Stochastic discrete fractures are ubiquitous in practicing engineering and contribute much to the stability for geological mediums. In contrast to the traditional treatments based on continuum mechanics, we propose an integrated approach using discrete fractures based on an improved hybrid finite element method (FEM). A typical jointed rock slop is selected as a case study and then was simulated in the light of geological conditions for the study site. The basic equations of fracture domains are derived to generate stochastic discrete fractures which render a fundamental to the model. To implement this procedure through computer program, discrete fractures generating algorithm was developed. In the aspect of discretization, we presented a meshing scheme and proposed an algorithm to create fracture elements. To evaluate rock slope stability in a quantitative way, safety factor is calculated by strength reduction method. Numerical simulations were carried out showing the mechanical behaviors of jointed rock slope under different boundary conditions.


Graph neural networks have achieved state-of-the-art accuracy for graph node classification. However, GNNs are difficult to scale to large graphs, for example frequently encountering out-of-memory errors on even moderate size graphs. Recent works have sought to address this problem using a two-stage approach, which first aggregates data along graph edges, then trains a classifier without using additional graph information. These methods can run on much larger graphs and are orders of magnitude faster than GNNs, but achieve lower classification accuracy. We propose a novel two-stage algorithm based on a simple but effective observation: we should first train a classifier then aggregate, rather than the other way around. We show our algorithm is faster and can handle larger graphs than existing two-stage algorithms, while achieving comparable or higher accuracy than popular GNNs. We also present a theoretical basis to explain our algorithm's improved accuracy, by giving a synthetic nonlinear dataset in which performing aggregation before classification actually decreases accuracy compared to doing classification alone, while our classify then aggregate approach substantially improves accuracy compared to classification alone.


In basketball competition,the momentum is important guarantee for a team.Developing the potential between offensive strategy and defensive strategy to form a team's advantage is becoming a new trend.This paper states strategical changes based on the basic contradictions of basketball and the "offensive and defensive conversion" theory and analyzes the factors based on coaches,athletes,referees,spectators and the media.


This research involved study, involves the use of shells tuna in the development of Greek yogurt with soluble fiber. The aim study was to determine the feasibility of developing a greek yogurt adding in concentrations determined shell tuna, evaluating which sample was which won greater acceptance by the public also to analyze certain physical properties chemical, and determine the time product lifetime. It was prepared by mixing the Greek yogurt base mix to which was added the mixture of shell tuna in 3 different concentrations: 5%, 10% and 15%. Also was prepared. sensory evaluation 10 semi-trained judges, which took into account the color, aroma, flavor, texture and overall appearance of the samples of yogurt added with shell tuna, capturing it on a hedonic scale of 1 to 9. The place shows that obtained the highest score and, likewise, the greater acceptance by the public, was the sample with 10% concentration of tuna Shell. Chemical product developed such as certain physical properties were analyzed like pH, titratable acidity and humidity. The base yogurt mix, obtained a pH of 4.28, in turn, the greater acceptance sample, ie, the containing 10% concentration shell tuna, had a pH of 4.37. Regarding the titratable acidity of the sample with 10% concentration, a result of 1.05 percentage lactic acid it was obtained. When testing moisture, samples of a stove led to 105 ° C for 8 hours, and calculating the percentage of soluble solids obtained both in the standard sample, and the sample of greater acceptance, being the results 54.13% SS and 57.87% respectively SS


Part I. Earthquakes, Deep Time and the Population Explosion: 1. Plate tectonics and why we have earthquakes 2. An earthquake primer 3. Deep time 4. When's the next big one? 5. Population explosion and increased earthquake risk to megacities Part II. Earthquake Time Bombs: 6. San Francisco Bay Area 7. Los Angeles metro area 8. Seattle, Portland and Vancouver 9. Wellington, New Zealand 10. Santiago, Chile 11. Prologue in Central China 12. Age of Enlightenment and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake 13. Jerusalem 14. Istanbul 15. Tehran 16. Kabul 17. Earthquakes in the Himalaya 18. Myanmar and the Sagaing Fault 19. Metro Manila, the Philippines 20. Lima, Peru 21. Andean earthquakes in Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador 22. Caracas 23. Haiti (which lost its gamble), and Jamaica and Cuba (not yet) 24. Mexico City 25. Central America and the earthquake that brought down a dictator 26. East African Rift Valley Part III. Summary and Recommendations: 27. Where do we go from here? References Index.


In this paper, we present a novel end-to-end Dual Fire Detection Network (DFD-Net) for the remote sensing data fire detection task. The proposed network architecture consists of two streams in a parallel fashion, a fire estimate stream is used to detect fire pixels, and a cloud-water stream is built to exclude cloud and water regions. Moreover, the pixel and band attention modules adapted to characteristics of the remote sensing data are proposed. Experimental results on our prepared Himawari-8 data fire detection dataset with ground truth labels demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms existed fire detection methods in various metrics.


In a recent study (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265662), associations were identified between owner-reported dog health status and their diet, whereby those fed either raw food or a vegan diet were perceived to be healthier. However, the study was limited because possible confounding from variables not included in the analysis was not considered. The aim of the current study was to extend the earlier findings, using different modelling techniques and including multiple variables, to identify the most important predictors of owner-reported dog health. From the original dataset, two binary health outcome variables were created: the 'any healthcare problem' distinguished those that were healthy ("no") from with those with illness of any severity, whilst the 'significant illness' variable distinguished those that were either healthy or had mild illness ("no") from those with significant or serious illness ("yes"). Associations between these health outcomes and both owner-animal metadata and healthcare variables were assessed using logistic regression and machine learning predictive modelling using XGBoost. For the 'any health problem' outcome, best-fit models for both logistic regression (pseudo R2 0.428, P<0.001) and XGBoost (AUC 0.838, 99%-CI: 0.794-0.882) contained the variables dog age, number of veterinary visits and receiving medication. Several other variables were also included in the XGBoost model, albeit having limited although their importance was limited. For the 'significant illness' outcome, dog age, veterinary visits and receiving medication were again the most important predictors for both logistic regression (R2 0.349, P<0.001) and XGBoost (AUC 0.871, 99%-CI: 0.799-0.944), whilst location (UK) also featured in the latter. No other variable was of sufficient importance to be included in the final model. The results of the current study conflict with previously-published research using the same dataset and suggest that diet the fed has limited impact on owner-perceived dog health status; instead, dog age, frequency of veterinary visits and receiving medication are most important.


One of the important features of computer networks is the potential for high reliability. The reliability of a network depends on many parameters such as connectivity, degree of each node, and average distance between any pair of nodes. The main focus of the problem considered in this paper is to design reliable computer network topologies. A generalized framework based on Genetic Algorithm is developed which is applicable to wide range of network design problems. Several topology design problems are solved to demonstrate the generality of this solution approach. The results obtained from genetic algorithm based solution approach are compared with the optimal solutions to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


ANGER EXPRESSION: EVALUATING THE CONSTRUCT VALIDITY OF SEVERAL EMOTION REGULATION MEASURES by MATTHEW J. JASINSKI December 2013 Advisor: Dr. Mark A. Lumley Major: Psychology (Clinical) Degree: Master of Arts Researchers have used the Anger Expression Inventory (AEI), Ambivalence of Emotional Expression Questionnaire (AEQ), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale 20 (TAS) self-report measures to draw conclusions about relationships between emotion regulation and many other variables, but there is an insufficient amount of validation evidence about these measures. After first filling out the self-report measures, 75 participants with chronic low back pain completed a videotaped anger induction paradigm, in order to provoke the naturalistic experience of anger. Participants were next given the opportunity to express their anger to the experimenter, in either a guided or unguided condition. We then coded the videos to rate the amount of anger and anxiety expressed by the participants both verbally and non-verbally. Correlations among the predictor variables and behavioral variables showed that Anger-Out and TAS were positively correlated with anger, and Anger-In and AEQ were independent of anger. The findings support the validity of Anger- Out, suggest that Anger-In and TAS measure slightly different constructs that than theorized, and calls into question the validity of the AEQ.


Positive beliefs about the validity and reliability of website information are important for users and the success of a site. Users may use these beliefs in making judgments about the veracity of the informational content that they encounter on the Internet. This research examined several components associated with Web sites that could affect credibility beliefs about Web site information: domain suffixes (e.g., .com, .edu), quality seals, and organizations/domain names. Two studies were carried out involving a total of 433 participants. One had 247 participants (171 undergraduates and 76 non-student adults) and the other had 186 participants (89 undergraduates and 97 non-students). Results indicated that participants who reported spending greater time on the Internet showed significantly higher trust ratings on several components than those who reported spending less time on the Internet. Participants had difficulty discriminating between actual and fictitious quality seals and organization/domain names, with several fictitious ones judged as or more trustworthy than actual ones.


Grab is a common tool in the transportation industry. Traditional grabs have shortcomings such as low automation, limited mining precision, and low operational efficiency. The improvement of automation and intelligence level is an urgent demand in the current market. Grab control system usually adopts AC asynchronous motor as the execution component. Due to its nonlinearity and strong coupling, the existing single closed-loop control method is difficult to achieve the dynamic requirement of position tracking. In order to further improve the accuracy and robustness of the grab position control, a new intelligent control method is proposed. This method adds a position closed loop to the existing AC speed control system to form a triple control system including current, speed and position loop, which could realize real-time adjustment of the position loop parameters through fuzzy PID control. The simulation results show that the above control method has better response characteristics and anti-interference ability, and has better practicability for improving the excavation quality of the grab.


