LSENS has been developed for solving complex, homogeneous, gas-phase, chemical kinetics problems. The motivation for the development of this program is the continuing interest in developing detailed chemical reaction mechanisms for complex reactions such as the combustion of fuels and pollutant formation and destruction. A reaction mechanism is the set of all elementary chemical reactions that are required to describe the process of interest. Mathematical descriptions of chemical kinetics problems constitute sets of coupled, nonlinear, first-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The number of ODEs can be very large because of the numerous chemical species involved in the reaction mechanism. Further complicating the situation are the many simultaneous reactions needed to describe the chemical kinetics of practical fuels. For example, the mechanism describing the oxidation of the simplest hydrocarbon fuel, methane, involves over 25 species participating in nearly 100 elementary reaction steps. Validating a chemical reaction mechanism requires repetitive solutions of the governing ODEs for a variety of reaction conditions. Analytical solutions to the systems of ODEs describing chemistry are not possible, except for the simplest cases, which are of little or no practical value. Consequently, there is a need for fast and reliable numerical solution techniques for chemical kinetics problems. In addition to solving the ODEs describing chemical kinetics, it is often necessary to know what effects variations in either initial condition values or chemical reaction mechanism parameters have on the solution. Such a need arises in the development of reaction mechanisms from experimental data. The rate coefficients are often not known with great precision and in general, the experimental data are not sufficiently detailed to accurately estimate the rate coefficient parameters. The development of a reaction mechanism is facilitated by a systematic sensitivity analysis which provides the relationships between the predictions of a kinetics model and the input parameters of the problem. LSENS provides for efficient and accurate chemical kinetics computations and includes sensitivity analysis for a variety of problems, including nonisothermal conditions. LSENS replaces the previous NASA general chemical kinetics codes GCKP and GCKP84. LSENS is designed for flexibility, convenience and computational efficiency. A variety of chemical reaction models can be considered. The models include static system, steady one-dimensional inviscid flow, reaction behind an incident shock wave including boundary layer correction, and the perfectly stirred (highly backmixed) reactor. In addition, computations of equilibrium properties can be performed for the following assigned states, enthalpy and pressure, temperature and pressure, internal energy and volume, and temperature and volume. For static problems LSENS computes sensitivity coefficients with respect to the initial values of the dependent variables and/or the three rates coefficient parameters of each chemical reaction. To integrate the ODEs describing chemical kinetics problems, LSENS uses the packaged code LSODE, the Livermore Solver for Ordinary Differential Equations, because it has been shown to be the most efficient and accurate code for solving such problems. The sensitivity analysis computations use the decoupled direct method, as implemented by Dunker and modified by Radhakrishnan. This method has shown greater efficiency and stability with equal or better accuracy than other methods of sensitivity analysis. LSENS is written in FORTRAN 77 with the exception of the NAMELIST extensions used for input. While this makes the code fairly machine independent, execution times on IBM PC compatibles would be unacceptable to most users. LSENS has been successfully implemented on a Sun4 running SunOS and a DEC VAX running VMS. With minor modifications, it should also be easily implemented on other platforms with FORTRAN compilers which support NAMELIST input. LSENS required 4Mb of RAM under SunOS 4.1.1 and 3.4Mb of RAM under VMS 5.5.1. The standard distribution medium for LSENS is a .25 inch streaming magnetic tape cartridge (QIC-24) in UNIX tar format. It is also available on a 1600 BPI 9-track magnetic tape or a TK50 tape cartridge in DEC VAX BACKUP format. Alternate distribution media and formats are available upon request. LSENS was developed in 1992.


This study focuses on the implementation of moving average technical indicator on a one dimensional cellular automata. The moving average is an indicator that shows the average price of a security at a given period of time and it is the oldest and most widely used technical analysis tool. Each cell in the automata compares the relationship between moving averages of the security's price with the security price itself. During the simulation each cell in the automata produces two output states either BUY or SELL, that will help the traders to take better decision on stocks. A Buy signal is generated by the cellular automata when the security price rises above its moving average, and a Sell signal is generated when the security price falls below its moving average.


In this paper we propose a novel energy-aware QoS model, e-QoS, for application sessions that might across multiple protocol domains. The model provides the QoS guarantee by dynamically selecting and adapting application protocols. To the best of our knowledge, our model is the first attempt to address QoS adaptation at the application session level by proposing a new QoS metric called session lifetime. To show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, we have implemented a case study: instant messenger applications between two PocketPCs. Experiment shows that the session lifetime has been successfully extended to the value negotiated by two PocketPCs with very diverse battery capacities.


With the regional economic and social changes,peasants' livelihood in north Shaanxi Loess Plateau has undergone great changes and diversified,and the impact of peasants' livelihood on ecological system has also changed.This paper proposes that the ecological improvement of Loess Plateau of north Shaanxi can be realized by strengthening ecological construction and well-coordinated the relationship between ecological protection and household livelihood.


Present work deals with a CAPP system developed for prismatic parts. This paper specifically dicusses the methodology developed for the automatic extraction of features from the wire-frame model of a part created in AutoCAD. Size, location and shape elements of a feature are used to de fine SIZE-LOCATION-SHAPE-ALGORITHM (SLSA) in the present work. It can recognize features like slots, steps, holes and pockets of different profile geometries by matching with a basic hole feature. Based on its location a feature (basically a hole feature) is classified into hole, step or slot feature. At present 20 predefined hole feature geometries are present. The output from feature extractor can be used for the generation of manufacturing instructions viz ., setup planning, process selection, sequence generation, machining parameters selection etc. The unique feature of this system is that, it works on a wire-frame model of the part and needs no help from the user in extracting features. The working of the system and al...


RcNAC72, a key transcription factor that may respond to drought stress in Rosa chinensis 'Old Blush', was selected in our previous study. In the present study, we found that RcNAC72 is localized in the nucleus and is a transcriptional activator. RcNAC72 expression could be significantly induced by drought, low temperature, salt as well as abscisic acid (ABA) treatment. Analysis of the promoter revealed that multiple abiotic stress and hormone response elements were located in the promoter region. The promoter could respond to drought, low temperature, salt and ABA treatments to activate GUS gene expression. Overexpressing RcNAC72 in Arabidopsis thaliana enhanced sensitivity to ABA and tolerance to drought stress. Silencing of RcNAC72 by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) in rose leaves significantly reduced leaf water loss tolerance and leaf extension capacity. Physical interaction of RcNAC72 with RcDREB2A was shown by means of the yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays. RcABF4 was demonstrated to be able to bind to the promoter of RcNAC72 by means of the yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) assay. These results provide new insights into the regulatory network of RcNAC72 response to drought stress in roses.


As market competition grows keener and keener,enterprises are expanding.Meanwhile,human resource crisis has drawn increasing attention.The measure efficiently coping with human resource crisis is precautionary management against it.The focus of the human resource crisis prevention,supporting by the mechanisms of liability regime,crisis prevention and quick-response,lies in standardizing the mechanism of personnel recruitment,perfecting the system of personnel training,establishing a scientific performance appraisal system and adopting the diverse encouraging mechanism including good pay.


The effects of alum and glutinous rice flour as dual coagulant on the removals of colour and suspended solid from stabilized leachate were investigated. A series of jar test were conducted by optimizing the dose and pH of single coagulant (alum and glutinous rice flour) and its combination. It was observed that low removals (colour: 46%, suspended solid: 16%) were recorded by glutinous rice as single coagulant at pH 7 and dose 1.2 g/L. However, addition of glutinous rice flour (0.12 g/L) as coagulant aid for alum at pH 6 and dose of alum 2.5g/L, show better removals of colour (86%) and suspended solid (92%) from alum. At same pH and dose of alum as single coagulant, the removals achieved only 79% and 83% of colour and suspended solid, respectively. Thus, addition of glutinous rice flour as coagulant aid improved the colour and suspended solid removals from the stabilized leachate


Money has meaning that shapes its uses and social significance, including the monies low-income families draw on for survival: wages, welfare, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This study, based on in-depth interviews with 115 low-wage EITC recipients, reveals the EITC is an unusual type of government transfer. Recipients of the EITC say they value the debt relief this government benefit brings. However, they also perceive it as a just reward for work, which legitimizes a temporary increase in consumption. Furthermore, unlike other means-tested government transfers, the credit is seen as a springboard for upward mobility. Thus, by conferring dignity and spurring dreams, the EITC enhances feelings of citizenship and social inclusion.


History: This patient first presented to the Bailey Small Animal Teaching Hospital at Auburn University (AU-SATH) Emergency and Critical Care (ECC) service on 6/22/15 for evaluation of a twomonth history of lethargy, weight-loss, and decreased appetite. Notable laboratory findings at that visit included mild, poorly-regenerative anemia (HCT-31.8%; absolute reticulocytes 94,000/μL), increased RDW (17.9%), and moderate to marked thrombocytopenia (38,000/μL; only rare platelet clumps noted on smear). Serum biochemistry abnormalities included hyperproteinemia (13.59 g/dL), hypoalbuminemia (1.3 g/dL), hyperglobulinemia (11.5 g/dL), and hypercalcemia (15.9 mg/dL). Radiographs revealed small radiolucent opacities of the dorsal spinous processes of T10 and L2 vertebrae. A bone marrow aspirate was obtained and a representative photomicrograph can be seen in Figure 1. The patient was discharged with the standard of care oral medications for the condition diagnosed.


