation of multi‐key quicksort achieves 1.5× to 3× speed up when compared with the GPU implementation of string sorting algorithm using singleton elements in the literature. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The effect of the turbine installation position on two-phase flow of a single six-blade ruston turbine in stirred tank with different agitation speeds is numerically simulated by using the large eddy simulation combined with mixture model. The result shows that when stirring low-density mixture, with the increasing stirring axle speed, volume fraction of low-density granules near the paddle is higher, while that near the barrel is low. When the paddle is installed with close distance to the tank bottom, the upper low-density granules are transported to the tank bottom to form good stirring effect. With increasing of the paddle location, distribution of low-density granules is hardly found at the bottom of stirred tank.


As agriculture is likely to suffer the biggest impacts, needs sound adaptation processes to sustain agricultural production and food system as a whole. Also need to stress the ability of decision-makers to manage information as an important factor determining the chance for a community to adapt to climate change. Awareness-raising and training are highly valued and lead to empowerment. Any knowledge transfer should take into account farmers' point of view, with the aim of building on their knowledge and capitalize it: climate change is a global problem with local impacts, thus information technology, jointly with communication sciences, can play a big role in blending different perspectives. In developing countries especially In India there is no dearth of "women entrepreneurs" who are capable of making their mark at the global level. The national policies and strategies have not yet considered this unexplored potential pool of intellectual inputs.


In order to make the domestic computer controlled flat knitting machine develop in high quality orientation for the substitution of the imported products,through the analysis of the function of the interposer and the stick plate as well as the key specifications and the process,a special plan machining the interposer regarding its thickness with the digit controlled duo-faced grinding machine is introduced,and the quality of the interposer and the stcik plate assembly are improved.Some key points with the stick plate assembly are put forth with some cautions as well as some constructive advice in machining the stick plate with some important specifications.


The contract of employment heads the list of those labour market institutions whose continued usefulness is called into question by what appear to be fundamental changes in the world of work. However, given the multiple tasks of classification, regulation and redistribution which it has historically been called on to perform, it is the durability of the contract of employment, rather than its supposed ineffectiveness, which requires explanation. From an evolutionary perspective, the employment contract is best understood as a governance mechanism which links together work organisation with labour supply in such a way as to make it possible to manage long-term economic risks. The paper sets out a number of possible futures for the employment contract as a mechanism for risk management, and identifies 'mutations' within the conceptual framework of employment law which suggest possible directions of change.


Intellectual self-efficacy was tested as a mediator of age-related intellectual performance after controlling for perceptual speed differences. Tests of verbal, reasoning, and spatial abilities were administered to 50 younger and 50 older adults, along with measures of perceptual speed and task-specific intellectual self-efficacy. Younger outperformed older adults on spatial, reasoning, and speed measures, whereas no age differences emerged on tests of verbal ability. Younger adults endorsed higher self efficacy for all domains. For reasoning, speed partially mediated age differences in performance, while intellectual self-efficacy failed to explain additional age-related variance. Age Group X Speed interactions contraindicated planned mediational analyses for younger and older adults in other domains. Within older adults only, speed completely mediated age-performance relationships in spatial and reasoning domains; self-efficacy failed to further attenuate age-related performance in either domain. Issues discussed include age-related patterns of self-efficacy and performance, implications of Age Group X Speed interactions, the intercorrelations between speed and self-efficacy, and methodological difficulties in assessing task-specific self-efficacy for speeded tasks. I certify that I have read this thesis and find that, in scope and quality, it satisfies the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.


The urban coastal belts of Bangladesh are highly prone to natural and manmade disasters than other areas because of population density and resources. Chittagong, the second largest city and commercial center of Bangladesh, is more at risk from disasters than any other urban centers due to its geographical location. Its coastal and hilly nature makes it vulnerable to many disasters. Based on primary field survey this study has made an attempt to figure out the copping strategies of the living people with disasters. The primary information was collected by a questionnaire survey on the household level along the coastal belt areas of Chittagong city and an in depth interview was conducted on experienced person who have faced some destructive disasters. From the analysis, it has been found that the coastal dwellers are the major victims of both natural and man induced disasters. Most of the people are migrated from outside the city because of their livelihoods living here in the khas land and embankment. Almost all of the public facilities are absent here, though this coastal area is under the jurisdiction of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC). This study shows that people at the coastal belt areas of Chittagong city are mostly living below the poverty line. Shortage of urban facilities, their living conditions and housing structure make them the most vulnerable community within the city system. The survey reveals that cyclone, storm surge, flood and salinity intrusion along the with water logging, various types of pollution, drainage congestion and lack of social security are the most common figure of disasters. However, like other coastal areas of Bangladesh people can cope with all kinds of disaster but they need a better support from the authority particularly to save their lives and livelihoods and the coastal environment as a whole.


The retrofit and rehabilitation of buildings and structures by externally bonded reinforcement has become popular because of its ease of application, low cost, and minor structural changes. This paper discusses an analytical model to determine the shear stress distribution and the normal stress distribution between the concrete and the bonded laminate.


A covariant derivative is defined on the one point compactification of the quaternions, respecting the natural action of quaternionic Möbius transformations. The self-parallel curves (analogues of geodesics) in this geometry are the loxodromes. Contrasts between quaternionic and complex Möbius geometries are noted.


The results of experimental examination of different approaches to the signal stationarity assessment with regard to the heart rate variability spectral parameters estimation are presented. The following three approaches were considered: autoregressive parameters monitoring; analysis of detrended signal and assessment of generalized likelihood ratio. The above methods were examined with the use of both artificially modeled signals and a set of real signal recordings. A combination of parameters providing least values of nonstationarity detection error was determined for each method. It was shown that the three methods demonstrate similar performance, while the obtained errors can be reduced by their joint use and also by taking into account some additional statistical indexes (such as signal mean value and variance).


ABSTRACT Two studies employing canonical variate analysis generated evidence that related personality to both activity interests and involvement. In the first study of 1885 participants, significant canonical correlations allowed the following interpretations of three canonical functions: higher trait scores on competitiveness, thrill-seeking and assertiveness corresponded to stronger interests in martial arts, outdoor activities and competitive sports; higher thrill seeking and spontaneity scores related to greater interests in martial arts and outdoor activities; greater self-reliance, mental focus and control aligned with stronger interests in weight training but reduced interest in class training. A second and smaller study (N = 286) yielded support for the first investigation, and added evidence related to relationships between personality and self-reported participation in different physical activities. In conjunction, these studies argue for continued employment of this methodology in sport personology research with an eye to creating tools for guiding individuals towards rewarding and sustainable physical activity choices.


Glass sealants can be used to hermetically seal different components of a solid oxide fuel cell stack. One of the limitations of glass sealant is its inherent brittleness, which can be overcome by utilizing the ability of a glass to self heal at higher temperatures. At these temperatures glass can flow and fill the cracks developed during thermal cycling. In this study, a glass of suitable composition, expansion and flow characteristics is used to seal yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) to a metal. The self healing behavior of these seals is demonstrated- Leak rate of these glass seals is measured at room temperature, higher temperatures and after thermal cycles.


The mineralizing rates of the organic fertilizers of chook dung,cattle dung and pig dung and the releasing rates of the available N,P,K in them were studied with an incubation method in lab;moreover the effcts of the organic fertilizers on the contents of available Cu,Zn,Fe and Mn in soil were analyzed. The results show that the mineralizing rates of organic carbon in the above three organic fertilizers are 87.5% ,71.9% and 55.4%,respectively after the application of organic fertilizers in soil for 120 days;the releasing rates of the alkaline hydrolysis N are 39. 9% ,20. 6% and 35. 3% , respectively ; the releasing rates of available P and available K are 24.6%,61.3%,34.8% and 78.8%,36.8%,41.5%, respectively. Under the condition of experiment the application of chook dung,cattle dung and pig dung in soil can improve the contents of available Cu and Mn,but decrease the content of available Zn;the chook dung increases the content of available Fe,but the cattle dung and pig dung have the negative effects.


Aims: To screen for the antibacterial activity of Carissa spinarum L. crude extracts against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus . The phytochemicals that are responsible for the bioactivity were also screened. Study Design: In vitro assay of antibacterial properties. Place and Duration of Study: Samples were collected from Samunge village at Loliondo in Ngorongoro district located in northern Tanzania. Extraction and phytochemical analyses were conducted at the Department of Traditional Medicine of the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Antimicrobial bioassay was carried out at Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Dar-es-Salaam between March 2013 and June 2013. Methodology: Disk diffusion test was used to determine antimicrobial activity of the plant extracts. Chemical tests were used to determine the group of phytochemicals present in


Ni60/(Ni/B_4C) reunion powder and Ni60-B_4C(wrapped Ni)composite powder were made for thermal spraying. Using high energy ball milling and electroless nickel technologies, we reformed B_4C particles grain size, distribution and surface state to improve theirs wear resistance, and prepared wear-resistance coatings with subsonic speed flame spraying technology. We carried out the grit wearing experiment of the coating in the type of pin-dish-wearing machine made by ourselves. The results show that the wear-resistance of the coating of Ni60-B_4C(wrapped Ni) is better than that of Ni60/(Ni/B_4C) coating.