For the purposes of this survey 'speech research' will be taken to comprise studies of the stages in spoken communication from the phonetic coding and production of an utterance by a speaker, through the acoustic signal which forms the speaker's primary link with the hearer, to its perception and decoding by the hearer. Although studies which have implications uniquely for one stage are perhaps few, work will be presented according to whether its primary concern is with speech production, acoustics, or perception, respectively. Given the size and diversity of the field, drawing contributions from linguists, psychologists, speech pathologists, engineers and others, a survey such as this could never attempt to be comprehensive. Rather, the aim has been to select areas which have been of central interest in speech research, and where significant progress has been made in the past decade. Although the survey is primarily concerned with descriptive and theoretical aspects of speech research, it will also mention selected applications of interest.


Delegation and accountability are two poles of an unsolved tension in democratic societies. Institutions that acquire a more and more important role in these societies, as regulatory agencies and central banks, need a decision-making autonomy in order to enhance their performance. However, delegation implies in a progressive democratic deficit and insufficient accountability for the leaders. The article discusses the question involving the tension between delegation and accountability that underlies the creation of independent regulatory agencies. The main arguments concerning the logic of delegation and controlling are discussed in the article. The first one refers to the role of Legislative's control (or the lack of) on independent agencies. The second one refers to the delegation of autonomy to regulatory agencies as a rational choice for rulers in a globalized economic environment aiming to bolster credibility. Such arguments are not quite convincing in the public debate. Therefore, it can be inferred that the institutional framework in contemporary democracies presents a limited capacity to promote social control and legitimacy.


The utility model relates to an intelligent oil-cooled motor comprising a motor housing, a shaft, a stator, a rotor, an oil groove, an oil pipe, an oil pump, an oil storing tank, an oil return port, cooling oil, a cooling oil device and an intelligent control system; the shaft is arranged on a middle part of the motor housing; the stator is fixed on an inner wall of the motor housing; the rotor is fixed on the shaft; the oil groove is welded on a top inner wall of the motor housing and is externally connected with the oil pipe; the oil pipe is connected with the cooling oil device through the oil pump; the cooling oil device is also connected with the oil storing tank on a lower portion of the motor housing; the oil storing tank is connected with the motor housing through the oil return port and is filled with the cooling oil; the cooling oil device comprises a water cooling process system and a cooling oil cooling process system connected in sequence; an oil meter is arranged outside the motor housing and is connected with the oil storing tank; a bottom of the oil storing tank is provided with an oil outlet; a temperature detecting device is arranged in the oil storing tank; and a flow control valve is arranged outside the oil storing tank.


Abstract A simple method for preparing monoclinic single crystals of ZSM-5 is developed. The ZSM-5 crystals are pressed with a weight of 50 g at an angle of 45° relative to the b and c crystallographic axes of twin ZSM-5 crystals while the temperature is simultaneously increased to 573 K. The temperature is then slowly reduced to 313 K, and these steps are repeated three times. The monoclinic structure of the single crystals of ZSM-5 produced using this method is then determined.


The paper deals with the evaluation of autonomous vehicles along with the quantification of their behavior and maneuvers. The article outlines the positive aspects of autonomy and lists several arguments in their favor, e.g. convenience and efficiency considerations. Furthermore, it also addresses the associated difficulties including the feasibility of road testing and the establishment of appropriate simulations. The current work aims to define methods providing objective indicators to compare algorithms solving the complex tasks of road transport. Rule-based, supervised and reinforcement learning control models, test environments, accelerated test methods and assessment indicators of the corresponding literature are reviewed and evaluated. After investigating the different metrics, we formulate an evaluation framework that can be applied in the development and assessment process of new artificial intelligence controlled models. As an outcome of this work, we aim to aid a missing sector in the field of autonomous driving function development by collecting and defining metrics that intend to help qualitatively evaluate and compare algorithms. The key aspect during the definition of the suggested method was to ensure its extensive applicability by selecting only metrics that can be obtained from the already installed sensors of the vehicles. Additionally, we also assess multiple agents to observe how their behavior compares and whether the proposed metrics reflect the expected behavior.


Abstract Localized bullous pemphigoid is a rare variant of bullous pemphigoid, and its exact etiopathogenesis is yet to be elucidated. We present a case of a 74-year-old Caucasian male with a 3-month history of skin lesions that appeared 9 months after he underwent a knee arthroplasty. Dermatological examination showed several pruritic tense bullae on the right knee, localized around the surgical scar, as well as erosions covered with crusts. The diagnosis of localized bullous pemphigoid was confirmed by direct immunofluorescence test (conventional and split-skin). The patient was treated with potent topical steroids, which led to complete resolution of cutaneous lesions. We suppose that the occurrence of localized bullous pemphigoid in our patient may be explained by the concept of "immunocompromised district" in which one disease (surgery) caused an immunological alteration which is a predisposing factor for the development of secondary disease such as localized bullous pemphigoid.


Time evolutions of orientation function f(t) of uniaxially stretched polystyrene films were measured in temperature region higher than the glass transition temperature Tg by polarized Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT IR). Time temperature superposition principle was valid for the data of f(t) obtained at T=108–130°C. From the observation of the master curve of f(t), it was found that the relaxation in time region from glass transition to the biginning of terminal flow can be observed. Further, from a comparison between f(t) and stress relaxation elastic modulus E(t), it was shown that the same information obtained by rheological measurement in non-linear region can be obtained by observation of f(t).


The stresses at the non free thermal deformation zone of a 50 m 3 enamel vessel were tested. The deformation occurs in the joints of the shell and the head. Based on the analysis and testing results, it can be proved that the stress in the vessel is still at elastic state. The material properties are not changed after enameling process time after time. The stress level is not affected by little geometric deformations.


Since their discovery in the first half of the 19th century, antibiotics have been extensively used in livestock production as therapeutic agents and growth promoters. In many countries, antibiotic therapy is still the first choice to combat microbial infections in livestock animals, and their efficacy and cost-effectiveness contribute to their popularity. Nevertheless, the continuous use of antibiotics has resulted in the emergence of multidrug-resistant microbial strains that no longer respond to antibiotic therapy. A number of strategies have been explored to control microbial pathogens and to improve growth and feed efficiency in livestock animals without the use of antibiotics. Among these, bacteriocins, probiotic micro-organisms and bacteriophages have been more extensively studied and proposed as potential alternatives to classic antibiotics in animal husbandry. Bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides ribosomally synthesized by many species of Bacteria and some strains of Archaea. Many bacteriocins are active at small concentrations, and exhibit bactericidal or bacteriostatic activity toward sensitive cells. The main mechanisms of bacteriocin activity vary from pore formation in cytoplasmic membranes to the inhibition of cell wall biosynthesis and enzyme activities (RNAse or DNAse) in target cells. Nisin, the most well known bacteriocin, is a potential candidate for use in prophylaxis and control of pathogens associated with bovine mastitis, and promising results have been demonstrated in in vivo experiments. However, nisin-resistance is a phenotype that has been already demonstrated for some gram-positive bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus bovis and Listeria monocytogenes. The mechanisms that modulate the co-evolution between pathogens and resistance to antimicrobial peptides, although very important, are still limited and less documented than the resistance to antibiotics. Previous studies indicated that several mechanisms might be involved in the resistance phenotype, varying from physiological adaptations in a bacterial population, such as changes in membrane lipid composition, modulation of the cell surface hydrophobicity and net charge, to genetic modifications (mutations) in individual cells that contribute to select for stable phenotypes. Although some genes involved in nisin resistance have been identified, there is little evidence that bacteriocin resistance could be spread among sensitive bacteria.


To analyze the massive data on the ecological environment in Dianchi Watershed scientifically, understand its situation and dynamic trend over time, we plan to establish a feature-based four-dimensional space-time data model and build an integrated space-time database. The SuperMap map database is used to establish a space-time visual query and analysis system of the ecological environment information based on WebGIS with the B/S structure. The ecological environment information of the Dianchi Watershed is taken as the research object for scientific and comprehensive analysis and management of the ecological environment situation, thereby providing intuitive and reliable data information support for the decision-making of the ecological environment construction.


This report discusses background information on U.S. public diplomacy, the current structure of public diplomacy within the Department of State as well as its budget and personnel levels, overview of some of the major related policy issues, and proposed legislation intended to reform and improve U.S. public diplomacy.


U.S. policy is to allow owners of distributed resources to effectively and reliably provide their services at scale, and operate harmoniously on an interconnected distribution and transmission grid. Accordingly, regulation, new business models and technology advances over the past decade have led to significant growth rates in distributed energy resources including generation, responsive demand, energy conservation and customer adoption of industrial, commercial and residential energy management systems. The result is that several regions are reaching proposed capacity levels for distributed generation that exceed traditional operating and engineering practices for distribution systems. At the same time, policies advocating wholesale spot prices to customer devices ("prices to devices") have not adequately considered distribution system reliability impacts or relationship to distributed generation. As such, it is also not clear that current market models or regulations are entirely adequate or appropriate for the several emerging hybrid regional markets, such as California, with millions of distributed energy resources envision by the year 2020.


We have used electromodulated infrared transmission spectroscopy to search for states associated with soliton excitations of the CDW phase in blue bronze with tunable diode lasers. In particular, we have searched the spectral region near the edge of the CDW gap and compared the spectra associated with contact polarization (i.e. current injection) with that associated with bulk CDW polarization. No new states are observed, implying that the lifetime of injected solitons is < 0.5 μs. Both bulk and contact polarization are observed to shift the frequency of high energy phonons, suggesting that the density of electronic states in the gap, present because of CDW fluctuations, depends on CDW polarization.


