A comprehensive boundary layer measurement program has been set up at the Meteorological Observatory Lindenberg (MOL) of the German Meteorological Service (DWD) over the last five years. The measurements are aimed at the investigation of atmosphere land surface interaction processes over a heterogeneous landscape. Moreover, boundary layer data form an integral part of the "Lindenberg Column", a reference data set created operationally at MOL in order to characterize the vertical structure of the whole troposphere with high vertical and temporal resolution (Neisser et al., 2002). The experimental boundary layer facilities comprise, i.a., a boundary layer field site (in German: Grenzschichtmessfeld, GM) at Falkenberg equipped with a 99m tower, various measurement complexes for the determination of air ~, soil ~ and radiation parameters, and a sodar / RASS and a network of up to seven micrometeorological stations (energy budget measurement networkEBMN) operated over different surfaces in an area of about 20 * 20 km around the MOL site (Weisensee et al., 2001). In addition to a great variety of standard meteorological sensors, these facilities have been equipped with instruments for the operational determination of heat and momentum fluxes continuously throughout the year (profile mast, ultrasonic anemometer-thermometers, laser scintillometer). The operational determination of the latent heat flux based on direct humidity fluctuation measurements, however, is a much more challenging task and has been performed during field experiments only in the past using Ly-α-, Kryptonor infrared hygrometers (Foken et al., 1998). Current activities are directed towards the integration of different fast-response hygrometers in the existing micrometeorological measurement systems at MOL. In connection with this, a number of problems have to be solved which partially originate from contradictions between operational requirements and sensor characteristics. With respect to long-term operation, the 99m tower and the EBMN both essentially need sensors with low maintenance requirements.


In recent years, ionic liquids developed to advantageous solvents for the dissolution and homogeneous processing of cellulose. Even if ionic liquids were already known for their capability of efficiently dissolving cellulose for a long time, significant efforts were made in the last years. New candidates were found, but it could be shown, that some ionic liquids are involved in side reactions, too. With the aim for gaining a better insight on the dissolution properties, we screened a wide range of potentially suitable ionic liquids. Remarkable results were obtained, for example an odd-even effect was found for different alkyl side chain lengths, both linear and branched, for the imidazolium based ionic liquids with chloride counterions. Furthermore, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethyl phosphate showed promising properties for the dissolution of cellulose, e.g. a lower degradation of cellulose than for other ILs, a low melting point, and a low viscosity of the cellulose solution, simplifying the handling.


For nearly one hundred years, sex, drugs and violence have featured in biographical fiction and drama about the Brontës. This paper focuses on the pervasiveness of fantasies of incest within the family. Influenced by the ambiguous sibling/lover relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (1847), biographers and creative writers from the nineteenth century to the present have characterized the relationship between Branwell and his sisters as subversively sexual. This paper traces the long history of how incest became embedded in the Brontë narrative – from Gaskell's 1857 biography, The Life of Charlotte Brontë, to Polly Teale's twenty-first-century drama, Brontë – but it focuses on the inter-war period, when biographical fiction and drama about the family first developed. It argues that unless we pay attention to the history of their representation, we will continue to see the same version of the Brontë story again and again.


Agricultural modernization is a dynamic development process.Due to the different stages of economic development,the agricultural modernization connotation and goals are also different.Based on the connotation of agricultural modernization,some related concepts and characteristics of modern agriculture,it analyzes the shortages of existing evaluation index system.It also sets up the evaluation index system from the aspects of industry chain,urban and rural balance and the unity of quality and quantity.It has been approved by experts and analytic hierarchy process(AHP).


In this article we explore the intersectionality of gender and age in work and careers of women managers. Interviews were conducted with women senior managers in two EU countries, namely Finland and Scotland. These countries have demographic and economic similarities, but there are differences in welfare regimes, economies and employment policies. Using the approach of biographical matching we compare how women managers in these countries encounter gendered ageism in the different stages of their careers. Data illustrates the myriad ways in which women experience ageism and lookism. In the conclusion we reflect upon these processes of gendering management which persist across these two labour markets.


Hazards due to stratum separation are a type of roof water hazards that unexpectedly happen under the conditions without any water reservoir.However,the hazard origins have not been understood or explained,resulting in great difficulties in control of water hazards in coal mines.To solve the problem,Haizi Coal Mine is taken as a case study.The hydrogeological,geotechnical and mining conditions are analyzed.The roof stratum failure and displacement are analogized physically and simulated numerically.A new type of water hazards is found finally,and a new theory for the mine hazards,i.e.water hazards caused by burst of water cells formed by overburden stratum separation,is put forward.The drilling and borehole camera scanning have verified the above theory.According to the theory,the dynamic draining measures are proposed and used successfully in the control of water hazards.The research achievements are applied to other working faces with the similar hydrogeological conditions for coal mining safety.The investigation on the hazards by simulations not only theoretically fills the gap of water hazard classification for coal mines,but also finds a way for the control of water hazards in coal mines.


TiAl-based intermetallic compounds have attracted considerable interest as structural materials for high-temperature applications due to their low density and substantial mechanical strength at high temperatures. However, one major drawback hindering industrial application arises from the insufficient oxidation resistance at temperatures beyond 700 C. In the present contribution some general aspects of high temperature oxidation of TiAl-based intermetallics will be presented. This will be followed by a discussion of the influence of alloying elements, in particular niobium, and of the effect of nitrogen in the oxidizing environment on the high temperature oxidation behavior of such materials.


In this paper, we introduce a method of modeling network congestion control mechanism based on optimization theory. Suppose a network adopts Reno/RED as its congestion control mechanism, we make a model for this network's congestion control mechanism. From this paper, we can see the modeling method is helpful for designing and analyzing network congestion control mechanism.


The process of ageing is initiated from the moment of birth and continues throughout life. Older adulthood can be certainly a more fulfilling and happy period of life if one is conscious of certain important psycho-social, physiological and nutritional changes occurring in one's life.


Deep learning technology has been applied in structural health monitoring (SHM), but in the existing structural disease detection problems, there is a lack of available data sets to effectively train the deep neural network model. Transfer learning technology can effectively alleviate the problem of lack of data sets mentioned above by introducing relevant domain knowledge into the target domain. In order to introduce transfer learning technology into SHM, this paper first introduces the related concepts and elements of transfer learning, then summarizes the application status of transfer learning combined with deep learning technology in pavement disease detection, UAVs-based automatic disease detection, concrete disease detection, bridge apparent disease detection and other fields. Finally, the prospect of transfer learning in SHM is prospected and discussed.


Few-shot learning (FSL) has great potential for automatic interpretation of remote sensing (RS) images. In this article, we make a study of few-shot RS scene classification. Many recently proposed FSL models adopt a very effective episode-based training procedure, where each episode is contrived to mimic the few-shot task by dividing training examples into support images and query images. However, these models can only judge whether or not a support image has the same class membership as a given query image. Such a yes-or-no prediction is rather rough, so we set a more demanding training objective, enforcing FSL models to rank support images according to support-query similarity and, hence, endowing them with better generalization ability. To this end, first, we propose ranking-preserving knowledge distillation (KD), which encourages a student network to rank support images in the same way as teacher networks. Then, integrating multiteacher KD with learning to rank, we construct a novel distillation loss using the Plackett–Luce distributions and build a novel few-shot classification model called ranking network. Extensive evaluation on two public RS datasets shows that the ranking network achieves the state of the art by a wide margin.


In 1982,the buried drills accident of No.501 drilling hole took place,in Dongrong No.2 Coal Mine,in Shuangyashan Mining Industry Group Comp.,two kinds of handling methods and basis in the mining process were analyzed.The practice experiences in engineering were provided for such engineering phenomena in future.


At present, there is a trend to design a hard disk with a larger capacity, a faster revolution speed, and a precise mechanism. Therefore, the influence of data transmission with respect to vibration is obvious. To reduce interference of the vibrational impact on the data transmission efficiency, vibrational abatement on the hard disk using the damping material becomes crucial. Because of the complicated relationship for the damping coefficient and spring constant to the hardness (D1, D2, and D3) of the damping material installed under the hard disk, it is difficult to theoretically assess an optimal hardness combination of the damping material. Therefore, an alternative way by using an experimental study in conjunction with Taguchi method, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and a GA Method is proposed. In this paper, a hard disk is placed on a vibration tester that is an analogue to a dynamic vibrational circumstance induced by a vibrational base. The data transfer rate of the hard disk will be detected by using IOmeter software under various base-excitation accelerations, tilted angles of the hard disk, and targeted frequencies. To reduce the vibrational impact on the data transmission efficiency, an assessment of an optimal three-layer damping material installed under the hard disk using the Taguchi method, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and the GA Method is proposed. Before the optimization of the damping material is performed, the required experimental sets (the hardness for three layers of damping material) of the data transmission testing with respect to various design parameters will be determined by using the Taguchi method. The ANN, a simplified objective function (OBJ), will be established by inputting the hardness of three layers of damping material and their related data transmission efficiency at three targeted frequencies. Thereafter, the optimal hardness for three layers of the damping material will be obtained using a genetic algorithm (GA). Consequently, the optimal hardness of the three-layer damping material with respect to various tilted angles and target frequencies will be assessed. Corresponding author: firstname.lastname@example.com © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). MATEC Web of Conferences 185, 00011 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201818500011


Along with the development of digital television,a lot of technology of digital transmission applied to the practice.In recent years,the field of television has taken place in a series of changes,as networks and the continuous development of computer technology,the real digital video-on-demand broadband communications business-VOD has started to access to millions of households.This paper introduces the VOD technology which in the application of digital set-top boxes.


