As the principal factor affecting global food production, accurate identification of agricultural pests and diseases is crucial in ensuring a sustainable food supply. However, existing methods lack sufficient performance in terms of accuracy and real-time detection of multiple pests and diseases. Accordingly, accurate, efficient, and real-time identification of a wide range of pests and diseases is challenging. To address this, we propose an MCD-Yolov5 with a fusion design that combines multi-layer feature fusion (MLFF), convolutional block attention module CBAM, and detection transformer (DETF). In this model, we optimize the MLFF design to realize the dynamic adjustment of feature weights of the input feature layer to (1) find an appropriate distribution of feature information proportion for the detection task, (2) enhance detection speed by efficiently extracting effective images and effective features through CBAM, and (3) improve feature extraction capability through DETF to compensate for the accuracy problem of multiple pest detection. In addition, we established an unmanned aerial vehicle system (UAV) for crop pest and disease detection to assist in detection and prevention. We validate the performance of the proposed method through an established UAV platform, and five indicators are employed to quantify the performance. MCD-Yolov5 can detect pests and diseases with a large improvement in detection accuracy and detection efficiency, obtaining an 88.12% accuracy. The proposed method and system provide an idea for the effective identification of pests and diseases.


Community-based forestry management is emerging as an important component of forest policies in the developing world. Using the Philippines as a case study this article critically examines the way in which community-based forestry is constructed and understood among government policy makers. The author suggests that the new policy discourse of community based forestry policy in the Philippines is still shaped by efforts to maintain centralized control over forest management and a political economy orientated towards commercial timber production using the principles of "scientific management". While timber production and the technical aspects of forest management are emphasized social and environmental considerations remain neglected. (authors)


Abstract : The program involved the effect on joints when exposed to low-frequency thermal cycling and a definition of the metallurgical cracking mechanism. Four solder alloys (50Sn-50Pb, 63Sn-37Pb, 70Sn-30Pb, and 40Sn-60Pb) were exposed to low-frequency thermal cycles. Sample soldered joints on printed circuit boards were installed in an environmental test chamber and subjected to thermal cycling. An exhaustive study was performed on the tested soldered joints to detect any metallurgical changes resulting from testing and to define the metallurgical mechanism of solder failure. Examinations consisted of bright-light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy on soldered fillet faces, joint cross-sections, and fractured surfaces.


Synopsis Experiments were performed, using monopolar electrical stimulation of the diencephalon of the fowl (Gallus domesticus L.), to investigate the tongue, mandible and pharyngeal movements elicited. Responses resembling those associated with aversion to food were obtained when the anterior diencephalon was stimulated in parts of the lateral forebrain bundle. A similar response was elicited when sites found in the thalamus of the posterior diencephalon were stimulated. The sites involved were in the stratum cellulare externum, nucleus subrotundus, nucleus ovoidalis and the adjacent region.


The outbreak of pneumonia that broke out in Wuhan, in December 2019, later rapidly spread to the rest of the world. This was identified as Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) [officially renamed severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)] caused by a zoonotic beta Coronavirus entitled 2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The aim of this study was to summarize the biological features of SARSCoV-2, its clinical features and the possible antiviral effect of honey against SARS-CoV-2. For this purpose, recently published literature, official documents and selected up-to-date preprint studies were reviewed. The initial source of SARS-CoV-2 is still unknown but a possible animal-to-human transmission is indicated. Human spread of SARS-CoV-2 is due to droplet spread. The infected individual may present as symptomatic or asymptomatic, this varies from patient to patient mainly depending upon his/her immunity. To combat the current pandemic various modalities are under study, an important and harmless way of treatment might be the use of honey. Various studies have demonstrated antiviral effects of honey. Propolis and honey have shown promising anti-viral effect against SARS-CoV-2. Thus, the combined effect of honey and its products might open a door for developing a safe and highly efficient natural drug against COVID-19infection.


Evidence is presented that endocytosis is involved in the transport to the cytosol of the cytotoxin from Shigella dysenteriae 1, Shiga toxin, which acts by removal of a single adenine residue in 28-S ribosomal RNA. Inhibition of endocytosis by ATP depletion of the cells prevented toxin uptake. Exposure of HeLa $3 and Vero cells to toxin at low extracellular pH, where translocation to the cytosol, but not endocytosis is inhibited, allowed the toxin to accumulate in a compartment where it was protected against antibodies to the toxin. Upon transfer of the cells to normal medium endocytosed toxin entered the cytosol. Electron microscopical studies of cells exposed at 0°C to a toxin-horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugate, or to unconjugated toxin followed by horse antitoxin antibodies and then protein G-gold, revealed that the Shiga toxin binding sites were randomly distributed on the cell surface, without any preference to, for example, coated pits. In contrast, when cells were exposed to toxin at 37°C, the binding sites were preferentially localized in coated pits. The Shiga-HRP conjugate was also seen in endosomes, lysosomes, and in the Golgi region. Endocytosis by the coated pit/coated vesicle pathway was selectively inhibited by acidification of the cytosol. Under these conditions, both the uptake of toxin-HRP conjugates and intoxication of the cells were inhibited. Evidence from the literature as well as our own results suggest that Shiga toxin binding sites are glycolipids. Thus, Shiga toxin appears to be the first example of a lipid-binding ligand that is endocytosed from coated pits. URING recent years endocytic uptake of a large number of ligands has been studied. Most of these ligands are bound to protein receptors, and they are usually taken up by the coated pit/coated vesicle pathway (5, 13, 15, 21, 22, 32, 34). However, there has been an ongoing discussion as to whether alternative pathways of endocytosis also exist. Thus, ultrastructural data indicated that the glycolipid-binding toxins, cholera toxin and tetanus toxin (24, 46), as well as monoclonal antibodies directed against a cell surface glycolipid (45) are endocytosed from uncoated areas of the membrane. Furthermore, fluid-phase endocytosis appeared to continue even when receptor-mediated endocytosis was inhibited by high osmolarity in the medium (4). Also, the toxic protein ricin, which binds not only to glycoproteins, but also to glycolipids with terminal galactose residues (for review, see reference 28), continued to be taken up when endocytosis from coated pits was blocked by potassium depletion of the cells (25), or by acidification of the cytosol (37, 38). Similar results were obtained with human rhinovirus 2 (20). Also insulin, which binds to protein receptors, has been reported to be endocytosed from uncoated areas of the membrane in some cell types (11, 12, 42), suggesting that the alternative pathway of endocytosis is not limited to ligands binding to glycolipids. Shiga toxin is an extremely toxic protein produced by Shigella dysenteriae 1, which is considered the most virulent agent of bacillary dysentery (8, 27, 51). Shiga-like toxins produced by Escherichia coli are associated with hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome (17, 26). Shiga toxin consists of an enzymatically active A-chain and a pentameric B-subunit that binds to glycolipids containing the Gala 1-4 Gal sequence (3, 16, 18, 19). The A-chain penetrates to the cytosol and inactivates the 60-S ribosomal subunits (33) by depurination of a single adenosine residue in 28-S RNA (9). It has been assumed that endocytosis is involved in the penetration of the toxin to the cytosol (28, 35). In the present paper we present evidence that this is the case and that the endocytosis occurs by the coated pit/coated vesicle pathway despite the glycolipid nature of the Shiga toxin receptor. Materials and Methods


Macroeconomic research often relies on structural vector autoregressions to uncover empirical regularities. Critics argue the method goes awry due to lag truncation: short lag-lengths imply a poor approximation to DSGE-models. Empirically, short lag-length is deemed necessary as increased parametrization induces excessive uncertainty. The paper shows that this argument is incomplete. Longer lag-length simultaneously reduces misspecification, which in turn reduces variance. For data generated by frontier DSGE-models long-lag VARs are feasible, reduce bias and variance, and have better coverage. Thus, contrary to conventional wisdom, the trivial solution to the critique actually works.


Industrial progress is in large measure a function of the scientific understandings inherent in a given body of technology. It is, of course, true that technology can be developed empirically and much of it has been. It is also true, however, that technology based on scientific understandings is in practically every instance more effective. If only empiricism is involved there inevitably comes a time when technological progress ceases. It is for this reason that scientific studies in the coatings industry must be continually encouraged.


In this paper, a novel method is proposed for the miniaturization of a multi-band microstrip antennas by cutting a helical slot pattern on the patches. In this way, the current paths are cut by the slots and become quite long, which eventually lead to the drastic miniaturization of antenna, by up to 50 times. The proposed antenna radiates at five resonance frequencies in the band 0.3–2.5 GHz, which are all lower than those of a solid patch without any slots. The radiation patterns of the antennas at these frequencies are stable. A multilayer antenna structure with a feed in the form of a probe and L-shaped metallic strips are proposed to counter the effect of inductive loadings of the slots and thus achieve a wideband input impedance matching.


Lepidophyma Duméril, 1851 is the most diverse genus among the nocturnal lizards, with 23 species distributed from the Atlantic and Pacific slopes of Mexico southeast into Panama. Currently, the available information on the ecology and distribution of these species is limited mainly due to their saxicolous habits. Here we present five new state records of Lepidophyma zongolicum from Atoyac, a locality in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. These new data expand the geographic range of this species by 48 km from its nearest previously known occurrence.