Aim: To complete a 5-year audit cycle for all malignant lid tumours treated by one consultant (Stafanous) and re-audit the first work done in 2000 and 2001/2002. The main aim was to find out the recurrence rate and presence of new lesions in 5-years' follow-up and determine whether it is safe to discharge patients after histological clearance and satisfactory reconstruction outcome rather than 5 years' follow-up. Method: Retrospective audit from January 2000 to December 2006. The collected data was: Site and type of lesions, type of surgery, recurrence rate and new lesions. Results: Out of 112 cases identified, 104 were Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC), 4 Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC), 3 Sebaceous Gland Carcinoma (SGC) and 1 Malignant Melanoma (MM). 68/112had biopsy before definitive surgery and 44/112 had surgery without preceding biopsy. 54/112 had one stage surgical excision and 58/112 had modified Moh's surgery in 2–4 theatre sessions. Only 1/112 had recurrence at the same site during the follow-up period and 5 had new lesions at different periorbital sites. Conclusion: There was no evidence of significant recurrence to justify the 5-years' follow-up. Patients with histologically cleared tumours and satisfactory functional and cosmetic reconstruction outcome can safely be discharged to their GP and should be re referred for new lesions. The functional and cosmetic outcome of the reconstruction was generally satisfactory.


Abstract Actaplanin A, a macrocyclic antibiotic, was examined as a chiral selector in capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the enantioseparation of several racemic nonsteroidal antiinflammatory compounds. The chiral selectivity of this macrocyclic antibiotic was evaluated as a function of the run buffer pH, chiral selector concentration, and organic modifier composition. Optimized conditions using 15-30% of 2-methoxyethanol and 0.5 mM actaplanin A in 40 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6) were successful in separating all of the enantiomers from the racemic compounds tested in this study.


We have proposed the new type of the antenna for the portable telephone built in the 'flip'. This antenna is composed of parallel lines and a dipole built-in 'flip'. The parallel lines are excited with out-of-phase and in-phase when the 'flip' is opened and closed, respectively. When the 'flip' is closed, i.e. on standby, we used the in-phase excitation of the feed lines to cause the induced current on the box. This current can improve the bandwidth under the closed 'flip' condition. When the 'flip' is opened, i.e. set near the human body for use, we used the out-of-phase excitation to keep the radiator away from the human body. The much higher efficiency can be obtained than that of the conventional monopole antenna. We verify the characteristics of the antenna with the FDTD method. The calculation is done at 2 GHz.


This paper analyzes the multiband sensing-time-adaptive joint detection cognitive radios framework. The framework optimizes secondary throughput while minimizing the interference to a wideband multiband primary communications system. The ranges are determined under which the problem can be categorized as a complex optimization one under real Gaussian channel conditions. Simulated results compare the performance of MSJD framework with the earlier proposed multiband joint detection (MJD) framework for some typical primary signals received in real Gaussian and Circularly Symmetric Complex Gaussian channels.


Abstract In this paper, we study finite 2-groups in which distinct nonlinear irreducible characters have distinct kernels. We prove several results concerning these groups and completely classify 2-groups with at most five nonlinear irreducible characters satisfying this property.


The description algorithm of the thesaurus level of the professional language personality includes semantic classification. The research into thematic groups and subgroups in the professional sports non-codified sublanguage with the method of Hallig and Vartburg demonstrated that the only nominated semantic field is that of INDIVIDUAL. The research shows that the most relevant semantic features for professional sportsmen in Russian are proved to be nominations of a MAN (306 linguistic units / 34,2 %).


Visible-infrared composite cameras are widely used in public health monitoring and intelligent security. Fast and accurate registration of visible-infrared images is the key to the further application of the information in different spectra. In the crowd scenario, aiming at the problem of poor consistency of traditional feature points such as corners, spots, and contour points in the two types of images, this paper proposes an effective method of heterogeneous image registration based on human skeleton points. Firstly, the human skeleton points are detected by a multi-person pose estimation network, which represents the common features of visible and infrared images decently. Then, the key points are matched by a top-down method that integrates the spatial information of point groups with the type of each point. Finally, the point pairs are put into the control points buffer and the transformational matrix is calculated. We capture and make a visible-infrared image sequence dataset in a crowd-oriented scene, and conduct qualitative and quantitative tests on it. The experiments show that the designed method outperforms traditional registration algorithms both in terms of accuracy and processing speed.


The design and develop of entrance toll gate traffic monitoring simulation system using LCD and
microcontroller AT89S51 has been done. This equipment detect the traffic condition on entrance toll gate
and give information traffic condition of toll gate to the user .
The design and develop of entrance toll gate traffic monitoring simulation system using LCD and
microcontroller AT89S51 is consist of : the minimum system of microcontroller AT89S51, LDR sensoring,
LED, comparator series and LCD. Six LDR censors is used to determine traffic condition of toll gate. All of
that censors is used as microcontroller input and then it will process and the result form as a LCD view
which is show the condition of that toll gate.
This simulation can monitoring traffic condition of entrance toll gate and show the traffic
condition to the user.The weakness of this simulation is can't use in real application because LDR censor's
become active chemically after absorbing the radiance of light, so LDR censors can replace by PIR or
RFID.


In this study, the preliminary conceptual design of a 1500 MWe pressurized water reactor (PWR) with annular fuel has been performed. This design is derived from the AP1000 which is a 1000 MWe PWR with two-loop. However, the present design is a 1500 MWe PWR with three-loop, passive safety features and extensive plant simplifications to enhance the construction, operation, and maintenance. The preliminary design parameters of this reactor have been determined through simple relation to those of AP1000 for reactor, reactor coolant system, and passive safety injection system. Using the MATRA code, we analyze the core designs for two alternatives on fuel assembly types: solid fuel and annular fuel. The performance of reactor cooling systems is evaluated through the accident of the cold leg break in the core makeup tank loop by using MARS2.1 code. This study presents the developmental strategy, preliminary design parameters and safety analysis results. (authors)


To study the dividend payouts of private firms we extend the agency cost/external financing cost trade-off model of dividend payouts to include the accumulated earnings tax (AET). The firm's optimal dividend policy trades off the benefits from lower agency costs against external financing costs and the AET. Information from tax court records reveals that private firms' payouts are influenced by both agency costs and the AET.


To increase the spectral efficiency of HFC network, the standard of digital video broadcasting for cable systems (DVB-C2) was completed in 2010 and products that support the DVB-C2 is expected to be released within years. Before making products for DVB-C2 receiver, the performance of them should be investigated under various channel conditions first. Thus, we show the performance of the proposed structure for a pre-FEC in DVB-C2 receiver considering the channel model including additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), a frequency offset, and echo channels to provide information about the implementation of DVB-C2 receiver. Based on the simulation results, we implement the pre-FEC using two field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and show the measured symbol error rate (SER) between the transmitted and received quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) symbols with respect to various symbol timing estimations (STEs) of synchronization (SYNC) and powers of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) input. Because the STE makes the received pilot symbols in preamble rotated and these rotated pilot symbols are used in channel estimation, it affects the channel estimation and SER of pre-FEC. In addition, the channel estimation impaired by the STE causes the received QAM symbols to have biased mean values compared with the transmitted 4096QAM symbols. Since this degrades the performance of pre-FEC, the automatic gain control (AGC) is added after zero-forcing linear equalizer (ZF-LE) to improve the performance of pre-FEC. As the power of ADC input decreases, the SER increases due to the noise enhancement of ZF-LE.


Advances in 3-D scanning and fabrication hardware as well as 3-D geometric design software have transformed a once laborintensive manual manufacturing into an efficient digital process for hearing aid design, resulting in higher quality, reduced cost, and better fitting devices. Future work in this field will continue to focus on increasing automation until the process is fully automatic.


This paper is concerned with nonlinear stochastic uncertain relaxed controlled diffusions, in which the pay-off is described by the relative entropy between the nominal measure and the uncertain measure, when the uncertain measure satisfies certain energy inequality constraints. With respect to this formulation two problems are defined. The first, seeks to minimize the relative entropy over the set of unknown measures which satisfy inequality constraints. The second, seeks to maximize over the set of admissible relaxed control laws, the minimum value of relative entropy induced by the uncertain measures among those which satisfy inequality constraints. The second problem is equivalent to a minimax problem, while the first is an optimization problem with respect to a fix control law. Certain monotonicity properties of the optimal solution are discussed, while relations to the well-known Cramer's theorem of large deviations are introduced. In addition, the implication of these results to minimax games for fully observable stochastic systems in which the strategies are measures are delineated and relations to risk-sensitive control problems are investigated.


Employee's perception regarding fairness in the organization is termed as organizational justice. The objective of this paper is to study the antecedents and consequences of organizational justice on the basis of earlier relevant studies from the period ranging from 1964 to 2015. Previous research identified employee participation, communication, justice climate as the antecedents and trust, job satisfaction, commitment, turnover intentions, organizational citizenship behavior and performance as the consequences of organizational justice. Finding reveals the gaps existing in the literature and gives suggestions for future research work.


Summary form only given. Investigations of the laser-diode optically pumped cesium beam resonator are discussed. The basic atomic resonator operates with a switched-capacitor laser diode tuned to either the D/sub 1/ or D/sub 2/ cesium line at 894 and 852 nm, respectively. The optical transitions that give the highest clock signal amplitude are found to be sensitive to the Hanle effect. The optical pumping efficiency as well as the fluorescence yield decrease when the static magnetic field is too low in the light atom interaction regions. An efficient optically pumped cesium beam resonator having three magnetic field regions has been designed. When it operates with a commercially available laser diode tuned on the 3 to 3 sigma transition at 852 nm, it exhibits an S/N ratio=2*10/sup 4/ in 1-Hz bandwidth, leading to a measured short-term frequency stability of 2*10/sup -12// square root tau . The influence of the anisotropic character of the fluorescence light on the collection efficiency of the fluorescence light in the detection region has also been investigated. Preliminary investigations of the statistical properties of the fluorescence signal and their dependence on the different noise sources have been carried out.<<ETX>>


Abstract In Judean War book 2, Agrippa II is purported to have delivered a speech in Jerusalem on the eve of the revolt, which includes a gentes devictae list. Such lists are attested in imperial propaganda, and are intended to display Roman domination of the known world by naming the conquered nations at the furthest extremities of the empire. But Josephus' Agrippa goes further, and attributes the expansion of the empire to the Jerusalem deity, not to the deities of Rome, which seems consistent with a key aspect of colonial mimicry, according to Homi Bhabha. The speech reveals Josephus' hybrid posture as conquered Judean and Roman citizen.