The restoration and conservation of traditional rural landscapes is considered a priority at both the international and national level. Maintaining traditional features of agricultural activity and adopting a sustainable approach are imperative tools. Combining historical identity and sustainability is a big challenge for our society. In order to preserve and safeguard fruit growing in traditional rural system in Piedmont (North-West Italy) a multidisciplinary, integrated study was carried out. This research analyzed alternatives for the restoration of traditional orchard systems and proposed an innovative approach for maintaining traditional values and forecasting future land use changes. For identifying traditional landscape elements an historical study was performed. For analyzing public awareness concerning the future change factors and transformations affecting the traditional fruit landscape, one focus group meeting and five student workshops were conducted. Globalization, economic crisis of the local fruit market, agricultural trade and plant diseases were the main future change factors perceived by focus group participants. During focus groups, orchards disappearance/transformation and permanence/maintenance scenarios were built and discussed. During students' workshops, several change factors and future landscape scenarios were identified. The study showed that the historical knowledge and the participation and empowerment of multiple stakeholders can suggest solutions and strategies for the sustainable development of rural landscapes. Participatory approach might contribute to rural landscape planning policy and our results can be included in the future landscape planning programs and researches.


Multiple antibiotic resistance is a major cause of clinical infections worldwide. This study determined the pattern of multidrug bacterial resistance in hospital sewage samples from the Marathwada region of India. Forty-eight isolates of bacteria were obtained from 6 locations of Aurangabad. An antibiotic sensitivity test was carried out using the disc diffusion method. Among all the antibiotics tested, the highest level of resistance was observed in the beta lactam class (85%), followed by Tetracycline (58%), Cephalosporin (58%), quinolones (52%) and gentamycin (45%). Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are the most prevalent bacteria, showing antibiotic resistance to all tested antibiotics with a MAR index of 1. It is concluded that hospital sewage water could be a reservoir of antibiotic resistant bacteria, which may further contaminate drinking water bodies, potentially presenting a public health risk to the general populace.


accused of having committed a serious mistake in not extracting the remainder of the placenta remaining in the uterus after delivery with the result that the patient died. The doctor pleaded that this operation was dangerous, and even impossible, considering the condition of the patient, and several other medical men confirmed his opinion. The Court decided in favour of the defendant. Madame Kampfer, who shot at Dr. Gille de la Tourette, has been examined by MM. Brouardel and Ballet, who have concluded that the criminal is of unsound mind. The report has uot yet been sent in, but as soon as it is in the hands of the judges, Madame Kampfer will be conducted to an asylum for insane. The Michelet Asylum for Women expecting to become mothers was opened a few days ago. They arelodged at this asylum until they are about to be delivered, when they are sent to Fontenay les Roses Asylum, or to the Ledru Rollin Asylum, which they leave only when they are able to earn their living.


This paper presents the results of testing stone masonry wallettes in compression or in diagonal compression. The specimens that simulate a portion of perimeter walls of historic structures are made of three-leaf rubble stone masonry; they are horizontally reinforced with timber ties. Tests have proven that timber ties contribute to substantial enhancement of the ultimate strain of masonry subjected to compression, accompanied by reduction of the opening of vertical cracks. When timber reinforced masonry is subjected to diagonal compression, the cracking load is several times higher than that of the unreinforced masonry, whereas large diagonal cracks may open without disintegration of masonry. The experimental results are in accordance with in situ observations in historic structures.


Objectives: Fresh osteochondral allograft (OCA) transplantation has been reported as a viable treatment option for chondral lesions of the talus, but there is insufficient data regarding patients' participation in sports or recreational activity following the procedure. The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of patients who participated in sports or recreational activity following OCA of the talus. Methods: We identified 36 ankles in 34 patients (70% well trained or highly competitive athletes) who underwent OCA transplantation of the talus. Mean age was 36 years and 50% were male. Postoperatively, participation in sport or recreational activity, foot and ankle ability measure (FAAM) scores, American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot scores, and patient satisfaction with the results of surgery were assessed. Further surgery on the ankle was captured, and OCA failure was defined as any operation that involved removal of the allograft. Results: At a mean follow up of 8.6 years, 67% of patients reported that they had participated in sports or recreational activity after the OCA transplantation. Among those who participated in sport or recreation, 68% returned to their pre-injury sport, 21% played in competitive sports, and 95% participated in regular exercise. Following the OCA transplantation, 17% of ankles required further surgery and 11% were classified as OCA failures (underwent revision OCA transplantation or fusion). There was significant improvement in FAAM and AOFAS ankle-hindfoot scores, and 79% of patients were either satisfied or extremely satisfied with the results of surgery. Survivorship of the OCA transplantation was 94% at five years and 85% at ten years. Conclusions: Fresh OCA transplantation is a reasonable surgical option for osteochondral defects of the talus for young, active patients who have failed non-operative management. Most patients participate in sports or recreational activity following OCA transplantation of the talus.


This paper presents the design, manufacture, and characterization of platinum-based (Pt) micro-heaters in different geometric configurations, that can be integrated with metasurfaces having the role of metamaterial absorbers with applications in gas sensing. The simulations and the experimental results indicate that the four proposed micro-heaters are suitable for integration with metasurfaces to obtain an IR emitter.


Perpetual asphalt concrete pavements technique was presented newly by the international road engineering field and it was a hot issue in the field of international asphalt pavement.The there was rare production about stress character of perpetual asphalt pavement,a new mechanical performance analysis model was presented to analyze the stress character.A model is established on 3-D finite element analysis,which accompanies the scientific meshing method.And this model is applied to evaluate the typical perpetual asphalt pavement.The analysis results provide the mechanical theory of the design,construction and practice about perpetual asphalt pavement.


Hierarchical Interconnection Network (HIN) is indispensable for the practical implementation of future generation massively parallel computer systems which consists of hundred thousands nodes or even millions of nodes. Because it yields good performance with low cost due to reduction of communication links and by exploring the locality in the communication & traffic patterns. A Midimew connected Mesh Network (MMN) is an HIN comprised of numerous basic modules, where the basic modules are 2D-mesh networks and they are hierarchically interconnected using midimew network to construct the higher level networks. In this paper, we present the architecture of a MMN and evaluate the time-cost effective factor of MMN, TESH, mesh, and torus networks. It is found that the proposed MMN yields slightly high time-cost effectiveness factor with small diameter and average distance as compared to other networks. Overall, performance with respect to time-cost effectiveness factor with small diameter and average distance suggests that the proposed MMN will be a indispensable choice for the next generation massively parallel computer systems.


The degradation efficiency of methylene blue by TiO2 nanoparticles, which were synthesized under different synthesis conditions (i.e., molar ratio of water and titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP), pH, and calcination temperature) in a sol-gel process, was systematically investigated. The results showed that increasing themolar ratio of water and TTIP led to the enhanced photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanoparticles, which were likely attributed to the increased specific surface area of TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized with high molar ratio. The results were supported by the relative increase in the size of interaggregated pores of the aggregated TiO2 nanoparticles. The best photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanoparticles was observed at acidic synthesis conditions; however, the results were not consistent with physical properties for the crystallinity and the crystallite size of TiO2 nanoparticles but rather explained by the presence of abundant hydroxyl groups and water molecules existing on the surface of TiO2 under acidic synthesis environments. Furthermore, methylene blue degradation experiments revealed that the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanoparticles was maximized at the calcination temperature of 700°C. The trend was likely due to the combined effect of the anatase crystallinity which showed the highest value at 700°C and the crystallite size/specific surface area which did not excessively increase up to 700°C.


Premise of the study: Nonplastid microsatellite primers were developed for the first time in the Euro-Siberian complex of Anthoxanthum (Poaceae), a genus of temperate grasses in which reticulate evolution is common. Methods and Results: A microsatellite-enriched genomic DNA library allowed the detection of 500 fragments containing a microsatellite motif. Fifteen primer pairs were selected for an extended primer test. A preliminary analysis was conducted on the Eurasian diploid lineages of Anthoxanthum, with special emphasis on three populations of the Mediterranean A. aristatum— A. ovatum complex. Thirteen out of 15 markers tested were polymorphic in the complex, with successful cross-amplification in A. odoratum (93% polymorphic loci), A. amarum (73% polymorphic), A. alpinum (73% polymorphic), and A. maderense (60% polymorphic). Conclusions: These microsatellite markers will enable the analysis of evolution and phylogeography in diploid and polyploid lineages of this important genus.


Non‐perturbative production of quark‐antiquarks is investigated in the early stage of heavy‐ion collisions. The time‐dependent study is based on a kinetic description of the fermion‐pair production in strong non‐Abelian fields. We introduce time‐dependent chromo‐electric external field with a pulse‐like time evolution to simulate the overlap of two colliding heavy ions. We have found that the small inverse duration time of the field pulse determines the efficiency of the quark‐pair production. The expected suppression for heavy quark production, as follows from the Schwinger formula for a constant field, is not seen, but an enhanced heavy quark production appears at ultrarelativistic energies. We convert our pulse duration time‐dependent results into collisional energy dependence and introduce energy and flavour‐dependent string tensions, which can be used in string based model calculations at RHIC and LHC energies.


