The purposes of this Assessment is to identify the current state of youth in Georgia including their attitudes and values to determine whether reform ideas are taking root in this sector of the population and to identify what youth see as their major challenges. It also reviews the Mission's Strategic Objectives with the aim of suggesting further ways to target youth in order to address some of their concerns issues and attitudes as well as looking at specific issues such as gender and ethnicity. Finally the Assessment also provides an inventory of past and planned activities by other donors as well as a discussion of what programs have been sucessful and other "lessons learned." The Georgia Country Strategy for FY 1999-2003 already based most of its programs in a community setting and included local government and NGO development agribusiness activity electrial distribution and community development. The new Strategy will further coordinate these efforts on a local level in order to have a greater impact on the "values attitudes and mindset" of the Georgian people with an emphasis on youth while still supporting "the more traditional objectives of social transformation economic growth and democratic pluralism." The Mission feels that the continued strengthening of local institutions cannot help but better the lives of Georgians in the long run. Hopefully this assessment will help to support USAID's activities based on the presumption that if the recommendations are implemented by USAID and other donors more of the problems and issues of young people will be addressed which will help to maintain youth's hope in the future during Georgia's difficult transition years. (excerpt)


Cacao mucilage exudate (CME) is a highly nutritious by‐product of cacao fruit processing containing up to 15 wt% simple sugars and organic acids. We investigate the CME dehydration process to produce cacao syrup (CS) under varying temperatures (60 and 70°C) and pH (4.0 and 5.0) using a 22‐factorial design with a central point (65°C, pH 4.5). Neither temperature nor pH significantly (p<0.05) impacts CS chemical composition. Average concentrations of fructose, glucose, and sucrose in the syrups reached 27.79 wt%, 25.56 wt %, and 12.46 wt %, respectively. Organic acids ‐citric, malic, lactic, tartaric, and fumaric‐ represent 5.12 wt%, 3.01 wt%, 0.20 wt%, 0.16 wt%, and 0.002 wt%, respectively. Although the heating treatment results in the formation of 5‐(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) (12.8‐13.7 mg/L), its concentration remains below the limits of the regulatory standard. These findings have significant implications for using CME as a sustainable and nutritious source of ingredients for the food industry.


Current video representations heavily rely on learning from manually annotated video datasets which are time-consuming and expensive to acquire. We observe videos are naturally accompanied by abundant text information such as YouTube titles and Instagram captions. In this paper, we leverage this visual-textual connection to learn spatiotemporal features in an efficient weakly-supervised manner. We present a general cross-modal pair discrimination (CPD) framework to capture this correlation between a video and its associated text. Specifically, we adopt noise-contrastive estimation to tackle the computational issue imposed by the huge amount of pair instance classes and design a practical curriculum learning strategy. We train our CPD models on both standard video dataset (Kinetics-210k) and uncurated web video dataset (Instagram-300k) to demonstrate its effectiveness. Without further fine-tuning, the learnt models obtain competitive results for action classification on Kinetics under the linear classification protocol. Moreover, our visual model provides an effective initialization to fine-tune on downstream tasks, which yields a remarkable performance gain for action recognition on UCF101 and HMDB51, compared with the existing state-of-the-art self-supervised training methods. In addition, our CPD model yields a new state of the art for zero-shot action recognition on UCF101 by directly utilizing the learnt visual-textual embeddings. The code will be made available at this https URL.


We report an eco-friendly and easy-going way of fabricating a vast range of passive electronic components and low pass filters. This is achieved by directly writing graphite on paper and cutting and pasting aluminum foil and copper tape on different substrates. Resistance was achieved from 4 kΩ to MΩ(s) by penciling several sustainable layers of different graphite to clay content pencils. Capacitors of capacitance from 2 pF to 10 μF are fabricated using graphite, aluminum foil, and copper tape as conductive materials on printing A4, baking, and butter paper as substrate and dielectric materials as for parallel plate capacitors. Pencil on paper-based interdigitated capacitors is reported to achieve lower capacitance and higher cut-off frequency values of low pass filters. Resistors and capacitors of different values are fabricated in a plane to design low pass filters with 100 Hz – 2 MHz cut-off frequency range. All the components and circuits are fabricated from foldable, eco-friendly, and readily available paper materials as substrates. These paper-based components are helpful for foldable electronics, foldable printed circuit boards, and soft robotics.


An ideal switch with hysteresis-free Sideal = 0 mV/decade switching is desired to keep Moore's law alive, but has never been achieved. Classical field-effect transistors (FETs) have supported Moore's law for 50 years, albeit with a thermodynamically limited value of subthreshold swing S ≥ 60 mV/decade. Alternatives, such as, tunnel FETs, impact ionization FETs, and negative capacitance FETs promise S <; 60 mV/decade, but ideal switching is not expected, even in theory. In this paper, we propose a zero subthreshold swing FET (ZSubFET), which is similar to a classical FET with a suspended-gate and a ferroelectric gate insulator. ZSubFET exhibits ideal switching through integration of two negative capacitors (namely, a ferroelectric and an air-gap) in the gate-stack, in series with the channel capacitance. We believe that the proposed device concept should not only lower the power dissipation in an IC, but also open up new research directions for the alternative of classical-FET.


The task probed into that the effect on the fatigue performance of the 7B04 aluminum alloy after Ultra-sonic treatment. The research showed that by Ultra-sonic treatment technique, nanometer grains on the surface of the alloy were obtained. The grain size was 10 nm to 50 nm. The thickness of the layer of nanometer grains was about 20-50 μm. Moreover the gradient structure is formed through the surface to the liner. The grains size were from smaller to bigger, and the orientation of crystalline grain correspondence matched with the orientation of Ultra-sonic treatment. After Ultrasonic treatment, the remains pressure stress layer was formed which act as 263MPa. The former and small surface cracks was getting near to shut. And improved the fatigue life of 7B04 aluminum alloy for 5 to 10 times.


Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-producing tumors are rare and are associated with a poor prognosis when they occur in the lungs and the head and neck region. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography has been reported to show systemic specific accumulation of fluorodeoxyglucose in these cases, but the systemic complications associated with the cytokines produced are not well known. We herein present the case of a G-CSF-producing maxillary sinus squamous cell carcinoma in a 73-year-old Japanese woman with a vertebral fracture and splenomegaly. These findings are known severe adverse events of high-dose recombinant human G-CSF treatment. The aim of the present study was to further discuss the hypothesis that cytokines produced by solid tumors may induce spinal vertebral fracture and splenomegaly.


The utility model relates to a motorcycle part, in particular to the rotor of the compulsory wind cooling magnetic motor of a motorcycle, which comprises a flange disc and a flywheel case firmly connected with the flange disc, and in addition, a retaining ring and a magnetic tile and a polar magnetic ring are arranged on the inner wall of the flywheel casing. The utility model is characterized in that at least two fan blades are arranged along the same circumference at the joint between the flange disc and the flywheel casing and at the end of the flange disc or on the end surface of the end of the flywheel casing. The utility model has the advantages of no addition of any materials, simple structure, realization of the heat exchange inside and outside the magnetic motor, reduction of the internal temperature of the magnetic motor and increase of reliability and service life of the magnetic motor.


Contents 1 RSA for Paranoids 2 Editor's Note 4 Algorithms Update 7 The Secure Use of RSA 14 Frequently Asked Questions 16 Announcements whose encrypted messages should remain secret for several decades, since it is almost impossible to predict the progress of factoring algorithms over such a long period of time. The only reasonable course of action is to use huge margins of safety, but this will make the RSA operations extremely slow. All the known factoring algorithms can be divided into two broad types: algorithms whose running time depends on the size of the factors, and algorithms whose running time depends only on the size of the factored number n. The oldest factoring algorithms typically searched for the smallest factor p of n, and were thus of the first type. However, modern algorithms tend to use indirect approaches which require the same time to find a single digit or a fifty digit prime factor of n. The fastest factoring algorithm of the first type is currently the elliptic curve method. Its asymptotic running time is exp(O((ln(p)) 1 / 2. (lnln(p)) 1 / 2)), but its basic operations are very slow. The largest factor ever found in practice with this algorithm was about 145 bits long (A. Lenstra, private communication), and it is very unlikely that this algorithm will be able to find the 256 bit factors of 512 bit RSA keys in the next few years. Factoring algorithms of the second type are much faster, since they can use a wider array of mathematical techniques. The best algorithm of this type is currently the general number field sieve. It has an asymptotic complexity of exp(O((ln(n)) 1 / 3. (lnln(n)) 2 / 3)), and is believed to be capable of fac-toring 512 bit moduli in 10,000 to 15,000 MIPS-years (A. Lenstra, private communication). One of the most important decisions in practical implementations of the RSA cryptosystem is the choice of modulus size. It is clear that the standard size of 512 bits no longer provides adequate protection , and should be substantially increased. However , the time complexity of modular exponentia-tion grows rapidly with the size of the modulus, and thus it is difficult to choose a size which combines efficient operation with long term security. In this note we describe a new variant of the RSA cryptosystem called " unbalanced RSA " , which makes it possible to increase …


DNA Computing has attracted the eyes of many researchers since its inception in 1996. It over-performs conventional computer due to its inherent massively parallelism nature in case of the computationally "hard" problems. But to make DNA computer usable in general, it needs to be able to perform important mathematical calculations. Example of such mathematical functions include finding greatest common divisor (GCD) and least common multiple (LCM), which are interrelated as their multiplication results in the multiplication of the two numbers. GCD can be found on conventional machine using Euclid's Algorithms that takes number of steps approximately proportional to the natural logarithm of the larger number. LCM is found by dividing GCD from the multiplication of two numbers. GCD and LCM can also be found using prime factorization of the two numbers, but this itself is computationally hard. In this work, at first LCM has been found using DNA molecule at constant time. Then GCD can be found by multiplying the two numbers and dividing by LCM onconventional machine. So, GCD and LCM can be found using constant number of operations. Experimental feasibility of the bio-molecular operations has also been described. This work is expected to be important bridge to make DNA computing applicable in the area of numerical mathematics.