We consider the survivable network design problem for fractional flows and integral capacities and demands. While this problem was modelled using so-called metric inequalities in the past, we will present an integer program which is based on the automatic linearization of non-linear constraints. It turns out that the linear relaxation of the latter formulation is actually stronger than the linear relaxations of the previously known models. Our model making use of integrally indecomposable polytopes, we introduce a new way of computing these polytopes via the chamber decomposition of the parameter space.


The equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) is an ingenious severe plastic deformation process used to modify texture and microstructure without reducing sample cross-section. The ECAE of polypropylene (PP) was conducted under various extrusion velocities and back-pressure levels using a 90° die. The application of single ECAE pass to PP was meticulously investigated at room temperature. The ECAE-induced deformation behaviour was examined in relation to the load versus ram displacement curves. Depending on extrusion conditions, PP displayed various types of plastic flow. For ram velocities beyond 4.5 mm/min, severe shear bands consisting of successive translucent and opaque bands were observed, accompanied on the top surface by more or less pronounced periodic waves. Although the application of a back-pressure significantly reduced the wave and shear-banding phenomena, slightly inhomogeneous shear deformation was still observed. Shear bands were only suppressed by decreasing extrusion velocity. The strain-induced crystalline microstructure was investigated by X-ray scattering. Shear-banded samples exhibited a strong texturing of the (hk0) planes along the shear direction in the translucent bands whereas perfect crystalline isotropy appeared in the opaque bands. Application of backpressure and/or reducing ram velocity resulted in uniform texturing along the extruded sample. Yet, texturing changed from single shear to twin-like shear orientation about the shear direction. Mechanical properties changes of the extruded specimens due to back-pressure and extrusion velocity effects were analyzed via uniaxial tensile tests. The tensile samples displayed multiple strain localizations in shear-banded materials whereas quite homogeneous deformation appeared for non-banded ones. These effects were connected with the crystalline texturing. The results also revealed significant increase in the strain hardening after ECAE. Full-field strain was measured under tensile loading using an optical strain measuring technique based upon Digital image correlation technique, suitable for large deformation, which confirms these effects.


In this study, several ratios of water hyacinth to acid solution were varied from 1:10, 1:20, 1:30, and 1:40, in order to find the optimum ratio for biohydrogen and biomethane production.  The pretreated water hyacinth was used as substrates to produce hydrogen in the first stage anaerobic digestion. Then the residue from hydrogen production was used as substrate for methane production in the second stage.  The results showed that cumulative hydrogen production slightly increased with the substrate to acid solution (2 % v/v H2SO4) ratio.  The highest cumulative hydrogen produced (77.47 mL with 7.75 mL H2/gVS) at 1:40 substrate to acid solution, however the highest hydrogen content obtained at 1:20 (40.1 %).  Hydrogen could not be produced from water hyacinth without acid pretreatment, only 4 mL hydrogen was detected from control case. In the second stage, methane was generated from the residue of first stage fermentation and found that the highest cumulative methane was obtained from 1:30 substrate to acid solution ratio.  The methane content was not significantly different for control (53.68 %), 1:10 (54.45 %), 1:20 (53.46 %), and 1:30 (52.10 %) cases. The modified Gompertz, modified Logistic, and Cone model were best fit models for hydrogen production since the fermentation needed lag phase time before the hydrogen can be generated.  The calculated lag phase time from modified Gompertz model increased from 0.0531 to 0.9775 day, and those from modified Logistic model increased from 0.3867 to 1.0305 day.  On the other hand, the Cone model, first order model, and Transference function agreed very well with the second stage methane production data where lag phase time was nearly zero.
HIGHLIGHTS

Biohydrogen cannot be produced from water hyacinth without acid pretreatment
The optimum substrate to acid solution ratio for pretreating water hyacinth for hydrogen production is at 1:20 with highest hydrogen content. Higher acid ratio produced more undesired gases
Biomethane can be produced from water hyacinth without acid pretreatment. Only mechanical size reductionand heating pretreatment are enough to facilitate the process
Hydrogen production were best described by the modified Gompertz, modified Logistic, and Cone model. On the other hand, second stage biomethane production were best described by the Cone model, first order model, and Transference function

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Traditional image classification algorithms were designed to classify single test images. However, in many practical applications, multiple images of the query object are available. Image-set modeling aims to efficiently represent and classify a collection of images that belong to the same class. Classification based on image-sets is more attractive because the appearance variations, due to changes in pose, illumination and scale of an object or even a scene can be captured in multiple images of the set. Image set modeling aims at explicitly modeling these variations to achieve better classification accuracy. Classification based on image-sets must essentially address two core challenges; how to effectively model the intra-class appearance variations using a robust representation and how to define a distance measure that exploits the inter-class variations within the set representation. This thesis proposes efficient and accurate representations to model conventional and hyperspectral image-sets. Several contributions are made with emphasis on designing efficient algorithms that learn the complex nonlinear image-set structures without making prior assumptions about the underlying images or their distributions. In the conventional category, this thesis deals with grayscale, colour (RGB) and near infrared images. Hyperspectral images are basically images acquired at a large number of narrow bands of the visible spectrum and beyond. In the hyperspectral category, images comprising 33 to 65 bands in the wavelength range of 400-1000nm are used. Hyperspectral images are modeled as image-sets for the first time in this research. Two methods are proposed for representing hyperspectral image-sets. The first one fuses the spatiospectral mean with the covariance to represent a hyperspectral image cube as a compact feature vector. Fusion is performed by sliding a cubelet over the hyperspectral image cube and integrating the first and second order statistics of the local neighbourhood. This approach minimizes the effects of inter band misalignments that are unavoidable due to the sequential capture of hyperspectral bands. The second method jointly models the rich spatiospectral information of the hyperspectral image-set and is based on the three dimensional Discrete Cosine Transform (3D-DCT). It represents a hyperspectral image cube with a few low frequency 3D-DCT coefficients. Classification is performed using Partial Least Squares regression in both cases. Both representations are evaluated on the task of hyperspectral face recognition on three standard datasets. One of these datasets was acquired as a part of this thesis. Comparisons with grayscale and RGB image based face recognition algorithms show that hyperspectral images provide improved accuracy. This thesis also performs a detailed study on whether the spectral reflectance of the face alone can be used as a reliable biometric. Conventional images contain more variations due to changes in pose and appearance of the objects in a given class. Three methods are presented in this thesis for conventional image-set modeling. The first method models image sets with the mean and Cholesky decomposed global covariance descriptor. By projecting the mean shifted covariance features to a low dimensional subspace, a compact and discriminative representation is obtained. The second approach performs image-set modeling without making prior assumptions about the image-set data. Image-sets are modeled with Deep Extreme Learning Machines (DELM) which are neural networks with extremely fast training time and generalize well even when trained on a limited number of samples. These models automatically learn the nonlinear structure of the manifold on which the image-set data lie. The proposed DELM based image-set modeling can scale to extremely large image-set databases. The third approach obtains a single robust image-set representation by a discriminative and sparse combination of multiple image-set representations. For this purpose, a sparse kernel learning (SKL) algorithm is proposed and formulated as a sparse linear discriminant analysis based objective function to learn the most discriminative linear combination of the image-set kernels. Such an approach is robust to the weaknesses of individual image-set representations. SKL is generic and can be applied to a combination of existing image-set kernels and new ones proposed in the future. The final contribution of this thesis is a blind domain adaptation algorithm. In practical applications, the test data often have different distribution from the training data leading to suboptimal visual classification performance. Domain adaptation addresses this problem by designing classifiers that are robust to mismatched distributions. The proposed domain adaptation algorithm does not require target domain samples for training. During training a global nonlinear Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) model is learned from the source domain data in an unsupervised fashion. During testing, the target domain features are augmented with the reconstructed features from the global ELM model. The resulting enriched features are then classified using the class specific ELM models based on minimum reconstruction error. Extensive experiments are performed on a range of benchmark databases for imageset based face recognition, periocular recognition, object categorization and hand gesture recognition. The proposed algorithms are thoroughly evaluated on the benchmark datasets and compared with a large number of existing state-of-the-art algorithms. The proposed algorithms demonstrate improved classification accuracy over the existing algorithms. Most importantly, the proposed algorithms are significantly more efficient in terms of execution time and memory requirement.


Sample preparation. The structure of CoPOM and ZnPOM have been previously reported. The complexes used in this work have been synthesized using the procedure described for the analogous MnII compound but using Co(SO4) and Zn(SO4) instead of Mn(SO4). HiPCo SWNTs were purchased from Carbon Inc. and purified by the gas phase method. All the solutions were prepared using Millipore water. Functionalisation of pNTs by MPOM (M = Co or Zn) was achieved as follows: 2 mg of pNTs were added to 7.5mL of a 5.10M solution of MPOM in a 10 M dichloroacetic acid buffer whose pH has been previously adjusted to 2 by adding dilute sodium hydroxide dropwise. The mixture was stirred in an ultrasonic bath for 20 hours while maintaining the temperature of the bath below 12 °C to prevent damaging of the pNTs. This led to a dark suspension that was subsequently centrifugated under 14 000 g for 20 minutes. The supernatant was isolated, filtered on a nanoporous membrane and washed with water, giving rise to a grey glassy mat of MPOM@NTs. The sediments could be redispersed in pure water and after centrifugation, the supernatant led to identical grey glassy mats. XPS, Raman and magnetization measurements samples were obtained by filtering the supernatant resulting of the centrifugation of the black aqueous MPOM-NTs suspensions on nanoporous membranes. For the electron microscopy experiments, the supernatant was first filtered on a nanoporous membrane, washed with water and redispersed in a minimum amount of water. Eventually, a few drops of this suspension were cast on carbon lacey grids.