The invention discloses an automatic testing device, which is used for testing a plurality of circuit boards. The automatic testing device comprises a control unit, a clamping piece and a testing unit, wherein the clamping piece is coupled with the control unit; the control unit controls the clamping piece to clamp at least one circuit board of the circuit boards which is at an output position to a testing position; the testing unit is coupled with the control unit and is used for testing the circuit board at the testing position and providing a testing signal for the control unit; and the control unit controls the clamping piece to clamp the circuit board to one of a plurality of preset positions according to the testing signal.


Do Major Sports Events Enhance Tourism Destinations? A growing number of destinations are utilizing sport events as a strategic tool for revitalizing and re-qualifying themselves. The aim of this paper is to explore the value of sport events in enhancing the "quality" (in terms of image, tourist attractiveness, quality of life, etc.) of a tourist destination. This assessment is based on a case study analysis regarding the effects of sport initiatives adopted by a number of cities and countries in Italy, Europe and worldwide. The findings suggest that sport events can have different implications for host destinations: from fostering an economic and social urban "regeneration", to putting a city on a worldwide tourist map, or even changing the unequal participation of a country in the global economy.


An afforestation experiment of 20 Chinese fir clones was conducted under the local conditions whose index number labeled as 18,16 and 14,and the interaction between the Chinese fir clones and the index numbers of local conditions was studied after a 14-year field observation.Results show that the clones under the conditions of Number 18 has richer diversity of interaction than under the condions of Number 16 and 14;that most clones grow well under good local conditions and a few can even grow well under bad ones;that the growth status of 11 clones varies with the location significantly while the rest shows no little relation;that among the top 10 clones with high standing volume,7 clones have significant interaction with the local conditions;that their heredity of nutrition character ranges between 0.077 0~0.706 9,the average being 0.465 3 and its nutrition absorption is controlled by its mid-heredity;and that Clone 16 is suitable for the conditions of Number 14,which is a fast-growing,low-nutritional absorption clone,Clone 13 is suitable for Number 16,which is a fast-growing,mid-nutritional absorption clone,and Clone 12 is suitable for Number 18,which is a fast-growing,high-nutritional absorption and highly effective clone.


as well as its consideration of pertinent Greco-Roman writings. Moreover, K's judgments about the dating and nature of this material (especially the Gospel of Thomas and the Q source) are sound, and he provides a healthy balance to the many bizarre hypotheses of dating extracanonical material and of the origins of Christianity that afflict NT studies today. While this is not specifically a work of NT theology, those working in the area of ecclesiology can garner from it helpftd insights into the many ways in which Jewish people and the early Christians identified themselves as the people of God.


DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my parents who have supported me all the way since the beginning of my studies, allowing me to achieve my goals. iv v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to record my gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Panos Vassiliadis for guiding, supporting and motivating me, as well as, for the patience he showed throughout this research work. I also thank Alkis Simitsis for his constructive comments during the course of my research. Also, I would like to express many thanks to Vasiliki Tziovara for providing me the initial ETL scenarios. At the end of my thesis I would like to thank all those people who made this thesis possible and an enjoyable experience for me; especially my colleagues and friends, Eutixia, Fotini, Giannis and Tzeni for their help and encouragement throughout this work. vi vii CONTENTS


86 Horseradish peroxidase isoenzyme C (HRP, EC 18.104.22.168), a hemeand Ca-contai ning glycoprotein, is a member of the superfa mily of plant peroxidases [1–3] that are able to utilize hydrogen peroxide to catalyze the one electron oxidation of a wide variety of organic and inorganic substrates. Whereas plant pe roxidases find interest for applications in va rious biotechnological processes, like bleaching and degradation of organic compounds (e.g. phenols and lignin), HRP specifically is used in analytical biochemistry and biotechnology as a marker enzyme for antibodies, DNA and low molecular mass analytes. Broad substrate specificity and high catalytic activity and stability determined the world-wide application of HRP in bioand immunosensors, chemiluminescent, fluorescent and electrochemical detection systems, DNA microarrays and biochips with HRP-based colori metric detection [4–6, 14, 56]. Progress made in peroxidase gene hetero logous expression opened up the prospect to study structure-function relationships by means of genetic engineering. The baculovirus expression system allowed production of recombinant HRP in soluble, active and glycosylated form [7], however, this system is laborious and not as wide spread as expression in E. coli. Expression of HRP in yeast indicated only very low expression of active enzyme [8]. Up to date for the production of wild-type as well as mutant recombinant HRP the E. coli expression system is mostly used [9, 10]. Recombinant HRP forms inclusion bodies containing only traces of heme if expressed in bacterial cytoplasm. Multistep refolding and reactivation of recombinant apo-peroxidase with the prosthetic heme group is complex as the protein contains four disulfide bonds and in addition must bind two Ca-ions per molecule. Moreover, the plant-derived enzyme contains 18% carbohydrates via 8 glycosylation sites. Crystal structure of recombinant HRP has been solved, revealing the presence of two domains formed by a total of ten α-helices [11]. Among of the factors leading to the formation of inclusion bodies upon expression of UDK 543.645.6:665.123


To test our hypothesis that abnormal levels of endogenous carbon monoxide (CO) produced naturally by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in response to infections of all kinds may be contributing to the morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19, we searched PubMed for peer-reviewed literature on carbon monoxide and each of eleven abnormal blood tests, fourteen signs and symptoms, and five fatal complications of COVID-19 infection reported in a case series from a hospital in Wuhan, China: acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acute kidney injury, acute cardiac injury, arrhythmia, and shock. We found reports of acute exogenous CO poisoning causing all the same signs, symptoms and complications, and all the abnormal blood tests except D-dimer and procalcitonin. Our search also found endogenous HO-1 and CO levels correlated with these complications, independent of any inhaled CO exposure. In sharp contrast to the CO poisoning literature, most studies of endogenous CO interpret its close positive correlation with these acute conditions as protective, with some going so far as to recommend treating ARDS with inhaled CO. We conclude with new recommendations for testing endogenous CO poisoning in COVID-19 cases using devices approved by the US Food and Drug Administration that can distinguish CO coming from the lungs, arteries, veins, and average of all tissues, unlike current protocols for CO poisoning that only measure CO in arteries or veins but not both. Based on these findings, we appeal to clinicians to start testing CO levels in COVID-19 patients and to stop monitoring oxygen saturation with conventional pulse oximeters that overestimate oxygen saturation by the sum of carboxyhemoglobin and methemoglobin. We conclude by reviewing FDA-approved treatments that may help COVID-19 patients with endogenous CO poisoning. These include zinc-based drugs that lower the rate of endogenous CO production by inhibiting HO-1, and drug-free devices and methods that reduce the total body burden of CO after exogenous CO poisoning.


The recent article by van de Ven et al. (2005) makes a valuable contribution to inclusion debates by questioning what we actually mean when we talk about integration. The authors construct a model of integration which emerges from a research project involving disabled people and those close to them. The research participants had, as the authors acknowledge, primarily motor impairments and, as a proviso, it is suggested that those people with chronic illnesses or invisible impairments may face different attitudes from others in society and may have different obstacles to overcome (p. 327). I can't help thinking that this article highlights difficult but fundamental issues within the field of disability studies that are not being addressed. These issues centre primarily, though not exclusively, upon the position of people with learning difficulties both within the disability movement and within society more generally. One of the key findings of the research project is that both disabled and non-disabled people have a mutual responsibility towards integration. As the authors state:


Distributed interactive simulation applications require the use of networked virtual environments that represent external systems, and that can perform processing or communications on behalf of objects in the entire environment. We want to develop distributed interactive simulation systems using the object-oriented software approach, and deploy these systems in a large-scale. The systems must satisfy various quality-of-service (QoS) requirements. In this case, the network architecture and the way interactions between remote objects are handled to ensure QoS requirements is of primary interest. This paper presents a scalable network architecture and an interaction model for such systems. The approach is being evaluated with the project Continuum, which is building a platform for distributed virtual environments with a particular focus on networked games.


The need for dependable digital circuitry with the capability to operate reliably in high-temperature environments has been increasing drastically in applications such as automobile, aerospace, oil exploration, and power electronics. However, wide temperature swings significantly alter the threshold voltage of individual transistors, which adversely affects circuit timing in traditional synchronous designs. Such timing changes may in turn violates the setup and hold times of the clocked components, leading to potential circuit failure. This paper presents a complex digital integrated circuit design methodology using both synchronous and asynchronous logic for comparison in a young silicon carbide (SiC) design process developed by Raytheon UK. Seventeen circuits were designed, fabricated, and tested with results showing correct operation at temperatures at and above the target temperature of 300 °C.


A course designed to train students to read original empirical articles independently and critically is described. The course, conducted as a seminar, uses a case-study approach to help students develop data-reading skills and habits. Students learn to concentrate on the Method and Results sections of articles and to guard against unquestioning acceptance of authors' biases. They discover that limited statistical competence need not be an impediment to independent examination of results. Above all, they gain confidence in their ability, even as novices, to read critically the contributions of published researchers.


The chirality of C-10 in a series of leucodrin-type compounds has been determined by excission of the C-8, C-10, C-11 chain as glyceraldehyde.