The landuse of Tegallalang Subdistrict is dominated by dryland farming. The practice of cultivation on agricultural dryland that ignores the carrying capacity of the environment can lead to land degradation that makes the land vulnerable to the deterioration of soil fertility. Soil fertility evaluation and land management of dryland farming in Tegallalang Sub-district, Gianyar Regency were aimed at (1) identifying the soil fertility and it's respective limiting factors, (2) mapping the soil fertility using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and (3) developing land management for dryland farming in Tegallalang Sub-district. This research implementing explora-tory method which followed by laboratory analysis. Soil samples were taken on each homogene-ous land units which developed by overlay of slope, soil type, and land use maps. The following soil fertility were measured, such as CEC, base saturation, P2O5, K- Total and C-Organic. The values of soil fertility were mapping using QGIS 2.18.7 and refer to land management evaluation. The results showed that the soil fertility in the research area considered high, and low level. The High soil fertility presents on land units at the flat to undulating slope with different land management systems (fertilizer, without fertilizer, soil tillage and without soil tillage). The low soil fertility includes land units that present on steep slope, and without land managements. The limiting factors of soil fertility were texture, C-Organic, CEC, P2O5, and K- total. It was recommended to applying organic fertilizer, Phonska, and dolomite on the farming area.


Compressive sensing(CS)asserts that one can recover original signals from far fewer nonadaptive and random samples or measurements under the condition of sparse signals. This paper introduces the CS theory into the UWB radar high-resolution imaging,then presents a 2-D cross-range imaging algorithm based on CS,which can reduce the acquisition time,data storage,processing time and save signal bandwidth. Using actual experimental data of vector network analyzer(VNA),it is shown that the proposed algorithm using the temporal and spatial undersampling data can retain almost equal imaging quality and resolution compared to conventional delay-sum beamforming algorithm.


This study evaluated the sensitivity of USP Prednisone tablets (Reference Standard Lot P0E203) to dissolved gas in the medium in USP Apparatus 2. This lot will be introduced into commerce over the summer of 2006 as a replacement for current Lot O0C056. The effect of deaeration techniques and water purification methods on dissolution was also studied. Dissolution tests were performed in water containing nine different concentrations of dissolved gas. The oxygen and total dissolved gas pressure was monitored using a dissolved gas and oxygen meter. Other experimental variables such as the equipment,shaft position,and vessel position were kept constant throughout the study. The same analyst performed all studies. The study tablets were highly sensitive to dissolved gas in USP Apparatus 2. An increase in both the amount of prednisone dissolved and the variability of results was observed when the dissolved oxygen concentration exceeded 6 mg/L. The corresponding sum of the partial pressure of gases other than oxygen and the percent saturation were 510 mm Hg and 68%,respectively.


In this paper, results of new intermittent sand filter design was presented. Drawer Compacted Sand Filter DCSF is a modified design for sand filter, in which sand layer is broken down into several layers (10 cm each) and placed in a movable drawers separated by 5 cm space each. Lab-scale DCSF was designed and operated in Surrey University's lab for 49 days and fed by synthetic greywater. 30 cm of sand media was placed in three drawers, 10 cm each. 8 cm gravel was placed in the first drawer at the top of the chest. The effective size of sand media and gravel were 0.2 mm, 3 mm, respectively. The organic load was 42780 mg/m 2 .day and hydraulic load was 50L/m 2 .day. Significant reduction in BOD5 and TSS was noticed between drawers 1 and 2, whereas no significant reduction was observed by passing water through all drawers. The study concluded that accommodating sand media in movable drawers and distribute hydraulic load between drawers would minimize the maintenance and space requirements for sand filter. However, this research is a preliminary study and further investigation is currently being done to optimize the system.


It is argued that Kogut and Zander (Kogut, B., U. Zander. 1992. Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organ. Sci. 3 383--397.) and Conner (Conner, K. R. 1991. A historical comparison of resource-based theory and five schools of thought within industrial organization economics: Do we have a new theory of the firm? J. Management 17 121--154.) erred in the specific way in which they claimed that a distinct theory of the multi-person firm can be constructed on the basis of a theory of organizational knowledge or from resource-based insights. It is not possible to tell very much of a story about why there should be firms in lieu of notions such as "opportunism" or "moral hazard." However, properly interpreted, knowledge-based theories may help shed light on issues relating to the boundaries and internal organization of the firm.


An extension of the model proposed by Stutzman, Jackson, and Tsai [Phys. Rev. B 32, 23 (1985)] for the kinetics of light-induced metastable defect creation in a-Si:H is presented. We assume a limited density of defect centers and take into account the attenuation of the incident light into the sample. The experimental data of the work mentioned above are well fitted with our modified model. This fit allows for a quantitative estimation of the number of defect centers related to the Staebler-Wronski effect.


A survey was conducted in a township near Treherne, Manitoba to determine the frequency of Group 1 resistant wild oat in 30 randomly selected cereal fields. On average, 61% of the 30 fields were sprayed annually with ACCase inhibitor (Group 1) herbicides from 1983 to 1993. Wild oat were sampled at 80-m intervals on a predefined grid pattern across whole fields. Wild oat densities were recorded and seeds were collected from 0.25 m−2 quadrats. Seeds were also collected from conspicuous wild oat patches occurring outside the spaced quadrats. Plants were determined to be susceptible or resistant to fenoxaprop-P and/or sethoxydim using a seed bioassay procedure. Results from the structured survey indicated that resistant wild oat occurred in nine fields. Densities in quadrats containing resistant wild oat were generally higher than in quadrats with susceptible wild oat. By combining the results of the structured survey with the patch collection, resistance was detected in 20 out of the 30 fields. While resista...


Drug metabolism is the term used to portray the biotransformation of drug substances in the body so they can be disposed of all the more without any problem. Most of metabolic cycles that include drugs happen in the liver, as the proteins that encourage the responses are concentrated there. The motivation behind digestion in the body is generally to change the synthetic construction of the substance, to expand the simplicity with which it tends to be discharged from the body.


The principles of a fusion reactor are considered briefly. The problem of plasma instabilities and ways of overcoming this problem are discussed in some detail. A brief conjecture is made on the future development of fusion reactors. (D.L.C.)


To improve the limitation of Adomian finite term series solution reducing the convergence for nonlinear dynamical systems, a recursive algorithm for nonlinear systems analysis based on Adomian Decomposition Method( ADM) with suitable truncation order is proposed. The recursive algorithm makes use of Differential Transformation( DT) theory to convert the analytic solution from series into matrix,and then the solution matrix is used in each discrete interval to compute numerical solution iteratively. The maximum stable step-size criterion using recursion percent error( RPE) is developed for good convergence in each iteration. As classic nonlinear dynamical equations,the second-order equation with one RPE and the coupling Duffing equations with two RPEs are illustrated. Comparison results demonstrate that the presented algorithm is valid and applicable to nonlinear dynamical systems analysis.


Fault detection and fault localization in programs is considered a hard task where especially in case of fault localization heavy manual work is still needed. In this paper, we contribute to research activities of automated program debugging and present a tool that allows compiling a subset of Java into an equivalent constraint representation. The constraint representation captures the current behavior of the program and can be directly used for fault localization relying on consistency-based diagnosis. A web interface of the tool is available for the public. Besides discussing the underlying foundations, we also present the tool's architec-ture and internals, and how to carry out a debugging session. Furthermore, we released the underlying program as open source for further supporting research in model-based debugging.


Education is vital for promotion and presence of a culture and society based on Human Rights. This paper aims at analyzing the occurrence of Human Rights within a school context and at highlighting the possibility and importance of dealing with Human Rights as a transversal dimension when teaching elementary school children. This would strengthen teachers' and students' skills and abilities and thus would enable to train them so as to raise their consciousness of the respect of those.


The Washington-based Alliance to Save Energy has focused its projects on barriers that inhibit investment in energy efficiency measures that are known to be cost-effective. A 1983 study suggested that financial analysis is often the weak link in companies' investment programs because they do no convincingly demonstrate that the proposed investment is cost-effective and will offer a competitive or superior rate of return. A computerized approach using a software package to help energy managers was developed following a series of case studies of potential software users. The software assists in calculations, sensitivity testing of statistics, comparisons, database management, and data analyses. The ENVEST program is menu-driven, with full-screen data entry and editing and other features to help the user. The program also analyses financing and payback options.


Utilizing the assumption of an omni‐directional point source and varying degrees of acoustical transparency associated with a finite cylindrical shell with rigid end caps, the authors have derived two separate approaches to the problem of far‐field sound radiation emanating from a normal mode of vibration. In addition, a third approach is obtained by expanding the expressions of Laird and Cohen and applying them to a shell‐band source on an infinite cylinder. Several different environments are considered for each approach and for one of these environments, the results are compared to the experiment.The comparison of these theories indicates that for acoustic wavelengths considerably greater than structural wavelengths and dimensions, the assumption of omni‐directional point sources and acoustical transparency is reasonable even though the source is curved and "unbaffled." At higher frequencies, the pressure levels and directivity in the far field are approximately independent of the transparency or opaque...