ABSTRACT Bacterial consortium volatile suspended soil (VSS) (Vatva soil sample) with a capability of azo dye Reactive Orange M2R (ROM2R) decolorization and degradation (shown in our earlier studies using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and phytotoxicity studies) was isolated from industrial wastewaters by enrichment culture technique. The present study was carried out to study bacterial population dynamics in consortium Vatva soil sample (VSS) during azo dye ROM2R degradation and to identify the consortium members that were actively involved in the degradation process. To achieve this goal, a real-time Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting species-specific region of 16S rDNA of each consortial bacteria was developed to provide quantitative information about the bacterial abundance during azo dye degradation. The real-time PCR assay indicated that Pseudomonas aeruginosa (VSS-6) dominated consortium bacterial community during the active continuous bioremediation process. Attempt has been made to scale up from 100 ml volume to 10 L operation volume with intermittent additions (batch fed loadings) in a Sequence batch reactor (SBR). The development of VSS consortium biomass (MLVSS), changes in COD and biochemical oxygen demand, and the dye degradation were studied under conditions simulating the operations of biological effluent treatment in an attempt to develop a commercially applicable dye effluent treatment process unit.


The in-situ measurement of the stress evolution at the anode and cathode interfaces of the Cu/3.0Ag0.5Cu/Cu solder joints with current density of 4 × 103A/cm2 at room temperature by X-ray diffraction technique was investigated. The experimental results showed that the stress evolution at the interfaces was a very complicated process during current stressing, which owed to many influencing factors such as Joule heating effect, stress relaxation, electromigration force and so on. After current stressing, the whiskers and hillocks were formed at the interface of the anode side which was as a mode of relieving compressive stress. It was found that a uniform Cu6Sn5 intermetallic compound layer was formed at the anode interface after polishing the solder joint.


Edaravone (EDA), an antioxidant drug approved for the treatment of ischemic stroke and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was recently proposed as a remyelinating candidate for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Here, we synthesized twelve EDA analogues 2b–4c showing three substitution patterns A–C, searching for improved remyelinating agents and putative molecular targets responsible for their regenerative activity. We profiled them in three primary assays to determine their stimulation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cell metabolism (tetrazolium MTT assay), their antioxidant potential (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl-DPPH assay) and to predict their bioavailability (virtual ADME profile). Active 4′-carboxylate 2b, 4′-ester 2c and N1-carbamate-4′-ester 4a were further characterized, justifying their in vitro effects and selecting 4a as a putative EDA 1 prodrug suitable for in vivo testing.


The inheritance law itself is part of the civil law and the smallest part of the family law. The customary law inheritance system includes 3 (three) patterns, namely patrilineal, matrilineal, and parental. One of the tribes that still applies customary inheritance law is the Talang Mamak Tribe. This research explores the application of the inheritance of the Talang Mamak Tribe in the customary inheritance system in Indonesia and its legal consequences in terms of aspects of Indonesian civil law. This research is of a normative juridical type using a statutory debate approach and a concept approach. The secondary data used comes from literature studies with analytical descriptive analytical methods. The result of the research obtained by Penilis is that most of the Talang Mamak people are known to have converted to Islam. The traditional inheritance of the Talang Mamak Tribe basically uses a matrilineal system, where the heirs are daughters. The role of Ninik amak and the daughter here is to be the ruler or controller of the inheritance and the custodian of all the brothers of the wife including the sons. According to Article 105 and Article 109 of the Civil Code, this is inversely proportional to the position of women who are classified as legally incompetent. The inheritance system in the Talang Mamak Tribe should be given legal protection by the government specifically.

Keywords: , , ,


A man who lost 115 pounds in one year of dieting raises questions about deep and long-lasting changes in personality.


The National Code of Renewable Natural Resources and Protection of the Environment, Law 2811 of 1974, is the current Colombian regulations that determine the guidelines for establishing the limit of the hydraulic round of natural channels. It was found that there is no procedure and presents ambiguity in hydraulic technical concepts. According to the above, it is proposed the development of three methodological aspects, geomorphology, river dynamics and hydrology - hydraulic, to define the boundary of the hydraulic round of the middle basin of the Magdalena River, selecting as pilot test the stretch between San Luis y Barrancabermeja. The calculation of the channel flow rate in the test sector yielded a result of 4,000 m3 / s. Generally, the channel flow rate is assimilated to the flow representing the water level that is immediately before flooding or overflow, generally assumed to have a return period of 2.33 years, but it is not desirable to establish a single flow rate for all A river, the value must be determined depending on whether the water stream is being developed over a high, medium or low basin.


INTRODUCTION
The aim of this study was to evaluate (i) the knowledge about different dimensions of sexual identity in a group of family pediatricians and (ii) the efficacy of a training program to improve knowledge and reduce genderism and heteronormativity.

METHODS
A pre-post-follow-up study was conducted with 96 Italian pediatricians (48 men and 48 women) who participated in a 6-h training program and divided into 2 sections. The first section was theoretical and focused on the conceptual foundations of sexual identity, the depathologizing approach to gender diversity, and the role of pediatricians as the first contacts of children's or adolescents' family. The second part was experiential and included the presentation of a clinical case and the activation of a group reflection on the management of gender-diverse youth. Knowledge about sexual identity, genderism, and heteronormativity was measured.

RESULTS
Pre-training questionnaires revealed that the mean score of knowledge about sexual identity was 7.13 ± 3.21. One-way within-subject ANOVA revealed significant effects from pre- to post-training and from pre- to follow-up assessment but not from post-training to follow-up assessment, suggesting that significant changes in the knowledge about sexual identity (F = 39.75, p < 0.001), in personal biases related to genderism (F = 7.46, p < 0.01), and in heteronormative attitudes (F = 44.99, p < 0.001) and behaviors (F = 79.29, p < 0.001) were achieved through the training and maintained at follow-up.

CONCLUSION
These findings indicate the importance of training pediatricians to work with gender-diverse youth and provide them with the best clinical interventions.


For more than two centuries, the hours of the day have displaced the seasons as subject matter of artistic and literary representation. It is a theme in use in the urban scenes of the international costumbrism of the 19th century, in someone suites of impressionist paintings and in the so called urban symphonies, avant garde documentaries of the twenties in the 20th century. This theme emphasizes the fleetingness of the daily urban temporality and, in most cases, it establishes that in the street space every tour counts with their own activities and social types.


Summary 1. The therapeutic action of dried whole milk upon liver cirrhosis and cancer has been investigated. The liver changes were induced in rats by feeding unpolished rice and p-dimethylaminoazobenzene. 2. The production of liver cancer in rats fed p-dimethyl-aminoazobenzene was partially inhibited by the daily ingestion of dried whole milk (50% protection at 200 days). 3. Liver cirrhosis produced by p-dimethylaminoazobenzene has been treated successfully by a rice diet containing 15% dried whole milk. (Based on previous evidence of the high incidence of liver cirrhosis in rats produced by p-dimethyl-aminoazobenzene-rice diet.11). 4. Once ade-nomatous hyperplasia of bile ducts, cholan-gioma, or hepatoma had been established in the livers, these benign and malignant tumors could not be destroyed by ingestion of the rice-milk diet.


This article theoretically studies the symmetry characteristics of Rayleigh-Lamb guided waves in nonlinear, isotropic plates. It has been known that the nonlinearity driven double harmonic in Lamb waves does not support antisymmetric motion. However the proof of this has not been obvious. Moreover, little is known on nonlinearity driven Lamb harmonics higher than double. These gaps were here studied by the method of perturbation coupled with wavemode orthogonality and forced response. This reduced the nonlinear problem to a forced linear problem which was subsequently investigated to formulate an energy level constraint as the defining factor for the absence of antisymmetry at any order of higher harmonic. This constraint was then used to explain the reason behind the absence of antisymmetric Lamb waves at the double harmonic. Further, it was shown that antisymmetric motion is prohibited at all the higher-order even harmonics, whereas all the higher order odd harmonics allow both symmetric and antisymmetric motions. Finally, experimental results corroborating theoretical conclusions are presented.


A lactation consultant uses storytelling to illustrate how breast feeding benefits the mother and her baby and how it contributes to reduced population growth. The mother in the first story follows the traditional infant care and feeding practices of her remote village. She breasts feeds for more than two years. Her child is healthy. Prolonged breast feeding delays the arrival of the next child to when the first child is 2.5 years old. The mother in the next story lives in the US. Even though she had wanted to breast feed her first child the hospital staff bottle fed him at night. The baby found breast feeding confusing and the mother was uncomfortable as a result. After discharge from the hospital she still tried to breast feed but she also bottle fed further reducing the likelihood of establishing a good breast feeding routine. Her situation worked out the way the commercial baby milk manufacturers wanted thanks to their marketing plan. The mother in the third story was happy to see the nurse feed her first child with a bottle. Similar to what is done in developed countries. She received free cans of baby formula powder when she left the hospital. She used nonpotable water to mix with the powder. Within two weeks her daughter was sick. The mother eventually distanced herself from her daughter as she anticipated her daughters death. At five months the baby died weighing less than her birth weight. At the time of her daughters death the mother was three months pregnant. Formula manufacturers have one of the most effective marketing campaigns of any industry worldwide. Women in developing countries strive to be like those in developed countries who tend to bottle feed (about 80%). Health professionals and the lay public consider infant illness the norm and accept poor health caused by artificial infant feeding. UNICEF and the World Health Organization promote breast feeding through the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative. The fourth story illustrates what the benefits of delivering in a Baby Friendly Hospital. The UN and member states have adopted ethical guidelines on marketing practices in the baby formula industry.