My aim in this essay is to explore the politics of one of the seemingly least political forms of literature, the woman's magazine. Specifically, I will analyze the ideological content of the Lady's Magazine, one of the most popular and profitable of British monthly miscellanies in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth‐centuries.1 In this essay I will explore the role the Lady's Magazine played in the development of the idea of the "tender mother," a concept which was key in the formation of the cult of domesticity and in the development of the ideology of "woman's sphere" as a realm distinct and separate from the man's world of work.2An underlying assumption informing this essay is that the concept of motherhood was (and still is) culturally constituted,3 and that literature, including popular literature found in magazines, has played an important role in this process.4 In the Lady's Magazine's portrayal of motherhood we can see one of the means by which the ideology of motherhood, in particular, the c...


The silver(I) complex of tetrakis(isopropylthio)-p-benzoquinone (tpq), catena-poly[silver(I)-μ-[2,3,5,6-tetrakis(isopropylthio)-p-benzoquinone-S 2 ,S 3 :S 5 ,S 6 ]] perchlorate acetone solvate, {[Ag(C 18 H 28 S 4 O 2 )]ClO 4 .C 3 H 6 O} n , has been prepared and the molecular structure determined. The silver ion prefers a tetrahedral coordination geometry comprising four S atoms from two different tpq molecules, giving a linear-chain structure of alternating metal cations and organic ligands. Also, the four isopropyl groups of the tpq molecule lie in the perpendicular direction of the plane of the benzoquinone ring.


Custodial officers perform unique and challenging work tasks making it a profession with predictable work-to-home spillover. Drawing on Spillover and Safety Climate theories, we hypothesized that work-to-home spillover would be associated with higher psychological distress, sleep disturbance, binge drinking, and commuting incidents, and that these individual-level effects would be buffered in workgroups with a shared perception that fatigue was managed well. Using a mixed-methods design, multilevel quantitative data (498 employees nested in 72 workgroups across 12 Australian prisons) and qualitative data (from 63 structured interviews) were collected. Results supported predicted main effects for psychological distress, sleep disturbance, and commuting incidents, and a cross-level buffering effect on the positive relationship between custodial work spillover and psychological distress that occurs when workgroups perceive their organization is managing fatigue well. We found qualitative support for relationships via the emergence of six themes including how custodial officers experience a collective sense of fatigue management.


: Background and Objective: Autism Spectrum Disorder is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impaired verbal and non-verbal communication in addition to repetitive stereotypical behaviour. The Art therapy intervention is a performance based intervention that is used as a treatment for vast categories of mental health problems. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers any one of a group of disorders with an onset typically occurring during the preschool years and characterized by difficulties with social communication and social interaction and restricted and repetitive patterns in behaviours, interests, and activities. The Effectiveness of the art therapy is proved in treating vast categories of mental health problems. The Aim of this study is to review and summarize the Severity of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Effectiveness of Art therapy in reducing the Symptoms of Art therapy. Methods: An electronic search was made through published scholarly articles in Goggle scholar and Semantic Scholar. The Studies were filtered to last 15 years and with the following key words Art therapy, Autism spectrum disorder, Sensory and motor aspects 22 articles were sorted according to the selection criteria. Conclusions: Art based therapies were widely used in the recent times. Art therapy can be used for the reduction of symptoms of ASD and develop sensory and motor aspects. Based on the results of the available literature, Art therapy interventions can be useful in reducing the symptoms of Autism spectrum disorder and in developing the sensory and motor aspects.


Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common pathogen worldwide. Clinically significant CMV infection is mostly seen in the context of immunosuppression, whether congenital, acquired, or iatrogenic. In the recent past, however, in both adults and children, an increasing number of moderate-to-severe cases of colitis have been described among immunocompetent patients. We describe a rare case of severe CMV colitis in an immunocompetent patient which resolved spontaneously.


12. 3. 4. 5. LITERATURE CITED K. V. Anokhin, in: Systemic Mechanisms of Motivation [in Russian], Moscow (11982), pp. 219-221. I. Yu. Orbachevskaya, "The role of gastrin in the central mechanisms of food behavior," Author's Abstract of Candidate's Dissertation, Moscow (1982). S. K. Sudakov, Zh. Vyssh. Nervno Deyat., No. 2, 378 (1983). J. D. Falasco, G. P. Smith, and J. Gibbs, Physiol. Behav., 23, 887 (1979). J. Gibbs and G. P. Smith, Peptides, ~, 553 (1982). POSSIBLE SEROTONINERGIC MECHANISM OF INTRACARDIAC INTERACTION BETWEEN VAGUS AND SYMPATHETIC NERVES G. I. Kositskii,* A. E. Lychkova, V. M. Smirnov, and A. A. Lychkov UDC 612.178.1:612.178.2 KEY WORDS: heart; regulation; sympatho-parasympathetic interaction; serotoninergic mechanism. The intensity of function of several internal organs is largely determined by interaction between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. Stimulation of the sympathetic ganglion reduces the inhibitory effect of the vagus on the heart [i, 8]. However, during weak stimulation of the stellate ganglion accompanied by stimulation of the vagus nerve, potentia- tion of vagus inhibition of the cardiac rhythm is observed [I, 7, 9]. Similar data also were obtained during an investigation of the effect of different concentrations of catecholamines and acetylcholine when applied simultaneously to the isolated frog's heart [2, 6]. The aim of this investigation was to study the mediator nature of structures involved in the realization of this effect. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD Experiments were carried out on chinchilla rabbits weighing 2.5-3 kg anesthetized with hexobarbital (i00 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) using artificial ventilation of the lungs by the AID-3 apparatus. Altogether40 experiments were carried out, in which separate and combined stimulation of the right stellate ganglion and the peripheral end of the divided left vagus nerve were applied (in all series of experiments). During combined stimulation of the nerves, stimulation of the sympathetic ganglion began 7-15 sec after vagus nerve stimulation began, when a stable decrease in the heart rate was established. The parameters of vagus nerve stim- ulation were near-threshold strength, causing slowing of the heart rate by 20-30% of the spon- taneous rhythm. The duration of vagus nerve stimulation was 40-60 sec. The stellate ganglion was stimulated from 10-20 sec by means of an ESU-I stimulator. The absolute arterial pressure (in mm Hg) and the pulse pressure were recorded, so that changes in heart rate and systemic arterial pressure could be judged. Arterial pressure was recorded in the right carotid artery by means of an EMT-35 pressure transducer and UBP2-03 hiopotentials amplifier. To evaluate the contractile properties of the heart muscle, the impedance of the myocardium also was re- corded by means of electrodes connected to an RG 4-01 rheograph. The recording was made on an N3020-5 automatic ink-wrlting recorder. To test the mediator nature of the chronotropic ef- fect, trimeperidine (1-2 mg/kg), promethazine (1-2 mg/kg), and chlorpromazine (0.i-i mg/kg) were used. All drugs were injected intravenously. The investigation comprised I0 acute ex- periments and 30 chronic experiments. In the latter, the right vagus nerve was divided in the neck under sterile conditions 2-3 weeks before the main part of the experiment, in order to cause its degeneration and to prevent the action of loops of current on parasympathetic fibers during stimulation of the right stellate ganglion. *Corresponding Member, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR. Department of Normal Physiology, N. I. Pirogov Second Moscow Medical Institute. Trans- lated from Byulleten' ~ksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 98, No. 7, pp. 7-9, July, 1984o Original article submitted July 15, 1983. 0007-4888/84/9807-0857508050 9 1984 Plenum Publishing Corporation 857


Soil microorganisms play an important role in maintaining soil quality and function, although the response of soil microbial biodiversity to heavy metals has been extensively investigated, the microbe-microbe associations under the influence of both native plant species and extremely high heavy metal contamination are not well documented. We examined the diversity and composition of microbial communities and the physicochemical properties in the rhizosphere of three native plant species, Carex breviculmis, Buddleja davidii, and Artemisia annua growing on and around a Pb-Zn waste heap with a nearly 100-year history of natural recovery. Both plant species and heavy metals influence soil microbial diversity and composition. C. breviculmis and A. annua showed a prominent advantage in increasing rhizosphere microbial diversity and richness as well as network complexity compared with plant Buddleja davidii at severely contaminated soil, which was mainly related to the accumulation of soil nutrients such as soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen rather than a reduction in heavy metal concentrations. Moreover, the heavy metal concentration and soil nutrient levels significantly affected the microbial groups affiliated with Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota, in which those affiliated with Chloroflexi and Ascomycota were positively associated with heavy metals. Soil microbial network on the Pb-Zn waste heap exhibited higher average degree and a higher proportion of positive links than those around the waste heap, and thus soil microbial structure became more complexity and unstable with increasing heavy metal pollution.