Handle W i t h Care: Integrating Caring Content in Mathematics and Science Methods Classes -Lake, Jones, 15 Dagli This study analyzes two methods courses that were specifically designed to integrate the ethic of care within science and mathematics teaching. Forty-four female preservice early childhood teachers actively participated in relationship-building activities and practiced caring content in the context of the methods classes. In addition, they observed the teacher educators modeling caring content as they taught the classes. The authors provided 10 prompts to each preservice teacher and then examined their electronic journal entries for evidence of their understanding of caring and their ability to transfer caring practices to their field placements. The results are discussed in terms of the impact of modeling and practice, the importance of dialogue, and the power of confirmation. Over time, the preservice students were able to identify how the teacher educators utilized the ethic of care in their methods courses. In addition, the students were able to describe ways that they employed the ethic of care into their field placement classrooms. An interesting component of this study was the dialogic nature of the research activity. The instructors routinely shared their interests and ideas about the research project with their students a s the methods courses unfolded. Thus, the students and instructors became participant-observers as the program of courses evolved and transformed. This study concludes with the important point that building and modeling caring relationships is crucial to the preservice teacher's capacity to receive curricular content and their abili ty to teach that content to young children.


Several people experiencing homelessness view the problem as not a lack of rights, but rather as a lack of capacity to enforce their rights.


The purpose of this paper is to argue that, in the case of human gait, the (Energy Expenditure) is only minimized to more qualified walking in different gender and ages. This paper defines EE,walking gait and the impact of gender and age on EE. While there is no significant difference in EE of walking for both gender, in different ages EE of walking could be minimized by stride length, step length and wide step which affect selected speed of walking . Ideally, it will promote greater understanding of the relationship between EE, walking and health. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.


In the nano-plastic deformation, material properties such as yield stress cannot be described by the average rate of whole dislocation behavior, and it becomes increasingly necessary to trace individual motion of dislocations. The relationship between indent load-displacement in nanoindentation test is the typical example of recognizable nano-plasticity. Molecular dynamics (MD) is one of the most effective methodologies to obtain dislocation motion directly. However, MD simulation depends on the computer power so strongly that it is difficult to treat mesoscopic behavior including collective dislocation motion. On the other hand, discrete dislocation mechanics (DD) based on dislocation theory has a unique ability to treat dislocation motion, although boundary value problem in the DD framework would pose considerable difficulties. In the present paper, we construct a combined approach including both DD and the boundary element method (BEM), and succeed in representing the stress field of dislocation in the vicinity of traction free surface. Finally, we apply this model to the nanoindentation problem and found the relationship between displacement burst and collective dislocation motion.


SYNOPSIS. Lankesteria barretti n. sp. (Eugregarinida, Diplocystidae) is named from the mosquito Aedes triseriatus in Texas. The young cephalins occur within the midgut epithelial cells. When they reach a length of about 150–200 μ they rupture the host cell and are released into the space between the epithelium and the peritrophic membrane, becoming gamonts. These grow to about 140–310 by 40 μ at the anterior end and 12 μ at the posterior end. When the host pupates they enter the lumen of the Malpighian tubules; pairs join in syzygy by their anterior ends and later more laterally. Each pair forms a spherical gametocyst about 60–100 μ (exceptionally 250 μ) in diameter. A large number of oocysts develop in each gametocyst. The mature oocysts are spindle-shaped, 11 by 5.4–5.7 μ, and contain 8 elongate sporozoites and a refractile residuum. The gametocyst wall breaks down, releasing oocysts in the Malpighian tubules of the host when it is adult. The oocysts pass out in the feces and presumably infect new larvae by ingestion. The cephalins and gamonts of L. barretti differ from those of L. culicis (of Aedes aegypti) in having a relatively anterior instead of a central nucleus and in lacking a noticeable mucron; its longitudinal folds are not as well-developed as in L. culicis, and its paraglycogen granules are larger. The fine structure of L. culicis and L. barretti is described in detail. Their gamonts have a polar ring but no definite conoid. The taxonomy of the genus is reviewed, but its species have been so poorly described that it is impossible to be sure whether they are all really Lankesteria. About 19 species have been described (5 from turbellaria, 8 from tunicates, perhaps 1 from Amphioxus, 1 from the chaetognath Sagitta sp., 1 from Phlebotomus and 3 from mosquitoes).


To measure micromotion of an orthopaedic implant with respect to its surrounding bone, Roentgen Stereo-photogrammetric Analysis (RSA) was developed. A disadvantage of conventional RSA is that it requires the implant to be marked with tantalum beads. This disadvantage can potentially be resolved with model-based RSA, whereby a 3D model of the implant is used for matching with the actual images and the assessment of position and rotation of the implant. In this study, an improved model-based RSA algorithm is presented and validated in phantom experiments. This algorithm is capable to process projection contours that contain drop-outs. To investigate the influence of the accuracy of the implant models that were used for model-based RSA, we studied both Computer Aided Design (CAD) models as well as models obtained by means of Reversed Engineering (RE) of the actual implant. The results demonstrate that the RE-models provide more accurate results than the CAD models. If these RE models are derived from the very same implant, it is possible to achieve a maximum standard deviation of the error in the migration calculation of 0.06 mm for translations in x- and y-direction and 0.14 mm for the out of plane z-direction, respectively. For rotations about the y-axis, the standard deviation was about 0.1 degree and for rotations about the x- and z-axis 0.05 degree. For the femur component, it was also possible to reach these accurate results for non-scanned components. The results show that the new algorithm is an improvement with respect to a study we presented earlier [1]. Studies with clinical RSA-radiographs must prove that these results can also be reached in a clinical setting, making model-based RSA a possible alternative for marker-based RSA.


ABSTRACT Studies on the private security industry have mainly focused on the growth of private security firms and the regulation thereof. Research focusing on the working experiences of security guards has been notably absent. However, in a recent article, Sefalafala and Webster (2013) have addressed this issue by surveying and interviewing security guards in Gauteng, a South African province. Although their study is very thorough on a number of levels, there are some important limitations. In this article, I add to this literature by highlighting the importance of place and agency in such discussions. This article addresses these limitations, by focusing on job-related issues and challenges security guards working at a particular place (North-West University's Potchefstroom campus) experience on a daily basis and what agency (coping strategies) security guards use to overcome these issues and challenges. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with a manager and 20 security guards working at Potchefstroom campus were conducted. Verbal abuse by white students, the effect of irregular shifts on security guards and their families, and boredom were some of the main issues and challenges found to be associated with their job. Security guards show different levels of agency in coping with these job-related issues and challenges.


We present a single-chip image processing solution for industrial vision systems. A processor matrix is interleaved with a photo diode matrix. The circuit solution is well suited for both gray scale and binary operations on images. A gray scale image is obtained by using the time needed to integrate the photo-current to a certain voltage. The photo-diode read-out unit is built with a minimal set of components, and provides good matching between pixels. The power supply can be adjusted to minimize the power consumption. A number of operations, that show the computing capacity, are presented.


Objective To investigate the titer and duration of antibody of Healive inactivated hepatitis A vaccine in young children (year old from 1 to 4) in 3 years. Methods The young chidren were vaccinated by a homemade inactivated hepatitis A vaccine in doses of 500U (0, 3 months and 0, 6 monthe period), the blood was sampled annual in 3 years and was tested for anti-HAV antibody by ELISA. Results The anti-HAV antibody titer after first injection was declined quickly in one year, and then slowly.The antibody of all the objects was positive at the third year. The rate of Anti-HAV antibody over 200 mU/ml was 61.5% in 0, 3 monthe period and 73.2% in 0, 6 montha period. Conclusion The anti-HAV antibody fiter of healive inactivated hepatitis A vaccine is still in a high level in the third year.


Based on analysis of Pawlak's rough set model in the view of single equivalence relation and the theory of fuzzy set, associated with multi-granulation rough set models proposed by Qian, two types ...


We present a new approach to display High Dynamic Range (HDR) video using gradient based high dynamic range compression. To obtain HDR video, we utilize the split aperture camera. We apply a spatio-temporal gradient based video integration algorithm for fast and accurate integration of the three input HDR videos into a low dynamic range video, which is suitable for display. The spatiotemporal video integration generates videos with temporal coherency and without artifacts. In order to improve the computational speed, we propose using a diagonal multigrid algorithm to solve the Poisson equation. We show experimental results on a variety of dynamic scenes.


It is generally held that control of viability,proliferation,differentiation,maturation and programmed cell death events in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells existing in a hierarchical fashion in vivo is a successively developmental process. The CD34 ̄+ antigen preferentialy expressed on hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells has so far been recognized as one of the earliest known antigens.Many advances on molecular structure of CD34 antigen would help us to understand deeply a lot of important questions regarding CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. These questions are, for instances, functional subelass, expression range and other biological proporties inciuding cell cycle state,fluorescent light scatter,ect.All of these studies would renew and consummate the medern concept of hematopoietic stem cells and the fundamental model of hematopoiesis and its regulation.


Defi nitions and criteria for the landslide hazard ratings currently used in terrain stability mapping for forestry in British Columbia are strongly oriented toward shallow translational landslides, primarily the likelihood of initiation of debris slides and associated debris fl ows. However, deep-seated landslides, ranging from earthfl ows to slow slides in bedrock, are common in many parts of the province. We know that these can be accelerated or reactivated as a result of natural disturbances, such as climate change, seismic events and stream undercutting. Similar changes may result from forestry activities, but little is known about the potential effects of forest roads and/or various silvicultural practices. To date, deep-seated landslides have been rated by ad hoc adaptations of the existing terrain stability classifi cation systems. Diffi culties arising include mapping the extent of these features, classifi cation of deepseated landslides, assessment of current activity, and assignment of hazard ratings. We discuss these diffi culties, propose standard terminology for describing landslide activity, defi ne logical hazard interpretations, and present simple criteria and rationale for hazard ratings. We also suggest modifi cations to the symbology used in the British Columbia Terrain Classifi cation System to facilitate the description and classifi cation of deep-seated landslides.