During the Illinois General Assembly's January 2013 special session a proposal to limit the so-called Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs), a component of public employee pensions, was much discussed and debated. Under current pension rules many state workers and retirees have been promised that the pension benefits they receive will rise by 3 percent per year.


Abstract : In this time of open system architectures, systems of various makes and origin co-operate, pass, and share pieces of information The pieces of information, thus exchanged, should trigger the same understanding by all users, Ambiguities in the translation, presentation, or interpretation of the data and information may be the cause of serious problems, This paper addresses some of the aspects of interoperability and describes ways of achieving, monitoring, and maintaining inter-operability in particular for tactical data links such as Link 11 and Link 16 Emphasis is given to tactical data link interoperability with the NA TO E-3A


Abstract. A simple analytical model for simulating a controlled rocking system consisting of a Precast Wall with End Columns (named as PreWEC) has been developed and compared against experimental results. The wall panel and end columns are secured to the foundation using prestressing, allowing PreWECs to experience rocking motions. The proposed model accounts for its predominant rotational degree of freedom formulation based on existing knowledge and adds new features to accurately capture the measured responses. They include a migrating rotation center that recognizes the variation in the contact length and its effect on the elongation in the post-tensioned tendons. Supplemental energy dissipation in PreWEC is provided by steel O-connectors, which horizontally join the wall panel to the end columns. These connectors are modelled using a system of nonlinear springs. Two different experiments were used to demonstrate the accuracy of the model validation, which include: a) a 5/18-scale PreWEC subjected to shake table motions; and b) a 1/5-scale PreWEC subjected to free vibration motions. It is shown that rotation responses and associated peaks experienced by the PreWEC rocking system can be accurately predicted using a simplified model.


Purpose: When recurrent dissociated vertical deviation (DVD) is cosmetically objectionable after superior rectus recession is used to surgically treat DVD, inferior rectus resection or superior rectus re-recession should be considered. The effect of re-recession of the superior rectus was, therefore, evaluated as a treatment of recurrent DVD. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 9 eyes from 7 patients who had undergone superior rectus re-recession as a second surgery due to recurrence after superior rectus recession for DVD. Results: The mean follow-up period after re-recession of the superior rectus was 32.1 (2266) months. The preoperative mean deviation was 16.0 prism diopters (PD), and the postoperative mean deviation was 4.9PD. According to the classification of recurrent DVD by Scott, the surgical results of five eyes were excellent (04PD), those of 2 eyes were good (1014PD), and those of 2 eyes were fair. The mean corrected DVD was 4.1PD per 1 mm recession. Conclusions: Postoperatively, 7 of 9 eyes (77.7%) were aligned within 9PD. In cases of recurrent DVD, superior rectus re-recession yielded satisfactory results with minimum surgery on the superior rectus. The results of this study will be helpful in deciding surgical amount of superior rectus re-recession to be performed.


In this paper, we derive uniform convergence rates of nonparametric estimators for continuous time diffusion processes. In particular, we consider kernel-based estimators of the Nadaraya–Watson type, introducing a new technical device called a damping function. This device allows us to derive sharp uniform rates over an infinite interval with minimal requirements on the processes: The existence of the moment of any order is not required and the boundedness of relevant functions can be significantly relaxed. Restrictions on kernel functions are also minimal: We allow for kernels with discontinuity, unbounded support, and slowly decaying tails. Our proofs proceed by using the covering-number technique from empirical process theory and exploiting the mixing and martingale properties of the processes. We also present new results on the path-continuity property of Brownian motions and diffusion processes over an infinite time horizon. These path-continuity results, which should also be of some independent interest, are used to control discretization biases of the nonparametric estimators. The obtained convergence results are useful for non/semiparametric estimation and testing problems of diffusion processes.


Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as promising tailor-designed materials for developing next-generation solid-state devices with applications in linear and nonlinear coherent optics. However, the implementation of functional devices is challenged by the notoriously difficult process of growing large MOF single crystals of high optical quality. By controlling the solvothermal synthesis conditions, we succeeded in producing large individual single crystals of the noncentrosymmetric MOF Zn(3-ptz)2 (MIRO-101) with a deformed octahedron habit and surface areas of up to 37 mm2. We measured the UV–vis absorption spectrum of individual Zn(3-ptz)2 single crystals across different lateral incidence planes. Millimeter-sized single crystals have a band gap of Eg = 3.32 eV and exhibit anisotropic absorption in the band-edge region near 350 nm, whereas polycrystalline samples are fully transparent in the same frequency range. Using solid-state density functional theory (DFT), the observed size dependence in the optical anisotropy is correlated with the preferred orientation adopted by pyridyl groups under conditions of slow crystal self-assembly. Our work thus paves the way for the development of optical polarization switches based on metal–organic frameworks.


Brazil has participated in all editions of the Olympic Games (OG) in Judo, and 12 Brazilian athletes were medalists. The goal of the present study is to prepare a Judo genealogical tree from the Brazilian Judo of those medalists. The methodology used was the oral history of life hybrid. The 12 Brazilian Judo medalists and their coaches were interviewed. After identified all of the former coaches from those medalists, we were able to find the genearches, those who came into Brazil with the possibility to transmit these knowledge. The answers obtained from the respondents were analyzed together with other documents. Maeda and Satake were the first ones to arrive in Brazil and began the demonstrations, in 1914. Ryuzo Ogawa, who found Budokan in 1936, was the genearch who influenced the highest number of those athletes. The first Brazilian medalist, Chiaki Ishii, was a genearch as well, since he influenced other athletes and coaches.


Modeling the interaction of a slowly rotating hollow conducting sphere in a magnetic field provided an understanding of the dynamics of orbiting space objects moving through the Earth's magnetic field. This analysis, performed in the late 1950s and limited to uniform magnetic fields, was innovative and acknowledged the pioneers who first observed rotary magnetism, in particular, the seminal work of Hertz in 1880. Now, there is interest in using a magnetic field produced by one space object to stop the spin of a second object so that docking can occur. In this paper, we consider, yet again, the interaction of a rotating hollow sphere in a magnetic field. We show that the predicted results can be tested experimentally, making this an interesting advanced student project. This analysis also sheds light on a rich set of previously unaddressed behaviors involving eddy currents.


The two African species of the mainly Asian Boiga complex (Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae) are usually considered belonging to the genus Toxicodryas Hallowell, 1857, with a name indicating that they are venomous, rear-fanged colubrids. Blanding's tree snake, Toxicodryas blandingii (Hallowell, 1844) is a large (up to 2.8 m in total length), elongated and agile snake, while the powdered tree snake T. pulverulenta (Fischer, 1856) is a middle size snake (up to 1.25 m).


The article deals with special translation techniques, which allow to overcome the diffi culties of translating texts by expressing the content metaphorically. On the basis of a comparative analysis of the original and translated texts, the authors give a typology of these methods. Motivation and eff ectiveness of the use of the methods considered is logically justifi ed. As a result of the comparative study, statistical data on the frequency of application of the methods are given, the process of translation from German into Russian being analyzed.


This paper presents a study of the sensitivity analysis of the artificial Hopfield Neural Network (HNN) when segmenting natural color images. The color distinction or vision system relies on two step process which, first classifies the different regions in the scene into a given number of clusters, and then assigns to each cluster a color that is likely to one of its corresponding region in the raw image. The classification process is performed using the minimization of an energy function typically the Sum of Squared Errors (SSE). The optimization process is found sensitive to the step taken by the network in its way to the global minimum. The color assignment to the clusters is performed based on combination of information from the color palette used in the raw image and the last distribution of the pixels among clusters. Applying the system to a gold standard color image, the results show that HNN natural color segmentation accuracy can be significantly improved if we control its step size when modifying its weights between its neurons each iteration. The color matching process shows a lot of consistency when tested with natural color images as shown in the results presented here.


Background: Discourse analysis as a clinical tool in speech and language therapy remains underused, at least partly because of the time‐consuming nature of the process of transcription that currently precedes it. If transcription‐less discourse analysis were valid and reliable, then there would be the clinical opportunity to use this method in order to describe a person's communication impairment (for example aphasia), to help plan therapy and to measure outcomes. Thanks are extended to the following organisations and people for their various valuable contributions to this study: Department of Health, New and Emerging Technology Programme for funding; the participants with aphasia; the transcription‐less raters (Claire Higgins, Dorothy Russell, Kirsty McLaughlan, Lesley Garret, and Sharon Nelson); Caitriona Hutton for additional transcription; and the Speakability group in Forth Valley for their help in producing an aphasia‐friendly information sheet and consent form. Aims: This study aimed to address the potential of transcription‐less discourse analysis as a valid and reliable procedure for the measurement of gesture use, topic use, turn taking, repair, conversational initiation, topic initiation, and concept use. Methods & Procedures: Ten individuals with aphasia were audio‐ and video‐recorded participating in a number of discourse tasks from three different discourse genres (conversation, procedural, and picture description). With the same analytical frameworks, the resulting data were compared using transcription‐based discourse analysis and a transcription‐less method in which the analysis was made directly from the recordings. Outcomes & Results: Validity was measured by comparing transcription‐based and transcription‐less analyses. Overall the results from that comparison demonstrated the potential of the latter method—none of the measures gave significant differences between scores from the two methods. The main (non‐significant) disparities related to some aspects of gesture use and repair. The inter‐rater reliability of the transcription‐less method was also acceptable in general. Reliability was measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the continuous measurements: it was strongest for the gesture totals and varied among the attributes of turn taking and repair. For the categorical measures (topic and conversation initiation and concept analysis) the percentage agreement was very good. Conclusions: These results indicate the potential availability of a valid and reliable transcription‐less approach to analysis that speech and language therapists can apply to analyse their clients' discourse.