In this paper we present a study of the mechanical properties of MEMS microphones using impedance spectroscopy. An ideal microphone model was used to derive the equation of motion of the diaphragm and the electrical impedance of the microphone as a function of fiequency. Both measurements and model show that the phase ofthe impedance is sensitive to the changes in the mechanical parameters of the microphone. The model predicts the presence of a peak near the mechanical resonance in the phase vs. j?equency graph with following properties: increasing the bias increases the peak height; increasing the diaphragm stiffness shws the peak position to a higher fiequenc-y; and decreasing the relative damping widens the peak width. This behavior is confirmed with actual measuremenls of the impedance. From the close correlation between measurement and model we deduce the actual damping of the diaphragm to be approximately


9 Dogs and most other mammals sniff to detect odors, but little is known how the periodic 10 inhale and exhale that make up a sniff helps to improve odor detection. In this combined 11 theoretical and experimental study, we use fluid mechanics and machine olfaction to ratio12 nalize the benefits of sniffing at different rates. Previous work had suggested that animals 13 sniff at nearly constant rates, but here we show that larger animals sniff slower, from 12 Hz 14 for a mouse to 2 Hz for an elephant. To understand how sniffing moves odor to olfactory 15 receptors, we design and build a custom bellows and sensors system to detect the change in 16 current as a function of odor concentration. Employing fluid mechanics from cardiovascular 17 flow, we show that the rate of molecular diffusion to the sensor scales with the product of odor 18 concentration and the dimensionless Womersley number. A fast sniff enables the animal to 19


In the article the modern features of global asymmetries and disparities of socio-economic development are analyzed. The most important gaps between the rich and poor countries are defined


This study was carried out in the Department of Agronomy, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, during the year 2008-10. The objective was to explore potential of somaclonal variation for improving drought tolerance in wheat. The proliferated calli from immature embryos of wheat (cv. GA-2002) were cultured on MS based medium supplemented with PEG-6000 (polyethylene glycol) induced osmotic stress of -9.0 bars for four weeks. PEG-6000 tolerant calli were selected and regenerated (R0). The somaclones (R0 regenerants) were grown to produce R1-seeds. The progeny of selected plants (R1-generation) and their donor parent were tested in pots for drought tolerance under simulated water stress. The results revealed that selected somaclones were less affected by water stress than their donor parent. Leaf rolling was observed in both R1 and their parent with increasing severity of stress but symptoms of leaf rolling were rather earlier and clearly noticeable in parent than R1 selected somaclones. The results further showed that R1 somaclones maintained higher leaf water potential than donor parent in response to all treatments of water stress. Maximum leaf water potential of -1.23, -1.63 and -2.21 MPa was noted in 4, 6 and 8 days of water stress, respectively compared with parent cv. GA-2002 (-1.37, -1.80 and -2.50 MPa). Compared to parental control, significant higher drought tolerance of selected R1 somaclones was evident based on symptoms of leaf rolling and leaf water relation. Somaclonal variations are potential source of genetic variability and can effectively be employed to develop drought tolerant plants in vitro. The protocol can effectively be used for in vitro screening and improvement of wheat for drought tolerance.


Taking into account the scenario of economic instability, registered in Brazil in 2016, it was possible to observe sectors that presented growth, especially startups, innovative and disruptive business models. In Fonseca's view (2006), startups were responsible for increasing demand for products and services, as well as attracting investors interested in long-term gains, recording a growth of the ecosystem of innovative ventures in 2016.But a phenomenon that has revolutionized the market is the startups linked to the financial sector, called Fintechs. It is from this perspective that the present work aimed to verify if the practices adopted by the startup Nubank next to its clients, are aligned to the model of value creation, proposed by Prahalad; Ramaswamy (2004). Through a bibliographical and documentary research through a case study with qualitative approach, it was identified that the company adopts practices aligned to a management focused on the co-creation of value and experience of its clients, through an innovative, 100% digital service , And which combines high technology with personalized and humanized customer service, resulting in commitment and loyalty to the services offered, seen as an "object of desire" by those who are not yet users of the card. This research not only contributes to an analysis of the need for the adoption of value creation practices that promote the engagement of clients by organizations, but also for the expansion of studies that show the generation of experience, through the quality of services.


Article deals with problems of using of acoustic screens. Acoustic screens, on one hand, promote noise reduction over protected territory, on the other hand, increase noise influence on drivers. Offered concept of acoustic screens solves a problem of space visual isolation as well as a problem of protective construction's monotony by use of various properties of acoustic waves for decrease of influence of noise.


We report confirmed impact sources for two seismic events on Mars detected by the NASA InSight mission. These events have been positively associated with fresh impact craters identified from orbital images, which match predicted locations and sizes to within a factor of 3, and have formation time constraints consistent with the seismic event dates. They are both of the very high frequency family of seismic events and are present with chirps (dispersed infrasound/acoustic waves). This brings the total number of confirmed Martian impact-related seismic events to eight thus far. All seismic events with chirp signals have now been confirmed as having been caused by impact cratering events. This includes all seismic activity within 100 km of the lander and two out of the four events with source locations between 100 and 300 km distance.


The digital videos require effective compression to facilitate their transmission and storage. However, it is not easy to control the quality of compressed videos. If the related applications need to preserve the content of every frame in the video, the traditional rate control mechanism may not be suitable. In this research, we propose a constant frame quality control technique, which can reduce the quality variations between successive frames to avoid serious perceptual distortion. The proposed scheme may thus be helpful in the applications of video archiving or surveillance videos. In addition, by constructing the relationship between the quality and quantization parameter, the proposed method may also benefit the traditional rate control coding. Objective distortion metrics such as mean squared error or peak signal to noise ratio are poorly correlated with the human perceptual quality. Recently, various image/video quality metrics based on the HVS have been proposed and the structural similarity (SSIM) index has been shown to be effective. Therefore, we adopt SSIM as the quality metric for our constant frame quality control. Compared with the reference software of H.264/AVC, JM, our approach can reduce SSIM variation significantly. Furthermore, at the same SSIM index, the proposed scheme achieves lower overall bit-rate.


Abstract The understanding of what constitutes workplace learning in academia is under-going change. Academic teaching staff are increasingly required to learn new administrative functions, to organise and supervise more hourly paid tutors and become adept at online curriculum writing and its delivery. Additionally, they often need new communication skills for teaching very large and diverse classes frequently in overseas contexts, and must know how to provide a flexible learner-centred environment for their students. The acquisition or updating of requisite skills that relate to such requirements constitutes workplace learning. From this author's observations, mature age academics appear to respond to the learning inherent in such skills quite differently from the way younger, or early career academics approach their workplace learning requirements. This paper examines some of the issues confronting older academic staff as they face the necessities of developing new skills in their university workplace, and their concerns with what might constitute real academic work that needs to be developed. The discussion asks how a university's organisational learning practices might respond more appropriately to such needs than currently seems the case. The paper asks what focussed support might be available for this group of academics and, if there is none, whether there should be. Given the federal government's new performance funding criteria as well as a more general push to keep individuals working longer, it would seem that managing and assisting the learning in late stages of an academic career is likely to become more critical to universities if the over fifties are to be encouraged to stay within the academic workplace.


To ensure simultaneous operation of the linear accelerator in the experimental and isotope production systems, a pulse (kicker) magnet with its power supply system (pulse modulator) has been designed and manufactured in the D.V. Efremov Institute by an order of the INR RAS. The pulse magnet with its power supply system has been installed in the INR RAS and adjustment works have been performed. In the paper are described a schematic and principle of operation of the pulsed magnet and modulator deflecting a part of proton macropulses to the isotope production system. The results of the adjustment works performed are presented in the paper.


Febrianti R, Khasani I, Rosada KK. 2021. Assessing the susceptibility of the selected gourami (Osphronemus goramy) to Aeromonas hydrophila. Nusantara Bioscience 13: 111-120. A breeding program to improve the growth performance of the gourami fish was carried out through selection methods that produced faster growth gourami (selected population). The purpose of this study was to determine the susceptibility of the selected gourami to Aeromonas hydrophila infection based on tolerance limits (LD50) and investigated clinical signs post-injection of the pathogenic bacteria. The challenge test by intramuscular injection of A. hydrophila was done to the fingerling fish (15-20 g) for 14 days post-infection. The population of the tested fish was obtained from six families, selected gourami (SP), and non-selected control (CP) groups. Phosphate buffered saline (PBS) as control and several doses of the pathogen, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, and 10 CFU/mL of A. hydrophila, were injected into the fish. Fish mortality and clinical signs were observed daily. The fish mortality was confirmed by isolating bacteria in the fish which showed clinical signs, followed by biochemical characterization of the isolated bacteria using API 20E and PCR. The LD50 of A. hydrophila to the selected population (9.70 × 10 CFU/mL) was higher than that of the control (6.50 × 10 CFU/mL). On the final day of the test, the accumulation mortality of CP (63.33±5.77%) higher than that in SP (33.33±5.77%). Based on the output test statistics, it was known that there was a significant difference between the mortality and clinical signs of SP and CP. The data suggested that the selected gourami were more resistant to A. hydrophila infection than that of the control. The A. hydrophila infection caused most of the major clinical signs, including mass mortality of the fish. The biochemical and PCR test ensure that fish mortality was caused by A. hydrophila infection.