Embodiments of the invention may include systems and methods for providing mixing products dispensed from a product dispenser. In one embodiment, the system may provide a mixing product dispensed from a product dispenser. System receives data associated with multiple product recipe may include the operable code generation module to generate a machine-readable items according mixing recipe which contains a large number of product recipes, the machine-readable item, mixing recipes the constituting a product dispenser to dispense. .FIELD 1


This paper focuses on recent progress in wheat, rice and maize yields resulting from substantial breeding efforts in favourable environments. Breeding and improved agronomy lift potential yield (PY), namely yield in the absence of manageable abiotic and biotic stresses, and PY progress through new varieties is a key component of farm yield (FY) progress. Current PY and FY progress is reviewed for several key production regions, namely for wheat the United Kingdom, the Yaqui Valley of Mexico, for rice at IRRI in the Philippines and Japan, and for maize in Iowa. PY growth rates have fallen and are currently generally below 1% per annum, relative to current PY. Farm yield progress often closely parallels PY but, especially in developing countries, there remain large yield gaps. At least in one instance (maize in Iowa) there is marked recent yield gap closing. From the physiological perspective, current progress is more linked to increased biomass accumulation, which, with limits to harvest index being approached, will remain the way forward in the future. There is evidence that recent progress is related to increased photosynthesis (e.g., greater RUE at the canopy level, and Pmax at the leaf level) before and around anthesis, and there is no theoretical reason why this cannot continue, utilizing the vaste genetic resources already found within each crop species. However it will not be easily accomplished, so prospects for any higher rates of yield growth appear to be limited, notwithstanding the new molecular tools and some claims to the contrary. Closing the yield gap therefore becomes more important; many factors are involved, but breeding can also help farmers achieve this (e.g., improved in nutrient use efficiency, disease and pest resistance, weed competitiveness, and in adaptation to conservation tillage).


The objectives for the University of Toledo are to: (1) establish a transferable knowledge and technology base for fabricating high-efficiency triple-junction a-Si-based solar cells, and (2) develop high-rate deposition techniques for the growing a-Si-based and related alloys, including poly-Si, c-Si, a-SiGe, and a-Si films and photovoltaic devices with these materials.


A liquid cooling type heat radiation device comprises a heat exchange module and a cooling module; the heat exchange module is provided with a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet; the cooling module comprises a first cavity, a second cavity, a first radiation structure and a cooling pipe; the first cavity is connected with the liquid outlet; the second cavity is connected with the liquid inlet, the fist cavity is arranged above the second cavity; the first radiation structure is arranged between the first and second cavities; the cooling pipe is connected with the first and second cavities; the cooling pipe is in hot contact with the first radiation structure. The liquid cooling type heat radiation device can improve radiation efficiency and save energy.


Summary In The Tragic Muse (1978) Henry James offers a study of the ways in which acting and portraiture are unseated from a locus of transcendental signification by the fact that they are irretrievably and problematically cut off from origin and self‐authenticating presence. Both Miriam Rooth's performances and Nick's portraits fail to bridge the "spacing" that divides imitation from that which it represents. Jacques Derrida's essay "Signature Event Context" (1982) proves to be particularly apposite to a consideration of the narrative and thematic permutations thrown up by the problem of deferred origin in The Tragic Muse. The notion of iterability is central to Derrida's essay: iterability is a function of différance which refers to a sign's effective operation in the absence of a producer or addressee; as such it is especially pertinent to a discussion of imitation and representation in James's work.


We measured the ac losses in each layer of a three-layer twisted high-temperature superconducting cable. The currents in each layer were controlled using three power supplies and the transport current balance and phase could be varied. Longitudinal magnetic fields were produced by the transport currents in the outer layers and circumferential magnetic fields were produced in the inner layers of the cable. The amplitude and direction of the composition magnetic fields changed according to the distribution of the transport currents in each layer. The critical currents in each layer were different; hence, the ac loss in each layer could not be compared. We measured the influence of the electromagnetic conditions in a layer by varying the transport current balance in the other layers. We also transported current in the "single-phase mode" and "three-phase mode," and measured the losses in each layer.


Some inequalities of Hermite-Hadamard type for functions whose ex- ponentials are convex are obtained. Mathematics Subject Classication (2010): 26D15, 25D10.


Gymnogryllus malayanus sp. n. is described and illustrated on male and female specimens from Singapore. Female genitalia are described for the first time for the genus.


This paper considers objections to Popper's views on scientific method. It is argued that criticism of Popper's views, developed by Kuhn, Feyerabend, and Lakatos, are not too damaging, although they do require that Popper's views be modified some-what. It is argued that a much more serious criticism is that Popper has failed to provide us with any reason for holding that the methodological rules he advocates give us a better hope of realizing the aims of science than any other set of rules. Consequently, Popper cannot adequately explain why we should value scientific theories more than other sorts of theories; which in turn means that Popper fails to solve adequately his fundamental problem, namely the problem of demarcation. It is suggested that in order to get around this difficulty we need to take the search for explanations as a fundamental aim of science.


With the continuous expansion of polymer flooding area of main reservoirs, the remaining oil reserves of class I and class II reservoirs decrease year by year. With the continuous decline of polymer flooding production, the difficulty of oil recovery will gradually increase. Therefore, we must explore III types of reservoir polymer flooding development, which can better improve the recovery of polymer flooding. At the same time, with the rapid development of wireless technology, we can monitor the polymer flooding of III types of reservoirs by computer. Through monitoring, we can better detect the effect of polymer flooding, which will better solve the problem of low fishing success rate and high cost. This paper analyzes the sedimentary characteristics of III types of reservoirs, and then analyzes the main influencing factors of polymer flooding effect.


The invention relates to a method for measuring impact force when pile foundation high strain power is measured and the matched instrument, belonging to the measuring field for pile foundation engineering quality in civil engineering. Extended instrument with conventional measuring method for pile foundation high strain power is used. By measuring acceleration of free-fall hammer body and pile head directly and carrying out low-pass filter to acceleration signal of hammer body, according to Newton second law impact force at pile top and inertia force at pile head are calculated respectively and after impact force at pile top is corrected by inertia effect impact force for measuring section position under pile top can be obtained. Because high-frequency interference in falling-hammer acceleration signal and inertia effect of pile head relates with geometrical dimension of falling hammer and inertia weight respectively and there is no relation with concrete material and stress-strain relationship. Furthermore signal measuring quality and accuracy for high-strain impact force wave of concrete pile can be improved. In addition, when the method is used in field measurement of grouting pile reinforcing cost of concrete pile head can be decreased properly and digging time for pile head can be saved.


Active trim shape control can be used to minimize error between target and actual aircraft trim shape during flight. Trim shape sensing for aircraft during flight is not only important for highly flexible aircraft, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Helios Prototype remotely piloted flying wing aircraft, but also for a delta-wing type aircraft, such as a supersonic commercial transport aircraft. A two-step theory utilizing distributed strain for a real-time shape sensing of a full three-dimensional structure has been introduced previously. This study focuses on the application of the two-step theory to finite element models of a wing with spars and ribs such as the X-59 QueSST aircraft (Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, Maryland), a tapered wing, a dihedral/anhedral wing, and a stiffened dihedral/anhedral wing. A finely meshed finite element structural model is desired to capture accurate curvature distributions along the neutral axes of the wing cross sections during pre-test analysis for shape sensing of a wing with ribs and spars. The two-step theory used in this study gives excellent deformation correlation with the MSC/NASTRAN (MSC Software, Newport Beach, California) results along the neutral axis for all test cases used in this study except the X-59 QueSST aircraft.


The author describes some of the latest developments by Mercedes-Benz using single-wheel electric drive which permit larger low-floor areas and infinite power transmission in the internal combustion engine mode. This leads to lower exhaust emissions and fuel consumption as well as greater comfort and, eventually, energy supplied from high energy storage systems or fuel cells. Electrical components use the latest technology and the maintenance free A.C. motors driving the hubs require minimum space. Hub motors are also used for regenerative braking. A first series of buses is being constructed with a diesel generator mounted transversely at the rear for non contract operation. Power is taken from overhead conductors when running in trolley bus mode. Articulated buses have permanent two-axle drive to the middle and rear axle. The vehicles have four stepless doors and floors run at door height except for wheel housings. For the covering abstract see IRRD 888398.


We develop a new unique technique in constructing closed-form solutions for several nonlinear partial differential systems appearing in fluid mechanics and gas dynamics. The obtained solutions include fewer arbitrary functions than needed for general solutions, fact that permits us to specify them according to the initial state, or the geometry, of each specific problem under consideration. In order to apply the before mentioned technique we construct closed-form solutions concerning the gas-dynamic equations with constant pressure, the dynamic equations of an ideal gas in isentropic flow, and the two-dimensional incompressible boundary layer flow.