Two-phase cooling of electronics using vapor compression systems (VCS) is a promising approach for high heat flux removal. A challenge for multi-evaporator VCS is charge management during highly transient or peak/off-peak loads. We present a VCS architecture for direct cooling of multiple, high transient heat loads. This system utilizes a secondary-evaporator (recuperator) with an electronic bypass valve and a suction-line accumulator to enable evaporator overfeed and active charge management. An existing lumped-parameter, low-order nonlinear model is augmented to include the recuperator and bypass control valve. The cycle performance and efficiency is improved with the inclusion of the recuperator, but is susceptible to instability. A proportional-integral (PI) bypass valve control is tuned for evaporator pressure tracking, stabilizing the cycle. The improved circulating charge-management capability of the VCS with recuperator is demonstrated with multi-evaporator experiments, and the improvement in coefficient of performance (COP) over the accumulator-heated cycle is calculated.


Generally publications devoted to invasive fish species in the Volga-Kama cascade of reservoirs represents relative indicators and do not provide data on the abundance, numbers and invasive communities' single species dynamics. It does not allow providing a correct assessment of population's state and changes in the nonindigenous species composition. In this work, changes in the abundance and species structure of the Cheboksary reservoir's invasive fish community during 2001-2021 were estimated. The total fish count was determined on data of active fishing gears catches and precise reservoir area. Differentiation into mass, widespread and relatively numerous and locally found with a small average abundance species was noted. A decrease in the species evenness of the invasive community was recorded in consequence of the Black Sea-Caspian sprat Clupeonella cultriventris (Nordmann, 1840) and the round goby Neogobius melanostomus (Pallas, 1814) domination rise. The Black Sea-Caspian sprat and the round goby put together for 98.7% of the total number of invasive fish in the current period. Due to this two dominant species there is a tendency to increase the relative abundance of invasive fish species in the reservoir up to 561 unit/ha despite a significant decrease in the abundance of some other invaders.


The packing coloring,to be related to frequency assignment problem of coloring problem,were deliberated.The packing numbers of two kinds of graphs were given.


[objective] To compare the efficacy and safety of endoscopic pneumatic lithotripsy(PL) and endoscopic U-100 laser lithotripsy (U-100) for ureteral stones. [Methods] From Mar. 2002 to Aug. 2005, 460 patients underwent endoscopic lithtripsy either with the Swiss lithoclast pneumatic lithotripsy (190 cases) or with U-100 laser lithotripsy (260 cases) for the treatment of ureteral stones. [Result] In U-100 group, 93.1% of patients whose stones situated in the upper third of the ureter were successful on the first lithotripsy,which was higher than that of PL(93.1% vs 89%, P 0.05). The average stonefree time of U-100 was shorter than that of PL (18 days vs 31 days, P 0.05). No major complication was observed in U-100 group whereas 4 perforations were encountered in PL. [Conclusions] U-100 laser lithotripsy is much better than PL in effect and safety for the stones situated in the upper third of the ureter. It is a kind of laser with little damage to the soft tissues and high efficiency of lithotripsy. It is an effective, simple and reliable method for the treatment of urolithiasis.


"I changed my mind." "Oh, yeah? Does it work any better?" From a Mae West movie As seems appropriate for second thoughts, I shall begin at the beginning—the definition of paternalism. Elsewhere, I defined the concept as "interference with a person's liberty of action justified by reasons referring exclusively to the welfare, good, happiness, needs, interests, or values of the person being coerced." A number of critics have objected that confining the concept to interference with liberty is too restrictive in scope. Given the problem I was interested in, that is, the proper limits of state coercion, this restriction was reasonable, although even here one ought to be aware that the state has other ways of influencing people's behavior. It may refuse to enforce contracts, give in-kind rather than cash aid, set up licensing boards, require manufacturers to install seat-belts as original equipment, and so forth. If, however, one wishes to consider the issue of paternalism in other contexts, for example, in the professions, one will need a broader definition. Not all paternalistic acts are acts of the state. Not all paternalistic acts involve interference with liberty. The doctor who lies to her terminally ill patients, the parent who stipulates in her will that a child may not inherit an estate before the age of thirty, the psychiatrist who tells his adolescent patient that he must inform her parents of her drug use, the professor who refuses to recommend her Ph.D. student to a certain university because he will be "out of his league" – these are all cases of paternalism that do not involve the use of coercion or force and, therefore, on standard views of liberty do not involve restrictions on liberty.


About 9% of pancreatic cancer cases appear to be familial, and the risk of cancer in relatives of these patients does not appear limited to the pancreas.


Robots are currently used in many indus trial applications since they o er numerous advantages over simpler forms of mechanisation and human labour However their use is by no means as widespread as was envisaged when industrial robots rst became available This paper highlights the problems which have limited the use of industrial robotic automation To alleviate many of these including the prohibitive cost of many robot solu tions an approach based on the use of a computer vision system and a learning controller is outlined Advances in hardware and software technology in recent years which have made this possible are described The potential of the proposed approach is demonstrated using a cheaply constructed robot mechanism and com puter vision system which is able to drill printed circuit boards PCBs The techniques used for successful imple mentation are presented along with improvements which could be made PROBLEMS IN INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS The advantages of robots over simpler forms of mechan isation and human labour are well documented see for example They include higher productivity reduced la bour costs reduced downtime increased quality and con sistency and inventory and scrap savings In addition the same robot can potentially be used for a variety of tasks However the single most prohibitive aspect of us ing robotic automation is the initial investment required in purchasing the robot itself The high mechanical spe ci cations required to repetitively perform the given task with consistent accuracy result in an expensive machine Implementing a robotic system also incurs costs in addi tion to the basic price of the robot These include the design construction and installation of specialised tool ing such as parts positioners and xturing and operating expenses such as labour and maintenance costs In order to justify the high capital equipment and running costs involved in robotics high machine utilisation is a prerequisite Robotic systems are designed to be versatile to ac commodate changes in the production line However any signi cant change in the product will involve re programming the controller and replacing xturing in the work cell and the end e ectors This can be expensive and time consuming A further problem is the inconsistency in parts which is inevitably present The typical solution to this problem is to increase the quality control of the previous process to reduce any variation which is again costly If robots were cheaper to purchase and operate many more industrial processes would become suitable for auto mation High machine utilisation along with correspond ingly high product volumes would no longer be prerequis ite If the robot was more exible then it would be able to cope with variations in the product and its position again reducing expense This would increase the applica tion base of robotics to include small batch high variab ility environments


Within the solar system, approximate realizations of the three-body problem occur when a comet approaches a planet while being affected mainly by such a planet and the Sun, and this configuration was investigated by Tisserand within the framework of Newtonian gravity. The exact relativistic treatment of the problem is not an easy task, but the present paper develops an approximate calculational scheme which computes for the first time the tiny effective-gravity correction to the equation of the surface for all points of which it is equally advantageous to regard the heliocentric motion as being perturbed by the attraction of Jupiter, or the jovicentric motion as being perturbed by the attraction of the Sun. This analysis completes the previous theoretical investigations of effective-gravity corrections to the Newtonian analysis of three-body systems, and represents an intermediate step towards relativistic effects on cometary motions.


Digital library has become main developing mode of library in current information era. This paper discusses the concept of digital library;its characteristics,such as high technology,network,etc,its operations,including information Consultation,acquisitions,Cataloging,etc.as well as request for knowledge structure of librarians.The digital information service of electronic resources room in the library of south china university of technology is also introduced.


Objective:To develop a method for the simultaneous determination of seven kinds of synthetic pigments in foods by SPE-HPLC. Methods:The homogenized samples were dissolved by water and purified by StrataX-AW SPE column. HPLC was applied for quantitative detection of the pigments in the samples. The target samples were separated on an Agilent-C18 column(4. 6 mm × 250 mm,5 μm) with the mobile phase of methanol-KH2PO4 for gradient elution and detected using a DA detector at 428nm,520nm,620nm. The injection volume is 10 μl. The column temperature is 35 ℃. The flow rate was 1 ml/min. Results:This method had good linearity between 0. 20 mg/L ~ 5. 00 mg/L and good precision(RSD 5%). The average rates of recovery were 85% ~110%. The detection limit were lower than 0. 001g/kg. Conclusion:The method is simple,sensitive,accurate and reproducible.