ABSTRACT Charles Callwell's Small Wars (1896, 1899, 1906) is widely considered both an ur-text for modern counter-insurgency studies, and a primer for the racialized late-Victorian approach to war against 'savages': either way it is usually only considered within a British context. Alongside the numerous examples Callwell used from British colonial campaigns, he frequently referred to those of other European powers – notably the Russian conquest of Central Asia. This article will seek to analyse Callwell's views of Russian colonial warfare, establish the sources on which he relied, and evaluate his accuracy and the effect which the Russian example had on his thinking.


1. Tourism, Regional Development and Public Policy:Introduction to the Special Issue, Nese Kumral, A. Ozlem Onder. 2. From local promotion towards regional tourism policies:Knowledge process and actor networks in North Jutland, Denmark, Pennie F. Henriksen, Henrik Halkier. 3. Culinary Tourism as a tool for regional re-equilibrium, Armando Montanari, Barbara Stanisca. 4. Working on the other side, cooperative tour organizers and uncooperative hoteliers: evidence from Greek Cypriot tourism professionals, Craig Webster. Bernard Musyck Stelios Orphanides, David Jacobson.5. Public policies and development of the tourism industry in the Aegean region, Yaprak Gulcan, Department of Economics, Faculty of Business, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey, Yesim Kuustepeli Department of Economics, Faculty of Business, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey, Sedef Akgungor Department of Economics, Faculty of Business, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey. 6. An empirical analysis of the determinants of international tourism demand: the case of Izmir, A. Ozlem Onder, Aykan Candemir.


OBJECTIVES
Over the past 30 years the demographics, clinical characteristics, and management of trauma patients have changed dramatically. During this same time period, the organ donor population has also changed. The interactions between these two demographic shifts have not been examined in a systematic way. We hypothesize that trauma victims continue to be an important source of organs. We set out to systematically examine traumatic donors in an attempt to identify opportunities to increase organ recovery and quality.

METHODS
In this retrospective analysis, we compared trauma donors (TDs) and non-trauma donors (NTDs) in the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) standard analysis files, a clinical dataset collected by the Organ Procurement Transplant Network on all solid organ transplant candidates, donors, and recipients in the US since 1987.

RESULTS
SRTR contained data on 191,802 deceased donors. The percentage of TDs decreased from 55.3% in 1987 to 35.8% in 2016 (p<.001) primarily due to a steady increase in NTDs. TDs are younger and have fewer comorbidities while the percentage of donors who were Public Health Service (PHS) high risk or who underwent donation after cardiac death were clinically similar. TDs produce more organs/donor (3.5 vs 2.4, p <.001), are more likely to yield an extra-renal organ, and exhibit lower (better) Kidney Donor Risk Index (KDRI) scores, a predictor of graft longevity. These better outcomes are maintained after stratifying by age.

CONCLUSION
Over the past 30 years the number of NTDs has increased much more than the number of TDs. However, TDs remain a critically important organ donor source, yielding more organs per donor, better quality kidneys, and a higher likelihood of extra-renal organs. Potential causes such as improved resuscitation protocols should be examined in the future.

STUDY TYPE
Retrospective reviewLevel 3 Evidence.


Remanufacturing, a key circular economy practice, is a new way of sustainable thinking without depleting additional economic resources. Because remanufactured goods come from direct reuse of returned or already used goods, the environmental impacts of production are reduced and product longevity is extended; therefore, these products can be considered "green products." Are they appealing to the green consumers, however? Our questionnaire survey of more than 1,168 consumers from eight Asian countries shows that the "real" green market for remanufactured products is not yet ready. Reactions to green attributes of remanufactured products are disproportionate from Asian consumers with different consumption values. Status- and value-conscious consumers may buy into remanufactured products if they perceive them as greener. However, the findings suggest that environmentally conscious consumers do not show a high appreciation for the green concept of remanufactured products in Asia. The results highlight important takeaways for remanufacturers in the circular economy and those selling remanufactured products: to identify and define the right selling point of "greenness" to align with Asian consumers' inherent values.


This study was to analyze the changes in secondary teachers perception and practice of ESD over the course of an ESD in-service training. The in-service training, which was funded by the Ministry of Education and hosted by Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity and Korea National University of Education, was a basic level ESD course and offered to middle and high school teachers from Kyeonggi and Seoul area. 56 teachers participated in this study and varied in their disciplinary majors. To capture the teachers experiences, reactions and reflections throughout the training, this study employed participation observation, reflective journals of both the researcher and teachers, and pre- and post- open-ended questionnaire. Over the training, it was found that more teachers i) integrated environment, society, and economy into their concepts of ESD, ii) valued ESD, and iii) showed interest and confidence in implementing ESD. This study followed up for two months and explored the teachers practice of ESD at schools and their plans for future ESD practice. Implications for ESD professional development regarding how to design and manage in-service training are discussed.


Fish of the genus Squalius inhabit various freshwater habitats across Europe and Asia, with a particularly high diversity in the Mediterranean area, but the taxonomic status of many populations is still a matter of debate. This study aims to resolve the taxonomic uncertainties of chubs distributed in the Adriatic basin of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on the mitochondrial gene for cytochrome b and two nuclear genes, the recombination activating gene 1 and the rhodopsin gene, reveal high diversity of chubs in the investigated area. Two evolutionary independent groups are revealed: the first comprising the species Squalius illyricus, S. microlepis, S. svallize, S. tenellus and S. zrmanjae, and a second group corresponding with S. squalus. Genetic distinctiveness of species belonging to different groups is high due to their divergence that began in the Middle Miocene. In addition to allopatric speciation as the main force of divergence of Adriatic Squalius species, several instances of natural hybridizations were detected, contributing to the observed diversity. A comparison of phylogenetic scenarios using Bayesian factors corroborated the molecular basis for recognition of six Squalius species in the Adriatic basin, while Squalius janae is confirmed to be a junior synonym of S. squalus.


Leukemias (blood cell cancers) and central nervous system tumors are the most frequently occurring types of cancer in children. Mortality rates from all childhood cancers have decreased over the past 2 decades. As a result, many childhood cancer survivors are now returning to their schools after having been successfully treated. Although most of these survivors will continue receiving ongoing medical management after cancer treatment, far fewer receive specialized educational services. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to this often-overlooked area. The authors also review the case of 1 childhood leukemia survivor as a case example, and examine the cognitive/intellectual and affective/psychosocial sequelae that resulted after routine cancer treatment. They posit that school psychologists are uniquely positioned to provide vital assessment and educational services to childhood cancer survivors, and they offer a series of recommendations for when such children present within school settings.


There are similarities and differences between Chinese and western countries' university mottos.In the light of the comparative study,the paper tries to find out some reasons for the similarities and differences of the two so as to make some contribution to the translation of university mottos.


Reactor designing is a key problem in developing continuous hot-metal pretreatment technology.In this paper,a mathematical model for numerically studying two-phase hot-metal and particle flow is established.The models used include the k-e two-equation model for turbulence hot-metal flow and the random trajectory model for particle flow.The characteristics of two-phase flow in a swirling-reactor are numerically studied.The effects of each operating parameter on the two-phase flow and mixture are obtained.All these results offer scientific basis for designing and optimizing the hot metal continuous pretreatment technology.


India has a very huge potential of tree-born non-edible oil seeds. The country is endowed with more than 100 species of these oil seeds, occurring in the wild or cultivated sporadically to yield oil in considerable quantities. Attempts are being made to utilize non-edible and under-exploited oils for biodiesel production. The non-traditional seed oils, such as Jatropha curcas, Pongamia pinnata, Pongamia glabra, Madhuca indica, Shorea robusta, Mesua ferra, Mallotus philippines, and Garcinia indica, can be utilized for the purpose of biodiesel production. But, there are critical issues that must be addressed to make biodiesel a techno-economically viable renewable substitute or additive to diesel. The present method of utilization of non-edible oil seeds consumes only extracted vegetable oil for biodiesel production and renders huge amount of unutilized biomass. In general, 50% of the collected fruits of BIOGAS PRODUCTION FROM DE-OILED SEED CAKES OF JATROPHA AND PONGAMIA


Electrical resistivity measurements on a single crystal of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 at pressures to 4.2 GPa reveal a strong crossover in transport properties near P(*) approximately 1.6 GPa, where T(c) is a maximum. The temperature-pressure phase diagram constructed from these data provides a natural connection to cuprate physics, including the possible existence of a pseudogap.


conductance, shell thickness, and functional pore area. Condor 76:153-158. BLANKESPOOR, G. W., J. OOLMAN, AND C. UTHE. 1982. Eggshell strength and cowbird parasitism of Redwinged Blackbirds. Auk 99:363-365. CAREY, C. 1979. Increase in conductance to water vapor during incubation in eggs of two avian species. J. Exp. Zool. 209:181-186. CAREY, C. 1983. Structure and function of avian eggs, p. 69-104. In R. F. Johnston [ed.], Current ornithology. Vol. 1. Plenum Press, New York. CAREY, C. 1986. Tolerance of variation in eggshell conductance, water loss and water content by Red-winged Blackbird embryos. Physiol. Zool. 59:109-122. CAREY, C., S. D. GARBER, E. L. THOMPSON, AND F. C. JAMES. 1983. Avian reproduction over an altitudinal gradient. II. Physical characteristics and water loss of eggs. Physiol. Zool. 56:340-352. DRENT, R. H. 1970. Functional aspects of incubation in the Herring Gull. Behaviour Suppl. 17:1-132. FRIEDMANN, H. 1929. The cowbirds: a study in the biology of social parasitism. Charles C Thomas Publ., Springfield, IL. PAYNE, R. B. 1977. The ecology of brood parasitism in birds. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 8:1-28.