Background: Mechanical loading during childhood plays a critical role in normal growth and development of the skeleton. Ground reaction forces (GRFs) may provide a surrogate measure for the strain experienced by bone on landing and at take off. However, there appear to be no paediatric studies that assess GRFs across a variety of loading activities. Objectives: To measure biomechanical variables in commonly performed childhood activities used in an elementary physical education intervention study which augmented bone health in boys and girls. Methods: Maximal GFR, maximal rates of force, and time to maximum force were measured for 12 different jumping activities on a force platform. The jumps measured were drop jumps from 10, 30, and 50 cm, all followed by a plyometric jump, submaximal and maximal jumping jacks, alternating feet jump, counter movement jumps, and side to side jumps over 10 and 20 cm foam barriers. The subjects were 70 children (36 boys and 34 girls), 8.3–11.7 years old. Results: Subjects ranged in height from 128.4 to 172.6 cm and had a mass of 25.0–57.0 kg. Mean (SD) for vertical jump was 24.2 (5.5) cm and 135.2 (16.6) cm for standing long jump. The children engaged in loaded physical activity 5.7 (5.3) hours a week, on average. The highest mean maximal GRFs, normalised for body weight (BW), were generated from the plyometric portion of the drop jumps and the counter movement jump (about 5 times BW) compared with 3.5 times BW for jumping jacks. Similarly, the highest rates of change in force were 514 times BW/s for the drop jump from 10 cm and 493 times BW/s for the counter movement jump. Conclusions: Simple jumps requiring minimal equipment produce GRFs of 3.5–5 times BW and rates of force of around 500 times BW/s. As children appear to attenuate higher impact forces when jumping from increased heights, it cannot be assumed that merely increasing the height of the jump will necessarily "progress" the exercise intervention.


Precipitation characteristics over the Tibetan Plateau are very little known, given the scarcity of reliable and widely distributed ground observation, thus the satellite approach is a valuable choice for large scale precipitation analysis and hydrological cycle studies. However,the satellite perspective undergoes various shortcomings at the different wavelengths used in atmospheric remote sensing. In the microwave spectrum often the high soil emissivity masks or hides the atmospheric signal upwelling from light-moderate precipitation layers, while low and relatively thin precipitating clouds are not well detected in the visible-infrared, because of their low contrast with cold and bright (if snow covered) background.


The primitive achondrites have approximately chondritic bulk chemical composition but achondritic textures. Clayton et al. show that nine of these meteorites, the acapulcoites and the lodranites, have similar oxygen isotopic compositions. The acapulcoites appear to be highly metamorphosed, but undifferentiated meteorites of chondritic composition; whereas, the lodranites appear to have lost a feldspathic partial melt. In order to learn more about metamorphic processes and partial melt removal, we have measured the trace element compositions of constituent phases of a number of primitive achondrites by ion microprobe. We have analyzed two acapulcoites, Acapulco and ALH81261 (paired with ALH77081), and three londranites, Lodran, LEW88280, and MAC88177. In addition, we analyzed LEW88663, which has the bulk composition, mineral chemistry, and oxygen isotopic composition of L-chondrites, but is metal-free and has an achondrite texture; and Divnoe, a plagioclase-poor, olivine-rich primitive achondrite with an oxygen isotopic composition similar to that of the group IAB iron meteorites. These meteorites show a variety of REE patterns in their constituent phases, and there are consistent differences between acapulcoites and lodranites that are consistent with removal of a LREE- and Eu-enriched melt that is apparently responsible for the low plagioclase content of lodranites.


The semiconductor device arrangement includes a first semiconductor element having a load path, each having a load path and a control terminal between the first load terminal and a second load terminal, and a plurality of second semiconductor elements. A plurality of load paths of said plurality of second semiconductor elements are connected in series, and are connected in series with the load path of the first semiconductor element. Control terminals of the second semiconductor element is connected to the load terminal of one other of said second semiconductor element, a control terminal of one of said second semiconductor device, one load terminal of the first semiconductor element It is connected to the. Each of the second semiconductor element comprises at least one device characteristic. At least one element characteristic of at least one of said second semiconductor device is different from the corresponding device characteristics other of said second semiconductor element.


A quadrupol mass spectrometer QMS c 300 developed and manufactured from the workshops of the Institute of Nuclear Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Debrecen, has been cuppled with a 12 l laboratory steril fermenter. The QMS apparatus is provided with 3 different possibilities for sampling. Via a dynamic air input system the discharged air of the fermenter can be analyzed continuously


Abstract In this paper, a miniaturized diplexer designed with two novel one-third-mode substrate integrated resonator (OTMSIR) filters has been presented. The one-third triangular resonator cavity with two transmission zeros (TZs) and two transmission poles is investigated. TZs are implemented by taking cross couplings of lower order modes in this design. The diplexer is then obtained by integrating two different sizes of OTMSIR filters with a common T-junction structure. A X-band diplexer operating at 10 GHz and 11.5 GHz is designed on a substrate with a dielectric constant of 3.55 to verify the above design concept. This novel structure features more compact size, better transmission performance, higher out of band rejection and easier integration compared with other circuits. A good agreement is obtained between the simulations and the measured results.


In this paper, we establish a KAM-theorem about the existenceof invariant tori in non-conservative dynamical systems with finitely differentiable vector fields and multiple degeneracies under the assumption that theintegrable part is finitely differentiable with respect to parameters, instead ofthe usual assumption of analyticity. We prove these results by constructingapproximation and inverse approximation lemmas in which all functions arefinitely differentiable in parameters.


A brief description of the work. It is generally accepted that the student period is themost favorable for the manifestation and development of mental illness, mainly of anon-psychotic level. This determines the relevance of the search for new forms of timelydiagnosis of non-psychotic mental disorders (NPD) amoung young people.The aim of the study – to conduct clinical and anamnestic psychiatric examination ofstudents of higher educational establishments (HEE) in order to determine its role in thecomplex modern diagnosis of non-psychotic mental disorders in this contingent.Material and methods. In compliance with the principles of bioethics and deontology, acomprehensive examination of 1235 students was carried out. Such methods were applied:clinical, clinical-psychopathological, clinical-epidemiological, clinical-anamnestic,experimental-psychological and statistical methods.Results.The students reliably more often consider that they have a good state of their ownhealth 37.69% (group II) and 17.03% (group I), and 21.77% (group I) and 4.68% (groupII) felt unsatisfactory. ) (p <0.05). For the rest of the indicators, regarding the frequencyof visits to doctors, head injuries, colds, somatic diseases, no significant discrepancieswere found in both groups (p> 0.05). Most students of the main group assessed theirhealth as satisfactory 61.20%, and there were no significant differences between men andwomen 65.98% and 59.09%, respectively (p> 0.05).Conclusions. Consequently, as a result of the clinical and anamnestic study of universitystudents, a positive effect of psychoeduction and screening examination on the attitudeof the surveyed to their own health status has been established as a result of the clinicaland anamnestic study of the university students, that ultimately increases the efficiency ofearly diagnosis of NPD.


This research was aimed to figure out any factors having influence related to local government financial report information value. Those investigated factors were human resources quality, IT utilization, local financial control and supervisory system. The data collection were conducted by giving questionnaires to respondents working as civil servants whose duty are related to financial management/accounting function at SKPD consisting head or staff of sub PPK-SKPD and treasurer of SKPD Sampang Regency. The collected data were then analyzed by using SPSS 16.00. The test result showed that the quality of human resources contributed significantly positive to local government financial report information value. In addition, IT utilization also gave significantly positive contribution to the value mentioned previously. Internal control system, another factor, influenced significantly positive to the same value while local financial supervision, the last factor in this research, also significantly incited to the value being discussed in this research.


This paper introduces the SIEMENS LOGO! programmable logical controller.It can not only simplify the circle,lower equipments breakdown rate,but also make the system-developing and serving become very easy with its modularize program language and the text-showing function.


Heat resisting stainless steel and its smelting process are both disclosed herewith. It comprises (wt%): C 0.05-0.10, Si 1.40-2.00, Ce 0.03-0.08, Cr 20.0-22.0, Ni10.0-12.0, N 0.14-0.20, and Mn 0.4-0.80, with impurities of P not more than 0.040 and S 0.030. It is produced by: (1) pouring mother liquid of stainless steel with C (1.2-2.5) into AOD furnace, (2) decarbonizing to C (0.05-0.10), (3) reducing steel liquid and desulfurizing, (4) floss removing and regulating components of steel liquid, (5) pouring out and adding B-iron and Al cakes, (6) feeding Ce wires, (7) regulating temperature and controlling impurities, and (8) continuously casting. It costs low and has good performance at high temperature.


The invention relates to an information processing method, an information processing device and a mobile terminal and belongs to the field of terminal equipment. The method includes receiving a starting instruction used for starting statistical computation upon moving information; whenever a specified NFC (near field communication) label is read, recording the process of reading; acquiring statistic information of the moving information according to the number of times of reading of the NFC label. The device comprises a receiving module, a recording module and a statistic information acquiring module. The mobile terminal comprises a receiver, a transmitter, a processor and a storage. After the mobile terminal starts a statistic function on the moving information, when reading the specified NFC label, the mobile terminal records the process of reading, so that when people do movement like push-ups, the number of times of completion does not need to be recorded personally or by other people, great convenience is brought to the people, and movement enthusiasm of the people is increased.


The interpenetration of two supersonically moving plasmas is affected by both collective modes of oscillation and Coulomb collisions. Two potentially important plasma instabilities, an electrostatic ion two stream and an electromagnetic ion Weibel, are considered and shown to be stabilized if only a small fraction of ion kinetic energy is converted to heat. For low‐density, highly supersonic flows, the mean free path for slowing down (dominated in most cases of interest by ion–ion collisions) can be larger than or comparable to the system size. To develop an understanding of these plasmas, a unique hydrodynamic model has been developed that allows interpenetration but explicitly converts kinetic energy into heat as the ions slow down. The model is applied to the collision of two plasmas created by heating two parallel foils.