Current social demands predetermine actualization of topical issues, increasing interest of lawyers to the sphere of education in modern Russia. Today education is the factor that outlines the social status of a person. On the one hand, the equal conditions for getting education guaranteed by the legislation, along with the establishment of the compulsory education level, contribute to the formation of common starting opportunities for all citizens, on the other hand, education affects the variety of social roles and determines social positions of individuals. Today, education is recognized as one of the priority national projects, which entails activation of organizational, standard-setting and financial activities of the state in terms of improving the conditions for obtaining education. The objective of the work is to study the methods for maintaining the high level of legal education in modern Russia. With the use of the historical, comparative-legal and systemic methods, topical issues of teaching the constitutional law of Russia and foreign countries are analyzed, conditionally subdividing the identified problems into the essential and the formal ones and offering possible ways for their solution.


t he steady dispersion of people and jobs across core cities, suburbs, and exurbs has contributed to more fragmented lifestyles, with people often living in one neighborhood, working in another, and shopping and recreating in another. There are myriad reasons for this fragmentation of land use. They include the initial drivers of suburbanization, such as the GI Bill, which made mortgages cheaper in the suburbs (at least for those who weren't redlined out), the separation of land uses in response to contamination by industry in the mid-20th century, the expansion of the highway system and the attendant white flight to the suburbs, and the relative ease of building on greenfields versus more complicated infill development in existing urbanized areas. Today, the quality of people's lives is increasingly influenced by the time and resources it takes to get where they need to go throughout the day and their


Arsenic-resistant Syphilis.-H. MACCORMAC, C.B.E., M.D. (President). These two patients, a man and a woman, illustrate in an unusually complete way the theory of the existence of a special type of Spirochata pallida which is relatively resistant to the arsenical drugs, and whose resistant qualities are retained when the spirochate is transmitted from one individual to another. The woman is aged 28 and is single. She states that she first noticed an eruption on the palms in December 1934. I saw her at Middlesex Hospital in January 1935. She had then an extensive polymorphous eruption, a florid secondary syphilide. with a strongly positive Wassermann reaction. Treatment with novargenobillon was at once begun. She received seven intravenous injections (total 3.9 grm.); developed vomiting and pains in the legs, upon which the arsenic was discontinued. Since then she has received ten injections of bismuth. In spite of this intensive treatment, extending over seventeen weeks, the eruption on the arms and face became more pronounced and more extensive than it was originally, indeed it has behaved exactly as if the patient had been untreated. The second patient, a man aged 26, cohabited with the first patient and contracted syphilis from her. He observed a genital sore in December. When he attended the hospital in January, his condition was clinically primary syphilis, although both the spirocha3te and the Wassermann tests were negative. Treatment was begun at once with ten intravenous injections of novarsenobillon. After the eighth injection a characteristic secondary syphilide appeared on the forehead. The Wassermann reaction was strongly positive at the end of February. Members of this Section are aware of the work of Drake and Thompson, who were the first in this country to direct attention to the arsenic-resistant group of spirochaetes, and their observations agree with those of many continental dermatologists. The two cases I have brought to-day have a special, and I believe unusual, bearing upon this problem, because they are partner cases showing, first, the reaction of the arsenic-resistant spirochete, and secondly, that the acquired quality is transmissible-i.e. the type breeds true. I remember during the War discussing, in France, a problem of syphilis with the late Sir John Rose Bradford: he mentioned the curious fact that shrimps were liable to a venereal disease, and that when thus infected they became luminous. If we had some similar way of distinguishing people with this resistant spirochwete it would be an advantage, for in this form it presents a new problem with which we are unable at present to cope, except, as I believe, in the use of mercury, preferably by inunction.


The Directive 2002/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 amending Council Directive 76/207/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions (hereafter the New Equal Treatment Directive and the Equal Treatment Directive, respectively) is due for implementation by 5 October 2005.


In this review we present diseases associated with hereditary polyposis syndromes. In addition to the known extracolonic manifestations of the so-called Gardner's syndrome, other important diseases are carcinomas of the thyroid and of the small bowel and bile duct adenoma. The incidence of these diseases is discussed.


It is indicated that ferrimagnetic minerals dominate the magnetic properties of surface siliceous sediments in the Clarion-Clipperton (C—C) zone, northeastern equatorial Pacific. The ferrimagnetic minerals are mainly single domain (SD) an d superparamagentic(SP) in size. Magnetic parameters, together with TEM analysis , reveal the presence of bacterial magnetite, which undergoes dissolution to var ying extent. Such a phenomena is indicative of an active iron cycle involving mi crobes. Imperfect anti-ferromagnetic minerals show a higher content in the sed iments of the western region of C—C zone, and increase toward high latitude. It is suggested that, with increased distance from the equator, sediments become m ore oxidized.


Online module concentrates on mining user package and recommending personalized POI sequence according to user package. we advise a Topical Package Model learning approach to instantly mine user travel interest from two social networking, community-contributed photos and travelogues. Travelogue websites offer wealthy descriptions about landmarks and traveling experience compiled by users. We advise Topical Package Model approach to learn user's and route's travel attributes. It bridges the space of user interest and routes attributes. We make use of the complementary of two big social networking to create topical package space. We combine user topical interest and also the cost, time, season distribution of every subject to mine user's consumption capacity, preferred visiting some time and season. After user package mining, we rank famous routes through calculating user package and routes package. Within our paper, we construct the topical package space through the mixture of two social networking: travelogues and community-lead photos. The best column shows the rank of topics while using group of Trip Advisor with corresponding letter a, b, c, d and e. It shows that the data instantly minded is corresponding with human evaluation in the given image albums. To create topical package space, travelogues are utilized to mine representative tags, distribution of cost and visiting duration of each subject, while community-contributed photos are utilized to mine distribution of visiting duration of each subject.


Background: Adhesive intestinal obstruction is a common surgical emergency. Controversies exist in its management. This study was designed to assess the outcome of conservative treatment of adhesive small bowel obstruction. Methods: This descriptive study was carried out at Saidu Teaching Hospital Swat from July 2007 to June 2010. Patients who presented to Department of Surgery with adhesive small bowl obstruction were included in the study. Initially all patients were managed by intravenous hydration and nasogastric tube decompression. Surgical intervention was determined on the presence of one or more toxic signs e.g. fever, leukocytosis, intractable pain, and peritonitis or if obstruction did not resolve spontaneously in four days. Patients were followed-up for six months. Results: Seventy-three adult patients with adhesive small bowel obstruction were studied. Male to female ratio was 1:1 and age range 16-68 years. Out of these 52(71.23%) patients responded to conservative treatment and 21(28.76%) required surgical intervention. Of these 21 patients, 14(66.66%) needed adhesion lysis only while 6(28.5%) required gut resection. Median hospital stay for conservative group was 3.69 days (range 3-8 days) while in operative group 8.76 days (range 7-15 days). Conclusion: Most patients with adhesive small bowel obstruction will benefit from conservative treatment as the resolution rate is high (71%).


A cash-lite economy is an economy whereby there is a reduction in the high usage/volume of cash in circulation. It encourages the use of electronic payment channels and reduces the cost of cash production and transportation. This paper focuses on preventing daily over-limit cash transactions as a security measure, to enforce the Nigeria Apex Bank cash-lite policy, on daily raw cash transaction limits and the associated penalties. This paper presents a remedy to stabilize and achieve the purpose of the new cash-lite policy in the Nigerian economy. At the point of every transaction, it checks for the existence of any previous transaction on that particular day, especially transaction(s) of the same type (that is withdrawals or deposits) and the similarity between the account owner's particulars using Bayes' theorem, to calculate the P(X). If the P(X) >= 0.5 that is calculated result, it will conclude that those earlier transactions having the P(X)>=0.5 has been carried out by the same person who is about to transact at the transaction point. Then, it later calculates the total amount of transact(s) for that day. If the calculated total transaction is beyond the set daily limit, it will subtract the daily limit from the total transaction and calculates the excess charges on individual account using 2% for cash deposits, 3% for cash withdrawal and on corporate account using 3% for cash deposits and 5% for cash withdrawal.


A 15.7% anisotropy in the superconducting energy gap has been measured by electron tunneling into single crystals of rhenium, using thin carbon films as the tunneling barrier to form Re-C-In sandwiches. The energy-gap behavior vs temperature is BCS-like. The anisotropy agrees with ultrasonic measurements of other hcp metals and suggests that phonon dispersion plays a dominating role in the gap behavior. However, gap values determined from multiparticle tunneling data exhibited reduced gap magnitudes and a dissimilar crystallographic behavior.


This present study explains about syntactiv verb of Banjar Hulu language: Review of Grammatical Functions. Banjar Language is a language used by the people of Indragiri Hilir Regency, Riau which has been neglected. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct the research of Banjar Hulu language to maintain that language especially the characteristics of verb. This study used descriptive method with data analysis focus on the form and function of verbs in sentences and relate them to distribution. The expected result of this research is the publication in unaccredited scientific journals of TKT 3. There were two findings of this study; first, transitive verb of Banjar Hulu language dominated by prefixes ma-, man-, and maN-kan. Based on these finding was found another transitive verb such ekatransitive, dwitransitive, and semitransitive. Second, intransitive verb Banjar Hulu language a lot of dominated by prefixes; ta-, ma-, and ba-.


The 6a,7b-dihydroxyvouacapan-17b-oic acid (1) and methyl 6a,7b-dihydroxyvouacapan-17b-oate (2) are natural products isolated from the hexane extract of Pterodon polygalaeflorus Benth fruits. Here we describe the preparation and characterization by infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and by elemental analysis of the novel derivative methyl 6a,7b-thiocarbonyldioxyvouacapan-17b-oate (5), from the ester 2. The structure of compound 5 was determined by X-ray diffraction. At the concentration of 100 ppm, this compound inhibited the radicle growth of Sorgum bicolor L. (-28%) and showed no significant effect on Cucumis sativus L..