It is well known that constant-time addition, in which the execution delay is independent of operand length, is feasible only if the output is expressed in a redundant representation. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of constant-time addition and simultaneous format conversion where the source and destination digit sets are based on binary redundant numbers. We introduce the notion of "equal-weight grouping" (EWG) wherein, bits having the same weight are grouped together to achieve the constant-time addition and/or simultaneous format conversion operations. We also address some of the issues previously raised by Kornerup (see Proc. 14th IEEE Symposium on Computer Arithmetic, IEEE Computer Society, 1999, p. 152-6) which establishes necessary and sufficient conditions for constant-time addition or format conversion and indicate possible extensions of the theory developed therein.


Research on the emergency organization which is helpful to the reply of emergencies is an important direction in the field of emergency management. Computational and mathematical organization theory (CMOT) is a scientific area in which research members study organizations by using computational and mathematical methodologies. The application of CMOT to the study of emergency organizations is proposed in this paper, and studying the organization problems in the field of emergency management with computational and mathematical methodologies and formal models is discussed. The description model of the emergency organization system is presented. Then, the description model is applied in a case. Finally, the optimal design methodology of the emergency organization system is proposed. This paper presents a new approach and solution to study the emergency organization, the description model and optimal design methodology provide quantitative and scientific basis for contingency planning, and computing framework for the construction of the emergency organization system.


His overall scheme is to clarify terminology and bar interpretations that imply subjectivity. Redhead's account of experimental metaphysics is a summary of his earlier work on the interpretation of quantum mechanics. He introduces personalized formulations of certain principles of quantum mechanics, adding to an already difficult problem the further uncertainty of determining the validity and consistency of his formulation of it. It is as if Redhead tackles a concept that has a different meaning in French than in English by formulating it in Spanish. The discussion of reductionism and its failure in quantum mechanics (owing to the incommensurable analysis of wholes by parts) is interesting. Redhead casts the hidden variable theorists as having to maintain that part-whole reduction fails because of contextuality of measurement, and as having to accept a profound failure of "particularism." These considerations lead to a discussion of the practical feasibility of a "Theory of Everything." Redhead regards science as having got to the stage that making maps of the globe has reached—all that is left is to fill in detail. He argues that there is no practical way to distinguish whether a Theory of Everything is possible but not achieved, or if such a theory is impossible. Of course, the debate itself is only relevant to a realist. For antirealists, relativists, and constructivists, the Theory of Everything is a theory of nothing, since there is no set of facts to be fully captured by a single theory. Redhead ends his book with some discussion of mathematical analysis of scientific theory change. It is not clear what the discussion is aimed at, other than that a theory of everything ends any interest in graphs of theory change by making them all flat lines. Overall, Redhead's lectures are of interest as a casual reading of a survey of the state of scientific realism. It is clearly written, but suffers from occasional bouts of opinion, bias, and generalization. At least Redhead is not shy about stating where he stands on the issues and what he expects of a full account of realist science.


The paper presents the principle,design and signal processing system ofthe optical fiber current measurement instrument.The instrument has beenused to measure the transient current and the effective value of the currentat 50 Hz.


Reports on a study examining the interrelationships between manufacturing firms and their accommodation in the rented sector of the industrial property market and conducted among occupiers of rented and industrial property. Discusses occupier satisfaction with rented industrial property. Discusses occupier satisfaction with rented industrial property and the causes of occupier dissatisfaction. Emphasizes the complex pattern of relationships between firms and their buildings.


A goal to reduce the frequency of animal-vehicle collisions is motivating extensive research on this topic world-wide. Over the last 30 years, one popular mechanism to warn wildlife of approaching vehicles has been the wildlife warning reflector, manufactured and distributed under the brands Swareflex (Austria) and Strieter-Lite (USA). These reflectors were designed to scare deer and other ungulates from roadways at night by reflecting light from the headlights of approaching vehicles into the eyes of animals on the road verge. Robust documentation of their effectiveness has been lacking, yet there has been a push in Australia to examine their efficacy with regard to medium to large macropodids. Field trials of the reflectors are problematic and difficult to design rigorously, so we chose to examine the behavioural response of two captive macropodid species (Macropus rufus and M. rufogriseus) to the reflectors on a simulated road in order to derive some indication as to their efficacy. The behavioural response to the reflectors was negligible for both species and not consistent with an aversive effect to deter road use or crossing. We conclude that they would be of little value in our efforts to reduce the frequency of collisions of kangaroos or wallabies with vehicles in Australia.


Wind energy is developing very fast in China and nowadays China owns the second largest wind power capacity in the world. A great number of wind turbines have been planted in the seismic active regions of China, for example, Beijing, Inner Mongolia. The seismic loads of these wind turbines need to be evaluated. In this paper, seven wind turbines are analyzed by the seismic response spectrum method, in which Chinese spectrum is applied. The base shear and base moment are calculated and the profiles of the shear and moment along the tower are investigated. Finally, the equations of the seismic loads are given, based on the numerical results.


In this paper, we describe algorithms developed to analyze physiological signals associated with emotions, in order to recognize the affective states of users via non-invasive technologies. We propose a framework for modeling user's emotions from the sensory inputs and interpretations of our multi-modal system. We also describe examples of circumstances in which this kind of system can be applied to.


Palaeoecological data from Cronkley Fell in the Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve emphasize the relict nature of the disjunct plant species which comprise the 'Teesdale assemblage'. The present distribution of these plants is however, recent, a result of complex ecological changes which have taken place during the Flandrian period, and is more extensive than at any time since late-Devensian times. Much of Cronkley Fell was covered by woodland and blanket peat in the early and mid-Flandrian period and the Teesdale assemblage was restricted to refugia, such as cliffs and screes, river alluvium and flushes. Some of these refugia were covered by blanket peat but, following the disappearance of the woodland around 3000 b.p., additional habitats became available for colonization by the relict plants. It is in the context of ecological change during the last Io ooo 000-12 ooo years that conservation of this unique flora must be viewed. QUATERNARY scientists have suggested that their value to modern society may lie in the historical perspective they can give to contemporary environmental problems (Washburn, 1970; Wright, 1973; Bryson, 1974). Recent palaeoecological studies in northern Minnesota, U.S.A. have provided striking illustration of this. Bradbury and Waddington (1973, P. 190) documented the biological and chemical changes in a lake since i88o and observed that 'The information and perspective provided by such historical analyses may ultimately make it possible to detect undesirable trends in lake pollution and to arrest them before unnecessary harm is done to these ecosystems.' Wright related ecological and geological theories of landscape development to argue for the continuance or return of those processes which characterize the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, part of the U.S. Wilderness Preservation System (Wright, 1974). This paper presents palaeoecological data documenting the Flandrian history and present status of the rare plants which today characterize the Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve (Fig. i). Such data may be useful to those concerned with the use(s) to which the National Nature Reserve is put and may give more precision to arguments about the conservation of the unique flora. Pollen statistics presented here are from Cronkley Fell, Yorkshire, and are interpreted from the viewpoint of the survival of a group of rare plants or the existence of environmental conditions which tend to favour such restricted species in Upper Teesdale today. A summary of these data was published previously (Squires, 1971). Pollen data from other portions of Upper Teesdale have been published elsewhere (Johnson and Dunham, 1963; Turner et al., 1973). CONSERVATION AND THE TIME SCALE Although rejected as unattainable by Hardin (1968) and Fife (i971), a common definition of


Purpose – Amidst the perpetual evasiveness of a general succession model, successor commitment has been identified as an important factor. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent female successor commitment displays particular characteristics and which insights this sheds on successor commitment theory.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of the relevant literature, propositions concerning female successor commitment are developed. Qualitative case study data are used to explore the applicability of the multidimensional successor commitment model.Findings – Normative commitment was only observed in female successors at a time of crisis or when no other successor was available. It was found to be a dynamic concept and the data indicated a general shift towards affective commitment. A combination of calculative and affective commitment was found when the female successor chose a career in the family business, to be able to combine career and child care responsibilities, indicating ...