Many firms purchase sales training from outside vendors, often with no sound data as to the effectiveness of the training.  Training programs vary from totally useless to highly cost effective and worthwhile.  This case provides students with an opportunity to examine the effectiveness of a training program along with its cost.  It requires careful thinking about the meaning of numbers as well as the meaning of effectiveness claims.


Energy consumption in public buildings increased drastically over the last decade. Significant policy actions towards the promotion of energy efficiency in the building sector have been developed involving sustainable low-CO2-emission technologies. This paper presents the results of an economic–environmental valuation of a standard energy retrofit project for a public building in a Mediterranean area, integrating a life-cycle assessment (LCA) into the traditional economic–financial evaluation pattern. The study results show that simple retrofit of sustainable low-CO2-emission strategies such as wooden double-glazed windows, organic external wall insulation systems, and green roofs can reduce energy needs for heating and cooling by 58.5% and 33.4%, respectively. Furthermore, the implementation of an LCA highlights that the use of sustainable materials reduces the building's carbon footprint index by 54.1% after retrofit compared to standard materials, thus providing an additional increase in the socio-environmental–economic–financial results of 18%. Some proposals are made about the accounting of the replacement costs and the residual value as requested in the logic of life-cycle cost (that is the economic extension of the LCA), namely concerning the method to take into account the replacement costs and the residual value. The economic calculation highlights the fundamental role played by tax benefits supporting the building energy retrofit, also in temperate climate zones, thus allowing the creation of environmental benefits in addition to remarkable cost savings.


Despite the gradual incorporation of women in different spheres of Chilean public policy since 1990, there is not enough research on the different impacts of this. For this reason, this article aims to provide some preliminary conclusions on the number of women, barriers that they face and identified the main topics where they worked in trade negotiations, between 1990 and 2022. The research is oriented to analyze Chilean Free Trade Agreements and at the World Trade Organization, focusing on the Chilean negotiation teams. Some initial findings demonstrate that there has been an increase in the entry of women as negotiators, especially in topics such as trade in services; however few women were appointed as chief negotiators, reflecting a persistent gender gap in the workplace and in decision-making. The research is being carried out on the basis of specialized literature and interviews with qualified informants.


Feedback has a long and varied career that has sent fingers into many different disciplines. That we need feedback is a generally accepted feature of the human condition. We appreciate and will actively seek it out when it seems likely to provide self-actualisation, validation, praise or a visible marker of superior achievement. Feedback and peer mentoring can also help us to find meaning in what we do, and to fend off cynicism and burnout. At the same time, if we are honest, we humans often avoid or eschew feedback for fear that it will be bad, that it might threaten our fragile self-efficacy or even our raison d'être. The intransigence that results from the tension between thirst for the positive and fear of the negative provides powerful evidence in support of the argument that we should study our learners' feedback-seeking behaviours, and, by understanding, enhance and enable them. Further, it seems fair to assume that feedback sought actively is better than feedback applied passively. In other words, better a strong 'pull' from the individual based on innate professionalism and a desire to improve than an externally applied 'push' that can be too readily dismissed as paternalistic meddling or frank policing. If we are honest, we humans often avoid feedback for fear that it might threaten our fragile self-efficacy


Reinforced concrete beams with different bar diameters are produced in the laboratory.Corrosion ratio of the bars is achieved by impressing current to them.96 reinforced bar samples with various corrosion levels are obtained,including 48 HPB235 plain round bars and 48 deformed bars.The rust was removed by using acid and alkali,respectively.The mechanical properties of the samples are tested.The relationships between the mechanical properties and the weight loss ratio for two kinds of bars are established respectively.The research indicates that the corrosion characters are different for different types of bar.Combining with the experimental data of existing literatures,the degradation regression equations of the mechanical properties for corrosion plain round bars and deformed bars are further established separately.


We establish conditions under which the maxingale problem defined in part I of the work has a unique solution. We next combine the uniqueness results and limit theorems of part I to obtain results on the large deviation principle for processes in a Skorohod space


Anxiety Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder Chemical Dependence Conduct Disorder/Delinquency Depression Eating Disorder Enuresis/Encopresis Fire Setting Gender Identity Disorder Grief/Loss Unresolved Learning Disorder/Underachievement Low Self-Esteem Mania/Hypomania Mental Retardation Oppositional Defiant Peer/Sibling Conflict Phobia-Panic/Agoraphobia Physical Abuse Victim Psychoticism Runaway School Refusal Separation Anxiety Sexual Abuse Perpetrator Sexual Abuse Victim Sleep Disturbance Social Phobia/Shyness Speech/Language Disorders Suicidal Ideation/Attempt Appendices.


To provide a low discharge initiation and apparatus for generating a high-density low-temperature plasma under atmospheric pressure under the holding voltage. A one is coupled to a power source and one grounded, 25Myuemu~10mm thickness of which is arranged so as to face each other on opposite surfaces of a pair of electrodes, the electrodes opposite to and separated from each other a pair of dielectric (one of these is one of the discharge gap (having a discharge gap)); wherein the conductor electrode having at least one protrusion positioned on and within the discharge gap, 50 Hz to through a power to said electrode hollow cathode discharge by supplying a reaction gas to between the electrodes while applying an electric field in the strength of 1~100kV / cm using a pulse direct current or alternating current of 10GHz frequency band, higher integration of charge from the capillary discharge or discharge gap inducing, cold plasma generator under atmospheric pressure. The apparatus of the present invention is to prevent the plasma is transferred to the arc, provides a dense and stable low temperature plasma. .FIELD 1


HIS STUDY attempts to define the T important factors leading to backache after anesthesia. In 1936, Nygaardl found that backache occurred as frequently after operations performed under ether narcosis as in those operations performed under spinal anesthesia. The incidence following spinal anesthesia was 6.9 per cent compared to 7.8 per cent following ether anesthesia in a total of 1772 cases reported.


In order to investigate the validity of the cancer development, the presence of active oxygen need to be taken into account since active oxygen participates in the initiation and promotion of cancer. However, it is impossible to measure the amount of active oxygen in vivo directly. Therefore, the levels of trace elements such as Zn, Cu and Mn in enzyme which eliminates active oxygen were measured at each stage of cancer development by PIXE. The large differences between the normal mucosa and colonic adenoma in the amount of Zn, Cu and Mn within the enzyme eliminating free radicals were observed. There was a significant relationship among trace element levels, active oxygen and the development of tumor in connection with the levels of Zinc and Copper.


A generalized network simulator has been constructed to help investigate the performance of computer networks at a variety of levels. The simulator accounts for user-host, host-node (a node is a communications interface unit), and node-node interactions. The program is highly modular so that the user can change one level without affecting the others; this structure allows for innovation and efficient experimentation. Model validation has been a major consideration in the develop ment of the simulator. We have employed a formal procedure to validate models at the input-output level by comparing them to simple lumped models for a given experimental frame. The simulator can handle a variety of network structures and protocols. A particular network is described in terms of a schedul ing function, a grouping function, and a distance control matrix. Several network topologies and protocols have been simulated successfully. One problem with the modular approach is that it may lead to inefficient programs. Our simulator, for example, had to perform many scans of its events list because of the existence of numerous simultaneous events. We removed this inefficiency by introduc ing a new event scheduling routine based on a secondary key. The secondary key assigns priorities to simultaneous events.


Abstract : Forensic entomology is the study of how insects consume decomposing human remains and can aid medical/legal investigations. Common questions answered include time since death, movement of a body from one location to another, location of traumatic wound sites, identification of toxicological deaths, and location of drug trafficking. However, forensic entomology has not been commonly utilized by the Intelligence Community (IC). Carrion insects, in particular blowflies, may be a valuable tool for analysts and investigators dealing with international crimes in the area of homicide, suicide, and untimely deaths from terrorist bombings. This is made possible due to blowfly larvae feeding on postmortem human tissue, tissue which may have been exposed to the chemical residues from a detonated IED. Past entomological studies which would back up this theory of transferability through larvae have involved human DNA and drug uptake in blowfly larvae. The significance of this finding is that if human DNA can be passed to fly larvae via feeding, it is plausible that explosive residues can be absorbed by fly larvae. The relevance of such information would allow IC analysts and operators to detect and identify compounds in terrorist bombings when other means of identification are not available. These forensic determinations are possible, but only if entomological evidence is recognized, properly collected, and sent to a professional entomological laboratory for analysis by a qualified forensic entomologist. Intelligence and law enforcement officers must become fully aware of the complex processes associated with the decay process and the important role that insects play. Investigators must understand the need for specimen collection and recording of other pertinent field data. If the proper steps are followed, it is possible for insects to reveal silently the information we need to solve some international crimes, including terrorist-related bombings.