Carbon monoxide (CO) isotopes are commonly used as tracers of the column density. The most abundant CO isotope, 12CO, is usually optically thick and so provides only a lower limit for the column density. In these regions, less abundant isotopes, such as 13CO are observed. When these 13CO observations are then used to infer 12CO column densities, a uniform 12CO/13CO isotope ratio is often adopted. A similar approximation is frequently made when comparing results from cloud simulations including chemistry to observations. In this work, we examine the impact of selective photodissociation and chemical fractionation on the 12CO/13CO isotopic ratio, with the aim of testing the validity of a uniform scaling between 12CO and 13CO. We follow the coupled chemical, thermal and dynamical evolution of isolated molecular clouds with several different metallicities, radiation fields and initial densities, and then post-process them with line radiative transfer in order to obtain maps of the emergent 13CO emission. We find that the CO isotope ratio shows a close correlation to both the 12CO and the 13CO column densities. The ratio varies within a factor of 2-3 with the CO isotope column density. When a uniform ratio is assumed, this results in up to 60 per cent error in 12CO column density estimates derived from observed 13CO column density. The same assumption results in up to 50 per cent difference in the intensity of 13CO emission derived from 12CO number density distributions. We show that this effect can be corrected by the use of a fitting formula derived from our simulations. The proposed formula is consistent with millimetre-wavelength measurements of the CO isotope ratio, but underestimates the ratios from ultraviolet absorption data. The fitting formula nevertheless allows us to obtain more accurate 13CO emission maps from simulations and to estimate the isotope ratio from 13CO observations.


An 18-year-old man presented with a 2-month history of an itchy, dry, scaly rash affecting his forearms and face, but sparing the hands. The rash followed an episode of dramatic periorbital oedema, necessitating an overnight hospital stay and treatment with oral steroids. The subsequent rash settled with topical steroids and emollients. The eruption began 8 weeks after starting work as a gravestone repairer. He described his work as using a butane burner to remove any debris or lichen from the surface of broken gravestones, and then using a 2-part ER to glue the 2 pieces of the gravestone together. The rash occurred during a week of carrying out this work and cleared when he stayed away from work. A working diagnosis was considered of either an ACD to the ER or possibly an airborne ACD to the burnt off gravestone lichens. He was patch tested to the British Contact Dermatitis Society standard, medicament, facial, plant, and ER series, as well as to scrapings of the gravestone lichens. He tested positive to ER (D2þ, D4þ) only, with no reaction to the lichens. On return to work, despite avoiding direct contact with ER, he developed a similar rash as before on his eyelids, face, and forearms. On direct questioning, he admitted to burning off excess glue on the gravestones that would have exposed him to airborne ER. At work he wore a T-shirt and wrist-length protective gloves, which was consistent with the distribution of his rash being airborne ACD. He was given advice on avoiding this form of exposure in the future.


This paper presents a wireline communication receiver with merged continuous-time linear equalizer (CTLE) and decision feedback equalizer (DFE) summer circuit. The merged circuit removes the traditional CTLE and merge it into the following DFE summer to builds linear equalization so as to significantly reduce the receiver power consumption. Analysis for the conventional equalizer and proposed circuit are presented. The proposed circuit architecture is experimentally verified at a 10 Gb/s wireline receiver with 0.45 mW/Gb/s power efficiency.


Due to limited data, we aimed to develop and validate a computed tomography (CT)‐based scoring system for identifying those parapneumonic effusions (PPEs) requiring drainage.


Because of both the energy costs and the slowness of the reactions of the nitrogenase complex compared with those involving some form of combined nitrogen (oxidised or reduced), we argue that the evolution of nitrogen-fixing organisms required an environment which was very limited in combined nitrogen. This is thought to have occurred after phototrophy evolved, but before water was used as a hydrogen donor (and therefore oxygen was present in the atmosphere). After oxygenic photosynthesis evolved, the need for a high level of biological nitrogen-fixation remained, since abiotic inputs were insufficient to keep pace with the rapidly evolving biomass (flora and fauna). Symbiotic fixation probably first evolved in the form of casual associations between cyanobacteria and most other groups of plants. By inhabiting the sporophytic generation of evolving land plants (cycads in particular), protection against nitrogenase-inactivating oxygen and a more desiccating environment was achieved simultaneously. We envisage nodulated plants arising by the transfer of nif genes into tumour-forming bacteria. In the case of legumes, these would be ancestors of extant agrobacteria, which gain entry into their hosts via wounds. Co-evolution of symbionts from nitrogen-fixing tumours has taken several routes, leading to extant nodules differing in mode of infection, structure and physiology. Evolution towards optimisation of oxygen usage is continuing. Nitrogen-fixing symbiosis in animal systems is only advantageous in specialised ecological niches in which wood is the sole dietary intake. In the case of shipworms, the symbiosis has many of the advanced features associated with nitrogen fixing root nodules.


In order to improve the late-time stability of the marching-on-in time( M OT) method,the approximate prolate spheroidal w ave functions( APSWFs) are proposed and used as the temporal basis functions. Unfortunately,the system derived from these temporal basis functions is noncausal. To overcome this problem,the extrapolation scheme should be included to recover the possibility of time marching. Then,in the numerical simulations of multi antennas,several important parameters such as the transient surface current responses,return-loss,coupling coefficients,and directivities are obtained.Based on these parameters,the analysis of the radiation and mutual coupling problems is performed. M oreover,numerical results also demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.


Method for manufacturing a floating gate having a rounded structure, and discloses a method of manufacturing a nonvolatile memory device using the same. The above-described method includes the step of after forming a substrate including a trench arranged between the floating gate to expose the upper surface of the floating gate and the buried oxide in the trench, forming an isolation film that is present in the trench. Subsequently, a step of after the floating gate is a so as to have a structure protruding than the device isolation film first etching the isolation film to a desired depth by isotropic etching to the protruding floating gate rounding the edges of the floating gate. A nonvolatile memory device formed in the above-described method does not cause the electric field concentration on the edge of the floating gate is formed as a dielectric film of uniform thickness of the coupling it does not cause local variation of Lyngby.


The gelation of aqueous solutions containing syndiotacticity rich poly(vinyl alcohol) (s-PVA) and Congo red was studied. The gelation occurred even at 40°C, different from aqueous solutions containing atactic PVA (a-PVA) and Congo red. The melting point of gels, which were prepared from the solutions of s-PVA concentration of 2.5% and Congo red concentration of 0.1%, was around 90°C. The size of the junction points in s-PVA/Congo red hydrogels is larger than that of a-PVA/Congo red hydrogels at each fixed Congo red concentration. Syndiotactic sequence length plays an important role in gelation. The melting points and shear moduli of the gels prepared from dilute polymer solution at 0–40°C changed through a maximum at around 0.1–0.3% of Congo red concentration and also a maximum at around 1.5%, identical to results reported already for a-PVA/Congo red hydrogel prepared at 20°C. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 632–637, 2002


Tax exemption plays an important role in the sustainability of charitable organizations (COs). The 2016 Charity Law of China provides stronger tax incentives for charity donations. Using 767 observations of Chinese charitable foundations (CFs) during 2010–2018 from the China Foundation Center database and manually collected tax-exempt status data, this study applies multivariate logistic regression analysis to examine the association between tax-exempt status and related key factors, such as transparency and donation dependency. This study found that a one-point increase in the transparency score of a CF is associated with a 3.9 percentage points higher likelihood of having at least one type of tax-exempt qualification (OR = 1.039, p < 0.01). There is in general a significantly positive association between tax-exempt status and donation dependency of CFs in China. After 2016, the CFs responded actively to the tax incentive provided by the Charity Law, which in return requires a higher level of transparency. These results suggest that taxation under the legal system may effectively function to promote the sustainability of charity foundations in China in the long run. Further studies are needed to explore in-depth why CFs with advanced tax-exempt qualifications concentrate in Beijing and Shanghai.


Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to examine what it means for students with extensive support needs (ESN) to have opportunities to learn (OTL), why OTL is inexplicably tied to inclusive practices, and the in-school and post-school outcomes when students have OTL. Research will be provided that supports positive in-school and post-school outcomes, when students are provided equitable learning opportunities in inclusive contexts. Given the difference in possible outcomes for students with ESN when they do and do not have OTL, excluding them from general education contexts, where they have the best access to the intended and enacted curricula, is both unethical and limiting to society as a whole.


Swelling data on neutron-irradiated simple Fe-Cr-Mn and Fe-Mn alloys, as well as commercial Fe-Cr-Mn base alloys are now becoming available at exposure levels approaching 50 dpa. The swelling rate decreases from the approx.1%/dpa found at lower exposures, probably due to the extensive formation of ferritic phases. As expected, commercial alloys swell less than the simple alloys.


The article is a critical analysis of the newly introduced off ence of particularly au-dacious theft (Article 278a § 1 of the Criminal Code), which constitutes a return to the regulation contained in the penal code of 1969 in force in the Polish People's Republic. Executive features are defi ned in the glossary of statutory expressions in Article 115 § 9a of the Penal Code, which, however, does not change the fact that these signs were formulated in a judgemental and blurred way. Notwithstanding this, such a signifi cant diff erentiation of criminal liability by returning to the solutions of the 1969 Code is un-justifi ed.