Abstract The pathological effects of different feeding levels on the organ systems of larval and juvenile Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus (also known as olive flounder) were studied sequentially from 3 to 45 d posthatch. The flounder were fed enriched live foods—the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis and brine shrimp in the genus Artemia–at four feeding levels (L1–L4). The respective food densities at L1, L3, and L4 were 0.5, 2.5, and 5.0 times that at L2. Level L2 is the one conventionally adopted by hatcheries. At that level, the initial density of rotifers is 0.5 individuals/mL of culture water; the density gradually increases to approximately 3.5 individuals/mL after metamorphosis. The initial density of brine shrimp at L2 is 0.1 individuals/mL, which gradually increases to 3 individuals/mL. Light and electron microscopy showed no evidence of viral, bacterial, parasitic, or mycotic invasions in developing Japanese flounder. However, pathological lesions were observed (including adhesions among the...


The improvement in face recognition that can be obtained from the simultaneous availability of normal and near-infrared (NIR) images is quantitatively measured. The authors designed a camera that can perform a simultaneous acquisition of a NIR image and visible images (VI) and therefore built a face database with this camera aiming at comparing the performance of several algorithms on both types of images when illumination variations occur. The authors noticed the stability of the performance of all the tested algorithms on infrared images upon illumination variation, and the improvement in performance that results from the fusion of these two different types of images.


Sometimes a Minor Event Can Lead an Otherwise Normal Person To Commit Suicide This belief may be stated by friends and/or relatives of the suicide who may worry that something they said or did pushed the suicide "over the edge", and in sensational news reports of suicide (e.g., rock lyrics, role-playing games such as Dungeons and DragonsTM). This view is not supported by research results. Generally, suicidal persons are likely to demonstrate long-term adjustment problems as well as certain maladaptive cognitive patterns, such as deficient problem-solving skills, rigid thinking, and irrational beliefs.


showed the growth of Kyoto in the first half of the 17th century . This area which was located in front of the streets 響as the strip of land with small depth, This strip corresponded to the condition that small tQwn houses sto ⊂rd along the streets dense旦y. lt can be said that there were no property boundary lines of adjacent land in this strip of land , It was typical in this period that town houses stretched into the periphery of the city with no plot div 正sion .


In order to improve the performance of DOA(Direction of Arrival),a VESPRIT-TSM(Virtual Estimating Signal Parameters via Rotational Invariance Techniques-Time Spatial Matrix) algorithm is presented.By This algorithm,three subarrays can be constructed from a double-row uniform linear array,which is based on to figure out some new data used for 2-D DOA estimation.It can be proved that,this algorithm raise the utilization rate of the given array a lot,and makes less error than the original one.Simulation results show that,this algorithm is effective.


Although utilizing the exogenous mediators distinctly enhances the microbial fuel cell (MFC) performance, possibility of microorganisms' toxicity, environmental aspect and cost are the main dilemmas facing wide applications. Therefore, successful applying of the yeast extract as a mediator in the baker's-yeast-based (Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based) MFCs would be of great interest as it will overcome all the aforementioned problems. The influence of the yeast extract addition was investigated based on the yeast cell adhesion on the surface of plain and gold-sputtered carbon paper anodes. In the case of plain carbon paper, the addition of the yeast extract considerably enhanced the performance of the yeast-based MFC, which can be attributed to the yeast extract role as growth media or as a mediator; the current and power densities increased from 94 to 190 mA/cm2 and from 12.9 to 32.6 mW/cm2, respectively. However, compared with the plain carbon paper, in the case of gold-sputtered anode the performance sign...


A combined conversion electron and γ-transmission Mossbauer spectroscopy is applied to investigate the differences in the surface and bulk crystallization of the amorphous Fe-M-B-Cu (M: Zr, Ti, Nb, Ta) alloys. It is shown that the surface crystallization occurs at an annealing temperature lower than in the bulk. The nanocrystalline bcc Fe phase is significantly more abundant at the surface than in the bulk in the entire annealing temperature range.


The subject of my research is 'Paul's doctrine of Christian maturity', which is approached from an exegetical-theological perspective with the intention of drawing pastoral and contemporary applications. In the course of this research I address four questions, which I have listed below along with respective summaries of the main points.

1. On the basis of Paul's writings, what is his understanding of God's intended goals for his people in the New Testament era?

God's goals for his people are intimately related to his goals for the whole cosmos: he will restore everything to a state of perfection in a new creation, in which his people will participate. The concept of 'maturity' is explored by an examination of several Pauline uses of τέλeιος, in particular Eph. 4:10-16, Phil. 3:12-16 and Col. 1:27-2:3. The ultimate goal of creation I have labelled 'Future Maturity', but additionally God intends that his people should achieve a level of maturity (which I have designated 'Present Maturity') which can be identified with a mind-set or attitude which results from understanding the narrative of God's plan of redemption. This narrative furnishes the world-view of believers. Christians now live in the eschatological 'last days' in which they not only anticipate the end of this present age, but live lives which are directed and transformed by the Holy Spirit.

2. In what ways might Paul have defined mature believers in the light of God's intended goals for his people?

The relationship between maturity and fruitfulness is explored, with a particular focus on Galatians 5:16-26. The Holy Spirit produces fruit in the lives of believers, but always in such a way that believers are responsible agents: there is a 'passive-active' aspect to the mature Christian life. Present Maturity can be gauged both in terms of attitude and accomplishment. It is especially witnessed in the church as a community and is encouraged and developed through the practice of imitation as well as by precept. It is also true that maturity consists in identification with the suffering and dying of Christ so that the perspective on suffering is transformed as compared to the perspective of an unbeliever.

3. How is this description of Christian maturity expressed in Paul's letter to the Galatians, especially in Gal. 3:1-18?

The historical background to Paul's Letter to the Galatians explains why Paul needs to remonstrate with the Galatians, because they have been theologically misled. They need to attain to an accurate understanding of the significance of Christ's death in order to achieve maturity. The gospel Paul preaches is a message, a body of doctrine which needs to be heard, but which also needs to be appropriated by faith. Abraham is set before the Galatians as a pattern of faith for them to follow, not simply because he was circumcised but because he trusted in the promises of God which culminate in the work of Christ. The essential conflict between the law and faith in 3:10-13 is examined carefully. Upon believing the Galatians received the Holy Spirit: this reception of the Spirit, it is argued (in agreement) with J. L. Martyn (2010), is to be co-ordinated with the 'blessing of Abraham' in Gal. 3:14. One vital consequence of this blessing is the inclusion of believing Gentiles with believing Jews as fellow-heirs of God's promise.

4. What implications does Paul's teaching on Christian maturity have for the twenty-first century Christian community in terms of its worldview and practice?

The distinction between 'Present Maturity' and 'Future Maturity' is summarised and amplified. There should be, in the church of Jesus Christ, a pastoral necessity to facilitate 'Present Maturity' in believers. This process is discussed in relation to Romans 12:2 in particular, and the 'renewal of the mind' is placed in the context of continually learning and reinforcing believers' present participation in the narrative of redemption. This is carried on by moral and spiritual exhortation which is appropriate to the level of maturity which believers have attained. This ongoing renewal of the mind is examined in connection with N. T. Wright's study of virtue (2010). Additionally, it is seen how 'Present Maturity' joins with the present creation in longing for fulfilment and perfection in 'Future Maturity'. The importance of community and the radical understanding of suffering, in the light of this world-view, are again explored and described.

The apostle Paul, as a pastor, rejoices when he witnesses this Present Maturity, as described and defined in this thesis, in all the churches in which he labours, and the longing and desire of Paul is to be experienced by today's pastors, and indeed all Christians.


ABSTRACT Plastic waste of different origin has been proposed and used as an additive in coal blends in metallurgical coke production for trace amounts for about two decades. Previous studies have suggested that high-density polyethylene (HDPE) can be used as an additive in coking blends for small quantities (2–3 wt% of the blend) without considerably damaging the strength properties of coke. Here, one HDPE-free and five HDPE-bearing laboratory-made cokes were produced and tested for their compressive cold strength and compressive hot strength. The temperature in the hot compressive strength tests was 1,700°C, corresponding to the temperature of the blast furnace bosh area near the tuyeres. The results showed that the trend of the cold compressive strength of coke increased as the amount of HDPE in the coking blend was increased from 0 wt% to 5 wt%. In hot compressive strength tests, cokes containing 3 wt% to 5 wt% of HDPE in the raw material blend showed non-breaking behavior, while the reference coke samples were crushed to pieces in the tests. Image analysis performed for the microscopic images of all experimental coke types revealed that the high number and area percentage of large pores impacted negatively on compressive strength of coke.


Research on telepresence robot has a lot of unexplored potential. Many researches have been done to pursue
development on telepresence robot. Most of the researchers usually buy a commercial telepresence robot or build a special
purpose one. Usually the needed protocol is developed from scratch. The developed system seldom has interoperability
between each other and the process can be costly or lengthy. To expedite research process on telepresence robot
development, this paper tries to present an open protocol framework for telepresence robot. The framework will consist of
architecture definition, service specification and protocol specification. An implementation of open protocol framework
has been simulated. A working hardware prototype that implemented the framework also has been built and tested. The
result shows that the open protocol framework is useful and easy to implement. All the implemented protocol functions
working properly. The function call of the SPs can be configured according to the needed parameters.