The public culture of Australia remains today, as it has for the previous two centuries, riven by disputes over the status of Indigenous people in Australian civil society. At the beginning of the twenty-Ž rst century, as I write, Australian federal, state and territory governments are enthusiasticall y celebrating the Centenary of Federation, which in 1901 forged a 'sovereign' Australian nation out of six formerly disparate British colonies. Yet it is still the case that Indigenous people have neither a clear nor a just place within the ambit of the Australian polity. This fact, and the continuing disputes over the status of Indigenous people within the political discourse of the nation, are fraught hanging threads in the fabric of the contemporary Australian state. Historically, settler Australians have grappled with the problem of what to do about Aborigines. There is a persistent unwillingness to acknowledge that, in Australia, the rights of Indigenous people are inferior to those in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. The modern nation constituted at Federation in 1901 excluded Indigenous people from the state; unable to hold citizenship in their own country until 1967, Aborigines inhabited a political no-man's land for nearly seventy years. Since Federation, public debates about the place of Aboriginal people in the nation have focussed on the problem of how to incorporate Aboriginal people within the framework of the Australian nationstate by various means: assimilation, integration, self-management, self-determination, reconciliation. Throughout the years, and throughout several of the shifts in government policies on 'Aboriginal affairs', the call for a treaty could also be heard. The calls for a treaty go to the heart of the juridical denial, in Australian case law, of the existence of Aboriginal nations in Australia prior to the seizure of the land and consequent dispossession of Indigenous people by the British Crown. This denial has in effect accorded our nations the status of an anomaly among the settler colonial states. Unlike either Canada or New Zealand, as I show here, no treaties or agreements were concluded with Aboriginal people. The monstrous injustice of the seizure of and establishment of dominion over Aboriginal lands by the Crown, and the lack of agreements or treaties, remains a stain on Australian history and the chief obstacle to constructing an honourable place for Indigenous Australians in the modern nation-state . That place must


Response characteristics of the atomic absorption spectrometric detector and dispersion contributions of individual components of the flow injection atomic absorption spectrometry (FI-AAS) system were studied using samples of less than 100 µl. The dispersion coefficient D, half steady-state time t½ and half steady-state volume V½ were used for evaluation. The transport conduits and sample loops in previously reported manifolds were found to be the main sources of sample dispersion. The detector studied had a t½ response time of 0.20 s, which was almost independent of the sample introduction rate. Dispersion effects in the nebulizer-burner system, which influence the response kinetics of the detector, generally showed a very limited contribution of the over-all dispersion of the injected samples. Knotted sample loops, and short transport conduits of 0.35 mm i.d., were used in an improved Fl sample introduction manifold in order to limit dispersion. By injection 45 and 65 µl samples, 90 and 98%, respectively, of the steady-state signal from conventional sample aspiration were achieved. The precision and detection limits obtained by peak height measurement at an optimized carrier flow-rate of 4.2 ml min–1 were comparable to conventional methods and were better than peak area measurements by a factor of 2. An absolute detection limit of 3 ng was obtained for lead in the peak height mode with a 35 µl sample, compared with 80 ng by conventional steady-state measurements. Tolerance of a high content of dissolved solids in samples was improved and demonstrated by repeated determinations (65 µl injections) of 10 µg ml–1 of Pb in saturated lithium borate solution at 360 samples h–1 for 1 h with 0.9% relative standard deviation (RSD), and in 30% m/v NaCl solution at 180 samples h–1 with 2% RSD.


The ECRIS‐Facility at the Ionenstrahllabor ISL (ion beam laboratory) consists of a 14.5 GHz‐ECR‐source, a potential‐variable beamline system and four target areas. It is dedicated to produce ions from H to Xe with charge states from 1 ⩽ q ⩽ 27, in an ion energy range from ∼1 eV to ∼450 keV depending on the effective acceleration potential up to 17 kV. To enable a user‐friendly operation of the facility, especially for guest groups, the control system CODIAN was developed. The CODIAN‐system accesses and protocols all parameters in the various hardware set‐up, saving and restoring the complete settings of all beamline components. The flexibility of the software concept and the wide range of hardware implementations will be demonstrated.


Over recent years, Centrifuges have become more widely accepted in the paper industry as being a modern solution to a mills solids-liquids separation requirements. This paper aims to set out the principle of operation of the modern decanter centrifuge, it's advantages for industrial applications and explain some of it's areas of application within a paper mill giving examples of use and key benefits.


Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is becoming increasingly popular in Middle Eastern countries; it is often used for paediatric medical conditions such as chronic gastrointestinal complaints and failure to thrive. It is also commonly used in patients with chronic hepatic conditions such as cirrhosis and in hepatic transplant patients. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence, types and associated factors of CAM use in children with hepatogastrointestinal disease in Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran. Methods: In a cross-sectional study carried out during September 2013–January 2014, 238 parents of children attending a paediatric gastroenterology and hepatology clinic at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences received a self-administered questionnaire covering associated factors of complementary and alternative medicine use; 210 questionnaires were completed and returned. Results: Complementary and alternative medicine was used by 103 patients (49%); 74 (71.8%)


The current paper presents a methodological framework that is able to evaluate the carrying capacity of protected areas where various human activities, apart from recreation and tourism, take place. The proposed framework converts the energy and product consumption into land required to satisfy those needs (Ecological Footprint) and compares them with the current land uses and available land (Biocapacity), in order to calculate carrying capacity. To facilitate the evaluation, an algorithm that calculates the Ecological Footprint, the Biocapacity, and the Carrying Capacity of the protected area under study by introducing 48 inputs was developed. The inputs were related to the evaluation of individual indicators assessing energy and product consumption of human activities such as households, tertiary sector, municipal buildings, public lighting, private and public transportation, and tourism. A new unit is introduced, the "equivalent person," since the anthropogenic activities within the boundaries of the protected area contribute in a dissimilar way to the total land requirements. The framework is applied, as case study, in the National Park of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (NPEMT), Greece, with a view to validate and improve its applicability. Within the NPEMT, habitats of significant biodiversity and ecological value are in coexistence with extensive human activities (urban, rural, tourist, light industrial). The study area covers up to approximately 73,000 ha and its population is estimated at about 29,000 people. The Carrying Capacity of the NPEMT according to the current consumption patterns was estimated at 39,193 equivalent residents, which was higher than the current equivalent residents (36,960), indicating a potential for tourism development at the NPEMT. The Ecological Footprint of the NPEMT was estimated at 181,324 Gha or 4.9 Gha/perseq, slightly higher than the European mean (4.69 Gha/perseq). Among activities, households and private transportation (with approximately 79% and 10%, respectively), among land use, agriculture, livestock, and CO2 emissions (with approximately 36%, 30%, and 30%, respectively), and among products, beef, fruits/vegetables, and beverages (with approximately 22%, 15%, and 14%, respectively) were the main contributors of the total Ecological Footprint of the NPEMT. The area of the NPEMT is able to meet the needs of its population provided that the consumption patterns will be stable. The results encourage the expansion of tourism development, as the tourism activity within the NPEMT is limited compared to other adjacent domestic destinations.


The electrical installation is a network equipment that generate, use, modify, organize, assign, collect or distribute electricity. Installation of electrical lighting and power in residences, installations in industry, certain household, marine vessels, even the installation of electricity in the area of rice fields. Some real cases encountered in the field on a voltage drop (voltage drop) on the installation of electricity in the area of rice fields, resulting in electrical machinery equipment performance in the area of rice fields are not running optimally and can damage electrical equipment users, in this case the water pump. The length of the pull and great conductors used to be very influential in the installation. To resolve the problem in this case study needs analysis related to the type of conductor, conductor diameter and the addition milai tool that minimizes voltage drop which is still within the tolerance of PLN (10%). The method used is to configure the load and cross-sectional area by using software electrical voltage drop calculations to simulate real network of pumps in the area of rice fields and through the selection of a budget plan is needed. The results showed with the reconfiguration of the load current on one phase of 13.6A and use LVTC aluminum cables with cross-sectional area of 16 mm and the percentage of voltage drop of 3.89% or 204.72 volt low voltage, the cost cable replacement 210m Rp. 1,890,000. To save the budget can also use stavolt servo 5 KVA capacity to stabilize the voltage to 220 volts, with a budget of Rp. 1,750,000.


This article gives an attention to the development, processing and tribological characterization of special semi-finished products, so-called tribo-patches, for integration into complex structures from thermoplastic fiber composites. These patches are made of three different textile reinforced slides on the basis of chemically coupled/compatibilised thermoplastic (PP, PA6 and PEEK)-PTFEcompounds. The performed friction and wear analyses show that these maintenance-free foil bearings possesses very good tribological properties.


The invention discloses a ghosting image eliminating circuit, and relates to the technical field of display. The ghosting image eliminating circuit comprises a signal module, a switch control module and a switch module, wherein an input end of the signal module is connected with an enable signal, and the signal module is used for outputting a first control signal according to the enable signal; the switch control module is used for receiving the first control signal output by the signal module and outputting a second control signal according to the first control signal; and the switch module is used for receiving the second control signal of the switch control module, and the switch module is used for controlling a first electrode to be connected with or disconnected with a second electrode. According to the ghosting image eliminating circuit, the signal module, the switch control module and the switch module are used for controlling a circuit between the first electrode and the second electrode to be connected or disconnected, when a display signal is closed, the first electrode is in short circuit with the second electrode, the charge of the first electrode and the charge of the second electrode are quickly neutralized, the potential of the first electrode is equal to the potential of the second electrode, and thus ghosting image phenomena are eliminated.