CNN's coverage of Stanford's research into a "water windfall" beneath California's Central Valley on June 28 brought the subject of an editorial, first published in the May–June 2007 edition of Groundwater , into the public discourse through the power of the mainstream media. Written by NGWA's Director of Science and Technology William M. Alley, Ph.D., who at the time was working for the U.S. Geological Survey, the editorial called attention to the large amount of groundwater in storage, but also cautioned groundwater in storage should be viewed with caution. Efforts to link groundwater in storage with groundwater availability may be highly misleading unless the full effects of groundwater development are considered in the analysis. Alley also submitted an op-ed to the Los Angeles Times on July 1, "No 'Water Windfall' for California." CNN's story closed by echoing these same concerns. "The discovery is not a panacea, however. Drilling for water so deep is expensive and can be hazardous."


To many observers, Swiss democracy seems to be complicated and a diffi cult to understand labyrinth of political institutions that directly involve citizens in the political decision making process. Swiss electoral law enables voters to participate in elections and referendums using one of three instruments: traditional voting (in polling stations), postal voting or electronic voting. Th e main thesis of this paper is the predication of how alternative methods of voting, postal voting and e-voting, change the way that Switzerland's direct democracy functions. An analysis of Switzerland's experiences in the use of alternative voting methods in decision-making at federal, cantonal and local levels of the state, seems to be a very interesting project and one worthy of scientifi c exploration.


SUMMARY This paper seeks to understand the rationale behind the practice of remittances and to examine its impact on the living standards and conditions of Ghanaian remitters living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This study investigates how remitters are able to sustain their lifestyles in a foreign country, and the sacrifices and compro mises made in terms of their dual commitment to support families in Ghana and in the Netherlands. A qualitative approach using in-depth interviews was adopted in order to give research participants an opportunity to talk broadly about their lived experiences as Ghanaians residing in a foreign country and the challenges associated with sending remittances. Push factors such as political unrest, poverty, low income, and unemployment influenced movement out of Ghana. A better quality of life (bet ter paying jobs, improved qualifications) was the major pull factor that attracted mi grants to the Netherlands. Remittances from migrants in the Netherlands supported the welfare of many households in Ghana, especially in terms of improved standards of living and better access to health care and education. Sending remittances is not "a feel good gesture" only, but an obligation to the family members back in Ghana. This study shows that there were major compromises and trade-offs in terms of migrant lifestyles because of their dual commitments.


The F‐box protein Frp1 is required for pathogenicity of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici towards tomato. The Δfrp1 mutant is deficient in expression of genes for cell wall‐degrading enzymes (CWDEs) and ICL1, encoding a key enzyme for the assimilation of C2 carbon sources. An explanation for the inability of the Δfrp1 mutant to express these genes may be found in constitutive carbon catabolite repression. Cre1 is the transcriptional repressor in filamentous fungi known to repress several CWDE genes and other genes required for assimilation of non‐sugar carbon sources. Here, we demonstrate that Frp1 and Cre1 both control the repression/derepression state of such genes. The replacement of CRE1 with GST::CRE1 resulted in a derepressed phenotype in wild‐type background, suggesting that this replacement affects Cre1 function. Strikingly, in the Δfrp1 mutant the replacement of CRE1 with GST::CRE1 restored pathogenicity, growth on ethanol and expression of ICL1 and CWDE genes. A GFP–Cre1 fusion protein is not degraded nor exported out of the nucleus during growth on ethanol, a derepressing carbon source, suggesting that Cre1 is not likely a target of Frp1 for degradation by the proteasome. We conclude that both proteins function together to regulate transcription of carbon source utilization genes.


Machine learning solutions usually consider that the train and test data has the same probabilistic distribution, that is, the data is stationary. However, in streaming scenarios, data distribution generally change through the time, that is, the data is non-stationary. The main challenge in such online environment is the model adaptation for the constant drifts in data distribution. Besides, other important restriction may happen in online scenarios: the extreme latency to verify the labels. Worth to mention that the incremental drift assumption is that class distributions overlap at subsequent time steps. Hence, the core region of data distribution have significant overlap with incoming data. Therefore, selecting samples from these core regions helps to retain the most important instances that represent the new distribution. This selection is denominated core support extraction (CSE). Thus, we present a study about density-based algorithms applied in non-stationary environments. We compared KDE, GMM and two variations of DBSCAN against single semi-supervised approaches. We validated these approaches in seventeen synthetic datasets and a real one, showing the strengths and weaknesses of these CSE methods through many metrics. We show that a semi-supervised classifier is improved up to 68% on a real dataset when it is applied along with a density-based CSE algorithm. The results between KDE and GMM, as CSE methods, were close but the approach using KDE is more practical due to having less parameters.


During the corona pandemic, governments of all countries appealed strongly to the trust of their populations by implementing drastic social and economic measures to prevent the spread of the virus. This study seeks to understand mechanisms that influence the level of institutional trust at the time of the corona pandemic. We are specifically interested in how three explanatory factors (socioeconomic status, experienced economic insecurity and dissatisfaction with the implemented corona policies) can, in mutual association, explain differences in institutional trust. This study is based on data from a large-scale panel survey on the social impact of COVID-19, carried out by Kieskompas research agency (N=22,696). Using a serial mediation analysis, we show that SES has both a direct and indirect effect on the level of institutional trust. People with higher SES experience less economic insecurity and have less dissatisfaction with the corona policies and, partly as a result of this, stronger institutional trust. It is also true that economic insecurity increases dissatisfaction with the corona policies and, partly as a result of this, weakens the level of trust.


The article is devoted to topical issues of post1diploma training of General practitioner–family doctor, what to provide highly qualified expertise in the new conditions of organizational changes of the health care system of Ukraine towards the European choice. Objective: based on the current state of normative1legal documents to propose to the General practitioner–family doctor poshagovyi algorithm of action, about the direction of the patient (disabled) on medical-social expert Commission (msec) to address health and social issues. Materials and methods. To address this goal the study used a number of orders of the Ministry of health of Ukraine No 378 from 10.06.2007, No 110 dated 14.02.2012 and No 72 dated 23.02.2001, governing the conduct and direction on MSEK patients with signs of disability and disabled people to resolve health and social issues, including the definition of disability, prolongation of a leaf of invalidity and recommendations on medical, social, vocational and labour rehabilitation. Results. According to the modern requirements of medical-sanitary aid to the population, the family doctor should be prepared to face a number of expert, medical1social and rehabilitation issues. Use by General practitioner–family physician of the proposed algorithm of action will lead to a more rapid solution of tasks, to ensure timely direction of patient (disabled) MSEK. Conclusions. Medico1social assessment is an integral part of the work of the General practitioner–family doctor. She has extensive clinical, socio-economic and legal significance. Knowledge of the ways of addressing medico1social problems of the sick and disabled, is bringing the specialist in the field of family medicine to a higher level of integrated multidisciplinary care to patients, invalids and members of their families. Poshagovyi the algorithm presented in this paper is based and comply with the existing legal state documents. The use of this algorithm in practice of the General practitioner–family physician will contribute to solving problems of modern medicine is to ensure the universality, shirokopolosnoi and comprehensive solutions to problems related to health of Ukrainians concerning the provision of highly qualified expert medical assistance.


Indonesia has achieved equal parity in access to education, income, and career opportunities. Yet in many parts of the country, female academic leaders are still highly under-represented in top academic boards. This study examines how fourteen (14) Indonesian female higher education academic leaders (FALs) enact identity salience and agency in performing their duties, while experiencing social control schemas or 'triple binds'—exigencies of gender roles, unequal power-plays due to social status and positions, and lack of organizational resources and capital in higher education—in Indonesia, one of the world's emerging economies still consolidating democracy and building necessary social, fiscal, and physical infrastructures. Taken as a whole, the study found the 'triple binds' as aggregate constraints for female leadership progression, driving female academic leaders to resist and rise above this discursive struggle and confrontation through sense-making, assertiveness, depth of conviction, a take-charge attitude, and the use of other tactical strategies like networking with key gatekeepers to obtain the resources they need. The study presents a framework of the triple binds that university leaders can use to assess constraints to academic leadership.


Past developments and constraints which have determined terminal design concepts up to current times are discussed, and insights and pressures that will determine developments in the future are noted. The simpler buildings of the future will be strong, lightweight, and easily maintained, Non combustible steel which could be made flame-retardant and is easily maintained will be a popular construction material. Modular buildings with minimal foundation, and capable of quick, economic expansion and contraction will become popular. Future terminal design will make more intensive use of the land, and more efficient use of the contained space. Design criteria for future terminals will include: easy junction of passenger and airplane; ample curbspace for loading and unloading passengers; elimination of the need to cross active roadways; abundant and secure parking; built-in, convenient cargo handling facilities; and minimal life-spans consistent with economic payout.


Grid-forming inverter has strong applicability for weak grid, but it has transient stability problem under large power scheduling step. Firstly, the static stability limit power and power angle of the grid-forming inverter is analyzed in this paper. Based on the equal area criterion, the influence of power climbing step size on transient stability is analyzed. Two types of improved active power climbing control strategies for power scheduling are proposed with the constraint of transient stability. Finally, the simulation results verify the feasibility and validity of the above analysis.


The process of dyeing pearl with a natural dye Dioscorea Cirrhosa was studied. The dyeing effects and surface changes of the dyed pearls were examined by scanning electron microscopy( SEM). The results illustrated the Dioscorea Cirrhosa has good dyeing property and showed excellent dyeing effect on pearls. The optimum dyeing process was: the concentration of dioscorea cirrhosa aqueous solution 0. 5 mg / mL,pH value 7- 8,bath temperature 30℃ for 5- 7d. In the condition,the brown pearls with good levelness,good stability and satisfied surface glossiness were obtained.