Summary from only given. This tutorial discusses the definition, use, and technologies associated with a class of optical amplifiers commonly called amplets (little amplifiers). These devices, though little, will impact next generation networks in a big way. As optical amplifiers have become more prevalent in lightwave networks, a segmentation has occurred in the functional use of these OAs.


Electro-oxidative lithography is used as a tool to create chemical nanostructures on an n-octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) monolayer self-assembled on silicon. The use of a bromine precursor molecule, which is exclusively assembled on these chemical templates, can be used to further functionalize the nanostructures by the site-selective generation of azide functions and performing the highly effective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction with acetylene functionalized molecules. The versatility of this reaction scheme provides the potential to integrate a large variety of functional molecules, to tailor the surface properties of the nanostructures or to anchor molecular building blocks or particles in confined, pre-defined surface areas. The results demonstrated in the present study introduce a conceivable route towards the functionalization of chemically active surface templates with high fidelity and reliability. It is demonstrated that surface features with a lateral resolution of 50 nm functionalized with propargyl alcohol can be fabricated.


A subgroup H of a group G is said to be permutable if HK = KH for every subgroup K of G and the group G is called metaquasihamiltonian if all subgroups of G are either permutable or abelian. It is ...


ABSTRACT The voltage-gated sodium channel is critical for cardiomyocyte function. It consists of a protein complex comprising a pore-forming α subunit and associated β subunits. In polarized Madin–Darby canine kidney cells, we show evidence by acyl-biotin exchange that β2 is S-acylated at Cys-182. Interestingly, we found that palmitoylation increases β2 association with detergent-resistant membranes. β2 localizes exclusively to the apical surface. However, depletion of plasma membrane cholesterol, or blocking intracellular cholesterol transport, caused mislocalization of β2, as well as of the non-palmitoylable C182S mutant, to the basolateral domain. Apical β2 did not undergo endocytosis and displayed limited diffusion within the plane of the membrane; such behavior suggests that, at least in part, it is cytoskeleton anchored. Upon acute cholesterol depletion, its mobility was greatly reduced, and a slight reduction was also measured as a result of lack of palmitoylation, supporting β2 association with cholesterol-rich lipid rafts. Indeed, lipid raft labeling confirmed a partial overlap with apical β2. Although β2 palmitoylation was not required to promote surface localization of the α subunit, our data suggest that it is likely implicated in lipid raft association and the polarized localization of β2. Summary: The voltage-gated sodium channel β2 subunit associates with cholesterol-rich lipid rafts by means of S-palmitoylation, which may contribute to establishing its polarized cell surface localization.


Ecological degradation resulting from increasingly large energy consumption has received much attention around the globe.In this paper,the ecological footprint analysis(EFA) was performed to evaluate the energy ecological footprint of China from 1980 to 2007.It was found that it generally increased year by year,showing that the energy ecological footprint in 2007 was roughly 3.12 times of that in 1980;the average per capita in 2007 was 2.33 times of that in 1980.This indicates an increasingly grim situation on the impacts of energy consumption on ecology.The ecological footprint of the national level was even about 50 percent of that in 2007.This finding would be beneficial to developing a better understanding of the relationship between the energy consumption and the national ecological healthy.The general technology advance(the total factor productivity,TFP) was decomposed into two factors,i.e.,the technical efficiency change(EC) and the technological progress(TP).The EC was further decomposed into the scale effect change(SC) and pure technical efficiency-induced change(PC) with the non-parametric data envelopment analysis(DEA)-Malmquist method.Then the impacts of the TP and EC and TP,SC and PC,and the other four key factors,i.e.,population,GDP,energy consumption structure and industrial structure,and the energy consumption structure were examined.It was concluded that the TEP can essentially reduce ecological footprint,and the impact of each factor varies to certain degree.The impact of the TEP was found to be greater than any factor of the spatial energy technology advance.The EC seems to be the most critical factor in guaranteeing China's energy security,but the TP shows a relatively small effect.The response of the TP to energy footprint is gradually getting positive,on the contrary to the EC.In addition,SC shows the greatest lag effect.Of the four factors in the spatial energy technology advance,the energy consumption structure has the most negative impact,followed by population,the industrial structure showing a positive effect,and GDP.It would therefore be conducive to reducing energy ecological footprint through advancing sciences and technologies,improving the technological efficiency,and updating the energy consumption structure.


Before one can enter into a discussion about professions and their influence, certain parameters have to be defined. The whole question of what constitutes a profession has been a matter of debate for centuries. In order to attempt a meaningful impact analysis, one has to make a choice in relation to concepts and definitions at the risk of over‐simplification. For the purpose of discussion, the essential attributes accepted here are the ones suggested by Greenwood, mainly:


Taking MDT as development platform and VBA as integrated development environment,the research of 3D digital modeling and assembly simulation are presented,the assembly Sub-system of New Type Longitudinal Flow of shell-side heat exchanger is developed,which can raise design efficiency and quality.In this system,MDT objects are refered through setting object variables,pop menus and graphical user interfaces are designed and created,Processor system of mistakes is setted through program code beforehand.Implement methods of it are practiced,and crucial techniques are solved.


man are able to do, in order that he may concentrate on those skills which he has developed and which are so crucial to the efficient functioning of our interdependent economy. The role of the professional man in our society, whether he be medical practitioner, lawyer, accountant, engineer or whatever, is one of substantial economic importance. It does seem anomalous that the present tax structure operates so severely in discriminating against him.


This paper presents a new multi-channel MAC protocol for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks, namely, Asynchronous Multi-Channel MAC (AMCMAC). The AMCMAC supports simultaneous transmissions on different service channels, as well as, allowing other nodes to make rendezvous with their provider/receiver or broadcast emergency messages on the control channel. We compare the performance of the proposed protocol with that of IEEE 1609.4 and Asynchronous Multichannel Coordination Protocol (AMCP), in terms of throughput on control and service channels, channel utilization, and the penetration rate of successfully broadcast emergency messages. We demonstrate that AMCMAC outperforms IEEE 1609.4 and AMCP in terms of system throughput by increasing the utilization of control channel and service channels. In addition, AMCMAC mitigates both the multi-channel hidden terminal and missing receiver problems which occur in asynchronous multichannel MAC protocols.


This research finds that the study of the corporate volunteering service and of customer's purchasing decision is relatively scarce.Especially the native research with local characteristics is not formed.This research is to explore the relationship between them and to analysis the mechanism of the corporate volunteering service and charitable donation that affect the customer's purchasing decision.This research also finds that the corporate volunteering service and charitable donation can promote the company's image which the customers perceive,affecting the behavior of the customer's purchasing decision positively.Although it is not significant with the quality of the company's products,the effect of the corporate volunteering service is more significant than charitable donation,thus influencing the customer's purchasing decision more positively.It is important that the moral identity of the customers should have certain regulation on them.


A new pre-stressed spatial structure system,cable supported barrel vault structure system(CSBV) was put forward,which was a new-style hybrid spatial structure based on cable-supported beams(or cable-supported truss) and cylindrical latticed shell structures,and its pre-stress design method was proposed.Moreover,the stability research of CSBV was carried out in this paper,the influence of parameters including length-span ratio,rise-span ratio,sag-span ratio,struts numbers,initial imperfection and half-span load on the stability of CSBV was mainly discussed.The research results indicated:Compared with single-layer cylindrical latticed shells,both buckling eigenvalue and nonlinear buckling critical load of CSBV were enhanced largely.The influence of length-span ratio on stability of CSBV was small;the stability was improved by increasing the rise-span ratio and sag-span ratio appropriately,which,however,would be unfavorable for the local stability of struts.When a few of struts were set up,the stability of CSBV would be improved by adding struts,but this influence would be weakened as the increase of struts.The initial imperfection was unfavorable to the stability of CSBV;when the imperfection was enlarged,this unfavorable influence would be more obvious;especially,when the initial imperfection was larger than 1 /300 span,this unfavorable influence could not be ignored.The half-span load was unfavorable to the stability of CSBV,but this influence was minor.