Objective: To study the morphological changes in spiral arteries in chronic hypertensive pregnancies, in both antihypertensive treated and non-treated women, and also in women who remain hypertensive only or develop superimposed preeclampsia.Methods: A retrospective study of placental bed biopsies containing at least one spiral artery, taken at cesarean section from 20 women with chronic hypertension. Thirteen of the 20 women were treated with antihypertensive agents and 11 of the 20 women developed superimposed preeclampsia (7 of these were taking antihypertensive drugs). The morphological features of the spiral arteries were reviewed in relation to antihypertensive treatment and to the development of superimposed preeclampsia.Results: Twenty-two decidual and 56 myometrial spiral arteries were studied. In both the antihypertensive treated and the nontreated women, the commonest decidual spiral artery feature was acute atherosis. In the myometrial segments the incidence of disorganization, hyperplasia, an...


This paper describes new developments that have been made in the adaptation of microwave imaging to locate sources of intermodulation product (IMP) generation upon microwave reflectors and related structures, and to predict the directions of IMP radiation. The objective of this study is two fold. Firstly to provide a means of evaluating the IMP performance of reflector antennas and, by locating the sources of IMP present, to show how it might be possible to improve the IMP performance by reducing or eliminating these sources; secondly, the imaging process enables the study of the causes and effects of IMP generation upon reflectors and similar structures. For conventional microwave imaging and antenna metrology, the object under investigation is illuminated at a single frequency and acts as a passive scatterer to this illumination. In the present case however, the object is illuminated by high-power source feeds at at least two different frequencies, inducing an active response in the form of IMP radiation. Where the structure constitutes a distributed source, the relationship of the IMP beams to the illumination may be determined.


The flow entraining capabilities of the Circulation Control Wing high lift system were employed to provide an even stronger STOL potential when synergistically combined with upper surface mounted engines. The resulting configurations generate very high supercirculation lift in addition to a vertical component of the pneumatically deflected engine thrust. A series of small scale wind tunnel tests and full scale static thrust deflection tests are discussed which provide a sufficient data base performance. These tests results show thrust deflections of greater than 90 deg produced pneumatically by nonmoving aerodynamic surfaces, and the ability to maintain constant high lift while varying the propulsive force from high thrust recovery required for short takeoff to high drag generation required for short low speed landings.


The object of this research is the heritage of the leading representatives of Medieval philosophy, while the subject is the philosophical ideas of the prominent representatives of Patristic and Scholastic philosophy upon the nature of evil. The goal of this work lies in giving holistic assessment to the philosophical ideas on the phenomenon of evil in the Middle Ages, and is achieved by solving the following tasks: 1) assessment of the concept of "the first sin" as the foundation for understanding the phenomenon of evil in Medieval philosophy; 2) determination of the genesis of philosophical ideas of the Middle Ages pertaining to the nature of evil in the logical-historical aspect; 3) description of the impact of such ideas upon further development of the Western European philosophy. The scientific novelty consists in comprehensive examination of the Medieval philosophical concepts dedicated to the phenomenon of evil. In Christianity, evil is viewed as essentially historical phenomenon, stemming from the event of the first sin and being conquered by the will of God. Medieval philosophers underlined the need for determining the ontology of evil, which is called to answer the question on the nature of evil and the role of evil in the universe. Medieval philosophers were also concerned with the problem of Theodicy, i.e. why a good God permits the manifestation of evil. The representatives of Patristic and Scholastic philosophy reasoned over the moral aspect in interpretation of evil, trying to correlate the phenomenon of evil with the free will of a human. The ideas of evil as the absence of good prevailed in the Christian philosophy, which viewed the phenomenon of evil as opposite to being, nothingness. Medieval concepts on the phenomenon of evil had a considerable spiritual and sociocultural impact upon the views of the leading representatives of German idealism, who have embraced not so much the assuredness of Medieval Christian philosophers that evil is the absence of good, but the idea on the equality of good and evil as the fundamentals of the universe and the components of human nature.


The City of Minneapolis (Minnesota, U.S.A.) has successfully operated a 725-intersection computerized traffic signal control system for over 20 years. Construction of major commercial facilities in the Minneapolis central business district (CBD) has increased the need for more effective traffic control. In late 1998, the city successfully added an adaptive traffic control module to better manage high traffic demands and flow variations in an important portion of downtown Minneapolis. This was accomplished through the Adaptive Urban Signal Control and Integration (AUSCI) federally-approved project, which was a partnership between the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), the City of Minneapolis, Fortran Traffic Systems Limited, and Image Sensing Systems, Inc. This paper describes the integration activities required to accomplish the adaptive control implementation, illustrates the supporting detection and surveillance features of the system, and summarizes the evaluation activities and results for the AUSCI project. The AUSCI project consists of the installation and test of adaptive system operation in a 56-intersection portion of the CBD area of Minneapolis to enhance the existing T2000C computer system operation. Version 3.1 of the Split Cycle Offset Optimization Technique (SCOOT) adaptive control software has been implemented. Video detection, which includes 138 Autoscope Solo video sensors, supports the increased need for real-time traffic flow information. Control inputs and traffic flow evaluation data are captured from the machine vision system and logged on a data file server located at the system master site. In addition, nine pan/tilt/zoom cameras are providing video surveillance. The city manages and operates the SCOOT/T2000C modified control system. Project operation covers the SCOOT test area and the 669 other computer-controlled intersections. (A*) For the covering abstract see ITRD E110327.


cv.Italian Red) rotted in a drying shed at the Plant Introductionfarm in Pullman, Washington. Softened cloves displayedwater-soaked, tan lesions, often with white myceliumnear the bulb axis. Similar symptoms were noted in thesame cultivar commercially grown in Idaho, 10 km fromPullman, and purchased at a retail outlet in July 2002.In each case, surface-disinfested tissue plated on agar pro-duced a


In the present paper,seven 3-(2-hydroxy-4,6-dimethoxyphenyl)-5-aryl-isoxazolines(2a-2g) were synthesized via the reaction of chalcone derivatives with hydroxylamine.All the synthesized compounds(2a—2g) were characterized by IR,~1H NMR,MS and elemental analysis.The study on the antibacterial activity of these compounds against Escherichia coli,Staphylococcus aureus,Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa indicated that compounds 2d and 2e had a certain inhibitory effect on all select strains while compound 2e showed good antimicrobial properties on E.coli and S.aureus.


intelligent design (ID) are the mathematician and philosopher Professor William Dembski, at the Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and the biochemist Professor Michael Behe, at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Both scientists, who are religious Christians (the relevance of this fact will become clear presently), point to various features of animals that, so they claim, are too complex to have come about through gradual evolution ("irreducible complexity"). They therefore claim that these animals must be the product of an "intelligent designer" who produced these sudden changes. Sudden changes in a species are incompatible with Darwin's theory of gradual evolution for reasons that are explained in every biology textbook. In fact, Darwin himself asserted in his famous book, The Origin of Species, that if abrupt changes had ever occurred in a species "that fact would be fatal to the theory of evolution through natural selection." Since the proponents of ID can point to many examples of abrupt changes in species, it follows, in accordance with Darwin's own words, that the theory of evolution fails to account for the development of the animal kingdom. This, in a nutshell, is the argument of ID. In fact, many of Professor Behe's examples of abrupt changes in species have subsequently been challenged by other scientists. These scientists claim that the indicated features can be explained on the basis of gradual change, and therefore, these features are not a challenge to Darwin's theory.


The results obtained reflect the importance to know the way the generative sprigs form, the technological factors that influence the number of sprigs and, finally, the seed production. The utilization at planting of a reduced seed norm (5 kg/ha) strongly influences the sprigging capacity in red fescue, compared with a bigger norm, respectively 20 kg/ha.


The ultrastructure of the intestinal epithelium has been studied in three species of freshwater fishes, differing from one another in the type of feeding. The pike (a typical predator), the burbot (a predator-facultative benthophage), and the bream (a typical benthophage) were examined. The differences in the condition of epithelial ceils and peculiarities in the structure of the brush border of enterocytes in fishes have been revealed in winter periods. The role of the brush border of enterocytes in the increase of the digestive and transport surface of the intestine in fish is discussed.


Although Estonian monastic buildings have been studied for almost 125 years,1 very little attention has been paid to the living environment of people actually in charge of them – abbots-abbesses or priors. One reason could be due to Bernard of Clairvaux, the compiler of one of the main Cistercian set of rules. In establishing new convents of at least twelve brothers and sisters, he mentions an oratory, a dining hall, a dormitory, a guest-house and a gatehouse in the surrounding wall2, but never the residential quarters of the superior of the monastery. Like other high-class individuals of the time, the superiors also had their own official rooms, which were often located in a separate building, or in bigger monasteries even formed a whole quarter. Compared with the rest of Europe, the Estonian medieval monasteries were rather small, both in size and in number (13). Considering the current level of research, we can determine the precise location of the quarters of the superiors only in the Padise Cistercian monastery,


A comprehensive investigation has been made of the solidification of nitrogen-atomized Al_86Ni_6Y_4.5Co_2La_1.5, using focused ion beam, transmission electron microscopy, and other analytical means. Face-centered cubic Al_2Y was identified to be the leading crystalline phase rather than crystalline Al. A new orthorhombic-structured phase was identified in partially or fully crystallized powder particles. Apart from oxygen, nitrogen was also found to be associated with the leading crystalline phase Al_2Y in which nitrogen exists as substitutional N x ^−. These findings facilitate the basis for understanding the unique aspects of the Al_86Ni_6Y_4.5Co_2La_1.5 bulk metallic glass, including its powder preparation by gas atomization.