It is noted that the occurrence of fires under transmission lines is responsible for a great number of line outages in many countries. The insulation requirements for lines of several voltage levels were established on the basis of field investigations and laboratory tests under fire conditions. The results obtained and the statistics presented indicate that for actual AC transmission lines with rated voltage up to 500 kV, faults are mainly due to conductor-to-ground short circuit at midspan or phase-to-phase short circuit, depending on line configuration. Another problem arising from the burning is the contamination of the insulators due to the accumulation of particles (soot, dust) on their surface. Pollution severity in terms of ESDD (equivalent salt deposit density) measured on insulators coming from regions of sugar cane fields in Brazil has shown values of up to 0.1 mg/cm/sup 2/. >


Several studies have demonstrated that children who experience multiple placements are more likely to experience behavioral problems and are less likely to achieve reunification. However, little is known about how move transitions–-from one foster home to another, from foster care to birth family home, or between family placements and group care facilities–-are perceived or experienced by children in foster care, or those formerly in foster care. This qualitative study examines the definition of foster care placement moves from the perspective of adults formerly in foster care. Participants identify both physical and psychological shifts as key dimensions of the placement change experience. Some study participants viewed returning home as "just" another placement. Implications for child welfare policy, research, and practice are briefly discussed.


This research paper explores the thematic evolution in J.K. Rowling's body of work, with a focus on her standalone novel, The Casual Vacancy, in relation to her globally acclaimed Harry Potter series. While The Casual Vacancy overtly delves into mature themes of social inequality, politics, and community, this study posits that these themes are subtly yet consistently present in the Harry Potter series as well. Drawing contrasts and parallels, the paper analyzes the depiction of social hierarchies, power dynamics, and community structures in both works. Through a comprehensive examination of narrative voice, character motivations, and overarching themes, this paper highlights Rowling's consistent engagement with societal challenges, irrespective of the setting or target audience. The study concludes by recognizing Rowling's multifaceted writing approach and her profound ability to resonate with readers on pressing societal topics.


Abstract: This article contains some considerations on models which shall support a better understanding of the transition process to a society of solidarity. The possible structure of a dynamic model is discussed by presenting different modules which might be useful as building blocks of a comprehensive model of the society. In this connection, different measures for accelerating the process to a society of solidarity are discussed. After defining the aims of a society of solidarity the following modules are presented: population model with educational model, structural model of time provided, extended input-output model including traditional and private production activities, linkages with economic-environmental models, income policy measures, transition model to labor values, and structural model of time directly or indirectly received by the population.Key words: Solidarity; dynamic modeling, extended input-output models; population and educational model; time provided and received environmental impacts; income policy and labor valuationIntroductionAiming at a society of solidarity, its main manifestations need to be spelled out. Implementing the principle of solidarity would mean in practice:* Solidarity between the recipients of income. Differences of net income should only reflect qualification requirements (educational achievement and experience) and risks associated with an occupation, such as impacts on physical and mental health.* Solidarity on the paid labor market. The disposable amount of paid labor should be shared among employable persons. This requirement implies that the average hours of paid work per person have to be substantially reduced and that all persons able to work should get free access to the necessary basic and advanced education.* Solidarity between men and women. Men and women should equitably share paid and unpaid work. In most societies, this aim implies that women's participation in the market for paid labor increases whereas that of men decreases. Concurrently, men would have to considerably notch up their share of hours spent on domestic tasks and caring for children, the ill, and the elderly. Of course, the principle of equal pay for equal work has to apply.* Solidarity between the generations. Children and elderly people should be supported by the middle-aged employed persons. Furthermore, to the extent feasible, young people should support the elderly just as the latter might take care of children and adolescents. Above and beyond fostering solidarity among current generations, caring for future generations requires us to pass on a sustainable society and (life-supporting) environment.* Solidarity between rich and poor countries. The above principles also apply beyond national borders and imply working towards fairly sharing economic, ecological, and social space and requisite resources among current generations both at the global and local level. Rich countries should support sustainable development of poor countries and should not continue to misuse them as a source of cheap labor and low-priced natural resources. Resources within poor countries need to be deployed with the aim of building solidary and resilient societies.* Solidarity between human beings and the natural environment. Instead of exploiting and destroying the natural environment, human beings should exercise stewardship for nature in all its facets by respecting and sustaining it and restoring it if damage has been inflicted.A solidary society can only evolve on the basis of viable and interconnected social units. It is not enough to call for social responsibility and feelings like empathy or compassion without creating concrete social networks for learning and practicing them. This exercise is only possible between people who know and trust each other through interacting in relatively small and manageable units. Therefore, the principle of subsidiarity seems to be an indispensable precondition for a society of solidarity. …


conception of the nature and function of logic. The clarification of these distinctions is important. For, because of their different attitude to the subject, many of the puzzles that worried later logicians did not even occur to the Greeks. Later writers have sometimes found it almost miraculous that Aristotle never confused logic with grammar and psychology as have many of his successors. But, grammar had long been part of the Greek school curriculum, while, as Aristotle so often proudly asserts, Logic was an entirely new subject. Nor was it invented to describe the introspections of an individual thinker. So its founder was never tempted to treat the principles of logic as psychological laws. Nor were they merely abstract formulae or symbolic conventions. They were the rules, elicited in the course of debate with an opponent, of avoiding self-contradiction and inducing that opponent to contradict himself. In the Topics (which Professor Kapp shows to be earlier than the Analytics) the syllogistic game is presented as a mental gymnastic for sharpening the wits by a peculiar kind of conversation. For, as its name logos indicates, "logic was originally conceived as a science of what happens, not when we are thinking for ourselves, but when we are talking and trying to convince one another" (p. 19). Syllogistic rules were not, therefore, obtained by induction from empirical observation of how people naturally argue, like the connection of longevity with absence of bile. The subject did not spontaneously think, but he was forced by question and answer to think, according to . certain patterns. Though the process was allied to that by which he ordinarily reached conclusions, he would not normally so think, any more than he would "naturally" play chess without being taught. Thus, the very artificiality of the procedure must have helped to make clear its formal character. From the later discussions of the perfect syllogism and demonstration in the Analytics it is clear that Aristotle has become interested in the general character of these structures for its own sake and is a formal logician as well as a teacher of the technique of scoring in debate.


This article argues that Mexico, after nearly seven decades of highly centralized, presidentialist rule, is moving toward a political system in which power is contested actively and continuously between centre and periphery. State governors and other sub‐national political actors have become more assertive in national politics, and they have greater financial resources under their control, due to fiscal decentralization. Now operating in an increasingly competitive electoral environment, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has switched to a primary system for selecting its presidential candidate that inevitably rewards the state and local PRI machines that deliver the vote for the winning candidate. Under these circumstances, the very different sub‐national political regimes that coexist inside Mexico may function more as obstacles to the completion of the democratic transition than as breeding grounds for further democratizing advances, as the 'periphery' is often viewed in the contemporary Mexican politics literature. Drawing on evidence from five types of centre‐periphery confrontations during the presidency of Ernesto Zedillo, it is argued that the re‐emergence in the 1990s of strong, sub‐national political regimes that are resistant to control by the President and other central political actors is likely to prolong Mexico's democratic transition and increase its unevenness.


Undergraduate Education • Ranked among the top ten undergraduate programs in the nation by US News • Won four UW Distinguished Teaching Awards in the past ten years • Won the first UW Brotman Award for Instructional Excellence • In 2004, student recognition included our third Arts & Sciences Dean's Medalist in a row, two Goldwater Scholars, and a Rhodes Scholar finalist (one of 4 in the past 5 years, including 2001 Rhodes recipient Emma Brunskill) • Fifteen students recognized in the past 5 years in the Computing Research Association Outstanding Undergraduate Award competition – winners, runners-up, finalists, and honorable mention recipients • In recent years, UW has been a top supplier of new college graduates to Microsoft, Intel, and IBM, and the major supplier to many outstanding regional technology firms • Extensive involvement of undergraduates in research and in industrial co-ops/internships • Hallmark Capstone Design Courses in fields such as embedded systems, digital animation, Graduate Education • Ranked among the top ten graduate programs in the nation by US News and • In a recent National Doctoral Program Survey funded by the Sloan Foundation – a survey of students regarding departmental adherence to " best practices " in graduate education – rated #1 among all Computer Science graduate programs in the nation, #1 among all Computer Engineering programs, and #1 among all programs in engineering • Won the second UW Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award • In 2004, UW CSE Ph.D. AnHai Doan received the ACM Distinguished Dissertation Award. (In 2003, UW CSE faculty member Venkat Guruswami received the award for his MIT dissertation. In 2001, two of the three students recognized in the competition were UW CSE Ph.


The paper examines the applicability of spatial representation ideas to the determination of equilibrium solutions for multiregion disease models. In particular, alternatives to the standard specification of regionally variable infectivity rates are devised and their impact on the space-time behavior of a carrier model for Hodgkin's disease is assessed using data for Greater Manchester.