ABSTRACT– Referrals of elderly patients with organic brain syndromes to a Geriatric Psychiatry Service were studied before and after the introduction of a Day Hospital. The Day Hospital was used for more patients than predicted and was perceived to be of benefit. However, there was little change in the number of patients admitted to hospital or put on the waiting list for in‐patient care in the year after referral.


e24017 Background: Cancer is a disease of aging, however older patients are underrepresented in the clinical trials that determine the standards of care for oncological treatment. We conducted a review to identify whether there have been age-restrictive inclusion criteria in clinical trials over the last twenty five years. We focused on patients with metastatic gastroesophageal cancer. Methods: A search strategy was developed encompassing Embase, Pubmed and The Cochrane Library databases. All completed Phase III randomised controlled trials evaluating systemic anti-cancer therapies in metastatic gastroesophageal malignancies for the period 01.01.95 to 18.11.20 were identified. Reference management software (Covidence; Veritas Health Innovation Ltd) was used to screen for inclusion/exclusion. The following details were extracted from trial protocols: country of study, date of publication, patient number, age inclusion and exclusion criteria. The median age of participants and the percentage of older patients enrolled in each study was collected. A linear probability model was used to estimate the change over time in the proportion of studies using an upper age exclusion. Results: 363 phase III studies were identified. 152 studies were eligible for full text review, 86 were excluded, leaving 66 trials for final analysis. 86% (n = 56) included Gastric, 9% (n = 6) Oesophageal and 5% (n = 3) Oesophagogastric malignancies. Asian studies represented 48% (n = 32) of trials, 29% (n = 19) were worldwide and 23% (n = 15) were European. The median age of trial participants was 62, (range 18-94). No clear trend in the ages of study participants over the time period was identified. 32% (n = 21) of studies specified an upper age limit for inclusion and 57% of these were Asian studies. The median age of exclusion was 75 years (range 65-80). All studies starting before 2003 used an upper age exclusion (n = 12); whereas only 9 of the 52 that started in 2003 or later did (17%). Among these later studies, there was a very modest downward yearly-trend in the proportion of studies using an upper age exclusion (-0.02 per year; 95%CI -0.05 to 0.01; p = 0.31). 52% (n = 34) of studies specified the proportion of their study population who were over 65 years. Older patients represented only 36% of the trial populations in these studies (range 7-60%). Our search of currently enrolling trials on clinicaltrials.gov yielded 11 active studies, none of which specified an upper age limit. Conclusions: Recent years have seen improvements in clinical trial protocols, with many no longer specifying restrictive age criteria. Reasons for poor representation of older patients are complex and ongoing efforts are needed to broaden eligibility criteria and prioritise the inclusion of older adults in clinical trials.


Enzyme-mediated esterification reactions can be a promising alternative to produce esters of commercial interest, replacing conventional chemical processes. The aim of this work was to verify the potential of an esterase for ester synthesis. For that, recombinant lipolytic enzyme EST5 was purified and presented higher activity at pH 7.5, 45 °C, with a Tm of 47 °C. Also, the enzyme remained at least 50% active at low temperatures and exhibited broad substrate specificity toward p-nitrophenol esters with highest activity for p-nitrophenyl valerate with a Kcat/Km of 1533 s−1 mM−1. This esterase exerted great properties that make it useful for industrial applications, since EST5 remained stable in the presence of up to 10% methanol and 20% dimethyl sulfoxide. Also, preliminary studies in esterification reactions for the synthesis of methyl butyrate led to a specific activity of 127.04 U·mg−1. The enzyme showed higher esterification activity compared to other literature results, including commercial enzymes such as LIP4 and CL of Candida rugosa assayed with butyric acid and propanol which showed esterification activity of 86.5 and 15.83 U·mg−1, respectively. In conclusion, EST5 has potential for synthesis of flavor esters, providing a concept for its application in biotechnological processes.


Residual stresses in ion-implanted NiTi alloy are measured by a combined method of Moire interferometry and hole-drilling. Oxy-gen ions are implanted into the NiTi alloy under a voltage of 30 kV by a dose of 1.0×1017 ions/cm2 for one hour. Subsequently, in order to avoid dimensional error, a hole is drilled exactly in the center of the sample. The distribution of residual stresses around the hole is measured. It is indicated that the method which combines the Moire interferometry with hole-drilling is able to be used to measure resid-ual stresses produced by ion implantation.


Assessment of rates determining of effective work of fuel-energetic complex is given. Such rates as dynamic of energy resources consumption, investment in the industry, the region providing with its own fuel and energy resources, depreciation of fixed assets, and some financial indicators are analyzed.


Beginnings, continuities and some endings The Sociological Review has its beginnings even earlier than 1952. It grew out of the Sociological Papers which first appeared in 1905 and then became The Sociological Review in 1908. This makes it, we believe, the longest running sociology journal in Britain and we shall have a major celebration of our centenary in 2008. The new series is also worth marking, however, for this signalled a new stage in the life of The Review and the beginnings of a new stage in the discipline as a whole. In 1952 the journal established a new editorship and editorial base at what was then the University College of North Staffordshire. At that time, none of those involved would have given 'sociologist' as their primary designation and there was no department of sociology at Keele (and, indeed, there were very few such departments in the country). Board members came from departments of economics, education, politics and geography among others. This interdisciplinary mix was a continuation of that which had characterised the Sociological Society which set up the Sociological Papers and The Sociological Review in the first place; and it was thoroughly reflected in the style and content of the volumes produced. When sociology began to establish itself as a discipline in its own right in British universities in the 1960s, it necessarily drew on this interdisciplinary background even as it sought to define a distinctive identity. It is worth noting in this regard that most of those taking up the new chairs of sociology in the 1960s would have been trained in other disciplines. For example, Bill Williams – the main editor of The Sociological Review new series in its early days – who took up the new chair at Swansea was a social anthropologist, as was Ronnie Frankenberg who was the chair of the first Department of Sociology at Keele and also a long-serving editor of The Sociological Review. The establishment of The Sociological Review new series fifty years ago and its achievement of such a prominent place in the discipline is due in large


Abstract : Today s defense environment is particularly challenging for two reasons. First, significant portions of the force are continuously engaged in a variety of operations, ranging from active combat to humanitarian assistance, over wide geographical areas where the needs for force projection are often difficult to predict. Even after operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are concluded, it is likely that the world situation will call for worldwide deployment of U.S. forces to support theater security cooperative efforts (with allies) to shape conditions to avoid contingency operations. Second, there is increasing pressure to operate more efficiently. Although there has always been the need to relate combat support resource requirements to operational objectives, today s environment requires quick combat support actions to tailor deployable support packages and sustainment actions to meet specific operational needs. Furthermore, economic pressures are likely to continue and could result in further reductions in the resources set aside to meet contingency operations. In addition to economic pressures, the inability to perfectly predict resource demands, the need to shift funding from one category to another to meet unanticipated needs, and the occurrence of unanticipated world events that require intervention, among other factors, all contribute to having imbalances between needed ACS resources and those that are available at any given time to simultaneously meet all requirements for contingency and training operations. To best use limited resources in providing combat capability, combat support functional areas must work in an integrated fashion across command and control nodes, predicting combat support needs and responding rapidly to dynamic operational needs, and must allocate scarce resources to where they are most needed.


BACKGROUND
Workplace stress has been associated with obesity. Diminished body weight has also been anticipated in some contexts.

OBJECTIVE
In a cohort of healthcare personnel, morning cortisol was compared to nutritional and metabolic variables, aiming to identify the correlates of such marker.

METHODS
Population n=185, 33.8 ± 9.8 years, 88.1% females, body mass index (BMI) 25.6 ± 4.4 kg/m2, included nurses and other nosocomial professionals, the majority with high social-economic status (75.2%). Participants were stratified according to BMI, fasting blood glucose (FBG) and metabolic syndrome (MS). Fasting plasma cortisol and the Framingham Coronary Risk Score was calculated.

RESULTS
Mean cortisol was acceptable (19.4 ± 7.9 µg/dL) although with elevation in 21.6%. No correlation with FBG or MS occurred, and nonobese persons (BMI <25) exhibited the highest values (P=0.049). Comparison of the lowest and highest cortisol quartiles confirmed reduced BMI and waist circumference in the former, with unchanged Framingham Coronary Risk Score.

CONCLUSION
Cortisol correlated with reduced BMI. Despite low BMI and waist circumference, Framingham Coronary Risk Score was not benefitted, suggesting that exposure to cardiovascular risk continues, besides psychological strain. Initiatives to enhance organizational and staff health are advisable in the hospital environment.


A coupling installed by crimping has an angularly oriented conical surface at an open end surrounded by a ring which receives a pipe element. Dies move radially toward the coupling on jaws of a crimping tool and engage the conical surface along a single line of contact to effect a crimp which secures the coupling to the pipe. The radially applied force has radial and axial components. The radial component effects the crimp, the axial component deforms a channel in the coupling in which a seal is located. The seal is deformed between the coupling and the pipe to effect a fluid tight joint. The coupling may have a circumferential rib which projects radially outwardly. Registration dogs engage the coupling and provide a reaction surface against the axial force component.


Deconvolution is known as an ill-posed problem. In order to solve such a problem, a regularization method is needed to constrain the solution space and find a plausible and stable solution. In practice, it is very computation intensive when using cross-validation method to select the regularization parameter. In this paper, we present an adaptive regularization method to find the optimal regularization parameter value and represent the trade-off between model fitness of the data and the smoothness of the extracted signal. Spectral signal extraction experimental results demonstrate that the time complexity the proposed method is much lower than the one without adaptive regularization and is convenient for users also. And quantitative performance analysis show that the proposed intelligent approach performs better than that of current deconvolution extraction method and other extraction method used in the Large Area Multi-Objects Fiber Spectroscopy Telescope spectral signal processing pipeline.