An extended Gurson model incorporating the effects of the shape and spacing of the voids on the growth and coalescence is proposed. The onset of void coalescence is modeled as a transition from diffuse plasticity to transverse localized plastic yielding in the intervoid ligament. A simple constitutive model for the coalescence stage is also developed. Selected results are presented showing the importance of correctly accounting for the void coalescence stage, as well as for the void shape and distribution effects. The effect of the void shape on the fracture toughness is finally addressed using the assumption of uniaxial straining state of the fracture process zone. The analysis reveals that the effect of the void shape on the fracture toughness becomes significant for initial porosity larger than 10 -4 and this effect increases for increasing initial porosity. INTRODUCTION Recent efforts in the development of computational models incorporating the void growth process has given rise to robust predictive methods for crack propagation in ductile solids, e.g. [1,2,3,4,5]. Most of these works employed the constitutive model initially proposed by Gurson [6], improved by Tvergaard [7], and finally extended by Needleman and Tvergaard [8]. Although good agreement with a range of experiments and void cells computations has been observed, the model as it currently stands still suffers from significant limitations: (i) The transfer of experimental data obtained from non-cracked specimens for the modeling of cracked structures, and vice-versa, is not yet successful. In order to quantitatively reproduce experimental J R curves, parameters of the model must be identified by fitting to test data taken under high stress triaxiality conditions such as from a cracked specimen (e.g. [5]). Many problems of ductile fracture in non-cracked structures occur at low to intermediate stress triaxiality, e.g. during metal forming or in structures containing notches. (ii) In the context of the model as it now stands, non-spherical voids can only be accounted for in an ad hoc manner by introduction of an effective porosity. (iii) The phenomenological criteria currently employed to signal the onset of coalescence are limited to a restricted range of conditions, which are not easily measured experimentally. These limitations, and others, are thought to arise mainly because (i) void shape is not directly accounted for and (ii) void coalescence is not properly modeled. The objective of the present paper is to describe a realistic model which would represent a step towards attainment of a complete model for failure due to the ductile failure mechanism of void nucleation, growth and coalescence. Selected results showing significant void shape and spacing effects or emphasizing the importance of a sound void coalescence model (i.e. cases where simpler model like critical porosity models completely miss the point) are examined in order to motivate the necessity for such an enhanced model. It is important to mention that all the results presented here are all in close agreement with more exact void cell prediction [9]. At the end of the paper, the fracture toughness of ductile materials with preferentially orientated non-spherical inclusion is addressed by invoking the approximation of uniaxial straining for the crack tip stress state. EXTENDED MODEL FOR THE GROWTH AND COALESCENCE OF VOIDS We have borrowed heavily from two contributions in the literature, and have integrated them into the enhanced model. The first contribution is the model of Gologanu-Leblond-Devaux [10], extending the Gurson model to void shape effects. Indeed, it will be shown that void shape effects must be accounted for in order to correctly predict the ductility at small stress triaxiality. The second is the approach of Thomason [11] for the onset of void coalescence. Each of these has been extended heuristically to account for strain hardening. In addition, a micromechanically-based simple constitutive model for the void coalescence stage is proposed to supplement the criterion for the onset of void coalescence. Only axisymmetric stress states are considered in the present work and the solid is made of a periodic distribution of the cylindrical representative volume element (RVE) defined on Fig. 1.


Abstract In the present study, poly(ε-caprolactrone) nanocapsules were loaded with betel essential oil and used as anti-mosquito spray formulations for cotton and polyester fabrics for the first time. The release and retention of betel essential oil on the fabrics after sequential washing and heating were determined using UV-Visible spectrophotometry. The repellent activity of cotton and polyester fabrics was evaluated using an Excito chamber test on Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The nanocapsules exhibited high betel essential oil encapsulation efficiency (98.70%) and remained stable throughout 60 days of colloidal system stability study. The encapsulation of betel essential oil in the lipid core of polymer nanocapsules was able to increase the durability towards washing and heating, as the fabrics still exhibited a good repellency of up to 47% against mosquitoes even after 5 sequential washing cycles. Results obtained from this study highlight the feasibility of betel essential oil-loaded lipid-core nanocapsules as alternatives to mosquito repellent spray formulations in the production of insect protective fabrics.


Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology is very helpful for visually impaired or illiterate persons who are unable to read text documents but need to reach the content of the text documents. In this paper, a camera-based assistive device is used that can be applied for visually impaired or illiterate people to understand Bangla text documents by listening to the contents of the Bangla text images. This work mainly involves the extraction of the Bangla text from the Bangla text image and converts the extracted text to speech. This work has been fulfilled with Raspberry Pi and a camera module by applying the concepts of the Tesseract OCR engine, the Open Source Computer Vision, and the Google Speech Application Program Interface. This work can help people speaking Bangla language who are unable to read or have a significant loss of visual sight.


EurAsEC has a potentially large market, the current technical structure, General development strategy of enterprises. This fact stimulate mutual investment activity in the conditions of deepening of integration processes.


The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus was fed the diets containing a compound Chinese herbal medicine combined with Astragalus,and Codonopsis at a dose of 0%,0.5%,1.5% or 2.5% for 7,14,21 and 28 days,and were analysed for several immune parameters in different tissues.After acclimated for 28 days,the sea cucumber was injected 0.1 mL of bacterial suspension of Shewanella marisflavi in the back at concentration of 7×108 cells/mL.The daily symptoms and mortality were recorded for 7 days to calculate the relative percent protection(RPP).The results showed that there were significant influence of Chinese herbal medicine on antibacterial activity(Ua) in different tissues and phagocytic function in coelomocytes(P0.05).The Ua was shown to increase with time proceeded and increase in concentration of the compound Chinese herbal medicine.There was a tendency of first increase and then decrease in phagocytic function in the coelomocytes,with the peak value at 14 or 21 days.Both the peak activities of Ua and PP in the coelomocytes were observed at the drug concentration of 1.5%,followed by at 2.5%,0.5% and then at 0%.The challenge test showed that the sea cucumber in the control group was all death 3 days after the infection while the relative percent protection was 30% in the 1.5% group,20 % in the 0.5% group and 10% in the 2.5% group 7 days after the infection.It is suggested that the Chinese herbal medicine can significantly improve the immunity and disease resistance in the sea cucumber at the optimum concentration of 1.5%.


Cyber-physical systems are an integration of physical and virtual reality. In this paper, we propose to design and use of one kind of cyber-physical systems in engineering education. In a limited condition of use physical plants for an experimental educational purpose, we can design and use virtual plants in real-time interaction with hardware for control, measurement, conditioning and acquisition of signals, etc. In our case hardware part of the system is consisting of PLC/HMI devices with connected DC or AC motors with integrated gearboxes and encoders. Virtual part of the system is a controlled plant which is designed in LabVIEW software package. Virtual part of the system is implemented on PC which is connected with PLC/HMI via NI USB 6008 AD/DA card and designed physical interface for signal conditioning. The proposed approach is tested in related to several control engineering educational examples which include designing of the experimental setup with virtual plant, and design, implementation and verification of control law. The mentioned examples are concerning with three different types of control engineering problems: 1) discrete event system, 2) process control system, and 3) mechatronics system. These exercises are prepared for implementation in Go-Lab repository via local WEB Laboratory and for educational materials. Our intention is that students can find on the Internet portal a detail tutorial how can produce and use cyber-physical system for educational needs.


Specific growth rates and survival were not significantly different among the pelagic juveniles of three electrophoretically distinguishable stocks of Norwegian cod (Gadus morhua), co-reared in four replicate 5.2 m 3 mesocosms, from hatch to day 38 or day 43 post-hatch. Arcto-Norwegian cod (AC, the main commercial cod stock which spawn in Lofoten and are distributed in the Barents Sea, mostly north of 70°N), were compared with a nearby coastal stock (Balsfjord cod, BC - from a fjord near Tromso at 69°30′N), and a more southern coastal cod stock (CC, from near Bergen at 60°N). The increment width series of the lapillus - otolith growth history - and the relative daily growth rate were not significantly different among stocks within any mesocosm. Although AC larvae were larger, being derived from larger brood stock, they did not exhibit consistently greater otolith growth during the experiment. Larger size at harvest was correlated with growth during the latter part of rearing (>fourth week), which is when most differences in size at age are generated. Decreases in daily increment widths occurred in all stocks within 1-2 days, when the zooplankton food supply was changed from nauplii and copepodites to adult copepods, and when the average AC cod began to exhibit greater daily growth. Increment widths of reared AC cod at 37 days post hatch (>8 μm) were 2-3 times greater, and ontogenetically more variable than those of similar sized cod previously sampled from the Barents Sea (3-4 μm). Average otolith growth histories of pelagic juvenile cod reveal a substantial range in growth potential that is not apparent from more conservative comparisons of weight, and reveal a temporal sensitivity useful for the assessment of environmental fluctuations in the rearing process.


Land use/land cover (LULC) and climate change affect the availability of water resources by altering the magnitude of surface runoff, aquifer recharge, and river flows. The evaluation helps to identify the level of water resources exposure to the changes that could help to plan for potential adaptive capacity. In this research, Cellular Automata (CA)-Markov in IDRISI software was used to predict the future LULC scenarios and the ensemble mean of four regional climate models (RCMs) in the coordinated regional climate downscaling experiment (CORDEX)-Africa was used for the future climate scenarios. Distribution mapping was used to bias correct the RCMs outputs, with respect to the observed precipitation and temperature. Then, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was used to evaluate the watershed hydrological responses of the catchment under separate, and combined, LULC and climate change. The result shows the ensemble mean of the four RCMs reported precipitation decline and increase in future temperature under both representative concentration pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). The increases in both maximum and minimum temperatures are higher for higher emission scenarios showing that RCP8.5 projection is warmer than RCP4.5. The changes in LULC brings an increase in surface runoff and water yield and a decline in groundwater, while the projected climate change shows a decrease in surface runoff, groundwater and water yield. The combined study of LULC and climate change shows that the effect of the combined scenario is similar to that of climate change only scenario. The overall decline of annual flow is due to the decline in the seasonal flows under combined scenarios. This could bring the reduced availability of water for crop production, which will be a chronic issue of subsistence agriculture. The possibility of surface water and groundwater reduction could also affect the availability of water resources in the catchment and further aggravate water stress in the downstream. The highly rising demands of water, owing to socio-economic progress, population growth and high demand for irrigation water downstream, in addition to the variability temperature and evaporation demands, amplify prolonged water scarcity. Consequently, strong land-use planning and climate-resilient water management policies will be indispensable to manage the risks.