The subject of the study in this paper is models and methods of optimization of the organization's project portfolio for the planning period, considering the effects of the previously made decisions. Project portfolio optimization is one of the responsible and complex tasks by company's top management solves. Based on the analysis of the known works in the field, the research purpose is described: to create a method that would allow solve the problem of multi-criteria project portfolio optimization for the planned period, considering the aftereffects of the previously made decisions. The research tasks are to enhance the method for solving the project portfolio optimization problem in terms of maximizing the difference between income and costs for all projects started during the planned period; to propose a method for solving the project portfolio optimization problem in terms of the social effects of projects that started during the planned period; create a method for solving the problem of project portfolio optimization for the planned period in a multi-criteria setting. There are the following results obtained in the paper. There is presents the mathematical model of the problem being solved, the problem objective functions include the difference between the receipt and expenditure of funds in time, the portfolio risks, and its implementation social effects. The mathematical model considers the provision of funds sufficiency for the implementation of projects in all periods, the required sequence of project implementation, and the mandatory inclusion of some projects in the portfolio for a given period. The problem under consideration belongs to the multi-criteria non-Markov dynamic discrete optimization problems. There is a proposed method for solving it in a multi-criteria formulation. The method is based on solving one criterion problem, and then a multi-criteria problem. The method is based on the minimax approach and implicit search.  There has been developed solving method for the problem of enterprise project portfolio optimization for the planned period following the profit criterion. In contrast to the existing methods, this method considers the constraints on debt absence and the aftereffects of the previously made decisions. The method served as the basis for creating risk and social effect optimization methods. A method for enterprise project portfolio optimization of the planned period is provided, which, unlike previous, considers the criteria of profit, risks, and social effect, the constraints on debt absence, and the aftereffect of the previously made decisions. That makes it possible to improve the quality of the generated portfolio.


The Minister of Education, Prof. Kader Asmal, launched the South African History Project in August 2001. One of the objectives of this project is "to encourage the recording of oral histories". The project is playing an important role in curriculum change, with an emphasis on the acquisition of related wider skills.


The present study was undertaken to test the suitability of direct and indirect selection of foliage yield in vegetable Chenopodium over successive cuttings through its 7 component characters. High heritability and moderate to high genetic gain was observed for all the characters in all the cuttings except for moisture content. Chlorophyll a exhibited highest correlated response for the Ist and IIIrd cutting while fibre content had highest correlated response for the IInd cutting. A multiple selection index is suggested to enhance foliage yield. The estimates of correlated response and relative selection efficiencies were in proportion with each other though relative selection efficiencies were less than one.


This paper discusses planning problem for a mobile robot with range sensors that detect obstacles around the robot in unknown dynamic environments. In unknown environments, a mobile robot needs to detect obstacles and finds path without collision to go to destination. Around obstacle information are required by motion and mortion are required to collect information. Therefore, the planning problem with observation need to find path to destination and collect information simultaneously. In this paper, path planning problem for a mobile robot with limited field of view sensors in unknown dynamic environments is discussed. The simulation experiments illustrates the planning method proposed in this paper finds motion to look left-and-right motion before across crossing traffic road.


FIELD: medicine. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to dermatology and is a cream composition for treating two or more symptoms of rosacea selected from erythema, telangiectasia, or inflammatory lesions, comprising therapeutically effective amount of oxymetazoline or its pharmaceutically acceptable salt and from about 1 wt% to about 50 wt% of the cream, comprising medium chain triglycerides, adipic acid diisopropyl ether, oleyl alcohol and lanolin. EFFECT: invention provides a long-term maintenance of therapeutic effect after application of the composition. 29 cl, 10 ex, 23 tbl, 5 ex


India is the world's largest producer and consumer of spices and for a very long time has been among the leading spice exporting countries. Upwards of three million Indian smallholder households produce spices and hundreds of thousands of others are involved in spice processing, distribution and trade. India is unique among the world's major spice exporting countries in that the bulk of its spice production is used in the domestic market. Over an extended period, the Indian spice trade earned a reputation for product quality and marketing service. Challenges remain, however. At the commercial level, India has been encountering intensified competition in the world market for bulk spices. Its ability to compete-on a cost basis-is constrained by the relative dynamism of its own domestic market. As a result, increasingly, India's spice export trade is shifting to a range of spice oils, dehydrated products, and oleoresins for which the country maintains a major, if not dominant, world market position. Several exporters also are seeking to develop their brands and markets for packed consumer products. To increase competitiveness in these areas, effective use will have to be made of the installed technological capacities that have been put in place over the past decade, plus there is a need to intensify efforts to promote 'good agricultural practices' and improved post-harvest practices among spice growers and to more generally improve the oversight of spice procurement. Additional investments will be needed in technologies, systems, and human resources to improve spice hygiene and quality assurance. Furthermore, measures need to be taken to better apply and enforce regulations dealing with pesticides and domestic food safety. Given its spice industry's past track record, India is fully expected to meet these emerging commercial and regulatory challenges.


We propose a modification of the virtual synchronous machine (VSM) control algorithm in order to better dampen oscillations in a power system comprising VSMs. The change is to add a virtual damper winding (VDW) to the control algorithm. The effect of the damper winding on the rotor of a real synchronous generator is similar to the presence of an asynchronous machine on the same axis. Its full theoretical analysis is complicated and requires several additional state variables. Instead, we derive the damper winding torque Tw from the existing state variables of the fourth-order VSM model and its terminal voltages. We assume that the damping torque is proportional to the power angle derivative. The decrease of the oscillations is verified by simulations.


The flow of water and a mixture of water–ethylene glycol as a base fluid and Fe3O4, as a nanoparticle between two stretching rotating disks, are investigated. The entropy generation has been modell...


We have studied by electron paramagentic resonance spectroscopy the Mn2+ EPR spectra in low doped (x=0.03) Zn1-xMnxO films of n-type conductivity prepared by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition. Contrary to higher doped films with x=0.07, the x=0.03 film shows a weak ferromagnetic Mn-Mn interaction which we attribute to the presence of moderate deep donors leading to magnetic polaron formation.


Since the European Union's agreement with Turkey on March 18, 2016, more than 70,000 refugees have been trapped in Greece. Most have been settled in state-run camps on the perimeters of Athens and Thessaloniki. However, these state-run camps do not meet international standards and are located at significant distances from urban centres, within industrial zones where residential use is not permitted. At the same time, a number of self-organized and collective refugee housing projects have been created within the urban fabric of Athens and Thessaloniki. In the context of these projects, refugees develop forms of solidarity, mutual help, and direct democracy in decision-making processes. There is a significant volume of bibliography which studies the NGOs' activities and state migration policies. However, little attention has been given to the various ways by which refugees create self-managed and participatory structures to meet their needs. This article aims to fill the gap in the research concerning the production of housing common spaces by the refugees themselves. Based on the current discussions on the Lefebvrian 'right to the city' and the spatialities of 'commons' and 'enclosures,' the article aims to compare and contrast refugee housing commons with state-run refugee camps. Using qualitative methods, including ethnographic analysis and participatory observation, the main findings show that refugees attempt not only to contest state migration policies but also negotiate their multiple identities. Consequently, refugees collectively attempt to reinvent a culture of togetherness, to create housing common spaces, and to claim the right to the city.


This paper proposes a needed evolution in automated satellite testing for both government and commercial mission applications. Roles and contributions by the U.S. government, commercial satellite services, the satellite manufacturers, and the automated test industry are discussed. Specific areas with identifiable return on investment are presented as a starting point on a long term path for applying current industrial automation to the satellite test sector.


The study aims at the analysis of the litter decomposition pattern of the composite leaf litters collected from the different land use practices viz. shifting cultivation and coal mining prevailing in the buffer zone ecosystem of Nokrek Biosphere Reserve of Meghalaya. The results were compared with the data obtained from the core zone which is and undisturbed forest area. Highest annual decay rate (k) of mixed leaf litter decomposition under laboratory condition was observed in undisturbed core zone (1.76), followed in descending order by 10-12-yr. old jhum fallow to 1-yr. old fallow and then by the mine spoil (0.87). The reductions in the rate of leaf litter decomposition were 50 % in the jhum fallow and 51 % in the mine spoils compared to the core zone. Maximum nutrients (N, P and K) mineralization constants from the mixed leaf litter were observed in the core zone (0.71, 0.58 and 2.85 respectively) and minimum in the mine spoil (0.28, 0.21 and 1.46 respectively). In the jhum fallow there was 16 % loss of N release, 16 % loss of P release and 17 % loss of K release compared to the core zone. The corresponding values for the loss in the mine spoil were 26 %, 25 % and 18 %.


In order to solve the problem of actuator failure of flexible joint manipulator, adaptive fault-tolerant control for a flexible manipulator with bounded disturbance is proposed, both actuator partial failure and actuator stuck are considered. The control lows are devised by means of the dynamic surface technique, and the bounded disturbance is compensated via the design of robust items. The stability of the control system is guaranteed via the Lyapunov method. The effectiveness of the theoretical schemes is finally verified by two simulation examples.


In this study, we hypothesized that bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) protect ischemic myocardium through paracrine effects that can be further augmented with preconditioning. In in vitro experiments, cell survival factors such as Akt and eNOS were significantly increased in BMSCs following anoxia. In the second series of experiments following coronary ligation in mice, left ventricles were randomly injected with the following: DMEM (G-1), BMSCs (G-2), and preconditioned BMSCs (G-3). Four days after myocardial infarction, BMSCs were observed within injured myocardium in G-2 and G-3. Apoptotic cardiomyocytes within periinfarct area were significantly reduced in G-3. Four weeks after myocardial infarction, smaller left ventricular (LV) dimension and increased LV ejection fraction were observed in G-3. Infarct area was significantly reduced in G-3. However, GFP+ cardiomyocytes were observed in low numbers within periinfarct area in G-2 and G-3. In conclusion, BMSCs secreted cell survival factors under ischemia,...


Objective
To evaluate safety and clinical effects of Irinotecan (CPT-11) plus ciplatin (DPP) on treatments of advanced gastric cancer patients for whom first-line treatment failed.