This study aimed to address the crop growth and development issues caused by environmental factors in the area of the Liupan Mountains in Ningxia. In this area, there is a large temperature difference between day and night due to drought and low rainfall from spring to summer. The effects of farmland mulching for cabbage on soil environment, water and fertilizer use efficiency, and on cabbage were studied by comparing white common mulch (WCM), black common mulch (BCM), white and black biodegradable mulch (WBM and BBM), black permeable mulch (BPM), and black-and-white composite mulch (BWCM). The types of mulch suitable for application in the region were selected after a comprehensive comparative analysis. The results suggested that soil temperature and water content decreased in the mulch of the two biodegradable mulches and the permeable mulch compared with the control (WCM). Meanwhile, soil water content significantly increased into the rainy season in the mulch of BPM. The overall index of soil enzyme activity was 11.8% and 5.2% higher in WBCM and BBM than that in WCM. The soil overall fertility index of WCM exceeded the other treatments by 16.3%, 33.0%, 25.6%, 36.6%, and 25.4%. The water use efficiency and fertilizer bias productivity of BBM and BPM mulch treatments were the highest among all treatments. The economic yield and economic efficiency of cabbage in BBM, BPM, and WBCM mulch treatments were among the best. A comprehensive analysis of the indicators by completing principal components and affiliation functions revealed that WBCM, BBM, and BPM ranked in the top three in comprehensive scores. In conclusion, black biodegradable mulch, permeable mulch, and black-and-white composite mulch can be applied to replace the white common mulch, with black biodegradable mulch treatment performing the best.


The aim of this thesis is create the proposal of effective cost management and cost calculation in the selected company. The teoretical part summarizes a literary review dealing with the issue of costs and calculation. The analytical part contains introduction of the company, financial analysis, cost analysis and analysis of the company's current costing system. Based on the identified shortcomings, suggestions are made in order to make costing system more accurate.


Abstract Physical phenomena characteristic of asymmetric X-ray diffraction schemes for perfect crystals, including diffraction under conditions of specular reflection, have been considered in detail. The principles underlying asymmetric crystal monochromators, achievements in obtaining narrow collimated X-ray beams, and the latest results on the application of asymmetric schemes in the investigation of thin subsurface layers are stated; along with the fundamentals of asymptotic Bragg diffraction, specific features of the grazing Bragg-Laue scheme and the analysis of amorphous sublayers with the use of the surface Bragg peak. Emphasis is placed on the application of asymmetric diffraction schemes in the method of X-ray standing waves to increase sensitivity (in recording of photoelectrons, fluorescence, and Compton scattering) and to study the characteristic features of the diffraction process in strongly asymmetric geometry.


Abstract Spectral clustering is an important unsupervised learning approach to many object partitioning and pattern analysis problems. In this paper, we present our work on a novel spectral clustering algorithm that groups a collection of objects using the spectrum of the pairwise distance matrix. If the points in a metric space can be associated with a well-defined distance, it is proven that the pairwise distance matrix is almost negative definite, and we show that the eigenvectors for its most significant negative eigenvalue can be used to approximate the solution to a quadratic binary partition problem. We define the quality measures for the one dimensional partitioning of the eigenvector entries, which are further applied to evaluate the partitioning results for the data points projected into the space spanned by the selected eigenvectors. Since the Lanczos iterative algorithm may be revised to find the eigenvalues efficiently in a distributed way, we adapt this algorithm to the network community detection problem using a decentralized multi-agent framework. The performance of the proposed approach is tested with different datasets, and the empirical experiments show that this approach is able to enhance the effectiveness of clustering.


A system for providing patient information and a method thereof are provided to offer basic information which including a inputted syllable and a word of the patient with additional information after inputting a syllable unit of a word unit of the patient through a input unit from a user. A system for providing patient information comprises the followings: a database(110) storing information of patient including basic information and additional information; a input unit(120) inputting a syllable unit of a word unit of the basic information by a user; a processor(130) forming a candidate list of basic information; and a display unit(140) showing the candidate list of basic information.


The luminescent behavior on formation 1∶1 complex of 25,26,27,28 tetra carboxylic acid 5,11,17,23 calixarenesulfonate(L 2) and terbium(Ⅲ) ion was investigated by means of fluorescence spectra. The results showed that the pH value of the solution had obviousan influence on the fluorescence intensity of L 2·Tb 3+ complex, but the fluorescence intensity was hardly changed over the pH range from 6 to 11. The complex exhibits a higher emission quantum yield( φ =0.31) in aqueous solution, which indicates energy transfer type emission. The complexation behavior of L 2 with trivalent lanthanoid ions(Tb 3+ and Eu 3+ ) was also studied in aqueous boracic acid(hydrochloric acid buffer solution(pH 8.0) at 25 ℃ by UV Vis and fluorescence measurements. The spectrophotometric titrations have been performed to give the complex stability constants( K S) for the stoichiometric 1∶1 inclusion complexation of L 2 with Tb 3+ and Eu 3+ . The complex stability for L 2·Eu 3+ was higher than that for L 2·Tb 3+ , but no characteristic fluorescence was found.


Results are presented of an experimental study of the specific electric conductivity of molten beryllium oxide from the melting temperature to 3000/sup 0/K in a highly pure argon atmosphere. The electric conductivity was measured by the contact method using two-electrode coaxial cells prepared from tungsten. The resistance of the cells with the melt was determined by the resonance method using a variable current of sonic frequency. The samples studied contained not less than 99.9% BeO. The error in the experimental data is 4--6%.


The present invention relates to oxazolidinone antibacterial agent anhydrous Linezolid crystalline Form-II. The anhydrous Linezolid crystalline Form-II of the invention comprises less than 0.5% of water content. The anhydrous Linezolid crystalline Form-II of the invention is characterized by the XRPD spectrum and IR spectrum described in the specification.


The utility model provides a variable bandwidth digital television exciter which comprises a digital baseband modulating unit, a nonlinear correction unit, a frequency synthesis unit for local oscillation signals required by the working clock and the working frequency of a generating system, a power regulating and amplifying unit and a monitoring control unit, wherein the digital baseband modulating unit is used for carrying out coding and modulating on input ASI (actuator sensor interface) code steam according to the requirements of regulations GB20600-2006; the nonlinear correction unit is used for performing predistortion treatment on digital baseband signals generated through the coding and the modulating of the digital baseband modulating unit; the power regulating and amplifying unit is used for performing automatic regulation and compensation on output power of radio frequency signals modulated by the nonlinear correction unit in a simulation orthogonality upper converting manner; and the monitoring control unit is used for sending control information to the digital baseband modulating unit, the nonlinear correction unit, the frequency synthesis unit and the power amplifying unit through I2C (internal integrated circuit). Therefore, the utility model solves the problem of inconsistent frequency spectrum occupation when the Chinese digital terrestrial standard is applied to digital televisions in Latin American countries and European countries using 7MHz bandwidth and 6 MHz bandwidth.


In this paper, we propose a reliable routing scheme based on vehicle moving similarity (RR-VMS), which focuses on stable rebroadcast nodes selection and route discovery to make inter-vehicle data transmissions more reliable. We select nearby vehicles having similar velocities with the source vehicle as rebroadcast nodes. We call these vehicles having moving similarity with the source vehicle. To reflect vehicle moving similarity, a vehicle persistence score (VPS) is derived. A vehicle with a high VPS, chosen as a rebroadcast node, will stay long enough in an inter-vehicle transmission path. Moreover, to reduce the number of rebroadcast nodes, we define a donut-like selection area to choose relay nodes in order to reduce the route hop count and network traffic. Simulation results show that in large speed range scenarios, the proposed RR-VMS increases (reduces) 8.3% (16%) and 8.3% (15%) of the delivery ratio (number of broken links) compared to AODV and PAODV, respectively. In addition, RR-VMS also reduces 30% and 13% routing overhead compared to AODV and PAODV respectively. The proposed method is simple and feasible to other ad hoc routing protocols as well that involve broadcast.


The ecological value of ideological and political education is not only the rational response to construction of ecological civilization,but the highlighting of its value. Nowadays Marx's thought of ecological ethics has gained attention and recognition.Study on the ecological value of ideological and political education takes it as theory cornerstone. In the Chinese modernization advancement ecology crisis needs diagnosis,education and repair through the ecological value of the ideological and political education.Ecological value is the essence of ideological and political education. Its goal changes into the ecological standard of university and advances the university student's overall development.


High-resolution ultrasonography is a useful tool for the localization of non-palpable soft-tissue foreign bodies. A 21-year-old female underwent a routine health examination, during which chest radiography revealed a radio-opaque linear foreign body. The foreign body was located within left posterior chest wall, 4 to 5 cm lateral to the T8 spinous process. The shape indicated a needle. The possible presence of a needle in the chest wall meant that an operation to remove it was imperative. There was no tender point or palpable mass present on the chest wall and, consequently, there was difficulty determining the precise location of the object. Using high-resolution linear-array ultrasound, a linear hyperechoic focus was clearly demonstrated at the junction of the subcutaneous layer and the muscle layer. The needle was measured as 1.94 cm in length and was located 0.62 cm beneath the skin. After precise ultrasonographic localization and marking of the object's location, the needle was successfully removed immediately by surgery.


The biologists searching for environmental understanding in geographical scale are gradually shifting to the use of remote sensing and geoprocessing techniques to better study the Earth. However, the rapid obsolescence of remote sensing teaching material, requires new methods and new languages to better achieve the coming students. Although theoretical material is absolutely necessary, there must be new ways of constructing the student learning. While at the graduate level, the beginners can choose your own area of interest avoiding further frustration, reaching rapidly their goals, and preparing themselves for further readings. The chosen examples cover natural and semi-natural environments, vegetation, water and human settlements occupation, ecosystem calibration, temporal analysis, environmental modelling, focusing a broad ecological approach. The diverse environment and ecological approach will stimulate the student for the use of remote sensing and geoprocessing techniques. The examples in the paper format will guarantee the appropriate preparation of the beginners for further studies. The availability of a fundaments text will guarantee continuous student preparation based on the best literature. The methods used in the CD-ROM elaboration which merge text, image, examples and video will hopefully hold the student's attention more efficiently than if they were read a book. The hyperlink between examples texts and fundamentals text will help the student to organise their readings. To motivate and inform, at the same time, it is necessary achieve the best quality, regarding contents and navigation. The ecological subject must be up-to-date to attract student's attention and must have enough information to satisfy third level students. The fundamentals content, both in remote sensing and in geoprocessing techniques, are explored using data projects, in a language appropriated to biologists.