The successful launching of what is claimed to be the UK's longest and most complex steel bridge is described. The design for the four span 195 M long river crossing, using a lighter deck, less piling and much simpler construction, has saved about found200000 over the original concrete design. Difficult site access and a fast flowing river with a 3 M tidal range would have complicated the erection of any in situ deck. Two winches were used to haul the steel frame over temporary rollers mounted on pier tops during a continuous 10 hour operation. As the skewed crossing contains both horizontal and vertical curves, one side of the frame is 388 mm longer than the other and all bolts were left untorqued to allow the deck to be shaped to the bridge's 4500 M horizontal radius by jacking from the centre pier. A steel girder "nose" attached to the leading end was used to accommodate cantilever drop during launching. The technique could be used for a wide range of bridges where deck frame and substructure could be built simultaneously. (TRRL)


This international research showed that when senior leaders' values and behaviours were perceived as being congruent by project teams, there was enrichment of interpersonal relationships and a reinforcement of relational trust. Conversely, when leaders' values and behaviours were perceived as not congruent, they were considered to lack integrity and trustworthiness.


The aim of this study was to develop novel biomedicated electrospun nanofiber for controlled release. Pre-formulation studies were carried out for nanofibers of sodium alginate(2 wt.%) (SA)/polyvinyl alcohol(10 wt.%) (PVA) (2:8, 3:7 and 1:9) composites by an electrospinning technique. The morphology and average diameter of the nanofibers were investigated by scanning electron microscopy.  The optimum ratio(3:7) was used for loading of gatifloxacin hydrochloride (GH) (1wt.%), found to form smooth fibers with uniform structures. The drug entrapment, in the composite nanofibers was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA),differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and swelling behavior. The drug release behavior was investigated by using phosphate buffered saline (PBS) (pH 7.4) at 37°C for 24hrs. XRD and FT-IR data demonstrates that there are good interactions between PVA and SA caused by possibly hydrogen bonds. As much as 90 % of the GH was released from the electrospun fibers within 6hrs of incubation, beyond this the release was sustained for 24hrs. The thickness of nanofibers greatly influenced the initial release and rate of drug release. Moreover, GH loaded sodium alginate / PVA composite nanofibers exhibited a useful and convenient method for electrospinning in order to control the rate and period of drug release in wound healing applications.


Risk became the crucial decision making criteria in evaluation of some control actions in power systems, but very often, these decisions are made in a highly uncertain environment. In this paper, a new graphical tool for risk assessment and decision making under uncertainty – hybrid influence diagram with fuzzy probability values and fuzzy random variables is proposed. Influence diagram is a generalization of a Bayesian network, in which not only probabilistic inference problems but also decision making problems can be modeled and solved. Unlike classical Bayesian networks, which are using conditional probability tables, that are often difficult or impossible to obtain, a verbal expression of probabilistic uncertainty, represented by fuzzy sets is used in this approach. Besides discrete random variables, this hybrid model allows the use of continuous variables through the process of fuzzification. Through this integrated method, both type of inference support: bottom-up and top-down inference, including decision nodes in the analysis are enabled. Key words— Bayesian networks, fuzzy logic, influence diagrams, risk assessment


It has been theoretically substantiated that the balance of amplitudes and phases should performed on frequencies of all harmonics of output oscillations for forming the prescribed shape periodic oscillations in generator oscillation system consisting of linear frequency dependent circuit and active nonlinear element.


Abstract. Pocket gophers (Geomyidae) require soils amenable to burrowing and vegetation communities that provide adequate foods. We examined the interplay of soil texture and vegetation structure in determining site occupancy of the southeastern pocket gopher (Geomys pinetis), a species of conservation concern throughout its range. Using a case-control sampling design, we compared vegetation structure and soil texture between occupied and unoccupied sites in southeastern Alabama. All occupied sites had soil clay content ≤8.05% at 0–20 cm depth. In logistic regression modeling, clay content had overwhelming support as the most important single habitat variable distinguishing occupied from unoccupied sites. Based on soil results, we focused our examination of vegetation structure on the subset of our sites with <10% clay at 0–20 cm depth. Relative odds of occupancy were highest at intermediate levels of canopy cover; however, canopy cover at occupied sites ranged widely. Compared to unoccupied sites, occupied sites contained less midstory cover and greater ground cover of graminoids and shrubs. Our results demonstrate that although vegetation structure is important in determining site suitability, soil texture may be an overriding constraint limiting potential habitat for this species. Conservation actions for southeastern pocket gophers such as habitat restoration and population translocations should ensure that target sites have suitable low-clay soils.


Acquisition of fear memories enhances survival especially when the memories guide defensive movements to minimize harm. Accordingly, fear memories and body movements have tight relationships in animals: Fear memory acquisition results in adapting reactive defense movements, while training active defense movements to avoid threat reduces fear memory. However, evidence in humans is scarce because their movements are typically marginalized in experiments. Here, we tracked participants' whole-body motions while they underwent fear conditioning in a virtual 3D space. First, representational similarity analysis of body motions revealed that participants obtained distinct spatiotemporal movement patterns through fear conditioning. Second, subsequent training to actively avoid threats with naturalistic defensive actions led to a long-term (24 hrs) reduction of physiological and embodied conditioned responses, while extinction or vicarious training only transiently reduced the responses followed by their spontaneous return. Together, our results highlight the intrinsic role of body movements in human fear memory functions, suggesting the potential for improving fear memory interventions through embodiment.


Based on the Agency Theory, this paper takes 366 listed companies on the GEM listed companies of China Between 2015 and 2017 as a sample, and uses the two methods of high-level management team incentives. Equity incentives and pay incentives are dependent variables, and the return on assets (ROA) is the independent variable, measuring corporate profitability. At the same time, considering the time difference between incentives and making appropriate operating decisions, this paper conducts a one-year and two-year lag effect test on executive incentives. The conclusion is that executive equity incentives and pay incentives have a positive impact on corporate performance. Executive equity incentives have a positive correlation with corporate performance in the lag period, while compensation incentives do not have significant correlation.


The latest murals at Mayapan are painted on the Sala de los Simbolos Solares (Structure Q.161), an addition to the Castillo that dates to the last decades of Mayapan's occupation (Milbrath and Peraza 2003:19, Table 1; Peraza et al. 2001) (Figure 1). The solar disks on Mayapan's Structure Q.161 can be compared to Late Postclassic Aztec sculptures and to Mixteca-Puebla codices and murals at sites such as Mitla and Santa Rita (Figures 2–3). The Mayapan solar disks with only four rays seem simplified when compared to the more complex Aztec and Mixteca-Puebla forms, but this is not a significant stylistic difference because there is considerable variety in Mixteca-Puebla and Aztec solar disks (Miller 1982:Figure 109; Nuttal 1975:9, 10, 19, 21; Pasztory 1983:Plates 36, 85, 90, 234; Taube 1992:Figure 77).1 More Religious Imagery in Mayapan's Murals ThePARI Journal


The premise behind this study was that teens engage in early sex because they believe the "personal fable" concerning pregnancy: "It can't happen to me." Because role-play is a powerful tool for attitude change, the basic intervention consisted of teens enacting the consequences of teen pregnancy. Ss were 267 9th graders (both male and female) in a high-risk urban high school. Factor analysis of a questionnaire concerning sexual attitudes yielded orthogonal attitudes toward (a) abstaining from teen sexual behavior, and (b) use of contraceptives. ANOVAs indicated that, compared to a control group, both role-playing the consequences of teen pregnancy, and watching videos of friends role-playing, significantly increased the favorable attitude toward abstinence in girls but not boys. However, these interventions did not affect attitudes toward contraceptive use.


4526Background: FGFR3 aberrations are common in low grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) tumors but decrease in frequency in metastatic UC. This multisite single-arm trial assessed the ...


Local economic policy has a high priority because of a particular significance of a municipal level of governance – the nearest one to population - in market economy regulation. This paper provides a definition of a local economic policy; its purposes and tasks are set. The stages of world experience in the development of local economic policy are outlined. Main types, tools and strategies of local economic policy are described. The direction of contemporary reform of municipal government in Russia is defined.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the safety, feasibility, and midterm clinical outcome of the use of three types of reduction stents inserted to manage transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS)-induced hepatic encephalopathy refractory to medical treatment.

CONCLUSION
The use of a covered reduction stent-graft results in a greater increase in portosystemic gradient immediately after reduction than does use of a bare reduction stent. Relief of TIPS-induced hepatic encephalopathy tends to be greater in patients with reduction stent-grafts than in those with bare reduction stents.