Methods
A total of 60 patients with advanced gastric cancer were enrolled from June 2012 to June 2014 based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. There were 41 males and 19 females, aged from 18 to 65 years with an average age of (48.91±5.77) years. The patients were randomly divided into two groups including CPT-11(180 mg/m2)treatment group and CPT-11(180 mg/m2)+ DDP(25 mg/m2) group. After CPT-11 and CPT-11+ DPP treatments, clinical evaluation was performed by the detection of tumor markers, recent efficacy and long-term efficacy. Adverse events were also analyzed in this study.

Results
Compared with CPT-11 regimen, CPT-11+ DDP regimen had more effective in progression-free-sur (PFS) and the level of CA199 [(220.18±59.93) mg/L vs (154.12±23.77) mg/L], CEA [(31.24±6.15) mg/L vs (15.29±3.84) mg/L] and CA242 [(50.17±5.86) mg/L vs (36.46±6.44) mg/L] were significantly lower (P<0.05). Butthere were no significantly differences in response rate (RR), disease control rate (DCR) and overall survival (OS). The occurrence rates of the adverse effects grade 3-4 events were leukopenia [18.33%(11/60)], anemia [8.33%(5/60)] and vomiting [5%(3/60)] in all regimens. The incidence rate of diarrhea of CPT-11+ DDP regimen was less than that of CPT-11 [46.67%(14/30) vs 16.67%(5/30), P<0.05]. And, CPT-11+ DPP regimen had more fatigue [76.67%(29/30) vs 70.00%(21/30), P<0.05] and vomiting [70.00%(21/30) vs 26.67%(8/30), P<0.05].

Conclusion
CPT-11+ DPP treatments significantly improve the patient's PFS and reduce the expression of tumor markers and the incidence of diarrhea, but increase the incidence of vomiting and fatigue.

Key words:
Stomach neoplasms; Irinotecan; Ciplatin; Antineoplastic combined chemotherapy protocols; Comparative effectiveness research


Introduction A fractured hip is the commonest cause of injury related death in the UK. Prompt surgery has been found to improve pain scores and reduce the length of hospital stay, risk of decubitus ulcer formation and mortality rates. The hip fracture Best Practice Tariff (BPT) aims to improve these outcomes by financially compensating services, which deliver hip fracture surgery within 36 hours of admission. Ensuring that delays are reserved for patients with conditions which compromise survival, but are responsive to medical optimisation, would facilitate enhanced outcomes and help to achieve the 36-hour target. We aimed to identify medical conditions associated with patients failing to achieve the 36-hour cut off, and evaluated whether these were justified by calculating their associated mortality risk. Methods Prospectively collected data from the National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD) and inpatient hospital records and blood results from a single major trauma centre were obtained. Complete data sets from 1361 patients were available for analysis. Medical conditions contributing to surgical delay beyond the BPPT (Best Practice Tariff Target) 36-hour cut off, were identified and analysed using univariate and multivariate regression analyses, whilst adjusting for covariates. The mortality risk associated with each factor contributing to surgical delay was then calculated using univariate and hierarchical regression techniques. Results A total 1,361 patients underwent hip fracture surgery, of which 537 patients (39.5%) received surgery within 36- hours of admission. The overall median time to surgery from presentation was 23 hours (range 3–36) in patients who did (group 1) and 72 hours (range 36–774) in those who did not (group 2) receive timely surgery. There was no difference between the two groups with respect to age, gender, walking ability, fracture pattern and ASA grade. Following univariate analysis, seven variables including admission source, history of dementia, ischaemic heart disease, MI, cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), urinary tract infections and hyponatraemia met criteria for inclusion into the Cox regression model. The model thereafter revealed only hyponatraemia to be a significant determinant of delay to surgery beyond 36 hours with a covariate adjusted relative risk (RR) 1.24 (95% CI 1.06 – 1.44, p=0.006). The overall 30- day mortality in our cohort of hip fracture patients was 9.0%. The commonest cause of death was pneumonia (37%). A second stage hierarchical cox model failed to demonstrate hyponatraemia as being a predictor of 30- day mortality after adjusting for significant co-variants (RR=0.944, CI 95% 0.616–1.447, p=0.793). Conclusions Hip fracture surgery should not be delayed in the presence of non-severe and isolated hyponatraemia. Instead surgical delay should be reserved for medical conditions, which contribute to mortality and are optimisable.


Few-mode fiber interferometer(FMFI)which based on LP01 and LP02 modes interference is numerically studied in this paper.Scalar eigen-equations of few-mode fiber and single-mode input and output fiber were solved using finite difference method.Modulation depth and coupling efficiency were calculated in the range where LP03 mode are cut-off and LP02 mode are guided.It is indicated that by optimizing the parameter of few-mode fiber,the modulation depth of FMFI can be greater than 0.98 and coupling efficiency larger than 0.5,in case of SMF-28 input and output fiber.


Objective: To explore the experiences and perceptions of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients
Material and method: Qualitative descriptive study design. In the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 nurses by using the purposeful sampling method.
Results: In the study, four themes were determined; being in the pandemic, psychological burden of the disease, perception of the profession, support for nurses in dealing with challenges.
Conclusion and recommendations: The findings of the study are expected to be a guide in determining the problems and needs of nurses and developing solutions for them.


State‐to‐state collision energy transfer in the 2 3Πg, 3 3Πg, 3 3Σ+g, 1 3Σ−g, and 1 3Δg states and from singlet to triplet states of 7Li2 has been studied experimentally by continuous wave optical–optical double resonance (OODR) resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Propensity rules of collision‐induced transitions within a triplet state have been observed. When a rovibrational (v,J) level of the F 1Σ+g or G 1Πg state was excited by OODR transition, fluorescence from high‐lying triplet gerade states to the a 3Σ+u and/or b 3Πu states was always observed. This indicates that population can transfer from F 1Σ+g and G 1Πg states to triplet states by collision. Irrespective of the J of the initially excited singlet level, the most intense fluorescence from the triplet state will occur at the N or J corresponding to that of the F 1Σ+g (and/or G 1Πg)∼3Λg mixed levels. Molecular population moves to the mixed levels and then transfers to the triplet state. This clearly indicates that singlet–triplet mixed levels pla...


Ultrasound' is the term used to describe sound energy at frequencies above 20kHz. This paper presents results from a large-scale field trial by Wessex Water at their Avonmouth works. It describes how the technology, which involves recently patented developments in design, enables the application of intense and focused sound energy into a liquid at very low retention times of only a matter of a few seconds. The cell lysis induced by focused ultrasound has several notable effects on the availability of substrate to the downstream biology and this paper investigates expectations of enhanced digestion, improved digester stability, greater gas production and improved dewaterability. Following successful trials in Orange County, CA. by W.S. Atkins in 2000/2001 and application and subsequent selection of Purac Ltd as sole licensee a containerized sonix plant was designed and built by Purac Ltd. This plant incorporates all the developmental lessons from the California trials and significant improvements in terms of reactor design, product engineering and control features. Currently at their Avonmouth works the increasing quantity of "problematic" secondary sludges produced as a function of the greater requirement for secondary treatment, has meant that Wessex Water have been experiencing some operational difficulties with their digestion plant and more importantly the subsequent dewaterability and downstream drying operations. Significant enhancement of gas production and solids destruction readily achievable by pre-conditioning the secondary sludges with sonix it is anticipated will enable greater energy recovery and more stable digester operation. The increase in gas production and the commensurate increase in solids destruction is compared with earlier work in Orange County though found, for both, to be typically in the range of 25-50%. In order that direct comparison can be made between unsonicated feed sludges and sonicated one of the 6 digesters has been used to treat progressively greater quantities of thickened Sonicated SAS upto 100% feed with the remaining 5 receiving only unsonicated feed. Gas yields and solids destruction rates are compared to baseline conditions and conclusions drawn for a full-scale sonix plant for the works. 1.


Here we present the results of a wafer-level approach allowing the collective fabrication of gyroscope sensors based on quartz vibrating MEMS. More specifically, we focus on suspended quartz tuning fork microstructures of a desired thickness over controlled depth cavities. This approach is based on the bonding and thinning of 4-inch z-cut quartz wafer on pre-structured silicon wafer. InfraRed (IR) inspection shows a large bonded area (>98%) while structural characterizations of the thinned quartz layer indicate a crystal quality and mechanical properties equivalent to quartz bulk material. The obtained gyroscope exhibits a quality factor (Q) around 12300 at 86.6 kHz very close to quartz theoretical thermoelastic limit. This Quartz-On-Silicon (QOS) technology open the way to a new generation of highly integrated quartz devices.


ABSTRACT Scrapbooks, a medium long used by women to curate experiences, employ a past-oriented affective capacity of remembrance. By engaging in modal analysis, this essay explores how the social networking site Pinterest, although visually similar to scrapbooks, instead offers a future-oriented affective capacity of yearning to its (primarily female) users. This temporal pivot and change in affective capacity engages women not in celebratory memory work but in a postindustrial, postfeminist third shift of labor curating yearning and self-surveilling.


In the article the significant problem of emotional distress of students in the course of learning process is considered. And though it is quite important what knowledge and to what extent a student will acquire, but his emotional state is also no less significant.


A new modification of'Pb5Ge07 was formed by the simultaneous hydrolysis of lead and germanium alkoxides, followed by washing and drying. It has a hexagonal unit cell with a =0.7589 nm and c = 1.2421 nm. The chemical structure is described by the formula Pb5(GeO4)O3. Hexagonal Pb5GeO7 transforms to the orthorhombic modification at 460° to 485°C.