Diabetes mellitus(DM) in pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of fetal, neonatal, and offspring complications, as well as with long term complications in adulthood. DM may be pregestational (ie, type 1 or 2 diabetes diagnosed before pregnancy with a prevalence 1.8%) or gestational (ie, diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy with a prevalence 7.5%). The outcome mainly is related to the onset and duration of glucose intolerance during pregnancy and the severity of DM. The burden in public health of maternal DM has dramatically increased worldwide. Not only its prevalence rate at present, but the increase of its incidence in the near future will rise a global health problem. Diabetic population will increase from 415 million today to 642 million by the year 2040. In 2015, 199.5 million women counted with DM and 60 million of them were in reproductive age (18-44 years old).1 It is estimated that the percentage of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) globally is about 5-20% depending on racial and socioeconomic factors. The majority of women remains undiagnosed until usual screening pregnancy tests. According to 7th Diabetes Atlas, hyperglycaemia in pregnancy is classified into three main types: diabetes detected prior to pregnancy or preexisting diabetes (type 1 and type 2), diabetes first detected in pregnancy and GDM which is defined as any degree of glucose intolerance with onset or first recognized during pregnancy. The 15–45% of diabetic mother babies present macrosomia, which is a 3-fold higher risk compared to normoglycemic ones. Macrosomia is defined as a birth weight above the 90th percentile for gestational age or alternatively over 4,000 g. Other maternal factors that cause fetal macrosomia ,except maternal hyperglycemia, are maternal HJOG An Obstetrics and Gynecology International Journal


In this article refined maximum and minimum interpediculate distances are published for use in diagnosis of intraspinal tumor and detection of spinal canal stenosis. The subject of spinal canal stenosis due to decrease of interpediculate distances is virtually unexplored. Availability of minimum norms should facilitate such studies.Concerning spinal canal stenosis due to diminished interpediculate distances, it is apparent that (a) there is such an anomaly, (b) it may, but need not be, associated with diminished mid-sagittal diameter of the spinal canal, and (c) it may be symptomatic. Illustrative cases are presented.


(the complete title-page goes to more than 150 words), which in its second edition, published in 1805-1810, occupies eleven volumes. This compilation contains some interesting bits of information about leprosy (italics in the original): A LEPER-HOUSE (in Norwich] called St. In 1606, Edmund Newport had a grant of it in reversion, in which it is said to be then called the Spitel-house, and was inhabited by lepers, lazars, and lame foLks ... it seems Joshua Atkinson, glover, succeeded; for he, in 1629, as master and guider of the poor-house or hospital without St. Stephen's-gates, with the consent of the poor brothers and sisters therein inhabiting, for 5S. paid them by the officers of Fersfield in Norfolk, did admit into the society of the said house, T7homas Symonds, alias Cowper, a lame boy of 4 years of age, and a poor child of Fersfield aforesaid, there to be kept and maintained during life.... These quotations show that in the middle ages and in early modem times 'lame folks' were sometimes placed in confinement with lepers and that in at least one instance a disabled child was treated similarly. We now know that children are highly susceptible to leprosy. Hence if the practice of placing children and cripples in lazar houses was at all common, these establishments may have contributed to the increase of the disease. History of Medicine, who had opened the Department in 1967. The pharmacy has been re-erected in the Museum in its original form including a reduced facsimile of the bow window, and was officially opened by Sir Robert Menzies, the Chancellor of the University, on 1st June. The mahogany shelves, drawers and cupboards are in an opulent late-Regency style well proportioned to the narrow, but deep, shop making it a unique attraction probably unparalleled in Australia. The pharmacy was opened in 1915 at 29 Chapel Street as one of the branches of Savory & Moore's main shop in New Bond Street and was constructed in a converted portion of a Georgian terrace house. The ground floor of the house was gutted to obtain an area 45 feet long by 9 feet wide, the width being increased in front to 12 feet by including the hallway. A bow window was installed in front of which was the usual area, surrounded by elegant wrought iron railings, which led to a basement which could also be entered from the shop …


The modern trend in focal plane arrays (FPAs) implementation is to include an increasing amount of analog signal processing in micro technology circuitry embedded in the FPA construction. This technology includes such function as time-delayed integration (TDI). While such integration makes the FPA and its associated signal processing more compact and faster, it introduces new complications into the testing of the FPA, since the detector outputs, by themselves, are no longer directly accessible. The CdHgTe FPAs detectors with on-chip TDI have been successfully incorporated into infrared imagers. These impose requirements on the instrumentation to establish the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the integrated FPAs. This paper details a method for measuring the MTF for such arrays within 3-5μ+m and 8-14μ+m spectral band. A description of a test facility for testing and evaluating MTF of FPA is given. We use a knife-edge target to measure MTF. The Pentium III computer system takes the charge of controlling and calculating. Some other methods of MTF measurement will be mentioned.


Knowledge on crop water status at the orchard scale is necessary for the efficient management of irrigation water. Canopy temperature has long been recognized as a plant water status indicator, and crop water stress index (CWSI), which is obtained from canopy temperature could be used as a tool for remotely detecting plant water status from airborne high-resolution thermal imagery. In 2012, CWSI baselines for olive and peach trees were derived from infrared thermometer data. An aircraft equipped with a thermal sensor flew over two orchards acquiring highresolution thermal images. At the same time, leaf water potential (Ψ ) was measured in eighteen trees per specie. Relationship between the difference of canopy and air temperature (Tc-Ta) and Ψ had a R 2 of 0.74 and 0.82, for peach and olive, respectively. CWSI ranged from zero to one and showed a significant correlation with Ψ . Maps of estimated Ψ (derived from CWSI - ΨL relationships) were able to detect the spatial variability of plant water status within the orchards, and may be a feasible tool for irrigation purposes.


Nonholonomic systems with uncertain nonlinearity are very important since there are numerous real world applications. Our previous work has constructed a globally stabilizing output feedback controller for nonholonomic systems. In this article, we further study on the global practical tracking of nonholonomic systems via sampled-data control. Under a low triangular linear growth condition, using changing of coordinates, a sampled-data state feedback controller is constructed such that the states are globally bounded. The system can track a uncertain time-variant object in 2.4 seconds within a given tolerance. Examples and simulations illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controllers.


Almost 1,000 bicyclist fatalities occur annually as a result of bike/motor vehicle accidents. Bicycle/motor vehicle injuries vary from 60,000 to 80,000 annually. The causes of the vast majority of bicycle/motor vehicle accidents are bicyclist behavioral errors (e.g., wrong way bicycle riding; and, failure to stop, slow, or search for oncoming traffic). The bicycle safety focus within NHTSA involves improving the behavior of bicyclists and drivers and, within FHWA, bicyclists facilities such as separate bike paths; bike lanes on roadways; and bikeway signs, signals and markings. Effective bicycle accident countermeasure projects include community bicycle programs, enforcement/court/rodeos, safety towns, bicycle monitors, and a bikeways master plan. Programs which promise effectiveness include in-school and on-bike training/education, safety messages, model regulations, conspicuity, and protective clothing and equipment for cyclists. Programs which increase efficiency and reduce costs include a checklist instrument for assessing safety relevance of cyclist programs, construction of bicyclist facilities and accident classification methods.


ABSTRACT The males of some species of the rove beetle genus Bledius Leach (1819) have a pronounced horn protruding from the anterior margin of the pronotum. The horn function is not known, however in many other horn-bearing beetles, these structures are implicated in male-male combat over females. In this study, scaling relationships are investigated for three species; B. spectabilis Kraatz, 1857, B. frisius Lohse, 1978 and B. tricornis (Herbst, 1784). Based on data collected from museum specimens, we fitted and compared different allometric models on pronotal width versus horn length in each species. A simple linear allometric model best describes the scaling relationship of horns in all three species. The horn allometry in the three Bledius species do not accordingly follow a 'switch point' model or a curved allometric relationship, models that are commonly reported to explain the scaling relationship of horns in many other beetle species. We therefore found no evidence of male dimorphism (minor/major phenotypes) in the species examined. The potential function of the horn in Bledius is discussed in light of similar studies.


"International Business Management" is a core course for undergraduates majoring in economics and management. Today, with the rapid development of information technology, relying on the Internet, big data, intelligent devices and other latest scientific and technological achievements, bilingual teaching of this course can accelerate the students' integration with the world, expand their cultural vision, and enhance their international competitiveness. The "International Business Management" course team constantly tries to integrate the latest technological elements in the teaching process, and builds a software and hardware environment integrating online resources, classroom multimedia equipment, and student intelligent devices. Based on this founation, they integrated MOOC, SPOC, flipped classroom and other new teaching methods into teaching practice, and finally the traditional single offline teaching method is transformed into an "online and offline blended teaching" mode. Statistics show that the new teaching mode has achieved good teaching effect in the practice of "maintenance" bilingual teaching.


IN the last number of the Proceedings of the Royal Society (vol. xlvi. p. 253), I have given an account of the improvements that I have made in the apparatus of Cavendish for measuring the constant of gravitation. As the principles and some of the details there set out apply very generally to other experiments where extremely minute forces have to be measured, it is possible that an abstract of this paper may be of sufficient interest to find a place in the columns of NATURE.


The research entitled "Analysis of Determination of Credit Scores for Promotion of Functional Positions for SMAN / Vocational Teachers at the Education Office of West Java Province" in general this research is to find out and obtain an overview of the determination of credit scores and promotions / teacher positions in the Education Office of West Java Province. The method used in this research is descriptive using a qualitative approach, data collection techniques with interviews, observations, and documentation studies. The results showed that many teachers did not meet the requirements in following the determination of credit scores. The credit score is a unit of value for each item of activity and/or the accumulated value of the items of activity that must be achieved by a teacher in the context of fostering a career of rank and position. In accordance with the Joint Regulation of the Minister of National Education and the Head of the State Civil Service Agency Number 03/V/PB/2010 Number 14 of 2010 the official authorized to propose the determination of the credit score submits the proposal for determining the credit score to the official authorized to determine the credit score through the secretariat of the assessment team. For the flow in applying for the determination of the teacher credit score, the teacher first uploads the file on the OPAK (Online Determination of Credit Score) application, then the original file is sent to the KCD (Office Branch Office), then to the Provincial Education Office which is managed by the Development Section. In 2018 the December period that passed only 205 (20.9%) experienced an increase in 2019 the June period which passed 952 (69.1%) while in 2020 the June period decreased again to 488 (54.6%). At the 2020 credit score determination session, there was a decrease in teachers who submitted a trial from 2019 because there was no appeal period and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the inhibiting factors.