Correspondence: Dr. Kazi A S M Shamim Parvez, Associate Professor, Pediatrics Nephrology, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com, Cell: +8801712566164 Introduction Nephrotic Syndrome is one of the most common renal disease in childhood. The annual incidence of nephrotic syndrome in US range from 2-7 new cases in children under 16 years per lac children.1 Infection is one of the most important complication in childhood nephrotic syndrome.2 The cause of infection due to: (i) Loss of plasma protein, (ii) Decrease serum immuno globulin level, (iii) Abnormal functions of T-cell, (iv) Hypoperfusion of spleen, (v) Oedematus fluid which acts as good source of bacterial growth, (vi) Immunosuppressive drugs which are used in treatment of disease. Infection cause the mortality of patient, it also result significance morbidity of patient. It also causes the poor responses of drug and relapse of proteinurea. So infection in important factor which effect the mortality and morbidity of patient in childhood nephrotic syndrome.2 Of all infections in Abstract Background: Nephrotic syndrome is one of most common renal disease in childhood and infection is one of the most important complication in this disease. Infection increase the mortality and morbidity of this type of patients. Most common infection is UTI. So through this study we can able to determine biochemical difference between childhood nephrotic syndrome with Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) and with out UTI patients and its clinical significance. Objective: To determine the biochemical different in childhood nephrotic syndrome patients and its relation with urinary tract infection. Materials and Methods: It is prospective study done in pediatric department in Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, 60 patient of both sex age between 1-12 years, diagnosed as idiopathic nephrotic syndrome with and without UTI were included in this study. Data collection ware done by history taking, clinical examination, laboratory investigations and followed up. Patients were followed up till cure of UTI and remission of proteinuria. After data collection statistical analysis were done by computerized software. Results: In our study we found there were biochemical difference between childhood nephrotic syndrome with UTI and without UTI patients. In patients of nephrotic syndrome with UTI serum albumin decrease significantly and serum cholesterol increase significantly than nephritic syndrome without UTI patients. Conclusion: Child with nephrotic with UTI patients had lower serum albumin and higher serum cholesterol than nephrotic syndrome without UTI patients and it effect the morbidity mortality of this patients.


The history of scholasticism provides the modern researcher with a wealth of material for studying the question of the state of theology at the university. Scholasticism can be viewed as an experience of solving the problem of the relationship between theological and scientific-rational knowledge. This experience can be considered negative in the sense that the formula defining the place of philosophy as the servant of theology reflected, rather, some desirable situation, rather than the actual state of affairs. The potential of the natural sciences and philosophy was so high that ultimately the synthesis of philosophy and theology came to be understood as a process of mutual enrichment. However, the idea of mutual enrichment of the arsenals of philosophy and theology, to which, for example, the pedagogy of the Society of Jesus approached quite closely, as a whole remained alien to Western European thought. This idea turned out to be very attractive for the religious philosophy of modern times, where it manifested itself, in particular, in a critical attitude towards the excessive enthusiasm of Western European philosophy with the problems of method, towards its "epistemology". The religious and philosophical thought of the New Age, which had a significant influence on theology, was based on the recognition of the methodological limitations of natural reason, which is unable to independently cognize the truths of Divine Revelation, the "truth of faith". This limitation is removed in the experience of existential philosophizing, in many respects opposite to the essentialism (doctrine of essences) of medieval theology. On the other hand, the mutual enrichment of philosophy and theology presupposed an appeal to the traditions of mystical intuitionism, neo-Platonism, and apophatic theology that were not in demand in Western European theology. In the history of Christianity, these traditions have played the same role in knowledge as asceticism in practice. They provided the Christian with a set of intellectual techniques aimed at cleansing the rational soul, necessary for the perception of the truths of Divine Revelation.


An experimental measurement of the angular distribution of protons scattered by neutrons in the neutron beam of the 184-inch Berkeley cyclotron has been made with a Wilson cloud chamber with magnetic field. The results show that the scattering is not isotropic in the center of mass system and that it is not symmetric about 90 degrees. The peak of protons in the forward direction indicates that a certain amount of charge exchange is taking place between the neutron and proton.


Low Pd content and highly active bimetallic PdAg electrocatalytic nanoparticles supported on functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT) have been developed for the electrochemical methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). The polyol synthesis procedure is used to substitute Ag into Pd particles in a Pd/CNT matrix. The Pd20–xAgx/CNT samples (x wt % = 0, 5, 10, and 15) are characterized by XRD, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, and microscopy methods. The electrocatalytic activities and stabilities of Pd20–xAgx/CNT catalysts were examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA), and chronopotentiometry (CP) measurements for electrochemical oxidation of methanol in alkaline media. The Pd20–xAgx/CNT with x = 10 wt % is found to be a semialloyed sample and shows the best catalytic activity (731 mA mg–1) compared to the Pd/CNT catalyst (408 mA mg–1) and other samples. This semialloyed sample also shows long stability and high resistance toward CO poisoning. The semialloyed Pd10Ag10 particles with optimized me...


In addition to the cholinergic innervation described in the sphincter of the efferent filament arteries (Bailly and Dunel‐Erb, ′86), an aminergic component has been demonstrated by specific techniques. The Falck fluorescence technique reveals a network of nerve fibers displaying a green fluorescence characteristic of catecholamines. At the ultrastructural level two types of fibers are present, one with clear vesicles and another with densecored vesicles. Axo‐axonal synaptic relationships exist between the two types. Results of 5‐ and 6‐OHDA (hydroxydopamine) treatments confirm the presence of an aminergic component.


We consider a delay partial differential equation arising in a jump diffusion model of option pricing. Under the mean-reverting jump-diffusion model, the price of options on electricity satisfies a second order partial differential equation. In this paper, we use positive definite kernels to discretise the PDE in spatial direction and achieve a linear system of first order differential equation with respect to time. We impose homogenous boundary conditions of the PDE by using a manipulated version of kernels called 'recursive kernels'. The proposed methods are fast and accurate with low computational complexity. No integrations are necessary and the time dependent system of differential equations can be solving analytically. Illustrative example is included to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the new techniques.


CjOME preserved material of a species of Debarya, which exhibited certain rather interesting features, recently came under notice I submitted a sample to Professor G. S. West, of Birmingham University, and he kindly informed me that it was a new species of the genus allied to D. desmidioides, West.' The material had been fixed in chrom-acetic acid, and transferred to a dilute aqueous solution of glycerine which was allowed to concentrate by evaporation. The preservation was apparently quite good, so that the measurements (necessarily made on this fixed material) should only differ quite negligibly from those of fresh material. The history of the sample is as follows. The sterile filaments, with other Algxe, were collected from stagnant ponds on Sheep's Green, Cambridge, by Mr. T. Elborn, and were transferred to the algal culture tubs kept outside the Cambridge Botany School. Conjugation took place here, and the material was flxed as already stated. DIAGNOSIS. Debarya cruciata sp. nov. Filamentis longis, gracilibus, saepe dissociatis in cellulis singulis; cellulis vegetativis cylindricis, lateribus rectis, diametro 10-18 vel rarius 20-plo longioribus chromatophoris parvis, cum pyrenoidibus 3-7 in seriam unicam dispositis. Conjugatio inter singulas cellulas post dissociationem filamen. tarum. Zygosporis rotundo-quadratis, lateribus levissime retusis, vel rarius convexis, angulis cornutis; cornibus cylindricis, solidis, apicibus rotundis. Long. cell. veg. 60O140,p lat. cell. veg. 6-8,u Long. zygosp. 28-32,u lat. zygosp. 20-24A (sine cornibus). Long. corn. 8-40k lat. corn. 8.12,u The vegetative cells are remarkably delicate (probably the narrowest of the species described for Britain) and relatively long. The gametangia are always isolated single cells of the fllaments, and separated vegetative cells are quite common. The chloroplast is relatively short and narrow and contains from three to seven I West, G. S. Journal of Bot., 1903, p. 39.


Vibration-based energy harvesting has attracted interest of researchers from various disciplines over the past decade. In the literature of piezoelectric energy harvesting, the typical configuration is a unimorph or a bimorph cantilevered piezoelectric beam located on a vibrating host structure subjected to base excitations. As an alternative to cantilevered piezoelectric beams, piezoelectric layers structurally integrated on thin plates can be used as vibration-based energy harvesters since plates and plate-type structures are commonly used in aerospace, automotive and marine applications. The aim of this paper is to present experiments and electroelastic finite element simulations of a piezoelectric energy harvester structurally integrated on a thin plate. The finite element model of the piezoceramic patch and the all-edges-clamped plate are built. In parallel, an experimental setup is constructed using a thin PZT-5A piezoceramic patch attached on the surface of all-edges-clamped rectangular aluminum plate. The electroelastic frequency response functions relating voltage output and vibration response to forcing input are validated using the experimentally obtained results. Finally, electrical power generation of the piezoceramic patch is investigated using the experimental set-up for a set of resistive loads. The numerical predictions and experimental results show that the use of all-edge-clamped flexible plate as host structure for piezoelectric energy harvester leads to multimodal vibration-to-electricity conversion.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


Depression is a mental disorder, with different classifications which have as main symptoms, persistent sadness, lack of interest, lack of pleasure, swings between feelings of guilt and low self-esteem, sleep disorders and appetite. It is known that hormonal changes can lead to significant emotional changes and vice versa, due to changes in the central nervous system, action of hormones on specific receptors or by metabolic changes, therefore, the endocrine disorders become one of the possible causes of depression. This work is a study of the major hormones associated with depression. It was drawn from a literature review, in which corticotrophin hormone, cortisol, estrogen, progesterone and thyroid hormones were identified as the main hormones related to depression. These hormones are essential for the correct functioning of the metabolism, therefore, it is observed that hormonal changes may contribute to the development of depression as well as aggravate it or even hamper the treatment of patients who already have the disorder.