The global budget and hemispheric distribution of methyl chloroform (CH3CCl3) have been used to determine the average residence times of CH3CCl3, and HO radical concentrations, in the two hemispheres. It is concluded that a global average residence time (τa) of about 8 years best fits the observational data. It is further shown that the residence time of CH3CCl3 in the northern hemisphere (τn) is probably significantly longer than in the southern hemisphere (τs). While the ratio of τn/τs is quite sensitive to interhemispheric exchange rates (τe) and the north/south concentration gradients of CH3CCl3, a strong case for τn>1.6τs[(HO¯)S.H.>1.6(HO¯)N.H.] can nevertheless be made. Best estimates suggest that the global average HO concentration [{(HO¯)N.H.+(HO¯)S.H.}/2] of 4.1 ×105HO/ml is most compatible with the observed data. The distribution of HO in the two hemispheres is, however, found to be asymmetric with southern hemispheric HO concentrations 1.6 to 3 times higher than the northern hemispheric values. It is inferred that this HO gradient is caused by atmospheric carbon monoxide, which is a principal sink for HO. The implications of these hemispheric HO asymmetries and the uncertainties involved are discussed.


College students' entrepreneurship education is an important approach to realizing the function of higher education under the circumstances of educational situation in our country. Solution of college students' employment is an important topic of the current higher education. Therefore, through the development of college entrepreneurship education, colleges can explore new education mode, and improve university students' entrepreneurship and employment competitiveness. It also plays a positive role in solving the problem of college students' employment. This thesis mainly talks about the present situation of college students' entrepreneurship in China, and several factors preliminarily affecting it. Then it discusses how to build the business-pioneering education target system, so as to promote the development of entrepreneurship education in our country


The role of instantons in three dimensional N=2 supersymmetric SU(2) Yang-Mills theory is studied, especially in relation to the issue of confinement. The instanton-induced low energy effective action is derived by extending the dilute gas approximation to the super-moduli space of instantons. Following Polyakov's description of confinement in compact U(1) gauge theory, it is argued that there is no confinement in N=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory.


Background: The use of herbal medicines and natural health products by the public is continuously being increased by the day. Community pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, this necessitates that pharmacists should be aware of the appropriate use of herbal medicines. Objective: The objective of the present study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of community pharmacists in the Al-Kharj region. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out amongst pharmacists who work in different community pharmacies in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was prepared using surveys of previous studies and was hand-delivered to the pharmacists concerning the use of herbal medicines. Results: All of the respondents were male and more than 50% of them were in the age range between 30-39. Most of the pharmacists reported that they have sufficient information about dietary supplements and that they are interested in updating their knowledge about herbal drugs. Furthermore, more than 70% of the participants said that they take Original Research Article Ahmed and Khan; JPRI, 31(6): 1-8, 2019; Article no.JPRI.52444 2 both medical and medication history from the buyers before supplying herbal medicines. Conclusion: The study shows that pharmacists have good knowledge and a positive attitude toward using herbal medicines by the public in Al-Kharj city.


Cost of capital has always been the one of the most significant concepts in the research of financial field,and it is also one key indicator to achieve corporate profits.In recent years,the estimation of cost for industry has been the new research trends;it is also a key index for investors.In this paper,the author takes the bio-pharmaceutical fields as a starting point,uses Chinese listed companies of bio-pharmaceutical industry as samples,and estimates the cost of capital for bio-pharmaceutical industry based on CAPM model.The cost of capital of bio-pharmaceutical industry is around 11.958%.


(57) Abstract: containing unsaturated fatty acids mutually dissolved with alkylene glycol as a solvent for the biologically active agent, and dissolved in a carrier system containing stiffening agent to impart a stick consistency to the composition was a rod-shaped composition having biological activity comprising a biologically active agent, wherein the alkylene glycol is preferably present in an amount greater than 12%. The composition may be an active agent dissolved in a solvent, the solution was combined with the stiffening agent and made by molding a formulation rod-shaped body. The composition preferably is specifically designed to be used as a medicament in the treatment of dermatological diseases, wherein the composition has been found to have a significant bioavailability.


In the last decade, successful cases of managing plant virus diseases using the transgenic approach have been reported, with the best known example being the Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV)-resistant transgenic papayas in Hawaii. Use of the coat protein (cp) gene has proven effective with not only papaya, but with various plant-virus systems such as squash. Although other viral sequences are equally effective in conferring resistance, few transgenic plants engineered with these sequences have made their way into the market. In addition, opposition to genetic manipulation of crop plants has prevented wide application of the technology, despite the fact that many countries (including Jamaica, Brazil and Venezuela) have produced and characterized several generations of resistant transgenic papayas. Using the papaya-PRSV system as a case study, we examine the transgenic cropping systems available, constraints to the adoption of transgenic papayas in various countries, as well as the impact the technology has made on world production of this fruit crop. Alternative non- cp and non- transgenic approaches of managing PRSV are also presented.


Land conversion causes a decrease in the occupation of paddy fields areas. Furthermore, the existing paddy fields that are mismanaged cause land degradation also. This study assesses the land quality index (LQI) in Jember Regency, East Java, Indonesia. The novelty of this research is that it combines the assessment of soil and land parameters (terrain, topography, climate, irrigation infrastructure, erosion, and flooding). Input data for this study consist of land cover, soil type, and slope maps. The procedure includes (1) spatial analysis to create the unit soil map area, (2) preparing soil sampling, (3) field survey, (4) soil chemical analysis in the laboratories, (5) scoring of paddy field condition, (6) principal component analysis and (7) classification. The PCA results show that three variables ( i.e., slope, irrigation infrastructure, and flood hazard) strongly correlate to LQI. Then, four classes (very low, low, medium, and reasonable) of LQI describe the spatial variability of the paddy field. The results show that about 1.05% of the paddy field area is categorised in a shallow LQI class. Then a low-class LQI covers approximately 13.83%, a medium-class about 42.92%, and 42.2 % of the paddy field categorised as the good LQI. Management of irrigation infrastructure and planting perennials in upstream areas can be carried out to improve land quality.


Aims: This study aimed to assess the clinical efficacy of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided intraplaque wiring for femoropopliteal (FP) chronic total occlusion (CTO). Methods: This single-center, retrospective, observational study was performed at the Japanese Red Cross Kyoto Daini Hospital. From March 2013 to June 2017, a total of 75 consecutive patients (mean age: 75.4 ± 8.5 years; 59 males), who underwent endovascular treatment (EVT), having 82 de novo FP-CTO lesions, were enrolled in this study. Eleven of the lesions that met the exclusion criteria were excluded, and the remaining 71 lesions were divided into the IVUS-guided wiring group (n = 34) and non-IVUS-guided wiring group (n = 37). Primary patency, defined as a peak systolic velocity ratio of < 2.4 on duplex ultrasonography, and freedom from clinically driven target lesion revascularization (CD-TLR) at 12 months were the primary outcomes. Results: The mean lesion length was 21.6 ± 8.9 cm. The frequencies of primary patency and freedom from CD-TLR were significantly higher in the IVUS-guided wiring group than in the non-IVUS-guided wiring group (70.0% vs. 52.2%, p = 0.045; 83.9% vs. 62.8%, p = 0.036, respectively). The complete clinically true lumen angioplasty rate was also higher in the IVUS-guided wiring group than in the non-IVUS-guided wiring group (91.1% vs. 51.3%, p < 0.001, respectively). The clinically true and false wire passage rates were respectively 97.3% and 2.7% in the IVUS-guided wiring group. Conclusion: IVUS-guided wiring improves the clinical outcomes of EVT for FP-CTO by achieving a high clinically true lumen wire passage rate.


The challenges posed by climate change have increasingly been recognized over the few past decades. This article synthesizes current research on broad themes such as climate change, reducing CO2 emissions, increasing the production of electric cars, etc. Our literature review revealed that much of the research on these topics has focused on the growth rate of motorization, greenhouse gas emissions and technology for the reduction of pollution. However, more recently, scientists have turned their attention to greenhouse gas emissions due to the release of pollutants. Therefore, the authors analyzed the total greenhouse gas emissions per EU country in 2019 and ranked Lithuania among the 28 EU countries. The primary directions for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by driving electric cars are described. A hypothesis is considered, i.e., that investments by transport companies in technological development are related to pollution reduction in Lithuania. The development of new technologies by transport companies has a huge impact on reducing pollution; therefore, it is important to apply more new technologies in future. The paper describes research on Lithuanian transportation enterprises to examine the interactions between the investments by and technological growth of a transportation company. Based on expert assessments and calculations, the relative importance of the components of the transport company's primary investment measures to minimize pollution are determined.


Clustering plays an important role in the structure of nuclei, especially for light nuclei in the $p$-shell. In nuclear cluster models these degrees of freedom are introduced explicitly. In the Resonating Group Method or in the Generator Coordinate Method the clusters are built from individual nucleons interacting via an effective nucleon-nucleon interaction; the total wave function is antisymmetrized. Fermionic Molecular Dynamics (FMD) goes beyond pure cluster models. It is a microscopic many-body approach using a Gaussian wave packet basis that includes the harmonic oscillator shell model and Brink-type cluster model wave functions as special cases. Clustering is not imposed but appears dynamically in the calculations. The importance of clustering for the understanding of bound states, resonances and scattering states is illustrated with examples discussing the charge radii of the Neon isotopes, the $^3$He($\alpha$,$\gamma$)$^7$Be capture reaction and the cluster states in the $^{12}$C continuum.


We use the Fourier Transform Grid Method as the basis for a new approach to analyzing the displacement distribution of the track on which signals are recorded in magnetic recording systems. It is important to make the track width narrower for high density recording on magnetic tape. However, as the track becomes narrower, track linearity must be improved. To improve track linearity, it is necessary to clarify the displacement distribution of the track accurately. Our new measuring method can obtain a two-dimensional distribution of the displacement accurately and can clarify the relation between the displacement distribution and the factors that deteriorate track linearity.