Possibility of using non-metallic materials in biomedical applications was considered. The attention was focused mainly on polymer materials and both the carbon-carbon and carbon-reinforced polymer composites, their mechanical and biological properties. The obtained results indicate that some of these materials can be successfully used instead of metallic implants for biomechanical functions.


Electronic structures of Heusler alloys Co 2 MnZ (Z=sp elements) were calculated to search half-metallic compounds. In this paper, it will be shown that stoichiometric compounds Co 2 MnZ are half-metallic when Z is Si and Ge. Considering the effect of Z atom on the band structure, we can predict that there are half-metallic compounds in nonstoichiometric compounds Co 2 MnZ 1- x Z x ' and that the position of the Fermi level is adjustable in the energy gap of the minority-spin state by changing the composition x .


A numerical method is presented to deal with the difficulties associated with discontinuous coefficients and initial data for hyperbolic partial differential equations. The method applies directly, to first order linear systems. It combines aspects of the Courant-Rees-Isaacson method, the essentially non-oscillatory derivative approx imations of Harten and Osher, and, to propagate solutions in more than one space dimension, Strang splittings. Several examples in one and two space dimensions are presented which indicate that the method maintains, sharp wavefdrms without intro ducing spurious oscillations.


As with rapid growth of the Information and Communication Technologies play a vital role in the field of education and e-learning has become a very popular trend of the education technology. This paper analyzes and measures the cloud computing architecture usage, more and more industries move their focus from investing into processing power to renting processing power from a specialized vendor. Education field is no different. E-learning systems usually require many hardware and software resources. There are numerous educational institutions that cannot afford such investments, and cloud computing is the best solution for them. The main aim of the study is to identify ways to improve the learning process through the use of cloud computing technologies, while reducing the complexity associated with these technologies the main focus is about the requesting, creation, deployment, monitoring and management of virtual laboratories using Cloud Computing. Finally, this paper presents some solutions of cloud computing in e-learning and describes the most common architecture adopted. Issues in implementing cloud based e-learning systems and some potential ways to overcome them are also discussed.


The growth of the Internet has accelerated the distribution of digital content such as graphics and audio, and its copyright issues have gained attention. One particular industry worth noting, apparel design, has no explicit legal constraints, making piracy even easier. In this paper, we combine the decentralized and tamper-evident features of blockchain to design and implement a federated chain-based copyright management system for apparel design diagrams using the Hyperledger Fabric platform. In this paper, the copyright checking model uses perceptual hash algorithm and difference hash algorithm to calculate the graph similarity of garment effect and garment plan respectively, and calculate the mean value of similarity between them to determine whether they are plagiarized. The design diagrams are stored on IPFS, which makes up for the drawbacks of blockchain's difficulty in scaling and expensive storage space. Simulation experiments show that the blockchain system can maintain a high throughput and the originality checking model proposed in this paper can meet the practical requirements.


We investigate whispering gallery modes (WGMs) in coupled microdisks both experimentally and theoretically. In order to compensate small fluctuations in the mode energies, we controllably increase the refractive index of a microdisk by local laser heating leading to a red‐shift of the confined modes. The maximum red‐shift and a nearly unchanged Q‐factor are achievable only if the laser beam is located at the center of the disk, while linewidth broadening is observed when the laser beam is focused far from the disk center. When WGM frequencies of two or even three disks are brought into resonance, clear anticrossings are observed, which witness the strong coupling between the resonators. The Q‐factors in strongly coupled resonators are investigated experimentally and theoretically. The Q‐factors of the same order WGMs show a splitting behavior leading to the formation of high‐quality and low‐quality supermodes.


Here we present a global modelling study based on a large database of soil observations (83,416 samples). We use the quantile regression framework to determine different levels of soil organic carbon (SOC) taking into account soil, climate, topography, and land use variability. Given those levels, we estimate the additional SOC storage potential in global croplands, which is clearly stated as our aim in P1L17. The combinations of dataset, scale and methodology makes this a unique study. The first study that looks at carbon potential based on global empirical data.


This article describes how Buckman, a U.S.-based chemical manufacturer, redefined itself and its IT organization using "value" as the focal point for analysis. Buckman's Value Stream Initiative (VSI) used a micro-level, individual view of value as assessed by customers. VSI enabled Buckman's IT management team to discover the value being derived from IT activities and make necessary changes. Lessons learned from Buckman are provided for IT leaders interested in driving benefits in service delivery, IT efficiency and effectiveness, and overall value to the organization. 1,2


In this paper, we propose a system model by considering turbulence, scattering and absorption effects and noises including shot noise, thermal noise and background noise, for underwater optical wireless communications. The results are shown for the three different types of water by considering the different effects in the model. The results are shown for the eye diagrams as well as the bit error rates over a range of transmission span.


The infrastructure of the forest sector requires the involvement of additional resources for mitigation of adverse weather events and adaptation. However, some abnormal weather conditions erroneously referred to the class of hazards, complicating the maintenance of harvesting or hazards resulting in a deterioration of the resource-based commodity functions of forests. The article discusses the question of in what cases the risks of forest management due to natural hazards, as in any number of mistakes when making managerial decisions.


Considerable attention has been given to the cultural reproduction of social-class differences in educational settings, but much less attention has been given to the processes by which gender differences are produced and reproduced. The few studies that have examined gender socialization in schools have focused primarily on the role of textbooks and formal instruction in the promotion of traditional gender roles. Since most middle schools and high schools also sponsor extracurricular activities, it is important to determine the role these activities play in the promotion of gender differences in values and behavior. In this paper, we examine the effect of athletic-related activities on the peer-group culture of students at a predominantly working-class middle school. We find that certain extracurricular activities influence the predominant male and female cultures of early adolescents. Since male athletic events are the main social events of the school, both male athletes and female cheerleaders have considerable visibility and are likely to be members of the elite group. Males and females are exposed to very different values through these activities. Male athletes are encouraged to be achievement-oriented and competitive, and cheerleaders are reminded of the importance of appearance and emotion management. These values are incorporated into the informal peer culture of the school, where they are further refined and applied to specific situations and behaviors.


Discrimination, an age long facet of societies all over the world, still persists, right from the topmost hierarchy to the grass root level, in each and every compartment of our social structure. It's been years that the Suffrage movement demanded for the rights of women to vote, the U.N. Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959, granting of legal recognition to the transgenders by the Supreme Court of India in 2014, the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and many more, yet what is witnessed in the society, is a mockery and non-adherence of all these laws, while the sufferers continue to suffer and tolerate the injustice incurred upon them. Of all these, the transgenders are the ones, who have had the least representation in all the arenas of society, in fact, they are relegated, insulted, deprived and humiliated throughout their life. In the context of such poignant scenario, this paper attempts to elucidate the contribution of literature, in articulating their diabolical predicament, with reference to the writing of some Indian writers in English.


Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate histological changes of placental villi and blood vessels in pregnancy complicated by pre-eclampsia (PE) and their relation with clinical data. Patients and methods The study included 100 pregnant women developing PE at any time during pregnancy (PE group) and 100 pregnant women free of PE (control group). Collected data included age, gestational age, manifestations and severity of PE, neonatal birth weight (BW), and placental weight (PW). Placental tissue was obtained for light and electron microscopic examination. Results BW and PW showed a significant negative correlation with maternal BMI and the presence and severity of PE. Gestational age and development of PE were significant predictors for low PW, which is a significant predictor for low BW. Placentas of the PE group showed aggregation of syncytiotrophoblast cells, hyaline degeneration of connective tissue core, and endothelial lining of stem blood vessel; villous core was devoid of fetal blood vessel. Diffuse fibrous tissue formation, hypertrophic musculosa of stem blood vessel up to endarteritis obliterans and placental tissue bridges crossing intervillous spaces and villous arborization formed only of connective tissue with no cellular elements were observed. Electron microscopy confirmed these findings and showed attenuated blood vessels and excessive villous arborization covered with fibrin-like material. Conclusion Development of placental endarteritis obliterans with diminution of placental growth and proper invasion may underlie development of PE. Reduced PW is a reflection of this histological affection and is negatively correlated with severity of PE. Early PE is associated with more severe clinical manifestation and aggressive histological changes.


AbstractThe use of timber panels to construct the lateral and gravity load resisting systems of tall mass-timber buildings makes them lightweight and less stiff than buildings made from conventiona...