In this article, based on the Nation's Electromagnetic Compatibility Standard (GB4824-2004-2A), dealing with traditional high frequency welder' s severely exceeding the standard in its radiant intensity of its basic frequency, duplicate frequency and triplicate frequency, three measures come out: (1) to make a resonance circuit damper on the head of the hot-sealing machine, through the building of wave trap and choking field, to weaken and absorb the high radiant electromagnetic field, thus to weaken the intensity of the radiant field made by electromagnetic leak; (2) to screen the high-frequency sheet copper feeder, using the technique of weakening and screening the electromagnetic radiation; (3) to redesign high-frequency oscillation circuit, thus to decrease harmonic made by surge. The result shows that after the inhibition of electromagnetic radiation, the output frequency of high frequency welder accords with nation' s prescriptive frequency standard. It solves the problem of radiation pollution made by electromagnetic leek when high frequency hot-sealing machine is working.


We are extremely grateful to the distinguished attachment researchers who read our article and commented insightfully on it, and to Chris Fraley, Howard Steele, and Jude Cassidy for making this special issue possible. The wide range of suggestions, criticisms, and new findings provided by the commentators has made replying to their essays both stimulating and challenging. In our limited number of pages we will attempt to address some of the common themes raised in the commentaries. We will do this in three major sections: basic theoretical issues, comments on our model of attachment dynamics, and measurement issues.


he current study was conducted in the three-selected village's i.e Sarogai, Wazirabad and Hijab killy of Tehsil Dargai of District Malakand to assess the family Planning Program. The study proceeded with the objectives to measure the relationship of population control and people attitude towards family planning programs. The data indicated that the relationship between family planning was highly significant (P=0.010) with perception on family planning program. Moreover, a highly significant (P=0.000) linked was established between family planning and people preference of natural method because contraceptives had side effects. Furthermore, a highly significant (P=0.000) relationship was found between family planning program and the effect, of family planning is positive. Moreover, a significant (P=0.004) relationship was observed between family planning program and people willingness to visit family planning centers. A highly significant (P=0.000) relationship was analyzed between family planning program and the spouse is in favor of family planning. Also a highly significant (P=0.000) relationship was found between family planning program and People do not oppose family planning but oppose family planning staff. Finally a highly significant (P=0.000) relationship was found between family planning program and you want to aware community about Family Planning.


With document data,constitution tests,and maths science statistics,we carries on an investigation and study on students constitutions in minority nationalities in Qiannan areas.As a result,the indexes of the students' figures and functions in these areas are mostly lower than the average levels of the whole province and country,while the indexes of their health quality are higher.And there are no obvious differences among the constitution students of Han,Buyi and Miao nationalities. [


Over the past two decades, renewed emphasis has been placed on the role that research plays in education of chemistry undergraduate students. Research faculty at undergraduate institutions face some unique challenges. Most PhDs are granted by large research universities, while most of academic jobs are at the s maller, predominantly teaching, institutions. We describe an undergraduate research program in chemistry that is expected to result in peer-reviewed publications. We offer practical advice of how an undergraduate student can be quickly and effectively integrated into the laboratory and research and explore potential problems and pit falls based on fifteen years of experience and wo rk with mo re than forty undergraduate students.


Author(s): Nowak, Samuel Laurence | Advisor(s): Leitner, Helga M.; Sheppard, Eric S. | Abstract: This thesis examines the securitization of a light rail transit line in Los Angeles, California called the Blue Line, conceptualizing securitization as the disproportionate use of law, police, and socio-technical systems of security to regulate individuals as they move throughout the transit network. To understand this process, I develop a theoretical framework that integrates two largely divergent literatures, mobilities theory and urban political economy. I argue that together these literatures provide a productive framework for examining different modalities of regulating human mobility in the capitalist city, what a term a mode of mobility regulation. Methodologically, I extend the current limitations of mobilities research through a Gramscian-inspired conjunctural approach to the study of mobility and immobility. A conjunctural approach provides an historical analytic that analyzes the mechanisms and relations by which urban mobility regimes attempt to secure dominance through complex articulations of ideology, economy, and race. Through this approach, I examine the socio-spatial forces that shaped the mode of mobility regulation within Los Angeles rail transit as one of securitization. Drawing on archival research into these ideological, economic, and racial relations of force, I show how everyday transit mobilities intersect with macro-scale relations and processes. Ultimately, I argue that different modalities of regulating human mobility in the capitalist city both draw on and reproduce various axes of social difference, and the ways in which mobilities are unevenly organized around such difference.


The aim of this study was to investigate which types of words that are easy and difficult toreach with Bliss Swedish standard chart and also which strategies that is more and lessefficient. The participants, 24 female students with no functional limitations, were grouped inpairs. One in each pair was given the task to explain 12 target words that is not present onBliss standard chart, by using only Bliss standard chart. The other person in each pair wasgiven the task to guess which words that were asked for. Since former studies have indicatedthat word class, level of frequency and level of abstraction can affect words' degree ofdifficulty, the target words in this study were chosen based upon those factors. The resultsdemonstrated that the word class of the target words did not affect their degree of difficulty.The frequency of the target words affected their degree of difficulty in some ways. The levelof abstraction of the target words was the factor that affected the degree of difficulty the most.Since the abstract and infrequent target words were most difficult, it may be a good idea toinclude those types of words on the Bliss chart. Some of the strategies that were beneficial forcommunication were the blisser's use of syntax and syntactic prompting. Another strategy thatwas beneficial for the communication was giving the blisser enough time to finish herphrases. It may be appropriate to recommend those strategies to Bliss users and theircommunication partners.


This study aims to investigate the expression of retinoblastoma binding protein 6 (RBBP6) in prostate cancer (PCa) and its association with the c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) pathway. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect RBBP6 and JNK1/2 expression in PCa and benign prostatic hyperplasia tissues. RBBP6 expression in PCa cells (LNCap, PC3, and DU145) and noncancerous prostate epithelial cells (RWPE‐1) was determined by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. PC3 and DU145 cells were transfected with RBBP6 small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to examine the biological characteristics. Anisomycin (a JNK activator) with/without RBBP6 siRNA was used to treat PC3 cells for further investigating the ramification of the RBBP6‐mediated JNK pathway in PCa. PCa tissues and cells showed higher RBBP6 and JNK1/2 expression. RBBP6 was positively correlated with JNK1/2 in PCa tissues. Besides, RBBP6 expression was correlated to clinical tumor stage, lymph node metastasis, Gleason grade, preoperative prostate‐specific antigen level, as well as prognosis of PCa. RBBP6 siRNA reduced cell proliferation, arrested cells at G2/M, and promoted cell apoptosis, and suppressed JNK pathway. In addition, migration and invasion decreased after the RBBP6 siRNA transfection with downregulated matrix metallopeptidase‐2 (MMP‐2) and MMP‐9. Anisomycin promoted the proliferation, invasion, and migration of PC3 cells and inhibited PC3 cell apoptosis, which could be reversed by RBBP6 siRNA. RBBP6 expression was upregulated in PCa tissues and positively correlated with expression level of JNK1/2. With inhibition of RBBP6 expression, the proliferation, invasion, and migration of PCa cells decreased dramatically, while PC3 cell apoptosis increased appreciably, accompanied by the suppression of the JNK pathway.


During well drilling,wellbore collapse will directly influence the drilling progress and normal well logging,while correctly selecting mud formulae is an important factor for preventing wellbore collapse.Thus laboratory measuring techniques are used to simulate different drilling temperature,pressure,mud circulating velocity and prepare different types of muds through artificial walls and ultrasonic measuring technique is used to monitor the change of walls under different conditions.Great number of tests indicate that the wall changes from different directions can be monitored with the ultrasonic technique,its precision is high.The result can be used as evidence for selecting mud types in well drilling.


The invention relates to a surgical instrument with an instrument handle, an instrument shank connected to the instrument handle, an instrument tip with a work point, which instrument tip is connected to the instrument shank, and a first locator arranged on the instrument handle or the instrument shank. During a use of the surgical instrument, the instrument shank can be deflected, e.g. on account of transverse forces, at least between the first locator and the work point. A second locator is arranged at a distance from the first locator and, by comparison with the latter, closer to the work point, wherein the second locator is designed to detect five degrees of freedom.


Though economic globalization has made a great impact on our country's higher education, it also brought about splendid opportunities for the reform and development of our higher education. The author thinks that the issue deserves our intensive study.


In today's society, garbage disposal is an environmental challenge. Partly because the waste disposal
system is energy consuming, but also because it is difficult to estimate in advance when a garbage bin
needs emptying. The person responsible for emptying a specific garbage bin therefore needs to visit it
to tell if it is full or not.
The main goal of the project have been to design a system that can make garbage collection more
effective by making garbage bins smart. This is done with a compact, integrated hardware unit that
can easily be installed into a garbage bin and that continuously measures the amount of garbage in the
bin. The hardware communicates with a web application via ZigBee where the user in real time can
see which garbage bins needs to be emptied from a computer or a smartphone. Further, the system is
able to calculate new, efficient garbage collection routes, also in real time.
Found in the report is a description of the different components used: an Arduino, shields for network
communication and an ultrasonic distance sensor. The software is written in HTML5 and uses a
MySQL database. The maps in the application comes from Google Maps.
The reader may also follow the entire development of the hardware that measures the bin's waste
level, complete with motivations for different choices of components. The development is done in
an iterative process. Finally, the graphical user interface is demonstrated through screenshots of the
application.