The government green paper, 'Reform of the Mental Health Act 1983', was published in November 1999, for consultation by end of March 2000. This article offers comment on the operation of the Mental Health Act 1983 and the proposals for change, from an approved social worker perspective. Under the Mental Health Act 1983, approved social workers undertake social assessments of mental health crises, deciding upon the need for compulsory admission and treatment. To the debate on legislative change they bring a detailed social perspective on the processes and outcomes of statutory mental health intervention. Approved social workers' main concerns relate to the social context of mental health need, the availability of social resources, civil liberties, protections for people subject to statutory mental health interventions and the effective regulation of practice and services. Current proposals include options that would significantly reduce approved social worker involvement in decisions about compulsory admission and treatment; the implications of this are discussed.


The purposes of establishing opening lab in the university that was upgraded from college were discussed. Five styles of opening lab in Jiaying University were introduced, and the methods for strengthening the management of opening lab were discussed on documents of management, management of funds, management of credit, and allowance of teachers.


Many networks are embedded in their latent geometries. If two nodes are embedded closely in the latent geometry, there is a disproportionately high probability that they are connected by a link. Latent geometry has a wide range of practical applications, and some of the epidemic process spreads through the latent geometry. Although extensive studies have been devoted to the embedding of networks in latent hyperbolic space, little research has been conducted to develop a method to estimate general unknown latent geometry of complex networks. Here, we develop methods to estimate unknown latent geometry of a given network by removing links with high loads according to certain criteria. Our methods estimate the homology of the latent geometry and provide a simplified map of the latent geometry.


Many users around the world use cloud-computing services, and cloud services providers such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google. One of the commonly used services is the storage service. The service allows users to store and retrieve data online from any location. However remotely stored data that is maintained by a service provider raises concerns related to the security and privacy of the data. This paper compares the security and privacy of Amazon AWS S3 and Microsoft Azure Blob. The comparison will focus on their security and privacy compliance programs and how the access control behaves on securing the user's data.


There is a widespread belief that sport can be used as a tool to promote life skills and positive youth development. However, little research has examined athletes' perspectives on the development of life skills in school‐based sport programmes, in which a vast amount of youth are involved. In addition, research has yet to examine how youth experience support, communication, and negotiation processes with parents and coaches in high school sport, elements that play a crucial role in life skill development. Taking this into consideration, the purpose of the study was to document high school athletes' perspectives on support, communication, negotiation and life skill development. Results indicated that: (1) while variability was observed, many athletes believed they were able to negotiate many aspects of their sport participation with parents and coaches, (2) a large number of athletes believe they received adequate support from parents and were able to communicate with coaches, and (3) athletes believed high school sport participation allowed them to develop a number of life skills that could be transferred to other life domains.


English) In this review, the basic mechanisms of the development of autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) are described, with focus on Graves ' disease (GD) and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (HT). Studies have indicated that these diseases are associated with specific genes for their heredity in families. In this review, the genes HLA, CTLA-4, Tg, TSHR, PTPN22 and CD40 are being scrutinized, in order to evaluate their association with AITD, because these genes are being emphasised as genes with high susceptibility to these diseases. Studies have revealed environmental factors associated with AITD. Furthermore, we are to study what influence iodine, hormone-disruptor drugs, smoking, allergy, stress and infections, have on the occurrence and the development of AITD. There are some polymorphisms that have been found in the HLA, CTLA-4 and PTPN22 genes, which could be associated with AITD, but there are still some uncertainty about the importance of Tg, CD40 and TSHR. Among these environmental factors, iodine was found to be the most researched, and it is observed that there is an increase in the number of patients with AITD, along with the increase of iodine intake. There are some indications which show that other environmental factors have an influence as well, though there is no significant association. We conclude that AITD mainly occurs in already genetically predisposed people, though environmental factors could incite an autoimmunonological response.


Abstract : This report analyzes and evaluates existing flue gas desulfurization (FGD) techniques which could be used on Army boilers. Only those processes which are proven (in use for two or more years) or which have potential for use on Army-sized boilers in the near future are considered. In addition, this report presents guidelines to help Army installations select FGD processes appropriate to their needs.


Money creation is one potential source of revenue for a government. Seigniorage—government revenue received through creating money—is a relatively inexpensive means of raising funds. Take the United States as an example. It costs just a few pennies to print a $100 bill. The resource costs to the U.S. Treasury are more than offset by the value of the goods that could be purchased with the $100 bill. It is even less expensive for the Federal Reserve to electronically purchase large quantities of Treasury bonds, notes, and bills from traders in New York. It is important to note that the Federal Reserve returns the interest payments on its security holdings (less its expenses) to the U.S. Treasury. Consequently, when the Federal Reserve increases its bond holdings, for example, the U.S. Treasury realizes an effective reduction to its debt expenses. The present value of the reduction in Treasury expenses is equal to the amount of money injected by the Federal Reserve's open market purchase. The problem is that although money may be cheap to produce, the social costs of money creation are almost certainly greater than what the Federal Reserve pays to create it. Indeed, a large body of empirical evidence suggests that the rate of money creation is closely correlated with inflation. Thus, faster money creation costs society by eroding the purchasing power of money already in circulation, which is the inflation tax. Though tempted by low production costs, governments must balance the benefits with social costs when deciding how much to rely on seigniorage. The article addresses two questions. First, how much do countries rely on money creation as a source of revenue? The answer to this question gives some idea of the size of the seigniorage revenue "problem." For most of the countries, money creation accounts for less than 2 percent of real GDP. The evidence indicates that seigniorage revenue is not the primary source of revenue for a government, but neither is it quantitatively insignificant. Second, are monetary policy settings systematically related to a government's reliance on real seigniorage revenue, and, if so, what is the relationship? Such evidence should be a useful guide for economic theories—that is, a good theory should be able to account for a government's reliance on seigniorage revenue versus, say, its reliance on income taxes. Sargent (1986) presents some evidence that very rapid money growth does not translate into greater reliance on real seigniorage revenue. He studies monetary policy during four Seigniorage Revenue and Monetary Policy


A prototype sunflower thresher was designed, fabricated and tested. The performance of the machine by a PTO tractor at five levels of drum speeds; 650, 700, 750, 800 and 850 rpm and three feed rates; 2,000, 2,500 and 3,000 kg(head)/h, were used. The results showed that the no load power requirement of the sunflower thresher at a drum speed of 750 rpm (10.99 m/s) was 1.8 kW. At feed rate of 3,000 kg(head)/h and drum speed of 750 rpm; the thresher capacity was 1,098 kg(grain)/h with a threshing efficiency of 99%, grain damage was less than 1%, cleaning efficiency of 99%, grain loss of 0.82 to 1.07% and specific energy consumption of 3.86 to 4.38 kW-h/ton.


Issac Bashevis Singer,a Polish-born American novelist and short-story writer,won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978 for his passionate and dramatic presentation of story-telling,and careful examination of Jewish faith in the lives of his characters.From a narratological approach,the paper aims to appreciate one of his short stories "The Bus" based on such aspects as perspective,time and space,and other narrating skills.


As the underpinnings of High Modernism were everywhere being called into question in the 1950s and 1960s, the art world endeavoured to reinvent itself in new ways. For example, the view that meaning in art need not be embodied in static, timeless objects of supposedly universal significance was challenged by the idea of art as time-based, context-specific, or ephemeral. For artists, these changes offered a way to reformulate the art world system in accordance with their vision of what mattered, and thus to diminish the authority of big museums, commercial galleries, and glossy trade magazines, whose main function seemed to be the promotion of art not as a mode of critical inquiry, but as a luxury product for 'Establishment' elites.


Automatic Service Composition (ASC) is the generation of a business process to fulfill business goals that cannot be fulfilled by individual services. Planning algorithms are frequently used to solve this problem. In addition to satisfying functional goals, recent research is geared towards selecting the best services to optimize the QoS of the business process results. It is a challenge to fulfill functional goals and achieve QoS optimization at the same time.

In this thesis, we propose to combine a planning algorithm called GraphPlan, with a systematic search algorithm like Dijkstra's algorithm to achieve functional goals and QoS optimization at the same time. The GraphPlan algorithm has the advantages of easily modeling business logic, reusing the actions in one plan, and planning parallel actions in a plan. The planning graph generated by the GraphPlan algorithm is a compact representation of all execution paths, which makes it feasible to apply Dijkstra's principle. Two methods have been proposed to combine the Graphplan with Dijkstra's algorithm.

In the first method, we extend Dijkstra's algorithm from working on a single source graph to working on the extended planning graph whose nodes have multiple sources. The advantage of this method is that it gets an optimal plan with the best QoS value for the single criteria of throughput or response time in polynomial time. However, this method does not provide a uniform graph structure (\ie an extended planning graph with single or multiple tag, to generate an optimal plan for all kinds of quality criteria).

In the second method, we improve the idea of combining the Graphplan with Dijkstra's algorithm by providing a uniform graph structure to generate a QoS optimal solution for all kinds of quality criteria. A Layered Weighted Graph (LWG) is generated and provides a uniform structure for the easy use of Dijkstra's algorithm to find an optimal plan for all kinds of quality criteria. By using multi-objective shortest path algorithms, this method can be easily extended to solve QoS optimization on multiple QoS criterion for service composition problem.

In this thesis, we also study redundant service removal to further optimize QoS optimal solutions. The removal of redundant services does not worsen the QoS value of the optimal solution. Fewer numbers of services indicates less execution costs to invoke these services. A redundant service removal problem is modeled as an optimization problem such that the optimal solution without redundancy is found.