This description, written in Nahuatl in a late sixteenth-century text, the Florentine Codex, authored by a Franciscan friar and his indigenous aides, speaks of an important Nahua goddess, conceptualised in the pre-conquest Nahua universe alternately and concurrently as a feared deity, a defeated woman and a cross-dressed man.1 Here, in her post-conquest iteration, she becomes only the feared goddess, the one forcing men to work (elsewhere the same text describes sacrifices performed to satisfy her voracious appetite for human hearts). Indeed, pre-conquest images of Cihuacoatl suggest that Nahuas, the indigenous peoples of central Mexico, greatly feared her. Cihuacoatl, the dreaded serpent woman, presented Nahua men with a challenge: she forced them into a life of drudgery. She also could take their lives away; she could present them with certain death as she feasted upon their hearts, for 'she had a huge, open mouth and ferocious teeth. The hair on her head was long and bulky'. Thus she devoured men. But still 'she was clad in womanly garb – skirt, blouse and mantle – all white'.2 In Nahua gender ideology, Cihuacoatl's nature as a feared individual who could kill upon a whim and who forced individuals to work signified a powerful masculine individual. Yet her attire signified femininity. Cihuacoatl's aesthetics seem to us, as they seemed to the Catholic priests and friars who noted her appearance, confusing: a jumble of the masculine and the feminine – coming from a society that we believe rigorously separated masculine from feminine roles.3 We will see that the relationship between sixteenth-century Nahua notions of gender and sexuality allowed, and even required, Cihuacoatl and other Nahua goddesses to manifest themselves as bundles of attributes that in daily life could never connect to an individual woman, no matter how powerful that woman may be. These goddesses thus transgress our imagined boundaries, not just between gender and sexuality but also between human and divine. Need we know if Cihuacoatl and the other fertility goddesses discussed in this chapter are goddesses rather than gods? Is it important to recall that the term teotl ('god') had no gender, or that Nahuatl does not contain gendered pronouns? This


In order to solve the problem such as measuring errors and faults in the color detection because of fatigue and individual differences, and to solve the problems of poor relevant of equipment and weak data-processing ability on the color detection. The solution of images color difference recognition system based on Labview is proposed. The solution is establishing the system simulation platform on Labview software.


The overall objectives of this research work are to formulate and validate efficient parallel algorithms, and to efficiently design/implement computer software for solving large-scale acoustic problems, arised from the unified frameworks of the finite element procedures. The adopted parallel Finite Element (FE) Domain Decomposition (DD) procedures should fully take advantages of multiple processing capabilities offered by most modern high performance computing platforms for efficient parallel computation. To achieve this objective. the formulation needs to integrate efficient sparse (and dense) assembly techniques, hybrid (or mixed) direct and iterative equation solvers, proper pre-conditioned strategies, unrolling strategies, and effective processors' communicating schemes. Finally, the numerical performance of the developed parallel finite element procedures will be evaluated by solving series of structural, and acoustic (symmetrical and un-symmetrical) problems (in different computing platforms). Comparisons with existing "commercialized" and/or "public domain" software are also included, whenever possible.


This paper describes a new way of implementing an intelligent web caching service, based on an analysis of usage. Since the cache sizes in software are limited, and the search for new information is time-consuming, it becomes interesting to automate the process of selecting the most relevant items for each user. We propose a new model (FRAC+), based on a decentralized collaborative filtering algorithm (FRAC) and a behavior modeling process. Our solution is particularly designed to address the issues of data sparsity, privacy and scalability. We consider the situation where the set of users is relatively stable, whereas the set of items may vary considerably from an execution to another. We furthermore assume that the number of users is much more important than the number of items. We argue that a user-based approach seems to be more suitable to address the aforementioned issues. We present a performance assessment of our technique called FRAC in terms of computation time and prediction relevancy, the two most reliable performance criteria in the industrial context we are involved in. This work has been implemented within the ASTRA satellite website broadcasting service.


The synthesis and single crystal structure of titanium(III) tris(metaphosphate), Ti(PO 3 ) 3 , are reported. Ti(PO 3 ) 3 is isostructural with other M(PO 3 ) 3 phases, where M = Al, V, Sc or Rh


BACKGROUND
Colonic perforation is a rare complication of colonoscopy and ranges from 0-1% in all patients undergoing colonoscopy. The aim of this study was to assess the time-trends, risk factors, and mortality associated with CIP in hospitalized patients as the data is limited.

METHODS
Data was obtained from the Nationwide Inpatient sample database to identify hospitalized patients between 2005-2014 that had colonoscopy-induced perforation. Various factors like age and gender were assessed for association with CIP, followed by univariate and multivariate regression analysis.

RESULTS
A total of 2,651,109 patients underwent inpatient colonoscopy between 2005-2014 and 4,567 (0.2%) of the patients had CIP. Overall, incidence of CIP has increased from 2005 to 2014 (0.1% to 0.3%) (p<0.001). On multivariate analysis, the adjusted odds ratio for CIP was highest in Caucasian race (OR: 1.49 (1.09, 2.06), followed by after polypectomy, history of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and age >65 years (OR [95% CI] of 1.35 (1.23, 1.47), 1.34 (1.17, 1.53), 1.28 (1.02, 1.62), and 1.21 (1.11, 1.33), respectively (all p<0.05). CIP group had 33% less obesity (OR [95% CI]: 0.77 (0.65-0.9), p=0.002) and 13-fold higher mortality (0.5% vs.8.1%) (p<0.001) as compared to patients without CIP. The CIP associated mortality ranged from 2-8% and remained stable throughout the study period.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggests that the risk of CIP was highest in elderly patients, Caucasians, those with IBD, ESRD and after polypectomy. Recognizing the factors associated with CIP may lead to informed discussion about risks and benefits of inpatient colonoscopy.


A Recent interest in delivering better quality health care services is growing rapidly and leads to the development of a Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) in the medical field. This network collects many sensors placed on the body of human. Since the sensor nodes are handled by batteries, they operate on limited power. Thus, improving the network lifetime through an efficient energy harvesting from the human environment has become a major research objective. Energy harvesting eliminates the maintenance such as replacing or recharging the battery. The present paper focuses on providing energy from heat body by using a thermoelectric generator (TEG). The energy produced from the difference in temperature between the hot and the cold sources (for example between the temperature of the human body, TH = 37 ° C and the temperature of the ambient air, Tc = 22 ° C) results a limited efficiency. In order to maximize the power generated by such a system, we give a solution to improve the power harvested from human body.


A region's economic development stability is directly linked to the level of services provided and the transport and communication infrastructure available to it. Airport security in the context of transport infrastructure development and the further development of regional logistics facilities is an important factor affecting both the public and private sectors. The causes and consequences investigation, which are the basic means for finding solutions in the safety area of the selected critical infrastructure subject was solved using the Ishikawa diagram. The search for causation based on the principle where each result has its own cause or combination of causes. We can use the 6M approach (staff, methods, machines, materials, measurement, and mother-nature), or 8M, which is supplemented by management and maintenance. In the process of elaborating this article, the consequences defined and the causes underlying the proposed solutions were examined in a successive way. This paper points out possible directions of development in the field of airport security within the context of the public logistics centre development. Obviously, there is no totally secure system and an increase in the


In this paper we construct diffusion processes associated with such Dirichlet forms which are so singular that their form domains contain no continuous functions different from the zero function. In quantum theory such singular Dirichlet forms correspond to Schrodinger operators with potentials which are singular on each neighbourhood of every point. * Fakultat fur Mathematik, Ruhr-Universitat, D-4630 BOCHUM (FRG) ** BiBoS Research Center, D-4800 Bielefeld (FRG) *** On leave of absence from lnst. of Appl. Mathematics, Academia Sinica, Beijing # SFB 237 Essen, Bochum, Dusseldorf; CERFIM, Locarno


This paper aims to determine human blood glucose levels through analyzing the acetone present in exhaled breath as a noninvasive method with the help of an electronic nose system based on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensors. The amount of acetone vapor which is the marker of blood glucose is 0.1-10 ppm in human expiration. In order for the QCM sensors to sense low levels of acetone concentration, a condenser containing zeolite absorbent ingredients is used in the experiment mechanism. The QCM sensor data obtained from breath is compared with blood glucose value. A data set of 40 volunteers with blood glucose values ranging from 84.83 mg/dl to 334 mg/dl was examined in this paper. An artificial neural network (ANN) trained using the Levenberg-Marquardt (LMNN) algorithm was developed. Data from 31 of the volunteers was used for training the ANN and data from nine volunteers was reserved for testing. Eventually, result of the study has an error of 20.13%.


Cognitive processes in the brain, like learning, formation of memory, recovery of memorized images, classification of objects have two features: First, there is no supervisor in the brain who controls these processes. Second there is a hugh number of neurons (10^{6} to 10^{10}) involved in those cognitive tasks. For this reason, the search of understanding cognitive processes uses models built from a large number of neurons, but very much simplified neurons. The so-called neural networks have been quite successful in describing certain aspects of brain functions, like the mechanism of associative memory or recently the prediction of epileptic seizures. At hand of the Kohonen network we discuss the treatment of information in the brain, in particular how the brain organizes such information without supervisor. Recently, networks of small-world and scale-free architecture came into focus. There is evidence indicating that the brain (cat cortex, macaque cortex, human brain) uses such connectivity architecture. Tasks like treatment of information, learning and classification take advantage of such scale-free and small-world connectivity and thus play a potentially important role in self-organization of the brain.


A bloom caused by Chaetoceros compressus and Chaetoceros curvisetus was first found in east of Zhujiajian island archipelago in Jul.22,2007.According to the study,the result showed that sharp fall of salinity by the rainfall is the inducement factor for the red tide,the suitable hydrograph-meteorological condition,eutrophication area are the base factor for red tide.pH,DO ect.varied with the process of red tide.In this case,the bloom algae absorbed mainly nitrate nitrogen and silicate,and phosphate is the limited factor.


The pH,temperature,solid suspension,chemical oxygen demand (COD),Pb,Zn,Cu,NH+_4-N,K,Na,Ca and Mg in rain water of Yangzhou were measured as the normal state compared with other areas in the world.According to the curve of COD against time in roof rain water,the quality meets the water standards requirements between Ⅲ and Ⅳ class after 50min of raining,and is further improved into Ⅰ class water 110min later.