Time-resolved, absolute number densities of metastable N2(A3Σ u +, v = 0, 1) molecules, ground state N2 and H atoms, and rotational–translational temperature have been measured by tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy and two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence in diffuse N2 and N2–H2 plasmas during and after a nanosecond pulse discharge burst. Comparison of the measurement results with the kinetic modeling predictions, specifically the significant reduction of the N2(A3Σ u +) populations and the rate of N atom generation during the burst, suggests that these two trends are related. The slow N atom decay in the afterglow, on a time scale longer than the discharge burst, demonstrates that the latter trend is not affected by N atom recombination, diffusion to the walls, or convection with the flow. This leads to the conclusion that the energy pooling in collisions of N2(A3Σ u +) molecules is a major channel of N2 dissociation in electric discharges where a significant fraction of the input energy goes to electronic excitation of N2. Additional measurements in a 1% H2–N2 mixture demonstrate a further significant reduction of N2(A3Σ u +, v = 0, 1) populations, due to the rapid quenching by H atoms accumulating in the plasma. Comparison with the modeling predictions suggests that the N2(A3Σ u +) molecules may be initially formed in the highly vibrationally excited states. The reduction of the N2(A3Σ u +) number density also diminishes the contribution of the energy pooling process into N2 dissociation, thus reducing the N atom number density. The rate of N atom generation during the burst also decreases, due to its strong coupling to N2(A3Σ u +, v) populations. On the other hand, the rate of H atom generation, produced predominantly by the dissociative quenching of the excited electronic states of N2 by H2, remains about the same during the burst, resulting in a nearly linear rise in the H atom number density. Comparison of the kinetic model predictions with the experimental results suggests that the yield of H atoms during the quenching of the excited electronic state of N2 by molecular H2 is significantly less than 100%. The present results quantify the yield of N and H atoms in high-pressure H2–N2 plasmas, which have significant potential for ammonia generation using plasma-assisted catalysis.


This paper presents a high-sensitivity micromachined resonant differential pressure sensor based on bulk silicon. The sensor includes a sensing unit made of a SOI wafer, which is vacuum packaged by a glass-on-silicon (GOS) wafer. More specifically, two resonators located in the SOI device layer were coupled to the GOS glass layer and deployed on the central and side areas of the pressure-sensitive diaphragm respectively, enabling differential outputs. According to the relevant theory of elasticity, the differential pressure sensitivity is high, where the conversion efficiency of the differential pressure to resonators stress is improved by the special cap design, large pressure-sensitive diaphragm and narrow resonators. The developed differential pressure microsensors were manufactured leveraging well-established microfabrication steps including lithography, etching and boning. Characterization of the micromachined sensors was conducted, reporting averaged differential pressure sensitivities of 1) −143.17 Hz/kPa (~2051 ppm/kPa) and a linear correlation coefficient of 0.999992 under a static pressure of 110 kPa and a temperature range from −°C to 40°C; 2) −143.36 Hz/kPa (~2051 ppm/kPa) and a linear correlation coefficient of 0.999997 under a static pressure range from 110 kPa to 250 kPa and a temperature of 25°C. Compared to previous study, the high differential pressure sensitivity of the sensor can pave ways for the subsequent high-precision measurement of differential pressures, which can be used to measure micro differential pressure in the field of nuclear power.


Security in the computer is largely supported by passwords for authentication process. Alphanumeric passwords still remain as the most common Authentication method. This conventional authentication method has been shown to be susceptible security threats such as phishing attack, brute force attack, dictionary attack, spyware attack etc. To overcome the vulnerabilities of traditional methods, a numerous graphical password authentication systems have been designed. These graphical passwords are usually seen as complex and time consuming. Furthermore, the existing graphical passwords are susceptible to spyware and shoulder surfing attacks. In this system we propose this 2 step random colored grid graphical password scheme to abolish the above mentioned well known security threats. Considering the drawbacks of the existing graphical password systems, we have proposed a robust graphical password scheme, which is highly adaptable for traditional desktop systems, smart phones and other web applications


Will treating sleep disturbances reduce the risk of cognitive impairment? Probably. Are selfreported sleep disturbances the only significant risk factors associated with cognitive decline? Probably not. With the increasing incidence of cognitive impairment and dementia (Prince et al., 2016), it is crucial to identify and minimize all modifiable risk factors associated with cognitive decline. Kohn et al. (2019) describe several known risk factors for cognitive impairment, including inflammation, cardiometabolism, and mood disorders, but identified sleep disturbances to be the most notable risk factor associated with cognitive decline. There are known architectural sleep changes that occur in older adults by around the age of 60 years and may include decreased total sleep time, sleep efficiency, slow wave sleep, and rapid eye movement, in addition to an increase in time awake after sleep onset (WASO), number of arousals from sleep, and an increase in sleep latency. Despite the more frequent awakenings, healthy older adults usually are able to fall back asleep without great difficulty. In addition, phase advance may occur with aging, resulting in an earlier sleep onset and earlier morning awakenings as circadian rhythms change with age. This phenomenon is also called advanced sleep phase syndrome, and it not a disorder that necessarily requires treatment. While these changes are considered part of normal aging, there are other pathologic processes associated with aging that can affect sleep. They include medical and psychiatric comorbidities, substance use, and medications, such as diuretics, which may interfere with sleep. The two most common sleep disorders in older adults include obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and insomnia disorder. The findings described in the paper by Kohn et al. (2019) focus on self-reported sleep disturbances. This would include excessive daytime sleepiness in the case of OSA, and increased WASO and decreased sleep efficiency in the case of insomnia disorder. Therefore, physicians should screen for these particular conditions and provide treatment accordingly. Behavioral treatments for insomnia are recommended as first-line treatment for insomnia (Qaseem et al., 2016), and we have learned that older adults with depression and insomnia have a preference for behavioral interventions over pharmacotherapy for the treatment of both depression and sleep disturbances (Gebara et al., 2019). Examples of learning-based approaches include cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and brief behavioral treatment for insomnia (Buysse et al., 2011). CBT-I has the strongest evidence for treating insomnia (Wilson et al., 2010). These behavioral interventions focus on the principles of sleep restriction and stimulus control. Mechanisms associated with sleep disturbances that may contribute to cognitive decline are described by Yaffe et al. (2014). Sleep disturbances may affect amyloid-β deposition, increase neuroinflammation, and change synaptic plasticity. Most notably, sleep duration (too short or too long), sleep fragmentation, and sleep-disordered breathing (through hypoxia and sleep fragmentation) seem to increase the risk of cognitive impairment. The relationship between sleep and cognitive impairment may be bidirectional, with disruptions in the sleep–wake cycle being a manifestation of an underlying neurodegenerative process. Regardless of etiology, there appears to be a link between sleep disturbances and cognitive decline. While it is common to manage cardiometabolic and vascular risk factors for cognitive decline in primary care, sleep disturbances are frequently overlooked despite the fact that they affectmore than half of older adults. One of the reasons may be because it can be challenging to distinguish between normal aging-related sleep changes and pathologic changes that require intervention. Kohn et al. (2019) discuss some proposed mechanisms through which sleep disturbances are associated with cognitive decline and dementia including the effects of cardiometabolic risk factors and those of hypertension, specifically on cerebral microvasculature and white matter integrity. This highlights the need for patient education about healthy lifestyle behaviors and adherence to cardiometabolic medications to preserve cognition. Providers must emphasize the importance of medication compliance with all medications, especially antihypertensive and lipid-lowering agents. Given that all participants in this study had premorbid hypertension, participants may have been enriched to experience cognitive impairment. International Psychogeriatrics (2020), 32:7, 791–792 © International Psychogeriatric Association 2020


Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) is an herbaceous plant that belongs to the Lamiaceae family. Seed vigor testing is an important component of quality control programs, and electrical conductivity test is a possible option in this process. The objective of this study was to identify a methodology of electrical conductivity test to stratify chia seed lots at vigor level according to the emergence of seedlings. Six lots of chia seeds were used in this study. The seeds were exposed to the following determinations: first germination count, germination, emergence speed index, emergence, aerial and root length, aerial and root dry matter, and electrical conductivity at 25, 50 and 75 mL during 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 24 hours of soaking in water. The electrical conductivity test in the combination of 25 seeds using 50 mL of water in 6-hour of soaking period, as well as the combination of 50 seeds using 50 mL of water for 24 hours of soaking, were efficient in the stratification of chia seeds in different levels of vigor.


Abstract : The long-term goal of this research is to develop Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) techniques that improve our understanding of the Earth's ionosphere and its' variability. In the future, RO data promise to become a significant ionospheric data source and will assist in the development of better physics based models, help specify global ionospheric electron density and scintillation fields, provide improved climatology, and also help calibrate other ionospheric sensors and algorithms. Our first objective was to modify the radio holographic back propagation (BP) method, which had been previously used, for the localization of electron density irregularities along the line of sight, by taking into account the structure of the irregularities. The modified method has been tested and validated by processing the GPS/MET RO data. The second objective was to include the ionospheric retrieval algorithms for RO data in the COSMIC Data Analysis and Archive Center (CDAAC) software. CDAAC shall analyze data from current and future occultation missions and provide those data and results to the science community.