This study was done to compare the hospital stay and side effects of two low doses of bupivacaine plus
buprenorphine in saddle block for day care surgeries in patients admitted in shri aurobindo institute of
medical sciences indore. Low dose of bupivacaine drug in saddle anesthesia allows rapid onset and early patient mobilization
and a short stay in hospital particularly in day care surgeries.(1 )Several studies targeting local anaesthetic at specic nerve
roots supplying the surgical eld have demonstrated successful results.(2 )We compare the efcacy and early discharge of
patients given low dose of 4.5mg bupivacaine for saddle blockade in perianal procedures compared with the dose 5.5mg
bupivacaine, both with 30ug buprenorphine in addition for post operative analgesia.(3) Descriptive and inferential statistical
analyses were performed using SPSSversion20.0 software.


To the extent that they are available for medically eligible patients highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) have substantially prolonged the life expectancy and improved the quality of life of people living with HIV. This supplement is devoted to the responses of people living with HIV and describes their experience of living with long termchronic illness. It contains a number of papers detailing findings from research in social sciences recently conducted in France (7) Australia (3) Canada (1) the United Kingdom(1) and the French Caribbean (1) i.e. in countries where HAART have been widely available for about ten years. The thirteen papers examine a number of issues of relevance to living with HIV. The focus ranges from heterosexuals to gay men and there is special concern with the needs and experiences of indigenous and immigrant populations. Several papers address access to and take-up of antiretroviral therapy and health-related quality of life while others examine the day-to-day lives of people living with HIV. These latter papers include discussions of the reproductive desires of those living with HIV their sexual lives and their everyday work and domestic lives. Yet other papers focus on issues related to the disclosure of HIV to others and issues related to stigma and discrimination. (excerpt)


This cohort study uses transition diagrams to estimate the prognosis of skin lesions after biologic, traditional, and systemic therapies among patients with psoriasis in China.


Odor of solvent oil is the main barrier to its utilization in specific industries. In addition to the impurities it contains such as sulphide and nitrogen compounds, components of hydrocarbon series are also one of the main factors that influence the odor of solvent oil. Especially, monocyclic naphthenes are the main causes of odor of solvent oil after removing impurities of sulfite and nitrogen. Alkane is removed from solvent oil by using molecular sieve and through the combination of hydrofining technology with molecular sieve de-waxing technology, which meets the requirements for odor of products.


Development of several emerging nanocomposites based on the immobilization of various amines over high-surface-area flowery silica nanomaterials achieved via a light-driven hydrolysis approach has ...


An automatic digitizer has been developed that employs a microcomputer‐controlled photosensor to detect and digitize analog curves from strip‐chart paper, drawings, photographs of oscilloscope traces, negatives, etc. The control and data acquisition programs are coded in BASIC enabling real‐time interactive control of the system. Movement of the photosensor is accomplished under program control and is selectable in either a curve‐follower or raster‐scan mode. Use of visible‐LED photodetectors permits curves drawn with different colored inks to be discriminated and separately digitized. The system is simple to use and highly versatile with capabilities that extended beyond curve digitization. In the raster‐scan mode, operation of the apparatus as an optical densitometer is possible enabling detailed image analysis and digital image reconstruction to be performed (e.g., quantitative measurement of intensity distribution and mode structure from photographs of laser output beams.)


One of the most essential characteristics that is taken into consideration while dealing with wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is to optimize energy consumption during the transmission of data packets. Routing algorithms must provide optimal solutions to reduce the amount of energy consumed during the process. In wireless sensor networks, the end devices layer comprises of clustering of sensor nodes using ant lion optimization (ALO) which is followed by fog layer consisting of k‐means clustering technique. When nature inspired optimization solution is implemented, the accuracy majorly depends upon complexity and number of parameters. The algorithm proposed majorly focuses on the bottom layer and not on the fog layer. The results of the proposed algorithm were proved to significantly better than the conventional algorithms used for the very same purpose. The proposed algorithm focuses on ALO only on the bottom layer and not on the fog layer. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, the results are compared with the findings of several traditional algorithms, such as energy‐efficient cross‐layer‐sensing clustering method, Distributed and Morphological Operation‐based Data Collection Algorithm, and trust‐based secure routing. Comparative results showed that the proposed algorithm presented significant improvement.


This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Cloud Computing and Services Science, CLOSER 2013, held in Aachen, Germany, in May 2013. The 8 papers presented were selected from 142 paper submissions. The papers cover the following topics: cloud computing fundamentals; services science foundations for cloud computing; cloud computing platforms and applications; and cloud computing enabling technologies.


The rate of return analysis is utilized to evaluate the profitability of exporting human capital from Egypt to the Arab oil-producing states from two alternative perspectives. A preliminary estimate of the internal rate of return from the perspective of the welfare of Egyptian nationals is extremely high in the case of Egyptian teachers in Saudi Arabia. From the alternative perspective of economic development in Egypt, existing gaps in the data make impossible at this time an accurate estimate of the rate of return. However, if Egyptians employed in the Gulf States were required to remit fixed portions of their income to Egypt and significant foreign transfer payments were received from the host countries, the migration of educated Egyptians would almost certainly be profitable from the second perspective as well.


Matching two different images synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and map image (Optical) are challenging tasks because of changes in scene illumination intensity value, low image resolution transparency, distinguishing the background and foreground, change in the observation angle of the object and etc. Image registration plays a crucial role in this area. Where it can find similar features between these two kinds of images that images taken at different times with different angles and perspectives. In this research, image registration is utilized based on the Affine-ORB method to extract features and key points and then find the geolocation of each random point on the real map. To do that the Homography matrix is used to transform features from Optic image to SAR image and inverse. Since we have information about the geolocation of optic center point as a JSON file, could be able to calculate the geolocation of each random point based on WGS84 and Universal Mercator projection. Whereby using map-center point could be able to calculate map coordinates shift in pixels (Δx, Δy) and then calculate shift in meters by using (Scale * shift in pixels), after that converted map center geolocation from degree to global meters and added a shift in meters to a location in meters, finally converted shift location in meters to a degree (WGS84) to obtain a new geolocation value. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed method is quite good and the new geolocation is quite close to real geolocation, with a bit of global shift.


In 2010 Facebook's users shared, on average, one million links every 20 minutes. This ecosystem of information sharing plays an important social role: it builds and reaffi rms social position of engaged individuals. The aim of this article is to study which factors contribute to the amount of feedback received by a particular user. An analysis of 1063 user profi les who shared the same link with their friends is performed (the link pointed at a hit music video). The study shows that older users, women, users with smaller number of friends, less active ones, the ones with smaller "cultural competencies", users less prone to add a comment to a link, and – most of all – the ones who have received less feedback in the past are predestined to receive less social response to their actions.


When the coding rate of the control sequence of images, a high speed search of an optimum quantization step size. A jump binary search section determines the quantization step size Δ skip m time division through each of the image sequence retrieve and use a frame other than [0] frames. A quantization step size correcting section skip , the linear time to generate the bit rate, the quantization step size Δ before a cycle last and then the generated bit rate is approximately determined by the Δ to achieve the target bit rate R of the quantization step size Δ a . A first coding section quantization step size Δ a m of each image sequence [1] frame coding, quantization step size and a prediction section approximation to determine the target bit rate can be achieved by a linear R the quantization step size Δ e . A second coding section quantization step size Δ e coding for all the frames.


Studies were carried out to evaluate the drying behaviour of garlic slices (Avg. 3mm) which were dried with fluidized bed cum microwave hybrid drying technique. Combined drying experiments were carried out with 0.1 % to 0.5 % KMS pretreated garlic slices (250g) at 55°C to 75°C and microwave power level from 810 W to 1350 W. The results showed that the moisture content decreasing trend with drying time irrespective drying air temperature & microwave power level where as no remarkable effect of KMS concentration was observed on drying time. The drying rates were observed to increase with increase in drying air temperature in fluidized bed drying almost showing a falling rate drying. The drying rate first increased then decreased trend irrespective of microwave power levels and KMS concentrations.


Automotive manufacturers have been trying to improve fuel efficiency without compromising the structural integrity and one of the ways to resolve the issue is to expand usage of tailor welded blanks (TWBs) in car body structure. Friction stir welding (FSW) is a joining process, which can be well fitted to obtaining aluminum tailored blanks when compared to other conventional joining processes. This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on TWBs produced by FSW with dissimilar aluminum 5083-H32 and 6061-T6 alloy sheets. The quality of the friction stir welded dissimilar joints was evaluated in terms of metallographic observations, hardness studies and tensile tests. Moreover, the local property changes in the weld regions were observed through digital image correlation (DIC) method. Formability of friction stir welded blanks was evaluated in the biaxial stretch forming mode using the limiting dome height (LDH) test. The failure location and the LDH values of the formed blanks were correlated to the hardness and local properties across the welds. The FE simulation of the LDH tests was also conducted incorporating Yld2000-2d anisotropy constitutive properties of the parent metal and further considering the properties of the non-homogeneous welded zone. The Marciniak-Kuczynski model was applied to predict the failure successfully in the FE model, and the results were validated with experimental data.