Library service for the blind and visually impaired persons in the public library "Fran Galovic" in Koprivnica has been developed within the project financed by the European Union from the Program CARDS 2002, called "The non-profit sector providing services in the field of social care, health protection, mainstream schooling, education and family protection". The objective of these services is enabling equal inclusion of the blind and visually impaired persons in local community and society in general, as well as building a model of partnership between local association of the blind and the local library, which is a novelty in Croatia. These services provide the blind and visually impaired persons with better access to sources of knowledge and information in their local communities. The purpose of these services is having better access to education and information, completing their formal education, obtaining professional qualifications, finding employment and contributing to the life of the community and the society in general in a more valuable way. The paper describes prerequisites for such library services in the context of general library mission, vision and values. It presents the main activities in forming such services. A special review of basic prerequisites necessary for these services is given: purchasing the specific library collection and the installation of the specific technical equipment in the library, as well as implementation of educational and animation programs for target groups. The past results and experiences of the use of such services have been presented, as well as the specific features of library services for the blind and visually impaired persons of the Koprivnica library model.


Over the last two centuries, energy needs have increased substantially until non-renewable resources nearly come to depletion. Therefore, the application of renewable energy resources like solar energy is absolutely appointed favorable due to its economical impact and improved technology. Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) being the type of solar cell that utilize dye as light sensitizer for the operation and become the best alternative rather than toxic chemical dyes. Betalains is one of the pigment of natural dyes that can be extracted from fruit and vegetables which majorly available in beetroot (Beta vulgaris). To get the pigment for solar cell application, the optimum extraction is crucial. Hence, in this study, several polar solvents such as distilled water, methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, formic acid and acetic acid were used to extract betalain pigment from Beta vulgaris (BV). Then, several characterizations were carried out to analyze the photoabsorber properties using Ultraviolet-visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The energy bandgap of BV in different solvents (ITO/TiO2/BV) are 2.19, 2.35, 2.65, 2.73, 2.78, 2.98 and 3.00 eV for methanol, n-butanol, formic acid, ethanol, acetic acid, water and isopropanol respectively. Whilst, FTIR spectrum shows the presence of functional group of O-H, C=O and C-O-C and HPLC analysis depicted the existence of betacyanin pigment all in samples. SEM images show the presence of porous structure of TiO2 and irregular pits formed due to the formation of BV layer on TiO2. In conclusion, overall findings suggested that methanol is the best solvent for extraction of betalain pigment, answering it has best photoabsorber properties among the sample series. Further detailed study is recommended to maximise the potential of Beta vulgaris pigment as photoabsorber in DSSC application.


Ye Hong is president of Makunsi Aroma International Organization,an international company that specializes in European aromatic products. In fact,Ye introduced European fragrance culture to China,and,hence,helped revolutionize Chinese residents' concepts about leisure living. Ye,a rose-like woman,is beautiful and charming.


The business development model of Taiwan's footwear retail market evolved from small shops to the chain brand channel. However, it is now widely recognized that, there have been great changes in the market, making it is hard to maintain the business and growth rate through just one mode of operation. To survive and thrive in the competitive market, firms must continually improve their core competence and by doing so could become a leading brand. This study aims to investigate the influence of social capital, service quality and relationship quality on business performance, using the case of the A.S.O. Company. A questionnaire survey was conducted among store managers for the A.S.O. Company, with a total of 228 questionnaires returned. The results obtained from the survey showed: (1)Social capital and service quality have positive effects on relationship quality. (2)Social capital and service quality have positive effects on business performance. (3)Relationship quality has positive effects on business performance. (4)With relationship quality, social capital has strong positive effects on business performance of the A.S.O Company. (5)With relationship quality, service quality also has strong positive effects on business performance of the A.S.O Company.


Supply Chain Management (SCM) has raised attention in recent years. Successful SCM depends on how well an organization performs internal and external communications. The use of information technology (IT) is considered a prerequisite for effective control of today's complex supply chains. IT facilitates the creation of value. However, the creation of value is defined by different groups of stakeholders. Therefore, stakeholders must be integrated into this process of change that uses IT as the enabler. This paper presents a unique value mapping framework that includes the effective involvement of stakeholders when seeking higher level of supply chain performance.


Abstract : The report is an engineering guide to the use of the Dyer method of manual computation and to several computer programs for determining turbulence- induced vibration and radiation of finite plates in air and in water. Both simple and clamped boundary conditions are treated. The Dyer method and the computer programs are presented in a series of appendixes: Bolt Beranek and Newman manual method; Boeing program I; Electric boat program; Underwater sound laboratory program; Boeing program II - finite element. The documentation is intended to facilitate the performance of flow-induced vibroacoustic computations as well as to furnish the groundwork for future research. In the broader view, the documentation represents the initial steps of an effort to use computer programs to bridge the gap between vibroacoustic research results and design needs for structures that are subject to excitation by turbulence.


Background : Breast cancer is a malignancy of the cells found in the breast tissue, can be derived from components of the glans (or lobulusnya tract epithelium) and components in addition to the glands such as fat tissue, blood vessels and persyarafan breast tissue breast tissue. Currently breast cancer is the second cause of cancer death in women, after cervical cancer and is the cancer most commonly encountered in women. The percentage of cancer patients in Yogyakarta highest in Indonesia reached 4.1%.   Objective : This research is  conducted to determine the influence of knowledge, attitudes, facilities-health, behavior and attitude of health workers to conduct breast self-examination and to determine the most significant effect on the behavior of breast self-examination at the health center Depok I Sleman, Yogyakarta. The independent variables in this study is the knowledge, attitudes, facilities-behavioral health facilities and the attitude of health workers, dependent variable in this study is the behavior of breast self-examination. The populations in this study as many as 339 people with a sample of 80 people. Sampling technique used by the method of accidental sampling and testing techniques of data used in this study include validity, and reliability with Cronbach alpha. Univariate analysis, bivariate analysis, using Kendall-tau test.  Result : There is no influence between knowledge and behavior of breast self-examination at the health center Depok I Sleman Yogyakarta with the results of the correlation is 0.061> 0.05. And there are two influence between attitudes and behaviors of health workers with the behavior of breast self-examination with the results of the correlation is 0.029 <0.005 and 0.000 <0.005.   Conclusion :  The conclusion of this research shows that there is no positive and significant influence between knowledge and behavior of breast self-examination, there is influence between attitudes and behavior of breast self-examination and the mindsets of officers with breast selfexamination.


The test data of large-scale complex product usually presents small sample and multi-phase characteristic. Therefore,to reduce the evaluation error caused by small sample of one phase,a constraint condition is introduced to products reliability evaluation,thus the multi-phase test data can be used.Under such constraint condition,the reliability parameter is considered as a random variable and the reliability parameter distribution function is given firstly.Then an approximate calculation method for mission reliability and mean time between failure(MTBF) is presented.Finally,the result based on actual data is shown.Since the constraint condition is brief and the reliability parameter distribution function can be achieved,this method is more applicable for engineering than traditional AMSAA-Model(army materiel systems analysis activity model),and the reliability interval estimation can be gained which can not be obtained from Duane-model.


The Authors point to their subanalysis of the small DRAIN study in 80 patients, where they evaluated early (2 h) spot urinary sodium content and surrogate outcome measures and found similar results as compared with our analyses.2 Our results should be interpreted slightly different, considering we evaluated total urinary sodium content over 6 h, which is probably a better representation of total natriuretic response to a given diuretic dose than spot urinary sodium.3–5 With regard to the inotrope/vasopressor regimen not being standardized in our cohort, we consider these therapies only in very selected patients, according to the European Society of Cardiology HF guidelines, where they are only advocated in a small proportion of acute HF patients with severe hypotension.6 In our study, the prognostic information of urinary sodium content at 6 h was unchanged by adjusting for inotrope/vasopressor use [hazard ratio (HR) 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01–1.08, P = 0.008, per 10 mmol decrease (n = 146)] or left ventricular ejection fraction [(HR 1.05, 95% CI 1.01–1.08, P = 0.003, per 10 mmol decrease (n = 157)]. Change in natriuretic peptide level was only available in a subset of patients at 24 h after admission, and was not different in tertiles of urinary sodium (P = 0.69 and P = 0.67 for absolute and relative change, respectively). We do not think worsening renal function (WRF), as used by the Authors, is an appropriate surrogate endpoint in acute HF patients without considering natriuretic/diuretic response. WRF in a patient with good natriuresis is not true WRF and should be termed pseudo-WRF, and cannot directly be compared with WRF in patients with poor natriuresis/diuretic response, according to most recent position papers on how to evaluate renal function in HF.7,8 For instance, in our cohort and using different definitions, WRF was consistently more frequent in patients with the highest urinary sodium content at 6 h. Yet, the prognostic information of urinary sodium at 6 h was unaffected by the occurrence of WRF, and WRF itself was not independently associated with clinical outcome. This again highlights not to use serum creatinine/WRF as a response marker during decongestion in acute HF. Finally, the finding that urinary sodium content at 6 h was only associated with all-cause mortality and appeared not to be associated with HF readmission is probably related to the severity of HF in our tertiary HF clinic, as well as a tendency of some elderly patients with HF at our clinic to decide not to be readmitted after discharge as part of advanced care planning. Therefore, we also evaluated the combined endpoint of mortality and HF rehospitalization, confirming our primary results. We agree with the Authors that we need prospective randomized studies to evaluate whether this cheap and easy marker of natriuretic/diuretic response is a valuable tool to assess treatment effect or can serve as therapeutic target in a cute HF.


Background: As the outcomes of in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) have been identified as a more refined measure of institutional readiness and effectiveness in the treatment of IHCA. The purpose of this study was to delineate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of IHCA patients with successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Materials and Methods: The study period was from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2012. Adult patients (age ≥18) with successful CPR after IHCA were included for analysis. Data from a prospectively maintained database of IHCA in a secondary teaching referral hospital were reviewed and analyzed. Results: 301 IHCA patients were included during the study period. The mortality rate among IHCA patients was 66.1% (N=199), with 62.3% (N=124) of the non-survivors died within 24 hours. The non-survivors were older (72.1 ± 15.6 vs. 67.6 ± 15.9, p=0.019) and had significantly higher Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score (32.1 ± 8.9 vs. 19.3 ± 8.5, p<0.001), Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS) score (34.1 ± 8.9 vs. 29.1 ± 8.9, p <0.001), Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) (3.2 ± 1.5 vs. 2.6 ± 1.6, p=0.001) but had a lower GCS (6.4 ± 5.1 vs. 9.8 ± 4.7, p<0.001), shorter ICU stay (4.9 ± 8.2 vs. 16.1 ± 12.3, p<0.001), shorter hospital stay (9.6 ± 19.3 vs. 40.7 ± 35.4, p<0.001), and lesser expenses (149358 ± 274827 vs. 425781 ± 384156, p<0.001). Non-survivors with early mortality (<24 hours) had a significantly higher APACHE II score (34.9 ± 8.9 vs. 30.3 ± 8.4, p<0.001) and 93.5% (N=116) were medical patients. 18.9% (N=57) and 15% (N=45) survivors were discharged with cerebral performance category (CPC) 1 or 2 and >2 respectively. The survival rate was 33.9% (N=102), with 18.9% (N=57) of the survivors discharged with CPCS 1 or 2. The survivors with CPC >2 at discharge were older; had significantly higher APACHE II score and CCI; more medical expenses; longer ICU and hospital stays; related to the location of arrest but had a lower GCS. Multivariate analysis, the age (odds ratio, 2.32; 95%CI, 1.58-6.21; p=0.047); APACHE II (odds ratio, 1.46; 95%CI, 1.04-2.08; p=0.06) and GCS (odds ratio, 0.72; 95%CI, 0.39-1.46; p=0.039) on IHCA with survival to discharge were the risk factors associated with poor neurological outcome. Conclusions: Less than one fifth of the successfully resuscitated IHCA patients had a favorable neurological functional outcome at discharge. The mortality and outcomes were correlated to the severity of the disease.


Objectives/Hypothesis To present the indications, surgical technique, and results of single‐stage laryngotracheal reconstruction (SSLTR) without stenting for laryngotracheal stenosis (LTS) in adults. Various open surgical techniques have been previously described for LTS in adults; however, these techniques usually involve placement of intraluminal stents. The practice of early extubation without stenting is common for pediatric SSLTR. The success of this technique in the pediatric population has led to a trial of the same technique in selected cases of adult LTS.


We often send our confidential information such as passport, credit card, social security numbers over email without concern about the security of email services. Existing network security mechanisms provide adequate security from external malicious adversaries and eavesdroppers, but they don't guarantee that the email service providers (ESPs) wouldn't or can't access our email data themselves, which in some cases could be highly confidential. One of the ways to protect email data from ESPs is to use Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) that has many limitations including key storage problem and dependability on third party services, making it cumbersome to use in practice. In this paper, we present S3Email method that provides email security against ESPs. The proposed method uses a cryptographic secret sharing technique in a novel way and encrypts the email metadata, body and attachments before the email is sent. In the proposed solution, the email sender and receiver must have at least two email accounts on the existing ESPs, which is not unusual today. Experiments and analysis show that the S3Email method provides information theoretic security with minimal computational overhead.


This issue brings together papers guest edited by Diana Papademas on Ethics in Visual Research, the last in our current series of themed sections. In many ways this is a timely issue. In recent years ethical and moral discussions of photography have centred on the position of the viewer or consumer of images, in particular what Sharon Sliwinski, who takes up the debate in this issue, refers to as 'documentary's false promise to awaken social conscience'. However, the publication earlier this year of the images of abuse and humiliation at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, has refocused attention on how photography is done, by whom and to what ends. It is not just the content of the images that was shocking, this is also true of many other images of war made by photojournalists and amateur photographers, but that photography was an integral part of the process depicted. That the images also made visual reference to family photography, with its generally positive connotations, served to further heighten the sense of unease one experiences viewing them and imagining the circumstances of their making.


We introduce a novel ridge detection algorithm for time-frequency (TF) analysis, particularly tailored for intricate nonstationary time series encompassing multiple non-sinusoidal oscillatory components. The algorithm is rooted in the distinctive geometric patterns that emerge in the TF domain due to such non-sinusoidal oscillations. We term this method \textit{shape-adaptive mode decomposition-based multiple harmonic ridge detection} (\textsf{SAMD-MHRD}). A swift implementation is available when supplementary information is at hand. We demonstrate the practical utility of \textsf{SAMD-MHRD} through its application to a real-world challenge. We employ it to devise a cutting-edge walking activity detection algorithm, leveraging accelerometer signals from an inertial measurement unit across diverse body locations of a moving subject.


Objective To research the efficacy of arthroscopic suturing with meniscal fastener on posterior horn of meniscus.Methods The clinical materials of 9 cases of posterior horn meniscal tear repaired by meniscal fastener from April 2009 to March 2011 were analyzed retrospectively.The data of each patient before and after the surgery were compared statistically.Results No postoperative early complications occurred in all patients.The follow up were performed in all patients for 6.5 to 20.8(14.1±6.7) months.According to Barrett clinical healing criteria,all patients achieved clinical healing.The difference in preoperative and postoperative Lysholm score as well as Tegner score were significant(P0.05).7 meniscuses were excellent efficacy,accounting for 77.78%;2 were good,accounting for 22.22%.Excellent and good rate was 100%.Conclusion Arthroscopic suturing using meniscal fastener can get a higher achievement ratio in repairing the posterior horn meniscal tear with fewer complications.


#MeToo in academia The #MeToo movement has taken on sexual harassment in the workplace and served to inform the world that these unacceptable and illegal acts have become commonplace, including in academic settings (1). Through this platform, women are empowering each other to fight back against egregious behaviors that have infiltrated the workplace for decades. However, there are more subtle ways in which women can be demeaned in the workplace (1). Historically, women have been excluded from leadership positions in academic medicine. Importantly, while it is clear that gender-based and racial disparities are pervasive, concrete solutions to rectify these disparities are emerging and should be enacted broadly throughout academia. Women continue to be underrepresented in academic venues, particularly in leadership positions at universities, as speakers at national and international meetings, on foundation and review boards that distribute grant funding, and on editorial boards of journals (1). To shed more light on this issue, women on the JCI editorial board with support from our editor-in-chief, Rexford Ahima and the entire editorial board, got together to briefly outline the scope of the problem within this arena. Our objective was to track progress in this area, highlight strategies that have successfully increased female and minority representation within academic settings, and thereby illuminate approaches that will ultimately narrow this gap in academic medicine, including [...] Viewpoint


Acute methemoglobinemia may be caused by topical anesthetics and other oxidizing medications commonly prescribed by Family Physicians. Without knowledge of this potentially lethal condition, delay in diagnosis and treatment is likely. Methemoglobinemia should be considered in any patient presenting


One of the most common symptoms in the orofacial region is pain. Trigeminal neuralgia is characterized by pain affecting the trigeminal nerve and its related areas of distribution and is known to have significant impact on the quality of life. Misdiagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia has been reported by dentists in several previous studies in the literature. With this rationale, the aim of the present study is to determine the most commonly involved nerve branch and the side affected in trigeminal neuralgia patients. The present retrospective study involved 72 patients diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia who reported from October 2013 to October 2014. Data regarding the age of onset, gender, side of involvement was analyzed from their clinical records. Out of the 72 patients, males were 42(58.3%) and females were 30(41.7%). In our study, a total of 56 % (i.e., 40) patients showed involvement on the right and 44% (i.e., 32) (i.e, 32) patients on the left side of the face. In this retrospective study, ophthalmic branch (V1) was affected only in 3 patients. Mandibular nerve (V3) alone was involved in 24 patients. Involvement of all the three divisions V1, V2 and V3 was seen in 16(22.3%) of patients. Clinical similarities of trigeminal neuralgia that have an impact on different populations were demonstrated in this study. Detailed history and proper identification of involved nerve branch play an important role in the diagnostic accuracy and treatment satisfaction. Most involved branch in our study was the mandibular (V3) branch and the most affected side was the right side. Correlation of systemic factors with trigeminal neuralgia can be attempted in future research.


This paper addresses the design and the realization of tunable bandstop filters using MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical-Systems) technology for millimeter wave applications. In order to design bandstop tunable MEMS filters, three new topologies are presented. The presented measurement and simulation results validate the proposed topologies. The tunable behavior is achieved using MEMS switches. These switches, based on original topology of two cantilever shunt switch (TCSS), have a typical shunt switch behavior and intrinsic low actuation voltage. The overall structures, including TCSS, have been manufactured using dielectric membrane, in order to minimize the insertion losses.